Hogwarts Emerald

Without lingering on what else might be waiting ahead, the three of them—Eda, Fred, and George—continued down the stone corridor.

It was the only path forward. The corridor sloped downward, and Eda had a feeling they might now be beneath the foundations of Hogwarts itself.

She wasn't sure whether it was this place that was deeper underground or the room at the end of the secret passage on the 4th floor where she practiced with her duel doll.

At the end of the corridor was a brightly lit room, where countless sparkling "birds," as dazzling as gemstones, flitted about on fluttering wings, flying all over the room.

On the opposite side of the room was a heavy wooden door. Clearly, these flying "birds" were the key to getting through—literally—because they were magically enchanted keys.

"Sprout was behind the last room—who do you think made this one?" Fred asked. "Could it be Madam Hooch?"

"I'm leaning toward Professor Flitwick," Eda replied, reaching out to take a broomstick from George. The brooms had been placed in an extremely conspicuous location, as if afraid the intruders might not see them.

Looking at the keys flying wildly in every direction, Eda felt a headache coming on. First, she cast a slowing charm to reduce their high-speed motion, then attempted a freezing spell to try and immobilize them.

The combination of the two spells didn't entirely freeze the keys, but it did make them float more gently, almost like drifting. That was good enough. Mounted on broomsticks, the twins quickly managed to find the right key that opened the door.

After dismounting from their broomsticks, Fred and George both kept their heads down in silence, showing none of the excitement or satisfaction that came with solving a puzzle.

"You noticed too?" Eda asked.

"It's too easy—so easy even a first-year could get through," George said in disbelief.

They hadn't even spent much time getting here; the longest part had been that stretch of stone corridor.

Though they had been constantly mocking Quirrell for being useless, would he really dare to go after the Philosopher's Stone if he didn't have any real skill? The three rooms they'd just passed didn't look like they could stop someone like him.

The second room had originally been pitch dark, but as soon as the three of them entered, the torches around the room suddenly lit up, illuminating everything.

It was an enormous chessboard, and the towering chess pieces blocked their path. To get through, they would have to win a game of Wizard's Chess.

"Even though we were only apart for a short while, I really miss my little brother Ron," Fred said sincerely as he stared at the chess pieces.

"Eda, it's all on you. Don't you always call yourself the queen of the chessboard? Time to prove it!" George said. Neither of the twins were particularly good at Wizard's Chess.

"Wait here," Eda said, and with that, she walked up to the queen's position. The black queen piece stepped down and gave up its place to her.

Once Eda was standing firmly on the black queen's square, the pawn in front of the white queen moved two squares forward.

Eda ordered the black pawn in front of her to also move two squares ahead.

Next, the white pawn on the queen's flank advanced two squares as well, deliberately offering itself as bait for Eda to take.

This was a common opening known as the Queen's Gambit—sacrificing the pawn on the queen's side in exchange for control of the center of the board. It also helped free up the more powerful pieces and provided a positional advantage.

Back when she used to practice Wizard's Chess with Ron, Eda often liked using this opening—but would inevitably get schooled by Ron every time.

If White had chosen a different opening, Eda might not have been as confident. But since White just happened to pick the Queen's Gambit… well, all she could say was sorry—she knew this play too well.

Eda captured the offered pawn, accepting the Queen's Gambit.

Her forward pawn moved from d5 to c4, the black soldier piece fiercely knocking over the white one on the board.

As the white queen began to rampage across the board, Eda—playing the role of the black queen—only moved one square, shifting from d8 to d7, placing herself in the midst of the black pawns.

The white queen then captured the black pawn on b7, leaving only one more black pawn between her and Eda. The white queen had no facial features, but the ferocity with which it toppled pieces was terrifying—Eda had no desire to be struck by it.

Standing behind the black pieces, the twins were sweating for Eda. George said, "If it gets too risky, let's just bolt. We're only doing this for fun—no need to take a hit for it."

