Yu-Gi-Oh!
Balance

CHAPTER SIX – BOGGARTS AND TALONS

September went on rather uneventfully. It was the usual in their normal classes, with the exception of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin was definitely competent enough – he did not stutter or constantly point out pictures of himself – but he unfortunately had to catch them up on the basics of the class to make up for the incompetence of the two teachers they had previously. Out of their new elective classes, Ancient Egyptian Magic was easily the hardest. Shadi would literally pile the homework on them, and it was a miracle if they came out of his class without an essay to do. Seto, Marik, Hermione, Yugi, and Bakura were often found in the library, working together to get through the more grueling work for that class, before joining the others to work on the rest of their homework.

Hermione, however, easily had the heaviest workload out of all of them. She would often be found working until the early hours of the morning, slaving over all her homework. One day, when they were on the way to the Great Hall after Potions, the seam on her back came undone, spilling her books all over the floor. Marik instantly bent to help her out, before looking at the titles of some of the books.

"Hermi-chan, why are you carrying all these around with you?" he asked. "You didn't even have these classes today!"

"Oh, yes," Hermione replied vaguely, taking her books back. "I hope there's something good to eat in the Great Hall today, I'm starved."

With that said, she headed off, leaving the boys utterly confused.

"D'ya get the feeling she's not telling us something?" Draco asked.

-.oOOo.-

Some day near the end of the month, when the Gryffindors filed into their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, they entered the class to find that Professor Lupin was oddly absent. They all sat down, preparing for another session of boring note taking when he finally entered the room. He set his tattered old briefcase down on his desk before turning to the class.

"You can put away your books and parchment," he announced. "We're going to have a hands-on lesson today."

A curious murmur went about the room as they started packing up. They had never had a "hands-on" lesson before, unless you counted the time when Lockhart let loose a whole cage full of Cornish Pixies. The class followed Lupin out of the room and down the halls of the school, coming to a deserted corridor where Peeves, the school poltergeist, was bent over a keyhole, shoving a wad of chewing gum inside. The annoying specter broke out into a song as soon as he saw Lupin.

"Loony, loopy, Lupin! Loony, loopy, Lupin!"

If this bothered the professor at all, he did not show it. Instead, he calmly removed his wand from his robes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a useful little spell. Watch closely now," he announced, pointing his wand at the keyhole. "Waddiwasi!"

The wad of gum shot out of the keyhole like a bullet, imbedding itself into Peeve's left nostril. The poltergeist sped away, cursing, as the class laughed.

"Cool, sir," Dean Thomas declared.

"Thank you, Dean. Shall we?"

They continued down the hall, finally arriving at the almost deserted staff room. Professor Snape was sitting back in a low armchair, too preoccupied with a piece of parchment in his hand to really pay the Defense Against the Dark Arts class much heed. He did glare at Lupin when the professor entered though, which was not much of a surprise. Everyone knew Snape preferred that class over Potions.

"Hope we wont be disturbing you, Snape," Professor Lupin said courteously enough.

Snape grunted, turning his focus back to what he was reading. "Just to warn you, Lupin, I wouldn't give Neville Longbottom anything too difficult unless he's getting help from another student."

Though there was not much malice in Snape's voice, it still made Neville flush in embarrassment. True, he was not the best out of the Gryffindor class, but he did try.

"Actually, I was hoping that Neville would assist me in this operation," Lupin replied. He led all of them to the end of the room, past where Snape was sitting, to an old wardrobe that wobbled as they approached. Some of the students backed off.

"Nothing to worry about," Lupin assured them, "it's just a boggart."

Apparently, this was something to worry about. A handful of Yugi's peers around him let out frightened gasps. Neville looked like he was going to pass out from terror.

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," the professor continued, ignoring their reactions. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, even grandfather clocks. This particular one moved in yesterday, and I asked the headmaster to leave it for all of you to practice what you've been catching up on.

"Now, who can tell me what a boggart is?"

Not surprisingly, Hermione's hand was the first one up in the air.

"It's a shape-shifter," she answered, sounding like a textbook. "It can assume the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us the most."

