Chapter 28: Englund Gambit Trap, Part 1

20 April 1992

Draco, Pansy, and Theodore hurried towards the Great Hall, hoping to find a professor and notify one of them about Weasley's plans. Draco knew that if Weasley was caught, he'd surely be punished.

Just then, Professor McGonagall stopped them.

"Why are you three running in such a hurry?", she asked sternly.

"It's Weasley, professor", Draco said. "He has a dragon, and he's trying to sneak it off school grounds."

"What rubbish!", McGonagall exclaimed. "A blatant lie to get Weasley in trouble. Thirty points from Slytherin."

"What?!", Pansy exclaimed. "It's not a lie. Weasley really does have a dragon. Hagrid…"

"I would have expected you three to be above this petty inter-house rivalry. You three will also serve detention. This Saturday."

Draco clenched his teeth. He was doing everything in his power to avoid lashing out and insulting McGonagall.

The Gryffindor Head of House then walked away.

"I can't believe it!", Draco exclaimed in fury. "We tried to do the right thing and expose Weasley, and we're the ones who get punished. We lost Slytherin thirty points."

Draco's hatred for Weasley and Gryffindor House had clearly increased.

"Don't worry about it", Pansy said. "Slytherin still has the lead for the house cup. Besides, we'll just gain those points back anyway if Snape has anything to do with it."

Draco, Pansy, and Theodore headed to the Slytherin Common Room, clearly disappointed. The other Slytherin first-years (apart from Harry, obviously, who was still in the hospital wing) wanted to know what had happened. Draco told them everything that had happened.

Crabbe and Goyle shared Draco's perspective in vilifying McGonagall.

"Just because we're Slytherins, she always thinks we're up to no good. It's bullocks!", Goyle snarled.

"I couldn't have agreed more", Crabbe said.

Just then, Gaius Avery and Cleo Rowle walked over.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation", Gaius said. "You're saying that Weasley has a dragon? And he's trying to sneak it off school grounds?"

"Exactly", Draco said. "But McGonagall thought we were lying and simply slandering Weasley."

Gaius smiled. "There may be something we can do about that. We'll go inform Professor Snape."

Draco, Pansy, Theodore, and Blaise followed Gaius and Cleo to Snape's office. There, Gaius told their Head of House everything. Snape showed a slight smirk. Draco knew that look. It was the look he got whenever he was able to punish a Gryffindor.

"He's probably in the Astronomy Tower", Snape said. "He's won't escape. He'll surely be caught and punished."

Meanwhile…

Ron Weasley could hardly believe his luck. He had successfully delivered Hagrid's dragon, Norbert, to his brother Charlie in Romania. Now that the dragon was off-campus, Weasley felt like he was being let off the hook, scot-free.

Or so he thought.

"This is a really bad idea, Weasley", Hermione Granger said. "We could get in serious trouble for this."

Hermione had followed Ron and his other Gryffindor classmate, Seamus Finnigan, to the Astronomy tower to drop off the dragon. Hermione was greatly skeptical and dubious of Ron's plan.

"You're worrying too much, Granger", Weasley said. "You ever thought about having a little fun? Fun isn't going to kill you."

"She has a point, you know", Seamus said. "Imagine what would happen if McGonagall caught us, or worse, that bastard Snape."

"Well, no need to imagine any longer, because that "bastard" is right here", a voice said.

Ron, Seamus, and Hermione turned to see who said that. It was Professor Snape, who clearly was incensed.

"You thought you were clever, Weasley. Sneaking around school grounds to carry out illegal activity and even getting three students in my own house in detention. Well, worry about it no longer, because I think three more pairs of hands are going to help them. By the way, twenty points from Gryffindor for speaking disrespectfully about a teacher, Finnigan."

Ron gulped.

"Now let's see what McGonagall has to say about this", Snape said with a slight smile.

In McGonagall's office…

Professor McGonagall was furious. She evidently was not expecting the fact that Draco, Pansy, and Theodore had been telling the truth this whole time. Not to mention that three of her own students had snuck out at night.

"Three students sneaking out at night!", McGonagall exclaimed. "Weasley, your behavior this year hasn't made this much of a surprise. But Granger, I expected better from you."

"We're sorry", Granger said.

"You leave me no choice", McGonagall. "I'm taking seventy points from Gryffindor."

"Seventy?!", Ron exclaimed.

"Seventy each", McGonagall said. "And you three will also serve detention this Saturday. With Malfoy, Parkinson, and Nott."

Ron looked at the ground, clearly disgusted. Granted, Gryffindor were still in last place in the running for the house cup, anyway, so Gryffindor losing 210 points didn't really matter much. Ron knew his housemates would not be pleased, but there was nothing he could do about that. His hatred for Draco Malfoy seemed to be permanently sealed at that point.

Ron, Hermione, and Seamus headed to Gryffindor Tower, clearly feeling miserable. Their housemates would definitely be pissed. He prepared himself for unpleasant days ahead.

The next morning…

Ron was eating his breakfast, clearly not in a stable mood. Most of their housemates were ignoring him, clearly upset that his actions had cost them points. Only Seamus and Neville would sit with him and talk to him.

Just then, Errol, the Weasley family owl, flew into the Great Hall and dropped an envelope on Weasley's lap. Seamus looked at it in curiosity.

