Dark Legend of Potter Chapter 69

It was only two weeks to the Christmas Holidays, which meant that it was time for Ginny to finally prove herself. She tried to project an air of confidence and nonchalance as she strode towards the quidditch pitch, broom on her shoulders, her minions flanking her. She could do this. She had trained her entire life for this. They could win. 

She nearly missed a step, however, when she spied the last people in the world she wanted to see waiting for her. Her brothers. All six of them. And her mum and dad. She felt her hackles rise, and she gritted her teeth. Just because she wasn’t playing for stupid Gryffindor didn’t mean they all had to come out to mock her! She would show them she would show-

“There she is, unfurl the banner!” Fred (or possibly George, it was hard to tell at this distance), cried, and with a snap, a giant flag that was a picture of a giant snake with a red-headed woman garbed in armor and bearing a sword was riding that said “GO SLYTHERIN” on it. 

It was then that Ginny noticed that her entire family were wearing green jumpers with her picture on them. At that point, it was a fight to decide if she should cry for joy or find a hole in the ground to crawl into out of sheer embarrassment. She was 12, after all. It’s a rough time for everyone then. 

“Hey look, it’s our families!” Draco said brightly, pointing. “Hey, Gertie! I told you I would make the team! Where’s mum and dad!”

The ever-stoic Gertrude managed a small smile. “Couldn’t make it, but I’m here. Wouldn’t miss my little brother’s first game.” 

She gave Dust a big hug, while Ginny tried to hide from her family who were waving and cheering raucously, while Lucius and Narcissa smiled and shook hands with Draco and Kazuma, much to both of their embarrassments. 

“Hey, Mr. Weasley! Cool banner!” Dust said, trotting off after the hug, and leaving Ginny standing next to Gertrude.

“He’s a good boy, Dust,” Gertrude commented to Ginny. “Dim. But good.”

“Uh, yeah. Great Beater,” Ginny said, still torn between mortification and delight. 

“I love my brother. He’s the only good thing my family has ever produced,” Gertrude continued, which caused Ginny to eye her sideways. “So believe me when I say this: if you lead him astray, Ginevra Weasely, I know every single one of the Unforgivables. And I will test them all on you if you harm my wonderful idiot of a brother. Clear?”

“Crystal,” Ginny said, feeling slightly dizzy now. This was a lot closer to the reaction she’d been expecting from her family. 

“Excellent. Good luck with your game, I’ll be rooting for you,” Gertrude said, then turned and headed for the stands. 

That did mean there was nothing else shielding Ginny, so her family swarmed her. 

“Atta girl! I knew there was another quidditch genius in the family!” Charlie said, picking Ginny up and making her squeak as he spun her around.

“Um, Ron’s on the Gryffindor team,” Ginny pointed out. 

“Yeah, but he’s not as cute as you are,” Charlie said with a wink as he set Ginny down in a flustered mess. 

“We’re so proud of you, Ginny. Good luck,” her mother said, giving her a big hug. 

“And that’ll be true no matter what happens,” her father said with a wink. “That said, give those ‘Puffs hell.” 

Ginny eyed Ron sideways, but her youngest brother just grinned and punched her in the upper arm. Lightly, but he was still an arse for doing it. “So long as we’re not flying against one another, I’ll be rooting for you. You’d just do the same for me.”

“Of course,” Ginny muttered, though her mind went to the Quidditch Cup, which she absolutely refused to lose to Ron or anyone else. 

“The banner was our idea!” Fred said brightly, and George nodded. 

“We knew it would irritate you dreadfully, so of course, we just had to.”

“Wankers,” Ginny muttered, but gave them a hug anyway. 

After that, Ginny scrubbed her face, then rounded on her team. “Right, you ugly lot! Get your head into the game, and get to the lockers! We’ve got a game to win!” 

Once in the lockers, Ginny changed into her quidditch robes, then took a deep breath, steadying herself. She headed back outside, looking over her team. Flint leered at her, leaning up against the corner of the locker room with his arms folded over his chest. He’d be a challenge, but Ginny could manage. Kazuma was goofing off with Dust, while Draco looked a cross between annoyed and trying not to laugh at Kazuma’s off-color humor. They were her core three. Graham and Lucian were good. Better than good, really. They had the potential to go pro if only they’d apply themselves. 

