Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.  Warner Brothers bought me out.

"Harry," Ron called as he entered the commons, "Let's play some wizards chess.  It's been three months!"

Harry obligingly sat down opposite of the board to Ron, although he wasn't paying much attention.

"Pawn to E4," Ron called.

"Pawn to E5," Harry automatically replied, not even thinking about the game.  After all, Ron always started with that move.

"Knight to F3," Ron commanded.

Harry didn't even notice the second move and thought Flitwick said it was a matter of beliefs.  But… I immediately thought my golem was a dog!  I even noted how it looked like Sirius.  So why did the bear's – NO, Ron's golem's – foot pass through?

"You awake, o fearless leader?"

Harry looked down and saw that his king's knight was impatient for him to move.  He suddenly noticed that Ron had already moved and called, "Ha, you just bought yourself an early death.  Knight to F6."

Harry resumed thinking while his bishop and rook nudged the terrified knight into the fray.  It was the mud Harry recalled, It looked so wet.  I could just imagine a foot flowing through it.  I guess I must have believed that more than it holding together – like it would have if it were a real dog.

"Why a dog?" Harry accidentally asked out loud.

"What?" Ron asked in confusion.

Harry looked down at the board and saw Ron had taken the pawn.  "Knight takes Pawn E4," he replied thoughtlessly.

"NO! Sir, it's a trap," the knight yelled, but Harry was back deep in thought.

Why a dog? Harry wondered, Why any particular shape?  If it's all just beliefs, it's probably not random.  Well… the dog did look like Sirius.  I guess it makes as much sense as anything else.  And Hermione's cat is logical – she'd have to have a liking for cats to put up with Crookshanks.  And Ron probably went up there imagining a powerful creature.  But why animals?

Harry was jolted out of his thoughts by Ron calling out, "I think that was a mistake, Harry.  Queen to E2."

Harry looked at the board and saw that his knight was under attack.  Harry's queen whispered to her bishop, "Terrible way to die.  Poor Chatterton."

The bishop shot back, "Still, it's his own bloody fault.  The idiot shoots off his mouth, and now look at him.  Serves to bloke."

Harry hissed, "Knock it off.  He'll live.  Knight to C5."

"WHAT?!" cried the queen.  Harry ignored her – he had to put up with their complaining every game.  Why an animal? Harry asked himself, putting his thoughts on track.  Well, if every golem you had ever seen was an animal, wouldn't you be inclined to believe yours would be an animal, too?  It certainly made sense.

"Knight to C6.  Check!" Ron giddily cried.

Harry saw that he was both in check and had an endangered Queen.  "Queen to E7," Harry resignedly told the queen, who was now sobbing onto her husbands shoulders.

"Knight to E7!" Ron called triumphantly.

"I shall!" proclaimed Ron's knight boldly, "The paladins of Beckinsale shall always sacrifice for their king!"

Harry grunted at Ron's annoying knight and replied, "Bishop takes E7." After watching the bold Beckinsale knight get bonked over the head with a scepter, Harry turned back to his musings.  Surely there must be some people, though, that cast a golem without some preconceived notion on an animal.

"Pawn to D4," Ron decided.

Harry looked at the board and said, "Knight to A6."

"Excuse me, sir," the terrified king's knight interrupted, "But which one of us?"

Harry shot back in annoyance, "I really don't care.  Whichever one of you doesn't want to die."

The two knights immediately began scuffling and Ron laughed as Chatterton screamed, "OW! The bloke BIT me!"

If I had cast the golem first, Harry wondered, What form would it take?  It… It probably would've been a large man.  I mean, after Dudley always talking about Mega Mutilation X: Medieval Mayhem and his level 47 golem, I probably would've just imagined mine the same way – in human like form.

Harry looked down and saw that his knights had settled their dispute.  Chatterton was safely panting at A6 while Bannockburn was nursing a black eye back at B8.  Ron's queen had moved up two squares, and Harry decided to get his king to safety, calling, "Kingside Castle."

"Don't fret, my beloved," Harry's king sobbed as it walked, "I'll join you soon…"

"Bishop to D3," Ron called, and Harry groaned as he realized Ron was threatening to mate him.

"Pawn to G6," Harry sighed.

