Harry! Harry, thức dậy!"Harry mở mắt và peered vào bóng tối. Ông hiếm khi có thể tạo ra khuôn mặt của Ron trong mờ candlelight của ký túc xá Slytherin. "What's up, Ron?""Bạn đã có để xem này!" Ron của giọng nói là một tiếng thì thầm vui mừng. "Tôi đã đi khám phá, và tôi đã đi xuống hành lang này, nơi tôi đã không bao giờ và đi bộ qua một cánh cửa bị khóa và... Harry! Đã có một con chó với ba đầu!""Một con chó với ba đầu?" Harry ngồi lên giường bây giờ, toàn tỉnh táo. "Làm thế nào tuyệt vời! Tôi đã không bao giờ nhìn thấy một con chó ba đầu trước khi. Chúng ta hãy đi gặp gỡ anh ta!""Ông là rất lớn!" thì thầm Ron hào hứng như họ thực hiện theo cách của họ ra khỏi ký túc xá. "Điều tốt ông đã ngủ, hoặc tôi sẽ có là một chút freaked ra. Nhưng bạn sẽ có thể nói chuyện với anh ta trong con chó hoặc ba con chó hoặc một cái gì đó nếu ông tỉnh dậy, phải không?"Harry gật đầu và sau đó là Ron hăm hở dọc theo hành lang tối tăm. "Cùng ở đây," thì thầm Ron, "và sau đó thông qua điều này bị khóa cửa ở đây..." Hai chàng trai trượt lặng lẽ qua cánh cửa bị khóa. Âm nhạc đáng yêu mềm chuỗi chào đón họ ngay sau khi họ bước vào phòng torchlit. Âm nhạc? Ở giữa đêm? Làm thế nào rất lẻ! Harry đột nhiên nhớ rằng giáo sư Dumbledore đã nói với ông rằng nó đã không một ý tưởng tốt để đi bộ qua cửa bị khóa, và cho một thời điểm, ông tự hỏi nếu ông nên nói với Ron rằng họ đã tốt hơn trở lại giường. Nhưng ngay lập tức tiếp theo, ông đã quên tất cả về Dumbledore và quy tắc của mình, vì ông đã bắt gặp cảnh của các sinh vật tuyệt vời nhất ông đã bao giờ đặt mắt vào."Oh!" thì thầm Harry. Ông nhìn trong awe tại Chó ngủ ở phía trước của họ. Con chó là gần như là lớn như một troll trẻ, và ông thực sự thực sự đã có ba đầu! Harry không thể giúp mình. Ông đã đạt ra và petted con chó đẹp nhẹ nhàng trên mỗi của ông lớn đầu ba.Con chó mở mắt tối lớn sáu sau đó, và hiệu quả là rất hài hước rằng Harry hầu như cười thành tiếng. Ông đã không bao giờ cảm thấy như vậy hoàn toàn theo dõi trong toàn bộ cuộc sống của mình!Một da man snarl thoát khỏi mỗi miệng lớn ba, và Ron nhảy lên một chút. "Có lẽ chúng ta nên... er... để lại-?" ông yếu. "Tôi không nói tiếng chó, tất nhiên, nhưng tôi không nghĩ đó nghe có vẻ rất thân thiện."* Tôi sẽ ăn bạn! * growled con chó. Growl của ông nghe lạ terribly và echo giống như, kể từ khi nó được tạo thành từ ba tiếng nói tương tự như sâu snarling cùng một từ từ ba lớn miệng.Harry lắc đầu và mỉm cười. * Oh, không, chúng tôi là không thực phẩm, * ông giải thích một cách lịch sự trong con chó.Mắt sáu blinked lúc anh ta bất ngờ. * Bạn là một con chó? * sinh vật ba đầu nghiên cứu Harry tò mò và sniffed lúc anh ta với ông mõm lớn ba. * Bạn là con chó tìm kiếm lạ tôi đã từng nhìn thấy. Bạn không nhìn thẳng vào all.*Harry không thể giúp đỡ cười. * Tôi không phải là một con chó, * ông giải thích. * Tôi và tôi là con người. Chắc chắn, bạn có thể thấy rằng? *The three-headed dog leaned over Harry and stared at him from all sides at once. After a long pause, he muttered: *No. You smell human, that's true, and you look like a scrawny human, but you can't fool me. You speak like a puppy, so you must be a puppy.* He hesitated for a moment, then licked Harry hesitantly on the head. It was a rather slobbery lick, but Harry understood that it was meant as a caress, so he stood still and let each of the three heads lick him in turn. It was really very wet.Ron backed up slowly towards the door, apparently worried that he was going to get licked next.*So,* said Harry conversationally, wiping dog drool discreetly off his cheeks, *is this where you live?**No,* sighed the three heads simultaneously, making Harry's hair flutter a little in the breeze. *My friend Hagrid brought me here. I have to lie here and watch that trap door, and if any human wizards come by, I have to chase them away and bite them.* He glanced down at a trap door that was barely visible among the wooden planks of the floor.*Why?* Harry peered curiously at the trapdoor.*No idea,* breathed the dog. *Hagrid said it was a game of sorts. So far, it hasn't been a lot of fun.**A game?* Harry lit up. *I love games! What's under the trapdoor, then?*The dog leaned its three heads to the side, pondering. *More games, I suppose?**Really?* Harry poked at the trapdoor. *Mind if we have a look?**Suit yourself, puppy.* The three-headed dog gave him another series of licks. *I was told not to let any wizards through here, but Hagrid didn't say anything about puppies, so I suppose it will be all right if you go through. Your friend, is he a puppy, too?* He glanced doubtfully at Ron.*Of course!* Harry grabbed Ron by the hand. *Lovely to meet you... er... What's your name?**Rgggrrrr,* muttered the dog. *But Hagrid likes to call me "Fluffy" for some reason.* He rolled all of his six eyes at that.Harry smiled at the dog and pulled the trapdoor open. *See you later, Rgggrrrr!