A/N: Wh00t! Eight reviews on a chapter? That's, like, almost a record for me. ;) Since people are so encouraging, I'm going to tell a little bit of what you can expect. By popular demand, I'm bring Ryou and Malik into this fic, but they will not be central characters. Yugi is the main character of this fic. There will not be an eighth Millennium Item, and there will be no new Millennium Item holders. I strongly dislike making new characters or items. That's what FictionPress is for.
This chapter is all about our favorite Harry. :D And, yes, the Weasley's will be the ones meeting Yugi, but I never said they'd be nice about it. They're going to be a bit… cold toward Yugi at first… but they will be friendlier later.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
/Yugi to Yami/
//Yami to Yugi//
*
*
*
Occurrences
Summer in Little Whinging, Surrey – 1997
*
'SIRIUS!'
A sixteen year old boy with black tousled hair suddenly opened his emerald eyes after what had been a particularly haunting recurring dream. The death of Harry Potter's godfather still lingered in the boy's mind, despite his efforts to stop it.
Shaking the dream off, Harry looked around his tiny quarters, his cousin's old junk heap, to see his faithful owl perched on top of her cage with a letter.
"Mornin' Hedwig. From Ron, I suppose?" He questioned sleepily. He opened the letter to see it was indeed from his friend.
Harry,
The plan is still to floo over to your house today, but mum told me to be sure you're rested, we'll be out late. She got a letter from Dumbledore asking us to meet up with a foreign student in Diagon Alley today. I don't know much, but he's in Gryffindor and he's joining our year.
Hermione's just arrived; mum says we have to go. See you at noon.
Ron
Harry smiled. It had to have been the shortest letter he'd ever received from the redhead, but at least it was a letter. Not much arrived by way of mail to the wizard residing at Number Four, Privet Drive. Glancing at his clock, which read ten in the morning, he quickly got dressed and packed his few possessions in his trunk.
*
Two and a half hours later found Harry in the sitting room of his aunt and uncle's home in front of the fireplace. Bored with waiting, he absentmindedly stroked Hedwig's head while reading his birthday present from Hermione, Hogwarts: A History. As he neared the third chapter, however, his thoughts were interrupted by a crash and the appearance of his best friend, Ron Weasley.
The redheaded boy was quite a comical sight. His normally freckled face was now covered in soot, and his hair had become an interesting shade of black. He brushed himself off and turned to his laughing friend.
"Hiya, Harry! Ready to go? Fred and George'll be here any second. Mum says we need to hurry." Moments later, Ron's twin brothers appeared by his side, much cleaner then their younger brother. Harry suspected they had more than a little to do with it.
"Mum's having a fit back home," George said in a nonchalant tone.
"Going on and on about Dumbledore and his odd quirks about asking everyone to do things at the most inconvenient times." Fred continued.
Ron simply nodded and grabbed Hedwig's cage, "C'mon, we have to be getting back home."
Surprised by the brevity of the visit, Harry numbly grabbed his belongings and followed his friends through the fireplace.
*
Harry was greeted briefly at the Burrow by the Weasley clan. Mrs. Weasley barely spared him a glance in her tirade to her husband.
"I'm sure Albus thinks it's for the best, Molly –"
"But, Arthur, why us? He knows how much stress Harry is under, it's unfair of him to be pushing him into difficult situations."
Harry knew they were discussing the 'foreign' student they were supposed to meet in Diagon Alley. Truthfully, the raven-haired boy wasn't worried about the meeting, but everyone around him seemed to treat him as if he were very fragile. Not wanting to hear the rest of the conversation, he edged away from the fireplace and bolted up the stairs to Ron's room with his belongings.
There he found Ron waiting with Hedwig. "See what I mean, mate? It's terrible. I don't even think there's a good reason for her to be so upset." He looked quizzically at Harry, "is there?"
"No, not really. I mean, Dumbledore's probably doing what he thinks is best. But, I wish he'd stop being so trusting. Doesn't anyone else think it's a little odd that there's a new foreign student? Why couldn't he have just stayed at the school he was at? Why Hogwarts?"
