Yu-Gi-Oh!
Episode Nine and Three Quarters
The poem on the door to Gringotts was excerpted from the books.
CHAPTER TWO – DIAGON ALLEY
Several weeks later found Yugi, Marik, and Bakura alone in the middle of a London street, carrying their luggage behind them. The shorter boy was in the lead, reading off of a piece of paper loaded with instructions that his grandfather had given him.
"Okay," he announced, "we need to go to a place called the Leaky Cauldron and introduce ourselves to the bartender, Tom. He'll put us up in rooms, and show us how to get into a place called 'Diagon Alley'. Once there, we have to go to someplace called Gringotts to exchange our yen for wizard money, and then we can get our school supplies."
Bakura looked around as Yugi read off of the paper, trying to find a sign or anything pointing to the Leaky Cauldron. Who came up with such names anyway? It was all so very odd. Finally spotting it, he tugged the others toward it, ignoring the fact that most people seemed to walk by the place as if it was not there. Sugoroku had warned them to expect it, as some places had enchantments that prevented muggles – non-magical people – from seeing them.
They entered the pub, only to find it dark and musty, with a bunch of people crowded around a giant of a man and a skinny scrap of a boy with tousled hair. The three of them waited until the commotion died down, and the giant and the boy disappeared out the back of the pub before going up to bartender to introduce themselves. Bartender Tom tossed his cleaning rag down on the counter in surprise.
"Well, I'll be!" he exclaimed. "First Harry Potter comes by, and now the grandson of ol' Mutou and his buddies!" Tom reached down and tousled Yugi's hair. "That's an interesting mix you got there. What kind of magic do you use to make it stay those colors?"
"Believe it or not, that's natural," Marik answered for him while Yugi flushed bright red as Tom took his hand off of his head, and his hair sprung back into its normal place. Afterwards, Tom took them upstairs to their rooms so they could deposit their belongings. They came out a few minutes later; each of them with disturbed looks on their faces.
"My mirror talked to me," Yugi muttered. "And I don't mean Yami Yugi was in the mirror talking to me, I mean the mirror itself talked to me."
"I think my bed has a thing for me," Marik said, a queasy look on his face. "It said I was the lightest thing that ever sat down on it."
"My bed lamp had a hissy fit as soon as I turned it on," Bakura complained. "It said that it was too bright for it to be on. Who ever heard of items talking!"
"Ojii-chan did warn us that the wizard world was much different from what we're used to," Yugi pointed out. "I didn't think it would be this different though…"
They went back downstairs to find Tom waiting for them. He motioned them toward the back of the shop, where the giant and the boy had disappeared to before. However, they only found themselves staring at a crumbling brick wall.
"Um… now what?" Marik asked.
Tom chuckled as he took out a wand from his vest pocket. "Watch closely lads, this way you can get back inside on your own next time. Just remember, three up and two across starting from the trash can."
The Bartender tapped the indicated brick with his wand three times. At first, nothing happened, but then the brick started to wiggle in place. The whole wall started quivering, and soon the bricks were sliding to the sides, revealing a large archway that led to a cobbled street. All around, people dressed in strange robes were milling about, buying various things from the many shops lined up along the street. On a sign high above – faded with age – were the words "Diagon Alley" printed in English. Marik, Yugi, and Bakura could do nothing but stare in utter amazement.
"All right then, lads," Tom said. "You going to be okay from here?"
They nodded numbly, and the bartender retreated back into the Leaky Cauldron as the three of them entered the Alley. Everything around them was so beyond what they were used to, it shocked them to the core. They stared as they passed the stores: Eeylops Owl Emporium, Ollivanders (Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC), and even a store selling brooms of all things. A group of kids were pressed around the window for that store, muttering something about a "new Nimbus 2000" or something like that. Bakura had to keep Marik from running off to the Apothecary ("You have some sick tastes," he said), while Yugi busily directed them to Gringotts, following the instructions on the note.
They found the wizard's bank easily enough, and the three of them soon found themselves staring up at the crooked pure white building and the two goblins guarding the entrance in awe.
"Mutou Ojii-san never said anything about goblins," Bakura gulped as they entered the polish white doors. They found themselves staring at another set of doors, these with words engraved upon them.
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
Bakura held up his Millennium Ring to the words, as if letting the spirit that dwelled within read it.
"Can you see that, my yami?" he asked. "Basically, that means if you steal from here, you're screwed, so don't for once!"
