Living the Legend
Chapter VI: That's Wizard's Chess
Marie McKinnon
"Are you sure? If it doesn't work--"
The opal blazed with silver fire. "It will work. Try a fairly powerful spell, but nothing illegal, I think Dumbledore has wards up to warn him of Dark magic. I'm ready."
Harry sighed and pulled out his wand, aiming straight at Ginny's unarmed form. "All right, but you can't wreak revenge on me if I hurt you. Then again, you probably won't remember it. Obliviate!"
Green light flashed towards her, but a dart of silver raced from her pendant, bursting the spell into a shower of green sparks. The magical dagger sped on towards Harry, whose brilliant green eyes were wide behind his glasses. It halted in midair, hovering just in front of Harry's throat. He swallowed hard, then looked up at Ginny, who wore an unbelievably smug, catlike smile.
"Comfortable?" She asked.
He seemed mildly panicked, but had enough composure to reply steadily. "No. Would you please. remove that?"
"As you wish." The surreal blade disappeared into the opal, ready to be re-used if the need arose. Her eyes went blank for a moment as she called Draco. ~Your presence is required immediately in the practise room, sir. Be so kind as to arrive promptly, or you'll have me to deal with.~
~Yes, ma'am,~ he replied.
Less than a moment later he swept into the dungeon, robes over his arm. "I beg your pardon. I had no idea there was a conference."
"You are very much behind the times. I need to inform you--both of you--of Voldemort's secrets. These I came by while I was being enchanted." Her voice became rather strained at that, but she remained poised. "He is the Heir of Slytherin, as you no doubt know, but in that position he has a precedent to live up to. You see, the previous Heirs of Slytherin had died in duels or battle and were always killed by women."
Both boys started. "No," they said in unison, looking first at her, then at each other. "You can't," Harry continued firmly. "He's strong. He'll kill you, and then what good will it do?"
"We will not allow you to attempt to kill Voldemort in single combat," Draco said, now paper white from her suggestion. "I say attempt because there is no way you can be successful. If we try to attack the Dark Lord, we will do so as a group. There's less chance of being brutally murdered that way."
She blinked once very slowly, watching the speaker intently. "You know more on the subject than I do. Would you mind recounting how the previous Heirs died?" There was a definite edge on her voice and her gase never wavered.
"Salazar himself was killed in battle by an enchanted arrow that was later traced to Rowena Ravenclaw. His son duelled his wife to prove his supremacy and was stabbed in the back by a female servant while he was under a particularly painful hex. Most of the later Slytherins were poisoned in their sleep by their daughters or wives, usually with potions created by the Snapes of that time period. He's immensely proud of that lineage, no doubt, though that's beside the point."
"And so I prove my point. Voldemort will not be afraid to duel either of you because he's fairly positive only a woman can kill him. He doesn't fear either of you because, firstly, you aren't women, and secondly, because he can't be killed by weapons or any spells that you are aware of. He poured his secrets into me so I could release the Basilisk, but he put more into me than he at first thought." Ginny was practically radiating power and determination, pacing back and forth, watching the boys with intensely dark eyes.
"As a student he attempted immortality," she continued. "Most of his theories were based on the idea that magic never dies, and if he could keep his magic alive, he would be immortal. We have the authority of the recent Muggle killings and of Harry that he has been brought back. I am fairly positive of his method."
"Well?" Harry said, between eagerness and disinterest.
"He transfigured his heart into a magical object rather than a part of the human anatomy. It channels his power, renewing it so he can stay alive. That explains his deathly pale complexion and red eyes. We need to arrange it so either one of you will duel Voldemort and maneuver him so I am behind. I will manage to aim straight for his 'heart' and, once that is destroyed, he will run out of magic and die."
There was an eerie silence, not at all aided by the heaviness of the air in the dungeon. "We should prepare for a skirmish of some sort before we attempt to kill him ourselves. From what I've read in the Prophet, the Death Eaters are moving towards Hogwarts and will surely engage in combat. Once we get out of that alive, we can make plans," Draco said finally, sounding exhausted. The others agreed in a daze, disturbed by a sudden sinking feeling in their stomachs that was definitely not caused by the rock cakes they'd shared with Hagrid earlier in the day.
* She sat, worn out from her confession, on a plump couch with Ron. Harry stared at the chess board so seriously that she had begun to fear that it would explode. Finally, after what seemed to be moments of deep contemplation, he directed his castle to move sideways five spaces to block the queen, who immediately moved forwards and dragged him off the board.
