Harry Potter Yu-Gi-Oh crossover – Disclaimer: I own neither
/Ryou and Bakura mind link/
Koe – Voice (What Ryou calls the spirit of the ring)
Yadonushi – Landlord (What the spirit calls Ryou)
0
It hurt.
It radiated from his chest throughout his body, stabbing at his skin from within and wrapping around his head until his brain was throbbing. He gasped as his body convulsed, but then there was a kiss of cold air to bring relief to his sweating form. Whatever had passed through him was done, its horrible bite but temporary.
Brown eyes opened to the faded white walls of a room. The door was open, hanging ajar on splintered hinges and there was a slight burning smell lingering in the air. Ryou stood up, his legs feeling like jelly and causing him to stumble before he made it to the door, but make it he did. The boy peered out, his eyes falling on the black hallway that linked his soul room with the spirit residing in the Millennium Ring. Ryou looked forward, white light calling to him. He knew if he headed towards it, he'd leave the confines of his mind and be in the real world, either in control of his body or taking the back seat, but awake and aware.
But then something made him turn his head to look backward, towards the darkness. Never had he gone down the hallway, where the spirit's room resided. Never had he ever in his life contemplated going there. He had looked down the hall maybe one time in the past just to catch a glimpse of the other door after Yugi explained about the corridor of souls linking them to their other selves, but the shadows that leaked from beneath the door frame he saw made him look forward and never turn around again. Until now.
Next he did something he never thought he'd do and started down towards the darkness instead of towards the light.
The ring around his neck clinked gently as he made his way towards the cracked stone door. There weren't shadows leaking out of it this time, but that didn't make it any less intimidating. It was an ancient barrier of rough sandstone, engravings unpolished and so worn out it was near impossible to tell what they once showed, though the eye of Horas was still prominent in the middle of the top half of the stone block. Ryou saw neither handle nor knob to open his way to the room. Perhaps it was a sign that this was too dangerous and he should turn back now, but he couldn't. He had a fear inside him from that pain, trying to remember what caused it for it had not been Koe, and that fear drove him to want to see the spirit of the ring for reasons his mind could not comprehend. Fear for the spirit's wellbeing, oh how the pharaoh would scold him. He could picture the great spirit of the puzzle smiling at him, saying he was too kindhearted for his own good and that the thief did not deserve his worry, but that felt wrong. Yugi would agree with Ryou's point too, he was almost sure, unable to leave the thief to suffer even if Ryou hadn't been tied to him.
What was he thinking? Ryou didn't even know if the thief WAS suffering. But that was why he had to check, and so he leaned against the door with intent to try to listen through it. To his surprise, the door gave away and slowly edged open, silent but for the softest scrape of stone against stone as Ryou guided it across the floor. The room was poorly lit and it took his eyes a moment to adjust, but what he saw made him stare in awe. He should not have been surprised to see a thief's room would contain mounds of treasure. Precious gemstones, gold coins, elegant statues and statuettes, finely molded dishes and cups, beautifully dyed silks and rich velvets, and a carpet of blood red. The carpet was the only thing off, the fabric not looking as luxurious. It was well worn and sand blasted and…not a carpet at all. Ryou gasped, realizing it was the spirit, a great red cloak covering the face down form. He hesitated at the door, taking a half step closer, retreating, then finally heading in and kneeling down beside the fallen thief.
"…Koe," he whispered, reaching out and giving the spirit a careful tap. No response. "Koe?" he asked with more strength in his voice. Carefully he rolled the body over. Relief spread through him when a tiny groan echoed through the silent room. He was alive. No, alive wasn't the right word, since the thief had died some three thousand years ago, but Ryou couldn't be bothered to try to think of an appropriate word for the situation.
He was pulled from his thoughts by a coldness curling about him. Before he had welcomed the cold, but this time it made him shiver and trickled within him a sense of dread. His eyes blinked upwards and he gasped yet again, body tensing to the point his muscles ached. How had he not noticed it before? Blinded by the piles of gold and beauty of ancient weaves, he missed a monstrous black door that was set inside one of the walls, the stone around it cracked as if the door had been forced there. Chains barred it closed, heavy and obsidian with no obvious way to undue and remove them. The door was leaking frigid air from its cracks, dark tendrils snaking their way from beneath the black slab and groping the floor like a desperate man trying to claw his way out from a pit. One of the shadows stretched to wrap around the thief's ankle, which caused Ryou to immediately grab the downed spirit and drag him away from that dark existence until it retreated back beneath the ominous doorway. Whatever it was that was behind that door was evil. Ryou was certain.
