Chapter 27: Elephant Trap

20 April 1992

Harry woke up that Monday morning, still completely unsure of his next plan. He knew he would have history of Magic followed by defense lessons with Professor Snape. If Harry had to be honest, he thought Snape was a better teacher at Defense Against the Dark Arts than Quirrell ever was. Why did Dumbledore ever hire him?

Harry wasn't going to waste time by sitting around idly thinking about that. He would study his History of Magic lesson and try his best with defense lessons. He only hoped he wouldn't run into Quirrell. Harry hadn't seen him around much lately, and he hoped it would stay that way.

A few minutes later, Draco then woke up.

"Morning, Harry."

"Morning, Draco."

"What are your plans for today, Harry?", Draco asked.

"Probably just got to do what I normally should be doing", Harry replied. "We got History of Magic with Binns today."

"That should be fun", Draco sarcastically replied, laughing bitterly.

Harry had to agree. No one else seemed interested in the slightest about Binns's lessons. Though Harry's academic performance in the class was fine, he still couldn't really enjoy the class due to the boredom it caused him.

After Theodore, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle woke up, they all walked towards the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. They saw Linus Urquhart, Jocasta Mulciber, and Freya Hutchins all talking and laughing. Harry saw Caleb Holland talking with Gaius Avery and Marcus Flint. He heard parts of their conversation as he walked past their table.

"How's your younger brother and sister?", Flint asked Holland.

"They're fine from when I last wrote to them", Holland replied. "My sister is excited about starting at Hogwarts next year."

"Hopefully she gets into Slytherin", Avery said.

"Hopefully."

The other Slytherin first-year girls then came to the common room entrance. They all headed to breakfast together.

Harry had to wonder how Quirrell would try to steal the stone. He knew it was heavily guarded inside the school. He knew the security around it would be tough to get past, no matter what Quirrell tried. He only hoped that when the time came, he would be prepared to stop him.

Harry noticed that Ron Weasley was looking at them with curiosity. It was strange. Harry knew this meant he was probably up to something. Probably trying to think of new ways to sabotage Harry and his friends from Slytherin.

Ignore him, Harry thought. He's just asking for trouble.

Marcus Flint then walked over to their side of the Slytherin table. "Potter, Malfoy, there's been a change in plans. We're having an emergency practice this evening."

"Why?", Harry asked.

"We need to train as hard as possible for the match against Hufflepuff", Flint said. "It doesn't seem likely that we'll lose, but I can't take any risks. We need to keep training to make sure that we have a guaranteed win."

"Sounds reasonable, I guess", Draco said.

"That makes sense", Harry said.

"Great. Don't be late."

After breakfast, Harry and the other Slytherin first-years headed to History of Magic. Professor Binns droned on during his lesson, which was about the Soap Blizzard of 1378. Harry paid attention and wrote down notes, but only because he wanted to make sure that he wouldn't regret that decision and that he would pass the final exam. He couldn't imagine having to suffer through seven years of this. That seemed too much of a burden.

After class, Gaius Avery and Cleo Rowle came for Harry. He walked with them to Professor Snape's office. There, Harry sharpened his defense skills.

"Okay, Potter. Let's start our lesson by having you demonstrate the Verdimillious charm. Cast the spell."

Harry pointed his wand and yelled, "Verdimillious!"

Harry's wand produced green sparks.

"Good. Cast it again."

Harry pointed his wand and shouted, "Verdimillious!"

"Good work, Potter. Ten points to Slytherin."

Harry felt proud of himself. The hard work he and his friends from Slytherin had put in clearly paid off.

"Now let's try the smokescreen spell. We've gone over this numerous times so this shouldn't be a problem for you."

Harry pointed his wand and yelled, "Fumos!"

"Twenty points to Slytherin."

At the end of the class, Snape showed a slight smirk.

"Well done, Potter. Thirty points to Slytherin for your work today."

Harry walked outside feeling proud of himself.

Later, the ten Slytherin first-years were in the Slytherin Common Room studying when Draco pulled out his Wizard's Chess set.

