Chapter 7: Relative Pin

5 September 1992

That Saturday's Quidditch practice was rigorous as anything.

The Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, was conducting practice drills that morning. Flint seemed to determined to make sure that Slytherin held on to the Quidditch cup. He seemed excited when they won the cup last year and Harry knew it would be embarrassing if Flint lost to Gryffindor in his last year at Hogwarts.

Flint started with having the Slytherin chasers work on scoring against Miles Bletchley, the Slytherin keeper. Bletchley seemed even more confident than he did last year.

Flint grabbed the Quaffle and headed to score against Bletchley. Harry watched with anticipation as his captain soared in the air on his Nimbus 2001. Warrington, Pucey, Urquhart, and Montague cheered Flint on. Harry watched as Flint heaved his arm backwards and chucked the Quaffle as hard as he could towards the goalpost in the middle. Bletchley couldn't stop the Quaffle in time.

Pucey grabbed the Quaffle and tried to score. Harry watched as Pucey zoomed on his Nimbus 2001 towards the goalposts. Pucey chucked the Quaffle towards the goal post on the right, but Bletchley caught it in time.

Montague then grabbed the Quaffle and tried to score. Harry and Draco both watched with anticipation as Montague rode his Nimbus 2001 towards the goalposts. Montague chucked the goal post towards the goal on the right, and he managed to score.

Urquhart tried to score, but had no luck. Then Warrington grabbed the Quaffle, and rode his Nimbus 2001 towards the goalposts. Warrington threw the Quaffle towards the goal post on the left, and scored.

Draco then grabbed the Quaffle and tried to score, but Bletchley intercepted it.

The Slytherin chasers continued doing this for thirty more minutes. When that time period was up, Flint had the most goals.

Flint then said, "Derrick, Bole, you two try to challenge the chasers with your bludgers. See if you two can intimidate them."

So Derrick and Bole whacked bludgers at the Slytherin chasers, hoping to intimidate them. Flint managed to stay on his broom and hold on to the Quaffle despite having to dodge three bludgers. Flint threw the Quaffle in the goal post on the right, and Bletchley wasn't able to intercept it.

Warrington then grabbed the Quaffle and managed to score against Bletchley despite the bludgers from Derrick and Bole. Montague, Urquhart, and Pucey did not manage to score.

Draco then grabbed the Quaffle and zoomed on his Nimbus 2001 towards the goal posts. Harry watched as Draco concentrated on the goal posts and Bletchley. Draco heaved his arm back…and scored!

Finally, after twenty minutes, Flint said, "I'm releasing the snitch now. Potter, Higgs, get ready."

So Harry and Higgs positioned themselves and got ready. They both took off on their Nimbus 2001s in pursuit of the snitch when it was released. Bole and Derrick started whacking bludgers at the two seekers, but neither of them lost concentration of the snitch.

Harry was closer to the snitch than Higgs was. He stretched out his arm…and caught the snitch!

"Perfect, Potter", Flint said. "I'm looking forward to see how we'll perform against Gryffindor. We have the superior brooms after all. But Gryffindor is not going to admit defeat so easily. Wood was embarrassed from how Gryffindor performed last season and is going to try to make a comeback. Blood will be out."

"Absolutely", Bletchley said. "Remember Leo Dalton?"

"Yes", Harry said with gritted teeth. "What about him?"

"From what I've heard", Miles said, "He's been doing extra training for his seeker position. He seems ready to play and determined to win."

"Well, he can forget about it", Draco said. "We all have Nimbus 2001s and clearly have a better chance. Dalton doesn't stand a chance against Harry."

"We'll see", Flint said.

Flint showed everyone the lineup for the Slytherin Quidditch Team.

The 1992-1993 Slytherin Quidditch Team

Chasers: Marcus Flint(Captain), Graham Montague, Draco Malfoy

Beaters: Peregrine Derrick, Lucian Bole

Keeper: Miles Bletchley

Seeker: Harry Potter

Substitutes: Adrian Pucey(Chaser), Cassius Warrington(Chaser), Linus Urquhart(Chaser), Terence Higgs(Seeker)

"Okay, everyone", Flint said. "Be ready for the match against Gryffindor."

Theodore Nott had been watching the Slytherin Quidditch Team practice. When they were finished, Theodore ran down to the pitch with his Nimbus 1500, ready to practice as keeper.

"Ready, Nott?", Bletchley asked.

"Absolutely", Theodore said.

Theodore zoomed in front of the goal posts and positioned himself. Harry watched as Bletchley zoomed on his Nimbus 2001 towards the goal posts, holding the Quaffle.

Bletchley chucked the Quaffle towards the goal post on the right, and Theodore caught it.

Theodore tossed the Quaffle to Draco. Harry watched as Draco retreated and positioned himself, obviously preparing himself. The blond-haired chaser zoomed on his Nimbus 2001 towards the goal posts. Draco chucked the Quaffle towards the goal post on the right, and Theodore intercepted it.

Harry then grabbed the Quaffle and tried to get a goal past Theodore, but the other boy managed to intercept this one as well.

Fifty minutes later, they were finished. Out of 60 attempts to score with the Quaffle, Theodore had managed to intercept 40 of them.

"I can tell you're improving, Nott", Bletchley said. "Way to go."

Theodore grinned.

Later, the second-year Slytherins were studying in the Common Room. Draco then pulled out his Wizard's Chess set.

"Okay, Harry. I think it's time you learned about relative pins. A relative pin occurs when the piece being shielded by the pinned piece is a piece other than the king, but is still usually more valuable than the pinned piece. For this first example, I'll place the white king on c2, the white queen on f1, a white knight on f5, the black queen on a8, a black rook on b7, and the black king on c8. With black to move, how would you pull off a relative pin?"

Harry studied the position for a few seconds. Then, he said, "Rook to f7."

The black rook on b7 moved to f7. This move performed a relative pin on the white knight on f5, because if it moved, it would expose the white queen on f1 to capture by the black rook.

"Well done, Harry", Draco said. "Let me clear the board and show another example. In this example, I'll place the white king on c1, a white rook on c2, and a white bishop on d2. I'll place the black king on g8, a black rook on f8, and a black knight on c5. With white to move, how would you pull of a relative pin?"

Harry then said, "Bishop to b4."

The white bishop on d2 moved to b4, performing a relative pin against the black knight on c5.

"I'll show one more example", Draco said. "I'll place the white king on f1, the white queen on b1, and a white knight on b4. I'll also place the black king on c8, the black queen on h8, and a black rook on a8. With black to move, how would you create a relative pin?"

Harry then said, "Rook to b8."

The black rook on a8 moved to b8, performing a relative pin on the white knight on b4.

"So, Harry, what can you conclude after seeing these positions?", Draco asked.

"A relative pin is not a forceful pin, as the pinned piece could still move. The problem is if it does that, it would expose the shielded piece to be captured and may not be sufficient materially. Relative pins are also useful and can pose as problems for your opponent."

"Well done, Harry. Very true indeed."