Yu-Gi-Oh!
A New Generation of Priests

CHAPTER TWO - KAMI-SAMA, YOU HAVE A SICK SENSE OF HUMOR

A few days later, Ron received a message from Hermione saying that she would be at Diagon Alley the upcoming Wednesday. Marik was particularly happy to be able to see her again, which drew groans from everyone else. When the day arrived for them to leave, however, Mrs. Weasley gathered everyone in front of the fireplace and took a flowerpot filled with a strange, glittery gray powder from the mantel. Seto eyed the substance warily.

"What are we supposed to do with that?" he asked.

"You've never traveled by Floo Powder before, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"By what?"

"Whoops, sorry guys," Ron said. "I forgot that you haven't."

"What is it?" Harry asked, looking at the pot.

"It's really simple," Fred said, taking a small handful of the powder. "Watch closely now."

The Weasley twin ducked into the fireplace, holding out the hand with the Floo Powder in it. He shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and tossed the substance to the floor of the fireplace. Green flames shot up immediately, and in a blink of an eye, Fred had vanished. Yugi let out a shout of surprise as the others just stared, disbelieving.

"Um... I think... I'm just going to get my helicopter," Seto said. He made like he was going to leave, but George grabbed him by the arm and pushed him toward the pot.

"C'mon, now!" the English boy exclaimed. "You'll most likely have to do this eventually. Better to do it now with us around to help you."

Seto gulped reflexively, before grabbing a handful of the powder.

"Remember, dear, speakvery clearly and you should be fine," Mrs. Weasley encouraged as he made his way into the fireplace. He took a deep breath before shouting, "Diagon Alley!" and tossing the Floo Powder to the ground.

What happened next was something that Seto never, ever wanted to experience again. It felt like a jet plane was pulling him along, going up and up, and spiraling amongst a sea of sickening green stuff the whole way. Something smacked against one of his elbows, and he tucked it in, trying not to focus on the swirling mass of green before him. After what seemed like an eternity, he fell face first through another fireplace, coughing and sputtering the whole way.

"You all right there, Seto?" Fred asked as he stood up, helping him shake some of the dust and ash from his cloak. Seto looked up, blinking in the sunlight as he shook the offending substances from his now mussed up hair. They were standing in the middle of the square in Diagon Alley, and the fireplace he just fell out of was one of four in a semi circle, each of which occasionally had people falling out of them.

"I never want to do that again," Seto declared, getting a chuckle out of Fred.

"Don't worry so much," he said as Marik came tumbling out of a fireplace. "You'll get used to it."

The Egyptian jumped to his feet, a broad grin on his face. "That was cool."

Seto fixed him with an annoyed look. "You're mental," he declared as Bakura came tumbling out next, his white hair gray with soot, making him look like an old man.

"That was... interesting," he said, trying to shake out his hair as the rest of the Weasley tribe appeared one after the other.

"All right, ready to go, dears?" Mrs. Weasley asked, shaking the soot from her hat.

"Hold on," George said, looking around. "Where's Harry?"

"Yugi's missing too!" Marik exclaimed.

Seto looked around as well. This was not good...

-.oOOo.-

Yugi sat back on his knees, fighting back a cough, as he looked around at the odd place him and Harry had managed to fall out of. The store was definitely not one that they would ever have to go to for their Hogwarts supplies. A gnarled hand rested on a cushion nearby, a group of miniature human heads floated in a jar in an adjacent case, and bones of various animals were littered about. Various masks stared down at them from the walls, unnervingly reminding Yugi of his and Seto's duel with Hikari-no-Kamen and Yami-no-Kamen back in Battle City, the both of whom dueled with decks focused on various masks and masked monsters.

"Are you okay, Harry-kun?" he asked, helping his friend to his feet.

"Yeah," Harry replied, "I'm okay... but..."

He trailed off, holding up what was left of his horn-rimmed glasses. The bridge of the glasses had snapped in half. Yugi frowned, not pleased.

"Well, can you at least see enough to get out of here?" he asked, waving a hand in front of his face. Harry blinked, squinting.

"I should be all right," he said, "but I'll probably need you to give me a hand."

Yugi was about to suggest that they get out of there, when he caught sight of something through the store window that made him frown: Draco Malfoy, and a tall blonde man that could only be his father. Looking around frantically, he spotted a normal looking black closet and shoved Harry into it before he could protest. He jammed himself in as well and pulled the doors closed, leaving a crack big enough for the two of them to see through, as Draco and Mr. Malfoy entered the store. The latter of the two rang a bell on the counter before turning to his son.

"Don't touch anything, Draco," he said.

