Chapter 25: Opposite-colored bishop endgame, Part 3

19 February 1993

More than a month had elapsed. Harry continued learning what he could about Wizard's chess during that time. He figured the more he practiced, the more he would improve. Draco and Theodore would offer him advice and tips. Harry appreciated their tutelage and hoped he would be a better player at Wizard's Chess by the end of the year.

Ron Weasley and Wayne Hopkins were honestly annoying and exasperating Harry. Almost every day, one of them would make snide comments about the Slytherin being a dark lord trying to petrify everyone in the school. Harry was honestly not shocked that Weasley would do that, it was to be expected of him. Weasley still could not comprehend that just because he was a Slytherin, it did not mean he was evil. The lies and nasty insults coming from Weasley's mouth were all simply because of Harry's house. There was simply nothing justifying Weasley's diatribes. It was all simply prejudice and bias. Well, most of the Gryffindors were completely biased, so this was not a surprise to Harry.

But Harry did not know why Wayne Hopkins was acting like a ponce all of a sudden. It seemed like every day Hopkins would shoot Harry a nasty look or say some derogatory remark about him or his house. Harry guessed that Hopkins was still upset by Justin Finch-Fletchley being petrified. But Harry honestly thought that he was on good terms with Hopkins. Granted, they hardly ever spoke to each other, but Harry did not expect Hopkins to suddenly start acting like such a moronic git. The prat was getting on his nerves.

Harry decided the best course of action would be to just ignore them. If Weasley and Hopkins wanted to be prejudiced and loathe him, that would be their problem. He wasn't going to force them to suddenly start acting friendly with him. He already had friends and allies in Slytherin that would be more than happy to help Harry.

Anyway, Harry was in the Slytherin Common Room with the other Slytherin second-years. Cassius Warrington, Linus Urquhart, Duane Harper, Lucas Slater, Laine Slater, and Caitlin Holland were sitting with them. They had finished classes that day, and were studying and writing down notes.

Eventually, Draco got up and stretched his arms.

"I'm going for a walk," he said.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked him.

"Nowhere special. I just need to walk around and think."

"Fine. But try to get back here when you're finished, as soon as possible."

Meanwhile…

Draco Lucius Malfoy honestly felt like he was on top of the world. There didn't seem to be anything impossible for himself to accomplish along with his best friend, Harry Potter. Draco genuinely liked Harry, and was proud to consider him his friend. Draco enjoyed teaching Harry about Wizard's Chess. They were friends, they were expected to help each other out. It was obvious that Harry was getting grasps on how to play the game. So far, life for them in Slytherin was turning out to be just fine. Harry and Draco were very close with the other Slytherins in their form. They spent almost every hour of their school career at Hogwarts together. They had numerous adventures during their first two years as students at Hogwarts. Almost everything was working out fine for them. Ron Weasley was still a problem for the Slytherins, however. He would still made a snide comment or a sneer every time he saw the Slytherins. The hatred and rivalry Harry and Draco had for Weasley was personal. Harry hated Ronald because he was an arse, it was simple as that. Draco felt the same exact way.

Draco was looking forward to the Quidditch match that Slytherin would be playing against Ravenclaw the following day. Liam Goldstein seemed confident enough in his abilities, but Draco was sure that the Slytherins could beat him again. He was definitely certain of it.

Draco decided he would head to the seventh floor and see if he could prank Weasley. Maybe that would teach the Gryffindor second-year to stop being such a git.

Draco headed up the stairs to the seventh-floor corridor.

Gryffindor tower must not be that far from here, Draco thought. This is my chance. We'll see if Weasley dares to open his mouth and call us evil wizards ever again. What an absolute moron.

