(Lilo: gah, school -_-" so tired … *sniff* well, anyways, I am not going to tell you who 'her' is … not until later but good luck guessing! Lol, also, I kno that some of you will shoot me after reading this … I promised that this story would have no character death … no main character death … heehee *scratches the back of her head* but this is different, very different and fits in perfectly as well as explaining why McGonagall is the only on who Harry talked to … ^-^ I guess that some of you might have already guessed who dies… EHM! Anyways, it's in this chapter so without further redo, go and read it! ^-^
Marikue: *glaring at everybody* I am the son of*mphf!*
Lilo: shh, you are not supposed to tell, remember?
Marikue: opps … heehee, but I am proud … anyways, I am the darkness and Bakura is a darkness with a light and since I am so dark, I am doing the disclaimer! Mwahahha! Lilo doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter…)
Chapter 21
Breaking the Light
It was dark, very dark as they arrived to their destination. The dimmed lights of the station made everything seem so 'eerie', so empty and cold.
"Ah, this is it" Harry sighed as he got off the train with the others following closely behind.
"So… we are going to study and sleep right here on this platform?" Marik raised his eyebrow as he looked around. He could hear some woman screaming loudly for first years and he could see weird horses with carriages in the opposite direction of the voice.
"No you silly!" Hermione shook her head. "We have to get there first …" she trailed off as she observed Yami, Bakura and Marik. How were they supposed to enter?
"Then let's go!" Bakura said and began dragging them towards the carriages. The horses looked very … intimidating.
"But aren't you supposed to get there by boat?" Hermione asked as she tried to keep up with the boys.
"Boats? Are you kidding me?" Marik shook his head in 'no'. "After spending more than a year on one, I prefer land." Yami and Bakura laughed, knowing that Marik's main source of transportation was his motor boat during battle city.
"Inside joke" Yami waved Harry's questioning look off. "You won't get it"
"Fine, keep your secrets!" Harry pretended to pout. As the climbed into one of the carriages, Harry's eyes became distant.
"Hm, so, what happens once we get to the castle?" Bakura asked from his seat.
"Well… I guess that you should find McGonagall and ask her or… don't worry, we will find a way! We'll just ask some teachers!" Hermione smiled gently.
"Ya… even though most of them are bastards, they'll still tell you so no worries" Harry smiled as well.
"Sure whatever. So tell us more about your school and 'houses'" Marik inquired.
"Well," Hermione began since she actually read 'Hogwarts, A History' "There are four houses, and you get sorted by a hat that you put onto your head... The best house is Griffindor but others are ok too. Slytherin is total crap though, I have to warn you." She continued as she watched the castle getting closer. For some reason, to her astonishment, their three new friends acted as if it was nothing and that one could see a castle like that in everyday life. "But you can't decide the outcome of the sorting because the hat has a mind of its own and there is no way to tell it otherwise" she noticed how Bakura and Yami directed their gazes onto Marik, who, in turn, smirked.
"So, when it finished 'sorting', how do others find out about your chosen house?" Yami asked a very direct and helping question. If everything went according to plan, all that Marik had to do was…
"It screams out the house name" Harry supplied. He was almost sorted into Slytherin once but thankfully, the hat decided that he was not the heir of Slytherin and that he was most definitely not Voldemort vrs.2.
"I see…" Marik trailed off with a faraway look.
"It's beautiful" Yami suddenly commented after five minutes of complete silence.
"What is?" Hermione blinked as she took in his face. There was a thoughtful look but it looked more homesick …
"The castle and the magic barriers surrounding it… they are so clear, so crystal blue…" Yami observed the swirls of light blue energy curling around the ground of the massive construction. The power was old, very old but not as old as his soul …
"The castle? Yes, it is rather beautiful at night…" Harry sighed as he turned his gaze towards the ceiling.
"Barriers?" this was Hermione. She wondered what Yami was talking about but then again, she could guess. She read about it once, about the barriers of magic that prevent the outsiders to see Hogwarts and can also defend it against an attack … but no book had ever mentioned that the energy was crystal blue or that somebody could see it unless…
"We'll explain later" Marik suddenly said as he observed the barrier that was getting closer and closer.
"We won't be able to get through!" Bakura hissed in ancient Egyptian. The magic of the barrier would not let beings such as 'them' to pass through it!
"What do you mean? We can!" Marik tried to stay positive as Harry and Hermione watched the intently.
