Chapter 13: A 'Spirited' Lesson
The next morning, Ryou noticed that Yugi kept glancing at him nervously, and even after he said everything was fine, Yugi didn't look too sure. Ryou hadn't forgotten his dream at all; he kept hearing the anguished cries from the inhabitants of Kuru Eruna and the voice of the shadow creature that spoke to him and Bakura.
And he still hadn't found the weapons his yami had hidden in his bag.
And of course, Malik was his usual, sarcastic self when they met him on the way to breakfast. But when they got to the Great Hall, he didn't break off from them to go sit at the Slytherin table. Instead, he followed Yugi and Ryou and attempted to sit by them.
"Wait, wait," Ron said, holding his hand up to stop the Egyptian. "You're supposed to sit at your own house table, no matter how good of friends you are with someone else."
"There is no way I'm sitting at that table today," Malik argued. "Did you see what Malfoy was acting like when we came in?"
They glanced over at the Slytherin table to see that Malfoy was sulking with his head on the table and would occasionally glare down the table or over at the Gryffindors like he was looking for someone.
"Looks like he's not a prefect anymore," Ron commented lightly, though he was grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah, and he's going to blame Ryou and me for it. No way I'm sitting anywhere near Malfoy today, so you'll just have to make room."
Thus, Malik sat down next to his white-haired friend and began piling sausages on his plate. Ron shrugged and sat across from him.
About halfway through the meal, Ryou thought of something that had been bothering him. "Hey, Malik...have you ever heard of a village called Kuru Eruna?"
"No," Malik answered through a mouthful of food. He swallowed painfully when he noticed his friend's expression. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Ryou answered disappointedly.
"Oh no, it's something," said Malik, waving his fork. "He always sounds like that when there's really something bothering him, and you two are a lot more alike than you think. So I know it's not 'nothing'. What happened?"
Ryou sighed and told them about his dream, though he modified it to sound like he'd just met a villager and not his yami; he had a feeling that Harry, and maybe the others, was listening to their conversations, especially ones where they mentioned Bakura, Yami, or the Items.
When Ryou finished, Yugi said, "We told you to get rid of that cat."
"It wasn't Phantom!" Ryou protested, trying to ignore Bakura's irritation at having his cat criticized again. "Not in the dream anyway–"
"I didn't mean that," Yugi corrected. "I meant him making you have that dream in the first place. No one should have to watch something like that."
{{You can say that again.}} Bakura commented.
"Anyway, you should talk to Shadi about it. We have his class next, and I was going to ask him something anyway–"
"Why are you even going to bother?" Malik asked disgustedly. "You can ask me anything–"
"What's the Pharaoh's real name then?" Yugi inquired smartly, nervously glancing at Harry&co. Malik blushed.
"All right, almost anything. But when has Shadi ever been helpful? Remember all those times when–"
"He's friends with your sister, though," Ryou said. "You-know-who already suggested I should talk to Shadi. He didn't sound too happy about it though." Ryou's eyes suddenly lit up as he remembered: "He called Shadi 'Priest' when Professor Dumbledore first introduced him. I wonder if that has anything to do with Kuru Eruna."
"It's probably just 'cause the guy's got an Item," Malik said quietly. "In the past, the Item owners were called priests."
"But then we'd be considered priests too, wouldn't we?"
"Yeah, and you and Shadi would be priests twice over since you've each got two."
{{Hmmm, interesting. 'Priest Bakura'. It's got a ring to it.}}
{You'd have to answer to Yugi or Yami, though.}}
{{Why?}}
{One, because they have the Puzzle, and two–}
"Priests? You can't be serious. Priest of what?" asked a drawling voice from behind them.
"Priests of the temple of 'Kick-your-ass', Malfoy," Malik answered, invoking snickers from Harry and Ron, "and we'll start our duties right now if you don't leave us alone."
"What are you doing here, oh honored one?" Harry asked, snickering slightly.
"Yeah, we thought you were tomorrow's sacrifice," Ron added, thoroughly enjoying picking on Malfoy again, instead of it being the other way around.
"You two got me docked from being a prefect plus a month of detentions from both McGonagall and Professor Snape," Malfoy growled at Ryou and Malik. "Looks like you've just joined Potter on my hit list."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ryou said innocently. "I didn't say anything about what you did, and Malik was in the hospital wing all night, so he couldn't have."
"Actually, Malfoy, I was the one who told Professor McGonagall what you did," Hermione said.
