Chapter 48
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Later that evening the trio snuck out of Gryffindor Tower. When they got there they the group found Peeves in the middle of the door way. But after some thinking on Harry's part they managed to get through. When they walked in they found Fluffy was already awake.
As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.
"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.
"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there."
"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry. "Well, here goes..."
He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased -- it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.
"Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as they slipped out of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads. "I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back.
"Want to go first, Hermione?"
"No, I don't!"
"All right." Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.
"What can you see?" Hermione said anxiously.
"Nothing -- just black -- there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop." Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at himself. "You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."
Harry tossed the flute over to Hermione but because she wasn't able to catch it, she found that the flute was extremely fragile as it fell to the ground and cracked in half.
"Oh that can't be good." Hermione said. All of a sudden they heard the sound of Fluffy starting to growl as it started to wake up.
"Bloody hell Hermione! What did you do?" Ron said just as Harry was lowering himself into the hole.
"Why are you getting onto me? Harry threw it." Hermione said, as a fully woken Fluffy towered over them.
"Any guy could have caught that." Ron said. As he jumped into the hole.
"I am not a guy though!" Hemione yelled down at Ron, but her voice was drowned out as Fluffy started to growl and bark all at the same time.
"Ok Hermione, think how would Nova handle this. He would probably kill Harry and Ron first, then deal with the dog." Hermione started to talk to herself to calm down. "Wait dog? That is right dog!"
Right as the three heads lunged at Hermione, she shouted, "SIT!!" Hearing her Fluffy immediately stopped in place stunned.
"You heard me. Sit!" Hermione told Fluffy. This time Fluffy sat and all three heads titled to side clearly confused.
"Lay" The dog then laid down.
"Good boy!" Hermione said as the then walked up to scratch its ear. "Now behave." And then turned to jump into the hole.
"Hermione you are alive! Great now help us out!" When Hermione got down, she found herself entangled with vines. Then she realized what it was.
"This is Devil's Snare." Hermione said calmly.
"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around his neck. "Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione. Or decide to let it just have you, Hermione thought to herself. Because right now it seemed tempting.
"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.
"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... what did Professor Sprout say? -- it likes the dark and the damp
"So light a fire!" Harry choked.
"Yes -- of course -- but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"
"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free.
"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.
"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis -- 'there's no wood,' honestly." Yep definitely will have Nova eat Ron later
"This way," said Harry, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward. All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and Harry was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. If they met a dragon, a fully-grown dragon -- Norbert had been bad enough...
"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered. Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead."Do you think it's a ghost?"
"I don't know... sounds like wings to me."
"There's light ahead -- I can see something moving."
They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.
"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron.
"Probably," said Harry. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once... well, there's no other choice... I'll run."
As Hermione joined them as they ran across the room to the big door and she tried the unlocking spell. It didn't work.
"Now what?" said Ron.
"These birds... they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.
They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering -- glittering?
"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys -- look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes -- look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"
"But there are hundreds of them!"
Ron examined the lock on the door. "We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one -- probably silver, like the handle." They each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one. Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.
"That one!" he called to the others. "That big one -- there -- no, there -- with bright blue wings -- the feathers are all crumpled on one side." Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling, and nearly fell off his broom.
"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come at it from above -- Hermione, stay below and stop it from going down and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"
Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed around the high chamber. They landed quickly, and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned -- it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.
"Ready?" Harry asked the other two, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open.
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The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight. They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly -- the towering white chessmen had no faces.
"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room." Behind the white pieces they could see another door.
"Great where is Nova when you need him?" Hermione said.
"Uh, excuse me? Why Nova. I play chess all the time? And I hardly ever lose." Ron said indignantly.
"I don't mean it that way Ron, but Nova did beat you in less than 5 minutes without losing a piece. And it was his first time playing." Hermione stated. Though she did feel bad at the low blow face Ron had on she felt it was true.
"Come on Harry! Back me up here." Ron pleaded.
"He is right Hermione. We have to admit it Ron is a great chess player." Harry said while turning to her. "And I don't know about you but our chance stand much higher with him playing than with us calling the shots.
"Fine. I don't like it but how do we get across?" Hermione asked.
"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."