"The realm of light was defeated by the realm of the dark. This is but a small yet powerful bit of it that managed to survive … we are in for one hell of a ride" Yami spoke calmly as he observed the beauty of it all. It was almost hypnotizing … almost.
"We'll walk from here" Bakura suddenly said in plain English and jumped off the carriage, closely followed by Yami and Marik, leaving Hermione and Harry in total and utter confusion.
"Do you know what the hell was that all about?" Harry asked Hermione as confusion consumed his current thoughts. Why were their friends afraid of some barrier only they could see? What if they were hallucinating…?
"Harry, this is bad." Hermione suddenly said as realization hit her.
"What do you mean?" Harry couldn't make any possible trend.
"Do you remember Hagri…" she trailed off as Harry winced. "Sorry…" she added quietly.
"Go on, never mind me. Those who surround me always … die" Harry's voice was firm but his insides were tearing apart as pain slashed his soul once again. First his parents, then Sirius, then Hagrid… why???
"Hagrid told us once that Hogwarts is the safest place because souls of unicorns surround its walls!" she began carefully but then got a faraway look on her face and Harry prepared to listen because she was about to start her 'rambling' session as he pushed his emotions away. "I thought he was just telling us a fairy tale but if what they said is true then it is not! Didn't they say that the energy was blue? It must be it! But I guess that they are afraid of it because they are possessing Yugi and Ryou, but then why would Marik be afraid of it too? And now that I think about it, they didn't want to talk about how they got through the roof on the train and quickly changed the subject when I asked what a Worm Drake or whatever it was! And what's with the weird 'cracky' language? It's not Japanese, that's for sure! Maybe … but how can they? … a pharaoh…" she was mumbling to herself now.
"So, what you are saying is that…?" Harry blinked rapidly.
"Their souls aren't pure …" Hermione stuck her head out of the window but the three were still standing, not moving, not doing anything. Like ghosts in moonlight...
"Oh, and Lockhart is a genius" Harry half-mocked, half-laughed at her conclusion.
"I'll prove it!" Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "I figured out the Basilisk and I will figure out this!" she was confident when it came to solving mysteries. What she didn't know was that this time, library might not be of any use at all …
"I have no doubt that you will" Harry told her. '…someday' he added quietly to himself. He had known the three for over a month now and when he thought about it, there was something about them, some thing that didn't fit… missing, gone… he could already guess that they slid through the ceiling of the train with the use of magic, their magic that was different, somehow, it was different. Magic that could not be detected by the Ministry of Magic, a magic that he, Harry was struggling to control himself. This was the only reasonable explanation Harry could come up with as he and Hermione got off the carriage and entered the great hall. Every student froze for a moment, because it was Harry Potter who just walked in. Not the famous Harry Potter, no, it was the lunatic Harry Potter who could talk to snakes, kill and threaten everyone and everything. He was the one who was able to control the snake that was believed (among students) to be the Horror Of the Chamber itself.
~~~
"You know, we don't have to go" Marik said as he eyed the barrier with mistrust. Just being close to it was making him sick.
"I know, but we have to" Yami emphasized the 'have to' as he touched the barrier with one finger and quickly withdrew it as he felt his flesh nearly 'burning' from the purity and the innocence of the small yet powerful defense. Maybe this would be harder than he at first thought…
"And why is that?" Marik raised one blond eyebrow as two yamis exchanged glances.
"Those two kids … we didn't just 'tell' them about us" Yami gave the ex-grave keeper a small but meaningful glare.
"I don't get it…?" Marik scratched the back of his head. There was something that they were keeping from him, something that he knew that was obvious yet he could not see it and the worst thing in all of this was that Isis knew this very something as well! Basically, he felt as if he was the only one left out in the dark.
"We are not sure yet but his scar bleeds whenever…" Bakura never got to finish as Yami cut him off.
"It might just be a coincidence. Forget it" he said dismissingly and Marik blood boiled with rage.
"What the F*** is going on?" he demanded as he glared at the two rivals whose bond was next to impossible to break.
"Forget it" Bakura shook his head as well, turning his attention back to the barrier.
"I don't want to!" Marik growled but yamis paid him no attention as both of them were deep in thought.
"Now, how shall we break it?" Yami said out loud.
"Open a portal?" Marik suggested.
"You mean open portal here and on the other side of the barrier? That would drain us" Bakura snapped out of his thoughts.
"Then suggest something that wouldn't" Marik snapped back.
"We will be drained either way" Yami interrupted the two with a sigh.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Bakura took out his cards.
