Closed The First Game

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah had been looking forward to this meeting all week. Samantha and she were getting together to play Wizard's Chess! She knew a little about chess and had been reading up on the specifics of the magical version. It didn't seem very different. There was a student set in the Student Lounge which is why they had agreed to meet there to play their game. Adorah still wasn't quite sure how into the idea Samantha was, but it seemed like a good test of sportsmanship, in her opinion.

Adorah opened the door to the Student Lounge and walked toward a small square table with mismatched chairs. She took the blue suede chair with gold trim and set her bag down beside it. Walking over to the bookshelf containing the games, she scanned until she found the box labeled "Wizard's Chess" and pulled it off the shelf. She was worried that there might be missing pieces and wanted to count them all before Samantha arrived. She laid out the chess board and dumped all the pieces on the board. She began seperating them into black and white as she waited.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha was excited to meet up with Adorah. They decided to meet in the student lounge and play Wizard's Chess. Samantha had never in her life played Wizard's Chess, but was excited about the challenge. She remembered how her older brother and dad would play the game all the time, and Samantha would laugh at her mum's confused face on how it worked. As Samantha got to the student lounge, she saw Adorah setting up the chest. Samantha walked and sat in the chair opposite Adorah. "Hey!" Samantha said cheerily but shyly.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah looked up at Samantha and smiled! "Hi! I'm trying to make sure we have all the pieces. I'm almost finished," she said as she finished counting and assigning the pawns to their proper locations. "There!" she exclaimed, gesturing to the board in an excited fashion. She looked at Samantha and smiled. "So, how much do you know about chess? I read up on Wizard's Chess last night, and the rules are basically the same as regular chess." Adorah has played a lot of chess with her sister Juniper at home. Juniper was actually getting pretty good and has beat Adorah a few times before she came to school. She missed Juniper a lot and wished she could write to her. She wanted to tell her about all the things she was learning and how bizarre flying was. Maybe their parents would come around someday and at least let Adorah write home every once in a while. So many other students would receive mail every morning during breakfast, and Adorah had yet to take part in that experience. Adorah put her hands on the table and fiddled with ones of the pawns while she waited for Samantha to answer.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha looks down and notices that the pieces are on the square on both ends of the chess board. "I don't know anything about it, to be honest with you," Samantha says quietly. "But I have seen my brother and dad play it all the time. My mum and I still get a little confused while watching them" Samantha says with a chuckle. "But I'm willing to give it a try," Samantha said with a smile.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah nodded. "I'm not the best at it, either, but I'm willing to teach you what I know!" She began to pick up each piece as she explained its name and its purpose. "These are pawns," she said, picking up one of many identical pieces. "They are your first line of defense. They can only move forward one space at a time, unless they are trying to take another piece, in which case they can move diagonally one space if that piece is there." She kept from mentioning that pawns could move two spaces on their first turn just until they got the basics down. "Many of these back pieces aren't as limited. The castles," she said, showing Samantha, "can move horizontally either way as many spaces as it wants. The bishops can also do the same but diagonally. The Queen, which there is only one of, can move horizontally or diagonally. Does this make sense so far?" She knew that the pieces moved themselves in Wizard's Chess, but you still had to be able to tell them where to go. She looked at Samantha and then shrunk. "Am I totally boring you? Maybe we should play something else. I just thought this would be fun considering it's a magical game."

