Chapter Nine:
Loony Lovegood
"So..." Harry muttered, "We find a compartment?"
"Actually..." Hermione sounded awkward, "We have to go to the Prefect's car to get our instructions from the Head Boy and Girl..."
"Oh..." Harry sounded disappointed.
"Honestly, if it were up to us, we'd be back here with you. It's a pain, really."
"See ya in a bit, mate." Ron said, and the two of them took off up the train.
"C'mon." Harry said, leading the other boys and Ginny down the train. Finally, they found one that was empty except for one person.
A girl with wavy blond hair, holding a magazine upside-down.
"But there's-"
"Harry," Ginny said, "It's only Loony Lovegood."
"Who?" The four boys said at the same time, causing Yugi and Ryou to snort.
"Her name's Luna, but everyone calls her 'Loony'. She's in my year."
Ginny pushed open the door.
"Hey, Luna."
"Oh!" Said Luna in a dreamy voice, looking up from her magazine, "Ginny! At least I get someone to sit with!"
She grinned, then saw Harry.
"Harry Potter." She said, standing up and walking towards him, "You know, you're actually quite good looking in person." She gave a little chuckle. Harry stared at her, wide eyed, Ryou and Yugi laughing harder now.
"And who are these three? Are they in your year, Harry? I can't say I've seen them before."
"Uh..."
"I'm Seto Kaiba, and those two idiots are Yugi Moto and Ryou Bakura."
Luna nodded.
"Luna Lovegood." She held out a hand, which Kaiba took and shook. Yugi and Ryou stood up straight- Ryou having to throw his hair out of his face- and shook her hand.
"Where are you guys from?" She asked, sitting back down.
"Japan." Yugi said.
She looked to Harry.
"Language Draught?"
"I.. I guess..."
Ryou came up behind Harry.
"Embarrassed, Potter?" He asked, an arrogantly mocking tone in his voice.
"No." He sounded genuine, "I just didn't know."
"Alright." Ryou said, "Keep thinking that." He then patted Harry on the shoulder walking to a seat and promptly sitting down, crossing his arms, and one leg over the other.
Yugi raised an eyebrow.
Harry stared at him for a second.
"Oh, I like this one!" Luna said cheerfully.
The group of people sat down in the car.
"So what's Japan like?" Luna asked, "I've never been, but it seems wonderful!"
"It's quite the place." Yugi said, "Everyone, including myself, is obsessed with Duel Monsters, a strategy trading card game. My best friend, Jounochi, is quite into it, ranking internationally."
"So do you!" Ryou said, "You rank number one!"
Yugi gave an awkward chuckle.
"Yeah.." He said, "But I don't yell it to the entire world, or write it in the sky with fire. Hey, Yugi Moto's the King of Games! Thought you should know! This only sounds a little arrogant!"
"King of Games..." Luna repeated, "Oh! My dad told me of a Duel he saw in Japan, between you two, I believe." She said, gesturing between Ryou and Yugi, "Powerful magic, he said. Like nothing he'd ever seen before. Dark stuff."
Ryou's looked horrified.
"What happened, exactly?" Luna asked.
"I..." Ryou muttered, "I, uh, don't exactly remember the duel, or- or the Tournament for that matter..." He gave a nervous chuckle, "I don't have that good of a memory."
Yugi looked at him with perhaps a little pity, then back to Luna.
"It was a simple Duel. But you want to know the magical properties of it?" Luna nodded.
/Help?/
/Of course, Aibou/
POV Transition: Yami
Yami took control. Luna seemed to notice the difference and tilted her head slightly.
"The magical properties of the duel were simple." Yami said, and Luna seemed to forget about the change and nodded, straightening her head, "It was simply a battle between two wizards. Cards or not, that's what it was. Naturally, a powerful force would come from it. Not to mention that the Duel Disk was invented by Kaiba, and the holograms set up and made by his company, so, perhaps sub-consciously, Kaiba put magic into the game just with his technology."
"Interesting..." Luna muttered, that dreamy tone still there.
"Very."
...
Kaiba had never liked trains.
They were so slow, and he'd never felt safe travelling over land. Anyone could attack you at any time.
But, perhaps that was him just being paranoid. With all that had went on in the last couple of weeks- Battle City included- he'd become even more so. Everything had just become complicated and sometimes he just wanted to sleep.
At the moment, he was sitting in the compartment, legs crossed, arms crossed, head back, eyes closed, trying to sleep. The others assumed he was, and spoke quietly, thankfully.
His mind kept going back to Mokuba, and how he was doing in London.
Mokuba was so far away, and so almost unreachable that it made Kaiba want to punch something. If something happened to his brother while he was away, the Order would have to deal with him. And an angry Seto Kaiba was not something most people want in their lives.
Ron and Hermione had come back at some point, and were quietly conversing with everyone else.
"What do we have here?"
Malfoy's voice made Kaiba snort as if waking up. He opened his eyes and glared at the blond twat.
"I was sleeping." Kaiba spat.
"No you weren't." Luna said, "I could tell by the way you breathed."
"Well, I was trying to."
"Get out, Malfoy." Potter spat.
"Potter," Malfoy said, "See this badge? That means that I, unlike you, am a Prefect."
"Yeah," Potter said, "But you, unlike me, are a git, so..."
Yugi and Bakura laughed, going "Ooooooooooh!".
Malfoy growled.
"You still sound like a dog." Bakura said, causing Malfoy to turn a fabulous shade of purple.
Yugi laughed.
Malfoy's bright blue eyes promised death.
"C'mon, Crabbe, Goyle. These guys aren't worth it."
And so they left.
...
It was dark now, and it bothered Kaiba visibly that he couldn't see much outside. It freaked him out. A lot, actually.
He watched the dully visible horizon for any sign of life.
And then the castle came into view.
A huge, beautiful castle, with turrets and towers and golden light coming from every window.
"Wow..." Kaiba whispered in admiration.
The other Japanese boys came over, and their reactions were the same.
They were at Hogwarts.
"Welcome home."