Disclaimer: I own neither the world of Harry Potter nor the world of YuGiOh.
Chapter 7: First day. Seventeenth Birthday
Harry Potter was use to being awake early. After five years of schooling at Hogwarts, punctuated occasionally by his dreams being invaded by Voldemort, early starts did not surprise him. What surprised him was to find Ryou Bakura already awake and dressed at seven o clock in the morning. Everyone else was still out of it, Neville, Ron and Malik snoring loudly.
Ryou was sitting on his pillow, with his back against the headboard, Duel Monsters deck spread out in front of him, with his side deck and about fifty spare cards next to it. Bastet was prowling next to the cards, but she seemed to understand that they were not to be played with. The white haired boy appeared deep in thought as he studied the cards.
Harry finished dressing before creeping silently over to the transfer's bed. Ryou was so engrossed in his cards that he did not notice the approach of his fellow student. Harry could see his lips moving in silent thought and as he approached, he could make out a few words.
"Better swap that out…put Jowgen in instead…Multiple Destruction might be handy if we run into someone using the Seal of Orichalcos…"
"Good morning Ryou," Harry greeted. Ryou jumped before spotting Harry. He relaxed slightly.
/Its okay Yami. I don't think he realised I was talking to you/
//Good// Bakura said. //The last thing we need is him asking questions. Malik's already got them curious with his back//
"Good morning Harry," Ryou said politely, placing a few more cards to his left, where the rest of his deck lay. He rather liked its current state. In the centre of the group lay three separate cards, which he smiled at fondly. Harry, seeing where his attention was directed, took a close look in interest. Two of the cards were orange. One depicted a woman with blue skin, purple armour and a wooden doll. The other showed a white skinned devil like monster with a snake for a tail. The final card was green and depicted a woman clutching a heart in her hands. One side of her was angelic and bathed in light, while the other was shadowed and demonic.
"What do these three do?" Harry asked. Ryou picked up the three cards smiling.
"These three are my favourites. Those two are both monsters and this one is a spell. They're all pretty special to me…for one reason or another."
His eyes flicked over Dark Necrofear, quite possibly his most deadly monster, then Diabound Colonel, the monster that was his yami's Ka, before ending on Change of Heart, which was his personal favourite. He thought it represented himself very well and he'd always felt a special attachment to it.
He quickly counted the cards on the bed before him to ensure that he was not over the limit before critically weighing the different types to make sure that the deck was well balanced. Finally he scooped them up and shuffled them. Harry noticed the way the other boy handled them so carefully as if worried that he would damage them. It reminded him of the way he handled his Firebolt.
"So how does your deck work?" he asked curiously. "I remember Yugi saying that most duellists have a strategy. What's yours?"
At this Ryou smiled mysteriously.
"Ah now that Harry, you will just have to wait to find out," he said. "But I will tell you that my deck's general theme is the occult."
"Yeah I noticed," Harry remarked, remembering how creepy most of the monsters were. "What about Yugi and Malik? What are their decks based on?"
"Well…" Ryou mused, debating how much he should give away. Admittedly after all the tournaments they had been in, their deck strategies were not exactly a secret to the duelling community, but it was always second nature to try and keep them secret for as long as possible. He saw no harm in telling Harry a little however.
"Malik uses an Immortality deck. He likes to use burn techniques…he bypasses the monsters and attacks his opponents directly," he explained seeing Harry looking confused at the terminology. "While he does that he uses other cards to bring back his more powerful monsters from the graveyard."
It sounded complicated to Harry, but then again, he mused, it was no more complicated than a newcomer might find Quidditch. It took skill and a great deal of strategy to play the game.
"And Yugi?" he asked.
"Well Yugi…" Ryou trailed off again wondering how on Earth to define the deck of the best duellist in the world. "His strategy depends on who he is duelling. He's got loads of different monsters but he has ways of making them work together well. He likes his Magicians and his Magnet Warriors. He's also rather fond of King's, Queen's and Jack's Knight. Oh and we can't forget Kuriboh...and heaven help the person he's duelling if he uses the God Cards."
Harry was about to ask more, when Malik gave a loud grunt and rolled out of bed and onto the floor. Harry stifled a chuckle, and Ryou giggled. In his soul room, Bakura was rolling on the floor laughing.
"Are you alright Malik?" Ryou asked. A hand stuck up from behind the bed, displaying the peace sign. The commotion woke Dean, Neville and Yugi, who looked over in bewilderment.
"Is this the standard morning thing in Japan?" Dean asked.
"No just Malik," Ryou smiled. The Egyptian glared at him, pulling himself back onto his bed and reaching blearily for his language patch. His hair was a spiky mess and his eyes looked distinctly dull without the usual black outline.
"How many time zones did we fly through to get here again?" he asked.
"Twelve," Ryou replied. "Morning Yugi."
"Morning Ryou. Happy Birthday!" the King of Games grinned before throwing over a present. Ryou caught it happily.
"Thank you Yugi!" he said.
"It's your birthday?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Evidently," Malik remarked, handing over his own gift. Ryou was halfway through unpicking the selotape on his first present. The silver wrapping paper fell off to reveal a box containing a new diorama for Monster World, which Ryou could set up when he got home. Ryou beamed.