For a moment, Ryou just sat there, eyes flickering down from the door to watch the thief's shallow breathing as he supported the spirit's head on his lap. He wasn't really sure what to do now that he was here. Then the spirit's eyes started to open. A pained haziness filled them as he stared up at Ryou, but a few blinks later and sharp clarity lit within those brown irises.
The thief jerked up in a sitting position while simultaneously shoving Ryou away from him, causing his yadonushi to fall into a pile of gold and sending coins cascading around them. The spirit's breaths were ragged and his chest felt like it was burning where the ring glittered atop it. The millennium item pulsed for a moment before the eye engraved in the center started to cry green tears. Both Ryou and the spirit watched as the substance dripped onto the floor, hissing and simmering like acid. The pain eased once the ring stopped leaking whatever it was that had singed the ground, his headache dissolving and his thoughts clearing. His gaze went to Ryou as his host unburied himself from the stray treasure that had fallen around him. Their eyes met and they stared at each other, trying to figure each other out. What was his host doing here? A question they were both asking themselves. The thief was sure his host would love it if the ring held no spirit at all. The concern he saw in his Yadonushi's eyes was either an illusion from the poor lighting of his candle lit soul room, or it was an after effect of whatever spell had knocked him out within the millennium ring.
"This is not your place, Yadonushi," the spirit found his words at last, standing up. Ryou blinked and stared at the owner of the voice he had heard in his head for so many years. He seemed taller than Ryou, but that was only because he stood straight instead of slouching. Otherwise they looked to be physically identical.
"I know…but I thought I should make sure that after what happened…" What had happened again? Think, Ryou, think. He woke up beneath Orthos, there was a fight going on, Orthos got hurt... "Ah! We were hit by a spell! It hit the ring, the one that kills people. We're dead!" he cried out, realizing at last why he had felt like something was wrong. Why he had to check on the spirit of the ring. The spell had collided directly with the millennium ring, which meant it had collided with the soul that the item held within.
"Yadonushi, calm yourself. You are not dead," the spirit growled, though this news of being struck by the death curse was not something he liked. No wonder he was in such pain. Few things could attack a soul while it was hidden away within a magical item, yet that spell had reached him and tried to tear him to shreds. It had failed, but only just so. His eyes flickered to the burn on the ground where the ring had leaked that green acid. The millennium ring didn't just save his host's life….it had saved his own soul as well.
But how?
0
Sirius pushed himself to his paws when the boy fell down before him, forcing himself to limp closer. The boy died for a dog…what type of foolishness….
The animagus stared at the fallen form, shocked by the selflessness displayed. His ears swiveled upwards as the silence was broken by a howl of pure ire, his dearest deadly family member cursing the death eater who had shot the child down. Bellatrix probably only didn't strike the cowering death eater down where he stood so that their master could do it instead. After all, he'd want answers when they reported this turn of events, and she probably didn't want to be the one to give them.
With no more reason to stay and fight, the death eaters fled.
"Oh no…is he?" Tonks was rushing over once the threats were gone, her face pale and her once bright blue hair a muted navy. The dog's whimper of a reply made her frown, going to her knees beside the child collapsed in the street.
"Such a brave little thing…and we failed him," sighed an older wizard. Remus Lupin had a gash on his arm but was otherwise unhurt. He was looking sadly down at the form. "Come on. We can't stay out here," he said as he bent down to scoop the body up, cradling the small frame in his arms.
"Wait…." Tonks jerked her hand out to stop Remus mid lift, her eyes staring at the boy's chest. Sirius leaned close too, ears perked. "Is he….breathing?" She asked, and Remus quickly dropped the child's legs in order to press his fingers against his neck. Dear god, a pulse. It was weakening even as he held his fingers to it, but it was there. A delayed death? Or a chance to save him?
The three members of the Order hurried the boy into number 12.
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Sirius sat by the couch, staring at the pale child laying on the musty old cushions. He looked sickly, clammy, and if not for the faintest rise and fall of his chest, he'd look dead.
Lupin had carried him in from the streets and rested him on the couch while Tonks had gone to inform Dumbledore what had happened. Sirius tried to rest his hand on the child's chest, only to pull back instantly with a hiss. Even as the two wizards stared, the boy's shirt seemed to be eaten away as if burned by an unseen flame right where he had been struck by the curse. The hole that formed was no bigger than a man's palm but it was enough to showcase a brilliant golden eye that Sirius had come to recognize as the boy's pendant. But never had it glowed such an eerie green before.