Draco crossed his arms, a spoiled annoyed look on his face. "I thought you said you'd buy me a present."

"I said I would buy you a racing broom," Mr. Malfoy replied, a slightly annoyed look on his narrow face.

Draco snorted in response. "What good will it do me if I'm not on the team?" he asked, crossing his arms in annoyance. "Harry Potter and Marik Ishitar got their Nimbus Two-Thousands last year, with special permission from Dumbledore to play for Gryffindor. Potter isn't even that good, either. It's because he's famous. Famous Harry Potter with his precious scar."

Mr. Malfoy fixed his son with a scathing look. "I've heard this conversation before, Draco."

"But, father, it's not fair," Draco protested. "Potter and those foreign boys are freaks of nature, yet they get special treatment from all the teachers. Even Professor Snape treats that Mutou boy with respect. It's disheartening fornormal wizards."

Mr. Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I admit, I was not thrilled when I heard not one but four, sixteen-year-old foreigners would be attending the school. Keep in mind, though, Draco, it would not be prudent to be less than fond of them or Potter, as you so clearly have discovered. Ah, Mr. Borgin!"

An ugly sort of man appeared behind the counter, stooping over slightly and running a hand through his greasy black hair. He reminded Yugi of a hunchback version of Professor Snape. Mr. Borgin and Mr. Malfoy starting talking back and forth, haggling over something that the later was selling. Yugi and Harry were not paying attention to them, however. Their focus was on Draco, who was wandering around the store, looking at the various items for sale. He spotted the closet they were hiding in, and they slapped a hand over each other's mouths to keep themselves from being heard.

Draco reached a hand out toward the closet handle...

"Done," Mr. Malfoy suddenly declared. "Come, Draco."

Yugi and Harry nearly sighed in relief as Draco turned around. Father and son left the store, and Mr. Borgin retreated to the back room, muttering obscenities under his breath. Yugi and Harry waited a moment before bolting out of the closet and the store. The older boy let out a gasp as they emerged on the dusty and dirty streets beyond. Stores dedicated to the dark arts lined up before them, and several witches and wizards gave them odd looks as they passed.

"Where are we?" Harry asked. Yugi looked around, spotting a sign on a street corner.

"Some place called Knockturn Alley," he answered, grabbing him by the arm and giving it a tug. "Either way, let's get the heck out of here."

He pulled him along behind him as he made his way down the street, looking for something that would point him to a place he was familiar with. Nothing stood out, however, and Yugi was to the point where he was going to ask one of the wizards and witches lurking around for directions.

"Not lost, are you dears?" a crackling old voice came from above them. Yugi and Harry spun around to see a particularly gnarled old witch, carrying a platter with what looked eerily like human fingers.

Yugi gulped. "N-n-n-no... w-w-w-we're j-j-just f-f-fine."

The two of them started to back away from her as she held a hand out toward them. "Why don't you come with me dearies? I'll help you find your way..."

"Harry! Yugi! What d'yeh think yer doin' down there?"

They spun around again as the witch backed off and retreated into the shadows. Up above them, standing at the top of a flight of stairs, was a giant of a man in a fur overcoat with a bushy black beard and kindly beetle black eyes. The two of them raced up to Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper, grateful to see him again.

"What are yeh two doin' in Knockturn Alley?" he asked them, hauling them into the sunlight next to a sign marked Diagon Alley and not that far from Gringotts, the wizard's bank. "Dodgy place that is. Don' want no one ter see yeh down there."

"We were lost, Hagrid-san," Yugi explained as the giant started brushing them off, hitting them with enough force to knock them to the ground. "It was our first time using this Floo Powder stuff."

"What wereyou doing down there anyway?" Harry asked, dodging as Hagrid went to brush him off again.

"I was lookin' fer flesh eatin' slug repellent," Hagrid replied. "They're ruinin' the cabbages at school. Yer not on yer own, are yeh?"

"No, we're staying with the Weasleys," Harry answered. "We've gotta find them."

"Harry! Yugi!" someone shouted.

The two boys looked up to see a bushy brown-haired girl in a plaid pleated skirt and shirt with a wizard robe that had the Gryffindor house crest on the side like theirs did. Hermione Granger raced up to them, giving both of them a warm hug.

"It is sowonderful to see you two again!" she exclaimed. "Are you coming to Gringotts?"

"As soon as we find the others," Harry answered.

"Yeh won't have long ter wait," Hagrid announced, pointing down the street. They turned to see the Weasleys, Marik, Bakura, and Seto running toward them, looking quite a bit concerned and relieved all at once.

"How come you always manage to get into trouble?" Seto asked, brushing off what soot Hagrid had missed from Yugi's hair as Mr. Weasley took Harry's glass and handed them back to him a moment later, good as new.