Draco continued walking down the corridor. Just then, he heard an incantation and felt a spell hit his back. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Meanwhile…

Percy Weasley felt he was on good terms with Gaius Avery and Caleb Holland. He wouldn't go as far to say he was friends with either of them, but they had a good relationship. Percy guessed the main reason Avery and Holland were being nice to him was because Percy had saved Montague's life months prior. Percy figured that it wasn't all that bad. The two Slytherins were nicer to him than the Gryffindors had ever been to him. Percy knew he was disliked by the Gryffindors due to the points he had removed from their house for infractions and misdeeds they had committed when he confronted them. Percy did not have many friends in Gryffindor due to his obsession with upholding his duties as a prefect and his commitment to following the rules and being an upstanding and perceptive student.

Percy was walking down the hallway of the seventh-floor corridor that day. He was performing his usual duties as a prefect. He continued to stroll down the hallway when all of a sudden, he noticed a student lying facedown in the hallway. There was blood around the student.

Oh no, Percy thought. Here we go again. Who is it this time?

Percy walked closer and saw who it was. It was Draco Malfoy, who was a Slytherin second-year and the biggest rival of his younger brother Ron, other than the famous Harry Potter. Ron said all sorts of nasty things about Draco and Harry to Percy. It was clear slander, prejudice, and hate.

But even though Draco was a Slytherin, that did not give anyone the right to attack him publicly for no reason. Percy sometimes thought the Slytherins were treated unfairly by the rest of the school and did not deserve to be looked down upon all the time. He honestly felt like the Slytherins should have gotten much more credit.

When Percy saw Draco lying down in a pool of blood, he knew immediately he had to inform Professor Snape of what he had just found. So, he rushed downstairs to Professor Snape's office, where he was grading papers.

Snape looked up from the work he was doing.

"What happened, Weasley?", Snape asked. He seemed irritated due to being interrupted.

"It's Malfoy", Percy said. "Draco Malfoy. Someone attacked him. He is lying upstairs in the seventh-floor corridor in a pool of blood."

Meanwhile…

Harry was in the Slytherin Common Room with his friends. He was still studying his Potions notes and was hoping he was grasping more of the concepts from his History of Magic class. Professor Binns truly made the subject tedious and monotonous. He was in the middle of his study session when all of a sudden, Gaius Avery and Marcus Flint approached them.

"We have terrible news", Flint said. "Draco Malfoy was found wounded and bleeding in the seventh-floor corridor."

"No!", Harry exclaimed.

"It's true. A prefect found him."

"Is he going to be okay?", Theodore asked.

"He'll be fine", Flint said. "Madam Pomfrey will make sure he heals in the hospital wing. The bad news is, he will not be able to play in tomorrow's Quidditch match."

Flint then turned to Warrington.

"Which means you will have to play as chaser in tomorrow's match against Ravenclaw. I hope you are up to the task."

"Absolutely", Warrington said.

"Who found Draco?", Blaise asked.

"Percy Weasley from Gryffindor. I have got to say, he has quite a tendency to save Slytherins when they are in distress."

"Yeah, Percy definitely is very helpful", Gaius said.

An hour later, Professor Snape got everyone in the common room to pay attention to what he was saying.

"I have some serious news to share. Draco Malfoy was attacked by being struck with a dark curse."

This was met with angry shouting from the Slytherins.

"But Malfoy is alive and well. He is in the hospital wing, being treated for his injuries."

"Who could have done this?", Theodore asked.

"The attacker's identity is currently unknown. There have been no clues on who could have done this."

"Can we go see him?", Harry asked.

"For now, only three of you can go see him. One of the prefects will accompany you, of course."

So, Harry, Theodore, and Pansy walked to the hospital wing, with Marcus Flint accompanying them. They reached the hospital wing, and saw Lucius Malfoy standing by one of the beds in the hospital wing. On that bed lay Draco.

"Mister Malfoy!", Harry exclaimed. "I'm so sorry this happened."

"It's not your fault", Mister Malfoy said. "You did not do anything wrong. But it honestly outrages me that whoever did this got away with this diabolical and disgusting act and escaped scot-free. It truly astounds me."

Harry looked at Draco. The blond boy was lying on the bed. He had bandages engulfing his face, his arms, and his back. He certainly was in a weak state after being hit with a dark curse.

"So sorry this happened, Draco", Harry said.

