The Gryffindor Royal

Chapter Twelve

"Ow! You stood on my foot!" Hermione, Ron,Harry and (Y/N) were all under the Invisibility Cloak and desperately trying to make their way to the Third Floor without being caught. "Sorry," was the subdued reply that came from Ron. By now,they had reached the door and Hermione took her wand out again. "Alohomora," the door swung open like it had all those months ago,when they'd been innocent of the dangers of the wizarding world. Now,well,they were just innocent. However,unlike last time,Fluffy was fast asleep. He snored loudly and Harry felt sure that the snoring was loud enough to wake the whole school. "Wait a minute,he's...snoring." Harry said as (Y/N) whipped the Cloak off. "Snape's already been here. He's put a spell on the harp." "Ugh! It's got horrible breath." Ron groaned,pinching his nose. "We have to move its paw." Harry realised. "What?!" The twins shouted in unison. "Come on! Ok,push." Everyone grabbed onto a toe and pushed Fluffy's ginormous paw. Much to their surprise,it moved after a single attempt and the trapdoor that they'd discovered lay underneath,a shiny black handle gleaming back at them. Three of the four friends stood up,but (Y/N) stopped when she noticed Fluffy snorting. Sure,she liked fantastic beasts just like Hagrid,but she was definitely more wary than the older man. After ensuring that the dog was still fast asleep,(Y/N) stood up to join her friends. Harry had the honour of opening the trapdoor as quietly as possible(not an easy feat,since the handle was old and the door creaked). "I'll go first," Harry said. "Don't follow until I give you a sign. If something bad happens,get yourselves out." Harry stopped suddenly when he realised the harp had stopped playing and a dark shadow looked over him. "Does it seem a bit...quiet to you?" "The harp!" Hermione said,sounding shocked. "It stopped playing." Just as she finished talking,a large amount of drool landed on Ron's shoulder. "Eurgh! Yuck!" He stabbed his hand at the drool disgustedly. That's when (Y/N) had the smart idea to look up. "Jump!" She screamed while pushing Harry into the hole. "Go go go!" Ron and (Y/N) were the last to jump,and (Y/N) was unfortunate enough to get bitten by Fluffy. Luckily though,it was nothing major and she and Ron landed side-by-side. "Whoa," Ron muttered. "Lucky this plant-thing is here really." "Whoa!" Harry exclaimed,trying to back away from Ron. "Honestly,what is it with boys and saying 'whoa'? I've never met two people with such limited vocabulary!" (Y/N) was about to say more,but she too noticed the plant-thing creeping toward them. "Umm,I'm not the only one seeing that, right?" Before anyone had time to react, the plant had wound itself tightly around them. "Stop moving,all of you," Hermione said as calmly as she could. "This is Devil's Snare. You have to relax. If you don't,it'll only kill you faster." (Y/N) stopped her writhing and stayed still as possible,Harry tried to limit his movements,but Ron just had to make things worse. He continued wriggling around and began shouting at Hermione. "Kill us faster?! Oh,now I can relax!" Hermione sent him a sarcastic grin as she and (Y/N) sunk downwards. "Hermione! (Y/N)!" The boys yelled, sending each other looks of pure terror. "Just relax!" Hermione shouted back from what seemed to be below them. "Hermione,where are you guys?" Harry asked hoarsely. "Just do what the girl says!" (Y/N) shouted back. Harry shut his eyes tight,vowing to himself that if he didn't make it out ok,he'd come back as a ghost to haunt both his friends. "HARRY!" Ron shouted,now left completely alone and terrified. Harry landed with an 'oof!' several metres away from the girls. "Are you ok?" Hermione asked as she took her wand out. "Yeah,yeah,I'm fine." Harry got up and dusted himself off quickly. A loud shout of help from Ron brought their attention back to the flailing redhead. "He's not relaxing is he?" Hermione stated more than asked,squinting slightly to see Ron. "Apparently not." "We've got to do something." (Y/N) said. "If that plant-thing murders my brother,I'm going to go up there and-"she made a very violent gesture and ended off with a vulgar hand sign. "That's not going to help. What do we do Hermione?" "I remember reading something in Herbology. Um-Devil's Snare,Devil's Snare,it's deadly fun,but will sulk in the sun. That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight. Lumos