I don't own HP or Yu-Gi-Oh! Pay attention to the AN at the bottom for more details.

"Hmm...hmm...well, that should do it."

The blue quill made a 'clink' as it touched the inkpot's side. A sigh escaped the blonde woman's lips as she leaned back, the light of the lamp partially illuminating her face. She huffed a stray lock of hair from her eye, pushing up her glasses as she did so. It seemed like it would be one of those days.

"Hah...copying records like this is so bothersome, my fingers are getting cramped. I should take a break."

There was no reply, but that was expected. Books don't make for great conversationalists.

With a huff, the young woman rose from the chair. Her dainty hands rearranged the papers on her desk into neat piles and rubbed off any stray ink stains with a small towel. She looked at the bookcase in front of her and nodded; nothing was out of place. She slightly adjusted the green-and-black sleeves on her arm and pulled her cloak up from her waist.

She stretched her arms for a bit and grabbed the long staff leaning on the desk, the green spikes on its hook-crest glowing as the wood touched her palm. She walked towards the door and pushed it open, letting the sunlight stream into the house as she took a deep breath. "Oh, I was inside for that long? Good thing I stopped myself!"

The narrow cobblestone street, bereft of any pedestrians, answered with silence.

"I should get something to eat. Maybe one of Yaku's croissants will help" said the woman, rubbing her stomach. She turned left and headed down the street, basking in the silence surrounding her. What a shame it's not usually like this.

'I wonder where is everybody?' she thought, her gaze gliding over the wooden signs and stone walls of the houses. 'Are they all in the Guildhall? At least one of the girls should be here...hmm...I don't recall the Madame assigning us any major projects lately.'

She made a couple more turns and passed by some shops until she stopped in front of a window. Behind it was a case with various sweets and pastries laid out on display. Next to it was a gold-colored door.

'Oooh...these all look so delicious,' she thought. 'Especially that strawberry cake...I must have it!

Nodding, she went and opened the door and a bell rung above her head. The interior of the shop was modest and clean; round tables with chequered cloths were arranged next to the shiny service counter, displaying even more sweets and treats. Most of the tables were surrounded by cushioned chairs, with a few standing next to padded wall seats. Only three customers were present, all clad in robes and sitting at different tables, drinking or munching at their leisure.

The sound of footsteps drew the young woman's attention to the counter, and out of the kitchen doors walked a chubby, apron-clad humanoid with green skin and small horns. He turned to the woman and smiled, revealing a pair of small fangs.

"Hello there Miss Genni!"

"Good afternoon Yaku! How's business?"

The chubby cook chuckled and scratched his head. "Ah, nothing too special, especially on days like this. Just a few folks coming and going for a bite, you know how it is."

"Good thing then that I came today!" she said, smiling. She turned to the display case and pointed to a tiny plate filled with white liquid and a chocolate bird placed in the center. "What is that? I didn't see it last time."

The cook grinned, revealing the tiny fangs in the corners of his mouth. "Ooh, like always Miss Genni, you have excellent taste when it comes to food. That there's a little something I got from the Madolches'' he then bent down and lowered his voice to a whisper. "But don't tell a soul. Otherwise, I might be havin' an overflow of customers, and my boys haven't come back yet!"

Genni giggled. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed" she said, placing a finger on her mouth.

"Much appreciated Miss Genni." Yaku took a step back and raised his head. "So!" he exclaimed "I take it then you wanna try it?"

"Oh yes, please. It must be lovely."

Yaku brought his hands together and rubbed them, his grin now as wide as his face. "Alrighty! One Chickolate Fondue coming right up!"

He walked through the swinging kitchen doors and returned a few minutes later with the dish, only this one had a small strawberry placed on top. He placed it in front of the blonde, who had taken a seat on one of the barstools, along with a teaspoon.

"There you go, Miss Genni! How is it?"

Genni took a small scoop from the dish with the teaspoon and bit down before her eyes widened.

"Ooh, that's amazing Yaku! It's so soft and sweet!" she moaned. 'This is definitely going to be my new favorite.'

"Heh-heh. Glad you approve. I'll make sure to have some always ready, in case you or the other girls come by."

"You're too kind, thank you."

The blonde resumed eating the delicious treat as the cook leaned on the counter and idly polished a teacup. After giving it one last shine, he set it down.

"How's business, if you don't mind me askin'?"