He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.
"Do we -- er -- have to join you to get across?" The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two. "This needs thinking about he said. I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces...."
"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, next to him instead of that castle."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron. The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving three empty squares that Harry, Ron, and Hermione took.
"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes... look..." A white pawn had moved forward two squares.
After alot of exploding chess pieces later, "We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think let me think..."
The white queen turned her blank face toward him. "Yes..." said Ron softly, "It's the only way... I've got to be taken."
Hearing this Hermione suddenly had a strange idea, "Ron the game is over when the king is dead right?"
"Yes but not know Hermione, I am about to sacrifice myself so we can win." Ron said.
"You do that on your own time but don't we have things to do?" Hermione snapped. "Bombosa!"
Then with a bang the white king exploded to shrapnel, and Hermione walked off the board and into the next room.
"Boys you coming? Or do you want to play another game and do a heroic sacrifice?" Hermione's voice could be heard on the other side of the door.
Coming out of their trance Harry and Ron looked at each other, and quickly ran towards Hermione.
"Hey Harry?"
"Yeah Ron?
"I think we should be careful of Hermione in the future. Nova is a bad influence on her." Ron said.
"Agreed, but I think Hermione has been reading above her grade level." Harry whispered to him.
"ARE YOU COMING ARE NOT? I haven't got all night." Hermione yelled to them.
"Yes Ma'am." They both replied.
****************************************************
Long, Live the Queen? or would it be Rook?
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Later that evening the trio snuck out of Gryffindor Tower. When they got there they the group found Peeves in the middle of the door way. But after some thinking on Harry's part they managed to get through. When they walked in they found Fluffy was already awake.
As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.
"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.
"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there."
"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry. "Well, here goes..."
He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased -- it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.
"Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as they slipped out of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads. "I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back.
"Want to go first, Hermione?"
"No, I don't!"
"All right." Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.
"What can you see?" Hermione said anxiously.
"Nothing -- just black -- there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop." Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at himself. "You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."
Harry tossed the flute over to Hermione but because she wasn't able to catch it, she found that the flute was extremely fragile as it fell to the ground and cracked in half.
"Oh that can't be good." Hermione said. All of a sudden they heard the sound of Fluffy starting to growl as it started to wake up.
"Bloody hell Hermione! What did you do?" Ron said just as Harry was lowering himself into the hole.
"Why are you getting onto me? Harry threw it." Hermione said, as a fully woken Fluffy towered over them.
"Any guy could have caught that." Ron said. As he jumped into the hole.
"I am not a guy though!" Hemione yelled down at Ron, but her voice was drowned out as Fluffy started to growl and bark all at the same time.
"Ok Hermione, think how would Nova handle this. He would probably kill Harry and Ron first, then deal with the dog." Hermione started to talk to herself to calm down. "Wait dog? That is right dog!"
Right as the three heads lunged at Hermione, she shouted, "SIT!!" Hearing her Fluffy immediately stopped in place stunned.
"You heard me. Sit!" Hermione told Fluffy. This time Fluffy sat and all three heads titled to side clearly confused.
"Lay" The dog then laid down.
"Good boy!" Hermione said as the then walked up to scratch its ear. "Now behave." And then turned to jump into the hole.
"Hermione you are alive! Great now help us out!" When Hermione got down, she found herself entangled with vines. Then she realized what it was.
"This is Devil's Snare." Hermione said calmly.
"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around his neck. "Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione. Or decide to let it just have you, Hermione thought to herself. Because right now it seemed tempting.
"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.
"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... what did Professor Sprout say? -- it likes the dark and the damp
"So light a fire!" Harry choked.
"Yes -- of course -- but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"
"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free.
"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.
"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis -- 'there's no wood,' honestly." Yep definitely will have Nova eat Ron later
"This way," said Harry, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward. All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and Harry was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. If they met a dragon, a fully-grown dragon -- Norbert had been bad enough...
"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered. Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead."Do you think it's a ghost?"
"I don't know... sounds like wings to me."
"There's light ahead -- I can see something moving."
They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.
"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron.
"Probably," said Harry. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once... well, there's no other choice... I'll run."
As Hermione joined them as they ran across the room to the big door and she tried the unlocking spell. It didn't work.