"Thanks Yugi!" he said happily. Yugi just smiled.
"We'll have another game during Christmas. I'm sure everyone would love to play!"
Ryou smiled at that, remembering a time when he had been terrified to play his favourite game for the fear of losing his friends.
"Mine next," Malik poked. Ryou unfolded the messily wrapped paper and examined the contents with interest. The first book was entitled "The Planes of Passage" a muggle fantasy book. Malik grinned toothily.
"I know you've got the first three in the series, and I thought you might like the fourth one."
Ryou thanked him before examining the second book. He doubled over laughing. The book was thick and heavy and looked magical, which led Ryou to assume that it had been bought in Diagon Ally the other day. It was entitled "Living with angry ghosts: A self help guide to reasoning with cranky spirits".
"I thought it would amuse you," Malik grinned. Yugi rolled on the bed clutching his sides.
//I am not a cranky ghost!// Bakura snapped.
/No technically you're a cranky spirit/ Ryou corrected. There was a loud groan from the yami's soul room and a vague mutter of "kill Ishtar later".
"Thanks Malik," Ryou smiled. "I'll be sure to read it."
"One more," Yugi said, handing him a smaller, much thinner package.
"Guys you didn't have to," Ryou said.
"Just as well we didn't," Malik said. "That's from us and everyone at Domino. We all clubbed together."
Ryou gently unpicked more selotape and neatly folded it to one side. He had already guessed that the gift was Duel Monster cards. He examined them and gasped.
"Surprise!" Malik grinned.
"Guys…how on Earth did you get these?" Ryou breathed.
"Oh there was a lot of pooling money, arguing over the cards, poking Kaiba to find out where we could order them, poking the Post Office for fast delivery so they'd be here before we left…but the important thing is, we got them!" Malik ended.
Ryou honestly did not know what to say. The cards before him were "Dark Master – Zorc" and the ritual to summon him "Contract with the Dark Master". The monster was modelled after the villain of his favourite game Monster World, and indeed, had been his yami's avatar when he had turned it into a Shadow Game. Ryou mused over the card's special ability and how similar it was to Monster World. The lower you rolled the die the more damage Zorc did. If you rolled low you could destroy your enemies, and if you fumbled and rolled too high, you destroyed yourself.
Ryou had always had nothing but bad memories with this creature. Whenever he thought of Zorc he thought of the damage his yami had almost done that day and the pain he had inflicted on Ryou's previous friends. But now, the idea that his friends had given him the card made him feel better about it. Now when he looked at it he could see his friends rather than the disaster that had been caused.
"I really don't know what to say…except I may need to rearrange my deck again…"
"No problem," Malik said, already getting dressed as Ryou examined the cards. "Just use it next time you try to beat us in a duel."
Ryou seemed to smirk and his eyes took on a challenging note as Bakura took control.
"You assume I'm going to lose Malik? Have you learned nothing after the hundreds of defeats you've suffered at my hands?"
He threw a pillow at the Tomb Keeper's head, causing him to topple over backwards onto the floor again. There was a string of Arabic and Egyptian curses from behind the bed.
/Bakura/ came Ryou's voice.
//Do I have to?// Bakura moaned, guessing immediately what his hikari wanted him to do. //You know it's not in my nature//
/It's my birthday. Would it kill you to do it this once?/
//…//
/I'll let you have control of my body this afternoon/
//Really?
/Yes but I get it back at dinner!/
//Deal!//
"Seriously," Bakura grunted as Malik pulled himself up again, rubbing his sore head. "Thank you for the cards."
Malik was so surprised at those words coming from Bakura's lips that he completely forgot to be angry at him for almost concussing him.
"Who are you and what have you done with the Thief King Bakura?" he asked in Japanese. Bakura rolled his eyes.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that Ishtar," he said. "I'll be let out this afternoon just so you know, so I shall see you then."
And he vanished without another word.
"Was your yami just pleasant to us?" Yugi asked.
"It's only because it's my birthday," Ryou shrugged. "And he knows I hate fighting. Although reflecting on it, I must have been mad to promise him control this afternoon."
"Always knew you were a few cards short of a duelling deck," Malik said, and he was pelted by more pillows.
Harry and Ron meanwhile, exchanged glances.
"Definitely weird," Ron summarised.
OOO
"Mail's here," Ron announced dully.
The transfers look skyward curiously. The magical ceiling stared back at them. The storm had eased up overnight but had now returned with a vengeance. All three new students got a huge shock as the post owls came streaming in through the windows, bringing most of the storm water with them. Some were so waterlogged it was surprising that they had been able to take off from the ground in the first place.
Yugi scanned the storm of birds for Taiyo, but there was no sign of his owl anywhere. Ryou was also watching curiously and noticed his friend's anxiety.
"You only sent the letter yesterday Yugi," he reminded him. "Its going to take Taiyo a while to get to Japan and back."
"I know," Yugi said. "I'm just worried…I know," he dropped his voice before continuing. "I know Dumbledore said our families were safe, but I won't believe it until I hear it from Grandpa myself."
