Harry Potter and the Sorceress Queen

The next morning Harry related his conversation with Cho's closest friends to Ron. Ron was naturally surprised, but he ended up wishing Harry all the best luck and thumped him on the back, "Didn't know you had it in you, old boy!"

Clearly enough, Ron, along with a whole lot of Gryffindors were so enthusiastic about the Keeper tryout (which meant a big possibility of going to Holland) that they barely paid attention in Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was delivering a long lecture on O.W.L.S, such as how to prepare for it, changing study habits.......She had to rap the desk several times, and at last assigned them a workload of homework.

"You should bear in mind that the O.W.L.s are taking place in the end of school year! I had expected a more industrious attitude from you!" she barked at them as the whole class (minus Hermione) groaned loudly.

However, tables were turned when they had their first Defense Against Dark Arts lesson on Friday morning. Professor Jenna proved to be a friendly, down-to-earth, pleasant witch, and her traveling tales were enticing and entertaining. Somehow Hermione had started her off, and the class listened raptly while Jenna related her adventures in Africa one by one, including visiting tropical jungles somewhere in central Africa, where a hidden treasure was rumored to be buried a century ago, and renting a magical carpet and flying around pyramids in Eygpt......

"......but the most terrifying one was being ambushed by a Dragonfinn in the Mediterranean Sea on my journey back to Britain," she remarked lightly, as if attacked by Dragonfinns was nothing more than a daily routine. "It was past midnight and I was sleeping soundly on my little boat. I had a dream of flying my broomstick up on a volcano, but it got hotter and hotter......and I woke up in a sudden, and what a shock! My little boat was situated right on the head of a Dragonfinn......it's an enormous serpent-like creature that lives in the sea, extremely ferocious, and several times as long as land dragons......"

Ron and Hermione opened their mouths in horror, but they were not alone. Most of their classmates were staring at Professor Jenna in horrified fascination.

"But they're unintelligent, so it didn't notice a human on the boat," smiled Jenna. "The heat I felt was actually the steam the Dragonfinn was breathing out of her nostrils. I yelled and grabbed my broom, a Silver Arrow, and took off right away--who fancies sleeping on the head of a dragon? She must've sensed me, for she chased after me, whipping up huge waves and spurting fire every second, yes, Dragonfinns are able to breath fire even though they live in water," she added, noticing Hermione's quizzical look.

"Anyway, I reached land in safety about an hour later, my cloak scorched from the flames and drenched as well from sea spray. Lucky I had my broom with me at least," Jenna seemed carried away with the recollection now.

Hermione put up her hand. "That's really dangerous, Professor! Why couldn't you pick a safer place to travel?"

"I didn't have much money with me, like Remus Lupin," shrugged Jenna, a faint blush rising in her cheek. "And Dragonfinn aren't very common these days, they're too large......the Sorceress Queen used to have a herd, though......"

Hermione raised her hand again. "Professor, who do you mean, the Sorceress Queen?"

Professor Jenna frowned. "I don't remember very well now......it was a long time ago......ah, yes, you know Dumbledore's famous defeat of the great Dark wizard Grindelwald? He had a daughter, very young, not more than twenty. Her name was Abigail, and she inherited many of her father's dark powers. She was also known for her ability to tame wild, dangerous animals. For these reasons, Abigail Grindelwald was called the Sorceress Queen, and lived in a great palace, but when her father died, she mysteriously disappeared, fifty years ago."

The class was completely silent. Hermione was going to ask another question, but Jenna suddenly exclaimed, "Good gracious! I've been rambling for almost an hour! We've got to start on the Multiplex Charms today, they're not easy to master......next time, someone remind me about the time, okay?"

Still fretting, Jenna left the classroom, saying she would be back in a minute.

"She's really good at storytelling," said Ron. "Wonder if she teaches as well as Lupin?"

Harry thought Jenna wouldn't be someone who only bragged, like Lockhart. Hermione was still thinking about the Sorceress Queen. "Why did she disappear? The books I've read never mentioned......"

Professor Jenna came back, carrying a huge cage full of sparrows. She then ordered the class to get up and move to either side of the classroom. With a flick of her wand, the tables and chairs rose in the air and flew to the back of the room and piled up automatically, leaving a wide open space.

"Hermione?" Jenna called her forward. "Take the cage and go to the back, facing me. On the count to three, you open the door of that cage and I'll perform the Multiplex Charm."