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha nods with interest as Adorah explained the pieces and what they do for the game. "Yep, that makes sense," Samantha says with a smile. She then noticed that Adorah shrunk and asked Samantha if it was boring for her and that they could find something else to do. "No. You're not boring me" Samantha says with a reassuring smile. "Let's play this, and see how we go," Samantha says.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah smiled as Samantha reassured her she was, in fact, not becoming tired of playing chess. She picked up a Knight and the King and began speaking again. "Well, we have two more pieces, and then we can play. This," showing the horse that was the knight, "is a knight, and he can only move in an L shape. So either two spaces horizontally either way and then one forward or back, or one space horizontally and two forward and back. Honestly, it's the most complicated piece to get a hang of." She set the knight down and showed the King. "This is your King. The object is to get the opponent's king by locking it in a way it can't escape. It can move any direction, but only one space at a time." She put her king back down and rotated the board so the white side would be her players. "White always goes first, and this way, I'll be able to show you things." She moved one of her center pawns two spaces forward. Maybe if they moved the chess pieces themselves, they wouldn't protest and violently hit each other. It was worth a shot to find out. "Your turn!" She waited as Samantha contemplated her move and then asked her a question. "You mentioned you had a brother? Does he also go to Hogwarts?" Adorah wondered what it would be like to have a sibling attend Hogwarts. They only sibling that had potential to attend Hogwarts would be Juniper, but she really doubted that both the adopted children in her family of 10 would end up being witches.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha smiles as Adorah continues explaining the game. Once Adorah had finished explaining, they started the game. Adorah started with moving her centre pawn to spaces forward. Samantha decided to move her pawn that was furthermost to her left two spaces forward. "Your turn," Samantha says as she moved her pawn "I have two brothers actually" Samantha answers Adorah's question. "My older brother, well half brother, Harrison, he's the one who plays chess with my dad, graduated a couple of years ago," Samantha informs Adorah. "My younger brother is actually coming here next year," Samantha says with a smile. "I'm sorry if I talk too much" Samantha blushes with embarrassment.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah protested with Samantha suggested she talked too much. "Are you kidding? I just spent the last 10 minutes talking about chess. Believe me, you talk the normal amount," she giggled. She looked at the board and moved her same pawn forward one space. "I think it's cool that you have two siblings who are wizards! What does your older brother do? Actually, what do your parents do?" Now Adorah was talking too much. She was interested in what kinds of wizarding careers there were out there. Her parents worked in education and medicine, and while that was fun and all, a magical career was probably more suitable for her at this point. "Your turn!" she exclaimed. She was having a lot of fun spending time with another human being that wasn't one of her downer roommates. None of them seemed to really want to socialize, and Adorah had yet to figure out why. She usually kept to herself in that case and spent as little time in her room as possible.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha smiles kindly when Adorah assures her that she wasn't talking too much. Samantha moved another piece "Your turn" Samantha says with a smile. "Well, my brother works in a muggle pet shop," Samantha says, answering Adorahs first question. "My mum is a Muggle teacher and my dad, well, he's a Misuse of Muggle Artefacts, Ministry Of Magic in Scotland. So, I don't see him as much as I used to" Samantha says with a sad grin. "What about your parents" Samantha questions.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah wasn't sure why there would need to be an office for misusing muggle "artifacts." Why would witches and wizards have any interest in the muggle world? "My mum used to be a teacher, but she stays at home now with my brothers and sisters. My dad is a pediatrician. What does your dad do with muggle artifacts? Does he study them?" She looked at the board and decided to move one of her bishops toward the opposite edge of the board. The move might throw Samantha off, but she wanted to go ahead and get her big pieces out there. "Go ahead," she gestured to Samantha.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha chuckles slightly. "Something like that. He was always interested in muggle artifacts, that's how my parents met actually" Samantha says, as she moves her middle pawn forward.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah looked at the board and moved her bishop into line to take one of Samantha's pawns. She wondered if Samantha would notice, but she figured she might miss it since this was her first time playing. "Just so you know, you might want to move that pawn. My bishop could take it if I wanted to." Adorah processed Samantha's story about her father's interest in Muggle items and laughed. "I love 'how they met' stories! Can you tell it to me?" Adorah's parents had meet in university, and she didn't find the story to be romantic. She always wondered how her biological parents met, especially if only one ended up being a witch or wizard. Adorah was grounded 98% of the time, but when it came to love stories, she easily would float away into the clouds.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

