Chapter 2
Let The Games Begin


Sun Wolf and Altashir crossed paths on their way to Potions class. Neither of them needed to learn any of it though. Altashir knew all there was to know in every field of the magic arts. Sun Wolf had learned Alchemy from his mentor Lone Wolf, back when he was a Kai Grand Master. In fact, Kai Alchemy was one of the Grand Master Disciplines he had to learn, in order to aspire to the perfection of a Kai Supreme Master.

"Why do we need to go to these classes?" Sun Wolf asked Altashir as they headed to the classroom. "It's bound to be things we already know. We should be teaching them!"

"We have to avoid suspicion," Altashir reminded his friend as they approached the door to Professor Snape's class.

"True," Sun Wolf agreed. "How about a game of Samor in the courtyard, after lunch?"

"All right," Altashir answered as the two entered the classroom just in time.

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The morning classes went rather well, with only one incident that drew any notice to Altashir and Sun Wolf. It had been during the flying lessons. Madam Hooch had just instructed the students to command their brooms to jump into their hands. She couldn't believe her eyes when the first two to succeed had done it without uttering a single sound.

"How did you do that?" she asked Altashir in amazement. "You and Skarn weren't following instructions, yet the brooms jumped into your hands, anyway!"

"It wasn't all that difficult," Altashir explained. "I could have done it blindfolded !"

"Let's see how well you ride, Danusty," Hooch told him. Madam Hooch watched in amazement as Altashir swiftly took to the air with the grace of the master that he was. As Altashir made his perfect landing, Hooch asked "How would you like to play on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team?"

"Quidditch?" Altashir responded. "Sounds like fun. Will there be anyone else with my level of skill in the games?"

"Only one I can think of," Hooch answered, "would be Harry Potter. He's the Seeker for the Gryffindor team."

That caught Altashir's interest more than the game itself. "Count me in!" he enthused.

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After lunch, Sun Wolf and Altashir found a place in the courtyard to play Samor. Harry, Ron, and Hermoine walked out and saw them sitting over the board.

"Now there's something you don't see everyday," Hermoine remarked.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"A Gryffindor consorting with a Ravenclaw," Harry told Ron. "But look at what they're doing. Maybe they're playing for house points?"

This idea seemed to make sense to the three of them, so they went over to watch.

"So who's winning?" Ron asked Sun Wolf, hoping that it was their fellow Gryffindor. With all the trouble the three were always getting into, Gryffindor could certainly use the points.

As Sun Wolf checkmated Altashir, he turned to his fellow Gryffindors. "Who do you think?" was his reply.

Unaware to all but Sun Wolf and Altashir, Professor McGonagall had been watching in her cat form. From her nearby corner, McGonagall took note of the game and the winner. "15 points to Gryffindor for winning such an amusing game as that," she thought to herself. "What game is that? I must find out more."

"Is that a new form of Wizard's Chess?" Ron asked.

"No," Sun Wolf told him, "this is Samor. Wizard's Chess can't hold a candle to this!"

"How do you play?" Harry asked, hoping to play.

"Have a seat," Sun Wolf invited Harry, "and I'll teach you."

As Harry sat down, the pieces arranged themselves on the board. The pieces on Harry's side were red, and the pieces on Sun Wolf's side were blue. Sun Wolf explained that the game of Samor had very few rules. All you had to do, was touch one of your pieces, and it would march off to wage war against the nearest opposing piece. If you touched a piece that wasn't yours, it would turn and bite you.

"That doesn't sound too hard," Harry observed.

"It's harder than you think," Sun Wolf replied. "The pieces can change sides whenever they feel like it, and you would never know until it bit you."

Harry laughed as he made his first move. He touched the piece. "Ow!" he yelled as he drew his hand back in pain. "I thought you were kidding about them changing sides. Those teeth are sharp!"

Sun Wolf made his move, and his piece rushed forth to Harry's nearest piece. The two piece fought it out for a moment, before Harry's piece lost the battle. The piece staggered and died on the game board, before fading from the board into its place in the box on the side.

Harry soon learned that there were no rules for 'who moves when'. It wasn't long after that he figured out to touch as many pieces as quickly as possible, in order to keep up with Sun Wolf who was doing the same thing. Harry's hands were already bleeding by the time he figured this out.

Sun Wolf however, wasn't bleeding. This was partly to do with his advanced healing arts, but mostly due to his training in the psychic disciplines of his training in the days of his Magnakai training. His usage of Divination allowed him to tell friend from enemy, allowing him to keep himself from getting bitten as often as Harry was. In the rare moments in which his haste cost him a bite, his healing disciplines were quick to remedy it.

Ten minutes into the game, Harry was down to two pieces. One was his, but the other had gone turncoat on him moments earlier. But which was which? Harry held his breath as he touched one of the pieces. A nasty bite was his reward. Sun Wolf immediately touched the same piece, and it ran Harry's other piece through.

As Harry watched his last piece die on the board, he was unaware that the other pieces on the board began marching stealthily towards him. As Harry's piece faded from the board, the others attacked him. Startled, Harry tried to shake them off, but the pieces held tight to their victim. Before anyone could reach him to help, the pieces had already gnawed through to Harry's heart. He was dead a few seconds later.

Hermoine was the first to recover from the shock. "Oh my god," she managed to say.

"You killed Harry!" Ron cried.

Altashir folded his arms, and glared at Sun Wolf. "You jerk," he grumbled at Sun Wolf, "you stole my turn!"