Yu-Gi-Oh!
Balance

CHAPTER THREE – THE DEMENTOR

Yugi gradually awoke the next morning, but he did not open his eyes. He knew he should get moving, after all, the Ministry was providing them with transportation to King's Cross station, and they had to be there before eleven to catch the train that would take them to Hogwarts for their third year. However, he just could not bring himself to move. It was so comfortable, curled up against something soft and warm (probably his blankets), that he just did not want to move.

Just then, he caught the sound of hushed whispers close by, as if the people in question were right next to him.

"Don't you think we should wake them up?" That was Bakura.

"No way!" his other half hissed, trying hard to conceal a laugh. "I think we should go get a camera. I could use this for blackmail later on."

"I'm sure it was an accident," came Yami Seto's terse reply.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Marik responded, trying to suppress a laugh. "Next thing you're going to say is he fell out of the Puzzle in that position."

"It does look a little… questionable," Seto agreed.

"Am I the only one who's on Bakura's side in this? Harry? Draco?" That was Yami Seto again.

"Um… no comment," Harry whispered.

"I dunno," Draco said thoughtfully. "He's always calling him 'aibou' right? Isn't 'ai' the Japanese word for 'love'?"

"Yeah, but 'aibou' means 'partner'," Marik corrected. "Though, you do have a good point. First time I heard him call Yugi aibou, he totally blushed."

"Uh-oh, he's waking up…"

Total silence reigned for a good minute after Bakura's announcement, after which Yugi heard a strangled gasp. He opened his eyes and had to bite back his own shout of surprise. What he had previously mistaken for his blankets that he was curled up against was in fact, his other half. Yami Yugi's normally narrow eyes were wide with shock; he had his arm draped over his hikari, as if he had been holding him tightly throughout the whole night.

It took two seconds for their shocked and sleep fogged brains to compute what they had just opened their eyes to. After that time, they both let out a yelp of surprise and jumped violently away from each other. They got tangled in the bed sheets, however, and ended up tumbling to the floor on opposite sides of the bed with a painful 'thunk'. This was soon followed by two more thuds to the floor; Yami Bakura and Marik were literally rolling on the floor, laughing so hard it looked like their heads were going to fall off.

Harry went to help Yugi to his feet while Yami Seto helped his cousin stand.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked. "How'd that happen?"

Yugi looked down where, around his neck, the Millennium Puzzle was dangling. Apparently, even though Harry had interrupted his sleep, he had still forgotten to take the Puzzle off before he went back to bed. That had never happened before – he always took it off before he went to sleep – but he never expected something like that to happen.

"I dunno," Yugi answered truthfully. "Probably because I fell asleep with the Puzzle on."

Meanwhile, Yami Bakura was still sniggering. He started in a quiet sing-song voice, "Panseru and Yugi, sittin' in a tree; F-U-C –"

"Finish that, tomb robber," Yami Yugi interrupted, "and I swear you'll be doing the backstroke in the Shadow Realm before you can start the next verse."

-.oOOo.-

The ride to King's Cross was quiet, cramped, and rather unmemorable. It was not long before they all found themselves on the Hogwarts Express once again. Ron had sent his sister away, the twins had gone off with their friend Lee Jordan, and Percy had disappeared into a private compartment with his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater. That left Yugi, Seto, Bakura, Marik, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco to find a compartment for themselves that was big enough to fit everyone. The only available place on the train, however, already had a raggedy scrap of a man lying across some of the seats, fast asleep.

Seto raised an eyebrow at the sight of him. "Don't they have homeless shelters for people like him?"

Hermione elbowed him. "Don't say that, Seto! He's a professor!"

He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. "How do you know?"

"It says so on his bag."

She pointed to where a fairly large carryall was shoved up on the luggage rack. Clearly visible was the name Professor R. J. Lupin stamped on the front. Seto frowned, wondering how someone half his height had seen that while he missed it.

"I wonder what he teaches?" Ron asked.

