Disclaimer: I am borrowing the works of Harry Potter and YuGiOh for my fanfiction. I have every intention of returning them in one piece when I am done.
Dedication: To Anika, the best housemate ever, who has put tireless effort into helping me prep for my resit. Thank you so much hon!
Authors Reply:
As a mature and responsible member of ff . net I always try to respond to constructive criticism so you can imagine my horror when I was unable to decipher a review full of helpful suggestions and polite advice on improving my story. However, maybe one of my readers will be able to help me translate:
"WTF?who's gonna read this piece of (censored) garbage,harry potter suckz ,they should hang that (censored) bastard and killem ,harry potta suckz and the brit (censored) who wrote thiz suckz too.The Flamemasta haz spoke."
WTF?: White Turtle Fish? Wednesday to Friday? Wallaby tree fell? There were a few too many suggestions here so I'll skip forward to the next helpful point.
Who's gonna read this piece of (censored) garbage, : Gonna didn't appear in any dictionary I could find, but logic dictates it should, in this context, mean "your story is very impressive". As for the stars, my housemate assures me they are starring out 'amazing' or 'miraculously superb' but don't want such high praise to go to my head.
they should hang that (censored) bastard and killem : first off, I am worried for Killem. My reviewer seems to want to hang them… not sure if they mean 'from a tree by their ankles' but I would assume so. Killem, if you are reading, take care. I would also like to assure the reviewer that Harry was a legitimate baby, despite all those unseemly Snape rumours. I am assuming the reviewer believes Harry to be the child of someone other than James, perhaps Aberforth or Lucius Malfoy. Don't worry reviewer, no one will judge you for your 'interesting' tastes here.
and the brit (censored) who wrote thiz suckz too.The Flamemasta haz spoke. : At first I thought brit was short for 'British' but everyone who completed third grade knows it has a capital letter, so I think they must mean the brand of ritz cracker. Reviewer, I am not a ritz cracker, perhaps you should cut down on the hallucinogenics, but that is of course, your choice. I don't like to judge. It is nice that the Flamemasta (is that Jamaican? You must struggle getting keyrings and mugs with your name on, I sympathise) 'haz spoke', spokes are very important when making bicycle wheels and I am glad you are not lacking in them. Always wear a helmet, dear reviewer.
Well I think that is response to all the ambiguities, I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the last one, good luck making that bicycle and have a nice day.
Chapter 21: The Servant of Anubis
The fist that slammed down on the Gryffindor table caused most of the occupants to jump. Several breakfast utensils went flying, and someone's goblet of pumpkin juice was spilt. Everyone stared at the person responsible. The tri colour haired duellist however, did not pay attention, nor did his two companions.
"Damn them all to hell!" Bakura spat, not caring about the people who gasped in shock, having never heard the normally mild Ryou Bakura curse before. Malik however, did and rolled his eyes.
"Oh take a picture people!" he snapped. "It will last longer!"
Yugi stared at the letter before him. It was just like the previous term. They had been informed of the attack a week previously, but only when Joey's letter had come through had it finally sunk in just how dangerous it had been.
"Let's just thank Ra that they're both alright," Malik pointed out, as the rest of the table went back to their food. He was being completely serious. Joey was a friend, and he liked Mai and felt very bad for everything his darker side had done to her in Battle City. Ryou, hovering in spirit form, nodded in agreement.
"That's another one," Yugi muttered. "Another attack. More danger…who's going to be next?"
"They seem to be targeting just you three at the moment," Bakura pointed out, more to reassure Malik than Yugi. "I would guess they're more concerned about the Legendary Dragons than the rest of us."
Malik swallowed. Anyone could see that he was concerned about his brother and sister. Yugi did not seem comforted by this. He just sat there with a blank look on his face, which signified that he was talking to the Pharaoh.
/This has to end/ Yami said. /We must stop Voldemort before any more of our friends suffer/
/I know/ Yugi said. /We should talk to the others at Easter. Maybe…maybe it would be a good idea if we went home and tried to stop Voldemort from there?/
Yami pondered this for a second, before answering.
/Maybe you're right Aibou. But we should wait until Easter and see what everyone else thinks. I get the feeling that we would be closer to Voldemort here at Hogwarts than we would be back in Japan/
Yugi nodded, and pulled himself back to reality. He could tell it was killing his yami to suggest leaving the people in Domino unprotected for even a second longer. The light and dark exchanged a simultaneous thought.
"We came here to protect the students. But who is protecting our friends and family?"
"Oh don't look now," Bakura said sarcastically getting up from the table. "But it's our dear friends. I'll see you both upstairs."
He left the table, grabbing a piece of toast as he left. Sure enough, Harry, Ron and Hermione were approaching the two remaining transfer students. Malik scowled and flounced off after the thief, leaving Yugi on his own.
It had been a week since Malfoy had been locked in his Penalty Game (and was consequently lying in the Hospital Wing in what appeared to be a coma), and it had been a week since any of the duellists had spoken to the three Gryffindors. Ryou was still very upset that they had gone through his letters, and was avoiding them wherever possible. His grim mood had only increased when they had got to Hagrid's straight after the Shadow Game. Despite the fact that Hagrid was allergic to cats, he was willing to help out the distraught boy. It was still touch and go, but Bastet looked to be recovering under the giant's tender care. But the constant worry grated on Ryou's nerves, and his work was beginning to slip.
Ryou's separation from Harry, Ron and Hermione, also meant the same for the other two. Malik was taking a similar attitude, seeing how upset this had made his friend. Yugi however was finding it hard to be mad at them, as it had been Ryou they had upset not he. But as he hung around with Ryou and Malik most of the time, he found himself avoiding them too. He knew Harry, Ron and Hermione were trying to apologise, but despite asking his friends to hear them out, neither Ryou nor Malik were willing. Ryou's trust in particular appeared to have been shattered beyond repair.
