A/N: I wished I owned Harry Potter. Alas, I do not. Ms. Rowling, I'd be happy to take it off your hands
A/N: I'm not actually a good chess player, so I won't bother with notation at any point. Just assume they are both fairly good, but they are no Bobby Fisher
Chapter 59: Pieces on a Board
May, 1995
"I'm happy we finally have the chance to do this," Susan said, smiling at Harry.
"Yeah, as am I," Harry said, sitting across from her. "This year has been a little crazy."
"And fairly violent," Susan commented. "Chess is the nice break we need." She looked up and saw Harry glazing at her quizzically. "Not that I am blaming you."
"No, I get that," Harry responded with a sigh. "But I am far from blameless. I heard Dean call me Hurricane Harry?" The green-eyed wizard chuckled at that. "Every time I leave and come back, I certainty seem to bring something with me."
"But the drama is dealt with now?" Susan asked, as she took two pawns in her hand.
"Oh yes," Harry said, picking a hand and revealing the black pawn. "Some people were very upset by the assassination attempt last week." Harry had kept the fact that he had not been the intended target a secret from all the other students. Well, exempting Fleur, but she didn't count. It wasn't worth keeping secrets from her, though every now and then he held something trivial back. Fleur sure had fun ways of dragging information out of him.
"You know you don't need to sugarcoat anything with me," Susan said as she moved a pawn forward. "My aunt didn't really keep her hands clean during the last war, and she never lies to me."
"I'm well aware," Harry said, moving a knight forward in response. "But as someone who probably knows a few secrets from your aunt, you also know that are certain things I can't reveal. What I can reveal is that the person behind some of the attacks were found, and a few interested parties delivered what could best be described as punitive punishment."
"I heard a rumor that the Beauxbatons students and Karkaroff were not at fault for their attack, but the Slytherin's were entirely at fault," Susan said. She moved a piece forward as Harry considered her words. He decided that discretion was the better part of valor for the time.
"I can neither confirm nor deny that."
"Come on Harry!" Susan fixed him with a glare. "Don't give me any of that barrister talk! My life was literally in danger. I have a right to know whether or not I need to draw my wand anytime I see an upper year Slytherin near me."
"Well, supposedly Snape is holding onto their wands," Harry said as he made a move, gazing at the board.
"And you trust Snape. I know for a fact that you blasted his ass off a dueling platform at auror training." Susan stated.
"You do?" Harry was a little surprised by that. Then Susan cocked an eyebrow. "The twins told you."
"No. The twins told everyone. Of course the Slytherins are refuting it, but Jessie is staying silent on it, so that is a statement in and of itself."
"Hmph."
"You really got strong when you vanished, didn't you?" Susan asked. "Cedric said you really lost it a few days ago, showed off some real powerful magic. Some kind of modified cutter he had never even heard of."
"Man, I had no idea Hufflepuff's were such awful gossips," Harry remarked. Susan didn't say anything, focused on the game. After a quick series of moves Harry was up a pawn and a knight.
"Apparently you learned some new spells and how to be half decent at chess," Susan said as she considered the board. "Did you get any sleep while you were away?"
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February, 1995
"So, where are we?" Harry asked, looking around and trying to see anything through the heavy rain.
"The next place for your training," Nambung said confidently. "I need to take care of some business, so I'm leaving you with Li Min." Harry made a face at that. If Nambung's training style could best be described as tough, Li Min's training was blood-spitting vicious. "Oh relax. She will not be doing your physical and battle training."
"Oh?" Harry looked around and saw a figure in the distance. "That the person."
"Dead." Harry felt cold steel on his neck and froze. "This is the boy?" Harry stayed still, his mind racing. He hadn't even felt the presence of the attacker, and he could feel Nambung even when his master was masking his magical signature.
"This is he," Nambung said. "Alexis, I'll leave his training in your hands." The blade withdrew and Harry turned to see a blonde-women at least a foot taller than him staring at him critically. "Harry, this is Alexis Bracken, the combat trainer for the Wolves." Harry matched her stare. "She'll be taking over your physical training."
