Nova Daily - 13 April 2025: Recap Week 15
Hi!
Looks like you're always stuck in second gear
When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year
- The Rembrandts, "I'll Be There For You"
After having been witness to Voldemort's return and Cedric Diggory's death, Harry Potter spends an awful time at his aunt and uncle. He's being left in the dark as to any news regarding Voldemort's movements. He's being set up to perform underage magic in the presence of a muggle and is subsequently expelled from Hogwarts. This is later converted into an official hearing at the Ministry of Magic, where he is cleared of all charges.
Harry's acquittal is very much to the dislike of the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Fudge is unable to accept the fact that Voldemort is back, and he's determined to hush it all up by starting a public campaign of demonisation. The wizarding newspaper The Daily Prophet parrots Fudge's ideas and portrays Harry as a mentally unstable ticking time-bomb.
One of the people that Fudge's surrounded himself with, who attends the trial and votes in favour of Harry's conviction, is a hag by the name of Dolores Umbridge. She is appointed by the Ministry when Dumbledore is unable to find a good fit for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. Umbridge advocates a Ministry-approved theoretical course that doesn't actually involve casting defensive spells, and puts Harry in a detention that involves physical torture.
Throughout Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, Umbridge starts appropriating more power and influence until she has every bit of school life under her control. She puts teachers on probation, fires the Divination teacher, and bans Harry from playing Quidditch. Harry refuses to sit on the sidelines and starts a rebellion against Umbridge's regime. Going by the name of Dumbledore's Army (thought of by Ginny Weasley, improving on the earlier suggestion "Defence Association" which was coined by Cho Chang), Harry teaches his fellow students how to actively use defensive magic.
Throughout the year, Harry starts having vivid dreams about a mysterious door in the Department of Mysteries, deep within the Ministry of Magic. The dream keeps recurring, and Harry is convinced that something valuable must be behind that door.
When the DA is ultimately betrayed by Cho Chang's friend Marietta Edgecombe, Dumbledore takes the blame and vanishes from the school. Umbridge takes his place and makes life even more unpleasant for everyone who does not support the Ministry.
The dreams about the door in the Department of Mysteries become ever more painful. Harry sees that Voldemort is keeping Harry's godfather Sirius Black hostage and decides that he must come to the rescue. His excursion into the Ministry ultimately lead to all the truth to come out, and also to Sirius's death.
The week in Chess
Harry's fifth year is a long build-up to his breaking point, culminating in the heart-breaking scene above. Everyone has such a breaking point.
I don't want to sound melodramatic, but parts of this week felt like these moments were building up for me. I've lost a valued friendship, I failed an important test, and I played some atrocious chess feeling exhausted.
But I'm still here. I'll defy the storms and emerge stronger than I've ever been.
Below is a blitz game I played today. My opponent was an International Master.
My current scores:
- Rapid rating: 2178 (+13)
- Blitz rating: 2332 (+31)
- Bullet rating: 2604 (=)
- Survival: 62 (=)
- Puzzle Battle: 1844 (+39)
- Puzzles: 3611 (=)
- Repertoire: 4131 moves (=)
Blogs:
https://www.chess.com/blog/nova-stone/nova-daily-6-april-2025-recap-week-13
https://www.chess.com/blog/nova-stone/nova-daily-7-april-2025
https://www.chess.com/blog/nova-stone/nova-daily-8-april-2025
https://www.chess.com/blog/nova-stone/nova-daily-9-april-2025
https://www.chess.com/blog/nova-stone/nova-daily-10-april-2025
https://www.chess.com/blog/nova-stone/nova-daily-11-april-2025
https://www.chess.com/blog/nova-stone/nova-daily-12-april-2025
