CHASER 3: "The Holy Grail" King Arthur is challenged to a duel by the Black Knight, who promptly loses all of his limbs. The Black Knight then decides to call it a draw. Write about a canonically stubborn character faced with insurmountable odds.

Prompts:

#4: (word) insufferable

#9: (word) expectations

#11: (word count) 2 112 (the document without the A/N and title should be 2 112 words)

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First-Time Flyer

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The Weasley family table was chaotic on this Saturday morning in the middle of August.

Despite Molly and Arthur's best efforts, getting money to pay for Bill, Charlie, and Percy's books was a challenge they weren't able to meet. They bickered over how they would manage to send their children off to school with their books, and in the process sparked more bickering among their children.

Bill and Charlie were fighting over who was the better quidditch player, while Fred, George, and Ron were teasing Percy for being nervous over attending Hogwarts for his first year of school.

"I made seeker in my second year!" Charlie exclaimed, throwing his hands up to emphasize his anger at his brother as if that helped prove his point.

Bill narrowed his eyes, "Only because there were no better options! If Blair hadn't left, you never would've gotten it! I made chaser in my third year, and everyone else trying out was older than me!"

Charlie continued on about how he had led Gryffindor to the house cup that year, which only infuriated Bill more because of how egotistical that statement sounded.

"Aw, is Percy nervous?" Fred asked in a condescendingly high voice as he poked his older brother on the shoulder, making said brother twitch in annoyance.

George laughed as Ron threw a sausage at Percy, exclaiming, "Why are you nervous? I would kill to go to Hogwarts this year! You're so lucky!"

The arguing around the table continued for several more minutes until everyone was silenced when Percy shouted, "CAN YOU NOT BE INSUFFERABLE GITS FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIVES AND LET ME HAVE FEELINGS?"

The silence rang out over the table before George choked out a laugh that sent roughly half of the other people at the table into fitful snickers. Percy glared at everyone before going back to poking at his eggs with his fork.

"Anyone fancy a game of quidditch?" Fred asked as he shoved down his last mouthful of food. Quidditch games were a daily occurrence in the Weasley family and they were a tradition that none of the boys could live without.

Charlie, Bill, George, and Ron mumbled their agreements, but before they could get up and leave, someone piped up that nobody had been expected. Ginny Weasley, the youngest but possibly the most resilient Weasley, said, "Can I join the game?"

"Now, Ginny," Molly started, trying her best not to be too harsh with her daughter. "You know the rules, and the rules say that you aren't allowed on brooms until you're older.

An incredibly rough look for her age entered Ginny's face as she glared up at her mother. "And why can't I?" Ginny asked. "Because I'm a girl?"

Molly sputtered, baffled by her daughter's response, "Of-of course not! It's because you're the youngest and I want you to be safe!"

Ginny huffed, crossing her arms as she glared enviously over at her brothers who had just begun their game that she so badly wanted to join. She didn't care what her mother said - she would get on a broom and prove them wrong!

The pristine environment surrounding the Burrow was untouched and peaceful. Ginny looked over the fields with a small, determined smile on her face as she sprinted through the grass towards the shed.

Within seconds of arriving at the locked shed door, Ginny knew what to do. Picking up a rock, she whacked the old rusty lock with as much force as she could until it snapped off, falling to the ground with a hollow clunk.

The door opened slowly, and her small head poked in as if to check if anyone was in there, although she knew there wouldn't be anyone. Wincing at the creaking noise that the door emitted, she walked to the wall with five brooms hung up on it, and grabbed the newest one.

With a grin, the youngest Weasley left the shed, broom in hand.

Facing the wide, barren field filled her with a sense of dread, but she steeled herself as she mulled over the fact that it was too late to go back now.

Taking a deep breath, Ginny put the broom between her legs and followed the movements she had seen her older brothers do many times before. Before she knew it, she was flying.

A breathless giggle escaped her mouth. It was so easy! Why wouldn't her mother let her do this! How could she keep such an amazing thing from her and allow her brothers to have it?

The feeling of being in the air gave her such a rush and she decided that she didn't want to take it slowly.

If anyone had looked out of the windows of the Burrow at that moments, they would have seen a small six-year-old girl, flying around like she was born to do it - flying like she had been doing it for years.

Pulling risky moves that she had seen her brothers doing during games, Ginny decided in her mind that she would get her parents to allow her to play - one way or another. Even if it meant jumping on a broom and showing them before they could stop her!

Nothing had come so naturally to her, and she never wanted to give up that feeling of elation that came over her. She couldn't imagine anyone experiencing that feeling and allowing themselves to let go of it!

Three hours passed very quickly, and Ginny landed back on the ground, exhausted. She slipped back inside, vowing that she would show her family what she could do.

The next morning, Ginny found her anger growing quicker than she ever knew it could. Hearing them laugh about their game the previous day was grating on her nerves.

"And then right when Charlie was about to catch the snitch," Bill started, an obnoxious grin plastered on his face. "Fred hit the bludger at him and it smashed right into his face!"

Charlie scowled as all the boys laughed at his predicament. The black eye and bruised cheek was evidence that something had happened to his face - it was just that nobody had heard the story yet.

