So as it turns out, my memory is crap and Bakura's eyes are brown, not blue. (headdesk) Gah. Well, from now on, that's the color I'll be using! Also, Yuugi and Atemu are apparently the same height—Atemu just holds himself differently, giving the illusion that he's taller, and the anime exaggerates the height change (five-foot pharaoh equals ultimate WIN). Yay for double-checking character facts!

Also, when I get around to it, I'm going to go into a rant about continuity (and the lack thereof) in the Memory World arc. Luckily for me, it opened up a bunch of plot-holes I could use for this story (but shh!), but there are still things in the final arc that make zero sense when put in context with the rest of the series. (facepalm) Ahh, last-minute ideas. They are everyone's friends. XD

With the addition of this chapter, this is the longest story I've put up! (throws confetti) I began just doing one-shots because I didn't have the motivation for anything longer, but because I've been having fun with this story, motivation hasn't been too big of a problem. :) This was another difficult chapter to get through, because I'm trying to be very careful about my characters. Last chapter's reception was pretty good, but this chapter we see a lot more of them. Let me know what you think (400 hits and nine reviews? I know you're out there, people!). ;) I hope you enjoy!


Chapter Three

Complications


Yuugi had always been a morning person, and he rarely overslept, so he was very surprised when he was jerked rudely from the black haze of sleep by a blaze of red playing across his eyelids. Yuugi threw an arm over his eyes and sat up sharply, throwing off his blankets in confusion. He blinked furiously as his pupils dilated upon the onslaught of light, trying to adjust to his surroundings. "You don't want to be late on your first day, do you?" came an amused voice from above. Yuugi lowered his arm and looked up, meeting green eyes eerily similar to those he had been seeing constantly over the past couple days, and for a moment he wondered if he hadn't just dreamed the train ride, the boat ride, the Sorting. But he soon realized that while this boy highly resembled Harry, he was obviously much younger, did not wear glasses, and did not have a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

The Harry look-a-like was smiling at Yuugi, already dressed in black school robes with scarlet and gold linings and badge that indicated he was a Gryffindor. "The first day is always exhausting. Our year-mates have already gone down to breakfast, so you won't be able to meet them yet, unfortunately. You've got time to shower quickly before class, though, if you want to."

Yuugi blushed, jumping from bed to land on the hardwood floor in his bare feet. "Ah… arigatou!" he exclaimed. "That would have been horrible to be late on my first day." Yuugi examined the green-eyed boy thoughtfully. There was no doubt he was Harry Potter's son. But what was his name? Yuugi remembered hearing it the night before, but there had just been so much information and so many new names and faces to take in that he hadn't remembered it. Western names sounded so strange to him, and many were difficult to pronounce. Yuugi hoped this wouldn't be a recurring problem as the year went on.

"The bathrooms are that way," the prefect explained, pointing to a door on the side of the room closer to Yuugi. "The house-elves will have already brought up your uniform in your size, so you won't have to worry about what to wear." Turning to his trunk, Yuugi found with some surprise that all the plain black robes he'd bought had been modified to look like all the other Gryffindors', complete with colors, badge, and tie. He nodded his thanks to the taller boy before running to take a quick shower, swapping his starry blue pajamas for the wizard's robes. He was clean and dressed within only a couple minutes, buckling his customary black collar around his neck before picking up the Sen'nen Puzzle from his bedside table and slinging the chain around his neck. Right away, Yuugi could hear Yami's voice of greeting.

"Why do you wear that?" the green-eyed boy said curiously, pointing at Yuugi's Puzzle.

Yuugi glanced down at the golden pyramid, shrugging a bit. "My grandfather found it on an expedition to Egypt nine years ago," he explained. "It was a puzzle then, and I only just solved it last year. It means a lot to me."

The other boy didn't say anything for a moment, until a loud chime made him jump. "Oh, damn!" he exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, Yuugi, I lost track of the time! We've only got fifteen minutes to eat breakfast and get to class. Do you have your wand and your books?"

Yuugi turned back to the foot of his bed. He'd exchanged his usual brown backpack for a similarly-colored messenger bag, which would be much easier to carry while wearing the robes. Inside it he'd packed all his books and the mysterious nine-inch-long, unicorn hair core ebony wand that he hadn't touched since the night he'd bought it two days before in Diagon Alley, when Harry had taught him and Ryou a few simple, more practical spells. Yuugi felt a thrill of nervousness; working magic was his other self's job. Yuugi didn't exactly trust himself to handle such a dangerous object. Yet at the same time, he was excited at the prospect of making objects fly and turn into something they weren't—without someone else's help. Nodding, he grabbed the bag and turned to the other boy, a smile on his face. "Aa, let's go!"

