Yu-Gi-Oh!
A New Generation of Priests

CHAPTER SIX – TAUKS OF TROUBLES

Harry stared at Marik as the other boy hungrily stuffed his face that morning. Later on, they would be participating in the first Quidditch match of the season against Slytherin, and he had no idea how the Egyptian could have any type of appetite. Harry's insides practically twisted in on themselves anytime he even looked at food. He supposed different people had different ways of dealing with stress before a game. Yugi even tried to offer him a piece of toast, but he had denied it, afraid that if he ate anything he would be sick to his stomach.

"I don't see why you take this so seriously," Marik said through a mouthful of sausage. "It's just a game. Win or loose, the whole point is to enjoy yourself."

Next to his little brother, Fred fixed him with an amused look. "You haven't been hit by a bludger yet, have you?" he asked.

Marik smirked. "No, that's why you guys are on the team," he replied. "Besides, unless Harry faints from starvation, I'm not the one who'll be flying today."

Harry frowned, but finally started nibbling on the toast that Yugi had offered. Just then, a tri-colored bird swooped into the Great Hall, a small package in its beak. Panseru the owl dropped the package in front of Marik before swinging around and coming to a rest on his master's shoulder. Yugi gave the owl half of his biscuit before it took off again.

"Hey, what'd you get, Marik-kun?" he asked. Marik shrugged, a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth, as he opened up the package. He nearly choked on that bacon when he saw what was inside.

The Millennium Tauk.

Marik swallowed. After his sister, Isis, lost to Seto in the final match of the Battle City Quarter Finals, she also lost the power to control the Tauk and had given it to Yugi. The Item activated briefly while in his care, giving him some hope that he and his companions would survive the tournament. Since then, no one had been able to use it, and he had given it back to Isis for safe keeping after his other half regained his memories. Add that fact to what Yugi had said on the train, and you had a very good reason for Marik reacting to it the way he did.

"Good morning, everyone."

Marik quickly wrapped the Millennium Item up and shoved it into his back pocket as Hermione joined them at the Gryffindor table.

"Where were you?" Ron asked.

"With Yami Bakura," she answered simply. Harry, Yugi, and Ron understood what she meant; the two of them had gone off to Snape's private stores to steal the items they needed for the Polyjuice Potion. Marik obviously missed that, however, as his face practically turned green.

"Doing what!" he demanded. Hermione frowned, before taking a sausage in hand and whacking him over the head with it. The other boys nearly fell off of the bench laughing.

After finishing breakfast, they all got up to head out to the Quidditch field, but Marik hung back a bit, feeling a strange warmth coming from his back pocket. He reached back, pulled the Millennium Tauk out from his pocket, and unwrapped it. The Item had apparently been glowing, the brightness fading gradually. He looked around in surprise; whom had it been reacting to?

"Marik, are you coming?" Harry called.

"Hai!" he shouted, stuffing the Item back in his pocket again.

-.oOOo.-

Yugi fidgeted in his seat, anxiously waiting for Seto and Bakura to join them, and for the game to start. He had to admit, he did not normally like sports, but the wizard's sport of Quidditch was so much fun he could not help himself. Apparently, neither could his other half; Yami Yugi appeared between him and Ron, leaning back on the bench a bit.

"Mind if I stretch my legs, aibou?" he asked.

"Not at all," Yugi replied, grinning as Ron tried to poke his darker self in the shoulder, only to have his finger go right through him. Yami Yugi turned to the younger boy, eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Don't do that," he said. "I can actually feel that."

"Sorry."

Just then, Seto and Bakura made their way through the other Gryffindor students, both of them with their other halves in tow. The tomb robber had a sour look on his face, and both Bakura and Yami Seto were trying hard not to laugh at him. Yami Bakura did not say a word; he just plopped down behind Hermione as the others took their seats as well.

"What's his problem?" Yugi asked.

"He's annoyed that he had to steal something," Bakura explained. "He likes to perform his craft spontaneously."

