"I'm fine, it's nothing," Harry broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead, but he stood up strongly, "We should keep going down and never let Snape-"

He clutched his left arm and kept it from shaking as much as possible, but the intense pain made him feel the urge to cry.

“…… Don't look at me, open the door! Harry said anxiously.

The next room was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. But before Hermione could use her magic, the room suddenly lit up with a wall-mounted oil lamp, and it became brightly lit for a while. But the scene inside made the three of them open their mouths wide.

"Oh my!" Ron exclaimed, "This—this is ......."

No wonder they were surprised, as the room was quite spacious. And this spacious room was almost occupied by an oversized chessboard.

What surprised them the most was that the peculiarity of this chessboard was extraordinary!

“…… Ron, is this the wizarding chess piece that Maca gave you for Christmas? Hermione's eyes widened.

"I'm sure he gave me more than just one person." Ron said dumbfounded.

Harry clasped his arms and said with difficulty, "Ron, I remember that you are very good at wizarding chess, do you think ......"

"No, no—absolutely not." Ron said loudly, "This war chess invented by Maca is so terrifying, it is not a chess game, but luck!" ”

"But this level has to be passed—" Harry said, suddenly staring at a square on the opposite board, "Look, what is that!" ”

Hermione and Ron hurriedly looked up - bloodstains!

"Oh, Snape must have been injured while making this point!" Ron said.

"yes, even if Maca isn't there, he's helping us." Hermione muttered, "Maca gave him a hard blow!" ”

But Ron shook his head, "Maca gave him a hard blow, but I guess I'll give us one too-"

"Alright, it's useless to think about it, we have to do it!" Harry said firmly, his tone shaky a little, and it was clear that his hand had been signaling pain to his brain.

"That—no way," Ron said, "I'm more familiar with it, and you'll be at my disposal for a while, so that's the way it is." ”

"Each of us plays a wizarding pawn! Keep in mind that wizards are the most numerous, but the weakest, and we must use the effects of various cards to improve our abilities, relying on terrain, positioning, and combo attacks to ensure that we don't get killed. ”

"As long as we can pass through the opponent's defensive formation with the help of other powerful pawns, and capture the opponent's castle while resisting the opposing counterattack, we will win!"

"Come on, then!" Harry pushed forward, "I believe you, Ron, you're always better at chess than I am. ”

"Oh, Harry, are you- alright?" Hermione was worried.

"It's fine. Alright, Ron, let's get started! ”

"Well, wizard w5, go two squares! Giant W3, forward three squares ......"

As the game begins, the various pieces on the board come into play. The dragon flapped its wings, the giant waved its stick, the griffon flew up and circled in place from time to time, and even the other wizard chess pieces had vivid expressions and movements.

If the original wizard chess is just a moving game of chess, then this set of war chess invented by Marfa has the flavor of a real magic movie.

"Roar—"

Under Ron's control, a black dragon of the Hehitiri Islands swooped down, spewing red flames from its mouth, burning the two wizard chess pieces in the attack range to powder.

"Oh—" Hermione stared at the image in fear, not daring to wonder what it would have been like if she had been there.

"Don't worry!" Ron said, "The strength of the chess set here doesn't seem to be very high, and they will also make mistakes!" ”

In fact, Ron's chess skills are really good. After a while, they were finally close to the castle opposite!

"Oops!"

Just as Hermione was relieved, Ron's "bad" lifted her heart again.

"What's wrong, Ron?" Harry could barely hold on to the pain and kept himself from fainting, and he kept his voice as loud as he could.

"I miscalculated a few steps, um-" He had only said a few words before he stopped, "No, it's okay, no problem!" ”

"Harry, you go to the front of the castle and attack the castle gates every turn! Whatever happens, don't stop, no matter what happens! Ron said loudly.

After saying to Harry, he turned his head to Hermione next to him and said, "Hermione, you go to the side of the castle gate, and at the same time attack the gate, prevent the other wizard from attacking Harry." ”

"What about you?" Hermione asked.

"I'll have to lure the last centaur archer," he said, "don't worry, I've got an armored knight on my side, and I'll be fine!" ”

Ron's words are beautiful, but the truth is not so simple.

The horseman archers on the opposite side were indeed blocked by the armored knight, and it took at least three rounds to defeat the armored knight. But on the other side, a highly mobile Hippogriff was rushing towards him, and it was too late.

