Despite having the purest of intentions in plundering the 3rd Floor corridor, Megumin and her friends managed to earn themselves a solid month of detentions alongside Kazuma and his cronies, largely due to the Valentine's Day kerfuffle they became involved in.
In a fit of pure insanity, Megumin and her group conspired to brew up a pot of extremely potent laxatives, then turn them into chocolates. The idea was to give them to Kazuma's group and then snigger at the resulting embarrassment the boys would suffer. For once, this wasn't actually Megumin's idea.
"They should have to pay for rejecting your gift," Darkness had decided.
Even Ron found the idea too amusing to pass up, and Hermione was intrigued by the idea of using their talents to create an appetizing but near lethal sweet. Yunyun ended up going along with the whole thing simply because everyone else was doing it. The chocolates turned out rather well, and the group plotted the perfect time to do it.
"We can't just give them the candy, they'll be suspicious," Hermione pointed out.
"Yes, we'll have to leave it somewhere for them to find," Darkness agreed.
"You're not thinking like Kazutrash!" Megumin laughed. "We have to make them THINK these are not for them, then have the boys steal the candy from us!"
This was accomplished by making a batch of actually delicious chocolates. They were so good that everyone kept sneaking some, and they had to make a second, then a third batch, all the while trying not to mix up which was which.
"W-we can give these to everyone, a-and make lots of friends!" Yunyun said happily.
Everyone agreed this was a great plan, and they made sure to set aside their tainted batch for Kazuma to pilfer.
If you've ever seen a comedy skit, you know where this is going, but we were all dumb and eleven once.
Thus, the next day during Valentine's, everyone was in Professor Binns' class. It was the only class that all four houses had together, and they had a party planned. Binns didn't really care what everyone did, as he was dead, and the plan was to exchange candy and treats during the lecture and generally have a good time.
During the class, Megumin made a great show of giving everyone but Kazuma, Dust, and Draco some of their chocolates, while "hiding" a large bag of extra sweets at her desk.
For his part, Kazuma was handing out bottles of butterbeer that he'd had an older Slytherin smuggle back from Hogsmeade village during an outing. He also withheld bottles from Megumin, sneering at her as he did so.
So, naturally, when Kazuma went over to steal her candy, Megumin swiped five drinks and passed them out to her friends. They all quickly guzzled their drinks, while Kazuma surreptitiously handed out the candy he snagged to Dust and Draco.
"Wow Potter, this is good candy," Draco taunted. "Shame I have to eat it all."
"You worthless pureblood ponce!" Ron snapped, shaking a fist. "How dare you! I'll have to have this butterbeer to console myself."
"Hey. Those are our drinks. How dare you, Megumin," Dust said, squinting at his palm, where smudged writing could be seen.
Draco elbowed him. "It was Ron that said that!"
"Oh! I mean, um, Weasley." Dust managed a smile.
"Ha! I win again!" Megumin declared. "We have stolen your drinks!"
"Oh, sure. But I got your candy," Kazuma said, smirking at her. "And that means-"
There was a loud groan from the Ravenclaws, and Padma clutched at her stomach. "I don't...I don't feel so good…"
Kazuma frowned, but turned back to Megumin and said, "Besides, I let you take those."
"Ha!" Megumin grinned and folded her arms over her chest. "Just as I let you-"
Justin from the Hufflepuffs went pale as he let out a long, loud, and very smelly fart. "Um, I have to...ohgod." He ran off, trailing the whiff of indigestion.
"Let me? Ha! You just can't admit we got one over on you!" Kazuma crowed. "Just as we will-"
The other Slytherins suddenly stood, and sprinted for the doors, groaning and moaning. A moment later, they were followed by all of the other students, leaving eight perplexed students alone as Binns' lecture droned on.
"Wait, wasn't it just them that was supposed to get sick?" Dust asked, jerking a thumb at Megumin.
"Did you poison everyone else, you fiends?!" Darkness demanded, standing up, her nostrils flaring in outrage.
