Where Cho prepares to face a Firebolt.

CHO V

She turned around in her bed again. It had to be the hundredth time she did it tonight. Her mind couldn't set itself to sleep. It was in turmoil, the result of Cho reminding herself all the time of the strategy she was to use tomorrow morning, the stress of the upcoming game and what it entailed for her team, and the excitement of playing against Gryffindor. It was strange to be worried about the results of the game, and at the same time to feel like you couldn't wait to play it.

Frustrated, Cho decided to leave her bed and the girls' dormitory where she slept with the other Ravenclaw girls in their fourth year. The common room was empty, and she laid in an empty couch. Outside, the moon was visible, and it illuminated the tower with a white faint light. From where she was on the couch, she could distinguish the goalposts of the Quidditch pitch far away. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. On her watch, it was one o'clock in the morning. In about ten hours, ten endless hours, she would be flying over that terrain, trying to catch the Golden Snitch and give her team one small chance to win the Quidditch Cup this year. Given how the Gryffindors played during their last practices, including yesterday, Cho was afraid that her team's fate would rest on her shoulders. The odds for their Chasers to be able to score enough points to guarantee Ravenclaw's victory even if Gryffindor caught the Snitch were almost nonexistent. Cho needed to catch the Golden Snitch tomorrow.

At the same time, she couldn't wait to play against Harry, and against a Firebolt. Despite the pressure of winning, Cho always liked to play against good teams. The game she enjoyed the most so far since she arrived at Hogwarts was her first one, the one against Gryffindor. She didn't like playing against Slytherin very much because the players of this team tried to send her and her friends at the hospital wing as much if not more than they tried to win. She got injured the two times she played against the Slytherins, and they kept insulting her and her teammates all the time. These games were only pleasant when they had the satisfaction to crush the opposite team, which didn't happen always, like this year's game proved. As for the games against Hufflepuff, although she had come to appreciate Cedric very much, and although she had good relationships with the players of this team, they weren't quite at the same level. Even Cedric conceded that the Hufflepuff team was far from reaching the talent and performance of Ravenclaw. Matches against Hufflepuff often went in a single direction.

That was why her first match, the one that took place two years ago, the only match she played against Gryffindor, was the one she enjoyed the most. The Gryffindors were competitive, but they didn't resort to violence in order to win. Playing against them, even if they lost, could be enjoyable, a challenge that Cho looked forward to face. Cho had been somewhat disappointed two years ago when she faced Katie Bell as a Seeker, but the experience still remained the best she had at Quidditch. In the morning, she would face another, greater challenge, and she was excited to confront it. She wanted to win, but especially she wanted to win because she knew it would be hard. A few years ago, when her father made her visit the Ministry of Magic, before she arrived at Hogwarts, she came across a woman who discussed with a few people, and she cited something from a president, Cho didn't remember which one, who said they were going to do something and to succeed not because it was easy, but because it was difficult. In some way, that was how Cho felt. She was excited to try and beat Harry Potter while he rode a Firebolt, and the prospect that she might win against him made her excited.

She reminded herself of the strategy she was to use tomorrow. She closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep. She probably stayed on that couch for an hour before she headed back to her dormitory, and she certainly waited another hour before she fell asleep in her bed, after turning over again and again.

Cho woke up at around eight and a half in the morning. She had a faint memory of flying through the sun during the night, but she focused her mind on the present pretty quickly. There was a Quidditch game coming, after all. Cho looked at Marietta, who was still sleeping in her bed. The divorce of her parents still affected her deeply, though her friend did manage to do her homework all the same. Cho spent a lot of time with her lately, even more than usual. She decided to wake up her friend, to not leave her alone in their dormitory. The other girls were already changing and would not let Cho head to the Great Hall alone this time.

