Disclaimer: Unless the rights to Harry Potter and YuGiOh are suddenly sold on ebay, I shall not be owning them any time soon.
A word on pairings: A question was raised in a review for the last chapter (thanks Silver Star Celine). Will there be any pairings in this story? I can safely say, now that I have finished fleshing out the plot and I'm happy with it, that there will be no pairings in this story. I may hint to a few pairings such as Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny and Joey/Mai, but I won't be actively introducing any couples to the story. Sorry to anyone who was specifically looking for romance.
Chapter 4: Good old fashioned British weather
The four words that every stressed and exhausted traveller loathes to hear, spewed from Malik Ishtars lips wearily.
"Are we there yet?"
"No!" Ryou snapped, quite ready to pull out his hair at this particular moment in time. It had been a hectic day for all three of the Millennium Item holders. Their flight had been delayed by half an hour, none of them had slept a wink on the plane, and their bodies still thought they were in Japan, and were stubbornly telling them that it was six o clock in the morning, when in fact it was six in the evening here in the UK. Not to mention they had got to Paddington train station only to realise that they were travelling in the rush hour, delaying them further.
Ryou was also beginning to feel a lot like an overworked babysitter. He was the only one who had ever been to England before, and he was the only one who spoke the language, meaning he had to deal with getting his friends through immigration at London Heathrow, buying their train and underground tickets, and restraining Malik from sending innocent bystanders to the Shadow Realm because they were "looking at him funny".
And as if to add a cherry onto this whirlwind of disaster, they had been greeted at Heathrow, by good old fashioned British weather. Meaning it was tipping down with rain even though it was the end of August.
"Wow, I love Britain already," Malik said sarcastically, looking out of the nearest window of the underground train they were standing on (it was so busy that they had not been able to get seats). "It's wetter than Japan. It's colder than Japan. And it's making me sleepy."
"Malik that is because your body still thinks we're in Japan," Yugi yawned. He was also quite shattered, being that it had been almost nineteen hours since they had left home and he would normally have been getting up for school about now were it not the summer.
"And we have to go shopping tomorrow you realise?" Ryou reminded them. "So I suggest we all go straight to bed when we get there."
There were no arguments from his friends, only another loud yawn from Yugi.
"Why don't you let Yami out if you're tired?" Ryou asked, dropping his voice even though he was speaking Japanese. "You could go sleep in your soul room."
Yugi gave a smile.
"He offered, but I said I'd be fine. He has important stuff to think about and I didn't want to disturb him."
"Important stuff?" Malik asked sceptically. "Like how pretty his soul room is?"
Yugi rolled his eyes.
"Other Me has actually been thinking about the Death Eaters, and wondering how this Voldemort guy got a hold of the Orichalcos and how he figured out how to use it."
There was an uncomfortable silence. Over the last week they had all been wondering the same thing.
The train began to slow down and Ryou reached for the luggage rack.
"This is us," he said, watching the platform come into view. The doors slid open and the commuters surrounding them surged out. Yugi held onto one of the handrails to stop himself from being carried away by the crowd, while Malik glared at anyone who dared touch him. Ryou merely rolled his eyes at him and followed the businessmen, suitcase and friends dragging behind him.
Euston Station was incredibly busy at this time of day, and all three boys were thrilled to finally get outside onto the street. The rain was still coming down in sheets and Ryou sensibly pulled out his umbrella. Even though it was still light out, the pitch black rain clouds made the streets of London seem darker than normal.
//Oh sweet Gods. I'd forgotten how much I missed this weather// came the sarcastic voice of Bakura, who had apparently just woken up in his soul room. Ryou rolled his eyes again, before pulling out the crumpled piece of parchment that had been in the envelope that Dumbledore had given him.
"The Leaky Cauldron is this way," he said, pointing off down the street. The three began to make their way down the road, Ryou with his nose still glued to the parchment.
"Left," he ordered as they approached the crossroads.
"It better not be like this all the time we're here," Malik said grumpily. Yugi gave another smile, though it was definitely smaller than what it would have been had he had a decent sleep. He yawned again.
"Ooh don't do that Yugi you're going to…" Malik was stopped by a yawn of his own. "…make me do it too."
Up ahead, Ryou chuckled, before finding himself caught up in his own round of yawning.
//You three are idiots// Bakura informed him.
/Yawns are infectious Bakura/ Ryou muttered, before realising that they should be turning right at the end of this street.
"There it is!" Yugi pointed excitedly up ahead. Sure enough, the Leaky Cauldron was wedged between a book shop and a record store, almost unnoticeable unless you knew what you were looking for. Ryou checked the parchment again as they walked in.
"We're supposed to ask for Tom the bartender," he muttered, not noticing that neither of his friends were paying attention. Yugi was red in the face from hauling his suitcase so far, and Malik was trying to wring the rainwater out of his hair. Ryou sighed, reminding himself that he would soon be asleep, before looking around the pub.
It looked very much like any other pub in Britain, except perhaps a little darker and drearier. Most of the tables were surrounded by families and friends, drinking, eating and talking loudly. Ryou was relieved at least that so far they did not seem to be attracting much attention. Everyone was too busy with their food to notice them.
He, Yugi and Malik made their way over to the bar, where a toothless man was wiping a set of glasses clean and replacing them on the shelf above his head. Ryou caught his eye and the man smiled, showing the gap in his teeth.
"Now you three are too young to be drinking, so I'm going to guess that you are the three transfers Dumbledore told me about," he summarised quickly. Ryou smiled for what felt like the first time since they had left the plane, and replied in English, completely forgetting to be shy.
"Yes sir we are. We're sorry we are late, but our flight was delayed…"
"No worries," the man said airily. "You can call me Tom. I'm guessing you three will want to go straight to your rooms? You look shattered."
"Thank you," Ryou replied.
"Ryou!" Malik whined in Japanese. "Can you please hurry it up? I think I'm going to fall asleep where I stand."