"All right, Harry. Blaise and Theodore will show a demonstration for us. There's a trap that the White player can fall into in the Queen's Gambit Declined opening called the Elephant Trap. It's when the white player thinks the black player has a weakness and tries to invest in taking more material, but black actually has a material advantage when the trap takes place."

Blaise had the white pieces and Theodore had the black pieces.

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

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

"Pawn to c4", Blaise said. The white pawn on c2 moved to c4.

"Pawn to e6", Theodore said. The black pawn on e7 moved to e6.

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

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

"Bishop to g5", Blaise said. The white bishop on c1 moved to g5. This move pinned the black knight on f6 against the black queen on d8.

"Knight on b8 to d7", Theodore said. The black knight on b8 moved to d7.

"Pawn to d5", Blaise said. The white pawn on c4 moved to d5, capturing and replacing the black pawn that had occupied that square.

"Pawn to d5", Theodore said. The black pawn on e6 pulled out its sword and stabbed the white pawn on d5 to bits.

"Knight to d5", Blaise said. The white knight on c3 pounced on the black pawn on d5, smashing it to bits. This move applied pressure on the black knight on f6, since it was pinned against the black queen. The position looked hopeless for the black pieces.

But to Harry's surprise, Theodore said, "Knight to d5."

The black knight on f6 moved to d5, demolishing the white knight that was on the square with its sword. This move exposed the black queen on d8 to capture by the white bishop on g5.

Blaise then said, "Bishop to d8."

The white bishop on g5 moved to d8 and pulled its sword and stabbed the black queen on d8 into numerous pieces.

Theodore then said, "Bishop to b4."

The black bishop on f8 moved to b4. This move gave check to the white king on e1. Now Harry could see the trap. The only way for the white king to get out of check was to interpose the white queen.

Blaise said, "Queen to d2."

The white queen moved from d1 to d2.

Theodore said, "Bishop to d2."

The black bishop moved from b4 to d2, destroying the white queen and reducing it to splinters. This move put the white king on e1 in check.

Blaise said, "King to d2."

The white king on e1 pulled out its sword and destroyed the black bishop on d2.

Theodore said, "King to d8."

The black king on e8 moved to d8, capturing the white bishop that was on that square.

Draco then turned to Harry. "So, Harry, what can you tell us about this position?"

"The Elephant Trap can be easy for the white player to fall into if he or she is not careful. White thought that he would get a large material advantage by attacking the knight on f6 and exposing a supposed weakness. But instead, black had set an even bigger trap. White had lost a knight for a pawn."

"Well spotted, Harry. Hopefully you won't fall into this trap yourself."

"I don't plan on it, Draco", Harry said, laughing.

"Well, we got to head to Quidditch practice", Draco said. "See all of you later. Up Slytherin!"

"Up Slytherin!", the other Slytherin first-years repeated.

Pansy then pulled Draco aside for a private conversation.

"I just want to say…thanks for looking out for Harry. I think he's really understanding Wizard's Chess more."

"Not a problem", Draco said. "Slytherins look out for each other. Everyone's got to learn new things at some point."

Harry and Draco then headed to Quidditch practice. They found the other members on the Slytherin Quidditch Team in the changing rooms, laughing and joking.

"Okay, everyone!", Flint announced. "Get your brooms, and let's get flying!"

Harry and the other players on the Slytherin Quidditch Team headed out to the Quidditch pitch. Flint tossed the Quaffle into the air, and Adrian Pucey caught it. Harry watched as Pucey held on to the Quaffle and headed towards Miles Bletchley, who was guarding the goal posts. Pucey threw the Quaffle into the goal on the right. Bletchley couldn't stop it.

Graham Montague grabbed the Quaffle and headed to score a goal against Bletchley. He blocked the throw successfully.

Cassius Warrington then grabbed the Quaffle and tried to score against Bletchley. The latter blocked the attempted goal.

Draco then grabbed the Quaffle and tried to score against Bletchley. Draco threw the Quaffle into the goalpost on the right, and Bletchley wasn't able to block it.

Flint then grabbed the Quaffle and chucked it hard towards the goal in the middle. The velocity of Flint's throw was so powerful that Bletchley didn't even have time to react.

