Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dawn of Fate

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – DRAGONS!

The only thing that helped Harry keep going amidst the jeers from the Slytherins and the horror of the gradually approaching first task of the tournament, was the thought of speaking face to face with Sirius. It was the only thing in the hellish November month that was going the way it was supposed to, though he still did not know how exactly he was supposed to contact him.

Of course, things had to get worse. Deeming the day he had been "interviewed" by Rita Skeeter as one that would not be damaging was a little premature. The reporter had written an article that could only be described as downright awful. Somehow, she had managed to turn his "Err…"s and "Um…"s into one of the most inaccurate newspaper stories he had ever read.

I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know
they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now…
Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not
ashamed to admit it… I know nothing will hurt me
during the tournament, because they're watching over
me…

When Harry first heard that, thanks to Ron reading it aloud while the others sat around at lunch, he thought he was going to puke. Marik, though he admitted it was not funny, was laughing his rear end off. That was, until Ron read the next part; apparently, Skeeter had interviewed other people as well.

Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close
friend, Colin Creevey says that Harry is rarely seen
out of the company of on Hermione Granger, a
stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is
one of the top students in the school.

"Say what!" Marik demanded, standing up from his seat. "CREEVEY!"

Hermione hid her face as the Egyptian stalked off to talk to the mousy camera-boy wizard.

Then there was Snape's detention that Harry, Marik, Yugi, and Yami Yugi had to endure. The pharaoh looked like he was going to be sick when the Potion's Master said they had to pickle rats' brains in the dungeon for two hours. Yugi, after about two brains, was sick. He ended up running off to the hospital wing, saved from the rest of the detention.

Everyone was so busy dealing with homework, the approaching first task, or avoiding ridicule, that their group had not gotten the chance to convene together. Their first opportunity to do so since the beginning of school was the Friday before the first task. The next day they would be going to Hogsmeade, and they took the chance to hang out at the library that evening.

Harry groaned as he flopped into a chair, tossing his bag to the floor, and having no intention of opening it to work on his homework. Marik followed suit, sitting between him and Hermione, though she edged a bit away from him before he could get the idea to put an arm around her. The Egyptian sighed as the others sat down as well, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the edge of the table instead.

"So, are you guys ready for the first task?" Seto asked, setting his laptop down on the table.

"No," Harry and Marik said at the same time.

"We don't even know what the first task is," Marik continued with a groan.

"Don't worry so much, Marik," Draco assured him, taking out his wand and some polish. "It shouldn't be that dangerous. I've heard they've had to really downsize the tournament. There have been too many deaths in the Triwizard Tournament. Ecillia wasn't kidding when she said half of the champions chosen for the tournament have died."

Harry gave the blonde boy a dull look as he started to polish his wand. "Thanks, Draco, that makes me feel so much better."

Yami Bakura opened his mouth to add his two cents to the conversation, when a loud tapping noise cut him off. The group looked around, confused, before Yami Yugi pointed out that it sounded like it was coming from Seto's computer. Yami Seto opened to cover of the laptop, to reveal an annoyed Noah Kaiba on the screen. The seemingly young aqua haired boy put his hands on his hips, glaring up at Seto.

"Otouto! I wish you wouldn't close this thing while it's still on!" he exclaimed, looking like he was trying to glare Seto down. "It's like I'm blind and deaf when you do that!"

Seto frowned. "What do you expect me to do? Turn it off?"

"Of course!" Noah exclaimed. "I need to sleep some… Hey, what are you doing? Se—"

Noah's mouth kept going, but no sound came out as Seto turned the sound off on the computer. Bakura shook his head as the computerized boy glared up at his younger brother, mouthing several swear words.

"You know, when he gets his own body, you're not going to be able to do that," Bakura pointed out. Seto just grinned.

"I know, that's why I'm enjoying this happy power while I can."

Yami Bakura raised an eyebrow, before looking at his hikari. "And you call me evil."

