They were standing on the edge of a giant chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and were carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. They all shivered slightly. The towering chessmen had no faces.
"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered.
"Isn't it obvious?" Ron said. "We have to play across the room."
Beyond 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 knights horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the Knight turned his helmeted head tk look down on Ron.
"Do we - er, heave to join you to get across?"
The black Knight nodded. Ron turned to the other three.
"This wants thinking about..." he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of four of the black pieces..."
Harry, Y/N and Hermione stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said. "Now don't be offended or anything, but out of you three, Y/N's the only one who's any good at chess -"
"We're not offended." said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."
"Well Harry, you take the place of that Pawn, Hermione, take the place of that Castle, and Y/N go instead of that 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, a Pawn, a Bishop and a Castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board. Leaving empty spaces for the four of them to take.
"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.
"Y/N - move diagonally four squares to the right."
Their first real shock was when their other Knight was taken. The white queen smashed him onto the floor and dragged him of the board, where he lay face down, quite still.
"Had to let that happen." said Ron. "Leaves you free to take that bishop Harry, go on."
The game went on. After a while, there were a huddle of many black and white pieces slumped across the opposite walls. Y/N had to give Ron credit for keeping all of them safe so far.
"We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think... yes, I've got to be taken."
"Are you having a bloody laugh Weasley?!" Y/N shouted.
"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted.
"That's Chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I'll make my move and she'll take me - that'll leave you free to checkmate the King, Y/N!"
"But-" started Harry.
"Don't you dare-" Y/N growled.
"So you want to stop Snape or not?"
"Ron-"
"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the stone!"
There was nothing else for it. Ron stepped forward and the white Queen Pounced. She struck Ron hard around the head with her stone arm and he crashed to the floor. Hermione screamed and Y/N said a few words he wouldn't dare say in front of Ellie. Ron looked as though he'd been knocked out.
Shaking with a mixture of anger and fear, Y/N moved three spaces to the left. "Checkmate." he said softly.
The white King took off his crown and threw it at Y/N's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted, leaving the door clear for them. The three of them ran up to Ron, who was unconscious on the floor.
"There's no time." Y/N said quickly. "But we can't just leave him here. Hermione, you should stay with him til he wakes up, or try to help him back up the trapdoor, use the brooms alright? They'll take you past Fluffy. Harry and I will go forward."
Hermione looked like she wanted to protest, but saw the logic in the situation. She gave the two of them a quick hug, hugging Y/N for a little longer, before they sped towards the door and barged through.
"What do you reackon's next?" Harry asked Y/N.
"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare - Flitwick must have charmed the keys - Mcgonnagall transfigured the Chessmen to make them alive - that leaves Quirrels spell, and Snape's." said Y/N, listing the names Hagrid had given them off his fingers.
They had reached another door.
"All right?" Harry whispered.
"Just open the door already."
A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making them Y/N almost gag. 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 it's head.
"I'm glad we didn't have to fight this one," Harry whispered as they stepped carefully over its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."
Y/N 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 Y/N.
"What do we do?" asked Harry. They stepped over the threshold and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway, purple fire. Black fire blocked the door up ahead, they were trapped.
Y/N seized a piece of paper that was lying next to the bottles, Harry looked over his shoulder as they read:
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever 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 neffle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,
To help you with your choices we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the potion tries to hide
You'll always find some on neffle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But of you would move onwards, neither would 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.
"What." said Harry. His face utterly blank, much to Y/N's amusement.
"This." said Y/N. "Is absolutely brilliant." he was grinning widely. "This isn't magic, this is logic. A Wizard who was extremely powerful but had zero logic wouldn't be able to get past this, they'd be stuck here forever. Like you for example."
"Hey!"
"Just joking." Y/N laughed.
"Are yous saying you understand this gibberish?" Harry said in awe.
"Of course I do. It's like a riddle, and where most people suck in this kinda stuff, it's where I excel in."
"Alright no need to brag."
"Sorry." he said, smirking.
After reading the paper several times, walking up towards the bottles, muttering to himself, Y/N finally picked up two of the bottles.
"Alright mate, I got it." he said. "This bottle will take us through the black fire, and this one will take us through the purple fire. But there's only enough in each bottle for one of us."
Harry nodded. "Alright then, listen, take the bottle that'll take you through the purple fire, if Hermione and Ron are still there, help them back up the trapdoor, and get any teacher who's willing to listen to you. If Snape's on the other side of the black fire, I doubt I'll stand a chance alone, I'll need all the help I can get."
"And who says you'll be the one going through the black fire?" Y/N growled.
"Y/N, there's no time to argue, only one of us can go through."
"But why you? What if Voldemort's there? The lunatic wants you dead remember?"
"He wants you dead too Y/N." Harry said stubbornly.
There was a silence.
"Alright fine." Y/N said eventually. "But I'll be back with a teacher as soon as I can. Don't you die on me buddy."
Y/N handed him one of the potions and drunk his one. He shuddered.
"Is it poison?" Harry asked anxiously.
"No, but it's like ice."
"Quick, go before it wears off."
Y/N walked towards the purple fire. He turned his head back just as Harry drained his potion. "You better not die Potter." he said.
Harry just chuckled as Y/N walked through the purple fire.
Dumbledore for the love of God you better be on your way back. He thought.