DARK LEGEND OF POTTER: RISE, MY TERRIBLE NEMESIS
It has been several days since last we saw Megumin and her friends. She is doing EXACTLY what you think she is.
The sun rose over the peaceful English countryside, the dew sparkling on the grass and heather.
Darkness blacker than dark and darker than black
Birds began to trill their early morning songs, and insects began to buzz in the late spring air.
Crimson redder than blood and deeper than soul
Fish swam and splashed in the pool at the bottom of an old quarry at the end of an overgrown rail track.
Cast beyond the stream of time where power grows
Occasionally, hikers would come out to swim there, but it was far enough from the nearest village that usually the animals had it all to themselves.
Awaken now and heed my call
Below the bluff, a small tent was pitched not far from an old gravel road, a car parked not far away.
I pledge my power and mastery, to the one universal truth
Inside the tent, Vernon groaned and rolled over, his back aching more than a little; he was getting too old for this.
Manifest now! Entropy itself made real!
He opened his eyes, frowning slightly. What was that noise?
EXPLOSION!
The shockwave of the blast picked up the tent, ripping it free of its stakes and sending it tumbling smack into the car. The two small figures that had been standing over the quarry were similarly flattened and tumbled backwards, landing with a thud near where the tent had been. This was fortunate, as a significant chunk of the cliff face was jarred free, crashing down into the pit where the now vaporized pool had been.
Vernon Dursley was put back to sleep when his head smacked into the side of his car leaving a not insignificant dent there.
Outside, Yunyun jumped up in a panic, dusting herself off as behind her, a mushroom cloud blossomed into the sky. "M-Megumin! D-daddy?!"
Beside her, a figure twitched face down in the dirt and said something muffled. Quickly, Yunyun turned her companion over.
"Did...did you see?" Megumin slurred. "How many points do you think that one was worth?"
"Y-you're alive!" Yunyun cried. "Megumin, that...that was too big!"
"Nonsense. It was my second Explosion. I am certain I can make them much larger," Megumin declared.
Further discussion was interrupted by two loud pops, and a pair of familiar figures appeared in the blasted hellscape.
"Bloody buggering HELL!" Tonks gasped, jerking back in horror as she looked up, up, and up at the pillar of smoke. Ash and debris continued to rain down, and the grass for a wide swath had caught fire and was burning. "What sort of madness is this?!"
"This would happen on the day I was going to retire," Moody grumbled, though he actually looked rather pleased as his magical eye spun madly in his head.
"M-Miss Tonks! Mr. Moody!" Yunyun cried. "Help! M-Megumin is hurt!"
"I'm fine," Megumin protested, though she was still flat on her back. "I just can't move."
"Normally when the Trace goes off it's just some kid trying to steal candy from a muggle store or prank someone, not...THIS!" Tonks said, gesticulating wildly at the crater that had formerly been a quarry.
"Where's Vernon?" Moody growled, stomping over on his peg leg. He spied the lumpy tent, then nodded. "Never mind."
With a swish of his wand, Moody retrieved the unconscious form of his rival from the ruined canvas. Fortunately, the tent hadn't caught fire, probably because the now properly paranoid Vernon had insisted on his daughter casting an enchantment on it to prevent "accidents."
This was foolish, as Megumin nearly always set things on fire intentionally.
"DAMN YOU MOODY!" Vernon swore when he snapped awake.
"Wasn't me this time you fat old fool," Moody chuckled.
"I'm only thirty-eight," Vernon grumbled. "You're the one who's bloody ancient. I ought to-" Vernon at last realized why the sky had suddenly darkened and that ash was falling. "MEGUMIN!"
"Did you see it, Uncle Vernon?" his niece asked, still unable to move. "It was the most glorious sight I have ever beheld, even more spectacular than when I bravely defeated Lord Voldemort for the second time!"
"Bloody buggering hell," Vernon swore, groaning and getting to his feet. "How'd you even manage that!?"
