Chapter 12: Double Check
17 December 1992
News about Colin Creevey getting attacked spread through the school like wildfire. Now things were becoming serious and intense. The Gryffindors seemed eager to blame the Slytherins. Harry wasn't surprised. The Gryffindors had always been biased.
Earlier, in November, Harry, Draco, Blaise, and Theodore had discussed the outcome of the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match.
"You should have seen the look on Dalton's face after the match", Draco said, laughing. "What an idiot! Wood was busy yelling at Dalton for not noticing the snitch when it was right next to his ear. I mean, honestly! How dumb can you be?"
"I got lucky", Harry admitted. "That bludger seriously endangered my safety during the game. I'm glad Dalton was too stupid to notice the snitch. Gryffindor have no chance for the Quidditch cup now."
Ravenclaw had beaten Hufflepuff and the final score in that match was 190-60.
Classes for the next two months occurred as normal. Weasley would still glare occasionally at Harry and his friends, but did not say anything.
Harry had checked up on Slytherin third-year Jocasta Mulciber and asked her how she was feeling. Jocasta had been attacked by Quirrell the previous school year. It seemed she was fine and comfortable now.
Graham Montague was eventually released from the hospital wing. The other Slytherins threw him a party when he returned to the Slytherin Common Room.
Harry spent most of his time studying with Draco, Pansy, Theodore, Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, Millicent, Daphne, and Tracey. Harry was sure they would do well on their midterm exams. Christmas was coming up and Harry assumed that he would be staying at Draco's house for the holidays. He definitely did not need to be spending any more time with those Muggles.
On December 17th, Harry and the other Slytherin second-years saw a notice in the Slytherin Common Room. Harry read it along with the others.
"That's awesome!", Millicent exclaimed. "A dueling club in the Great Hall!"
"Sounds smashing", Tracey said.
"I wonder who will be hosting it?", Blaise asked.
"Hopefully Snape will", Draco said. "He's the best teacher we've ever had."
"Agreed", Harry said.
Eventually, the time for the dueling club began that night. Harry and his friends anxiously waited for the meeting to start. Harry clutched his wand, wondering who would be teaching them.
"Maybe it's Flitwick", Daphne said. "I heard he's a former champion."
"Hopefully it's Snape", Theodore said.
"Anyone would be fine", Harry said. "As long as it's not…". Harry stopped speaking and internally groaned when Professor Lockhart walked onto the stage. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was wearing purple robes.
"It's not all bad", Draco said. "Look there's Snape."
Lockhart waved an arm for silence. "Glad you could all make it. Gather round. Can you see me? Can you hear me?"
"Unfortunately", Pansy muttered.
"Now, as you may know, Professor Dumbledore granted me permission to start this dueling club to train and prepare all of you. The purpose and objective of this dueling club is for all of you to be able to defend yourselves like I have done on numerous occasions. For full context, see my published works.
"Allow me to introduce my assistant, Professor Snape", Professor Lockhart waved his arm with brandish, motioning to Snape. "He tells me he is aware of dueling himself and has voluntarily agreed to assist me on a brief demonstration before we begin. Now, don't worry, your Potions master will still be in a good state when I'm finished with him."
"I'd be more worried for Lockhart", Blaise said. "Snape is not the person you would want to provoke."
Snape looked at Lockhart with a fixed expression. It was clear that Snape was not amused by Lockhart's words and actions. Lockhart was seriously delusional if he thought that Snape had respect for him. Who in their right mind would?
Snape was looking at Lockhart with piercing eyes. Harry had seen that look fixated on Gryffindors. A look that would make any of its receivers cower with fear.
In the center of the stage, Lockhart and Snape faced each other and bowed. To clarify, Lockhart bowed with clear brandish and much twirling of his hands. Snape merely moved his head to the side. They both raised their wands up in front of their faces and moved their wands down at an angle away from their respective pairs of legs.
Harry watched with anticipation as both men turned sharply on their heels and moved to opposite ends of the stage.
