Cho Chang
Origin: Harry Potter
Hair:
Eyes:
Species: Human
Birthday:
Parents:
Partner(s):
Residence: Austen Street 2 (21-18)
Occupation:
Affiliation:
Talent: Magic
Medical notes:
Sports/Instruments: Quidditch (Seeker)
Languages:
Import Date: 5
Cho Chang (b. 1978/1979) was a witch who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1990-1997 and was sorted into Ravenclaw House. She was a Seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and a popular student. She was also one year ahead of the famous Harry Potter.
In Cho's fifth year, she began dating Cedric Diggory while he was a Champion in the Triwizard Tournament. Unfortunately, Cedric became one of the first casualties of the Second Wizarding War, when he was murdered by Peter Pettigrew on Lord Voldemort's order in June of 1995. His death greatly upset Cho and made her determined to fight against the recently returned Dark Lord.
In her sixth year, against her parents' wishes, she joined Dumbledore's Army, an organisation taught and led by Harry Potter. In the same year she also began a romantic relationship with Harry. However, Cho's best friend Marietta Edgecombe betrayed the D.A.. After her friend's betrayal, Cho and Harry's relationship fell apart. She remained loyal to her school and to the D.A., returning after she had graduated to participate in the Battle of Hogwarts.
Cho survived the Second Wizarding War and eventually married a Muggle.[2]
Biography
Early life
Cho was born into a wizarding family,[1] the daughter of Mr. and Mrs Chang between September 1978 and August 1979. She became a great Quidditch fan at the age of six, and cheered for the Tutshill Tornados.
Hogwarts years (1990–1997)
Early years
In 1990, at the age of eleven, Cho began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Ravenclaw house. She soon tried out for her house Quidditch team, and attained the position of Seeker. She became friends with fellow Ravenclaw Marietta Edgecombe.
Fourth year
During a Gryffindor-Ravenclaw Quidditch match in her fourth year, Cho first met Harry Potter, who was a year below her and a fellow Seeker. Harry noticed she was very pretty and she made his stomach "feel funny". Cho's impression of Harry was favourable, and when she later wished Harry good luck before Gryffindor had a Quidditch match against Slytherin, Harry went bright red.
During the match against Ravenclaw, Cho began to tail Harry rather than find the Golden Snitch herself. Harry soon caught on to her strategy and attempted to trick her into thinking he had spotted the Snitch. As he dove, he saw the Snitch for real. Cho then gasped at the sight of a trio of Dementors.
Harry managed to unleash a powerful Patronus Charm as well as snag the Snitch; the dementors were actually: Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Marcus Flint in disguise. Ravenclaw did not win the Quidditch Cup that year with Gryffindor winning it instead of Slytherin.[7]
Fifth year
On 25 August 1994, Cho went to the Quidditch World Cup Finals, presumably with her family. While there, she exchanged greetings with Harry Potter, who had a crush on Cho by this time, having been developing feelings for her since the previous year when he first saw her during a Quidditch match against the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. He considered her to be very pretty and a good Seeker.
She was friendly towards Harry throughout the year, but probably did not return his romantic feelings. She had already accepted Cedric Diggory's request to be his date to the Yule Ball. Cedric was a year above Cho and a champion in the Triwizard Tournament.
Despite this, Cho refused to treat Harry poorly, as the majority of the school did because the Goblet of Fire had also selected him; she refused to wear one of Draco Malfoy's Support Cedric Diggory badges, something Harry was grateful for. He asked Cho to attend the Yule Ball with him, and she let him down kindly, even apologising for being unable to accept his offer; he still spent most of the ball watching Cho, who either soon began or was already dating Cedric. She was the 'thing' Cedric would miss most and thus became his hostage during the Second Task of the Tournament; he employed the Bubble-Head Charm to save her from Hogwarts' lake.[8]
That June, Cedric was murdered by Peter Pettigrew on Lord Voldemort's orders. Cho was devastated and openly cried at the memorial service at the end of the school year.
