queen's knight. private

November. Two months since the new academic year started and a month out from endless festivities. Most of the leaves had turned orange now, if not fallen onto the pavements. Hogwarts was losing that 'little touch of green' since their first day. That wasn't so bad, of course. The only concern Vera had was perhaps the insulation of the castle; it was hundreds of years old, and definitely not up to whatever modern standard the government had set regarding healthy homes. But the castle was also hundreds of years old and educated thousands of wizards before her time. Chances were they had already adjusted to the extreme cold that was about to settle over Hogwarts like a white fur coat with all sorts of magic and spells and potions. The school had taken care of itself in years past, and it would continue to do so without Vera meddling in it.

It was still mind boggling. All of this was still mind boggling. The concept of magic truly existing, schools hidden in the fog and unscalable terrains across continents, and whole civilizations that operated parallel to another where magic was simply a children's tale and everything could be explained by science.

No, they could wave their wands and there would actually be a consequence to their actions. Whatever concoction of bath products they used to dump into empty bottles during bath time were a knockoff of actual potions that could truly affect someone's physical or mental state. They could fly hundreds of metres off the ground on sticks instead of holding it between their legs and running along the grass. None of this was fantasy anymore. This was real.

Vera was still trying to wrap her head around it all. The first month had been overwhelming, learning the gestures, the schedules, the layout of the castle. There was a moment when she nearly became one with the castle's stone walls after mounting a broom for the first time. She nodded along to many proposals she didn't know anything about, courtesy of being appointed captain to a sport she was barely familiar with. Apparently, she had the appearance of one, though she doubted it. Then, she scraped by a duel and won at the last second, despite believing for many rounds that the odds were decidedly not in their favour that day. Had their opponent's spell not backfired, Hufflepuff definitely would not have won that duel.

Despite it all, Hogwarts was treating her well. She had no obligations outside of getting to breakfast, lunch, and dinner on time, and don't stay out past curfew. The dorms were cosy, and there were staff that handled the food, laundry, cleaning, and everything in between. Whenever she had questions about wizarding life, people were more than happy to answer her questions. Living at the castle was nothing short of comfortable.

Of course, that didn't mean she knew everything about the wizarding world. Unfortunately, there were still things she had no idea about.

Like the girl in the courtyard yelling a move to a chess board.

The girl in question was a Slytherin, if their emerald green robes were any indication of their house, and with strikingly white blonde hair that could likely blind anyone if the sunlight landed on them at a certain angle. It was the bright shade of blonde mothers would obsess over and hesitated to cut off their children's hair once they aged and had more dirty blonde or darker hair. At least, that was what happened to Vera at around seven years.

Appearances aside, Vera was curious about the board in front of her. The board was pretty much the same as any chess board Vera had seen her father and brother play at home, but the pieces were different. It was hard to see from this distance, but she could tell the pawns had a different shape compared to the ones she saw at home.

Vera watched as the girl continued to speak to it, uttering her move and articulating it more with each failed attempt. Vera looked at the girl, then the board. Why was the girl not just picking up the pieces by hand? That was an option, was it not? When Vera's father and brother played, they simply picked up their pieces and only spoke when a check or checkmate occurred. When Malcolm was first starting out, they spoke every move. But once Malcolm mastered the art of talking to himself in his head, it was a quiet game.

(If only Malcolm would talk to himself in his head more often.)

This wasn't home, though. This was Hogwarts. This was the wizarding world. Things were different. Who's to say chess wasn't also different between worlds?

Curious, Vera carefully walked up to the Slytherin girl. She cleared her throat. "Sorry," she began, "Pardon my interruption, but I was just curious. Do you not have to move the pieces by hand?"

Up close, Vera had a clearer picture of the board. All the pawns looked like soldiers rather than short and plain. Many pieces on the back row had swords, shields, and other accessories. It was an intricate set, like someone had designed it with a story in mind rather than replicating everything else that was on the market. The battlefield-like design of the board was miles more interesting than whatever she had back at home, and it gave her a new perspective on what the game truly was. A battle.

She tried to recall her father and brother's games. Even though the boards were different, the principles were the same, no? Vera didn't exactly know which direction A to Z was, let alone 1 to 8, so locating C4 was... not exactly possible. She knew vaguely what pieces were which, though, and knights were the horses. Well, in this case, there was an actual knight on a horse. A quick scan over the pieces, which were still in their opening positions, gave Vera an idea.

Vera hummed. "I'm not exactly an expert, but you may want to specify which knight you're moving." Vera pointed to the queenside knight and then the kingside knight in quick succession. "You have two on the board."