"Forget that, there's no way we can hide this from the muggles! What do we even DO!?" Tonks wailed.
"This looks like a fairly standard 68-11," Moody said with a shrug.
"A GAS LEAK!? Are you out of your mind!?" Tonks demanded. "There's no bloody way that-"
"-so as you can see, this was all caused by an enormous gas leak," Tonks explained to a very confused pair of muggle constables that had pulled up half an hour after the blast. A helicopter was circling overhead, and sirens wailed in the distance.
Instead of their auror robes, Tonks and Moody were now wearing cheap black suits, though Tonks had on a bright pink tie instead of a black one like her mentor. Moody had put on one of Megumin's spare eye patches, and looked halfway respectable under his bowler hat. Tonks just had her hair done up in a ponytail, and had turned it to a normal enough nut brown. Both had on dark glasses and ear pieces, as well as freshly shined black shoes.
"And just what organization are you two a part of again?" the older of the pair of real constables demanded. "Don't tell me you're the MIB."
"We're Agents of MI0," Moody growled, holding up an official looking badge.
"Military Intelligence Nought? That doesn't bloody well exist!" the younger of the pair protested.
"You're damn right it doesn't, so don't go blabbing about this," Tonk's snapped.
"I'm going to have to confirm this," the constable said, frowning.
As it turned out, MI0 was, in fact, a real fake organization that the British Aurors pretended to be whenever they had to interface with their muggle counterparts. The entire affair was written up with a lot of fancy sounding terms that boiled down to "a great big bubble of explosive gas formed under the quarry and then blew up."
But while Tonks and Moody fended off the muggles, Megumin was taken to Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies, while Vernon and Yunyun were bundled away elsewhere.
"Well, it seems that somehow, you've exhausted your magical reserves," a medi-wizard said, glancing down at a sheet of parchment before him.
Megumin nodded slightly, still feeling rather weak despite the potions she'd been dosed with. "Has my Magical Core been weakened somehow, resulting in-"
"Magical cores are a load of stuff and nonsense that charlatans feed to concerned parents to sell various supposed supplements that will keep their children from coming out as squibs," the Medi-Wizard huffed. "Don't tell me my daughter has been feeding you that tosh."
Megumin blinked at the man, who had thinning blond hair and a serious expression. She glanced at his name tag, which read, "Tonks."
"Wait, are you Tonks' dad?" Megumin asked.
"Yes, I'm Ted Tonks. I know Dora brought you in, Miss Potter, and that she and Andy visited you when I was on shift for Christmas. More bloody fools find a way to blow themselves up over the holidays...but you seem to have found a new and creative way to try to blow yourself up."
"Ha! A Crimson Demon would never be so foolish as to be caught in her own spell," Megumin laughed.
"Oh really? And I suppose you nearly killing yourself when you half destroyed Hogwarts doesn't count?" Ted demanded.
"Next time I'll do a proper job," Megumin promised.
Ted sighed and shook his head. "Listen. Whatever magic you wrought, it's dangerous. Nearly killed you just to cast it. I've rarely seen a case of magically induced exhaustion this bad. We're keeping you for a few days for observation."
"Hmph, I will be fine shortly, and then I can practice my Explosion magic more thoroughly," Megumin sniffed.
"You don't listen well, do you? Well, I did my best," Ted said. He stuck his head into the corridor. "She's all ready for you, Director Bones!"
The woman that swept into the room had a grim expression on her face, and looked like the sort who would brook exactly zero nonsense.
"Um, hello," Megumin said, swallowing as she felt cold sweat trickle down her back. "I, um, I go to school with Susan Bones. Are you her mum?"
"She's my niece. And I've heard about you from her, Miss Potter," Director Bones said, coming to stand beside Megumin's bed. "And that you attempted to poison her on Valentines this year."
"That was a mistake. I didn't mean to poison her, just Kazuma, Draco, and Dust," Megumin explained, trying to scoot back in her bedsheets.