"Relax, it's just a laxative," Kazuma said with a shrug. "We were going to use it on the frog, but we decided to use it on you."
"Maybe the drinks got mixed up?" Dust guessed. "They should be crapping themselves by now."
"But, I feel fine," Ron said. "It's you who we fed the laxative to."
"Wait, did you spike that candy?!" Draco demanded. He looked down at the chocolate staining his hands. "You tried to kill us!"
"No, just embarrass you," Megumin sniffed.
"Um," Yunyun said, squinting at the red bag Kazuma had. "M-megumin, w-which bag did you pass out?"
"The green one, the one with the safe candy in it," Megumin answered.
"Oh no," Ron groaned, resting his head in his hands. "Don't tell me…"
"Um, um, I think...I think the bad candy was in the green bag, and the good ones were in the red…" Yunyun stammered.
"Yeah, but how are you guys not sick? You stole the tainted bottles, the one in the bag with the cupids," Kazuma said.
"Hold on, I thought you said to poison the bottles in the bag with the hearts, not the cupids," Dust said. "I passed out the ones in the heart bag…"
There was a moment of silence as everyone mulled things over.
"Oh hell," Kazuma groaned.
And that was how the two warring factions managed to neatly poison all of their classmates save for the ones they actually wanted to.
Once the eight very embarrassed children were dragged out of the Forbidden Forest where they had attempted to hide, they were put on what amounted to permanent detention, at least until the Easter Holidays.
With such constant supervision and even Snape absolutely refusing to let them have access to any potion supplies not strictly needed for class, Megumin once more found the third floor corridor tantalizingly out of reach.
The only real break from the monotony was the Spring Gryffindor Quidditch match. Ron flew well enough, but failed to catch the snitch. In the end it didn't matter much, as the Hufflepuff chasers were simply not as good as the Gryffindor ones, and Ron did manage to stall the game out for well over two hours. It was an exhausting, grinding match, but it ended 270-250 in Gryffindor's favor, with the Hufflepuff Seeker forced to catch the Snitch when Ron finally tracked it down.
"This is why sports are dumb and lame," Megumin complained during their detention that night.
Ron looked up from scrubbing floors to glare at her, until she added, "You were clearly the superior player and should have been allowed to challenge that big lug Cedric Diggory to a duel. I'm certain you would have defeated him."
A small puff of air blew out of Ron's lips as they tugged up in a slight smile. "Well, that's actually against the rules. Someone's tried just that before."
"Then the rules are dumb," Megumin opined.
Ron shrugged, seeming to accept this was Megumin's way of cheering him on, and went back to work.
The months passed by, until term was very nearly at an end. There were only two weeks left in May, and everyone was nearly desperate. But every time they tried to think of a plan or a way to sneak into the corridor, somehow they would get another detention. Mostly because McGonagall seemed to always catch them sneaking out.
Then, a break came. They were assigned to Quirrell for a detention, along with Kazuma's group, who had also been caught sneaking out to the Third Floor corridor. However, when they showed up, Quirrell told them, "The H-Headmaster has been called to an e-emergency meeting of the W-Wizengamot. A-as such, I have o-other tasks to attend to. You f-five w-will dust out this room. You t-three S-Slytherins w-will c-clean n-next door."
And with that, Quirrell spun on his heel and walked out.
The two groups eyed one another.
"Well, guess we'll just get to cleaning," Kazuma said lightly. He whistled as the three boys exited. Even before Megumin could dash to the door, they were sprinting off.
"Come on!" Megumin cried. "We must retrieve our items and beat them through the dungeon!"
They had hidden away a variety of supplies for completing their dungeon crawl in several broom closets, and it wasn't long before Megumin's group was armed with six foot poles, coils of rope, various potions, their wands (which they had managed not to get confiscated as Megumin had limited herself to only blowing up a few of the re-emerging giant toads) and hurried to the third floor corridor.
"Right then, check for traps," Ron said, pointing at the door.
They carefully went over the door step by step, but failed to find anything. They were just about to open it, when there was a triple cry of, "Incarcerous!"