Yuugi followed the other boy out of the circular dorm room down a flight of stairs, where he caught a glimpse of the cozy-looking room with squashy armchairs that he'd seen the night before (only it had been a lot more crowded then) and out the portrait hole that concealed Gryffindor Tower. The other boy was pointing out directions and trick staircases all the way down to the Great Hall, but Yuugi was simply in awe, watching the moving portraits as they flitted back and forth from frame to frame, combed their hair, swung swords, and yelled out greetings. The hall was almost empty when they entered; Yuugi and the other boy sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table closer to the door and grabbed a few pieces of toast each.

Yuugi pulled out his schedule in between bites, examining it with a bit of growing dread. "I only have a couple classes with the sixth years…" he said. "I don't know how I'm supposed to find my way from class to class!"

The other boy leaned over to look at it as well. "Well, you have first period with us. I can get you there. And second period you've got Charms with the fifth years—that'll be along the way to Transfiguration for me, so I'll show you your way, as well. And you've already met my sister, who's a fifth year, so she can take over there. You'll learn your way soon enough."

Yuugi smiled his thanks. "Arigatou—anou… I don't remember your name…"

"Albus Potter," the boy offered, "but call me Al."

They left the Great Hall after only a couple minutes, and once more Yuugi stared around him as Al led the way through the amazing and confusing hallways of Hogwarts Castle. Soon enough he was walking through the doors of the classroom for his very first class in magic, and Yuugi immediately saw a familiar head of white hair that made him break out in a grin of relief. "Bakura!" At least he wouldn't be the only new student among a group of veteran students.

Ryou turned at the sound of his name, giving Yuugi an equally relieved smile as he caught sight of the shorter duelist. He was standing with the boys with whom Yuugi had seen him last night: the tan, black-haired boy who was short for his age, though still taller than Yuugi; and the dreamy-eyed blond twins who seemed to be having an argument about something, but in very quiet, mild tones. "What are you doing here, Yuugi?" Ryou asked, curiosity in his voice. He'd thought that since they were in different houses, they wouldn't be seeing a lot of each other.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Yuugi said.

Al supplied the answer. "Two houses share a class period," he explained. "Gryffindors have Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws, Herbology and Charms with the Hufflepuffs, and Potions and Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins. Other electives just depend on the year."

"Good to know," Ryou murmured, and Yuugi that he was thinking the same thing: at least now they knew when to expect hostility (it wasn't hard to figure out which houses were with Ravenclaw for each class based on Al's list, even if it had been for Gryffindor). The good thing, Yuugi thought, was that the only Slytherin they'd already met who would be in any of his classes was Scorpius Malfoy, who had seemed by far the least aggressive of the trio.

Before anyone could say another word, a sudden hush spread over the classroom as the door opened, giving way to the messy-haired form of Harry Potter. The students stared at Harry, who stared right back, appearing slightly unsure of what he was supposed to be doing. "Er—please, sit," Harry said quickly, moving to the front of the room. Yuugi dropped down in a desk next to Al's, setting his bag down gingerly on the floor. Yami was listening intently, wanting to soak in every bit of information from this first wizards' class, especially one that, by its very name, suggested he could learn new techniques for defeating Dark enemies.

Harry's emerald gaze swept the room from behind his glasses, lingering a bit on his son and Yuugi and Ryou. He clasped his hands together behind his back and took a deep breath. "Welcome to the new year. I'm pleased to have the chance to teach you, even if just for a short time. Just so you all know, the only practice I've ever had as a professor was forming an illegal study group in my fifth year to rebel against the then-corrupt Ministry of Magic, which wasn't allowing us to practice any magic in class. I believe I taught some of your parents then."

"Oh, yes," one of the Scamander twins spoke out in an interested voice. "Our mum told us about Dumbledore's Army when she heard you were going to be teaching. She said it was the best part of her time at Hogwarts, and that you're a really good teacher."

"Did she?" said Harry, grinning faintly. "Well, I hope I can live up to your mother's standards, Lysander." Abruptly, he straightened up, his resolve strengthened, and glared across the room. "Now, I understand that Professor Kirke has been doing an excellent job of teaching you. While I of course intend to continue expanding your knowledge of spells, I'd like to begin with something a little more practical." Excitement lit the faces of the students in the room. "Spells and knowledge of beasts are all well and good, but they're absolutely useless if you can't apply them," Harry continued calmly. "Professor Kirke has not had the experience to quite understand this, but any witch or wizard who participated in the Great War twenty-five years ago—and that is most of your parents—could tell you what I am about to."