"He's unconscious", Lucius said. "He is in a coma. He will not be waking up for at least a few more hours. Harry, Pansy, Theodore…it is probably for the best if you head back to the Slytherin Common Room now. Professor Snape will keep you safe."

So, Harry, Theodore, and Pansy headed back to the Slytherin Common Room. There, they decided to meet up with the other Slytherin second-years in the Slytherin dormitory.

"Something very strange and nefarious is occurring in this school", Harry said. "The attacks on muggle-born students are certainly alarming, and the attacks on Montague and Draco definitely have me concerned as well."

"It's such a shame that whoever was behind both of those attacks got away scot-free", Theodore said. "Justice needs to be served, and the perpetrator needs to be dealt with."

"I agree."

Just then, Terence Higgs walked into their dorm room.

"Professor Snape wants everyone in Slytherin House to be in the common room", Higgs said. "Some announcement he is making, apparently. It looks pretty serious."

So, Harry and the other Slytherin second-years headed to the Slytherin Common Room, where Snape would make his announcement.

"Listen, Slytherins. I need all of you to be supervised until whoever is behind these attacks gets caught. If you ever have to leave the common room for some reason, a prefect must accompany you. If you are caught, you will surely be punished."

The Slytherins knew that Snape's words had to be taken seriously.

20 February 1993

It was Saturday.

Harry was with the other members of the Slytherin Quidditch Team, getting ready for the match against Ravenclaw. Warrington would be starting as chaser in Draco's place. It truly was going to be a nightmarish game without their beloved chaser. Harry could only hope that somehow the Slytherin Quidditch Team would triumph.

Marcus Flint got the attention of the whole team.

"All right, Slytherins. We can do this. I know without Draco as chaser, this match feels like a heavy burden. But we can still do this, and we still have a chance at winning the Quidditch cup yet again. Let's do this."

"We can win this game", Bletchley said.

"He's right", Derrick said. "Let's go out there and show Ravenclaw who the superior Quidditch team is."

"Let's do it, then!"

The Slytherin Quidditch Team flew out to the pitch.

"Here come the Slytherins", Lee Jordan announced into the microphone nastily. "Flint, Montague, Warrington, Derrick, Bole, Bletchley, and Potter. We'll see how the cheating snakes will fare in this match."

Harry watched as McGonagall spoke sternly to Jordan, apparently berating him. The Gryffindor fourth-year then spoke into the microphone again.

"And here come the Ravenclaws", Jordan said. "Davies, Stretton, Burrow, Goldstein, Green, Clearwater, and Chang! Let's go Ravenclaw, you guys can do this!"

Harry glanced at Cho Chang, who was a third-year and the new seeker of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. Harry noticed that Chang had a Comet 360.

This is going to be a piece of cake, Harry thought. Her broom is no match for mine.

"Captains, shake hands", Madam Hooch ordered.

Flint shook hands with Liam Goldstein, who was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Harry knew that Goldstein was also a Ravenclaw prefect and had been disappointed that Flint had been chosen as head boy over him.

Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle into the air. They were off.

Marcus Flint grabbed the Quaffle and headed to the Ravenclaw goal posts. Harry watched as Flint zoomed on his Nimbus 2001 towards the goal posts. Flint chucked the Quaffle into the right goalpost hard, and Hunter Clearwater wasn't able to stop it.

"Flint scores," Lee Jordan announced. "Ten-zero, Slytherin."

Jeremy Stretton and Randolph Burrow, two Ravenclaw fifth-years, had replaced Stanley Taylor and Jesse Wilson as chasers on the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. Stretton seized the Quaffle and headed towards the Slytherin goal posts.

This is your chance, Miles, Harry thought. You can stop him!

But Stretton threw the Quaffle into the goal post on the left, and Bletchley was not able to stop it. The score was now tied at 10-10.

Montague grabbed the Quaffle and zoomed towards the Ravenclaw goal posts. He flew on his Nimbus 2001 towards Clearwater and threw the Quaffle into the goal post in the middle. His throw was so hard that Clearwater was not able to halt the throw. Slytherin took the lead again and the score was 20-10.