"If you do that, my yami says, and I quote, 'I am not lugging your heavy ass up to your room,'" Ryou snapped, feeling exhaustion grate on his patience once again. Malik's jaw dropped.
"Did Ryou just say ass?" he asked Yugi.
"Here you go lad," Tom said, handing over three keys. "Those are your rooms. Dumbledore told me that Hagrid will be meeting you to go shopping at ten o clock tomorrow morning. I'll wake you all up for breakfast if you want."
"Thank you, that would be much appreciated," Ryou told him. "However you may want to leave waking Malik up to us. He tends to lash out."
In his mind, Ryou translated 'lashing out' as 'sending you to the Shadow Realm' or 'beating you over the head with the Millennium Rod' but of course he did not repeat any of these.
"Okay, I'll bear that mind," Tom said. "You want anything to eat before you turn in?"
"Thank you Tom," Ryou said. "But we're all exhausted. I think we're all just going to go straight to bed."
"That's no problem," Tom assured him. "If you need anything I'll be down here until midnight."
"Okay. Thank you," Ryou smiled, before turning to his friends and leading them upstairs.
"After today," Malik said. "I never want to see a train in the UK again."
"We're catching the train to Hogwarts," Yugi said sleepily.
"Damn it!" Malik roared, almost tripping over the top step in anger. Ryou glared at him.
"Keep it down Malik," he ordered, handing him the key to room eleven. "I'm in room ten, Yugi you take nine. See you guys in the morning."
He let himself in, leaving a sheepish looking Yugi and a bemused Malik.
"What was his problem?" the Tomb Keeper asked.
"I think he's tired, and a bit sick of babysitting us," Yugi yawned, setting off Malik again. "It'll be great when we can speak the language. Anyway, I'm going to bed. Night Malik."
"Night," Malik said, accidentally walking into the door of his room before he realised that he had not unlocked it yet.
OOO
Yugi felt as though he had only just dropped off to sleep, when Tom was shaking him awake and pulling open the curtains of his room. The bartender greeted him, and Yugi responded with what little English he knew, hoping he had said the right thing. He could not wait until Hagrid got there. From the shout in the room next door, he gathered that Ryou was waking Malik.
As soon as Tom was gone, Yugi immediately began to sort through his clothes for something to wear that day. It was still dark and overcast, but it appeared to have stopped raining for the moment. As Yugi finished dressing and began pulling on his armbands, Yami fazed out of the Puzzle.
"Good morning Aibou."
"Morning Yami," Yugi smiled happily.
"Feeling better now that you've slept?" the Pharaoh asked.
"Much better," Yugi said, pulling on his jacket and clipping the belt with the pouch for his duelling deck around his waist.
"Looks like rain again," Yami remarked.
"Yeah I know. Let's hope it stays dry while we're shopping," Yugi said, knocking on the dresser as he passed it. "Coming for breakfast?"
Yami nodded and disappeared back into the Puzzle as Yugi hurried out into the corridor. Ryou was already waiting there, looking significantly more cheerful than he had the previous day. He wore jeans and a white t-shirt, and had thrown a light blue jacket over for extra warmth.
"Morning Ryou," Yugi said politely, still unsure of his friend's temperament after the previous night.
"Good morning Yugi," Ryou said. "I'm sorry if I was short with you last night. I was just tired."
"Its okay," Yugi assured him, wincing as there was a rather loud crash from Malik's room.
"Do you think he's okay, or do you think he's tried to send something magical to the Shadow Realm and it backfired?" Ryou asked.
"No idea," Yugi said, although privately he was willing to bet the latter as their Egyptian friend plodded out of his room muttering furiously under his breath. He certainly looked a lot more cheerful than he had the previous night. He wore his usual trousers, but was wearing a black zip up hoodie over his shirt. Apparently the temperature in this country was not agreeing with him in the slightest.
"Stupid…insensitive…Ra damned mirror!"
"A mirror?" Ryou asked. "What did the mirror do to you?"
"It said…something about my back," Malik muttered. His friends knew he was referring specifically to the scars from the Tomb Keepers initiation. "Let's just go."
Thankfully Malik's bad mood disappeared as soon as Tom gave them their breakfast. The three of them sat in a corner of the pub, watching as it began to fill with wizards and witches, some more bizarre looking than others. They all got a shock when the fireplace began bursting into life, and more and more shoppers began appearing from the flames by floo powder. A few people were clearly regulars, as the other residents of the bar would smile and wave at them, and Tom would offer them a glass of what he clearly knew were their favourite drink.
As ten o clock rolled around, the three teens, and two spirits (who had popped out to view the new environment for themselves) were finishing their meals and were going through the items on their shopping list.
"There's a lot of clothing on this list," Malik said, pulling a face. "And it all sounds scarily like what I used to wear when I was running the Rare Hunters."
"Malik," came the dry voice of Bakura. "I once heard Ishizu say that when you wore a cloak in the Rare Hunters, you never wore a shirt underneath. Are you planning on going around this school with your chest on display?"
"Oh shut up," Malik sighed, throwing a blob of jam at the Tomb Robber. He realised too late, that this was pointless while Bakura was in spirit form as the food sailed right through him.
"That is a long list of books, I will say," Yami commented, reading over Yugi's shoulder.
"Well we do have five years of study to catch up on, plus the stuff we're learning this year," Yugi reminded him. "We have to have mastered the basics and general first year theory by the end of October. Second by the end of term. Third by the time we get back to Hogwarts after Christmas…"
"We'll be fine," Malik said breezily. "I spent most of my life in the tombs and I caught up fine at Domino High after I joined."
Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Really, then what's this I heard about you telling your Literacy teacher that the only thing she could get an A in was in being an idiot?"
Malik scowled.
"She is the worst teacher in the school! It's not my fault she has a stick shoved up her ass longer than Kaiba's!"
"She's not the worst teacher I've ever had," Ryou shrugged. "I had a teacher in Primary school who liked to pick on me because of my hair."
"That's rough," Malik admitted.
