Chapter 15: King's Gambit Accepted
24 December 1992
It was Christmas Eve.
Harry was staying at Malfoy Manor with his best mate's family. It seemed like it would be an amazing Christmas. Harry hoped that they could round up the others to have a pickup Quidditch game at Malfoy Manor. He needed to find something to do to take his mind off what was occurring at Hogwarts.
Harry was eating breakfast with the Malfoy family when all of a sudden, an owl swooped in to drop off the mail. Mr. Malfoy picked up the letter that was on the top.
"It's from Blayne Parkinson. He's hosting a New Year's Eve Party. He wants to know if we will be attending."
Draco looked at Harry.
"That sounds like fun", Harry said. "I'd like to get to know Pansy's parents better."
"Pansy's parents are pretty important in the Ministry", Draco said. "They were normal during the number of occasions I've interacted with them."
Mr. Malfoy continued looking through his mail.
"I also have a letter from Timothy Nott. He's invited you two over to Casa De Nott to stay for a little bit."
"Can we?", Draco asked hopefully.
"Sure", Mr. Malfoy said. "That would be fine. Timothy Nott is an old friend of mine. I'll reply back to let him know."
Harry was ecstatic. He felt pleased to be spending time with Theodore, Hiram, and Mr. Nott. Draco had told him Mr. Nott used to be their old tutor before they came to Hogwarts. Harry was interested to see how much tutelage Mr. Nott could give him and see if he could be useful.
Harry and Draco used the Floo Powder to travel to Casa De Nott. They slapped hands with Theodore and Hiram.
Timothy Nott shook hands with Harry and Draco firmly.
"Hello, Harry. Hello, Draco. How is everything?"
"Everything is fine", Harry said.
"Yeah", Draco said.
The three Notts, Harry, and Draco ate ravioli in the Notts's dining room together.
"So, Harry and Draco, what's your favorite subject?", Mr. Nott asked.
"Without a doubt, Potions", Draco said.
"Agreed", Harry said. "Snape is our best teacher."
"Not Defense?", Mr. Nott asked out of curiosity. "Theodore tells me you received top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts last year, Harry."
"Yes, I did", Harry said. "But our Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons this year are honestly a joke."
"So, Theodore, how is Professor Lockhart?", Mr. Nott asked.
Theodore looked disgusted. "I told you in my letters, Dad. The man is an incompetent old fool. All he does is brag about himself and boast about his stories, if they can be believed. He never teaches us anything useful. Also, he abandoned a defense class of second-year Gryffindors and left them to deal with pixies, and then denied his involvement with the whole ordeal."
"That's outrageous!", Mr. Nott exclaimed.
"Strongly concur", Theodore said.
"I just don't understand how he's so famous", Harry said. "He can't even cast a basic shielding charm."
"He's taught you nothing?", Mr. Nott asked.
"That's right."
"Then it's about time the three of you had a proper lesson. Theodore, Hiram, Draco, Harry, fetch your wands and meet me in the exercise room."
Harry clutched his wand as he and his friends followed Mr. Nott into the exercise room.
Finally we're getting a proper lesson, Harry thought.
"All right, boys. Try casting the disarming charm."
Harry pointed his wand at Mr. Nott and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
Mr. Nott replied with the shield charm. "Protego!"
Hiram pointed his wand and shouted "Stupefy!"
"Protego!", Mr. Nott shouted.
Mr. Nott then pointed his wand at Theodore and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
This spell knocked Theodore backwards. Mr. Nott then pointed his wand at Theodore and shouted, "Accio wand!"
Theodore's wand went flying into Mr. Nott's hands.
An hour later, the four Slytherin boys were exhausted. Harry felt pleased, knowing he had learned more about defense in that one hour than he ever had with half a year of lessons with Lockhart. Mr. Nott was a skilled duelist. He certainly had been a gifted tutor when he taught Theodore, Draco, and his other Slytherin friends. Mr. Nott offered excellent tutelage.
Mr. Nott then said, "So, Harry. Theodore tells me that Draco has been teaching you how to play Wizard's Chess. Is that right?"
"Yes, Mister Nott", Harry said.
"Let's play a game, then, just to see how much you've learned", Mr. Nott said.