"Well, there's only one opening is there?" Harry replied. "Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Don't forget Ancient Egyptian Magic," Marik added. "We don't know who's teaching that class. Besides, this guy looks like one good hex would put him out."

"I dunno," Yugi said, a bit of a sour note in his voice. "I think I already have an idea as to who will be teaching that class…"

Before anyone could ask him what he meant by that, Hermione's other half, Aishisu, took that moment to appear. She yawned, stretching her arms up toward the ceiling.

"I'm sorry, my light," she said, looking truly apologetic. "I overslept again, didn't I?"

"Way overslept," Hermione replied tersely, sitting down in a seat. Crookshanks quickly curled up on her lap, eyeing Ron's pocket where Scabbers was visibly shaking. The other Egyptian spirits took that moment to appear, and Draco pointed to where Yugi and Yami Yugi were standing together.

"I thought these two were bad," he said, sitting down next to Hermione, only to quickly get pushed out of it by Marik. "You honestly slept till eleven o' clock?"

Aishisu rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed. "Well, I can't help it," she said. "It's nice not having to wake up as soon as the sun does because it's so bright."

"Well, you don't have to worry about the sun today," Bakura commented dryly, going over to the window. Outside, rain buffeted the train as it swept past towns and farms, and the cloudy sky overhead totally blocked any traces of light from the sun. "Any idea when this lousy weather is going to let up?" he continued, taking a seat for himself.

"Hopefully before we get to the station," Seto commented. "I'd feel sorry for those first years if they had to go across the lake in a storm like this."

While everyone had been talking, Aishisu and Yami Yugi had retreated to a private corner in the cramped compartment, and were talking softly to one another. Marik raised an eyebrow at that.

"Hey, Yugi," he began. "You don't think… Aishisu and Yami Yugi…?"

Yugi looked over to where the two spirits were talking, a strange feeling coming over him. Was that… jealously? Nah, it could not be.

"Oh, no, definitely not," Hermione answered for him. "Just because two people talk to each other a lot, doesn't mean they're an item, Marik."

She added emphasis to that by poking him in the chest. He rubbed the spot she poked him in, a bit of a frown on his face.

"Hey, I'm just saying," he objected. "You never know. Stuff like this could happen. Just look at me and you."

Yami Bakura snickered at that. "Cradle robber…"

Marik glared. "Better that than a tomb robber."

The tomb robber just smirked. "Don't you know the saying? Thirteen will get you fifteen…?"

Marik looked like he was going to kill him for that. Fortunately, Yami Seto took that opportunity to whack the tomb robber over the head with the Millennium Rod.

"Knock it off, bakayarou," he warned. Yami Bakura rubbed his head painfully, glaring at the high priest, but other than that, he did not do anything else.

The day wore on. In the cramped compartment they all occupied, those who were not talking were dueling each other. Marik had a five game winning streak going on before he went up against Yugi and lost miserably (Hermione had to comfort him after that one). Meanwhile, outside the train, the rain got steadily worse as it continued to travel north. The sky was almost as black as midnight, the clouds overhead refusing to let a single ray of light from the sun through.

Though Professor Lupin did take up most of the sitting room they had in the compartment, he did have his uses. About mid afternoon, the door was violently shoved open, revealing Ecillia, Crabbe, and Goyle on the other side. She smiled in a sort of mockingly sweet manner.

"Why, hello again, Draco honey," she said. "I'm sure you remember your old friends Crabbe and Goyle."

If looks could kill, then the look Draco was giving her would have melted her on the spot. Crabbe and Goyle, in the meantime, had mean looks on their dumb faces, as if they were ready to jump out and do her bidding. Seto looked up from his laptop, an annoyed look on his face.

"Why don't you just get lost?" he demanded, a cold edge in his voice.

"Why don't you just shut up, you filthy mud blood," Ecillia returned, an equally cold note to her voice.

