Chapter 4
The following Friday afternoon, between classes, Murphy was able to catch up and make a plan to schedule the first official meeting Saturday evening before dinner. That way whoever wanted to join wouldn't have to miss the Hogsmead day, which would more then likely kill any chance that they had on growing the team.
Murphy had decided not to go to Hogsmead that weekend, and instead studied up on some chess theory and read a book from a wizarding chess master, he then arrived early with reading material, some lists, and set up his own chess set. He was eager to please, and as now the tournament was not even a week away... He could hardly stand it.
Between his thoughts of Chess, was the kiss on the cheek Iris had given him. He couldn't get it out of his mind, because it wasn't romantic in nature, but one does not just kiss each other's cheeks in passing do they? He noted to read some more books on body language later and instead smiled brightly when Iris and Badeea entered the Great Hall.
“Welcome ladies to our first official team meting! How'd the posters come out, Iris?”
“They were brilliant, Murphy! Badeea did a stunning job painting a poster for us, just as I suspected she would.” Iris praised her friend, who turned pink at the praise. “And what's better, she's decided to join our team!” the blonde was practically beaming, and while Murphy just wanted to stare at her all day and bask in her radiance, he knew he had to say something.
“that's a twist I didn't see coming! That puts us 75% of the way towards a full roster for the tournament. Welcome to the team, Badeea.” He welcomed her, and she smiled meekly.
“Thanks, Murphy. I've been wanting to learn chess for a long time, and now I finally have a reason.” While the girls still radiated joy, Murphy felt the color drain from his face.
“Wait... You've never actually played chess before?” He asked, clarifying what she had said. Badeea looked a bot nervous and so Iris answered.
“Badeea was a bit nervous at first, but I assured her that she'll catch on to the game quickly.” Iris attempted to smooth things out. Murphy leaned over the table towards Iris.
“I hope she catches on faster than a Chaser on a Nimbus 1700! She'll need to if we hope to beat Celine Castillion!” He whispered to Iris, through gritted teeth. Iris pursed her lips and blinked hard at him a few times, showing her disapproval non-verbally. “The good news is, anyone can become a great chess player if they're willing to put the work in.” Murphy instead said to Badeea, who was looking increasingly uncomfortable. Murphy looked over and reached towards the stack of books.
“You want me to read... All of those?” Badeea asked sheepishly. Murphy handed her two of the books.
“These strategy books are just the tip of the iceburg! But this selection should be enough to get you started.”
“Uh... Murphy, what;s the note laying on top of your theory books?” Iris asked him, pointing towards the note that looked like it had been pulled off scrap paper.
“That's odd. I haven't the foggiest idea how it got there. Perhaps an owl delivered it right before the two of you arrive.”
“What does the note say?” Iris inquired.
“They didn't leave their name. Just says that they'll be a little late to the first meeting.”
“Well, that's fine. Hopefully they will be along soon.” Iris smiled.
“I'm just glad the posters worked.” Badeea said off handedly as she picked up a chess piece and studied it.
“I just wonder who it is, can I see the note, Murphy?” Iris asked, holding her hand out. Murphy handed it over and then turned his attention to his pile of books. “The handwriting looks familiar, but I can't quite place it.”
“You know, Iris, we're going to need another set of chess pieces and a board.” Murphy told her as he picked up a smaller book and opened it to the page he wanted to show Iris.
For the next hour, Murphy felt like he prattled on about strategy's to Iris and Badeea while the girls looked vaguely glassy eyed. Iris helped explain things to Badeea using terms she would understand because Murphy had used the slang and terms that someone better associated with chess would use. He calculated that with Badeea being a novice, that shrunk their probability of even reaching the final round down 53.7 percent, because he was taking into calculation that the other mystery person was well versed with chess. He knew he could beat his opponents that he faced to make it to the final round, and he knew that Iris could more then likely do it with a 90.2 percent chance so long as neither of them were pitted against Castillion.
If the mystery player happened to be a novice like Badeea, his confidence shrunk, because that would lower their chances of making it to the final round down to just 23.4 percent and he wanted to bang his head onto the table. Iris explained what he thought to be a beginner level rule and play over for the second time and he nearly snapped.
“This team meeting is almost over, and our mystery teammate still hasn't arrived!” He slammed his book shut and huffed. “If this note turns out to be a prank... I'm going to be 97% devastated.”