Yuugi noticed that the entire class were sitting on the edge of their seats, hanging onto every word Harry said. Since Harry had said the words 'Great War,' every student's interest had been piqued. Harry had told Yuugi and Ryou briefly about the events of the twenty-five-years-past war, but being told a version by the modest hero wasn't exactly the same as having grown up with the story constantly repeated and glorified. Harry's voice was strong now, as he knew he had his students' attention, and he continued speaking with confidence. "Fighting in a real battle is not like practicing your wandwork in class, or even like a duel one-on-one. Those are safe. You make a mistake, you can correct it. No one will die, and you can plan out your strategy beforehand. But when thrown into a real situation, you have no time to think. You are running purely on adrenaline, and you do whatever springs to the front of your mind. You have one chance to get it right, because danger's coming at you from all sides, and if you screw it up, then you or someone close to you is going to die. These first couple weeks, and intermittently throughout the year, we will not be learning new spells. Instead we will be focusing on how to react and think in such a situation, beginning with formal duels and moving on to more realistic simulations."

The girl sitting right in front of Yuugi raised her hand, and Harry looked at her. "Yes, Miss Finnigan?"

"You're talking as though we're about to be attacked any minute," the girl said with a hint of an Irish accent. "Didn't you defeat Lord Voldemort and his followers twenty-five years ago?"

"Yes, with help," Harry said, inclining his head slightly. "But you never know what's going to come at you." He looked straight at Yuugi and Ryou as he said this, and Yuugi found a chill running down his spine as he stared back, wide-eyed. "An Auror who died during the war used to tell me to have 'constant vigilance.' And that's what we must have. Your parents and I together defeated one evil, but that doesn't mean another won't come. It may well be your turn next."

At that moment, the room couldn't possible have ever been more constantly vigilant.

"Er—right then," Harry said, ending his speech a little awkwardly. "So… I guess we'll start out today with a bit of an experiment in dueling. Why don't we pair up? And try to find someone not in your own house, please."

There was a scraping of wood against wood as the students shoved their chairs away from their desks to hurry and find a partner. Inter-house partnership in class activities was encouraged, but not usually required, so the choice of ready-made friends was limited. Yuugi pulled out his ebony wand from his bag and stared at it for a minute before moving towards Harry. Ryou was already talking to the green-eyed teacher, looking a little uncomfortable, but Harry was smiling.

"—don't mind my asking, but since we've never performed any spells besides the few you taught us, how are Yuugi and I supposed to…?"

"I know you're wondering why you were placed in this level class, especially since Defense Against the Dark Arts is probably the most challenging," Harry said. "But because of your circumstances and your experiences with Dark Arts, we figured it would probably be best to get you learning as quickly as possible." He turned to face Yuugi as the shorter boy approached. "If you'd like extra help, I know my son—and surely any of your new friends—would be more than willing. But I was actually hoping to meet with the two of you privately at least once a week anyway…"

"That would be great," Ryou said in relief.

Harry nodded. "All right, then. You had better find partners before they're all gone. I don't want you with each other."

Yuugi blinked in protest. "Demo… as Bakura already said, we don't know any spells. The only kind of dueling we know is probably very different from yours."

Harry flashed a quick grin. "That's what I'm counting on."

Yuugi and Ryou exchanged startled glances. They didn't think Harry quite understood what they were asking. They were being thrown head-first into this with people who'd been studying magic of a difficult caliber for years. Harry had no idea what damage a duel in their minds could do, especially if they were being faced with other real, non-holographic threats. Ryou was about to voice one more protest, when his arm was grasped by a Gryffindor girl with long, red-auburn hair and a very annoyed look.

"I guess I'm stuck with you," she said in a voice of long-suffering. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Harry gave the girl a look of warning. "Be helpful, Rose."

"But I don't want—" she bit out, then lowered her eyes, quieted by Harry's stern gaze. "Whatever. Let's go do this, Bakura, and don't drag me down." There was a bit of a panicked look in Ryou's brown eyes as the girl dragged him off.

Yuugi ended up with Noah Blake's sister, Noelle, who was watching Ryou and the girl called Rose almost gleefully, her attention quite occupied until Yuugi managed to call the girl back to earth. Noelle seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing and flushed, embarrassed, searching her pockets for her wand—which she couldn't find. Apologizing profusely to Yuugi, she raced over to her bag and searched for it, explaining as she did that she was "not a morning person, and I just get so confused—I mean, it's the first day—so sorry—" Yuugi had to admit he was a bit worried. He hadn't expected someone from the house of wit and learning to be quite so scatterbrained.

"If it's all right to ask, why were you watching Bakura earlier?" he inquired.

