Chapter 13: The Queen

25 November 1991

It was Monday.

Harry woke up, still feeling awful about what had happened to Jocasta Mulciber. He knew it wasn't his fault and that he shouldn't be held accountable. Still, he felt extremely guilty. Jocasta didn't deserve to suffer.

Harry ate breakfast with Draco and Pansy like he usually did, but he was eating in complete silence.

"Harry, I know you're upset", Draco said.

"I'm not", Harry said, but his facial expression said otherwise.

"Harry, you can talk to us", Pansy said.

"Pansy, I'll be fine."

"It isn't your fault", Draco said. "We're your friends. You can talk to us. We'll be there for you."

"I know, I know", Harry said. "I just need time to think. This isn't something that will be forgotten overnight."

"Quirrell will face justice", Draco said. "But we can't accuse him without proof. No one even saw Jocasta getting attacked."

"We have History of Magic today. Afterwards, Defense Against the Dark Arts", Blaise said.

"Professor Binns will be doing one of his mundane lectures again", Draco said. "That wouldn't surprise me."

"His lectures are sometimes enlightening and thought-provoking", Theodore said.

"Yeah, otherwise it is just a load of information that serves no purpose whatsoever", Goyle said.

Harry then sighed. "We might as well get ready."

"Okay, first-years", Gaius Avery called in order to get their attention. "I'm taking all of you to History of Magic."

The Slytherin first-years followed Gaius to the History of Magic classroom. When they arrived, they saw Professor Binns sitting in his chair through his ghostly form.

It was just like every other History of Magic lesson. Nothing riveting or productive ever seemed to occur during those lessons. Harry wrote down notes and did his best to pay attention, but he had to secretly acknowledge that the lesson was torturous. He became familiar with the material, but it still felt useless and irrelevant.

After class, Cleo Rowle approached the first-year Slytherins.

"I came for Potter", Cleo said. "This way, Harry."

"See you", Harry said to Draco and Pansy.

"Sure", Draco said.

Harry followed Cleo to Professor Snape's office. Snape seemed to be grading exams.

"Thank you, Miss Rowle. As for you, Potter, we should go over some useful spells."

After Cleo left, Harry was wondering what Snape would teach him this time.

"Mister Potter, are you aware of the shield charm?"

Harry had to think of a creative excuse.

"I've seen several seventh-years using that spell", he said, not mentioning that he used the spell himself when Flint and Warrington were giving him lessons.

"Can you demonstrate the spell right now?"

Harry pointed his wand in the air and yelled, "Protego!"

"Correct. I will cast a spell at you, and let's see if you can use the shield charm against it."

"Which spell?", Harry asked.

"I think it's best if I show you the spell. You need to anticipate any possibility."

Harry swallowed for a few seconds, then prepared himself.

"I'm ready", he said.

"Expelliarmus!", Snape shouted.

"Protego!", Harry shouted, using the shield charm to block the disarming charm.

"Good, Potter. Ten points to Slytherin."

Harry felt elated and ecstatic about this.

"Let's try another spell. Stupefy!"

Harry shouted, "Protego!"

"Twenty more points to Slytherin", Snape said.

He then pointed his wand at Harry and said, "Flipendo!"

Harry blocked the Knockback jinx by yelling, "Protego!"

"Ten more points to Slytherin", Snape said.

After the lesson, Snape said, "Potter, it is apparent that your defense skills are improving. I can tell that you have more experience and insight about defense than you did when you first came to Hogwarts."

"Thank you, professor", Harry said.

Harry then headed to his next lesson. After classes ended, Harry was working on his homework with Draco, Pansy, and Theodore.

Miles Bletchley then walked into the common room.

"Hey, Nott!", Bletchley said. "Maybe this weekend I can show you some tips and strategies when playing as the keeper."

Theodore seemed pleased by this. "Sure!"

"Harry and I can come help you, if you want", Draco said.

"The more the merrier", Bletchley said.

After Bletchley left, Draco then pulled out his Wizard's Chess set.

"Okay, Harry. Let's review how the queen moves and functions. Pull out some parchment and list the squares where the white queen and black queen start at during the beginning of the game."

Harry then wrote on the parchment, The white queen starts on d1. The black queen starts on d8.

"Correct, Harry", Draco said. "Now I'll place the white queen on a1. List all the squares the white queen can move to in this position."

Harry wrote down the squares a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, a7, a8, b2, c3, d4, e5, f6, g7, h8, b1, c1, d1, e1, f1, g1, and h1.

"Very good. I'll remove the white queen and place the black queen on d8. Now you should write down all the squares the black queen can move to from this position."

Harry wrote down on the parchment a8, b8, c8, e8, f8, g8, h8, d7, d6, d5, d4, d3, d2, d1, a5, b6, c7, e7, f6, g5, and h4.

"Now I'll remove the black queen and place the white queen on d5. Now, can you write all the squares the queen can move to from this square?"

Harry wrote down on the parchment a8, b7, c6, e4, f3, g2, h1, d8, d7, d6, d4, d3, d2, d1, a5, b5, c5, e5, f5, g5, h5, a2, b3, c4, e6, f7, and g8.

"Now I'll move the white queen to b5 and place a black rook on e2", Draco said. "Harry, how would the white queen capture the black rook?"

Harry then said, "Queen to e2."

The white queen moved from b5 to e2, smashing the black rook on e2 to bits.

"Next, I'll relocate the white queen to d5 and place a black bishop on a5. How would the white queen capture the black bishop?"

Harry then said, "Queen to a5."

The white queen moved from d5 to a5, completely destroying the black bishop on the a5 square.

"Very good", Draco said. "Now, I'll put the white king on e6, the black king on e8, and the white queen on g5. How can the white queen deliver checkmate?"

"There are two possible checkmates in this position", Harry said. "One of them is when the white king defends the queen from being captured by the black king. Queen to e7."

The white queen moved from g5 to e7.

"Checkmate", Harry said.

"Let's move the queen back to g5", Draco said. "Can you show the other way to deliver checkmate?"

Harry then said, "Queen to g8."

The white queen moved from g5 to g8.

"Checkmate", Harry said.

"So, Harry, what can you conclude after seeing all of these positions?", Draco asked.

"The queen has the powers of both the rook and the bishop combined", Harry said. "It can capture pieces of the opposite color, just like every other piece. The queen has twenty-one squares it can move to from any of the squares in the corner. On the edge of the board, the queen has twenty-one squares it can move to. On squares in the center of the board like d5 or e4, the queen has a choice of twenty-seven squares. This shows the queen is the most powerful piece on the board by far and should be taken care of in the most discreet manner."

"You couldn't have said it any better, Harry", Draco said.

Just then Gaius Avery and Marcus Flint walked into the common room.

"How is Jocasta?", Harry asked the two prefects.

"She seems to be doing fine", Flint said. "I spoke to Madam Pomfrey briefly about her condition. She's recovering. She'll get better."