"No" Yami stopped the tomb robber before he could summon one of his monsters. "Better open a portal on the other side instead of trying to actually break it. I mean, this is their only means of defense and I doubt that they want us to bring it down … and we will be bringing our cover down as well" Yami was always the brains of their group and no matter how much they hated him, he still had a point.
"Fine, we will have it you way" Bakura pouted and put his deck back into one of his many inside pockets.
"Here we go" Marik said as the three concentrated their energies.
~~~
"Where did those three go?" McGonagall asked Dumbledore in a worried tone. All of the students were already inside of the castle and the first years were about to be sorted. Marik, Yami and Bakura were nowhere to be seen while Harry and Hermione sat a practically empty end of the table as their classmates tried to keep distance to the horror that was sitting there with the top student, talking as if nothing had happened.
"All that I know is that they definitely boarded the train and that they did take the same carriage that Hermione and Harry did … they never made it to Hogwarts grounds" Dumbledore put his head into his hands, trying to prevent himself from banging his head against the table in front of all students and teachers. But it was so tempting …
"Should I go look for them?" Moody also came up to the headmaster. The incident on the train still replaying in his mind, he wanted to find more about the three. It was just that something about them drew him on, making him want to find out more and they behaved as if that very something was not what they wanted the rest of the world to know.
"No" the headmaster replied sharply. It was not their concern anymore and Marik, Yami and Bakura would have to get themselves out of trouble on their own. This would teach them a lesson.
"All right then" Moody said as McGonagall glance around nervously. However, before they could make any other moves, the doors to the great hall were banged open and all of the occupants turned their heads to stare at the three newcomers. Their robes were badly burned, as well as some parts of their body. Small tingle of smoke was rising from their hair and their eyes promised death.
"Late" Bakura provided lamely as he felt the center of attention shift towards him.
"Wha- what in the world happened to you three?" McGonagall exclaimed with wide eyes as the teenagers smiled sheepishly.
"Um- we decided to set ourselves on fire?" Yami scratched the back of his head. In truth, when they were passing through the portal that they created, the barrier still managed to make things difficult for them and when they exited on the other side, they were set on fire. This made them very, very angry and now the forest nearby was a couple of trees less.
"Unacceptable!" Dumbledore rose from his chair. The first years shrunk back in fear as the headmaster glared at those who he was supposed to 'look after'. Only now did he realize the true meaning of looking after somebody and he was not happy with this new concept.
"So?" Marik raised his eyebrow as he and the other two moved to sit next to Harry and Hermione. Other students were holding their breaths, afraid to move and face the fury of Dumbledore who was visibly very frustrated and angry.
"The three that you just saw are the new transfer students" Dumbledore began after a small pause. "Professor McGonagall, I believe that you can handle this for I am personally placing them in Gryffindor. Do not object" he added when McGonagall opened her mouth to protest.
"Yay!" Harry smirked and he along with Hermione began laughing as Bakura showed them his 'wining' smile that looked like it came out of one of the horror movies. The great hall was silent and then suddenly, babble broke out as students began to whisper among themselves. Harry, being slightly psychic, was able to pick up a few phrases:
"Are they with Potter?"
"How bizarre!"
"I never heard of students transferring…"
"Why did they set themselves on fire?"
"That bastard pierced my arm with a knife!!!"
"They are sooo hot!"
And that was just a small part of what Harry gathered from the other students. Amazing what one can do when he/she could read minds. However, there was also a strangely low voice that Harry managed to hear before he tuned the voices off: Slytherin, mind of a snake…
"Congratulations" Hermione said with a small smirk as Marik banged his head against the table.
"So, what did you do to yourself?" Harry asked in a whisper as the Hat began its song.
"Just like Yami said, we set ourselves on fire" Marik whispered back.
"Bullshit" Harry expressed his opinion.
"Damn straight" Marik smirked.
"Why can't I read your mind?" Harry complained as he banged his head against the table, just like Marik. The first student was sorted into Slytherin.
"Can you read minds?" Yami suddenly switched his attention to the present conversation.
"Sort of … I suck but I can pick up a few things … from others" Harry added disdainfully. Why was reality so cruel to him? He wanted to know!
"I see…" Yami murmured as they all clapped when a first Gryffindor joined the table.
"I am hungry" Bakura interrupted their conversation.
"Me too" Marik suddenly realized how hungry he was. In fact, he had nothing to eat since breakfast!
"Me three" Harry added as his stomach grumbled in protest to the treating that it was getting.
"Me four" the pharaoh sighed as he looked at the rest of the students that were yet to be sorted.
