Author: Chaos Valkyrie
First Conceptualized: December 17, 2003
Posted Chapter 01, v.1: January 28, 2004
Posted Chapter 01, v.2: December 23, 2005
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, Harry Potter, or Shadow Hearts. If I did, why would I be writing fan fiction, since I'd be extremely rich off royalties and such? Speaking of rich, I'm not that either. Don't sue, I'm just a crazy girl combining three unlikely story-lines. Original characters are mine, but based on these three different groups. Happy yet?
Author's Notes: Firstly, this is a rewrite, brought up to HBP standards. And for those who don't know, Shadow Hearts is a Mature-level PS2 game that is extremely gothic and gory – hence it's rating. SH reminds me greatly of American McGee's Alice, but not so… cutesy. And just ignore Shadow Hearts: Covenant altogether, since that is based on the less-favorable-to-Alice SH ending. Let's see… HP is loosely-based on year 6, YGO is post Battle City, and you've got SH. On with the show!
Chapter One: Train Ride
Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance. He had hoped that the Aurors sent to guard him would be Tonks or Shacklebolt, or at least some member of the Order, but these two surly-faced men were almost an insult. Who had faced down Lord Voldemort five times? So why did they think he needed help just going through the barrier, for Godric's sake?
He grunted in annoyance, and Hermione patted his arm softly, smiling understandingly. He rolled his eyes at the Auror, and Hermione chuckled. "I know," she whispered. Ron snorted.
"C'mon, 'Mione, we'd better go to that prefect meeting," he said, motioning for Hermione to follow him. He froze, however, as he looked further down the platform. Harry watched his friend in curiosity and turned to see whatever it was that had alarmed Ron, his hand twitching towards his wand.
The three stared in open-mouthed shock at the group of teenagers that were headed towards the train. They were too old to be first years, but Harry knew for certain that he had never seen these students before at Hogwarts. But where else could they be going? They were on the Platform, and each of them did have luggage…
There was a short boy, dressed decidedly gothic, with wild, spiky, tri-coloured hair. There was an albino-like boy with chocolate eyes; a blond-haired, dark-skinned boy; and some other, more normal looking teens. There were three girls in the group, one of whom had the same vixen-ish airs as Fleur. Only one member of the group looked to be a first-year, a small black-haired boy who was dancing about a taller, colder teen with a flowing trenchcoat.
Harry found that his mouth was open, and quickly shut it as he turned to his friends. Ron's mouth was not only open, but his eyes were about to pop out as he stared at the blond vixen. Harry laughed as Hermione glared at him and dropped her trunk on his foot – on purpose. Ron returned to reality quickly.
"Ouch, Herm!" he whined as Harry and Hermione chuckled. As the other teens disappeared from view, Harry waved to Ron and Hermione as they entered the train. Now for other matters…
"Oh, Mr. Weasley, can I have a quick word?"
"Do you think we can find a compartment to hold twelve people?" Yugi asked, his eyes lighting up as he walked towards the bright red train. Seto snorted to himself.
"I highly doubt it. Mokuba and I will find a compartment to ourselves – I don't want to spend more time than necessary with you dweebs."
"Now Kaiba –" Joey growled before Téa clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Nii-sama," Mokuba whined, giving his brother his large and extremely well-practiced puppy-dog eyes. Seto winced, resolve crumbling before such an onslaught.
"Well, I'm sure we can find two compartments next to each other," he said, grudgingly.
"Yea!" Mokuba cheered, causing the few people in the station who were not watching the strange group to stare in their direction. Seto sighed to himself, hauling his and his brother's trunks onto the train. While the world knew that Yugi Mutou had defeated Seto in Duel Monsters, the world had no clue that he was defeated every day by his own little brother. And he preferred to keep it that way.
"So, tell me again why we're trusting this Dumbledore guy?" Mai asked, tossing her hair back as Joey lifted her extremely heavy trunk onto the train.
"Well, he was right about the train and the platform," Yugi shrugged. "And I have a feeling we can trust him. So does Yami."
Mai rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Malik snorted this time.
"Oh yes, all listen to the wise pharaoh," he sneered jokingly. Seto smirked as Yugi merely rolled his eyes, determined not to let the pharaoh within banish the slightly-crazed Egyptian.
