Felix sat silently opposite the chess club's table from his opponent, his eyes studying not the pieces on the board, but his adversary, head to toes.
The girl student from the Bolivian-Sudamericana Escuela de brujeria y hechiceria dressed in her multicoloured school robes looked back awkwardly at him, frowning at his fixed, intense gaze.
After some additional thought, squirming in her seat she moved a pawn one square ahead, looking uncertain of her move.
Felix looked at the board for a second before moving his bishop taking her remaining tower. "Check."
Isabela cracked a smile moving her knight between his rook and her king, allowing her queen to check his king. "Check", she said clearly unable to restrain her joy.
Felix, emotionless, moved his pawn out of his queen's way, taking her pawn and blocking her queen. "Checkmate", he announced in a clear, loud voice.
"Que! Impossibile!" She launched backwards straitening her back, her bronze skinned face skewing in disbelief as her amber eyes widened at the shock with a sharp intake of air looking back and forth at him and the board rapidly.
A few seconds later she relaxed resigning to the fact of her defeat and extended her hand at him. "Good game", she said with a Spanish accent.
"Thanks, likewise", Felix shook her hand with a friendly smile.
They stood up taking their respective seats with the rest of their School's clubs amidst clasps for both their performances from the audience. Students from Twenty different schools had gathered for this International Wizarding Schools' Chess Tournament with more than three hundred competitors who played games during eight hours in three consecutive days. Now, finally one of two semi-finals had been played.
"You made it to the Final, Mr. Burton", Professor Horsewood whispered to him beaming like a young girl.
"Yes, ma'am", Felix nodded, his full attention at the other semi-final now underway.
"I imagine you intent to honour your House and this school by winning the final and the chess cup?" She asked in a way which made him question if she was asking or telling him to win it.
"Yes, ma'am", he nodded with a smile and his eyes fixed on the other couple playing in front of them.
"Oh, good. I've had it with professor Uranof's school winning this tournament every year for over fifty years running now", she replied mildly irritated.
"Yes, ma'am", Felix suppressed a chuckle. "Who's their main contender?" He pointed at the tall, lanky boy with a goatee forming on his chin in the other semi-final with his head.
"You don't already know him?" Professor Horsewood raised an eyebrow, surprised at him.
"I've seen him play, I've studied his games and strategy, but I do not know him", Felix was studying his peer's face, scrutinizing his every facial expression and move.
"His name's Dimitri Karpov, but I'm afraid I can't help you more, Mr. Burton."
"Oh, that's okay, ma'am", Felix returned to observing the two opponents from Russia and Italy.
The Russian contender was obvious in his superior skill to the Italian boy as he deployed his strategy slowly in his own pace, drawing in Paolo, as was the Italian boy's name, to playing his game. "Interesting…he is too focused on playing slow…I've played fast so far…"
Dimitri forked Paolo's rook and Queen, displaying hesitation. "No, Paolo don't fall for it, he is not hesitant, don't save your Queen, your rook can checkmate him in two moves, and he has seen it…oh well", Felix muttered to himself as Paolo moved his Queen out of the way, forfeiting his rook to Dimitri who won ten moves later.
Paolo shook his hand, disappointed, before standing up.
"Felix Burton", Dimitri greeted him walking up to him.
"Dimitri Karpov, nice game, if only he had saved the Rook instead…"
"You saw?" Dimitri spoke in a thick Russian accent. "Good, we have good final", the boy said with excessive self-confidence, one of a person who is used to winning.
"Yes, I'm sure it'll be an interesting dance, but who will determine the tune?"
"I do not want to dance with you, I want to defeat you in chess", Dimitri replied, raising an eyebrow perplexed.
"Yes, what I said. Dancing, music, chess…all controlled by mathematics…shall we?" Felix pointed at the table with the chessboard on it.
"You don't want break?" Dimitri asked, taken aback by Felix's readiness.
"I'm feeling very rested and eager to play, you?" Felix subtly taunted him.
"Yes", Dimitri and Felix walked up to the table with the chessboard on, raising eyebrows from both their Headmaster, Headmistress, and audience. "White or Black", Dimitri asked him, eyeing the white pieces. He loved to start first, but chivalry and fair play dictated him to ask.
"White", Felix replied with a pause, "please."
"Very well", Dimitri said, displeased.
They took their seats, Dimitri placing his head on his hands on the table. Felix reclined back on the chair, crossing his knees, his hands relaxed on his lap. His eyes on Dimitri, the chessboard unimportant as he had already decided on a strategy.
The referee sat vertically between them and blew a small whistle indicating they should start.
Felix took a look at his watch and then the stopper watch on the table and twenty minutes later he made his first move, the pawn in front of his left bishop two spaces forward. It seemed to please Dimitri who after five or so minutes moved his left knight in front of the bishop-pawn.
Felix remained emotionless and motionless and waited again fifteen minutes before playing, his Queen-pawn forward twice.
Dimitri showed displeasure now, and five minutes later he played his move, his king-pawn forward one space next to his knight.
Felix kept waiting fifteen minutes each time even though he had no reason to, his strategy was set and being deployed, but the more he forced Dimitri to play slower than he liked the more he frustrated the boy who two moves down the line begun sighing more heavily.
Felix moved his rook, next to his other rook next to his king, having swapped rook and king previously, after waiting fifteen minutes again and when Dimitri moved his left rook pawn forward once he moved the pawn in front of the rook next to the king forward once, only now he did so instantaneously and without waiting tapping his foot down once.
