Chapter 20: Reti's Mate

24 December 1991

It was Christmas Eve.

Harry woke up that morning at Malfoy Manor. He was certain that the 1991 Christmas season would be very different when compared to the previous Christmases. Harry remembered all the negative feelings he felt when he was alone in the cupboard under the stairs as Dudley opened his gifts. He was never invited to celebrate with the Dursleys even during the holidays.

Well, things would be different at Malfoy Manor. Harry didn't expect to get any presents however. He would be very surprised if…

Just then someone knocked on the door, interrupting his thoughts. Harry opened the door and saw that it was Draco.

"So, what do you think of Malfoy Manor?", Draco asked.

"It's amazing", Harry said. "It's so huge."

"Well, my dad is wealthy", Draco said.

"Your parents seem nice", Harry said.

"You want to do something fun together?", Draco asked. "My dad has a few extra cleansweeps stashed away in the back of the manor. Maybe we could play a game against each other."

"There's no way that only two people can play a game of Quidditch", Harry said. "We could just play a game of catch with the Quaffle."

"Sounds like a good plan."

Harry saw that it was snowing outside on the grounds of Malfoy Manor.

"We should probably wear sweaters. My mother has a bunch of them in her closet."

"How long has your father been working for the ministry?", Harry asked as the two of them put on their sweaters.

"At least seventeen years", Draco said. "My father is quite popular at the Ministry. He has a number of connections."

The two boys grabbed their cleansweeps and headed out to the grounds of the manor. Harry and Draco mounted their brooms and flew a few feet up in the air.

Harry grabbed the Quaffle and tossed it to Draco. The blond grabbed it and heaved his arm backwards before releasing it. Harry moved backwards a few inches on his broom and caught it. Harry then threw the Quaffle towards Draco's left. Harry watched as Draco lunged to grab the Quaffle. Draco then tossed the Quaffle back to Harry.

For an hour, the two boys continued to pass the Quaffle back and forth. Neither of them was saying much during those sixty minutes.

Finally, Narcissa called out to the two boys.

"Draco? Harry? Lunch is ready."

After lunch, Narcissa asked Harry if he wanted to play another game of Wizard's chess.

"Sure."

Narcissa, Harry, and Draco walked over to the chessboard. Narcissa had the white pieces and Harry had the black pieces.

"Pawn to e4", Narcissa said. The white pawn on e2 moved to e4.

"Pawn to c6", Harry said. The black pawn on c7 moved to c6.

"Pawn to d4", Narcissa said. The white pawn on d2 moved to d4.

"Pawn to d5", Harry said. The black pawn on d7 moved to d5.

"Knight to c3", Narcissa said. The white knight on b1 moved to c3.

"Pawn to e4", Harry said. The black pawn on d5 pulled its sword out and attacked the white pawn on e4 multiple times before taking its place.

"Knight to e4", Narcissa said. The white knight on c3 moved to e4, crushing the black pawn that was on the e4 square.

"Knight to f6", Harry said. The black knight on g8 moved to f6.

"Queen to d3", Narcissa said. The white queen on d1 moved to d3.

"Pawn to e5", Harry said. The black pawn on e7 moved to e5.

"Pawn to e5", Narcissa said. The white pawn on d4 moved to e5, capturing the black pawn that occupied the e5 square.

"Queen to a5", Harry said. The black queen on d8 moved to a5, giving check to the white king on e1.

"Bishop to d2", Narcissa said. This moved blocked the check and also attacked the black queen on a5.

"Queen to e5", Harry said. The black queen on a5 moved to e5, capturing the white pawn that was on the e5 square.

"Castle queenside", Narcissa said. The white king on e1 moved to c1, and the white rook on a1 moved to d1. Harry was surprised by this move, because it meant that the white knight on e4 could be captured, since it was attacked twice. Should he take it? Capturing it would give him a huge material gain.

"Knight to e4", Harry said. The black knight on f6 leaped on the white knight on e4 and smashed it to bits. All seemed well for Harry's position.