"Just what I'd expect from a mudblood like you. Mark my words, none of you has seen this last of me." Malfoy glared at them all once and led Crabbe and Goyle out of the Hall.
"Make sure you make it for the temple rite tomorrow!" Malik called after him. Malfoy didn't look back but from the way his shoulders had begun shaking, they were certain he had heard.
Yugi glanced at his watch and stood up from the table. "You know, we should probably get to class. Don't let Malfoy bully you too much, Malik. I know you're in the same class next."
"Don't worry, Yugi," Malik answered, patting his pocket in a seemingly absentminded way. "He won't even think of it."
"Malik," Ryou scolded in a tone even Malik wouldn't ignore, "you'd better not do anything that'll get us in trouble with Professor Dumbledore, either...or you'll have to answer to me as well." Ryou's expression was so serious, they didn't doubt for a second that he would go through with the threat. But as the Ring holder got to his feet, he was hit by a wave of nausea and had to lean on the table to stay standing; his legs were shaky and darkness began to creep in on his consciousness.
"Hey, are you all right?" asked Malik, worry lacing his tone.
"I...I'm...I'm still here," Ryou answered shakily as his yami put up walls and defenses around his soul room. "I'm still here...not gone..."
"Maybe you should go to the hospital wing," Yugi suggested anxiously.
"No! No...that'd...that'd just...make it worse." Ryou shut his eyes tight and focused on maintaining control; slowly, his thoughts got clearer and his legs more sound. Opening his eyes again, he said, "Listen, the next time I blackout, I'm going to shout for one of you first, even if it's in the middle of class. Then one of you can take me to the hospital wing, drag me if you have to. Okay?"
"Are you sure you don't want to go now?" Yugi asked, his eyes still betraying worry. "You look kind of pale."
"He always looks pale," Malik scoffed. "Anyway, I've gotta go. I've heard that McGonagall can get pretty bad if you're late. Good luck, Ryou Bakura!"
When the Gryffindors arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the door was closed and locked and there was no sign of Shadi. Harry noticed that, true to his suspicions, almost every student there had been in the DA, including Neville. Several of his peers came up to him and asked whether they should have kept their coins or if the DA was going to continue this year. His response was always that they'd have to wait and see how go the teacher was.
He also hadn't missed the new students' conversation at breakfast or Ryou's collapse when he stood up. All the clues seemed to add up, but it seemed like Harry was missing something important, and the one thing was the key piece of this puzzle. He'd just have to wait and see what would happen.
"Is this everyone?" asked a calm, softly accented voice from behind Harry. Turning, he found Shadi barely a foot from him, and from here he could see that the man's–or was it ghost's?– eyes were passive and pupil-less and a soft bluish gray in color. He wore thick, golden hoop earrings, and his robes weren't only white, but also tan. The ankh-shaped key glittered prominently on his chest.
"Uh, yeah, probably," Harry answered. He still didn't like the look of this teacher; he was reminded too much of Professor Quirrell, but Yugi and Ryou seemed to trust him, so he was probably okay. Then again, he thought he could trust Yugi and Ryou too, but that was becoming less and less of a certainty.
"Hi Shadi!" Yugi chirped, bouncing excitedly up to him. "Um, can Ryou and I talk to you in private after the lesson? It's kind of important." He glanced back at his friend; Ryou was leaning up against the wall and looked like he was still having difficulties with something. It didn't help that Parvati and Lavender were pelting him with questions. "It has to do with what Professor Dumbledore talked to us about."
Shadi nodded, a strangely fluid movement. "Of course, Yugi. You are welcome to talk with me anytime you wish. But how about right before lunch instead? I have a feeling it might take a little while." He turned to the rest of the class and, though his voice was just as soft, it caught their attention in the way only McGonagall and Snape could manage. "The door is now unlocked. Please enter the classroom."
Hermione, being the closest to the door, tried the knob and found that it was, in fact, unlocked and turned easily in her hand. Slowly, and with varying degrees of apprehension, the students filed into the classroom...and stopped in awe at the sight before them. Yugi groaned when he saw how the room had been decorated, and Bakura even started laughing in the back of Ryou's mind. Yami, however, didn't say anything or betray any emotions at all as they looked around; he didn't know whether to be pissed at Shadi or amused, like Bakura, at the sight.
Isis had decorated her classroom to look like the Shadow Realm, which was definitely unexpected, but not improbable.