Dimitri moved his knight back between Queen and Rook after five minutes looking flabbergasted at the change of pace. Felix moved one of his bishops back one spot, again instantaneously, again with a tap of his foot on the floor.
Dimitri gave off a faint, nigh-inaudible whimper and played his move after four minutes.
For the next fifty moves Felix played instantly after Dimitri, each time tapping his foot down once.
At move seventy Felix changed the rhythm, again, to twenty minutes per move. At move eighty and until move one hundred he alternated between twenty minutes and one second per move every other move, now with no tapping of his foot on the floor. Dimitri's face could no longer hide his frustration huffing and puffing and wanting to explode at Felix, yet he never did.
Move one hundred and twenty two, hours after the start of the game and the sun had long since set outside. Now they were venturing into the post-midnight hours of the night and Dimitri moved his king opposite of Felix's near his side of the board. He only had one other pawn left and Felix had a pawn and his two bishops left.
Felix moved his bishop ahead by one square, threatening nothing, Dimitri moved his King, Felix moved his bishop again checking him causing Dimitri on the verge of frustration tears to move back his king one spot and Felix moved his other bishop ahead by one space again threatening nothing and waited, for the first time looking down at the board and not at Dimitri who lost it banging his hand down at the table with force, before moving his king again by one spot.
Felix moved his King. "Checkmate", Dimitri's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as he looked at the board in disbelief, his saliva catching on his throat, making him cough. His king dropped the sword between his hands before crumbling in pieces.
"Good game", Felix offered him his hand in a handshake. Someone in the audience restrained a yell of glee.
"You as well, you have not played fast before…always slow", Dimitri remarked shaking his hand.
"You are an exceptional player, but you have two fatal flaws. You make mistakes when playing faster than your desired rhythm and you are very competitive", Felix replied without answering Dimitri's unasked question. "Not a good combination. I saw you lip reading my conversation with Professor Horsewood and steered you towards feeling like I didn't know you or your gameplay when I also have watched your games. Then I started playing faster and faster, alternating between slow and fast to get you off balance, you made mistakes and I won."
"I countered your strategy…how..?"
"My strategy begun when I joined the chess club. I searched, found all the students who would be participating in this Tournament and studied every game they've ever played, win, and lose. Every single one, you were countering the strategy I wanted you to counter, not the one I had in mind."
"It is an honour to have played against you, to have lost from you. I will study our game many times and learn more of chess", Dimitri smiled at him.
"Want to have breakfast with my friends?" Felix asked him with a nod and a smile. Dawn would be breaking soon.
"We leave soon, but I would like that."
"We eat early around here", Professors Uranof and Horsewood approached them.
"Professor Uranof", Professor Horsewood's moustache would be smiling, if she had one. "How nice to see you again on this fine morning."
"Fine, me big enough person, congratulations on your first Hogwarts' victory in a hundred years", Professor Uranof said in an annoyed very thick accent.
Felix gave Dimitri a nod to follow him as they speedily exited the emptying Chess Club amphitheater.
"Do you get the feeling…" Felix started saying but Dimitri cut him off.
"That we just escaped a death match between two Siberian tigers?" Dimitri laughed with a guttural sound.
"Let us go grab some…" Felix went instantly limp almost falling over his unfinished step. His hands and head snapping left and right rapidly as were his eye lashes.
"You okay?" Dimitri paused.
"Y-yes", Felix took a forced step towards the stairs to the ground floor and the Grand Staircase. Slowly light was coming from outside, the sun beginning its ascend on the morning sky.
"You sure you are okay?" Dimitri tried to place a hand on Felix's left shoulder when Felix took aim at him with his wand.
"Stupefy!" Dimitri was blasted back at point blank range, impacting the wall, and falling unconscious on the floor.
Step after arduous step Felix climbed up the stairs to the ground floor and through the corridor leading to the Great Hall when William saw him and run at him grinning.
"Where…where is…the…where is Claudia?" Felix asked as if he was trying not to ask in a struggle against himself.
"I think she's in the Gre…"
"Leave!" Felix interrupted him, trying to walk away.
"What? Felix wait!" William tried to block his way, wanting to talk to him about something.
"No! Stop!" Felix's wand hand shook from the contradicting effort.
"Felix?"
"Umbra!" William slumped to the floor fast asleep. "Stop…" He kept trying to stop walking, to turn around and go towards another direction but a seemingly invisible puppeteer kept putting him back on the course they wanted.
He walked in the Great Hall and saw Claudia sitting in with Alfred in the Gryffindor table.
Claudia saw him coming and stood up with a warm smile to greet him.
"S-stop! N-no! Leave!" Felix yelled at no one with teary eyes.
He took a drunken-like step closer, then another, his wand-hand slowly raising. "Leave! I…I can't…for long…" He stuttered distressed.
"Amore mio…what is the matter?" She asked him hesitantly. Alfred stood next to her looking at him lost for words.
Felix raised his wand, taking aim at her, eyes widened in shock. "Stun me! Leave!" He nearly cried.
"Felix?"
"Cuz?" Alfred and Claudia exchanged a look with Alfred shrugging, neither of them knowing why Felix wanted them to stun him so much, or why tears fell from his eyes.
"Stun me! I…I can't…can't…Avada Kedavra."