Chapter 13
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh! & I don't own Harry Potter!
Thought / Dreams / Event from the past
'Telepathy'
/Broadcast Telepathy – only heard by Shadow Mages/
"Dialogue in English"
*Japanese*
**Egyptian**
**Ancient Egyptian**
=Telephone=
Letter
Emphasis
Dangerous Tone / Spell
Back to Zero
Meanwhile, let's go back to after Snape left the Trio …
"Why's Snape here?" Harry asked as he watched the Potion Master walking away, muttering to himself as he did.
"Snape is here to be the transfers' Tutor." Ron answered him reluctantly, "But really, Harry …".
"That's all that managed to get into your head?" Hermione demanded at Harry, who frowned at her – seemed like he was still angry, "Congratulation then, Harry. Congratulation." She said mockingly at him, "Not only that you hurt Yugi's feeling and made the other transfers angry in less than a minute after meeting them, but you also have proven to Snape that he's right about you being an arrogant brat whose fame get into his head".
"What the hell are you talking about, Hermione?" Harry demanded at her, "I'm still angry at you both".
"Look, I don't care if you're angry at me, okay?" Hermione snapped back at him, "I realize that I'm partly at fault, for I should have ignored Dumbledore's order and just sent some letters to you containing stuffs that are irrelevant with the Dark Lord's matter. Nothing would happen even if the letter was intercepted then. I'm also a Muggleborn, so I know that there's something in this world called a mobile phone, I should have bought one for you and taught you how to use it before you went to the Dursleys'. That way, we can send messages to each other without needing to worry about being intercepted at all.
"But that doesn't mean that all of this is our fault! We weren't the one who told you to return to the Dursleys! We weren't the one who decided that we don't need to tell you anything! We wanted to send letters to you, but Dumbledore forbade us! If you want to blame someone, blame him, dammit! Our only fault is that we didn't dare to go against Dumbledore's order about not sending any letter to you, so forgive us for not being brave enough to willingly land ourselves in trouble by going against Dumbledore's order! Forgive us that we didn't follow your selfishness by getting ourselves in trouble just to tell you the events that happened in our summer holiday through letters, which we would end up telling you again when we would finally meet anyway!".
"Hermione …" Harry was the one who didn't get a chance to talk this time, because Hermione wasn't finish yet.
"Do you know who those people are? Who that boy you shouted at and accused earlier? No, you don't, and they don't know you either – not in person, but they still help you!" Hermione pointed her pointer finger at Harry's face, making his eyes zeroed in on her finger by reflex, "They don't know you, Harry, and people would normally don't care about the people they don't know about, but not them. When they heard of how you're treated badly by the Dursleys, abused by them, one of them immediately took action to remove the Dursleys' custody over you and into Mrs. Weasley's! Then when they heard how Sirius was falsely accused, that same person immediately plans to get Sirius a trial to clear his name! And Yugi – the boy whom you shouted at and accused earlier – he saved Bill from a bunch of Death Eaters when he could just leave Bill to his death, since they had just met earlier that day and were still practically strangers to each other!".
"Yeah, man." Ron said in agreement, "I know that we're partly at fault for not sending you any letter, but you have to apologize to Yugi. Bill was in an area where he couldn't Apparate, and there were too many Death Eaters than he could fight on his own, so Yugi saved his life – even though he could just pretend that he saw nothing." He then shook his head and sighed, "Also, you accused us of being together in here while you were at the Dursleys, but we only got here this morning, and even then, we're here to clean this place so the Order can use it for meeting – and for a safety place in case something happen to you. We've only been here together for less than a day before you arrive, so just like you, we were separated from each other until today".
"Those transfers are originally staying here only to make it easier for Snape to tutor them, so they were in one place instead of some being in Egypt, some in Japan, and some in America. They were here to be tutored, but they ended up helping us cleaning the Dining room, just so we would be done earlier." Hermione continued, calmly now that she saw regret started showing in Harry's eyes, "They have been nothing but kind and helpful to us ever since they arrived this morning, Harry, and you repaid them by yelling at their Leader. To top it off, you yelled at him when he was trying to calm you down for my and Ron's sake. He's only trying to be helpful, and he got yelled at instead".
The more Harry heard what Hermione and Ron were saying, the more he was ashamed of himself. He couldn't believe how much of a jerk he was acting, it was no wonder that the 'transfers' – well, more like the youngest boy among them – called him an arrogant brat.
