Chapter 10 – The Wizarding Chess Champion
In all his lessons the following day Phenix had struggled to concentrate. In History of Magic he hadn't taken a word in of what Professor Binns had been teaching them about the Vampire riots of '66 and in Herbology he hadn't been paying attention and had nearly been dragged off to the back of the greenhouse by one of the Venomous Tentacula vines.
After lunch he had Care of Magical Creatures and being outside in the chilly fresh air seemed to help clear his mind a bit.
"Good afternoon class, today we've got an important task to complete so follow me," Professor Kettleburn said before leading the class down to the Quidditch pitch.
Outside the stadium the students noticed various small mounds of earth scattered all over the place.
"Oh no, Gnomes. We get them in are garden all the time," commented Jack. "They're such a pest."
"You're exactly right Mr Lightfoot," Kettleburn said having heard Jack's remark. "It is indeed Gnomes and Madam Hooch is worried how close they're getting to the pitch. She's worried if they start digging that up then next week's Quidditch match will have to be postponed."
There was a collective muttering of annoyance amongst the class, especially those in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, who were meant to be playing.
"So I thought what better way to kill two birds with one stone, though I hope none of you kill any birds with any stones," Kettleburn said, getting slightly distracted from the point in hand before continuing, "than to learn about Gnomes whilst helping to clear the grounds of them."
Professor Kettleburn began peering into the various holes in the middle of the mounds until he suddenly plunged his hand into one and pulled out a small, leathery looking creature that was wriggling furiously.
"Gerroff me," the creature squealed.
Kettleburn held it away from his body as it writhed and squirmed, kicking it's horned feet at him.
"Now once you've caught one take it over there towards the forest holding it by its legs," the professor said as he changed his grip on the creature. "Then simply begin to swing the creature around like this until its sufficiently dizzy and then release."
The professor had the creature high above his head as he swung it round at least ten times before he let go and it sailed through the air and dropped down into the canopy of trees that was the Forbidden Forest.
"The trick is to get them dizzy enough to disorientate them so they can't find their way back. And you'll probably need to get a lot closer to the forest when you throw them otherwise we'll have Hagrid complaining if they end up falling into his vegetable patch," Kettleburn said before instructing the students to start finding Gnomes of their own to throw.
Finding them was actually the easy part as they seemed to all be suddenly coming up from the ground to see what was going on. It was keeping hold of them once you'd caught them that was the tricky bit as they thrashed about frantically trying to get free.
To begin with a lot of the students seemed to be struggling with getting enough distance on their throws, meaning they had to chase after they're Gnomes when they landed within the school grounds and not the forest, before the creatures could start burrowing elsewhere.
One boy's throw was so pitiful he only managed to get it a couple of meters and the Gnome ended up landing on one of the other student's heads.
"Do be careful," Kettleburn said as he checked the student was OK, but was glad to see they were fine as they picked up the Gnome themselves and managed to get it far into the forest.
Phenix had to admit when Professor Kettleburn first said they would be de-gnoming the school grounds it hadn't sounded much fun. But it turned out it was just what he needed to take his mind off the impending chess final against Kyle and it was actually kind of fun. Being outside and doing something physical that didn't require much thinking, the exact opposite to playing chess, was exactly the distraction he needed. Even the constant glances and snide looks from Kyle and his Slytherin friends in the class did nothing to dampen his spirits. And by the time the final matches were due to take place he was feeling refreshed and had a clear head.
The Great Hall was packed and it seemed most of the school had turned out to watch the various finals for each year group. Phenix and Kyle's match was in the second lot to be played so they had a little while to wait.
Watching others playing chess was not what Phenix needed right now to focus his mind so he quietly stepped out of the hall alone to wait for his match to start.
As he was sitting quietly in an alcove in the corridor he saw his sister walking towards the staircase with her friends Lana and Vanessa. His sister didn't seem to see him sat there and almost walked past him.
"Hey, are you not staying to watch my match?" Phenix called out, making the three girls turn around and they finally spotted him.
"What? Oh right I forgot you'd made the final. No chess isn't really my thing," Phia said, seeming bored just by talking about it.
"Oh OK," Phenix said disappointedly.
"Has Charlie been talking about me much?" Lana asked with an excited expression on her face.
"Erm we don't really talk that much so no," Phenix replied, wondering if Charlie actually had feelings for her. She was certainly pretty but Phenix didn't think she had much of a personality. Like his sister he found Lana to be a bit up herself and sometimes rude.
"But I thought you were friends with him?" Lana asked.
"Well I guess we are sort of but we don't really hang out that much," Phenix said thinking that they had only ever hung out due to the chess tournament and wondered now it was ending whether he would get to spend any more time with Charlie or even just chat to him.
