Yu-Gi-Oh!
A New Generation of Priests

Mrs. Weasley's rant is excerpted.

CHAPTER THREE – THE RETURN TO HOGWARTS

Seto rolled over in his makeshift bed on the floor of Ron's room, letting out a tired yawn as he gradually opened his eyes. He only found himself staring at a tanned armpit, however, and he sat up really fast, glaring at the person next to him. Marik was sprawled out on his own makeshift bed, snoring rather loudly and muttering about Hermione in-between. Seto rolled his eyes, before a sly smirk came to his face. He took his pillow in hand, and…

WHACK!

Marik came sputtering awake just as Seto's pillow hit his face. He glared up at him, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

"Do you mind!" he demanded.

"Not at all," Seto replied, tossing his pillow back to its proper spot. He ran a hand through his hair, grabbing his watch from where he had dropped it before falling asleep the previous night. "Oh, crap!" he exclaimed, scrambling to wake up Ron and Harry. "We were supposed to be up an hour ago!"

"Shimata!" Marik exclaimed, shaking Yugi and Bakura awake next to him.

Before long, the six boys were scrambling about, making sure that they were dressed properly and their trunks were packed with their robes on top so they could easily grab them. Then it was off to the kitchen to try to get some bacon sandwiches before they all had to pile into the Weasley car, an aging Ford Anglia. Anglia's were supposed to be very narrow, cramped cars; however, not so oddly, the back and front seats had been expanded so it could easily fit the Weasley tribe as well as their guests without looking any different from a normal car. Yugi suspected that that had been Mr. Weasley's doing, though Mrs. Weasley did not seem to notice that there was not supposed to be that much space.

After three stops because the twins and Ginny forgot something, they were off with Mr. Weasley driving as fast as he could. They arrived at King's Cross Station with just fifteen minutes before they all had to go through the portal that would take them to Platform Nine and Three Quarters and the Hogwarts Express. Mr. Weasley scrambled to get them trolleys, and soon they were all lined up at the divider between platforms nine and ten. Percy was the first to go, followed quickly by Yugi and Marik, then Mr. Weasley and the twins, then Bakura and Seto, and then Mrs. Weasley and Ginny.

It was not until after the boys and Ginny were settled on the train, and they had joined up once again with Hermione and Percy had gone off to the prefect's car, that Yugi realized they were two people short.

"Where're Harry-kun and Ron-kun?" he asked, frowning in concern.

"Well, maybe they got separated and are in another car," Hermione suggested. She stood up, tugging Ginny to her feet as well. "We'll go look."

"We'll go too," Fred offered, pulling his twin to his feet and following the girls out. Seto waited a moment, before shutting the door behind them and leaned against it.

"I was hoping we'd get some time to ourselves," he said in Japanese before sitting down again, a bit of a disturbed look on his face.

"What's wrong, Seto-kun?" Bakura asked.

Seto shook his head. "Maybe it's nothing, but I can't help but feel that we're heading into danger again."

"Hey, Seto-kun, we've already defeated Voldemort… again," Marik amended. "What's the worst that could happen now?"

"If nothing else bad is going to happen, then why is our story still going on?" Seto pressed. "Think about it, guys. I'm forced to take up the Millennium Rod, and then release my other self. Marik ends up with the Millennium Ring after the tomb robber moves into Bakura. Then there's the other added bonus of every time Harry's in danger, we can feel it."

Through his tirade, Yugi had developed a thoughtful look on his face. He held the Millennium Puzzle in his hands, looking down at it as Bakura started arguing back. He waited until they were done yelling at each other before he added his own opinion.

"The Millennium Items are choosing new owners."

The other three boys looked at him, surprised. Yugi took a deep breath before continuing.

"This is just a thought, but…" he began. "I know that Marik had the Rod, Isis had the Tauk, Bakura had the Ring, Pegasus had the Eye, and Shadi had the Scale and the Ankh long before I ever even saw the Puzzle; but… When I assembled the Puzzle, something happened that altered who the Items chose as their owners. I was obviously chosen by the Puzzle. Seto was chosen by the Rod, and Marik by the Ring. Bakura, since the Eye hasn't protested about being with you, I guess it chose you. That leaves the Tauk, Scale, and Ankh without owners."

"So what happens when they do get owners?" Marik asked.

Yugi shrugged helplessly. "I haven't thought about that," he replied. "All I know is that somehow, Harry and the others are tied in with all this. I don't know how, but they are, and they'll be in just as much danger as we are—"

There was a knock on the door then, cutting Yugi off. Seto got up to open it, revealing the girls and Weasley twins on the other side.

"We can't find Harry and Ron anywhere," the twins announced, plopping down in their seats.

