Author's Notes:

To JK-Chan: This story has bits from my other story because it started out as a rewrite, though obviously it has strayed far from that track. As to why the end of chapter seven did not coincide with the beginning of chapter eight, I am jumping around to write about several different places at once and connections shall be made later. I apologize if the time of the different settings don't seem to match.

To Lily of the Shadow: I agree. I think I will use the Dark Magician. ^_^ Thanks for your suggestion.

To all other reviewers: Thanks!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 9

In a small, dusty attic room, far removed from the inhabited parts of the mansion, a small, muddy brown creatures crouched, furling and unfurling its wings in thought. It laughed softly, a dry, croaking sound in its throat as it flexed long claws and ran a leathery tongue over needle-sharp teeth. His master would be anxious to hear his report. And after that, when night fell, he would feed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Strategy was taught in an open-air arena large enough to encompass several full-grown dragons. It was so immense that the twenty-one or so students gathered at its center felt very small indeed. Even the yamis were impressed and eager to find the chance to sneak off and use it as a dueling stadium. They were only slightly put off that the duel disk technology did not function properly on the grounds, distorted by protective spells. They would find a way eventually.

"All right, listen up!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, perched on a tall stool at the head of the group. "This is a very dangerous class so I want you all to pay attention! Anyone goofing off will be sent straight to the Headmaster."

/ This'll be good, / Malik thought. And his yami chuckled darkly in agreement.

Most of the whispering ceased as the Professor raised his wand and began drawing diagrams in the air that hung shivering before them to show them what to do.

"For today's exercise, the arena will be divided into three sections. Each area will have its advantages and disadvantages. Learn to spot them and use to the best you can. I know this isn't a great deal of explanation, but the best way to learn in this class is to try it yourselves. Now if everyone would wait for a moment, I'll change the field."

They waited. The nervousness in the air was almost palpable.

Flitwick's wand drew a complicated pattern in the air then stabbed the design at its center. The air all around them wavered as in a heat haze and abruptly, the stadium floor was not as open as it had been.

Rock formations rose around them, windswept sculptures of golden brown stone. The floor beneath their feet had risen several inches, covered in a layer of soft white sand.

"The objective of this exercise is, naturally, to defeat your opponents. Whichever group holds control of the entire field at the end wins. I will transport each of you to your respective areas and the game will start when I shoot green sparks into the sky."

The scene around them blurred then solidified. Team Seven found themselves standing knee-deep in sand with stone structures rising around them on three sides with several gaps here and there worn into the stone.

Malik shook sand from the folds of his robes and padded over to one of the holes,. peering out at an expanse of dunes and random outcroppings. Yugi thought it a wonder how fast his friend had recovered.

"Reminds me of Egypt when Bill took us out to see the pyramids," Ron observed. "Least we don't have to worry about snakes."

"There's going to be a lot worse than snakes coming up," Draco informed him contemptuously. "We don't know what the other teams can throw at us."

"I'm glad we've got Hermione on our side," Harry said brightly.

"I don't know as much about fighting as you do, Harry," Hermione said worriedly. "What if-"

"Quiet," Malik hiussed, interrupting them.

"What is it?" Malfoy drawled.

The Egyptian threw him a dirty look before turning his attention to Hermione. "What was that stunning spell?"

"Stupify," she replied without hesitation.

"And he says he's more powerful than us," Draco scoffed as Malik turned back to his lookout.

Ryou stumbled over to the Egyptian, sinking deeper into the sand with every step.

// At this rate, // Bakura said, somewhat disgruntled. // You'll be out of the game before it's begun. //

/ And are you saying you can do better? / Ryou demanded.

// Exactly. //

/ Fine then. You play. /

Malik glanced at Bakura and raised his eyebrow. The thief ignored the gesture.

"We're never going to get anywhere if we stay here," Harry said. "Is the coast clear?"

"Not quite," Malik replied. "When I give the signal, run. There are four of them and they're coming our way."

Draco started to retort, but shut his mouth, thinking better of it. He wasn't blind and the incident with the obstacle courses had proved these strangers new something they didn't.