The girls were all encouraging her. Even Marietta showed excitement at the prospect of the game. There was nothing like the idea of seeing a Firebolt in action to lift someone's spirits up. If only Cho had been only a spectator in this game, she would probably have enjoyed it more. Now she would have to actually face the Firebolt. She joined the rest of the Ravenclaw team at their table. Roger welcomed her with an exaggerated enthusiasm.

"Hey, Cho. You slept well?" her captain.

"Fine enough," Cho replied, trying to make her voice sound sure. "I'm ready."

"Alright then. Take a good breakfast. You'll need all the forces you can muster today."

"Hi, Roger," Randolph Burrow, one of their Chasers, said as he sat down with them. The whole team of Ravenclaw was assembled now. It was good. Cho would not have liked it of one of them was ill before the game.

"Hi, Randolph. Ready?"

"More than ever. I looked thoroughly to my broomstick last evening. He's like new."

"Good. The Chasers of Gryffindor are good, but ours are just as excellent. And Grant defended the rings like a master yesterday. We're set."

Cho wished she could be as sure as Roger looked. However, the excitement won her over as she felt the game was approaching. She started talking with Jeremy, their other Chaser, in the meantime. She was just discussing with him about the maneuvers the Chasers planned to do when a series of murmurs started to rise across the Great Hall. At the same time, Jeremy looked towards the entrance. Cho followed his gaze, and she understood immediately what attracted everyone's attention all of a sudden. A group of half a dozen boys just walked into the Great Hall. And one of them was Harry Potter, holding his brand new Firebolt. Cho couldn't stop herself from straightening up on her seat and stretching her neck to get a better view at the broomstick. The only times she saw it so far were during Gryffindor's practices, and it was from afar. Sadly, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables were separated by the Hufflepuffs, who also stood up, and sometimes climbed on their chairs to get a better look at the Firebolt, obstructing Cho's view. It was in these moments that she wished she was taller.

The excitement was especially palpable at the Gryffindor table.

"Put it here, Harry," the captain of their team declared. A few seconds later, the Firebolt was hovering over the Gryffindor table, for everyone to see.

"Okay, everyone, calm down," Roger told them. "This is only a broomstick, after all."

He was probably the only one to say so, and Cho doubted he believed his own words. Grant even looked at him with a horrified expression, as if he just said something offensive, and Cho had to somewhat agree with him. It was a Firebolt, after all.

During the whole breakfast, students approached the Firebolt to take a closer look at it. There were not only Gryffindors, but also many Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and even some Slytherins who came to look at it. Cedric himself went to see Harry. Cho couldn't hear their conversation. The murmuring had turned into a background sound that prevented her from hearing what was being said at the Gryffindor table. Cedric came to look at the Firebolt, and shook Harry's hand, probably wishing him good luck. After that, as if the gates opened, she thought she saw each and every player of the Hufflepuff team approach to get a look at the broomstick. Everyone, from the small first-years to the seventh-years, wanted to see it more closely. Some held it into their hands. There was even a Ravenclaw Prefect, Penelope Clearwater, who got to hold it into her hands. Even Draco Malfoy went to see it, and judging from the irritated expression on his face, he wasn't happy at all. That was some cause of joy for Cho, who still remembered how Draco Malfoy got her injured in their last game.

Cho wanted to take a closer look at the Firebolt, but between the judging looks she expected to receive from the other students of her house, the suspicious stares she expected from the Gryffindors, her team's pressure who didn't go to look closely either, she thought it was better to stay at her place and finish her breakfast. The Ravenclaws left a little before a quarter to eleven. As they approached the heavy doors, someone shouted towards Cho.

"Good luck, Cho." It was Cedric. Blushing a little, she nodded in his direction to thank him.

Today's time was clear. It was cold, but not unpleasantly so. Cho arranged her Quidditch robes and pulled her hair behind her back into a very tight ponytail. The moment was approaching. As Roger addressed them all, Cho felt the tension building within her chest.