"I don't see where they could have gone," Ginny said, sitting down across from Bakura. "They were right behind me and mum when we went through the barrier."

Yugi sighed, hardly believing what was going on. They were getting into trouble already, and term had not even started yet.

-.oOOo.-

Yugi patted his stomach happily as he made his way up to the Gryffindor common room at Hogwarts, satisfied with the wonderful meal he had just had. The only odd part of the whole dinner were the wild rumors that someone had flew a car into a Whomping Willow tree on the school grounds. Considering the various arguments he had heard from the Weasleys, plus the fact that no one had seen hide nor hair of Harry and Ron… assuming the rumors were true, he was almost positive who was behind it.

His suspicions were confirmed when he caught sight of the two boys in question standing outside of the painting of the fat lady in the pink dress that guarded the entrance to the common room. He smiled, before running up to them.

"I can't believe you two flew the Anglia to school!" he exclaimed. Ron rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.

"It wasn't fun," he said. "Well, it was at first, but…"

"We're just glad to be back," Harry finished. "Anyway, do you know the new password?"

Yugi nodded before turning his attention to the painting. "Wattlebird."

The portrait swung open, to reveal every single Gryffindor packed into the common room, waiting for Harry and Ron. The two boys were grabbed almost immediately and hauled into the room, leaving Yugi to scramble in after them before the portrait closed.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Lee Jordan shouted.

"Why couldn't we fly the car too?" the twins asked.

"I can't believe you crashed the Anglia into a tree!" Marik exclaimed.

"Not just any tree!" Neville Longbottom added. "The Whomping Willow! You two were lucky to survive."

Ron and Harry exchanged sheepish expressions as Yugi giggled.

-.oOOo.-

It never seemed to fail; any time Yugi was excited or worried about something, he could not get to sleep until the ungodly hours of the morning. That night, however, he was both worried and excited; excited over the new school year, and worried over what he had brought up on the train. After a moment of deliberation, he grabbed the Millennium Puzzle from its resting place and padded across the bedroom – careful not to step on Marik's pet cat, Rishid – and made his way down to the common room. He settled into a comfortable easy chair next to the fireplace and set the Puzzle on the chair next to him. Yami Yugi appeared almost immediately, a slight smirk on his face.

"This looks familiar," he commented, getting a chuckle out of his hikari. "Aibou," he continued, serious, "what you said on the train; you left out seeing Osiris in our Soul Corridor."

Yugi looked down at his feet, swinging them back and forth. "I still don't understand what happened," he explained. "I mean, I know it was Osiris that I saw, but I thought the God Cards' powers were dispelled."

"Their power to restore my memory was dispelled," Yami Yugi corrected. "If their own power had been dispelled, we wouldn't even be able to use them with our Duel Disks. Besides, a world where a God doesn't exist is a vacant world."

"Oh," Yugi replied, feeling a bit stupid. They were quiet for a while, when Yami Yugi spoke up again.

"Aibou, what do you know about the old stories?" he asked.

"You mean Egyptian mythologies?" Yugi replied. "Only what you've told me. Why?"

His other half got that stony look on his face; that look that said he was hiding something. "No reason."

Yugi got in his face. "Liar."

Yami Yugi turned to his hikari, an eyebrow raised in amusement. Yugi giggled at his reaction, before giving him a slight jab in the shoulder.

"C'mon, tell me now," he urged. "I'll find out eventually anyway."

Yami Yugi sighed and shook his head, the amused smirk still on his face, settling back in the chair as if to get comfortable for a long winded explanation.

"One of the things Egyptians believed the most," he began, "was that one day, Horus and Osiris would return to Earth from Duat, and the final, greatest battle against the evil god, Set, would occur. That is why it was so important for pharaohs that had passed on to be embalmed and hidden away in pyramids, for it was believed that once Horus and Osiris won their battle, all the dead who had led virtuous lives and passed through to Duat would return to the world, and live in an Egypt purged of all wickedness. It would literally be heaven on Earth."

Yugi just stared at his other half through the whole explanation, entranced. "Sugoi…! What made you think of this all of a sudden?"

Yami Yugi picked up the Millennium Puzzle and held it upside down, with the tip of the pyramidal puzzle pointing toward the ceiling.

"When you reassembled this Puzzle, my soul was reborn within you," he said, "and you also ended up with the Osiris card. It might be nothing, but… I think that legend might actually be coming true."

Yugi's eyes grew wider than they normally were at the implications. "But, how does Harry fit into all of this? And the Millennium Items! Why are they choosing new owners?"

His other half held up his hands, urging him to calm down. "I don't know, aibou. Like I said, it could be nothing."

Yugi crossed his arms, frowning at him. "Stop it. I'm the one that's supposed to be optimistic."