Hermione obeyed, picked up the cage and walked to the back and turned around. She was standing at a distance of five yards from Jenna and was looking serious. The class stood waiting with curious stares.

"Watch carefully, everyone!" cried Jenna. "One, two, three!"

The sparrows flew out of the cage in a rush, twittering madly. Jenna raised her wand and shouted, "Debilitatus!"

Jets of light of various colors shot out of her wand and zoomed in different directions. (Harry had a fleeting impression of fireworks) Each beam of light hit a sparrow squarely and within seconds, all of the sparrows were lying on the ground.

"They're only stunned," said Jenna soothingly, seeing Neville was about to collapse. "It'll take a few minutes for them to regain consciousness, though......."

Sure enough, the sparrows twitched and fluttered their wings soon, and soared out of the window. Jenna watched until the last one was out, then restored the original state of the classroom with another flick of her wand.

"The Multiplex Charm comes useful when you're surrounded by many enemies," she started explaining. "Even a lot of qualified wizards cannot do it well, because you not only have to make sure each beam of light hits every enemy, but the aims have to be strong enough to stun them as well. We'll do them on the Quidditch field next class, to have enough space fo everyone. Meanwhile, please research as many books on Multiplex Charms, and compose an essay on it. I want it handed in on Monday......"

The bell rang and the class began to leave, talking excitedly about Jenna's adventures, the mystery of the Sorceress Queen and her spectacular performance of the Multiplex Charm.

"She seems as good as Lupin," said Ron happily. "Harry, can you help me with Quidditch on Saturday?"

"Okay," Harry replied.

Hermione made no comment, apparently deep in thought. She ate quickly during lunch, and headed off to the library, saying she needed to check out something.

Harry didn't forget his promise to "cheer up Cho". Since he couldn't lie in on Sunday morning because of the Keeper tryout, Harry thought he might as well get up earlier to find Cho.

Ten minutes past six, Harry woke up, blinking sleepily but he shook himself out of his stupor, and pulled on his clothes. He grabbed his Invisibility Cloak (He didn't want another encounter with Peeves) and the Marauder's Map. Nicole had forgotten to tell him where Cho practiced her martial arts, but that didn't matter anyway. In the empty common room, Harry tapped the map with his wand, and soon located the ink dot with "Cho Chang" on it, somewhere near the bank of the lake.

He set off toward the lake immediately, his heart beating faster at the thought of facing Cho.

When Harry approached his destination, he caught sight of the slender, small form and stopped abruptly. Martial arts, whatever she was doing, was something worth watching.

It was like a sport combining gymnastics and fighting. Cho somersaulted and twisted in the air, leaping high and crouching low......finally, after doing a high jump, kicking in the air and three twists, Cho came landing lightly on the ground, her cheeks glowing rosy red from the exercise. She straightened up and lowered he hands to her sides, taking deep breaths. She stood motionless for a moment, looking at the calm waters of the lake. Then she sank slowly down to the ground. Harry saw tears welling up her brilliant black eyes, one rolled down and fell on a blade of grass, sparkling like morning dew.

It was too much for him to ignore this. Harry took off his cloak and walked over to her.

"Er......Cho? Are you okay?"

Cho lifted her head in surprise. Harry stood looking at her nervously, hoping he wouldn't say anything stupid.

"Harry? What are you doing here?" In a flash, she had whisked away her tears, trying to look normal.

"I......er......I wasn't very sleepy, so I thought I'd take a walk......" said Harry rather clumsily. Searching for something to say, he continued, "Um......what's that you've been doing?"

"That? Oh, you mean kung-fu. Martial arts, I mean. I've learned it in China since I was little. It's useful to keep myself conditioned for Quidditch......" Cho suddenly put up her hands, into a position like a swordsman ready to fight. "Want to challenge the master?"

Harry shook his head and grinned back, glad to see Cho regained a little of her usual cheery self. Sitting down beside her, they chatted lightly on Quidditch for some time. Cho showed no sign of her hidden feelings, but her manner was very nice anyway, sometimes slightly teasing and playful. Harry didn't realize how much time passed until Cho suddenly said, "Sorry, but I've got to go now. I admit I'm pretty hungry." She gave Harry a cheerful smile, and headed back to the castle.

Harry had a sudden temptation to walk her back to breakfast, but something held him back. Cho was still sad about Cedric; she needed time to heal the emotional scars; she wasn't ready to sentimental stuff, anyway. Harry looked after her retreating back and sighed inwardly.