Chapter 41 Super Wizard Battle Chess (Patreon)

"I'm fine, it's nothing," Harry said, with cold sweat on his forehead, but he managed to stand up. "Instead of this, we should continue going down. We must not let Severus Snape—"

He held his left arm, trying to keep it from shaking too much, but the intense pain made him feel like crying.

"...Stop staring at me, hurry and open the door!" Harry anxiously said.

The next room was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. But before Hermione could use magic, the room suddenly lit up with wall-mounted oil lamps, illuminating the room brightly. However, the scene inside made all three of them open their mouths in astonishment.

"Oh—my goodness!" Ron exclaimed, "This, this is..."

Their surprise was understandable, as the room was quite spacious. Yet, this spacious room was almost entirely occupied by an oversized chessboard.

What surprised them the most was the extraordinary nature of this chessboard!

"...Ron, is this the wizard chess set that Maca gave you for Christmas?" Hermione asked, her eyes widened.

"I'm sure he didn't just give it to me," Ron said blankly.

Harry, struggling to speak due to the pain, said, "Ron, I remember you're really good at wizard's chess. What do you think?"

"No, it can't be—absolutely impossible," Ron said loudly, "The war chess set invented by Maca is too terrifying. It's not about chess skills, it's about luck!"

"But we have to pass this level—" Harry said, suddenly staring at a particular square on the opposite chessboard, "Look, what's that!"

Hermione and Ron quickly looked up and saw bloodstains!

"Oh, Severus Snape must have been injured while attempting to pass this level!" Ron said.

"Yeah, even though Maca isn't here, he's still helping us," Hermione whispered, "Maca gave him a hard time for us!"

But Ron shook his head, "Maca gave him a hard time, but I bet he'll give us one too—"

"Enough, there's no use thinking about it. We have to move forward!" Harry said firmly, although his voice trembled a bit, clearly indicating that his hand was continuously sending pain signals to his brain.

"Well—there's no other choice," Ron said, "I'm more familiar with it, so listen to my commands later. We have to do it this way."

"Each of us will play as a wizard chess piece! Remember, the wizards have the highest number but the weakest abilities. We have to use the effects of various cards to enhance our abilities and rely on the terrain, positioning, and coordinated attacks to ensure that we don't get killed."

"As long as we can break through the opponent's defense formation with the help of other powerful chess pieces and simultaneously capture their castle while defending against their counterattacks, we'll win!"

"Then let's do it!" Harry pushed through, "I believe in you, Ron. You're always better than me at chess."

"Oh, Harry, are you—are you okay?" Hermione worriedly asked.

"I'm fine. Alright, Ron, let's start!"

"Okay, wizard w5, move two squares! Giant w3, move three squares..."

As the chess game began, the various chess pieces on the board started moving. The fire dragon flapped its wings, the giant swung its club, and the griffin occasionally took flight and circled in place. Even the other wizard chess pieces displayed lively expressions and movements.

If the original wizard's chess was just a moving chess set, the war chess set invented by Maca had the taste of a real magical movie.

"Roar—"

Under Ron's control, a black dragon from the Hesidia Archipelago dove down, spewing crimson flames from its mouth, reducing two wizard chess pieces within its attack range to dust.

"Oh..." Hermione watched the scene in fear, not daring to imagine what would happen if she were there.

"Don't worry!" Ron said, "The chess set's difficulty level here doesn't seem to be very high; they will make mistakes!"

In reality, Ron was quite skilled at chess. After a while, they were finally approaching the opposite castle!

"Oh no!"

Just as Hermione was beginning to relax, Ron's exclamation of "Oops" made her heart race again.

"What's wrong, Ron?" Harry could only barely hold himself up, preventing himself from passing out due to pain. He tried to speak as loudly as possible.

"I miscalculated a few moves, um..." He stopped after a few words, "No, it's nothing, it's okay!"

"Harry, go to the square in front of the castle. From now on, attack the castle gate every round, no matter what happens, don't stop!" Ron said loudly.

After speaking to Harry, he turned his head to Hermione beside him and said, "Hermione, go to the square beside the castle gate. While attacking the gate, prevent the enemy wizards from attacking Harry."

"What about you?" Hermione asked.

"I have to lure the last centaur archer on the opposing side," he said, "Don't worry, I still have an armored knight with me. I'll be fine!"

Ron's words sounded good, but the reality was not so simple.

