Thank you everyone for your patience. I know this took a very very very very very long time and I am sorry. For those who didn't know, my computer was broken…for three months…I just got it back a few weeks ago, but between catching up on everything and school work I didn't have time to post this. Your patience (which appears to be infinite) is much appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own…no if and or buts.

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Once everyone at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry fell into a regular routine time began to fly by. They had classes by day, homework in the evening and fun into the night in the common rooms. The foreign students flew through the massive amount of work piled on them and soon were almost finished first year.

It was a bright and crisp Wednesday morning; that saw the grounds littered with fallen leaves, when the Gryffindor students slid into their seats at the long table in the Great Hall. As they tucked into their breakfasts McGonagall approached.

"Good morning," she was greeted with a few mumbled responses, "this weekend there will be a Hogsmede trip, make sure you hand in your forms before then."

Neville looked up sheepishly, "Professor?"

"Here Neville," McGonagall handed him another parchment, "try not to lose this one please."

Neville smiled weakly, promising to send it to Gran right away.

As Professor McGonagall walked away, Yugi posed the question on the new students minds. "Hogsmede?"

"It's a completely wizarding village off of the school grounds," explained Hermione as she spread some jam on her toast. "It's one of the last in Britain, it's very interesting; full of so much history."

Ron rolled his eyes, "But better yet is Honeydukes, the candy shop! It's amazing, one of my favourite places."

"Ah, yes, but one mustn't forget Zonko's, the joke shop," added Fred from further up the table.

Neville smiled, "I like Hogsmede, but the Shrieking Shack scares me."

"Shrieking Shack?" Ryou mused, "Sounds…nice."

"It's the most haunted building in all of Britain," George exclaimed gleefully. "I want to go inside!"

"Why?" Nami raised an eyebrow, confused as to why George would willing enter a building titled the 'Shrieking Shack'.

George just shrugged, "Why not?" while Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a knowing smile.

"So," Malik spoke up, "Hogsmede is outside of Hogwarts' grounds, right?" Hermione answered with a nod. "So, muggle technology would work there, correct?" a grin spreading across his face.

"Yes, it would," Harry said, though not understanding why this would matter. "I never really thought about it before, I never have muggle things on me."

"I don't even own any muggle technology," put in Neville. "All that electricity stuff is too complicated."

"So," Malik continued, "say I had brought a game that uses technology, if I brought it to this village it would work?"

Ryou gave a small smile, "I see, that sounds interesting, what a splendid idea! What do you think Yugi?"

Excellent!Yami smirked with glee, We shall duel on this excursion! How long will we have?

Yugi smiled at Yami's not so repressed excitement. "How long are the trips? We wanot to make sure we have enough time," Yugi trailed off. He groaned when he turned to Ryou but was met with the manic smile of Bakura.

"Oh that doesn't matter. I'll take down the Pharaoh in a matter of minutes," he boasted cheerfully.

"As if you could," Malik snorted, "besides it's my turn to duel the Pharaoh.

Yugi merely ignored his friend's squabbling and turned to Nami beside him. "It doesn't matter," he informed her, "I'll beat both of them."

Nami giggled behind her hand, "Where will you have this duel?"

"I don't know, good question." Yugi looked across the table from him, "Hey, Bakura, where-" he paused for a moment, "oh, sorry, Ryou, where will we do this?"

"Any empty place big enough?" offered Ryou, accepting Yugi's apology for the mistaken identity with a nod of his head.

As the three debated the pros and cons of having everyone watch their battle, Nami drifted into her own thoughts, Harry, Ron and Hermione had long ago left the conversation for their own.

/Yugi called Ryou Bakura,/ Nami thought.

Yes, that isn't strange, both he and Malik call him Bakura at times,Kaya answered.

/I know, but then he corrected himself and apologized for it. They don't usually correct themselves from one name to another, in fact that's the first time I've heard them do it./

True, what do you think this means When Nami didn't answer Kaya offered an explanation, Maybe Ryou dislikes being called Bakura and just brought it to Yugi and Malik's attention.

/Maybe…but maybe there are two Ryous./

Maybe you hit your head when you got out of bed this morning.Kaya raised an eyebrow.

/No, no, listen. They call Ryou by three names, Ryou, Bakura and Tomb Raider, using Tomb Raider the least. Normal Ryou is quiet and nice. But sometimes he's just so different, and I think that's when they call him Bakura, when he can be mean and cruel and rude. And a few weeks back, when I went with them to see Malfoy, the map had two dots for Ryou and two dots for me./

So the map doesn't work.