That had been two days ago. Sirius was left alone to care for the unresponsive child since then, though there wasn't much to do but watch. The glow of the ring had faded from green to gold after the first day, and then stopped glowing altogether an hour afterward. Sirius had been hopeful then, but there had been no change. Twice he had tried to remove the ring while it was glowing, and twice his fingers burned at the attempts, blisters forming where they touched the metal. He didn't try again afterward. Besides, it seemed obvious to him that the only reason the boy was breathing at all had something to do with that charm he wore. Perhaps removing it would do more harm than good.
He was in his dining room eating lunch when his house elf came skulking in, tasked with informing Sirius of any change. The house elf hadn't taken well to the order, clear distaste about having to watch a muggle, but he could not refuse a demand from Sirius. And so he appeared, disrupting his master's meal with a slow slur of words, drawing out the message that the boy was now awake. Just like that, Sirius was up and headed to the couch.
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Ryou Bakura groaned as he sat up, his chest burning and his mind hazy. There was pressure in the back of his mind as the spirit of the ring awoke as well. He blinked his eyes, the room dark for a moment, too dark to make anything out, but once the spirit was awake and watching through Ryou's eyes, the room became more clear. Dark woods, musty clothes, a creepy umbrella stand, and the smell of mold and dust. Wherever they were, it was well lived in, but looked abandoned at the same time. But the fact that they were inside a house rather than on the street, dying, was what confused Ryou the most.
"Where…where are we?" he asked quietly to himself.
/Within the fold of the shadows, Yadonushi/ replied the spirit. His words made no sense to Ryou. This thought resulted in a prickle of annoyance to resonate from the spirit, but the thief did not explain further. Of course not, it was a small miracle he replied to Ryou at all.
"Ryou? Ryou Bakura?"
The sound of his name made him tense and turn, getting dizzy at the sudden movement since his body hadn't eaten or drank anything in two days.
"Don't worry, lad. I'm Harry Potter's Godfather," the stranger said, holding up his hands to show he meant no harm. This man looked worn out, dirty, mangy and for some reason the word familiar seemed to apply too, but no, the true shock was that name. Ryou just stared. Had he said Harry's name?
"Were you the one…that saved me?" Ryou asked, though that didn't feel right. He couldn't shake the feeling that the reason he was alive right now was because of the ring, not this man, but that didn't make any sense. Yet the man shook his head and pointed to the boy's torso. Ryou looked down and his chest tightened. Shiny gold was clear as day through his burned shirt. Immediately he covered himself, feeling exposed for some reason.
"Don't worry, Ryou. I won't take your ring. You have no need to hide it from me," the man assured, but as Ryou didn't seem to be comforted by his words, he sighed. "You know, James really was right. It seems I'm much better at this as a dog, but I still can't take the fleas, so you'll have to excuse me if I stay in this form while I watch over you from now on," he said, crouching down so he was eye level with Ryou and holding out a familiar looking wrapped cake. Puzzle pieces aligned as Ryou looked at the cake, followed by his gaze snapping up to the man's face. He stared at his eyes and knew then. Eyes he had grown very familiar with.
"Orthos?"
The man finally smiled. It suited him, making his worn out face look years younger. "I'll admit, I've never been called a puppy before, especially by a stranger that finds me in the street," he noted, causing Ryou to flush in embarrassment. Had he known the dog wasn't actually a dog…but still, knowing that this man was Orthos made him far more relaxed.
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Sirius chuckled at the boy's reaction. He was personally surprised at how easily he accepted that Sirius could change into a dog. He didn't even need a demonstration. His godson had been right about this one – he was a smart lad and a good boy.
The two got to talking, with Sirius explaining what happened and where Ryou was now. It was only then that Ryou understood what the spirit had meant earlier. He had said there was a fold in the shadows before, at the Leaky Cauldron. A place that was hidden from plain view. Now he was in the very place the spirit had said he was stupid for not seeing before. He didn't get why the spirit couldn't have just spit it out that this house was there since it was clear he knew.
/The magic prevented it, Yadonushi. You had to figure it out on your own/
Neither the spirit nor Ryou had any way of knowing that a secret keeper could have divulged this secret, or that it should have been impossible to get in even if they did figure it out on their own. They knew too little of this magic to understand how the shadows were twisting it, letting them break the rules.
