Speak Up - Female Deaf Harry Potter AU

Chess

The passageway sloped downward, and Hari was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, she 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...

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 Hermione.

'Probably,' said Harry. 'They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once'
They all covered their faces with their arms, and sprinted across the room. Hari expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at her any second, but nothing happened. They reached the door untouched. Ron pulled the handle, but it was locked, even Hermione's alohamora did nothing.

"Now what?" said Ron.

"These birds... they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.

They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering -- glittering ?

'Not birds' Hari signed, 'Winged keys, So that must mean... ' she looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. 'look! A broomstick! We've got to catch the key to the door!'

"But there are hundreds of them!" Hermione said

Ron examined the lock on the door.

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one -- probably silver, like the handle."

Hari flew into the air, and quickly caught the key.

She ran to the others, the key struggling in her hand. Ron 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.

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. Hari, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly - the towering white chessmen had no faces.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione 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.

"How?" said Hermione nervously.

"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 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..."

Hari and Hermione watched Ron think. Finally he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but neither of you are that good at chess--"

"We're not offended," said Hermione. "Just tell us what to do."

"Well, Hari, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you next to her 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 Hari, 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.

Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Harry's knees were trembling. What if they lost?

"Hari -- move diagonally four squares to the right."

Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown.

"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."

Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Hari and Hermione were in danger. He himself darted around the board, taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.

"We're nearly there," he said suddenly. "Let me think -- let me think..."

The white queen turned her blank face toward him.

"Yes... " said Ron, "It's the only way... I've got to be taken."

"NO!" Hermione shouted.

"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me -- that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Hari!"

'But--'

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

'It's not--'

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone! ....... Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go -- now, don't hang around once you've won."

He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron across the head with her stone arm, and he crashed to the floor -- Hermione screamed but stayed on her square -- the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out.

Shaking, Hari moved three spaces to the left.

The white king took off his crown and threw it at Hari's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look back at Ron, Hari and Hermione charged through the door and up the next passageway.

"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare; Flitwick must've put charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's."

They had reached another door. Hari pushed it open. They'd gone this far, they might as well finish, for Ron.

A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making both of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Hermione said as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."

She pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what came next -- but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.

'Snape's' said Harry. 'What do we have to do?'

They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.

"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Hari looked over her shoulder to read it:

Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,

Two of us will help you, which ever you would find,

One among us seven will let you move ahead,

Another will transport the drinker back instead,

Two among our number hold only nettle wine,

Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line.

Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,

To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:

First, however slyly the poison tries to hide

You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;

Second, different are those who stand at either end,

But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;

Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,

Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;

Fourth, the second left and the second on the right

Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.



"Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic -- it's logic -- a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."

Hermione read the paper several times. Then she walked up and down the line of bottles. While she did this, Hari, who was very good at potions, sniffed each one, and was able to identify the poisons, though nothing else.

"Got it," Hermione finally said "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire -- toward the Stone."

Hari looked at the tiny bottle. 'There's only enough there for one of us,'  she signed.
They looked at each other.

'Which one will get you back through the purple flames?' Hari signed

Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.

'You drink that,' signed Harry. 'No, listen, get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying-key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy -- go straight to Snape! Listen SNAPE! I might be able to hold Quirell, or whoever it is off for a while, but I'm no match for him, really."

Hermione protested. 

'FIND SNAPE! Go strait to SNAPE!' Hari signed, 'No one else.'

"But Snape's here-"

'No! Get Snape!'

"Alright Hari, -- but -- what if You-Know-Who's with him?"

'Well -- I was lucky once, wasn't I?' signed Harry, pointing at her scar. 

Hermione's lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at Hari and threw her arms around her.

She released Hari

"Hari -- you're a great witch, you know."

'I'm not as good as you,' said Hari, 'I can barely do magic.'

"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things -- friendship and bravery and -- oh Hari -- be careful!"

They both drank. It was as though ice was flooding her body. She put the bottle down and walked forward; she braced herself, saw the black flames licking her body, but couldn't feel them -- for a moment she could see nothing but dark fire -- then she was on the other side, in the last chamber.

There was already someone there, Hari was right, It had been Quirell all along.