Disclaimer: I own nothing!!!
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Bakura looked around rather anxiously at all the people he'd brought to the shadow realm. He shuffled nervously, acting completely unlike his usual self.
"Okay…so maybe I did have a reason for bringing you all here. I…er…need a bit of help. Mostly from Yami Yugi…" He said finally, his brown eyes locking firmly onto Yami's crimson ones.
"Yami who? That other Japanese kid who was supposed to be coming to Hogwarts this year? I don't think I've ever seen the other kid." Said Ron. He looked around. "I don't see any new faces around here."
Bakura looked surprised and was going to say something when Dumbledore raised his hand to silence him.
"Yami is here. He will reveal himself when the time comes." The headmaster said solemnly. "Now…Bakura, explain to us why you need Yami's help."
"I need the puzzle." The white haired boy responded. "But Yami is the only one who knows how to use its powers to their fullest extent."
//I already know that.// Yugi muttered.
Link rolled his eyes. 'Gee, I wonder why.'
"Why do you need the puzzle?" Professor McGonagall demanded. "Why do you need all of us? What's so special about the puzzle anyways?"
"It's magic!" A random, bushy haired, red headed, first year girl cried shrilly. "It has to be!"
"…No, duh…Of course it's magic." Ron said, banging his head Harry's shoulder. "Kids these days…"
Harry patted him sympathetically on the shoulder.
"I don't need all these people," Bakura said, waving his hand at the many people around him, "I only meant to bring one person," he glanced at Yami, "to the Shadow Realm. Bringing the rest of you mortals was the last thing I wanted to do."
Professor Snape glared coldly at the boy, he looked as though he were itching to place his hands around Bakura's neck in attempt throttle him (He usually reserved this look for Harry). "If you didn't need us, then why did you bring us here?" He hissed in Bakura's ear, clenching his fists, "You are wasting our class time back in the real world. I demand that you send us all back this very instant!"
Bakura coolly pushed Snape away from him, his brown eyes reflecting his indifference towards the professor. "The Shadow Realm is a real world in its own way. As you can see…" He said, summoning up the Change of Heart, "…these are not illusions. This world is just as real as your own."
The half angle/demon brushed up against Professor Flitwick and let her warm hands rest on the tiny teacher's shoulder. Professor Flitwick instantly assumed the 'I'm special' look. (¬_¬;;; ß common look among the teachers nearby)
~*~*~*~*~*~
The soft chatter of students and teachers (and some random Egyptians who had also been transported to the Shadow Realm) soon became rather comforting. It drowned out most of the fear and empty feelings that the Shadow Realm was emitting.
Hermione sat down in the darkness with an exasperated sigh. "This is a complete waste of time! I could be studying or doing homework or…something! Anything is better than sitting around in
some cold, dark, and creepy place! I
wish I'd brought a book with me!!!"
"How could you bring a book with you? It's not like we knew we were going to be brought to this 'cold, dark, and creepy place.'" Ron muttered.
"It's only the first day of class, what could you possibly be studying? You don't even have any homework yet!" Harry added.
"So??? I can be reviewing last year's lessons!!!" Hermione said, beginning to sound a bit hysterical.
Harry and Ron decided not to argue with her, knowing their arguments would most likely fall upon deaf ears.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The Weasley twins burst into the Gryffindor common room and began questioning the many students who were doing their homework. Their normally cheerful faces were clouded over with worry.
"Oi! Neville! Have you seen Ron?" George asked.
"…No…" Neville replied after a bit of thought, "…Why do you ask?"
"We can't find him anywhere." Fred answered quickly. "We've already checked all of the places he is most likely to hang out in and some places that he's not so likely to hang out in. I was going to ask Professor Dumbledore if he'd seen Ron when I realized that I hadn't seen Harry or Hermione for a while now…"
"So we both went to see the headmaster," George said.
"Of course, he wasn't in his office--" Fred said.
"When is he ever?" George asked, looking irritated.
"All the other teachers are gone, too." Fred continued.
"Even Snape!" George interrupted.