Yugi and Marik chuckled, almost able to picture the sour look on Yami Bakura's face. They pushed open the doors, and found themselves staring at two long counters stretching out to who knew how far. All along both counters, there were goblins sitting on high stools, writing in thick ledgers, balancing money on scales, or examining precious stones. The three of them went up to the first one, Marik voting himself to do the talking.
"Ano… konnichuwa –"
"Wrong language, Marik," Yugi pointed out.
"Whoops," Marik replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He put a fist full of yen up on the counter. "We need these exchanged for… err…"
The goblin quickly snatched the yen on the counter, counted it, and gave him a handful of gold, silver, and bronze coins.
"Next."
Yugi and Bakura did the same – Yugi having a little difficulty reaching the counter – and they soon found themselves walking back out with handfuls of the coins.
"Okay, what's what?" Marik asked, inspecting one of his gold coins. Yugi took out the note that his grandfather had written.
"The gold ones are Galleons, the silver are Sickles, and the bronze are Knuts," he announced. "Seventeen Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle. That doesn't sound so hard."
"Just as long as it gets us what we need," Bakura said, pocketing his wizard money. "So, where to now?"
The three of them looked at each other, coming to the same conclusion. "Wands!"
They raced back down the street, where they had spotted the store called Ollivanders. They entered the musty old shop to find it seemingly deserted. There was only a small counter and a few waiting chairs inside. The rest of the shop was filled to the brim with small boxes, most likely all of them containing wands. Yugi went up to the small counter to ring the bell, but just as his hand was positioned over it, an elderly man poked his head out from behind a large shelf. His wide, pale eyes observed the three of them, before his mouth cracked into a thin smile.
"Ah yes," the man said. "Ah yes, you must be the Japanese students that Professor Dumbledore told me about. Hum, yes." Mr. Ollivander jumped down from the ladder he was on, shaking each of their hands before asking, "Which one of you is not possessed by a spirit?"
Yugi and Bakura pointed to Marik.
"Then I'll let you go first," the old man continued, pulling out a long tape measure from his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"
"Uh… well, I'm right handed if that's what you mean," Marik answered, wishing that the man would blink every now and then.
Mr. Ollivander instructed him to hold out his right arm, and measured as he started to explain, "Every wand in this shop has a core of a very powerful magical substance, young gentlemen. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, phoenixes, or dragons are the same. I wanted to get you your wand first, Mr. Ishitar, because you are a 'normal' young wizard. Mr. Mutou and Mr. Bakura also have their other selves to consider, and that may make the wand choosing process quite difficult."
Marik suddenly realized that Mr. Ollivander was busy poking through various shelves of wands, and the tape measurer – which was measuring between his nostrils – was doing so on its own. He sneezed, scaring the object and making it crumple to the floor. Yugi and Bakura sweatdropped as Marik flushed in embarrassment.
"Here we are," Mr. Ollivander said, simply sliding the measurer out of the way with his foot. "Try this one. Beech wood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."
Marik took the wand and, feeling foolish, waved it a bit. A stream of something came out of it, knocking down a shelf full of wands. He sweatdropped, putting the wand down on the counter carefully.
"That wand doesn't seem to like anyone, I see," Mr. Ollivander replied, not the least bit miffed by the accident. He handed Marik another wand. "Ebony and phoenix feather. Eleven inches. Quite springy. Try this one."
As soon as Marik gripped the wand, he felt a warmth spread through his fingers and fill his whole body. He swished the wand about, and a stream of red and gold sparks came flying out from the end like an indoor fireworks display. Yugi and Bakura stared in awe as Marik whooped in delight. He paid his seven gold galleons for the wand before sitting down and allowing Bakura to go next.
Bakura took a bit longer, but once he explained to Mr. Ollivander that the spirit of the Millennium Ring was that of an ancient tomb robber, the elderly man was able to narrow the choice of wands down considerably.
"Try this one, then," he said. "Mahogany and unicorn hair. Seven inches. Pliable. Go on then."
Bakura gave the wand a wave, and a stream of yellow and black sparks came shooting out of it.
"All right, Bakura-kun!" Yugi exclaimed as the young man paid for his wand.
Now it was Yugi's turn, and he eagerly bounded up to get his wand arm measured. Afterwards, Mr. Ollivander started testing wands on him. The first wand he tried cracked the shop window glass, the second wand sent a miniature earthquake through Diagon Alley, and the third one shattered the glass entirely. The wands kept piling up, and after fifteen minutes, they were all getting frustrated.