"Right," Lana said disappointedly as Jack came bursting out of the hall and rushed over to Phenix.
"There you are. Your game is about to start," Jack said, out of breath before realising who was with him. "Oh hi Phia, you're looking nice tonight… your hair is really shinny… like a unicorn's mane."
Lana and Vanessa began to laugh while Phia just gave Jack an odd look before the three of them turned and left.
"We need to work on your chat up technique," Phenix joked once the girls were out of earshot before the boys headed into the hall for Phenix's final match.
Phenix suddenly felt nervous as he walked into the packed hall. He could see all of the Hufflepuffs in his year were there to cheer him on as were many more from his year including Charlie.
As he walked past, Charlie gave him a thumbs up and mouthed 'good luck', which only made Phenix more nervous.
Kyle was already sat down at the table as Phenix took his seat. Phenix stretched out his hand across the table and Kyle reluctantly shook it but he gave Phenix a rather unfriendly stare as he did.
Professor McGonagall was refereeing their match and quickly went over the rules before the game started.
The game began slow and evenly, with each player taking a couple of the other's pawns but no one made any bold moves. A few times Kyle tried to set up a play to take some of Phenix's more important pieces but Phenix was quick to spot these and moved his pieces accordingly, which led to both players becoming exasperated as there seemed to be little between each other's skill level.
Eventually Kyle struck first and took out one of Phenix's knights but Phenix quickly retaliated and took out a bishop and a rook. After this little headway was made by either player except for both taking a couple more pawns before Phenix took the advantage by taking Kyle's second rook.
The game was frustratingly slow but very tense and Phenix was doing a good job of focusing on the game and ignoring who was watching, namely Charlie Weasley. The last thing he needed right now was his mind becoming distracted.
Abruptly Kyle took one of Phenix's rooks, which surprised the latter until he realised he'd made a mistake on his last move, which had put the piece in danger. He cursed himself for not having seen it and took twice as long to make his next move, making sure he didn't make another silly mistake. But soon Kyle had taken Phenix's second rook and the spectators looked on in shock, as Phenix had made yet another bad move, having been playing so superbly up until now. Suddenly Phenix seemed to be making mistake after mistake as Kyle took more of his pieces and it wasn't long before his king was in check.
Phenix looked at the board desperately, trying to see if there was a way to get back in the game but it seemed hopeless. His game seemed to have crumbled out of nowhere.
Phenix looked up to see Kyle smirking, knowing he had all but won the game and was savouring watching his opponent squirm. There really seemed to be nothing he could do to save the match for himself.
Without looking at the crowd for fear of seeing the disappointed faces of either Jack or Charlie, Phenix knocked over his king, signalling he had resigned the match.
The Slytherin section of the crowd began to cheer and Kyle stood and faced his friends, his hands aloft in the air in victory, not even bothering to commiserate his opponent, who still sat looking at the board, wondering how it all went wrong.
"Hold on one minute Mr Gray," McGonagall declared above the noise of the cheers.
Kyle turned to look at the professor who had an expression of disapproval on her face.
"Professor Skymore could you please come here," McGonagall called out to her colleague who was sat in the crowd and he quickly came over before she whispered something into his ear.
Skymore seemed a little surprised by what he had just been told but eventually he nodded in agreement.
"What is it professor?" Kyle asked, wondering why his celebrations had been cut short.
Snape too had now stepped towards McGonagall and Skymore, annoyed that there seemed to be some sort of hold up to officially declaring his Slytherin student the winner.
"I have some concerns about the match. There seems to be some behaviour that was rather… irregular," Professor McGonagall said as she looked at Kyle sternly.
"Like what?" Kyle replied heatedly, forgetting he was talking to a teacher.
"Like Mr Moon here making some rather obvious mistakes when he has demonstrated all through the competition an expert knowledge of chess," McGonagall said, sounding angry herself now. "Now Professor Skymore if you would please."
Skymore stepped over to Phenix and produced his wand from his pocket.
"Phenix would you please stand," the professor asked and Phenix seemed a bit bewildered but stood anyway. "This won't hurt but you may feel a slight tingling sensation."
Skymore began waving his wand over Phenix while muttering an incantation to himself that seemed to be in Latin so Phenix had no idea what he was saying.
Kyle began to look rather nervous as he watched and Snape stepped over to him, ready to be on hand if he needed to mediate in the situation.
The whole of the crowd were now watching Phenix. Even those that had been watching the other matches that were still being played were now watching the drama unfold as Skymore stepped back from Phenix.
