Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Toei Animation Ltd. And the world of wizards and muggles to J.K. Rowling.

Izzy Izumi & The Hall of Shadows

Chapter 1: The Letter

"How many copies of Diaboromon are there now?" asked Matt.

Izzy realised that it was his job to answer those sorts of questions. "To be honest, I don't know," he admitted. "I stopped keeping track a while ago. It's got to be well over a million." He watched the millions of copies of Diaboromon crawling over the surface of Internet.

Suddenly they all stopped moving and started to fire on WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.

As the two Mega digimon dodged Izzy breathed a silent prayer of thanks that Tentomon and Patamon had shown the good sense to drop back and return home. That was until he heard T.K. gasp. "WarGreymon is starting to slow down again!"

Izzy turned to his laptop. "It's the emails, they're coming in faster than ever! They're slowing down the processing speed even more."

"They're sitting ducks out there!" called Tai.

Izzy opened a new message and started to type. "Please guys, stop writing! I know you're intentions are good, but you're really hurting our cause. Your emails putting our digimon in danger." He copied the text from window to window, each one a reply to one of the thousands of emails clogging up his connection.

"More juice Izzy? I just squeezed some onions."

Izzy didn't even turn to face Tai's mother, he just kept on franticly typing trying to stay ahead of the flood. "No thanks. I'm trying to reroute incoming data from the remote server into local memory."

"Oh, that's okay. I'll just leave you two alone." Izzy heard the door click shut, and then open again. "Wait a minute! Where did Tai go?"

"Um…" Izzy panicked and looked around the room. Tai had indeed disappeared. "He just needed to get some fresh air?" he ventured.

"Oh," said Mrs. Kamiya. "I didn't hear him leave." She left again.

Izzy counted to three, and then lunged for the monitor on the floor. On it he could see a glowing white egg starting to die away. He could see something emerging with a distinctive golden shine. "Part WarGreymon…"

"Part MetalGarurumon…" came T.K's voice from across the country.

Izzy could now see that the digimon was some sort of hybrid of both Matt and Tai's digimon. "They digivolved together to become…"

"OMNIMON!" called out the new digimon, lowering his arms. Izzy was relieved to see his friends Matt and Tai perched on the new digimon's shoulders. That relief faded a moment later as the Diaboromons started to fire again.

"Transcendent Sword!" called out Omnimon, causing a long blade to appear from what was once WarGreymon's head.

Izzy saw the blasts getting closer. "Hurry!"

Omnimon swung the sword round, deflecting the blasts back at the Diaboromons, wiping them out.

Izzy watched his read out as the copies of Diaboromon were destroyed by the handful until there was only one left. "Tai, there's the original! Get him, we're running out of time!"

Tai nodded. "Omnimon, quick! Attack!"

Diaboromon started to move around, trying to avoid Omnimon's aim.

Tai's eyes darted around. "Where is he?" He rocked as Omnimon changed position, trying to sight on the evil digimon. "One minute to go!" He and Matt started to crane their necks, looking for Diaboromon. "He keeps moving! Every time we get him in our sights he jumps somewhere else! He's too fast for us!"

Izzy frowned in concentration. We have the power to destroy him now, but we don't have the time. Willis was right, we have to find some way to slow down Diaboromon. His gaze drifted around the room. His laptop was still registering new mail. Great. We're still being slowed down by email. He paused. "The emails!" He bent over the keyboard and started to type franticly. "If I forward him all the email, it'll slow him down just like it did us! Keep sending them kids!" He finished entering Diaboromon's address in the To: field. "You got mail!" He jabbed his finger down on the return key and his laptop started to send out its own flood of email. He turned to watch the screen and saw Omnimon finally see Diaboromon stop moving.

"Ten seconds left!" called out Tai. "Nine!"

Omnimon lunged forwards.

"Eight! Seven! Six!"

Izzy shut his eyes and prayed.

"Five! Four!"

Diaboromon swung round to aim at Omnimon.

"Three!"

Matt yelled inarticulately.

"Two!"

Diaboromon started to fire.

"ONE!"

Omnimon's blade struck true, right through the centre of Diaboromon's head. The digimon dissolved with a sigh.

Izzy ran outside and searched for the missile. He saw a huge cloud of steam rising from the bay. "We did it!" He flopped over the railing to Tai's balcony and started to hyperventilate. "I'm… about… to barf…"

"Wait till you try the cake."

Izzy moved his head slightly to see Tai similarly draped over the balcony. Several question bounced around his head, but he declined to answer any of them in favour of trying to get his breathing back under control. Finally he felt that he'd stopped shaking enough to get up again. "You okay Tai?"

Tai nodded slowly. "Yeah I think so." He got up. "That was freaky."

"I daresay that you're the first human to ever have been inside the Internet," ventured Izzy. "Quite a distinction."

Tai ran a hand up to check his goggles were in place. "Wonder who'll get the credit this time?"

"Does it matter?" asked Izzy. "We know we did it. So do all those kids who sent emails."

Tai shrugged, and went back inside. "What if they forget? Like everyone did before?"

Izzy shook his head, not having an answer. Instead he started to pack up his laptop and disconnect the uplink. Then a thought occurred to him. "Hey Tai."

"Hmm?" asked Tai, settling the monitor back onto the desk.

"You know how nuclear missiles work, so why wasn't the kinetic energy built up enough to cause detonation, even though under normal circumstances it would be?" Izzy saw Tai look totally confused. "Forget it. I'm probably missing something. The press will explain it no doubt."

"Sure Izzy," nodded Tai absentmindedly.

Izzy shut the door, then started to take his shoes off.

"That you Izzy?" called his mother from the kitchen.