"Better open it, Ron", Neville said. "It's a howler. Once I neglected to open one from my grandmother, and…it wasn't pleasant. Best to leave it at that."

Ron opened the howler. When he did, loud screaming burst through the great hall.

"RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU BREAK SCHOOL RULES AND SNEAK OUT AT NIGHT! SNEAKING A DRAGON OFF OF SCHOOL CAMPUS? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? HOW MANY DETENTIONS CAN YOU SERVE IN ONE SCHOOL YEAR?"

Most of the Slytherins were laughing at this. Molly Weasley's voice in the howler told Ron that he had better behave himself and not earn any more detentions that term, or he would be facing severe punishment.

Meanwhile…

Draco smirked. "Serves the git right."

"We still got a problem, I'm afraid", Pansy said. "We still have to serve detention this Saturday. With Weasley, Granger, and Finnigan."

Draco grunted. "Unfortunately. You would think she'd nullify our detentions since we were telling the truth."

"I think it was more about our motives", Theodore said. "We clearly intended to get Weasley in trouble and cost Gryffindor points. It was not really about getting other students to obey and listen to school rules. For instance, if a Slytherin had been doing what Weasley did, would any of us have reported it and risked the possibility of Slytherin losing points?"

"Obviously not", Draco said. "Slytherin looks out for students in their own house. We would not rat each other out and betray each other. Doesn't sound very ambitious and cunning to me."

"I concur", Pansy said.

22 April 1992

Harry felt much better and thought it was time to leave the hospital wing. He felt energized after the events that had occurred the last two days. He knew that Weasley was a complete moron if he thought he wouldn't get caught. He relished at the thought of Gryffindor losing 230 points. They would reap what they sow. They brought that upon themselves.

Harry knew if the Gryffindors had treated the Slytherins better and acted in a more civil and respectful manner towards them, Draco, Pansy, and Theodore would not have tried to report Weasley. Harry felt bad that his three closest friends had gotten detention as well, but he still smiled, knowing that their presence at that detention would irritate Weasley.

After classes ended that day, Harry saw Draco sitting with Linus Urquhart. The two of them were laughing about something.

"I have to give you credit, Malfoy", Urquhart said. "If it wasn't for you, Weasley would have never gotten caught."

"It serves him right for being such a git", Draco said. "He needs to be taught some respect. Then again, I can't imagine someone from his poor background knowing much about that. His family just can't stop breeding."

Harry noticed that Draco's Wizard's Chess set was right next to him.

"Urquhart, want to play a game?", Harry asked.

"Sure, Harry", Urquhart said.

Harry had the white pieces and Urquhart had the black pieces.

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

"Pawn to e5", Urquhart said. The black pawn on e7 moved to e5. This move allowed the white pawn on d4 to capture the black pawn that had just moved to e5. Should Harry take it?

"Pawn to e5", Harry said. The white pawn on d4 pulled out its sword and stabbed the black pawn on e5 into bits. The white pawn on d4 then replaced the black pawn on e5.

"Knight to c6", Urquhart said. The black knight on b8 moved to c6, attacking the white pawn on e5.

"Knight to f3", Harry said. The white knight on g1 moved to f3, defending the white pawn on e5.

"Queen to e7", Urquhart said. The black queen on d8 moved to e7, providing another attacker for the white pawn on e5.

"Bishop to f4", Harry said. The white bishop on c1 moved to f4, defending the white pawn on e5 with another piece.

"Queen to b4", Urquhart said. The black queen on e7 moved to b4, giving check to the white king on e1. Harry knew this posed as a problem, as the white pawn on b2 and the white bishop on f4 were both attacked.

"Bishop to d2", Harry said. The white bishop on f4 moved to d2, blocking the check from the black queen.

"Queen to b2", Urquhart said. The black queen on b4 moved to b2, striking the white pawn on b2 with its sword, destroying it. This move attacked the undefended white rook on a1.

"Bishop to c3", Harry said. The white bishop on d2 moved to c3, attacking the black queen on b2. Harry was sure the problem was taken care of.

But Urquhart had another trick to play.

"Bishop to b4", Urquhart said. The black bishop on f8 moved to b4. This move pinned the white bishop on c3 against the white king. The bishop on c3 was now attacked twice.

"Queen to d2", Harry said. The white queen on d1 moved to d2.

"Bishop to c3", Urquhart said. The black bishop on b4 moved to c3, stabbing the white bishop on c3 into multiple pieces before replacing it.

"Queen to c3", Harry said. The white queen on d2 moved to c3, capturing the black bishop on the c3 by slicing it in half with her sword. Harry did not expect Urquhart's next move.

Urquhart then said, "Queen to c1."

The black queen on b2 moved to c1.

"Checkmate", Urquhart said.

Harry looked at the position. It was true. His white king was in check and had no squares to flee to.

Harry shook hands with Urquhart. He felt bad that he lost yet again.

Draco then decided to explain what had happened.

"The opening that Urquhart played is known as the Englund Gambit. It's a slightly inferior opening that gives White an advantage. However, there are traps that the White player can fall into, and this is one of them. On your sixth move, you should have played your knight to c3, instead of your bishop. That way it makes space for the white rook on a1 and solves the problem with the black bishop coming to b4. We might study this later."

"Thanks, Draco", Harry said.

"No problem. Always willing to help, Harry."