Taking a deep breath, Ginny jumped up on one of the benches and looked around. “I’m not going to give you any inspiring speeches. That corny bollocks never appealed to me anyway. No, what I have is an order. Are you listening?”

The boy’s heads nodded, and Ginny gave them a feral grin.

“I want you to fucking murder those ‘Puffs. Destroy them. Kazuma!”

“Yes ma’am!” 

“Don’t catch the Snitch until we’re at least 200 points ahead! None of this catching it in the first five minutes, understand? Your job is to keep Diggory off it as well.”

“Uh, fine. Sheesh, and I wanted some free time later,” Kazuma groused. 

“Flint!” 

“Yeah?” The former captain gave Ginny a hooded look. 

“I’ve got 10 galleons here. For each hoop they take, I’m taking one away. Understand?” 

A slow grin spread over Flint’s face. “Well, now you’re speaking my language. I’ll want all 10 at the end.”

“Lucian, Dust, for each Puff you send to the infirmary, that’s five galleons.”

Lucian chuckled evilly, while Dust looked concerned. “But if we did that, they’d be really hurt. Doesn’t seem sporting.”

“It’s in the rules, Dust. It’s perfectly sporting. Besides, it builds character,” Ginny told him seriously.

“Oh, all right then!” Dust agreed, nodding as if that explained everything. 

“And Graham, if you can score more hoops and assists than me, I’ll give you 20 galleons.”

“More than you, captain? Payday’s as good as mine,” Graham scoffed. 

Ginny vowed he would get no payday from her, though she also wouldn’t be shy about passing if the need arose. 

“NOW LET’S DESTROY THEM!” Ginny snarled, raising her precious Firebolt, which she had named Nikke, over her head. “SLYTHERIN!” 

“SLYTHERIN!” the team roared and charged out of the lockers and onto the pitch. 

“-and the final score is 720-30 Slytherin!! What an incredible game, folks! That was the most brutal slaughter I’ve seen since I watched Yunyun and Megumin kill a dozen giant toads! And much like the Crimson Demons, these Slytherins have left no survivors!” Lee Jordan’s voice boomed as Ginny flew her broom over to the dazed looking Cedric Diggory, and offered her hand. 

“Good game,” she said. 

“I suppose it was, for you. Rather poor showing for us,” Diggory said with a shake of his head. Then he shook Ginny’s hand. “Bloody hell. I didn’t think you’d make it easy for us, but that was devastating. I know who I’m betting on to win the Quidditch Cup.” 

Ginny descended on her broom towards the pitch, where she was met with a mad rush of Slytherins, who lifted her onto their shoulders. Someone, who sounded an awful lot like her two idiot twin brothers, began to sing, 

God save our gracious Queen,

Ginny’s our Quidditch Queen,

Long may she reign!

Send her victorious,

Happy and Glorious,

Long to reign over us;

Ginny’s the Queen! 

There were several verses after that, but all that mattered was that she’d won, and done so in grand style. It was like a dream come true. Even Professor Snape gave her a smug grin, while Professor Sprout had to dry her tears and give Ginny a pained smile. 

For a few brief hours, Ginny was deliriously happy. Everything was going right. She was plied with sweets and butterbeer in the Slytherin Dorms, while people jawed on and on about the brilliant plays and maneuvers she’d led her team through. At last, she was special. Not because she was “the girl” or because she was “the Slytherin” but because of something she’d done. It was her skills, her talent, her brains. Finally, she stood out.

She went to bed that night with a smile on her lips, and a song in her heart. 

And then reality caught up to her the next morning when she was skipping to breakfast, only to be grabbed and dragged back to the dungeon by a pale-faced Kazuma and Draco, along with Dust, who was sporting a black eye. 

“What’s the problem? Did the ‘Puffs get so sore they gave you the business? We’ll show them what for!” Ginny vowed as they dragged her down the stairs. She was on top of the world, nothing could stop her now!

“No, it was a group of Ravenclaws, who are furious because we’re leading in the House Cup now!” Kazuma hissed.

Ginny blinked. “What?”

“They’re a bit sore, seeing as they’ve been paying us to lose all those points and gain them some. Well, it seems they find your sudden and overwhelming victory to be something of a renigging on our agreements,” Draco panted. 