"Chono-sensei was probably my worst," Yugi said, noting out of the corner of his eye, that Yami was smirking at the mention of the teacher, who last he heard was still suffering from the Penalty game he had given her.
"Why is the Pharaoh smirking?" Bakura asked, sounding slightly edgy.
"Does it bother you Tomb Robber?" Yami asked, still sitting there looking smug as.
"To be blunt, yes," Bakura said. "Because whenever I see that grin on your face it usually means you've won something. What's so big about this teacher?"
"She lost a Shadow Game to me," Yami said casually. "Now every time she is unpleasant to students, she finds that the mask of make up on her face begins to…crack…"
Bakura raised a pale eyebrow in interest. He had to admit, his rival had good taste in Penalty Games. Yugi shook his head in disapproval, but he said nothing. He knew that not even Yami could undo Penalty Games once they had been issued. And besides it had been over a year ago.
"Wait, so how come Yami is allowed to go around challenging teachers to Shadow Games, yet you lot and Ishizu won't let me mind control my teachers?" Malik whined.
Ryou rolled his eyes, and was about to explain why the Egyptian should not use the Rod to solve all his problems, when a shadow loomed over their table.
The man (if indeed you could call him that) was huge, easily twice the height of a normal man and three times as broad. His face was hidden behind a mess of black hair and a tangled black beard, yet his eyes were warm and friendly. He wore a long brown overcoat, with numerous amounts of pockets, and he seemed to be just as surprised at their appearances as they were at his.
"'ello there! You three the new students I'm supposed ta be showin' around?"
"Holy Ra you're tall!" Malik blurted, without thinking. Yugi nudged him in the side, reminding him to be polite. The man however frowned and looked confused.
"Eh sorry, I don't speak Japanese. Dumbledore tol' me one of ya spoke English though."
"I'm sorry," Ryou said, quickly gathering himself and standing up. "We were all just a bit…startled."
The giant waved a huge hand airily. "It's alright. I get that a lot. Names Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures Professor."
"I'm Ryou Bakura," the white haired boy said, offering a hand, which was promptly shaken furiously. "And this is Yugi Mutou and Malik Ishtar."
Upon hearing their names, the other two got up and bowed politely. Bakura growled as Ryou mentally winced at the pain in his wrist. Hagrid had one hell of a handshake. Yami jabbed the thief in the side before vanishing back into the Puzzle. Bakura grudgingly disappeared too, knowing that Ryou would call if he needed help. Hagrid beamed, before rummaging around in his pockets.
"Well I'm guessing ya don't want to be translatin' all day Ryou, so I'd better give ya these. Dumbledore told me you'd need em."
He handed over what looked like two squares of paper each with a smaller square piece of film stuck to them. They looked strangely like nicotine patches, which upon closer inspection seemed to flash and ripple as though it were alive with magic. Just visible in the corner, in tiny writing, was the word 'English'.
"What are they?" Ryou asked, as Yugi and Malik cautiously took them.
"Language patches," Hagrid explained. "They're a fairly new invention. Only been out to buy for a few months. They're like Language charms, but they're safer and they last longer. Ya stick em on ya shoulder bit like those patches muggles wear to wean themselves off cigarettes, and they allow ya to speak and write in that language."
Ryou quickly reiterated all this to his friends and they immediately began to peel off the backing.
"How long do they last for?" Ryou asked, as Yugi took off his jacket and Malik rolled up his sleeve.
"Three months," Hagrid said. "Dumbledore said he'd have replacements for ya when they run out or if they stop workin'."
"Hope these things don't fall off," Yugi said, as he rubbed the patch to make sure it was firmly stuck down.
"Nah, they can only be unstuck with a spell when ya need to remove em for showerin and such like," Hagrid said, and Yugi jumped realising that he had been understood perfectly. "I'd show ya meself but I'm not really supposed to do magic. So Dumbledore said he'd tell ya when ya get to Hogwarts tonight."
"Why can't you do magic?" Ryou asked curiously.
"I was expelled in my third year, fer summat I didn't do," Hagrid said, scowling forcefully.
"Oh my," Ryou said, instantly feeling for the man before him. "I'm sorry Professor."
"Nah its okay," Hagrid said. "I've got over it. Besides, I'm still at Hogwarts and I still have a great time. You's three will too. Oh and er, if ya want to just call me Hagrid. Professor makes me feel old."
"This feels weird," Malik said, having finally got his sleeve up enough to stick the patch on. "Now I have four languages crammed into my head."
"We can still speak Japanese though," Yugi said trying it out.
"Yeah, the patches don't replace the language," Hagrid informed them, guessing what Yugi had just discovered. "They just add the extra language into ya head." He rummaged through his many pockets, before pulling out a pocket watch and checking the time.
"Well it's gettin' on. Now ya can all understand me I guess I'd better introduce meself again. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, and Care of Magical Creatures teacher."
"Nice to meet you," Yugi said, bowing again politely. "I'm Yugi Mutou." He poked Malik when the Egyptian said nothing. He was double checking that he could still speak all of his other known languages.
"Malik Ishtar," he said briefly, before muttering something in Arabic. Hagrid seemed satisfied and so he turned back to Ryou and Yugi. They seemed to be the friendlier ones of the group.
"So ya ready to get your supplies?" he asked.
"Yep," Yugi said beaming. Ryou smiled, now reverting back to his usual quiet self, now that Yugi and Malik could speak for themselves.
"Well lets get goin' then," Hagrid said, leading them across the pub and out through the back door. Aside from the few dustbins and rubbish bags, there was just the brick wall.
"Erm…Hagrid, are you sure this is the right way?" Yugi asked cautiously. Malik was looking around with a raised eyebrow. Hagrid just smiled and pulled out a pink flowery umbrella. All three teens raised eyebrows when he started counting the bricks.
"Three up…two across…you'll wanna see this," he assured them, tapping the chosen brick three times. A hole appeared in the brick, growing wider and wider, revealing the magical alleyway behind it. Ryou gasped aloud, Yugi's jaw dropped and Malik swore under his breath in Ancient Egyptian.
