Chapter 5

Round 3: Not Wizard's Chess

A sudden pounding on the door gave Dumbledore the distinct impression that if he didn't answer it immediately it would be followed by a battering ram. He opened it and revealed a determined-looking Graves standing there holding a cheap cardboard box. He walked past Dumbledore without waiting to be invited in.

"Well, you've definitely got the police knock down." Dumbledore said as he closed the door, both apparently forgoing all pleasantries. "Is that a muggle's chess set? Where'd you get that?"

"I bought it off some kids in a park in London." Wasting no time, Graves cleared away Dumbledore's chess set and started setting up the non-magical one. "They tried to charge me £2 for it and when I refused they threatened to call the cops on me."

"2 quid? That's highway robbery! You should've called the police on them."

"That's what I said. I also said some things I'm not especially proud of but in the end they gave it to me for a pound. Still more than it's worth."

"You know I can just animate the pieces, don't you?"

"Don't you dare." Graves shot him with a look that would've made most men cower. Dumbledore just chuckled.

"Would you like some tea? Or maybe coffee will help you focus better? I know you Americans live for that."

Graves gave him another look as he took off his jacket and slung it over his chair. "Just make the tea."

"At your service." Dumbledore smiled as he conjured up the tea and took his seat at the table. Graves pushed the black pieces towards him and this time Dumbledore joined him in manually placing them on the appropriate squares. Dumbledore glanced up and something caught his eye. "Is your tie aubergine?"

Graves looked at Dumbledore like he wasn't speaking English. "I beg your pardon?"

"Is your tie purple? I mean, it's so dark it's practically black but it looks like it has a purple sheen to it."

Graves resumed adjusting his pieces. "That's color to me. I'm taking baby steps."

"Well, color me impressed."

Graves shook his head. "If these are the kinds of jokes I'm going to be subjected to then I'll never wear color again."

"Oh, I assure you, I can make equally appalling jokes in black and white."

After all the pieces were situated they looked up at each other and nodded. The customary hand shake took place and the game was on.

Graves reached out and placed his pawn on e4.

Dumbledore followed it up with e5.

Graves then picked up the king's knight and placed it on the f3 square. When Dumbledore moved his own knight to c6, he knocked over the pawns in front of it. "Whoops." He said as he picked up the pieces and put them back.

"You got this, old man?" Graves asked from behind his teacup.

Dumbledore undid his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves. "I seem to recall us being around the same age."

"You said it yourself, I'm six years younger now." Graves said as he moved his pawn to d4.

Dumbledore put his pawn on d6. "Getting used to that idea now, are you?"

"I don't know if there's any getting used to it but I may as well enjoy the perks."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about me if I were you. You can have your pretty hair, I have the energy of a dozen teenagers."

Graves smiled at this. "I'll give you that."

The other knights joined the party on c3 and f6, followed by the bishops to b5 and d7. Graves then castled kingside and Dumbledore decided to take his bishop out to e7. Graves lined his rook up on the e-file, eyeing the black king over the heads of the other minor pieces.

The next few moves went fast with a fight over the d4 square. First black took the d4-pawn with his e-pawn, which was quickly snatched up by the white knight, only to be taken back by the black knight and when the dust had settled it was the white queen that emerged as the sole proprietor of the square.

Dumbledore moved the battlefield to b5, where he took white's bishop with his own, only to lose it to the white knight on the next move.

Dumbledore took a break to castle his king. The only sound in the room was coming from the ticking and humming of Dumbledore's many gadgets. "Muggle chess is a great deal quieter, isn't it?"

Graves broke his concentration, lifting his chin off his fist to look up at Dumbledore as if he had only just noticed him. "Huh?"

"I said muggle's chess is much quieter, isn't it? Not quite as exciting."

"I'm enjoying it actually." Graves said before his eyes returned to the board and he moved his queen to c3.

"Well I'm glad to hear it. I never can tell with you." Dumbledore gave him a contemplative look before he grabbed his pawn and moved it to a6.

"Hmm." Graves narrowed his eyes at the pawn on a6 as his hand moved his knight to d4.

The knights continued their stroll with black going to d7 and white landing on f5.

Dumbledore blocked the queen from checkmate by putting his bishop on f6, inducing Graves to move his queen to g3. Dumbledore brought his horse back out to e5.

The tension was starting to build. Graves was leaning forward, eyes glued to the board and foot shaking incessantly. He placed his bishop on f4 with such force, you'd think he just got a checkmate.