Her mind catching up with the situation, Ginny’s mouth opened in a small “O.” Seven hundred and twenty points would put Slytherin at the top of the rankings for the House Cup. Despite all the hundreds of points they’d lost and even more hundreds they’d helped other houses gain, it seemed the Slytherins were so damn good, that they’d managed to pull ahead of absolutely everyone in the rankings. 

“Oh bloody buggering hell,” Ginny groaned as they piled back into the common room. “What do we do!?”

“I’m going to have to try to figure out an angle. But basically, we need to find a way to lose a lot of points, fast,” Kazuma whispered, looking around frantically. “Because until we do, not only will we not get any more customers-”

“You would worry about that most at a time like this,” Draco huffed. 

“Shaddup! Look, our hides are on the line! And if word gets out to the Professors about what we’ve been doing, we are-”

“And what, pray tell, Mr. Crabbe, have you been doing?” Snape asked, looming up behind the four fools. 

They all slowly turned, giving Snape their most innocent of smiles. Ginny had high hopes for her smile, as it nearly always got her out of trouble with her father.

But never her mother for some reason. 

That reason being that Molly Weasely was a good deal like her daughter and knew exactly how innocent she was based off of her own experience growing up. 

“Planning new Quidditch strategies, sir. We wouldn’t want anyone else to find out because if they did, we’d never pull off a win like that again,” Kazuma said with as straight a face as he could manage. 

Snape considered that, then gave them a slow nod. “See that you do. I made out quite handily after that game. And I won’t have to suffer Sprouts insufferable quips whenever her team beats mine for the rest of the year. Good work, Weasley.”

With that, Snape glided off out of the common room, leaving all four of the miscreants to breathe a sigh of relief. 

“We’ve got to act fast. What’s the best way to lose a lot of points quickly?” Ginny demanded. 

“Bring in more Flying Monkeys?” Dust suggested. “We lost a lot of points on that one.”

Draco and Kazuma looked at Dust like he was an idiot, but Ginny was thoughtful. “No, no. He’s got a point. That was the most points we ever lost in one go. We need a stunt like that to show we’re acting in good faith. But how?”

“If only we could cast Explosion like Megumin. She loses loads of points every time she does it,” Dust said mournfully. 

Kazuma and Draco looked at their companion in abject horror, but Ginny clapped her hands and grinned. “Dust, you’re a genius! That’s EXACTLY what we’ll do! And we’ll use the flying monkeys to do it!” 

“G-Ginny. Be reasonable! None of us even know how to cast Explosion!” Draco stammered, his face even paler than it had been. 

“Uh, not that I have anything against us cheating the system, but how the hell are we even going to do that?” Kazuma said, scratching his head. 

Ginny grinned. This was exactly why these dunderheads needed her to be in charge. “It’s like this, see…”

Herbology was easily Yunyun’s favorite class, even if she didn’t have it with Megumin this year. Actually, it was perhaps especially her favorite because she didn’t have it with Megumin this year. As much as Yunyun loved her sister, being around Megumin could sometimes be a little taxing. 

Plus, whenever Megumin was around, all the plants became very stressed and didn’t grow as well, no matter how much Yunyun reassured them. 

Yunyun had not noticed that this was true of her classmates, several of the more timid of which had developed nervous twitches whenever Megumin was within eyesight. This just proved how irrational fear is, because really they should have been much more concerned when Megumin wasn’t within eyesight. That was when the real trouble began. 

“Good morning,” Yunyun said to her patch of dittany. “How are we all feeling today?”

The plants eagerly greeted Yunyun, and being great gossips, eagerly told Yunyun all about the various goings on in the garden. Smiling, Yunyun nodded and made appropriate noises as she heard about the scandalous affair between the petunias and snapdragons, when the plants said something very odd. 

“Bananas?” she said, turning towards a corner of the garden where sure enough, several banana trees had sprouted. “When did we get bananas?”

“Hmm, what’s that dear?” Professor Sprout said, looking up from helping one of the other students with their own pot of dittany. The plants weren’t hard to care for, but they were so important in so many potions that a steady supply was always needed. 

“When did we start growing bananas, professor?” Yunyun repeated, gesturing to the banana trees. 

“Well, I can’t say that I recall planting them. Who do you suppose…?” Sprout said, going over to inspect the trees. “Why, these are just common banana trees! But how did they grow in this cold?”