"This," Hagrid said grandly. "Is Diagon Ally."
//That…was impressive// Yami remarked from inside his soul room. Yugi nodded faintly in agreement.
Hagrid led them down the street, clearing rather a wide path in the shoppers with his size. The three boys just had to stick closely behind him.
"Amazing…" Yugi muttered in Japanese.
"Tell me about it," Ryou said, before dropping his voice. "It's stunned my yami into silence."
//I was not stunned landlord!//
/Sure Bakura. I believe you/
"Hagrid," Malik asked, his eyes narrowing at a row of posters slapped onto one of the shop windows. "What's with all the posters?"
"Eh?" Hagrid said, before noticing what the Egyptian boy was staring at. "Oh them. Dumbledore explained about the Death Eaters didn' he?"
"Yes he did," Ryou nodded, feeling his stomach sink in realisation. "Oh…they're wanted posters."
"Yep," Hagrid nodded sadly. "Don' worry though. We've got Dumbledore, he's the only one You-Know-Who's afraid of."
"Why did you call him that?" Yugi piped up curiously.
"Well…no one likes sayin' his name if they have to," Hagrid explained uncomfortably. "Everyone's scared see."
"Why?" Malik snorted. "It's not like he's going to appear if we say his name."
"I know," Hagrid said. "Look, you three haven't been here that long, but ye'd be better not going around sayin' the name. It frightens people."
Yugi and Ryou nodded, but Malik just rolled his eyes.
"So stupid," he muttered in Japanese. "It's only a name."
"Here we are," Hagrid said. "Gringotts, the Wizarding Bank."
The building was a snowy white marble that even with the overcast weather seemed to shine brightly. Guarding the front doors were two tiny little creatures, which bowed to them. Malik began muttering under his breath again, and Yugi looked nervously at Ryou.
"Erm…Ryou, did you let a monster out?"
"…what? No of course I didn't!" Ryou said, equally as fascinated and creeped out by the creature as Yugi was.
"Yeah, they're goblins," Hagrid explained as they approached. "Never try to outsmart a goblin."
"Hey Ryou," Malik said in Japanese as they passed through the door. "Bakura might find this interesting."
The thief fazed out of the Ring and began reading the poem inscribed on the door.
"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."
/Sounds like it was written just for you/ Ryou thought dryly through the link.
//Pff!// Bakura snorted. //Like that would stop a master thief such as myself. Besides, where's the fun without the risk?!//
/You're hopeless/ Ryou muttered, snapping back to reality as he walked straight into Hagrid. The Professor was looking sadly at the huge queue of people waiting for access to the vaults, as the goblins examined every one of them for anything dangerous they may be carrying on their persons. Ryou had been concentrating so hard on his yami that he had not noticed where he was going.
"Ooh, sorry Hagrid. I wasn't paying attention."
"No problem," Hagrid said, offering Ryou a hand and pulling him up with so much force that he almost slammed into the giants chest instead. "You'll need to change yer money over there."
He pointed to a shorter line of people waiting at yet another desk. The goblin at the desk was scowling at everyone, with a look on his face that said he'd clearly had a very trying day, and it had only just started.
"Hagrid," Yugi said. "Are the queues here normally that long?"
"Sadly no," Hagrid sighed. "See with You-Know-Who back, the goblins have tightened security. So its hard fer people to get their money. That's why Dumbledore didn't want you three ter open accounts. It woulda taken too long."
"Next please!" the goblin snapped, making them all jump. Malik went forward first and handed over a stack of bills to the goblin, who took it and examined it briefly before handing it to another goblin at the desk behind him.
"Fifty thousand Yen!"
The goblin behind him weighed the bills on a set of scales. A small strip of paper was spat out of the side, which the goblin examined, before fetching a pouch and filling it with coins.
"How much did you bring?" Malik asked his friends curiously. "Ishizu said mine has to last me for the whole year."
"A bit more than you," Ryou said. "Father gave me some money to buy myself a birthday present."
Yugi smiled sympathetically. He knew how much Ryou missed his father. It was probably the reason he put up with Bakura so much. Living alone at home, the thief was his only contact.
"Forty galleons, eight sickles and twenty three knuts," the goblin reported, tossing the money bag to Malik, who caught it effortlessly and moved out of the line.
"Next," the goblin snapped. When the line did not appear to move, he gave everyone an irritated look. "Are you all deaf? I said 'next'!"
"Erm, I'm down here," Yugi said in a small voice. The goblin got up and leaned over his desk to see the diminutive teenager blushing furiously.
"Oh my apologies," the goblin said, though his voice was lacking in any admission of guilt. Yugi stretched up and placed his own money on the table.
"Forty thousand Yen!" the goblin reported, throwing Yugi's money to the second goblin. The scales spat out another ticket, and another money bag was filled.
"Thirty two galleons, six sickles, and twenty four knuts," the goblin said, placing the bag unhelpfully on the table so that Yugi had to stand on his toes to reach.
"Next!" the goblin said, tapping his desk impatiently. Ryou handed over his money without a word, quite ready to leave the unpleasant creatures presence.
"Fifty five thousand Yen!"
An evil grin crossed Malik's face, and his hand slipped into his pocket, feeling the cool metal of the Millennium Rod. He shook his hair forwards to cover his forehead as the Eye of Horus lit up. The goblin who had just finished filling Ryou's money pouch, suddenly gained a dazed look, and threw the full bag at the irritable goblins head. The creature yelped in pain and glared at his assistant, before shoving the pouch to Ryou.
"Forty four galleons, nine sickles, twelve knuts."
Ryou thanked him before scurrying out of line.
"He was pleasant huh?" Malik asked.
"Ah well they're all a little bit on edge right now," Hagrid explained. "C'mon. Let's get yeh robes first."
As soon as they were back in the street, Yami took over and glared at Malik.
"That was dangerous Malik," he said. "What if someone had seen?"
"Well no one did, did they?" Malik answered sweetly. "Besides, if you can challenge your teacher to a Shadow Game, I can do a little brainwashing here and there."
