Chapter 3: The Baltic Trap
25 July 1992
Draco walked out of his room and Harry followed. Draco noticed that Lucius, Narcissa, and Snape were still talking.
"Harry, you want to send letters to the other Slytherins and see how they are doing?", Draco asked.
"Sure."
Harry wrote to Pansy and Theodore, telling them both in his letters what had happened with the Dursleys. Harry then wrote to Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, Daphne, Millicent, and Tracey. He then wrote to Jocasta Mulciber, Terence Higgs, Gaius Avery, Cleo Rowle, Cassius Warrington, Marcus Flint, Miles Bletchley, and Caleb Holland. Harry gave the letters to his owl, Orcus, and sent the creature on his way.
"Hopefully we'll find out how they're doing", Harry said.
Draco then said, "To pass the time, do you want to play Wizard's Chess?"
"Sure."
Harry had the white pieces and Draco had the black pieces.
"Pawn to d4", Harry said. The white pawn on d2 moved to d4.
"Pawn to d5", Draco said. The black pawn on d7 moved to d5.
"Pawn to e3", Harry said. The white pawn on e2 moved to e3.
"Bishop to f5", Draco said. The black bishop on c8 moved to f5.
"Pawn to c4", Harry said. The white pawn on c2 moved to c4.
"Pawn to e6", Draco said. The black pawn on e7 moved to e6.
"Queen to b3", Harry said. The white queen on d1 moved to b3.
"Knight to c6", Draco said. The black knight on b8 moved to c6.
"Queen to b7", Harry said. The white queen on b3 moved to b7, destroying the black pawn that was on the b7 square with its sword before replacing it.
"Knight to b4", Draco said. The black knight on c6 jumped to b4. Harry suddenly realized the dangers that were now on the board. The black knight on b4 was threatening to play to c2, forking the white king and white queenside rook. Harry suddenly realized that this was a precarious position to play in as white.
"Knight to a3", Harry said. The white knight on b1 moved to a3, guarding the c2 square.
"Rook to b8", Draco said. The black rook on a8 moved to b8, attacking the white queen on b7.
"Queen to a7", Harry said. The white queen on b7 moved to a7, capturing the black pawn on the a7 square by demolishing it into tiny pieces.
"Rook to a8", Draco said. The black rook on b8 moved to a8, attacking the white queen on a7.
"Queen to b7", Harry said. The white queen on a7 moved back to b7.
"Rook to b8", Draco said. The black rook on a8 moved to b8, attacking the white queen on b7 again.
"Queen to a7", Harry said. The white queen on b7 moved to a7.
"Rook to a8", Draco said. The black rook on b8 moved to a8, attacking the white queen on a7 yet again.
"Queen to b7", Harry said. The white queen on a7 moved to b7.
Harry realized that the game was a draw, because of threefold repetition. The same position had been repeated three times, and it was Harry's move again. Harry knew the white queen could never escape the a7 and b7 squares. Harry would have no choice but to accept a draw, because he certainly didn't want to lose the white queen. Harry realized that the black b-pawn was a poisoned pawn.
Harry and Draco shook hands. At least Harry was thankful that he didn't lose.
Draco then explained what happened by saying, "The trap you fell into is known as the Baltic Trap. When you captured the black b-pawn with the white queen, you fell into the trap. There's a saying that 'he who eats the queen knight pawn shall sleep in the street'. By taking that pawn, you were forced to accept a draw."
Harry nodded, but he felt slightly disappointed that he had drawn the game.
"Instead of capturing that black b-pawn, what you should have done instead was play the white bishop on c1 to d2. This move results in a quiet game, with a small advantage for White."
"Thanks for the suggestion, Draco."
"Not a problem, Harry. Slytherins look out for each other."
Just then Orcus returned with two letters. Harry tore one of them open and saw that it was from Higgs.
"Draco!", Harry exclaimed. "Check it out! It's from Higgs!"
"What is it?", Draco asked. "What does he want?"
"He's been made a Slytherin prefect!", Harry exclaimed. "This is great!"
