An Opus Alchymicum Vol 1: The Experimental Theologian's Apprentice

The Curiosities of Dumbledore

December swept into Britain, bringing with it a whole series of new and exciting experiences for Harry Potter. He'd spent much of the previous couple of months marvelling at the slow changes in the colours of the leaves, the way the Thames was growing darker and more chilled-steel-like in hue, and how the air just looked a little duller, as the sun began to set earlier and the evenings started to draw in.

And within all these interesting changes to the world around him, Harry was most astonished by one ever-curious factor - the weather.

For down in Annwn, where Harry had spent the last decade, the environment rarely changed. Giant boilers heated the city, air conditioning regulated the atmosphere, and everything that could be controlled and monitored simply was.

So the first time that Harry Potter was rained on was quite a startling experience.

Now, he was expecting it to be wet - after all, he wasn't totally thick - but he wasn't prepared for how cold it turned out to be. Little icy bullets hitting his exposed head and neck every couple of seconds was quite the shocking thing. It didn't help that there were hailstones mixed in with the raindrops, or that it was a flash shower and that he didn't have a hood or an umbrella to save him from the assault.

That wasn't a mistake he was keen to make again in a hurry.

So that night, he huddled up in front of the fire with Minerva, who had made them both a mug of steaming hot chocolate, prepared a platter of custard creams, chocolate fingers and Scottish Shortbread biscuits, then prepared to teach Harry how to play chess, while he dried off and watched the steam rise from his sodden trainers.

Only this wasn't normal chess ... for the pieces could move. Harry had seen similar things on Fizzizk Alley and had being dying to play Wizard's Chess ever since. But the experience wasn't exactly what Harry had been expecting.

For a start, the horse of the knight that Harry wanted to move actually bit him when his fingers got too close, which made Harry more than a little cross.

"Ouch!" Harry yelped. "Aunt Minerva ... my knight just tried to eat me!"

Minerva grinned at him over the rim of her spectacles. "Well, it's a good job he wasn't this big then!"

And with that, she flicked her wand at the offending piece ... which suddenly transformed into a version which was about five-feet-taller than the little piece Harry had been playing with. He rolled away to stop the powerful horse from trampling with his massive hoof.

"Wow!" Harry yelped in wonder. "Why did you do that, Auntie!? You nearly killed me!"

"Oh stop being such a drama queen, Harry!" Minerva chortled. "I am merely practising. This is my first year as Transfiguration Professor and I am out of habit when it comes to life-size transformations. The Headmaster has asked me to produce a full-sized chess set for a quirky game he is planning to play. Merlin only knows why. But that's Dumbledore for you. He always has been a funny sort of wizard."

"Why would anyone want a giant chess set?"

"Who knows?" Minerva replied. "But Dumbledore likes to play games. He probably wants to invite some friends to play, and they'd all take the place of a piece on the board. That would be quite interesting, actually. I'll have to build that instruction into the enchantment."

Minerva aimed her wand at the horse, whispered a spell, and the knight returned to his normal size again. Harry moved back to the board and sat cross-legged behind his pieces