"Check," Ron said quietly, regarding the chess board as one would regard a battlefield. Ginny followed his eyes through the lines of power and influence, noticing his strategy. A sudden idea occurred to her, and she waited patiently for Harry to move his king out of reach of the queen, right into the clutches of a waiting bishop. "Check and mate."
They cleared the board together, preparing to put it away, but she said "Ron, I'd like some advice. I want to play chess against Hermione, and she's very good, at least compared to me. She always manages to get me down to two pawns, a bishop, a castle, a knight, a queen, and a king. If she were to circle my castle, which is my favourite piece and the one that must be defended, how would I protect it without sacrificing the knight, queen, or king?" Her hands moved deftly over the board, placing the pieces and handing Ron her knight, queen, and king.
He studied it for a moment, then asked "D'you want to move the castle?"
"It'd take too much power to move Hog--I mean, no, I don't. Besides, it's pretty well surrounded. She gets it in the middle of a semi-circle."
"I know Hermione," he said, "and when she plays, she only focuses on one thing at a time. If she's intent on your castle, she won't notice the knight, queen, or king. You can keep them in a triangle formation that will prevent anything from getting at them. Then attack her pieces one at a time, not all at once. Get into places where she can't get you back, especially if they're spread out in a line. Tell me how it goes next time, all right?"
She grinned, partly at the simplicity of deceiving her brother and partly at having gotten such a good strategy. "Thanks. I'll remember that."
"You have to watch the pieces, too," he added. "They sometimes try to do what they want. That's wizard's chess, after all."
"Thanks," she repeated, going upstairs to record the information.
Once in her dormitory, she was struck by a bit of annoyance. There were Lavender and Parvati, reading magazines, giggling, and eating Chocolate Frogs. Did they ever leave? And could they possibly stop giggling? Ignoring them, she pulled out her black leather notebook, a quill, and an ink bottle, then began to write down Ron's idea as quickly as possible to avoid forgetting it. The end result was having to re-copy it because the first draft was illegible. She finished it in less than ten minutes, complete with diagrams of the battlefield.
"Ginny, d'you want a Chocolate Frog? We're full," Parvati said, stopping giggling long enough to speak properly.
She shut her black book with a muffled snap. "Yes, please," she replied, and caught the flying package easily. Biting the head off with relish, she pulled out the card and nearly choked on her mouthful.
"Who'd you get?" Lavender asked, noticing her somewhat violent reaction.
"Morgan Le Fay."
"Oooh!" Parvati squealed. "I've not seen her. Pass it here, will you?"
Praying they didn't know too much about Morgan, she did so, putting on an air of nonchalance. They looked from the card to Ginny, back to the card, and back to Ginny before saying anything. "She could be your twin," Lavender finally said. "She's even got the same necklace."
"Oh?"
One of them rolled her eyes. "Didn't you look at it? There's an amazing resemblance." She passed it back so Ginny could agree, and she did, though it was strained. Morgan's moving picture had the same catlike smile, red curls, dark, intelligent eyes, and pert nose that Ginny saw in the mirror every morning. All you had to do was subtract the freckles and there she was. The opal didn't exactly help, either.
"Wow," she said. "I had no idea. That's amazing, really, how someone who's been dead for at least a thousand years can look so much like a teenage girl. D'you want it, or may I keep it?"
"You go ahead. I already have too many."
Smiling her thanks, she sent an urgent call to Draco. ~I've got a Chocolate Frog card,~ she said.
~Only one? I've got about eight hundred.~
Rolling her eyes, she tried to explain. ~No, you dolt, I mean Morgan Le Fay has a Chocolate Frog card. I nearly spat out the chocolate when I saw the name, and Parvati and Lavender were right, she looks almost exactly like me. What if someone else in the school gets this card and notices the resemblance?~
~Look, we've got more important things to worry about than the number of people in this school who eat Chocolate Frogs. We haven't got a battle plan, and we're going to need one quickly.~
~Ah, but we do have a battle plan,~ she said smugly. ~I enlisted Ron's help.~
~WHAT?! You told Ron what we're--~
~I got him to help me without his even knowing it. I maneuvered the pieces on the chess board to represent the most likely scenario, and asked him how we'd be able to protect the castle without sacrficing a knight, king, or queen. All we have to do is stick together and go after people one at a time. Stay out of the immediate battle so they don't see us right away and sort of pick them off. If we're lucky, the Death Eaters will disobey Voldemort and do what they think will work, which gives us a chance to be even more obscured.~ She read off out of her notebook, then added, ~I've got diagrams, if you want to see them later.~
~You got all that from a chess game?~
Her smile was even more catlike than Morgan's as she replied ~That's wizard's chess.~
"Are you sure? If it doesn't work--"
The opal blazed with silver fire. "It will work. Try a fairly powerful spell, but nothing illegal, I think Dumbledore has wards up to warn him of Dark magic. I'm ready."
