Chess Chapter 2: Ravenclaw, a harry potter fanfic

Chess

Ravenclaw

This last announcement created a storm of discontent amongst the students.

"What! Why those teachers' pets—" came from Gryffindor table, though it didn't manage to drown the cheering of the Ravenclaws.

"They're biased!" screeched Malfoy.

"You're biased!" shouted Ernie to the teachers. "Why not Hufflepuff?"

But all the protestations were nothing compared to the glee of the Ravenclaws.

"If we're not in the final, at least we can organize the event," someone from their table chirped happily.

A cheerful song was quickly started by the students of the respective House, which earned them a lot of evil glares from the otherwise friendly Hufflepuffs, and moans and numerous conjured-up earmuffs from Slytherin and Gryffindor.

"O light the heart
That lingers in Ravenclaw!
Ravenclaw! The House no
Professor would ever ditch
So witty
Highly recommended
Is this sweet West Tower
Mental and physical power!" they sang together to the beaming professor Flitwick and a strained smile from Sprout.

"This isn't fair!" Susan shouted, cutting off the song for a moment.

"SILENCE!" McGonagall bellowed again. "The decision of the organizing House is not to be protested! It was decided by the Board of Governors, and therefore—" but she couldn't even finish her sentence.

"The Board has smiled
And blessed is Ravenclaw
Ravenclaw! There are no
Sharper minds out to be found
Such brightness!
Take the time to test us
We'll give you a welcome that's perfectly sensible
For then we are sure why we're out
Right now we're the hosts, though we used to be competitors
The chess-men keep bouncing around!" the whole House bellowed.

Terry Boot jumped up on the table in a quite Ernie-like manner, bowed to the whole hall, and said, "Speaking as one of the school prefects I don't mind hosting your patience and wits."

"Of course they don't mind," Susan whispered to Hannah, as they gave a small unenthusiastic applause to the Ravenclaw House together with the professors and those students from the other tables who had removed their earmuffs.

---

This night the Gryffindor students found it hard to go to sleep. The first match of the final would be in three days already, and they knew their chances of winning were great — everyone in the school knew how Ron had won against McGonagall when he was still a first year student. Now, six years later, he was bound to be even better, and none of the Gryffindors could take Malfoy's attempts seriously. They were all convinced that he had got that far only with bribe.

But that wasn't the reason why they couldn't sleep. The actual reason was the incessant singing coming to them from the western side of the castle, the Ravenclaw Tower, where partying had yet to stop before the preparations started — they had to make their common room accessible for all, and fitting for a chess competition with most of the school watching.

But right now they were singing so that it echoed through the castle and interfered with the sleeping time of the Gryffindors in their tower.

"I object!" Harry said from his bed, trying to muffle the sound with his pillow.

"Oh, shut up," Ron complained from behind his curtains. "I almost managed to block them out of my mind already, and now you woke me up again."

"So?" Seamus pondered. "It's only fair that you're up as well if we can't sleep."

"But I have to be rested to compete with Malfoy in three days!" Ron bellowed.

"Calm down!"

"Wonder why Flitwick doesn't tell them to shut up? It's long past curfew now."

---

What the sleepy boys in Gryffindor dorms didn't know was that Flitwick was currently Magic-ordering butterbeers for his House from the Three Broomsticks in the West Tower, and he heartily joined in with the rhymes.

"Where reading up will turn you on
We're a knowledgeable horde
Get out your get up and look to the chess board
It's living your life in a book by Rowena Ravenclaw!

"O sad the soul
Who passes by Ravenclaw
Ravenclaw! So far no
Soul has ever passed us by
They love us
Why not stay forever?
Oh so many reasons why
All those in favor say "Aye"
Aye!"

---

The next three days passed as if in a haze. All that people talked about was the chess final, and Hermione was finally happy something had managed to get people's mind off Quidditch. There wasn't a person in the school who hadn't got at least one book on Wizard chess; most had also managed to purchase volumes on Muggle chess tactics. Ron was bombarded with suggestions of how to beat Malfoy everywhere he went, and the crowd of Slytherins surrounding Malfoy at all times hinted such might have been the case with him, too.

Both finalists were constantly running late for lessons, because it became increasingly harder for them to move around the castle. But they didn't lose much with missing the lessons; the professors were almost helpless against the growing anticipation.

The worst were definitely the Charms lessons. Professor Flitwick had decided it would be fun to teach them to charm a Muggle chess set into a Wizards' chess. The frequent outbursts of the now almost official Ravenclaw song didn't improve the overall lack of concentration in the lessons.

"So sing a song
Let's hear it for Ravenclaw
Ravenclaw! Soprano
Alto, tenor, bass agree
We're wholesome
What a happy haven
This is a place where your test grades go skywards
The losers here haven't a chance
From first year to seventh the natural brightness
Is fighting with stupid's advance."

Usually Flitwick just smiled at his students when the song broke loose; sometimes he jumped up on his table and conducted it with his wand.

And thus the three days passed.

On the night before the first game representatives of both competing parties were allowed to the Ravenclaw Tower for them to approve of the match conditions and suggest any last minute changes in the appearance of the arena.

"No, Harry, you can't come!" Ron told him for the umpteenth time. "McGonagall told me that I can only take my second with me, and Hermione is clearly better at chess than you."

Hermione beamed at that praise, but Harry looked miserable.

"You said that we always go together everywhere!" he protested.

"That was in the war, Harry," Hermione said. "But this is not war. This is chess. It's just a game."

"Yeah, just a game," Harry muttered darkly as his two best friends turned away and left the common room.