“Did someone say prank?” Tulip joked as she came up to the three of them with a smile.
“Tulip! Are you the one who left this message? I thought this handwriting looked familiar!” Iris asked, holding up the note.
“I certainly am, Iris Rosewood! Saw one of the posters by the Ravenclaw common room. Thought I'd give it a shot.” She smiled as she placed her hands on her hips.
“Brilliant, have you played before?” Iris asked, and Murphy felt like he may loose his lunch.
“My grans taught me when I was 8, and I found I have a real knack for it.” HUZZAH! Murphy screamed mentally. “Haven't lost a match ever since.”
“Impressive! But I doubt that your grans are as hard to beat as Celine Castillion and the team from Beauxbatons.” Murphy said as Tulip sat down next to him.
“Please, if Rosa and Mary are only half as good at playing wizard chess as they are cooking, then I'll bet they're great!” Iris mentioned, “remember the cook off we had?” She reminded him, and he nodded. He still was not totally convinced because he never actually saw them cook just judge. “Now that there are four of us, we now have enough players to officially enter the tournament!”
“Yes, but there's still one tiny, Reducio-sized problem we need to solve before we can start practicing, Iris.” He pointed out, catching all the girls attention.
“What's that?”
“We must all posses our own army of chess pieces in order to play.”
“Ohhhh.” He was met in unison.
“A player's bond with their pieces builds over time, and it's vital to mastering wizard chess.” Murphy told them.
“Well I have set of pieces from Professor McGonagall that she gifted me.” Iris mentioned.
“And I have a special set that I got from my grans as a kid.” Tulip told him.
“But I don't have a set.” Badeea commented sadly.
“I've borrowed Penny's before, the first time Murphy and I played it was with Penny's set.”
“I'm one step ahead of you, Iris. Unfortunately Penny said hers was damaged by a first year, and she sent it off to be repaired.” Murphy told her of the conversation he had with Penny earlier that morning at breakfast.
“Well then we need to track down a set in order for us to train.” Iris said resolutely. “I think I know where to get one too, from our friendly acquirer of rare items, Jae!” She stood up and looked towards Badeea, all smiles. “We will get you a chess set! Don't worry a hair on your head.”
It dawned on Murphy that this the most he had saw Iris smile in weeks.
“I have to go to my art club, are you sure you can do it without me?” Badeea asked and Murphy quickly chirped.
“I'll go with her. Gotta' make sure that our team has a classy set.” He winked at Badeea who smiled happily.
“Thank you, both of you, truly.”
“It's our pleasure, and the least we could do!” Iris told her, waving her and Tulip off as she and Murphy headed out.
“You seem happy today.” Murphy broke the silence.
“I... Feel happy.” Iris told him. “This has been nice.”
“Well, I'm happy you're happy, pray tell though where are we headed?”
“It's daylight, on a weekday after classes, Jae will be in detention.” Iris chuckled.
“Ok, I've never been to detention before so this will be an experience.”
“Oh Mr. Goody two shoes over here never been in detention.” She said in a deep, playful like voice, which caused the two to cackle. The tempurature dropped when they entered the dungeons, but warmed back up once Iris opened the door to the kitchens.
“So this is what detention looks like! I was 84.3% certain it would involve shackles!” Murphy laughed.
“No shackles, just sandwiches. Lots and lots of sandwiches.” Jae said as she spread some mustard across a piece of bread.
“We are actually here to inquire if you by any chance have a set of chess pieces we could acquire.” Iris got to the point quickly. “We need one rather quickly so that Badeea can use it for a wizard chess competition we are going to enter. Next weekend.”
“Oh yeah, I got one. Even if I didn't, I'm Jae Kim, I can find anything. I have a beautiful set for you. I'm even told that it was once owned by a wizard chess master.” He told them, and Murphy found himself both intrigued and suspicious.
“Smashing! I had a feeling you'd come through for me.” Iris smiled, and the way Jae smiled back... Murphy narrowed his eyes and studied the two... Were they... Flirting? Oh he almost put a halt to that right there, just throw Iris over his shoulder and roll out of there as fast as he could. “Where is the set now?”
“Well... That's where we may have a slight hiccough.” Jae pointed over Iris's shoulder, towards the large stone oven that a giant cauldron of soup simmered... And where Pits fiddled with a chess set. “I had them on me, in my bag, and Pitts confiscated them. Now he's watching them like a hawk. There's no way we'll be able to get those pieces back while he's standing there guarding them.”