Megumin, Yunyun, and Hermione found themselves wrapped in ropes and crashed to the floor. Ron and Darkness tried to turn, but two more spells flew out and hit them.
"Nice try, Potter," Draco cackled. "But we knew you'd waste time at the door!"
"Didn't even trap it this time," Kazuma said, waving as they went past. "Have fun."
"You will rue this day, Kazu-trash!" Megumin snarled.
He considered this, tapping his chin with an index finger. "Hmmm. No. I won't. I'll win!"
As they talked, Dust clattered up, covered in ill fitting armor and carrying a metal spear. "You're sure this will work?" he asked, his voice echoing inside the plate helm.
"Yep, Hagrid said they hate metal," Kazuma agreed. He gave Dust a shove. "In you go."
Dust went inside, and Draco and Kazuma watched him.
"Coward!" Darkness snarled. "Letting your friend face the danger instead of you!"
"No, I'm just smart enough to use a meat shield," Kazuma said, winking at Darkness. "Don't tell me you're jealous of Dust, eh?"
"Don't be ridiculous! I would never want a giant toad to coat me and slime, and eat me and-" Darkness's teeth clacked shut and she glared daggers at Kazuma.
"Um, w-we could be friends, a-and do the dungeon together?" Yunyun offered.
"I don't think so," Draco sneered. "How could I be friends with a...well. A Hufflepuff."
"I got it!" Dust's voice called from inside. "Toad's dead!"
"Ta-ta for now!" Kazuma said, a wide grin on his face.
The door shut, leaving the five on the floor, struggling to free themselves. However, a minute after the three boys went inside, their bonds suddenly loosened themselves, then fell off.
"We are free!" Megumin cackled. "Come, let us proceed!"
"That's weird, how did the magic fail?" Ron said as he winced and sat up.
"Because I am the hero and I must be the one to complete the Dungeon first!" Megumin proclaimed. "Onward!"
Inside they found the corpse of the giant toad slumped in the corner of the room in a large inflatable pink kiddie pool.
"Ew," Ron said, making a face.
"Ignore it, come on!" Megumin ordered, and they all hurried to the trap door.
"Hold on, I hear something," Darkness warned. She slowly opened the door, peering down inside. An instant later, she let out a squeak and jumped back as a thorny vine crawled up out of the opening.
"Don't touch it!" Hermione warned. "That's Devil's Snare!"
Below, they could hear muffled groans and cries as more thorny vines ventured forth.
"Sounds like Kazutrash and his gang got caught," Megumin said smugly.
"The more you struggle, the tighter it will get," Hermione explained. "It's the plant's defense mechanism."
"How do we get it to move back so that it doesn't get us though?" Ron demanded.
Hermione pointed her wand at the plant and said, "Lumos!"
Instantly, the tendrils retreated, and they lowered a rope. Sliding down, they found Kazuma's group still tightly bound by the Devil's Snare.
"Hi guys," Dust said, his voice still distorted by his helm. "What's up?"
"Let us out!" Kazuma wailed. "It'll kill us!"
"It won't if you stop struggling," Hermione said.
Darkness glared at the plant. "It's what you deserve, using such underhanded tactics on us. That was a dirty trick!"
"If you don't play dirty, what's the point?" Kazuma said philosophically.
"Yunyun, please! Help!" Draco wailed. "Aren't we friends?"
"Leave them," Megumin ordered and headed off down the hall. "They deserve it."
The five of them left, with Yunyun darting looks over her shoulder, but Darkness steered her on. In the next chamber, they found a room full of flying keys flitting about.
"Wow, what's this all about?" Ron asked, looking around.
"Obviously, one of them is the correct key to the door," Megumin pointed out, gesturing to a locked door at the other end of the room. "We just have to figure out which one."
After a few minutes, Hermione, Yunyun, and Megumin worked out which key. However, it was flying about high above their heads, too far up for them to easily reach.
"Guess it's up to me," Ron sighed, nodding to a rack of brooms. "Hopefully all that training Oliver made me do is worth it…"
"I knew your talent would be the key to our success," Megumin said, nodding in approval.