Ryou knew how he felt. He had the letter to his father in his school bag, and had made a mental note to find the owlery later so that he could send it. He fingered the silver identity bracelet on his wrist that had been his father's birthday gift to him. He had been forced to beat Malik with pillows again after the Egyptian had asked jokingly if this jewellery was cursed too. Though he would never admit it aloud, Ryou had wondered the same thing. The last jewellery he had received from his father was the Millennium Ring.
Hermione was half way through the morning edition of the Daily Prophet and was reading the current page with a frown on her face.
"Something wrong Hermione?" Ryou asked, leaning over her shoulder to look at the paper. He almost jumped out of his seat in shock, for the article she was reading was an information page about Voldemort's new weapon, the Orichalcos.
"…this is…" Hermione seemed lost for words. "This magic it's…unbelievable…and Voldemort has it…"
"Oh it's more than unbelievable," Ryou said as Hermione laid the paper flat so everyone could read it. "It's pure evil."
Hermione frowned at his words.
"You sound like you know that for a fact," she accused. Ryou nodded.
"Remember we said we got attacked by Death Eaters back at home," Yugi filled in. Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded.
"They used the Orichalcos against us," Yugi said. Hermione gasped and Harry and Ron looked up in awe.
"You escaped Voldemort's new weapon?" Harry asked in shock. "How?"
"Read what it says," Malik said nodding at the paper. "The Orichalcos works by taking someone's soul, specifically the loser's soul. They fought us and they lost. Therefore we survived and they lost their souls."
Harry wanted to ask more, but it was clear from the looks on the faces of the transfers that they would say no more on the subject. Thinking on this, Harry decided he really could not blame them. The idea of watching someone have their soul taken was horrible.
"Deaths?" Ron asked finally. Hermione flicked to another page and scanned the columns.
"No one we know," she said. "There was a small attack on a muggle town the other day, but the Aurors had been tipped off and were there to stop it before anyone got too badly injured. And there was a Death Eater killed yesterday in Botley. Wilbur Hudge. From what they can tell, it looks like he tried to get out. But the other Death Eaters tracked him down and murdered him. Oh and Borgin and Burkes was searched too…hey!"
Malik had ripped the paper from her grasp and was scanning the page feverishly. Yugi and Ryou immediately crowded around to read.
"Please say they found it," Yugi prayed under his breath. Malik got there first and cursed loudly.
"They didn't find it," he spat angrily. "Listen."
"…the store was examined between the hours of 4.00PM and 5.00PM, with the search eventually yielding no conclusive results. Ministry officials would not say what they had been searching for, only that the information was classified for the safety of the informant…"
"Oh for the love of Isis!" Bakura said angrily in Egyptian, having taken over to read the article for himself. "It was under the counter! How hard is it to find a chunk of rock the size of your head?!"
Malik kicked him swiftly in the leg.
"You're drawing attention to yourself!" he warned. "Besides, you blew the counter to smithereens. I think that Borgin guy would have had the sense to move it out of sight!"
Bakura was about to retort, but at this point Professor McGonagall came around handing out everyone's timetables, and thus providing a distraction from the paper. Harry, Ron and Hermione, who had been watching the foreign outbursts in surprise did not have a chance to question them, nor did Hermione have the opportunity to get her paper back. While no one was looking, Malik shoved it into his school bag.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were all cleared for the subjects they wanted, before McGonagall moved onto the transfers. Malik was first, and was cleared for Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions and Ancient Runes. Hermione beamed at him upon finding out that they would be in the same class, and she immediately volunteered to help him should he need it. Malik however, shook her off.
"I'll be fine thanks Hermione," he assured her. "I've been, living breathing and dreaming ancient scriptures my whole life. This class will be a snap."
Hermione looked sceptical, but her attention was diverted as Ron snorted loudly at Ryou.
"You're doing Divination?" he asked in disbelief. Ryou was scanning his own timetable, which was exactly the same as Malik's except when the Egyptian boy had Ancient Runes, Ryou had Divination. Currently, the albino sat there staring at Ron with a bewildered look on his face.
"What's wrong with that?" he asked. Ron chortled before continuing.
"Well here's a hint for you mate," the redhead said. "Just make up something horrible and Trelawney will buy is easy."
Ryou look mildly offended at this and Malik kicked Ron under the table to make him shut up.
"Thank you for your advice Ron," Ryou said stiffly. "But I have no need to cheat my way through a class."
"Yeah, Ryou's been dabbling in the occult for years," Yugi piped up. "He knows how to pass that class without cheating."
Ryou blushed at the praise. Hermione scoffed and Ron just sat there and rubbed his sore leg. Harry raised an eyebrow. His friends seemed confident that Ryou would be fine with predicting the future. But Professor McGonagalls words from his third year kept echoing in his mind.
"Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. True Seers are rare…"
Harry decided to put it out of his mind. Just because he did not like Divination, and more specifically Professor Trelawney, did not mean that there were not people out there who couldn't enjoy it. Though from the look on Hermione's face he could tell that her opinion of Ryou had just dropped significantly.
Yugi began looking over his own timetable. He was cleared for Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions, but he was also taking Care of Magical Creatures and was thrilled to see that he had a double lesson after break.
"Ooh Hagrid takes that class doesn't he?" the diminutive duellist asked excitedly.
"Yep," Harry nodded. "But watch yourself. Hagrid has a tendency to bring…well to be blunt, dangerous creatures into class."