Yami Seto sprung up from his seat next to his hikari, an enraged look on his face. Yami Yugi and Aishisu held him back, however, as he started to advance on her. Ecillia laughed, amused as the high priest tried to break away from the two of them. That was when she caught sight of Lupin, still sleeping away despite the commotion they were causing.

"Who the devil is that?" she demanded, eyeing the professor's shabby clothes.

"New teacher," Draco answered, a bit of a smirk on his face. "You were saying, Ecillia?"

Apparently, even she was not stupid enough to pick a fight in front of a professor. Her, Crabbe, and Goyle quickly disappeared from the compartment, and Bakura got up and shut the door.

"Never fails," Marik commented dryly. "Every time someone defects over to the good guys, there's always another bad guy ready to pick up the slack."

"You speak as if from experience," Harry commented, starting up a game of Duel Monsters with Ron. Marik just rubbed the back of his neck.

"Heh, we won't go there," he said. He still refused to tell Hermione that he had been the leader of GHOULS, a criminal organization that was known for stealing rare cards and their almost flawless forging.

A few hours passed, with the rain still beating steadily outside, when the train started to slow. Ron looked outside, trying to see if they were at the school. However, the rain outside shielded him from any kind of clear view. Seto checked his watch.

"We can't be at the school yet," he said. "Besides, my computer would have shut off when we passed the barrier around the school."

Yugi, closest to the door, got up to take a look outside their compartment and see if anyone knew what was happening. Before he could get to it, however, the train came to a stop with a sudden and violent jolt, sending him flying back to land on his other half's lap. Yami Bakura was about to let out a rude noise, but the lights snapping off stopped him.

"What's going on?" came Ron's voice.

There came a terrified sound that sounded like it was from Bakura, and Yami Bakura groaned.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark, hikari," he growled.

"No, of course not," Bakura whimpered. "Just the stuff that lurks in the dark. Besides, something brushed against my leg."

"That was probably Crookshanks," Hermione said, disapprovingly. "I'm going to ask the driver what's going on."

Harry could barely make her out as she got up and started toward the door. Just as she reached it, there was a sudden yelp of pain.

"Hermione, that was my foot!" Yami Seto exclaimed.

"Oh, it's not like I broke anything," she replied.

"Yeah, but it still hurt," the high priest protested.

"Grow up, mou hitori no boku," Seto muttered.

"I'll remember that next time you get hurt," Yami Seto grumbled.

"Quiet!" someone suddenly snapped.

A light flickered into existence, revealing the very tired face of Professor Lupin. Despite the look on his face, his eyes were alert.

"Stay here," he ordered them, heading for the door.

It slid open before Lupin could get to it, and what was on the other side got a strangled gasp out of Marik. Illuminated by the dim light in the professor's hand was a tall, terrifying creature completely covered in a black cloak. The only part of its body that was visible was a gnarled hand, slimy and scabbed over, as if whatever was under the cloak had decayed long ago. Next came a rasping sound, as if the creature had taken in a large breath, trying to suck in more than just the air.

It was then that a sudden chill fell over everyone in the compartment. Harry felt his own breath catch in his chest; a deep feeling of hopelessness and despair seemed to penetrate his very soul. His eyes rolled up into his head as a rumbling sound reached his ears, as if a rush of water was coming toward him. The rumbling grew louder, and then was broken by a loud, pleading scream. Harry tried to help the person, but he could not move. A thick fog had surrounded him, suffocating him, cutting him off from helping anyone or anything…

"Harry-kun! Harry-kun! Diajobou desu ka!"

Someone was slapping his face.

"Marik, I don't think he understands what you said…" Bakura interjected.

Harry opened his eyes to see Marik and Bakura standing over him. Both of them were paler than normal, though Bakura looked better off than Marik. The Hogwarts Express was moving once again, and the lights had returned to normal. The two boys helped Harry sit up, giving him a chance to look around at the others. Yugi was curled up on Yami Yugi's lap, crying slightly, while the pharaoh looked a little shaken. Seto and Yami Seto were gripping the armrests of the chairs they were in, breathing hard, as if they had just finished running a marathon. Aishisu was hovering over Hermione, who was so pale, she looked like she could pass for one of the Hogwarts' ghosts. Ron and Draco were pale as well, but Yami Bakura looked the most affected. He had a totally blank look on his face, as if he had seen something that had penetrated his very soul.

