"He was right."
The invisible man said with a laugh, "You have no choice, but he was also wrong. I don't want to kill you just yet. It's just that the spells I use to destroy this chess mechanism might accidentally hurt you."
Was there any difference?
Ron resisted the urge to complain and shouted, "I'm going in! I'll leave the rest to you!"
He took a step forward. The white queen immediately lunged over, raised her stone arm, and struck Ron hard on the head before dragging him aside.
Harry immediately made his move, checkmating the white king and winning the game.
As the white pieces bowed and retreated to clear a path, Harry and Hermione glanced at Ron and made to head straight into the next room. Leaving Ron here would actually be safer; at least that invisible man wouldn't be threatening to kill him at any moment.
But the invisible man seemed to see through Harry's thoughts. He said in a leisurely voice, "Bring him along. I don't want to lose a bargaining chip."
That bastard!
Harry's eyes were full of resentment, but he had no choice but to comply. Using the Levitation Charm with Hermione, he struggled to support Ron as they slowly made their way into the next room.
The moment they entered, a powerful stench hit them in the face, making their eyes water.
Not far away, an enormous, hideously ugly creature holding a huge club was wandering aimlessly about.
"That's a troll!"
Hermione went pale. "We... we're not going to have to beat it in a fight to get to the next room, are we?"
Harry swallowed. "It looks like we are... it's coming!"
The troll spotted them just then and charged over, roaring with its huge club raised.
Without hesitation, the two