"It's going to be challenging for Higgs, attending Quidditch practice and going to prefect meetings at the same time."
"For sure", Harry said.
Just then Harry checked the other letter and saw that it was from Flint.
"Even better news", Harry said. "Flint says in his letter he's been made head boy."
"That's awesome", Draco said. "Quidditch captain and head boy? That definitely is an honor."
Orcus went out and got more letters from his friends. The other Slytherin second-years expressed concern for Harry in their letters and wanted to check up on him and see how he was doing. They wanted to come over to Malfoy Manor and check up on him.
"We'd better ask my father for permission first", Draco said. "We'd have to make a lot of fireplace calls."
"Draco, have you checked out the list of books we will need for the upcoming school year?", Harry asked.
"No, I haven't, actually", Draco said.
Harry and Draco both looked at their lists.
Second-Year Students Will Require:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wandering with Werewolves, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti, by Gilderoy Lockhart
"It seems safe to assume that the new professor is a big fan of Lockhart", Draco said, chuckling. "This has got to be every book he's written."
"Who's Gilderoy Lockhart?", Harry asked.
"He's very famous", Draco said. "Apparently, he's gone on these adventures that he has written about. His writings and works of literature are all based on his personal experiences and escapades."
"Let's just hope this professor doesn't try to kill me", Harry said, chuckling.
"Don't remind me", Draco said. "I wonder how Daphne is doing?"
Draco and Harry then walked over to where Lucius, Narcissa, and Snape were talking.
"Father, would it be okay if our friends from Slytherin came over to our house today?", Draco asked. "They want to see how Harry is doing."
"Sure", Lucius said. "I suspect you all want to go to Diagon Alley together? That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest."
"Definitely", Draco said.
So, Harry and Draco made some fireplace calls. The first person they called was Pansy Parkinson. She seemed excited to travel using the floo powder to Malfoy Manor.
Harry offered his hand to Pansy for her to shake, but she squeezed Harry in a bone-crushing hug. Harry didn't fight back or resist, letting Pansy embrace him.
"Those Muggles…they didn't hurt you, did they?", Pansy asked.
"They didn't break me", Harry said, laughing. "Those Muggles are honestly pathetic. They're going to have to do more than threatening me to stop me. Besides, Snape arrived and rescued me, thank Merlin."
Draco then called the Zabini residence, Greengrass Meadows, the Davis residence, the Bulstrode estate, Casa de Nott, Crabbe's home, and Goyle's home.
The incoming Slytherin second-years, along with Theodore's younger brother Hiram, seemed excited to see Harry. He updated them on how his summer with the Dursleys turned out. They all groaned and expressed their disgust with the situation.
"How can Dumbledore just be fine allowing a student to be abused by his relatives?", Tracey asked, completely aghast.
"Because Dumbledore doesn't care", Theodore said. "He doesn't show a shred of sympathy for innocent Slytherins if they are mistreated or abused. He plays favorites. If that was a Gryffindor that was being mistreated, Dumbledore would be more than willing to help them out. But why would he care about Slytherins? We're all just going to grow up to become death eaters, right?", Theodore said that last statement with sarcasm.
"Well, I'm not going to be a death eater", Harry said. "Voldemort killed my parents. None of you will be death eaters, either."
Everyone flinched when Harry mentioned Voldemort's name.
"Don't worry, Harry", Millicent said. "You've already defeated You-Know-Who two times. And once was when you were a baby. Why would we want to join his side when we are on yours?"
"Exactly", Pansy said. "You're our close friend and the brother we never had. We would never betray you."
"I have an idea", Draco said. "Let's go to Diagon Alley and buy our books. Then, afterwards, we can all play Quidditch. What do you all say?"
"Sounds good", Hiram Nott said, who was going to start his first year at Hogwarts in September.
"All right, then", Draco said. "Let's go tell my father our plans."
So, Draco and the other Slytherins told Lucius about their plans for that day.
"Sounds like a good plan", Lucius said. "Off to Diagon Alley!"