Yami did not have the chance to reply, as the group stepped into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
/Never mind Yami/ Yugi said soothingly. /You can't stop Malik being who he is. Do you want to get my robes? We'll need them longer for when you take over/
//If you're sure Yugi// Yami replied. He wasn't going to hide the fact that he had wanted the chance to look around himself. This new world was interesting, and they were going to have to learn fast, if they wanted to do as Dumbledore wanted and help everyone.
OOO
Three hours later, the three Item holders were barely visible under the pile of boxes and bags of school supplies, so Hagrid suggested going to drop them off at the Leaky Cauldron before making their last two stops. Yugi was particularly keen on this idea, as he was in serious danger of dropping the boxes, some of which were easily half his size.
"That's the last of em," Malik said, as ever the last to be ready. Hagrid was finishing what he had described to them as 'a quick drink' which was in actual fact in a glass the size of a flower pot. Ryou was shuffling his deck absently, and Yugi was gazing off into space, indicating that he was talking to the Pharaoh.
"Ready?" Hagrid asked, knocking back the last of his drink and getting up. "C'mon then. Just your wands and your animals left. D'ya know what you're gettin'?"
"I don't think I'll get a pet," Malik said. "I'm not that good with animals."
"Suit yerself," Hagrid shrugged. "I'd recommend gettin' an owl. All the kids want em."
"I was going to get a cat," Ryou said. Hagrid gave a grunt, which everyone took to mean that he didn't like the animal personally.
"I think I'll get an owl," Yugi said. "I want to be able to send letters home anyway. And you guys can send mail too if you want."
The tinkle of the shop bell caught everyone's attention. Hagrid had pushed the door of Ollivanders, and was stepping back to let everyone in. As they did, Yugi had just enough time to catch the peeling gold writing above the shop door.
//Makers of fine wands since 382 BC// Yami snorted aloud. //I'm older than that!//
/Oh so you're admitting that you're an old man, Other me?/ Yugi asked teasingly as they entered the cluttered and slightly dusty shop.
//Yugi!// Yami said in shock as his aibou laughed aloud.
/I'm sorry, but you walked right into that one!/
"Er…what's so funny Yugi?" Hagrid asked, and Yugi immediately closed his mouth.
"Sorry…I just thought of something funny."
/Or someone/ he added mentally.
//Cheeky// Yami muttered.
"Good afternoon," came a soft and eerie voice, that made everyone jump and caused Hagrid to knock over a stack of boxes. An old man had appeared from behind one of the many shelves. He had eyes that were almost as pale as Ryou's hair, and everyone shivered slightly. This man took creepy to a whole new level.
"…hi," Yugi tried. His friends were apparently too startled to speak.
"Would you three be the transfer students for this year?" the man, presumably Mr Ollivander, asked. All three of them nodded.
"Ah yes," Ollivander breathed, pulling out a tape measure, which immediately floated over to Yugi and began to measure. "Dumbledore explained the situation to me. I have to say, it is not every day that Hogwarts receives three new students starting in the sixth year…no not at all. Quite extraordinary indeed."
"Gee and I thought your deck was creepy Ryou," Malik muttered in Japanese, as the shopkeeper began rustling through the shelves and pulling out boxes. Little clouds of dust appeared from some of them, causing everyone to wonder how long they had been there. Yugi raised an eyebrow as he realised that the tape measure had stopped measuring his arm and his shoulders, and was now measure the spikes of his hair.
/Do we really need wands?/ he asked Yami. /We have what we need for our magic/
//We don't want to draw attention to ourselves Aibou// Yami pointed out //Our own magic does not work in the same way that this magic does. However, your wand will have to be able to draw power from the Puzzle, otherwise it probably will not work//
"Here we go Mr Mutou," Ollivander said, opening one of the boxes and handing the wand over. "Rowan and phoenix feather, ten and a half inches."
Yugi was about to ask how he knew their names, as they had never told him, before he realised that he should probably do something with the wand.
"Give it a wave," Ollivander prompted. Yugi did as he was told, but before he had done much, the shopkeeper was snatching it away.
"Nope, not that one," Ollivander said, handing over another. "Ash and unicorn tail hair ten and a half inches. Quite bouncy."
Over and over this process was repeated, until finally, Mr Ollivander pulled out what had to be the hundredth box, and handed Yugi the wand.
"Try this one," he said. "Hawthorn and Phoenix feather, nine and three quarter inches. Very solid."
Though no one else could see it, Yugi and Yami both felt it. A jolt of magic shot from the Puzzle and through the wand, causing red and purple sparks to appear from the end.
"Ooh excellent!" Ollivander cheered. "Really excellent! One down, two to go. Mr Bakura, if you would."
And so the process began again. Ryou waved the wands much in a manner that Yugi had, until he felt like his arm was going to fall off. Twice he had to stop Bakura from coming out and snapping the items in half to cure his frustration. Ryou had to admit though, despite the ache in his wrist, hearing the wand combinations was interesting. And apparently he was not the only one who thought so.
"Thirteen and a half inches, beech, three Vipertooth heartstrings. Mysterious combination."
"What's a Vipertooth?" Yugi whispered to Hagrid, as Ryou had that snatched out of his hand too.
"It's a dragon," the gamekeeper hissed back. Yugi's eyes went wide and from his soul room he could hear Yami's attention shooting up.
//Dragons?// the Pharaoh demanded excitedly. But he couldn't ask Yugi to enquire further, as Ollivander had handed Ryou another wand (Vine, Unicorn hair, eleven and a half inches). Blue and white sparks shot from the end.
"Bravo! Bravo!" Ollivander clapped. "And that leaves us with Mr Ishtar…"
"Would you please tell this thing to stop measuring my back?!" Malik snapped, slapping the persistent tape measure away. Even though he was wearing a shirt and a hoodie, it was clear to all who knew, that the tape measure had been measuring the distance between the hieroglyphs. The wand maker snapped his fingers and the tape measure flew back to his pocket. The first wand was handed out.
