Chapter 6: Egyptians: There Be Four

Ryou didn't forget his midnight talk with the black-haired teen or the dream they had shared; he had a feeling that the boy had visited that graveyard in his dreams many times before, and his feelings weren't often wrong. Hopefully that night, Ryou had helped to discontinue those visits. However, he was curious as to how Phantom was able to manipulate his dreams, like what had happened for last month, and why the cat had suddenly become afraid of leaving the room, even when Bakura was around. Nonetheless, it was almost time to leave for the school train and Ryou didn't have time to mess with mysteries and dreams for the moment; he had to collect his stuff that was scattered around his room. Yugi had the same problem, if not more, but Malik had barely touched any of his stuff since he dumped onto his floor, so he won the prize for fastest packed.

On September first, they set out for the Kings Cross train station, again traveling on the Knight Bus; Ryou noticed that the black-haired boy was also traveling that way, and he had two teens with him, probably also Hogwarts students. They seemed to be deep in conversation, so Ryou didn't really feel he should interrupt. But as he passed them by, Phantom went berserk, and couldn't be calmed even when Bakura took over; not only that, but the girl that was with the other group seemed to experience problems as well. Bakura hurried to the very back of the bus, away from the teen and his friends, so maybe Phantom would stop clawing up his leg, and it seemed to work. The rest of the bus ride went without difficulty.

When they got to the train station, Ryou and Yugi had to leave Malik behind again, like at the inn, but they also had problems. They had to check their letters several times to make sure they weren't mistranslating, yet it was still there.

"Uh, Ryou, I don't see a platform nine and three-quarters," Yugi said as they walked past barriers nine and ten again. Ryou shook his head hopelessly.

"It's not possible. There is no platform nine and three-quarters," he answered.

"We didn't think wizards existed either, but we're going to go to a school for them," Yugi said. "But not if we can't find the Platform…hey, Ryou, where are you going?"

For Ryou had wandered off, in the direction of three teens he had just noticed (Phantom stayed behind, since he didn't have a problem with Yugi). The black-haired teen looked quizzically as he approached.

"Uh, can I help you?"

"Well, probably. It's kind of obvious that you're wizards too," Ryou answered quietly, looking at his feet, "so I was wondering if you could tell me and Yugi how to get onto the platform. We're sort of lost."

He felt really uncomfortable when he was met by incredulous stares from the two others, but the first boy smiled knowingly. "First time?"

"Yeah."

"All you have to do is run straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. If you're a wizard, you'll pass right through. Watch."

The boy moved into position with his cart ahead of him, started running right at the barrier, and, just as he was about to hit, he disappeared. Ryou, barely believing his eyes, nodded and walked back over to Yugi, and then told him exactly what had happened; Yugi believed at about as much as Ryou did, but they decided that it didn't matter how they missed the train, they'd still miss it if this didn't work. By then the other teens were gone, so they had a clear field in which to work. Yugi and Ryou stood back from the barrier, Phantom jumped up onto his master's shoulder, and, expecting a crash, they ran straight at the barrier...and passed right through. Ryou looked back and saw a wrought-iron archway with the words 'Platform Nine and Three-Quarters' written at the top. They did it.

They found a compartment near the end of the train and got in; Yugi needed help lifting his trunk, which was almost as heavy as him, but they managed. After a few minutes, they heard the conductor call for anyone one else, then the train shuttered, and they were off.

A few minutes later, they heard a knock at the compartment door and it opened to reveal the black-haired boy. "Hey, could my friends and I share this compartment with you? There isn't really room anywhere else."

"Sure," Yugi answered. With a "thanks" the other boy entered and sat down…alone.

"Um, where are your friends?" Ryou asked.

"They're prefects, so they had to go to the front of the train, but they'll be back before long."

After an awkward silence, the boy cleared his throat and said, "Well, it's no use sitting here if you don't know my name. I'm Harry Potter." And he waited for the stunned silence followed by glances at his forehead and stuttering disbelief, but it didn't come. His words had very little effect.