"Then what am I here for?" Li Min complained. "I have other stuff to do."
"We discussed this," Nambung told her, an edge of command in his voice, stilling the second in command. "You will work on teaching Harry the other two aspects of what we do." Nambung starting walking towards the figure in the distance and Harry followed behind. "Harry, you did excellent during the combat missions, but you still have a lot to learn. I'll be back soon enough, but for now you will need to fight someone with a different style to grow. You also need to expand beyond just a competent combat operative."
"The Mibu Wolves take on a lot of combat missions, that's true. But like most special ops groups, we operate in three capacities. Combat," Nambung held up a finger, "is our primary purpose, but often people prefer to avoid open warfare. Sometimes the best power is information." He held up a second finger. "Information gathering, espionage, spying, even leaking certain secrets you have. Your education has been lacking in this area."
"You also need to understand politics better. Li Min will give you a primer on Asian politics, but she will do a little more detail around English and European politics, as it is the most important for you right now. Who knows, in time you might be a liaison between Britain and Asia, if they ever respected us enough." Harry rolled his eyes at that. "Political strategy is key, and Li Min believes chess is a useful way to learn strategy. She plays a special brand of chess, so it should be informative. That will be a key facet of her training?"
"We are going to play chess and train in politics in the pouring rain?" Harry shot back. They had reached the figure in the distance. It was a cloaked figure, totally unmoving.
"Of course not." Nambung put up a hand and Harry stopped. He moved forward and whispered to the cloaked figure for a few minutes. Alexis and Li Min stood at his side as Harry fidgeted nervously. He saw Nambung hand some odd looking coins to the figure, who extended his hands. Harry heard a creaking sound and jumped back as he saw a giant chasm below him.
"Let's go." Harry's collar was grabbed by Li Min, who jumped into the giant hole. Harry struggled for half a moment before he felt the air leaving his body as Alexis landed a hard kick on his torso. Harry rolled away from the blow and looked around. The ground was not far below him, so Harry landed easily and came up with his fist balled.
"What was that?" Harry heard the grating sound again, and looked up to see two iron gates swing shut above him. He was stuck in the chasm. "Seriously, what is going on?"
"Nambung must really like him," Alexis remarked to Li Min who shrugged. "He told me we each get 9 hours a day. I'll take him first?"
"For all that is holy, can someone please tell me what is going on?" Harry asked. He didn't have time to get an answer as he was forced to push magic into his hands to block a heavy kick from Alexis aimed at his shoulder.
"Defend yourself," the trainer demanded, and Harry countered with his own magically enhanced kick. "Good. Your nine hours start now." Harry jumped back avoiding a swipe of her sword. As she didn't press the attack but began to stalk around him, Harry realized this was not a normal spar. She said it would be nine hours twice now. Harry began to moderate his magic as he kept his distance. He had not done too many training sessions that lasted more than 30 minutes. This was about endurance as much as anything else.
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May, 1995
"Not much," Harry admitted. "But enough."
"How did you learn all of that in one and a half months?" Susan asked, moving a pawn to protect her queen.
"Would you believe I was gone for more than one and a half months?" Harry responded. "Check." His bishop checked Susan's king. Susan frowned as she was forced to give up a pawn.
"I know how to read a calendar." Susan moved his rook forward, and it was Harry's turn to frown as he was forced to give up a knight.
"Well, let's just say it felt like more than a month," Harry prevaricated.
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February, 1995
"We are nearing two weeks," Harry pointed out as he looked up from the book Li Min had given him. "You know I have a magical binding contract to be somewhere pretty soon, and I feel like you guys are only part of the way through your training program." Li Min and Alexis looked at each other and just started laughing. "I know you both think my life is a joke, but I tend to take it somewhat seriously."
"No, we are not laughing at your life," Alexis said. The training master had taken a while to warm to Harry, but after the third 9 hour spar where Harry lasted 5 hours before Alexis's blade reached his unprotected torso, she began to warm and vary her training. Harry was constantly stunned by her use of physical magic. She never used her wand, and it forced Harry's sensory magic to a new level. If he just relied on his 5 senses, he wouldn't last more than a few minutes. She was literally fast enough that Harry couldn't follow her.