"Precisely!" Lupin exclaimed, making Hermione glow. "So, this boggart has not assumed a form, as he doesn't know what will frighten the person on the other side of this wardrobe. All ready, we have a great advantage over it. Harry, why is this?"

Harry bit his lip, trying to think. Hermione bouncing on her feet next to him was not exactly helping him, however.

"Um… because there's so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"

"Right you are, Harry," Lupin congratulated. "I once saw a boggart that tried to frighten two people at once. It turned into some half-slug thing. More amusing than frightening.

"And this brings us to what we need to do. What really finishes a boggart off is laughter, and to laugh at a monster that turns into our fears, we must force it to assume a shape that's amusing. The charm is rather simple. Repeat after me… riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" the class repeated as one.

"Perfect," Lupin complimented. "Now, this is where you come in Neville. Tell me, what is it that you're afraid of the most?"

Neville's eyes darted between Snape, still sitting in his chair totally oblivious, to Professor Lupin. He moved his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Sorry, didn't catch that, Neville."

Neville looked back at Snape again before giving him his answer: "Professor Snape."

Over in his chair, Snape raised an eyebrow as the rest of the class laughed. Professor Lupin had a thoughtful look on his face. He shot the other professor a bit of an apologetic look before continuing.

"Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Yeah…" Neville answered, nervous. "But, I don't want it to turn into her either."

Lupin chuckled. "No, not that, Neville. What sort of clothes does she wear?"

Neville stared at him, wondering where this was going. "A tall hat with a stuffed vulture on top. A long dress, usually green, and sometimes a fox-fur scarf. Oh, and a big red handbag."

A disgusted look appeared on Marik's face. "Where the devil does your grandmother get her fashion sense from, Neville?"

Neville grinned sheepishly as the class laughed again.

"All right, then, Neville," Lupin continued after the students settled down. "Can you picture those cloths in your mind?"

Neville nodded.

"Good," the professor replied, "because when the boggart comes out of the wardrobe, it will assume the form of Professor Snape. At this time, you will raise your wand – like so – and cry 'Riddikulus'. If all goes well, we'll have a Professor Snape in a green dress."

Snape was glaring at this point, but no one noticed, as they were too busy laughing at the thought of the oily, darkly garbed professor in a green dress and vulture-topped hat.

"Now, if Neville is successful," Lupin cut in, "the boggart will turn its attention to the rest of you. I want you all to now think of the one thing you fear the most, and a way to make it funny."

Yugi gulped; between him and his other self, they had seen plenty of things that would make anyone faint in terror. One thing stuck out the most in his mind however: the evil that had been sealed in the Millennium Items, Zork Necrophadisu. He retreated to his Soul Corridor for a moment, to see that Yami Yugi was standing outside of his Door, a sheepish look on his face.

Any ideas on how to make that funny? he asked.

I couldn't even begin to guess, hikari, Yami Yugi replied. Err… isn't there anything else that scares you?

Yugi sighed. Well, I could always hope I don't get picked to go…

Uh-oh, they're starting.

Yugi returned to the real world in time to see Snape looming over Neville, threateningly, reaching into his robe for his wand…

"R-r-r-riddikulus!" Neville stuttered.

There was a noise like a whip crack, and Professor Snape stumbled. He was suddenly wearing a long, lace-trimmed green dress along with a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten stuffed vulture. A gigantic red handbag swung from his shoulder, and a fox-fur scarf dangled about his neck, also looking like it had seen better days. There was a roar of laughter from the class; the real Snape looked like he was about ready to kill someone.

"Parvati! Forward!" Lupin shouted

Parvati Patel jumped forward; ready to take on the creature, as Neville gratefully stood back. The fake Snape rounded on her, and with another crack, there was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy. Its wrapped faced turned to her as it dragged its feet toward her, raising its stiff arms…

"Riddikulus!" Parvati cried.

The bandage unraveled and got tangled around the mummy's feet. It fell face first, its head rolling off.

I find that highly offensive, Yami Yugi joked. Yugi's stomach was tied in so many knots, he could not even laugh mentally.