Eda waved a hand behind her, signaling the two not to worry.

The game pressed on, with the white pieces cutting down everything in their path. After losing three pawns and a bishop, Eda castled to tuck her king safely into a corner, keeping it protected from the aggressive white pieces.

After losing her black rook—which had been pressuring the white queen—Eda finally saw her chance to check the king. She moved from square f7 to g6, placing herself in a direct line with the white king.

The white king retreated from g1 to f1, now sharing a row with its own rook, effectively blocking Eda's pursuit. Eda shifted diagonally forward to h5, now separated from the white king by just a single white pawn.

Forced into a corner, the white pieces launched a desperate counterattack—first, a bishop captured Eda's pawn, delivering a check. Then, another bishop captured one of Eda's knights.

But it was all in vain. Eda's king was well-protected, and neither of these checks managed to put the black king in checkmate.

At this point, Eda's black side still had three pawns, one rook, and one bishop. The white side, on the other hand, still had its queen, two rooks, a bishop, a knight, and even one more pawn than Eda.

Now it was Eda's move again.

She used her wand to strike down the white pawn standing in her way, stepping onto square g2. The black queen (Eda), who had only taken down a single pawn from start to finish, delivered checkmate to the white king.

"Heh~ That was fun!"

The white pieces, clearly unwilling but with no choice, laid down their arms. Even though they had dominated the board for most of the match—and even now outnumbered the black side—the game was over.

From the very start, when the white side chose the Queen's Gambit as its opening, the outcome of the match had already been sealed.

Eda had lost so many times to Ron using that very opening that she'd become an expert in handling it. Victory was inevitable—the only question was what method she'd use to win.

"Fuu~ let's see what else we got!"

Having won the chess match, the white pieces naturally cleared the way, allowing Eda and the twins to move into the next room.

The moment they stepped inside, they were hit by a stench—a mix of smelly socks and an uncleaned bathroom—that made Eda want to turn around and play another round of Wizard's Chess instead.

A twelve-foot-tall troll was guarding this room. Its dim-witted brain hadn't yet registered the presence of the three uninvited guests.

Fred nudged Eda and said, "Do you think this troll might be the same one that broke in on Halloween?"

Back on Halloween, Harry and the others had only knocked the troll unconscious—they hadn't killed it. Its whereabouts afterward were unknown to the students.

But this troll looked much bigger than the one from Halloween, and since Eda and the twins hadn't seen that troll themselves, it was a reasonable guess.

With its massive build and overpowering stench, the troll did seem threatening. Trolls also had a certain resistance to magic. A creature with magical resistance should, in theory, be hard to deal with—but trolls were just too stupid. Their raisin-sized brains seriously hampered their combat abilities.

When the troll swung its club and charged at the intruders, the twins used a simple diversion tactic. That gave Eda a perfect opportunity to strike it in the back of the head with ease.

Skirting around the foul-smelling troll, Eda and the twins moved on to the next challenge.

This room contained only two walls of flame blocking the doors in front and behind them, and a table with seven bottles of various shapes and sizes.

Fred and George picked up the piece of parchment lying beside the bottles.

On it was a riddle. From the riddle, they deduced that among the seven bottles, one would allow them to move forward, one to go back, two were nettle wine, and the remaining three were deadly poison.

Eda also took the parchment and glanced at it. The handwriting was clearly Snape's. Eda felt that this challenge was downright insulting to any would-be intruders—such a simple riddle, who could possibly be stumped by it?

But instead of solving the riddle, Eda simply picked up each bottle one by one, examining them and sniffing one in particular. Then she pulled a small flask from her robes. After taking a sip herself, she handed it to the twins.

"Drink it. Once you've had some, you'll be able to pass through the black flames ahead."

The twins took the flask and each took a sip. George asked, "You didn't make all of these yourself, did you?"

"Heh.. about that.."

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