"Where did you guys come out at?" Ron asked.

"Knockturn Alley," Yugi answered.

"Wicked!"Fred and George exclaimed. Yugi and Harry just rolled their eyes.

-.oOOo.-

After a quick stop at Gringotts Bank, everyone separated once again. The Weasley twins went off with their friend from school, Lee Jordan, saying something about a new gag shop that opened up. Mrs. Weasley took Ginny, the youngest of the Weasley children and the only girl, to get her new school supplies, as she would be starting at Hogwarts that term. Mr. Weasley had taken Hermione's parents aside, jabbering at length about their lives as Muggles. That left Hermione, Marik, Yugi, Harry, Ron, Seto, and Bakura all to themselves with their own bags full of money, some of which quickly got spent on new parchment, ink, and quills before they went off to look at the other stores.

They had to meet back with the Weasleys in an hour at Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore where they would be getting their new textbooks. After a half hours worth of looking around at stores, the seven friends settled down at an ice cream shop, ordering up strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice cream and catching up with one another before they had to go to the store.

"...So Seto took that moment to show up at the arcade and surprise everyone," Marik was saying, gesturing wildly. "You should have seen it, Hermi-chan. I've never seen Jonouchi-kun so shocked."

Hermione giggled as Seto added, "No one was expecting me to come back a 'nice guy'. I found it all quite humorous."

Yugi chuckled. "I've gotta admit, Seto, I honestly thought you'd never change."

Seto took a spoonful of his ice cream, shaking his head. "It's my yami's fault," he said, half of a smirk forming on his face. He motioned to Yugi and then Bakura. "You end up with Pharaoh Smart Ass, you end up with an evil, sadistic tomb robber. Me? I end up with the five-time recipient of the 'Mr. Happy Go Lucky' award."

Marik nearly choked on his ice cream at that very un-Seto-ish statement.

"Be serious, Seto," Harry said, trying not to laugh as Hermione pounded the Egyptian on the back. Seto shrugged nonchalantly.

"Okay," he began, "serious would be that I'm getting a little tired of working on the computer, when all of a sudden I'll get huggled from behind by whom Mokuba has taken to calling my 'good twin'."

"Why, because you're already evil?" Ron asked.

"Precisely," Seto replied sourly. His tone softened then, as a gentle smile appeared on his face. "I understand it though - why I have to have this other self with me. It's like… feeling complete. I haven't felt that way since… well, in a very long time."

Yugi smiled in understanding, knowing what Seto was trying to say. Mokuba had already told him the story of how the Kaiba brothers had really grown up in an orphanage, with only the elder of the two knowing what happened to their real parents. Then, Gonzarou Kaiba - a chess champion - came to the orphanage, and was initially was not going to adopt either of them. Seto had heard stories of how great a man Kaiba was and had grown to admire and respect him, so he challenged him to a chess game, the terms being that if Seto won, he would have to adopt him and his brother. It turned out to be the one victory Seto would ever regret.

They all finished their ice cream, and made their way to the bookstore, only to find that they were not the only ones planning to go there. A whole mass of people, mostly witches, were crammed around the store. The reason for the odd volume of activity was proclaimed on a shining banner hanging just below the sign for the store.

GILDEROY LOCKHART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.

"Oh my gosh!" Hermione squealed, scrambling to fix her hair. "We'll actually get to meet him!"

Marik sweatdropped, a bit of a jealous tint coming to his face. "So?"

The seven of them somehow miraculously managed to squeeze into the bookshop. Each of them grabbed a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 before joining the Weasleys and Mr. and Mrs. Granger in the huge mass of people.

"Oh, there you are dears," Mrs. Weasley said distractedly, continuously patting her hair. "He should be coming out any moment now."

After a moment, a wizard in forget-me-not blue robes and wizard's cap emerged from behind a curtain to the applause of all the ladies in the store (and Marik's jealous grumbling). His eyes were the same color as his flashy robes, and his hat was set at a jaunty angle over his wavy blonde hair. He smiled a brilliant smile, showing off rows of perfect white teeth and making a couple witches in the crowd faint.

Yugi just stared, at a loss for words. Whatever he had been expecting when he thought of Lockhart, it was not this bishounen wannabe that stood before them.

This... is pathetic... Yami Yugi muttered.

I guess you where right, Yami Yugi-kun, Yugi replied. Heis a prude.

A small old man flitted about, clicking away furiously with a camera. He bumped into Ron, forcing all of them to take a step back.

"Out of the way," he said, rather rudely. "This is for the Daily Prophet."

