Chapter edited as of 2/11/16
There are many ways to phrase an action or feeling. If I want a negative mood, I can say that Hermione's voice is unfeeling. If I want a positive mood, I can say her voice is matter-a-fact. I can have Ron appear brave or rude, Hermione bubbling with excitement or demanding answers, Dumbledore as plotting or ignorant of some things.
So much power goes to those who wield words.
Ryou felt a growl in the back of his mind. He looked up from his book, and he considered Ron and Malik's game of chess before he noticed Hermione making her way over to him, the smile of hard-won success on her face. His heart sunk when he caught a glimpse at the cover of the book she clutched to her chest: Dictionary of Mental Disorders.
"You have a split personality disorder," she proclaimed. The chatting and writing ceased in the Common Room. One voice continued talking, but another quickly shushed it.
"A what?" Ron asked, brows furrowing to think on that strange phrase. The redhead was blind to the troubled look on Ryou's face. If he had noticed, he might have thought to stave off this confrontation.
"It all fits," Hermione went on, ignoring Ron and the sudden silence around them. "The swings between polite and rude, the two Houses, the dual-colored robes, the incident in Potions-"
Halfway through her reasoning, Ryou put his book up in a flimsy sort of shield, not enjoying the dissection of his actions and frightened by the unfeeling voice that poked him like a scalpel. The remainder of Hermione's 'support' died on her lips.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "It was a secret you wanted to reveal yourself, wasn't it?"
Ryou peeked over the book he refused to let drop. At her ashamed and hurt expression, he nodded.
"I'm sorry," she repeated, looking away.
"It's fine," he said tentatively. "I had to admit it one day or another. I suppose you took care of that for me." Hermione smiled.
"Oi, what's a split disorder personality?"
"Ron!" Hermione's smile became a scowl aimed at said redhead.
"What?"
Luckily for Ron, Malik came to the rescue. "Split personality disorder. In short, half the time Ryou is someone else."
"Someone else? Who?"
"Well, it's still him, but." Malik shrugged, at a loss to explain properly. Ryou jumped in, book now dropped.
"It's like there are two people sharing my body, and they share my name."
Ron nodded, showing he understood, but his facial expression showed disbelief.
"Honestly, Ron, it means his brain is damaged-"
Ron choked on air. "Damaged! You mean he's-"
"Insane? Raving mad? Touched in the head? Resident of the loony bin? " Malik filled in, smirking. "It's been proven that he's mentally ill."
Ron stared at Ryou with new fear, the gullible wizard. "Blimey..."
Ryou felt the stares of all present in the Common Room, even with his book-shield back in place. Hermione's questions seemed to have halted for now, buying herself in her book to wallow over her actions.
The Common Room shook itself out of its stupor, gossip covering a new topic and essays forgotten in favor of excited letters. After completing a game of chess, Ron turned to Ryou, a thought striking him.
"So does that mean only one of you is Slytherin?"
Ryou nodded. Ron continued with another thought, "What do we call the other you?"
Hermione's head shot up from her book. "You can't call them different names. They're the same person."
Ron furrowed his brow, taking her criticism in stride. "What if we give you both nicknames? You know, so it won't be so confusing when talking."
"Call them by their robe colors, light and dark," Malik suggested.
Hermione frowned. "Wrong translation. it's white and black, not light and dark."
Malik shrugged.
"We can't call either of them dark anyway," Hermione added. "People will get the wrong idea."
"Wait," Ryou stopped their train of thought. "We've been called light and dark before, but not in English, but Japanese. I'm Hikari Ryou, and my other, Yami Ryou. That's what Malik means."
Malik hid his amusement, but a few chuckles escaped, prompting Hermione and Ron to stare at him. He answered the unsaid question. "In Japan, Light is a girl's name."
Ron laughed at this. "You definitely look the part, mate."
Hermione rolled her eyes. Ryou blushed and kept his eyes on his book.
"The translation spell translates everything I say to English, even though I can still understand all of the languages I'm fluent in. Since I can't speak Japanese right now, I'll stick to calling them Ryou and Bakura."
Dumbledore fell silent, watching the last swirl of robes as the professors left. The staff meeting had adjourned, and the head meeting began. A circular table filled the Great Hall, the House tables transfigured to one that would grant any seated a feeling of equality.
He began the meeting with an innocent question. "How are the transfers settling?"
Surprisingly, Snape spoke first; "Miss Diane is getting along with her classmates and has a knack for Potions."
"She's very interested in Charms. She's going to be a fine student," Flitwick added, nodding.
McGonagall seemed stiffer than usual, and hesitated to speak. "Ishtal is brimming with confidence, although he's lacking in Transfiguration."
"I've never seen a wand like his. At request, he displayed powerful wandless magic to the class," Flitwick added, his squeaky voice raising pitch in excitement.
"Mr Ishtal has much potential in Potions, but he tends to rush when stressed," Snape said in his monotone voice. "His clan magic enhances effects of any potion he brews, although I will not be surprised when he melts a cauldron."
Dumbledore noted that McGonagall leveled a glare at Snape for the last comment and suppressed a sigh. House rivalries stayed strong, despite the annual Sorting Hat warning.
Flitwick's squeaking voice brought him back. "Miss Rettah is gaining much interest from the rest of the Claws, much of it having to do with her foreign religion. Her classwork is just the same as the rest of her classmates'."
They fell into silence. Finally, Sprout asked, "Who has the last transfer? The one who grew up as a muggle?"
Dumbledore looked to McGonagall, who tensed again. Noticing the action, the rest of the heads focused their attention on her.
Seeing as McGonagall was not going to start her evaluation of Ryou, Snape started. "Mr Bakura has an aptitude for Potions. In class, he brewed the Draught of Peace using different ingredients from the norm, something that should not have been possible. His cheek will not be tolerated, however."
Flitwick commented, "He's rather shy, but polite, in my class."
"That would be an example of his mental disorder," explained Dumbledore. "Both of you experienced different personalities."
Snape nodded in understanding. Flitwick continued on. "What I found strange, was that he couldn't cast the levitation or summoning charms. His wand work and pronunciation was perfect. I don't know what could have gone wrong."
Dumbledore frowned, contemplating this discovery. Flitwick turned to McGonagall. "What do you think of him, Minerva?"
"As with you, he couldn't cast transfiguration spells. Although, in my class he attempted to do a spell wandlessly. It was a simple second-year spell, turning a rat into a goblet. The result looked like a rat that'd splinched itself ten times over-" the mental image turned the present company a pleasant shade of puce. "-then been stitched together in the shape of a goblet. I couldn't reverse or banish it, so I had to dismiss the class. Bakura insisted it was an accident, so I let him off with a warning."
The staff made no comments. Dumbledore dismissed then with a quiet, "I believe I've heard enough."
The heads vanished to their rooms quickly, leaving Dumbledore to make his way to his own quarters. He rubbed his forehead and sighed, feeling the century old man he was. The back-up plan would fail at this rate. The Light needed that power, but what good was power when one had no idea how to control it?
Hikari is female and unisex(?), with Hikaru as the male version of the name.
Malik's playing up the entire 'disorder' lie and having fun with it, watching peoples' expressions when he tells them his friend is insane and getting them to call Ryou by a girl's name. Ryou's letting it all progress along. As for Bakura, well, he's probably cackling in his soul room, planning to use this 'insanity' as a pass for a little fun.