Harry sighed and pulled out his wand, aiming straight at Ginny's unarmed form. "All right, but you can't wreak revenge on me if I hurt you. Then again, you probably won't remember it. Obliviate!"
Green light flashed towards her, but a dart of silver raced from her pendant, bursting the spell into a shower of green sparks. The magical dagger sped on towards Harry, whose brilliant green eyes were wide behind his glasses. It halted in midair, hovering just in front of Harry's throat. He swallowed hard, then looked up at Ginny, who wore an unbelievably smug, catlike smile.
"Comfortable?" She asked.
He seemed mildly panicked, but had enough composure to reply steadily. "No. Would you please. remove that?"
"As you wish." The surreal blade disappeared into the opal, ready to be re-used if the need arose. Her eyes went blank for a moment as she called Draco. ~Your presence is required immediately in the practise room, sir. Be so kind as to arrive promptly, or you'll have me to deal with.~
~Yes, ma'am,~ he replied.
Less than a moment later he swept into the dungeon, robes over his arm. "I beg your pardon. I had no idea there was a conference."
"You are very much behind the times. I need to inform you--both of you--of Voldemort's secrets. These I came by while I was being enchanted." Her voice became rather strained at that, but she remained poised. "He is the Heir of Slytherin, as you no doubt know, but in that position he has a precedent to live up to. You see, the previous Heirs of Slytherin had died in duels or battle and were always killed by women."
Both boys started. "No," they said in unison, looking first at her, then at each other. "You can't," Harry continued firmly. "He's strong. He'll kill you, and then what good will it do?"
"We will not allow you to attempt to kill Voldemort in single combat," Draco said, now paper white from her suggestion. "I say attempt because there is no way you can be successful. If we try to attack the Dark Lord, we will do so as a group. There's less chance of being brutally murdered that way."
She blinked once very slowly, watching the speaker intently. "You know more on the subject than I do. Would you mind recounting how the previous Heirs died?" There was a definite edge on her voice and her gase never wavered.
"Salazar himself was killed in battle by an enchanted arrow that was later traced to Rowena Ravenclaw. His son duelled his wife to prove his supremacy and was stabbed in the back by a female servant while he was under a particularly painful hex. Most of the later Slytherins were poisoned in their sleep by their daughters or wives, usually with potions created by the Snapes of that time period. He's immensely proud of that lineage, no doubt, though that's beside the point."
"And so I prove my point. Voldemort will not be afraid to duel either of you because he's fairly positive only a woman can kill him. He doesn't fear either of you because, firstly, you aren't women, and secondly, because he can't be killed by weapons or any spells that you are aware of. He poured his secrets into me so I could release the Basilisk, but he put more into me than he at first thought." Ginny was practically radiating power and determination, pacing back and forth, watching the boys with intensely dark eyes.
"As a student he attempted immortality," she continued. "Most of his theories were based on the idea that magic never dies, and if he could keep his magic alive, he would be immortal. We have the authority of the recent Muggle killings and of Harry that he has been brought back. I am fairly positive of his method."
"Well?" Harry said, between eagerness and disinterest.
"He transfigured his heart into a magical object rather than a part of the human anatomy. It channels his power, renewing it so he can stay alive. That explains his deathly pale complexion and red eyes. We need to arrange it so either one of you will duel Voldemort and maneuver him so I am behind. I will manage to aim straight for his 'heart' and, once that is destroyed, he will run out of magic and die."
There was an eerie silence, not at all aided by the heaviness of the air in the dungeon. "We should prepare for a skirmish of some sort before we attempt to kill him ourselves. From what I've read in the Prophet, the Death Eaters are moving towards Hogwarts and will surely engage in combat. Once we get out of that alive, we can make plans," Draco said finally, sounding exhausted. The others agreed in a daze, disturbed by a sudden sinking feeling in their stomachs that was definitely not caused by the rock cakes they'd shared with Hagrid earlier in the day.
* She sat, worn out from her confession, on a plump couch with Ron. Harry stared at the chess board so seriously that she had begun to fear that it would explode. Finally, after what seemed to be moments of deep contemplation, he directed his castle to move sideways five spaces to block the queen, who immediately moved forwards and dragged him off the board.