No, that wasn't it. Harry at top speed with his full power expended was so fast that the eye couldn't follow him. But Alexis, even when holding back was faster. Hers was a speed that his eyes couldn't even see. But with sensory magic, he could sense the direction of her attacks. Since Harry had realized that without so much as a hint, she had started to treat him with respect.
"Speak for yourself," Li Min countered. "I think your life is hysterical." Harry didn't bother rolling his eyes. Li Min had decided early on in their relationship she didn't like him. It seemed like that wasn't an opinion he could change. She was still an excellent teacher committed to her task, but from a personal standpoint they would never get along.
"But back to the point at hand," Alexis noted. "Did you not ever wonder why we came to this random place to train? Nambung's house is as safe as you can be for when it comes to training. With two senior officers in the Mibu Wovles and his own apprentice, isn't a random place in Mongolia miles from civilization odd?"
"Of course it is," Harry responded. "But all the odd things Nambung does, this doesn't even crack the top 10." That even got a grin from Li Min.
"Fair," Alexis said. "But you saw the gates close overhead when we jumped into this hole. And you haven't asked this perpetual twilight or void we seem to be in?"
"You two have kept me pretty busy," Harry commented. "Not a lot of time to admire or observe the scenery. But what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"
"Everything in the world, or not the world," Li Min retorted.
"That's a pretty vague counter," Harry snapped back.
"Harry, she's right," Alexis interjected before Harry and Li Min could start to really snap at each other. Harry suspected she was tired of the conflict pattern Harry someone technically her superior seemed to get into. Harry was more than aware of the odd power dynamic. Li Min was the second in command, but during their mission in Peru, Harry had taken command of the second squad with Li Min assisting him, as Nambung had asked her. She had not taken it well, but to go against the commander was anathema to her.
"We aren't in the world?" Harry chuckled. Alexis just nodded, and Harry felt the color fade from his face. "Alexis…"
"The figure Nambung spoke to is called a time keeper. There are only two time keepers in the world. No one reallys know much about them, how they got their powers, or anything like that. There have always been two. I don't know if they pass their powers on, or if the same two have existed forever. They have special powers that can be bought. I have no idea what Nambung gave him to do this, but the time keeper opened a gate to a different dimension. Time…works differently here."
"Time works differently?"
"If we try to leave here," Alexis pointed at the gates in the sky, "we could end up at any point in human history. But once the agreed upon time is met, we leave and much less time will have passed. I believe that although we have been in here for what feels like two weeks, it has been less than 2 days."
"You are serious."
"Yes." Alexis looked serious, and there was no humor on Li Min's face. "You realize how crazy that sounds.
"Harry, if you keep in mind that magic is involved, nothing should sound crazy anymore. A year ago, wouldn't a man who could summon lightning without even moving his wand have been crazy. You draw the line at time manipulation?" Alexis pointed out.
"Fair point," Harry conceded. "So time is moving at a 7:1 clip?"
"Closer to 8, but yes. We'll be here for a while. Then I will swap out for Nambung," Alexis said. "He has some things he wants to teach you, more magical stuff since I'm not a great caster. He isn't sending you back to England until he is sure you won't cause stupid problems, like getting kidnapped." Both masters glared at him, and Harry held up his hands in mock surrender. "So don't worry too much about how much time it is. You aren't getting out of memorizing the Wizengamot seats." Harry just sighed and returned to the book in his hand.
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May, 1995
"Sure, it felt like more than a month," Susan agreed, sliding her bishop forward. She began to remove her hand, but thought better and slid the bishop back, moving her knight forward to protect her foremost pawn instead. "All tough training feels like it took forever. But you realize that you appearing after a month and a half away people will have questions. Especially when it seems like you have magical lightning at your beck and call."
"I guess," Harry said, moving his knight in response.
