Yu-Gi-Oh!
Balance
CHAPTER FOUR – TEA LEAVES AND CHALLENGES
Classes, as usual, began right away the next day. Immediately after breakfast, everyone in their group of friends, with the exception of Bakura, had Divination all the way up on the top floor of the North Tower. They had to sprint to make it up there in time, following the directions of a loony knight from a painting they had encountered along the way. When they finally arrived, however, most of the rest of the class was already assembled. Yugi doubled over, holding onto his knees in an effort to stay up right.
"So… where's… the class… room?" he asked, gaping for breath.
Seto, the only one who was not out of breath, looked up. A circular trap door was embedded in the ceiling, with a shining brass plaque on it that said, "Sibyll Trelawney, Divination teacher".
"Okay…" Marik commented, looking up as well. "And how are we supposed to get up there?"
As if in response, the trap door slid up and open, and a silvery ladder descended to greet them. Silence fell over the group as Ron turned to Harry, a grin on his face.
"After you," he insisted.
Harry rolled his eyes, before grabbing a rung and heading on up.
The room he arrived in had to be the strangest classroom in the whole castle. To be truthful, it did not even look like a classroom at all, but more like an old teashop. In place of desks where about twenty round tables, surrounded by armchairs or over stuffed poufs. The room was dimly lit, and the smell of incense was overpowering.
Draco suddenly appeared at his shoulder as the rest of the class gathered behind him.
"Okay, so where is she?" he asked.
A soft, misty voice came out of the darkness at the foot of the room in reply. "Welcome, all. How nice to see you in the physical world at last."
Yugi's first impression of the person that emerged was that of something out of Insector Haga's deck. Professor Trelawney was a very thin old woman, with large glasses that magnified her eyes to nearly ten times their normal size and a large, gaudy shawl. Various rings and other such baubles encrusted her neck, arms, and hands.
"Sit, my children, sit," she insisted, herself sitting down in an odd winged chair.
The rest of the class went for seats as well. Seto, Yugi, Harry, Ron, Draco, Hermione, and Marik all managed to fit themselves around one table. Marik edged his armchair a little closer to Hermione's, while Yugi attempted to sit on a pouf. The one he chose, however, was a little squishier than the others, and he ended up sinking right through to the point where only his legs could be seen. Seto pulled him out as the class started laughing hysterically, and switched seats with him.
Professor Trelawney glanced at their table, not looking the least bit amused, before addressing the class as a whole.
"Welcome to Divination," she began. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."
Hermione rolled her eyes at that, as if she knew better. Though, Marik consented, with Aishisu as her other half, she probably did.
"So, you have chosen to study Divination," Professor Trelawney continued, "the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can only take you so far in this field."
At these words, everyone at their table glanced at Seto and Hermione, who both seemed appalled that they would not be able to get this class out of a textbook.
"The Gift," the professor continued, "is granted to a few, and can be a blessing and a curse. You, boy!" she exclaimed suddenly, pointing dramatically to Yugi.
He gulped, pointing to himself as if to say, "Who, me?"
"Yes, you," she answered his unasked question. "Is your grandfather well?"
"Last time I checked," Yugi replied, wondering where this was going.
"I wouldn't be so sure, if I were you," the professor replied delicately. "Oh, and you might want to tell your other half to be more honest with himself."
He felt a sudden warmth coming from Yami Yugi's Soul Room, as if he were blushing. A sheepish look crossed Yugi's face as he sat back in his chair, trying to hide away from the professor.
"We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year," Professor Trelawney continued, as if nothing had happened. "The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear –" She suddenly turned her focus to Parvati Patil – "beware a red-haired man."
Parvati shot an alarmed look to Ron behind her, before edging her chair away from him.
"In the second term," the professor went on again, "we shall progress to the crystal ball – if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of the flu. I myself will loose my voice. One among us will have to return home to tend to a younger muggle brother, and around Easter, one shall leave us forever."
An uneasy silence fell over the class, while Yugi and Marik shot Seto an alarmed look. After all, how many people in the class had a younger brother that was not already at Hogwarts?
"I wonder, dear," she said to Lavender Brown, who shrunk back in her chair, "could you pass me the large silver teapot?"
Lavender let out a sigh of relief, before getting up and taking a teapot from one of the many shelves in the room and setting it before the professor.