Time seemed to creep by, Ryou unable to really stray anywhere other than the downstairs bathroom. He wanted to explore the strange house, hearing one too many curious noises echoing down the stairs and creaking through the ceiling. That he was stuck on the couch with just a view of one room was making him stir crazy. He had insisted he was fine, even if his legs felt like jello when he walked on them and despite that there had been a throbbing in his chest. The throbbing lessened with every passing hour, and a meal given to him by a queer little creature Harry's godfather had called a house elf named, ironically, Kreacher, had helped him get his strength back. Still, he was told to stay put and rest, so stay put he did. The spirit didn't protest, surprisingly enough. Instead he seemed to just be sleeping in the back of Ryou's mind, as if he had to recover from the effects of being hit by the death spell too.
Ryou received a few callers now that he was awake. The first after Sirius was a girl with hot pink hair. She looked familiar, though Ryou couldn't put his finger on it. It was only after the spirit told him to imagine her with blue hair and a different color to her eyes that Ryou realized it was the witch from the street. Tonks, she named herself. She was full of questions, as was Ryou, but she held no answers for him and her own questions were more of the 'favorite color, favorite season' variety. She seemed friendly enough, but the only magical thing Ryou could get her to talk about where her school days at Hogwarts as a Hufflepuff. Then after only an hour, she was off, tripping over her own two feet before disappearing with a crack.
His second caller held far more answers.
When the wizard appeared in the doorway, he stared at the boy. The boy, in turn, blinked owlishly towards him after only a few seconds as if he knew he was being watched. After another drawn out minute, the boy fidgeting awkwardly the entire time after their initial eye contact, Lupin headed over and sat down.
"My colleague tells me you have questions. But I'm afraid the answer is as much a mystery to us as it is to you," the man began, "Sirius says you call yourself Ryou. You can call me Remus Lupin, and I'd like to know more about that ring you have." Perhaps he should have been more tactful, for the mention of the golden ring hanging from the boy's neck made him pull up his thin, ratty blanket to hide it from sight. He looked wary. Nervous. As if Remus would try to take it away.
"Why do you want to know about my ring?" he asked, voice carefully guarded.
"We believe it's the reason you survived. You won't know this since you were asleep, but it glowed after it was struck, Ryou. It glowed a green as acidic as the spell that nearly killed you."
It had glowed green? Like the acid it had leaked in the spirit's soul room….Was that the spell then? Had the ring somehow collected the magic and….cried it out?
Ryou furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Please, Ryou. Tell me what you know about your charm. You're from the muggle world, aren't you? But the artifact you carry with you was strong enough to repel one of the most dangerous curses this world has ever seen," Remus said gravely. Sure, it had only barely repelled it judging from the child's condition when they brought him in, but it had indeed repelled it.
"I don't honestly know much," Ryou admitted, turning his honest brown eyes up to Remus, "I just know it's from Egypt, from 3000 years ago. I don't know how it was created, and I don't know why. I don't know why it saved me, nor how," he said, his voice soft and gentle, like the petal of a flower. Remus was disappointed, yet at the same time curious as he glanced at where the ring was hidden. Ryou tugged his blanket closer.
"Anou….can you tell me…I saw that man. The one that people don't talk about. He…died….didn't he?" Ryou asked. He had heard Harry's story now, but there was one thing he just didn't understand. Voldemort had died, but it was Voldemort they were all fighting. He had seen the man…so he couldn't have been something like the spirit of the ring. Not a vengeful spirit clinging to life by using a host….right? When Remus nodded but said nothing, Ryou had to press for more information.
"Then how is he here now? With…a body and a life?"
More than just Ryou was listening for an answer now, and as the silence dragged on, the boy and the spirit thought they wouldn't get any form of reply. But then at last, Remus spoke.
"Voldemort used a very dark magic, Ryou. A magic that ripped his soul apart and hid it within various items. He won't ever truly die until all of the parts of his soul are destroyed as well," explained the man. Ryou was staring at him blankly and Remus could see he was figuring something out, but he couldn't fathom what it was. Then the boy pointedly looked away to avoid eye contact, a tight frown appearing on his face.
"What if it was more than just one soul? What if it was, say….100 souls," asked the boy, his tone even more guarded than before. The idea threw Remus off, the man blinking in surprise at the question. Oh he had expected questions to be sure, but not of this variety.
