Hogwarts: The Witch Education Handbook

"Harry, you take the place of the bishop; Hermione, you go there and take the place of the castle," Ron calmly ordered.

"And what about you?"

"I will be a knight," Ron said.

The chess pieces seemed to be listening to them. As soon as he finished speaking, a knight, a bishop, and a castle turned around, their backs to the white pieces, and stepped off the chessboard, leaving three empty spaces for Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"According to the rules of chess, White moves first," Ron said in a deep voice, his gaze sweeping across the opposite side of the chessboard. "By the way...did you guys notice...?"

As he spoke, a white pawn moved steadily forward two squares.

Ron then began to command the Black forces in battle. Harry and Hermione followed his instructions intently, but Harry's knees were visibly trembling with nervousness.

"Harry, move four squares to the right front," Ron ordered decisively.

However, they truly experienced fear when their other knight was mercilessly devoured. The White Queen fiercely struck down the knight, dragged him off the board, leaving him lying face down on the floor, lifeless.

"There's no other way, this is the price we have to pay." Ron's voice trembled slightly, but he tried to remain calm. "Only in this way can we go and eat that bishop. Hermione, it's your turn."

Whenever their pieces are captured, the white pieces act ruthlessly and without mercy.

Soon, a mess was scattered along the wall, containing their lost black chess pieces.

Both times, Ron discovered Harry and Hermione's danger in time and skillfully averted the crisis for them.

Ron himself fought bravely on the chessboard, capturing almost as many white pieces as they lost black pieces.

"We're almost there," Ron suddenly said in a low voice, his brow furrowed. "Let me think—let me think some more..."

The White Queen's featureless face turned coldly towards Ron.

"Yes..." Ron took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "This is the only way... I have to be eaten."

"No!" Harry and Hermione shouted at the same time.

"This is chess!" Ron snapped. "There are always sacrifices to be made! If I make a move, she'll eat me—and then you can checkmate the king, Harry!"

"There must be another way..." Hermione murmured to herself.

"Hermione, we're running out of time." Ron looked at her firmly. "This is the only strategy. The White Queen has my location locked; she won't let me go."

"But..." Harry's voice trembled; he couldn't imagine watching his friend be "sacrificed."

"Harry, believe me." Ron's eyes shone with determination. "We cannot let fear cause us to miss our chance at victory. We must take risks for a greater purpose."

Hermione bit her lip. She knew Ron was right, but she still couldn't accept the fact.

However, at Ron's insistence, she finally nodded.

Ron took a deep breath and then slowly moved his knight, directly into the White Queen's attack range.

Without hesitation, the White Queen lunged forward, raising her stone arm and smashing it down on Ron's head.

Just as Ron closed his eyes, filled with despair and believing he was about to die, a steady and powerful voice suddenly rang in his ears: "Protect yourself with armor!"

There was no pain as expected, and Ron slowly opened his eyes.

It's Professor Sean.

He stood at the doorway of the room, pointing his wand at the White Queen. A dazzling silver light shot from the tip of his wand, forming a solid magical barrier.

The White Queen's stone arm slammed heavily against the barrier, producing a deafening sound, but the magical barrier remained unmoved.

Faced with this sudden situation, the White King seemed somewhat at a loss and stood there dumbfounded for a moment.

At that moment, Harry saw an opportunity.

He swiftly moved his bishop and attacked the White King directly. The White King had nowhere to escape and was checkmated on the chessboard by Harry's bishop.

The White King removed his crown and threw it at Harry's feet.

They won, and the white pieces bowed and retreated, making way for the door.

"You guys go, don't worry about me!" Ron, who was already caught up in the moment, reacted quickly and jumped down from the knight piece, took out his old wand, and stood in front of Professor Sean.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance; they understood the motivation that had driven Ron to do this.

At this critical moment, the person they least wanted to see was Professor Shaun, who had once "helped" Snape "cover up evidence" in Quidditch.

Even if the probability that Professor Sean is a good person is as high as 99.99%, they dare not gamble on the remaining 0.01% chance.

Once Snape steals the Philosopher's Stone and successfully resurrects Voldemort...

Countless people will die, and countless children will become orphans like Harry.

Harry doesn't want his tragedy to happen to others, which is one of the reasons that has brought him here today.

"Professor Sean, thank you for your help, but we must stop Snape now," Harry said firmly, taking a deep breath. "Hermione, let's go."

Hermione's eyes were full of hesitation.

Nobody knows what she's thinking right now.

Is it the scene where Professor Sean saved her in the women's restroom?

It was among the few Christmas gifts she received that she was pleasantly surprised to find that Professor Sean had given her her favorite book.

Or... was it the first time she saw Sean in the library reading a book that had been taken from the restricted section and had a dark stain that looked like blood?

Harry doesn't know, Sean doesn't know, I, the one telling this story, don't know... even Hermione herself doesn't know.

By the time Hermione realized what was happening, Harry had already dragged her to the doorway leading to the next room.

As he opened the door, Harry suddenly turned to Professor Sean, his eyes filled with vigilance and determination: "Professor, I hope you understand that we must ensure the safety of the Philosopher's Stone."

boom--

It was the sound of a door being slammed shut.

Sean looked at the little radish standing in front of him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

He never expected that after rescuing his opponent from under the chess piece, the opponent would dare to stand in front of him with a magic wand, pointing it at him.

It's like Mr. Dongguo and the wolf, the farmer and the snake...Sean and Ron.

"Come on, let me see what you've learned in my dueling club," Sean said in an unfriendly tone.

He decided to teach this little rascal a lesson, no matter how brave he had been, it was not a reason for him to point his wand at his professor.

There is a blurred line between courage and recklessness.

This boundary is usually defined by the victor.

Ron bowed respectfully to Professor Sean, following the dueling etiquette he had learned at the dueling club. Before he could even stand up, a dazzling red light shot towards him, "Expelliarmus!"

Ron's wand was slammed against the wall behind him, and it seemed... to be cracked.

However, this was already the result of Sean's best efforts to control it—normally, the Disarming Charm could knock away the person holding the wand, but he focused his magic on one point and accurately hit Ron's wand.

The difficulty is akin to removing the yolk from an egg without damaging its integrity.

This requires strong control and magical skill, and clearly, Sean's strength has improved again during this period.

"Mr. Weasley, I certainly didn't teach you to bow to your enemy first," Sean said sarcastically. "Are you afraid of living too long?"

"Gryffindor, deduct 10 points."

Ron's face stiffened. Was he hallucinating...? Why did he think he just heard Professor Sean speaking in Snape's voice? And Professor Sean wasn't wearing Snape's signature black robes...