Chapter 468: The Giant Chessboard Array
Chapter 468: The Giant Chessboard Array
The room was pitch black, shrouding everything in darkness.
As Albert took a step forward, torches on the walls suddenly ignited, giving off a boss battle vibe from games, and the illuminated scene before them was equally startling.
At that moment, they found themselves standing at the edge of a massive chessboard, facing two rows of tall, black statues.
At the other end of the room stood two rows of white statues, facing them.
Fred took a few quick steps forward, attempting to pass through the statues.
However, he soon halted and retreated back to the group.
"Is this... Wizard's Chess?" Fred muttered as a pawn drew its sword to block his path.
In fact, the four of them had already guessed the answer when they saw the neatly arranged statues.
"Wow, this is amazing!" George exclaimed, "It's definitely going to be interesting. I've never played a life-size Wizard's Chess like this before."
"Your skills in Wizard's Chess are terrible," Fred grumbled, "You can't even beat Ron."
"You talk as if you've beaten Ron before." George reluctantly admitted that his spider-fearing, useless younger brother was actually quite good at Wizard's Chess.
"What should we do now?" Lee Jordan whispered.
"Isn't it obvious?" George replied with a smirk, pointing at the wooden door behind the white pieces, "All we need to do is win this game of chess to pass."
"I remember Albert being quite good at Wizard's Chess!"
The three of them turned to Albert, awaiting his final decision—whether to charge through or play and win this game of chess.
"I can't guarantee a victory!" Albert furrowed his brows as he studied the giant chessboard, deep in thought.
"That's unlike you, it's just a game of chess." Lee Jordan patted Albert on the shoulder.
"What's wrong?" George sensed something amiss. Could it really be as simple as winning a game of chess?
"We might need to step in as chess pieces. If not, we'll have to defeat them piece by piece." Albert shared his speculation. He wasn't sure if he could win with three pieces down.
"That doesn't sound too good!" George was intrigued by the idea, but the wild nature of Wizard's Chess made him hesitate.
After all, if they had to serve as chess pieces, being swept by the weapons of these statue pieces would be no fun at all.
"Do we all have to participate?" Fred frowned deeply, muttering to himself.
The black king statue beside Fred suddenly came to life, startling them. The king nodded at Fred, indicating that everyone must take part in this game of Wizard's Chess.
"Should we just charge through?" Lee Jordan asked tentatively. With their skills, blasting the statues to bits with spells and forcibly passing through shouldn't be too difficult.
"If we do that, these statues will probably gang up on us." Albert disagreed with the idea of brute force. How could Professor McGonagall not anticipate someone trying to force their way through? The previous lock-picking challenge was possible because of the wizarding world's ignorance of Muggle ways.
Although he didn't think these statues posed a significant threat, it was best not to take any risks. Who knew what would happen if they tried to force their way through?
Perhaps the door on the other side wouldn't even open.
Even if they had to resort to force in the end, it would be wiser to wait until the number of statue pieces diminished to a certain extent.
"I wonder which professor designed this puzzle." Lee Jordan raised his hand and knocked on the statue beside him.
"It has to be Professor McGonagall." George replied with a smirk, "These chess pieces are definitely created with Transfiguration magic. Although I have no idea how it was done, it's truly remarkable."
"Can Albert achieve this level of proficiency?" Fred looked at Albert with anticipation, hoping for an affirmative answer.
"I do have some knowledge of Wizard's Chess," Albert said, "Although the principle of this giant chessboard array is similar to Wizard's Chess, it utilizes a more advanced form of Transfiguration magic."
Albert addressed Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, "We'll need to replace four of the black pieces here."
"You take command, what should we do?"
"Let me think." Albert racked his brains, formulating a plan for this uneven match.
"Take your time." The trio wasn't in a rush. They began examining the statue pieces and observing their surroundings, preparing for a possible brute force approach.
"Alright." After a few minutes, Albert clapped his hands and said, "Fred and George, you two will replace the knights. Lee Jordan, you'll be the king. As for me, I'll take the place of the bishop."
As if understanding Albert's words, two knights, a bishop, and the king turned and walked off the chessboard, leaving four vacant spots for them.
And so, the most intriguing game of Wizard's Chess of the century commenced! "How are we going to defeat these statues later?"