"Thank you, dear. Incidentally, that thing you're dreading: it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October."
Lavender let out a squeak of fear.
"Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of Unfogging the Future. I shall move among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear –" She caught Neville's arm as he went to stand up – "after you've broken your first cup, would you kindly take one of the blue patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."
The class went up to get their cups, and sure enough, Neville dropped his almost immediately. Professor Trelawney handed him a dustpan and brush. As he started to clean up the mess, Ron tugged on Harry's sleeve.
"I'm gonna pair with Neville," he said. "Just so he doesn't break anything else. She's starting to freak me out."
Once everyone got their cups and had them filled, they all returned to their respective tables, with Ron going over to sit next to Neville. They tried to do what Professor Trelawney instructed, though drinking the tea was a bit difficult ("Needs sugar," Marik insisted, to which Hermione replied, "Like you need any more sugar."). Once the cups were drained, Yugi and Seto swapped cups.
"Okay, so…" Yugi trailed off as he looked for the page they needed. "What do you see in mine?"
"A load of soggy brown gunk," Seto replied, rubbing his eyes. The atmosphere in the room seemed to be distinctly made to make people feel slow and stupid. Yugi stifled a giggle.
"C'mon, be serious."
"Right, right," Seto replied, trying to pull himself together. He looked back and forth from the book open before them and the cup. "That looks like it could be the sun… that means 'great happiness'. There's a surprise. That seems to be some kind of flower… no, a rose, a 'promise of deep romance'." He raised an eyebrow. "Who have you been seeing behind our backs?"
Yugi blushed bright red. "No one! Geeze!"
Meanwhile, Harry and Draco were laboring over each other's cup.
"Erm… that looks like a hammer," the former said, before consulting his book. "'A confrontation'. Sorry about that."
"That's okay, you've got something like that too," Draco replied. He frowned then. "What the heck is that thing…?"
"Allow me, dear," Professor Trelawney said, suddenly appearing behind them and making him jump. She snatched Harry's cup from him, and everyone went quiet as she turned it about in her hand. "The falcon," she declared after a long pause. "My dear, you have a deadly enemy."
"But everyone knows that," Hermione stressed. The professor stared at her. "Well, they do. Everybody knows about Harry and You-Know-Who."
Marik stared at her, a bit of surprise on his face. He had never heard her talk back to a teacher like that before. Professor Trelawney ignored her, however, turning back to Harry's cup.
"Let's see… the club, an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup… The skull, danger in you path, my dear…"
The professor suddenly screamed, startling everyone else in the class. There was a double tinkling of china; Neville had dropped his cup, and when Ron went to save it, he ended up knocking over his cup as well. Professor Trelawney in the meantime, sunk into a vacant chair, a horrified look on her face.
"My dear boy… my poor, dear boy… no… it is kinder not to say… no, don't ask me…"
Of course, someone had to ask. "What is it, professor?" Dean Thomas asked.
Professor Trelawney leaned toward Harry; her huge eyes open dramatically. "My dear, you have the Grim!"
That did not have quite the effect on him the she had been hoping for. "What's that?" he asked.
"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" the professor howled. "The giant, spectral dog that haunts graveyards! My dear boy, it is an omen! An omen of death!"
Harry visibly gulped. Everyone was looking at him, except for Hermione, who had went around to the back of Professor Trelawney's chair, glancing over at the cup still clutched in her hand.
"I don't think it looks like a Grim," she said flatly.
The professor glared up at her with growing dislike. "My dear, you'll forgive me for saying so, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, fingering the collar of her sweater, under which the Millennium Tauk was hidden.
"Oh really?" she asked. Marik and Yugi were trying their hardest not to pass out from the howls of laughter they were holding back.
Professor Trelawney dismissed them early, and Harry and the others headed down to their Transfiguration class. Seto said goodbye, heading off past Professor McGonagall's room and off to double Herbology with Hufflepuff for him.
Harry and the others took their seats at the very back of the classroom. The other members of the class that had had Divination that morning kept taking glances back at him, as if they were afraid that he would drop dead any minute. Harry for the most part zoned out, hardly hearing what Professor McGonagall was saying about Animagi – wizards who could transform into animals at will. He did not even see it when she turned herself into a tabby cat with markings around her eyes the same shape as her glasses.