Yugi just shrugged. "I'm sure I've faced worse." He trailed off grinning at Ryou and Malik who both snickered.
Hermione quickly excused herself from breakfast to get her books for Ancient Runes, and Malik and Ryou followed obediently, also having lessons to go to. With nothing left to do until second lesson, Harry, Ron and Yugi made their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, intending to waste away their free period. Yugi retreated back to the dormitory to get his deck. In between sorting through the cards he had bought with him he began outlining the finer details of the game to an enthusiastic Harry and Ron.
They met up with Hermione, Malik and Ryou on their way to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Ryou was beaming, having had an interesting first lesson (apparently Professor Trelawney liked him). As soon as they rounded the corner to Snape's classroom however, Parvati and Lavender latched onto the poor boy, offering him extra help should he need it. Yugi and Malik had smothered their snickers at the sight of their poor flustered friend. Hermione had just sniffed disdainfully and muttered something about Divination being superstitious nonsense. Yugi had found out from Malik later that she was in a bad mood because he had out performed her in Ancient Runes and refused to tell her where he had learned everything.
The classroom was the darkest and dreariest that Harry, Ron and Hermione had ever seen it in their five years of going there. The windows were draped in heavy black curtains, and the only light seemed to come from the lamps on the wall. Snape's desk was bare, save for a small stack of parchment and a quill.
"This is worse than the bloody dungeons," Ron muttered. "At least there, Snape had a reason for making the place look creepy with all those floating limbs in jars…"
"Seats everybody," the teacher in question ordered, causing everyone to jump. He had entered the room so quietly that no one had noticed. Everyone scrambled for seats. Yugi took the seat next to Hermione, with Harry and Ron on their other side. Malik quickly dragged Ryou to the desk behind them. In the scurry for books and quills, Yugi exchanged a meaningful glance with both of his friends. They all agreed on one thing. This man was dark and not to be trusted.
Almost as if guessing that they were thinking about him, Snape's gaze settled on them. Malik glared back and Yugi and Ryou tried to look neutral. The teacher sneered in obvious contempt before addressing the class.
//Evil. They named it Snape// Yami summarised.
/I admit he feels dark/ Yugi agreed. /But he might not be all bad. I mean he might just be like Malik and have a dark past or something/
Yami did have to agree that his hikari had a point. Every human had darkness, but the difference was those who chose to reject it and those who chose to embrace it. Malik had originally fed his darkness and the result had been Marik. But this man, Yami could see him wearing his darkness like a cloak. The question was, was what was underneath that cloak dark too? Or was the darkness just a mask?
//You have a point Yugi// Yami admitted. //But I don't think we'll be trusting him with anything important anytime soon//
Snape had finished talking and was lecturing the class on non verbal spells. Yugi and Ryou followed easily. Much of the information about non verbal spells, such as performing them without an incantation and needing the right concentration, was common sense. Malik however found his attention quickly waning. This had always happened in Domino High too. He had only been there for a full term, and was still not used to formal education. His mind wandered, as it had done a lot in the past twenty four hours, to his flashback on the train.
He could deal with reliving the initiation. Heck he could even deal with feeling the pain if needs be. What he still could not deal with was calling out for his yami. He knew what his dark had done to him and to his friends. So why did he reach out for him? It wasn't as though he needed Marik to protect him right?
"Ah but you needed him when you were ten didn't you?" a traitorous little part of his mind reminded him. "You needed him to shield you from all that pain because you were too scared to handle it yourself. You're pathetic Malik."
Malik tried to shake these thoughts away, but they continued to linger, eating away at his mind.
The chairs around him scraped against the floor and Malik realised that everyone was getting to their feet. Snape swooped on the transfers as the rest of the class paired off to practise.
"You three," he addressed them. Malik growled angrily. He could see out of the corner of his eye, what looked like a defiant spark in Ryou's eyes, and he guessed that Bakura was also decidedly miffed.
"I have a selection of texts and spells for you to learn," Snape said, handing them each a small book. "That will bring you up to first year standard. If you wish to have any hope of catching up to the rest of the class, I suggest you start studying them now."
Malik growled again, his hands tightening around his book. Ryou was watching Snape motionlessly as though seeing something about him that no one else could. Yugi however attempted to be polite and thanked the Professor for the information. Snape just sneered at him before sweeping back to the other side of the classroom. Yugi pouted.
/Although I will admit that that was exceptionally rude of him/ he admitted and he felt a wave of triumph from his other half at being proved right.
/Smug Pharaoh/ Yugi thought, before flicking through the book. Ryou was already half way down the first page of spells and their effects. There was a slightly glazed over look that indicated he was talking to Bakura.
/Did you sense anything?/ Ryou asked, withdrawing his hand from his pocket, where he had been clutching the Millennium Eye.