"If that doesn't work, we can just blow them up with blasting curses." Albert pulled out a piece of candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, popped it into his mouth, and casually added, "But I think it might not be necessary. They should step down once they're 'taken'. If they don't react, then we'll just blast them to bits."
Albert was a little excited; instead of just playing a game of Wizard's Chess, he felt like he was commanding an army.
"What if we get taken?" Fred asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure that doesn't happen. And if it does, just run outside the chessboard and avoid getting hit by the pieces," Albert reassured him as he began moving his pieces strategically.
The initial moves were standard, exchanging pieces to open up the board. To Albert's surprise, Professor McGonagall's gameplay wasn't as sophisticated as he had expected.
The game progressed more smoothly than anticipated.
The challenge of the Giant Chessboard Array lay not in the complexity of the moves but in the player's ability to maintain a calm mindset amidst the violent clashes of the chess pieces. As long as one could keep a level head and play to their usual standard, victory was assured.
On the board, Fred and George, initially tense, were now enthusiastically taking down their opponents, blasting captured pieces into smithereens with explosion curses and sweeping them off the board. Even Lee Jordan, acting as the king, couldn't resist the urge to join in the fray.
The pawns were eliminated early on, and the sight of the remaining pieces clashing was spectacular. Imagine a white bishop slicing a black rook into shards with a single stroke of its sword, sending it flying off the board.
If something like that happened right beside you, it would take a lot of courage not to be terrified.
Even knowing that the pieces wouldn't attack them, who wouldn't fear being caught in the crossfire?
Especially when the white bishop viciously hammered the black knight that had taken Fred's piece, causing Fred to jump in surprise.
Albert quickly called out to calm him, "Stay focused, you're safe."
"I'm not safe at all; I got hurt," Fred complained, pointing to a minor cut on his arm caused by flying debris.
"Don't whine about it. Move back to c8," Albert instructed.
"Why don't we take out the white queen?" Fred asked, reluctantly retreating but unable to contain his curiosity. He wasn't fully calm yet.
"If you want to get taken, go right ahead. Either way, I'll come out on top in the exchange," Albert replied, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
As they witnessed the intense battle unfold, any lingering doubts they had completely vanished, replaced by admiration for Albert's calm and skilled command of the game.
By observing the number of pieces remaining on the board, it was clear that Albert was the more proficient player. The number of white pieces taken far exceeded their losses, and they even still had one pawn left in the front row.
Albert aimed to preserve his pieces whenever possible, using them as expendable pawns. He also refrained from sending Fred and George too far forward, carefully maneuvering them to avoid being easily taken.
Unfortunately, he couldn't always protect them from the brutal nature of the game. Every time a piece was taken, the capturing piece would show no mercy, viciously striking and sending shattered remains flying to the edges of the board.
As the number of pieces on the board diminished, the focus shifted from exchanging pieces to devising a strategy to checkmate the king quickly.
Albert didn't want to linger here any longer than necessary! When the white queen aggressively toppled another black bishop, tossing it off the board like garbage, Albert seized the opportunity. He immediately moved forward and happily took the white king.
As he raised his wand, preparing to blast the defeated king to bits, the statue surprised him by removing its crown and placing it at Albert's feet in surrender.
Albert had won.
"Lucky break," he muttered, watching as the white pieces bowed and retreated. He lowered his wand, deciding not to cause further trouble for the vanquished king.
"This was so much fun! Commanding life-size Wizard's Chess is way more exciting than playing the regular version," Fred exclaimed with a wide grin, still exhilarated from taking down multiple pieces.
"I saw your legs shaking," Lee Jordan teased.
"That's a lie! My legs were not shaking," Fred retorted, shooting an annoyed glance at Lee Jordan, knowing full well that his friend was envious of his bold maneuvers on the chessboard.
"I saw it too; your legs were shaking like crazy," Lee Jordan retorted, sticking his tongue out. He had spent most of the game stationary, safe but bored.
"Enough, you two," Albert interrupted, putting an end to their playful bickering.
"I was just thinking," Fred said, a mischievous glint in his eye, "what if we had flown above the chessboard on our brooms and blasted the pieces with spells? Would we have even needed to play this game?"
"Most likely, the door wouldn't have opened," Albert replied thoughtfully. He had considered that option himself but ultimately discarded it, aware that attempting to force their way through could have resulted in a counterattack from the statue pieces.
After all, if they could pass through this challenge using the simplest method, why bother with complicated alternatives?
(End of Chapter)
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