/But there are two of me! You and I! Nami and Kaya! If there are two of me, who says there can't be two of Ryou./

And Malik and Yugi know about them and therefore distinguish between the two? Sounds crazy.

/But it fits! It must be nice to have your friends know there are two of you and not have to pretend to be a single person all the time./

Sounds impossible,Kaya said as she glanced over at Ryou, whose eyes suddenly became very cold and narrowed considerably, but I don't know, you make some valid points.

While Nami and Kaya discussed their strange friend, Yugi, Malik and Bakura continued their conversation, the where issue still unresolved.

"An open place draws too much attention and limits us to what we can do," Malik stated, "so no shadows. Plus large crowds would form and as much as I would like an audience to witness the demise of the Pharaoh, I don't think this is a good idea."

"So, how about inside the Shrieking Shack?" offered Bakura, "it can't be that bad. So it has a few ghosts, we'll just have to ignore them…or ship them off to the shadow realm."

Yugi held his head in his hands, "Alright, we'll sneak into there, have a few duels and leave. Alright, everybody happy?"

"Yes, but just one more thing," replied Bakura, "you can't use the Egyptian God Cards."

Yugi grinned, "Already out of my deck!"

"So now we just have to wait until Saturday," Malik put in, laughing when he saw both Yugi and Bakura visibly deflate at that.

Beside Yugi, Harry, Hermione an Ron were finishing up their conversation and leaving for class.

"Excellent, I can't wait to go to Hogsmede!" exclaimed Ron, "I need to make a stop at Honeydukes."

Harry smiled at the thought of the candy store. "Yes, and I'll finally be able to tell you about Snuffles' visit a few weeks back."

Hermione nodded, it had been over two weeks and between classes, homework and stragglers in the common room at night Harry had yet to tell them how his godfather was doing, besides that he was still evading the ministry. But they still had to get through theses next week days.

Getting through those days actually wasn't difficult, Wednesday was slow, but being hump day it usually is. Thursday and Friday morning flew by, leaving just Friday after for the Gryffindors to work through, but they looked forward to Friday's last class, Defence Against the Dark Arts with Dumbledore.

"Come in, come in," smiled Dumbledore, "grab a seat," he gestured to the desks arranged in clusters around the room.

Once they class was seated Dumbledore took his place at the head of the class.

"Alas, I regret to inform you that I have terrible news," he started, nodding with understanding at the groans. "I know, but these things can't be avoided. Today we must actually do some more book oriented work." Dumbledore did actually look putout about this.

"What kind of work?" questioned Hermione from her cluster of desks with Harry, Ron and Dean.

"Today we will be learning about a magic that is not used any more today."

"Then why bother learning about it in Defence Against the Dark Arts?" cut in Malfoy, giving the headmaster an icy look.

"Valid question, Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore bounced on the balls of his feet. "We shall be learning it in this class right now because I feel it is important and I am more qualified to teach it than the new teacher, who will be arriving this weekend."

"What? Who is it? You're not going to teach us anymore?" chorused the class.

"I'm afraid this is my last class with you, who the new professor is, that is a surprise and I fell I should impart some knowledge onto you before the dear Professor comes."

The mood of the Gryffindors dropped drastically, while the Slytherin's seemed to pick up a bit.

"Now, work," with a wave of Dumbledore's wand textbooks appeared on the desks, along with baskets of candy. "Read the indicated pages, then eat the supplied candy while discussing the readings, I will join groups and listen in."

Hermione grabbed a textbook, while Ron and Harry grabbed the sherbet lemons. "Honestly," muttered Hermione. "Well, it's only five pages, it'll take three minutes."

After about ten minutes of reading the class broke into discussions.

"I think the magical history of Egypt is thrilling," explained Hermione, "they had such advanced curses."

"Yea, I know," Ron said as he rolled his eyes, "Bill tells me about them all the time."

"What I found the most interesting," Harry said still flipping through the textbook, "was the magic they used to control that other realm."

"That was cool," Dean said skimming the page again, "but it's only a myth."

Across the room Nami's group with Neville, Shamus and Lavender took a similar route.

"But myths and legends often have a basis in fact," Nami explained, "the entire story isn't true and a lot of it is fabricated and exaggerated, but somewhere there is a little truth."

"Really? I thought they were all just made up," Lavender said scratching her nose.