"Me fiv- grrrrr!" Hermione grumbled as the guys around her laughed. It was really funny to see her pouting, it really was.
"Catchy, isn't it?" Bakura asked her, amused at her actions. However, instead of replying to his question, she continued to pout. The group completely ignored the entire sorting procedure as they talked to each other about nothing in particular, ignoring the stares that they were getting every now and then from other students.
"So you won't tell me what really happened?" Harry made his best puppy dog eyes.
"Nope" Bakura replied cheerful.
"Damn" Harry mutter and they all began laughing again. The feast went by smoothly, only occasionally did Yami and Bakura would try to stab each other with knife and then get yelled at by McGonagall. At the end, their little group of five laughed merrily and none of them noticed Dumbledore and Moody leave the teacher's table.
~~~
"At first, I thought I could solve it on my own but now I know that I can't" Moody told Dumbledore as the two entered a small corridor.
"What is it?" Dumbledore asked in a slightly curious tone.
"I can't say it right now. Not here" Moody whispered as his magical rolled to face the back of his head.
"Is it that peculiar?" Dumbledore blinked a couple of times.
"Worse. It is dangerous." Moody whispered back and left Dumbledore guessing.
~~~
"I am tired!" Bakura said as he stretched his back. The others could hear his bones popping.
"No wonder" Marik, once again, looked around the room that they had just entered. Harry said it was a common room and to get into here, you had to talk to a portrait first … but for some reason, the portrait was afraid of them and didn't even ask for password before swinging open … Harry said that shouldn't have happened...
"Everybody left" Yami pointed out. Every single student that came in before them left and they were now the only five sitting in one of the darkest corners of the room.
"So?" Bakura was sprawled on the floor, facing the ceiling.
"He means that it's probably already past midnight" Harry supplied from the chair that he was sitting it.
"So?" Bakura once again asked.
"We all have classes tomorrow!" Hermione stared at her wand blankly.
"So?" Bakura couldn't move his mouth properly because of the tiredness that Ryou's body was feeling after their little encounter with the barrier.
"Classes start early" Harry tiled his head to the side to examine Bakura more carefully. He watched as the boy's ruby eyes stared at nothingness, with an expression that Harry could not read.
"So?" Yami beat Bakura to the question.
"Um, we will have to get up early?" Hermione's attention was on Bakura again.
"And?" Harry had the urge to straggle the white-haired teen right there and then.
"Well, for one, to be able to wake up early in the morning, you have to go to bed just as early. Second, have you thought of what you are going to wear tomorrow? Your clothes are in no condition to be worn! They are all torn! How can you be so ignorant?" Hermione glared at anyone who tried to protest.
"Fine, fine, we will go to bed now" Bakura said with a sigh as he managed to peel himself off the floor.
"And we will come up with something for our robes in the morning" Marik told her as she left them to go to her own dormitory.
"Let's go then" Yami said and he and Bakura trailed behind Marik and Harry up the stairs. It was then that the yamis felt something and both their heads snapped back to look straight through the wall where the portrait was, only to see two crystal blue eyes on the other side, and in an instant, those eyes were gone followed by something that made the two darks worry.
"Was that a tail?"
~~~
McGonagall finally found professor Dumbledore on the roof, where the wizard was sitting and devouring lemon drops. She had been searching for him since the end of the feast and only now did she find him.
"Is something wrong?" Dumbledore's calm voice carried to her, soothing her restless nerves.
"Why?" McGonagall asked in a tiny voice as she sat down next to him. "Why in my house? Why with Harry? They are not really calm material …" transfiguration professor bombarded the headmaster with questions that have been bothering her since the three were placed in her care, without even trying on the original method of sorting. This would sure bring on rumors ….
"Harry is a granite with a loose pin" Dumbledore's eyes clouded over. "But he is calming down Minerva. They are calming him down, placing all the pieces …" Dumbledore trailed off, suddenly remembering the mysterious man in Sauro's office:
We are collecting the missing pieces and preparing to depart old man. You have enough clues to solve the puzzle.
"Pieces…" Dumbledore muttered to himself as he placed yet another lemon drop into his mouth.
"They are not helping! They will encourage him to be rebellious" McGonagall insisted.
"Do you know why I placed them in Gryffindor myself, Minerva?" Dumbledore looked at her skeptically.
"That was my first question" McGonagall pointed out with a raised eyebrow and Dumbledore smiled gently.
"They belong in Slytherin" so simple. His statement was so simple that at first, his words didn't sink in.