"You are," Bakura returned.

Yami Seto rolled his eyes as the tomb robber grabbed his hikari and gave him a nuggie from hell ("Evil am I? Try this!"), before reaching over to the computer and turning the sound back on. Noah glared at Seto, before sitting down on a chair in his computerized room.

"So, you guys are going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" he asked. "I wish I could go too."

"Even when you do get your own body, I doubt you'll be able to come here," Yugi said, snuggling close to his other half. "I mean… if you didn't get a note before you… uh…"

Noah grinned. "I get it, Type A Yugi."

Ron raised an eyebrow, looking between the computer to Yugi. "Type A Yugi?"

"Don't ask," Yami Yugi muttered as Noah and Yugi giggled.

-.oOOo.-

Harry was looking forward to the trip to Hogsmeade. This year, he could go without risk of getting in trouble, because now he had a permission form to go. Despite this, he still wore his Invincibility Cloak to the village, walking around with Draco and Marik, unseen to the human eye. He watched as people wearing Support Marik Ishitar! badges walk past him, enjoying the fact that none of them turned to give him a snide remark.

The three of them emerged from Honeydukes Sweetshop not long after they arrived in the village, slurping the cream out of large chocolates. Draco looked over to where Harry was supposed to be, a little unnerved.

"I wish you would take that thing off," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "I feel like I'm talking to myself."

"Don't flap your mouth so much then," Harry replied. Marik chuckled as Draco pouted.

"C'mon, Harry-kun," the Egyptian boy urged. "It's not like anyone's gonna bother you here."

"Oh yeah?" Harry returned. "Look behind you."

Marik and Draco turned just in time to avoid being whacked by Rita Skeeter's large, crocodile-skin handbag. She did not even pause to apologize as she and her photographer made their way toward an inn on the other side of the village. The two visible boys gave their backs a dirty look.

"I heard she's staying at the village," Harry explained quietly. "She's probably going to come and watch the first task."

"Whoopee," Marik said dryly. "Just what we need; someone reporting how we managed to get ourselves splattered all over the school."

The three of them made their way to the Three Broomsticks next, with Harry still keeping his cloak on. He edged his way around the crowd, following Marik to a table while Draco went to get drinks. They managed to make it to an empty table without trodding on someone, Harry sitting down with a relieved sigh. They watched the various magical species crowding the tavern while waiting for their drinks.

"Must be a haven for these people, this village," Marik said idly as he watched a hag amble past.

"I suppose so," Harry returned. "This is the only all-wizard village left in this country."

Marik nodded. "When Bakura and I were with the Japanese wizards this summer, they told us there were only two left in Japan. Most of the wizards in that country stay in them. They hardly ever leave unless it's to visit family."

Harry frowned, though the other boy could not see. "Why?"

Marik shrugged. "I dunno. Old fear I guess. The Spanish Inquisitions and other persecutions had everyone freaked out during that time…" He trailed off, before rubbing the back of his neck. "At least, that's what it says in Hogwarts, A History."

Harry gave him a dull look as Draco returned with their drinks. "You need to get back together with Hermione already."

"No shit, Sherlock," Marik muttered, before downing half of his butterbeer in one gulp.

"You could always ask her to the Yule Ball," Draco pointed out, taking a sip from his own mug.

"The what ball?" Marik asked, confused.

"You mean you don't know?" Draco asked. "A Yule Ball is held every year there's a Triwizard Tournament. I suspect that's why we needed dress robes this year."

"So… you mean… this is a formal thing?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Draco replied, taking another sip. "There's dancing and everything."

Both Harry and Marik had the same horrified look on their faces. "I don't dance," they said at the same time.

Draco chuckled, pulling out his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. "Well, you're going to have to," he said, looking over it. "The school champions lead off the first dance."