The Yugi-gumi did manage to find to compartments next to each other. Seto and Mokuba shared one compartment with Yugi, Téa, and the Mutt, while the other compartment housed the rest. Seto was not happy about the arrangements; of course, he'd rather share a compartment with Witty Phantom than share one with most of these people. He sighed; the things he did for his little brother.
Alice and Ben Hyuga walked through the crowds about the Hogwarts Express, trying to find an empty car on the train in the few minutes before it left the station. Alice sighed, eyeing her brother as he ran his hand through his pale blond hair yet again.
"I still can't believe we agreed to come here," he told his sister, his large blue eyes looking slightly worried. She rolled her stormy blue-grey eyes at him return.
"Don't be such a baby," she told him. "The Headmaster explained that we would be safer here, so why worry? Old Voldy can't get us at Hogwarts."
"Shhh! Not so loud," Ben said, looking about anxiously. "We don't know who could be listening!"
Alice shook her head, loading her trunk and basket onto the train with ease, while her brother struggled behind her. She help him lift his trunk on board as the train began to move.
"Calm down, little Benji," she sneered in a sisterly way, "The evil won't find us at Hogwarts – so, relax. Feel safe for once." He frowned at her, and she chuckled as she followed him down the train corridor.
In their wake, a pale, blond boy smirked.
Harry rubbed his scar, thoughtfully, as he walked down the train corridor. So far, aside from all the staring and whispering, the train ride had been fairly uneventful – that is, if you count sharing a compartment with Luna and Neville and the annual "Exchange of Insults with Malfoy" uneventful. He sighed, looking for Ron or Hermione as he returned from the train's lavatory. What he wouldn't give for some normalcy…
Harry paused as he entered the next car, a feeling of darkness overwhelming him. He walked down the corridor, peering curiously into one of the compartments as he walked by. Part of the weird group from before was seated inside, and he could sense strange, shadowy darkness emanating from the spiky-haired boy. Harry looked at him curiously. He seemed so innocent, with his wide, impossibly violet eyes staring and laughing with his friends. Harry walked onwards, pausing at the next compartment which held the rest of the group. Two of the boys here also reeked of dark power, and yet, they were different than the first boy. The power about the smaller boy was confident, strong and just. The two boys here whispered of something else. The albino-like boy was cloaked in a subversive, deceptive kind of shadowy power, whereas the Egyptian had energy that both bright and cold, if darkness could be described as such.
Where the occupants of the first car had not noticed his presence, the albino boy instantly felt Harry's eyes upon him and swirled around in his seat. Their eyes met, and Harry felt a flush coming onto his face as the other boy tilted his head and smiled, waving him inside. The other occupants looked up as Harry entered the car.
"Hello! I saw you passing by," the white-haired boy started. Harry was relieved – he didn't want them to think he was stalking them. "We're new to Hogwarts. I'm Ryou," the boy added, holding out his hand. Harry shook it.
"I'm Harry Potter," he said, friendly but resigned. Then surprised, as none of the car's occupants stared avidly at his scar. He felt relieved, but also curious as to what rock they had been living under for the last sixteen years.
"The name's Mai," the busty blond girl told him, winking. His face heated up, and the Egyptian boy laughed.
"I'm Malik," he told Harry, an arrogant confidence exuding from every pore.
"I'm Serenity, and this is Tristan and Duke," the shy red-headed girl spoke up the other seat. Harry saw the Tristan nudge Duke, and almost swore he heard him whisper, "See, she named me first," as he leaned against the door frame.
"So, what brings you to Hogwarts?" he asked Ryou and Malik, as the other boys bickered and the two girls returned to their gossip.
"Oh, we're, um, transfer students," Ryou told him, while the Egyptian rolled his eyes.
"Funny, we've never had transfer students befo–" Harry started as the door slid open again.
"The only thing funny around here is you, Potty," a cold voice drawled behind him. Harry sighed.
"Haven't we already had our Annual Back-to-School Exchange, Malfoy?" he said, turning around, his hand on the wand in his pocket.
"I still haven't forgotten what you did to my father," Malfoy glared, sneering as he looked over the other, now silent, occupants in the compartment. "I'm not surprised, Potter, that your taste in friends has not improved, talking with Mudblood freaks like these. You might want to avoid Potter," he addressed the others, "His friends tend to have a surprisingly high death rate." With that, Malfoy turned and left before Harry could hex him.
"Death rate?" Mai asked quizzically from the corner. Harry winced inwardly, hoping that this subject would not come up until much, much later.