"What do you mean?" McGonagall's eyes widened as she stared at him in shock.
"Mind of a snake … the hat said they can communicate in Parseltong" Dumbledore's expression was grave.
"But- the Hat can't see what's inside of once mind before it is placed over the person's eyes" McGonagall stared at Dumbledore in astonishment.
"True … but it can read auras from afar." Dumbledore gave a small smile. "You see, every wizard has an aura" Dumbledore explained when McGonagall looked at him with a completely clueless expression. "Most auras are muddy grey or slightly silver. The stronger the wizard is, the brighter their aura is" Dumbledore continued.
"But … not all can see it, right?" McGonagall, for one, never saw any auras, only read about them in some make-believe book.
"True … you see, Minerva, my aura is silver mixed with a tingle of brown" Dumbledore stared at the night sky in thought "But Harry's, Minerva, Harry's is bright golden. Tom Riddle's was bright golden …"
"Same auras?" McGonagall asked in astonishment. Voldemort was evil … with the same aura as Harry? That didn't make any sense. "And what do auras have to do with sorting a person into their house?"
"The Hat can see those auras from afar and it sorts upon what kind of aura you have, not what you want from life" Dumbledore smiled. "Harry was supposed to be in Slytherin …" he paused as McGonagall gave a gasp.
"In Slytherin? Then why is he in Gryffindor?" she quickly asked.
"Because I asked the Hat to place him in Gryffindor" Dumbledore hid his face behind his hands.
"You faked sorting?" McGonagall thought she would have a heart attack right about now.
"I did" Dumbledore smiled sheepishly. "Not that Harry has to know though. The Hat came up with zillions of lies to be able to pull this off" Dumbledore continued "But when I asked for Yugi, Marik and Ryou to be placed in the same house, to fake the sorting again, the Hat refused"
"Wha – does that … they have the same auras?" McGonagall's thoughts were racing.
"Precisely, therefore I sorted them myself … the headmaster is allowed to do that under certain circumstances. If they were to try the Hat on, they would be in Slytherin." Dumbledore sighed desperately. "I don't understand though. I don't understand what they have in common. I don't understand why Hermione's at first pure silver aura is now brown … I don't have enough pieces … I can't solve the puzzle!" Dumbledore placed his head in his hands again.
"Don't try so hard, we will eventually solve it … what ever it is" she patted his shoulder gently.
"Everything that revolves around Harry is like water. We can't hold it because it just seeps through our fingers! We have the answer Minerva, right under our noses. It's just that we can't see it" Dumbledore stared at the forbidden forest and suddenly noticed something odd. "Since when did the left side of the forest look so … empty?" he asked, turning his head towards her.
"I think it has been burned out …" McGonagall strained her eyes to have a better look. There was a large chunk missing … like it had never been there to begin with. "…or maybe … it disappeared?"
"Everything in my life doesn't fit in" Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed. He would have to investigate in the morning. Just as well, he will have to talk with Moody. Why did the Auror wanted to talk to him in private, in an isolated place where none could follow? And just what was going on between Hermione and Ron …?
"Oh, and by the way" Dumbledore said as McGonagall turned to leave. "You were right from the beginning"
"What are you talking about?" McGonagall wondered how the headmaster's mind worked, if not for the first time.
"Marik … he is the leader of GHOULS" Dumbledore scratched the back of his head as McGonagall's jaws hit the ground.
"And you are allowing him to stay?" McGonagall had the urge to back away as Dumbledore shook his head enthusiastically and smiled stupidly at the same time. "It at times like this that you scare me" she told him honestly and the two started to laugh. However McGonagall, deep down, worried about the safety of all students and the magic that Marik used …
(Lilo: I kno kno, I didn't update for a long time … my excuse? Well, really, the only excuse that I have is school … basically, it took so long because school + depression isn't really that great… well, the good thing is that I am out of that hole … for now and if my teachers won't throw out more nasty surprises, I'll be fine and update regularly … can't wait until march break! … but I think it's getting warmer … (don't like winter, it's cold) … Ateme? I thought his name was Atemy or Atemu (Yami's real name) … to be honest, I was a little disappointed cuz I thought that it could be cooler … I mean, they went through hell to find his name! and it's short! And … it makes Yami sound a bit stupid because he forgot his name that wasn't really that long … u kno? I thought that I would be like Karamansjehdswe(I am not serious but I though it would be long!) I mean, if Yami forgot that, it's forgivable cuz not every one can remember it … well, I am done with my ramblings … ^-^.
Marikue: . R&R .)