"I'm sorry." Harry said softly as he looked down, "I was frustrated, but I shouldn't have used you or that boy to vent my anger and frustration away. I'm sorry".
Hermione sighed, before she and Ron nodded at Harry – although the raven haired boy couldn't see it. "It's alright, Harry." She replied softly as well, "I'm sorry as well, I should have done more to keep you in touch with us".
"Yeah, mate." Ron said in agreement, "I'm sorry for not sending letters to you as well".
"Calm down now?" Hermione asked when Harry didn't say anything, and she got a nod from the boy, "Well, let's go down then. We have to apologize to Yugi".
"You mean, I have to apologize to Yugi?" Harry retorted with a slight smile, causing the other two friends to smile as well.
"Yeah." Hermione said with a chuckle.
So, they all walked out of the room and then downed the stairs. After a short wondering of where Ginny and the transfers would be, they decided to try the kitchen first – since it seemed to be the room that was used most often for a meeting, official or not. Their guess was proven correct when they saw that the transfers were sitting around in there, talking with Ginny and Bill. Bill then looked up and spotted them, before waving them in, gaining everyone's attention.
"What are you doing here?" Seto sneered as he glared at Harry.
Harry had to fight his instinct to scowl, since the taller boy reminded him so much of Snape, but he managed – barely. "I want to apologize for my earlier attitude." He replied quietly, "I was frustrated, and I was wrong to vent it at you".
"Good, then you know not to throw your anger at an unsuspecting stranger the next time." Jou said dryly at him, "Next time you hurt my Buddy like that again, you better be prepared, for I will beat you to pulp".
"I'm sorry." Harry muttered in response, feeling nervous since he felt like the blonde boy would really do that.
"Don't apologize to me or any of us, apologize to Yugi." Jou retorted with a roll of his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Yugi." Harry apologized to Yugi, who sighed and nodded at him.
"You're forgiven." Yugi said simply, before sipping on his tea – which had gotten cold by now – again.
"That's easily?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yes." Yugi replied with a shrug, "Just don't do it again".
"Uh, okay." Harry said unsurely, feeling that he had been forgiven too easily, "Thank you as well, for getting me out of the Dursleys, and for arranging a trial for my Godfather".
"No problem." Seto said casually before sipping his now-lukewarm-coffee, "Even if I don't like you or your altitude, but there's no way I would let any abused children be left alone".
"You're feeling like you're being forgiven too easily, aren't you?" Malik asked knowingly.
Harry's eyes widened as he looked at Malik. "How do you know that?" He asked in surprise.
"The same thing happened to me. I have wronged them in the past, and they forgave me easily too." Malik explained with a careless shrug – though he was still awestruck on the inside, even now after months had passed – before looking at Harry with narrowed eyes, "Yugi was the one being hurt the most, so if he forgave you, the rest of us will forgive you too. Remember this though, Harry. Just like how I have to work to gain their trust, you – too – have to work to gain our trust".
"Your past mistake may have been forgiven, but never forgotten." Ishizu explained when Harry looked slightly confused, "All of us don't trust the Wizardkind – only Bill, Lupin, and Ginny who have gained our trust – but we're willing to give all of you the benefit of the doubt. Still, after your action earlier, you have made us less willing to give you this favor".
"That's right." Mokuba said in agreement as he stared at Harry in the eyes, "What we have seen so far isn't something that we like. In our eyes at the moment, you're nothing more than an arrogant brat who likes to throw a tantrum, so you have to work hard if you want us to trust you. No one would want to trust people like that, after all".
Harry felt even more ashamed now, since he was called an arrogant brat by a boy who was years younger than him – and he couldn't deny it, not after what he had just done to both his friends and the 'transfers' Leader' as Hermione called the tri-color haired boy earlier. So, he just nodded to show his understanding.
"I don't understand." Hermione said after a few seconds had passed without anyone saying anything, "How come letting your anger shows can break someone's trust?".
"Hermione, it isn't that the act of letting your anger out that breaks our trust in Harry." Ishizu explained to her kindly, "In Harry's case, when he let out his anger and frustration earlier, he did it by screaming them out to the world without watching what he was saying. This time, Harry is lucky that no one outside of those who are already in the know is here, but if it happens in a place like the school and Harry doesn't watch what he's saying – especially when he's screaming them that loudly – who knows who could hear him?".