But he would have never expected the move that followed.

"Queen to d8", Narcissa said. The white queen on d3 moved to d8, giving check to the black king on e8. Harry knew that capturing the queen was the only legal move for the black king.

"King to d8", Harry said. The black king moved to d8, splitting the white queen into half with his sword.

"Bishop to g5", Narcissa said. The white bishop on d2 moved to g5, giving check to the black king on d8. This move also unveiled a check to the black king from the white rook on d1. Therefore, it was a double check. There were only two legal moves for black.

"King to c7", Harry said. The black king on d8 moved to c7.

"Bishop to d8", Narcissa said. The white bishop on g5 moved to d8.

"Checkmate", Narcissa said.

Harry found it hard to believe. But it was true. The white bishop on d8 couldn't be captured because it was defended by the white rook on d1. The black king couldn't move to d7 or d6 because those squares were attacked by the white rook. The black king could not move to b6 because that square was also attacked by the white dark-squared bishop. The black king also could not move to b8, c8, b7, or c6 because those squares were occupied by his own pieces.

Harry sighed and looked at the ground in disbelief. He had lost again.

Draco then decided to explain what had happened.

"This type of checkmate is known as Reti's Mate", Draco said. "This type of checkmate occurs when the checkmated king is trapped by four of its own pieces that occupy squares it could flee to and it is also attacked by a bishop that is protected by a rook or a queen. The game that you just played with my mother was first played in 1910 between Richard Reti and Savielly Tartakower."

Harry nodded. "I should have known that capturing that knight would have been a mistake. Material isn't everything, apparently. Sometimes material doesn't matter."

"Exactly", Draco said.

Harry and Draco spent the rest of the day playing Quidditch and throwing snowballs at each other. It was clearly the best winter vacation that Harry had so far.

That night, Harry slept in the extra room at Malfoy Manor. He looked at the night before going to bed, looking forward to tomorrow.

25 December 1991

It was Christmas morning.

Harry woke up, feeling slightly tired. That tired feeling was quickly replaced by the joy he was feeling now that Christmas had arrived. His first real Christmas, not spending it alone in a cupboard. He would be able to spend this holiday with people that would want him around, including his best friend.

He looked out the window, feeling so elated. He watched the snow that was piling up outside.

Someone then knocked on the door. Harry answered it and saw that it was Draco.

"Merry Christmas, Harry!", Draco exclaimed. The two boys then slapped hands.

"Merry Christmas, Draco", Harry said. "And my first real Christmas as well."

"Yeah", Draco said, not really sure about how to respond to that. He then decided to change the subject. "Maybe we can write some of the other Slytherins. We could ask them how their Christmas vacations are going."

"Absolutely", Harry said.

Harry and Draco walked downstairs to the dining room. There, Lucius and Narcissa were there preparing breakfast.

"Merry Christmas, Mother and Father", Draco said.

"Merry Christmas, Mister and Missus Malfoy", Harry said.

"Merry Christmas, Draco. Merry Christmas, Harry."

Draco eagerly sat down on the right side of the table. Harry sat down on the left side of the table, still feeling reluctant to act too eager. This wasn't his home, after all. He still felt like he needed to show an immense amount of respect when he was a guest in Malfoy Manor.

Narcissa probably suspected Harry was feeling this way, because she lightly squeezed his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Harry. You are more than welcome here. There's nothing to worry about."

The four of them ate breakfast. Narcissa asked Lucius how things at the Ministry were going.

"Very well", Lucius said. "Some of the ministry employees have been asking for extra gifts. They're getting too greedy, if you ask me."

"Father", Draco interjected. "Do you think the Chudley Cannons are going to have a good chance at winning the next Quidditch cup?"

"It seems unlikely, given their mediocre performances", Lucius said. "The team isn't a cohesive unit. Plus, their players aren't doing that great in practices. They only care about making money."

"That's true."

After breakfast, Harry headed to his room and started writing Christmas letters to Warrington, Flint, Bletchley, Pansy, and Theodore.