Dumbledore paused for a second, staring at the board before glancing up at his opponent. Graves was rocking back and forth now with his hands in prayer position, analyzing the position. After another moment's thought Dumbledore picked up the knight and moved it to g6.

This actually made Graves stop shaking and hunch over the board, furrowing his brow. Apparently knight to g6 put a bit of a monkey wrench in his plans but he quickly regrouped and moved his bishop to d2, before his rocking recommenced.

Graves was so eager to move that Dumbledore barely had time to get his hand out of the way before Graves was already reaching for his next piece. When they bumped into each other for the third time, Dumbledore said, "You're in a hurry. You have somewhere you need to be?"

"I can slow down if I'm going too fast for you."

"You've got a ways to go before you're going too fast for me." Dumbledore replied, with the nerve to sound bored.

"Well, let's see if I can't close that gap a little." Graves smiled, up for the challenge. He increased his speed and Dumbledore responded in kind. They started blitzing out their moves, each competing to be faster than the other. Gone was the Dumbledore who was knocking over pieces, and in his place was someone more befitting of being considered the most powerful wizard in the world. Graves was no slouch either, proving himself to be worthy of all the impressive titles and prominent positions he used to hold. They went from moving fast for a human to moving fast for a superhuman to the point where their hands couldn't be seen by the naked eye.

Graves was in his element, eyes scanning the chessboard, calculating the positions at breakneck speeds. Dumbledore's eyes were unmoving, totally focused on Graves as his hand danced from piece to piece, as if it had a mind of its own. It would've been impossible for any spectators to follow the moves but you could gauge how the game was going based on the emotions that flashed across Graves' face. You could see the rush of excitement, followed by consternation, then inspiration, then bewilderment and back again all in the span of a few moments.

The match was so back and forth that Graves' heart was threatening to burst out of his chest. Just when he thought he was making headway Dumbledore would do something to thwart his efforts. If Graves hadn't been maintaining such a high level of concentration he would've been miffed to notice that Dumbledore appeared to be totally relaxed.

Finally, Graves spotted his path to victory. If Dumbledore wanted to avoid checkmate he would have to follow an extremely rigid line, in a very specific multi-move sequence. Any divergence from this line or even getting the sequence out of order would ensure a win for white. If it was possible, Graves' pulse picked up even more.

To his dismay, Dumbledore was actually holding the line. Graves was having a difficult time breaking through black's defenses and if he wanted to win this game, he would have to take some risks. Every opening he created Dumbledore immediately punished him for until Graves was the one on the back foot.

Once Dumbledore got the upper hand it was only a matter of time and eventually he was able to create a mating net around white's king. Rather than resigning, Graves let him play out the checkmate in a show of good sportsmanship. Once checkmate was declared, Graves stuck out his hand to heartily congratulate his opponent. Unlike their previous games, Graves showed he could gracefully bow down to fair play. As a true fan of the game, there was nothing more exhilarating than a high-quality match, no matter the outcome.

"What a game!" Graves exclaimed enthusiastically. "Every time I thought I had you, you found the one move that allowed you to escape. You saw through all the traps I was setting, it was like you were…" Graves' lively post-game analysis was halted by a sudden realization. His face fell and he leveled a finger at Dumbledore. "You were reading my mind!"

"Yeah, a bit." Dumbledore said unabashedly.

Graves was incredulous. "See?! That's cheating!"

"Codswallop. It doesn't state anywhere in the rulebook that you can't read your opponent's mind."

"This is no-maj chess- that's not even a possibility for them. And besides, it shouldn't have to state it in the rules. All chess is is a mind game!"

"Right, so I was reading your mind." Dumbledore said, like it was the most obvious thing to do and that Graves was the one being ridiculous.

Now Graves was starting to seethe. "You can't just go poking around in there whenever you feel like it!"

"So you were an Auror." Dumbledore shrugged. "Stop me."

"You're unbelievable! I shouldn't have to treat my friends like they're some criminal I need to be on constant guard around!"

This triggered something in Dumbledore and he turned deadly serious. "Do you trust me?"

"What!?" Graves shouted angrily, thrown off by Dumbledore's sudden mood shift.

"Do you trust me?" Dumbledore repeated with a cold intensity Graves had never seen in him before.

