Chapter 31: Smothered Mate
25 April 1992
Harry woke up that Saturday morning and studied his Potions and Charms notes. He felt sympathy for Draco, Pansy, and Theodore, who would have to serve detention that night. He only hoped that Weasley would be aggravated by their presence. The boy was an obvious git.
Draco then woke up.
"Morning, Harry."
"Good morning, Draco. Happy Saturday."
Draco swore under his breath. "Crap. The three of us have to serve detention with those three Gryffindor idiots. Well, actually, two Gryffindor idiots and Granger. Why she associates herself with Weasley, I'll never understand."
"That's only because they're in the same house", Harry said. "Otherwise, Granger wouldn't waste her time with Weasley. There would be no purpose or point in those two interacting if they were in different houses."
"Honestly, Granger should have been a Ravenclaw", Draco said. "She certainly studies a lot. If she wasn't muggle-born, I would definitely say she's a prime candidate for Slytherin."
"I definitely agree", Harry said. "She would have earned Slytherin loads of points."
"Yeah", Draco said. "Well, this will only be one night. Once this detention passes, I can breathe easier. At the end of the day, Slytherin are in first place for the house cup while Gryffindor are in dead last."
"I concur", Harry said, laughing.
Draco then said, "There's some more aspects about Wizard's Chess I want to show you. I'll bring my Wizard's Chess set to the Slytherin Common Room. We can practice there."
Draco and Harry walked to the Slytherin Common Room. Warrington was the only other person that was sitting there.
Draco then ordered black pawns on g7 and h7, a black rook on g8, and the black king on h8. For the white side, Draco had white pawns on g3 and h2, the white king on g1, and a white knight on h6.
"Another type of checkmate any student of Wizard's Chess should be aware of is known as smothered mate. A smothered mate occurs when a knight checkmates a king trapped by its own pieces. A knight, as you know, is the only piece that can jump over other pieces."
Harry looked at the position. The winning move seemed obvious.
"Knight to f7", Harry said. The white knight on h6 moved to f7.
"Checkmate", Harry said. It looked impressive. All the pieces that surrounded the black king were actually preventing it from escape. The white knight's checks could never be blocked no matter how many pieces were between it and the black king, because knights were the only ones that were allowed to jump over other pieces.
"Now I'm going to change the next position a little bit. It will be the same position as before, except the black rook is now on b8. A white queen will also be on e6. How do you deliver checkmate in two moves in this position?"
Harry studied the position for a few minutes. Then, he realized what had to be done.
"Queen to g8", Harry said. The white queen moved from e6 to g8, giving check. The black king obviously could not capture the queen because the white knight was protecting it. The whole point of the queen moving to the g8 square was to bring the black rook next to the black king.
The black rook moved from b8 to g8, attacking the black queen by smashing it into numerous pieces. Now the white knight had its big chance.
"Knight to f7", Harry said. The white knight moved from h6 to f7, delivering a smothered mate.
"Well done, Harry", Draco said. He let out a sigh of relief.
"It seems you've gained much insight on Wizard's Chess during the course of one year. It's quite impressive. The knowledge could be useful."
After the other Slytherin first-year boys woke up, they all headed to breakfast with the Slytherin first-year girls.
At breakfast, three notes were delivered to Draco, Pansy, and Theodore from Professor McGonagall, informing them about their detentions. All three notes were identical messages.
Your detentions will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.
M. McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Theodore sighed heavily. "This is such an injustice. It's quite ridiculous."
"I couldn't have agreed more", Draco said.
"I wish I could be there with you guys", Harry said. "I feel so sorry for the three of you."
"It's okay", Draco said. "There's no reason for more Slytherins to be unfairly punished."
"Personally, I'm glad Weasley's mother sent him that Howler", Harry said. "That will teach him a lesson and keep him in line."
"On the plus side, we have Quidditch practice today", Draco said. "That should take my mind off of tonight for quite a while."
"I can't wait."
The ten Slytherin first-years studied in the Common Room as they waited for the Slytherin Quidditch Team to practice. Harry went over his History of Magic notes and his Potions notes. Harry was quite sure he would earn an O on the final exam in Potions.
When the time came, Harry and Draco headed to Quidditch practice and met up with the other players on the Slytherin Quidditch Team.
Marcus Flint gave instructions, as usual.
"All right, Slytherins", Flint said. "We have to prepare against Hufflepuff. If we win, it's all over and we secure the Quidditch cup again. We have to do this."
"Finley Clarke seems pretty tough, though", Warrington said.
"I'm sure Montague, Malfoy, and I can handle it", Flint said. "We just have to catch him off guard. Once we do that, we can score goals easily and make his job harder."
"I agree", Draco said. "Hufflepuff is definitely better than Gryffindor, but they're nowhere near as good as us. Even Ravenclaw is better."
"Just keep that in mind as an incentive", Flint said. "So, grab your brooms, and let's get flying."
Harry and the other players on the Slytherin Quidditch Team headed out to the pitch and started flying. Flint threw the Quaffle into the air, and Pucey caught it and headed towards the goal posts, where Bletchley was guarding in his keeper position.