Sixth year
Cedric's death made Cho believe Harry's claim that Voldemort had returned despite the Ministry of Magic and Daily Prophet branding him a liar or insane. She sought Harry out several times and attempted to engage him in conversation, probably motivated by both a desire to learn the circumstances of Cedric's death and a growing fondness for Harry. Unfortunately for Harry, these encounters did not go well. The first time Cho found him covered with Stinksap that was accidentally let off by Neville Longbottom's Mimbulus mimbletonia. The second time, she ended up arguing with Ron Weasley about Quidditch teams. On the third try, when Cho entered the Owlery to send a letter to her mother for her birthday while Harry was there, she defended him from a suspicious Argus Filch.[6]
When invited by Hermione Granger to join Dumbledore's Army, Cho went against the advice of her parents, who wished her to remain on Dolores Umbridge's good side, as her mother worked at the Ministry. She also brought her best friend and fellow Ravenclaw Marietta Edgecombe along, despite the other girl's reluctance to join due to her mum's position at the Ministry as well. Cho joined because she was determined to fight against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters after what happened to Cedric in the previous year.[6]
However, as a D.A. student she had her ups and downs. At first, she got nervous and performed her spells poorly whenever Harry was nearby. This indicated that her romantic feelings for him had grown since the previous year. Later, though, she was able to conjure a corporeal Patronus in the shape of a swan. However, she did have some trouble with a Disarming Charm, saying Expellimellius instead of the actual incantation, causing Marietta's sleeve to catch on fire. She also mentioned that she had never been able to stun anything before Harry taught her and commented that he was a good teacher.[6]
Cho initiated a kiss with Harry under some mistletoe shortly before Christmas after a D.A. session. However, she soon ended up in tears, confused and guilty because of her conflicting feelings for Harry and Cedric. This kiss was something that Harry did not enjoy much and described as being "wet", because of all the tears and a repeat kiss did not happen. Despite this, she and Harry went on a date in the wizarding village of Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day where the couple sent their time at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. The tea shop made Harry uncomfortable, as it reminded him of Umbridge's too pink office.[6]
Cho's continuing grief over Cedric's death, her ill-founded jealousy over Harry's friendship with Hermione Granger (who, ironically, tried to advise Harry on how to handle girls), and Harry's overall inexperience with girls soured the experience. Cho became jealous when Harry mentioned his plans to meet Hermione later in the day, and she tried to gauge Harry's feelings for her by mentioning that Roger Davies had asked her out, but this only bewildered Harry. She ended up in tears after Harry refused to discuss Cedric's death with her.[6]
Later in the year, Cho's friend Marietta betrayed the D.A. to Umbridge, and, as a result, was afflicted by the jinx performed by Hermione on the piece of parchment, signed earlier by all members of the D.A. The hex made purple pustules spell 'SNEAK' across her face that could not be removed, something Cho considered a 'horrible trick'. When Harry scorned Marietta for the betrayal and Cho defended her, their relationship went downhill.[6]
Seventh year
At the beginning of her seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Cho caught a glimpse of Harry on the Hogwarts Express. She did not speak with him, instead hiding back in her compartment with Marietta Edgecombe. Harry commented that she was the only one not staring at him, he also noticed that her friend Marietta still had the word SNEAK written in pimples on her face.[9]
Cho and others standing at the base of the Astronomy Tower after Dumbledore's death
Harry and Cho had almost no interaction for the rest of the year; according to Harry, they simply 'fell apart', too embarrassed to even look at one another.[9] That year Harry began dating Ginny Weasley, while Cho dated Michael Corner,[6] who coincidentally had previously dated Ginny and had then offered Cho comfort after their sixth year Quidditch House Cup loss.
Cho did not participate in the battle that took place inside the castle after Death Eaters successfully infiltrated Hogwarts, as she did not keep her D.A. coin on her person at all times. Cho was also present in the courtyard after Albus Dumbledore died. She and the rest of the students raised their wands as a farewell to their former headmaster. It is possible that Cho attended Dumbledore's funeral with her parents, seeing as she was a Dumbledore supporter and was most likely saddened by his death.[9]
After Hogwarts (1997–)
Battle of Hogwarts
Cho Chang: "If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry. Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue."
When Hogwarts was attacked, Cho demonstrated her loyalty by reuniting with other members of Dumbledore's Army and joining the final battle against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. She appeared amicable and friendly with Harry. She offered to lead him to the Ravenclaw Common Room in search of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. However, in an unwarranted act of jealousy, Ginny Weasley recommended Luna Lovegood to accompany Harry in Cho's place.
