Ravenclaw's Carnival (Thanks, Feifeifeinuonuo, for the gift. Thank you!)
(If you have time, could you please rate this book? I'd be so grateful! It's 300,000 words and still no ratings, so I'm not going to promote it anymore...)
Davis started to get anxious. He called out to Cho Chang, but Cho Chang didn't answer. Instead, she ran her fingers lightly along the broom handle.
Malfoy flew beneath her, glanced up at her, snorted, and swooped down to snatch the Quaffle.
Ravenclaw's first goal came unexpectedly. Cho Chang suddenly changed his flight trajectory, making a horizontal cut, like a pair of scissors slicing through the middle of Slytherin's formation.
Her speed was so fast that even her afterimage was invisible. Slytherin's Chaser, Pucey, had just picked up the Quaffle and hadn't even warmed it up when Cho Chang snatched it from the side. Pucey was stunned for a moment, then accelerated to chase after it, but Cho Chang's broom flashed with runes as it turned, and the broom almost moved sideways. Pucey's hand grazed past the Quaffle, and he caught nothing.
"Cho Chang steals the ball! She passes it— Bradley catches it! Chambers —shoots—it's in! Thirty to ten!" Lee Jordan shouted excitedly from the commentary box, and the Ravenclaw stands finally erupted in cheers.
"Wait— Cho Chang's speed is increasing, and her broom—her broom is more agile than Firebolt!"
But Slytherin's counterattack came even faster. Flint himself dribbled the ball and broke through; his massive body was like a moving mountain, Ravenclaw's Chaser simply couldn't stop him.
He passed the ball to Montague, Montague feinted past the goalkeeper and gently tossed it in—and it was in again! Forty to ten, and the Slytherin stands erupted in excitement once more.
Cho Chang didn't stop; her broom kept drawing circles—high circles, low circles, left spin, right spin. The Ravenclaw players seemed to have suddenly figured it out. Bradley and Chambers stopped attacking blindly and instead passed the ball to Cho Chang for support. Once Zhang Qiu got the ball, Cho Chang would pass, dribble, or drive, and every choice she made was so precise that it caught the Slytherin defense off guard.
The score became close, 50-30, 60-40, with Slytherin maintaining a lead, but Ravenclaw kept close behind. The two teams traded passes, with possession changing hands frequently. Malfoy followed Cho Chang around the entire length of the court, but every time he tried to cut off her passing lanes, she anticipated his moves and either shook him off or dribbled past him.
The first half lasted nearly forty minutes, with the score very close. Slytherin led by thirty points, but Ravenclaw's offensive became increasingly fierce.
Cho Chang is not just a Seeker; she participates in every aspect of offense and defense—stealing, passing, and facilitating—flying all over the court, her stamina seems limitless.
Malfoy started to get impatient. He flew behind Cho Chang, trying to overtake her using the speed advantage of Nimbus 2001, but Cho Chang always managed to shake him off on the curves. Malfoy needed time to slow down, adjust his direction, and then accelerate again, but Cho Chang didn't. He tried to intercept her once, but she easily swerved past him Kakuzu.
"Catch up with her!" Pansy shouted from the stands.
Crabbe shouted along, but with his mouth full of candy, his voice was muffled.
As the second half began, the clouds thickened, blocking out the sunlight and causing dramatic changes in light and shadow on the pitch. The Golden Snitch circled behind the Slytherin goalposts, its golden wings gleaming against the greyish-white sky, before suddenly soaring towards the center of the pitch.
Cho Chang and Malfoy moved almost simultaneously.
Two Firebolt swooped down from two directions, the ground rapidly magnified in the field of vision, the faces of the people in the stands became blurry blocks of color, and the wind whistled past their ears like a knife cutting through them.
Malfoy shifted his body slightly to try and reduce resistance, but Cho Chang Qiu remained completely still, pulling the line straighter and more stable than him.
Malfoy stretched out his hand, just an arm's length away from the Golden Snitch, his fingertips almost touching the Golden Snitch's constantly flapping wings—then Cho Chang's runes lit up.
Blue light spread from the broom handle to the entire broom, like a flowing river. Her broom suddenly accelerated and shot out, and she and the broom flew over Malfoy's side and above, her body like a fully drawn bow suddenly springing back.
Her hand reached over Malfoy's head, her fingers firmly clamping down on the Golden Snitch's wing.
