Egyptian Sorcery: Interlude #2

By AlantisB

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"Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter."
-Madame Rosmerta

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HOSTAGE SITUATION AT HOGWARTS

By Jack Poker

It has come to the attention of the Ministry of Magic that dangerous levels of dark magic were released inside Hogwarts. From an anonymous person inside the castle, the Ministry has learned that the castle is under a hostage situation!

Earlier today, Minister Fudge and three aurors had gone to Hogwarts to take control of a situation that had arose, souls of students have been ripped out from their bodies! One student told reporters, "I didn't see anything. But I heard this yell and that's when the screams started."

Yugi Mouto, a fellow student at Hogwarts, was charged with stealing souls and taken to Azkaban. It was well known throughout the school that the boy was insane, but he was able to function normally in a school environment. However, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Bakura, said that he could see the dark was deep in the boy and that he should be closely watched.

"He's a troubled boy. Perhaps having him enrolled in school is not the best idea. I suggested to the Minister himself that Mr. Mouto's magic could affect his unstable mentality, he may be dangerous to those around him," Professor Bakura proclaimed.

However, soon after Yugi Mouto's leave, the ghosts of Hogwarts told the professors and the Minister at the feast (a celebration held for the capture of Yugi Mouto and the stop of the soul-stealing) that the boy had not been insane. It seemed as if a spirit had possessed the boy from time to time and the boy had called him Yami.

News had reached the guardian of Yugi Mouto, Meioh Mouto, and he rushed to Hogwarts to argue with the decision to send his charge to Azkaban without trial and that his charge had not stolen souls. Meioh Mouto revealed himself to be a creature that the boy had summoned and had used as his guardian. From the reports given, it seemed the trouble escalated from there as the situation grew dire as the creature summoned more of his own family.

The spirit called Yami revealed his presence and took control of Meioh Mouto, using him to take the monsters under his control. Threats of "penalties" up to and including the destruction of souls were issued by the spirit if his host was not back to Hogwarts in four hours. Then he would destroy a soul and wait another four hours.

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The spirit continued to stare down the Minister with the same dark smirk that had been there since the beginning. Constantly the eyes watched his every move, he felt like a vampire was staring him down. The same bloodlust graced the crimson eyes, the same thirst to kill. Fudge swallowed hard reflexively as he stared into those eyes.

The spirit had told the people in the Great Hall he was going to play games with the children every four hours. Meioh, the lead Dark Magician had talked him into it, citing it would be worse than death and that Yugi would be upset if he killed people, but he can remove the penalties.

When the first game was about to start, the crimson eyes searched the room and then they settled onto the Gryffindor table. Yami glided over with the same ghostly grace of the Dementors, his eyes focusing on one person as he smiled with an insane glint in his eyes—it was Ron Weasley he stopped in front of.

Ron swallowed hard, staring at the spirit before straightening up. He was not going to be afraid of this spirit. He would show the entire school that he had what it took to be a true Gryffindor in the face of danger.

"Shadow Game of Chess," was all Yami said. He looked smugly at Ron, wondering if the boy would back down so he could just start the torture on his soul immediately.

Draco knew from the start Ron would loose. He had to admit that Weasel could play a decent game of chess and he was known as the best chess player in school but Yami was better. He would know, he had played the spirit himself and he had lost.

Ron stood up determinedly as he nodded. "Alright, I agree!" Hermione stood up beside him and folded her arms. "You aren't going in this alone, Ronald Weasley! I won't let you." "What! No—" "It's better if two of us play, Ron," she whispered to him, glancing at Yami. "We'll have a better chance of defeating him. Who knows what tricks he'll play?" Ron frowned and nodded slightly.

"Two on one, fair odds," Yami walked out to the center of the hall and the monsters back up. Ron and Hermione found themselves in the center of a circle of the monsters, Yami standing across from them. They were surrounded. The area misted and became dark as a giant chess board sprung from underneath them. The two Gryffindors recognized it to be the same one from their first year. Ron looked around and noticed he was standing in the king's spot and Hermione was standing in the queen's. Across from them, Yami was the black king. "Choose your players. I chose the Dark Magicians."

Ron chewed on his lip as he thought and then said, "I chose the Gryffindors!"

Suddenly Gryffindors of all ages filled up the white section of the board. The first and second years were the pawns. Two third years were the knights. Two of the fourth years were rooks and the two bishops were a six and seventh year student. Yami's side of the board was filled up with Dark Magicians, except each one had a symbol of what their piece was. The pawns were regular Dark Magicians except they had spears. The knights had swords, the rooks had a flag, and the bishops had a cross painted on their armor.

Ron tried to make the first move, and found that it was more difficult than he had imagined. One of the first years folded their arms. "You won't get me killed, will you Ron?" She backed away a bit, stepping onto the white square next to her. The girl was lifted up by invisible hands and thrown off the board. Hermione cried out in shock, "What happened!"

"The rules are you must will your pieces to move. If they refuse, hesitate, or disobey the rules of the piece that they are playing, they are immediately taken off the board."

"You didn't say that in the beginning!"

Yami smirked. "You moved before I could."