Harry and Mr. Nott walked over to the chessboard as Draco, Theodore, and Hiram watched. Mr. Nott had the white pieces and Harry had the black pieces.
"Pawn to e4", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on e2 moved to e4.
"Pawn to e5", Harry said. The black pawn on e7 moved to e5.
"Pawn to f4", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on f2 moved to f4.
"Pawn to f4", Harry said. The black pawn on e5 pulled out its sword before stabbing the white pawn on f4 into numerous pieces.
"Knight to f3", Mr. Nott said. The white knight on g1 moved to f3.
"Knight to f6", Harry said. The black knight on g8 moved to f6.
"Pawn to e5", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on e4 moved to e5, attacking the black knight on f6.
"Knight to d5", Harry said. The black knight on f6 moved to d5.
"Pawn to c4", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on c2 moved to c4, attacking the black knight on d5.
"Knight to e7", Harry said. The black knight on d5 retreated to e7.
"Pawn to d4", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on d2 moved to d4.
"Pawn to d6", Harry said. The black pawn on d7 moved to d6.
"Pawn to d6", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on e5 moved to d6, splitting open the black pawn on d6 with its sword before replacing it.
"Pawn to d6", Harry said. The black pawn on c7 moved to d6, attacking, and stabbing the white pawn on d6 with its sword.
"Bishop to f4", Mr. Nott said. The white bishop on c1 moved to f4, obliterating the black pawn that was on the f4 square.
"Pawn to g6", Harry said. The black pawn on g7 moved to g6.
"Queen to a4", Mr. Nott said. The white queen on d1 moved to a4, giving check to the black king on e8.
"Queen to d7", Harry said. The black queen on d8 moved to d7, blocking the check.
"Queen to d7", Mr. Nott said. The white queen on a4 moved to d7, attacking the black queen on d7 with its sword before replacing it.
"Bishop to d7", Harry said. The black bishop on c8 moved to d7, striking the white queen on d7 with its sword before replacing it.
"Knight to c3", Mr. Nott said. The white knight on b1 moved to c3.
"Knight to f5", Harry said. The black knight on e7 moved to f5.
"Castle Queenside", Mr. Nott said. The white king on e1 moved to c1, and the white rook on a1 moved to d1.
"Bishop to g7", Harry said. The black bishop on f8 moved to g7.
"Pawn to g4", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on g2 moved to g4. This move attacked the black knight on f5.
"Knight to e7", Harry said. The black knight on f5 moved to e7.
"Rook to g1", Mr. Nott said. The white rook on h1 moved to g1.
"Castle kingside", Harry said. The black king on e8 moved to g8, and the white rook on h8 moved to f8.
"Bishop to d6", Mr. Nott said. The white bishop on f4 moved to d6, capturing the black pawn that was on the d6 square.
"Rook to e8", Harry said. The black rook on f8 moved to e8.
"King to b1", Mr. Nott said. The white king on c1 moved to b1.
"Knight on b8 to c6", Harry said. The black knight on b8 moved to c6.
"Pawn to d5", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on d4 moved to d5, attacking the black knight on c6.
"Knight to d8", Harry said. The black knight on c6 moved to d8.
"Rook to e1", Mr. Nott said. The white rook on d1 moved to e1.
"Bishop to f6", Harry said. The black bishop on g7 moved to f6.
"Bishop to d3", Mr. Nott said. The white bishop on f1 moved to d3.
"Knight to c8", Harry said. The black knight on e7 moved to c8. This move attacked the white bishop on d6.
"Bishop to e5", Mr. Nott said. The white bishop on d6 moved to e5.
"Bishop to e5", Harry said. The black bishop on f6 moved to e5, capturing the white bishop on e5.
"Knight to e5", Mr. Nott said. The white bishop on f3 moved to e5, capturing the black bishop that was on the e5 square.
"Rook to e7", Harry said. The black rook on e8 moved to e7.
"Pawn to c5", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on c4 moved to c5.
"Pawn to b6", Harry said. The black pawn on b7 moved to b6.
"Knight to d7", Mr. Nott said. The white knight on e5 leaped into the air and pounced on the black bishop on d7 before replacing it.