Ron glanced at her, but then found himself grinning as the girls gave him a big thumbs up. "You know what? I actually believe that."
"Of course. Quidditch is clearly an important sidequest and valuable skill that one of us needed to master," Megumin pointed out. "That's always how these things work."
It took a few minutes, but Ron managed to snag the key after some tricky flying, the girls shouting encouragement all the while. He landed and hopped down off the broom, bowing as they applauded. He stood up, holding the key out to Megumin. As she took it, he frowned.
"Hey, where's Yunyun?"
"Um, d-don't be mad," Yunyun called as they all whirled. "But, um…D-Draco did say w-we were friends…"
The three Slytherins walked up, looking rather the worse for wear, Yunyun in the lead.
"Yunyun! He just said he could never be friends with you!" Hermione said in exasperation.
"I realized the error of my ways," Draco said in pious tones. "I do want to be Yunyun's friend."
She beamed at him, but Megumin growled deep in her throat. "I ought to…"
"Spare me," Kazuma said, picking some leaves out of his hair. "Look, obviously there's all kinds of traps here. So the bigger the group, the more success we'll have. We split the winnings 50-50. Half for you lot, half for us."
"Never!" Darkness snapped. "I'm not sharing with you!"
"Oh give it a rest. We'll let you trigger the next trap, Lalatina," Kazuma sneered.
Darkness was reduced to sputtering noises, but Megumin nodded. "Fine. But you go out in front."
She opened the door, and the three Slytherin boys were pushed through.
"Oh no, the horror!" Kazuma wailed.
"THE PAIN!" Draco shrieked. "THE HORRIBLE-"
"Oh wow, statues! What do you think they do?" Dust called.
The other five poked their heads in to find a chamber lined by black statues on the left, and white statues on the right. In the center was a wide marble floor in a checkerboard pattern.
"Huh," Kazuma said, tilting his head to one side. "Kinda looks like…"
"WE MUST PLAY A GAME OF CHESS TO DETERMINE WHO PROCEEDS!" Megumin bellowed. "I will be white. Come, my minions! Let us fight!"
"Man, I suck at chess," Dust whined.
"Pff, I'm an expert at games," Kazuma said dismissively. "I can-"
"Kazuma, the only game I beat you at every time is chess," Draco said. "Shut up and let me play."
Kazuma glared at Draco, then shoved his hands in his pockets. "...stupid game. No luck at all. Where's the fun in that?"
"I am a chess master!" Megumin cackled. "I shall destroy you!"
"Do you even know how to play?" Hermione asked skeptically.
"W-we play each other all the time," Yunyun admitted. "Um, Megumin-"
"I always win! Come, Draco! Let us battle!" Megumin ordered.
The statues came to life as the children approached, and trotted out the field. Megumin took the place of the White King, while Draco took the place of the black.
"Right pawn, advance one!" Megumin ordered, and one of her statues sprang to life, taking a step forward.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Pawn, E7 to E5."
"Oh no," Ron gasped. "Megumin, what are you-!"
"Right knight pawn, advance two!" Megumin said, pointing.
"NO!" Yunyun and Ron screamed at the same time.
"...Queen to H4." Draco said, looking a bit puzzled.
"MEGUMIN!" Ron shouted, jumping up and down, "What are you-!"
"Silence! I always win my games with Yunyun!" Megumin ordered. "My brilliant tactics know no bounds! Now, my left knight, advance!"
The knight turned to her and shook his head, refusing to move forward.
"M-Megumin! I always l-let you win!" Yunyun wailed.
"Um, that was checkmate last turn," Draco pointed out. "You lost."
"Don't be foolish! I will fight on!" Megumin declared, thrusting out her chest.
"Well, alright then. Black Queen takes White King," Draco ordered.
The black queen picked up a massive stone mace and advanced on Megumin, who glared at the large piece defiantly. "Ha! You cannot hope to-"
The queen's mace slammed down towards Megumin, even as Draco shrieked, "STOP IT! STOP IT! DON'T KILL HER, I TAKE IT BACK!"