His writings in these letters were genuine. His fellow housemates in Slytherin were the only real friends he currently had. He had no such associations prior to receiving his Hogwarts letter. He had to at least return the favor in his own way. Words may not have meant much to some people, but he hoped that his fellow Slytherins would appreciate any positive comments that he said about them.

Harry decided to write his first letter to Warrington. After ten minutes of thinking of what to write, here's what he came up with:

Dear Cassius, even though we've only known each other for a few months, I truly feel like I can trust you. You're like the older brother that I never had. I genuinely appreciate your assistance with Quidditch and defensive spells and offensive spells.

Cassius, I will send you a new Quaffle to practice with. I figure I should get you something, since you've been such a good friend. Most of the Slytherins I've encountered have been surprisingly welcoming, so I'm thankful for that at least. I really hope you like it.

Enjoy the holidays,

Harry

Harry gave the letter to his owl, Hedwig, and sent the owl on her way. Despite the fact that Hedwig had delivered a handful of letters for Harry, the two did not have much interaction. Harry hoped that would change soon.

Harry then wrote letters to Higgs, Bole, Derrick, Goyle, and Montague. Harry wanted to make his letters to Bletchley and Flint longer. Flint embodied the qualities needed in a Quidditch captain and Bletchley had contributed a vast amount of skill to the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Harry thought their qualities should have been praised.

Harry wrote this to Bletchley.

Dear Miles, I've been grateful for the advice that you gave during the number of practices that we had on the Quidditch pitch. You've done well as the Keeper. I'm certain that if I run into trouble, you'll have my back. Miles, I hope you can give me more tips about how to play Seeker. And I hope you won't mind helping Theodore learn how to play as Keeper.

Miles, your qualities as a teammate have to be respected. They deserve to be admired and exalted. You clearly care about the well-being of the Slytherin Quidditch Team, and are willing to challenge anyone that dares to question its judgment.

Enjoy your Christmas,

Harry

He then thought about what he would write to Flint. He knew that if Theodore were there, he'd be able to give him tutelage and suggestions on what to write to his captain. Harry then decided to write this.

Dear Marcus,

I honestly feel so lucky to be able to look up to you as our team captain. You clearly care about the well-being of Slytherin's reputation and the welfare of the Slytherin Quidditch Team. I promise as your starting seeker, that I will do my best to not let the team down. I promise I will try my best. I really hope I can be involved in helping Slytherin House win at least one Quidditch cup. Marcus, you've been so helpful. The last few months have been amazing thanks to you and the other Slytherins. Your advice has certainly been beneficial for my involvement with Slytherin.

Marcus, I really hope you get made Head Boy next year. You certainly have the ambition for it. I think Professor Snape would agree. Regardless, I've been thinking about you and your well-being, and I certainly have not taken any of your advice and help for granted. Thinking of you and the rest of the team. Merry Christmas.

Harry

After he wrote letters to Urquhart and Pucey, Harry then decided to write a letter to Pansy.

Dear Pansy,

You have been such a good friend to me these last few months. We've really bonded ever since I came back to the Wizarding World. Pansy, I truly am proud to be your friend. I certainly do not take the time we spent together for granted. Continue being yourself because that is such a wonderful way to be. Enjoy your Christmas.

Harry

Later that night, Harry and Draco were unwrapping presents. Harry was pleased to have been given boxes of sweets from Flint and Warrington.

"Muggle money", Harry said with disdain as he opened Petunia's and Vernon's gift.

Finally, the last present was opened. Harry opened it and found some silky piece of clothing.

"I wonder what this weird piece of clothing is?", he asked out loud.

Lucius walked over. "I know what this thing is. It's an invisibility cloak. These articles of clothing are extremely rare."

Harry picked up something that was with the cloak. "A note fell out of it."

He read the note.

Your father gave this to me before he died. I am sure you will use it wisely and well.

"That's interesting", Harry said. "The person who sent this never gave his name. I wonder who it could be."

He glanced at Draco, who shrugged.

"In any case, this person has just done me a huge favor."