Capítulo 62: Catching Keys and Playing Chess
George, trailed by the blinded Neville and two-thirds of the trio, entered the next puzzle room. The door led into a vast space illuminated with moonlight. George found this place reminiscent of the Slytherin Common Room. The stone pillars and archways were expertly carved, and yet the job didn't look finished. The room had jagged walls so extremely high that he couldn't tell if there was a roof.
Of course, the tall room was hardly the main object of intrigue. The thousands of winged keys flying in continuous circles had the children's attention from the moment they entered. Even Neville looked up in curiosity after hearing the constant noise of wings flapping.
"Are those… birds?" asked Hermione.
"I don't think so. They look more like keys", replied Harry.
Then Harry pointed at the far side of the room, "and I bet one of them fits that door."
Similar to the one they'd just passed through, a reinforced door blocked their path. Unlike the last one, there was a large rusty lock with an equally large keyhole. While inspecting the door, George noticed the absence of something quite important. Shouldn't there be a broom hovering in the centre of the room?
A sinking feeling began to settle in as George scanned the floor. He held out hope the broom was hidden in some dark recess, but there was nothing to be found besides piles of dust and cobwebs. Damn it! Quirrel had taken the broom with him or destroyed it. This wasn't meant to be how this played out.
"If the key for the door is up there, then how are we meant to get it?" Harry said aloud while staring up at the swarm of keys.
George looked around for an alternate solution until his eyes landed on a particularly wide pillar. Then an idea popped into his head. George looked back up at the swarm of keys and sighed. To think he'd been thinking he could sit back and let Harry handle this task. How naive of him.
Instead of answering Harry's question, George pulled off his robes in a huff.
Neville, who had been clinging to George like a baby chimp, had to let go of him and panicked, "what's going on? You're not leaving me, are you?"
"Only for a little bit", George answered while forcing his robes into Neville's hands. "Here, hold onto these for me. I'll be back in just a second."
Then George walked up to the largest pillar and rubbed his arms together. If he'd known this was coming, then he would have brought chalk.
Hermione looked at him in shock, "wait. You're not seriously considering… catching the key?"
"Got any other bright ideas", George retorted while eyeing up his route.
This was going to be one hell of a climb. The lowest of the flying keys was over a hundred feet into the air. And the rusty key George had just spotted was nowhere near the bottom of the pack.
"Hey, Harry", George called out. "Can you see that key, there? The one that looks different from the rest."
Harry squinted and focused on where George was pointing, "I think so. Is it the one with a broken wing?"
"Yep, that's the one. Just keep your eye on it for me while I'm climbing. We don't want to lose track of it."
George got a good grip on the pillar and began to climb. He made sure to keep a measured pace to not exhaust himself too early. Who knew how long this was going to take? One hundred, two hundred, three hundred feet. He ascended yard after yard until he was amongst the flock of keys. His pace had to slow down at this point out of fear of disturbing them. It was fair to assume all one thousand keys would freak out and attack him if George's shoulder accidentally brushed up against one.
Also, George had to be wary of the crumbling masonry. The preservation enchantments had long since worn off these pillars, and he felt like applying too much pressure would turn the stone to dust. By this point, his fingers were pretty numb and lactic acid was building up in his forearms.
"Am I getting close?"
"You're nearly there", Harry shouted. "Just a little further."
George let out a grunt of acknowledgement before continuing his climb. Harry, Hermione and Neville watched on with bated breath as George disappeared into the swarm. Progress was slow, but eventually, he reached a rafter. George climbed on top of it to give his fingers time to recover. He looked over the edge and chuckled. If he fell, even he wouldn't stand a chance of surviving.
"Honestly, it's not the worst way to go. It's a pretty good view on the way down and you're dead without time to feel a thing", George murmured to himself.
After waiting a couple of seconds to catch his breath, George refocused on the keys flying all around him. One of which was quite rusty and flying with a limp. Hold on a second, it's right there. Not only that, it wasn't even that far away. It might just be within touching distance. George climbed to his feet and tried to reach for the key. It was doing the same figure of eight on repeat. If he waited for it to loop back around, then he might be able to…
Once the key was only a few feet away, George lunged outwards and the rafter gave way underfoot. The edge he had been precariously standing on broke off, causing him to freefall. An ear-piercing scream echoed through the room as George twisted his body one-eighty and reached for the ledge of the rafter. With only his fingertips, he just about managed to save himself. If his reaction time had been a split second slower... well.
"What's happening?! Why did Hermione scream?! Did George fall?!" Neville yelled in panic.
"Almost, but he managed to cling on", Harry explained before shouting, "hey George, are you alright?"
"Just amazing, thanks for asking", George replied sarcastically while reestablishing his grip on the rafter.
He looked over his shoulder and saw the rusty key still flying around the same route. There were no two ways about this, the key wasn't within reach. That's unless… George looked at the wall opposite the rafter. The was no pillar or carved stone, just jagged rock. It wasn't ideal but things rarely were.
