[Discontinued] When Shadows Collide, The Game Begins

Chapter Twenty Six

"Fuck!" yelled Harry upon realising what he was looking at. A passing ghost tutted and threatened to report him, but Harry ignored them, sprinting down the hallway and skidding to a stop just before the open trapdoor. "Lumos Maximus."
Even with the bright light of his wand, Harry couldn't see a floor or ladder. After thinking for a few moments, he cast an air cushioning charm, hoped it would hold, and slid feet first into the trapdoor, free falling for several seconds before landing on his charm. It held for long enough for him to catch his breath before it disappeared and dropped him about a foot onto another soft surface.

It took a few seconds before he sat up and recast lumos, looking at where he landed. It seemed to be a kind of plant, writhing underneath him, shrinking away from the light. Devil's Snare. As Harry sat there, the tendrils began approaching, wrapping themselves around his calves, slowly creeping up his legs.

"INCENDIO!" he yelled, far louder than necessary, but he was beginning to panic. The plant retreated immediately, releasing him and letting him drop a couple meters to the floor. He landed hard on his feet, rolling forwards to absorb some of the impact, not because he lost his balance and fell over.

After dusting himself off, he shone the light around the small room he'd landed in. It was empty, only stone walls and a doorway, the door hanging off its hinges. Harry gulped, wishing he'd waited to bring Draco and Hermione with him. It took him a few moments to get up his nerve enough to go through the doorway. As he did, he saw the wood of the door was covered in scorch-marks and scratches, parts of it cracked entirely.

The damage continued into the hallway, parts of the door smouldering on the floor, the only light aside from Harry's wand. He knelt beside a piece, the embers warming his hands as he tried to guess how long ago it had been lit. It couldn't have been more than a couple hours. Harry shivered, recalling several defensive spells before standing back up and continuing through the hallway.

As he approached the end of the hallway, he heard something that sounded like fluttering wings, like a few birds had somehow been trapped underground. Apprehensive, Harry slowled his walking and prepared himself for the worst before entering a massive chamber with a domed ceiling. Against the wall was a single broomstick, around it shards and splinters of at least two others. They too were burnt and glowing orange with embers. Harry shuddered before looking around the rest of the stone chamber.

The floor was littered with hundreds of what seemed to be birds, or massive insects, but on closer inspection Harry saw that they were winged keys. Above him flew less than a quarter of what was on the floor, all with damaged wings.
The further he walked into the room, the worse he felt. By the time he reached the opposite wall and the open door, he felt like he was going to throw up. He forced the feeling down before continuing through to the next room. As he stepped through the threshold, the door rattled behind him. Harry turned and saw that it was trying to shut, but something he couldn't see was holding it open.

It gave him a bad feeling, but so did everything else at that point, so he ignored it and inspected the room he had just entered.

The floor was black and white marble, alternating squares. Resting on top of the checked floor was chess pieces made of black marble, standing far taller than Harry. Remnants of other pieces were scattered around the rest of the room. Harry slowly stepped onto the board, wary of the pieces and praying that they wouldn't come to life. Unfortunately, as is often the case in places of magic, the pieces were enchanted, and sprung to life to block his path. Harry took a step back in shock.

"I gotta play my way across," he said quietly. One of the pieces behind him nodded. Harry sighed. He'd always hated chess. It was too slow, and Cluedo was more fun. He wasn't bad at it, but he was far from perfect, and he really didn't want to risk anything. He was about to start when the door behind him rattled once more.