"Everyone, I don't need to remind you what's at stake in this game. If we lose, we are out of the race for the Quidditch Cup. So we win this game." He took a pause. "I know that some of you are impressed, even frightened that Gryffindor has a Firebolt. But we're only talking about one player. Cho and I have developed a strategy, and it's going to work. Duncan, Jason, don't forget. You do not throw Bludgers towards Potter. You might hit Cho by mistake. You let her handle their Seeker. Cho, you're ready?"

"Yes," she replied, trying to sound as convincing and confident as possible.

"Good. Jeremy, Randolph, we do what we trained for during the practices. Let's show to Wood that he got a big hole in his chest. Duncan, Jason, you follow our lead. Grant, keep circling around your rings. The Gryffindors are fast, so we cannot play static. You let nothing through. And to all of you, we win this game. Understood?"

"Yes," they all replied as a chorus.

"Good. Now let's show Hogwarts we're the best team of the school."

They all roared in approval. Despite his seemingly confident behavior, Roger took Cho apart as they headed to the pitch, and asked her in whispers so that no one else might hear them.

"Feeling ready?"

"Yes, I am."

As they walked under the benches and the roars of the crowd were to be heard, Cho's heartbeat continued to increase, to the point where she thought it might burst out of her stomach.

"HELLO, EVERYONE!" The voice of the commentator resonated throughout the stadium as people burst into applauses. Out there, in the crowd, there were all of Cho's friends. There were all the students of Ravenclaw. And of course, there were her parents too, who came together today to watch her play. And they all relied on her to win this game, just like her teammates she stood with right now and who towered her.

"I am Lee Jordan, and welcome to another Hogwarts' Inter-House Quidditch Cup game. And today…"

The doors opened, and a bright light entered the corridor where they waited. Cho was temporarily blinded, but an instant later, she mounted her Comet and, along with her six teammates, she flew into the light, to be welcomed by an explosion of roars and encouragements.

"RAVENCLAW… AGAINST GRYFFINDOR!"

For each house name, the crowd roared. Cho laughed as she took altitude and her face was bathed in the sunlight, feeling the cool wind that whipped her face. She laughed even more heartily as she proceeded to turn around the pitch at low altitude, flying next to the section where the Ravenclaws assembled, spotting Marietta and a few of her other friends who jumped and waved their hands at her. She then rose in the air as the commentator announced their names.

"For Ravenclaw, Roger Davies, their captain, as Chaser, along with his teammates Randolph Burrow and Jeremy Stretton at the same position. Their goalposts are going to be guarded by Grant Page, their Keeper. Duncan Inglebee and Jason Samuels are holding the bats. And as Seeker, the only girl in Hogwarts to occupy this position, Cho Chang."

The crowd sent encouragements to her, but Cho also noticed a few boos at the same time, for she was flying near the section where the Gryffindors had gathered. No matter, she wouldn't let them affect her today. She didn't see her parents at the top of the towers, where they should have been. In fact, these sections of the stadium didn't look as full as usual.

"For Gryffindor, our trio of girls Chasers…"

A part of the crowd exploded into laughter, and Cho needed some time to understand. She then shook her head in exasperation, while a laugh also escaped her throat.

"…Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell. Our expert Keeper, Oliver Wood, the team's captain. Fred and George Weasley, the best Beaters and troublemakers of the school."

New laughter from the crowd. Cho looked towards the tower from where Jordan was commenting. She noticed that Professor McGonagall wasn't there. It was unusual. She didn't think the Transfiguration teacher would have allowed such comments if she was there. At least, the comments were more entertaining.

"And finally, their Seeker, the one you all expected, fully recovered from a grave injury received in the last game, and riding the best broomstick available on the market... You all know him… Harry Potter!"

The crowd exploded once more. Cho looked around and managed to spot Harry, who was flying at a vertiginous speed high in the air. He then abruptly dove down, and straightened his trajectory midway to fly quickly towards the Gryffindor goalposts. He then circled the rings at an incredible and an almost impossible angle before rising in the air again, under the exclamations of the crowd. Cho thought that even some Ravenclaws cheered for him. She had to admit that under different circumstances, she would have cheered him as well.