Shadi had decorated his classroom to look exactly like Yami's soul room.
And even Yami had to admit the Egyptian had done a very good job recreating the maze. The walls and ceiling looked like they weren't there and instead staircase climbed and descended every which way, leading to doors and platforms full of traps. The door out of the room looked just like any of the other doors around them. As the hilarity of the students' reactions faded away, Bakura grew quiet and very irritable; he'd spent far too much time in the Pharaoh's soul room to be comfortable in this classroom. Isis's choice of decoration was much better.
The only non-Yami features of the room were desks arranged in a semi-circle to their left. Yugi and Ryou, followed by Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, sat down in the front row and watched as the door closed and Shadi walked to the center of the room.
"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts," Shadi began, his voice still quite soft. "It seems your previous teacher did not leave a note saying what you learned last year in this class, but I feel you did not learn much anyway." His gaze drifted over the students before coming to rest on Harry. "I do know you learned spells outside of class. Harry Potter, could you tell me the most advanced spell this class has learned?"
Wondering how Shadi had singled him out, Harry answered, "Most of us have learned the Patronus Charm, sir."
Shadi nodded. "Thank you. Now, my name is Shadi, and I wish to be called nothing else, though 'sir' will be acceptable," he added as he noticed Hermione's distraught expression. "I am going to make a point of learning each of your names. I hope for no formalities in this classroom."
"Bet Malfoy'll love that," Ron whispered. "I wish I could see his face when Shadi calls him 'Draco'."
"Now, today we are going to cover a topic that I am sure will affect each of your lives sooner or later: possession."
Yugi and Ryou emitted audible gasps accompanied by, surprisingly for them, Harry and Ron. Each of the four already had a good idea what possession was like, Ron less than the other three since it hadn't actually happened it him. Bakura began to rant very rude things about Shadi again, and Yami thought he understood why the classroom was decorated the way it was. Harry was the only one out of the four who looked truly interested.
Shadi went on to explain that there were three categories of possession: spirit, demon, and human control, and that in each category there were different types, plus the possession could be either willing or unwilling to the possessed person.
Spirit possession types included shaman, item, and unknown, and it was usually willing. Shaman spirit possession was usually invoked in a ritual, and the spirits were usually benevolent and helpful. Item spirit possession happened when a spirit was trapped in a meaningful item, like a statue or necklace, and possessed the owner of that item when he was in close proximity. Unknown spirit possession had no known trigger.
The only real difference between spirit and demon was that demon possession was always unwilling, and demon spirits were usually very psychotic and made the possessed person seem that way as well.
Human control could be willing or unwilling, and it was where one person controlled the mind of another and used that person's body. It could be channeled through an item, a connection with the possessed person, or just spontaneous. It could only be human control possession if the possessor was a living person.
By the end of the lesson, Yugi and Ryou figured that they both experienced willing item spirit possession (wasn't that obvious?) when they let their yamis take over. Harry was positive Voldemort had used unwilling human control possession through his scar in the Ministry of Magic atrium last June. Ron didn't know whether Ginny's had been spirit or human control, but it didn't really matter anyway.
The next class they had was History of Magic, which Ryou had been looking forward to. As soon as they sat down, he took out a quill and a long roll of parchment, ready to take note after note; he surprised him a bit when Yugi and Hermione were the only other ones to follow his lead. Instead, he saw Harry and Ron make themselves comfortable at their desks like they were going to take a nap. What really surprised him, though, was when Professor Binns floated through the chalkboard at the front of the room, but the shock wore off quickly; he thought it was cool that this class was taught by a ghost.
By the end of the class, only Ryou and Hermione were properly listening to what Binns was saying. Ryou alone filled two and a half rolls of parchment with notes, outdone only by Hermione, who'd managed three. But even though he wanted to really pay attention, he couldn't help but worry about his dream and what Shadi was going to tell him and Yugi. The smaller boy was also worried; he couldn't doze off during the boring class, no matter how much his body wanted to, and he wasn't just worried about what Shadi would say. He was concerned that Harry and his friends were figuring out about the yamis.
Once class was dismissed, Yugi and Ryou practically ran back to Shadi's classroom, where the Egyptian led them to a staircase on the right side of the room. The two teens were very confused at first until Shadi placed his hand on one of the stone steps.
"This is the only real staircase in this room. The rest are an illusion," Shadi told them as he stepped up onto the flight.
"It's a good illusion. The walls almost look as though you could walk on and explore," Ryou commented.
