Chapter 14: The Knight

26 November 1991

Harry woke up late that Tuesday morning.

Draco and Theodore were both shaking him.

"Harry, mate, you overslept…", Draco said. "We've got to get to transfiguration in twenty minutes."

This immediately caused Harry to wake up with fear in his eyes.

"Let's get going", Harry said. He charged out of the Slytherin Common room as fast as he could, not answering when he passed by Urquhart and Warrington in the common room. Harry, Draco, and Theodore ran as fast as they could to the transfiguration courtyard.

"We've made it", Harry said, out of breath.

"With five minutes to spare", Theodore said, checking the time.

"I'm going to get hungry in the class", Harry said. "I'll just have extra lunch or dinner then."

Harry walked into the classroom.

"Harry, are you all right?", Pansy asked. "We were worried about you."

"We didn't see you at breakfast", Daphne said.

"I overslept", Harry said.

"Did you have any bad dreams?", Pansy asked.

"No, not this time", Harry said. He knew Pansy was genuinely concerned, but he was sure everything was fine. Even though Jocasta was attacked, Harry knew that it wasn't his fault. Professor Snape had advised the Slytherin prefects to watch the younger Slytherins carefully so no detriment would come upon them. Still, Harry knew that if Quirrell wasn't trying to eliminate him so badly, Jocasta wouldn't have suffered in the first place.

Professor McGonagall walked into the classroom.

"Good morning, first-years", she said.

"Good morning, Professor McGonagall", the Slytherin first-years responded.

This will be entertaining, Harry thought sarcastically.

During that lesson, the Slytherin first-years were revising the Transfiguration alphabet. Then, she gave all of them a quiz. Harry and Theodore were the only ones to get every single question correct.

"Excellent work, Potter and Nott. Twenty points each to Slytherin."

Harry said, "Thank you, Professor McGonagall."

But in his mind Harry didn't know what to think. Why was McGonagall suddenly awarding him points? It seemed odd, but he tried not to dwell on it. Maybe McGonagall was just trying to be fair and show she was impartial. Maybe she wanted to show she wasn't biased. Harry couldn't really complain about that. After all, Professor Snape treated all the Slytherins well. At best, he favored them over the other students at Hogwarts.

After the lesson ended, Harry was walking in the grand staircase with Draco and Pansy.

Pansy beamed at Harry. "Great job gaining Slytherin more points. You think McGonagall is finally trying to respect you as an individual?"

"I doubt that", Harry said. "The last thing I need is support from a Gryffindor. You know she will be more than happy to judge all Slytherins to be evil and the same. She may not say that publicly, but we all know she is thinking it."

Harry then looked down the stairs. "And speaking of Gryffindors…"

He silently groaned at the sight of Ronald Weasley, Dean Thomas, Cormac McLaggen, Fred Weasley, and Leo Dalton all walking together in their direction.

Ron gave Harry an ugly sneer but didn't say anything.

Once the five Gryffindor students were out of earshot, Harry then asked, "What's for lunch?"

At lunch, Harry got an immense amount of extra food.

"Careful", Draco said. "You have to watch your weight, Harry. I'm just looking out for my best friend. If Flint saw this, he would not be pleased."

"I don't think Flint would want me to starve to death, either", Harry said.

Draco thought about that for a second, then nodded.

"Well, that's true."

After classes ended, Harry and the other Slytherin first-years were studying in the Slytherin Common Room.

Tracey Davis then asked, "Should we practice the Softening Charm?"

"Sure", Harry said. He then pointed his wand at an empty chair that was right next to them.

"Spongify!", he exclaimed.

The chair became rubbery and bouncy.

Draco then pointed his wand at a piece of wood that was on the floor.

"Spongify!", he shouted.

The wood transformed into a softer form.

Theodore then coughed to get the attention of the other Slytherin first-years.

"You know, maybe we should practice on objects outside of the common room", he suggested. "I'm sure the Slytherins in the sixth and seventh years will not be pleased with what we're doing here."

"Maybe we should ask one of the prefects if they know about a secret room that we could practice in", Harry said. "I see one of them coming right now."

A sixth-year Slytherin prefect named Mia Wright was heading in their direction in the common room.

"Mia?", Harry asked. "You don't mind if you could help us with something, do you?"

"I don't mind at all, Potter", Mia said. "What do you need?"

"My fellow first-years and I were wondering if there was a secret room in the castle where we could practice our spells. I would prefer a room near the dungeons, so students from other houses would not interfere."

Mia smiled. "As a matter of fact, there is a room that can be used for such purposes. I'll take you there right now."