"So, you admit to attempting to poison three of your classmates, then?" Bones demanded in icy tones.
"I, um, I...shouldn't I have my guardian here for this?" Megumin asked weakly.
"Your guardian is a muggle, and thus has no need to be here for this," Bones snapped. "Now, Miss Potter. Slipping my niece a laxative is something I can chalk up to a foolish prank of a girl. But blowing up half the bloody countryside I cannot."
"Well, that was because I need to practice for when Voldemort returns and tries to kill everyone, including Susan, again," Megumin explained.
The Director pursed her lips and gave Megumin a knowing look. "I somehow doubt that."
"Chunchunmaru was jealous that he didn't get to help me with my last Explosion," Megumin admitted. "And I also wanted to do a proper one, as I felt I didn't really give my first one my best."
Director Bones blinked at this, and seemed rather baffled for a moment. She cleared her throat, then managed, "Well. If you were not the girl who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named twice, we would be having a very different conversation. I would be snapping your wand, then sending you to Azkaban Prison."
"Oh, you should do that!" Megumin said eagerly. "Not the snapping my wand part. But in prison I would be certain to meet someone who had also been wrongfully imprisoned. The two of us would forge an unshakable bond, then we would learn a secret mystical technique that would allow us to escape! The two of us would be on the run together, working to clear our name and-"
"Enough! Miss Potter, you do not understand how dire your circumstances are!" Director Bones snapped. "You both endangered yourself, your family, and the very Statue of Secrecy itself!"
She leaned in, her tone soft and grim. "If I am forced to attend to another one of these magical mishaps, I shall be taking your wand, and exiling you from the magical world, permanently. Do I make myself clear?"
Megumin's throat felt drier than the Sahara, so she only jerked her head in a nod.
"Good. Now, I don't want to hear of any nonsense such as this again. Or have to spend another week sorting out the fallout of your little outbursts." With that, Director Bones left a somewhat cowed Megumin to rest.
A few hours later, Megumin awoke, feeling somewhat rested. She got up to answer the call of nature, and on the way out, bumped into a familiar face.
"Oh!" Darkness gasped when Megumin bounced right off of her larger friend. "I'm sorry, I didn't- Megumin?"
"Have you come to see me in my time of convalescence?" Megumin asked as Darkness helped her back up.
"I didn't even know you were sick, what's wrong?" Darkness said, frowning at Megumin's hospital robes.
"I strained myself casting a most glorious Explosion! It was much bigger and better than the last one, as I had Chunchumaru to aid me," Megumin explained. "The blast was such a bright crimson, and the shockwave-"
"Megumin, you know you're not supposed to do any magic outside of school, right?" Darkness asked in exasperation.
"That is why I went camping with Vernon and Yunyun near an old abandoned quarry out in the countryside. I did my Explosion there, to be discreet," Megumin sniffed.
"You mean the blast that you could see for miles and miles and was in the Daily Prophet's afternoon edition?" Darkness asked in bemusement. "I think it was even in the muggle papers."
"Ha! My fame and legend grow!" Megumin declared, striking a pose. She felt suddenly dizzy, and nearly collapsed. Fortunately, her friend caught her.
"You don't seem well, do you need to sit down?" Darkness asked.
"No, I need something to eat, I'm hungry," Megumin whined.
Darkness hesitated, looking uncomfortable. "Well, um, I was just heading back to the cafeteria to have dinner, I suppose-"
"Excellent! I shall accompany you! I will pay you back later as they took my wallet along with everything else," Megumin assured Darkness.
"No, it's not that...I just...I was going to have dinner with my parents…"
"Oh? I thought they were dead?" Megumin asked, frowning. "You are an orphan such as myself, are you not?"
"Well, not quite. But...I suppose you should just see for yourself," Darkness sighed, and motioned Megumin down a hallway.
They came to a rather ordinary looking dining space, with bland white walls and plain wooden tables. There was a kitchen at the back with a counter that served meals on a tray, along with various staff and patients sitting and eating.
