i'm almost done with first year already! and 'twisted' has over 420 reads and 60 votes. when i started this book, i thought that i would get almost no reads and/or votes because barely anybody reads yandere harry potter stories, but when i checked my book i was very pleasantly surprised. thank you all. now, onto the second-to-last chapter of first year.
~ chapter fourteen: through the trapdoor ~
In years to come, Y/N would never quite remember how she had managed to get through her exams when she half-expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by, and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.
It was sweltering hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.
They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox - points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion.
Y/N did the best she could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in her arm, which had been bothering her ever since her trip into the forest. Lavender Brown thought that Y/N had a bad case of exam nerves because Y/N couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Y/N kept being woken up by her old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood in the nightmare.
Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Harry and Y/N had seen in the forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their forehead and arm, but Ron and Hermione didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry and Y/N. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in dreams, and they were so busy with their studying they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.
Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harry and Y/N couldn't help cheering with the rest.
"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."
"See, 'Mione?" Y/N asked. "You study too much."
Hermione shot her a look. "It doesn't hurt to be prepared, does it?"
She always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.
"No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, you both, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."
Harry was rubbing his forehead and Y/N was rubbing her forearm.
"I wish we knew what this means!" she burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting-" ("So does mine," Harry added), "-it's happened before, but never as often as this."
"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.
"We're not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning ... it means danger's coming...."
Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.
"Harry, Y/N, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."
They both nodded, but they couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something they'd forgotten to do, something important. When they tried to explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one."
Harry and Y/N were quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work, though. They watched an owl flutter toward the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Hagrid was the only one who ever sent them letters. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy ... never ... but-
Y/N jumped to her feet, Harry following suit not long after.
"Where're you both going?" said Ron sleepily.
"We've just thought of something," said Y/N.
"We've got to go and see Hagrid," Harry added, "now."
"Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up.
"Don't you think it's a bit odd," Harry said, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just so happens to have an egg in his pocket?"
"How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law?" Y/N asked. "Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think?"
"Why didn't we see it before?" Harry finished.
"What are you talking about?" said Ron, but Harry and Y/N, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, didn't answer.
Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.
"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time for a drink?"
"Yes, please," said Ron, but Y/N cut him off.
"No, we're in a hurry, Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"
"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."
This confirmed Y/N's suspicions. Hagrid saw the four of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.
"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head - that's one o' the pubs down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."
Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas.
"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"
"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah ... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here.... He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after ... so I told him ... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon ... an' then ... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks... Let's see ... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted ... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy...."
"And did he -- did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Y/N asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Well -- yeah -- how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep--"
Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.
"I shouldn'ta told you that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey --where're yeh going?"
Harry, Ron, Y/N, and Hermione didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.
"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Y/N. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak -- it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"
They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him.
"We'll just have to--" Harry began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.
"What are you three doing inside?"
It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.
"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione, rather bravely, the other three thought.
"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to do. "Why?"
Harry swallowed -- now what?
"It's sort of secret," he said, but he wished at once he hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.
"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."
"He's gone?" Y/N asked frantically. "Now?"
"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Black, he has many demands on his time--"
"But this is important."
"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Black?"
"Look," Y/N said, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor -- it's about the Sorcerer's Stone--"
Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't pick them up.
"How do you know--?" she spluttered.
"Professor, I think -- I know, actually -- that Sn -- that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
Professor McGonagall eyes her with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."
"But Professor--"
"Black, I assure you I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She made to bend down to gather up the fallen books, but Hermione beat her to it and handed them to her. "Thank you, Miss Granger. Now, I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."
But they didn't.
"It's tonight," said Harry, once they were sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."
"But what can we--"
Hermione gasped. Harry, Ron, and Y/N wheeled round.
Snape was standing there.
"Good afternoon," he said smoothly.
They stared at him.
"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.
"We were--" Harry began, without any idea what he was going to say.
"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"
Y/N flushed with anger. They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.
"Be warned, Potter, Black -- any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you both are expelled. Good day to you."
He strode off in the direction of the staffroom.
Out on the stone steps, Y/N and Harry turned to the others.
"Right, here's what we've got to do," Y/N whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape -- wait outside the staffroom and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that."
"Why me?"
"It's obvious," said Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know." He put on a high voice, "'Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong...."
"Oh, shut up," said Hermione, but she agreed to go and watch out for Snape.
"And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor," Harry told Y/N and Ron. "Come on."
But that part of the plan didn't work. No sooner had the trio reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than Professor McGonagall turned up again and time, she lost her temper.
"I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!" she stormed. "Enough of this nonsense! If I hear you've come anywhere near here again, I'll take another fifty points from Gryffindor! Yes, Weasley, from my own House!"
