Egyptian Sorcery

By AlantisB

"Mad? He's a genius! Best wizard in the world. But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

 -Percy Weasley

Yami was still way too uptight to be out right now when he had spotted a flash of white, spiked hair in the Hall. So Yugi was in control for the time being, and he found himself growing bored while the Gryffindors fumbled about the party while the teachers still tried to figure out how it happened.

Yugi stood in a corner of the Great Hall, watching as his best friend danced with some of the most beautiful girls in Slytherin and a few surprisingly, from Ravenclaw. He was glad his friend was enjoying himself while he sat back to watch. There was too much tension running through him to be able to enjoy himself as he should be. Bakura was still running about and he hadn't the slightest idea on how to approach the Tomb Raider.

When he had seen Bakura those weeks ago, he didn't immediately write to Meioh to tell him about it. Like any true Slytherin, he decided to study his enemy to figure out what his motives were.

He sighed and switched topics in his mind. What about the infamous Dream Team? He actually liked the way the red haired boy, Ron? Yes, that was his name. The fire he had in his eyes proved that he could be a worthy rival. If Draco had Harry to be his rival, it was only fitting that Yugi as his best friend, be the rival of Harry's best friend. The Granger girl, well, she didn't do much for him in the ways of fire. She was immensely intelligent but lacked the fire to prove herself as a leader. Ron on the other hand, did have the fire to beat his way to the top of things and become a leader, perhaps a better one than Harry Potter himself.

Yugi watched as Ron strolled around the Great Hall, dancing with his date and occasionally going to the candy table to grab a sweet or two for the road. He was a fine person to be acquainted with. Yugi could see himself as one of his friends because of the fire in those eyes, yet he couldn't be his friend at the same time. There was too much bad blood between Draco and Ron that lead him to believe that the redhead wouldn't be able to push all of the schoolboy hate down far enough to get to know him. Too bad.

Ironically, the red head was dressed like an Ancient Pharaoh of Egypt as his Halloween costume. He let his eyes travel down the washboard stomach and muscled legs that described a track runner. Yugi sighed, turning his head away from the nice view. He was kind of handsome, as far as boys go, and he could definitely appreciate that six pack. But it was not meant to be. Ron and he would never become more than rivals because of their best friends, let alone anything more.

Penny for your thoughts, aibou?

Just thinking about Ron, Harry Potter's best friend, he would make a great rival for us, at this school, wouldn't he?

Ah. And his handsome looks have nothing to do with it, I presume? Yami replied teasingly.

Absolutely not! Yugi glanced over at the red haired boy in question. Well, okay, maybe.

Yami chuckled.

A noise to the back alerted him to the fact he was no longer alone in his cozy corner. He glanced to his left as Professor Bakura moved next to him. They sat in silence, watching the feast for a moment. The Tomb Raider broke the tension first when he grinned and said, "Pharaoh. What a surprise this is, coming to a world full of Egyptian magic and seeing you here, like a commoner. Finally realizing your place?"

Yugi ignored the insult. "Bakura, what are you doing here?"

"You mean, you have yet to figure it out, oh great ruler?" Bakura snorted in amusement. "I'd have thought the plan would be obvious to someone like you, unless your incarnation is more damaged than I thought. Come out and face me, stop hiding behind your light."

Yami turned to face the smug professor, having switched with Yugi as soon as the insult was issued. "Damaged? My other is not damaged," he growled.

"Oh Yami, how misguided you are," Bakura replied. A knowing smirk appeared as he continued, "Have you not thought about the consequences of being with your other, your reincarnated self, and switching souls so often? Not just for duels, but for situations that occur around you?"

Yami frowned. What was the Tomb Raider up to? Normally they would argue and then it would evolve into a duel with high stakes. That was what happened last time they argued, was he not going to follow the pattern? Yet, he was acting like he had inside information about what happened when they switched souls.

He knew that Yami Bakura was in control most of the time, so what happened to his incarnation, the light of Ryou's soul? Did something happen to him, and if so, why would Yami Bakura tell him information such as this?

"Where are you going with this, Bakura?" Yami said finally.

"Your light is no longer just light, as you are no longer just darkness. Surely you noticed your personalities merging, fraction by fraction, until you and he become more alike as time passes?" Bakura gave the Pharaoh a nasty smile. "Do you realize what rumors float around the school? No one thinks of you two as separate people, even when you answer to two names. They think that Yugi is insane, a muggleborn with split personalities."

"What?"

Bakura's face switched to an honest expression, though Yami could tell it was not Ryou in control because the soft brown eyes held an evil glint in their sheen. "Yes, Yugi Mouto has a mental condition that affects how he deals with reality but I'm sure we should take away his magic before he hurts himself or others in his delicate condition." The professor gave an evil chortle as he waved his hand to Yami. "The fools play into my hand like amateur duelists, weak of mind. It was good luck for you to be in Slytherin Yami, because everyone expects you to go bad eventually."