However, before the mace could find it's mark, Dust and Kazuma both dove forward. Kazuma grabbed Megumin and dragged her back, even as Dust tried to fight the Black queen. His spear was battered aside, and the Black Queen came after Megumin, who had finally realized she was in danger and was screaming along with Kazuma.
"STOP, STOP, I'M SORRY!" Draco wailed, scrambling forward.
The queen raised her mace again, but Darkness stepped forward, thrusting her wand up. Despite being the largest of the children present, she was half the height of the ebony queen, but she did not back down.
The Queen's mace swung through the air, and Darkness shouted, "PROTEGO!"
The mace shattered on the barrier, and the queen reeled back.
"I won't let you hurt her!" Darkness roared.
Just then, all the chess pieces turned towards the huddle of children, and raised their weapons. They began to advance, and Hermione and Yunyun raised their wands.
"I FORFEIT!" Draco wailed. "Don't hurt them! Please! They're my friends!"
Instantly, the chess pieces bowed, and filed back to the wall, even the Black Queen. At the end of the hallway, the door swung open.
"Did...did I...I DECLARE VICTORY!" Megumin shouted. "I HAVE-"
"Shut up!" Ron snarled, slapping the back of Megumin's head. "You nearly got yourself killed!"
"Dumbass!" Kazuma agreed. "Draco just saved your life!"
While the others raged, Yunyun walked over to Draco, who was sobbing and on his knees, his face drawn and pale. He looked up at Yunyun, cowering slightly. "I...I'm sorry! I didn't think...I didn't want…"
"Thank you," Yunyun said quietly, reaching down a hand to Draco. "You're a good friend."
Draco blinked, then took Yunyun's hand. "You...you're not angry?"
"Megumin was being silly," Yunyun sighed and bit her lip. "I...um...I always let her win...she gets really upset otherwise…"
"WHAT?! I earned all my victories!" Megumin ranted.
"No," Ron said, smacking Megumin again and making her cry out in pain and anger. "That was the Fool's Mate. When we're done with this, I'm teaching you how to play chess properly. Honestly. That was complete rubbish."
"You go on then," Hermione sighed, nodding to the boys. "You won, fair and square. Even if Draco did concede."
"What?! No!" Megumin wailed.
Kazuma smirked and trotted for the door, the still shaken Draco coming along behind with Dust's help.
However, upon reaching the door, Kazuma turned right around and hurried back. "You know what? You saved us, so what the heck: You guys come on. Let's do this together."
"Why? What's up ahead?" Hermione asked suspiciously. She dashed for the door, taking a peek inside. Then she started to giggle. "Oh, honestly. Really?"
"What? What is it?" Megumin demanded, hurrying forward as she rubbed at the back of her head. "Oh."
Inside the next chamber, a giant troll waited. He grinned at them, showing a mouth that lacked any teeth.
"Smiley!" Yunyun gasped, and ran inside. "Y-you're here!"
"Fwen?" Smiley said, tilting his head at Yunyun.
"Yes, friends!" Yunyun agreed.
She wouldn't let the others through until Smiley had been introduced to everyone. The troll nodded, then opened the door for them all and waved. "Fwen."
"Bye Smiley!" Yunyun said. "T-thank you!"
The troll waggled its fingers, and the children continued on. They came to a table full of potions, along with pillars of black flame ahead. As soon as they stepped within, fire sprang up behind them.
"Uh oh," Dust said, frowning. "That's not good."
"Eh, relax, we can figure this out," Kazuma said, jogging towards the table. "We just have to solve the puzzle."
"Ha! I shall do it first!" Megumin declared, shoving Kazuma to the side.
"No, I will!" Kazuma ranted, shoving her right back.
"Not a chance! I am the foremost genius of the Crimson Demon Clan, and I will-"
Just then, the flames behind them winked out, and the door swung open.
"Huh?" Ron said, squinting. "There's nothing there."