Yami Yugi turned to the tomb robber, brick faced. "Perform your craft?" he asked. "Oh spare me!"

"Shut up, pharaoh," Yami Bakura snapped. He sneered then. "Or should I go back to Egypt and dig up your father again?"

That was the wrong thing to say in front of Yami Yugi. The former pharaoh lunged back toward the tomb robber, looking like he was going to strangle the life out of him, never mind that his existence depended on his hikari. Yami Seto managed to let out an "eep" before grabbing the pharaoh by the arms.

"Pharaoh, c'mon!" he exclaimed. "Fight nice! Please!"

For a spirit such as the three of them to appear in the real world, it required a bit of concentration so they would not fall through the floor, what they were sitting on, whatever. Yami Yugi was so focused on getting to the tomb robber and Yami Seto was so concerned with preventing what would happen when he did, that the two of them lost that small bit of concentration. They both fell through the bleachers, regaining their concentration in time to land painfully at the bottom of the stands. Both Yugi and Seto sweatdropped, embarrassed, as Yami Bakura sniggered.

"Thanks, you two," he called down to the pharaoh and the high priest. "I needed a good laugh."

Both of them shot back with a rather foul sounding Egyptian curse, one that made the tomb robber frown.

"Hey, do I insult your mother?"

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly. "Yami Yugi! Yami Seto! Get back up here! They're starting!"

Fourteen players flew out onto the field; seven in scarlet and gold, and seven in green and silver robes. Seto put his enchanted binoculars to his eyes almost immediately to get a better look at the players. After a moment, he tore them away, a disbelieving look on his face.

"Is that Malfoy up there!" he exclaimed.

Yami Yugi's head suddenly appeared next to his hikari, having grabbed one of the seats and pulled himself up. Yugi freaked; he hated it when he did that!

"What!" Yami Yugi exclaimed, ignoring his partner's reaction as he pulled himself the rest of the way through the seat and sitting down properly again. "Who in their right mind would put him on a team!"

"Hey!" Yami Seto called, still stuck below. "A little help!"

"Oops…" Yami Yugi muttered, reaching through his seat to grab the high priest and haul him back up. Yami Seto plopped down in a seat next to his hikari, before snatching his binoculars and putting them to his face to see for himself. Ron frowned, confused.

"I don't get it," he whispered to Seto. "How come he could do that, but when I tried to touch Yami Yugi, my finger went right through him?"

Seto just shrugged. "I'm the wrong person to ask," he replied. "I gave up trying to understand it over the summer." He tried to grab his binoculars back then, annoyed. "Do you mind on not hogging those?"

Yami Seto brushed him off, keeping the binoculars to his face. "Hey, hikari, those black brooms we saw at that shop back in Diagon Alley," he began. "What were they called again?"

Seto frowned. "I think Marik-kun said they were the Nimbus Two-Thousand-Ones or something like that," he replied. "Why?"

Yami Seto lowered the binoculars then, a sour look on his face. "Guess what all of Slytherin is riding."

"You're kidding!" Yugi exclaimed, grabbing the binoculars before Seto could get to them. The taller boy muttered some curses under his breath as Yugi focused in on the Slytherin brooms, particularly the one that Malfoy was riding. He frowned, passing the binoculars to his other half, who also focused in on Malfoy.

"That lousy…!" Yami Yugi exclaimed. "He bought his way on to the team!"

Yami Bakura suddenly grabbed the binoculars, leaving the pharaoh blinking in surprise. The tomb robber put them up to his face, scanning the sky. He lowered them shortly after, a slightly worried look on his normally sadistic face.

"Uh-oh," he muttered.

"What is it?" Bakura asked. He had never seen his darker half with that look on his face. It sort of worried him; something really bad had to be happening. Yami Bakura confirmed that too.

"Harry's in trouble again."