"Well, really!" she exclaimed, turning back into herself with a slight pop. "What has gotten into all of you today?"
Heads turned toward Harry, but no one said anything.
"Erm… McGonagall-sensei," Marik began, "we just had our first Divination lesson and –"
"Ah, yes," Professor McGonagall interrupted. "Say no more, Mr. Ishitar. So, which one of you is going to die this year?"
Everyone stared at her before Harry raised his hand.
"I see," she said, a bit of a sour note in her voice. "Then you should know, Mr. Potter, that Sibyll Trelawney's favorite way to greet students on the first class of the year is to predict the death of one of them. None have died yet. If it's any consolation, you look in excellent health to me, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."
Hermione and the others laughed. Harry had to admit, it was hard to stay moody when Professor McGonagall cracked a joke. It happened so infrequently, after all.
-.oOOo.-
Classes went along without much happening for the first week. Though Harry and the others had been afraid of how Care of Magical Creatures would turn out, they were all surprised when Hagrid started out slow, showing them some things called flobberworms on the first day. Though they were rather boring creatures, everyone agreed that it was a good thing Hagrid had started with them. After all, they had the displeasure of being in the same class as Draco's cousin, Ecillia.
That Thursday night, the Gryffindors out of their group of friends were gathered at their customary spot at their table, with Harry sitting next to Draco, enjoying a hearty dinner before heading to bed for the night. The latter boy was about to chomp down on a chicken leg, when he was suddenly hit from behind, nearly smashing his nose into the food. They all turned around angrily to see Ecillia, Crabbe, and Goyle behind them. Ecillia put a hand over her mouth, a look of mock surprise on her face.
"Oh, so sorry, Draco honey," she said, a little too sweetly. "Didn't see you there."
Draco shot them the best glare he could muster before turning back to his food. Ecillia did not get the hint, however.
"Incidentally, you really looked like you enjoyed those flobberworm things in class, Draco honey," she continued. "Tell me, is it because you could relate to them so well?"
Draco was clutching his chicken leg so hard, it looked like he was going to splinter the bone. Yugi stood up from his seat across the way, a rare angry look on his face.
"Why don't you just leave him alone, Ecillia?" he demanded. "He didn't do anything to you!"
Ecillia looked around a moment, before turning to Crabbe and asking, "Did you hear a noise?"
Marik stood up from his seat next to Hermione, enraged. "Why don't you go bother someone who cares enough to listen to your annoying voice?"
Ecillia made a face, rubbing her ear slightly. "You accuse me of having an annoying voice? Honestly!"
Marik looked like he was going to kill at that. The only thing that stopped him from leaping over the table toward her was Draco standing up, blocking him from getting clean shot. Silence fell over the Hall, and all eyes turned to the tense scene that was suddenly before them. Everyone, including the teachers. Professor McGonagall stalked toward them almost immediately, an irritated look on her face.
"Miss Lestrange, I might have known," she said. "Enough of this. Go to your own table."
"Oh, but, professor, my sweet little cousin was about to show me what kind of a man he is," Ecillia said in that mockingly sweet tone again. "Weren't you, Draco honey?" She smirked then, an odd feral look coming to her face. "Though if you wont say it, I will."
Draco raised an eyebrow, confused. To his surprise, Ecillia pulled a deck of Duel Monsters cards from her robes and started shuffling them.
"Oh, no!" Professor McGonagall objected. "Absolutely not! In case you haven't noticed, Miss Lestrange, it is time for supper, not for child's games."
"Professor."
Everyone looked up to see that Professor Dumbledore had stood up from his seat. He nodded genially to Draco and Ecillia.
"I do believe no one will mind some good evening entertainment, Professor McGonagall," he said. "As it is, I rather see them settle their differences in such a harmless matter, than by using more dangerous means."
With that said, the decision was all up to Draco. He had many reasons not to trust her sincerity; after all, how did Ecillia get her hands on a deck of cards? She hated everything that had to do with the Muggle world as much as he himself once had. Why she would be walking around with a deck of Muggle cards was anyone's guess.
"I challenge you to a duel, Ecillia," he announced in a low, cold voice.
Ecillia just smirked, pulling out a Duel Disk III from her robes. "Now that's a good boy."