Pucey launched the Quaffle towards the goal post on the right, and Bletchley lunged forward and caught it. Miles then threw the Quaffle to Marcus Flint, who tried to score against Bletchley and succeeded.
Warrington then grabbed the Quaffle and headed towards the goal posts. Harry watched as Warrington zoomed on his Cleansweep, looking determined as he headed towards the goal posts. Warrington chucked the Quaffle towards the goal on the right, and Bletchley wasn't able to block it in time.
Montague grabbed the Quaffle and headed to score against Bletchley. Harry watched as Montague lunged the Quaffle to the goal post on the left. Bletchley managed to save it, however.
Flint grabbed the Quaffle and zoomed towards the goal posts. Harry watched as Bletchley stood in the middle, anticipating which direction Bletchley would travel in. Flint chucked the Quaffle through the middle so hard that Bletchley couldn't stop it in time.
Draco then grabbed the Quaffle and headed to score against Bletchley. Harry watched as Draco zoomed on his Nimbus 2000 with a sense of determination. Draco threw the Quaffle in the goal post on the right, and it managed to go in.
Twenty minutes later, Flint released the snitch. Harry and Higgs both chased after it. Five minutes later, Harry caught the snitch.
After practice, Harry, Draco, and Theodore met with Miles Bletchley.
"You ready, Theodore?", Miles asked. "Let's do this."
Draco grabbed the Quaffle and headed to score against Theodore. Harry watched as Theodore stood in front of the goal posts, looking simultaneously nervous and excited. Draco threw the Quaffle, and Theodore caught it.
Theodore then tossed the Quaffle to Harry. The latter hoped that Theodore's performance and skills would improve, and it seemed that it had. Harry threw the Quaffle towards the goal post on the left, and Theodore managed to pull off a save.
Bletchley grabbed the Quaffle and headed to score against Theodore. Harry watched as Theodore guarded the goal posts, the fear that was in eyes no longer evident. Bletchley chucked the Quaffle towards the goal posts on the right, and Theodore caught it.
Thirty minutes later, Bletchley counted the number of throws and saves. Of the 60 throws that were headed towards the goal posts, Theodore managed to save 35 of them.
"Not bad, Nott", Bletchley said. "I'm seeing real improvement here."
"Thanks, Miles", Theodore said.
Harry, Draco, and Theodore headed to the Slytherin Common Room and studied there until it was night.
Harry hugged Pansy and Draco. "Good luck, you three. Wishing you the best."
"It will just be one night, Harry. Then it's over."
Draco, Pansy, and Theodore headed to the entrance hall and waited for Filch. The grumpy caretaker sneered at the three of them. He said, "Follow me."
Draco was feeling a sense of dread, wondering what miserable task they would have to serve. This was quite ridiculous, in his opinion.
Filch led the three of them to Hagrid's hut. Draco thought, Well, this detention may not actually that bad. Yeah, Hagrid's irrational, but maybe he might show some mercy. Already this is turning into a literal nightmare.
Draco then internally groaned as Weasley, Finnigan, and Granger approached.
"Don't think you'll be having fun with him", Filch said. "The six of you will be with Hagrid in the forbidden forest."
Now Draco knew this was literally insane.
Apparently Weasley seemed to concur with Draco's sentiment.
"The f-forbidden forest?", Weasley croaked. "But we're not supposed to be there. There's creatures and werewolves in that forest."
"Should have thought about them werewolves before getting in trouble, eh?", Filch asked nastily.
For once, Draco had to agree with Weasley. This was completely absurd.
Filch gave an ugly laugh as he walked away.
"Well, we'd better get going", Hagrid said. "My dog, Fang, needs to take a walk."
"Theodore, Pansy, and I can walk him", Draco said. "I think with three of us watching over him, we'll be fine."
Hagrid sighed. "Okay, then. But I'd better warn you. He can get quite aggressive."
Draco was pleased. Anything to get away from Weasley.
Draco, Pansy, and Theodore headed away from Hagrid and the three Gryffindors. Theodore held on to Fang's leash as the three of them walked away.
"I'm so glad I don't have to hear his voice", Draco said. "He's such a git."
"I feel the same exact way", Theodore said. "Then again, this one night will come and go. Weasley and the Gryffindors will have to suffer the shame of their actions."
"Let's just get this over with", Pansy said.
Draco glanced at Fang. At least, he wasn't showing any resistance…yet.
The three Slytherins continued walking, not saying much during the night. They were being unfairly punished and there was nothing they could do about it.
After thirty minutes, Fang suddenly started showing some excitement.
"What's wrong, Fang?", Theodore asked. The dog started barking, clearly showing his reaction to something.
Draco looked towards the direction where Fang seemed to be fixated on. He couldn't believe it. It truly was a gruesome sight.
It was a unicorn, lying dead on the ground. Blood was all around this unlucky unicorn.
Draco wanted to scream, but he couldn't get the noise out.
"Draco, are you okay?", Theodore asked. "Just breathe."
"We'd better get Hagrid's attention", Pansy said. "We'll send up a wand-lightening charm. Lumos!"
Pansy's wand immediately showed light that clearly resisted the dark.