"Willow and phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter inches. Powerful combination."
It did not take Malik as long as Yugi and Ryou had to find the right wand. They had only tried about ten before Mr Ollivander handed over the correct one.
"Here. Elder, two Hebridean Black heartstrings, twelve inches. Quite temperamental,"
Though Yugi and Ryou did not comment aloud, they were both thinking just how well temperamental suited Malik, when their friend took it, and lavender and gold sparks flew from the end.
"Very good," Mr Ollivander smiled. "Those wands have chosen you to wield them. You will never get as good results with another wand as you will with those. And there may come a time in the future where that connection will save your lives."
The three boys exchanged looks. This talk was starting to creep them out again. They quickly paid the seven galleons each for their new purchases and headed back out into the ally. No sooner had they left however, when the heavens opened.
"Oh lovely," Malik said sarcastically, pulling his hood up. "Just what you expect when coming to Britain. Downpours."
"Nah don' worry," Hagrid said, airily. "Le's just get back ter the pub an' we can get yer animals later…Ryou? Ryou?"
The white haired boy had vanished from sight. In amongst the crush of wizards and witches scrambling for cover, their friend had disappeared. Malik eyed the crowd, as Hagrid pulled them in the shelter of one of the shops. A flash of white caught the Egyptian boy's attention and he raced off.
"Oh brilliant!" Hagrid huffed. "Now we've lost both of them!"
"Maybe he spotted Ryou," Yugi suggested, shivering in the cold.
//Aibou I don't like this// Yami said bluntly. //Its not like Ryou to just run off. I think the Tomb Robber is up to something//
Though he did not know it at the moment, the Pharaoh was correct. As they had left the shop, the Ring had suddenly begun pointing off towards the end of the ally, where Ryou knew that Gringotts was located. Bakura had immediately taken over and followed the glowing points of the Item, ignoring the rain that was falling around him. In the chaos of people looking for shelter, no one had noticed nor stopped him.
The Ring pulled him towards another ally, significantly darker and gloomier looking than Diagon Ally. The shops were all dark and creepy looking, with some artefacts looking as though they had crawled right out of Ryou's occult deck. A group of shrunken heads sneered at him from a shop window and the thief flicked them off. Above his head, a sign swung ominously, labelling the street as 'Knockturn Ally'.
"Bakura!" came a familiar voice, that made the thief groan. Malik pulled up beside him, panting, his hair plastered to his forehead from the rain.
"Damn you run fast!" the Tomb Keeper said, before looking off down the street, his eyes adopting a glint of adventure. "What's the deal with this place?"
"The Ring drew me here," Bakura explained, as the pointers lit up again and pointed off down the street.
"Shall we?" Malik asked keenly. Bakura eyed him. He'd much rather go on his own and send Malik back to Yugi and Hagrid. But then again, he knew Malik was crafty and not bad in a fight. Plus he had the Rod, which may come in useful. Even Bakura knew that passing up on something as useful as mind control was stupid when venturing into unfamiliar territory. Every advantage helped.
"We shall," he replied, and the two set off down the ally.
The Ring tugged its owner deep into the street. Wizards and witches that had not sought shelter from the rain stopped to stare at the newcomers, but the two paid not attention. Bakura made sure to keep one hand on the Ring and another on the knife in his pocket. Malik was keeping one hand on the Rod, which was hidden out of sight.
"Doesn't the Ring zone in on other Millennium Items?" Malik asked, switching to Ancient Egyptian so that any evesdroppers could not understand them.
"Or anything magically powerful enough to attract its attention," Bakura said. "Something like the Shadow Realm…or maybe, now that I think about it…"
"The Orichalcos," Malik realised suddenly. Bakura nodded as the pulling feeling on the Ring stopped.
"Here," he said. Malik looked up at the name of the store.
"Borgin and Burkes," he read aloud. "Looks no different to the other places in this street."
Bakura had to agree. The objects in the window were just as dark looking as the other stores had been. He snorted scornfully at one shelf that was labelled "Thieves tools".
"Pathetic," he said. "And these wizards think this is scary? I've fed move frightening things to my Man Eater Bug."
Malik, being slightly taller, had opened the door a crack and slipped his hand up and grabbed the bell to stop it ringing when they entered. The two slipped in silently.
"You're good Ishtar," Bakura muttered. "For a mortal."
"Leading the Rare Hunters taught me plenty about thievery," Malik said curtly, examining a shelf containing a selection of magical knives that were supposed to fight on their own.
"I said you were good," Bakura corrected, his eyes scanning some of the artefacts. "I didn't say you were as good as me."
"I'd have to live longer for that," Malik admitted. Bakura was distracted from a smart set of lock picks as the Ring glowed again, pointing towards the shop counter. Slipping the picks into his pocket he silently made his way to the counter, keeping a keen eye for any traps or detectors. The wooden counter did not look out of the ordinary, if you disregarded the pile of disintegrating human bones that were sitting there. Bakura knocked a fist gently along the wood checking for any hidden compartments.
"You have to wonder why people are scared of some of this stuff," Malik commented, examining a selection of masks hanging on the wall. Bakura was not listening. He was smirking and running his hands along the back of the counter. He had found a hidden compartment.
"Bakura?" Malik asked, hurrying to join him. "Find anything?"
"I may just have," Bakura said, stopping as he felt the edges of a cupboard door, which almost perfectly blended into the wood. He jumped back, cat like. A sick feeling rose in his throat. Whatever was behind that door was alive, and pulsing with evil.
"Bakura?" Malik asked, worried as to the thief's sudden reaction. He cautiously touched the cupboard, only to recoil also.
"That feels wrong," Bakura said bluntly. "And horribly familiar."
Swiftly, ignoring the sick feeling as he grasped the wood, Bakura dug his fingernails into the gap and wrenched it open. The door swung aside to reveal the object responsible.
"Sweet Isis!" Malik gasped. "That thing is huge!"