Noelle looked sharply at Yuugi for a moment, but then she laughed, pushing her dark hair out of her equally-dark eyes. "I don't have a crush on him, if that's what you're thinking," she assured Yuugi in a voice much less flustered than it had been seconds ago. "Even though they're opposite in color tone, I'd just think of my brother every time I looked at his damn face, and that would just be… wrong. I was just thinking how great it is that he wound up with Rose Weasley."

Yuugi looked back over to his friend, where the auburn-haired girl was standing with her arms crossed over chest with impatience as Ryou flicked his yew wand, experimenting and attempting to ignore her. "Doushite?" Yuugi couldn't see how Ryou's being with the girl was a good thing.

"Weasley is…" Noelle seemed to be struggling to choose her words, though what she said was very simple and didn't seem to require much thought. "Her mother is high up in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the Ministry, her father is both an Auror and co-owner of a well-known joke shop, and both parents were Harry Potter's best friends and aides when he defeated the Dark Lord. Weasley's mother is simply brilliant, and Rose herself definitely is as well, on top of being very pretty and popular with guys. But she knows all that, and doesn't exactly make a secret of it. She likes to look good, and she looks better against someone who knows exactly what he's doing, when she can make her skills look all the more impressive."

And Bakura isn't exactly the best person for that,— Yami said, speaking for the first time since he'd bid Yuugi a good morning. Yuugi jumped in surprise, but Noelle seemed completely oblivious. —I'm a bit worried,— Yami continued. —We don't want anything causing the tomb robber to emerge…

Mou hitori no boku… there's nothing we can do, really, Yuugi pointed out.

I just hope he doesn't make trouble for Bakura.

Yuugi was jerked from his conversation as something shot by him, ruffling his hair in its proximity and narrowly missing Noelle, who flinched, as well. "Oops!" Al said sheepishly from his position a few yards away; he'd dodged his partner's spell rather than blocking it as he should have, leaving it free to go after other students in the room.

Noelle seemed to have a late reaction: she jumped, dropping her wand, after the spell dissipated and Al called out. "Oh! Right! We're supposed to be dueling, Mutou, I completely forgot!"

Yuugi examined his own wand. "I'm not sure this is a good idea," he confessed. "I doubt a wizard's duel is much like the kind of duel I'm used to."

Noelle, who had crouched down to pick up her wand, leaned back on her heels. "Wasn't that what Professor Potter was talking about?" she pointed out. "Dueling in unfamiliar conditions? You can watch the others if you're confused, I guess…"

That was very true, Yuugi reasoned. And it wasn't as though he, or at least Yami, wouldn't be able to pick up the basic play of it quickly enough. The problem was actually casting the spells, with which he'd had no practice. But then he remembered Harry's quick grin, and wondered if he was supposed to use Duel Monsters. —When you're running on instinct you have to be prepared for anything. I think that's what he might have been going for. We might as well use what we know…— Yami suggested. —I'm betting he just wants to see what we can do, so we should give him a show.

Don't be too much of a showoff, now, Yuugi said with a grin, and a flash of gold later, the Pharaoh was watching the multicolored spells and curses flying around the classroom with plenty of interest in his maroon eyes. He could just sense the magic in them, and it made him shiver with excitement at the prospect of a new game, a new challenge he'd never encountered.

"All right," Yami said, turning to Noelle with a smirk. "Let's see what you've got."

There was a short, pregnant pause, during which Noelle's black eyes met Yami's with a strange sort of intensity. Yami hesitated, held by her gaze, and suddenly her wrist flicked out, and a sinister-looking purple jet of light was speeding towards him. Yami hardly had any time to react, and his hand went instinctively to the deck of cards at his belt. Dark Magician!

Noelle's spell rebounded off a sudden flash of white light, which faded to reveal the purple-robed figure of the magician. "What is that?" Noelle demanded when she could see what Yami had done to block her. Yami was aware that all eyes had turned to him and his faithful Dark Magician, and he smirked with pride.

"This," Yami said, twirling Dark Magician's card between his fingers, "is how I duel."

Noelle made a strange sort of convulsive movement, as though she was trying to shield herself in case her spell bounced back, even though it had already gone. She pointed her wand and opened her mouth, but Dark Magician was quicker with his staff, launching an attack of his own. Noelle flinched; she had no way of knowing what the strange floating thing could do to her. "Protego!" she cried, but found herself thrown backwards despite the shield charm, hitting the corner of one of the desks. Yami stepped forwards then, afraid she'd gotten hurt, but abruptly Noelle's arm snapped out, and with it a stream of red light that hit Dark Magician dead center.