Harry, Y/N, and Ron went back to the common room. Harry had just said, "At least Hermione's on Snape's trail," when the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Hermione came in.
"I'm sorry, Y/N, Harry!" she wailed. "Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I've only just got away, I don't know where Snape went."
"Well, that's it, then, isn't it?"
Ron and Hermione stared at the other two as they asked that question in unison.
"We're going out of here tonight and we're going to try and get to the Stone first," Harry explained firmly.
"You're mad!" said Ron.
"You can't!" aid Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"
"SO WHAT?" Y/N shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore! D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the House Cup? If Harry and I get caught before we can get to the Stone, well, we'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find us there, it's only dying a bit later than we would have, because we're never going over to the Dark Side! We're going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop us! Voldemort killed Harry's parents and my mum, alright? And I don't even know where my dad is! Hell, he could also be dead, for all I know!"
She glared at them. Even Harry, though he fully agreed with her, was shocked by her outburst.
"You're right, Y/N," said Hermione in a small voice.
"I'll use the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry, finally finding his voice. "It's just lucky I got it back."
"But will it cover all four of us?" said Ron.
"All — all four of us?"
"Oh, come off it," said Ron with a small smile. "You don't think we'd let you two have all the fun and go alone?"
"Of course not," said Hermione briskly. "We're your friends, and that's what friends do, and besides, how do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful...."
"But if we get caught, you two will be expelled too," Y/N argued.
"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flit wick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Okay," Y/N said as the three came down the stairs and walked across the floor, "all we gotta do is-"
They stopped when they heard croaking.
"Trevor," Harry muttered.
"Trevor shh!" Ron hushed. "Go, you shouldn't be here!"
"Neither should you."
Neville appeared behind a chair. "You're sneaking out again, aren't you?"
"Now, Neville, listen," said Y/N, "we were-"
"No! I won't let you!" Neville stood up. "You'll get Gryffindor in trouble again! I-I'll fight you!" He held out his fists.
"Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this..." Hermione said apologetically before taking out her wand. "Petrificus Totalus."
Neville's arm snapped to his side. He fell backwards onto the ground. No part of him could move at all, except for his eyes. Hermione put her wand back.
Ron gulped. "You're a little scary sometimes, you know that?" he asked. "Brilliant, but scary."
"Let's go," said Y/N as she walked past Neville. "Sorry."
"Sorry," Harry and Hermione said in unison as they followed her.
"It's for your own good, you know," Ron finished as he walked by Neville.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At the first foot of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top.
"I agree with Y/N, let her stab Mrs. Norris," Ron whispered in Harry's ear, but Harry shook his head. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her lamplike eyes on them, but didn't do anything.
They didn't meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip.
"Who's there?" he said suddenly as they climbed toward them. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"
He rose up in the air and floated there, swinging at them.
"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."
Harry had a sudden idea.
"Peeves," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."
Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock. He caught himself in time and hovered about a foot off the stairs.
"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake - I didn't see you - of course I didn't, you're invisible - forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."
"I have business here, Peeves," croaked Harry. "Stay away from this place tonight."
"I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves, rising up in the air again. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you."
And he scooted off.
"Brilliant, Harry!" whispered Y/N.
Harry grinned wide. 'Brilliant. She called my idea brilliant.'
A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor - and the door was already ajar.
"Well, there you are," Y/N said quietly, "Snape's already got past Fluffy."
Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress all four of them what was facing them. Underneath the Cloak, Harry turned to the other two.
"If you want to go back, we won't blame you," he said. "You can take the Cloak, we don't need it now."
"Don't be stupid," said Ron.
"We're coming," said Hermione.
Y/N pushed the door open.
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 Y/N. "Well, here goes..."
She put Hagrid's flute up to her lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Y/N 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 Y/N 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."
Y/N, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at herself.
"You want to go first? Are you sure?" asked Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."
Y/N handed the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled and twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.
Y/N and Harry climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom.
Y/N lowered herself through the hole until she was hanging on by her fingertips. Then she looked up at Harry and Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hades to Dumbledore, right?"
"Right," Ron said.
"Y/N, I don't think you should go first," said Harry in a worried tone. "What if something does happen to you? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something did happen and you..." He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence and instead trailed off, but Y/N knew what he was implying.
She gave him a reassuring smile and let go with one hand and reached to squeeze his hand. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure nothing will happen to me. Besides, it's too late, I've already made up my mind, haven't I, and I'm not backing down now."
"Right." Harry nodded, and they stayed like that for a while longer (Y/N didn't know how she hadn't lost her grip yet). Harry wanted to savor the feeling of their hands melding together, but Ron cleared his throat and said, "So, are we going to get to the Stone before Snape or not?"
