Her Final Year

[choki]

Her final year
Chapter 1 – A memory, a dream or a future?

Decorated with sparkling lights and colourful streamers that spanned seemingly for miles, the Great Hall was full of joyous mood. It was the night for Yule Ball – a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament that has not been held for over a century. Even the stars on the enchanted ceiling glowed brighter than usual.

Before she could explore further, she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Wheeling around immediately due to her fast reflex from quidditch training, she soon realised the culprit.

“You look beautiful tonight,” said Cedric Diggory as he withdrew a rose from within his robe and presented it to Cho. Blushing from his compliment, Cho accepted the flower shyly.
“Thanks, it’s lovely.”
“Glad you liked it,” Cedric replied. “I’ve spent the last few hours trying to conjure it. This one is the best among all I managed to conjure.”
“What happened to the rest?”
“Ah…don’t mention it. You realised the rose is thornless, right?” Cho nodded after close inspection. “That’s the difficult part, you see. The initial roses were covered with thorns, not even the petals were spared. I thought I had succeeded when I conjured one without any thorns. But it turned out that its thorns were invisible,” said Cedric, rubbing his fingers subconsciously. Cho spotted his actions and she giggled. Cedric looked at her, unable to apprehend the reason of her giggling.
“Sorry…I didn’t mean…” Cho apologised. “Those invisible thorns must have hurt a lot.”
“Oh…oh…that’s nothing. Yeah, it’s nothing really,” Cedric denied but failed miserably as Cho eyed him suspiciously. Cedric looked back at her and the two stared at each other’s eyes. That continued for a few rather awkward seconds.

“So there you are, Mr Diggory and Miss Chang,” spoke a familiar, stern voice. Caught by surprise, the two blushed and broke their eye contact.
“Professor…Mcgonagall…” Cedric stammered, still recovering from the sudden start.
“Come on, the rest of the champions are waiting,” said Mcgonagall as she pointed to the three waiting pairs at a corner. As soon as Cedric and Cho joined the crowd, Mcgonagall told them to line up in pairs and follow her. They obliged and walked towards a large table where the judges were sitting. While doing so, everyone in the Great Hall applauded, cheering for their champions. Once they reached the round tables, Cedric drew out a chair and invited Cho to sit, and then he sat down next to her. Enjoying the foods and drinks while listening to the Weird Sisters, everyone started to chat and some couples began dancing. Seeing an opportunity, Cedric stood up and walked up to Cho.

“May I?” He asked, holding out his hand. Cho took his hand and accepted his invitation. The music was fast paced, and soon almost everyone on the dance floor was out of breath when the song ended. However, they applauded, showing their appreciations. Then, a blooming sound came from the stage corner.

“Next on the list, the hit song by Bludger Brothers – A perfect memory…” It was Lee Jordan. He was chosen to be the deejay, as a compensation for not being able to commentate for any quidditch matches this year due to the Triwizard Tournament. “And talking about the Bludger Brothers…they used to be beaters and owned one of…no, two of the best brooms in the world. The Eagle Striker…pity that it had stopped production fifteen years ago.”

“LEE JORDAN! ARE YOU PAID TO ADVERTISE AGAIN! GET BACK TO THE YULE BALL!” Professor Mcgonagall, who was standing next to Lee, shouted out loud, not realising her voice was being amplified many folds. By the time she noticed, almost every pair of eyes was looking at her. She hit Lee on his head and whispered some commands to him.
“Enjoy…” Lee spoke sheepishly through the amplifying device and a few tables away, Fred and George Weasley were laughing their heads off. The song began its slow tempo and they started dancing to the slow beat. And soon, everyone on the dance floor was dancing closely to their partners. Cho could feel her heart beating faster and faster as Cedric edged closer and closer. Looking up to Cedric, she met his tender gaze. Those grey eyes seemed to be holding back. It was as if Cedric, himself, was afraid of revealing his true feelings to Cho.

“I…Cho…I…er,” Cedric stammered, not knowing how to continue. He could not understand himself. He fought against a dragon for the first task and even after that, he lacked the courage to confess his love. Cho’s eyes opened widely, urging Cedric to finish his sentence.
“It’s nothing…never mind,” said Cedric, who wanted to slap himself after those words came out. Her heart sank a bit but still, she put on her best smile, although none continued to speak during the dance. It was exactly at the point where the song ended when Cho felt the scenery changing. She was no longer in the Great Hall, let alone Hogwarts. Everything else had changed. She was standing on a graveyard, with nobody at sight. No Cedric, no music, nothing except those tombs and a familiar figure crouching on the ground.

“Harry?” Cho asked worriedly. “Is that you?” She had no idea where she was or what she was doing here. All she knew was that Harry was in terrible pain. A few feet away, she heard a cold voice spoke. “Kill the spare…” The voice was so undistinguishable that Cho couldn’t differentiate whether it was a male or a female. She tore her vision away from Harry and turned to the voice source. What she saw next was revolting. The last she heard was “Avada Kedavra”.

With a flash of green light, Cho jolted up from her sleep. Breathing hard, she surveyed her surroundings. The clock showed the time. It was 5 o’clock in the morning.

“It’s just a dream…” muttered Cho as she calmed herself down. This was the first time she ever dreamt about the events that happened in the graveyard. She had never been to that place or even seen the actual events. It was only through Harry’s interview in the Quibbler that Cho knew how Cedric died. But the details were brief. It was nothing like what she just saw in her dream. Everything seemed so real. Figuring she could not go back to sleep soundly anyway, Cho walked to her desk. Books sprawled across the desk and on its far left corner stood a vase with a single stalk of rose. Removing her gaze on the rose, she rearranged her desk and stacked her books nicely. Picking up an already opened letter, she began reading.

Dear Miss Cho Chang,

Please be reminded that you will be having your apparition test on the 14th August at 9 o’clock in the morning. The fee of the apparition test of 5 galleons is to be submitted upon the reception counter at the Atrium.

Yours sincerely,

Beatrice Bones
Chief Examiner of Department of Magical Transportation

“Four more hours to go…might as well do the final revision…” Cho said to herself. She removed Apparating Theory by Alexander Tell from her stack of books and flipped to page two hundred and fourteen – chapter seven entitled Apparating Laws.