"Big deal," Ron grumbled, nursing his foot where the reporter had stepped on it. Lockhart had obviously heard what he had said, for he focused his gaze on him. He was about to say something, when he caught sight of Harry standing just behind him.

"Itcan't be Harry Potter!" he exclaimed. The crowd parted, and Harry tried to run for it, but Lockhart grabbed him and dragged him to his side, shaking his hand furiously and smiling as the reporter clicked away.

"Smile, Harry," Lockhart encouraged, "between the two of us we'll make the front page."

The clicking continued on for what seemed like hours before Lockhart finally let go of Harry's hand. He tried to make a break for it, nursing his nearly limp hand along the way, but the flashy man grabbed him around the shoulders, pinning him to his side.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Lockhart announced, holding up his other hand for quiet. "When young Mr. Potter stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he not only wanted to pick up a copy of my complete works - which I will now present to him, free of charge -" The crowd applauded as he was handed a stack of Lockhart's books, much to Harry's displeasure. "He hadno ideathat him and his class mates would be getting the real magical me. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that this September, I will be working at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!"

The crowd broke out in applause again as Harry wormed his way out of the limelight, going over to Ginny and dumping the books into her cauldron. Seto, Marik, Yugi, and Bakura were just staring at Lockhart as he started signing books, hardly believing what they had just heard.

"He's kidding right?" Bakura asked. "That was a joke, right?"

Seto cast his eyes up to the sky. "Kami-sama," he muttered, "you have asick sense of humor."

They were about to make their way out of the crowded store, when a shout from Ginny caught their attention. They turned to see that Draco Malfoy was harassing her and Harry. Seto managed to reach him first, a snarl on his face as he took the Millennium Rod in hand.

"You never learn, do you?" he asked, crossing his arms and making sure that Malfoy could clearly see the Rod. "I wasn't the one out, but I seem to remember your first punishment being something along the lines of shrinking you down to the size you brought people to when you insulted them. Are you asking for a round two?"

Draco smirked and was about to come back with a witty comment, when his father suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, putting a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Now, now, Draco," Mr. Malfoy said. "Remember what I told you about how to treat foreign... guests."

The four of them frowned, not pleased by the way he had said that. He looked at each of them, smirking at their displeased expressions before returning his focus to Seto.

"Ah, yes, you must be Seto Kaiba, the one in charge of that...muggle game corporation," he sneered. "Amazing how low the quality of students has dropped."

Seto fixed him with his classic cold stare; the one he had used to break rival businessmen and duelists alike. Mr. Malfoy did not even flinch, however, as he turned his focus to Marik.

"Marik Ishitar," he stated. "You've made quite a name for yourself as a Quidditch seeker, about as much as Mr. Potter. Not bad, considering you were in charge of that criminal organization."

Marik flinched, grateful that Hermione was still preoccupied with getting her book signed.

"Just goes to show what kind of riff-raff Dumbledore allows at that school," Mr. Malfoy continued, glancing briefly at Bakura. "Including those possessed by common thieves."

Bakura was so busy trying to prevent Yami Bakura from jumping out of his Soul Room and attacking the man that he did not even bother to comment. Mr. Malfoy at last came to Yugi, who was glaring up at him. He would have let Yami Yugi take over to play a Yami-no-Game with this heartless man a long time ago if there were not so many people around that could possibly get hurt.

"So, this is the small scrap of a boy that a pharaoh chooses to take up as a host," Mr. Malfoy commented idly, poking the Millennium Puzzle with a diamond topped cane. Seto and Marik were about to leap on him for that remark, but Yugi backed away from him, holding a hand over the Puzzle.

"Look, but don't touch," he warned. "I'm not responsible for the consequences when people piss him off."

Mr. Malfoy rolled his eyes just as Mr. Weasley came pushing his way through the crowd, dragging his sons along behind him.

"Well now, boys," he began. "What say we get out of here and leave the ladies to -"

"Ah, Arthur Weasley," Mr. Malfoy interrupted coldly. "How goes it at the Ministry of Magic? With all those raids, I do hope they're paying you overtime."

He brushed past the boys rather rudely to get to Ginny's cauldron, and pulled out a very battered, very old copy of A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration. He looked the cover over at several angles, a disgusted sneer on his face.

"Obviously not," he commented dryly, dropping the book back into the cauldron with a double thunk.

Mr. Malfoy whirled about then, urging his son out of the store and leaving everyone glaring at their retreating backs, each of them plotting ways to get back at him for insulting them. Marik pounded a fist into his open palm, a snarl on his face.

"Malfoy, kisama..." he growled.

Seto just shook his head sadly, putting the Millennium Rod back in its hiding place under his robes. "Like father, like son."