"Not to mention you grew almost 2 inches. You were barely taller than Fleur at the ball, and when you came back she certainly couldn't look you flat in the eyes. Now you are a head taller."
"Yeah, but now I'm 5'10, and I think almost done growing."
"You started the year at what, 5'5?" Harry nodded. "You aren't going to admit this is all insane," Susan complained.
"Tell you what," Harry said, sliding his queen across the board. "Check. You beat me, and I'll answer any question you have."
"Why are there always conditions with you," Susan shot back. "Besides, you are winning." Harry was indeed up a rook and a pawn against a knight.
"Would you prefer I just say I won't tell you?" Harry observed Susan's last move. She was certainly on the defensive.
"Won't, or can't?" Susan slyly claimed. Harry shook his head. She was really clever.
"Little of column A, little of column of B." Susan nodded at Harry's deflection. "Like I said before we started, you probably understand better than most."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You've already asked quite a few," Harry said, using his second bishop to check her king.
"How much do you tell your girlfriend?" Susan slid a pawn in the way, and Harry gagged a little. "Oh, that got a reaction."
"You are nothing but trouble," Harry said. As he slid a pawn forward, Susan instantly put him in check, and Harry realized he was about to lose a bishop. He had let her throw him. "Nice move."
"Don't let my questions throw you off your game," Susan emphasized.
"Like I said, trouble." Harry left a rook open, and Susan took it. "Uh-oh."
"You are slipping," Susan declared. She had a smile on her face as Harry moved his queen and she took the exposed pawn. "Multiple mistakes, one after the…" Susan slowed as all of the sudden her queen was exposed. "You gave me that rook."
"I learned that when you leave your queen or rook open, more often than not your opponent takes it without thinking too much." Susan reluctantly moved and Harry took her queen with a smile.
"Will you at least tell me who taught you chess?"
"Li Min did. You met her in the infirmary."
"The crazy woman shooting a spell at the man who just awoke from a coma?" Susan shook her head. "I would have guessed chess is a bit cerebral for her."
"Oh, don't let her attitude fool you. She is clever, nastily so. She is also fairly vindictive and can hold quite a grudge. For all I know, she has been waiting since January to get me back."
"Really?" Susan was forced to attack with a pawn, and Harry took it swiftly. Unless Susan made a quite clever move, he was two away from checkmate. Susan took a while to study the board, and Harry saw the metaphorical wheels turning in her head. She made the move, and Harry countered. All of the sudden Susan had him checked and Harry realized he had been so focused on the potential checkmate he had left himself open.
"You got me there," Harry admitted, forced to give up his foremost pawn. "Yeah, she taught me a bunch of stuff. But her teaching style for chess is…unique."
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February, 1995
"Let your shields down," Nambung commanded. Harry reluctantly let his shields from his mind down. He felt Li Min slide in and stir around for a second. As her presence receded from his mind, he slammed his shields back up. "Awfully defensive of your mind."
"You taught me to be," Harry responded and Nambung nodded in agreement.
"So I did." Nambung had hopped through the open gates a week ago, and resumed his training with Harry, working primarily on magic manipulation so he could use the Railgun and lightning clone with more precision and less risk to himself, since he did not have the affinity for lightning magic his master did.
"Ok, I'm ready." Li Min said. Harry turned to the life-size chess board and saw the pieces were replaced by people. He was the king, which thought was a little stupid. Fleur and Neville were rooks, Luna and Daphne bishops, McGonagall and Akira knights, and unsurprisingly Hermione was the queen. The pawns were his other friends interspersed with regular pawns. He saw Susan, Cedric, Takashi, Krum, and Dean on that front line.
"Takashi is a pawn?" Harry asked with a smile.
"It is based on who is most important to you, not how strong they are." Harry looked over the board, and had to admit it was pretty accurate, though he was surprised to see Luna so high up. She had made a big impact in a small time. He didn't know anyone like her, and seeing Krum so taken with her kept him permanently laughing.
"Fine. Let's go." Harry drew his wand and moved a pawn with Dean's face forward, and Li Min moved a knight forward to threaten it. Harry was prepared to move pawn forward to protect it, and then he saw Dean's face staring at him.
