The Magician and the Half-Blood Prince.

Chapter 1: Last Remnants of Summer

Once Yugi and Mahaad arrived back in Japan with Joey, Tristian, Tea and Grandpa Mutou they crashed at the Game shop for a day or two to recover from their jet lag.

Yugi had insisted Mahaad sleep on a pallet on the floor of his room. Mahaad protested at first but quickly gave in.

The morning of their third day in Japan, Mahaad woke up and neatly folded his bedding. He changed out of a sleeping tunic and into a fresh set of cream colored robes. Mahaad looked at his reflection in Yugi's mirror as he applied his daily oils. He took out a jar of kohl and began applying the eye paint.

"You're up early," the Pharaoh's voice said from behind him as he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. Yugi was still asleep in his soul room.

Mahaad jumped slightly and smeared the paint around his left eye. He quickly turned around, averted his eyes and sank into a low bow.

"My king," he said.

"Rise Mahaad."

Mahaad rose and remained standing as the Pharaoh stood and crossed the room, cocking his head at the magician.

Mahaad grabbed a cloth and wiped the excess kohl off his cheek.

"What do you think we should do about the Millennium Eye?"

Mahaad lowered himself to the floor and sat cross legged. "I think we should talk to Shadi and ask him why he decided to give the wizard the Eye."

"And?"

"And use that information to pass judgement. I don't think there is a lot we can do until we return to the Wizarding world. We don't want to draw suspicion by traveling to Britain unaided."

"Thank you," the Pharaoh said as he sank into Yugi's desk chair. "Yugi and I have been talking and we agree. Our status as the King of Games makes it hard to travel internationally unnoticed. The wizard doesn't pose much of a threat right now. He doesn't know how to Shadow Game anyone yet. Tell Shadi I want to talk to him later today."

"As you wish."

The Puzzle flashed as Yugi took over. "Mahaad!" Yugi greeted.

"Yes Master?" Mahaad asked as he smiled faintly at Yugi's enthusiasm.

"Grandpa said we have a trip scheduled to Egypt right before we go back to school." Yugi picked up his Deck from his desk and began shuffling through the cards.

"That's great news!" Mahaad agreed.

Mahaad was surprised how fast the summer months had gone. He had spent most of the vacation in Japan helping Yugi's grandpa in the Kame Game shop. He looked at the calendar hanging on the wall in Yugi's bedroom, and to his alarm discovered they only had about two weeks before the term started.

Mahaad went down to the main floor to start cooking breakfast for the others before they got up. As he started boiling water, he heard the familiar footfalls of Solomon Muto coming down the stairs.

Mahaad heard the kitchen door open. "Good morning Master Muto," Mahaad said as he carefully poured the water into the pot.

He heard the old man take a seat at the table. "Mahaad, I'm not your master anymore," the old man said.

"Yes. But you were," Mahaad replied.

"Yes, but I would prefer if you call me something else. Joey and the others call me grandpa."

Mahaad wiped his palm on his pants. "May I call you Mutou-san at least?" Mahaad asked. "I mean no disrespect."

Solomon rustled the morning paper he'd found outside. "Yes, you may Mahaad."

Mahaad went back to preparing breakfast, after two months he could finally cook rice without burning it. He was quite pleased with himself. Mahaad and Yugi had kept in contact with their wizarding friends over the summer. Yugi was especially worried about Harry and how he was handling Sirius' death.

Yugi came down the stairs, rubbing his eyes. "I still don't understand how you are always up so early," he stated as he slumped into a chair at the table beside grandpa.

"What do you boys have planned for today?" Solomon asked, as he looked at both Yugi and Mahaad.

"Well Kaiba challenged me to a duel, no surprise there. So, I'll duel him later this morning and remember that tomorrow we are leaving on our flight to Egypt with you and the rest of the gang. And next week Mahaad and I are heading to a witch's house a few blocks away to travel to London. I am still packing, Mahaad finished yesterday."

Solomon nodded. Yugi had gone over the plans with him the previous night.

After breakfast Yugi grabbed his duel disk from off his desk in his room.

"May I accompany you?" Mahaad asked from Yugi's doorway, as he waited respectfully in the hall.

The teen was in the process of putting his duel disk in a bag, and he looked up at the magician and grinned at him. "Yes, of course. You don't have to ask for something like that. I know you have always got my back. I'll need your help against Kaiba."

"Thank you," Mahaad replied fervently as he placed a hand over his heart.

They left the shop and took a taxi to KC headquarters, where Kaiba was waiting for them. Kaiba had met Mahaad on several occasions and treated him like he did Joey or Tristian despite the fact that Mahaad was a bit more reserved than either of the teens.

Kaiba had them sent up to his office. One of the secretaries escorted them to the door and left after knocking and announcing them to Kaiba.

Yugi and Kaiba dueled and as predicted Yugi won. Kaiba demanded a rematch, and Yugi told him he would give him one, later.

Yugi had invited Joey and the gang over for a celebration at the Game shop before they left for Egypt. Mahaad listened politely as the gang chatted about their past adventures. He let his thoughts drift to his homeland as he watched Joey and Tristan teased each other over a pizza.

Mahaad smiled to himself as his stomach churned, as he felt a jolt of excitement shoot through him. He was going to Egypt tomorrow!

Author's Notes:

I'm starting on this next installment! I hope you all liked this chapter. I know it was mostly filler, but I'm excited to see where the sixth year will take me.

Review Responses:

Suzululu4moe: Yeah, I've had this idea kicking around for a while. The idea just hit me one day. Why hasn't anyone given the Eye to Moody? He gets a better magical eye.

Haha good one!

YumiStar: Yeah, Bakura has done his good deed for a while…

Fireking492: I'm glad you liked it. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. I didn't show the game with Bakura because I'm not very good at writing games or duels, so I had it happen off screen.

FalllingToast: I'm sorry you had a stressful day, but I'm glad that chapter made you smile.