Genni swallowed the last bit of the treat and put down the teaspoon. "Oh, nothing special. Everything's quiet, and Madame Verre seems to be in a peaceful mood. Now that I think about it, this past week was nice and calm."

"Really?" asked Yaku, raising an eyebrow. "No accidents?"

"No, although we almost had one…why does Edel always insist on using dangerous materials for her golems I don't know. Thank the gods we could pull it out in time…" she trailed off, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Hmm. Sounds like a mess. Reminds me of the times my brother and I experimented in the kitchen when we were little goblins" said Yaku as he shook his head with a fond smile. "Oh, the smoke and screams that would follow...but we got better, and now I'm here, serving a delicious chocolate fondue to a pretty lady."

"Easy there, you silvertongue. Your goblin girls might fall for that trick, but I'm not as gullible as them." While her tone was sharp, the effect was ruined by the playful smile on her face.

"Wouldn't dream of it Miss Genni. I wouldn't wanna lose one of my best customers. May I?" he gestured to the now-empty plate, to which the blonde nodded and he removed it from the counter.

"Speaking of kin, how's it going with little Harry?" he asked, placing the plate in a small sink.

Genni's smile grew bigger. "Oh, he's doing great! He and Schmietta are progressing fantastically in their studies, and even the Madame praised them a few days ago! Pittore and her sister are a little behind, but I don't think it'll take long for them to catch up."

"Ha, kind of hard to believe he was nothing more than a babe in your arms a few years ago."

The blonde sighs wistfully. "Yes, sometimes I'm scared by how fast he's growing up. But deep down he's still the same child who clings to me every time he has a bad dream or a lab accident."

Yaku chuckled. "Well, don't you worry. If he keeps it up, he'll go places. By the way, where is he now?"

Genni rubbed her chin. "Hmm, well, if Haine managed to keep those children sitting down today, they should be in the guild's lecture hall, but most likely…" She rose from the stool and placed a few silver coins on the counter. "Thank you for the fondue Yaku. I'll make sure to tell the girls, but I suddenly feel like I need to rush over and make sure everything's still in one place."

"Don't worry about it!" he yelled back as she grabbed her staff and rushed out of the store. "Knowing your group, I'm still shocked that they haven't blown up anything yet!"

The bespectacled young woman rushed back down the streets, retracing her path. After passing by her house and making a couple of turns, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She raised her head and was greeted by the sight of an enormous building, sitting right in the center of the town. Dwarfing most, if not all of the houses surrounding it by several stories, the Witchcrafter's Guildhall was an impressive sight: blue-tiled roofs, walls colored a pale white, with many glass windows ringing the structure. Above the stairs and the smaller roof covering the main entrance was emblazoned the purple symbol of the Witchrafters - a pair of scissors, a sword and a hammer crossed over an inverted heart.

Even after all these years, Genni couldn't stop the surge of warmth and happiness surging through her body. Not that she wanted to.

Exhaling, the witch walked to the entrance and up the stairs before the twin steel doors opened for her. She stepped inside and looked at the main hallway, flanked by doors and stairs going up and down.

"Lady Genni?" She turned to the main staircase where a tall woman stood, wearing a belted black jacket.

"Hello, Haine!"

The tall woman waved back and walked down the stairs, her silver hair gently swaying. "I didn't expect you to finish so early."

Genni shrugged and walked towards the woman. "Neither did I, but I don't think it was that much work."

"Maybe for you it isn't. I try not to scream every time the Madame hands me even half of what she hands you."

The blonde witch giggled. "Well, I certainly don't have your people skills. If it wasn't for you, the whole guild would waste away like leftover slime." Haine's lips twitched briefly.

"Well...I won't deny that dealing with the Madame can be troublesome to say the least."

"Troublesome is an understatement. Honestly, why must our guild leader be such a...a…"

"I believe the term is 'hedonist'." The silver-haired woman remarked.

"...not what I was going to use, but that fits her too well."

"Oh?" asked Haine, raising an eyebrow. "Is the ever-proper Lady Genni thinking of swearing? For shame! What if Harry hears you?"

"Haine!" cried Genni, only to pout as she sees the smirk on her colleague's face.

"Speaking of your son, I presume you are here to see him?" The blonde nodded.