Cho with Katie Bell, Leanne, and Padma Patil in the Great Hall after the Battle of Hogwarts
Cho was present when Lord Voldemort falsely announced that Harry was dead. During the second stage of the battle Cho and the other defenders of Hogwarts were pushed back into the Great Hall. She witnessed Harry Potter defeat Lord Voldemort, thus ending the Second Wizarding War. After the battle, Cho reunited with her friends. She was seen sitting with Katie Bell, Leanne, and Padma Patil in the aftermath of Lord Voldemort's defeat.[10]
Marriage
After the end of the Second Wizarding War, Cho later married a Muggle individual.[2] She most likely kept her D.A. coin, as a badge of honour, as did other D.A. members. It can be assumed that she attended the 2014 reunion of Dumbledore's Army.
Physical appearance
Cho was described to be an extremely pretty girl with long, shiny dark hair, a freckled nose, and being a head shorter than Harry Potter. For her date with Harry, she tied her hair back into a ponytail, to which he described as very pretty. Because of her beauty, she attracted a considerable amount of male attention during her Hogwarts years, most notably: Cedric Diggory, Roger Davies, Michael Corner, and of course Harry.
Personality and traits
Generally polite, sweet, and well-mannered, Cho was easy to get along with and was a popular student at Hogwarts, with a large group of friends and many boys who admired her for her extreme beauty (including Harry Potter himself).
Having been sorted into Ravenclaw House, Cho was presumably intelligent, enforced by her mastery of all defence magic that Harry taught her, including the Patronus Charm, though she did admit that she was unable to stun anything before Harry taught her. She was also an avid Quidditch fan (having supported the Tutshill Tornados since she was six years old) and a good athlete, playing Seeker for her House's team.
She was also loyal and brave, having been loyal to the Tutshill Tornados for many years as opposed to jumping the bandwagon, joining Dumbledore's Army in defiance with the Ministry both out of support of Harry and in order to avenge the death of her late boyfriend Cedric, sticking up for her friend Marietta when the rest of the group ousted her for her treachery, and returning to Hogwarts in her seventh year in order to fight alongside her comrades and defend the school from Death Eaters.
For the most part, Cho was often found around Hogwarts with a gaggle of girlfriends, though after one of her emotional breakdowns over Cedric's death, they apparently left her during her depression. Despite this, Cho was a very loyal person (perhaps even to a fault); when she and her friend Marietta Edgecombe joined Dumbledore's Army, she insisted on bringing her friend along even when her friend expressed disinterest and cynicism to the club's effects.
Later, even though Marietta eventually sold out the DA to Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic, Cho stood by her and insisted to the accusatory Harry that Marietta was a 'lovely person' who 'just made a mistake'. Her loyalty and courage were shown again when she came back to Hogwarts to fight even after she had graduated, and offered to show Harry up to the Ravenclaw Tower, indicating that she harboured no hard feelings against them despite their previously fallen out romantic relationship.
Cho was perceived by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley to be excessively emotional, though as Hermione stated, much of this characterisation was attributed to her behaviour and actions directly after her boyfriend's death, pushing her way through the trauma and grief that is only observed from the periphery. During her grief, she was prone to many crying spells and a difficult control over her emotions, leading to a prying sort of aggression when she dated Harry to get the details of Cedric's death.
Cho also felt irrational jealousy and paranoia when Harry would bring up Hermione Granger for what Cho saw to be flippant insensitivity from Harry's end. Hermione, for her part, did not seem to blame Cho at all, understanding her grief and depression and stating that it had interfered with many aspects of Cho's life, including Cho's grades and her position on the Quidditch team.
Cho has also said that she and Roger Davies used to date; after Ravenclaw's loss of the House Cup in 1995, Ginny Weasley said that Michael Corner had gone to comfort Cho. Later in life, she married a Muggle.
Magical abilities and skills
Flying: Cho flew excellently, so much so that she was chosen to play the position of Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.[7] However, Cho's flying skills suffered intensely due to her grief over Cedric's death, to the extent where she was actually afraid she would lose her position on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.[6]
Charms: Cho appeared to be proficient in charm-work, given how in 1996 she learned how to successfully conjure a fully corporeal Patronus in her sixth year, which is a very advanced piece of magic and a sign of superior magical ability and talent. Her Patronus took the form of a swan.[6]
Defence Against the Dark Arts: Considering she trained with the D.A., Cho would have been capable in defensive and offensive magic. However, her track-record with defensive learning spells was uneven, as she struggled to learn the Disarming Charm effectively.[6] She seemed to have improved her abilities based on her fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts against the Death Eaters in 1998, and surviving both the battle and the Second Wizarding War (assuming her survival had not just been owing to simple good luck of course).[10]
Possessions
Wand: Cho's wand was of unknown length, wood and core material. Like most wizards and witches in Great Britain, she most likely purchased it at the age of eleven from Garrick Ollivander before beginning her education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1990.