"Yugi," Ron began, but the King of Games got up swiftly too.
"I have to go do my coursework guys," he muttered. "I'm sorry."
"Yugi we just want to apologise!" Hermione said desperately. Yugi shook his head and picked up his bag.
"It's not me you should be apologising too though," he said, shoving the letter in his bag and hurrying away.
Harry sighed. He knew from the looks on their faces and their behaviour just now that they had all had very bad news from home. Unfortunately most of the conversation had been in Japanese, so none of them had understood entirely what had happened to get them so upset.
"Something bad happened," Ron summarised. "Why else would Bakura have looked so mad?"
Harry nodded. In the last week, in between trying to apologise to their friends, they had been observing them, and could now spot the differences between Yugi, Ryou and their counterparts. Hermione had also been pouring endlessly through the library for any information she could find on the purple shield that had barricaded their way through the corridor. Whatever had happened in there, Malfoy was still suffering for it. And though they wanted to apologise to their friends, they were also mildly afraid of what they had done.
"We've been trying to talk to them for a week!" Hermione said miserably. "There has to be something we can do to make up for it!"
Harry privately felt that nothing could really make up for betraying their trust like this, but he didn't want to make Hermione any more miserable than she was already. They had been attempting to apologise at every opportunity, but all of them, particularly Ryou were taking pains to avoid them, sitting on the other side of the classroom, and going to bed before everyone else. The constant separation between the three also meant that they had not had the chance to give back the Millennium Eye. Judging how upset they were that they had been snooping however, it seemed that when they did find out that they had it, it would only make the situation worse.
"Come on," Harry said. "We'll be late for Herbology. We'll have to try again at break."
OOO
He could not breathe.
The web trickled slowly down his throat, growing longer and longer, day by day. He knew he must have been here days, but he had lost track a long time ago. He could not scream even if he wanted to. It was pointless. No one would hear him.
He was truly alone.
He had thought he was lonely before, with no real friends, and a family who were more interested in the Dark Lord's wishes than his own. But now he understood, this was true loneliness.
He hadn't thought that it was wrong, he realised, now that he had time to think about it. It was what he had been exposed to. He had been taught that it was right to put everyone down, to show them that he was better. His family, who idolised the Dark Lord, had seemed so normal to him originally, that he had done the same, picking up their beliefs and attitudes. He had discriminated against muggleborns, because they were different, and because he was told that different was bad. He had discriminated against those who mingled with muggleborns, because he was told they were un-pure. And he had discriminated against those with pureblood, who showed sympathy to those without.
He had turned into the faintest shadow of a Death Eater, way before he had even realised it.
OOO
"What can we do?" Yugi asked, settling onto his bed heavily, the letter from Joey clutched in his hand. Ryou curled up on his own bed, shuffling his duelling deck from one hand to the other. Malik leaned his head against one of the posts on his bed.
"Not a lot," the Egyptian pointed out. "Even if we dropped out now it would not do any good. Voldemort is here, and we'd be back in Japan, sitting ducks."
"We can't keep relying on Dumbledore to protect our families though," Yugi protested. "He's hardly done a very good job so far. Joey, Mai, Serenity, Kaiba…even Ryou's father. I know Dumbledore is trying his hardest, but the truth is, they need real protection. From us. We're the only ones who can. And besides, it's not exactly happy here right now. We're all alone."
Ryou paused in the shuffling of his cards. Bakura had jumped up suddenly in his soul room and now fazed out of the Ring beside the hikari.
"There is something we can do," he said, grabbing everyone's attention. Malik looked up at the thief, and Yugi mentally prodded his other half.
"We need to stop sitting back and waiting for Voldemort to attack us," Bakura said firmly. "We need to start getting to him."
"Explain yourself please Bakura," Yami asked, sitting beside Yugi in spirit form.
"I'm getting there Pharaoh," Bakura assured him. "We need a spy, so we can tell who he's going after next, and we can warn them."
"Right…" Malik said slowly. "And just who do you propose we send on a potential suicide mission to spy on the infamous Dark Lord?"
Bakura did not, as Malik had expected, tell him to shut up. On the contrary, he smiled and turned to Ryou, who was looking far more cheerful than he had done all week. Bakura took over a second later, and Ryou appeared in spirit form, watching as the thief pulled a card from the deck in his hands.
"Souls of the Forgotten!" he bellowed, and a second later, the lost spirits appeared, sweeping around the dorm dramatically. Bakura smirked.
"Here are our spies," he said simply. Malik beamed and even Yami looked pleased.
"Awesome!" Yugi said, before frowning slightly. "But won't it drain you if they stay out all the time?"
Bakura shook his head. "I think I might be able to channel magic from the school to keep them alive. If it works I shouldn't be affected at all…unless they get tortured or something…"
Malik hastily knocked on the wood of his bedpost as Bakura cleared his throat. The spirits immediately lined up in front of him.
"You sent for us master?" they chorused in hoarse voices.
"I did," Bakura acknowledged. "I want you to locate the man who is controlled by the magic of the Orichalcos. He should have minions also using the magic, but only he should be able to freely wield its complete power. Once you have found him, listen in on the goings on around him, but stay out of sight. I shall send for one of you to report to me once a week."
The spirits hunched over into what everyone assumed was a bow, before vanishing out of the nearest window.
"There we go!" Bakura said happily. "Problem solved! We should have all the information we need soon."
"Bakura having a decent plan," Malik muttered. "Now I've seen everything."
He was treated to a smack around the head from the scowling thief.
"Well at least now we have some ears," Yugi pointed out. "I'll write back to Joey, but I'll have to be careful about how I word it…we don't want Voldemort intercepting our letters and finding about before they've even found him."
He rummaged around immediately for some parchment and a quill. Bakura vanished back to his soul room, and Ryou got up.
"I'm going to go visit Hagrid. I'll see you all later."