"And you're telling me this, why?"

Yami studied the other man, wondering what his plan was. Was there really such drastic decisions made on how a wizard behaved, and if insane they block their powers? What a cruel and barbarian way to do things, he thought. With all their magic, did they not come up with medicines to treat the mentally unstable, why exactly did they not understand that he and his other were separate people, sharing the same body? Surely with the amount of ghosts in the school, there was the occasional possession, was this not the same thing?

Or perhaps, he realized, they did not know the ways of possession through objects of great power. He knew his soul was bound to the puzzle, so if it was ever taken away, he would go with it. However, he was part of Yugi too, and it would tear them apart and the puzzle itself would drive Yugi and himself insane to get them back together again. They depended on the puzzle to keep them complete, without it they would not be able to handle the world.

"One mistake," Bakura held up a finger and leaned over to Yami, towering above him with a wicked smile. "You make one mistake Pharaoh, and the Headmaster will be forced by the Ministry of Magic to take you away and lock you in the mental hospital for wizards. That was the deal I made with them."

Yami's eyes widened in realization then narrowed in silent rage, "You plan on making that mistake for me, Tomb Raider?"

Bakura stood up straight and turned to look back at the feast. "You will watch your back now, won't you Pharaoh? It would be a shame for me to win this game so early, no challenge at all. I will be looking forward to seeing your face as your light is taken from you and your rage as I steal the puzzle for my very own. When I do, rest assured this world will not be safe from me, and I will take it over. With the millennium items from our world, and the undiscovered ones in this world at my disposal, no one will be safe for the new god of the Egyptian sands and the world: Yami Ryou Bakura, God of Egyptian Sorcery!" With that said, the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher walked away, leaving Yami to control his silent rage.

Finally, Yami calmed down enough and relaxed his tense muscles and decided to talk to his other..

Aibou?

….

Aibou . .?

….

AIBOU!

--Huh?—What? Sorry Yami, I wasn't paying attention.

Where were you? How could you not pay attention? You should have been able to hear me. Yami frowned.

I went exploring. Did you know a new door appeared? Yugi replied with excitement. It's really cool! There's all these symbols on it, and its made of silver with gold accents and—

A new door appeared? What new door? I didn't see a new door when I was in my soul room! Tell me you didn't go explore in there, aibou!

Okay. I didn't go explore in there, Yami.

Aibou . . .

Really! I didn't. I couldn't open the door. It's got a keyhole on it, but I couldn't find the key. So it's locked away from us.

I'll look at it later. On to what I was about to tell you, you have to watch your back. Bakura is going to set us up for something, but I have no idea what. Keep your eyes open for anything suspicious, okay?

Sure! Will do! I'm gonna go play in my soul room, so you can hang out and have fun at the feast. Scare someone good for me, Yami. It is Halloween, after all.

Yes aibou, go play. I'll find something to do.

Yami sighed, leaning against the wall in his corner. He felt drained, between the threats from Bakura, meeting the Dream Team, and finding out about the new door in their soul hall, it was all he could take to keep himself from collapsing onto the floor and fall asleep. Maybe he should go to bed, or write a letter to finally tell Meioh what was going on lately. But he really didn't want to do that just yet, he did not need his monster to worry over him and get himself in trouble. He didn't even know if he could call Meioh back to his card if it got serious.

A tentative lick to his left hand shook Yami out of his thoughts. He looked down to see Rags staring up at him with dogged concern. He gave the dog a small grin. "Hey boy," he said quietly, calmly petting his dog. "You want to hang out with me for a while? Draco should be done dancing soon, and when that's over we can go up to the common room for some sleep."

Rags whined in the back of his throat.

Yami scratched under the dog's chin, "I know I look tired, it's nothing. You'll still be able to get a few belly rubs off me before I fall asleep. I promise."

Soon Draco walked over, out of breath and tired. "Come on, let's get out of here." He said quietly and Yami nodded. They walked out of the Great Hall together, with Rags trailing behind them.

*

The next morning, the Slytherins were rudely awakened by Professor Snape. He waved his wand in a jerky motion and suddenly everyone's covers were stripped off the bed, leaving the students to freeze. Then he flared the fire on the torches hanging on the wall high enough to reach the ceiling, blinding everyone. Rags growled from his position on the edge of Yugi's bed, which caused a raised eyebrow from the Potion master.

"Up! Get up right now, you idiots." Professor Snape folded his arms and glared until the students hastily complied and stood in front of him in a straight line, military style. Yugi felt like he should snap to attention and salute Snape with the way his presence commanded, but felt that it could be in his better interests not to piss of the professor more.

Draco rubbed his eyes, scowling. "What are we up for? It's too bloody early to be up at the crack of dawn after the feast."

Snape paced in front of the students for a few minutes before stopping. He turned to look at them. "Someone has hexed the students in Gryffindor last night, and I want to know who it is. Now!"

One of the dumber Slytherins, Goyle asked, "Do you mean that bad luck curse they seemed to have?"