"The gate is broken!" Harry suddenly shouted, "I've taken it!" ”

At the same time, the Hippogriff flew Ron into the air! Before he was hit, he shouted loudly.

"Keep going! Harry! ”

"Float into the air!" Hermione immediately raised her wand, but only had time to catch Ron, who had been pushed into the air.

"Oh—poor Ron, he's knocked unconscious."

Harry had taken the castle by this time, and Ron had won, but he couldn't move on.

The opposing magical creatures turned back into stone, and the wizard pieces all gave Ron a hat salute. Behind the chessboard, the huge stone door opened automatically.

Harry and Hermione looked back at Ron sadly one last time, then rushed through the door and down the next hallway.

"Will he—"

"He'll be fine." Harry gritted his teeth and said, trying to convince himself of this, "What do you think will come next?" ”

"We've passed through Sprout's machine, the devil's net; It must have been Flitwick who enchanted those keys; Professor McGonagall deformed the pieces and brought them to life - all that was left was Quirrell's magic, and Snape's. ”

As they spoke, they came to the door of another door.

"Is it alright, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking at him worriedly.

"No problem, we've got to keep going, at least for Ron." Harry said strongly.

As soon as they pushed the door open, they were choked back by a familiar smell inside, a disgusting stench, and they had to lift their clothes to cover their noses.

Tears were also poured out of their eyes, and through the blurred teary eyes, they saw a troll.

It was even bigger than the last time they had seen it, lying motionless on the floor in front of them, unconscious, and a large bloody lump on their head.

"Great, we don't have to fight this troll anymore." Harry said weakly.

They cautiously stepped over the troll's thick legs.

"Let's go, I'm out of breath."

When Hermione pushed open the next door, she didn't see anything more terrifying—there was only one table in the room.

On the table, seven bottles of different shapes are neatly arranged.

"This must be Snape's magic," Harry said, "what should we do?" ”

As soon as the two of them crossed the threshold, a flame rose from behind them, sealing the doorway. The flame was unusual, purple. At the same time, black flames burst out from the doorway leading to the front.

They found themselves clearly trapped in the middle.

"Look!" Hermione picked up a roll of parchment that was placed next to the bottle, "It's- it's a logic puzzle!" ”

Hermione read it quietly, then let out a long sigh, and Harry was surprised to see her smile, which he himself couldn't laugh at any means.

"Wonderful," said Hermione, "the method through this place obviously has nothing to do with magic!" Since ancient times, many wizards have had little logical reasoning ability, and they have to be trapped here forever. ”

"What about us?" Harry gasped.

"Of course not," said Hermione, "all we need to know is written on this piece of paper." Seven bottles: three are poisons; two are wine; One will allow us to pass safely through the black flames, and the other will send us back through the purple flames. ”

"But how do we know which one to drink?"

"Give me a minute."

Hermione read the piece of paper a few more times. She walked up and down the row of bottles, muttering to herself as she pointed to this or that bottle.

Finally, she clapped her hands happily, and it looked so cute.

"I see," she said, "this smallest bottle will help us get through the black flames - to the Philosopher's Stone." ”

Harry looked at the inconspicuous little bottle and couldn't help but say, "It looks like it's only big enough for one person." ”

Hermione looked at Harry, hesitated, then pointed to the round bottle on the far right and said, "This bottle will allow you to go back through the purple flames." ”

"Harry, you've got to drink it-"

"—No, it's up to me! Have to! Harry straightened up, trying to look better.

"Harry!" Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked at Harry earnestly, "Listen to me!" ”

"You're so badly injured right now, there's nothing you can do to stop Snape in the past! But I'm fine, even if I can't, I can run away. ”

"And you, now, immediately! Go to the Dancing Key's room and get a broomstick – if Ron wakes up, call him along with him – and send a letter to Dumbledore in the owl's room! In any case, I'll try to hold Snape back, by all means, while you! Just go! ”

With that, Hermione picked up the smallest bottle, poured it into her mouth, and walked towards the black flames.

"I remember that day in the library," she said as she walked, "Maca said that I was a Gryffindor, the smartest Gryffindor, and I didn't think I would let his affirmation of me turn into a joke." ”

Harry couldn't figure out if Hermione was speaking to him or to herself.