Dress robes: Cho wore silver East Asian-style robes to the Yule Ball in 1994, which she attended with Cedric Diggory.
Tornados badge: Cho Chang was a great fan of the Tornados Quidditch team and showed her support by owning and wearing one of their badges.
Comet 260: Cho owned this model of broom and used it while on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. She was seen riding it in her match against Harry Potter in 1994.
Relationships
Family
Cho's relationship with her parents was unknown, but it was revealed that, during the 1995–1996 school year, both her mother and father wanted her to stay on Dolores Umbridge's good side. Though Cho went against their wishes by joining Dumbledore's Army, she did send her mother a parcel for her birthday, showing affectionate care. Their relationship after the school year was unknown.
Roger Davies
Some time during Cho's life, she dated a fellow Ravenclaw — Roger Davies, who also served as her Captain on their house's Quidditch team — but it didn't last long since he eventually got a new girlfriend while Cho moved on with either Cedric or Harry. Davies asked Cho out sometime after Cedric's death, though Cho rejected him in favour for Harry; regardless, she used this to gauge Harry's feelings for her, and looked at Roger and his girlfriend as though they were setting a standard to which Cho expected Harry to live up.
Cedric Diggory
In her fifth year, Cho was asked to the Yule Ball by Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff student a year above her; the two began dating as late as after this. Because Cho was the person Cedric would miss most, she served as his hostage during the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament.[8] Cho and Cedric also had a date at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Cho was devastated when Cedric was murdered that June.
The following year was very difficult for her; in addition to missing Cedric, she was the subject of gossip regarding her burgeoning romance with Harry Potter, the only witness to Cedric's murder who was widely regarded as being either a liar or a nutter for claiming that Lord Voldemort had returned. Cho's grief and depression led her to almost constantly crying and causing her Quidditch abilities to suffer.[6] This was probably compounded by a lack of closure, as Harry was the only person who knew what had happened to Cedric and did not want to discuss it with Cho.
Given how, in spite of her genuinely intense grief, Cho managed to go on to date others, and eventually married a Muggle after the Second Wizarding War, it can be said that she learned to move on from the pain of losing Cedric.
Harry Potter
Harry Potter was drawn to Cho's good looks and developed a crush on her when she was in her fourth year,[7] and asked her to the Yule Ball in the next, though she had already agreed to attend with Cedric. Still, Cho treated Harry kindly, such as in refusing to wear a Potter Stinks/Support Cedric Diggory! badge during the Triwizard Tournament.[8]
In her sixth year, Cho began to return Harry's feelings, though she felt somewhat guilty for doing so, considering the recent murder of Cedric Diggory. She joined Dumbledore's Army and became nervous whenever Harry was nearby, something Harry also exhibited. They shared a kiss under the mistletoe around Christmas, but this was spoiled by Cho beginning to cry, and Harry being at a loss for how to respond.
The two went on a date in Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day, but Cho's feelings for Harry were confused because of her continuing grief over Cedric's death and Harry's discomfort with discussing it. She also became jealous of Harry's friendship with Hermione Granger, convinced they had feelings for each-other, and in a moment of weakness and insecurity, ditched the date. Harry, who was inexperienced with girls, found Cho's behaviour very confusing, especially when she tried to make him jealous and to gauge his feelings for her by mentioning that Roger Davies had asked her out, and ultimately leaving him in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop for the other customers to stare at him astonishingly.
