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Ron took a deep breath, steadied himself, and began to play.
They called it wizard's chess, but in truth, it was very much like ordinary chess. It was not just the pieces that looked alike. Even the rules were almost exactly the same. The biggest difference was that, in wizard's chess, the pieces moved on their own, and...
With a loud crash, the white knight raised its sword and smashed a black pawn to pieces, scattering fragments across the floor.
Ron's breathing started to quicken. His face flushed slightly, and his palms were already slick with sweat.
If a blow like that was powerful enough to shatter a piece, then if it landed on one of them...
Malfoy caught his reaction instantly.
"Don't panic, Ronaldinho! Calm down! You can do this!"
That Ronaldinho made Ron's blood pressure spike instantly, but strangely enough, it also helped him calm down.
So he began directing the black knight, which soon smashed a white piece apart in turn.
'This is just a game of wizard's chess. This is just a game of wizard's chess. Roast Beef, this is just a game of wizard's chess... ah, damn it!'
Ron kept repeating that to himself over and over.
Whether that kind of self-hypnosis really worked or not, no one knew, but under his command, the black pieces began to show overwhelming power. They advanced like an unstoppable force, crushing white piece after white piece.
Perhaps sensing the danger, the white pieces also began attacking more and more fiercely, and several black pieces were shattered into fragments because of it.
'This is going to work. If I can checkmate the king, the victory is ours.'
Under Ron's command, the white pieces' room to maneuver kept shrinking, until there was almost nowhere left for the white king to go.
"One more move and it's checkmate."
Ron's face lit up with excitement.
But then...
The white queen moved forward without expression and stopped in front of Malfoy.
That meant that, on the next move, he would be taken.
"Wait..."
Ron's face went pale in an instant.
He had seen the problem.
And it was a serious one.
If Malfoy moved out of the way at that moment, then the black knight would no longer be able to checkmate the white king, and the white queen would instead checkmate the black king.
Which meant... they would lose the entire game.
But if Malfoy stayed where he was and they carried through with the checkmate, then Malfoy would be taken.
"There has to be a way. There has to be a way. Damn it! How did I overlook this?!"
Ron broke into a cold sweat, desperately trying to find a solution.
"There isn't one!"
Malfoy's voice suddenly rang out, cutting Ron off. His expression was surprisingly calm.
"This is the only path. Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary."
"Do you remember Slytherin's motto? Victory above all. Glory above all."
"Do you remember what the Sorting Hat said? The cunning and ambitious will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals."
"We're going to win! We're going to win this! We are not dead weight!"
"Go, black bishop. Bring us the final victory!"
Malfoy seized command from Ron and ordered the black piece to deliver checkmate to the white king.
Dudley had told him once that, in the past, Gryffindor and Slytherin had actually once been very close. Two great friends, comrades through life and death, people who could trust each other fully with their backs. Maybe they had gone their separate ways because of differences in ideals, but that did not mean what they had shared was any less genuine.
Malfoy admired that kind of bond.
And he wanted real friends too.
He remembered that Ron was the best at wizard's chess.
But he had never said anything.
The truth was, he was very good at wizard's chess as well.
His level was not below Ron's.
The white queen advanced expressionlessly until it stood before Malfoy.
Ron shut his eyes, overcome with pain.
Harry and Neville shut theirs as well.
Hermione did the same, unable to bear what she thought was about to happen.
Malfoy slowly closed his eyes too, accepting the fate waiting for him.
'Now, Ron, Potter, everyone... now we're great partners too.'
THUMP!
But it was not the brutal scene they had imagined.
The white queen merely tapped Malfoy lightly on the head.
The next instant, he dropped to the floor unconscious with a dull thud.
"I think he's okay, right?"
When they saw he hadn't been smashed to pieces, Harry and the others finally let out the breath they had been holding.
Neville thought for a moment and said,
"That was lighter than one of D's usual hits. Not fatal, but he'll definitely be out for a while."
"Let's hurry to the next room."
The white king removed its own crown, tossed it at their feet, and declared the group's victory.
The remaining white pieces bowed and stepped aside, opening a path ahead.
The four of them immediately followed that passage, and the door to the next stage was pushed open.
The moment they entered, a nauseating stench hit them in the face.
"This stuff burns your eyes."
Harry rubbed his eyes hard to clear away the tears caused by the irritation.
Otherwise, he would not even have been able to see what lay ahead.
That could no longer be described as mere bad smell.
It was a weapon.
That was right, exactly as Dudley always said: a biological weapon.
A strange roar came from inside the room, and the stench seemed to grow even thicker.
Once again, Hermione was the one who acted. With a flick of her wand, she greatly reduced the smell around them, at least enough for them to make out the inside of the chamber.
"It's a troll!"
An enormous creature, reeking from every inch of its body, was charging straight at them with its claws and arms raised.
The young wizards did not panic. Calmly, they drew their wands and each cast a spell at the troll.
And then... the troll fell to the floor.
After the Halloween incident, the professors had specifically taught the students how to deal with a troll, and they had even captured a live one so everyone could practice on the spot.
So now, every student at Hogwarts already knew how to deal with a troll.
For them, the difficulty of that stage was not much greater than the Devil's Snare.
In fact, it might even have been easier.
The poor troll barely had time to make an entrance before being defeated.
Clamping their hands over their noses, the four of them hurried out of that room.
It smelled too awful.
Staying in there was torture.
The next room was simple. There was only a table, with seven differently shaped bottles lined up on it, and a wall of fire blocking the path ahead.
On the table lay a piece of parchment covered in clues.
"Is this... a logic puzzle?"
Harry asked after reading it. He had seen something similar back when he studied at St. George's.
But since he had never taken that sort of thing seriously, he had no idea what the answer was, much less how to solve it.
So his eyes instinctively turned to the only academic genius in the group.
'Without D, only you can save us.'
"No. This is a Potions problem too."
Hermione picked up one of the bottles and lightly sniffed what was inside.
"There are two ways to figure out which potion is the right one."
But those potions had been prepared by Snape, a true potions master. An ordinary wizard would never be able to distinguish them. Only another potions master could.
Fortunately, he had left enough clues behind.
Hermione solved the riddle quickly.
"There's only enough here for two people."
She looked at the amount of potion in the bottle and frowned in dissatisfaction.
"In other words, only two of us can drink it."
Then she paused, frowned slightly, and turned to Harry with complete seriousness.
"I think... this potion should be for you and Neville."
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