Fifty minutes later, Flint had the most goals by far.

"All right, I'm releasing the snitch", Flint said. "Potter, Higgs, get ready."

Harry and Higgs both pursued the snitch while dodging bludgers from Derrick and Bole. A few minutes later, Harry was within inches from the snitch. Just a few more inches…Harry stretched out his arm as far as possible.

Finally, Harry caught the snitch. He didn't have enough time to react, because a few seconds later, one of the bludgers hit by Derrick hit Harry squarely in the back.

Harry plunged to the ground, feeling very numb. The pain was all over his body. Harry hit the ground hard. He laid there, holding up the snitch for everyone to clearly see. He hadn't dropped it.

"I caught it", Harry said before passing out.

Later, that evening…

Harry felt himself waking up and regaining consciousness. It felt like he had been asleep for a lifetime.

"Great shot, Derrick, but maybe next time aim for the opposing seekers when hitting those bludgers that hard!"

"I'll keep that in mind. But let's not forget, that it was your idea to have this emergency practice, Flint! You've clearly been pushing us way too hard! Someone had to say it! I know you love Quidditch, but this is ridiculous! You got to give us a break and relax. We're already in the lead for the Quidditch cup anyway. Gryffindor has no chance."

Finally, Harry opened his eyes. He saw all the members of the Slytherin Quidditch Team, along with Pansy and Theodore. When Pansy saw that Harry was awake, she squealed, rushed over to him, and hugged him tightly.

"Give him room to breathe, Pansy", Draco said, chuckling.

"It's all right, Draco. I'll be fine", Harry said, his back still hurting but feeling much more comfortable.

"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey has been quite helpful", Flint said.

Madam Pomfrey then walked over.

"Miss Parkinson, please do hug Mister Potter right now. He's clearly hurt and he needs to rest."

Pansy then pulled away.

"Visiting time is over", Pomfrey said.

"I was thinking of going to see Hagrid", Draco said. "Maybe try to get to know him and show him my family is not all that bad. Or at least, show that I'm not the evil villain that he thinks I am."

"You, Pansy, and Theodore can go", Harry said. "Sorry I can't go with you."

Draco nodded. "Okay, then. See you later, Harry."

Draco, Pansy, and Theodore then walked over to Hagrid's. Draco still felt shocked that his best friend had been injured by the bludger.

"I still can't believe that Harry landed in the hospital wing because of that bludger", Draco said.

"You boys clearly play Quidditch way too hard", Pansy said. "Flint is clearly just as fanatical about Quidditch as Oliver Wood is, if not more. He's got to go a little easier on you boys."

"That's what Derrick tried telling him. I don't know what Flint is so worried about. Slytherin has won the Quidditch cup for six years in a row. Seven if you count this year. Besides, Gryffindor has lost twice and they're in last place. And Ravenclaw is much too powerful to defeat, no matter how much resistance Oliver Wood puts up."

Finally, Draco, Pansy, and Theodore reached Hagrid's hut. There, Hagrid was making some tea.

"Hello, Malfoy. Parkinson. Nott. Where's Harry?"

"Hospital wing", Theodore said. "Injury during Quidditch practice. A bludger hit him in the back."

"That's terrible! Is he all right?"

"He's fine", Draco said. "He'll be back on his feet within a couple of days."

Just then, Theodore noticed something.

"Where's your egg?", he asked.

Hagrid appeared confused for a second. Then, it seemed to register in his head.

"Oh, the egg! That thing. Well, a student came here earlier and told me that he would deliver the egg to safety for his older brother. Very fanatical with dragons."

"Who?", Pansy asked.

"A redhead from Gryffindor. He offered a great deal as well. Very convenient. I couldn't refuse his offer."

Hagrid suddenly stopped, like he suddenly realized that he said something he probably should not have.

"I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that."

Draco obviously knew who Hagrid was talking about. A Gryffindor who had been a thorn in their side the entire school year. Someone who had relentlessly harassed and insulted Draco and his friends from Slytherin. The three of them burst out of the hut immediately. Draco knew they had to stop this student before he carried out the transaction.

Weasley.