-.oOOo.-

Harry was hovering above the field as always, trying to ignore Malfoy, who was ignorantly showing off the speed of his new broom. He was so engrossed in trying to find the Snitch that he did not notice the Bludger coming toward him. It was more like he sensed something was wrong, and upon acting on that sense he was able to just barely dodge the flying black ball. Harry straightened his broom out as it sailed by him, letting out a sigh of relief as he did so.

"All right there, Harry?" George asked, hitting the Bludger off toward one of the Slytherin chasers.

"I'm fine!" Harry shouted back.

He was not going to be fine for long, though, as the Bludger suddenly looped around and headed straight for him once again. That time he nearly fell off his broom trying to avoid it. Fred came up as the ball soared by him, whacking the offending object right toward Malfoy, who was more than ready to dodge it. The pale boy did not have to, however. The Bludger spun around in mid air and headed straight for Harry for a third time.

Harry did the only thing he could think of then. He shot off about the stadium at full speed, the Bludger trailing dangerously close behind. Fred and George followed as quickly as they could, trying to keep the insane ball from killing him.

"Someone's fixed this thing!" Fred exclaimed, smacking it away, only to have it fall in line behind Harry again. The young seeker was not paying attention though. He had caught sight of something near Malfoy, who was too busy watching their efforts to avoid the Bludger to notice it. Something small and gold…

Without warning the Weasley twins, Harry shot off toward the Golden Snitch, making it look like he was purposefully leading the ball toward the snobbish rich boy. Malfoy let out a shout of surprise before dodging out of the way just in time. He caught sight of what Harry had truly been after, however, and a growl escaped from his mouth before he flew after him, quickly pulling up to him with his superior broom. Harry hardly noticed, though; he was too concerned with catching the Snitch and ending the game before he got killed.

The Golden Snitch led them down into what some of the students from muggle parentage had taken to calling "the trench run". It was exactly that, too: a long trench that surrounded the entire field, with various supports that helped hold up the stands crisscrossing it. It was a dangerous area to fly through, not to mention with a rouge Bludger on their tail and pulling off the speeds they were doing. Each time Malfoy would gain a lead on the Snitch, somehow Harry would pull off some odd maneuver or put out just enough speed to pull even with him.

After a moment, Malfoy looked back, trying to see what the Bludger was doing. It was closing in on Harry at a very fast rate. The only problem was, he was so focused on the Snitch that he did not even notice it. Malfoy swore under his breath, hardly believing what he was going to do. He slammed into Harry, pushing him out of the way.

"Move it!" he managed to shout, before hitting the brakes. Harry soared ahead while he fell back… right into the Bludger. The ball smashed into the tail of his new broom, sending him flying off of it like catapult ammo. He landed on the ground above, and the last thing he heard was the sound of something cracking before he promptly passed out.

Down in the trench, Harry gripped the handle of his broom, gritting his teeth. He knew what Malfoy had done for him; he could not believe it, but he was aware of it. Just his luck, now he owed him one. He pushed the thought out of his head for the moment; the Snitch was heading up out of the trench and back to the open field. He followed it, so close he could almost see the intricate carvings that decorated it. Holding onto the broom tightly, he reached out an arm…

WHAM!

The mad Bludger came out of nowhere, smashing into his outstretched arm. There was a horrible snapping sound as his arm bent back at an odd angle. The pain was excruciating, but Harry somehow managed to ignore it, wrapping the now useless arm painfully around the broom before reaching out with the other arm. He made a mad grab for the Snitch, and he felt the ball in his hand just before he slipped off the broom, falling straight for the ground.

Harry tucked in on himself, protecting both his injured arm and the hand that held the Snitch as he landed on the sandy ground near a semi-conscious Malfoy. He recovered his bearings a moment, holding up the Snitch so Madam Hooch could see it and declare the match a win for Gryffindor. The whistle rang throughout the stadium, and Harry turned his attention to the pale boy, shaking his shoulder slightly.