Harry's face flushed. "Right. The Stone." He had been so preoccupied with the mesmerizing feeling of his and Y/N's hands clasped together that he had almost forgotten about the Stone. Reluctantly, he retracted his hand. "See you in a minute, then."
"I hope so," said Y/N, and she let go. Cold, damp air rushed past her as she fell down, down, down and-
FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump she landed on something soft. She sat up and felt around, her eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though she was sitting on some sort of plant.
"It's okay!" she called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, "it's a soft landing, you can jump!"
Harry followed right away, landing right next to Y/N. "You were right," were his words, "this is a soft landing."
Ron followed soon after, landing sprawled next to Harry.
"What's this stuff?" were his first words.
"I dunno," Y/N said, examining the soft landing, "but lucky it was here, so that it'd break our fall, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose. I suppose that's what it's meant for. Come on, Hermione!"
The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Y/N's other side.
"We must be miles under the school," she said.
"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.
"Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you three!"
She leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles. As for Harry, Ron and Y/N, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.
Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as the other three fought to pull the plant off them - Y/N nearly succeeded - but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.
"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is - it's Devil's Snare!"
"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.
"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Y/N gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around her chest.
"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare ... what did Professor Sprout say? - it likes the dark and the damp -"
"So light a fire!" Y/N choked.
"Yes - of course - but there's no wood!" Hermione fried, 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 set a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the other three 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 they joined her by the wall, wiping the sweat off his face as Y/N did the same.
"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry or Y/N don't lose their heads in a crisis - 'there's no wood,' honestly."
"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 slipped downward, and Harry and Y/N were reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, Harry and Y/N 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.
Y/N and 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."
He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms, and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked.
The other three followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora Charm.
"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!" Y/N said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys - look carefully. So that must mean..." she looked around the chamber while the other three 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 diced so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.
Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker and Y/N the youngest Chaser in a century. They both had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, they 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!" Harry 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!" Y/N called, not taking her 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 Harry and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"
Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and Y/N and Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Y/N leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Ron, Hermione, and Harry's cheers echoed around the high chamber.
They landed quickly, and Y/N ran to the door, the key struggling in her hand. She rammed it into the lock and turned - it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, they key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.
"Ready?" she asked the other three, her hand on the door handle. They nodded. She pulled the door open.
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, Y/N, and Hermione shivered slightly - the towering white chessmen had no faces.
"Now what do we do?" Y/N 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 at 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 three.
"This needs thinking about...." he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of four of the black pieces...."
Harry, Hermione, and Y/N stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but you all aren't exactly that good at chess-"
"We're not offended," said Y/N quickly. "Just tell us what to do."
"Well, Y/N, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go there instead of that castle. Harry, you also take the place of a bishop."
"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, two bishops, and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving four empty squares that Harry, Ron, Y/N, 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. Y/N's eyes were trembling. Even though she had not played wizarding chess that much, she had a feeling that she knew what he was doing - and she didn't like it one bit.
The game continued for a while before Ron, Harry, and Y/N studied the game.
Y/N froze up. 'Wait a minute.'
"RON, DON'T YOU DARE!" she yelled at him.
"What is it?" Hermione asked urgently.
"He's going to sacrifice himself!"
"No, Ron, you can't!" Hermione pleaded as Ron closed his eyes. "There must be another way!"
"Do you want to stop Snape or not?" Ron snapped before turning to the other two. "Harry, Y/N, it's you both that have to go on. I know it. Not me, not Hermione, you."
Y/N and Harry nodded.
"Knight ... to H-3."
Ron's horse moved forward and stopped on the square.
"Check," he said.
The Queen turned and advanced. Ron's breathing got faster as he clutched the reins. The Queen stopped in front of him. Then-
Y/N closed her eyes tightly as she heard a SMASH and a thud following shortly after. The thud told her everything she needed to know.
"Ron!" she cried. Hermione started walking toward him before Y/N advised her, "Don't move! Don't forget, we're still playing." She walked diagonal in front of the King and said, "Checkmate."
The King's sword fell to the ground. Harry let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as the other three ran to check on Ron, bending beside him.
"Take care of Ron," he told Hermione. "Then go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. Ron's right ... we have to go on."
"You'll be okay, Harry, Y/N," Hermione reassured them. "You two are excellent."
Y/N smiled nervously and let out a small laugh. "Not as good as you, 'Mione."
Hermione smiled. "Me? Books and cleverness? There are more important things. Friendship, and bravery. And Harry, Y/N, just be careful."
Harry and Y/N nodded, and they walked away.