//Not a thing// Bakura said, sounding very frustrated. //Damn eye! First that Dumbledore guy and now Snape! Its like they've got some great big mental brick wall around their minds//
/Is it just them?/ Ryou asked. /Or is it happening with other people too?/
//Just them so far// Bakura admitted. //I managed to scan the minds of every person in our dorm last night, bar the Pharaoh and Malik of course. Everyone seems to be normal, though that Harry boy is slightly worrying//
/Harry?/ Ryou asked curiously, looking at the black haired boy, who was attempting to stun Ron without speaking. /What's wrong with him?/
//There's evidence that his mind has been broken into repeatedly, most of the damage done in the last year particularly. He seems harmless for now, but we should keep an eye on him. As for Dumbledore and Snape, I can only guess that they know a way to shield their mind from intruders//
Ryou nodded, but inwardly felt worried. If they couldn't read Snape's mind, how did they know how dangerous he was? And who on Earth could have ripped up Harry's mind so badly?
Next to him, Malik was staring at his book with a bored expression on his face. He had received something similar in Ancient Runes, until he had proved to his teacher that he was already well beyond sixth year standard when translating Egyptian runes. She had started him on Aztecs and other civilisations instead, which were the translations being studied at the present moment. Malik was breezing through them. He guessed it came from being bought up learning two different languages, and learning yet another since then, but he had a knack for picking up new languages.
Half an hour and Malik was still only about half way down the first page. He kept getting distracted. He could not help having a short attention span, and besides, the events in the classroom were much more interesting to watch. Most of the students were attempting to stun their opponent or repel the curses, but so far no one was having any success, and most people were looking, in Malik's opinion, quiet comical as they struggled to perform the spells without moving their lips. He noticed that some people were cheating and whispering the curses under their breath.
Ryou and Yugi however were firmly engrossed in their reading, though occasionally Yugi looked up if a spell came too close to them.
"Not a lot we can use in a real fight," the tri colour hair duellist commented after a while. "The most we learn in first year is how to blast someone away from us. Oh and how to make our opponents tap dance."
"Yeah because that's so useful," Bakura said sarcastically, apparently having come out of his soul room in spirit form to give his opinion. Yami also appeared, though thankfully they were invisible to everyone else in the class but the Millennium Item holders. Which was extremely fortunate as Harry and Ron had apparently slipped away from Snape's eye long enough to come and talk.
"You alright?" Ron asked, peering curiously over Malik's shoulder at the book. "That all the stuff you've got to catch up on?"
"All of the first year stuff," Ryou said. "We have to be first year standard by Halloween. This is sort of like a crash course if you will."
"But all these hexes are useless," Malik complained pouting.
"Fair point," Harry remarked, reading the list. "You don't really get to learn any of the serious stuff till fourth year. Then you learn stunning, impedimenta, shield charms…"
"Can't we just," Bakura asked, taking control of the body so he could speak aloud to everyone. "I dunno…stab the person who's attacking us?"
Yugi and the semi invisible Yami rolled their eyes in unison. Malik smirked at the idea.
"Oh so while a guy is blasting a potentially lethal hex at you, you're going to throw a knife at them are you B…Ryou?"
"Why not?" Bakura asked before turning to Harry. "What would happen if you didn't have your wand and I threw a punch at you right now?"
"Erm…" Harry trailed off, wondering when the quiet withdrawn Ryou he had met a few days ago had developed violent tendencies. "I'd probably…get my nose broken…"
"Exactly!" Bakura said. "You all rely too much on your magic. You need to be able to dodge blows and fight without using your wand. If you put all your faith in your magic then what happens when it gets taken away? It can cost you your life."
Harry had to admit that he had a point. He could think of many an occasion when he had been in a situation where he had been in danger and he had not been able to reach his wand.
"Good point," Yami said, having taken over to reply. "Actually that is a very good point."
"Good Gods, did I just hear Yugi tell me I had a good idea?" Bakura asked, gleefully deciding to milk the Pharaoh's words for all they were worth. "Something devastating must have happened to have bought about this phenomenon. Am I dying? Malik! You were supposed to tell me if I started dying again!"
Malik had sunk to the floor, laughing so hard that he had started to cry. Yami stood there resisting the urge to tell Bakura to cram a sock in it. He had a feeling that would attract more attention than necessary.
"You'd better do something about that thing on the floor," came the contemptuous voice of Draco Malfoy. "We wouldn't want it to have an accident now would we?"
There was a dull round of chuckling from the Slytherins in the class. Malik suddenly seemed to realise his position and got up off the floor quickly, glaring at Malfoy as he did so.
"I don't remember asking you to join in our conversation," Bakura snapped at Malfoy. The blond just smirked.
"Why shouldn't I? I'm not threatened by a bunch of newcomers who don't even know how to stun yet."
"We don't need to know how to stun," Yami shot back. "We're all more than capable of dealing with you."
"Clearly," Malfoy said sarcastically. "So how many colour changing charms were you 'capable of dealing with' before your hair wound up like that?"
"Look boy you are in no position to be insulting our hair when yours is slicked back with a lakes worth of gel," Malik snapped.
"Hey! My name isn't boy!" Malfoy snapped. "I have a name and you should damn well use it!"
"Well yes but using your name would mean acknowledging that you exist," Bakura said. "So you'll forgive me if I want to delay this unpleasant prospect for as long as possible."
Ron doubled over laughing, and nearby, Dean and Seamus were repressing their own snickers. Harry however was wondering how on Earth the transfers had the guts to cuss out Draco Malfoy. Either they were utterly insane or they did not know how much danger they could be in.