Solem!" A bright light emitted from Hermione's wand and shrieks filled the room. Ron let out a girlish shout and fell through the Devil's Snare like the others did several minutes ago. "Are you ok?" "Yeah," "Ok." (Y/N) grinned slightly. Boys were most definitely the least articulate creatures on the planet. Had it been her falling through the Devil's Snare and Hermione or Shelena were below,their worried questions would take over an hour! But, that would be for another time,because Ron's voice penetrated through the room. "Whoo! Lucky we didn't panic!" He said cheerfully,staring up at what was left of the Devil's Snare. "Lucky Hermione pays attention in Herbology." Harry said sternly while (Y/N) went up to her twin and smacking him upside the head. Suddenly,a soft noise from further up distracted them. "What's that?" Hermione asked as she looked up what seemed to be a narrow tunnel. "I don't know." Harry replied. "Sounds like wings." Feeling rather scared and small, Harry led the way to where the sound of wings was coming from. When they got there,all they saw were some birds flying around. "Curious," said Hermione,"I've never seen birds like these." "They're not birds, they're keys." Ron said absentmindedly. "And I'll bet one of them fits that door." Harry said as he looked around the room,trying to find something to aid him in reaching the correct key. He was rewarded when he spotted an old school broom in a corner. He directed his friends over to it and they stood over it in silence. "What's this all about?" "I don't know." Ron,(Y/N) and Hermione walked over to a large door on the other side of the room,Ron shouting a very loud 'Alohomora!' at it,but Harry stayed back to look at the broom. "Well,it was worth a try." Ron shrugged as he spoke to no one in particular. "Ugh! What are we going to do?!" Hermione asked in a exasperated tone. "There must be a thousand keys up there!" "We're looking for a big,old-fashioned one,probably rusty like the handle." Ron said, surprising everyone. (Y/N) looked over at Harry. He was the Seeker of the friend group. He nodded and looked up. "There! I see it!" He yelled happily,pointing at the old key. "The one with the broken wing." "(Y/N),do you think you can use your powers for this?" Ron turned to his sister. She nodded in a determined sort of way and shut her eyes resolutely. After a moment,she opened them again. "It's not working! The staff must've put additional enchantments when they realised I had the Elementum power." Hermione looked over to Harry. He too looked determined to get the key and inched closer to the broom. Just as he was about to mount it,he hesitated. Ron groaned in sheer annoyance. "Now what?! Have you lost your eyesight and can't see the key?" He asked sarcastically. "What's wrong Harry?" Hermione asked kindly while sending a glare in Ron's direction. "It's too simple." He said. "Oh,go on,Harry! If Snape could catch it on that old broomstick,then you can. You're the youngest Seeker  in a century!" Feeling oddly inspired by Ron's words,Harry reached out tentatively for the broom. His hand wrapped around the slightly bumpy handle and he was just about to mount it when the horde of keys came flying at him! He raised his arm over his head protectively and swiped at the keys in a very cat-like way,trying to avoid getting poked in the eye. "This complicates things a bit.." Ron gulped. Harry,who chose to ignore his best friend,mounted the broom with skilled ease and soared upward,earning whoops of encouragement from (Y/N). Even up here,the keys were still attempting to unseat Harry,and he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to get the one he needed. His eyes were fixed on the old key like a Seeker in a Quidditch match, just that this was much more important than a match. Harry weaved up and down,through the keys and managed to force the key they were looking for to go down. "Catch the key!" He yelled to Hermione. She jumped up and caught it quickly. Hermione slotted the key into the keyhole and she jiggled it around. "Hurry up!" Ron said worriedly. (Y/N) rolled her eyes at him but resisted the urge to smack him;they didn't need a concussed person to interrupt their mission. At long last,the door was opened and Ron,Hermione and (Y/N) charged in without a second glance. Harry flew in and the door was slammed shut just before the keys could continue their attacks. He dismounted his broom and joined the rest as Hermione finally let go of the door's handle,knuckles white from holding it so hard. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all." Hermione said in a small voice,hand clenched into a fist around her wand. "Me neither," (Y/N) murmured in what she hoped to be a comforting voice. "Where are we?" Harry asked. "A graveyard?" Hermione tried. "This is no graveyard," Ron began as he walked forward and surveyed his surroundings. "It's a chessboard." Small and contained fires sprung to life all around the room to reveal that Ron had indeed been correct: they were standing on a giant life-sized chessboard. "There's the door!" Harry pointed to the other side of the room where a large double-door awaited them. He walked ahead in a confident manner and his friends followed suit. Before they could reach the other side though,many chess pieces drew their swords. Everyone took a few steps back,(Y/N) drawing her wand. "Now what do we do?" Hermione looked worried;after all, she was supposed to be the smartest witch of their age. If she couldn't figure this out,who could?! Apparently,Ron could. "It's obvious,isn't it? We've got to play out way across the room. All right. Harry,you take the empty bishop's square. Hermione,you'll be the queen's side castle. (Y/N),you'll be a pawn. As for me," he put on a serious expression. "I'll be a knight." The four walked over to their designated spots,and Ron clambered onto the knight's horse. "What happens now?" "Well,white moves first. And then...we play." Since they were on the black side of the board,they waited patiently for the whites to move first. A pawn moved forward slowly,making a slight scratching noise as it went. "Ron," Hermione started. "You don't suppose this is going to be like... real wizards chess,do you?" Ron hadn't thought about that. "You there! D-5." A pawn slid out of its place and paused diagonally in front of the white pawn. The white pawn drew its knife and smashed the black pawn to pieces,dust settling over the place. "Yes Hermione," (Y/N) said tensely. "I think this is going to be exactly like wizards chess." Hermione and Harry sent the girl looks of shock when she announced that so calmly. I mean,they could be killed in this! The game went on and on and on and-you get my point:it went for a long while. (Y/N) nearly fell asleep somehow and Harry had to pick up a piece of debris and chuck it at her so that she got her head back in the game. The white king drew his sword and smashed the piece in front of Harry,causing a piece of debris to cut his cheek. Small fires burned around the room,the rest got several cuts as well,and it looked like their game was almost over. And not in a good way. Ron suddenly put on a face of bravery and determination. (Y/N) knew her twin better than that,though. She saw traces of fear and worry on his face. Quickly eyeing the chessboard, (Y/N) could only think of one solution: Ron was going to sacrifice himself. Harry must've realised something,because shock washed over his face. "Wait a minute," he said in a dazed voice. "You understand,right Harry? Once I make my move,the queen will take me. Then you're free to check the king." "No,Ron,no!" Harry shouted, his voice cracking with every word. (Y/N) looked close to tears and Harry desperately wanted to comfort her. The girl took Gryffindor bravery very seriously,and usually misunderstood the word itself;not letting herself cry in front of anyone,never letting anyone see weaknesses,the list goes on. Harry nearly moved from his position,but (Y/N) stopped him. "No,Harry! If you move,we lose and can't go on!" Knowing she was right,Harry stepped back into his square. "What is it?" Hermione asked. For the smartest witch of her age,she wasn't exactly living up to her title. "He's going to sacrifice himself." Harry said in a loud voice,not wanting to let the helplessness in his voice apparent. "No you can't!" Hermione screeched. "There must be another way!" "Do you want to stop Snape from getting that stone or not?!" Ron snapped,looking thoroughly annoyed with Hermione. Not being able to think of a smart comeback,Hermione kept silent. "Harry,it's you who has to go on. You know it. Not me,not Hermione,not (Y/N),you." Ron was sounding so wise and brave at the moment,(Y/N) could've sworn she heard triumphant music playing in the background. Ron took a deep breath. "Knight to H-3!"