"Hey, you all right?" he asked. Malfoy looked up at him, bleary-eyed, kind of looking like Harry felt at that moment.

"D'ya get it?" he asked, a bit drowsily. Harry showed him the Snitch and he grunted, as if he was not pleased that Gryffindor won, but grateful the insane match was over all the same. He sat up slightly, nursing his own broken arm.

"What a rush," he commented, a bit breathlessly.

"Unh-hunh," Harry agreed as their teams came rushing toward them, the Gryffindor team with the added bonus of his friends. Someone from each team tried to lift their respective seekers, but each of them let out a shout of pain, and the effort was quickly abandoned. There was a clicking sound coming from somewhere, followed by a flash.

"Colin, don't take a picture of this," Harry called out dryly.

"Move aside, everyone, move aside!" an annoyingly cheery voice rang out over the crowd. Everyone parted, to reveal the last person Harry wanted to see. His face went almost as pale as Malfoy's.

"No, not you!" he exclaimed.

Gilderoy Lockhart laughed. "The boy doesn't know what he's saying," he declared cheekily, taking out his wand. "Now, boys. Stay very still while I mend your bones."

Both Harry and Malfoy winced and turned away as Lockhart started waving his wand about flamboyantly. He uttered some words, and suddenly their arms felt quite strange. They turned back toward their arms at the odd feeling, and Malfoy let out a shout of horror.

"You bloody moron!" he shouted.

Harry could do nothing but stare, and try not to be sick. Sticking out of their robes were what looked like fleshy rubber gloves. Lockhart had not mended their broken bones… he had removed them!

"Ah, yes… Well that can sometimes happen," Lockhart said rather uneasily.

"Bullshit!" someone that sounded like Seto shouted from somewhere.

The professor bit his lip. "Eheh… Well, the point is, the bones aren't broken anymore. That's something to keep in mind."

"They're not even there," Malfoy growled.

Lockhart was really nervous now. "Well… heh… Remarkably flexible, isn't it?"

Both Malfoy and Harry looked like they were going to kill him.

-.oOOo.-

Yugi was always the quiet type; the kind that never got really mad at anyone unless he and his friends were threatened. So, needless to say, seeing the small Japanese boy standing there with his hands on his hips and his face scrunched up in a scowl was a bit of a surprise. The focus of this show of unusual emotion was directed toward the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, whom he was trying to give the illusion he was towering over. It was not working though, as he was just too short.

"I'll say it again, Mr. Mutou," Madam Pomfrey said, her voice strained. "Mr. Potter needs to rest. And he won't get any rest with his friends around!"

"And I'll say it again too!" Yugi exclaimed, extremely out of character. "You said so yourself: Harry-kun's got thirty-three bones to regrow! I don't know about you, but if I woke up in the middle of the night with a bunch of bones growing in my arm, I'd want a friend nearby to distract me from the pain!"

Madam Pomfrey gave up at that, throwing her hands up in the air and stalking back toward her desk. Yugi plopped into a chair, frustrated, as Harry chuckled a bit. The younger boy was lying out on a bed, what was left of his arm held up in a sling. Malfoy – who had been shouting "I'll kill that pompous idiot!" and "Wait till my father hears of this!" the whole way to the infirmary – was lying in his own bed across the way, strangely quiet and looking like he was lost in thought.

"Ne, Harry-kun?" Yugi began. "You want to have a quick duel?"

Harry laughed. "Is that all you ever think about?"

Yugi smiled, sticking out his tongue slightly as he took his and Harry's decks out from his pocket. He shuffled the two decks as Harry used his good arm to pull a tray between them, positioning it so he could keep his hand cards on his lap and Yugi would not be able to see them. The duel started right away, and was going well enough. Neither of them had gotten an edge on the other, but about halfway through Harry's eyes started to droop. After that, Yugi took his cards away and pushed him back on the bed despite his protests, tucking him in for the rest of the night.