All the students seemed to let out a collective gasp as there now seemed to be a faint red glow around Phenix that hadn't been visible before. Skymore turned to McGonagall who nodded her approval before he turned back to Phenix and pointed his wand at him once more.
"Bonum Mundare," Professor Skymore called out and a white light from his wand enveloped Phenix, who suddenly felt cold like he'd fallen into icy water.
Phenix felt a little uneasy on his feet and rested against the table but now the red glow around him was gone.
"Some sort of bad luck curse, obviously intended to make him lose the game," Professor Skymore declared as he faced McGonagall.
"Thank you Gabriel," McGonagall said before turning to Kyle. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Excuse me professor but I hope you're not accusing my student of cursing Mr Moon and therefore cheating?," Snape said before Kyle could answer. "Because as we could all clearly see Moon here was playing perfectly fine at the beginning of the match so the curse must have been put on him during play. And as we would have all seen Mr Gray place it on him had he done so then it is clear it could have not possibly been him."
Kyle seemed to have the smirk back on his face, knowing Snape was on his side defending him.
"Well that is true," McGonagall stated, feeling a little awkward for having insinuated Kyle may have done it. "But the fact remains someone cursed this student deliberately to make him lose the match. Therefore the result cannot possibly stand."
"What?!" Kyle cried out. "That's not fair!"
"Neither is Mr Moon being cursed," McGonagall declared. "Cheating will not be tolerated. Professor Skymore in your opinion is Mr Moon fit to play again? Or may there still be some traces of the curse on him?"
"I've done my best to remove it but I can't say for sure it has completely gone. With time any remaining effects will wear off but I could not tell you when that would be. It could be hours or days." Skymore noted.
"Very well then the match cannot be replayed as Mr Moon would still be at a disadvantage. I will consult with the headmaster on the matter," McGonagall said and if by magic Dumbledore began walking through the crowd, which parted to allow him to pass.
Phenix hadn't even realised he had been there watching.
Dumbledore, McGonagall and Professor Snape moved to the side of the room where a heated discussion began. None of the students could hear what was being said as Dumbledore had cast a privacy charm around them before they had started talking. But from the expression on Snape's face everyone watching could tell he was arguing furiously on behalf of his Slytherin student.
Eventually Dumbledore flicked his wand in the air again, breaking the privacy charm and the three professors walked back over to the crowd who were watching and waiting with bated breath to find out their decision.
"After careful discussion with my colleagues," Dumbledore said as he turned to both McGonagall and Snape in turn, the latter not looking very happy at all, "it has been decided that as Mr Moon was leading the match before he began to make many disastrous moves, that had obviously been caused by the bad luck curse placed upon him, the match is awarded to Mr Moon and he is the year six Wizard Chess Champion."
There was a massive cheer from the crowd except for the Slytherin students who were now 'booing' the announcement. Kyle looked furious but Snape had once again gone and stood by his side and held the student back, who looked like he wanted to argue with Dumbledore about the decision.
"And please let this be a reminder to everyone that cheating will not be tolerated," Dumbledore called out above the clamour. "This championship was designed as a celebration of this school and should be conducted in a friendly and sporting way."
Phenix went over to Kyle, who was still seething, and reached out his hand to him. Phenix didn't know if Kyle had asked one of his friends to put the curse on him or if his friend had done it off their own back. If Kyle had nothing to do with it then Phenix actually felt bad that he had forfeited the match due to something that wasn't his own doing. Either way he wanted to show there was no hard feelings and tried to shake Kyle's hand. But Kyle was not in the mood and turned without saying anything and walked to leave the hall, leaving Phenix with his arm outstretched and unshaken.
"Can you believe that?!" Jack seemed to yell at Phenix as he came up to his friend and gave him a massive hug.
Soon more students were coming over to congratulate him on winning the tournament and Phenix was engulfed in a sea of cheering students. There were so many people congratulating him it was hard to keep track of everyone that had spoken to him when suddenly the room seemed to stand still. There in amongst the crowd was Charlie, now facing him with a big smile on his face.
"Well done Phenix. I knew you'd win. You're the best chess player in the school," a beaming Charlie said and went to shake Phenix's hand, but as soon as Phenix's hand was in Charlie's, Charlie pulled him in for a hug.
The hug only lasted a few seconds but it felt like an eternity for Phenix, as if time had stopped. Even after Charlie had released him and disappeared with his friends, the hug still seemed to linger on Phenix's body and everything that happened after that was a blur.
Phenix was on cloud nine. He had just won the Wizard Chess tournament, he was leading the Hogwarts Championship for his year and Charlie Weasley had just hugged him. He was pretty certain the bad luck curse had completely gone from him because right now he was on top of the world.