"Check," Ron said quietly, regarding the chess board as one would regard a battlefield. Ginny followed his eyes through the lines of power and influence, noticing his strategy. A sudden idea occurred to her, and she waited patiently for Harry to move his king out of reach of the queen, right into the clutches of a waiting bishop. "Check and mate."
They cleared the board together, preparing to put it away, but she said "Ron, I'd like some advice. I want to play chess against Hermione, and she's very good, at least compared to me. She always manages to get me down to two pawns, a bishop, a castle, a knight, a queen, and a king. If she were to circle my castle, which is my favourite piece and the one that must be defended, how would I protect it without sacrificing the knight, queen, or king?" Her hands moved deftly over the board, placing the pieces and handing Ron her knight, queen, and king.
He studied it for a moment, then asked "D'you want to move the castle?"
"It'd take too much power to move Hog--I mean, no, I don't. Besides, it's pretty well surrounded. She gets it in the middle of a semi-circle."
"I know Hermione," he said, "and when she plays, she only focuses on one thing at a time. If she's intent on your castle, she won't notice the knight, queen, or king. You can keep them in a triangle formation that will prevent anything from getting at them. Then attack her pieces one at a time, not all at once. Get into places where she can't get you back, especially if they're spread out in a line. Tell me how it goes next time, all right?"
She grinned, partly at the simplicity of deceiving her brother and partly at having gotten such a good strategy. "Thanks. I'll remember that."
"You have to watch the pieces, too," he added. "They sometimes try to do what they want. That's wizard's chess, after all."
"Thanks," she repeated, going upstairs to record the information.
Once in her dormitory, she was struck by a bit of annoyance. There were Lavender and Parvati, reading magazines, giggling, and eating Chocolate Frogs. Did they ever leave? And could they possibly stop giggling? Ignoring them, she pulled out her black leather notebook, a quill, and an ink bottle, then began to write down Ron's idea as quickly as possible to avoid forgetting it. The end result was having to re-copy it because the first draft was illegible. She finished it in less than ten minutes, complete with diagrams of the battlefield.
"Ginny, d'you want a Chocolate Frog? We're full," Parvati said, stopping giggling long enough to speak properly.
She shut her black book with a muffled snap. "Yes, please," she replied, and caught the flying package easily. Biting the head off with relish, she pulled out the card and nearly choked on her mouthful.
"Who'd you get?" Lavender asked, noticing her somewhat violent reaction.
"Morgan Le Fay."
"Oooh!" Parvati squealed. "I've not seen her. Pass it here, will you?"
Praying they didn't know too much about Morgan, she did so, putting on an air of nonchalance. They looked from the card to Ginny, back to the card, and back to Ginny before saying anything. "She could be your twin," Lavender finally said. "She's even got the same necklace."
"Oh?"
One of them rolled her eyes. "Didn't you look at it? There's an amazing resemblance." She passed it back so Ginny could agree, and she did, though it was strained. Morgan's moving picture had the same catlike smile, red curls, dark, intelligent eyes, and pert nose that Ginny saw in the mirror every morning. All you had to do was subtract the freckles and there she was. The opal didn't exactly help, either.
"Wow," she said. "I had no idea. That's amazing, really, how someone who's been dead for at least a thousand years can look so much like a teenage girl. D'you want it, or may I keep it?"
"You go ahead. I already have too many."
Smiling her thanks, she sent an urgent call to Draco. ~I've got a Chocolate Frog card,~ she said.
~Only one? I've got about eight hundred.~
Rolling her eyes, she tried to explain. ~No, you dolt, I mean Morgan Le Fay has a Chocolate Frog card. I nearly spat out the chocolate when I saw the name, and Parvati and Lavender were right, she looks almost exactly like me. What if someone else in the school gets this card and notices the resemblance?~
~Look, we've got more important things to worry about than the number of people in this school who eat Chocolate Frogs. We haven't got a battle plan, and we're going to need one quickly.~
~Ah, but we do have a battle plan,~ she said smugly. ~I enlisted Ron's help.~
~WHAT?! You told Ron what we're--~
~I got him to help me without his even knowing it. I maneuvered the pieces on the chess board to represent the most likely scenario, and asked him how we'd be able to protect the castle without sacrficing a knight, king, or queen. All we have to do is stick together and go after people one at a time. Stay out of the immediate battle so they don't see us right away and sort of pick them off. If we're lucky, the Death Eaters will disobey Voldemort and do what they think will work, which gives us a chance to be even more obscured.~ She read off out of her notebook, then added, ~I've got diagrams, if you want to see them later.~
~You got all that from a chess game?~
Her smile was even more catlike than Morgan's as she replied ~That's wizard's chess.~