Bakura had to agree. There in front of them lay a chunk of Orichalcum, roughly the size of a football. It glowed much in the same way a heart would beat with life and the surface was uneven and scarred. Bakura swallowed. He could almost feel the darkness calling out to him…begging him to touch it…
"What are you doing?!" Malik yelped, grabbing his hand. Bakura snapped out of his trance. His fingers were inches from the rock. "Don't you remember what the Pharaoh said?"
Bakura felt rage rise in him and he was tempted to turn and hit Malik before cursing the Pharaoh out to the world.
/No Yami!/ came Ryou's voice from his soul room. /Remember this is what the Orichalcos does. It prays on your anger and your darkness/
Normally Bakura would have snapped at his hikari, but he knew that what Ryou was saying was the truth. He struggled to regain control of himself. He didn't need the Orichalcos controlling him. Nothing controlled the great Thief King.
"Look at it," Malik said, pointing at the stone, but not actually touching it. "It's all jagged at the sides. Looks like someone's been hacking away at it."
Bakura looked and realised that he was right. There were small indents along the edge of the stone, which looked like someone had chipped bits of it away, either with a chisel or a spell.
"Good observation," Bakura noted. Malik shrugged.
"The Tomb I lived in used to get blasted by sandstorms all the time. You'd be surprised how quickly you can tell weathered and intentionally damaged rock apart."
Bakura shrugged and went back to the problem at hand.
"What are we going to do about this?" he asked. "I don't think leaving it here is an option. That stuff is dangerous."
Malik nodded. "Do you think we can blast it apart somehow?"
"You got a bomb on you?" Bakura asked dryly, before snapping his fingers in realisation.
"What are you doing?" Malik asked, as Bakura pulled out his deck.
"Just watch," the thief said simply.
"What are you two kids doing in my shop?!" a voice demanded. Both of the thieves jumped up straight, to see a very angry looking man standing there, clutching a knife in one hand and his wand in another. Malik reacted first, pulling out the Millennium Rod and putting the man under its control.
"I've got him," he assured Bakura. "You deal with the rock."
Bakura nodded, and pulled Dark Necrofear from his deck. A second later the female fiend stood in the shop.
"Dark Necrofear, blast this rock into dust," Bakura ordered. The fiend complied, and a beam of energy shot from her eyes and disintegrated the whole counter. Both were horrified when the dust cleared, to see the Orichalcum still unharmed.
"What in the name of…?" Bakura asked faintly. He looked at his monster, who was looking rather ashamed that she had not done the job properly. Bakura squashed his irritation. It seemed that a twenty two hundred attack point strength wasn't going to be enough to break this thing. The bits that had been chipped off it before must have been done by someone who knew how to manipulate the magic of the Orichalcos.
"Bakura!" Malik said urgently. "We'd better go before someone comes to investigate that noise."
"We can't just leave it here!" Bakura raged. "And it's too dangerous to take with us."
The rumble of an approaching crowd caused both the boys to gulp.
"Just leave it," Malik said, grabbing the thief's hand. "We can tell Dumbledore when we get to school and he can deal with it. Let's go before our bones wind up on display!"
Bakura quickly dismissed Dark Necrofear and allowed himself to be dragged back to the door. They were met with a curious and slightly angry crowd of onlookers, and they ducked out of the way and began to walk casually back toward Diagon Ally. But though they could escape the fractured Orichalcum, they could not escape the lingering feeling of dread and gloom that the poor weather only seemed to amplify.
OOO
Back in the shelter of Diagon Ally, Hagrid and Yugi were back in Florish and Blotts, but this time they were not buying. They were searching for Ryou and Malik. While Hagrid interrogated the shopkeeper, who was looking worried as the giant moved around his precious perilously stacked books, Yugi searched the shop. Of course with Yami, this made things twice as easy.
//Nothing here// the spirit said, hurrying back to Yugi's side. The shorter of the two was examining the Magiczoology shelves, for any sign of the white haired boy and the gold decked Egyptian.
/Me neither/ Yugi said. /I hope they're all right. We'd better get back to Hagrid before he thinks we've run off too though/
Yami agreed and disappeared back into the Puzzle. They found Hagrid at the doorway, questioning three people who looked about Yugi's age, one with dark hair, green eyes and glasses, one with red hair and freckles, and a girl with brown bushy hair.
"Yeh sure ya haven't seen em?" Hagrid asked hopefully.
"Sorry Hagrid," the girl replied. "We haven't seen anyone by that description."
The giant groaned, but brightened up slightly as Yugi approached.
"I checked the back Hagrid, they aren't there either," the duellist replied. Hagrid seemed to deflate.
"Whoa! How do you get your hair like that?!" the red haired boy blurted. The girl stamped on his foot.
"Honestly Ron! Your manners are appalling!"
"Its natural," Yugi replied, blushing slightly.
"Sorry there," Hagrid said realising that he should probably be making introductions. "Harry, Ron, Hermione, this is Yugi. He'll be joining your year at Hogwarts. Yugi, this is Harry, Ron and Hermione. They're students at Hogwarts."
"Nice to meet you," Yugi said bowing to them. His greeting took them all by surprise.
"Erm hi Yugi," Hermione finally managed to say. "It's nice to meet you too. Where are you transferring from?"
"Japan," Yugi replied. Hermione's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I didn't know there were magic schools in Japan. The nearest one I know of in the Far East is the Oriental Institution of Sorcery in Beijing. Is that where you're transferring from?"
Yugi was about to open his mouth and correct them, when he spotted two familiar heads running past the shop. Yami immediately took over, knowing that he was faster.
"Oh Ra," he muttered. "Bakura and Malik running is never a good thing."
And he bolted out of the door before anyone could ask what he meant.
"I…" – gasp – "think we," – pant – "lost them," Malik managed to get out, leaning against the wall of the Apothecary. Beside him, Bakura nodded mutely. He and Malik had been leaving the ally when Borgin had caught up with them. Unfortunately there had been a crowd of hags nearby who upon hearing Borgin's shout, had needed little reason to join in the hunt.
"Bakura! Malik!"