There was a sudden cracking sound above them. Harry looked up to see Professor Lupin breaking up a large piece of chocolate. He handed him the biggest piece.

"Here, eat this," he urged. "It will help you shake off the effects."

Harry looked down at his piece, but did not eat it.

"What was that thing?" he asked.

"A dementor," Lupin answered. "One of the guards of Azkaban."

Everyone stared up at him, except Yugi, who still had his head buried in his other half's chest. Lupin crumpled up the chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket.

"Eat it," he told them. "I need to go speak to the driver."

Lupin left the compartment, leaving them to their thoughts of what happened. Harry looked around, confused.

"I don't understand," he began. "What happened?"

"Th… the dementors… they have a terrible ability," Draco began between mouthfuls of chocolate. "They suck all positive thoughts from around them, leaving a person with only thoughts of despair. This is why they are the guards of the wizard's prison of Azkaban. Constant exposure to such creatures eventually drains a wizard of all their abilities and drives them insane."

He paused a moment, fingering the last bit of chocolate before popping it into his mouth. He swallowed before continuing, "My mother's sister, Ecillia's mother, was convicted of being a Death Eater, and was sentenced to life in Azkaban. My mother would visit her every other month, and each time she would come home shivering."

Silence reigned in the compartment, and it was a long moment before someone spoke again.

"I… I saw…" Yugi began. "I saw Jonouchi… I saw him dying again."

Marik looked down at him, sadly, a tear rolling down his cheek. He swiped it away furiously, before anyone could notice. Yami Yugi, in the meantime, tightened his grip on his hikari. He looked up at Yami Bakura, just daring him to make a comment, but the tomb robber still had that blank look on his face.

Yami Yugi's eyes drifted away in thought. Those dementor things, for some people, it must have made them see the most horrifying experience of their life. For his hikari, seeing Jonouchi die because of God of Ra's attack back in Battle City was the most traumatizing thing that could have ever happened to him. If this was the case, Yami Yugi could only imagine how terrifying the thing the tomb robber had seen could have been.

-.oOOo.-

They did not talk much throughout the rest of the trip, the arrival of the dementor totally ruining their good mood over going back to school. After the train arrived at the station and everyone disembarked, the eight of them split up into two groups of four and climbed into carriages pulled by invisible horses (though Marik and Yugi kept insisting that there was something there). The carriages took them across the bridge that connected the main land to the island on which Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stood on, its tall spires reaching up toward the sky.

They passed a set of iron wrought gates, and Yugi felt another wave of cold wash over him. He looked out and saw that two dementors were standing guard on either side of the gate. Collapsing into his seat, he closed his eyes, trying to fight away the image that threatened to come to his awareness again until the coldness left and the feeling of despair vanished.

Seto shook his head. "What is it you said about 'increased security', Yugi?" he asked.

Yugi glowered at him. "Not funny, Seto-kun."

"They didn't really affect me that much," Bakura said thoughtfully. Marik smirked.

"Probably because with the tomb robber around, you're already miserable," he commented. Bakura just rolled his eyes, before Marik continued, "Either way, you're lucky that they didn't affect you that much." He looked down at his hands. "I saw a lot of things… my father dying… when Rishid…"

He broke off, biting his lower lip. They were silent for a long moment.