"I'm Ryou Bakura," Ryou answered. "And this is Yugi."

They were silent for a few minutes until two more shadows appeared outside the compartment door, whispering frantically. The door slid open and a bushy head poked in.

"Harry, are you in here? Oh good…Ron, c'mon, it's all right, we got the right one this time."

A girl with bushy brown hair walked in and sat down, followed boy a boy with flaming red hair; the boy looked embarrassed as he sat down, but they didn't have time to worry about that because right at that moment, Phantom went crazy...and so did the basket the girl was carrying. Out of the basket jumped a bandy-legged, ginger cat, spitting and snarling like it would a dog. The other cat jumped up onto the girl's head and hissed at Phantom, who did the same to Ryou; both cat owners were trying to calm their pets down, but it was no use; the cats didn't want to be near each other. The girl got up to leave, hands still trying to get her cat off her head, but Yugi stopped her.

"Wait, don't go, I'm sure we can figure something out," he said, standing up to help the girl with her cat. After a few moments of pulling, the ginger cat came of her head, though it was still very upset. Yugi then went to help Ryou, and Phantom came off, but was just as upset as before. 'Ryou' made small noises like purring to try to calm his cat down and eventually Phantom stopped struggling. The other cat was soon calmed as well and the humans stood back to assess to damage.

"I'd say our cats don't like each other," the girl said quietly, trying not to jinx the uneasy clam.

"Yeah, haven't seen Crookshanks act like that since I still had Scabbers," the redhead added. Harry shook his head, surprisingly in sync with the girl.

"Naw, he was acting like that when Hermione first arrived at the inn," Harry said as he remembered. "Guess now we know the reason."

"Phantom was acting weird before we left," Yugi remembered. "Wasn't he, Ryou?"

But 'Ryou' wasn't listening. He was purring and muttering to his cat, "Mama, Phantom, daijoubou…heki…"(1)

"I'd say he's completely out of it," said the redhead. He turned to Yugi and held out his hand, "You two obviously know Harry already. My name's Ron Weasley."

"I'm Yugi Mutou," Yugi said as he briefly took Ron's hand. "I think we've met your brothers, Fred and George."

"Yeah, that's them. The two real pranksters of the family. And the only ones to really get enough money," he added to himself. The girl sighed impatiently.

"I'm Hermione Granger. This is my cat Crookshanks. He obviously doesn't like Phantom."

"Yeah...uh, Ryou? Oh, never mind. This is Ryou Bakura," Yugi said, introducing his friend. Ryou finally looked up.

"Hi, sorry about that," Ryou said. "But I've never seen Phantom act like that. It kind of scared me."

The four of them talked about this and that for a few more minutes, but eventually they noticed that one person wasn't taking part.

"Hey, Harry, what's wrong?" Ron asked suddenly, surprising his friend. Harry frowned and looked down at his feet, though it was obvious to everyone that he wasn't actually seeing them.

"It's nothing," he muttered. Then he looked thoughtful and stared at Ryou. "But I was wondering what year you two are in."

"Sixth," Yugi and Ryou answered together.

"That's funny. How'd you manage to skip five years?" Hermione asked.

Ryou breathed in and tried to remember to story he'd told the Flourish and Blotts shopkeeper. "Well, we're Muggle-born and we didn't know we had magic until a short while ago. But none of the schools in our area would take us, so Professor Dumbledore did."

"Met Dumbledore already, huh?" Ron asked. Ryou shook his head.

"No, but he explained everything in a letter he sent each of us."

"Muggle-born, huh?" said a drawling voice from outside the compartment door. Bakura stirred in his soul room; he remembered that voice. "Well, mudbloods, this is about where I'd expect to find you; with another mudblood, a half-blood, and one who might as well be Muggle-born for all his father does."

Bakura wasn't the only one to know that voice; Harry&co also knew it. The door slid open and they found Malfoy and two other boys standing there. Yugi was intimidated by the other boys at once; they were probably twice his size and very thick, in more ways than one.

