Archaeologists at Hogwarts

After finally getting 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 discover the strange key - its wings were drooped, like it

It had been caught and roughly shoved into a keyhole.

"Okay." Hermione got on the broom and said, "It seems that Harry has been here, but we are not seekers. We must cooperate to seize this key."

They discussed a plan, with Hermione and Neville pretending to drive away the key and forcing it to retreat, and finally Ron, the best at flying among the three, grabbed the key.

They went back and forth several times, with Ron glued to the special key, and finally he swooped off the broom.

"Are you OK?"

Hermione quickly flew to the ground and asked concernedly.

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

"It seems that my talent is not bad." He joked: "Maybe I can be a member of the team in the future, just like Charlie."

Charlie is his older brother, who led the Gryffindor Quidditch team to win the Quidditch Cup.

"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 couldn't 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.

Even though Neville was very confident, he was still a little weak in front of the always strong Hermione.

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

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

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

"Did I?" Hermione really didn't understand.

Ron immediately concealed it and said no, but his reaction was really not that good, and even Hermione felt it was very strange.

"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 talking about it.

Said: "It's nothing...it's 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 see it?"

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. It's okay to praise Professor Heimer's merits.

It won’t have any effect.”

At this time, they heard Ron, who was the first to open the door, let out a scream of terror. The two people ran over quickly. They were also frightened - they were standing next to a huge chessboard with black chess pieces in front of them.

, those chess pieces were taller than them, and seemed to be carved out of something like black stone. At the other end of the room, facing them, were some white chess pieces.

The faces of those towering white chess pieces have no facial features, but they don't look any friendlier than the pharaoh's coffin in the ancient magic office.

They try to pass directly through the room, but are quickly blocked by white pieces.

"It seems we have to play chess." Ron said: "I really want to know how Harry passed this level - do you think he has never been here before?"

"But the key to the previous room cannot be explained." Hermione reminded.

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

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

Power——"

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

"That can only be directed by me." 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 quickly waved his hand and said no, no.

Hermione replaced the castle, and Neville replaced 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 will 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 that he was just dazzled. But when he opened his eyes again, nothing had changed.

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

Whenever their chess pieces were captured, the white chess pieces behaved ruthlessly and showed no mercy. Soon, a large number of lifeless black chess pieces were scattered along the wall.

The White Queen turned her featureless face to Ron.

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

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

"This is chess!" Ron snapped. "There are always sacrifices! If I make one move, she'll eat me - and you can checkmate the king, Neville! Don't you?

Don’t you want to find Harry? Don’t worry, it’s just a short-term 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 short-lived sacrifice, just a short-lived..."

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

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

He seemed to be the one who was temporarily sacrificed in the Weasley family, just like he is now.

But in the Burrow, this sacrifice has become a necessity. No one will praise him for it, let alone feel honored. Even if Ron makes a fuss, nothing will change.

But this time it's different.

This time, Ron took the initiative and chose to sacrifice.

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

He was extremely dazzling.