"Welcome, my sweet little Mary. How was your fourth year at Hogwarts?"
"It wasn't bad, though I would've preferred not to spend months chasing a traitor."
Marie and I were at the beautiful Château des Saturn.
Seraphira, the Mary's mother, a stunning woman with red hair that made her look like a goddess of beauty, welcomed us.
"Indeed, I heard the news about Sirius Black being innocent. It's wonderful that you managed to catch the real culprit."
Even though she was a Muggle, she had already invested in several wizarding businesses and subscribed to the Daily Prophet to stay informed about the magical world.
"Yes, but now I'm exhausted — and Evelyn doesn't even want to please me."
"At least wait until you're of age before thinking like that."
"Why? I had my first intimate relationship with her father when I was about 15, so there's nothing shocking."
Now I know where Mary gets her perverse side from.
"No, I have my principles, so I wouldn't do anything — and if she forces me, our relationship will come to an end."
"You don't have to worry about Marie wanting to do that, because if she does, I'll make her suffer to the point where death would seem like mercy."
In addition to inheriting her mother's perversity, she also seems to have picked up her sadistic side.
If Marie didn't have her father's white hair, I don't know if I'd even be able to tell the difference between her and her mother — they'd look like clones.
These vacation days are going to be exhausting… I'm honestly considering changing my plans.
I've finally turned 15, and as I promised, I'll take on the appearance of a teenager.
But now I'm afraid of Marie's reaction — what if she jumps on me the second she sees me?
On my way to the living room, I saw the Wizard's Gazette. One of the headlines was about a wizard chess tournament, and the grand prize was a full year of unlimited access to The Golden Star, one of the best restaurants in my world.
"Are you interested in this contest?"
"Didn't we say we'd go to a restaurant for a date? So it might be interesting to win this for free."
The contest was scheduled for the next day, so we decided to participate — the prize was too good to pass up.
During the school year, Seraphira would probably use it for dates with her husband.
The next morning, we woke up early for the wizard chess tournament, and we quickly saw that there were many participants from all walks of life.
Beating them was fairly easy, since there was a time limit — but thanks to my time-related curse, I had no need to worry. I could think through hundreds of moves in just a few seconds.
My opponent in the final round was a very elegantly dressed woman — there was no doubt she was extremely wealthy.
"I hope you'll give me at least a bit of a challenge."
"It's rather arrogant to say something like that."
It seemed she was quite confident in her abilities… so I'll make sure to humiliate her properly.
"Pawn to E4."
"Knight to F6."
She reacts so quickly that time seems irrelevant now.
"I have a proposal for you — what if we play like in the Muggle version? That would let us play much faster."
"Why not?"
We removed the enchanted board and chess pieces and began playing manually, with our hands, allowing for rapid moves.
She clearly knows how to play chess, and her pride is justified.
I'm even having trouble keeping up with her pace — my body doesn't move fast enough, so I have to enhance my muscles just to match her rhythm.
"It's sad, but no matter what you do, you won't beat me."
"And why do you think that?"
"You focus too much on the game itself. I see each piece as an investment — something that can become stronger or serve as a necessary sacrifice. Every piece has a value that changes as the game progresses. I understand their evolving worth. Until you can do the same, you won't beat me."
And with that, she checkmated me — something I never expected.