A Thought about Cho Chang

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 22339

I just had a thought occur to me about Cho Chang and the last time we see
her, crying as the school stands and raises their goblets in a final salute
to Cedric Diggory.  I doubt that JKR mentioned that _she_ in particular was
crying just because she wanted to fill some blank space...I think there
might have been more going on there.

We've talked about Harry feeling guilty about Cedric's death, even though it
wasn't his fault---_what if Cho's feeling guilty because it WAS partly HER
fault?_  I could easily see Cho getting Cedric to enter the Triwizard
Competition, and even promising him a "reward" if he did, or him telling her
he did it mainly because he knew it would please her.  How would she feel if
she felt that her pestering him to put his name in the Goblet of Fire had
led to his undeserved death?  "He didn't want to do it---he had enough on
his plate, but I wheedled and persuaded him until he did it--and thanks to
that, thanks to ME, he's now dead!"  I think Cho Chang's a pretty decent
person (I don't understand the people who dislike her so; I think HP's own
opinion ought to count for something, and he does have some experience at
sniffing out wrong 'uns by GoF-time) and even though she couldn't have known
that the contest was a trap set for Harry, she'd still feel responsible for
setting the train of events that led to his death into motion.

If she and Harry talked about this together sometime (maybe meeting each
other in Diagon Alley, and breaking down and talking over butterbeers) this
could bring them a lot closer together than they've been so far.  (Okay, all
you Harry/somebody-else shippers, quit glaring at me!)  Whether this would
lead to a relationship, or just a closer friendship, is unknown...I make
Professor Trelawney look like an absolute whiz at foreseeing the future.

I hope this hasn't already been discussed to death; I can't currently access
the VFAQ file.  If it has, please consider me to have gone off and slammed
my ears in the oven door for a while.