Ron grinned and said, "Bishop to H6."

Harry rook squealed, "Dear bean, I do believe I'm about to die."

Harry hissed, "Quiet.  Rook to E8."  This appeared to give Ron pause, and Harry wondered how golems started.  If I were going to invent the golem spell, what form would it take?  I'd probably make it to do things I wouldn't or couldn't do myself, which I guess would make it a sort of servant.  So, shouldn't golems be in human form?

Harry then remembered Dudley's computer game and realized They used to be in human form!  The only explanation for the animals was that some group tried making golems without any preconceived idea of them being in human form!  Harry looked at Ron and realized he could test his theory out, in a way.

"Knight to C3," Ron finally decided.

Harry didn't see any threats, so he responded, "Pawn to C6."

While Ron considered his move, Harry called out to Ginny, who was sitting in an armchair by the fire.  "Oi, Ginny!  Can you take my spot next game, please?"

Ginny mouth moved wordlessly for a few seconds before she stammered, "Er, sure Harry."

Ginny moved over and sat next to Harry, blushing furiously.  Harry didn't notice, though, as he was deciding how exactly he was going to do his experiment on Ron.

Ron, oblivious to either one, decided, "Queen to E5."

Harry grimaced, seeing how he was in danger of mate again, until he saw something. "I've got it!" Harry crowed.

"Oh dear," groaned the queen's rook.

"Bishop to F6!  I've blocked you from mating and you can't move your queen because you'd be in check!"

Ron grinned and said, "Queen to E8.  Mate."

Ron's queen courtseyed and said, "I commend your efforts, Baron Gustov.  You fought the good fight."

"I did no such thing, m'lady," Harry's king retorted.  "There was nothing good about that… did you just call that a fight?  I believe massacre would be a better term!"

"You give it a try," Harry sighed to Ginny.

Ron couldn't resist saying, "Try to do a bit better than Harry, though."

Harry's king turned around and suavely said, "It's always a pleasure to play for you, m'lady.  I'm sure the two of us can triumph."

Before Harry went up the stairs to the girls' dormitories, he could see the king smoothing his robes for Ginny while the queen was glaring at her husband with her arms crossed.  Harry knocked on the 5th year's door and Lavender yelled, "Come in."

Harry entered and saw that Lavender, Parvati, and Hermione were all seated on the floor, and had apparently been talking.  Figuring that he shouldn't talk about his idea in front of the other two, Harry asked, "Hermione, can I talk with you alone for a minute?"

Lavender and Parvati both giggled; Hermione looked at the two in exasperation and said, "I'm sure Harry's not going to ask that!"

"I'm sure.  It's nice to see you've gotten over Helga," Lavender giggled, and the two girls left the room.

As Harry was about to speak, Hermione held up a hand to stop him.  "They're outside listening, you know."

Harry laughed and said, "Hermione, I need to talk to you about Ron."

After two groans of disappointment from behind the door, Harry continued, "You've read about golems before?"

Hermione nodded, and Harry asked, "And Ron hasn't?"

Hermione smiled and said, "Probably not."

Harry grinned.  "Well, I've been doing some thinking, and I believe the form the golem takes is whatever form the caster believes will come out."

Hermione thought about this and admitted, "It makes sense."

Harry nodded and said, "So I want to test my idea out on Ron.  I was thinking of telling him that if you say an animal name before you make the golem, it will come out to be that animal.  And if it works, Ron will be that much better at making golems!"

Hermione thought about this, and finally said, "What do you need me for?"

Harry chuckled and replied, "You're the resident genius.  If he wanted to verify what I say, do you think he'd look it up in the library or just ask you?"

"Alright," Hermione agreed, and then confusedly asked, "By the way, who is Helga?"

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A/N: I tried to make the chess scene funny to people who know nothing about chess.  But if you're a chess buff, try pulling out a board and playing out the game with the conversation.

Ariel: Thanks!

Micro-Chick: Can you tell me specifically what's confusing?  That way I can revise the chapter a little.  It's especially important, as the golem is planned to be a thread used over all three stories – so I obviously need to portray it clearly.

Lakergurl13: Hehe, I'd put conspiracy theory in, but I think I gave the students enough paranoia in my last trilogy.

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