Burrow grabbed the Quaffle and tried to score against Bletchley. But just as he was getting close to the Slytherin goal posts, Derrick whacked a bludger in his direction and caused him to drop the Quaffle. Warrington grabbed the Quaffle and scored to make the score 30-10 in Slytherin's favor.

Clearwater threw the Quaffle to Davies, and he zoomed on his Cleansweep 10 in the hope that he could score a goal for Ravenclaw. But Bole whacked a bludger in his direction and caused him to drop the Quaffle.

Flint grabbed the Quaffle and zoomed on his Nimbus 2001. He dodged a bludger from Goldstein and then dodged a bludger from Green. Flint chucked the Quaffle into the goal post on the right and Clearwater could not stop it. The score was now 40-10, Slytherin.

Stretton grabbed the Quaffle and tried to score against Bletchley. He was getting closer to the proximity of the Slytherin goalposts. But Derrick whacked a bludger at Stretton and caused him to panic and drop the Quaffle. Montague seized the Quaffle and scored to make the score 50-10 in Slytherin's favor.

Burrow grabbed the Quaffle and tried to score against Bletchley again. He zoomed on his Cleansweep 10 and headed to the Slytherin goalposts. But just before he reached the Slytherin goalposts, Derrick shot a bludger at Burrow's broom, and he shrieked and dropped the Quaffle. Flint grabbed it and scored to make the score 60-10 in Slytherin's favor.

Eventually, Davies managed to score a goal for Ravenclaw. Then Flint scored two more goals to make the score 80-20, Slytherin.

Harry was busy looking for the snitch and suddenly spotted the gleaming and miniscule ball and zoomed towards it. Chang was busy looking in some other direction and did not even notice Harry or the snitch. When Goldstein screamed out her name to get her attention, Chang suddenly spotted Harry chasing the snitch.

Chang tried to catch up, but Harry knew she stood no chance. He had the superior broom, and he knew he was going to win this race.

Harry was getting closer to the snitch. He reached out and extended his arm hoping to grasp the snitch. He reached out further…and caught it!

Harry showed the snitch in his hand for everyone to see.

"I've caught the snitch!", Harry yelled.

The other members of the Slytherin Quidditch Team roared with approval and mobbed Harry when he reached the ground. They carried him on their shoulders chanting, "Slytherin! Slytherin! Slytherin!"

"Excellently played, Potter", Flint said. "Glad my tutelage is coming in handy."

Later, the Slytherin Quidditch Team had a celebration in the common room. It was an exhilarating and invigorating party. The Slytherins had pizza and burgers at the party. Harry knew that there was more food at that party than he had while staying one week with the Dursleys. Flint certainly was enjoying the food.

Later, the celebration ceased and everyone headed to sleep in their dormitories at the request of Gaius Avery. There, Theodore had an idea. He pulled out his Wizard's Chess set.

"Okay, Harry. I know that you and Draco were reviewing opposite-colored bishop endgames. Let's look at an example in which Black has two extra pawns but the bishops are on opposite colors. I will place the white king on d2 and place a white bishop on g1. I will place the black king on d5, a black bishop on f5, a black pawn on e4, and a black pawn on f3. So, Harry, with White to move, how would he draw this position?"

Harry looked at the position. Then, he said, "King to e3."

The white king on d2 moved to e3.

The black king on d5 moved to e5.

Harry then said, "Bishop to f2".

The white bishop on g1 moved to f2.

"Well played, Harry!", Theodore exclaimed. "Regardless of what black does now, the white bishop will just make moves along the e1-h4 diagonal and the position is a draw. There's nothing the black pieces can do about it."

"These types of endgames certainly are intriguing", Harry said.

Just then, Gaius Avery walked into the Slytherin second-year dormitory.

"How's Draco doing?", Harry asked.

"He's feeling better", Gaius said. "He still needs to recover, but he can speak and is awake now."

"That's definitely good news", Blaise said. "That is superb. We will go see him eventually this week if we are allowed to."