"You haven't heard their whole conversation, Harry," Hermione stepped into the room and made her way into the conversation, "This isn't a transfer student, it's a new student entirely. He's never been to a school for magic. Why, I don't know. That's all I've heard."
Ron gaped at Hermione, "You listened in?" Ron exclaimed. He turned to Harry and grinned, "We're rubbing off on her…"
A voice belonging to Mrs. Weasley interrupted them from the bottom of the stairs, "If you're done up there, it's time to go, we're already late."
*
Yugi sat at a booth near a window in the Leaky Cauldron. Dumbledore had owled him the day before to tell him a wizarding family would be picking him up at precisely one 'o clock.
He'd flooed over to Hogwarts two days ago to be sorted into one of the four houses. He found the experience of traveling by fireplace not altogether pleasant. As he arrived in Dumbledore's office, however, he felt the experience had been well worth it.
The walls of the office were covered in portraits. Not regular portraits, though, these portraits moved. Several seemingly old items surrounded him. Swords, armor, and other ancient artifacts, not to mention the beautiful red bird that sat perched near the desk.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, Mr. Motou. I hope you found your way without too much trouble." The voice of Albus Dumbledore rang out in the silent room.
Yugi nodded, rather unsure of his voice. This place seemed so fantastical, he could scarce believe it was real.
"If you'll sit here – " the professor motioned to a stool, "This hat will sort you." He picked up a ragged hat sitting on the desk.
"S – sir, what is that?"
"Why, it's a sorting hat! It'll put you right where you belong. Hasn't made too many mistakes in its long life." He continued after seeing Yugi's blank look, "It looks inside your mind to see where you would fit best."
/But, then, won't it see you?/
//I don't know, aibou, it's best if I wait in my soul room. I'll try not to influence it, but, then, I'm not even sure what it will do.//
/Hai. I suppose./ Yugi reluctantly sat on the rickety stool and allowed the professor to set the hat on his head. Almost immediately, a voice spoke.
"Hmmm, very difficult decision. Very difficult indeed. Not Slytherin, no, too kind-hearted for that. You've got a sharp mind. Quick to understand, but Ravenclaw's not the house for you… not Hufflepuff, either, you've a loyal personality, but courageous enough to make an excellent GRYFFINDOR."
Dumbledore took the hat from Yugi and smiled. "Congratulations, you're a Gryffindor. I daresay I was not expecting that." He chuckled, "But one can never tell. Very well, you can head back to Diagon Alley, I need to owl some of your new classmates." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "Unfortunately, I know very well that the majority of the boys in your new house will be somewhat… unavailable. And I'm not going to send the Brown or Patil family to welcome you to the wizarding world. They can be a bit, shall we say, tiresome. No, I'll contact the Weasley's."
Yugi nodded dumbly. He hadn't a clue what the older wizard was going on about. Moments before he was going to retreat for a slight nap in his soul room, the old man finished his ramblings and turned to the boy.
"But I shouldn't tire you with that now, young man. I'll contact you when I've received the response." His tone carried finality, and with those words, Yugi left.
And upon receiving the letter from Dumbledore telling him he would be meeting the 'Weasley's', Yugi was, to say the least, nervous. He'd no idea how to act, and meeting adults was all very well, but peers? He heaved a sigh, he should do this sooner rather than later.
The clock behind him struck one fifteen. Yugi hollowly wondered if he'd been forgotten. Not long after that thought, however, Tom's voice made its way to Yugi's ears, "Mr. Motou… room 7. But, ah, he's right there."
Yugi turned his head to catch his first glimpse of a wizarding family.
*
*
*
Another chapter done. Yay! I know, slight cliffie, but, meh, you'd have gotten tired of writing, too. Besides, I'm hungry.
Thanks to my lovely reviewers:
Xyza
Duenna
Cherry-San
Destiny's Dragon
Ruth 4 kai
Star
Dark Magician Girl / Hikaru
Curtis Zidane Ziraa
You all are the reason I continue!
Hope you enjoyed. Anything you want to say, whether you hated it, loved it, etc., please, review! I know this chapter was kinda… icky, but, meh, I've been envisioning the next chapter, so, I know it'll be better. ;)
Press the button.