"Really Harry? Sacrifice me? You really are heartless." Harry was shaken. It was Dean's voice, speaking to his soul. There was only one choice. Harry moved Dean forward. The knight opposite him moved forward, and now a faceless pawn and Susan were under threat. Harry didn't even wait for Susan's face to speak. He moved her forward Li Min took the faceless pawn, putting Harry in check. Harry moved to take the knight with his queen, but his spell bounced off a shield.
"Did I forget to mention that if you king is put in check, you have to move it out of check?" Li Min said with a smile. Harry growled at her. "Might as well get going." Harry snapped his wand and his king moved. Harry turned to stare at the rook with Fleur's face.
"Harry-" Her voice was cut off and turned into a wordless scream as the knight lifted her up and a sword went through her gut, blood spurting from her mouth. Her lifeless eyes fixed on Harry as the piece fell to the floor and Harry threw up. It took him a moment to turn back to the game.
His mind was all over the place. Susan, Cedric, Neville and were all brutally murdered as Harry continued to play, just doing his best to no longer win, but keep his friends alive. Every time a piece was killed, Harry felt himself get sicker. As Luna was beheaded, Harry threw up again. When his stomach finally settled, Harry moved his king forward, allowing Li Min to checkmate him.
"Oh Harry, do you think it is over now that you are checkmated?" Li Min asked, her voice ominous. Harry looked up, his eyes full with unshed tears. "What happens when your leader dies?" Harry's eyes went wide as Li Min's pieces surged forward, brutally attacking his defenseless pieces. As his grandmother was skewered by a pawn, Harry's eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.
He awoke to see Li Min standing over him, disdain on her face. She offered him a hand and Harry took it allowing her to help him to his feet. He looked around and saw his master asleep across the room. Apparently he was not going to help out.
"Pathetic." Li Min directed him to the board. "Go again."
'Seriously?" Harry felt Li Min's magic push him to the other side of the board.
"Again." Harry wearily drew his wand, but was simply paralyzed with fear.
"No," Harry said, lowering his wand.
"Then they will die." Li Min flicked her wand, and Harry saw the Susan pawn fall to the floor, gasping for breath.
"NO!" Harry yelled and Li Min lowered her wand. Tears streaming down his face, Harry moved Cedric's pawn forward
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May, 1995
"Did she hit you with a light stinging hex if you make a stupid mistake in chess?" Susan asked.
"A little tougher," Harry started "Your aunt really did that?" Harry glanced up in surprise. "I'll admit I don't know her well…"
"No." Harry sighed in relief. Not for Susan, she could take care of herself. But even though he did not correspond with Sirius much, he talked to Remus all the time, and the werewolf had a veritable cornucopia of stories with Sirius acting stupid or impulsive. If Amelia hexed for a mistake in chess, Harry suspected the marriage between the ex-Head of the DMLE and his godfather would be exciting, even if Sirius would never be able to sit down without wincing. "She just hexed me when I lost."
"I worry for my godfather," Harry told her. "He's impulsive, and from what I understand, often jumps without looking."
"Hmmm, I wonder who that reminds me of."
"Hey!" Harry protested. "I have been way better this year!"
"The dragon,"
"I had too fight that."
"The multiple fights with strangers,"
"They all started it."
"Picking the fight with Draco…" Susan trailed off.
"Fine," Harry conceded. "Maybe I have a tendency to seek out trouble, even if it is mostly justified or necessary. Can we get back to chess?" Susan just nodded, but it only took three more turns for Susan to be stuck. She was forced to take his pawn, followed by putting her in check. Harry moved his queen forward, and Susan had to defend with her bishop
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February, 1995
"Checkmate," Harry growled. He had seen every one of his friends and family suffer brutal deaths tens of times over. It had taken him 26 games to get checkmate for the first time, and his only break had been after 18 losses, Li Min had allowed him to sleep, though his dreams had bene filled with his friends, no longer chess pieces, dying in horrible ways, Harry helpless and unable to protect them.