"That one too, but there seemed to be another, larger hex placed on them, Mr.Goyle! I don't have time for this. I need to know who did it right now! The hex was an advanced curse from Dark Arts and I don't have time to pussy-foot around the issue. The Headmaster caught wind of the attack, and by breakfast the entire school will know what happened. If it gets out to the Ministry of Magic, there will be questions raised. We cannot have that at this time. So spill it out!"

Yugi yawned. "I did the smaller one, the bad luck curse for the Prank War the Weasley Twins isssued. But this is the first time I heard of the second one, what was it exactly?"

Professor Snape scowled, "Several students have had their soul eaten by a worm shaped monster. The only clue to the attack was that the Gryffindors had said they heard someone yell in the common room and then the creature flew up into the towers and ate the victums." He sneered, "And they are already laying the blame on our House as the cause."

It took Yugi a few moments before he remembered what Yami had said about Bakura's threat from last night. His eyes widened, could it have been the Tomb Raider that had done it? If so, how could he prove that a teacher was behind the attack, much less the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. Yet, from what Draco had told him about the school in the past, it seemed almost every DADA teacher had gone bad or had some type of darkness around them. How much would it take to prove that Bakura was behind the attack?

Professor Snape sighed, staring at his students for a moment. "If I hear one word about it was one of you, I will personally send you all down to the Headmaster and into the hands of the Ministry of Magic itself. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," the boys replied.

"Good. Breakfast is in two hours. Enjoy seeing the sunrise," Snape said with a trace of amusement in his voice as he left.

"Bloody prick," Draco sighed, making his way over to his bed. "Why would we steal souls from the Gryffindors? With our luck, they'd manage to rub off some of that stupid bravery on us."

"What I don't get, is why he thought one of us did it?" Yugi walked over to his bed and grabbed the puzzle, slipping it around his neck. "I mean really, stealing souls is a bit extreme, unless you use them for a higher purpose."

"You speak like you've had experience with it," Draco looked at Yugi suspiciously. "You haven't, right? I'd hate to use one of the Forbidden Curses on you just to keep my soul in place."

Yugi laughed. He didn't even take offence to what Draco was referring to. It was so like his best friend to be concerned about his ability to handle magic. He kind of liked it, actually. He scratched Rags behind the ears as his other hand brushed his bangs from his eyes.

"No, I haven't stolen any souls." Yugi tapped his puzzle. "But I have met someone who had. He stole three souls to use for more power, and I had to fight him to get them back in a duel. One of the souls was my Grandpa, the other two were friends."

"Really?"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah, he trapped them in cards like the ones in my deck. Only they were blank. But when the soul was trapped in the card, it showed the person's picture, their inner soul. I don't know if they ever got free, our duel had finished but I don't remember the outcome."

"Was it a memory charm?"

"No, just amnesia, Meioh said it would come back to me eventually." So Yugi was stretching the truth just a bit, but he didn't want Draco to find out he came from a different world yet. It would just complicate things, a lot.

"Enough of that then," Draco stated firmly. "Come on, let's sneak down to the kitchens and grab some breakfast and go exploring."

Yugi grinned. "You mean, you haven't yet, I would have thought you did with five years spent in this school."

"Places to go, people to do, not enough time in a day and all that rubbish, let's just get going."

"Sure Draco, whatever you say." He gave Rags one last scratch under the chin before walking out of the room, following the blond hair Slytherin.

*

It was late afternoon when suddenly Yugi found himself shoved up against a wall in the hallway. Ronald Weasley was staring down at him with a furious expression, murder in his eyes. Yugi found the coldness in those blue eyes to be quite attractive, but thought better of saying that out loud when he saw just how angry the Gryffindor was.

"Yes?" He said politely.

"You did it! Didn't you? I know you're the one that stole the souls of the students, you're with that prat, Malfoy and he's bad news. You'd have to be just as evil as him if you hang around him." Ron stated coldly.

Yugi started to grow angry. "Draco is my friend and I won't have you talking about him that way! Sure he's not perfect and he can be mean, but he's my best friend and I will not let you call him evil! As in defense for myself, I didn't steal any souls! What would I use them for and why would I do it? I'm not evil, and if your biased view of Slytherins is causing you to point fingers in the wrong direction, I suggest you take a look at yourself, Mr. Noble Gryffindor."

Ron glared at him. "I know you did it, you're unstable. Everyone knows that, you don't need a reason for it!"

Yami shoved Ron off him. He was mad at the idiot, and even though the red head looked extremely handsome angry, he wasn't going to allow his other to be bashed in that way--especially not when he was still upset about hearing some of rumors about him being insane.

"Get off me! How can you say that to my other? We're not unstable, you stupid idiot. And if I hear you accuse us of stealing souls again, you'll be sorry."

Yami stomped off, but not before he could hear the red head mutter, "Stupid, insane Slytherin. I know he did it. I'll tell Dumbledore after class."

TBC