"Very well. Follow me, please." Haine turned and walked towards one of the staircases, with Genni following behind. They both descended the staircase and came to another hallway, albeit this one was smaller. They had only taken a few steps forward when a small *boom* flung open the doors on the far right, allowing smoke to billow out.

The two women looked at each other briefly and dashed towards the room. Genni paused as Haine waved her hand and a gust of wind blew the smoke away. She peered around the doorframe and was greeted by the sight of four children, two dark-haired boys, and two red-haired girls, standing around a cauldron, all of them bearing looks of surprise.

Haine crossed her arms. "It seems like I can't leave you all alone for a moment. Mind telling me just what is going on here?"

The four children flinched at the older woman's tone, and for a few moments, none of them spoke. The first to break the awkward silence was one of the redheads, who wore goggles, a loose white shirt and leather leg-braces.

"L-l-lady Haine!" she quickly gave a bow, trying t hide her blush. "This is not what it looks like, I swear!"

"Oh? Pray tell then, Schmietta, what does this look like?" she gestured to the rest of the room; books lay flat on the floor, shards of glass covered some of the tables and strange puffs of colored smoke flew out of sensitive-looking instruments.

"Um, well, we were all sitting here doing your assignment just like you said when I had this idea to improve the gunpowder on the spell-cannons, and you know I just can't get rid of an idea until I do it, so I started making a new batch with the materials here and-"

"And then you blew up the classroom?" Schmietta winced at her teacher's bluntness. It wasn't that bad! Just a few vials, maybe a table or two, a couple of books...okay, maybe it was a little bad.

The fairhair turned her sharp gaze to the other three. "What about you three? Did you not attempt to stop your classmate from once again doing something monumentally stupid?"

The other redhead and the two boys winced as well. "Uhh…I tried, Lady Haine," said one of the boys, a green-haired one with a red-and-emerald hooded coat. "But she was rushing all over the room and she didn't really hear us…"

"Oh really? Because I recall that you usually can calm Schmietta down Harry. Why didn't you do it now?"

Harry looked down red-faced when the other dark-haired boy intervened. "Well, Harry did stop her my lady, but then she started to explain to us what she had in mind, she even scribbled notes and drawings, and it looked really interesting so-"

"Dhrac!" shot the other redhead, a fierce-looking girl with a brown coat. "We're supposed not get in trouble! What gives?"

"Come on, Hiita!" he shot back. "I remember you saying that we should see what happens, and like always you just wanted to see things go boom!"

"W-well, so what!? You and Harry knew that lesson was boring, I was just trying to make things interesting!"

"Hey!" shot back Harry. "How is this my fault!? And you know that every time we try something like this, everything -"

"AHEM!" the four children snapped their attention to the older witch, who stood cross-armed and tapping her foot on the stone floor. They looked down sheepishly.

Oops.

"I don't care who prevented who. The fact of the matter is you four all screwed up. I'll clean this up for you now, but only because I have some important assignments from the Madame. Tomorrow we will stay until sundown, cleaning up the glass labs and redoing the material you were supposed to do today. Understood?"

"Yes, Lady Haine" mumbled the children. The lady just sighed and rubbed her forehead. Honestly, she couldn't blame her behavior, what with most of the adults around them acting like unprofessional lunatics, but still, they should learn from that, not try and emulate them!

Haine gestured to the door. "Now off you go and remember to pick up your staves on the way."

Genni drew back from the door and leaned on the wall, waiting for the children to exit. The clanking of wood and footsteps was heard and they all walked out the door, each of them holding their staves.

"My my, already causing mischief, Harry?"

The four children sharply turned, and Harry's eyes widened with a smile.

"Mom!" he rushed at the blonde and fiercely hugged her. Genni smiled back and returned the hug, patting his head.

"I didn't know you were coming!" exclaimed Harry, looking up to meet her eyes. "You said you would have a lot of work today!"

"Well, I happened to finish it early, so I thought that I should check on how my precious boy is doing." Snickers came from the other children, making Harry blush and bury his face in his mother's dress. Genni looked up and raised an eyebrow, silencing them with her stare.

"Schimetta, Dhrac, Hiita. As always, it is good to see you again."

The children slightly bowed. "Good to see you too, Lady Genni" said Schmietta. "How are you?"

"Oh, just fine. Why don't we keep talking as we head on outside? The smell from your little experiment doesn't make for a peaceful background."