Unimpressed with her attitude and for souring his experience of a first date, Harry grew angry at her. Though they eased up a bit after Cho read Harry's interview in The Quibbler, the strike that broke the relationship was when Marietta Edgecombe betrayed the D.A. and Cho stood up for her, angering Harry, who in turn again became angry with Harry and paranoid that he and Hermione were in a relationship.[6] After that, their relationship simply 'fell apart'.[9]
When Cho saw Harry on the Hogwarts Express at the end of the 1995–1996 school year, and again at the start of the 1996-1997 school year, she avoided him both times, as she was too embarrassed (and possibly still angry), for them to look at each other, let alone talk to each other.[6][9] On the other hand, Harry found himself not caring about Cho anymore due to his godfather Sirius Black's death being far more devastating to him than their break-up,[6] seemingly disregarding Cho with indifference as opposed to embarrassment. As for Marietta, he sneered at her limited success of hiding her disfigurement.[9]
However, by 1998, any negative feelings on Cho's part seemed to have vanished, as she offered to escort Harry to Ravenclaw Tower just before the Battle of Hogwarts. She was disappointed when Ginny Weasley fiercely suggested that Luna Lovegood escort him instead, suggesting that Cho may have appreciated some alone time with Harry, whether because of any lingering feelings or just because she would've liked to talk with him since after their fallout. Harry, on the other hand, did not so much as hesitate in accepting Ginny's suggestion and Luna's escort, indicating that he was still angry and/or indifferent towards her and had no interest in mending their relationship (though it is also possible that the then tense and desperate situation with Voldemort and his forces left Harry with little time or emotional energy to devote to Cho).[10]
Michael Corner
At the end of her sixth year, after the end of her relationship with Harry, Cho began dating Michael Corner, a Ravenclaw student a year below her. Michael's ex-girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, said that this happened shortly after she chucked Michael when he became sulky over a Ravenclaw-Gryffindor Quidditch match. Michael seems to have offered Cho comfort.[6] They may have continued to date even after Cho graduated from Hogwarts, as she went to sit by his side in the Room of Requirement upon returning to the school for the final battle.[10] However, they must have broken up at some point because she eventually married a Muggle.
Marietta Edgecombe
Marietta Edgecombe was Cho's friend and a fellow Ravenclaw. Marietta joined Dumbledore's Army mainly because Cho wanted her to; she was uncomfortable with opposing Dolores Umbridge because her mother worked at the Ministry of Magic. Cho thought no less of her for either Marietta's cynicism about the club nor Marietta's ultimate betrayal, seeing it as a forgivable mistake and being emphatically more upset that Hermione's jinx would cause an acne scar on Marietta's face for the rest of her life. She is more upset and defensive of this when she and Harry eventually talked about it, which became the straw that broke the camel's back in their relationship.[6]
Other friendships
Cho was, until the beginning of her sixth year, very popular. She had an entire group of Ravenclaw girl friends, who were constantly giggling, Marietta being one of them. However, as because of Cho's depression and grief-induced mood swings, all the others fell by the wayside. Being a Quidditch star and very pretty, she was the centre of the group, having a handful of friends accompany her even to the bathroom, and up until her sixth year she was never seen without them. At the welcoming feast in her sixth year, Cho chatted animatedly with her friends but later on she was mostly by herself or with Marietta.[8][6]
Dumbledore's Army
Cho became a member of Dumbledore's Army in 1995. It was an organisation led by Harry Potter, in order to oppose Dolores Umbridge. Cho's relationship with the other members of the army is unknown, but it is possible that they were all friends. Some members of Ravenclaw, such as Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, Padma Patil, and Luna Lovegood were members of the army, as well.
Other members were Zacharias Smith, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff, and Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan, Fred and George Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil (Padma's twin), Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Colin and Dennis Creevey from Gryffindor. She may also have been friends with Katie Bell as the two girls were in the same year and were seen chatting to one another after the Battle of Hogwarts.
Cho was not fond of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger however; she did not trust Harry's closeness and friendship with Hermione, generally suspicious that Harry had feelings for her as well. This was one of the reasons that Cho and Harry fell apart. Ironically, Hermione was trying to give advice to Harry on building a successful relationship with Cho. As for Ron, he was tactless when Cho came to Harry, accusing her of being biased in supporting the Tutshill Tornados while being ignorant of her desire to talk to Harry alone. Naturally this did little to endear her to Ron. Furthermore, as Harry would discuss Cedric's death with both Ron and Hermione, while refusing to do the same with Cho, this only increased Cho's dislike of Harry's best friends.
Ginny Weasley seemed relatively neutral about Cho, (though for obvious reasons she was not supportive of her and Harry's relationship), mentioning to Harry out of suggestion that maybe he should talk to her about Marietta instead of the long periods of avoidance from his end.
When the entire DA ostracised Marietta for betraying them, Cho alone stood up for her, putting her at odds with the rest of the group. This did not, however, appear to prevent her from retaining membership with the DA, and she fought with Dumbledore's Army during the Battle of Hogwarts, most of them surviving the war.