"The traditional squaring-off is a tradition of a regular duel", Lockhart instructed them. "It shows the respect that each wizard has for the other."
In other words, it meant that Professor Snape obviously had no respect for Lockhart. Harry couldn't fault him for that. He felt the exact same way and shared the exact same sentiment. He could completely sympathize.
"We will now position ourselves into the popular combative stance", Lockhart said. The Slytherin second-years watched as Lockhart moved his wand in front of him, almost like a shield. Lockhart's grip of his wand in his right hand looked pathetic, as he was dangling his wand in mid-air. Snape, meanwhile, also had his wand in his right hand, but his right arm was raised, and it looked like he was going to rain down judgment and hellfire on Lockhart. Snape looked like he was going to pour out his wrath and fury.
"On the count of three, we will release our first spells. Since this is obviously a demonstration, neither of us will be aiming to kill the other."
"Unfortunately", Harry muttered. He saw Snape focus on Lockhart with his piercing eyes. If looks could kill, the self-absorbed professor would be dead.
"One! Two! Three!"
Both men swung their wands and positioned them towards their opponents. Before Lockhart could do anything useful, Snape cried out, "Impedimenta!"
The impediment jinx knocked Lockhart back a few feet.
Snape then pointed his wand and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
The disarming charm knocked Lockhart to the floor yet again. His wand went flying in the air.
Snape then pointed his wand at Lockhart's wand and shouted, "Accio wand!" Lockhart's wand went flying into Snape's hands.
Harry and his friends from Slytherin burst into applause, as did most of the students in the Great Hall. Only a handful of girls did not seem to approve of this.
"Is he all right?", Hermione Granger asked.
"Who cares?", Harry and Pansy said together.
"I'm not sure who I'm supposed to root for", Terry Boot said, nodding to Harry and the other second-year Slytherins.
Lockhart rose unsteadily to his feet. He smiled, clearly in damage control mode. "Well, Professor Snape has clearly performed very well. Not bad, Severus. Good usage of the impediment jinx and disarming charm. As all of you can clearly notice, I have lost possession of my wand. Good idea to show them that. I'd like my wand back, now. Of course, I was aware of what you were planning to do. If I had wanted to stop you, it would have been really easy for me to do, however, I felt it would be instructive to let them…."
Snape glared at Lockhart, and his expression seemed murderous. It was clear that even Lockhart noticed it. This was probably a hint for Lockhart to keep his mouth shut, so he stopped talking and turned to the students.
"I think you all can agree that was a decent demonstration. We shall practice the disarming charm. So split off into pairs."
"I'm going to find Weasley", Draco said, grinning.
Harry then turned to Blaise.
"All right then, Harry?", Blaise asked.
"Absolutely", Harry said.
"Face your partners and bow!", Lockhart instructed.
Harry pointed his wand at his forehead, then brought it down to his waist as he bowed. Blaise did the same.
"Now, cast!", he shouted.
Harry pointed his wand at Blaise and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
Blaise was knocked back a few feet. Harry pointed his wand at Blaise and shouted, "Accio wand!"
Blaise's wand came flying into Harry's hand.
"Well done, Harry", Blaise said.
"Thanks, Blaise", Harry said.
Harry looked around. Crabbe and Goyle were working together. Third-year Slytherins Linus Urquhart and David Palce were casting spells on each other. Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson were casting spells on each other. Theodore Nott had just disarmed Terry Boot. Third-year Slytherins Jocasta Mulciber and Samantha Warrington (Cassius's younger sister) were in the middle of their own friendly duel. Hermione Granger was working with Chrissy Golding. Ernie Macmillan was working with Justin Finch-Fletchley, Wayne Hopkins, and Hannah Abbott. Harry glanced at Draco, who was glaring daggers at Ron Weasley.
Weasley pointed his wand at Draco and shouted, "Impedimenta!"
The impediment jinx knocked Draco back a few feet. Draco quickly got back up and shouted, "Stupefy!"
"Protego!", Weasley shouted, using a shield charm to block Draco's stunning spell.