Both boys groaned, just as a large shadow fell over the three of them. They looked up, and up… and up, to see Hagrid standing over them. He had his usual large tankard to mead with him, and a beaming smile on his large face. Right next to him, quite dwarfed by the gargantuan man, was Professor Moody.

"Afternoon, boys," Hagrid said loudly.

"Afternoon, Hagrid," Draco returned. Marik was about to greet him as well, when something kicked the booth on the other side of theirs hard enough to feel it. He glared at it, wondering what the heck was going on over there.

Moody, however, bent over their table slightly, making a show of looking over Draco's homework. Instead of commenting on it, however, he said, "Nice cloak there, Potter."

Harry jumped, surprised, as Marik grunted when something kicked his seat again.

"Can your… uh…" Harry began.

"Yes, my eye can see through Invisibility Cloaks," Moody answered. "Bloody useful in that respect."

Marik growled as his seat got kicked again. "Can it see through this booth?" he asked. "I'm about to throttle whoever is on the other side."

Moody's eye swiveled over to look through the seat, just over Marik's shoulder. He made a face.

"Mutou and his girlfriend," the professor answered, a smirk on his lips. Draco had been in the middle of a sip from his butterbeer, which got spat back out because of his comment. Marik, however, just grinned sadistically.

"Professor, how durable is that eye of yours?" he asked.

Getting the idea, Moody grinned, popping his eye out (Draco and Harry turned away when he did), and handing it to the Egyptian boy. He looked at it a moment, watching it as the pupil roved about in his hand. Another wicked grin spread across his face.

"The tomb robber's gonna wish he had pictures of this," he said, before lobbing the eye up with enough height for it to land with a thud on the table in the other booth.

The screams that followed were beyond priceless. Yugi and Yami Yugi scrambled out of the booth, breathing hard from suddenly having an eye drop in on them. The pharaoh looked between the eye, to Moody, to Marik, back to the eye, and to Marik once more.

"You… you…!"

"Don't you think you two should wait until you're married to 'fool around' in public?" Moody asked as he went over to recover his eye. Marik was just trying his hardest to not fall off his seat in laughter as both the pharaoh and his hikari turned a vivid shade of red. The two of them stuttered for a moment, before deciding it wiser to save what little dignity they had left and retreated from the tavern.

Draco sighed as they left. "Something tells me I don't want to know what they were doing…" he muttered.

"You don't," Moody replied sourly, before walking out himself. Hagrid cleared his throat, before following the other professor's previous action and peering down at Draco's homework.

"Meet me at me cabin at midnight, lads," he said, glancing at Marik and where Harry was supposed to be pointedly. "Wear that cloak."

With that, he left, leaving a confused Marik and Harry behind.

"What does he need to show us?" Harry asked.

Marik just shrugged, befuddled. "I dunno," he said, before checking his watch. "Though, if he wants to see you at midnight, it's going to be cutting your meeting with Sirius awfully damn close."

Harry looked at his own watch, biting his lip. He was right; whatever it was that Hagrid wanted to show them, it had better be important.

-.oOOo.-

Quarter to midnight found Marik and Harry huddled under the Invisibility Cloak as they made their way to Hagrid's hut. Making it to the cabin was easy, as the grounds of Hogwarts where fairly quiet at night. The only thing different from the norm was the glow from the Beauxbaton's carriage off near the hut. From what they could tell, however, very few people were moving about inside; apparently, most of them had already gone to bed for the night.

The two of them reached the cabin and knocked, not taking off the cloak. A moment later, the giant man opened the door, looking about.

"You there, Harry, Marik?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," Harry answered, keeping his voice low as well. "Hagrid, what –"

Hagrid, however, made a hushing noise, stepping out of the cabin fully. In the dim light, the two of them could see that he looked a bit… different. His cloths seemed cleaner, and he was wearing a flower that almost looked like an eggplant on his coat. While his beard and hair were still tangled, it looked as if he had made an effort to comb it, as was obvious by the comb teeth dangling from within the black mass.