"I had better get back to my compartment – my friends are probably wondering where I am," Harry said, shuffling towards the compartment door and avoiding the stares of its six occupants. As if on cue, Ron appeared outside, his Prefect's badge shining on his chest.
"Hey Harry, I saw that slimy git Malfoy walk by our compartment, figured he was looking for you," he blinked, noticing for the first time who Harry was speaking to. "Oh, h-hi, I'm Ron Weasley," he stumbled, his ears turning red as he tried to not stare at Mai.
Another round of introductions were made before Harry and Ron left the compartment, heading back towards their own.
"I wonder what he meant by death rate?" Mai asked the silent group after the two boys left.
"Maybe he was joking – it was obvious that Harry and that Malfoy loser hate each other," Duke shrugged.
"I don't think so," Ryou said quietly. "When Malfoy said that, Harry looked too shaken for it to be a joke."
"Well, whatever it is, we'll find out soon enough," Tristan added, trying to look brave and buff for Serenity. Mai had to keep herself from laughing as Tristan and Duke began to vie for her attention once more.
Seto had pulled out his laptop five minutes into the trip, hoping to drown out the others with work. It was difficult enough juggling school and his duties as CEO in Domino – now his brother, his own flesh and blood, had convinced him to fly halfway across the world to attend some crazy magic school. Dumbledore had assured Seto that he could continue to run Kaiba Corp from Hogwarts, once a few special magical-modifications were made his laptop.
Dumbledore had come to the group soon after the school year had ended, visiting each family and explaining the war that was happening in the wizard world. With all the crap he had been through in the last couple of years, with the Millennium Items and Shadow Realm, Seto was in no mood to join yet another crusade. However, Mokuba had been excited about the prospect of attending a wizarding school and had begged his brother to take them. Seto could not say no to that – he prided himself on never letting his little brother down, and Mokuba would not go without his big brother.
The group had spent the summer here in England, taking a magical crash course. Of course, Seto had excelled, reaching sixth-year status in a very short time. The Mutt, on the other hand, was practically no better than a squib, while Malik and Bakura had almost blown up the castle-like building they had been staying at. Even Seto had to admit, it had been amusing to watch Bakura switch back and forth between a maniacal magic-wielding madman and a shy, apologetic teen who kept uttering, "Oh, dear, I'm sorry." While the group knew about his darker half, their tutor had been extremely confused and popped vast quantities of Pepperup potion, muttering about how he must be ill.
Seto rubbed his forehead, wishing he had some of that potion now. Mokuba was bouncing about the compartment, apparently on a sugar high from his lunch. The Mutt wandered between the two cars, probably to make sure that his sister had not been dragged off by one of the two Neanderthals who spent every minute trailing her about. And, Seto smirked, to do a little panting himself over the other female next door.
Yugi and Joey were currently, loudly dueling, the pint-sized duelist trouncing the blond mutt. Téa was cheering them on, and Mokuba bounced over periodically to check out the action as well. Seto sighed, then stood up and stalked out of the car. He needed to clear his head of the inane chatter in his compartment.
Seto walked the length of the train, dodging immature students who were running in the corridors. He saw several girls eyeing him as he walked by their compartments, and was unsure whether he should wince or smirk at the squeals that emitted from within. Seto paused, however, as he reached one compartment near the end of the train.
At first he was indignant, that these two had a compartment to themselves, but then he realized the reason. The girl within seemed moderately normal at first glance, with her black hair braided about her head in a crown, but she reeked of a frenzied, chaotic power from behind her collected exterior. The boy with her was her opposite – he had pale blond hair and blue eyes, and exuded a calming, healing power. They were currently playing cards, joking with each other. Seto realized they must be siblings, there was enough of a resemblance between them. The girl seemed more outgoing than her lighter half, and Seto realized with shock that they reminded him of Bakura – one was polite, well-mannered and shy; the other was bullying, obnoxious and rude. Well, perhaps not to Bakura's extreme…
Seto sighed, walking back to his own compartment. Just what he needed, more trouble.
End Notes: For those of you who have played Shadow Hearts, Alice and Ben are Alice and Yuri's grandchildren. However, to shake things up, the story-Alice takes after Yuri, while Ben takes after the game-Alice. Also, Alice is obviously named for her grandmother, whereas Ben is named for Yuri's father. Confusing, slightly, but that's that.