Yami watched in disbelief as his monster shattered, but he didn't have much time to dwell on the thought as Noelle suddenly collapsed flat on her face. Behind her stood Yami Bakura, looking very pleased with himself. "She wasn't paying much attention, I guess," he said with a shrug as Sangan Critter bounded back to his side. Yami growled, eyeing the mutant-Kuriboh-ish monster with distaste.

"She wasn't your opponent," he protested.

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he drawled. "Well, her 'constant vigilance' needed some work, anyway."

"Expelliarmus!" Another jet of red light, this one thinner and duller than Noelle's, smashed into Bakura, knocking Critter's card from his grip as the monster disappeared. Noah had left his own partner and was scowling at Bakura. "That was low, man," he lectured. "I didn't think you were like that."

Bakura now rounded on the male Blake twin. "There's a lot that you don't know about me," he said slowly, but Rose Weasley moved in front of him without warning, her own spell freezing Noah's legs together. The dark-haired boy swore and toppled over. He wasn't alone, however; Lorcan caught Noah before he hit the ground, and Lysander attacked Rose in his turn with a shout of "Tarantallegra!"

"Protego!" Rose raised her wand, and the spell bounced off her magical shield. She smirked, moving to retaliate; but others, looking like Noelle to take Rose down a few notches, pointed their wands at the auburn-haired girl. Yami ducked through the flying spells and grabbed Bakura by the front of his robes, glaring up at the grave robber. The Pharaoh was furious; Yami Bakura had interrupted their first class, first period of the first day with his meddlesome ways. Yami was going to do something about it, if he had any say in things; but just as things were really about to get out of hand—

"Finite Incantatum!"

All spells suddenly fizzled, vanishing before they could cause any harm. Those who had been hexed were suddenly able to stand straight, all ailments cured. Confused, the sixth-years looked around them to see Harry standing motionless at the front of the room—grinning. "And so we have our lesson of day one," Harry said in a solemn tone that belied his laughing eyes. "In a group situation, chances are it will get out of hand like that. Spells start flying, and sooner or later there's no where to hide and you hardly remember who's on your side."

Instantly, puzzled looks flew from person to person. They were supposed to riot all along?

"Tomorrow I'd like a two-page essay on the pros and cons of close-quarter group battle," Harry said, checking his watch. "It's a bit early, but I'll end class for now. That certainly took much shorter a time to discover than I'd originally thought."

As the students began filing out of the room, discussing their first class with the famous Chosen One in hushed whispers, Harry called out, "Bakura, Mutou, can I speak to you for just a short moment, please?"

"Could you let go of my shirt now, Pharaoh?" Bakura snapped in Japanese. "Or are you so in love with me that you just can't let it go?"

Yami made a disgusted noise and dropped the front of Bakura's robes as though he'd been burned. "I don't care what was supposed to happen, grave thief," he said in a low voice. "You had no right to attack that girl. She had her back turned, and she was not your opponent—"

"Did you miss the entire point of the lesson?" Bakura snarled. "Or did it all just go right through your overly-puffed-up head? I did it because I thought it would be fun, and I wanted that stupid Weasley girl to stop treating ore-sama no yadunoshi like something to walk on rather than something to fear. I don't care about these stupid classes or whatever, but that girl should be glad. I taught her a lesson, right? Just what she was supposed to learn. And it's something you should learn, too…"

"You'll lose omote no Bakura his credibility with friends," Yami growled. "The girl's brother was offended; you saw his face."

"What should I care about—"

Harry cleared his throat, reminding them that he was still in the room. The two spirits sprang apart, and Yami Bakura vanished behind his host's brown eyes. "That was… interesting," he said frankly, raising his eyebrows. "I'd expected the huge uprising to start after a few more misplaced spells, not because someone had purposely attacked another without provocation. And certainly not in the way you attacked Miss Blake."

Ryou's eyes were wide, his face slightly incredulous. He knew that the spirit of the grave robber had taken over his body, but he had no way of knowing what Yami Bakura had done with his body. Harry was making it sound a lot worse than it was.

"I'm sorry I threw you into that head-on," Harry continued. "But I wanted to see what kind of magic you used. What exactly was that? Some sort of—a summons?"

