Chapter One
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I've decided that after everything that's happened to me during my time at Hogwarts so far, I need a break. I mean, it's supposed to be the safest place in Magical Britain – yet I've faced a mountain troll, Voldemort, a basilisk, and over a hundred dementors. To be completely honest with you, I've had enough.
I'm officially leaving Hogwarts for a year, if not longer. However, don't worry – I'm doing self-study and hiring tutors, plus I'll be able to do magic since I'm emancipated now. That's right. I finally grew a pair and started doing things for myself, and it feels great. I went to Gringotts and got emancipated, and gained their help in clearing Sirius – wizards in the past found out how fierce enemies goblins can make, but I've found that they can make just as good allies. You might say something along the lines of me needing a childhood – but my childhood ended when you left me on that doorstep on 31st October 1981. My Aunt and Uncle barely fed me – and surely you must have noticed all of my muggle clothes are almost as bad as what Dobby used to wear? Dudley used to be a great bullying git, but then we discovered a game called Duel Monsters, and it turned into a rivalry, over that game, which brings me onto where I'm going –
I'm going to a muggle school called Duel Academy. It basically teaches Duel Monsters – and although I'm very good at the moment, there's always room for improvement. Don't worry, I won't let any muggles see me use magic – and I swear there's a form of magic in Duel Monsters anyway. A famous duelist called Yugi Muto was said to be able to talk to his cards, and summon spirits of them.
Anyhow, I've already applied and have a spot - the chancellor's a squib, so he knows about me – oh, and I'm kinda one of the best duelists in the UK. I just need to go to the entrance exams to decide which dorm I'll be in – Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, or Obelisk Blue. They're based on ability, or at least are supposed to be. Anyway, the exams are on August 3rd if anyone wants to join me.
Now that I think about it, in one of the first tournaments I went to, I think there was a girl who looked like Hermione, and she got annoyed when I won our match, and wanted a rematch – which never happened (because of my oh so lovely aunt and uncle). So, since I know Dumbledore will most likely be reading this to all of my friends: Hermione! If you still play you're welcome to join me! Also, we can duel to show everyone else what it's like, and see if anyone else wants the superior duelist of us two, which is me of course, to teach them the basics, and they can join us.
Oh, and Dumbledore, don't complain about my emancipation, saying I need to stay at the Dursleys because of blood wards – they never existed, you just assumed they did. This is because my mother, as it turns out, was adopted, after some accident which left her stranded in this country, and her true maiden name (which I found out via a blood test) was Yuki.
Yours sincerely – or maybe not so much,
Harry Potter
"Well, he's changed..." said Ron uncertainly. Dumbledore just sat there sadly, thinking what had gone wrong in his dealings with the boy. He had hoped Petunia would get over her jealousy , but obviously not. He had failed so many times when it came to Harry.
"Yeah, but not in a bad way, he seems more carefree now – I mean I swear when I saw him last, he looked almost suicidal!" exclaimed Sirius, who was also there, after having for the most part, recovered from his stay in Azkaban, or recovered as much as possible anyway.
"Alas, I shall let him go, if it is what he wants –he will most likely be safer, after all," said Dumbledore, chucking grimly.
"I wasn't asking for your permission, merely informing you of my decision, but thanks anyway," said a figure, appearing from the corner.
"Harry! We are so going to have a rematch, right now! There's no way you'll beat me, I'm like 12th in the country, and I have a new deck! And wow you look different!" exclaimed Hermione excitedly, "you look..."
"Like a duelist?" Harry cut her off. He wore tight dragon hide clothing similar to the leather clothing worn by Yugi Muto, the king of games, but it looked rougher, and more warrior-like. He also wore a hooded cloak, that seemed more like a cape of some sort. "Oh, and 12th in the country, eh? Well, at least it'll be a challenge – hopefully."
"Hopefully? Have you grown arrogant Harry? Get your duel disk and deck out – we duel in 5 minutes, at the great hall," said Hermione, slightly amused, yet slightly annoyed.
"Electro-whatsits don't work in Hogwarts, remember?" said Ron.
"Oh, yeah..." said Hermione, embarrassedly.
"True, that usually would be the case, Ron, but mine has some – modifications. You can use my spare, Hermione," said Harry, pulling said duel disk seemingly out of nowhere, and passing it to her.
"Really? You must show me how it works sometime! Anyhow, my challenge still stands – 5 minutes from now, great hall – be there!" she said, walking off to prepare.
"Fine by me," he called after her, pulling his duel disk off of his back which was under his cloak, and loading his deck which had been in a pouch-type thing attached to the metal-studded belt he wore.
"Am I the only one confused by this game?" asked Sirius, and most of the others seemed equally confused.
"Ah don't worry, you'll get how it works quickly enough!" said Harry, pulling out a rulebook and casting a geminio on it multiple times to duplicate it. He passed the copies around. "Have a read through these whilst you wait so that you can get the gist of it."
5 minutes later...
"I will defeat you Harry, I'm 12th in the UK, and last time I checked, you weren't even close to me – I didn't even realise you were on there." Harry inwardly smirked at this. She obviously didn't look high enough. After all, having a fierce rival, decent intelligence – which although he hid most of the time, duel monsters brought it out of him – and nothing else to do, pretty much helps you improve by quite a lot. However outwardly, Harry simply frowned and said:
"You shouldn't put so much stock into statistics Hermione, now let's duel – ladies first."
"Why thank you harry – I set 2 cards face down and summon out Gladiator Beast Laquari in attack mode!"
"Gladiator Beasts hmm, shouldn't be too hard..."
"WHAT! I've barely lost with them!"
"I used to use them, but then when more people started to use them, I felt like a change, and so switched to what I play now, which, I can say for fact, i have never seen anyone else play."