Yugi mumbled a vague goodbye from inside his trunk as Ryou vanished off down the staircase. Malik went to his own bed and flopped down dramatically.
"Well that can only be good," he remarked. Yugi looked up confused.
"What do you mean?"
"That's the first time Ryou's smiled since last week," Malik explained, with a grin on his own face.
OOO
Deep in a tomb beneath the sands of Egypt, a man was praying.
He did not hear the fierce sandstorm raging above, nor did he feel the sun beating down mercilessly on the desert. His energies were focused elsewhere. Around him, the tomb was completely silent.
This particular tomb was one of many still undiscovered by the rest of the modern world. It was also the only one still occupied by a living soul. After the return of the Pharaoh, the Ishtar family and the rest of the clan guarding the Pharaoh's tomb disbanded, and begun living in the light. Their tomb was abandoned, all the texts and scrolls now in the hands of Odion and Ishizu Ishtar, who was charged with guarding the secrets of the Nameless Pharaoh. The location of the tomb also remained a secret, and would do so until its inevitable discovery by the people of today, who would no doubt wander the area, pointing at the carvings, studying the traps, and eventually discovering the living space of its long gone guardians. They would ponder who had lived here for so many centuries, away from the eyes of the rest of the world, but they would never discover why. The secret would die with the clan members.
This tomb however, had a much darker history then that of the tomb where the inhabitants carved secrets into their children's skin. For this tomb sat in the ruins of what had been a village. A village of thieves.
The hundreds of regular sandstorms had blasted at the buildings. After a time, humans had returned to live here, but none of them ever stayed long. Most were thieves or criminals, who would either meet their end when they stumbled upon this tomb and tried to steal the contents within, or would move out when they breathed the stench of death, which had not left even after five thousand years. This village was a cursed village, and in this tomb beneath its surface, was the last remaining mark of its dark past.
The tomb was cold. Even the torches that hung from the walls could not add much heat. The light too seemed smothered. The only other object present was an enormous stone slab, shaped in a vaguely human form, but with an Egyptian headdress. Carved in the stone were seven holes, each shaped in a certain way, like a giant puzzle waiting to be complete. This puzzle was dark however, stained with the death that had been necessary for its creation.
The figure opened his eyes and stared sadly at the stone. The tears that ran down his cheeks, soaking into worn beige robes were not his own, but those of the souls that had been sacrificed to create the Items. It was their pain and their suffering that he cried for.
Someone had upset the balance again. It was up to him to fix it. And he had failed. All week long he had been searching for the missing Item, as soon as he had felt it resurface. But he had been unable to locate it; the energies that he had been tracing were being swamped by another form of magic. For centuries he had stood guard over the Items and their destinies, ensuring that only the worthy possessed them. Now, for the second time in the last two years, this Item had changed hands, slipping out of view once more.
He prayed hard. It was his duty to guard the Items, and he would fulfil it.
Even if it took him another life time to do so.
OOO
"She's doin' fine Ryou," Hagrid smiled. "She's been tryin' ter move around lately, but I've been keepin' her still as best I can. She needs exercise, but if she pulls those stitches out then she'll be in trouble."
Ryou smiled, and stroked Bastet behind the ears. The cat purred and lapped at his fingers, before turning her head and trying to gnaw at her stitches. She gave up quickly and began licking at her master's fingers again.
"Had ter put a charm on the stitches so she won't bite em," Hagrid explained. "Makes em taste summat foul."
Ryou giggled as Bastet attempted to chew again. This time when she pulled away, Ryou could almost see the disgust on her face. He supposed it was better than a normal vet, where she would have to wear a plastic cone around her head.
"Thanks for looking after her Hagrid," he said.
"Nah its fine," the giant said, waving a hand airily. "I've seen Madam Pomfrey for me allergies, and Fang seems to like her."
Ryou spared the huge dog a weary look. He had been rather alarmed the first time he had been to visit Hagrid, when the excitable canine had pushed him to the ground and thoroughly licked his face clean.
"Poor little scrap though," Hagrid said. "They're nasty things cutting curses. Hope whoever did this is sorry fer it now."
Ryou thought of Malfoy, who was still locked in a Penalty Game. He was sure that if he ever got out he would probably be very sorry. But for now he settled on nodding.
"Been meanin' to talk to yeh Ryou," Hagrid said, sitting back at the table. Ryou got off his feet and went to sit at the chair opposite.
"What about?" he asked.
"Harry, Ron and Hermione," Hagrid said. Ryou's face fell instantly.
"There's nothing to talk about really Hagrid," he said.
"I think there is," the giant said firmly. "They came down to see me last weekend. They told me what happened last Wednesday…"
Ryou gave no reaction, so Hagrid continued.
"I can understand why you're upset Ryou," he told him. "But yeh not gainin' anything from not speaking to em."
"I'm angry Hagrid," Ryou said, and was alarmed to hear his voice tremble slightly. "They looked at my letters! They found them and they read them! If they were really sorry they would have just put them back."
"I'm not defendin' em," Hagrid said. "I'm just…well, it seems to me that you not willing to hear that they're sorry…"
"I don't care if they're sorry," Ryou shook his head. "It…it hurts too much Hagrid…when people find out they feel sorry for you. I don't want that. I want to move on…but it never stops hurting. Because every time someone feels sorry for you, you remember that they're gone…you never forget them and you never stop hurting."
He brushed away an angry tear.
"I do understand," Hagrid assured him. "Really, I do. Neither of my folks are around. Never forget me old Dad. An' every time I remember him it hurts a little bit. But it's good that it hurts really. Because it means we'll never forget them."
Up at the castle, the bell rang, and Hagrid got up from his seat.
"Well I've got a class of third years to teach, so I'll have to be leavin' yeh Ryou," he said, picking up his crossbow (Ryou wondered vaguely what sort of creatures the poor third years could be studying that would require Hagrid to bring his crossbow). "But just think about what I said, 'kay?"