"Uh, yeah...Shadi, there's something I've been meaning to ask you about that," Yugi said.
"Why I decorated this classroom like Pharaoh's soul room?" he asked knowingly; Yugi nodded. "I'm not sure, exactly. I keep remembering the confusion I felt while I was there, the danger I faced. I believe that this illusion may help both of us understand why Yami's memories are locked away." He led them up the stairs into his office. Here, at least, was something more like the Egyptian; the room looked more like the Pharaoh's tomb Malik had described, except for the large desk, which Shadi now sat behind. He folded his hands on top of it and regarded them mildly. "I believe you wished to talk to me about something."
"Yes," Ryou answered nervously as he and Yugi sat down in two chairs facing the desk. "You see, lately it seems my other's not the only one possessing me."
"Really? When did this begin?"
"On my birthday, which was a couple of day ago. I passed out right before Ancient Runes, but Malik and Hermione told me I did really well in this class, I just can't remember a thing that happened. I haven't blacked-out since then, but there have been several close calls. One was this morning at breakfast."
Shadi looked thoughtful and didn't say anything. Yugi, however, elbowed Ryou rather painfully and hissed, "The dream, Ryou." Ryou nodded and went through a detailed, unmodified telling of his dream. this time, the Egyptian look quite disturbed when the teen finished.
"Do you know anything about Kuru Eruna, Shadi?" Ryou asked hopefully.
Shadi shook his head. "No, though it sounds vaguely familiar. The thief should know about it, though, as it was he who told you about it in your dream." Shadi stared at his hands, his eyes narrowed with worry. "I do not like the sound of this 'shadow face' you described. I believe this is what's possessing you, but I don't know who it is. Do you mind if I look around?" he asked. Fully aware of what he was referring to, Ryou shook his head and closed his eyes. The Key began to glow, and Shadi grew motionless and passive. Ryou could sense the Egyptian moving around in his mind and then in Bakura's; the spirit grumbled and cursed through all of it. When Shadi started moving again, he looked, if possible, more disturbed, even fearful, than before.
"I know one thing," he panted. "Your other's soul room in not somewhere you ever want to be trapped."
"Yeah, I know," Ryou mumbled. He wasn't sure which was worse, Bakura back to his sadistic self or getting trapped in Bakura's sadistic soul room. "Anything else?"
"No. It's strange. Whoever's possessing you should have his own room, but there was only yours and the thief's. I'm sorry, Ryou."
"That's okay. Thanks anyway."
"There is something I would like to ask you, though. What did you get for your birthday?"
"Oh." Ryou's gaze dropped to his hands. "A tarot deck and Duel Monsters cards from Yugi, a figure of the god Seth from my father, and a figure of Thoth and this necklace from Malik and Isis." He pulled the locket out of his robes so Shadi could see it. "It looks like a locket, but I haven't been able to open it, and it has Priests Hieroglyphics on the back."
"I suggest you stop trying." Shadi said.
"What? Why?"
"I am no getting a good feeling from that necklace. You should not open it, and if it does open on its own, I want you to contact me immediately. Do you understand?"
Ryou nodded solemnly, and he looked a bit worried as he tucked the pendant back under his robes.
"Uh, Shadi, I also have something I wanted to ask," Yugi said, a tone of apprehension in his voice.
"I can talk to you after classes next Wednesday about Pharaoh's past. Is that it?"
"Yes, that, and–" he stared down at his lap– "do you think we should have told Professor Dumbledore about Yami and Bakura. You know, just in case?"
"I would not have advised it earlier, but–" Shadi glanced anxiously at Ryou– "given the present situation, it may be for the best. Dumbledore may know something about this that we don't, however unlikely that may seem. But it is your decision, Yugi. Just remember that if one of you reveals this secret, the other will have to as well. It will be all or nothing."
"What about Malik?" Yugi asked.
"Malik's situation is not the same as yours, and both Isis and I are looking out for him. It is not necessary to reveal the presence of his darker side along with yours unless he wishes to."
Yugi nodded and stood up, holding out his hand, his personality suddenly changed. "Thank you, Shadi. I don't think we'll tell Professor Dumbledore just yet."
Shadi stood to grasp Yami's outstretched hand. "You are welcome to talk with me anytime, my Pharaoh. But right now you should go to your next class; lunch is about over."
"I'll remember that offer," Yami said. He nodded once and walked out of the office; Ryou quickly bowed and followed him.