"Half the school is gone!"
"Ron's not the only one missing…Ginny's also missing." George pointed out.
"Mum is going to kill us if she finds out!"
"She'll be here to watch Harry in the Triwizard Tournament!"
"Again!"
Neville looked panicky. "We're holding the Triwizard Tournament again?" he squeaked.
Fred bopped him in the head, "Don't you ever pay attention to the rest of the world?"
Neville rubbed his head, looking apologetic, "I didn't think they'd be holding it again, especially after what happened to the competitors last year…"
"Well, they are." Fred said matter-of-factly, "And I heard they changed some of the rules to make it more challenging. Requiring more thought and teamwork." He added after seeing the worried look on Neville's face.
"So you haven't seen them anywhere?" George asked after a moment of silence.
Neville shook his head and the twins instantly disappeared through the portrait hole. He could hear them questioning random students (in very loud voices) in the hallway. The voices soon faded away as the Weasley twins traveled away from the Gryffindor tower. Neville got up from where he'd been sitting in front of the fireplace to conduct a search of his own.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Interesting tale…" Yami muttered as Bakura quickly explained his current predicament. "I never would have thought…But…how did he manage to disable the powers of the ring? I would have thought it to be impossible." He fingered his own millennium item, running his hands along the grooves and designs on it. "The items are quite vulnerable on their own, but when combined--"
"They have enough destructive power to bring about the end of the world. I know." Bakura said wearily, running his hands through his long, white hair. "My only thought now is to get out of the shadow realm, taking over the world can wait."
(¬_¬;;; ß common look among teachers, students, and random Egyptians)
Link popped up alongside Bakura, and gently touched the golden ring. "You know," he said, "I don't think the powers were disabled."
"If they weren't disabled, would I still be hanging around here? Does this seem like a place where I'd like to spend my free time???" Bakura growled impatiently.
"Yes." Link said, not bothering to look up from the ring.
Bakura growled again at the Hylian's offhand manner, but didn't bother to retort.
Zelda rolled her eyes. "That's my Link for you. Still trying to make up for those seven years of immaturity he never got to have the first time around…"
"What do you mean?" Yami Yugi, confusion written quite plainly on his face.
"Whatever the powers the ring had before," Link said, cutting off Zelda before she could answer the question, "They're aren't disabled."
"That's good then!" Professor McGonagall said, "There is no point in keeping us here now. We can return to Hogwarts."
"The powers are almost completely drained from the ring. What little power remained was spent in bringing all these people to this place." Link said slowly. "There's almost nothing left of the spirit that once resided within the ring…"
Bakura paled. "But…I'm still here. It's not like I've been reduced to one of those see-through ghost things…" He looked down at himself anyways, just to be sure.
Jenny, the bushy haired, red head girl charged at Bakura and began beat him with her tightly clenched fists, "You're an evil spirit that's possessed the real Acura! Die!!!"
Bakura grabbed the girl's hand tightly and refused to let got until all struggles to escape had ceased. "The name's Bakura, not Acura, got that?" He hissed.
Jenny nodded fearfully.
"I'm not really possessing Bakura, because I am Bakura. I am his Yami, his dark half. We are one. Light cannot exist if there are no shadows, just as shadows can't exist without light. Hitting me will not free my light half as I'm powerless to force my near dead hikari to take control of this body." Bakura said as he released his captive. "I assume what little bit of my power remains is the ability to take over this body and the power to bring people to the Shadow Realm. I've already tried sending those Egyptians back (Random Egyptians: *wave like mad*), that obviously failed."
"But I haven't been able to bring people out of the Shadow Realm." Yami pointed out. "I've only been able to banish people to it."
"I've noticed…" Yami Bakura said with a wry grin.
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A/N: *nervous grin* Sorry for the serious lack of updates. I kinda…er…got myself grounded…four times in a row. I've been typing parts of it whenever I get the chance (which isn't often). This chapter was supposed to be a lot longer and more interesting, but people have been flaming me (by e-mail) for updates (again), so I'm going to post this part first and finish typing the rest of it some other time.