"Now what?" said Ron.
"These birds... they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.
They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering -- glittering?
"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys -- look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes -- look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"
"But there are hundreds of them!"
Ron examined the lock on the door. "We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one -- probably silver, like the handle." They each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one. Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.
"That one!" he called to the others. "That big one -- there -- no, there -- with bright blue wings -- the feathers are all crumpled on one side." Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling, and nearly fell off his broom.
"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come at it from above -- Hermione, stay below and stop it from going down and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"
Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed around the high chamber. They landed quickly, and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned -- it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.
"Ready?" Harry asked the other two, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open.
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The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight. They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly -- the towering white chessmen had no faces.
"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room." Behind the white pieces they could see another door.
"Great where is Nova when you need him?" Hermione said.
"Uh, excuse me? Why Nova. I play chess all the time? And I hardly ever lose." Ron said indignantly.
"I don't mean it that way Ron, but Nova did beat you in less than 5 minutes without losing a piece. And it was his first time playing." Hermione stated. Though she did feel bad at the low blow face Ron had on she felt it was true.
"Come on Harry! Back me up here." Ron pleaded.
"He is right Hermione. We have to admit it Ron is a great chess player." Harry said while turning to her. "And I don't know about you but our chance stand much higher with him playing than with us calling the shots.
"Fine. I don't like it but how do we get across?" Hermione asked.
"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."
He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.
"Do we -- er -- have to join you to get across?" The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two. "This needs thinking about he said. I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces...."
"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, next to him instead of that castle."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron. The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving three empty squares that Harry, Ron, and Hermione took.
"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes... look..." A white pawn had moved forward two squares.
After alot of exploding chess pieces later, "We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think let me think..."
The white queen turned her blank face toward him. "Yes..." said Ron softly, "It's the only way... I've got to be taken."
Hearing this Hermione suddenly had a strange idea, "Ron the game is over when the king is dead right?"
"Yes but not know Hermione, I am about to sacrifice myself so we can win." Ron said.
"You do that on your own time but don't we have things to do?" Hermione snapped. "Bombosa!"
Then with a bang the white king exploded to shrapnel, and Hermione walked off the board and into the next room.
"Boys you coming? Or do you want to play another game and do a heroic sacrifice?" Hermione's voice could be heard on the other side of the door.
Coming out of their trance Harry and Ron looked at each other, and quickly ran towards Hermione.
"Hey Harry?"
"Yeah Ron?
"I think we should be careful of Hermione in the future. Nova is a bad influence on her." Ron said.
"Agreed, but I think Hermione has been reading above her grade level." Harry whispered to him.
"ARE YOU COMING ARE NOT? I haven't got all night." Hermione yelled to them.
"Yes Ma'am." They both replied.
****************************************************
Long, Live the Queen? or would it be Rook?
Later that evening the trio snuck out of Gryffindor Tower. When they got there they the group found Peeves in the middle of the door way. But after some thinking on Harry's part they managed to get through. When they walked in they found Fluffy was already awake.As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them."What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered."Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there.""It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry. "Well, here goes..."He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased -- it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep."Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as they slipped out of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads. "I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back."Want to go first, Hermione?""No, I don't!""All right." Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open."What can you see?" Hermione said anxiously."Nothing -- just black -- there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop." Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at himself. "You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."Harry tossed the flute over to Hermione but because she wasn't able to catch it, she found that the flute was extremely fragile as it fell to the ground and cracked in half."Oh that can't be good." Hermione said. All of a sudden they heard the sound of Fluffy starting to growl as it started to wake up."Bloody hell Hermione! What did you do?" Ron said just as Harry was lowering himself into the hole."Why are you getting onto me? Harry threw it." Hermione said, as a fully woken Fluffy towered over them."Any guy could have caught that." Ron said. As he jumped into the hole."I am not a guy though!" Hemione yelled down at Ron, but her voice was drowned out as Fluffy started to growl and bark all at the same time."Ok Hermione, think how would Nova handle this. He would probably kill Harry and Ron first, then deal with the dog." Hermione started to talk to herself to calm down. "Wait dog? That is right dog!"Right as the three heads lunged at Hermione, she shouted, "SIT!!" Hearing her Fluffy immediately stopped in place stunned."You heard me. Sit!" Hermione told Fluffy. This time Fluffy sat and all three heads titled to side clearly confused."Lay" The dog then laid down."Good boy!" Hermione said as the then walked up to scratch its ear. "Now behave." And then turned to jump into the hole."Hermione you are alive! Great now help us out!" When Hermione got down, she found herself entangled with vines. Then she realized what it was."This is Devil's Snare." Hermione said calmly."Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around his neck. "Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione. Or decide to let it just have you, Hermione thought to herself. Because right now it seemed tempting."Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest."Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... what did Professor Sprout say? -- it likes the dark and the damp"So light a fire!" Harry choked."Yes -- of course -- but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands."HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?""Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something, and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free."Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face."Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis -- 'there's no wood,' honestly." Yep definitely will have Nova eat Ron later"This way," said Harry, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward. All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and Harry was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. If they met a dragon, a fully-grown dragon -- Norbert had been bad enough..."Can you hear something?" Ron whispered. Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead."Do you think it's a ghost?""I don't know... sounds like wings to me.""There's light ahead -- I can see something moving."They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door."Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron."Probably," said Harry. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once... well, there's no other choice... I'll run."As Hermione joined them as they ran across the room to the big door and she tried the unlocking spell. It didn't work."Now what?" said Ron."These birds... they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering -- glittering?"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys -- look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes -- look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!""But there are hundreds of them!"Ron examined the lock on the door. "We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one -- probably silver, like the handle." They each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one. Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole."That one!" he called to the others. "That big one -- there -- no, there -- with bright blue wings -- the feathers are all crumpled on one side." Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling, and nearly fell off his broom."We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come at it from above -- Hermione, stay below and stop it from going down and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed around the high chamber. They landed quickly, and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned -- it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice."Ready?" Harry asked the other two, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open. Find authorized novels in Webnovelfaster updates, better experiencePlease click www.webnovel.com for visiting. The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight. They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly -- the towering white chessmen had no faces."Now what do we do?" Harry whispered."It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room." Behind the white pieces they could see another door."Great where is Nova when you need him?" Hermione said."Uh, excuse me? Why Nova. I play chess all the time? And I hardly ever lose." Ron said indignantly."I don't mean it that way Ron, but Nova did beat you in less than 5 minutes without losing a piece. And it was his first time playing." Hermione stated. Though she did feel bad at the low blow face Ron had on she felt it was true."Come on Harry! Back me up here." Ron pleaded."He is right Hermione. We have to admit it Ron is a great chess player." Harry said while turning to her. "And I don't know about you but our chance stand much higher with him playing than with us calling the shots."Fine. I don't like it but how do we get across?" Hermione asked."I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron."Do we -- er -- have to join you to get across?" The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two. "This needs thinking about he said. I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces....""Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, next to him instead of that castle.""What about you?""I'm going to be a knight," said Ron. The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving three empty squares that Harry, Ron, and Hermione took."White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes... look..." A white pawn had moved forward two squares.After alot of exploding chess pieces later, "We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think let me think..."The white queen turned her blank face toward him. "Yes..." said Ron softly, "It's the only way... I've got to be taken."Hearing this Hermione suddenly had a strange idea, "Ron the game is over when the king is dead right?""Yes but not know Hermione, I am about to sacrifice myself so we can win." Ron said."You do that on your own time but don't we have things to do?" Hermione snapped. "Bombosa!"Then with a bang the white king exploded to shrapnel, and Hermione walked off the board and into the next room."Boys you coming? Or do you want to play another game and do a heroic sacrifice?" Hermione's voice could be heard on the other side of the door.Coming out of their trance Harry and Ron looked at each other, and quickly ran towards Hermione."Hey Harry?""Yeah Ron?"I think we should be careful of Hermione in the future. Nova is a bad influence on her." Ron said."Agreed, but I think Hermione has been reading above her grade level." Harry whispered to him."ARE YOU COMING ARE NOT? I haven't got all night." Hermione yelled to them."Yes Ma'am." They both replied.****************************************************Long, Live the Queen? or would it be Rook?