Yunyun went over to inspect the trees, noting the freshly churned earth. “Someone’s planted them right over the Mimbulus mimbletonia! But it doesn’t even smell, who could have…? Please, Mr. Banana tree, who planted you?”

The banana tree promptly informed Yunyun that it was not a banana tree, or rather, it hadn’t been one until very recently. Instead, it had been the Mimbulus mimbletonia, having been transfigured into banana trees only an hour or so ago.

“He says he is the Mimbulus mimbletonia, but he’s been transfigured,” Yunyun explained. 

“Who could have done that, and why bananas?” Sprout said, sounding as perplexed as Yunyun was. 

It was then that they heard a distant, screeching cry, and everyone froze. 

“Oh no!” Yunyun groaned. “Please don’t tell me…”

“Ha! You’ve fallen into our trap, Lampuffs!” Ginny Weasley’s voice declared, and she along with her three minions appeared at the edge of the herbology garden. “This will seal our victory, and forever prove Slytherin Superiority!” 

“Ginny, dear, I don’t think you’ve thought this through,” Sprout said, wringing her hands. “If the flying monkeys catch scent of the bananas, they’ll destroy my entire classroom!”

“Pff, that won’t happen,” Kazuma scoffed. “The transfiguration will wear off in a few minutes. We just wanted you to all know you’re a bunch of fruits.”

“No, I really think that-”

“OOK OOK OOK!” 

A squad of flying monkeys flapped over the garden wall, making straight for the banana trees. Yunyun knew from experience they’d ravage everything and start flinging dung at anyone close to them, so she did what to her was the only reasonable thing possible.

“BEHOLD! I AM YUNYUN! FOREMOST GARDENER OF THE CRIMSON DEMON CLAN, AND SHE WHO WILL DEFEND HER FLORAL FRIENDS!”

“YUNYUN! DEAR, NOW ISN’T THE TIME TO-” Sprout began, but it was too late. 

Eyes aglow, Yunyun held up one hand. “CRIMSON LASER!”

A beam of scarlet death flashed out, obliterating the flying monkeys. And a good chunk of the wall. 

“OOK OOK OOK!” 

With a warbling battle cry, more flying monkeys descended, having been lured there by a trail of bananas conveniently left out for them. 

“LIGHT OF SABER! ENERGY IGNITION! CURSED LIGHTNING!” 

A technicolor display of destruction and death lit up the sky as dozens of monkeys were reduced to nought but ashes by Yunyun’s spells. Along with the Greenhouse roof, most of the wall, and one pillar, which caused part of the south wing to collapse. 

“WHO ELSE DARES DISTURB MY GARDEN!?” Yunyun raged, but the monkeys were silent. Mostly on account of them all being very dead. 

Beaming with pride, Yunyun turned to professor sprout and her cowering housemates. “I did it, Professor! I saved the garden!”

“That’s nice, dear,” Sprout said. Then she rounded on the four cowering Slytherins, her nostrils flaring. “YOU COMPLETE NINCOMPOOPS! DON’T YOU KNOW BETTER!? THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

“Our fault?! She’s the one who blew everything up!” Kazuma protested. 

“Very heroically,” Draco hastily added. 

“She was protecting her housemates and the garden. YOU IDIOTS THOUGHT THIS WAS A PRANK?! I’LL SHOW YOU A PRANK! ONE HUNDRED POINTS! EACH! AND A WEEK OF DETENTIONS REPAIRING THIS! BY HAND!”

Yunyun deflated slightly, realizing that she had kinda sorta absolutely blown everything to teeny tiny pieces. “Um, s-sorry, professor. Um, I’ll serve detention, too…”

“No you won’t, dearie. These…children…need to learn the consequences of their own actions. They’re just lucky you’re not your cousin, or they’d have been fried too,” Sprout said, trying to smooth her frazzled hair back into a bun. 

The four Slytherins managed to look contrite, as Sprout hauled them off.

Yunyun, however, noticed that Kazuma and Ginny high fived one another, while Draco was smirking like they’d just won as soon as Sprout’s back was turned. What on Earth was going on?

Shrugging, she turned back to her dittany to reassure them and the other plants, as well as undo the transfiguration. 

Some people had no respect for peace and tranquility.