Behind the door was a pitch-black room. As the three of them stepped inside, the room suddenly lit up, revealing a breathtaking scene.
They stood at the edge of a giant chessboard, with towering black stone chess pieces in front of them.
On the opposite side of the room were similarly sized white chess pieces. None of the pieces had carved faces, and they stood tall, exuding an intimidating presence.
Ron tried to take a step forward, and the soldiers among the white pieces immediately moved.
"Bloody hell!"
They drew their weapons and blocked Ron's path, forming a "chess" wall.
"It looks like we have to play a game of chess against the other side and win to pass through. And, unsurprisingly, we probably have to act as the pieces, replacing three of the black pieces," Ron speculated.
He asked a black knight for confirmation and received a positive answer.
This made Ron sigh; he knew that being a chess piece was far riskier than being a player. Pieces could be sacrificed; players could not. If possible, he would have preferred to be the player, but that wasn't an option.
Ron invited three black pieces to leave the board, then he, Harry, and Daphne took their places.
"I'll do the commanding. Not to brag, but my wizard chess skills are among the best at Hogwarts," Ron said, trying to take command before the game started.
"Oh?" Harry, who was often beaten by Ron in wizard chess, didn't mind, but Daphne, who had never played against Ron, raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat unconvinced.
Given Ron's previous performance, she found it hard to trust this freckled Weasley boy.
"Alright, how about we both command together?"
Seeing Daphne's change in demeanor, Ron's confidence deflated like a balloon, and he decided to compromise, suggesting they co-command.
However, this unintentionally committed a major chess blunder: multiple commanders.
Playing chess with two comanders can often be less effective than playing alone, as not every player can follow their partner's strategy, and sometimes they might even hinder their teammate.
This was the case with Ron and Daphne.
Both were skilled at wizard chess, but when combined, they had a peculiar negative impact on each other's performance.
The white pieces charged aggressively on the board, putting the black pieces at a severe disadvantage.
One black piece after another was ruthlessly shattered into lifeless fragments and swept off the board to pile up against the wall. Despite Ron and Daphne's formidable skills, their combined efforts were unable to stop the white pieces' relentless assault.
The black pieces' defeat was only a matter of time.
"Move the bishop three squares to the left!"
"Daphne, no! That will make us lose!"
"No!" A ruthless determination flashed across Daphne's face. "Who says the outcome has to be decided on the board? Let's just try to eliminate as many white pieces as possible next!"
Ron and Harry were stunned.
Before Ron and Harry could react, Daphne commanded the remaining black pieces to launch a suicidal attack on the white pieces.
She successfully shattered several white pieces, but in doing so, she caused the black pieces' already precarious situation to collapse completely.
Daphne seemed entirely unfazed, her moves appearing as though she had bet on her own loss, sometimes even sacrificing black pieces senselessly.
Ron had given up on commanding, quietly observing Daphne's actions.
He didn't quite understand why Daphne was doing this—perhaps it was to start another game with herself in sole control?
Finally, the white bishop advanced to the black king, who then removed his crown and threw it at the bishop's feet, signifying the black pieces' defeat.
Although there weren't many white pieces left on the board, they still managed to checkmate the black king, didn't they?
Now it was time for some off-the-board tactics.
Just as the white pieces were slowly returning to their positions to reset the board, a spell struck the white king's neck with precision...
Swoosh!—decapitating it.
The king's head fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, with the crown rolling far away.
Harry and Ron: "!!"
The other pieces were stunned, as if they couldn't believe what had just happened.
"Just as I thought! Wind Blade—" Daphne exclaimed in delight. She continued to swing her wand, sending out one-foot-long wind blades one after another, shattering the remaining white pieces into dust.
When the chess pieces were engaged in combat, Daphne noticed that they were made of a rather brittle type of marble—so fragile that even a slight bump could cause cracks, let alone her wind blades.
Almost every wind blade she cast left a one-foot-long gash on the pieces, spreading numerous cracks. Striking a piece in a weak spot, such as the neck or limbs, would break it instantly. Even for thicker areas, an additional strike would suffice.
Daphne's attack caught the pieces off guard. By the time they reacted and began to attack her, most of the white pieces had already been destroyed.
At this moment, Harry finally understood what Daphne meant by saying, "The outcome doesn't necessarily have to be decided on the board."
"That was cunning—Ah!?"
As Harry pondered this, Ron suddenly tackled him, knocking him to the ground.
It turned out that the black pieces had started attacking them—when Daphne decided to break the rules, the black pieces no longer considered them allies but enemies instead.
Thanks to Ron's quick action, Harry avoided the black king's attack, but Ron wasn't as lucky. He took a heavy blow to the thigh, screaming in pain.
Before the black king could strike again, a wind blade severed its head.
Daphne had floated into the air by this point, unleashing a barrage of wind blades like raindrops, clearing the remaining pieces from the board in a matter of seconds.
After the last chess piece fell with a crash, Daphne landed beside Ron, pursing her lips as she examined his injury. She regretted not coordinating with Harry and Ron beforehand; otherwise, they could have achieved a flawless victory.
"It's broken. Smell this quickly," Daphne said, opening a vial of sleeping potion just enough to let Ron catch a whiff. He promptly passed out.
With a sigh, Daphne remarked that they would have to leave Ron there temporarily.
Without any pieces in their way, the two of them easily crossed the second door. Beyond the third door was a giant troll, which Daphne defeated effortlessly—thanks to her previous experience, she dispatched the troll in an instant.
In the room beyond the troll, there was a table with seven bottles of various shapes.
Daphne picked up the note left on the table.
For her, the puzzle on the note was not difficult to solve.
The problem arose when she picked up the inconspicuous little bottle and found that the potion inside had already been consumed.
Daphne and Harry fell silent.
________
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