"Oh bloody hell," Bakura muttered as Yami strode into view, looking torn between anger at their disappearance and alarmed at their current appearance.
"You look like hell," he greeted. "Where in Ra's name have you been?!"
"Exploring," Bakura replied sourly. Malik, having caught his breath enough to talk properly, straightened up to explain.
"The Ring dragged us to a store, in a place called Knockturn Ally," he said. "The owner has a chunk of Orichalcum underneath the counter."
The Pharaoh's jaw dropped.
"What happened?" he asked. "Are you both okay?"
"Fine," Malik said. "Bakura almost touched the damned thing, but I stopped him."
"Oh cram a sock in it Ishtar!" Bakura snapped. "I'm going to rest in my soul room."
And he vanished without another word, leaving a very peeved Ryou in his place.
"I hope he realises just how dangerous that was," he muttered, before noticing a familiar approaching figure. "We'd better talk about this later, Hagrid's coming. Oh and we need to send a letter to Dumbledore about this when we get back."
Malik nodded, and straightened up, trying to look as though he had not just been running for his life. Yami also disappeared back to his soul room.
"There yeh are!" Hagrid said. "Oh yeh found em did ya Yugi? Where were you two anyway?"
"Sorry," Ryou replied sheepishly. "We got dragged away by the crowd."
Hagrid sighed and ran his hand through his wet hair, making it even messier.
"Well I guess if yeh okay. Just be more careful next time. Don't do ter be wanderin' off when it's this dangerous. C'mon, let's go get yeh animals and then we can get out of this rain."
They headed off to Eeylops Owl Emporium, where Yugi walked around the darkness with an amazed look on his face as all the bright eyed owls stared back at him. Eventually a barn owl came and sat on his head, which Yugi took to mean that he liked him.
"What you going to call him?" Malik asked, as they left ten minutes later with Yugi beaming as his owl sat on his shoulder.
"I don't know," he said, stroking the bird's feathers gently. "I'll have to think about it."
He was still thinking about it as they entered the Magical Menagerie. Ryou immediately headed off to look at the cats, who were all sitting in baskets in one corner of the shop. Yugi noticed Malik looking nervously at an Egyptian cobra coiled up in a basket by the door.
"You alright Malik?" Yugi asked.
"Fine," the blond replied. "I just don't like snakes. I was bitten by one when I was little."
Yugi winced, but Malik just continued to look moody. The effects of the Orichalcum had left him feeling depressed, and he couldn't help thinking about the amount of trouble Odion had been in after the snake had bitten him.
"Stupid father," the blond thought, glaring at the snake as though it were responsible for all his problems.
Meanwhile, Ryou was looking at a basket beside the counter, in which six smoky grey kittens were crawling around. One of them was pushed out of the basket by another, and Ryou immediately scooped the tiny creature up.
"How old are these kittens?" he asked the lady at the counter. The others all looked big, but this one didn't seem old enough to be taken away from its mother yet.
"Those ones?" the woman said, pursing her lips and peering at the kitten cradled in the boys arms. "Seven weeks. That one's the runt though. Poor little scrap. She's always getting pushed around by the others.
"Just like me," Ryou thought, remembering how unhappy his Primary school life had been. He had always been the smallest and most timid boy there, and his hair had only given the bullies more reason to pick on him. He set the kitten down on the floor and she began to wrap around his hand, purring contently.
//Good choice// the thief commented. Ryou found himself looking at the spectral form of his darker half, who was watching the feline with a strange look on his face.
/You like cats?/ Ryou asked in surprise.
//We used to worship them in Egypt// the thief said fondly. //They were useful for keeping rats and snakes away. The punishment for killing a cat, even accidentally, was death. I remember…// he trailed off sadly, before continuing in a faraway voice //I remember when my mother was pregnant with my sister, we'd pray to Bastet, the cat deity. She was the goddess of motherhood//
He sounded extremely depressed at the thought, and Ryou felt a strange unexpected jolt of empathy and understanding for his yami. He clearly still missed his family, in the same way that Ryou missed his own.
A mewl caught their attention. The tiny kitten had lost interest in Ryou and was looking at Bakura. Even though he was invisible she could clearly still sense him. Experimentally, the thief held out a hand, and the cat marched up to it, attempted to rub against it and, squeaked as she fell through him. Ryou giggled slightly.
/I think that's what I'll call her/ Ryou replied thoughtfully. /Bastet. I like it/
The thief seemed to realise just how he was acting and he swiftly withdrew his hand and retreated to the Ring. Ryou sighed, but inside he was feeling slightly less irritated at his darker side than he would have been usually. He didn't really have the heart to be exasperated with Bakura. He knew that no matter how old you were, there were some things in life that never stopped hurting.
Unaware of the new sense of understanding she had just caused between the two people, Bastet mewled again and nuzzled against Ryou's jacket affectionately.
A/N: I am so sorry this is late everyone! To add further injury I'm moving back to Uni, and our house will not have internet until Sept 24th! I might however, be able to get another chapter up if the university library will let me go on fanfiction, but I can't promise anything.
The crap British weather in paragraph three of this chapter, was my little tribute to the crap weather we've been having all summer here in the UK. Apparently this is the wettest summer we've had since the 1600s. And then suddenly last week, the weather perked up.
Did anyone else notice my little Doctor Who thievery in there?
Erm, the incident with Chono-sensei happened in episode 10 of season 0. I haven't read the manga in which this features, but I imagine it's probably one of the first ones.
With regards to Ollivander, I know in HBP he's been kidnapped by this point, but I'm doing my own thing mostly. I'm borrowing a few things from HBP such as Slughorn and the lesson timetable, but that's about it. It won't be my story if I copy it religiously from the book.
I apologise if Bakura seemed OOC with the cat. But the Orichalcos made him feel a little bit negative and broody like Malik was feeling when he saw the snake. Plus Bakura can't be mean all the time. And all the info about the Egyptians worshipping cats is all true. I love cats!
To my two best friends: Did you spot my little dedication to you? Did ya?!