"I saw the first time Gonzarou beat my otouto," Seto stated. Everyone turned to him in surprise, caught off guard that he would reveal something like that. "It was a few weeks after he adopted us," he continued, not meeting their gazes. "Since the day that he adopted us, I was forced to study almost non-stop with several tutors; denied sleep, food, or even the chance to see my otouto until I was done. One time, I skipped out on my lessons, and Mokuba and I hid in the gardens so we could play for the first time since we left the orphanage." He paused a moment, swallowing painfully. "We were found, and Gonzarou tied me to a chair while he had my otouto hanging from the ceiling by his wrists." He paused again, his fists clenched. "He beat him with a kendo stick until his back was bleeding. Then, he turned to me and said that every time I went against his orders, he would beat him in front of me, and each time would be worse than the last." Seto closed his eyes. "That's one of the reasons I can never forgive Gonzarou."

Silence fell over their carriage once again, until it pulled up to a halt at the steps of Hogwarts Castle. The four of them climbed out to rejoin Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco on the stone steps of the school.

"You fainted, Potter?" a voice rang out over the crowd of students. "Is it really true? You fainted!"

Harry turned around, glaring, as Ecillia, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed their way toward them. Ecillia let out a mocking laugh at the look on his face, as if he was just something that she could just stamp under her heel.

"Shove off, Ecillia," Draco growled.

"Oh, did you faint too, Draco dear?" she asked, a predatory look on her face.

"Is there a problem?" asked a mild voice. Everyone turned to see Professor Lupin coming out of a carriage, staring down at Ecillia disapprovingly.

"Um… no, professor," she jeered, before disappearing into the crowd once again.

"Bloody bitch," Draco muttered under his breath.

No one was willing to disagree with that.

-.oOOo.-

Yugi, Ron, Draco, and Marik sat comfortably at the Gryffindor table, waiting patiently for the opening year feast to start. Harry and Hermione joined them shortly; they had been called away by Professor McGonagall for some reason, and had missed the Sorting Ceremony. When they were about to ask them what it was all about, Dumbledore stood up from his seat at the professor's table.

"Welcome!" the elderly headmaster exclaimed, his twinkling eyes taking in the whole of the Great Hall. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few announcements, and as one of them is very serious, I find it wise to tell you before your minds become befuddled by our excellent feast.

"As you are all aware of after their search of the train, our castle is being host to some of the dementors of Azkaban due to some Ministry of Magic business."

He paused a moment then, and Harry got the distinct impression that having the creatures at the school did not thrill the headmaster. After what had happened, it was not hard to see why.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I strongly urge that no one is to leave the grounds unless they have permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises… or invisibility cloaks," Dumbledore added, a bland note in his voice. The six Gryffindors exchanged sheepish looks. "It is not in the nature of dementors to understand pleading or excuses, so it is imperative that you do nothing to provoke them."

Dumbledore's gaze drifted about the Hall, making sure this sunk in to everyone's skulls before he continued.

"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome three new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause at that. The school had not had a good track record as far as Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers were concerned. Though, according to Hermione, he had chased off the dementor on the train, so that put him in a good light as far as Harry was concerned.

"Secondly," Dumbledore continued. "Well, I am sorry to report that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures professor, has decided to retire in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to tell you that this position has been filled up by our very own Rubeus Hagrid."

The applause at that was tumultuous, especially from the Gryffindor table.

"We should've known!" Draco exclaimed. "Who else would have assigned a biting book!"

It took awhile for the applause to die down. Hagrid was wiping his eyes on the tablecloth, ecstatic over their reactions to his new appointment, as Dumbledore continued his speech.

"And lastly," he began, "as you may all have noticed, a new course had been added to the elective choices last year, known as Ancient Egyptian Magic. Here to teach that class is Professor Shadi."

Dumbledore waved to a man sitting at the end of the table, aloft from the other teachers. He was wearing sand stained white robes and a white turban, and a golden Ankh was hanging from around his neck. Marik fought back a gasp as polite applause went through the Hall. Yugi just rested his head on his hand, not surprised. He had been expecting it ever since he got that note from Ron over the summer.

See, I told you so, he told Yami Yugi within his mind. The pharaoh just sighed.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance," Dumbledore declared. "Let the feast begin!"