Malfoy however had had enough. He raised his wand and shouted "Impedimenta!" Those in the class who weren't already watching the fight, including Snape, turned to see Malfoy with his wand pointed at the transfers, a streak of blue light racing towards them. Yami just calming fingered his deck in the pocket of his robes and found the very same Mirror Force trap card he had used the previous week on the Death Eaters. Beneath his robes the Puzzle glowed, the shield erupted in front of the three students and the attack bounced back at Malfoy, who did not duck quickly enough.
"I told you we were capable of dealing with you," Yami said smugly. The whole class had stopped practising and were watching in shock. Malfoy was glaring, but due to the rebounded hex he was unable to move.
"Detention! All three of you! My office, tonight at eight o clock." Everyone's hearts sank as they remembered that Snape was in the classroom too.
"What?!" Malik demanded. "He started it!"
"Watch yourself Mr Ishtar or I shall deduct points too," said Snape silkily.
"Go ahead you prejudice ba…"
"Malik!" Yami warned, latching onto the taller boy's arm just in case he decided to do something stupid.
"Drop it Ishtar," Bakura snapped in Japanese. "He's not worth it!"
It was perhaps fortunate at this point that the bell rang for break. Malik was the first out of the classroom, swinging his bag over his shoulder with such force that he almost knocked over a poor second year in the corridor. Bakura retreated back to his soul room, leaving Ryou to run after him. Yami stayed with Harry, Ron and Hermione, knowing that he would probably just get on the Tomb Keeper's nerves at this point.
"Is he going to be alright?" Harry asked, as they watched Malfoy limp out of the door, his pride damaged. The Pharaoh quickly retreated to his soul room when he saw that the danger had gone.
"He'll be fine," Yugi said, throwing his belongings into his bag. "He just needs to cool off."
"How did you perform a shield charm like that?" Hermione asked. "You said you'd never learned how to use magic before, and you're starting at first year level. That charm is fourth year standard…"
"Hermione," Yugi said firmly. "Whatever that may have looked like, that was not a shield charm. That was something else. And no," he added seeing them all open their mouths. "I can't tell you how I did it. I'm sorry. I'm going to get my books. I'll see you at lunch."
And he hurried away before they could ask any more.
//Well handled Aibou// Yami said, thankful that Yugi had kept his cool and not said anything.
/Thanks/ Yugi replied before a feeling of guilt blossomed in the back of his mind.
//Don't feel bad about it Yugi// Yami said comfortingly. //You know we can't let them know. It's for their own safety//
/I know/ Yugi said. /Believe me I do. But I just hate lying to people, especially nice people like those guys/
//You didn't lie// Yami soothed. //You just refrained from mentioning//
Yugi did not answer this as he headed towards the dormitory to get his books for Care of Magical Creatures. Because deep down, he and Yami both knew that keeping secrets could be just as bad as lying.
OOO
By lunchtime Malik seemed to have calmed down and was acting normally (or as normal as he ever did). Ryou was looking far more relaxed, having used his two free lessons to finish his Divination homework, and to begin working on their Defence Against the Dark Arts first year assignments. Malik had decided to do something that was in his own words 'far more constructive' and rearranged his deck. Having done that and after a little more nagging from Ryou he had finished his Ancient Runes homework by the time Yugi had returned from Care of Magical Creatures. The shorter boy was beaming when he joined his friends in the Great Hall.
"It was supposed to be a refresher lesson from last years work," he was saying as everyone helped themselves to cottage pie. "So Hagrid showed us Unicorns! He managed to find a young male. It hadn't turned white yet. Apparently they're silver when they're adolescents…"
As he continued to babble, Harry, Ron and Hermione, who had joined them after finding out that Malik was back to his usual self, exchanged relieved glances. They had been truly worried that Hagrid would bring in something dangerous.
As soon as Yugi was finished, Ryou began reiterating his Divination class that morning. Hermione buried herself behind one of her Ancient Runes books and was trying to get through the homework. Malik sat there and smirked as she struggled through it.
"So did you get given make up work in Divination too?" Yugi asked, looking through his Care of Magical Creatures book at all the creatures that the rest of his class had studied already. Ryou shook his fluffy white head.
"No. Professor Trelawney wanted me to, but I said I'd already researched most of the astronomical stuff. And I don't use palmistry or tea leaves, and I never got the hang of crystal gazing. She tested me on my dream divination and she said I was fine with that…"
"You impressed Trelawney?" Ron asked sceptically. Ryou shrugged.
"I don't know, I just did what I knew," he said. "But we're learning tarot now."
Yugi and Malik grinned. They knew tarot was Ryou's speciality, whether with real cards or a duelling deck, his predictions were normally accurate.
"And?" Malik asked. "What did she think?"
Ryou shrugged again. "I have no idea. She didn't pass the table again. She went to talk to some girls…Parvati and Lavender I think."
"What did the cards tell you?" Yugi asked in interest.
"That he's going to be haunted by a giant mutant carrot probably," Ron scoffed. Ryou looked at the table.
"I'd rather not say thanks," he said, taking a sip of his drink.
//What did you ask the cards?// Bakura asked in interest. He had fallen asleep halfway through Divination, complaining that the scent of the room was making him nauseas. Ryou had to admit that it had made him woozy too and it had been more difficult to concentrate.