At one table sat Augusta Longbottom, along with a man and woman in patients' robes. The man was sitting in a wheelchair and drooling into a bib about his neck, while the woman was rocking back and forth and muttering to herself. Both looked rather terrible, with lank hair, vacant expressions, and sickly skin tone.
"Mum, dad," Darkness said softly, coming to kneel beside the wheelchair. She gently put a hand on the man's shoulder, and he jerked his head around. He smiled at her, but didn't speak. "Dad. This is my friend, Megumin Potter. Megumin, this is my dad, Frank Longbottom."
"Hello," Megumin said, feeling rather somber. "It's nice to meet you. Darkness...she saved my life. And the lives of all our friends. I...I'm honored to know her."
The man blinked at Megumin and then smiled, making a sputtering sound that blew flecks of spittle everywhere.
"Oh, Frank, come here," Augusta said, sounding a bit tired. She wiped away the drool and smiled at Megumin. "Hello, love. I didn't know you were here."
"Hi," Megumin said, fidgeting nervously.
Next, Darkness went over to kneel by the woman. Gently, she took her mother's head in her hands, turning her face to look right at Megumin. "Mum. This is Megumin. She's my friend. Megumin, this is my mum, Alice."
"Oh, that's nice," the woman muttered, though her eyes didn't focus on Megumin, instead drifting about.
"Hi. I, um...I'm glad to meet you," Megumin said, gently taking the woman's hand.
She jerked away, letting out a keening sound and rocking more violently.
"Shhh, shhh, it's OK mum, it's OK, I'm here," Darkness said, rubbing her mother's back. She looked at Megumin, obviously embarrassed. "She, um, she's very sensitive. I'm the only one she lets touch her most of the time."
Megumin nodded, feeling slightly ill. "I see."
Dinner was very uncomfortable. Augusta carried on a one sided conversation as she spooned broth into her son's mouth, dabbing at his chin as it spilled out from time to time. Alice was able to feed herself stew with a spoon, though she was not given a knife or a fork. Darkness spoke only to respond to her grandmother, while Megumin found she was unable to speak.
At the end of the meal, on impulse, Megumin hugged Frank, who drooled on her a bit, making a grunting noise. "Thank you. It was a lovely meal. I'm glad to meet you. I...I don't know my own parents at all…"
She smiled at Alice, then sniffed and bowed. "I'm sorry, I have to go back to my room to rest...I'm not feeling well…"
Megumin was curled up in her own bed for only a few minutes when the door opened. She didn't look, but somehow she knew who was there. "I'm sorry, I just…"
"I know they're hard to be around," Darkness said, sounding tired. "I love them, I do, but...it's hard. They don't even know me…"
"No, I…" Megumin sat up, scrubbing at the tears she had been shedding. "I...I don't have parents. I know I act like I don't care, and well, I think it is exciting to be the hero marked by destiny, which means I have to be an orphan. But...just now...I wish that neither of us had ever heard of Voldemort."
"Yes," Darkness agreed quietly, tears trickling down her own cheeks. "Yes, I wish that too."
Darkness sat on Megumin's bedside, and the two girls snuggled up together for a few minutes.
"I'm a little jealous," Megumin admitted. "I know it's stupid, but...at least you can see your parents. It's not really the same, but…"
"This is going to sound awful, but...sometimes...I'm jealous of you too," Darkness admitted. "Your parents are dead. There's...well, you don't have two empty shells, walking around."
Megumin nodded. "Yeah. I guess we're both kinda dumb somtimes."
They sat together, for half an hour, talking quietly about their own dreams and troubles. Darkness left when Megumin started to fall asleep.
In her dreams, she dreamed of a family of her own. Of her own parents, and Yunyun, and a little sister with a yellow star in her hair, and glowing red eyes.
Nee-chan, we'll be together again, I promise. I won't let them take you from me...