As Lee Jordan gave them specifications about the Firebolt, Cho resisted the envy to perform some feats with her Comet. She wanted to show that her own broomstick was not to mock. All her uncertainties, all her fears of facing Harry with a Firebolt had vanished. Now all she wanted was to play and show what she was capable of. However, she wouldn't show it before the game actually began. It was better to have a certain surprise effect against Harry. He would be more disconcerted if she blocked him when he didn't expect much from her.

"Also, to not insult the girls here, I want to specify that Cho Chang is also back after an injury she endured during the last game between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. But no worries to have today, because we have two teams who actually play fair, unlike the last time."

Cho heard the crowd approve, and she also noticed some boos sent against the Slytherins who remained isolated in their own section of the benches. She herself couldn't agree more with Lee Jordan on that point. Everyone despised the Slytherins. She proudly flew next to them, and made a sudden turn to point her broom's tail to them.

Lee Jordan commented much longer than usual. Madam Hooch finally asked to get on, and he stopped regaling the crowd with details on the Firebolt or analysis of the current ranking among teams.

"Alright, the game is about begin. Madam Hooch is at the central circle with the balls."

Cho headed for the center of the terrain, and soon found herself face to face with Harry. She couldn't stop herself from looking at his Firebolt. It was probably the closest she had ever been to it. She could tell it was brand new. There wasn't a single imperfection. Slowly, her eyes wandered up. She smiled nervously to Harry, hoping he would forgive her for looking so closely at his broomstick. Harry returned her smile, though it seemed awkward for him. He had the same expression as when they met for the first time on the Hogwarts Express. Perhaps he was too focused on the game, which Cho should also be doing.

Below them, Roger and Oliver shook hands. Cho gripped the handle of her Comet, ready to launch the moment the Quaffle would rise in the air. She put aside everything that was unrelated to Quidditch, and set her mind, her body on the game, forgetting about everything else. She reminded herself of the strategy she and Roger discussed about.

A bright white light blinded her. Normally, she wouldn't allow a single light to bother her during a game of Quidditch, but this one was simply too bright, too powerful, too white for her eyes to tolerate it. She raised her arm, groaning, even turning her broomstick away. She thought she heard screams coming from everywhere.

It seemed to last an eternity. Cho tried to lower her arm to look at what produced this light, but she covered her eyes again quickly. Black points danced in front of her eyes. And then the light disappeared all of a sudden, in a flash, just like it appeared.

Everything was silent. For a moment, Cho feared that the Dementors were back. The current silence was almost as heavy as the one these creatures created. But the air was not cold enough. She could still feel the wind on her face. And she heard the rumor of the crowd whispering after a few seconds.

She looked to Harry, who was the closest person to her, but he had turned to his side and seemed to be looking at something far away.

"Mom!"

She heard him scream all of a sudden, and he flew right away on Cho's right. She looked at where he seemed to be flying towards. She then spotted something outside the pitch, that looked like a lot of people who were lying down on the ground. Cho needed some time before she realized it. And then she flew in the same direction as Harry.

Her heartbeat dropped as she approached and she saw the figures on the ground slowly standing up. Harry flew down and landed next to a woman with dark red hair. Cho remembered a day from two years ago when she went to see Harry in the hospital wing, and she crossed the path of his mother. However, her attention was quickly drawn to the two other figures nearby.

"Mother! Father!"

Her father was helping her mother to stand up. She landed next to them.

"What happened?"

"Cho," her father said as her mother was back on her feet. "Eh… I'm not sure… This just…"

"Lily, stay there with Harry! I'm taking care of him!"

Her father had just been interrupted by Professor Lupin who ran past them towards the gates. Cho looked at him running away. What was going on?

