[Soccer+HP] Mario and the Vanishing King

Chapter 14: Ghost Chess Pieces

"Your lounge is amazing! It's like walking into a forest park!" Mario admired sincerely, moving his eyes back and forth between the plants hanging from the ceiling and those growing directly on the windowsill.

"That's why most Hufflepuffs are good at herbalism," said Marko, "after all we have this advantage." He pointed to the plants that were everywhere in the lounge.Mario leaned on a window and looked out, and he could just see the snow on the ground, which just blocked half of the window, and the sunlight came in from the upper part, sprinkled on the colorful plants, making the indoor It looks as warm as spring.

"It's more beautiful in summer." Noticing Mario's actions, Marco added, "From the window, you can see the grass outside the castle, and if you wake up early enough, you can also see the morning dew!"

"It's really great!" Mario said enviously, "Gryffindor Tower is also very good, you can see the stars, but here is a completely different feeling!"

"Then...if you still want to come in the future, I think I can bring you in."

"really?"

"of course it's true."

"Marco, you are amazing!" Mario said happily.

"I think I found your guinea pig," Andrea said suddenly, pointing to a corner.He had been looking around for the little guy just now, so he didn't interrupt their conversation.

"Oh my God!" Marco exclaimed.They looked in the direction of Andre's finger, and the little white mouse was shivering in a corner, and its tail was pressed on the ground with its front paws by a yellow tabby cat.Mario ran over quickly, trying to drive the cat away so he could try to save the little white mouse.

"Go!" Mario yelled at the tabby cat in a low voice, but the cat was not frightened. Instead, it raised its tail at Mario and let out a low growl from its throat as a threat.Hearing the roar of the cat, the little white mouse also screamed uncomfortably.

"Whose pet is this?" Andre asked, he also tried to drive away, but also received threats from the cat.

Marco shook his head, also a little puzzled. "I don't know, I haven't seen it in the break room before. How did it get in?"

"We have to find a way, otherwise it will be eaten!" Mario was very anxious, even though the cat did not take any further action now, it does not mean that it will definitely let the little guy go, after all, cats are used to eating first Toss the prey you get before eating it.

Marco stared at the cat carefully, and strangely, the cat stared at him too. "Huh? Wait a minute... Why do I suddenly feel that this cat looks familiar?" He said hesitantly, "I seem to have seen it near my home..."

"No way!" Mario said in surprise, "Maybe tabby cats look similar? Otherwise, how did it run so far by itself and into the castle? You know this is Hogwarts, isn't it?" , Andre?"

"That's right, the castle has its own protection measures. I also think you may be wrong." Andre said.

"I'm just saying that I have some doubts..."

The cry of the little white mouse became even more shrill, but the tabby cat didn't respond, and still stared at Marco intently.This made the three of them a little confused. In fact, is this the behavior of a normal cat?

"You, you say...it...why does it keep staring at me?" Marco looked at Mario and Andre, and swallowed nervously, "Is there anything strange about me?"

Mario shook his head. "But it doesn't look as hostile to me, maybe it's curious about you?"

"Why don't you try to lure it away?" Andre suggested, "This way we can rescue the little white mouse."

"Okay... I'll give it a try!" Marco nodded, and moved two steps forward cautiously.The cat didn't run away, or look threatening at him.Marco approached it persistently, tried to reach out and touched the cat's back hair, and found that the cat did not resist struggling, and hugged it up.Mario hurried forward to catch the little white mouse that immediately started to flee in a panic, and successfully stuffed it back into his robe pocket with the help of Andre.

"Marco, you're back!" Kevin came out of the dormitory, greeted Marco, and was surprised to see Mario and Andre standing aside, "Mario and An Andre, why are you here?"

"Good evening, Kevin!" Mario greeted, "Let's find my little white mouse." He pointed to his pocket, where a small lump was bulging, and the little guy was still struggling restlessly inside. , screaming.

"Is that Thomas' cat?" Kevin suddenly found the tabby cat in Marco's arms.

"Thomas's cat?" Andre asked in surprise.

"Thomas and Manu adopted it." Kevin said, "It seems like two months ago, the two of them sneaked into the Forbidden Forest, they didn't know what to do, and then picked up this one." He said Pointing to the cat, the latter was nestling comfortably in Marco's arms, squinting and snoring.