George planted his feet on the side of the rafter and pressed his knees against his chest. He glanced over his shoulder and waited for the key to complete another loop. Right as it was in the centre of the figure eight, George pushed off the rafter with all his strength. He flew across the room, colliding with several non-rusty keys, and held his arms out in anticipation. Before the rusty key could react, George snatched it out of the air.
With the key in hand, George's next focus was to stick the landing. Unfortunately, his current position was facing away from the incoming wall. His back impacted the jagged stone wall and sent him tumbling down. As his body span, George tried to claw at the wall but there was nothing for him to get a good grip on. Sensing imminent failure, he made the instinctual decision to kick off the wall, sending him back the way he'd come.
The freefalling George collided with the pillar he'd previously climbed. This time he'd got lucky and was facing the right way. He wrapped his arms around the pillar and squeezed as hard as he could. Each segment of stone he fell past smacked into his arms with the force of a sledgehammer. His skin felt on fire from the friction, and his shirt was reduced to ribbons within seconds. George endured the pain and kept squeezing, sending massive plumes of dust in his wake.
With his arms and chest acting like a brake, George's descent slowed until he slammed into the ground. His legs gave out from under him and he collapsed to the floor. Luckily, he had successfully reduced his speed enough to only minorly hurt his feet. However, the same could not be said about his chest and arms.
George looked down and saw his exposed skin had turned red raw like a third-degree burn. The imperfections in the surface of the pillar had caused gashes to litter his biceps and forearms. Worst of all, half of George's fingers were mangled from trying to grab the wall as he fell.
"Oh my god, George!" Hermione exclaimed. "Are you alright?"
"Do I bloody well look alright?"
George worked through the pain and knelt forward. He weakly looked over at Harry and tossed the key over. Harry caught it, but immediately yelped and let go. He dropped the rusty key only to grab it again out of fear it would fly off.
"It's really hot", Harry said while tossing the key back and forth.
"Yeah, well, when you're done playing with it, how about you stick it in that door and get this room over with?" George responded while popping his bent fingers back in their sockets.
"Can someone tell me what's going on?" asked Neville, still oblivious to his surroundings.
George got back to his feet and took his jacket back off Neville, "I'll explain later. For now, we should be worrying about those."
Harry and Hermione looked up to see the swarm of keys rapidly diving towards them. Perhaps because the broom hadn't been used, but the keys hadn't chased after George at first. But now they'd noticed the rusty key's absence from the flock, they were coming down in full force. Harry hastened to undo the lock and swung the door open.
George grabbed Neville and Hermione and practically threw them through the door. Once they were all safely inside, George slammed the door shut. Then he heard the sound of hundreds of dull thuds reverberating through the thick wooden panels. George didn't want to imagine what would have happened if he'd been a little slower. Something along the lines of a human pincushion full of keys came to mind.
After the sound of keys' kamikaze dive-bombing fell silent, George rested his weary head against the door. The energy to climb the pillar and heal his wounds was putting a massive strain on his body. An opportunity to lie down and have a little nap would be highly welcomed, but there was still so much to do.
"Oh look, a broom."
George opened his tired eyes and saw Harry holding onto an old broom.
"This would have been useful in the last room."
"Rub salt in the wound, why don't you", thought George as he walked up to Harry.
Part of him wanted to snatch that broom and snap it in half. However, the little energy he had left couldn't be wasted so frivolously.
"Put that down and let's get this next room over with", George said authoritatively while walking further into the room.
"Don't you think you should take a break?" asked Hermione, clearly worried for George's wellbeing. "You look... worse for wear."
George waved his hand dismissively, "nope. Remember, we're playing catch-up with an evil wizard. There's no time for breaks."
This place was extremely dark and filled with the rubble of broken statues. There was a single step which lead to a black and white checkered board. On either side of this massive board was a set of sixteen statues, some of which were standing over nine feet tall. Once George had arrived at the centre of the board, a series of torches around the perimeter burst into life and illuminated the room. If it hadn't already been obvious, then now it was clear he was standing in the middle of a chessboard.
Harry, Neville and Hermione caught up to George and inspected their surroundings. Well, two of them did while the last held on for dear life.
"Someone say something. The silence is scaring me", Neville pleaded.
George scratched his head, "it's a chessboard, Neville. A really, really big one. I'm guessing we have to play to have access to the next room."
Harry walked forward, "but the doors are just there and it's not locked. Can't we just…"
He was cut off when all the opponent's pawns drew their swords. Harry panicked and retreated a few steps. In turn, the pawns sheaved their swords.
"Now what do we do?" asked Hermione.
George wondered if he could take on the chessboard with brute force. McGonagall must have used similar enchantments to the stone guards that defended Hogwarts. They were slow, and their movements were well-telegraphed. Plus, he doubted they could survive a couple of blasts from his signature fireballs of death. If the fire stick could evaporate half a mountain troll, then a few magic statues shouldn't stand a chance.