Yami shook his head, holding out the Dark Magician's card for Harry to examine. "There's a card game in Japan," he explained, "that, when combined with the ancient powers of the Sen'nen Items, can summon these monsters from the Shadow Realm in a real or illusionary form. This is my favorite card, and one of my strongest. But—" He frowned, his brows furrowed. "—the girl destroyed my monster with such ease. It was only in illusion form, but it still should not have been so easy to take down. I guess our powers truly aren't much against those of your world…"

"Blake is an exceptionally gifted witch when it comes to curses and hexes," Harry said. "The Blasting Hex that she used on your—your Black Magician?—was at strength far beyond that of her classmates'. But she struggles with the more basic, defensive, and Lighter ideas of this class. As you saw, the Shield Charm she used to try to protect herself from attack was all but useless, and students learn the shield in their second year. A competent Shield Charm should have at least slowed down the attack, which hers did not. I'm not sure if that's a reflection on Blake or your magician, but I wouldn't judge your own magical prowess against hers; you'd only get confused. But if you really want to test your strength against an adult wizard's, I'd be more than happy to assist. In fact, I'll ask you if that's something you'd like to try. As an Auror, it's my duty to find out as much about possible threats that I can, and in exchange, I'll help you with your wand magic. Since the first week or two is going to be spent drilling the idea of dueling rather than learning new spells, you'll have a bit of time to get caught up to speed. We've already agreed to meet, but I thought I should clarify what we should be doing."

"That sounds great," Ryou said quickly. "I'd like to learn as much as I can as soon as I can."

Harry nodded. "Of course," he said, effectively ending the conversation. Ryou and Yami turned away, heading towards the door, and Ryou opened his mouth to speak as Yami gave his body back to his host. Before he could say anything, however, both duelists were interrupted by Al, who had been waiting for them outside the room. Yuugi had almost forgotten that he'd had no idea how to get anywhere and felt pleased that Al had waited for him.

"Do you know where you're going next, or would you like me to show you?" Al offered, speaking to Ryou. He was aware that the Ravenclaw trio with whom the white-haired boy had arrived had already left, leaving Ryou to fend for himself. Ryou nodded in affirmation, though he bit his lip in frustration. He had to come up with something to say to defend his actions, but hardly even knew what he'd done. The malignant spirit rarely came out of the Ring so often, especially if Ryou was doing something as mundane as attending school. The magic in the air had to have him restless.

Yuugi smiled up at Ryou, his face shining with excitement and encouragement. "Aa, onto our next class!"


Living in an empty house was a very, very strange experience for one Ginevra Potter. She had grown up in a house of nine, counting neither the frequent visits from friends and extended family nor the ghoul that lived up in the attic and made sure that the owners of the house knew it was there. Adjusting to life with only her husband had taken some getting used to. The number of their family had swelled with the births of her three children, but all too soon they had headed off to Hogwarts, one by one, until only Harry was left once more. But now Harry was gone, too, and Ginny was very determined to place the blame on one ex-girlfriend by the name of Cho Chang.

Not that Ginny was whining and moping alone at their white house in Godric's Hollow. While her job as the senior Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet wasn't exactly the most exciting or distracting (working from home, Ginny was learning, was a very bad thing), she had always been a pro at staying strong. Yet Ginny could only take the silence of her house for so long. She had been seriously considering asking for her old job back as a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies—with all her children away at school, there was nothing left for her to look after at home—but forty-one wasn't exactly the age that most Quidditch teams wanted for their players. Ginny knew very well that age wasn't a problem for her in the slightest (A/N Dara Torres!), but there wasn't anything she could do if the coaches had a problem with it.

So Ginny, fed up with the ringing, maddening silence of the house, grabbed her cloak and stormed straight out the front door, slamming it behind her before turning on her heel and disappearing into the air with a pop. She Apparated before a house that was just as familiar to her as her own: one owned by one of her many brothers, a brother and his wife who were the best friends of both Ginny and Harry. Ron and Hermione Weasley were used to unexpected visits by the Potters, as they were as close as family could get, and Ginny had warned them in advance that this year would bring many such visits.

She entered through the front door without knocking. "Ron? Hermione? It's just me," Ginny called as she moved down the main hallway, the hardwood tiles on the floor creaking under her feet.

"We're in here, Ginny…"

Ginny walked into the kitchen, and a tense scene met her eyes. Ron was leaning against the counters looking stressed, and Hermione was rubbing his shoulders. Ginny looked curiously at Hermione, who gave a small smile. "Hi, Ginny," she said warmly, moving to embrace her friend. Ginny gave her a hug in return, then moved to give her brother a kiss on the cheek.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked warily, not sure she wanted to know.

"Um… well…" Hermione glanced nervously at Ron. "Ron got news from work today—"

"Which work?" Ginny interrupted. Ron held two jobs, working part-time as an Auror and part-time as the co-owner of the joke shop Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, created first by their older brothers Fred and George. Ron had jumped in to help when Fred was killed in the Great War, but his main job was still alongside Harry, scouting out the last of Voldemort's supporters. He'd been spending more time at the joke shop, however, as there were less and less Dark wizards every month.

"The office," Hermione responded, meaning the Auror Department. "There was a—a bit of a problem…"

"It's all right, Hermione," Ron interrupted with a sigh, raising his hand. "I should tell her."