"Very well." Harry saw his friends raise their weapons and race forward. He angrily jabbed his wand and a wall appeared between his friends and the enemy pieces.
"No." Tears slid down his face. "I will not allow them to massacre defenseless pieces."
"They are just chess pieces," Li Min commented. "Who cares?"
"Who cares? Harry snapped. He was raging mad. "Who cares? These aren't just pieces! You made that clear when you made sure I saw my best friend die countless times, with your stupid rules! Time and time again, watching me send friends to death. Who cares? I care! They called me a heartless monster, but you are the monster. They may have died, but I won't have their hands covered in blood like mine." Harry stalked off to the far corner of the void to sulk.
"Harry?" Harry looked up to see his master looking at him. "I take it you beat her?" Harry nodded, still not up to talking. "Did you understand the point of the exercise?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "Sometimes, to win a battle, you have to sacrifice people. We could have won the battle in Peru faster if I had put people from my squad in jeopardy."
"That's part of the lesson," Nambung said, sitting next to Harry and putting his arm around the younger man. "And yes, we could have. But what if one of those under your command had died because of a decision you made? There is nothing wrong with playing it safe, and there are consequences to action."
"It applies to more than battle," Nambung continued. "Sometimes intelligence agents get captured, and you have to disavow them. Sometimes political pawns lose their value. You will never be able to save everyone. Even I can't save everyone."
"The world isn't a chess board," Harry spat.
"No, of course not," Nambung said. "The game wasn't for that. You learned that you might have to sacrifice a pawn to kill a king. But you also learned that in all out war, you can't aim to save everyone. Sometimes you have to let your pieces fight on their own, but keep in mind that a pawn fighting a rook will only have one real outcome."
"Even if the pawn won, it wouldn't matter," Harry responded. "You think Cedric could kill someone, even if they were trying to kill him? Susan, Hermione, Fleur, Luna? They couldn't kill anyone. Even Victor wouldn't be able to do it, not in cold blood."
"Even if their life was in danger?" Nambung pressed.
"Yes even then," Harry spit through grated teeth. "They wouldn't do it, because they are good people. Because they couldn't carry the weight. It is not the weight of good people to bear. Only monsters like you…like us."
"So you would let them go through life, happy to bear that weight for them? For the sheep of the world, most of whom will not know your name?" Nambung almost yelled at him.
"Yes!" Harry screamed. "I can bear the weight!" His eyes flashed red, and his master surreptitiously palmed his wand and called his magic, lightning crackling inside his body. "I will bear the weight for them. If it my soul, already lost to oblivion, weighted against their souls its not even a contest. I will always condemn myself. I cannot save everyone, that is true. But that will never stop me from trying. Never!"
"Very well," Nambung conceded, and the red was gone from Harry's eyes. "You still need to practice chess. Li Min has removed the faces and voices of your friend."
"Fine." Harry's voice was flat, and he strode away evenly, his master watching his back with a thoughtful gaze. He sat for almost an hour before rising and walking after his student.
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May, 1995
"Nice game," Susan said as she moved the pieces back onto the board. "You beat me pretty handily.
"Even with your mind games," Harry chipped in, and Susan laughed.
"Play again?"
"Sorry, another time." Susan looked at Harry curiously, and saw an odd look in his eye. He looked almost haunted, staring at the board for a moment before he turned harshly. "I'll see you on Monday." He seemed to stalk out of the room, pain radiating off him. She had not seen him like that since his fight with Bellatrix, and that had ended with him killing the witch. Even if the Lestrange woman was a mass murderer herself, killing was supposedly not easy. Susan knew from discussions with her aunt who tried to dissuade her from a career in law enforcement that ending a life was a heavy weight, no matter the situation or the victim, and few could handle it.
"What was his deal?" Hannah asked, sliding down next to her friend. "Didn't he win? Besides, Harry doesn't even strike me as a sore loser."
"Yeah he won," Susan said, looking at the closing common room door blankly, wondering, not for the first time, what other weight Harry Potter was forced to carry on his young shoulders.