And he plodded out of the cabin; Ryou sighed and sat down next to Bastet again, thinking over what the half giant had said. Bakura fazed out next to him.
"He does have a point," he said. And Ryou did not need to ask what, as Bastet batted a paw sleepily at the translucent Tomb Robber.
OOO
"And…I…am…done!" Malik cheered, flopping back onto his bed and holding his essay above his head ecstatically. "Malik you genius!"
"Are you talking to yourself?" Neville asked. Malik flipped over onto his stomach and poked his head out from the curtains of his bed. His roommate had appeared in the doorway, with his own homework under his arms.
"Sort of," Malik grinned. "You done with your homework?" Neville beamed back.
"Yep. Wanted to get it out of the way before Hogsmeade next weekend. You going?"
"Sure, my sister has developed a taste for some of the sweets I bought back over Christmas," Malik reported. "And…well I have too!"
He rolled back onto his back, before sitting up and throwing his homework into his schoolbag. Now that he had nothing to do however, he began to feel bored, so he tugged the curtains shut again, decided to change out of his uniform. The material was making his back itch.
The door opened again, and Harry and Ron stomped in. They had been looking all over for Ryou, but their albino friend was very good at disappearing, and Hermione had eventually requested that they go back and start on homework. As much as they did not want to, Harry and Ron had agreed. Seeing the curtain's drawn around Malik's bed however, they decided to do something more productive. Muttering a hello to Neville, Ron knocked on the post of Malik's bed.
"Malik is not in right now," the figure behind the curtains said. "Please leave a message after the beep."
Ron looked very confused, but Harry just rolled his eyes and pulled the curtains back. Malik leaped a foot in the air, before throwing up his hands in exasperation.
"I'm changing here guys," he said angrily, gesturing to his bare chest.
"It's nothing we haven't seen before," Harry reminded him. Malik rolled his eyes.
"Don't remind me," he muttered, taking the curtain from Harry's hand and wrenching it shut again, muttering something about people having a lack of privacy in this country. He reappeared five second later, his torso now covered with his favourite lavender shirt.
"Now, what was so important it couldn't wait until I had my shirt on?" he asked, folding his arms.
"We're looking for Ryou," Harry said quickly. "Do you know where he is?"
"At a guess, I'd say he's staying away from you," Malik said bluntly, reaching for his jacket. "Not that I can exactly blame him after the way you made him feel."
"That's why we want to find him," Ron protested. "We want to say sorry, and…we want to come clean with you all about why we were sneaking around in the first place."
"I would love to hear that story Ron," Malik said, picking up his deck and his duel disk. "I would be most interested. But unfortunately I'm not the one you pissed off. So when Ryou is ready to forgive you for prying into his personal life, then I will happily listen. But not a minute sooner. Now have any of you seen Yugi? I'm bored and I need to let off some steam. Right now, that means duelling."
Harry sighed. "We haven't seen him either." Malik rolled his eyes.
"Well if you can't find Yugi, who as far as I know is not hiding from you, then you don't have much hope of finding Ryou."
And with those parting words, he turned and left the room, strapping his duel disk onto his left arm as he went. Harry and Ron exchanged exasperated looks. They just wanted this to end. The sooner they could talk to Ryou, the better.
"Erm guys…" said a timid voice, and they whirled around. They had completely forgotten that Neville was present in the dormitory too. "Did you have some kind of falling out with the transfers?"
Harry and Ron exchanged another look.
"You could say that Neville," Ron remarked.
OOO
Yami walked purposefully towards the headmaster's office. He had persuaded Yugi to leave the library for half an hour so that he could have control of the body. Yugi had retreated to his soul room for some sleep, promising himself that he would get the bulk of his homework out of the way later, so that he could enjoy the weekend ahead. The spirit of the Puzzle meanwhile had decided to do something that was long overdue.
He was going to visit the headmaster.
He knew ever since the Shadow Game with Malfoy, that Dumbledore probably had accurate suspicions as to who was behind it. And since Professor Snape had been found on the verge of stalking them through the corridors, he guessed that the Defence teacher was suspicious too. It was no surprise, as Malfoy was in his house, and he was the Slytherin Quidditch captain. Their match against Ravenclaw was in a week, and Snape had been observed grinding his teeth whenever anyone brought it up.
Yami had to admit, that the longer Malfoy remained comatose, the worse it looked for his hikari. He did not want Yugi to get into trouble for something that he had pulled. So it was up to him to do the right thing, and that meant explaining a few things to Dumbledore. So here he stood, on the stairwell to the headmaster's office, struggling to keep a straight face as he said the password. His mirth had subsided however by the time he was knocking on the door. There was a call of acknowledgement from inside, and Yami stepped in.
Dumbledore was standing in front of a cabinet in amongst the bookshelves, his back to the door, and a silvery glow coming from the basin before him. He closed the cabinet and turned around to face the Pharaoh.
"Yugi Mutou…or perhaps not?"
Yami shook his head.
"I am not Yugi," he said. "But you knew that already."
It was a statement, not a question. Dumbledore inclined his head.
"True. Professor Snape and I have been detecting the conversations between you and Yugi for quite some time. I would be correct therefore to assume that I am addressing the Nameless Pharaoh?"
The tri colour haired spirit nodded.
"You sensed me before we arrived at Hogwarts?" he asked.
"I did," the headmaster admitted. "I realised very quickly that there were two souls in Yugi's mind, where only one should be. That and…the Sorting Hat is very talkative, and shared the details of what it learned from Yugi and Mr Bakura."
He inclined his head to the patched and ragged hat on the shelf, which stood there motionless. Yami threw the offending artefact a glare, remembering his threat at the beginning of term, and wondering if Archfiend of Gilfer was still hungry.