Ginny began to feel a slight sensation of panic bubbling in her chest. "Is Harry all right?" she said, her voice oddly calm. Harry had been in many close shaves and near-death situations, but though he always pulled through, Ginny never stopped caring. To her relief, Ron shook his head vigorously, indicating that Ginny was way off the mark.

"Yes, he's quite all right, and hopefully it stays that way," Ron said quickly. "But he may tie into this." He dragged a hand absentmindedly through his mess of ginger hair, apparently trying to decide on where to begin. "There was an attack on Diagon Alley last night."

"What?" Ginny exclaimed, astonished. Ron nodded.

"No one was hurt, thankfully—and oddly. Whoever it was broke into Gringotts. The doors were completely smashed, but the odd thing is, it doesn't look as though anything was stolen. In fact, the goblins say that once the darkness that suddenly came upon them was lifted, they were missing three security dragons—but there is absolutely no indication that any dragon left their positions, except, well, they're no longer there."

"So how does this relate to Harry?" Ginny said, sitting down in a chair with a thump. A Gringotts break-in that resulted in no theft of treasure but rather of dragons? Dragons that seemed to have simply disappeared into thin air?

"I'm getting to that," Ron continued. "A room in the Leaky Cauldron was completely ransacked, but all anyone in the place can remember of the night is having horrible dreams. Well, we thought it was weird that there would just be one unoccupied room targeted and overturned, so we asked Tom who was last in that room." Somehow, Ginny knew the answer before Ron said it. "…You know those two Japanese students Harry's looking after?"

"Do you have any leads on what it was this attacker wanted?" Ginny demanded. "It has to be something to do with this 'ancient magic' Harry was talking about…"

"Well," Ron said, and his voice cracked. Hermione took his hand and squeezed it lightly. "We know it was about this ancient magic, Ginny."

"How—"

"Harry said it was from Egypt, Ginny. Ancient Egyptian magic."

Ginny was still completely lost. She felt as though there was some huge piece to this puzzle that she was missing, that Ron was dangling right in front of her nose, and it made her frustrated. What did Egypt have to do with Diagon Alley and a room in the Leaky Cauldron? "I still don't understand. Why does this have you looking like someone died?"

"Bill was allowed to keep plenty of objects he found in the tombs in exchange for breaking as many curses as he did. I guess he just kept one object too many."

Ginny froze. "Ron, spit it out," she said sharply, though she knew what was coming couldn't be good. Hermione pulled Ron down into a chair next to Ginny and sat on the other side of him. It was Hermione who spoke next; Ron was silent, staring off into the distance with his eyebrows pulled together ever so slightly.

"Fleur woke to find Bill lying on the floor of their living room, muttering nonsense," Hermione said gently. "From the mantel they were missing a gold circlet and bracelet as well as three rings Bill had given to Fleur on their honeymoon."

Ginny groaned, placing her head in her hands. She had never thought that so many years after he had retired, Bill could possibly still be under any danger from curses he'd broken from his days in Egypt. Fleur had always loved gold and jewelry—and the rarer the better—so it was no surprise that they'd had them in their home, yet Ginny had always counted on Bill not to be so stupid as to give his wife Egyptian jewelry he'd found breaking curses, even if he thought it simple enough to be beautiful without being ostentatious. "Is he all right?"

"We don't know," Hermione said quietly. "He's in St. Mungo's, and the Healers say he hasn't made much progress."

"So how do we know what happened to him is related to the break-in at Gringotts and the Leaky Cauldron?"

"There were traces of Dark magic everywhere," Hermione said. "But it was just that—traces. It kept slipping from the Aurors' sensors, and it was so faint. They can't follow the trail anywhere. The Aurors have never experienced anything like this before. It's as though whoever it was just vanished right into—"

Ginny's voice was grim as she finished Hermione's sentence. "Right into the Shadows."


"Bakura, you've got to talk to them."

"I'm not in the mood."

"You've got to tell them something before they find you completely untrustworthy and you wind up alone…"

Ryou crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at his lunch with a sigh. The Ravenclaw badge on his chest stuck out in a sea of red-and-gold lions, and many Gryffindors at the table were giving him confused looks, but Ryou wasn't paying much attention to them. Yuugi was urging him to talk to the trio of Lorcan, Lysander, and Noah, to whom Ryou had not spoken since the out-of-control first period of the day. Noelle herself had no memory of the monster that had attacked her from behind and so saw no reason to be angry with Ryou, but the Ravenclaws whom Ryou had initially befriended had been surprised to find that the white-haired boy would attack anyone with her back turned, and Ryou did not want to deal with the effects of his yami's meddling ways at that moment.