"Awh crud, you took my pawn," Samantha says sadly with a laugh. Samantha moved the past pawn she moved once again. "your turn," Samantha said with a smile "Well, you see, my dad wanted to explore the muggle world with Harrison. He was divorced at the time and his last wife didn't want my half brother anymore. But that's for another time." Samantha dismissed. "Anyways, my dad and nine year old Harrison were in a muggle mall, and my dad was looking at a toaster, he was confused about how it worked. He thought you put your hand it in to keep your hands warm or something" Samantha laughed slightly. "my mum, who was visiting England at the time and was shopping at the store, saw my dad put his hands in the toaster with confusion while Harrison was laughing, knowing what the toaster was actually used for" Samantha said, still laughing. "My mum corrected and told him what the toaster was used for. And that's when they fell in love I guess" Samantha says with a smile.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah listened as Samantha told the story of how her parents met in awe. If she had seen someone putting their hands in a toaster, she would have run far away. Maybe adults felt differently and found odd behavior endearing. "That's very cute," she responded, giving a small smile. She looked at the board and moved another one of her pawns two spaces forward so her castle would have the ability to attack. She looked up at Samanatha and asked, "How are classes going so far for you? Do you have a favorite yet?" Adorah was very fascinated with Astronomy and Transfiguration. She found them to be intellectual subjects within the world of magic, which was right up her alley.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha smiles and giggles slightly when Adorah says that her parents love story was cute. Adorah then asked if Samantha had a favourite class. Samantha thought for a moment. She had a few. "I like charms and History Of Magic. They're probably my favourite at the moment." Samantha says with a gentle moment. "What about you?" Samantha questions, as she moves her queen to a spot a few spaces forward.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah listened as Samantha explained her favorite classes were Charms and History of Magic. She wouldn't have those classes until next semester, but she was pretty excited about Charms and the idea of learning more specific magic and spells. She knew what her favorite classes were this semester, but it was rather disappointing that they would ending soon. What if she forgot about everything she had learned since it would be at least 9 months before she took that subject again? Adorah worried that the laspe in time may well have negative effects on her success at Hogwarts. She shook her head, bringing herself back into reality and out of her sudden panic to answer Samantha's question. "I really like Astronomy currently. It's fascinating, and I can't wait to see what all we learn about through the years." She looked at Samantha's move of her queen and provided some well-intended advice. "You're leaving your king open now if you're not careful." Adorah moved her castle forward. It was still guarded by the pawn, but she was hoping to end this game with an easy capture. She tried to think of a way to learn more about Samantha, as the friend thing never came easily to her. Awkwardly asking basic questions about a person just seemed like a waste of time, but it was part of the process. She thought for a moment and then asked, "Are you enjoying being in Hufflepuff? Why do you think the Sorting Hat put you there?" She knew it might sound like a weird question, but she had been wondering just exactly how the hat worked and why it had chosen to put her in Ravenclaw. All in all, it made complete sense that she was in this house, but did that mean she didn't contain any of the attributes that the other houses valued? As much as she loved learning, she wanted her life to be more than just academics.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha blushed when Adorah mentioned about her move. She then moved her king forward. She didn't mind if she lost. She was happy that while playing the game she clearly still had no clue of, she got to know her new friend. She then listened to what Adorah was saying about what her favourite classes were. Samantha hadn't had Astronomy yet. "Astronomy? That sounds fun! I haven't had it yet. But its one of the classes that I'm excited for!" Samantha exclaims. Samantha thought on for a bit on Adorah's next question. "I honestly don't know," Samantha said with a shrug. "My dad expected me to be in Hufflepuff. He says that I'm kind and loyal" Samantha says. "What about you? Why do you think the Sorting Hat placed you in Ravenclaw?" Samantha smiles, as she returns the question back to Adorah.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah looked at the board and realized Samantha had moved her king to a spot where she would be checkmated if Adorah moved her bishop to the right spot. She looked up at Samantha and decided to go for it. So few pieces had been moved on the board that checking her would be an easy end to the game. She was a little worried that the Hufflepuff had found this activity boring and thought it might be better to move onto something else. She moved her bishop and said, "Checkmate." She looked up at Samantha and replied to her question. "I've always been very studious. I don't think I'm very clever, and I worry that maybe this means I'm not brave or loyal. What do you think?" She began to clean up the chess pieces and put them back in the box. "Did you want to play another game, or was this enough of a learning experience?" she laughed slightly.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha nods at Adora's explanation about why she thought she was sorted into Ravenclaw. She sees that Adorah starts to pack up the game and asks if she would like to play another game. "Sure! What other games do they have here? Or what other games are you thinking of?" Samantha questions to Adorah.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah finished packing up the game and looked at the rest of the games available. She placed the game back on the shelf and scanned the titles. "We could always play a muggle game. Did you play many muggle games growing up? What strikes your fancy?" She leaned against the window and enjoy the slight breeze that was coming through.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha thought about it for a bit. "Hmm, I haven't played many muggles or wizarding world games," Samantha said with some thought. "But I have played snakes and ladders, Monopoly and Scrabble," Samantha says with a smile. "What about you, what board games or games are you into?" Samantha questions.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah listened as Samantha described the games she had played. She had heard of Monopoly, but she had never played the other two games. "Is Snakes and Ladders a board game? Or do you play with real snakes?" She couldn't imagine that there were real animals involved, but sometimes other cultures had odd games. Adorah thought for a minute before she answered Samantha's question. Board games were never something she grew up playing besides chess. She was forced to spend a lot of her time outside which wasn't a bad thing, but that usually meant she wasn't up-to-date on pop culture. "I don't really know too many board games. I spent a lot of time outside when I lived at home or reading books." She felt the last statement made her sound like more of a nerd than she intended to come across, but she loved books and learning.