With that, the terrifying game started. Each move Ron directed was difficult, he could feel the Gryffindors being stubborn but they allowed themselves to be controlled because they didn't want to get thrown off the board like the first year girl. Even with the control given to Ron, it seemed as if it took a piece of him every time he moved. Sometimes whoever he moved seemed easier than the others, he didn't know why. But he could see Hermione was getting just as tired as he and it was confusing.

Knight to E-3, he willed the Gryffindor playing the knight to move. The third-year moved.

Hermione cried out when the black knight took out the Queen-side rook the next turn. She fell to her knees and held herself, shivering. Ron felt himself grow angry and he immediately directed one of his pawns to take out the Dark Magician that was a pawn.

Yami didn't react as Hermione had when the piece was taken. His eyes seemed to become a deeper red, closer to the color of blood. It was a spooky effect. Each time a piece was taken from Ron or Hermione, they cried out in pain and shivered. However, each time a piece was taken from the spirit his eyes seemed to deepen in the reddish tone until it was impossible to remember when his eyes weren't as such.

"Do not needlessly sacrifice your pieces, for your punishment you will live their deaths," the spirit sneered when Ron allowed one of the pawns be taken so that he may gain a space closer to the king. "Illusion of the Sacrifice!"

Ron screamed as he felt the pain of what the Gryffindor would have gone through and took the pain for them. He could feel the spear enter his stomach, slicing his organs, scratching against bone—it was horrible.

Luckily, if one was hurt in the game, after they are taken off the board, they seemed to magically be healed, if only a bit shook up.

"You seem to know how to sacrifice yourself even if you are a blind little bastard." The spirit grinned darkly at Ron.

 Soon the game was drawing to a close and the spirit was winning. Ron and Hermione were feeling worn out and stretched from the game, it was hard to even concentrate anymore. The spirit seemed perfectly fine with the strain, maybe a bit tired on the edges but not as much as the two teens.

Then, what Draco had predicted, came true. The rook Dark Magician checkmated Ron, the king. Ron bowed his head, feeling the rush of his ability to control his housemates leave him. He faintly heard Hermione's scream and then his own echoed in the Great Hall as their souls were forcibly taken from their bodies.

The spirit chuckled darkly as the Great Hall watched in horror.

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"Here kitty, kitty, kitty, you can not hide the puzzle from the Dark Lord forever. When I find you, I will slit your throat and hang you over the desert as a sign of His power." A dark laugh echoed oddly in the breeze and it made the Sphinx shiver. It did not want to get caught by the non-human. She had had no fear of dying, but she had a job to do, guard the Millenium Puzzle.

Along the edge of the forest there were not as many dark creatures but it was still dangerous territory to be treading on. A shadow darted from tree to tree in the night seemingly no more than a whisper on the wind as it hunted for its prey as it tittered between the safe ground and the danger. It moved swiftly through patches of dense trees as it searched for the precious treasure.

When it reached a different patch of trees, the shadow stopped, sensing something, and climbed high in a tree to get a better view. The shadow hovered over a small clearing, undecided for a course of action. Should it attack now, grab the treasure and run, or should it pounce, slice the creature's throat, and then grab the head and the treasure?

The Sphinx made the decision for the shadow as she turned around and roared at him. Bakura chuckled darkly, pouncing from the tree branch, knife glinting oddly in the light as he slashed at the throat. The sphinx twisted her body down under the knife and then slashed at the over-extended arm with her claws. She hissed in pain when the professor lashed out with the other arm, also holding a hidden knife. The Sphinx backed up in pain, the millennium item around her neck swinging with the movement.

Light filtered through the trees reflected on the puzzle, drawing the tomb raidor's eyes towards it. He lunged again, his fingers grazing the gold when a fury of red and gold attacked him from the sky. Bakura snarled, slashing at the thing with sharp claws and beak, peaking and ripping pieces of the meat from his arms. The musky smell of blood floated through the air as the Sphinx backed up to hide in the bushes and watch the fight.

Soon the flying fiend managed to drive off the controlled Bakura and he ran away in a hasty retreat. Fawkes chirped as she landed, ruffling her feathers and looked over at the Sphinx.

The Sphinx soon came out of the bushes and sat down, one of her paws was bleeding and she licked the wounds. The phoenix sang as she wobbled over and cried on one of the more damaged paws. Fawkes continued to sing as they sat in the clearing, the forest eerily silent throughout the entire song. After the phoenix finished, the sphinx lowered her head and pawed off the puzzle hanging around her neck.

Fawkes chirped a thank-you as she picked it up with her beak and flew away, leaving the Sphinx to wander back into the forest onto the path that would lead her to the half-human's hut where her pen was located. She was hungry and those new puzzles she had received seemed just the sort of fun she wanted. One adventure was enough for today.

TBC..

A/N: Well, I have no excuse for taking so long in this. The hard truth is, I had major writers block for this interlude. I didn't know what to write! So I waited and waited, worked out other story ideas, etc. Then Christmas happened and it was a mad rush with my family for the party. After that, I more writer's block, which wasn't good! Then my mom broke her foot, and let me tell you, whiny mothers are more annoying than whiny kids, trust me! So I managed to finish it today, even though Nemi had been begging me and poking me to get it done for months. So there you go! Its like two chapters because of the real chapter after this. Merry Belated Holidays!