"This may look like a simple thing to you, but it's a fact that this simple thing is very important." Malik cut in when he saw how Harry was about to argue, "Think about it. If you have to keep your magic a secret but you exploded like that in a 'Muggle' public place, everyone could hear you and they will find out that you're magical, and thus breaking the Statute of Secrecy. By screaming out your anger without watching what you're saying, everything that should have been kept secret will be revealed easily – accidentally or not".
"And that …" Mokuba finished for them, "… is what makes Harry untrustworthy in our eyes at the moment. Harry may be a good person by himself, but he can't watch his mouth, so we can't trust him with our secret or any important information".
Harry blushed, realizing that they were right. If the transfers weren't on their side and didn't know of everything already, then they would know at least something from his outburst earlier. "I'm sorry." He apologized again as he looked down, since he didn't have the courage to look at them at the moment – which was a sad thing considering that he was a Griffindor. "I promise that I will be better".
"So, have you guys make up with each other?" Ginny asked the trio then.
"Yes, we have explained to Harry everything that had happened." Hermione said with a smile, "And he had apologized to us too, so everything is alright now".
"Good." Ginny said with a smile as well.
"Oh, Yugi, Ryou." Ron called out to the two Mages, who looked at him questioningly in answer, "Harry is going to sleep in our room with us. Is that alright with you?".
"I'm fine with it." Yugi answered with a nonchalant shrug.
"As am I." Ryou said with a nod of his head.
"That's great!" Ron said excitedly, "Then we can share our knowledge about games later, the Wizarding games and the Muggle ones!".
"Oh, you would love the game Duel Monster, Ron." Bill told him with a grin, "The game is very exciting, and the strategy that's being used in the game is very complex".
"Really?" Ron perked up at that, looking at the Mages.
"Yes." Yugi answered with a big grin on his face, "We have taught Bill a bit about it, and he's quite good at it already. Too bad that he still need to be reminded about the rules".
"Oh, shut up you." Bill grumbled with a blushing face, before he remembered something, "Oh, Yugi?" He turned his attention fully to the star haired boy then, "I bought a Butterbeer, for our bet that time – thanks for the reminder. Dad mentioned that you felt a 'screaming match' coming, so do you want to drink it now or later?".
"The 'screaming match' has passed already." Hermione answered as she glanced at Harry – who blushed at the hinting look he received, before looking at Yugi curiously. "Okay, Yugi, I believe you now that you can sense things that are going to happen in the future. So, do you sense another 'screaming match' coming?".
Yugi blinked and looked up thoughtfully, humming to himself as he did so. "At the moment, yes – but the feeling is rather vague, so it might not happen." He answered Hermione with a smile, before looking at Bill, "Can I have my beer now? The mentioning of the screaming match brought up the ugly memories from earlier".
"Oh, sure." Bill answered before heading towards the refrigerator, and then returning a few seconds later with a glass filled with Butterbeer. "Here you go." He said as he handed the glass over to Yugi, who accepted it with a grateful nod, "If you want, you can get more at the Leaky Cauldron".
"What is this bet you were talking about, Bill?" Harry asked curiously.
"The bet that I and Yugi have before the Death Eaters attacked us." Bill answered him vaguely before looking at the rest of the Mages, "I'm sorry if any of you want the Butterbeer as well, but I only bought one bottle because of the bet. So if any of you want it, you have to go buy it yourself at the Leaky Cauldron".
"Mokuba is forbidden from drinking it, you too, Rebecca." Seto said sternly at the two kids.
"You as well, Shizuka." Jou told his Sister firmly.
"Hai~ (Yes)." The three youngsters replied easily.
"I don't think there's a problem if they drink it, guys." Yugi announced after he took a sip, "Although the name is beer, this Butterbeer isn't alcoholic".
"It's because the Butterbeer is made from Butter, Sugar, and Water only." Hermione explained to the Mage's confused faces, "The one that's sold at the Three Broomsticks at the Hogsmeade contain a very little amount of alcohol in it, but it was mostly so the children who go there in Winter could warm themselves by drinking it. As long as you don't drink too much of it, you're allowed to drink it by the school laws. Although, only the 3rd year and above that's allowed to go to Hogsmeade".
"Oh, then you can drink it if you want, Shizuka." Jou told his Sister again, "But only one glass if it's the one with alcohol, you can drink as much as you want if it doesn't has alcohol in it".