"P-Professor?" Yunyun asked, turning around to stare at what seemed to be blank space. "What are you-" She let out a gasp, then cried out, "Protego!"
No sooner than Yunyun had erected her spell, then there was a growl of, "Sectumsempra!" and Quirrinius Quirrel appeared behind them.
"Damn you, you meddling children!" Quirrel snarled, stalking forward as flames erupted behind him. "Every time I try to claim the stone, I am kept from it by your idiocy! But no more!"
"Oh no," Draco groaned. "We are never getting out of detention…"
"Don't expel us!" Hermione wailed. "We were just-"
"Shut up, you filthy mudblood bitch!" Quirrel raged. "Enough games! AVADA KEDAVRA!"
"PROTEGO!" Darkness shouted, and her glowing barrier appeared again.
The green tinted spell raced out, Quirrell smirking at the glowing wall. "Fool. No spell can stop-"
No sooner than it touched Darkness' shield spell, then the green light winked out.
"You were saying?" Darkness growled, her eyes flashing. "Well. I think we found your mysterious Death Eater, Megumin."
"Of course! No one can be as incompetent a teacher as Quirrel without trying!" Hermione gasped. Then she paused. "Well, except Binns."
"Ha, I have you now, fool!" Megumin laughed. "Your time has come, Death Eater!"
"Wait, you're a Death Eater?" Draco asked. "Really?"
"Oh, I am so much more than that," Quirrell laughed. "Fool boy."
"Well why didn't you just tell us that!" Kazuma said in exasperation. He pointed to himself, Draco, and Dust. "You know who our families are, right? We could have-"
"YOU WILL PAY, FIEND!" Dust roared, jumping up to the barrier, wand out. "For too long, my family was held captive by that foul fiend, Volde-"
"Do not say my name," a dry, raspy voice hissed from behind Quirrell. "You dirty it with your tongue, idiot boy."
"Dust, you idiot! Your family wasn't Imperioused!" Kazuma hissed. "Play it cool!"
"What? Of course they were, just like yours!" Dust said, frowning at Kazuma. "And Draco's too!"
"That's a filthy lie and you know it," Darkness panted, sweat beading on her forehead.
"Master, I can handle this," Quirrell was muttering. "I can-"
"Enough. I shall be assuming direct control," the raspy voice whispered.
Quirrell suddenly stiffened, his body locking up. Then, with jerky motions, he began to unwrap his turban.
Which was when Megumin pointed her wand at him and cried, "CONFRINGO!"
There was a massive detonation, and Quirrell vanished in a cloud of smoke and flame.
"HA!" Megumin declared, posing. "I win again!"
Darkness sighed, lowering her wand. "I think you got him."
"IDIOT!" Kazuma wailed. "Don't lower the barrier, he-!"
"REDUCTO!" the raspy voice hissed, and a blue light flashed out of the smoke.
The children scattered, save for Darkness, who took the spell right on her chest. She was flung to the side, crashing into a wall.
Out of the smoke, a figure stalked, his movements jerky. "Not bad, Potter," the voice hissed. "But you shall not lay me low so easily this time."
Instead of making a speech, Megumin just screamed wordlessly, then fired off a pompari, followed by another confringo. Both spells were batted aside, and the figure hissed, "Stupify."
"Ah!" Kazuma jumped in front of the spell, spinning and going down hard.
"No! Damn you! Flipendo! Incarcerous!" Draco screeched, firing off spells into the smoke and trying to get to Kazuma. Dust raced forward, but took another spell in his chest, dropping to the stones.
Red bolts flew out, striking down each of Megumin's friends. Even Yunyun's shield shattered under the assault. She screamed in rage again, but another spell raced towards her, and Megumin crumpled to the floor.
What seemed like an instant later, she gasped, and blinked her eyes. "Darkness! Darkness, where are-"
"She is dead. And if you do not cooperate, the rest of your friends will be as well," the dry voice hissed again.
Megumin struggled to sit up, glaring up at the hideous face that clung to the back of Quirrel's head. "Voldemort," she spat.
