Hogwarts' Golden Glory

After passing through the key room, the four walked forward along the stone corridor.

The torches on the wall lit up one by one with their footsteps, illuminating a black stone door in front of them, which was engraved with chess game reliefs.

"Wait!" Ron suddenly rushed to the front, his red hair trembling slightly with excitement.

"This is all Wizard Chess! I bet this level is related to Wizard Chess! That's my forte!"

He eagerly placed his hand on the stone door, and a blinding white light immediately burst forth from the crack.

The stone gate slowly opened, revealing a breathtaking scene—

More than thirty giant chess pieces, each three meters tall, stand neatly on a black and white marble chessboard.

Each chess piece is carved from a type of obsidian that shimmers with a metallic sheen.

The white pieces on the opposite side had no facial features, making them appear particularly eerie in the dim light.

"That's awesome!" Ron's voice trembled with excitement.

In three quick steps, he rushed to the edge of the chessboard.

"This is a living wizard chess game! I could beat Charlie when I was six!"

Before Harry and Hermione could react, Ron had already reached out and touched a black knight.

The stone sculpture immediately came to life, the warhorse neighed and reared up, and the knight turned his head to "stare" at Ron with his empty eye sockets.

"We must act as pawns to advance!"

Ron excitedly announced, turning to his companions, "Listen, Harry, you'll be the bishop, Hermione the castle, and I'll be the knight—"

"Boring," Kane suddenly interrupted him, his black robes fluttering on the edge of the chessboard without any wind.

Ron's face immediately turned bright red: "What did you say? This requires extremely high strategic thinking..."

Kane had already drawn his wand, his slender fingers gracefully twirling the staff: "Mobilicorpus Magnus."

A dazzling silver light burst forth from the tip of the staff, sweeping across the entire chessboard like ripples on water.

All the giant pieces suddenly froze, then retreated to both sides in unison, creating a wide passage in the center of the board.

Even more astonishingly, the chess pieces began to shrink at a visible rate, becoming the size of ordinary chess pieces in the blink of an eye.

"This...this is impossible!"

Ron's jaw almost dropped to the ground.

"Can a magic spell shrink these chess pieces?"

Kane casually walked towards the shrunken group of chess pieces: "Of course it's not that simple, unless the spellcaster knows how the opponent transformed."

He lightly tapped a white queen with his wand, and the chess piece immediately curtsied respectfully.

"And coincidentally, I was the one who helped Professor McGonagall set up these pieces last year."

Ron gaped, like a goldfish starving for air: "You...you're helping Professor McGonagall...?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Kane had already reached the stone gate on the other side, and looked back at the stunned trio.

"Want to play a game of real chess, Weasley? I can turn you into a pawn."

Ron's shoelaces suddenly came to life, wrapping around his ankles like snakes.

He screamed and jumped up, only to trip over himself and land hard on his backside in the shrunken black knight. The knight let out a weak protest.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Ron scrambled to his feet, only to step on the white elephant's trunk again.

The chess pieces collectively emitted an angry buzzing sound, like a swarm of annoyed wasps.

Harry's stomach hurt from trying so hard to hold back his laughter.

Those once-mighty chess pieces are now chasing Ron like angry dwarfs.

But they couldn't even reach the hem of his robe.

The White Queen tried to tap Ron's knee with her shrunken scepter, but ended up tripping and falling instead.

"This isn't fair!"

Ron protested as he dodged, two pawns somehow getting stuck in his hair. "Professor McGonagall clearly set it to be a game of chess..."

Kane gracefully pushed open the stone door: "Professor McGonagall also stipulated that the pieces cannot leave the board."

He pointed to an overlooked stone tablet in the corner, "but there's no rule that the chessboard can't be resized."

Hermione immediately ran over and read the inscription: "'The outcome of the game determines the path'... It certainly doesn't say that you have to play chess!"

Ron's face was redder than his hair: "But...but..."

"Want some music to liven things up?" Kane suddenly revealed a rare mischievous smile and waved his wand lightly.

The shrunken chess pieces immediately formed a band lineup—the castle played drums, the bishop played the violin, and the knights accompanied the music by striking their shields with their lances.

The most ridiculous thing is that the black king who used to be three meters tall is now running to Kane's feet with his short legs and fawningly offering up a shrunken crown.

"Look, they agree with my approach too."

Kane toyed with the miniature crown, then suddenly tossed it to Ron. "Want to keep it as a souvenir?"

Ron instinctively caught it, but the crown turned into a rubber mouse, which startled him so much that he threw it away.

The mouse transformed back into a crown in mid-air and landed on the head of the white castle with a "ding".

This completely enraged the pieces.

Despite being only the size of a palm, the sight of more than thirty pieces charging together was quite spectacular—especially when they all climbed onto Ron.

"Help—me—!"

Ron shook his robes wildly, and the small chess pieces fell down like beans.

The Black Queen gripped his earlobe tightly, while the White Knight swung on a swing while hanging from his red hair.

Harry finally couldn't help but burst out laughing, and Hermione covered her mouth while her shoulders shook.

Kane stood at the door and gestured "please": "See you in the lower realm, sir."

He glanced deliberately at the pawn hanging above Ron's head, "Remember to bring your mount."

"Wait!" Hermione suddenly stopped Kane, who was about to walk forward.

His brown eyes gleamed with curiosity. "Do you know if there's some other mechanism up there?"

Kane stopped in his tracks.

He turned around: "You've passed three tests—"

"Professor Sprout's Devil's Vine," Harry immediately realized, "Professor Flitwick's Flying Key and Professor McGonagall's Great Wizarding Chessboard."

Ron finally pulled the last chess piece out of his collar, panting as he interjected, "So there are... a few more professors left?"

"There are three more levels to go, hurry up and catch up."

Kane continued walking forward.

After passing through the chessboard room, the four of them came to a damp corridor.

Ron rubbed his wrist, which was red from being bitten by chess pieces, as he walked. "I bet the next level is set by Professor Quirrell. That guy's always acting all mysterious... but he's such a coward, his levels are definitely the easiest!"

Before the words were even finished, a stench like rotting flesh assaulted our senses.

Harry immediately covered his nose, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

At the end of the corridor lay a giant monster much larger than usual.

A blood swelled up on his head, and a broken wooden stick lay beside him.

"It seems someone beat them to it."

Kane used his wand to lift the troll's tattered vest. "Quirok's 'pet' has been dealt with."

Hermione suddenly gasped: "Look!"