With a clap of Dumbledore's hands, the various food and plates on the tables disappeared, vanishing all distractions from the duel. Draco climbed up onto the Gryffindor table before pulling out his own deck and Duel Disk III, the latter of which he had gotten over the summer when he signed up to participate in the third annual Battle City tournament.
As for his deck, he still had some cards left from the original starter deck and boosters Yugi had given him for Christmas last year, but most of them had been traded off for much better cards. His best cards, however, were gifts from the three people who had taught him to duel that summer. Seto had shown up at the Kame Game Shop one day, and just handed him a Diamond Dragon, right out of the blue, and of course he could not forget the time Yugi opened up a booster pack and out fell another Black Magician which, instead of adding to his own deck as one would expect, he handed to Draco instead.
His most powerful cards, however, were from Bakura and Yami Bakura, surprisingly enough. Draco had been watching a duel between Jonouchi and Yugi, scrutinizing their every move so when he tried it for the first time he would not look like too much of an idiot. Bakura had come up to him, handing him an extremely useful Dark Necrophilia card, a card that ended up saving his neck several times during Battle City. Then, Yami Bakura took over his hikari's body and handed him five more cards: the trap card Ouji Board Spirit Message D and the magic cards that went with it, Spirit Messages "E", "A", "T", and "H".
There was no denying it; Draco had a good deck.
He held out his arm with his Duel Disk III on it, ejecting the holographic pods. Students scrambled out of the way as they landed on the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables. Across the way, Ecillia did the same as Draco's companions gathered around on the floor below him.
"Draco-kun, maybe this isn't such a good idea," Bakura said.
"Don't get so heady just because you got third place in Battle City on your first try," Seto warned.
Draco just turned to them and gave them a wink and a thumbs up. "Don't worry about me," he said. "You warm up your pom-poms."
Seto, Marik, Yugi, and Bakura sweatdropped. "We're not cheerleaders, y'know…" Marik replied.
Ecillia put a hand on her hip, a sour look on her face. "Enough stalling all ready!"
Draco turned back to her, his confident grin radiant. "Hold your horses, you'll get what's coming to you!"
"DUEL!"
Draco Malfoy: 4000
Ecillia Lestrange: 4000
"I'll take the first turn!" Draco declared, drawing a card to add to the five hand cards he all ready had. This was definitely one of the better hands he had ever gotten right off the bat: Fairy's Hand Mirror, Baron of the Fiend Sword, Gremlin, Diamond Dragon, Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, and Shining Abyss – the card he just drew. Common sense told him to play the strongest card he could, but he wanted to test the water a bit, and see if Ecillia had any talent, or was just blowing steam out of her mouth.
"I summon the Gremlin, sign of attack!" he called, playing the card. The little green Gremlin appeared almost immediately, letting out a snarl in Ecillia's direction. "End of turn!"
Ecillia smirked as she declared her turn and drew a card. "Cyber Falcon, sign of attack!"
Draco put an arm up over his eyes as the mechanical falcon appeared and utterly destroyed his Gremlin. Other than that, he did not react as the monster swooped back to Ecillia's side of the field. She licked the back of her hand, a predatory grin on her face.
"First blood."
Draco just glared. "Don't talk like you've won yet."
Draco Malfoy: 3900
Ecillia Lestrange: 4000
"My turn again!" he exclaimed, drawing. Only a Spiritualism card; he would not need that, at least not yet. He looked down at his hand, sorely tempted to play the Shining Abyss card, but something stopped him. It might have been instinct, but he did not really care as he slapped down Baron of the Fiend Sword and ordered it to attack. The yellow skinned demon lunged forward, its dark sword slicing through the Cyber Falcon before returning to his side of the field.
Ecillia yawned. "My turn," she said as she drew, sounding rather bored. "I cover a monster, sign of defense, and I activate the magic card Ekibyo Drakmord!"
A magic card appeared on her side of the field, and suddenly started spitting out green goblins. The goblins latched onto his Baron of the Fiend Sword, holding it in place.
"Hey!" Draco exclaimed, caught off guard.
Ecillia just laughed at him. "Oh, poor dear Draco honey," she taunted. "Not only does my magic card prevent your monster from attacking, but the second turn after this card is activated, your monster is destroyed and this card returns to my hand. Rather annoying, isn't it, Draco honey?"
