Charlie!

[stormyhearted]

He's made contact! Anyone have any idea what the code means?

e4 e5
Nf3 f6
Nxe5

My first thoughts were locational information, or information conveyed via chess moves, but I don't know enough about either to know if I'm remotely close to being right. ^_^;

Comments

[ursamajor]

I suspect chess moves; googling the first two pairs was enough to lead me to Petrov's Defence. Black's response to White's third move (Nxe5), per Wikipedia:

After 3.Nxe5, Black should not continue to copy White's moves and try to restore the material balance immediately with 3...Nxe4? because after 4.Qe2 White will either win material (4...Nf6?? 5.Nc6+ wins Black's queen, and after 4...d5 5.d3 Qe7 6.dxe4 Qxe5 7.exd5 Black loses a pawn), or obtain a superior position (4...Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 f6 7.Nc3 dxe5 8.Nd5 Qd6 9.Bf4 Nd7 10.0-0-0 and White has a big advantage). Black usually plays 3...d6 (although 3...Qe7 is also possible). White now must retreat the knight, or sacrifice it.

(White traditionally goes first. White moved a pawn forward; Black mirrored. White moved their kingside knight forward; Black mirrored. White captured Black's pawn with their kingside knight. Wiki says Black should *not* continue to mirror because they will lose; I haven't deciphered all of what Wiki says, though, so I'm not sure what Charlie's suggesting or which side the Order is on.)

[stormyhearted]

Ooh! Useful info.

My instinct would be that the Order is Black, what with Sirius, and the fact that they keep responding to the DE's movements instead of making the first moves. That's just assumptions, though, and I have no idea what the move would be sufficient shorthand for Ron. It doesn't seem like Ron could locate Charlie using that information, anyway.

[kiya]

It's not Petrov's, it's Damiano:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damiano_Defence

Possible communication is 'I made a stupid move and paid for it'?

[kiya]

Though if f6 is a terrible move Nxe5 is worse.

(Also I hate modern chess notation but that's neither here nor there.)

[stormyhearted]

It does not play well with my dyslexia, that's for sure.

[kiya]

No, I'm wrong, apparently.

"Sacrifice the knight to win a rook and perhaps the game".

[ursamajor]

Interesting - but Charlie. Sacrifice Charlie to win - who would the rook be at this point? (Rookwood, punny as that would be, is already off the board.) Bellatrix is the queen. Barty, unlikely? (I'd cast him as knight-gone-amok, given how much bouncing around the chessboard they do.)

[stormyhearted]

Rod, maybe? According to wikipedia, rooks and queens are the major pieces, with the bishops and knights as the minor pieces.

That said, I have no idea how Charlie's wounding and disappearance would get them access to Rod or anyone else.

[ursamajor]

"[Charlie] says we're not allowed to sacrifice anyone trying to get him back. Knight's gambit. He means we should play him for advantage if we can. But not throw away advantage to protect him.

And he's probably not being kept anywhere near Ginny, either. But strategically - how valuable does the DEMLE find a dragonkeeper? With the Irish wards (and Rookwood) gone, they must suspect the other wards are being plotted against.

[stormyhearted]

It just occurred to me: how is brainwashed-Ginny handling Tosha's demise, given that he had carefully set himself up as the Reasonable Protective One?

[stormyhearted]

I don't know whether to think he's fallen into enemy hands or not. The message- and the fact that it was in code- makes me think yes, but the fact that he still has his journal at all makes me think no. Surely DEMLE would have confiscated it already?

[cheyinka]

Oh, yes, good question! When he's the one who 'rescued' her from 'overenthusiastic' 'interrogation', who 'corrected' her 'mistreatment'... and now he's gone...?

[stormyhearted]

Another random thought: has Draco tried calling the Buckingham elves again, now that he's in New London?