Malfoy spoke again. "I've looking for you, freak," he said to Ryou, who had a pretty good idea what he was talking about. "You owe me quite a bit of money."

"Buzz off, Malfoy," Ron snarled as he stood up, fists clenched.

"Ron, no," Hermione whispered.

"We don't need minor Death Eaters like you to be fouling up our air, especially now that half of what you breathe comes from Azkaban," Ron continued. This seemed to get Malfoy very angry.

"How dare you...if my father...do you think I'm going to let him get away with it?" Malfoy asked, pointing at Ryou. Harry&co thought they also knew what Malfoy was talking about, but Ryou didn't seem to be the thief type. "I know you're the thief who took my money, freak, and I'll prove it one way or another–"

"Why, it's Gay-boy Malfoy," said another voice from outside the compartment. "We meet again."

Malfoy turned to his right, eyes full of fire. "I don't know who you are or how you know about that, but you will not get away with that name calling."

"Unfortunately, Malfoy, we aren't at school yet and these boys don't have a House, so you can't take House-points or give them detention," Hermione told him, trying to hide her own laughter.

"You know you just implied that–never mind," Ron said, snickering quietly. Malfoy glared at them all, and then gestured to his cronies and walked away. The owner of the other voice appeared in the doorway, followed by a woman who looked older than him and much more Egyptian.

"Hey, Malik, thanks for the help," Ryou said, not noticing the woman and trying to calm Phantom down again. Yugi, however, did notice the woman.

"Isis?" he said incredulously. That got Ryou's attention.

"Miss Ishtal?!" Ryou exclaimed, turning to see that Isis was indeed standing by her brother in the doorway. "Miss Ishtal, what are you doing here?"

Isis smiled. "I've asked you to call me Isis, Ryou, remember?" Ryou blushed. "Anyway, I am here because I am to be the sixth and seventh year Divination teacher." She noticed the other inhabitants of the compartment and smiled again. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? Harry, Hermione, Ron, my name is Isis Ishtal, and this is my brother, Malik."

Ryou glanced at the others to see how they would react; they each had a look of disbelief on his or her face. Hermione was the first to speak.

"How–how did you know our names…Professor?" she asked, panic creeping into her voice.

"I'm your Divination teacher, am I not? Why shouldn't I know your names?" Her hands brushed over a choker at her neck, a movement that did not go unnoticed, but Yugi didn't say anything. He and Ryou had agreed they weren't going to mention their Millennium Items, and that might as well apply to any Item holder. (2)

"Hey, do you guys mind if we join you?" Malik asked. "Everywhere else is either full or unwilling to have a teacher with them."

"Sure, sit down," Harry answered as he moved over to make more room. But when Isis did sit down he had another question for her. "You said you're the sixth and seventh year teacher. You're not teaching third through fifth?"

"No, Professor Dumbledore said there would be another teacher for those three years," she answered. An uncomfortable silence succeeded this statement, like no one knew what to say. Eventually, Hermione broke the silence.

"Um, where are you guys from. It must be a long way away."

"My sis and I are from Egypt, near Cairo. Yugi and Ryou over there are from Domino, Japan," Malik answered casually, but Hermione looked stunned.

"Japan...hey, Hermione, isn't that where you're family went on vacation this year?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, and we went to Domino, too..." She trailed off. Yugi, Ryou, and Malik glanced at each other, but they knew that Battle City hadn't happened during that summer, so Hermione couldn't have seen it; however, Yugi and his friends had dueled each other a bit, so she could have seen that. She didn't say anything about it, but she was in deep thought afterwards.

"So, um, Professor," Harry said, trying to get a conversation going, "do you know who the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is this year?"

"Professor Dumbledore didn't tell me anything about the other teachers," Isis replied. Yugi had a feeling, from the look on her face, that she really did know, however.

"What do you mean, 'this year'?" Ryou asked cautiously.

"We've had a different Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher every year," Ron answered. "A lot of people think the job is jinxed. Dumbledore's been having a lot of trouble finding teachers for the last few years. I think last year's teacher was the worst. Her and Lockhart from second year."