Draco glared as he drew a card – De-Spell. Now he had two cards that could get rid of magic cards, but he fought the urge to use them. He enjoyed mind games, and this was his chance to play a small one on her.
"Summon Shining Abyss, sign of attack!" he shouted, a strange ball-like creature with arms and wings appearing on his side of the field. "Attack the face down card!"
Shining Abyss shot a beam of light toward the face down monster card on the field. Green Phantom King was revealed, a monster with a defense of 1600, the same as the attack of his monster. Ecillia just laughed at him.
"Well, that was a waste of a turn," she commented before declaring her turn and drawing a card. She frowned at it, before setting another monster in defense and declaring the end of her turn.
Draco declared his turn, and ended up drawing Marie the Fallen One. As much as he liked that card, he had a better card to offer sacrifices for.
"Baron of the Fiend Sword and Shining Abyss offered as sacrifices to summon Diamond Dragon!"
He particularly enjoyed the look of horror on Ecillia's face as the two monsters on his side of the field disappeared in a flurry of sparkles. An almost crystal clear dragon, whose hide seemed to sparkle in the light from the floating candles overhead, shortly replaced them. Putting a hand on his hip, he took that moment to savor his small victory.
"Ekibyo Drakmord has one flaw, Ecillia," he stated. "If the monster it's equipped to is destroyed before the two turns are up, then that card is destroyed and cannot return to your hand!"
Ecillia grit her teeth as he ordered the Diamond Dragon to attack her Green Phantom King. She shielded her face against the resulting blast, and Draco could have sworn he heard her muttering several curses.
"All right, Draco-kun!" Yugi exclaimed from the crowd. "You've got her running now!"
Her whole face seemed to turn down into an ugly scowl. "My turn!" she growled, drawing out a card. A bit of a satisfied look appeared as she added the card to her hand, then took out another card and set it in defense before ending her turn.
Draco drew another Spiritualism card; frowning at the two monsters she had face down on the field. He tended not to attack face down cards – you never knew when you were going to run into a flip effect card, after all – but if she had just gotten a monster that would be able to take out his dragon, then it was better to be sorry than safe.
He ordered the Diamond Dragon to attack the face down card she had just set, only to reveal a Worm Drake. Ecillia frowned.
"We're really getting somewhere, aren't we?" she commented dryly before drawing a card.
It continued on this way for several turns. Ecillia would draw and set another monster on the field in defense position, only to have Draco destroy it on his next turn. After a while, he had started to toss cards to the graveyard because he kept going over the hand limit. If this was her idea of winning, then he had to admit, it was a rather boring one.
Sometime in the haze of turns, she had taken a change, and set a magic or trap card as well. At this point, Draco was so bored out of his mind that he just attacked without thinking.
Not one of his better ideas.
"Activate trap card, Skull Lair!" she shouted as the trap card on her side of the field flipped up. "This wonderful little trap card allows me to remove any number of cards in my graveyard from play in order to destroy a monster of the same level as the cards I remove. And guess what, Draco honey, I have exactly seven cards in my graveyard, thanks to you."
He felt like hitting himself over the head with the nearest heavy object, as his Diamond Dragon broke apart and was sent to the graveyard. That was such a stupid mistake; he could not believe he made it.
"Magical Ghost, sign of defense," he said in a monotone. "End of turn."
Ecillia let out a mocking laugh as she drew a card. "Are you ready now, Draco honey?" she asked. "I'll win this duel! Offer my face down monsters as sacrifices to summon Dark Rider Gaia, sign of attack!"
Draco grit his teeth and backed up a bit as the dark knight mounted on its purplish steed appeared on her side of the field. He looked down at his hand as Gaia destroyed his defending monster, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. The next card he got had better be a good one.
He declared his turn, and ended up drawing Pot of Greed. Playing it right away, he drew two more cards, and frowned when he saw that now he got Dark Necrophilia. It might still do him some good, as it had a defense of 2800. Reaching for his Marie the Fallen One card, he was about to discard it – he was over his hand limit again – when something made him stop.
The other card he had drawn was Fusion.
Draco discarded Fusion Sword Murasame Blade instead, deciding to take a gamble. Marie the Fallen One was a fusion material monster, and if he could get the monster that it fused with, he would be able to win the duel. He just hoped his Life Points could stand the hit.
