78 Training Trials 2/2

"I'm the best player here!"

"Like we'd trust you to direct us!"

"Ten Galleons say that he sacrifices the three of us so he and his House-mates get across safely!"

"Cheap bet! Twenty Galleons says he does that and still manages to lose!"

Yeah… There's no way any of us Slytherins are going to trust Weasley to get us all across. Unfortunately after a quick series of games on the normal sized chess board I keep shrunk in my pocket, it's revealed that he actually is the most skilled player. So with sighs of resignation, we each choose our pieces.

For the Gryffindors: Harry is a bishop, Hermione a castle, and Weasley a knight - though obviously not the best kind.

For Slytherins: Draco takes the king with a smug smirk, Tracy is content with mirroring Hermione as the other castle, and obviously I am the Queen!

After giving Draco and I a dirty look, Weasley begins the game.

Not much happens for the first couple minutes, mainly just setting the board for future plays. But then the first piece gets taken. The other knight. The White Queen moves to their position and smashes them to the floor before dragging their limp body off the board, where they lay face down, completely still.

Everyone swallows at the sight before Weasley explains himself, immediately directing Hermione to take a bishop, which she does much less dramatically by simply putting her hand on it..

The moves start coming faster, and to be fair Weasley does make sure none of us is targeted, though he's obviously straining himself. And then he makes a mistake.

The twit didn't see the friggin castle in my lane and moved himself to take a bishop! So now it looms above me, the soldier on top reaching down to hit me.

LIKE HELL I'M LETTING THAT HAPPEN!

So I pull out what looks like a stick! Obviously it's not my wand, they're probably resistant to magic. But when magic is out of the question, there's always brute force!

So as I swing it at the center of the tower, I order it to enlarge, and soon I'm holding a full sized troll's club! It thuds into the tower, and with the sound of cracking stone it flies backwards and off the board!

Suck it magic! The laws of physics still apply! I ignore the fact that the club shouldn't have been able to shrink and glow, but for that I just switch them around!

Anyways, as the realization of what just happened sinks in, everyone tense, waiting for the inevitable punishment. Except… it doesn't come.

Tentatively, Weasley orders a pawn to move, and it does so without a sound of complaint. We all stare as the white side's piece moves as well, the silence quickly becoming awkward.

"I guess we can fight back?" Tracy kind of says kind of asks.

"I suppose…?" Hermione responds in the same vein.

And so that's what happens. Except… nobody else can defend themselves! Draco had pulled out his wand in preparation to fight , and all the pieces turned to him like he was their mortal enemy!

They're attuned to structured magic, but not natural magic, it seems. So I'm the only one who can knock them down if they come after me!

Obviously that twat abuses that fact as much as he can. He just uses me to take as many pieces as he can, and as protection for everybody else! Does he think making my club go big and small so much in quick succession is easy!? It's not!

By the time we've checkmated the opposing king, I'm bloody tired! Forget the stone! Let the thief have it! I want to sleep! But seeing that satisfied look on that twat's face irritates me. Yeah, I'm not going to feed into that by leaving. Instead, I take Arianna off my head and whisper into her ear, getting a nod in return.

I put her down, and while the doors on the opposite side open, she goes to Weasley and meows at him, though I'm the only one who can hear that she's actually insulting him.

He looks down. "Here to congratulate me on the win, cat?" His smug expression is quickly replaced by one of fear when she grows to her full size and starts growling directly in his face. His face loses all color, and when she blows a breath of hot air into his face he passes out!

I laugh. It's tired laughter, but laughter all the same. The rest are a mixture of huffs and chuckles depending on how much they liked him, which means that Harry huffed and Hermione choked.

Unfortunately…. "We can't just leave him like this." Harry says, looking down at his friend. I roll my eyes.

"Arianna will watch him."

He gives me the stink eye. "That doesn't make me feel better."

Tracy raises her hand with a gleam in her eyes. "I'm good with staying too. I want to examine this cat!"

Arianna looks at me with dread in her eyes. "Please don't leave me with her. I've seen what she's like with that dragon."

Since the others don't speak cat, I translate. "She's more than happy to let you stay with her!" I give a thumbs up, ignoring Arianna's groan and Tracy's squeal of happiness.

The remainder of us continue, quickly coming to a room with an unconscious troll even bigger than the one from Halloween! Of course, I use my own club to hit it on the head, just to make sure. Then I take its club as well.

Seeing the looks the others send me, I shrug. "It's free, so why not?" They ignore me and we quickly move onto the next room, where both doors become engulfed in flames. In the center of the room is a stone table with a variety of potion bottles in different shapes and sizes.

"Obviously Snape's." Harry groans. And to be fair… yeah. There's a line of potions and a note. After reading it out loud, Hermione laughs.

"It's a logic puzzle. Which is perfect because almost no wizards have a lick of common sense-"

"Rude!"

"-especially the greatest! They'd be stuck in here forever." Hermione continue, ignoring Draco's objection. And to be fair… she's right.

"But so will we, won't we?"

"Of course not," Hermione scoffs at Harry's question. "Everything's listed out. Seven bottles; three poison, two wine, one for the black fire going forward, and one for the purple going back."

I raise my hand. "Which are the wine?" I ask. Because, let's be honest, when am I going to get another chance to drink wine and say it's the teacher's fault?

But Hermione just rolls her eyes, and after a bit of muttering points at two bottles. "The first is forward, the second is back."

"But there's only enough in the first for one of us." Harry whines, summoning my own eye roll. I snatch the bottle, ignoring the raised voices.

"Have you really forgotten the last time we got into a situation like this?" I think back trying to remember just how it went…

"One is good and humble, but just like trouble, it's better when double!" And just like that, I'm holding two potions to go forward. I smirk at Harry as I hand him one. "Just like old times, huh Twin Two."

Despite our current relationship, he grins back as he takes it. "Yeah, I guess it is."

He turns to our friends, who are staring at us with half-dead eyes. I nod, glad that they're getting used to the awesomeness that is me. Harry tells them to go back, grab the others, shares an emotional moment with Hermione that has Draco and me rolling our eyes, then finally looks at me.

"Are you sure you want to go through with me? Snape's on the other side. And maybe You-Know-Who."

I smirk back. "No, I don't know who. But I do know it won't be Professor Snape, so I look forward to winning our bet."

He rolls his eyes before he becomes serious. "Let's do this. Twin power?" He holds out the glass.

My smirk widens. "Twin power." I tap his glass with my own and we down them before rushing into the flames. It reminds me of when we ran through a wall to get to platform nine and three quarters.

Whatever we find on the other side, we'll face it together.

Just like twins should.