"You must forgive us for not telling you right from the beginning," the Pharaoh said. "Bakura and I have been secrets for so long. Knowledge brings power and danger in its wake. For your safety, ours and everyone else around us, we told you nothing."
He bowed to the headmaster, who looked musingly at the person before him. He looked like the young Japanese boy whom he had seen in his corridors, but a darker more imposing version of him. His eyes were a rich crimson, the colour of red wine, and were narrowed in seriousness. His stance, posture and manner were calm as though he were totally in control of the situation. You could tell from looking at him, that he had been someone of immense power and responsibility.
"I can understand why you kept it to yourselves," he said. "And I am grateful that you have decided to approach me honestly now. But I take it there is more to this meeting than just introductions?"
Yami raised his eyebrows. Dumbledore knew exactly what he had come here for. He was just waiting for him to say it. He sighed heavily and fingered the Puzzle as he spoke.
"I am afraid, I have a confession to make," he said. "Draco Malfoy's condition is not merely a coma. He lost a game to me, and now his soul is trying to escape the punishment."
Now it was Dumbledore who raised his eyebrows. "A Shadow Game perchance?"
Yami nodded, not breaking the headmaster's gaze.
"You are aware of Shadow Games?"
"Only in legend," Dumbledore said. "The Games were sealed away five thousand years ago after they nearly destroyed Egypt. They are now merely a myth that very few believe, though unless I am mistaken, I believe the game of Duel Monsters is based off them. If I were to assume again from the evidence being presented to me, you were the Pharaoh who sealed them away?"
Yami nodded again, but this time, his eyes were suspicious. Dumbledore was taking this far too calmly.
"You do not seem to be alarmed for someone who has just been told I sealed one of his students in a game where his soul is on the line," he said bluntly. Dumbledore sighed.
"I am not alarmed," he said. "I had my suspicions that Mr Malfoy's condition was not entirely natural. I am however curious as to why you felt the need to take such lengths to punish him."
For the first time during this meeting, Yami looked angry. His eyes narrowed and seemed to glow a menacing scarlet.
"Draco Malfoy is a misguided boy," he said. "But he is also a bully. And I do not tolerate anyone who threatens my Aibou in such a manner."
Dumbledore recognised the Japanese sentiment and he guessed that he was talking about Yugi.
"You care for Yugi very much," he stated. "That alone tells me a lot about your nature."
The spirit looked broodingly at the cabinet that Dumbledore had been standing before earlier. The glow from it reminded him of that which sometimes emerged from Yugi's soul room behind the closed door. He thought of his light, sleeping peacefully away in his soul room, a place of light and innocence, the complete opposite of his own which was dark and confusing.
"You own a pensive Professor," he said, nodding at where he knew lay the basin containing Dumbledore's memories. "You have so many thoughts and memories, that you need extra space to store them all." He looked sadly off out the window now. "I remember nothing of my past. Not my friends, family or even my own name. Nothing but five thousand years of darkness before Yugi released me from the Millennium Puzzle. I would give anything to have half the memories you do."
He turned his head back to the headmaster.
"You say I care very much for Yugi," he said. "I do. At first I cared because he was light, something I had been craving for five millennia. I had been trapped in the darkness for so long. I basked in that light, and I protected him from everything, banishing anyone who threatened him without the slightest thought. I know Bakura was very much the same, though perhaps not as protective for the same reasons."
He seemed to lapse into thought for a second before continuing.
"I protect Yugi now, but not because I relish his light, or because he is my reason for existing. I care for him because he is a good person, who has taught me many things. My mind may be empty and dark where my past is concerned, but it is filled instead with the light of friendship that Yugi has shown me. And anyone who tries to take that away from me, suffers the consequences."
Dumbledore studied the young man before him again. He saw how deeply the spirit cared for his host, and he was relieved that Malfoy's current status was not a simple act of spite, though of course it did not excuse the Pharaoh's behaviour. He was curious as to how he came to be locked away in the Millennium Puzzle along with the magic of the Shadow Games, but considering how little the spirit seemed to know of his past, it was a mystery that would probably remain unanswered for the time being.
"You realise of course," he said eventually. "That protection or not, I cannot allow you to freely harm the students at this school. As you are charged with protecting Yugi, I am charged with the safety of the children in this establishment."
"I do not seek to cause disruption in your school," Yami said. "I only show concern for my light's wellbeing. But I certainly don't want him to be blamed. Yugi has always hated fighting, and I will not allow him to suffer punishment for my actions."
The headmaster nodded. "I understand that it would be unfair to punish Yugi. You have made it clear that you will not allow any harm to come to him. But in the future I must request that you come to myself or another member of staff before locking my students away. I would also request that you release Draco Malfoy from his punishment."
"I cannot undo Penalty Games once they have been issued," Yami shook his head. "However, I gave Malfoy a chance to escape, if he can discover why he acts that way he does. And the Shadows tell me, that he has a very good chance of escaping. He has already begun his path to redemption."
Dumbledore looked less than pleased about this, but he seemed to accept it.
"I hope you understand the leniency of my actions, and that you heed my warning. If I see you misusing your powers and harm anyone in this building, I will have to take action."
Yami's crimson eyes narrowed at the headmaster, and Dumbledore realised that the spirit was glaring at him in a challenging manner.
"You are wise to fear our magic. Even the bearers fear the power of the Items. But we bear the burden to the end, and the problems it brings because the Items test us, and make us stronger too. What I want to know Professor, is can you bear that responsibility too?"
And without another word he turned and left the office, hands in his pockets, head bowed.
OOO
It was becoming almost a game to Ryou now. He gained points for avoiding Harry, Ron and Hermione, and he lost points every time he was forced to run away from them. The latter tended to happen most mealtimes and mornings when he got up, as he inevitably ended up in the same room as them.
But this time he was restless as he paced the dormitory after dinner. Hagrid's words were sticking in his head, and would not come out. And worse, the simple conversation with the gamekeeper meant he was starting to feel guilty for giving Harry, Ron and Hermione a cold shoulder for the past week. He had no reason to feel guilty! It was they who had done wrong!