"Thank you, Nii-chan (Big Brother)." Shizuka answered cheerfully.
"Hmm, then Mokuba and Rebecca can only drink the one without alcohol in it." Seto said in agreement, "Only after you guys are at your 3rd year that you can drink the one with the slight alcohol, and only one glass if you want".
"Sure, Nii-sama." Mokuba answered simply, knowing that it was for his own good.
"No problem." Rebecca answered with a shrug.
Before anyone else could say anything anymore, they were interrupted by a Crack! when two identical teens appeared in the kitchen.
"There you guys are!" George and Fred exclaimed at the same time.
"Must you Apparate everywhere? Even within this place?" Ron asked them exasperatedly, "Just because you have gotten your Apparition License".
"So what?" George asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's called training." Fred said their excuse next.
"Anyway, do you-" George began again.
"-want to hear-" Fred continued after him.
"-about our newest invention?" They then finished together.
"What is it?" Ginny and Ron asked at the same time, curious about the new invention.
So, the red haired twins told them all about the Extendable Ears, and how to use them. "We're planning to use them at the meeting later." The twins finished with a wide grin on their faces.
"Can I have one?" Ron asked immediately, followed soon by Harry, Hermione, and Ginny.
"Sure, we made many of them." The twins replied while they gave the Wizarding teens an Extendable Ear each.
"Do you want one as well, Yu- err, Yugi, right?" Fred asked when he noticed the star haired surprised expression.
"Yes, my name is Yugi, and no, I don't want one." Yugi answered him with a blink of his eyes, before frowning at the Wizarding teens, "I'm surprised. How come you decide to eavesdrop on people's conversation that easily?" He asked them with disapproval.
"Mom never tells us anything." Ginny explained before Ron and Harry could protest from receiving the look, "She always says that we're too young, so we're kept in the dark – even Fred and George, who are the oldest among us".
"Yeah, that's right." Ron said in agreement, "Because Mom is like that, none of the other adults tell us anything as well".
"We have to know what's going on to be prepared for anything, so we have to find out the information on our own way, even if we have to eavesdrop to get it." Hermione added in agreement, while Harry and the Weasley Twins just nodded their heads in agreement.
As soon as the Mages heard that, they – as one – looked at Mokuba and Rebecca, who happened to sit side by side.
"What?" Mokuba asked when he noticed the look.
"Why are you guys looking at us like that?" Rebecca asked in surprise as well.
The rest of the Mages – bar Shizuka, who didn't know what was going on – just shook their heads and returned their attention to the Wizards and Witches in the room.
"How about an offer?" Yugi suggested at them with a smile, "I will convince the Order to tell you guys what's going on and about the latest news, but only if you guys vow on your Magic to never eavesdrop on us?".
Harry narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Why?" He asked them with a frown, "It sounds as if you guys are keeping secret from us".
"We do." Seto replied bluntly, a bored look on his face, "It's a personal matter to us, and even when we decides to tell them to anyone, it's only to the people whom we believe as trustworthy. Of course, the people whom we trust would never blab in their anger, and they also know when to leave matters alone and can respect people's privacy, which – at this moment – none of you Golden Trio or Weasley twins fit in the category".
"Hey! We do know how to keep a secret!" Ron argued hotly, "Otherwise, we would have broken the Statute of Secrecy already!".
"While it is true, you don't really keep the other matters secret." Yugi told him calmly, sipping on his Butterbeer, "If you find out about something, you would always tell either Dumbledore, your Parents, or your Godfather and so on." He looked knowingly at them, "It's not good, in our eyes".
"That's because Dumbledore is trustworthy…" Hermione muttered in reply, although the seed of doubt was there.
"Oh, really?" Seto challenged with a smirk, "As a so-called Great Wizard, surely Dumbledore would have known already that the Wards that have been placed on Harry wouldn't work if he didn't love the Dursleys and be loved by them. And yet, he still insisted that Harry stayed there, no matter how many times everyone told him of the abuse Harry received there".
Hermione - who had been thoughtful as she listened to Seto's words - gasped suddenly, a shocked expression filled her face. "Dumbledore is manipulating Harry!" She exclaimed in disbelief, shocking the other Wizards and Witch. "I mean…" She continued as she looked at her friends intensely, "Because Harry was treated badly ever since he was a kid, obviously he would think of Dumbledore as his savior for sending him his Hogwarts letter!" She stared into Harry's shocked eyes, "Didn't you?".