"It seems to like me." Marco held the cat up with both hands and looked at it carefully. The cat blinked at him. .and I still think I've seen it somewhere."

"Maybe in the castle...but I suggest you return it, Marco." Kevin suggested very pertinently, "Some cats are very affectionate with people, whether they are owners or not. And if you don't return it Go back, tomorrow the whole school will probably know that Thomas has lost a cat... Don't forget that tomorrow is the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin match, I bet Thomas will post a cat hunting notice during the commentary. "

Marco shivered, he couldn't imagine the scene, maybe even Professor Klose couldn't stop Thomas who wanted to post the "cat hunting notice"!

"Okay, we'll send it back to Thomas," Marko said.

"But... why have I never seen it in the common room?" Mario asked suspiciously, "If it really was raised by Thomas and Manu..."

Kevin shrugged. "Both of them don't keep it in the common room, and I don't know why, and won't tell me where. Maybe you can find them and ask, maybe they'll tell you."

They didn't get a chance to ask Thomas and Manu where they kept the cat, though.They had just opened the lid of the bucket leading to the Hufflepuff lounge when the cat leaped out, and by the time they had all crawled out there was not even a hair in sight.

The summer term always goes by in a hurry and quickly.It seemed like Christmas was still the day before, and in the blink of an eye they were facing final exams.The first graders are all a little nervous about the upcoming exam, after all, they have never encountered an exam about magic in their previous lives!

During the review period, everyone was overwhelmed.Julian sticks to Penny every day, begging Penny to tell him the history of magic from the beginning; David adopts the most primitive method, copying the process of making potions class on parchment again and again; He can receive at least ten letters from home, and each letter contains suggestions from his relatives about the exam...

Now Mario and the three of them spend their time in the Room of Requirement except for class.Marco muttered words every night, trying to imprint the spells he had learned into his mind.Andre moved almost half of the library back to the Room of Requirement. He didn't ask anyone, just sat quietly while reading books and checking information, even if someone threw a dung in front of him, he wouldn't bother him .

Mario felt that he had no idea and asked everyone for help.

"You asked about the final exam? It's quite strict, and special anti-cheating spells will be arranged, but I don't think you will cheat, right?" Philip gave him a serious look, and continued, "And it's really not that Difficult, as long as you listen carefully in class, go back and review carefully, and practice a few more times, there is no reason why you can’t get an O!"

Mario felt that this suggestion did not sound like a good fit for him.

"I've never worried about exams!" said Thomas, grinning. "It's a small thing! But seriously, I did bring a shit into the exam room once, and it was like History of Magic, wasn't it? Everyone sat down in order in the auditorium. After the papers were handed out, they were just about to answer the questions. Guess what? I let that dung explode in the middle of the auditorium! You don’t need to tell me about the situation at that time, it was a lively scene! The invigilator at the time was Professor Mertesacker, if you didn’t see, the professor’s face turned green at that time! But he didn’t catch me that time..."

After Mario continued to listen for 5 minutes, he finally found Manu unbearably. Manu pulled Thomas away with a face of understanding, but before leaving he still left him a small suggestion: "You can ask Jérôme, his words are usually solid."

"I think you still have to find a review method that suits you. You can start with the subjects you are best at, so that you will be more motivated to review." Jerome thought carefully for a while, and said cautiously, "For example, I like Charms the most. , so I started with the spells first, practicing spells and so on. After all, the charm class still takes up more marks in the practical test, but the written test part cannot be ignored. Professor Lampard likes to test some common sense and spelling. As for those who are not good at As for subjects...you can review with people who are good at it, and you will learn a lot in this way."

Finally found a reliable one!Mario excitedly grabbed Jerome's hand and shook it several times, almost giving him a grateful hug!

The teachers are also not easy.Not to mention the doubling of the homework assigned, it is getting harder and harder, and the teachers of almost every class have to emphasize the importance of the final exam, even the always good-tempered Professor Alonso is no exception.