He sank back onto the bed, taking great care not to crush the letter he had just finished. He had written once again to Amane, explaining the problem. For some reason, far from making him understand more, the letter had only served to confuse him further, something that had never happened in all the time he had been writing to her.
"What do you think?" he asked, his voice low. There was no one else in the dormitory, so he did not have to worry about being overheard, but it was a habit to keep his voice down anyway. There was a flicker from the Ring, before Bakura fazed out, sitting on the bed next to him. One of his legs was pulled up under his chin, while the other stretched out before him. He was frowning.
"I still don't trust them," he said. "If they looked through your stuff once, what's to stop them from doing it again? And what if next time they take an interest in your deck? Or the Millennium Ring?"
Ryou fingered the Ring absently as his yami spoke.
"I know Hagrid meant well hikari," Bakura said. "But the truth is he doesn't know the full extent of what's going on. Heck it was difficult enough to brush his curiosity away when Change of Heart gave him Bastet."
Ryou nodded. He knew Bakura was right. It was not just the invasion of privacy that he was upset about. It was the idea that Harry, Ron and Hermione would know their secret. The secret that they had been trying to keep for most of the school year. Bakura was disturbed at the idea that Dumbledore may know and he was certainly not happy about Ryou's classmates knowing either. He did not want life to be made difficult for his light. If people knew about the full extent of their powers, they would be tempted to possess it for themselves.
There were footsteps coming from outside the dormitory. Ryou quickly pulled the curtains around his bed, leaving he and Bakura alone behind the fabric. They heard the door open and close. Bakura frowned as he judged the tread of the footsteps and the breathing.
/You'd better fake sleep or something/ he advised. /Its Harry and Ron/
Ryou quickly shoved the letter under his pillow, but before he could flop against the mattress, the curtains were ripped open, and Harry peered down at him. The albino resisted the urge to roll his eyes (that was more his yami's style than his own) and straightened up with a blank expression on his face. He did not make eye contact with Harry.
"Excuse me Harry, I'm tired," he said politely, turning slightly, so that he faced away from the other boy. "Could you leave me be?"
"Don't fib Ryou," came Ron's voice from the other side of the bed. The second set of curtains were pulled back to reveal the redhead. "You're not tired at all."
"I just want to be alone for a bit," Ryou said, fiddling with a hole in his bedspread.
"We just want to say sorry," Harry said instantly, before the boy could scramble away. "We're sorry we went through your letters. We never should have touched them in the first place…"
"Then why did you?" Ryou demanded, his voice hitting the edge of shrill.
"Because we were worried about you," Ron interjected. "Whatever those Millennium Items of yours are, they're dangerous…"
"Don't pretend to understand that which you have no clue!" Ryou's voice took on a deadly edge, and when he glared at Ron, his eyes were blood coloured. Ron took an involuntary step back.
"You're not Ryou!" he said, pointing at the thief. "You're the ghost that's possessing him! You're Bakura!"
"I'm not a ghost you, moron!" Bakura snapped. "I'm a spirit! Big difference! Ghosts haunt buildings and stuff. Spirits are trapped in people or objects."
"Why do you keep possessing Ryou?" Harry demanded, his hand stuffed in his pocket around the handle of his wand. "Why do you take control of our friend?"
Bakura snorted. "You make it sound as if he has no choice in the matter. Do you honestly think Ryou would let me take control if it were against his will? My hikari is not the wimp that everyone seems to think he is."
He could almost feel the joy radiating off Ryou at that last sentence. After all Bakura was not known for issuing compliments often.
"You put Malfoy in a coma!" Harry challenged.
"No that was his Royal Shortness the Pharaoh," Bakura said dryly. "If I had been the one to get to Malfoy he would not be alive any longer! I would have ripped him limb from limb and enjoyed every second of it!"
He looked satisfied at the way Harry and Ron flinched at his harsh words.
"And how many other people in this building would you like to see dead?" Ron asked. "Whoever you are you're not right in the head."
Bakura grit his teeth. "You're not even a tenth of my age boy so I don't expect you to understand. I would relish in sending nosy little children like you two straight to the Shadow Realm without a second thought. But for some reason I cannot seem to fathom, my hikari actually seems to like you pathetic mortals, despite all that you have put him through the last week."
Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances. Ryou still liked them? Then why was he still carrying a grudge?
"We just wanted to know if the Items were dangerous or not," Harry said finally. "I think we have a right to know that."
"You!" Bakura laughed scornfully. "Have a right to knowledge which almost caused the downfall of Egypt? Are you an Item bearer? Have you suffered the trials that the magic of the Shadows brings with it? Have you lost your soul to a Shadow Game? Do you have a link to the past? No! You're just two foolish boys who decided to stick their nose in where it did not belong!"
His eyes zoned in on Harry.
"What puzzles me is how low you would both sink to achieve this information. Weasley I might have expected, but you Potter surprised me. Ryou told me that you lost both your parents. And I've heard rumours of others who have fallen around you. Cedric Diggory. Sirius Black. I would think that you of all people would know how much it hurts to lose someone you care for. But no, you read the letters, and you reminded my hikari of just how much he has lost."
Harry was white by the time he had finished. Hearing it come from Bakura only served to make it ten times more painful.
"And in answer to your question," Bakura continued. "The Items are only as dangerous as their wielder. And I should warn you that we are all very dangerous people when provoked."
"Now if you are both done meddling," the thief swung himself off the bed, and knocked past Ron. "I am leaving. And if either of you so much as breathe near Ryou's belongings again, I will send you to join the Malfoy boy in your own personal hell!"
