Chapter 40: Just This Consumption

After passing through the wooden door, Noah knew that this was basically the last level.

If Noah remembered correctly, this eerie place should be the chessboard challenge—only magnified countless times and far more lethal.

No, it wasn’t just chess. In this world, it was called Wizard’s Chess.

The rules were no different from regular chess, but it was far more violent. Noah had studied it before.

But to be honest, Noah was really bad at playing chess. Even in his past life, he wasn’t any good at it.

So for Noah, playing cards was much more enjoyable than playing chess!

He considered himself skilled at both the uniquely chaotic Dou Dizhu and the more common game of bridge.

Even the legendary Gwent—Noah was an expert. But unfortunately, card games didn’t seem popular at Hogwarts, leaving him with no chance to showcase his skills.

"What a pity," Noah thought to himself as he led the group forward.

However, just as they were about to pass through the massive stone-carved chess pieces, the statues suddenly came to life.

The pawns standing in the front row collectively raised their sharp scimitars, immediately blocking Noah and the others from moving forward.

"This is a chessboard," Ron finally realized.

"Of course it is. What else did you think these things were for?" Ernie rolled his eyes. He really couldn’t believe how slow these two Gryffindors were.

"Then what should we do now?" Harry ignored Ernie’s attitude and turned to Noah.

"The answer is obvious—if we want to get through, we have to deal with these guys first," Noah shrugged indifferently.

Ron's eyes suddenly lit up. "Do you mean… we have to play chess?"

Noah already knew from the original book that Ron was quite skilled at chess.

Of course, his skill was decent for his age—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to guide Harry through this challenge.

Noah, on the other hand, had no illusions about his own abilities. His chess skills were terrible.

"If you want, you can," Noah said.

But seeing Ron’s eager expression, he quickly felt a headache coming on and changed the subject:

"But I don't want to waste time. Who knows how long you'll take? If Professor McGonagall shows up while we're still playing, that would be a nightmare!"

Ron’s face turned pale at the thought, and he immediately dropped the idea.

To be safe, they had left a letter for Professor McGonagall before coming down here. Based on the timing, she would probably arrive soon.

If they got stuck playing chess and she found them here, they were doomed.

Even though he knew this, Ron was still reluctant to give up. "So, what are you planning to do?"

"It’s simple. I can control the chess pieces on our side to fight the enemy directly. That way, we can take the opportunity to slip through."

As Noah spoke, he was already analyzing the magic embedded in the chessboard.

It wasn’t particularly strong. In fact, the magic contained within his side’s pieces was much higher than that of their opponents.

Clearly, the designer of this challenge had intentionally made it easier, probably to ensure that Harry could pass.

Realizing this, Noah immediately had an idea.

Since his side had stronger magic, he could forcefully control the pieces. However, doing so would consume a significant amount of magic.

That wasn’t ideal. After all, Professor Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort, was still waiting ahead.

If Noah exhausted himself now, he’d be handing an opportunity to the enemy.

Not that he was too worried—he still had Harry as his trump card.

But losing in a humiliating way? No thanks.

"Besides, Quirrell is only at the Second Order and lacks real combat experience. Plus, being possessed by Voldemort has severely damaged his mental strength.

With all those factors combined, his actual magic performance is barely at the Fifth Rank of the First Order!"

"A month ago, I was already using Eighth Rank magic, and I’ve accumulated plenty of combat experience from fighting various monsters. The only difference between us is raw magical power—otherwise, I wouldn’t necessarily lose.

Now, I’ve officially reached the First Order. Even with Voldemort’s help, I might still be able to win!"

After thinking it through, Noah decisively abandoned his original plan. A smile appeared on his face.

"But I have a better idea."

"A better idea?"

"Yeah. I’ll just destroy them all!"

As he spoke, Noah’s wand appeared in his hand. A powerful surge of magic erupted instantly, causing his wand to glow faintly.

"Bombarda Maxima!"

With a soft incantation, Noah flicked his wand.

A terrifying wave of magic shot forward, slamming into the chess pieces with overwhelming force!

In an instant, the stone statues exploded like ignited gunpowder.

Chunks of rubble rained down in every direction, leaving behind only the solid stone foundations where the pieces once stood.

Harry and the others were completely stunned.

The Blasting Curse wasn’t Dark Magic—it was actually a well-known offensive spell used in various scenarios.

However, it was classified as advanced magic that only upper-year students could properly master.

Yet, Noah had cast it effortlessly, annihilating the entire set of stone chess pieces in one move.

This forced them to once again reevaluate their understanding of Noah’s strength.

"Is this guy really a first-year student?"

"Forget first-year—this dude could graduate right now!"

"Alright, problem solved. Let’s go," Noah said, casually checking his own magical reserves.

Even though the spell had seemed overwhelming, he was highly proficient in it.

Destroying all the chess pieces in one go had barely drained his magic at all.

Besides, Noah had developed a habit of exhausting his magic during training—only to recover it through meditation techniques he had learned from the system library at night.

Unconsciously, this had increased his magic regeneration speed to an absurdly high level.

Noah estimated that if he just stood still for a few minutes without doing anything, his entire magical reserve would be replenished.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Of course I am. They were just some stone chess pieces," Noah replied nonchalantly.

"No, I mean… your magic."

"Oh, that?" Noah smirked. "Don’t worry. It was just a Blasting Curse. This kind of consumption is nothing to me. I’ll recover in no time."

"Really?"

"Of course. What else did you expect?"