"100? The amount of dark magic it would take to create a horcrux that horrifying…it shouldn't even be possible to forge. The item would be destroyed in the process. Mundane items, no, even those of the magical variety, simply weren't made to hold the energy of a person's soul. Just one is straining enough. If by chance even just two people formed a horcrux with the same item, surely the dark magic required would overflow and the souls destroy themselves along with the item that contained them."
"But what if," the boy pressed. His tone was so serious, his expression needing to know. When his eyes locked onto Remus, he felt compelled to answer, to try to offer a piece of the puzzle that this young man was clearly trying to figure out.
"….if, theoretically, a horcrux had more than just one fragmented soul within, it would need a power equal to that of its creation to destroy it. So a horcrux made up of 100 souls would only be destroyed by something so dark, so evil, that it could kill 100 people at once. Perhaps Fiend Fire," he thought, but frowned at the idea of such a terribly uncontrollable force…as well as such a terribly unsettling idea as a horcrux with 100 different souls within it. His eyes flickered to the boy's hand as it lightly pressed against the item hidden against his chest. Then he was suddenly turning away from Lupin, eyes and body facing the couch.
"I'm tired. It's been….a long day," the boy said, to which Remus Lupin frowned. He didn't much care for such a dismissal, but there was no point in pressing the child further. Besides… he had to go talk to a certain mutt of a man about the child in his care.
0
The spirit of the ring sat staring at the fabric of the sofa. Though he didn't move, his mind was racing. So that spell could destroy 1 soul at a time, but apparently not 100. Perhaps the reason he survived was because the souls of Kul Elna shared the load rather than have all of that dark energy focused on one soul alone. He could tell from the pain he had endured that had his soul been forced to face off against such magic by itself, he wouldn't still be here now. The thief king had to wonder had the pharaoh been hit by this curse if he'd have been destroyed. The souls that had been used to forge the millennium items were eager to protect the thief when his soul was in peril, but he couldn't say the same would happen for the pharaoh. He was one of them after all, one of the many lives that had been uprooted in the massacre of Kul Elna. As the only survivor of the accursed ritual, it was his duty to bring about justice for his slaughtered people. They knew that well, and they would help him even if it took another three thousand years to achieve their revenge.
The spirit of the ring pulled back his consciousness from the shared body, letting his host take over. He stood in the corridor of souls, staring at the light. Then he turned and started heading to the darkness, pausing a moment at the battered white door that led to his Yadonushi's soul room. The door was soft white and worn out, not unlike his own worn door. But being worn was the only similarity. His yadonushi's door wasn't the type of shining white that reflected the light and blinded you when you saw it, but a gentle and warm white like a wispy cloud on a summer day. It looked just as fragile too. The thief brushed his fingers against the smooth wood and smirked. Even a wisp of a cloud could cast a shadow and block out the sun. Together they would definitely be able to defeat Ra's chosen. The pharaoh wouldn't stand a chance.
The spirit's smile faded as he pulled his hand back and walked down into the darkness, fingers briefly flickering over the sturdy stone of his own door, as solid as ever. As was his resolve. Yes, he had his mission and he would use everything at his disposal to succeed. Even the light. He didn't need some pathetic wraith of a half-life creature to help him. He also knew better than to trust the words of the one they called Voldemort. He knew the type. Take what you want and give nothing back. Just like the pharaoh's father and all his toy soldiers. But the spirit was a king. A king of thieves, but still a king. He would not be used as a mere pawn. No, he was the one that used pawns. He was the one that would bend others to do his will, or he would achieve his goal alone.
The spirit glanced at the spot where he had fallen and his host had found him. He took a seat and leaned against a pile of gold coins pockmarked with the occasional gemstone. A serpent wound its way up his leg and across his lap, causing the thief king to glance down at the scaled beast. Ah, right. He wouldn't do this truly alone, now would he?
"Aart hedj," he spoke, voice near a whisper, but despite the softness of the sound, the serpent looked up at him with red eyes glinting the color of bloodied rubies. The thief reached out to touch the white creature, its glistening scales the color of bone with only two markings on its entire body – directly below the eyes, teardrops as black as ash. The reptile's neck flattened, a hood fanning out as it hissed away the touch. That made the spirit chuckle. "Surely my Yadonushi would not have stepped foot in this room, had he known that the dangers of Egypt are a part of my very soul," he mused, watching as the snake slithered away into the treasures of the room.