"Got summat ter show yeh," he said. "Yeh shouldn' know, so keep it quiet."

Harry and Marik exchanged bewildered looks, before following the burly groundskeeper. To their surprise, he led them to the Beauxbaton's carriage, where he knocked on the door of it. Madame Maxime opened it soon after, smiling when she saw Hagrid.

"Ah, 'Agrid. It is time?" she asked.

"Bong-sewer," he said in return, beaming up at her as he helped her down the carriage steps.

The two giants walked off, and Marik made sure they were out of earshot before muttering, "What is this? First Seto, now Hagrid? Is everyone getting a girlfriend now that mine is deciding to be pissy?"

Harry shushed him, before the two of them set off to follow Hagrid and Madame Maxime. They were in for a long walk, and had to endure the giants flirting with each other as they made their way across the grounds. Just as Harry was about to give up and go back to Gryffindor tower so he would not miss his conversation with Sirius, a deafening roar resounded from behind a clump of trees. The two boys raced ahead of Hagrid, making sure to stay well out of their path… and that was when they saw them…

Dragons!

"Seto… is going… to freak…" Marik muttered under his breath.

It almost seemed unreal; four fully grown, absolutely enormous, vicious-looking dragons where fighting against their handlers. The beast reared up on their hind legs, shooting torrents of flame up into the air. One was silvery-blue with long, sharp horns, and was trying vainly to get a mouthful of the handlers on the ground. There was a smooth-scaled green one stamping about, and another that looked oddly like The God of Osiris with the exception of gold spines around its face was shooting mushroom-shaped clouds in the air. The last one was the most lizard-like, not the mention that it was jet black.

"Oy, there, Charlie!" Hagrid called suddenly, startling the two boys.

A red headed young man that could only be one of Ron's older brothers that had already graduated from Hogwarts left the handling of the dragons to his companions and went over to where Hagrid and Madame Maxime were standing. He greeted the two of them warmly.

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" Hagrid asked.

"The black one's a Hungarian Horntail," Charlie explained. "I'd say that one was the most vicious out of the four. There's a Common Welsh Green right there, and the smaller blue-gray one, that a Swedish Short-Snout. The last one – the red one – that's a Chinese Fireball."

Marik's mouth was slack, hanging open in his disbelief. He turned to ask Harry what he thought of all this, when he spotted something odd in the trees. Pointing it out to his younger companion, he squinted to see that it was Professor Karkaroff of Durmstrang, hiding behind the trees and doing a poor job of trying not to be seen.

Before Harry could really say anything, Marik dragged him away, starting back up the lawn. Once they were well out of earshot, he explained himself.

"There was no need to stay there any longer," he said. "We know what the first task is now, and I bet you by tomorrow morning Fleur and Krum will as well. Besides, if we don't haul ass, you're going to be late for your meeting with Sirius."

-.oOOo.-

The next morning found Marik pacing about the common room, waiting for Harry to come down and tell him how his meeting with Sirius went the night before. He tried to stay focused on what he could have told the younger boy, but his mind kept drifting back to the dragons. How in the heck were they supposed to deal with a dragon? Especially ones that huge! The only dragon he had ever seen come close to that height was the Blue Eyes White Dragon…

It was like someone flicked a light bulb on in his mind. He looked down at the Millennium Ring around his neck, before dashing out of the common room so fast, he almost ran over Draco as he was coming in.

"Slow down, you crazy Egyptian!" he called after him, but Marik did not take notice.

He tore through the hallways of the school, peeking in on all their usual hang out spots, before finally finding who he needed to talk to in the library. Yami Bakura was sitting at a table next to his hikari and across from Seto and Yami Seto, apparently discussing something. They stopped their conversation short as Marik ran in, out of breath.

"What's up, Gravekeeper?" the tomb robber asked, propping his feet up on the table. "You look like you saw a Blue Eyes White Dragon come to life."

Marik smirked. "Funny you should say that…"