"Hey, Yugi," Harry began. "Just curious. Who is it that always wins those tournaments?"

Yugi smiled. "Panseru and I work together as a team," he explained. "When one doesn't know a way out of a situation, the other takes over to help. Although, he's almost always the one in control during a match; it throws people off."

"Panseru?" he asked. "Is that Yami Yugi's real name?"

Yugi nodded, and Harry smiled tiredly.

"Sounds like Pandora," he said, halfway at sleep's door. "You opened Pandora's box and assembled the 'Hope' within. Very cool."

With that said, Harry was out like a light, leaving Yugi with his face scrunched up in thought. In all that time he had had the Millennium Puzzle and had Yami Yugi within him, he had never even thought of it that way. Maybe if he had, he would have been able to get a better idea of how much trouble he would be in. He sighed, and was about to plop into the bed next to him to get some sleep himself, when another tired voice came from across the way.

"Oy… Mutou."

Yugi looked over to Malfoy in surprise, forgetting that he was stuck there as well. He was also surprised that the pale boy had used his real name, instead of calling him "starfish-head" like he normally did. Maybe it was because of the shock of loosing the bones in his arm, maybe it was because he was tired; either way, Yugi did not expect Malfoy to call him by his name when he woke up the next morning. He went over to the side of his bed.

"What is it, Malfoy?" he asked, trying to keep his tone as neutral as the look on the other boy's face.

"That game you play… is it fun?" Malfoy asked.

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "Yes, quite fun. You probably wouldn't like it; it's a muggle game."

Malfoy shrugged slightly. "Maybe I would like it."

With that, he too had fallen fast asleep, leaving a very confused Yugi as the only one awake. After a moment of staring at the pale blonde boy, he shook his head before going back over to the bed by Harry.

"Weird," he muttered, before pulling off his boots and collapsing into bed.

-.oOOo.-

Marik sat up in bed that night, all ready knowing that he would not be able to see the inside of his eyelids after everything that had happened. Having nothing else better to do, he reached over to his nightstand, taking out the package that contained the Millennium Tauk from where he had hid it after the Quidditch match. He took the Item out and stared at it, as if it would tell him why his sister had sent it to him.

Coincidentally, he caught sight of a note scrunched up inside the packaging the Item had been in. He took it and smoothed it out, instantly recognizing his sister's neat print.

Dear Otouto,

I talked to Shadi recently, and he informed me
that his Millennium Items were no longer working
for him. Needless to say, I was rather surprised,
especially considering the drastic switch that
occurred with the Items that the four of you possess.

I can't help but wonder if the Items are choosing
new owners for themselves. Marik, I want you to
find out if this is true. Find out if the Tauk has
decided on a new master; Shadi said he would see
if the Scale and the Ankh had chosen new owners
his own way.

I'll send another owl if I find anything else out.
Until then, good luck in Quidditch, and keep your
studies up.

Isis

Marik stared at the note, a queasy feeling creeping up in his stomach. It could not have been a coincidence; Yugi was right when he said the Items were choosing new owners. Now, the only problem was which Millennium Item went to whom? The Tauk had obviously reacted to someone in the school, but who knew where the new owners of the Scale and Ankh were. Also, considering that Shadi was looking for the new owners "his own way", well… Marik did not have anything against the Egyptian, it was just that his track record was less than stellar, so to speak.

Marik let out a frustrated sigh, falling back into bed. So many questions, not enough answers.

-.oOOo.-

Unfortunately, Yugi's sweet dreams of winning Duel Monsters tournaments were interrupted by an angry shout not all that long after he fell asleep. He opened his eyes slightly, looking over to Harry's bed to see that the younger boy had a lanky green elf dressed in an old pillowcase by the throat, and it looked like he was going to strangle the poor creature. Yugi sprang up in bed in the next instant, catching their attention.

"Harry-kun, what are you doing!" he hissed, keeping his voice down so as not to wake Malfoy, or worse, Madam Pomfrey.