"End of turn!"
The look of triumph on Ecillia's face was sickening.
"Dark Rider Gaia! Directly attack the player!"
Though Draco had braced himself for the knight's attack, he still ended up getting knocked off of his feet. He landed on his back with a thud as the members of Slytherin House cheered and the other houses jeered.
Draco Malfoy: 1600
Ecillia Lestrange: 3850
Draco winced as he got back to his feet, when he noticed something from the Professor's table. It was the new Ancient Egyptian Magic teacher, Shadi. The professor had stood up from his seat and was staring at his chest strangely. He looked down to see that a chain with a white and gold feather hanging from it had fallen out from under his shirt. Over the summer, he had asked Grandfather Mutou if it were possible to make the feather he had found before Christmas last year into a necklace so he could always keep it on him. He could not understand why he made such a fuss over a simple little feather, but why the professor reacted the way he did, he probably would never know.
"It's my turn," Draco declared. "Just to let you know, Ecillia, this draw will determine who will win this match. I have no cards that can defend me, and if I don't get one, you'll have a clear shot at me once again." He smirked then. "If not, then you can prepare to loose."
Ecillia had that mockingly pleasant smile on her face again, as if she did not care how much he struggled. Draco took a deep breath, uttering a silent prayer in his mind to whatever gods were really out there, and drew a card.
It was the Forgiving Maiden, the exact card he needed.
Draco smirked. "Ecillia, I win!" he declared. "Activate magic card, Fusion! Take the Forgiving Maiden and Marie the Fallen One from hand and fuse to summon Saint Joan!"
He had never seen a sweeter sight; as Saint Joan materialized onto the field, Ecillia took a step back. The shock on her face was so priceless; he wished he had a camera. Things were only going to get better from then out, though.
"I'm not done yet, Ecillia," he stated, thoroughly enjoying himself. "I remove three fiend-type monsters in the graveyard from play to summon Dark Necrophilia!"
Ecillia looked like she was going to pass out. A couple people in the crowd let out squeaks of fear as the demonic figure of Dark Necrophilia appeared, holding the broken remains of a doll. The doll let out a ghostly laugh, getting more frightened exclamations out of the crowd.
"And now, Saint Joan! Attack Dark Rider Gaia!" Draco ordered. Wings suddenly appeared on the back of the armored woman before him, and she flew toward Gaia, her thin sword gleaming. With a few swipes, the knight had been reduced to nothing but pixels.
"Dark Necrophilia, directly attack the player!"
The doll in Dark Necrophilia's arms laughed again, its hollow eyes starting to glow. Two beams of hellish red light shot out of them, hitting Ecillia in the chest and sending her crashing to her rear end. Cheers went up from all the houses, except Slytherin of course. Ecillia got back to her feet glaring at him and everyone behind him. Draco just shrugged, imitating her usual mockingly sweet attitude.
Draco Malfoy: 1600
Ecillia Lestrange: 1150
Ecillia announced her turn and drew a card. She grit her teeth, glaring down at her hand cards as if they had suddenly turned against her.
"You don't have a card that can help you, do you?" Draco asked, his confidence practically radiating. "Even if you defend, even if you manage to destroy one of my monsters, it'll all be over in the next turn."
She was all but snarling at him as she placed a monster in defense and ended her turn. Then, it happened as before; Saint Joan attacked the face down monster, and Dark Necrophilia attacked Ecillia directly, bringing the exciting match to a rather mundane and expected end.
Draco Malfoy: 1600
Ecillia Lestrange: 0
Cheers went up again as Yugi, Harry, and the others climbed up on the table to congratulate him. Even Professor Dumbledore was applauding his win from his table. Ecillia, in the meantime, took off her Duel Disk and slammed it down on the table before stalking off in a huff, Crabbe and Goyle flanking her. A Hufflepuff boy took the Duel Disk and the deck within, an apologetic look on his face.
"Sorry, Draco, she must have taken it from me," he said. "I didn't realize it was gone until I saw her using my cards."
Draco waved the apology off; he should have known those were not really her cards. Surrounded by the cheers and compliments of his friends and his classmates, he really did not care about much of anything at the moment. Well, except for…
He looked up at the professor's table, to see that Professor Shadi had left his seat. Draco frowned; what the heck was his problem…?