*"What's in there?" Ron peered curiously into the darkness."A game, I think. Let's check it out!" Harry grabbed Ron's hand, and they jumped through the trapdoor together.To Harry's surprise, it was a very long way down, but fortunately, the floor they landed on was covered by soft leaves. A plant wrapped itself lovingly around them as soon as they reached the floor."What in Merlin's name is this?" Ron sounded a little scared. "This plant is... weird. Hey! What is it doing? It's squeezing me!"Ron had a point. The plant they had landed on was terribly snuggly. Harry just went along with it at first, but when the plant began to wrap itself a little too firmly around his neck, he had to speak rather sharply to it. The plant muttered something about just trying to be friendly, and began to slink back with an air of embarrassment.Released from the plant's insistent hugs, Harry and Ron slid further down. Before they knew what was happening, they found themselves in a brightly lit underground stone chamber. Harry looked around in wonder. What a marvelous room! Yes, this was definitely a delightful game of sorts, for the air was humming with the beating of hundreds of rapid wings. It sounded like a flock of birds in autumn, except there were no birds there at all - only keys!Flying keys? Harry gazed up at them in wonder. What were they supposed to do now?The next instant, his eyes fell on a door on the opposite side of the room, and he realized that one of the swarming keys probably fit that large keyhole in the oaken door. Maybe they were supposed to guess which key to use? There were broomsticks, too, in case you wanted to fly for a bit. Sorting keys didn't strike Harry as a terribly interesting game, so he motioned to Ron to follow him through the door. They slipped easily through the wood of the door, leaving the hundreds of little keys flapping wildly behind them.The next room had a much better game in it. The entire floor was covered with black and white squares, and rows of black and white columns and statues of people and horses were lined up along the edges."It's a chess set!" Ron gazed around the room, eyes wide. "I wonder if you can play it like a regular game?" He gasped as one of the white pieces on the opposite side of the room suddenly slid forward on the floor. "Yes, it is a chess game, Harry! Apparently, we are playing Black! Pawn to d5!"
Harry watched in silence as the pieces moved across the floor. Ron called out commands eagerly, and the black pieces did exactly as he told them. But the white pieces weren't playing very nicely at all. Without warning, a tall white piece wearing a crown smashed one of the pretty black horses to pieces.
"Hey!" Harry exclaimed in alarm. "That's not a nice way to play!" He turned to the white piece. "What did you do that for?"
The white piece regarded him haughtily. "I am the White Queen," she said icily, "and this is the way chess is played. I am merely following the Rules."
Harry frowned. "Well, if the Rules allow you to do that, I don't think they are very good Rules. What are you trying to accomplish?"
The White Queen drew herself up to her full height. "My goal," she said in a frosty voice, "is the Death of the Black King!" She nodded in the direction of a tall black piece.
Harry stared at the white pieces. "What? Are you all trying to kill the Black King?"
"No, sir!" piped a short white piece. "Well, I mean, we could, but it's not very likely. It's usually the Queen who kills him. I'm usually just trying to get to the other side of the board without being knocked down."
"Get to the other side of the board?" Harry regarded the piece thoughtfully. "Now, that's more like it! Why don't you all just try to work together, and you can all get to the opposite side of the board? It's not that hard if you all help each other a bit."
"Help each other?" The White Queen stared at him. "But that's absurd! If we help each other, who will Win the Game?"
"Everybody," said Harry firmly.
The White Queen shook her head. "That doesn't sound like much fun. Someone has to Win. Which means that someone else has to Lose."
Harry thought for a moment. "Perhaps you can add something to make the game more fun without killing each other? How about some jumps, or a few dance steps?" He stretched his arms out and swirled around in an empty square. "Try this - it's kind of fun, but you will get dizzy!"
The pieces were a little hesitant at first, but then some of the smaller pieces who had been standing around looking bored began to twirl. Before long, the entire room was filled with spinning, laughing pieces.
"Oh, I'm getting all giddy!" giggled the White Queen. "I think I'm going to faint!"
"Don't worry, my dear!" The Black King dashed gallantly to her side. "I will catch you!"
Ron looked at all the twirling, laughing chess pieces and shook his head. "This is the strangest game of chess I've ever seen, Harry!" He ducked quickly as a small black piece attempted to jump over him, laughing madly.
Ron sighed. "Come on, Harry. I'm getting dizzy just watching them. Let's see what's in the next room!"
They wove their way carefully through the dancin
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