"Yugi!" Lupin roared.

It figured; Yugi darted past Parvati, still trying to think of a way to make his fear humorous.

CRACK!

A few people screamed; even Snape stood up from his chair in shock. In place of the fallen mummy was a horrifying specter with a billowing, blood red cape. It did not have legs, but it did not need them, as the armored torso of the creature hovered a good four or five feet above the ground. Its mummified hands reached out for Yugi, but he did not really notice. He felt like he had frozen all over, as he stared up once again at Zork Necrophadisu's mummified face, framed by pure white hair fanning outward in an unseen wind. Where one eye was supposed to be was nothing but a hollow socket, but in the other was the Millennium Eye, just like he remembered

Aibou, don't panic! Yami Yugi exclaimed within his mind. It's not the real one! C'mon, I'll help you!

Just when Professor Lupin was about to help, Yugi suddenly found himself breaking free of his icy fear. His wand snapped up, and he could almost feel his other half pressed up against him, his hand helping hold up his wand.

"Riddikulus!"

The boggart Zork Necrophadisu backed off, its hair suddenly replaced with a bouquet of flowers. The rest of the class laughed as Yugi retreated, grateful to be out of the limelight. He settled into a seat far away from the boggart as it started changing into several things. Never, never, never did he ever want to have to go through that again. The first time had been bad enough.

Yugi held the Puzzle in his hands, gripping the edges tightly. He did not know what he would have done without his other half. Yami Yugi had to have been the one who came up with that idea to make the specter humorous. His own mind had been a total blank; it would have been embarrassing if he had been the only one who could not get the boggart to change.

-.oOOo.-

Late in the night found Yami Yugi pacing the length of the Gryffindor common room, his own thoughts about what had happened that day keeping him awake. True, he had to congratulate Professor Lupin; that had been the best lesson him and his hikari had ever had, with the exception of Necrophadisu appearing right in the middle of it. Maybe they should have said something, never mind the fact that it would have made them look like cowards. They had a good reason after all; judging from the reaction everyone had given, not too many other people were thrilled about seeing the dark spirit.

He was about to plop down on an armchair, when a sharp bolt of fear piercing right through his heart made him jump.

His hikari was having a nightmare.

Yami Yugi bounded up the stairs noiselessly, despite the fact that he was so solid now. He rushed through the third year's bedroom door and to his hikari's four-poster bed. Drifting a bit through the curtains, he looked in on his lighter half to see him tossing and turning in his sleep and muttering incoherently. Resting a hand on his shoulder, he sent a jolt of awareness through him, forcing him out of his dream. Yugi remained lying on his side for a moment, breathing heavily, before turning to see him. Before Yami Yugi knew what was happening, his hikari had latched himself around his waist, crying his eyes out on his chest.

"Shh… Shh… hikari, it was only a dream," he said soothingly. "It's all right now."

"I… I should have told Professor Lupin I didn't want to do it," Yugi sobbed, his voice shaking. "Now, a-all I can see is… is Necrophadisu…"

Yami Yugi hugged his hikari fiercely before resting him back on his pillow again. "Don't worry about that," he said, sternly but comfortingly. "Necrophadisu is gone forever now, and you'll never have to see him again. Rest now; I'll be right here."

Yugi's face suddenly down turned into a frown. "How can I be sure about that?"

Yami Yugi blinked, caught off guard and a little hurt. "What do you mean?"

Yugi sat up again. "I mean, you've been wandering around by yourself lately. I mean you're almost always talking to Aishisu. I mean it feels like you're leaving me behind."

The spirit of the pharaoh raised an eyebrow. Was that… jealousy he had detected in his hikari's voice? He mentally shook his head; no, it could not be, his hikari did not float that way. He shook his head for real, smiling gently.

"I could never leave behind the half of myself that makes me whole," he declared. "I'm never leaving you."