He made to leave, but Ron clearly did not think that they were done. He seized Bakura's wrist as he passed. There was a blast from the Millennium Ring and Ron wound up sprawled on one of the beds. Harry's eyes widened, and his mind whirled with images. The Ring pointing to the Death Eaters in Hogsmeade…Bakura summoning one of his Duel Monsters to life…he remembered all of it! But why had they forgotten in the first place? It must have been some kind of spell…
He hurried to Ron's side, remembering with dread what he had read in Ryou's letters. Was his best friend now soulless?
"Ron! Get up!"
"Enough Bakura!" Harry jumped at the abrupt change in Bakura's tone. The scarlet coloured eyes were gone, replace instead with tearful brown. He realised that Ryou was back in control.
"What did he do to Ron?" he demanded. "Ryou! What did he do?!"
"He just got blasted," Ryou shook his head. "His soul is not gone."
Sure enough, Ron looked up in a daze. He blinked a few times before his eyes were able to focus, passing over Harry, who was knelt at his side, before fixing on Ryou. He scrambled hastily away.
"It's okay Ron," Harry said, realising his friend had not noticed the change. "It's Ryou this time."
"That guy is insane!" Ron spluttered. "Why do you let him do it Ryou?! He takes control of your body!"
"He's not insane!" Ryou protested. "He's my yami! I won't throw him away!"
"You want to put that in English, for those of us who don't speak Japanese?" Harry asked, helping Ron to sit upright. "What's a yami? I thought Yami was the name of the spirit who possessed Yugi?"
"It means dark," Ryou explained. "We don't know the name of the other Yugi."
"Then how on earth can you trust them?" Ron demanded. "They're dark and clearly dangerous…"
"They're not dangerous!" Ryou said shrilly. "And being dark does not mean that they are evil! Bakura's the other half of my soul. He was sealed into the Millennium Ring. He can't exist without me, and I can't be complete without him…"
He trailed off angrily, realising he had said too much, before climbing back onto his bed and ripping both sets of curtains shut. There was a glow from the Millennium Ring, and a mutter from the bed, which sounded like Bakura.
"Spirit Shield!"
Harry got up off the bed, and studied the silhouette of their friend, as he lay down against the pillows. Cautiously, Harry tried to approach the bed, but he was blocked by a giant invisible barrier. He guessed that this was the 'Spirit Shield' that Bakura had summoned.
"Ryou! We're sorry!"
"I don't think he can hear us," Ron said, still rubbing his forehead. He still looked rather dazed. The silhouette behind the curtain lay there unresponsive, but Harry was sure that he could hear faint sobs, which sounded as though they were muffled by a pillow.
OOO
The web was still growing, filling his ears, nose and mouth, squeezing all his limbs, making him feel claustrophobic.
"Help me! Someone!"
But no one would hear him. No one would save him. He was a Malfoy. He did not need anyone, especially not those of a lesser blood. He was above them, and he deserved respect because of it.
Or at least that was what he had thought…for most of his life anyway.
Then when he had gone to Hogwarts, he realised that not everyone thought that way. It was as if someone was challenging the way he was bought up, everything he had known his whole life. He felt confused and scared. So he had bullied. He had bullied people because it meant attention. It meant that for a second, he could feel as though there were people watching him, perhaps respecting what he did, meaning that he wasn't alone any more.
"Lies," he realised bitterly. "All of it! It only made me more alone in the end!"
And just like that, the web stopped growing. Breathing became a little easier. He felt surprise course through him. What had happened to stop it? Tentatively he tried to move his head. Yes the web did feel slightly looser…was it his revelation he had just had?
The feeling of hopelessness crashed down again. He was still stuck, still afraid…still alone. He was never getting out of there.
"I wish someone could hear me," he prayed. "Anyone…I don't want to be alone any more…"
He did not notice that the web was slowly loosening its hold further. He was too caught up in his own thoughts to care.
"I thought that everyone was beneath me. But they're not beneath me. My family was wrong. They aren't worse than us. I did not understand that. No one understood what I believed…"
The web slithered inch by inch out of his throat and ears. Tears began to flow from his eyes and into the web, wrapped around his head.
"No one cares. I was so horrible to them. And now when I need them no one cares. No one has noticed that I'm trapped here. No one will help me because no one cares about me. I need help…"
The web shrank back in on itself, freeing the ends of his fingers.
"I need someone to understand me…"
His mouth was free, and the last words were spoken in a hoarse whisper.
"I need a friend…"
The Shadows screamed with rage as their victim was released from his bindings, and vanished from their grasp to rejoin the body in the mortal world.
OOO
Bakura paced his soul room restlessly. Something felt off. Something had felt very off for the past week. At first he had been too worried about Bastet and too concerned that his hikari was about to sink into depression to notice. But now that he had time to think, he realised what it was that was throwing him. It was a tiny little shift in the magic at Hogwarts. He had felt it when the Orichalcum had first been bought into the castle at Halloween, while Ryou did the tarot reading. It was like the balance of power had been tipped and he did not know how. And Bakura, the great Thief King of Egypt, did not like not knowing something. It made him feel unprepared and vulnerable.
Ryou had fallen asleep sometime ago, not wanting to leave his bed, for fear of being ambushed by Harry and Ron again. The two had left soon after the argument, presumably to go fill Hermione in. Now they and the rest of the dormitory slept. Bakura fazed out onto the bed, taking care not to wake Ryou.
Ryou's letters caught his attention, now stuffed under his pillow, with the corner of the most recent sticking out just enough to be noticed. Bakura sighed and his eyes flicked over to Ryou, who was frowning in his sleep.
"I really have gone soft," the thief thought to himself, as the overwhelming urge to protect his hikari at his most vulnerable flared up. "Haven't felt like this in a while…not since Egypt at any rate…"
Like a spell, Hagrid's words haunted wandered his mind like a lost soul.
"It's good that it hurts really. Because it means we'll never forget them."