Yami Yugi chuckled in spite of himself. "C'mon, aibou," he said, as Yugi stifled a yawn. "We've got a long day ahead of ourselves. Let's at least attempt to get some sleep."

-.oOOo.-

It was about halfway through breakfast the next morning when the mail arrived. Marik was busily scanning through a note from his sister, a piece of toast hanging from his mouth, when something large and gray fell into a jug between him and Hermione, spraying everyone with milk and feathers. He pulled a feather from his hair as Ron grabbed the invading animal by its feet and hauled it out of the jug.

"Errol!" he exclaimed, shaking his head sadly. "Bloody bird's a menace!"

There was a damp red envelope in the bird's mouth and he dropped it, allowing it to flutter to the table, before promptly passing out. Ron was not worried about the owl's condition, however. He was too busy staring at the piece of mail he had gotten.

"Oh no…" he whimpered.

"Look!" Seamus Finnegan exclaimed. "Weasley's got himself a Howler!"

Yugi looked around as everyone at their table started laughing. "Howler?"

"You better open it, Ron," Neville encouraged. "I ignored one from my gran once. It was horrible."

Yugi and Marik's eyes grew wide as the younger boy shivered at the memory. Ron, pale as the Hogwarts ghosts and shaking, slowly opened the envelope. Neville and some other students stuffed fingers into their ears, and the two foreign boys soon found out why.

"—STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE—"

Yugi clapped his hands over his ears, wincing as Mrs. Weasley's yells still came through loud and clear. Other students in the hall looked around, trying to see who had gotten the Howler. Ron was so embarrassed, he sunk low under the table, until only his forehead and eyes could be seen.

"—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED—"

Harry sunk below the table too at the mention of his name, looking just as embarrassed as Ron was. Marik was just wondering when it all was going to stop.

"—ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED – YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME!"

Silence reigned through the Great Hall as the red envelope – having fallen out of Ron's hands a long time ago – burst into flame and crumpled away into nothingness. Both Harry and Ron were shivering, staring at where the envelope had been in wide-eyed shock as the hall returned to its normal volume of chatter. Hermione just shook her head as the two of them numbly sat up properly in their seats.

"I don't know what you two were expecting, but –"

Marik put a hand on her shoulder, cutting her off. "Don't, Hermi-chan," he said. "No one deserved that."

Yugi's ears were still ringing from the verbal assault as Professor McGonagall started passing out course schedules for her house. He took his, and was excited to see that they had double Herbology with Hufflepuff house first. The five of them waffled down the rest of their breakfast before heading out the main entrance of the school and swinging around to the greenhouses, where most of the rest of the class was already assembled. Bakura waved to them energetically as they approached.

"This is great," he said. "We get to hang out more often than last year. Hey, Ron, you all right? That Howler thing was awful."

"You weren't on the receiving end," Ron replied weakly.

Just then, Professor Sprout came down the lawn, in the company of Gilderoy Lockhart. The normally perky woman had a downright scowl on her face, tossing an occasional glare at the other professor, who was wearing flashy robes of turquoise with a similarly colored hat. He waved to them casually, and some of the girls giggled, including Hermione. Marik fixed the professor with a jealous glare while Yugi, Harry, Ron, and Bakura rolled their eyes.

"Hello there, ladies and gentlemen!" he exclaimed. "Just showing Professor Sprout the proper way to doctor a Whomping Willow."

Professor Sprout glared at him, looking like she had not needed the "help" the other professor had provided.

"All right, chaps," she said loudly, cutting off Lockhart as he kept going on about how he had come across several Whomping Willows in the past. "It's greenhouse three today."

A murmur of interest went through the crowd of students. Greenhouse three supposedly contained some of the more dangerous plants in the world of magic. This was confirmed as, when the professor unlocked the greenhouse in question, a leathery roar reached their ears. Professor Sprout went in and smacked a tall plant with raspberry red flowers blossoming on it. It whimpered before falling silent, much to everyone else's amusement as they filed into the greenhouse.

"Oh, good woman, might you mind if I borrow Mr. Potter for a moment?" Lockhart asked, clasping a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry tried to break away from him as Professor Sprout opened her mouth to say no, when the flashy professor cut her off. "Thanks. You're a wonderful woman."

He closed the greenhouse door in their faces, just as Marik was going to leap forward and grab Harry away. The Egyptian smacked against it instead, leaving an indentation on his forehead the same pattern as the offending door. He rubbed it, muttering curses under his breath in all four languages he knew as Hermione patted him on the back.

After a moment, Harry returned, looking a bit disbelieving. Professor Sprout put her hands on her hips, shaking her head sadly as he rejoined his friends.

"Anyway," she said, a bit of her cheeriness coming back. "We'll be replanting Mandrakes today. Who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake…?"