Mia led the ten Slytherin first-years through the dungeons, not even stopping to greet other Slytherins heading into the common room. They ambled through the dungeons until at last, Mia stopped in front of a door that none of the Slytherin first-years had even noticed before.

"Last year, I came here all the time to eat my lunch privately without any disturbances. I'm sure your privacy will be respected here."

"Brilliant", Harry said. "Thank you, Mia."

"You're welcome, Potter."

"You have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Believe me, I won't. Slytherins stick together. That's one of the rules."

After Mia left, Harry glanced at the other nine Slytherin first-years.

"All right, then", he said. "Let's start with Charms. If we can revamp our respective performances in this class, Professor Flitwick may be impressed."

"Slytherins are the house", Draco said. "Our solidarity is what makes us unique."

"Exactly", Harry said. "The Gryffindors are too thick to realize that not all of us are murderers or criminals. They can't seem to accept that we have our own talents and attributes which can benefit those around us, not just those in our own house. The houses don't usually communicate with each other, with the exception of prefects. That doesn't mean we can show them that their recognized stereotypes and assumptions about us are wrong."

"Try telling that to Weasley", Blaise said, laughing slightly.

"We can just ignore him and his older twin brothers", Harry said. "Other than that, we have opportunities to show the rest of the school that we can make a difference in the right way. At least show them that we have credibility."

Harry took a deep breath.

"Anyway, I digress. Let's start with levitation charm. Pansy, why don't you start?"

Pansy blushed slightly.

"I'm sure Daphne or Tracey would be more than honored to go first."

"Pansy, you should give it a try. There is no need to be nervous. You're here to learn. If you're having trouble, I can guide you."

"Okay", Pansy said.

"Try levitating that chair over there", Harry said, pointing at a chair which was a little dusty.

Pansy then pointed her wand at the chair.

"Wingardium Leviosa!", she shouted.

The chair was levitated in the air for at least five seconds.

"Excellent", Harry said. "Why don't you try, Daphne?"

Daphne then pointed her wand at the chair.

"Wingardium Leviosa!", she exclaimed.

The chair levitated in the air.

"Now you try, Draco", Theodore said.

Draco pointed his wand at the chair and yelled, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The chair levitated.

After Theodore, Crabbe, Blaise, and Goyle tried the levitation charm, Harry then said, "Maybe we should practice our defense skills at this time. Draco, you could probably show how using the shield charm would work."

"All right then", Draco said.

"Fine. Theodore, let's see if you can cast the disarming spell against Draco."

Theodore pointed his wand at Draco and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

Draco then yelled, "Protego!"

The disarming spell was repelled by Draco's shield charm.

The ten Slytherins continued practicing for forty more minutes. After that, Draco had a suggestion.

"We could practice Wizard's Chess in this room", Draco said. "Lucky for all of us, I brought my Wizard's Chess set here."

Draco then found a table on the other side of the room and placed the chess set on it.

"Harry, you should now see how the knight moves and functions. You have your parchment and a quill, right?"

"Yes."

"Brilliant. First, list the squares the two white knights begin at the start of the game."

Harry wrote down the squares b1 and g1.

"Now write down the squares the two black knights start at during the beginning of the game."

Harry wrote down the squares b8 and g8.

"I'll place a black knight on e5", Draco said. "Harry, can you list all the squares the black knight can move to from here?"

Harry then wrote down the squares c6, d7, f7, g6, g4, f3, d3, and c4.

"Now I'll place the black knight on d4", Draco said. "What squares can the black knight move to from here?"

Harry wrote down the squares b5, c6, e6, f5, f3, e2, c2, and b3.

"I'll remove the black knight and place a white knight on e4. I'll also place a black rook on f6. Harry, how would the knight capture the black rook?"

Harry then said, "Knight to f6."

The white knight leaped into the air and stabbed the black rook on f6 with its sword.

"Now I'll set up a checkmate position", Draco said. "I'll place the black king on a8 and a black rook on c7. I'll also put the white king on a6, and one of the white knights on d7. I'll put the second white knight on e6. Harry, how would the knights be able to deliver checkmate in this position?"

Harry said, "Knight to c7."

The white knight on e6 captured the black rook on c7, smashing the rook to bits.

"Checkmate", Harry said.

"So, what can you say after seeing all of this?", Draco asked.

"Knights are useful pieces, as they are the only pieces that are allowed to jump over other pieces. Knights are well placed in the center and are useful during the opening. Knights can capture efficiently and can prove to be a menace to the opposing side."

"Perfect, Harry", Draco said.

"I can tell you're gaining more knowledge and information about Wizard's Chess, Harry", Pansy said.

"Indeed", Theodore said.