/Nothing you'd be interested in Bakura/ he replied curtly. Bakura felt a mild flare of anger that Ryou would dare keep anything from him, but he repressed it quickly.
"We all have secrets," the spirit thought to himself, thinking of his own past that he had yet to tell Ryou about.
Ryou ignored Hermione's eye roll and a mutter of 'load of rubbish'. He would normally have shared his predictions with Bakura, but his yami had been the subject this time. He had been wondering about Bakura's sudden change of heart (no pun intended). Ever since his return from the Shadow Realm he had been far easier to live with, but a part of Ryou was worried that it would not last long. His yami was an exceptionally dangerous individual and he did not want him to revert back to his previous temperamental self.
He had done three readings, one with the tarot deck and two with his duelling deck. All of them had given the same answer. That giving Bakura time and leaving him be would bring answers. And Ryou had to admit, that was probably the best route to take with his moody alter ego.
The final lesson of the day was double Potions. The transfers followed Harry, Ron and Hermione to the dungeons, feeling more and more depressed by the dark and gloomy corridors as they went.
"Charming place," Malik commented as they entered the classroom, where the strangely coloured bottles and jars containing floating things loomed at them from the shelves.
"I dunno," Ron shrugged. "Feels warmer now that Snape's not here."
All six of them took one of the tables and began setting up their cauldrons. Slughorn waddled into the class as the bell rang. Bakura, who had been allowed to take over as Ryou had promised, smirked and leaned over towards Malik.
"He could feed three Duel Monsters quite happily for a week," he commented. Malik stifled his giggles.
/Bakura!/ Ryou admonished. /That was very rude!/
//Hey let me have my fun, alright landlord?// Bakura snapped, settling back into his chair in a relaxed pose.
Slughorn began introducing them to some of the potions that they would be attempting to brew at N.E.W.T level. Yugi attentively took notes, while Bakura and Malik continued to whisper to each other in rapid but hushed Egyptian. Hermione was shooting the two irritable and slightly curious looks. She knew she recognised the language from somewhere but she just could not remember where.
Finally Slughorn set them their task, brewing the Draught of Living Death. He asked the transfers to join in, after he had handed them their course requirements for the first year. Their task, aside from learning the theory, was to bring him one of the assigned potions each week, completed in their free time.
If Slughorn did not expect much from them as newcomers, he was sadly mistaken. After receiving their work, Yugi, Bakura and Malik paired up with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Only Hermione had made any progress by that point, and it was slowly beginning to grind to a halt anyway. While Yugi tried to help, Bakura joined up with Harry, examined the contents of his cauldron and raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't supposed to be going pink by this point?" he asked, gazing at the royal blue contents of Harry's cauldron.
"Its not working," Harry replied dully. "Should have guessed really."
"Hmm…" Bakura grunted, before scanning the book and snorting.
"The instructions aren't very clear. You'd better get rid of that. We can try again and still finish in time if we start now."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but then he mused that the results couldn't be worse than they were now, and so he flicked his wand and the potion vanished. Bakura made a mental note of the spell in his head so he could test it out later, before examining the potions book.
"Okay, you cut up the valerian roots. I'll get the powdered asphodel and the wormwood."
/This looks just like cooking/ Ryou commented from inside his soul room. Bakura could tell that his hikari was seriously regretting letting him in control during this obviously interesting lesson. But a deal was a deal after all.
//It reminds me of learning about poisons in Egypt// Bakura replied casually.
/You used to poison people?!/ Ryou asked horrified. Bakura rolled his eyes.
//Really landlord, must you think of me in such a negative light? Besides you know I prefer to use knives. Blood is so much more elegant than shoving a vial of liquid down someone's throat//
He could feel Ryou shuddering in his soul room and he rolled his eyes.
//Okay in all seriousness. It was essential for thieves to know poisons. They used to tip needles with them in Tombs. You'd walk along thinking of the gold you'd be reaping, and suddenly a needle shoots out of nowhere and the poison kills you in minutes. We used to practise mixing antidotes in case one of our team got hit//
/Oh…/ Ryou trailed off guiltily. /Sorry yami/
Bakura grunted, but in all honesty, he couldn't really blame Ryou for jumping to conclusions. He watched as Harry finished cutting up the valerian roots and tipped them into the cauldron. Bakura finished mixing the wormwood and asphodel and reached for the knife and the sopophorous bean.
Next to them, Ron and Malik appeared to be stuck in a whirlwind of disaster. Their cauldron was issuing copious amounts of thick black smoke, through which the two Gryffindors could be seen prodding the contents with their wands. Yugi and Hermione appeared to be having better luck, but from the look on Hermione's face, she was exceptionally peeved. Yugi had given up helping by this point, and was just standing back with a sheepish look on his face. He saw Bakura watching and he smiled at him.
Bakura, realising that the bean was not cutting, slammed his hand down on the side of his knife, crushing the bean against the table. Juice oozed out onto the wood, but Harry was more concerned with something else.
"Ryou your hand is bleeding," he said in alarm. The Tomb Robber glanced down at his left hand and raised an eyebrow. He must have caught it on the edge of the blade when he hit it.