"Tricky customer, eh?" Mr. Ollivander said.
Bakura's eyes suddenly narrowed and his hair upturned slightly. "Bloody hell, you damned pharaoh! You always have to be so damn picky!"
Bakura's hair and eyes returned to normal as he put a hand over his mouth in shock. He thought he had better control over his yami than that. Mr. Ollivander looked down at Yugi in a new light, however.
"Pharaoh, eh?" he muttered. "Curious… I wonder…"
He retreated to the back of the store, and came back out a few minutes later with a thin black box in his hands. He opened it up to reveal a golden wand with a handle wrapped in leather.
"Most wands are usually made of wood, but this wand was made by the last of the Egyptian craftsmen," he explained. "They made their wands with hardened papyrus or gold. This is gold with dragon heartstring. Nine inches. If this one doesn't work, then I'm at a loss."
Mr. Ollivander held the case down so Yugi could take the wand. As soon as he gripped the leather handle, he felt warmth so deep course through him that it even penetrated the doors that led to both his and Yami Yugi's souls. The spirit of the pharaoh stirred, caught off guard by the feeling.
Aibou, what the –?
Before he could finish, Yugi brought the wand swishing down, lighting up the whole store with red and gold sparks. Bakura and Marik jumped up from their seats, surprised, as Mr. Ollivander smiled, satisfied. Yugi turned to the elderly man as the sparks died down, a guilty look on his face.
"Sorry about the window," he said, digging out the money for the wand as the elderly man waved the apology away.
"A simple repair spell can fix that," he said dismissively. "On your way now. I'm sure you have much more shopping left to do."
.oOOo.
Later that night, the three boys piled into Yugi's room, inspecting everything they had bought that day and making sure they got what they needed for school. In two separate cages on the nightstand, a brown owl with black and white speckles and a pure white owl stood on their respective perches, hooting softly to one another. On Marik's lap, a Siamese cat was curled up, purring slightly each time he petted it. Yugi looked up at the two of them as he checked off the cauldron on his list.
"Marik, how come you didn't get an owl?" he asked. "They're pretty useful from what we've seen."
Marik shrugged. "Yeah, but I saw this little guy and I just couldn't resist," he said. He smiled sadly then. "I think I'll call him Rishid…" He perked up then, before the others could catch on to his sadness at the bad memory. "What are you guys going to call your owls?"
Bakura reached over and handed his owl a small cracker. The animal nipped his fingers in thank you before chowing down on the little treat.
"I think I'll call mine Talia," he said. "It was my oka-san's name, and she's where I get my hair from."
"Fitting," Marik replied, chuckling. "Yugi? What about you?"
Yugi scrunched up his face in thought, staring at his owl. The tri-colored animal stared back at him, hooting a bit as if he were offering him ideas. After a long moment, he finally answered.
"Panseru," he replied.
Marik blinked. "After the pharaoh?"
Yugi smiled. "Sure! After all, Yami Yugi-kun is the first friend I ever really had, and I his first friend in five thousand years. He discarded his old name in order to stay with me, so it's only fitting that I give it to a new part of our lives."
Within the recesses of his mind, he could feel his other half smiling broadly. Bakura flopped back on the bed, letting out a sigh.
"I still can't believe we're going to a magic school!" he exclaimed. "It was hard enough accepting the fact that a tomb robber shares my body."
"Better a tomb robber than a psychopath," Marik pointed out.
"That you created," Yugi pointed out in turn.
Marik sweatdropped. "Don't remind me."
Bakura chuckled. "My whole point is: are we really cut out for this sort of thing?"
Marik took out his Millennium Rod from the back pocket of his pants. "Hey, we were chosen as the holders of our Millennium Items; not an easy standing by all means. If we survived the trials that these Items put us through, I think we can survive a simple magic school. Besides, we've already made it through the first test."
"Test?" Bakura asked.
"Our wands," Marik explained. "I don't think they would have reacted at all if we didn't even have a small amount of magic in us. And, judging from the way the wands reacted when Yugi tried to use them, we know who'll probably be the strongest out of us."
Yugi blushed. "That was just weird."
"Anyway, my point is," Marik continued, "we've already done the hard stuff. Now all we got to do is just keep on living. Besides, guys, what's the worst that could happen?"