The Headmistress was waiting for them just outside the portrait hole.

"Finally! Mr. Weasley, what took you so long?" Without waiting for an answer McGonagall led them towards the west side of the school.

"I think we were a bit harsh on Harry," Hermione whispered to Ron as they trailed on behind McGonagall.

"No, we were not. He's just jealous."

"Harry, jealous of attention? I don't think so," Hermione said with a hint of laughter.

"Of course he is! Didn't you see how he looked at us? I think he's more jealous of you, though," Ron spit.

"You're ridiculous!" Hermione snorted, and before she could continue they stopped in front of a window that opened to a beautiful sunset.

Two people were already waiting for them there. Malfoy had a usual smirk on his face as he looked arrogantly down on Hermione, for Ron was half a head taller than him. Snape was hovering a pace behind Malfoy with a kind of malicious contempt on his face.

"You're late," he said.

"We—" Ron started, but shut up when a sharp pain in his toe told him that someone had hit him with their foot.

"I had other, more important business to attend to, Severus," McGonagall stated stonily. "But now, if you don't mind, I'd rather get this done as fast as possible. Chess championship," she told the password to the window.

The window clicked open and McGonagall was the first to climb in.

"Ah, welcome!" little professor Flitwick squeaked in delight as they all climbed through the window and looked around.

Hermione noticed that the House looked nothing like Gryffindor common room. There were fireplaces along the inner wall of the room, but right now those were covered with chequered black-and-white plaques. The room was definitely enlarged, and the windows on the outer walls were hidden by rows of chairs rising almost to the ceiling of the room. In the middle there was a chess board, a high-backed uncomfortable looking chair on either side, the chessmen taking a nap currently, slightly snoring. There were three wizard cameras hovering around the board, probably to produce a broadcast for those students to watch who couldn't fit into the Ravenclaw common room. There were no students around; Hermione supposed they had been banished to their dormitories to let the champions get a clear overview of the set.

All the time that Hermione looked around, professor Flitwick had been explaining the details behind the setting and the proceedings of the matches. He finished with a smile, saying,

"So come to us and feel the force
The winner is welcomed at our House, of course!"

---

When they left they could hear the song picking up pace behind them, again.

Oh I get high when I saunter by the book-shelves of Ravenclaw
Bound-by-books Ravenclaw
Flourishing to a fault
The thick volumes, the heavy quires
The old and foreign books
I'd have to be carried away to call a halt!
Once in a while the professors smile on little old Ravenclaw
Humble shy Ravenclaw
Suddenly hits the press
And I report with all the pride
And joy that I possess
Most of the school and outside have our address
Our little House will be rife with games of chess!

"So, aren't you happy to be my second instead of Harry?" Ron asked Hermione as they made their way back, just to stifle the never-ending singing.

"Well, I am better at chess than him," Hermione said cautiously.

"Not that much, though," Ron said in an offhand way. "It's not like you could teach me much, seeing as I was your teacher…"

"You're conceited!" Hermione replied, obviously hurt.

"Hah, I'm just better at chess than you, that's all. No need to get touchy!"

Hermione huffed and sped up, almost running through the corridors to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Ron caught up with her just as she was about to climb in. Form somewhere further away they could hear the song,

Get out your get up and look to the chess board
It's living your life in a book by Rowena Ravenclaw!

"Hermione, what's wrong? All I said was that I'm the Gryffindor champion…"

But the cheering of his Housemates overpowered his voice and everything he had wanted to say to Hermione was instantly forgotten when he was bombarded with questions.

"What was it like?"

"You'll win, won't you?"

"Slytherin hasn't got a chance!"

"Chess is the best!"

Ron smiled happily at all the attention he was receiving. He sighed exasperatedly.

"What a scene! What a joy!
What a lovely sight
When my game is the big sensation!
Has the mob's sporting taste
Altered overnight?
Have they found new sophistication?

"Not yet! They just want to see
If the nice guy beats the bum
If it's Green – Red
And the pressure's sky-high
They all come…"

"Heh, which are you? The nice guy or the bum?" Hermione spat maliciously, rounding up on Ron again. The rest of the Gryffindors retreated a bit, leaving them some room.

"Hermione, don't—" Ron started, but Hermione had already turned her back to him and sped up the staircase to the girls dormitories.

Ron took a miserable look around, but a small smile appeared on his lips at the sight of the anxious faces surrounding him.

"You can raise all you want
If you raise the roof
Scream and shout and the gate increases
Break the rules — break the bank
I'm the living proof
They don't care how I move my pieces!

"I know I'm the best there is
But all they want is a show
Well that's all right — I'll be glad to win for

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor!"

---

The cheering at the Gryffindor common room was as wild as that at the other side of the castle, where professor Flitwick had joined his students again in the last minute preparations for the upcoming match. Putting the finishing touches to the room there wasn't one amongst them who wasn't singing.

Oh I get high when I saunter by the bookshelves of Ravenclaw
Bound-by-books Ravenclaw
Flourishing to a fault
The thich volumes, the heavy quires
The old and foreign books
I'd have to be carried away to call a halt!
Oh I feel great in this bouncing state
O hail to the Ravenclaw
Hearty hale Ravenclaw
Any objections? Nein!
Where reading up will turn you on
We're a knowledgeable horde
Get out your get up and look to the chess board
It's living your life in a book by Rowena Ravenclaw!
Now for the brains
We put the ice into paradise, we are the salt of the earth
Sound as a bell
Check out the work load
And check out the exams
Because you are rooks!
Check into our notebooks
And look
How many nights
It took!

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