"So what do you play then?"
"Now that would be telling – you'll just have to wait!"
"Hmph, well then, I end my turn."
"Fine, I'll start by drawing, and then activating the spell heavy storm, which destroys all spells and traps on the field!"
"Damn! My Mirror Force!"
"Now I activate Charge of the Light Brigade, which allows me to send the top 3 cards of my deck to the graveyard, to add one level 4 or lower Lightsworn monster from my deck to my hand." Harry smirked when he saw the cards sent were Wulf, Lightsworn Beast, Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior, and Ehren, Lightsworn Monk. He quickly searched his deck and added Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner to his hand. "And since Wulf, Lightsworn Beast, was sent directly from the deck to the graveyard, I can summon him out!"
"Damn, a 2100atk monster already! You're better than I thought!"
"Meh. Anyway, I summon Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, and activate it's effect to discard the Jain, Lightsworn Paladin in my hand to summon Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior from my graveyard. Now go, Wulf attack her monster, and Garoth and Lumina attack her directly!"
"Oomph!"
Harry: 8000LP
Hermione: 4850LP
"I end with a face down, and since it's the end phase, Lumina's effect activates, sending the top three cards of my deck to the graveyard! And since it did, Garoth's effect activates, sending another two, and since both cards happened to be Lightsworn monsters, I draw a card for each!"
"Hmph, you're better than I thought, but still not good enough to beat me!" said Hermione, drawing, before smirking at the card she got. "I activate Dark Hole, which"
"Nukes the field clear of monsters, I know!"
"HEY! Don't interrupt me!"
"Sorry," said Harry, rolling his eyes, before jokingly saying "I just didn't want you going off on one of your explanations which could end up making this match last forever!"
"Yeah, but from the looks of our spectators, they wouldn't mind that!" exclaimed Hermione, jokingly. Harry merely rolled his eyes. "Anyway, now that your field is clear, I activate the spell double summon, allowing me to summon twice, and then I summon Gladiator Beasts Equeste and Bestiari! Now, attack, my beasts!"
"I activate Waboku!"
"Damn it, are you trolling me?" said Hermione, frustration evident on her face. Harry merely smirked, increasing her frustration. "At least I can still activate their effects! I return Bestiari to the deck to Summon Gladiator Beast Darius, and I use it's effect to bring back Laquari! Also, I return Equeste to summon Gladiator Beast Retiari, and I use it's effect to remove from play the Lumina in your graveyard! Now go, contact fusion! I return all 3 of my monsters to my deck to summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos! Your move!"
Harry sighed.
"I had hoped for a challenge, but this ends here. FINAL TURN!"
"WHAT? I'll show you!"
"Oh really. Go on and show me then whilst I play my own Dark Hole," Harry deadpanned. Hermione smirked, thinking she had the upper hand.
"OK then, I use my monster's effect, allowing me to send one card from my hand to my graveyard to negate your dark hole!" She said, confidently. Her smirk fell when she saw Harry smirk though.
"You really thought that was my big play. Oh well, you hadn't really a choice but to negate, and now you have no more cards in your hand to send, which means no more negations! Now watch how a true pro plays! I activate Solar Recharge, which allows me to discard the Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter in my hand, to draw two cards, as long as I then send the next top two cards of my deck to the graveyard. "
Harry's smirk was now full blown.
"I told you it ends here. Since I have at least four Lightsworn monsters with different names in my graveyard, I can special summon, this card from my hand – give it up for JUDGMENT DRAGON!"
"Oh my..." said Hermione as she breathlessly stared down his ferocious 3000atk monster, the same as hers, which happened to be a terrifyingly realistic, ferocious dragon.
"Now I use it's effect, which allows me to pay 1000LP to destroy every card out, except for itself!"
Harry: 7000LP
Hermione: 4850LP
"But that means..."
"Yes. You're wide open. But I did say it ends this turn. So now, come on out, another Judgment Dragon! Now both my dragons, wipe out the rest of her life points!"
Harry: 7000LP
Hermione: 0000LP
"But...I don't understand...I'm 12th in the UK, how could I lose to a rookie..." blustered Hermione, looking slightly put out.
"You didn't – Hermione, when you checked the UK standings, how close around you did you check?"
"Well, I always check around my level – I look for duelists at my skill level, you know? Anyway, I think I looked up to about 5th, and down to about 30th."
"I'm surprised at you! You usually take all the information you can! And anyway, try checking a wider range – see who's first perhaps?" hinted Harry, winking.
"Merlin, you're the best duelist in the UK? No wonder I lost! How did you get so good?"
"Well I find having a rival who can afford whatever cards he wants, and is a pretty skilled duelist in his own right, and having nothing but time on your hands pretty good motivation."
"You mentioned your cousin – is he any good?"
"Top 5, not sure exactly where – he plays a volcanic deck. I haven't used this deck against him yet, I usually play my Crystal Beasts against him, which is the deck I used to get top in the UK..."
"WHAT, THAT WASN'T EVEN YOUR BEST DECK THAT I DUELLED?" Harry frowned.
"Well, I'm not sure which is better, but I've only recently acquired and started using this deck.
Later that night, after a good ol' shopping trip in Diagon Alley...
Harry laid back in bed and sighed. He now had a new reason to be giving out autographs to people, or muggle-borns at least. He really shouldn't have let out at Diagon Alley that he was the ranked one duelist in the UK...ah, well, we all make mistakes.
A/N: So, what did you think? Please tell me truthfully. I know it may seem a little rushed, but although people often used to praise me on my writing skills, I find that I'm a bit of what I'd call an 'impatient writer'. Bye for now.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. LITERALLY. I'M A NAKED HOMELESS PERSON.