"Good job, Pansy. Looks like Harry's tutelage came in handy."
"Thanks."
Minutes later, Hagrid and the three Gryffindor first-years arrived.
"Malfoy? Parkinson? Nott? Are the three of you okay?"
"We're fine", Draco said.
"It's time to go back", Hagrid said.
When Hagrid, Weasley, Granger, Finnigan, Draco, Theodore, and Pansy headed back to the giant's hut, he then said, "All right, your detention is over. Head back to your respective common rooms now."
It's over, Draco thought. Finally.
Draco glared at Weasley before heading off to the Slytherin Common Room with Pansy and Theodore. When the three of them reached the Slytherin Common Room, they revealed everything that happened at the detention to Harry.
Harry whistled. "That unicorn and its blood make me think Quirrell is behind it somehow."
"Makes sense", Draco said.
"We'd better keep an eye out for any of his schemes", Harry said.
3 May 1992
It was the day of the final Quidditch match of the season.
Harry and the other players on the Slytherin Quidditch Team trained vigorously for this day. Flint made sure that they worked as hard as possible to get to this point. The Slytherin Quidditch Team had already won their last two matches and were well ahead in the race for the Inter-House Quidditch Cup, so there was no reason for them to lose.
Harry put on his uniform and got ready.
"Let's go, Slytherins!", Flint shouted.
Harry and the other starters for the Slytherin Quidditch Team flew out to the pitch.
"Flint! Montague! Malfoy! Derrick! Bole! Potter! Bletchley!", Lee Jordan shouted.
The Slytherins cheered as their house team got ready.
"Here's the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team! Haywood! Oarley! Moon! Perks! Hopkins! Stebbins! and CLARKEE!"
The Hufflepuffs cheered. Harry glanced at Stebbins. The latter seemed nervous.
Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle into the air. Beatrice Haywood, a Hufflepuff fourth-year, grabbed the Quaffle. Harry looked for the snitch as he saw Haywood try to score against Bletchley. Miles blocked the Quaffle successfully and passed it to Flint. Dale Perks, one of the Hufflepuff beaters, launched a bludger at Flint but missed.
Flint threw the Quaffle into the goal on the right, scoring against Clarke.
"Flint scores. Ten-zero, Slytherin."
Clarke threw the Quaffle to Rex Oarley, another Hufflepuff chaser. Oarley was a burly seventh year and Harry knew that he could pose as a serious threat. Oarley dodged a bludger from Bole, then managed to score against Bletchley. The game was tied, 10-10.
Bletchley threw the Quaffle to Montague. Harry watched as Montague flew around the pitch and successfully dodged a bludger from Dale Perks. Montague chucked then Quaffle into the goal post on the left, scoring against Clarke.
"Montague scores. Twenty-ten, Slytherin."
Clarke threw the Quaffle to Jasper Moon, a Hufflepuff sixth-year. Harry watched as Moon held on to the Quaffle and tried to score against Bletchley. A bludger from Derrick caused Moon to drop the Quaffle. Malfoy then picked it up and zoomed to score against Clarke, and the latter was powerless to stop it.
"Malfoy scores. Thirty-ten, Slytherin."
Twenty minutes later, Flint managed to score four of Slytherin's next five goals. The score was now 80-10.
That was when Harry saw the ball of gold. Harry could tell that Stebbins had spotted it as well. The two seekers pursued the snitch, neither of them daring to show any signs of giving up.
"Derrick!", Flint shouted. "You know what you have to do."
Derrick launched a bludger at Stebbins, causing him to lose focus and veer out of the way. Harry then reached out his hand…and caught the snitch.
It was over. The final score was 230-10. Lee Jordan announced the results. Slytherin had won the match against Hufflepuff. Not only that, but Slytherin had won the Inter-House Quidditch cup for the seventh year in a row.
Flint let out a roar as all the Slytherins cheered with excitement. Montague slapped hands with Warrington, Pucey, and Bletchley.
"We won the cup! We won the cup!", Warrington shouted.
Dumbledore handed the Quidditch cup to Flint, who passed it on to the rest of the team. Harry smiled with pride as he held on to the cup and lifted it into the air.
Later…
A wild party took place in the Slytherin Common Room. Flint and the other players on the Slytherin Quidditch Team were treated honorably and with hospitality by the other Slytherins. Even the substitute players got this honor. Harry and Draco both felt mirthfulness as they consumed a variety of dishes and ate some of the treats that they had earned. Even Gaius Avery wasn't objecting to the Slytherin partying well past their bedtimes.
Eventually, the Slytherins all headed to bed. Harry was about to lie down and go to sleep when he noticed something under his pillow. He felt it and realized it was a piece of parchment. A note. Harry pulled it out and read the words on that parchment.
Well, Potter, you've certainly managed to play a fun game of hide and seek with me. Well, playtime is over. While your little party was taking place, I kidnapped the three female Slytherin prefects. If you ever want to see Cleo Rowle, Mia Wright, or Isabella Naughton alive again, you better come and meet me in the third-floor corridor. Better meet me or the pretty girls die.
Quirinus Quirrell
Harry dropped the note. This time, Quirrell had gone too far.