"Indeed. I have returned. In a less than suitable vessel, but...well. If Quirinushad but one life to give, fitting he should give it to me," Voldemort chuckled. Then he glared down at Megumin. "Now, child. You will retrieve the Stone for me. Or else I shall kill your friends, one by one."
Voldemort gestured to the side, and Megumin spun. Just on the other side of the black flames lay a crumpled row of six bodies. The only missing one was Darkness, which made hot tears leak down Megumin's cheeks. She scrambled over to Yunyun's side, barely able to see. "Yunyun! Yunyun, get up, you-"
"She breathes yet," Voldemort said. "But not for long. Get to work, Potter. The Stone."
Megumin ignored Voldemort, checking to see if Yunyun was alright. She seemed to simply be sleeping, though her breathing was shallow. She glanced at the rest of her friends, which now included Kazuma, Draco, and Dust in her mind. They were breathing as well.
"I tire of your stalling, Potter. In one minute, I shall kill one of your friends. Do I start with your cousin, or one of those blood traitors?" Voldemort barked. He stalked over and grabbed Megumin, hauling her to her feet and spinning her about.
"What stone?!" Megumin snarled. She blinked. The Mirror of Erised?
"All you need to know is that you must get a stone, a red one, from within that Mirror where the old fool hid it," Voldemort hissed, shoving Megumin forward. "Now, Potter."
Inside of the mirror, a little girl looked back at Megumin instead of her reflection. It was the same girl from before: one who looked just like Megumin, only a bit younger. The girl beckoned frantically, and Megumin moved forward, as if drawn by a string. She pressed up against the mirror, bending down so her forehead touched the other girls.
"Do you have it?" Megumin whispered. "Please. He's going to hurt Yunyun!"
The girl shrugged, then bent down. She retrieved an odd looking staff from somewhere out of sight, set with a red gem in the center.
"Do you see it?" Voldemort demanded. "Tell me, girl!"
"I see a red stone," Megumin agreed, mesmerized by the staff. "I...I think I can…"
The girl in the mirror grinned, then stepped back. She put on an eye patch, then a floppy wizard hat just like the one Megumin had made for herself. She posed, and her lips began to move. Megumin couldn't hear her. But somehow, she knew what the stranger said.
Crimson-black blaze, king of myriad worlds...
"What? Speak up, Potter!" Voldemort hissed from right behind Megumin.
Though I promulgate the laws of nature...
"The Stone, now, or else I shall-"
"YOU FIEND!" Darkness's voice roared. In the reflection of the mirror, the other girl cackled, then allowed a bit of true reflection to show. Behind Megumin, Darkness staggered through the black flames, wand in hand, her glowing barrier before her. "I SHALL END YOU!"
I am the alias of destruction incarnate
"Why will you accursed children not simply DIE!?" Voldemort raged, spinning about.
Megumin turned to face him. She could no longer see the girl in the mirror, could no longer see her lips form the words of the chant.
But she continued it anyway.
In accordance with the principles of all creation...
Darkness' barrier suddenly winked out as she staggered to one knee, and Voldemort roared, "CRUCIO!"
"Nghh!" Darkness gasped. Her body spasmed, and she let out a grunt. "PROTEGO!"
"HOW!? HOW DO YOU LONGBOTTOMS RESIST ME!?" Voldemort shrieked.
"LET THE HAMMER OF ETERNITY DESCEND UPON ME!" Megumin shouted, pointing her finger at Voldemort, at the slack and drooling face of Quirrell.
"What?!" Voldemort turned, but it was too late.
Geometric circles appeared around the room, glowing with power. The air seemed to become molten with power. Megumin could feel the magic surging, waiting for but one word to unleash it.
And Megumin knew that word.
"EXPLOSION!" she bellowed. The last thing she saw was Darkness diving for the row of bodies, her shield sheltering her friends.
As the air turned to violent fury and Voldemort wailed in despair and pain, a smile bloomed on Megumin's lips as she was flung backwards towards the mirror by the blast.
"I win again…"