Yuugi sighed, stabbing his own meal with a fork (he preferred chopsticks, but didn't have much of a choice of utensils). "Bakura," he persisted, "I'm happy to hang out with you, but what are you going to do during the classes we're not together? At night, when we're not sleeping in the same house? You don't have to tell them about your… koe. Voice. But you can tell them the truth without the whole truth."

"Well, it's easy for you, Yuugi," Ryou said delicately, raising a pale eyebrow at the shorter boy. "Your situation's not exactly the same as mine."

Yuugi flushed dully, but he was stubborn. "If they truly wanted to be friends, Bakura…"

Bakura began to cut Yuugi off, but he found himself suddenly being shoved sideways on the bench as three new forms dropped down next to him. Bakura turned, meeting with some surprise the grey and black stares of Lysander, Lorcan, and Noah. "Hey, move over wouldya?" Noah said airily. "We're trying to sit."

Lorcan, who was closest to Ryou, clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "It's okay," Lorcan said solemnly in his dreamy voice. "We're schizo, too."

Lysander's lips twitched upwards. Ryou's eyes widened. "Wait!" he protested. "I'm not—but I never—"

"He's right, Lorcan," Lysander said, frowning in disapproval. "Schizophrenia is different from multiple personality disorder."

Ryou spluttered in indignation. "No, that's not what's wrong with me!" he said, but then stopped to see that the expression in all three pairs of Ravenclaw eyes was laughter. Ryou blinked back, unsure as to what was going on.

"Well, then why are you avoiding us like we're the plague?" Noah said lightly, raising an eyebrow. "You can't sit with these dumb old Gryffindors every day. Look, I lose my temper when I'm dueling, and I overreact to things. People get carried away. I'm sure that's what happened to you, and that's what happened to me. I'm an overprotective prick, and you like the occult, so we're even right?"

Ryou sweatdropped. "What does my like of the occult have to do with anything?"

"Tell us what that monster was!" Lorcan urged, his eyes wide and eager. "Did you do that summoning thing you told us about?"

"Don't forget that Yuugi summoned something, too," Al supplied, leaning across the table. "And that one looked as though it could have kicked some Ravenclaw monster butt. You've got to teach me how to play that game, Mutou. Even if I can't do what you did, it would be fun. And it might bring in some more business to the Wheezes if it got popular here, right, James?" He turned to his brother, who was sitting next to him, but James was staring at something further down the table, his chin resting on his hand and a wistful look in his eyes. Suddenly, James jumped as though someone had kicked him under the table.

"What the—Al, what in Merlin's name was that for?"

"You're staring at her again," Al said coolly, and a stricken look crossed the older Potter's face. "At this rate, you'll never get Lule to say yes, and you'll die an old bachelor."

James ignored this statement, turning away to run a hand through his disheveled hair, but stopped when he saw the people sitting across from him. James adopted a very strange expression. "What the hell are four Ravenclaws doing here?"

"We're discussing games," Noah said brightly, "and their awesomeness."

"You mean Gryffindor's awesomeness in Quidditch?" James queried, arching an eyebrow

"What's Quidditch?" Yuugi asked. The word sounded a bit odd on his tongue, though everyone understood what he'd been going for. James looked positively offended that Yuugi didn't know what Quidditch was, and jumped to his feet.

"Only the best game ever," he proclaimed, and instantly Yami jumped to attention. "Do you not even know how to fly?" The look on Yuugi's and Ryou's faces gave James the answer for which he was looking, and the enthusiastic seventh-year ruffled his younger brother's hair. "That's simply a crime. You're learning tonight, before the tryouts and season begin. Right after school, meet me at the Quidditch Pitch. Al and I—and Lily, if you can get her to come—can give you a full run-down. Everyone should know how to fly."

"But—"

The bell rang, cutting off Ryou to signal the end of lunch, giving nobody any choice in the matter.


More on the Weasleys and Harry next chapter! I don't want to dwell on the learning-to-fly deal, so I may not even write out that scene unless you guys want to see it.

There will probably be only one more update before I leave for school on Wednesday. Maybe two, but that would be very lucky. It's pretty doubtful, as I still haven't done my summer reading yet. (headdesk) Umm, yeah. I should get on that. I'll probably just wind up skimming on the plane back. At least I've already packed! AnnoyingLittleTwit asked what grade I'm in: I'm a junior in high school (why does that sound perfectly fine but knowing I'm going to be seventeen next May sounds way too old?), so this is the big, pressure-filled, SAT, college-search year! It's going to be a wild ride. :)

R&R, you guys! I know you reviewers are out there. ;)