I May have helped an Evil Wizard. (rewrite)

Time to go

The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. It was cold as well.

"That's not cliché at all," Harriet muttered and took a step forward, slightly aware that Draco was, once again, hanging onto her jacket. Like in the corridor. Should she say something? Was he scared of the dark?

But as they stepped further into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.

They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Pansy and Draco shivered slightly - the towering chessmen had no faces.

"They look cool, but really creepy." Draco stated in a hushed tone.

"Now what do we do?" Pansy  whispered.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Harriet . "We've got to play our way across the room."

Behind the white pieces they could see another door.

"How?" said Pansy nervously. "I'm really bad at chess." She grabbed onto Harriet's sleeve.

What was it with people hanging onto her? She was scared too. Who could she hold onto?

"We're going to have to be chessmen. This needs thinking about. I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces...." Draco trailed off. "Harriet? Any ideas?"

Harriet's thinking face was already in place.

Pansy stayed quiet, watching Draco and Harriet think and occasionally murmer something to one another

Finally Harriet said, "Draco, you take the place of that bishop, and Pansy, you go next to him instead of that castle. It's the safest way."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to be a knight," said Harriet.

"That doesn't sound very safe." Pansy muttered.

"Well, worry about that later!" Harriet snapped and walked onto the board.

The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving three empty squares.

Harriet marched straight onto the Knight's. Pansy and Draco stepped into their positions. They turned to face their opponents.

A white pawn had moved forward two squares.

Harriet took a calming breath and started to direct the black pieces. Game on.

They moved silently wherever she sent them. Pansy's knees were trembling. What if they lost? Would they die? She looked over to Harriet. He face was unreadable, like a statue. It was a bit scary.

"Draco - move diagonally four squares to the right."

Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and hurled him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown. Pansy squeaked in terror and almost ran over to him.

"Stay where you are!" Draco cried. "You move, we lose!"

"Had to let that happen," Harriet explained, voice neutral. Her face again betrayed nothing. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Pansy, go on."

Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. However, there were a lot of white pieces slumped against the wall as well.