The Golden Snitch struggled for a moment, then fell silent.
Malfoy's hand froze in mid-air, grasping nothing, outstretched in that position, like a statue suddenly paused. He slowly withdrew his hand, gripping the broom handle, his knuckles turning white. He didn't look at Cho Chang, nor at his teammates.
The entire stadium fell silent for about two seconds, all eyes fixed on the golden dot in her hand that had stopped struggling.
Until Cho Chang slowly raised his fist high in the sky, illuminating the entire arena with the Golden Snitch's brilliance—
The blue flags resembled a surging ocean. On the Ravenclaw side, some people were crying, some were screaming, and some were waving scarves wildly above their heads.
Davis was the first to rush towards Cho Chang, nearly falling off his broom. Bradley and Chambers hugged each other, while the Ravenclaw goalkeeper threw down his broom, covered his face with his hands, and squatted on the ground.
Malfoy hovered in mid-air, looking at the Golden Snitch in Cho Chang's hand with a complicated expression. He wanted to turn around and leave, but Flint flew over and patted him on the shoulder without saying a word. Malfoy neither dodged nor retaliated, just hovering there, watching Ravenclaw's revelry.
He didn't fly fast; his broom descended slowly, as if being held back by something, and his gray eyes reflected the revelry of the blue team uniforms.
"Malfoy!" Su Yu stood up from the stands, leaned against the railing, and called out.
Malfoy looked up. Su Yu didn't say anything, but just gave him a thumbs up. Malfoy was stunned for a moment, then turned around, landed on the ground, got off the broom, and carried it on his shoulder. Crabbe and Goyle ran down from the stands, one taking his broom and the other patting him on the back.
"Malfoy is unusually quiet after losing," Blaise remarked listlessly from the stands, legs crossed.
"At least you've improved." Callis said without looking up.
Crabbe clumsily brought over a glass of Butterbeer, but Malfoy didn't take it. Crabbe just stood there dumbfounded, holding it, not even bothering to put it down. Malfoy was almost amused by his antics, but finally couldn't help but purse his lips and say, "Why don't you just put it on the chair? Doesn't your arm get tired?"
Crabbe put down the cup with a sigh of relief.
Before the Ravenclaw celebrations had even subsided, Cho Chang had already flown over from the other end of the court.
Her boots thudded on the stone steps. Kurama jumped away from her feet, flicking its tail in displeasure. Before Su Yu, who was leaning against the railing, could fully stand up, Cho Chang pounced on her.
Her arms gripped his neck tightly, her face buried in his shoulder. Su Yu was jolted backward, his back hitting the railing.
He reached out and patted her on the back.
"We actually won..." Cho Chang's voice was muffled on his shoulder, a little hoarse and trembling.
She released his neck, took a half step back, her eyes red-rimmed. Her face was flushed red from the wind, a few strands of her hair were loose, and her ponytail was askew. She looked at Su Yu, wanting to say something, her lips moved, but she didn't speak. Finally, she smiled and kissed him.
Kurama squatted at Su Yu's feet, looking up at Cho Chang. Its tail stopped wagging. Fa-jie leaned against the railing, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. Daphne stood behind, smiling helplessly.
After a long, long time, the two finally separated. Cho Chang looked at Su Yu. "Thank you for the broom you gave me, and thank you for teaching me runes."
Su Yu looked at her. "Congratulations, all of this is actually due to your strength."
Cho Chang laughed again, this time a bigger laugh than before, her eyes crinkling to reveal a hint of her teeth. She reached up and pulled down her askew ponytail, letting her hair fall over her shoulder. "I'm going back now, there's still the awards ceremony!" She turned and started walking down the steps, but stopped after a couple of steps, glanced back at Su Yu, and then ran off.
Kurama jumped back onto Su Yu's lap and looked up at him. "She's quite happy."
"Um."
"But Fa-jie is unhappy."
Su Yu froze, leaning against the railing. He pulled Kurama closer to his chest, seeking some warmth. Only then did he remember that Fa-jie and the others were still watching. Su Yu was too scared to turn around.
The wind blew, and the blue Ravenclaw flags fluttered below the stands, while the music from the awards ceremony drifted over from the stadium.
Only Hermione, whether it was a hallucination or not, seemed to hear Harry's heart breaking beside her. He had been staring at Cho Chang and Su Yu since earlier, his eyes dull and lifeless.