"At the end of the semester, you will have an exam. This is an inspection of your school year to see if you have mastered the knowledge I taught you." In the last class of the protection of magical creatures this semester, Professor Alonso Seriously emphasized to the students who gathered around, "The exam will be mainly conducted in a practical way, and you will face the magical creatures I taught you this semester. Of course, everyone knows that some of them are not very docile, So I suggest everyone to review carefully after going back. That's it, see you on the exam, children!"

No matter how reluctant everyone was, the exam came as scheduled.For a whole week in mid-May, Hogwarts was filled with the tense atmosphere of exams, and the castle was full of students who seized the gap between exams and hugged them for a while.Maybe it’s because there are so many written exams, the first graders always start the exams at the latest, so when the senior graders finished their exams and can bask in the sunshine of May on the playground, the first graders are still in the exam room Struggling and having to remind myself every now and then not to be distracted by the happy crowd outside.

On the afternoon of May [-]th, there was only one History of Magic written exam left in the first grade, and the whole exam week would be over after that.When Mario walked to the examination room with Marco and Andre, he didn't feel nervous for a long time. It seems that nervousness has become a habit this week, and he is almost numb.He didn't even dare to imagine that when he finally finished the exam, he would fall asleep as soon as he relaxed... They often stay up late to review recently, and the sleep is seriously lacking. Mario feels that he is about to become a bird. panda!

"Hey, Mario! Andre!" It was Julian, who happened to meet them in front of the exam room, "Marco, are you there too? Great, you're in time for the exam! Let me worry about you For a while!"

Mario was confused.When did he miss the exam?The three of them came out of the Room of Requirement a long time in advance, just to avoid being late for the last subject.He and Marco looked at each other, and Andre also looked puzzled, but they didn't find a chance to talk to Julian again, and Professor Klose soon came to arrange for them to enter the examination room.

Exams are as strict as Philip said.The school desks in the auditorium are gone, replaced by dozens of small single-person desks, the distance between the desks is enough to hold a troll, no matter how good your eyesight is, you can't see other people's answers.Bringing pens and paper is not allowed in the examination room. The uniformly distributed test papers and quills have been placed on the table, and it is said that an anti-cheating spell has been cast on them.But even if they had ten guts, who would dare to try to cheat under the watchful eyes of a snow leopard?

Three hours later, the bell rang, marking the end of their long week.After Professor Klose bundled up the test papers, everyone couldn't bear it any longer and immediately ran to the sunshine outside.

They played like crazy outside for hours.David and Mateo insisted on taking Mario to the field to try to play Quidditch. Marco was very interested and strongly asked to go with him, so Andre, who originally planned to go to the library to read books for entertainment, was also rejected. Pulled, and in order to make up six people, they also called Julian.

"There must be a goalkeeper for each team of three!" David said to Julian.Julian readily agreed, but Kevin looked worried. "You've never flown in the field before, Julian, isn't it a little unsafe..." Kevin followed Julian closely, for fear that Julian would follow David and run away if he didn't pay attention. Confession!

"Don't tell Benny!" Julian turned around and narrowed his eyes to threaten Kevin, "Otherwise I will never talk to you again!"

"But……"

"Don't worry Kevin, we won't fly that high! And lo and behold, we'll use baseballs instead of real Quaffles!" Marco reassures him.

"Where did you get the baseball?" Kevin asked suspiciously.

Marco looked around, and whispered in Kevin's ear: "Thomas sold it to us, he always has a way to get something! But don't tell Philip... and Benny Neither can Benny! After all, they are both prefects! Matz’s words... um, it doesn’t seem to make any difference whether he knows or not..."

After Kevin finally reluctantly agreed, they immediately split into two teams.Andre found it troublesome and voluntarily applied to be a goalkeeper. In front of him were Mario and Marco.On the other side, the inexperienced David was sent to keep the goal, and Julian and Mateo took on the task of throwing the ball.Kevin was entrusted to be a temporary referee. While helping to keep score, he had to watch these little devils in fear, lest they have too much fun and really cause any accidents.

Fortunately, all went well, no one fell off the broom, and no one hit the goalposts or the audience.Everyone was happy, the only fly in the ointment was that the bag of Muggle baseballs became harder to find in the darkening sky, so by the time they returned to the castle contented, there was only one ball left in the bucket.