The centaur archer on the opposing side was indeed blocked from attacking by the armored knight. It would take at least three rounds to defeat the armored knight. However, on the other side, a winged horse creature with a horse head and eagle body, known as a Hippogriff, was charging toward him, and it seemed he was running out of time.

"The gate is breached!" Harry suddenly exclaimed, "I've captured it!"

At the same time, the Hippogriff knocked Ron aside! He shouted something before being hit.

"Keep going, Harry!"

"Hermione, Levitate!" Hermione immediately raised her wand, but only managed to catch Ron, who had been knocked into the air.

"Oh... poor Ron, he's unconscious."

At this point, Harry had already captured the castle, and Ron had won, but they couldn't move forward.

The opponent's magical creature chess pieces turned back into stone statues, and the wizard chess pieces all tipped their hats to Ron. Behind the chessboard, the massive stone door opened automatically.

Harry and Hermione cast one last sorrowful glance at Ron before rushing through the door and continuing down the next corridor.

"Will he...?"

"He'll be fine," Harry gritted his teeth and said, trying to convince himself, "What do you think will happen next?"

"We've already passed Sprout's trap, the Devil's Snare. Flitwick must have enchanted those keys. Professor McGonagall transfigured the pieces to bring them to life. That leaves Quirrell's magic and Severus Snape's."

As they spoke, they arrived at the entrance of another door.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking at him with concern.

"No problem, we have to keep going, at least for Ron," Harry said determinedly.

As soon as they opened the door, they were immediately forced back a few steps by a familiar odor. It was a nauseating stench, and they had to lift their clothes to cover their noses.

Their eyes were stinging with tears, and through the blurred vision, they saw a massive creature.

It was even larger than

the one they had encountered before, lying motionless on the floor in front of them, unconscious, with a bloody lump on its head.

"Great, we don't have to fight the troll anymore," Harry said weakly.

They carefully stepped over the giant's sturdy legs.

"Let's go, I can't catch my breath."

When Hermione pushed open the next door, she didn't see anything scarier - the room only had a table.

On the table, seven bottles of different shapes were neatly arranged.

"This must be Severus Snape's magic," Harry said, "What should we do?"

Just as they crossed the threshold, a flame rose behind them, sealing the doorway. This flame was unusual, it was purple. At the same time, black flames erupted from the door leading ahead.

They realized that they were clearly trapped in the middle.

"Look!" Hermione picked up a scroll of parchment placed next to the bottles, "This... this is a logic puzzle!"

Hermione quietly read it through and then let out a long sigh. Harry was surprised to see her smile, something he couldn't manage himself.

"It's brilliant," Hermione said, "The solution here obviously has little to do with magic! Throughout history, many wizards lacked logical reasoning abilities, and they were forever trapped here."

"What about us?" Harry panted.

"Of course, that doesn't apply to us," Hermione said, "Everything we need to know is written on this parchment. There are seven bottles: three contain poison, two are filled with wine, one will safely guide us through the black flames, and the other will return us through the purple flames."

"But how do we know which one to drink?"

"Give me a minute."

Hermione read the parchment a few more times. She paced back and forth in front of the row of bottles, muttering to herself while pointing at this or that bottle.

Finally, she clapped her hands with joy, looking absolutely adorable.

"I've figured it out," she said, "This smallest bottle will help us pass through the black flames—to get the Philosopher's Stone."

Harry looked at the inconspicuous little bottle and couldn't help but say, "It seems like it's only enough for one person."

Hermione looked at Harry, hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the round bottle on the far right and said, "This bottle will allow you to return through the purple flames."

"Harry, you have to drink it—"

"——No, I should go! It has to be me!" Harry straightened his posture, trying to make himself look better.

"Harry!" Hermione raised her eyebrows, looking at Harry intently, "Listen to me!"

"You're seriously injured right now, and even if you go back, you won't be able to stop Severus Snape! But I'm fine, and even if things don't go well, I can escape."

"And you, now, right away! Go to the room with the flying keys and get a broomstick—bring Ron along if he wakes up—then go to the owlery and send a letter to Dumbledore! No matter what happens, I'll do my best to hold off Severus Snape using various methods, and you! Hurry!"

After Hermione finished speaking, she picked up the smallest bottle, poured its contents into her mouth, and then headed towards the black flames.

"I still remember that day in the library," she said as they walked, "Maca said I was a Gryffindor, the smartest Gryffindor. I don't intend to let his affirmation of me become a joke."

Harry couldn't quite understand whether Hermione was speaking to him or to herself.