As entertaining of an idea as that may be, George knew he could never do this. The risks were too great for both himself and the children. Playing the game was a safer bet. If Ron could win, then so could George who knew this challenge was coming in advance. It was time to put those chess technique books to good use.
George turned back to his side of the board and saw four empty spaces. There was a bishop, castle, knight and queen piece missing. That was one more piece unaccounted for than fate had foretold. Quirrel was really messing things up for George. It was like Voldemort knew he was following behind him and was deliberately making his life hard.
George sighed for the hundredth time today and whispered, "what can you do? When life gives you lemons…"
He looked at Hermione and Harry, "alright then, here is the plan. We're gonna play some wizard's chess. The only quirk is… we have to be some of the pieces."
"What?" Harry, Hermione and Neville said in unison.
"Harry, you stand over there in the empty bishop square. Hermione, you take the castle. Since you are my favourite, Neville, you can be the queen."
George walked over to each child and guided them to their spot. Neville needed a little extra encouragement to stay in his spot beside the king. George simply promised he would be perfectly safe as long as he did exactly as he was told. Neville had no choice but to halfheartedly agree.
"What about you?" asked Harry after assuming his position.
George walked over to the horse statue and mounted it, "I'll be the knight."
With them all standing in position, the white side made the first move. And so the game began. Like a general on horseback, George commanded his pieces to move. The statues slid across the floor and came alive to destroy the opposition's pieces. Each time, they would explode spectacularly into smoke and dust. He generally avoided using the pieces supplemented by the children to keep them out of danger. But even with the huge handicap, the difficulty was manageable.
Whatever was controlling the enemy board had no sense of preserving pieces. If there was an opportunity to take one of George's pieces, the enemy would do it. With that in mind, George easily baited the stronger pieces into vulnerable locations and dealt with them swiftly. Within the first few moves, half of the white's back line had already been wiped out. In exchange, George had only lost most of his pawns and the other horse.
The game was George's, it was just a matter of getting the right ending. It was no coincidence George chose the same piece Ron would have in his position. During the last few moves, he deliberately stalled the game and sacrificed pieces needlessly. Fortunately, Harry and Hermione didn't catch on to his 'mistakes'. They just remain silent, watched the game progress, and moved when told. Neville stood still most of the time and kept his fingers in his ears. The noise of constant explosions must have been getting to the boy.
It didn't take long before the match was ready to be wrapped up. Once the board was mostly empty of pieces, George turned to face Harry.
"Looks like your gonna have to finish this game without me."
Harry furrowed his brow, "what do you mean?"
George pointed at the white king, "look, I can check the king next move, but, the queen will take me. Then you can checkmate the king."
Harry looked more carefully at the board and his eyes went wide. All thanks to George's self-inflicted sabotage, that sequence of moves were their only good option. The alternative would only result in more of them being sacrificed.
"This can't be. There has to be…", Harry said in desperation.
George shrugged and put on a sombre face, "I'm afraid not. This is the only way."
"What is it?" Hermione interjected.
"Is something wrong, George?" Neville added.
"George is going to sacrifice himself", Harry answered.
"Don't be so dramatic", George said calmly. "This puzzle was designed by the professors, not sadistic murderers. I highly doubt it's gonna kill me, just… knock me out for a while."
"You don't know that", Hermione shouted back. "If we can put our minds together or we wait for Ron to wake up, he's good at chess and he might…"
"The Philosopher's stone could have been stolen by then", George interrupted. "This is it, our only option."
"But you promised you wouldn't leave me", pleaded Neville.
George smiled at the timid boy, "tell you what, after I'm taken out of the game, you can stay with me. Harry and Hermione will be fine on their own."
"Oh… okay", Neville whimpered. "Are you sure you'll be fine?"
"I'll be in your capable hands", George joked. "What do I have to worry about?"
Then George turned back to Harry, "can you promise to kick the blood supremacist's arse for me in my absence?"
Harry looked at George seriously and nodded his head.
George reciprocated the nod and looked forward, "good. Well, here we go, knight to H three."
The horse slowly slid forward two spaces before moving one to the left. The white king was only a few squares away from George, however, so was the queen.
"Check."
Once George ended his move, the white queen turned to face him. As it slid towards him, George discreetly reached into his enchanted sack and pulled out a vial. He flicked out the cork and poured its entire content down his throat. Next came a jolt of energy that caused George's heart to beat insanely fast. His alertness multiplied several times, and his hands began to tremble uncontrollably. A torrent of energy bubbling up inside him was begging to be released.
The queen arrived beside George and sprung into life. It raised its spear high and thrust it forward with inhuman speed. The spear pierced into the side of the horse, sending a paralyzing bolt of electricity into George. Starting from his feet, every nerve and muscle went numb. The horse exploded and George was sent flying off its back. Before his body hit the ground, the paralyzing wave reached his head and knocked him unconscious.
Estado de energía semanal
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