Almost five or six minutes into the game, Ernie suddenly hugged his head and shouted, "Oh my God, this is a super, super, incredibly huge mistake! How can Mr. Malfoy let the black side continue to take his soldiers?"
"'Check,' want to continue?" Ron said with a cheerful smile, feeling assured of his victory, just one step away from capturing Draco's king.
"Slytherin never admits defeat!" Draco shouted, grabbing his hair.
Ron shrugged and instructed the castle to move forward and encircle Draco's king.
Reasonably speaking, checkmate doesn't require an announcement, but the confident Ron kindly reminded, "Checkmate!"
With that, the pieces on Ron's board sprang up and attacked Draco's king until it knelt.
"You lost, Malfoy." Ron said with a grin, "Shouldn't you fulfill the bet now?"
Before Draco could speak, Marcus loudly said, "No, regular matches are best of three; deciding victory in one game doesn't follow the rules, let's play again!"
Upon hearing Marcus's words, hope reignited in Draco's eyes.
"Alright! Another round!"
However, this round fell apart even faster than the last, Draco sat in his chair, staring at his shattered king, speechless for a long while.
"You should understand, Malfoy." Ron said smugly, "I was merely going easy on you earlier; if I wanted, I could have won even faster."
Draco pouted, stood up, and said, "I'm done playing, I'm going home!"
"Hey, don't be in such a hurry to leave." Ron quickly stopped him, "Why the rush to go? You haven't fulfilled your promise yet – don't tell me you plan to cheat in front of the entire school, Malfoy?"
"Rest assured!" Draco said angrily, "You just wait, I will definitely keep my word!"
"Really?" Ron asked with a chuckle, "Why do I feel you're about to renege?"
"I! Will never renege!" Draco said furiously, "I swear by my ancestors, I absolutely won't renege!"
With that, he turned and ran away.
Watching the spectacle, Harry suddenly remembered that Cassandra was also Draco's ancestor.
He instantly became nervous, thinking that Draco must be forced to keep his promise, otherwise, if this oath involves Cassandra, it could be troublesome...
No way, Draco must be kept in check so he doesn't break his word!
Since losing the match, Draco seemed to have lost his vigor.
His struggle wasn't over fulfilling the bet, but about how he had so swiftly lost to Weasley was depressing.
Oh my, isn't he someone who just won two matches in the wizard chess tournament and then went on to fantastically lose sixteen in a row?
How could he be so strong?
Never realizing that being able to participate in such a tournament itself signifies a certain skill level, at least professional entry-level.
As an amateur, when confronted by Ron, wouldn't he face a dimensional strike?
After that, a few others with playful intentions tried playing wizard chess with Ron, only to be solved with just a few quick moves.
As Ron would say - I might not win against those elder players of unknown age, but can I not beat you?
Fun fact – In the previous wizard chess tournament, besides Ron, the youngest player was already over forty years old.
Looking at it this way, Ron being able to win two matches was considered super strong.
Yet what Ron wouldn't tell anyone is about the match with Barry, where he used a lack of ethics to win by exhausting the old man to sleep.
Ron's genuine talent again earned back everyone's respect at school, yet students still didn't give up on the 2-16 joke, its influence growing even more intense.
But now, the mention of 2-16 wasn't with disdain but rather with a hint of respect.
The triumphant Ron, after defeating Slytherin, was full of swag, described as barreling forward through the Gryffindor Common Room, even with Percy he was utterly unflinching.
Even Percy had to pinch his nose and commend Ron for doing splendidly.
Time went by quickly, soon it was Friday.
The flow of time is relative, everyone felt it dragged on – for it was their first time eagerly anticipating a Magic Potion Class; only Draco felt it fly by, he genuinely didn't want the Magic Potion Class, fulfilling his bet.
Yet there was no choice; sooner or later, he'd have to face this moment.
Gryffindor students unprecedentedly arrived thirty minutes early outside the Potions Classroom, their eager faces peering inside at Professor Snape teaching the sixth year.
When class ended, Snape saw these students and even turned around to glance at the calendar.
"What's wrong, Professor Snape?" Vivi asked as she stepped out of the classroom.
Snape snorted and said, "I was just confirming if today is April 1st…"
Vivi left the classroom and upon seeing Harry, she pulled him aside to a corner.
She hugged Harry and softly asked by his ear, "What's going on with you all? Look at how you've scared Professor Snape, he's even confirming if today is April Fool's Day."
Harry concisely recounted the events to Vivi, who paused for a moment, lowered her head, and said, "The phrase 'washing oily hair' isn't particularly deadly to Professor Snape, I remember Lily once telling me he was hoisted upside down by your dad, revealing grimy, blackish underwear…"
Harry glanced at Vivi with shock – he knew she was sly, but never realized she was entirely cunning deep down!
"Alright, I'm off to class in the Muggle World, Harry." Vivi laughed, rubbing Harry's head, "Oh, and I need to jump forty-five minutes forward with the Time Converter to avoid missing Professor Hawking's lecture."
"You attend classes at the School of Economics and Politics, how can you learn these subjects?" Harry was astounded, though he might be uncultured, he knows Hawking was a scientist, not teaching at the LSE.
"I attend classes at several universities." Vivi winked at Harry, summoned Fiona, and disappeared together with the Phoenix on the spot.
Harry stood dazed, realizing he needed to step up too – or he'll fall too far behind Vivi.
At this rate, even as a modern man, he might know less about modernity than Vivi!
As Harry walked from the corner back to the Potions Classroom, he coincidentally bumped into Pabi who was gleefully trotting by.
"Pabi," Harry called, "Why didn't you go inside?"
"I was waiting for you." Pabi said, nudging beside Harry, carefully pulling in his horn, wiggling around Harry's embrace.
After two nudges, Pabi cautiously raised his head.
"No way, you have the scent of Grindelwald's perfume on you!"
"I just helped her replenish magic power." Harry chuckled as he ruffled Pabi's head, "Moreover, Vivi didn't use perfume, that's her…"
"Alright, stop talking!" Pabi snorted, "Stop talking, let's go inside for the class!"
"Oh, okay."
Harry agreed as he and Pabi walked into the classroom one after the other.
Seeing Pabi, Snape then turned his gaze upon Harry, filled with disdain.
"I should remind you, Mr. Potter," Snape's greasy voice rang, "you must not bring pets into the Magic Potion Classroom, I do wish your oily brain understands the threat of pet hair to magical potions. I understand your flaunting over having a unicorn as a pet, but this is Magic Potion Class."
(Requesting monthly votes hahahaha)
(Third update delivered!)