He had forgotten them. He had forgotten everyone in Egypt. His home…his family… Only when his powers had started to grow had he begun to remember. And only when he was locked in the Shadow Realm did some of it become clearer to him. He had forgotten everyone, only remembering his greed and his desire to possess the Items. Why he wanted them, he had forgotten too. But now he remembered…
He gazed at his spectral hands. Long thin fingers, lightning fast and skilled at picking locks, untying knots, or just wielding a knife. His skin was pale like his host's, but after five thousand years trapped in the Ring, it was not surprising that his tan had faded. He traced a finger down his eye, faintly feeling the three scars that had been cut into his flesh all those years ago. When he controlled Ryou's body, he took on most of his hikari's traits, including his physique, and also losing the scars on his face. The only thing he retained in possession was his eye colour. As the window to the soul, they were the one thing that changed with him. In spirit form however, he appeared more as he had been in Egypt.
And then there was Ryou. Long white hair, in the same style as his mother's, always a source of pain for his grieving father. It was no surprise really that the man stayed away. Bakura had seen photographs and he knew that Ryou was very like his mother. The same eyes, the same face structure, the same spirit... his sister Amane had taken more after the father, being outgoing and cheeky at times. Yet rather than repel each other, the two siblings had clicked. Amane had understood Ryou in a way that no one else had. Bakura sighed. He had felt the same way about his own sisters…especially Akila…
He shook his head, berating himself for his little trip down memory lane. Thinking of the past would not sort out this magical disturbance. He knew the disturbance had been felt by the Pharaoh and Malik too, but it felt more pronounced to him the more he thought about it, almost as though it affected him more than anyone. It was almost like dangling something obvious in front of his eyes and yet he could not see it…
He froze, his hand paused over the scar on his eye again, as he realised what it was.
He had not seen the Millennium Eye for over a week.
OOO
Albus Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his long crooked nose, as he paced the room for the fiftieth time that evening. His buckled boots clacked across the stone floor as he walked, and the hand that had reached for his face rejoined the other behind his back. He frowned, his piercing blue eyes watching the floor go past as he thought.
His conversation with the Pharaoh, while reassuring on most levels, had also troubled him too. Though it was certainly a relief to have the full story behind the unique powers of the transfers, at the same time it presented more problems than before. Hogwarts had had talented students; some possessing strange or unique conditions or abilities, but this was by far one of the most complex situations that the headmaster had ever come across.
Dumbledore had seen and heard of cases where people had been possessed by fragments of another's spirit, more often than not malevolent. But he had never been in a situation such as this, where the hosts welcomed and cared for the extra people. Dumbledore had to admire both boys and the patience they must have living with another soul inside their bodies.
One thing Dumbldore knew was that he was usually a good judge of character. His failing was his ability to forgive and trust people too easily. Seeing the good in everyone was not necessarily a good thing. It meant you could be blinded easily.
He knew he detected no malice in either Yugi or Ryou. Yugi's heart was pure and his intentions and friendly nature were sincere. Ryou was very much the same, though the boy seemed to wear an air of sadness, caused by past suffering. But like Yugi he sought only to help others, even if they were perhaps less deserving of it.
Their other halves however were completely different. The Pharaoh seemed sincere, and the fact that he had owned up to punishing Malfoy showed that he did at least have a conscience. But how far would he go the next time Yugi was threatened? Would the same hold true for the spirit that possessed Ryou? Having never met the other spirit, Dumbledore could not be sure, but he remembered that Yami had described him as being protective too.
Dumbledore did not like being unprepared in a situation, especially where people in his care were under threat because of it. For all his knowledge and wisdom, he was powerless against the magic of the Millennium Items and the Shadow Realm. If one of the three transfers decided to abuse their power, he could only count on the other two to stop it.
The headmaster sighed and shook his head, sitting himself behind his desk. For now, he would just have to trust in them both. He had asked them, along with their hosts to protect the school in his absence. He hoped that the Pharaoh at least, would honour that agreement.
As he came to this conclusion, he was startled, as a ripple of magic seemed to echo around the room. Fawkes shrieked in alarm and took flight, as Dumbledore stood up to locate the disturbance. An influx of magic like this could only come from a foreign power source, or from someone breaching the schools defences. He did not have to look far to find the disturbance however.
The floor was rippling like the broken surface of a pond. As he watched, a white knot of cloth appeared from within. The man who emerged from the floor, rose out slowly, his white robes falling around him, his tanned skin creating a stark contrast against the clothing. He wore a turban on his head, and gold earrings hung from his ears. Dumbledore's eyes focused on the objects around his neck and in his arms. Strung from a length of rope was a gold pendant shaped as an Egyptian ankh, and cupped in the palms of both his hands was a set of scales, also gold. Dumbledore swallowed, recognising the pulse of magical energy. It was ancient and dark, and exactly like that of the magic surrounding the transfers.
"May I help you sir?" he asked politely. The stranger opened his eyes and stared at the headmaster. Blue, almost as strong as Dumbledore's own, fixed on him. But unlike the mortal, these eyes were blank and distant.
"I am the guardian of the seven Millennium Items," the man announced. "I've been the keeper of the Egyptian Tombs for five millennia. I am a servant of Anubis."
A/N: Oh look everyone. It's my most hated character. Let's throw things at him! (Chucks rotten tomatoes at Shadi)
Seriously, I despise him…
To all my reviewers – thanks for your patience with this update! If you were wondering, my assignments are all done (throws Debates in Media Studies papers out of the window in joy)! So yeah, it's the summer holidays! Yay! I will hopefully be updating more regularly now in between all my other projects I have over the summer…and y'know going back to work.
I will be flying home on Monday, so my next update will probably be sometime at the end of next week, once I'm settled back in.
Isis: Oooohhhh… Headhunt for Ron and Harry! (Cackles) Where's my pitchfork and torch??
Bakura: (hands her torch and pitchfork) Here ya go.
Isis: Thanks!
Mei: BURN THE WITCH!