Yugi still looked a little unsure, getting a mental sigh out of Yami Yugi. Sometimes, he wished the two of them were in his time in Egypt, where he could have proven his sincerity with more than just words. He could have built Yugi a grand palace next to his own, and showered him with gifts as well as his constant attention. He could have even…

Whoa, hold it right there, he told himself. You don't float that way either, remember?

He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder again, giving it a slight squeeze. "I promise you, I'm not leaving your side, okay?"

Yugi smiled up at him. "Okay. Good night, mou hitori no boku."

"Good night, aibou."

-.oOOo.-

Everyone was still talking about their fantastic Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson the following Monday. Harry was annoyed by it, though; apparently, Lupin had prevented him from having his try against the boggart. Yugi wished it had been the same with him, but then again, the professor probably stopped Harry from having a turn because he was afraid of Voldemort showing up in the middle of the class. He pointed this out to him, but that did make Harry any happier. His fear was not Voldemort; his fear was the dementors, and he told them as much as him, Yugi, Hermione, Ron, Draco, and Marik made their way down to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures.

"Yes, Voldemort does frighten me," he consented, "but all he can do is kill me. Those dementors can do far worse than that."

The six Gryffindors arrived at the hut, to see that Bakura and the other Hufflepuffs in their class had all ready gathered around a small paddock near the house. The white-haired boy waved to them energetically, visibly excited.

"Hagrid said he's got something special to show us today!" he exclaimed.

"Just as long as it isn't anymore flobberworms," Draco commented dryly.

"Oh, Draco honey, don't want to see your best friends anymore?" a snobbish voice behind them asked. Draco did not even bother to turn around.

"Bug off Ecillia," he snapped.

Ecillia was never one to take a hint though. "This place has seriously gone to the dogs," she said loudly. "Especially with that idiot teaching classes. I should tell my uncle about it, see what he can –"

"Shut up, Ecillia," Harry interrupted.

"Careful, Pothead, there's a dementor behind you –"

One of the Hufflepuffs squealed in delight, cutting her royal annoying-ness off. On the opposite side of the paddock, being led around by Hagrid, were a dozen of what had to be the most bizarre creatures in the magic world. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of a horse, yet the front legs, wings, and heads of an eagle. Hagrid steered them toward the fence where everyone was waiting, and the class backed up as they came to a stop.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid exclaimed, waving a hand at them. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

Yugi, Bakura, and Marik went closer to the gate to get a better look at the creatures (everyone else still hung back nervously). Hagrid was right; once you got over the shock of seeing something that was half horse and half bird, they really were magnificent.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud," Hagrid instructed. "Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Ecillia, Crabbe, and Goyle were not paying attention, and Harry got a sinking feeling they were plotting on how to disrupt the lesson.

"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid kept going, not noticing the three of them were not paying attention. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn't bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt.

"Right… so, who wants ter go first?"

The whole class took another step back at the proposition. Even Yugi, Harry, Marik, Draco, Hermione, and Ron had their misgivings, but not Bakura. Feeling a bit reckless, he announced he would do it before he vaulted over the paddock fence.

"Good man, Bak'ra!" Hagrid roared. "Right then, let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."

He pulled a steel gray hippogriff away from the others, slipping off its leather collar. The class behind the paddock seemed to be holding its breath. Ecillia was watching him with narrowed eyes, as if daring him to mess up.

"Easy now, Bak'ra," Hagrid said quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink… Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much…"

Bakura's eyes instantly started to water, but he refused to blink; Buckbeak was staring at him with his large, yellow eyes.

Don't do anything reckless, hikari, Yami Bakura muttered within his mind. If it looks like it's going to attack, let me take over so I can get us out of here quickly.

Bakura was not going to argue with that.

"Tha's it," Hagrid was saying. "Tha's it, Bak'ra… now bow…"

Bakura bent down at the waist, not taking his eyes off of the hippogriff. He came back up and waited, but the animal was still staring at him haughtily.

"Ah…" Hagrid began, sounding worried, "right, back away now, Bak'ra. Easy does it –"

Suddenly, to Bakura's surprise, the hippogriff bent its scaly front knees into an unmistakable bow. Bakura's face lit up; he did it!

