章 940: Wizarding Chess

The news of Severus having woken up quickly spread through Severus's circle of friends. The school rumor mill did not pay much attention to Severus's recovery process due to the arrival of the Daily Prophet with news of a Giant's Night Raid. A portion of the village had been destroyed and though there were dead, there were less than a dozen. Many of the students were discussing the merits of the alliance between the Ministry of Magic and the allied magical forces (goblins, hags, and trolls).

The rest of the week sped by until at long last Friday arrived under the light of the full moon. Transfiguration had been especially tiring with the return of Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall was far from pleased with Terry's supposed innocent actions against Professor Hopkins. Professor Hopkins had recovered from the tentacle attack, but not without any trauma. Rumor had it that Professor Hopkins turned dreadfully pale any time he saw calamari or anything related to an octopus.

Regardless, as a result, Professor McGonagall had been stricter than usual with the 5th year Slytherin class. Their most recent class had been dedicated to learning how to partially vanish an object. It was a much more difficult feat to achieve to vanish an object partially than to completely vanish an entire object. Ironically, learning how to partially vanish an object had been easier for Rowan to learn and practice on the croaking frogs before her. Since she wasn't completely erasing an animal out of existence and could quickly restore the partially vanished part, she did not have as much of an issue doing so.

Professor McGonagall was both surprised and exasperated by Rowan's ability and tendencies. Rowan happened to be an excellent student in the Transfiguration's Professor's opinion. And though she was less talented than her twin brother, Severus, Rowan was more than capable of making up the difference! It was a source of constant irritation to Minerva McGonagall to see a talented student being unable to reach their full potential. Well not if she had anything to say about it!

Left with piles of homework, Rowan tiredly made her way through the stone corridors of Hogwarts. The burning torches flicker from cold wafts of chilly air. Stifling the urge to find a cozy dark corner to take a much-needed nap, she arrived in front of a great stone gargoyle. "Milk Candy," she muttered the latest password for sweets.

Apparently, the house elves on their latest trip had brought back various candies from different parts of the world and Dumbledore was instantly hooked. It was a problem in Rowan's opinion. But she wasn't about to attempt to separate Dumbledore and his candy. She didn't have a death wish.…

With a loud rumble, the wall splits in two to reveal a spiral moving case. Through the opening, Rowan rides the moving staircase to the top of the headmaster's tower. With a thundering thud, she arrives at the gleaming oak door entrance at top of the tower. The brass door knocker in the shape of a griffin gleams cheerfully at her.

Not bothering to knock, Rowan pushes the door open and enters Professor Dumbledore's office. Several Headmasters portraits startle awake and glare at Rowan, while others pretend to continue to snooze, and the last gaze openly in curiosity at her. In the background, various instruments whirl around emitting little puffs of smoke, while in the corner of the chamber on a clean shelf sits a shabby-looking, tattered wizard's hat, the Sorting Hat.

Professor Albus Dumbledore sits behind an enormous, claw-footed desk. Twinkling blue eyes gleam from behind half-moon spectacles that hang on a long-crooked nose. His long silvery hair and beard neatly sweep to the stone floor as the fluffy red chick, Fawkes chirps from his perch. He lightly chuckles at his apprentice-tired appearance at Rowan and motions at her to sit.

Rowan doesn't protest and slumps down in the seat before her. Without even asking, she reaches for the silver platter before her and pours herself a cup of tea, and grabs a pumpkin pasty to chew on. Seeing Rowan's concentrated expression, Albus Dumbledore is unable to hide his amused expression.

Reaching for the tea saucer in front of him, Albus takes his teacup and breathes in the exquisite scent, before partaking in the delectable drink. Setting down the porcelain teacup with a soft clink on his desk, he says, "Considering that Severus is still in recovery, I thought it would be unfair to you, Rowan. How about a nice game of wizarding chess?'

Pausing to swallow, Rowan brushes the crumbs off her face, before eyeing the dubious innocent, twinkled-eyed Dumbledore before her. "It would be a nice change of pace," she slowly answered, because no matter how innocently that question was phrased, Dumbledore was one of the greatest of masterminds. He was cunning and devious without a doubt, he'd been a loss to Slytherin when he sorted into Gryffindor. Then again, Dumbledore might have become the next Dark Lord and unlike Voldemort, Dumbledore would likely have won!