The memory of his modern doppelganger standing in his ancient room still seemed so strange when he thought back on it. Perhaps his Yadonushi could grow to be more than a pawn in his plans. Rather than a throwaway piece, Ryou, with grooming, would be his knight in his battle against the Pharaoh. Until the day of that battle, he would protect the ring bearer from any enemies. The thief glanced at where the aart hedj had disappeared to. Yes, he'd protect Ryou. Even if that enemy was a dark magician with the eyes of a snake.
0
A wizened old wizard sat leaning back in his chair, thinking about the report he had recently received from the Order of the Phoenix. It was both a relief and a worry when he heard of the survival of one Ryou Bakura. On one hand an innocent life had escaped the clutches of an evil man, but on the other, his survival also meant the survival of a mysterious power that Voldemort craved. As painful and cruel as it seemed, it might have been better if Bakura had died and his shadow powers along with him.
"And you are sure, Severus…that he is no longer being hunted?" Dumbledore asked, his clear eyes glancing over his half-moon spectacles. The dark clad wizard across the room gave a nod.
"He thinks the boy dead. Had you seen what he did to the man who cast the curse, you would have no doubts of the Dark Lord's beliefs," Severus replied, curling his robes around himself. There was something that didn't line up to the potions master though. "You trust your…dogs," he sneered at the thought of Black and Lupin, "and truly believe Ryou bakura is in possession of a Horcrux? Even if his charm was such a thing, surely he was not the one who made it, and surely it should have been destroyed by the curse." If the charm was destroyed because it was a horcrux instead of the boy, it would make sense that the boy survived, but from what he understood, both boy and necklace were relatively unharmed. It didn't make any sense.
"Yes, had his ring been a horcrux, it would indeed be destroyed…but Severus, you are forgetting that Mr. Bakura is not your average wizard. That his pendant is most likely one of shadows, not of darkness."
"….I fail to see the difference," drawled the hook nosed wizard with a frown.
Dumbledore folded his hands together, a twinkle in his eye. "A horcrux is, shall we say, a bastard version of a more ancient magic. I think you will find the 74th special edition of the Quibbler to be very enlightening," he replied. Severus rolled his eyes.
"Spare me the nonsense. What truths could be find in such a ludicrous tabloid?" he frowned, but Dumbledore continued to smile.
"It is believed that the concept of the horcrux that we know today was based on magics of ancient civilizations. To be based on something of the past means that the past must have produced something worth basing something off of," he said, ever so mysteriously. Sometimes Severus really disliked the way Dumbledore danced around a subject. His response was to just stare at the elder wizard in sullen silence until he explained.
"In short, Severus, a horcrux is an incomplete magic. What Ryou Bakura holds may be one of the original creations the horcrux was designed to mimic. A true, completed version, created three thousand years ago, when the legends of shadow magic were most rampant, and whose recipe has long since been lost."
Severus Snape frowned at the old professor, taking this in. It wasn't set in stone, he knew, and the professor was just theorizing….but Dumbledore was more often right than he was wrong.
"So the reason the boy survived then…?" Severus felt like he was pulling teeth, but here was where it became all theory. Here was where things fell into the unknown. Shadow magic was for the Unspeakables to debate about in the Department of Mysteries.
"Perhaps, if a horcrux can only be destroyed by magic as dark as was used to create it…then the Millennium Ring can only be destroyed by shadow magic."
Millennium Ring? Severus blinked at the term. Dumbledore seemed to almost read his thoughts.
"Ah, along with the 74th special edition Quibbler, you should pick up 'Ancient Egypt According To Muggles'. Quite a good read. I believe we have a few copies for our Muggle Studies class in the library," smiled the man.
Severus nearly rolled his eyes, instead just muttering, "I'm sure." But still a question burned in the potions professor. "Assuming shadow magic is, in fact, real, then how is exactly is it different from standard dark magic?" he asked.
"I'm afraid if I knew what made shadow magic what it was, it wouldn't be the mystery that it is."
Severus stared a moment longer at Albus Dumbledore before promptly turning around and walking out of the room.
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HB Kit: 'aart hedj' means 'white serpent'.
The reason this update wasn't posted a couple months ago is because I've been reading lots of Danny Phantom fanfiction instead of working on LSM. Oh DP, how I miss thee. I still need to figure out the middle and end of my DP crossover...because Ryou needs to go to the most haunted city in the world. It's a necessity.