"Well done, Bak'ra!" Hagrid exclaimed. "Now yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

He walked up to the animal and patted his beak. Buckbeak closed his eyes lazily, enjoying the special treatment. Meanwhile, the rest of the class broke out into applause, except for Ecillia and her entourage, who looked disappointed.

"Righ' then, Bak'ra," Hagrid continued. "I reckon he might' let yeh ride him!"

Bakura's head came up, worried. "R-ride?"

"Sure! Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint," the giant of a man explained, "an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that…"

Bakura fought back a gulp. He had never ridden anything before, except during broom flying lessons in his first year, something he was not remotely good at.

What do you think? he asked.

Ah, what the hell? Yami Bakura replied. What's the worst that could happen? You'll fall?

Bakura fought back a sigh; his tomb robber other half obviously had no regards for danger. He put a foot on the top of Buckbeak's wing, hoisting himself up onto his back. He looked around as the hippogriff stood up, not sure what it was he was supposed to hold onto. Everything in front of him was covered in feathers.

"Go on, then!" Hagrid exclaimed, slapping the hippogriff's hindquarters.

Bakura settled for wrapping his arms around the hippogriff's neck as the twelve-foot wings flapped open on either side of him. They soared upward, and he shut his eyes tightly in fear as the creature's wings beat uncomfortably against his legs, making him feel like he was about to be thrown off.

After a moment, however, he got up enough courage to open his eyes, and beheld the awesome sights around him. Below, he could see the others, pointing up at him excitedly. Just to the side, the forbidden forest stretched out, not looking as "forbidden" in the daylight. Before him, Hogwarts castle loomed, just hiding the lowering sun. All this was just so… so…

"Woohoo!" Bakura whooped in excitement.

Yahoo!

He chuckled; apparently, his other half was enjoying himself too.

All too soon, the ride was over, and Bakura and Buckbeak landed roughly back in the paddock. He whispered his thanks to the hippogriff before jumping off.

"Good work, Bak'ra!" Hagrid congratulated as almost everyone cheered. "Okay, who else wants a go?"

The rest of the class climbed cautiously into the paddock, much to Hagrid's delight. He untied the other hippogriffs one by one, and soon students were bowing to the creatures. Ron and Harry had decided to practice on a chestnut colored one, while Hermione and Marik were already patting the black one they had bowed to. Neville had to keep running away from his, as it obviously did not like him very much. Yugi and Draco's bronze one had taken to them almost immediately, and every time they went to check on the others, the creature butted them lightly to be petted.

Ecillia, Crabbe, and Goyle had taken over Buckbeak, who had already bowed to the three of them. Ecillia was petting the creature's beak, a disdainful look on her face.

"This is very easy," she declared, loud enough so Bakura could hear. "I knew it would have been, if Whitey could do it. You're not all that dangerous at all, are you, you big ugly brute?"

What happened next went very fast. There was a flash of gray talons, and Ecillia let out a high-pitched scream. Soon, Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar while trying to get to where she was curled up on the grass, blood staining her robes.

"I'm dying!" she wailed pathetically. "I'm dying! That monster's killed me!"

"Yer not dyin'!" Hagrid objected, lifting her up in his arms.

Hermione went to open the gate to the paddock, and as the giant of a man passed, Draco could see a long, deep gash on Ecillia's thin arm. Blood splattered onto the grass as Hagrid ran with her back up to the castle. The rest of the class followed, with Hermione locking the gate to the paddock behind them. The Slytherins in the class started shouting about Hagrid, demanding him to be fired and other such ludicrous things, before they went off to their own common room in the dungeons. Yugi and the others started for the library, hoping they could catch Seto in there before dinnertime.

"Do you think she'll be all right?" Draco asked, a bit nervously.

"'Course she will. Madam Pomfrey can mend just about anything," Harry said. "You know that, Draco."

"Yeah, but…" he trailed off, kicking at the ground. "She is my cousin. Can't help but be a little worried."

"I wouldn't worry so much," Bakura replied, comfortingly. "Still though, trust Ecillia to screw things up for Hagrid."