Pointing to the already setup wizarding chessboard, Albus Dumbledore rose from his seat automatically tucking his long beard and silver hair into his belt lest he tramples either of them. Fawkes lets out an adorable musical chirp and flaps his little wings in emphasis. Letting out a fond snort, Albus paused to securely tuck the fluffy feathered crimson and gold chick on his shoulder. Fawkes little beak rubs against Albus's ear in affection, before his little claws cling to Albus's robes, and settle down to watch from his current perch.

Sitting down across from Dumbledore, Rowan catches a direct glimpse of the tattered Sorting Hat harmlessly sitting on the shelf in the corner of the room. It wasn't going to be enough to borrow James's invisible cloak. No, she was going to need the help of the Marauders.

"Ready to commence," Dumbledore interrupted Rowan's train of thought. "Black or White, Rowan?"

"Black," Rowan automatically replied.

Albus Dumbledore arched his snowy white brow at the response. "It is typical to want the first move on the board."

"Mm, but in real life, it is always in reverse," Rowan bluntly replied. "We are the ones who are constantly reacting to the circumstances around us."

"Touché," Albus acknowledge, before ordering the pawn to move first.

Rowan orders the knight to move first and castles her king early, before waiting for Albus to make the next move. "An aggressive move, don't you think?" Albus observed with keen eyes.

"I naturally have the disadvantage being the second to move," Rowan answered, "and I can't remain passive, or I'll surely lose the match from the first move."

Albus pensively tugs on his white beard with one hand, before ordering the wizarding chess its next move. The chess pieces move according to their wishes as the wizarding match advances. The first piece is lost and gained by both sides as the match intensifies. As the match progresses their playing styles can be seen as Albus sacrifices pieces to lull his opponent into attacking, while Rowan plays with an unpredictable style of sometimes being aggressive and other times remaining passive.

Eventually, Albus spots an opening when the pawn moves forward to take a rook. Ceasing the opening, Albus moves forward and takes the guarding rook. Abruptly Rowan moves her King out of the guarded castle to attack and take the bishop. Seeing an opening, Albus moves his knight forward placing Rowan's Queen in danger. Rather than moving to return the King to safety instead Rowan moves the Queen.

The match intensifies as Albus places Rowan several times in check, but Rowan always manages to survive but in the process of escaping she sacrifices a chess piece. So, intent on cornering Rowan, he loses track of his own King in the process until he hears Rowan say, "Checkmate."

Fawkes lets out a shocked squeak at the announcement as Albus glances back at his own side. A mere pawn and a knight had placed his King in checkmate. His blue eyes scan the chessboard for any possible escape when he realizes there is none. A rueful grin spreads back across his face as he leans back into the velvet armchair. "It is my loss," he admitted.

Studying the board again, Albus reflectionally says, "It is clever of you to place your King in danger and lure me into disregarding my own King. A rather dangerous and bold move, but a useful tactic to blind an opponent to your true ploy."

"Thank you," Rowan graciously said, "but it was not my intention to create a distraction, but rather it was a ploy to survive."

"A ploy to win by placing your most valued piece in the open?" Albus arched his silver brow. "I fail to understand."

"I can't compensate for my lack of age nor experience," Rowan straightforwardly answered. "Nor will audacity or clever tricks work, I am certain that they have all been seen through countless times before. In that instance, I can only use my own mortality to blind my opponent. And though, it comes with great risk, it is the only manner that I can use to level the playing field."

"A good match," Dumbledore said before pulling out a silver watch to glance at the time. "My, my, just look at the time, why dinner is nearly upon us." As if hearing the word food, Rowan's stomach rumbles causing the tips of her ears to turn pink.

"Well, we best be off," Albus said rising to his feet causing his joints to pop. "You're still a growing lass," he chuckled carefully scooping Fakes from his shoulder and returning him to his regular perch.

Fawkes lets out a musical chirp, before settling down for a tap. Watching was an exhausting business for a phoenix chick! He needed his rest to grow up all over again! Nice and warm, he was already starting to snooze by the time Rowan and Albus departed with Dumbledore gently close the door behind him.

Fawkes departed for sweet dreams filled with the warm blue sunny sky and drifting high above Hogwarts. Soon enough, spring would come, and he'd be grown again. It was the life of a phoenix to live and die again and again. Yet the phoenix never regretted their existence, it had been their choice to remain in the mortal world rather than in the Spirit world. And one day all would be one once again.