"It'd be great if we got Lupin as a teacher again," Harry said. "He was the best."

"It'd be great, but even Dumbledore wouldn't be that crazy. Parents would freak if Lupin was hired again."

"Why's that?" Yugi asked.

"Professor Lupin was a werewolf," answered Hermione. Yugi looked like he regretted asking, but Ryou looked amazed.

"A werewolf? Really?" Hermione nodded her head. "Cool!" Ryou exclaimed.

"A lot of parents wouldn't think so."

"Is the job really jinxed?" Yugi asked.

"Naw, only since Harry started going to Hogwarts," Ron said. Harry glanced up at the other's quizzical looks.

"Every year, I have, in some weird way, contributed to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher getting fired," he said.

"Yeah, Quirrell died, Lockhart erased his own memory when his was trying to erase ours, Snape told the school about Lupin after we thwarted his plans, Moody was trapped and his clone tried to kill you, and you helped the centaurs drive Umbridge mad," Ron stated, counting off each teacher on his fingers. "Yeah, I see what you mean, mate."

After that, no one wanted to talk about teachers, or how Harry was connected to them.

The snack-trolley witch came by. Ryou didn't have much money left, and Yugi and Malik didn't feel like spending theirs, but Harry was hungry and he bought enough for everyone. Ryou was unfortunate enough to lose his chocolate frog, but the Ptolemy wizard card inside was well worth it; Ron was on him in a second, wanting to trade this one or that one for the Card Ryou got, but it was of no use. Yugi then got Agrippa, which irked Ron to no end, because those were the only two cards he was missing in his collection. Eventually, they had exhausted the supply of Chocolate Frogs, and Yugi, Ryou, and Malik's cards were pretty much of Mediterranean wizards and witches, except for the Merlin card Ryou got.

In time, the world outside the train windows began to grow dark, and Hermione got up to change into her school robes elsewhere; Isis, not wanting to embarrass anyone, followed her. Malik didn't feel like explaining the tattoos on his back, or remembering them for that matter, so he pulled his robes on over his clothes. Ryou, however, didn't think about that, but he did almost as soon as he'd pulled his shirt off.

"Uh, Ryou, where did all those scars come from?" Ron asked, his face filling with disgust. Ryou looked down at his bare chest (the Ring was on his seat behind him); the major scars there were arranged in a half circle pattern, from when the Ring's spikes had imbedded themselves in his body. It was not something he wanted to talk about, nor were the other scars on his body, from when his yami had been at his worst.

"I'm accident prone," Ryou muttered, and he pulled his robes over his head and hid the Ring underneath. The others decided not to press the subject.

Before they got off the train, Ryou asked Harry a question that had been bothering him for a while. "Um, Harry, how do we get picked for our Houses?"

"The Sorting Hat does it."

"A hat?"

"Yeah. The Sorting Hat looks into your head to see what kind of person you are, and then it decides what House you belong in."

"Oh." For some reason, Ryou looked very upset once he learned this, and he wasn't the only one; Malik also looked worried. Ryou decided it was time for some evasive action.

/Hey, yami, what are we going to do?/

Stop worrying, hikari. How do you think we got away from that teacher in Knockturn Alley? The hat will never know who I really am.

/But–/

If you're that worried, you could take the Ring off when you're being chosen.

/Really? I would have thought you–/

That was before. This is now–

"Oy, Ryou!" Ron called, interrupting Bakura mid-sentence. "Stop spacing out and come on. We're at Hogwarts."

"But, what about…" Ryou glanced back at his stuff.

"Don't worry, our stuff'll get to the castle. Always does. Now come on."

Ryou paused and stared at his cat. "Phantom, you'll be okay, right?" The cat meowed softly. "Good. Don't attack whoever comes to get you and my stuff, okay?" The cat meowed again and Ryou left. Time to see what Hogwarts was all about.

translation: "Calm down, Phantom, it's all right…it's okay… In this sequence of events, Yugi gave the Necklace back to Isis after Battle City. That's why she can be a Divination teacher.