- Rating:
- PG-13
- House:
- The Dark Arts
- Genres:
- General Horror
- Era:
- Multiple Eras
- Stats:
-
Published: 09/14/2005Updated: 10/30/2005Words: 10,221Chapters: 3Hits: 1,072
The King's Players
Telepwen
- Story Summary:
- Unpredictability has made Dietfried Grindelwald the most feared wizard of the century, although he'd protest being called evil. When you get down to it, he's a happy and playful fellow. But then, he'd also tell you that he's bored, and the world is his playground.
The King's Players Prologue
- Chapter Summary:
- Unpredictability has made Dietfried Grindelwald the most feared wizard of the century, although he'd protest being called
- Posted:
- 09/14/2005
- Hits:
- 451
- Author's Note:
- This is a year and a half in the making. Ergo, it was written before Half-Blood Prince. If this is something with which you cannot deal, the back button is up and to your left. This has been a public service announcement.
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The King's Players
Prologue
The Greater Game
Tuesday, 14 December, 1937
72 High Street, Oxford, England
The lights in the buildings on High Street were long out, all except for one window. That light rarely went out. It never bothered the neighbours, though. The window on the third floor of 72 High Street wasn't visible to the neighbours.
To be strictly honest, the window was visible to anyone that passed by and happened to glance up, but the light wasn't. All the neighbours saw was a neglected and empty flat that the landlord kept meaning to fix up and rent out, but could never quite seem to remember to do it. Likewise, none of the tenants ever remembered to ask the landlord to clean up all those damned bird droppings that the ledge attracted.
The glass of the window on the third floor had a slight frost to it. None of the other windows in the building had frost on them, but the owner of this particular flat liked how the lamp that burned brightly on a table by the window made dancing patterns in the glowing ice. The clock on the wall above the lamp proclaimed it to be "Time For a Light Snack, Don't You Agree?"
"Yes, I do believe it is." The wizard who occupied the third floor flat pulled himself away from the game pieces over which he'd been poring, and shuffled into the kitchen. He poked through his shelves and cabinets, and peered in the cabinet that was charmed to stay cold inside.
"Let's see. What do I have?" He pushed aside some apples and dug to the bottom of his fruit bowl. "Ah, good. I still have a pear left. I thought I'd finished those. And then where would you be, eh, Dietfried?" Dietfried had the habit of talking to himself quite a lot. He also had a great fondness for pears.
Taking his pear back to his game pieces, he stared at the board, seemingly forgetting about the pear he was absent-mindedly polishing on his sleeve. As the pear started to shine, he finally, for the first time that night, moved a piece. A white pawn, at his direction, made its way two spaces forward.
Dietfried could see that the path was clearing for a red pawn to make its way across the board, but its time had not yet come. It would take some skilful manoeuvring to make sure that the path didn't close again, but he thought he was up to the task. With two sets of chess pieces set up on the same table and no board, the game was very complicated indeed, but that was half the fun. After all, that was where the challenge lay.
Satisfied with the new state of the game, he looked down at his hands, remembered the pear, and took a bite.