"Tarantallegra!", Weasley shouted, casting the Dancing Feet spell on Draco.
Draco's feet began dancing around and moving about. After a few seconds of involuntary movement, Draco snarled and pointed his wand at Ron.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Weasley was not able to dodge the spell in time, and he froze like a blackboard. He fell to the ground immediately.
"Stop! Stop!", Lockhart shouted. Things were clearly getting out of hand. Snape, however, being the powerful authority figure he was, took charge of the situation.
"Finite Incantatem!", Snape shouted. Weasley's body relaxed to its normal state. Draco stopped dancing.
Now everyone had apparently stopped dueling. They all turned to Lockhart, who seemed pleased that everyone's attention was concentrated on him again.
"Pretty good, everyone. Most of you did well. I think now would be a good time to show all of you how to block unfriendly spells. Would anyone like to volunteer and demonstrate for us? How about Ronald Weasley and Neville Longbottom?"
"Absolutely not", Snape said. "Weasley has shown to be incompetent when performing the most basic of spells. We'll be sending what's left of Longbottom to the hospital wing. No, I have a better idea. I think it would be best to have two students from my house demonstrate for us instead. Maybe…Potter and Malfoy?"
Harry glanced at Draco. "Ready, Draco?"
"Absolutely", the blond boy said. Now was the time to show everyone what they had learned.
Harry and Draco approached the stage from opposite ends. As they walked on the stage from either end, Harry could clearly see that the center spot was a full moon, and the moon phases progressing towards new moon as one walked to the end.
Professor Snape showed one of his rare smiles, which indicated that their actions pleased and satisfied him. Harry did not want to dare embarrass Slytherin House in front of most of the student body at Hogwarts. This was an opportunity to show everyone that Slytherins were not to be underestimated.
Harry and Draco both got ready. They both raised their wands and courteously saluted each other. Both boys turned sharply and walked to opposite ends of the stage, getting ready to enter their respective dueling stances.
"Now, here is how you block", Lockhart began, waving his wand around in a series of wiggles which Harry had never seen before and was honestly amused by. Harry had suspicions that what he was showing was absolutely useless long before the DADA professor dropped his wand.
"Whoops, my mistake there. Hope everything is lucid though, as clear as day. On the count of three, cast only to block or only to disarm. Once we take care of that and make that understood to everyone here, then we can move on to other defensive or offensive spells", Lockhart said.
Harry really didn't want to focus on merely disarming or blocking. That didn't sound very fun or exciting. Professor Snape seemed to share this sentiment, as he looked at Harry with a knowing glance. Clearly he didn't want to play by the rules either. And Lockhart certainly couldn't do much about it, seeing as he cared about his self-image more than about teaching defensive or offensive spells.
"One…Two…THREE!"
"Aegis Vocare!" Both boys cast shields in the hope it would cover them during their duel.
Draco pointed his wand at Harry and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
Harry dodged the disarming charm and shouted, "Stupefy!"
"Protego!", Draco exclaimed, using the shield charm to protect himself from the stunning spell.
Harry cast another spell at Draco. "Furunculus!"
Draco managed to use his shield to block that hex. He then pointed his wand at Harry and shouted, "Rictusempra!"
Harry was lucky enough to be able to duck under the tickling charm.
"Wait, I said disarm only!", Lockhart shouted. It was clear that Lockhart was trying to regain control of the situation and restore order.
Well it's too bad, Harry thought. Because he's clearly already lost control. Not that it's a big loss, a lot of us can see he's a phony and a hypocrite.
"Impedimenta!", Harry exclaimed. He hoped that the impediment jinx would be powerful enough to break through Draco's shield, but that was not the case.
Draco then shouted, "Serpensortia!"
A snake came flying out of Draco's wand. It was seven feet long and was green. It hid the stage hard, and most of the students gasped, clearly in fear. There was loud shouting and confusion.
The snake stared at Harry with its beady, red eyes. Its teeth were sharp and was dripping with venom.