Despite his discomfort with the notion of having his thoughts invaded, Graves had to admit that he did. Still incredulous, he threw his hands out to his sides and yelled, "Yes!" Realizing he was breathing hard and shouting, Graves calmed himself down somewhat and followed with a softer, "Yes."

Dumbledore's eyes bore into Graves' like he was boring into his soul. It felt like all the air was being sucked out of the room which, knowing Dumbledore, may very well have been the case. Graves could tell by the look on Dumbledore's face and the fact that he could breathe again that he had gotten the confirmation he desired. No legilimency required.

Graves felt unnerved but he knew that something crucial had passed between them. Not ready to cast aside the injustice however, Graves cleared his throat and brought them back to earth. "Listen, we need to establish some ground rules for this."

"There you go again with your rules." Dumbledore rolled his eyes but his mood had returned to normal. "You know what I think about rules? They keep people from living out their true potential."

"Rules exist so we can keep people safe and function in a society together. If you're not going to play properly we don't have to play at all."

"Properly." Dumbledore scoffed. "You're such a proper man, Mr. Graves, even after everything you've been through. Tell me, where has all this propriety gotten you?"

Graves' head rocked back like he had just been smacked. Only it wasn't pain on his face, but a defiant resolve- as if to say, 'if you really want to know then I'll tell you.' He slumped in his chair, all the anger burning out of him and in its place a raw, dull anguish. He grabbed one of the pawns and started twirling it between his fingers, like it was helping him gather his thoughts. "I was supposed to live an honorable life and die an honorable death. Just like my great-great-great-great-grandfather, Gondulphus. Go to Europe and die nobly in battle against Grindelwald? No problem. Waste away in a box while some madman destroys everything I worked for? That's..." He heaved a shaky sigh. "That's not how it was supposed to happen."

"Maybe you're meant for something more than dying a shallow death on the battlefield."

"Yeah, like maybe a shallow death in a bathtub."

"You finally make it out of the grave just to put yourself back in it?!" Dumbledore's fear provoked him to anger, as if he could instill Graves with the will to live through sheer force.

Dumbledore's anger barely registered with Graves. Seized by terror at the thought, he gripped Dumbledore's arm, knocking a bunch of chess pieces off the table. "Promise me when I die, you burn my body. Please don't put me back in that box."

This kind of talk scared the hell out of Dumbledore and he felt utterly powerless. "We won't have to worry about that for a long time." He patted Graves' hand reassuringly but his words felt feeble coming out of his mouth. "In the meantime you have so much to accomplish. Like beating me at chess for one. You really are an atrocious player." As a last-ditch effort, he attempted one of his signature ill-timed jokes to try to cheer his companion up.

Graves put his head in his hands and tears started running down his face. "I'm hanging on by a thread here. I don't know who I am anymore."

"I know." Dumbledore ceased trying to talk Graves out of his feelings and just allow him to feel them.

"I can't even hear my own name without being reminded of it. You know what Grindelwald said to me before he sealed me away? 'I've always wanted to test out this theory and who better to serve as my guinea pig than a Graves? A grave for a Graves. Poetic isn't it?'" Graves snorted with derision.

"Why didn't you have me call you Percival then?"

"Because I can't hear that name without thinking about my father."

"Percy?"

"That one reminds me of my mother." They shared a brief but heartfelt laugh.

"You know, I've used legilimency on you before today." Graves looked at Dumbledore like this was an odd time to come clean about such a thing. "When you were unconscious in the hospital wing, there were a few times I actually had to hold you down because you were convulsing so violently- you were going to hurt yourself. I wanted to know what was causing this so I went inside your mind and I saw terrible things. I didn't know what I was going to be met with when you woke up. If you'd be someone worth saving or too far gone."

"Yeah, what'd you discover?" Graves asked as he went back to spinning his chess piece, not sounding overly optimistic.

"You're remarkably normal. You've endured what few people on this earth could endure without losing your sense of dignity and humanity- not to mention your sanity. You're not just remarkably normal, you're remarkable. And you're someone whose company I find indispensable."

Graves' tears fell onto the table as he stared down at it, unable to look Dumbledore in the face. Dumbledore got up and knelt down next to Graves' chair, looking up at him. "So if I thought that you didn't want to be here anymore…" It was Dumbledore's turn to get choked up and he struggled to get the words out. "Then I don't know what I would do."

Graves put the chess piece down and began sobbing. "It just hurts so much sometimes." Dumbledore didn't try to offer any more words of comfort, he just held Graves tightly against him while the other man wept in his arms.