Mario and the others parted ways with Julian and Kevin on the first floor, and they used the excuse of going to the Deutsches Club to get rid of David and Mateo.The three people who were still unsatisfied decided to go back to the Room of Requirement to continue celebrating the end of the exam week. After all, there was food, drink, and other entertainment activities, such as playing a few games of wizard chess.Mario feels that his chess skills have improved a lot, although neither Marco nor Andre think so.

"I actually forgot... I put the chess pieces back in the dormitory before the exam, just to concentrate on reviewing for those few days!" When they returned to the room, they enjoyed some English black tea and strawberry biscuits, and prepared Mario said suddenly annoyed when they started to compete on the chessboard.

"Mine is too, and I put it back under your coercion." Marco rolled his eyes.

"I did it to make you feel at ease preparing for the exam!" Mario gave him a dissatisfied look, then turned to Andre, "Is your chess piece still here?"

Andre shrugged. "Both of you refused to use my chess pieces, so I put them back long ago." He said unhurriedly, "Don't worry, this room can do a lot of things, so asking for a set of wizard chess pieces should not be out of the question." Next."

Sure enough, as soon as Andre finished speaking, a whole set of wizard chess appeared on the small coffee table in front of the sofa.The chessboard was much more exquisite than the ones they had seen before. It seemed to be made of some kind of stone that they had never seen before. Under the light, the black and white grids were all shimmering.The white queen and the black queen on the chessboard are standing next to their respective kings in a murderous spirit, and in front of them are two-color chess pieces quietly waiting for orders.

"I don't know who their owners are, and it might be difficult to use them." Andre moved the two single sofas to the side of the coffee table with a floating spell, "But anyway, you are just playing for fun... It doesn't matter who you use. , has no effect on your level."

"It doesn't affect Marco, but it affects me a lot..." Mario muttered in a low voice, but he sat on the sofa obediently, with the white chess piece in front of him.

"Don't worry, I won't let you!" Marco said with a smile, and sat down opposite, "White goes first."

Mario sat up straight, cleared his throat, and began directing his pieces: "Pawn go to B3."

Just as he could have expected before, for Mario, playing chess with a set of unfamiliar chess pieces definitely had a greater impact on him than Marco.Even Andre, who was watching, had to admit that the fighting scene of this chess game was so boring that he didn't even bother to count how many white pieces fell out of the board—Marco's black knight killed all sides, In white chess, it is almost like entering no one's land, while the black queen is ruthless, showing no mercy to every piece that comes to block the way.

Now there is only one way waiting for the white king. The queen just blocked a blow for it and lay dying outside the chessboard.The black knight moved over slowly, aiming the horse's head at it.

"General." Marco said proudly.

Mario still wanted to struggle for a while, not reconciled to letting the king take off the crown like this.He was about to order the king to move when he heard movement outside the door.

"What's that sound?" he asked, looking up.

It was a humming sound, like a group of people talking outside the door, but it was not just talking, but it was accompanied by strange noises that he couldn't name, and he had never heard it before. .Andre heard it too. He sat up from the couch and looked at the door warily.Marco stood up directly and walked towards the door, Mario and Andre also got up and followed him.They tried to get themselves as close to the gate as possible, almost sticking themselves against it, but they still couldn't hear what the sound was.

Fortunately, the buzz came suddenly and went away quickly.After a few seconds, the door was quiet again.

"Am I dazzled?" Marco turned around and said in surprise, "This room...why does it look different?"

Andre looked around carefully. "It's really different, the color of the sofa has changed, and the position is not right... There were two single sofas before, but now there are two armchairs." He said as he walked in the room, "Also... the table is not the same as before. That one, and I don't think we asked for a bookshelf from the house... the chessboard is still there..."

"The king has disappeared!" Mario exclaimed, pointing to the chess game in front of him.

Marco and Andre hurried over to take a look. The chessboard was still the one they used, but the situation on the board was completely different from Mario's defeat just now.The black and white chess pieces seem to have the same momentum, and they are fighting to a critical moment.Because of this, the missing piece in the white chess formation is even more puzzling——

Where did King Bai go?

The author has something to say: *Is the king online today?on