Harry wasn't sure what to do. Draco had definitely caught him off guard. Other students started screaming, clearly fearful that they would become victims. Students started backing away from the stage, clearly fearing for their own safety.
Harry felt paralyzed, as if he couldn't move.
"Don't move, Potter", Snape said. "I'll get rid of it."
"Let me!", Lockhart shouted. "I can easily get rid of it."
That moron just couldn't mind his own business! What an idiot. Harry only hoped he wouldn't suffer because of Lockhart's incompetence. Lockhart was making loud noises with his wand, clearly thinking he was casting a spell to get rid of the snake. Instead, the snake flew up into the air and landed near the Hufflepuffs. The snake then started moving towards Finch-Fletchley, its teeth dripping with venom.
Harry suddenly wasn't concious of stepping forward. He was never really friendly with any of the Hufflepuffs, but he didn't want to see any of them get hurt just because he was having a duel with Draco. It seemed ludicrous that someone else would suffer ugly consequences. Harry figured he would be able to get the snake to stop concentrating on Finch-Fletchley and simply leave everyone alone.
All Harry could see was the snake and Finch-Fletchley's nervous breaths. Justin was gasping, clearly trying to avoid getting attacked by the snake.
Harry then reached out his left hand towards the snake, while holding his wand in his right hand.
"Leave him alone", Harry ordered the snake.
The snake peered around to look at him. It hissed, as if to say, "I'm already pissed off, don't test my patience."
"Leave him alone!", Harry repeated.
Amazingly, the snake retreated. The hissing stopped, and it was no longer concentrating on Finch-Fletchley. The snake looked harmless now, almost like a green hose. It clearly was not going to be attacking Finch-Fletchley or any of the students that were in the Great Hall.
Harry knew that his duel with Draco had gotten out of hand. He was thankful that no one was seriously hurt. He turned to Finch-Fletchley, expecting to see gratitude on the Hufflepuff's face.
Instead, Justin seemed angry and confused.
"What do you think you're playing at?", Finch-Fletchley shouted. He then stormed out of the Great Hall, closely followed by Macmillan, Hopkins, and Abbott.
Great murmuring broke out in the Great Hall. Harry didn't know why everyone seemed upset, they should be thankful that he had saved Finch-Flecthley's life.
Snape then pointed his wand at the snake and shouted, "Vipera Evanesca!"
The spell struck the snake. It quickly formed to ash, then seemingly formed into nothingness. It was gone.
Snape turned to Harry, as if wondering about something. It seemed to be a questioning glance.
Theodore and Blaise then grabbed Harry. Crabbe and Goyle flanked the boys on either side, and Draco was in the rear. Students moved out of their way, as if they had some deadly disease.
"Theodore, what are…"
"Quiet", Theodore said. "We'll talk in the common room. Amongst us Slytherins only."
Harry nodded and waited as they reached the second-year dorm of the Slytherin Common Room. When they did, Theodore placed a silencing charm outside the door. Harry was rougly sat down on his bed. Theodore was pacing back and forth, clearly seeming nervous.
"You're a Parselmouth", Theodore said. "Why in Merlin's name did you not tell us?"
"A what?", Harry was puzzled.
"A Parselmouth", Theodore said slowly, articulating and pronouncing every syllable clearly. "A person that can talk to snakes. You have the ability to speak to snakes."
Harry nodded. "Yeah. I know."
Theodore looked at Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. "He knows, he says. So clearly this seems natural and normal for you."
"I've only done it once in my life", Harry admitted. "I was at the zoo with the Muggles, and I set a boa constrictor on Dudley. The snake told me that it had never seen Brazil before, and somehow I made the glass disappear, and…"
"A boa constrictor told you that it had never seen Brazil before?", Theodore asked, clearly looking shocked and pale.
"Yes."
"Oh, Merlin…", Theodore gasped.
"What's the problem?", Harry asked. He was honestly feeling annoyed and thought everyone was taking what had happened out of context. "I don't think it's unique. I bet lots of people here can do it."
"No, they can't", Theodore said. "They can't. It's a extremely rare talent. This is really bad. You're in a great deal of danger now."
