Hogwarts Archaeologist Toby

After finally passing through the devil's net, the new trio continued to walk along the stone corridor. They came to a room full of flying keys. Hermione was the first to find the strange key - the wings drooped like it Once caught and shoved roughly into a keyhole.

"Okay." Hermione said as she mounted her broom, "It looks like Harry's been here before, but we're not Seekers, and we have to work together to grab this key."

They negotiated a plan, with Hermione and Neville pretending to drive the key away to force its retreat, and finally Ron, the best flying of the three, grabbed the key.

They went back and forth several times; Ron kept his eyes on the special key, and finally he swooped off the broom.

"Are you OK?"

Hermione quickly flew to the ground, she asked concernedly.

Ron endured the pain and spread his palm, and the key stayed in his palm.

"It seems that my talent is also good." He joked, "Maybe I can also be a member of the team in the future, just like Charlie."

Charlie is his older brother, who won the Quidditch Cup with the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"That's not easy." Hermione said casually while pulling Ron up: "Harry may be the captain by then, and it won't be easy for him to recruit you into the team."

If Harry were there, he would be embarrassed to say that he could not be captain, and Ron would also become more exaggerated, such as taking over Harry's Seeker position.

It's a pity that Harry is not here, only the new member Neville is.

Our Neville immediately noticed the embarrassment on Ron's face. He didn't think it was a good thing. After he became more confident, he also had the courage to speak his inner thoughts.

"Don't say that, Hermione," he reminded weakly.

Although Neville was very confident, he was still somewhat weak in front of the always strong Hermione.

"What's wrong?" Hermione turned her head, and she also noticed something wrong with Ron's expression.Although Ron hid it well, his ears were still red.

"Oh, I mean -" Hermione quickly made up for it: "You and Harry have such a good relationship, he will definitely not reject you. I didn't...well, I didn't mean to be sarcastic."

Neville's weak reminder appeared again: "But you are just being sarcastic."

"Do I have it?" Hermione really didn't understand.

Ron immediately covered it up and said no, but his reaction was so bad that even Hermione felt very uncomfortable.

"Sorry, Ron," Hermione said frankly.

But in the face of such formal sincerity, Ron became even more embarrassed. He picked up the key and walked towards the closed door. He stuffed the key into the key hole many times before he successfully stuffed it in. He kept saying " Said: "Nothing... really nothing..."

Anyway, he is used to it. His brothers are much more dazzling than him. His only sister, Ginny, has not yet entered school, but she is loved by the whole family and cannot be compared.

Hermione had no choice but to ask Neville for help: "How did you find out?"

Neville whispered: "Because Harry is the Boy Who Lived. In fact, I have never understood how you can make such cool friends. Normal people can't help but compare with him. As for Ron, I I always felt that his behavior just now was very similar to the first time I met Professor Heimer, but Professor Heimer is the most considerate person I have ever met. I thought about it later - I found that he wanted to help me at the time, but In order to prevent me from feeling embarrassed or sad, the professor kept talking, trying to divert my attention——"

"Stop talking, Neville." Hermione also became sad little by little, and even her fluffy long hair became limp: "Don't make me feel more regretful. Praising Professor Heimer's merits is a shame. It won’t have any effect.”

At this time, they heard Ron, who opened the door first, let out a terrified cry, and the two ran over quickly, and they were also frightened—they were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, with black chess pieces in front of them , Those chess pieces are taller than them, and they seem to be carved out of black stone or something.At the other end of the room, facing them, were some white chess pieces.

Those towering white chess pieces have no facial features on their faces, but they are no friendlier than the pharaoh's coffin in the ancient magic office.

They try to move straight through the room, but are quickly blocked by white pieces.

"Looks like we're going to have to play chess," said Ron. "I really want to know how Harry got past this level - you think he hasn't been here?"

"But the key in the last room can't be explained." Hermione reminded.

The Invisibility Cloak was with them, and Harry couldn't become invisible in the Chessboard House.

"Okay then." Ron said, suppressing the discomfort in his heart, "Listen, don't be angry, but—you—Hermione, you can't even beat Harry at wizard chess. As for you, Na Wei--"

"Stop it." Neville quickly shook his head and said, "My grandma never let me play wizard chess."

"That's up to me to direct." Ron finally said.

Hermione seemed to be trying to cheer him up because of her guilt just now, which made Ron even more embarrassed, and he quickly waved and said no, no.

Hermione takes the place of the castle, and Neville takes the place of the bishop.

And Ron...

He thought of the shining silver armor he saw in the first room. It was in line with his beautiful imagination of the future, and he also thought it was cool.

"I'll be a knight," he said.

The chess game has begun.

At first, everyone felt a little unsure. They didn't know what would happen if they lost the chess game.

Until the white queen viciously knocked the other knight to the floor, the three of them watched in shock as the knight was dragged out of the chessboard and lay there face down, motionless.

Neville rubbed his eyes, hoping he was just dazzled.But when he opened his eyes again, nothing changed.

"There's no other way." Ron said calmly: "This is the only way you can eat the bishop. Hermione, go ahead."

Whenever their pieces were captured, the white pieces acted ruthlessly and mercilessly.Soon, a large pile of lifeless black chess pieces fell in disorder beside the wall.

The White Queen turned her featureless face towards Ron.

"There's only one way," Ron whispered. "I have to be eaten."

"No!" Neville and Hermione yelled at the same time.

"It's chess!" snapped Ron. "There's always some sacrifice to be made! I make a move and she'll eat me - and you can checkmate the king, Neville! Don't you Don't want to find Harry? Don't worry, it's just a short sacrifice."

Ron turned to look at the knocked down chess pieces: "They shouldn't die."

He began to persuade the two of them until they reluctantly accepted.

"It's just a temporary sacrifice, just a temporary sacrifice..."

To be honest, at this moment, Ron suddenly thought of himself.

His old robes were Bill's, his old wand was Charlie's, and Scabbers the rat was Percy's unwanted pet, not to mention his pile of old books.

He also seemed to be the briefly sacrificed member of the Weasley family, as he is now.

But in The Burrow, this sacrifice has become a necessity, and no one will praise him for it, let alone be honored.Even if Ron makes a scene, it won't change anything.

But this time it was different.

This time, Ron took the initiative to choose sacrifice.

The moment he was hit by the White Queen, Ron felt like he had become a real knight, and his whole body was shining with light.

He is dazzling.