Ancient Magician (Severus x Reader)

Chapter 11: Wizard's Chess, well not really

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𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 11: 𝑊𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑'𝑠 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑠s,𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦

"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒"

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We stepped into a pitch-black room, and the crunch beneath our shoes made me freeze. Something had shattered all over the floor—ceramic? Stone? Whatever it was, the pieces were scattered everywhere, like remnants of a battle that had long passed.

"I really don't like this," Ron muttered, eyes darting around. "I don't like this at all."

"Where even are we?" Harry asked, voice echoing slightly. "A graveyard?"

Ron took a slow step forward, squinting into the dark. "No. This isn't a graveyard." His voice dropped. "It's a chessboard."

Just then, flames burst to life around us, climbing up tall torches on the walls with a whoosh. The whole room came to life. There, laid out before us, was a massive marble chessboard—each square the size of a dining table. Towering over it stood giant stone chess pieces, motionless for now, but watching us all the same.

I stepped forward with Harry and Hermione, looking across the room. "There," I said, pointing to a small archway at the far end. "That must be the door out."

Without another word, we cautiously began to cross the board. But as soon as we neared a row of pawns, they suddenly moved, pulling up their heavy stone swords in unison with a loud clank. All four of us jumped back instinctively.

"Now what do we do?" I asked, heart pounding.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron said, his eyes scanning the squares. "We've got to play our way across. Proper wizard's chess." He pointed to each of us quickly. "Harry, take the Bishop's square. Hermione, you go to the Queen's side castle. I'll take the knight."

The three of them began moving into position.

"And me?" I asked, a little breathless.

Ron hesitated for just a beat. "Err... Just stay off to the side for now. Watch. Be ready."

Before I could respond, Hermione spoke. "What happens now?"

"Well..." Ron glanced at the board. "White moves first. Then we follow."

Sure enough, a white pawn moved forward with a scraping sound that set my teeth on edge. Ron narrowed his eyes, calculating.

"Ron," Harry said nervously, "you don't think this is going to be real wizard's chess, do you?"

"I was hoping it wouldn't be," Hermione muttered.

Ron called out sharply, "You there! D-5!"

The black pawn slid forward, stopping diagonally in front of the white one. In an instant, the white pawn raised its sword and smashed the black pawn into rubble. I flinched. The others recoiled too.

"Well, Hermione," Ron said grimly, "looks like it is exactly like wizard's chess."

The game kicked off in full force. One move after another, stone against stone. Each command from Ron was followed by a crash, a boom, or a shattering smash that shook the board beneath us.

"Castle to E-4!"

"Pawn to C-3!"

The Queen whirled around the board with elegance and menace, demolishing pieces in her path. I watched her, uneasy.