"Y- You're right…" Harry said in realization, "And ever since then, I have been thinking of Hogwarts as my Home".
"Is…" Ginny bit her lower lip in worry, "Is Dumbledore really trustworthy?" She asked them all helplessly.
The other Witch and Wizards stayed quiet, for they didn't know the answer to that anymore.
"In general, I think that Dumbledore is a good person." Yugi began thoughtfully, a slight glazed look in his eyes, a sign that he was communicating telepathically - with either Yami or Atem, or both, "At the same time, I think that he's manipulative in nature. So, you can trust him with most of the stuffs, but you have to watch what you're saying about other more important stuffs".
"You know, Dumbledore tried to read our minds when we first met him." Malik thought out loud, "It shows that he doesn't respect the privacy of people's minds." He then shrugged, "I mean - sure, we read people's minds too, but we only do it to our enemies and in the middle of a battle. Dumbledore though, he did it all the time, whenever he wants".
"You can do Legilimency too?!" Fred and George asked in surprise, since the Mages were supposed to be late bloomers, but they could do high level Magic like Legilimency already.
"Not all of us." Mokuba answered them right away, "Only the more high skilled ones among us can do it".
"And who are they?" Harry asked cautiously.
Yugi, Malik, Ryou, and Ishizu raised their hands silently in answer.
"Another one of our friends - Pegasus - can do it too." Yugi added lightly, "Everyone else is still learning".
"As Malik said, we only read people's minds if they are our enemies, or when we're in a battle." Ishizu told them when she saw their uneasiness upon hearing that information, "You have nothing to worry about".
Hermione let out a sigh, in relieve or something else, even she didn't know. "Well, I think that we have to learn Occlumency now." She suggested firmly, "Especially now that we knew things that Dumbledore wouldn't like us to know about in the first place".
"Yes, but who can teach us?" Harry asked her with a frown.
"Why don't you just protect their minds like you did mine, Yugi?" Bill suggested to the three colors haired boy.
"Too many people, I can't." Yugi shook his head regretfully, "Besides, Dumbledore will be suspicious if he suddenly can't read their minds".
"How about…" Malik began thoughtfully, "Instead of blocking the mind reading, why don't you guys learn how to notice when your minds are being read?" He addressed the Wizardkind teens with a grin, "That way, Dumbledore wouldn't be suspicious of you, and at the same time, you can deceive whoever reading your minds by thinking about unimportant stuffs when someone is reading your minds".
"Oh, you can do it like that?" Fred asked in pleasant surprise.
"Can you teach us?" George continued after his Twin.
"It's learning on the job type." Malik told them with a shrug, "There are 6 of you that needs to learn, while there are 4 of us who can read minds, so Ishizu and Ryou can teach one of you each, while Yugi and I can teach two of you each at the same time".
"We will read your minds, so your job is try to notice it and began to think unimportant stuffs." Ishizu told them with a smile, "Ginny, I will be your partner".
"Then, I will be Ron's partner." Ryou decided lightly, "I have a feeling that he will have the hardest time among them".
"Well, Fred and George, I will be your partner." Malik told the Weasley Twins.
"That leaves Harry and Hermione to be my partners." Yugi said with a nod of agreement, "Don't be disappointed if you can't do it right away, since even the most talented Magic users would have a hard time learning to notice foreign presence in their own mind".
"But, what are we going to do if we meet Dumbledore now?" Ginny asked nervously, "If it's going to take awhile before we can do it, then Dumbledore will be able to read our minds and know what we knows".
"Avoid eye contacts with him." Seto told them seriously, "I noticed that it's only when he locked eyes with us that Dumbledore can access our minds, before we noticed him and blocked him right away".
"Sirs and Madams." Kreacher appeared suddenly, "Molly Weasley is on the way".
"Thank you, Kreacher." Yugi thanked him, before exchanged glance with everyone, "Begin talking mundane stuffs, now".
Bill removed the Muffliato and began asking Yugi what live in Japan was like, soon followed by the others - Kreacher used that moment to disappear again.
Thus they were saved from being questioned, for now.
Line~Line~Line
Thank You for reading. I'm looking forward for your review ^ ^
Fragments of Imagination