The four children blushed at the reminder of their mistake but nonetheless followed Genni as they headed up the spiraling staircase.

"Lady Genni" said Schmietta, her ponytail swaying as they climbed up. "I was wondering if you could come to take a look at my new machine. I finished it a couple of days ago and I would like you to give me your opinion."

"Oh, does this machine have anything to do with your little accident today?" asked Genni. The redhead pouted and grumbled again, but Genni just laughed. "Don't worry, of course I'll come and take a look. But shouldn't you ask Edel about this sort of thing? She has more expertise when it comes to magitech."

"Yeah, but Teacher can be a little too...enthusiastic sometimes you know?"

"This coming from you?"

Harry and the other two giggled as Schmietta let out a squawk. "Y-you know what I mean!"

"Heehee, I do. But yes, I'll still give a look-over." She looked down at Harry as they arrived in the main hall. "By the way, is this why you wanted to sleep over at Edel's lately, Harry?"

"Mmm-hmm! It looked really interesting and Schmietta said that if we make it better, the Madame would help us sell it!"

"Hoh? Aiming that high already?"

"Yeah, I wanna be a great sorcerer like you, Mom!"

Genni giggled and ruffled his hair. "Well then, keep up your studies and you're certainly on the right track! Just try and keep accidents like that to a minimum, okay? I know it's unavoidable with this guild, but the less property damage, the better."

Harry looked down and hummed. "Okay."

Genni looked back up and addressed the remaining children. "Hiita, Dhrac, it's always nice to see you attending classes. How is Lady Doriado these days? I haven't seen her in two months."

"Oh, Mistress is always very busy. She says she wants us to master our familiar summoning soon so she can teach us the next step" replied Dhrac. "And other spellcasters always ask her for help, so she doesn't stay for long."

"Ah, I suppose that is the life of one who has mastered elemental magic. Do pass on my regards to her and the others and remember if any of you need help, Harry and I are always available."

Dirac and Hiita smiled. "Thanks, Miss Genni!" said Hiita. "Say, you wanna see something really cool I learned?"

"Will it blow up again?"

Hiita winced as the other children laughed, but quickly straightened herself back up. "No! It's this really cool fire spell! I spent a lot of time practicing it to make it look perfect!"

The other children perked up, curiosity gleaming in their eyes, although she Dhrac had a slightly pained expression.

"Hmm...why not? But let's do it outside so nothing else gets blown up today, okay?"

This time no-one laughed or winced. The group exited the guildhall and stood in the center of the square, with Hiita standing in front of Genni and the children, staff in hand.

"Alrighty then folks! Get ready, 'cause Hiita the Blazing Charmer is about to burn this to your minds!" She twirled the staff and raised it high. A glowing red circle appeared above her as her staff's head was lit aflame.

"Spiritual Fire Art - Sakuhasu!" Five fireballs appeared on the circle and shot up into the air, curving outwards and then inwards before they collided and formed the image of a blooming flower in the sky, wreathed in red.

"Oooh!" exclaimed the children in awe, making the redhead rub her nose and smirk. Genni's eyes widened as she took in the spell. For an apprentice like her, that was indeed remarkable.

"Very impressive, Hitta. Very impressive, and in such short time too. I can see why Lady Doriado took you in."

"Hihi! I know, I'm awesome!"

"But, if you don't mind me asking...what are you doing about the raining fireballs?"

Hiita quirked an eyebrow. "Raining what now?"

Genni pointed upwards and the four looked up at the flower. Sure enough, it was fading bit by bit and fireballs were starting to fall down...right over the neighboring houses.

"Gah! I didn't think it would fade this fast!" cried out the redhead as she clutched her staff. "Uh, ah, don't worry Miss Genni! I'll get rid of them!"

Genni sighed and shook her head as Hiita fumbled about in panic. She then looked down at Scmietta and the two boys. "I think we should help her before something drastic happens, don't you agree?"

The children nodded, Harry and Schmietta bearing grins of anticipation, while Dhrac looked around and muttered something under his breath.

"What was that Dhrac?"

"Nothing, Lady Genni. I just wish Eria or Wynn were here right now. They're better suited for taking care of Hiita's antics."

"Maybe so, but a spellcaster has to be ready for anything, even if he's out of his comfort zone."