"What's wrong with being able to talk to snakes?", Harry asked, his annoyance now turned to anger. "If I hadn't told that snake to not attack that Hufflepuff, he would have been bitten by it and it could have been contagious for him. I saved Finch-Fletchley's life."
"Is that what you really said?", Goyle asked.
"Yeah", Harry said. "You were there. You clearly heard me."
"You were making hissing noises", Crabbe said. "You were speaking clear parseltongue."
Harry calmed down. There was no reason for his friends to lie. Crabbe and Goyle certainly weren't bright enough to play along with such deception.
"I spoke another language?", Harry asked. "But how is it possible for me to speak another language without realizing it? Without even knowing I can speak it?"
Theodore shook his head. "I don't have the answer for that, Harry."
"All right, so this is weird, unusual, and shocking", Harry said. "But I still don't see what the problem is."
Draco then decided to interject. "The problem is that Salazar Slytherin was renowned for being able to talk to snakes. He was a parselmouth. It's the reason our house symbol is a snake."
Harry's jaw dropped. He clearly did not see this coming.
"It's true", Draco said. "Now the school is going to think you're one of his descendants. And Finch-Fletchley is a Mudblood. I know you were trying to save him, but to everyone else, it looked like you were encouraging the snake to attack him."
"I don't think I'm related to him", Harry said. "I'm pretty sure I'm not."
"We don't know for sure", Blaise said. "Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago, and the records of him after he left the school are inadequate, deficient, and incomplete. There's so much information that we're not aware of. For all we know, you could be."
Harry put his head in his hands. This was clearly not what he was expecting.
"I have an idea that will take your mind off of things", Draco said. "Wizard's Chess. It will calm you down and relieve you of some stress. There's a tactic in Wizard's Chess you should be aware of. It is known as double check. A double check is when two pieces give check to the king at the same time. The only way for the side that is in check to get out of it would be to move the king."
Draco then said, "Let's look at an example. I'll place the white king on f1, a white rook on g1, a white bishop on g3, the black king on g7, the black queen on d4, a black pawn on a2, a black pawn on e5, and a black pawn on f5. So, Harry, with White to move, how would you carry out a double check?"
Harry then said, "Bishop to e5."
The white bishop on g3 moved to e5, capturing the black pawn that was on the e5 square. This move gave a double check to the black king on g7 from the white rook and white bishop.
"Good work, Harry! Now I'll show another example. I'll place the white king on a3, a white bishop on b2, and a white rook on c3. I'll place the black king on h8, a black pawn on h7, a black pawn on g6, a black rook on h6, a black rook on h1, a black knight on g5, a black knight on h5, and the black queen on h2. Now, Harry, how would you carry out a double check in this position?"
Harry then said, "Rook to c8."
The white rook on c3 moved to c8, giving a double check from the white rook on c8 and the white bishop on b2. In fact, it was checkmate.
"Well done, Harry. Now I'll show one more example. I'll place the white king on g1, a white rook on h2, and a white knight on h6. I'll also place the black king on h8, the black queen on d8, a black rook on a8, a black rook on b8, a black bishop on g8, and a black pawn on g7. So, Harry, with White to move, how would you deliver a double check?"
Harry then said, "Knight to f7."
The white knight on h6 moved to f7, giving a double check. It was clearly checkmate.
"So, Harry, what can you conclude from these positions?"
"A double check can prove to be a deadly tactic in chess. Using a double check can prove to be very powerful against your opponent and can result in a huge material advantage and can be very efficient. Double checks should be played for if it is beneficial for you."
"Well done, Harry. It is clear that you are gaining understanding from this."
Harry nodded. "I feel a lot better, but I'm still worried the school will see me as some evil dark wizard. Ron Weasley certainly is going to try to blast me when he sees us."
"Not surprising, coming from him", Draco said.
"Well, Slytherins stick together", Blaise said. "If someone has a problem with you, they have a problem with the rest of us as well. Slytherins travel in packs."