There was a tense pause then the Egyptian waved for them to go.

Bakura darted from their stronghold first, throwing himself sideways as he pointed and sent a stunning spell toward a very startled adversary. It caught the unlucky boy in the chest and sent him sprawling. His three companions reacted an instant later, aiming and firing at the Tomb Robber, who rolled out of the way.

Harry caught another in the shoulder as he emerged and just barely missed getting struck by a disarming charm.

Poor Yugi, shorter than everyone else, was forced to wade through sand nearly up to his waist. Staggering, a stunning jet caught him in the stomach, or so everyone thought until the small teen straightened and gave the offenders an uncharacteristic glare.

"You will pay for t-!"

Malik cut him off with a hand. "Pharaoh, we're undercover, remember?"

Harry blinked. Was it his imagination or was Yugi's voice deeper? And his eyes, had they always had that hint of red?

Yami shook him off and jabbed his wand in their opponents' general direction. Two quick flashes and they were out cold.

"You guys are good for beginners," Hermione complemented.

"Hey guys, this way," Harry said, pointing.

"How do you know that?" Malik asked testily.

"Direction spell. Hurry."

A streak of fire shot past as they scurried from one boulder to another, singing the sleeve of Ron's robes. He yelped and fired wildly as he stumbled, forcing Draco to duck in order to avoid being laid flat himself.

"Watch it, Weasley!" he snarled. Then was sent sprawling forward by a silver bolt in the back. He rolled over, groaning.

"There can't be so many of them," Bakura muttered.

"They can revive the stunned ones," Yami reminded him, almost smugly.

The robber glared at him then went back to scanning their surroundings. Where in the world were their attackers? A blast of blue light blew past him, scorching his side and he gritted his teeth in a low growl.

/ Bakura, don't! / but Ryou's desperate call bounced off with no effect.

The light of day seemed to flicker and dim as if a thin veil of darkness had been drawn across the sun. Thee spots along a rocky shelf shimmered and three, extremely confused fellow students appeared, their invisibility spells rendered useless by some force beyond their understanding.

"What the-" Harry gasped. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he thought he could hear a strange, hollow wind blowing that was interwoven with mournful moans.

There were three flashes of red light and the three figures on the shelf collapsed. Bakura was chuckling under his breath-until Yami caught his gaze.

Cold, slanted, ruby violet eyes fairly blazed under the ever-so-slight swirl of shadows. They stood for several long seconds, staring each other down. Bakura dropped his gaze first and, with a half frustrated and half satisfied snarl, banished the shadow of the Shadow Realm back to its own dimension.

"I-I think that was the last of them," Hermione announced.

"Really?" Ron grunted, nursing a scorched arm, apparently not having noticed a thing. "Felt more like a hundred."

The landscape shimmered and cleared, the sand vanishing to be replaced by solid ground once again. And along with it, all the stunned and unconscious students started waking up. Unfortunately, the effects of the other spells-curses mostly-did not go away.

The bedraggled students gathered at the center of the now plain arena, some still brushing sand that no longer existed off their robes.

"We will be repeating this exercise on different fields all throughout the year," Flitwick informed them. "Right. Class dismissed!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An orange cat with square marks around its eyes curiously like spectacles dropped through the window and shook itself, sending water spraying in all directions. In the next instant, Menerva McGonagall stood where the animal had been and the feline was nowhere in sight.

"Professor," Dumbledore greeted her with a small smile. "How did your patrol go?"

"Something-odd-is going on around here," the Transfiguration teacher said tiredly, drawing herself up a chair which promptly dropped to the floor with a soft thud.

"How so?" Dumbledore asked mildly, conjuring up two glasses of pumpkin juice.

McGonagall sipped at the cool liquid. "I was passing the lake on my way to relieve Severus when I saw, or I thought I saw, a person standing on the banks. Well, I was walking up to ask the student what he was doing out at this hour, but he was gone. I'm sure I didn't imagine it."