"How do you like that?" he asked casually, watching the blood ooze out of the cut. He resisted the urge to lick it clean, not because he was in public, but because there was bean juice all over it. It was the same hand he had once slammed through the diorama tower in Monster World. Ryou's body still bore the scar.
/Yami please be careful/ Ryou soothed, and Bakura was surprised that his host did not sound reproachful.
//It was an accident// he said peevishly, brushing off Harry's worry and scooping up the juice of the bean and throwing it into the cauldron.
"Start stirring Harry," he ordered as Yugi came hurrying over.
"Are you alright Bakura?" he asked, being sure to switch into Japanese. Bakura shook him off, but he accepted the tissue that Yugi offered. The bean juice was starting to irritate the cut.
"I'm fine," he said. "It's just a cut. And before his highness asks," he said, seeing the red glare appear in Yugi's eyes. "It was an accident. I was just irritated that the bean wasn't cutting so I hit it."
Yugi looked worriedly at Bakura and the thief glared.
"Do you really think I would intentionally hurt Ryou's body?" he asked. "In case you have forgotten, I have to live here too."
/You don't need to sound so bitter about it/ Ryou muttered sadly. Bakura rolled his eyes, realising how it had probably sounded. Yugi at least had the decency to look ashamed of himself.
"I'm sorry Bakura," he said. "You're right. We shouldn't judge."
Bakura did not acknowledge him. Instead he turned his head to Harry, who was biting his lip and staring desperately at the potion.
/He's stirring too hard/ Ryou said, but the tone in his voice indicated that he was still upset. /Let me/
And before Bakura could say another word, he was quickly back in his soul room. Ryou hurried back to Harry's side. The potion had not changed colour as it was supposed to be.
"Harry you're stirring it too forcibly," he said, taking the stirring rod and trying himself. At first there was no change, but eventually the potion began to turn paler. Ryou checked the book as he continued. It was not quite the shade it should be, but it was still very close.
"How are you doing that?" Hermione asked in astonishment, from where she stood stirring her own potion furiously. Ryou blushed.
"You…you just need to be gentle," he said. "Slow up a bit and don't force it so much."
Hermione did as she was told, and immediately her potion began to lighten, though more slowly than Harry and Ryou's.
//Am I going to get control back now?// Bakura asked. //You did promise the whole afternoon//
Ryou, who was still mildly upset about his yami's comment, was half tempted to tell him no. But a promise was a promise. And besides, he could always do his homework that evening. So he relinquished control to Bakura again without a word.
/I think Bakura's upset Ryou/ Yugi said, watching Hermione stir their potion out of the corner of one eye, and studying the Tomb Robber with the other.
//Well he did sound bitter earlier// Yami remarked. //I wish Bakura would just accept that Ryou is his hikari, and not treat him like a burden. Ra only knows what its doing to Ryou psychologically. No one likes thinking they're worthless//
/I don't know/ Yugi remarked. /Ryou used to get bullied a lot before the Ring came to him. I know how that feels, and I think Ryou knows how it feels to be worthless/
//That's what yami's are for// the Pharaoh said. //We're supposed to protect you, to be there for you. Bakura's idea of protecting Ryou was…//
/To seal away those that hurt him in Monster World figurines/ Yugi pointed out. /But if you think about it Yami, you did too. When I was in trouble you challenged people to Shadow Games, and you trapped them in Penalty Games when they lost/
//How can you compare me to Bakura?// Yami asked in disbelief. //We're nothing alike! I don't kill people for world domination!//
/I know Other Me, I wasn't finished/ Yugi said./What I was going to say was, you don't do that anymore, because you say you've learned kindness from me, and that there are more things more important than winning a game. Remember duelling Kaiba at Pegasus's castle? Maybe Bakura just needs to learn kindness from Ryou/
The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle thought about this for a long time. He remembered all too well how he had behaved when he had first been released from the Puzzle. He had challenged people to Shadow Games, and he had enjoyed sending them to their own personal hell, believing that they deserved what they got. But then he and Yugi had started working together, and he had learned that sometimes people deserved another chance. Yugi had exposed him to friendship and compassion, and he thought (or at least he hoped) he was a better person for it now.
Bakura's life, both past and present had been dark and full of suffering. Maybe all he needed was Ryou to show him some kindness. Then maybe they would finally come to an understanding.
A/N: The Planes of Passage is a real book. It's the fourth one in the Earth's Children series. I would highly recommend these books to anyone.
I know in regards to lessons and stuff I borrowed heavily from HBP. But this is one of the only times I will be doing so. The lessons will be slightly different, particularly since we are focusing more on Yugi, Ryou and Malik as opposed to the rest of the year.
Bakura impaling Ryou's hand onto the spire of the Monster World diorama happened in episode 27 of season 0 and Volume 7 of the manga.
I've been bullied into doing NaNoWriMo this year (I've been bullied into a lot of things this year now I think about it. Facebook, NaNo...what's next?). Hopefully it won't affect my updates, providing I'm not racing around like a headless chicken trying to complete my word count for the day (I wonder how long it'll be before I start going to the 'NaNoWriMo ate my soul' forum?) I will however try and update on the 18th of November or around about then (its been three years since I joined fanfiction!)
Don't forget to push the purple button... go on push it... I dare you to push it... you know you want too... go on...