Harry thrust out the elf. "Remember I said that a house elf warned me against coming to Hogwarts this year?"

Yugi nodded; he had mentioned it one day back during the summer, when they were at the Weasley house. Harry dropped the elf to the floor.

"Meet Dobby," he introduced, the tone in his voice indicating that meeting the house elf was not a good thing. Dobby the house elf bowed to Yugi rather clumsily.

"Oh, 'tis an honor to be introduced to such an esteemed friend of Harry Potter's," he said.

"Er… you're welcome?" Yugi replied, but Dobby was not paying attention. He had turned back to Harry again, an insistent look on his pitiful face.

"Harry Potter must leave Hogwarts!" he exclaimed, both boys urging him to lower his voice. "Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay at Hogwarts, now that history is about to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is opened once more –"

Dobby cut himself off, a look of abject horror on his face. He went over as if to pound his head on the footboard of Harry's bed, but the young wizard grabbed him by the ears, hauling him up to his eye level.

"So there is a Chamber of Secrets?" he asked, fighting to keep his voice down. "And it's been opened before! When? Tell us Dobby!"

"Dobby is bad… Dobby is very bad…" was the only response they got out of the house elf. Yugi took over then, gripping the elf by the shoulders.

"C'mon, Dobby!" he whispered. "Why's Harry gotta leave Hogwarts?" He gulped. "He's not the one here that's muggle born!"

"Sir, ask no more of Dobby," the elf pleaded. "Dangerous deeds are planned in this place. Harry Potter must go home."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Harry hissed. "Half of my friends are muggle born. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I went off to hide and just left them here!"

That brought tears to Dobby's eyes. "Oh, Harry Potter is braver than they say!" he exclaimed. "Risking himself to save his friends! So noble, so valiant!"

"Will you lower your voice!" Yugi hissed, looking around, almost expecting Madam Pomfrey to appear at any moment.

The nurse did not appear, however, they did catch the sound of hurried footsteps rushing toward the infirmary. Dobby disappeared from Yugi's hands, but neither of them really noticed as they dived for their beds, plopping down in them and pretending to still be asleep. Not a moment too soon, either; Dumbledore came into view, holding one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared shortly after, holding the feet, and with a grunt of effort, the two of them managed to lift the object onto a bed.

"Get Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore ordered, and McGonagall scrambled off to comply, rushing past Yugi and Harry's beds. Neither of them dared to even breath as she returned a moment later with the nurse, afraid of what would happen if they were caught awake.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked, looking down at the statue in dismay.

"Another attack," Dumbledore replied dismally. "We found some grapes around him. He was probably on his way here to visit Mr. Potter."

Both Yugi and Harry paled, almost afraid to see who it was. They both sat up slightly in bed, catching a ray of moonlight that fell directly on the face of what they previously assumed was a statue.

It was Colin Creevey, his eyes wide and a look of horror on his face. His arms were stuck out before him, clutching his camera as if he were trying to take a picture with it. The two of them exchanged looks, hardly believing what they were seeing.

"Maybe he took a picture of his attacker," McGonagall suggested as Dumbledore wrenched the camera from Colin's stony grasp. The elderly headmaster opened up the casing, only to have a gigantic spark burst out from the back. From where they were lying, Harry and Yugi caught the distinct smell of burnt plastic.

"Melted," Dumbledore announced, setting the remains of the camera on the stand next to Colin's bed.

"Albus, what does this all mean?" McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore sighed. "It means, Minerva, that the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened once more."

Yugi slapped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from gasping aloud. Dobby was right; not only was there a Chamber of Secrets, but also it had been opened previously!

"Who could have done this?" Madam Pomfrey asked, but Dumbledore shook his head.

"The question is not who. The question is how…"

Harry and Yugi could only stare at the professors, frozen in shock. Little did they know, that they were not the only ones who had witnessed the disturbing conversation…