"Further," she continued. "On my way back from my watch, I saw him again. This time, he was standing on the path leading up to the mansion. But I blinked and there was nothing but shadows."

The headmaster took a deep drink from his goblet, peering thoughtfully over the rim of his spectacles. "I've been sensing-dark presences-around this place lately. The two events may be connected. Devin will be arriving in a few hours. I'll ask him to take a look around. Meanwhile, I suggest you go to bed. You look rather-ah-"

"Like a drowned cat," McGonagall finished for him. "Well, I'll be off then, Albus."

"One more thing," Dumbledore said as she reached the door. "I was wondering at your lesson plans for next week. Devin will be teaching wizard's duels and object transfiguration. If you will allow."

"That's fine, Albus," the Professor acknowledged. "I was thinking of teaching animagi transformations actually, and intermediate transfigurations."

He nodded. "Goodnight then. I'll be sure to inform you of any new developments."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ron stared grimly down at the half-filled sheaf of parchment, his mind not at all intent on concentrating on the report they were supposed to be writing for Moody. His quill lay limply in his hand and his other arm was in a sling.

After the episode in the arena, the hospital wing had been overflowing with patients. Unfortunately for some, the fire spell used by one of the students could not be healed so easily. Ron was one of these. All participants had been excused from further lessons that day.

Draco was still in the infirmary.

"Where's Yugi and co?" Harry asked, flipping through the pages of a book on advanced defense against the dark arts.

"In the library, I think," Hermione told him as she rolled up her finished essay. "Catching up on the studies they missed."

"At this time of night?" Ron was mildly impressed.

"Hey, listen." Harry leaned forward, lowering his voice. "During that last part in Strategy . . ."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Dark Magician was growing concerned. After a long and grueling practice session by the lake, he had closed his eyes and opened them to find himself in another world, or at least, it hadn't been the Shadow Realm. He had blinked and he was back where he had been, leading him to believe he had merely been imagining things.

But on his way back to the mansion, Dark's world had-thinned-somehow, faded away to be replaced by a completely different path winding up to a totally different building. It wasn't as if he had never been in another dimension; what puzzled him was that neither Master Yugi nor Master Yami had summoned him. To top it all off, the place he had briefly been shown felt vaguely familiar, like a memory of some time so long in the past he could not clearly drag up the images.

Shaking his head, Dark made his way up the sweeping stairs to his study. Celtic had brought back several scrolls from one of his many ventures and the magician had wanted to take a look at them. The writing had been old and the yellowing parchment cried of age

Shutting the door softly as he entered, Dark leaned on his staff and surveyed the chamber closely. Centuries of battle had made him wary. And something about the room 'felt' different today.

Checking that all his wards were intact and untouched, Dark took the seat at his desk somewhat reassured. Calling up a globe of made light, he hung the orb in the air above him and extracted the scrolls from a heavily guarded compartment of his desk. Spreading it across the dark surface and weighing down the edges with polished stones, he began to read.

But something was decidedly wrong.

The runes, stark and black against the page, seemed to waver. Even as he watched, the letters twisted and rearranged themselves. Frowning, he reached up to brighten the light-

There was a flash and the light went out all together.

A cold wind swept the room and the mage sensed abruptly that the space all around him was-empty. He stood in a void of nothingness. A tidal wave of vertigo swept over him and his world abruptly crashed down around him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Blood, sweet and tantalizing. He cackled softly, yellow eyes glinting with anticipation. His leathery brown wings rustled slightly as he crept along the ceiling, claws latching delicately into the most imperceptible lines in the wood.

Swinging down and sliding through the crack between door and frame, his small body seemed to flatten and slide like paper. Once inside, its not- quite delicate form filled out and it sat back on its haunches, surveying the room.

Clambering expertly onto the nearest bed, it crouched and sank its teeth into its victim's neck. He would not wake, none of his victims ever did. He would not wake and he would not sleep, mind trapped within the realm locked away five thousand years ago.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: As usual, thanks for reading and please review.

NOTE: I could use some suggestions on what classes for them to take.