"What happened?" Cho's mother asked in a weak voice.

"What happened, Mrs Chang," Harry's mother said all of a sudden, staring at Cho's mother, "is that Peter Pettigrew was in your bag."

The declaration stunned everybody. Cho herself was speechless. She looked alternatively between her mother and Harry's.

"What are you saying? That's madness," her father said.

"Look at the bag. It was closed a moment ago, and now it's wide open."

Lily Evans Potter pointed the bag Cho's mother carried with her everywhere, that was indeed wide open on the ground.

"Come on, Lily," Cho's father continued. "Pettigrew cannot have hidden in Aera's bag."

"He's gone!" Remus Lupin was back, out of breath. "He made it through the gates. I cannot find him. The Dementors… say they will look for him… But I'm not counting on them." He took a huge breath. "Everyone! Head for the castle. Right now!"

It took some time, but everyone was convinced to walk for the castle, especially once Professor McGonagall showed up and gave similar orders. Cho barely reacted when she said the game was cancelled. Her mind was in turmoil. She didn't understand what was going on. It was only once inside the castle, along with her parents in the Great Hall, where all the students were directed, that her father explained her what just happened.

"We were waiting to go sitting on the benches when Lily Evans approached us. She asked your mother to open her bag. And then, there was this great flash of light, and we were all pushed to the ground. A few moments later, it was gone, and you were flying and landing near us."

"But what did…" She started over her sentence. She didn't have clear ideas right now. "Why did Harry's mother say that you had Peter Pettigrew in your bag?"

Her mother grumbled. "That's nonsense! I know she is a colleague of yours, Gen, but come on! Someone should be stupid to think that I am carrying the most wanted criminal of the magical world."

Her father seemed to be without words. Nothing was said for a moment, and none of them broke the silence.

"Cho! Are you alright?"

She saw Marietta running towards her. Cho hugged her. "I'm fine. I'm okay. What about you?"

"Good. But what's going on? No one wants to tell us anything."

"There's something that happened," Cho's father. "Look, I'm sure that Dumbledore will find out what happened. People from the Ministry are certainly already on their way."

"But what happened?" Marietta asked, obviously raging.

"We don't know! Let the Ministry discover what happened," Cho's mother snapped.

This shut up Marietta. However, Cho's friend still dragged her a little away from her parents, and she whispered so they wouldn't hear.

"What happened, Cho? A moment, the match was about to begin, and the next there's this white flash that blinded us all."

"I don't know," Cho answered. She was as confused as Marietta probably was. "Nothing makes sense. All I know is that there are talks that Peter Pettigrew might have been there."

Marietta's eyes widened. "Pettigrew!" she screamed, but in such a high-pitch note that it turned into a whisper.

"Hush!" Cho looked at her parents, who were looking in their direction. She turned her back on them and forced Marietta to imitate her. "Look, I don't know what happened. But we're in the Great Hall. We're safe. No one was injured."

"Are you sure?" Marietta asked.

Cho hesitated, and she couldn't reply since her attention was attracted by Professor Flitwick who just arrived. "Mr Chang. Mrs Chang. The Professor Dumbledore is requesting your presence."

Cho's mother stood up quicker than her father. He looked at his daughter. And he finally spoke to her professor. "We're coming." Then he looked again to Cho. "Stay with your friends. We're coming back soon."

Powerless, Cho looked at her parents leaving. Marietta tried to reassure her, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen. Marietta dragged her along to their group of friends, who bombarded her with questions that she tried to answer the best she could, and who also made up several suppositions. At this later stage of the discussion, Cho remained silent. She didn't really want to talk right now. Well, there was one person she wanted to talk to, who might be able to explain her what was going on, but the boy in question was surrounded by the rest of the Gryffindor team, the players' families and several other students.

It seems like people at Hogwarts will have to wait before they see a Firebolt in action.

Please review.

Next chapter: Lily