Izzy put on his slippers. "Yeah, it's me Mom. Back by six, just like you asked." He moved into the kitchen.

"Had a good day with Tai?" she asked, putting a glass of milk and a plate of biscuits on the table.

Izzy took the hint and sat down. "Most productive."

"Did you hear about that missile?"

"What missile?" asked Izzy, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Apparently the American government's missile system was hit by a rogue hacker." She stirred something in a saucepan that Izzy supposed was going to be dinner. "Odiba was its target, but fortunately it was defective."

"Oh?" asked Izzy.

His mother nodded. "Apparently it didn't contain any nuclear fuel, but all their records and safety check say it should."

"How bizarre," said Izzy, meaning every word of it. He made a mental note to go in to the mail server and delete the mail logs for today. His receiving several gigs of email over two hours would not go unnoticed. He moved to leave the room.

"Oh Izzy."

He turned. "Yes Mom?"

His mother turned to face him. "Some mail came for you today. It's on the table in the hall."

Izzy smiled. "Thanks Mom." Izzy moved to his room, picking up his letter as he went. He plugged his laptop in to recharge, then sat at his desk and examined his letter.

It was in a heavy envelope and Izzy could tell from its thickness that several sheets of paper were inside it. He examined the writing on the address. It was the style often referred to as copperplate, and was written in blue ink that seemed to shine when the light hit it at certain angles. Izzy examined the postmark.

Kyoto? I don't know anyone in Kyoto do I?

He turned the envelope over with a shrug and slit the top open. The letter was likewise written on heavy paper, almost like parchment, and Izzy could see that the letter was written in the same blue ink from where it had soaked through the paper. He opened the letter and began to read.

Dear Mr. Izumi,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been chosen to attend the Kyoto Academy of Sorcery. Since our records indicate that neither of your guardians have attended we would like to extend the courtesy of a member of staff visiting to explain any queries that you or your guardians might have. Enclosed is the school handbook and itinerary for the first week.

I look forwards to seeing you in the new term.

Arata Makuda (Headmaster)

Izzy blinked a few times before his brain registered that he'd finished reading the letter. He turned the piece of paper over slowly, watching to see if it would explode or anything just as unlikely as what he just read.

The letter did seem real.

But it can't be! Magic and sorcery are not real. They don't fit with how we know the world works. He put the letter down and started to look through the handbook.

First years are reminded that ABOVE ALL the muggle population is not to become aware of the presence of the wizarding community. No muggle is to be informed of your wizard status apart from your legal guardians.

Izzy kept reading, occasionally needing to reread a sentence in disbelief. Finally he came to the conclusion that this was either real or some elaborate hoax. He fingered the smallest piece of paper. It read 'Professor Higuchi' and had a telephone number on it.

Perhaps if I ring this I can sort this out. He started as he heard a knock on the door. "Come in."

His mother entered. "Is something wrong Izzy? I've been calling that diner's ready for the last five minutes."

Izzy looked at the pile of papers on his bed. "I think something may be wrong." He picked up the papers. "I need to talk to you about this letter."

His mother nodded. "Okay, after diner."

Masami turned the letter to and fro in much the way Izzy had done less than an hour before. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Izzy shook his head. "I don't think so Dad. Who would go to so much trouble just for a joke?"

Yoshie closed the handbook. "What are muggles?"

"I have no idea." Izzy held up the piece of paper. "But we could solve many questions by ringing this 'Professor Higuchi'."

Yoshie shook her head. "I don't like this Izzy. It all sounds so crazy."

About as crazy as being stuck in the Internet, or in a parallel digital dimension? wondered Izzy. Out loud he merely said, "I see no way to gain from such a bizarre hoax." He pointed at the letter. "This school does not charge fees for its teaching, it does not ask that we spend money to get equipment until after term starts, I see no risk involved."

"I don't know, son," said Masami. "This all sounds so unbelievable."

Izzy however was intrigued by the mystery. "Can we at least try calling this professor?" he asked.

Yoshie sighed and nodded. "All right Izzy. But don't think that this means that we're sending you to this school just yet."

"Hello?"

"Hello, I'm looking for a Professor Higuchi?" asked Izzy, hoping that he had the correct phone number.

"Speaking. What can I do for you young man?"

Izzy took a deep breath. Please don't let this be a hoax. "I received a letter today…"

"Inviting you to join our school perhaps?" asked the gentleman on the other end of the line.

"Yes sir," replied Izzy.

He heard laughter coming from the other end of the line. "Don't be so formal, boy, I'm not your teacher yet."  The laughter stopped. "Can I have your name please?"

"Izumi."

Izzy heard some papers rustling. "Ah, here we are, K. Izumi, residence apartment 42a, Odiaba Mansion, Odiaba district. So, Mr. Izumi, when would be convenient for me to visit?"

"I really don't mind Professor."

"Tomorrow?"

Izzy nodded to himself. "Tomorrow would be suitable. Say, two o'clock?"

"That would be agreeable to me," replied the professor. "Is there anything you want to ask me now, before I see you tomorrow?"

"If it's not to much trouble, Professor, could you tell me what a 'muggle' is?"

Izzy heard laughter again. "Why the literature uses that term, I'll never know." The professor appeared to be talking to himself. "A muggle, Mr. Izumi, is the slang for a person of no magical ability, which as it happens is the majority of the population of Japan. Does that explain it?"

"Yes," replied Izzy. "Thank you, Professor. I look forwards to seeing you tomorrow."

"As do I," replied the professor, then hung up.

Authors Notes: - A new series from me, one that I hope will be as entertaining to you reading this as the last one, perhaps more so. I'm afraid the next chapter will not arrive for about five weeks as I have exams approaching and I need to study.

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