Molly exclaimed, "That's so dangerous! Maybe I should ban all of you from playing quidditch!"

Arthur choked on his food due to laughter as all of his sons, except for Percy - who had been steadfastly silent since his outburst the day before - dropped their jaws and stared at their mother in disbelief.

"What?" Fred sputtered, "You can't- you can't do that!"

Narrowing her eyes, Molly leaned forward, giving him a terrifying look. "And why not?" She spoke in a deadly tone that made all the boys around the table shudder at the idea that she could actually ban them from quidditch.

"Well, you know," Ginny started speaking, shocking everyone as she had had no previous part of the discussion. "I've never been allowed to play quidditch and I live with it, now don't I?"

She straightened her back imperiously and raised her chin, trying her best to appear superior as she proved her point as best she could.

Letting out a large sigh, Molly said, "Ginny, you know that the only reason we don't want you playing is that you're too young."

"That's not true!" Ginny shouted, shocking everyone once again. "Ron has been on a broom since he was five - and I'm six!"

"Ginny!" Molly exclaimed, shocked by the audacity her daughter was showing and by the fact that she was still persisting on this issue despite being told no multiple times. "I have told you no several times, young lady! You need to understand that you can't always get things your way!"

The six-year-old let out a groan of annoyance and threw her head in her hands. "Mom!" She groaned, sounding more and more like an impudent child as the argument continued. "Please? Just let me try!"

"No. I've made my decision and no means no," Molly spoke sternly, leaving no room for argument.

The boys all stood up and left, not wanting to stay in the awkwardness any longer than they had to. Arthur and Molly both sent a look of annoyance at their son's backs but didn't tell them to stop.

Ginny tried her best not to but found tears of frustration leaking out of her eyes. She was hunched over, trying to hide her tears.

Molly stood up and walked over to her daughter, sitting next to her and rubbing soothing circles into her back, hoping to calm her.

Arthur decided it was finally his time to speak up. "Molly," He spoke quietly, drawing his wife's attention, "Maybe we should give her a chance? After all, she is right, Ron was allowed when he was five and she's six."

Ginny remained silent, pretending she was still crying while she was really listening. Her feeling of helplessness was fading more every second and turning into anticipation.

Molly whisper-yelled, "Arthur! She's only six!"

Glancing up, Ginny saw that her father was giving her mother a serious look - a look rarely seen on her father. He normally let his wife take charge as she was infamously stubborn, but this was a different story.

"Molly, look at this from her perspective," Arthur began, "You're not allowing her to do something that you're allowing everybody else to do, and she's more set on it than Ron ever was before we allowed him to start. If we say no, we'll be encouraging the idea that women are inferior to men - and I don't think that's something you wish to encourage, is it?"

The Weasley matriarch stumbled over her words as she looked at her husband in complete shock. Before responding, she took a moment to decide, before saying, "Ok, ok. She can try it - but if she gets hurt - that's on you!"

Arthur smiled, "Of course. Although, I have a feeling she'll be a natural."

Ginny jumped out of her seat. "Yes!" She exclaimed, making her parents laugh, before running outside.

All of her brothers saw her running outside with a smile on her face, and their curiosity turned them away from their game to see what was happening.

"Mum and Dad are letting me fly!" Ginny said, an expression of elation on her face.

All of them, except for Ron, was taken aback. Their mother had been set in her decision, and when her mind was made up, it was near impossible to change it.

Bill stepped forward, asking, "Really?"

Before Ginny could respond, her mother's voice rang out over the lawn, "Yes, she's telling the truth. We're going to see how it goes before deciding what broom privileges she'll get."

Turning to see their parents, all of the Weasley children saw Arthur with a small blush on his face and smug smile while Molly had her arm wrapped around his waist.

Arthur let go of Molly, held out a hand to Ron as if to ask for his broom, and Ron handed it over hesitantly. Arthur turned to Ginny and said, "We're going to do this how they do it at Hogwarts, alright?"

Ginny's eyes widened and she nodded excitedly, thrilled at the thought of doing something that they do at Hogwarts. He laid the broom on the ground to Ginny's right, and instructed her to command the broom into her hand by saying 'up'.

"Up!" Ginny shouted, flinching as the broom shot off into her hand. She looked at her family to see if she'd done alright and saw all of them looking at her with wide eyes and jaws dropped.

Arthur gave her more instructions on how to ride it, but she found she didn't need them at all after last night. But, to hide her secret outing the night before, she pretended she didn't know.

"Now, take off as gently as possible," Her father said softly, showing his nerves through the nervous wringing of his hands.

Ginny grinned, pushing off the ground with as much force as she could, flying above all of her family's heads, and doing a wide loop-de-loop, making her mother scream in terror. She continued showing off, doing moves that she had practised last night and knew she could execute perfectly.

Her brothers watched in awe as she flew with more skill than Ron and Percy combined without having done it before. She had beyond shattered the expectations set by her siblings, who never would've imagined her being a skilled flyer.

She stopped midair, facing her family, and said, "What do you think? Can I fly with the boys now?"