Dirac sighed in acceptance and raised his staff, his eyes narrowed as a sphere of shadows coalesced around its head. Schmietta raised her hand and a large key-shaped staff appeared in her palm. Genni looked down at Harry who perked himself up, eager to please his mother. He raised his own staff and black lightning crackled between the prongs on the head.

Genni pushed up her glasses and raised her arm. Time to do this. "Ok, ready?"

"Ready!"

"Aim…" She brought down her arm and cried: "Fire!"

A series of booms and bangs echoed throughout the square as bolts of heat, lightning, and shadow crackled through the air. A few missed, but the rest all hit the falling fireballs, detonating them or snuffing them out. Harry's lightning bolt not only hit one fireball but managed to jump onto two more before fading away.

The children then all looked at the burning flower in the sky and their eyes narrowed. They raised their staves, and wisps of multicolored mist gathered around them.

"Okay guys, when I say go, hit it as hard as you can," said Harry. "Ready?"

"Yeah! Let's do this!" replied Schmietta.

Dhrac grinned this time, his teeth bared like fangs. "This is so much fun."

"Alright...NOW!"

"Grand Hinotama!"

"Spiritual Dark Art - Kagekyu!"

"Thunder Break - Tarantus!"

The three elemental attacks shot upwards with a howl. They flew closer and closer to their target...and collided in a blaze of black fire, the shockwave blowing out the flower and fireballs.

"YAHOO!" The three children threw their hands up and cheered, while Hiita just gaped at the spectacle done to her creation. As the three did a little victory dance, Genni smiled at her son. She never expected to become a mother, but she did, and she couldn't have raised a better son. Loyal to his friends, smart, driven (although he had a knack for the destructive, something that was unfortunately unavoidable in their line of work). But most importantly, he was hers.

'You'll become a great sorcerer one day, my Harry. I can feel it. The world is wide and dangerous, full of magic that can either create or destroy, but something tells me you'll make it. And as your mother, I hope to be there when you do.'

"AAH! WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?"

The group turned to the guildhall and saw Haine standing on the stairs, clutching her head with a gaping look and pointing to the sky. The group looked up and dismay crawled up their skin. Yes, they put out the floating blaze…

...but some of the embers fell onto roofs, making them catch fire. And it was spreading.

"I LEAVE YOU ALONE WITH AN ADULT FOR FIVE MINUTES AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS!?" screamed Haine. Her eyes narrowed and she summoned her staff, the twin orbs crackling violently with green energy.

"...uh, we should run. I don't wanna clean up labs."

"Y-yeah, we should. Good thinking Harry."

…

…

…

"AAAHHH!" The four children began yelling in terror as the silver-haired witch started to chase them, hurling green bolts of magic at them that left craters in their wake.

Genni sweatdropped.

'...though you still have a long way to go, Harry. A long, LONG way to go.'

Hi! To all new readers, welcome! And to all the old ones, glad to see you!

Now, Yu-Gi-Oh! has been a favorite of mine, both the game and anime, ever since I was a kid. What is interesting about this card is that like Magic the Gathering, some card archetypes and series have a storyline written about them (more commonly known as card LORE). The most well-known ones are the Duel Terminal storylines, with all their impressive Synchros, but I haven't seen any piece of fanfiction about them, which is a damn shame considering they have so much potential, for an anime or a video game. So I thought; why not try and make one of those storylines into a fanfic? Problem is, some of these storylines are...convoluted to say the least. So I took one of the simpler ones: The Endymion/Witchcrafter/Spellbook (or Magistus) storyline and added a few elements from other storylines, like the Charmers. Why a crossover? Because I'm more comfortable with it, and Harry-raised-differently is one of my favorite fandom-plots, hands down.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: In this story, the game of Duel Monsters doesn't exist! This isn't the Duel Monster Spirit World, but a completely different world - just think of the "Spellcaster World" as a completely separate realm, with all the cards being just references, like M:tG!

Mostly everything here is a reference to cards in the game, barring a few things I made up. If this story gains any following, I'll put it higher on my update list.

I know Dhrac is Dharc, I just like it better this way because it sounds less stupid.

Quick shout-out to Dalthale1642 and DWAR for helping me with this. Go read the latter's stories, they're really good - I'm the editor of one!

If you like this story, check out my other stories or the challenges on my profile!

Good day, stay safe in these troubled times, and most importantly...

READ AND REVIEW!

REVIEW!

REVIEW!