“It sounds like we need to come up with a proper distraction is all.” Iris shrugged. Murphy nodded, it seemed easy enough.
“It would be unfortunate is one of those copper pots spilled over...” Jae mentioned with a grin.
“How hard would it be to tip over one of those pots?” Murphy asked.
“I'll make the two of you a deal, manage to distract Pitts, the chess pieces are yours.” Jae smiled but Iris crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow at him.
“I feel like that comes with a hitch... Like Manage to distract him enough for you to escape detention?”
“You are a smart witch.” Jae winked at her devilishly as he leaned over the table towards her. “As smart as you are foxy.” Murphy narrowed his eyes once again at Jae. Foxy like cunning, or foxy as in sexually attractive. Iris was both, but if anyone was going to-
“Oh shush Jae.” Iris smacked the palm of her hand against his forehead and pushed him back. “You only compliment me when you want something.”
“I'm a simple man.” He shrugged. “What do you say Iris?”
“I say those sandwiches over there are looking a bit undercooked.” She looked down at Murphy and grinned, a twinkle in her eyes that he just knew meant she was up to something.
“The thought of pulling off a heist with you is so exhilarating, Iris!” Murphy told her honestly, admiring her in that moment. He had not seen the more rogue side of Iris, and the more he saw it the more he fell deeper for her. “I agree, Iris. I do believe they could use a light char! There's a 37.3% chance we'll get caught, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. We need that chess set.”
“I'll cast incendeio to light up the sandwiches and distract Pitts, you grab the chess set.”
Then Iris did the one thing that was more then likely the most impressive feat that Murphy had watched her pull off. With her arms still crossed over her chest, she pointed one finger towards the platter of sandwiches, and whispered Incendio, causing the platter to burst into flames.
Wandless. Fucking. Magic.
Murphy sat there for a moment, just processing what he had seen. He knew Iris was a talented witch, but this... She was a powerful witch. One that could be, would be, terrifying to come up against and he realized just how the cursed vaults had formed her. Like a diamond formed under pressure to become the worlds hardest stone. He had always been impressed by Iris, but right now he was truly in awe.
Pitts quickly ran and grabbed a pail of water that was sitting nearby, and doused the platter quickly to extinguish the fire.
“Later guys.” Jae said quickly high tailing it towards the door. “Good luck at the tournament.”
While Pitt's questioned which house elf had been foolish enough to place the sandwiches that close to the open fire, Murphy and Iris quickly went to the chess set.
“Do you think these pieces will do the trick?” She asked quickly, putting the pieces in their case before Pitts noticed.
“It's beautiful, the craftsmanship is quite exquisite.” He noted as he watched her place each piece in the case, until he noticed one fatal error. “There is a slight hitch though, only 96.87% of the pieces are accounted for... The Queen is missing.” Iris stopped and quickly counted the pieces, before she noticed the empty space where the Queen would rest.
“Damn it Jae!” Iris slapped the case closed.
“Jae really rooked us right proper on this one! We can't play chess with an incomplete set!” Murphy huffed as the two made their way past Pitts and towards the door.
“No we can't, but Jae did mention that this set once belonged to a wizard chess master.” Iris offered as she opened the door so they could make their escape. “If we can figure out the identity of the previous owner, maybe it will help lead us to the missing Queen.”
Murphy could understand where she was coming from, and he appreciated her dedication but the days were dwindling. It was Saturday, Friday morning they would be heading to Diagon Alley to the tournament. That gave them Saturday through Thursday to practice, and that was if one of them didn't have a club meeting or heavy homework.
“That's a great idea in theory, Iris, but how do you propose we do that?” He asked her.
“Let's regroup the team and take these pieces to Professor McGonagall to see if she recognizes them.” Iris proposed, and he nodded. The theory didn't sound impossible.
“I really hope she does, and fast too. Because we can't practice until we find the missing Queen. Our team needs every precious moment of training time we can get if we hope to win the tournament.”
“We have time, Tulip and Badeea are probably at dinner by now. I can go grab them, and you can take this set straight away to McGonagall.” Iris held out the case pertaining the set and he took it from her. “I'll be quick.” She assured him and took off on a quick paced walk towards the Great Hall.