"Rook to d7", Harry said. The white rook on e7 moved to d7, slicing open the white knight on d7 before replacing it.
"Rook to e8", Mr. Nott said. The white rook on e1 moved to e8, giving check to the black king on g8.
"King to g7", Harry said. The black king on g8 moved to g7.
"Bishop to b5", Mr. Nott said. The white bishop on d3 moved to b5, attacking the black rook on d7.
"Rook to e7", Harry said. The black rook on d7 moved to e7.
"Rook to d8", Mr. Nott said. The white rook on e8 moved to d8, attacking and destroying the black knight on d8.
"Rook to b8", Harry said. The black rook on a8 moved to b8.
"Pawn to c6", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on c5 moved to c6.
"Pawn to a6", Harry said. The black pawn on a7 moved to a6. This move attacked the white bishop on b5.
"Bishop to a6", Mr. Nott said. The white bishop on b5 moved to a6, capturing the black pawn that was on the a6 square.
"Rook to c7", Harry said. The black rook on e7 moved to c7.
"Knight to b5", Mr. Nott said. The white knight on c3 moved to b5.
"Rook to e7", Harry said. The black rook on c7 moved to e7.
"Bishop to c8", Mr. Nott said. The white bishop on a6 moved to c8, obliterating the black knight that was on the c8 square.
"Rook to e2", Harry said. The black rook on e7 moved to e2.
"Pawn to c7", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on c6 moved to c7.
"Rook to a8", Harry said. The black rook on b8 moved to a8.
"Bishop to d7", Mr. Nott said. The white bishop on c8 moved to d7.
"Rook to a5", Harry said. The black rook on a8 moved to a5.
"Pawn to c8", Mr. Nott said. The white pawn on c7 moved to c8. Mr. Nott promoted the pawn to a queen.
"Rook to h2", Harry said. The black rook on e2 moved to h2, capturing the white pawn on h2.
"Rook to g8", Mr. Nott said. The white rook on d8 moved to g8, giving check to the black king on g7.
"King to h6", Harry said. The black king on g7 moved to h6.
"Queen to c1", Mr. Nott said. The white queen on c8 moved to c1. This move gave check to the black king on h6.
"Pawn to g5", Harry said. The black pawn on g6 moved to g5, blocking the check.
Mr. Nott smiled as he said, "Queen to g5".
The white queen on c1 moved to g5, obliterating the black pawn that was on the g5 square.
"Checkmate", Mr. Nott said.
Harry looked at the position, not surprised he had lost. He knew he made several blunders during the game, and he couldn't say he was shocked. Mr. Nott was an expert at Wizard's Chess anyway.
Harry shook hands with Mr. Nott. Overall, the game had lasted 36 moves.
Theodore then decided to interject.
"The opening you played is known as the King's Gambit Accepted. When you captured the white pawn on your second move, you accepted the gambit. Let me point out your mistakes, if I may. Your first inaccuracy was on your fifth move, when you played your kingside knight to e7. A better move would have been to play it to b4. Your next mistake was on your ninth move, when you played the black queen to d7. A better move would have been to play the black queenside bishop to d7. Your next mistake was on your eighteenth move, when you played the kingside bishop to f6. A better move would have been to move the black knight to c8. Your next mistake was on your twenty-second move, when you played the black pawn to b6. A better move would have been to move the black king to g7. Your next mistake was on your twenty-fifth move, when you played the black rook on d7 to e7. A better move would have been to play your knight to d6. Your next mistake was on your twenty-sixth move, when you played the black rook on a8 to b8. The best move would have been to capture the white pawn on c5 with the black pawn on b6. You made a blunder on your thirty-second move, when you played your rook to a5. The best move would have been to capture the white rook on d8 with the black rook on a8. You made another blunder when you captured the white pawn on h2 with the black rook on e2. The best move would have been to move the black rook to a3. Your final mistake was on your thirty-fifth move, when you played the black pawn on g6 to g5. The best move would have been to move the rook to d2."
"Thanks, Theodore", Harry said. "I appreciate it."
"Not a problem, Harry", Theodore said. "I'm here to help."
"There's a lot to learn in chess indeed", Mr. Nott said.