"No, for example, in the Iliad, the Trojan War is ten years, but some historians think it was actually more like a few months and on a much smaller scale," Nami stated knowledgably.

"What's the Iliad?" asked Neville, confused.

"Never mind," Nami said as she slumped in her chair, "never mind."

At the cluster next to Nami's, Ryou, Yugi and Malik were having a much more interesting and worried conversation.

"Definitely talking about the Shadow Realm," confirmed Ryou with a shudder. "I really don't like it there, It's cold and lonely and I get so hungry."

"Yeah, I don't particularly enjoy when my body parts start to vanish," Yugi added.

Malik nodded his head solemnly, "Not my idea of a fun day at a tournament." Malik shuddered at the memory. "Anyway, the text highlights the myth of ancient shadows controlled by magic and monsters from the shadows. Should we be worried about this?"

Yami switched places with Yugi, "I'm not sure. Dumbledore is a smart and wise man, he would not just randomly tell the class to read about this without reason."

"So, Pharaoh, you suggest that Dumbledore knows that the Shadow Realm is still in use today?" questioned Bakura, surprisingly serious. "Maybe even that we use it?"

Yami closed his eyes and nodded regally. "I believe that he has an idea. He knows we have powers that are beyond ordinary. Only after Battle City, where we all used the Shadow Realm, did we become aware of us. He specifically mentioned that Voldemort would show an interest in us. I doubt that Voldemort would care for Harry, or any other student. And I am glad to see that you are taking this seriously Tomb Raider."

Bakura shot Yami a nasty look, "I can be serious, this hits a little close to home. I don't know about you but I'm quite comfortable where I am, another few thousand years alone in the Ring does not sound appealing."

"This is a very serious matter," Malik added, "it is my duty to guard the tomb of the Pharaoh and then serve him upon his return."

Yami looked at his comrades as if they had grown third heads. "Ryou? Are you pretending to be Bakura Malik, maybe you should go see the nurse…you guys are scaring me."

Malik and Bakura scowled at Yami but said nothing as Dumbledore seated himself at their table.

"How is the discussion?"

"Surprisingly serious," replied Yami stonily.

"Serious? Just a little history."

"I have a question, Professor," Yami gave Dumbledore a serious look, "what are your thoughts on the myth about the other realm?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "I share in Nami's belief that myths at one point have a basis in truth. The one maybe more so than we think, and it maybe be more relevant than we'd like to believe."

"Relevant, how so?" Malik probed.

"Let's just take the point of monster being controlled with this magic. I know in Japan there is a game that is all the rage, Duel Monsters. I also know that the best duellist is you, Yugi. I also happen to know that Maximillion Pegasus based his game on the game of the ancient Egyptians. From personal experience I know that history repeats itself, as well as Pegasus liked to dabble in forms of ancient magic." Dumbledore studied each of his pupils for a moment. "I believe that the shadow magic still exists, is used and that Lord Voldemort seeks it. Those who wield it need to proceed with the utmost care." With that Dumbledore stood and moved to the next group, leaving behind his sombre attitude.

"I don't like him," spat Bakura, "he knows too much."

……

That evening Dumbledore sat in his office among stacks of papers up to his eyeballs. Teaching had taken him away from his demanding job and was a well deserved break, but come Monday he would be back into the swing of things. School issues needed to be dealt with, keeping Malfoy Sr and the board off his back, fending off the fleets of owls from Fudge, demanding everything from advice to explanations about one Mr. Black's knack for evading the authorities, to letters, which is a nutshell, said he was a loon and his word in the wizarding world meant less and less by the minute. None of this bothered Dumbledore, well besides the barrage of owls while he tried to use the toilet, all that mattered was that he and his faithful friends and colleagues stayed two steps ahead of Voldemort.

Right now they were. Voldemort, as far as Dumbledore's sources told him, was still looking for evidence that such things as the Millennium Items actually existed. Dumbledore, having several years ago run into Pegasus, knew of the existence of the items, but knew only little of their power, besides that of the eye. If Voldemort laid his hands on any of the items it would not be good.

'I just need to find the other six items before Voldemort,' Dumbledore mused to himself, 'only then can the threat of the Shadow Realm be put aside. If he gets even one of the items…'

The rasping of talons on the window interrupted Dumbledore's thoughts, a sound he was all too familiar with. Standing, he let in the owl and removed it's parchments before sending it on its way. Sitting down again, Dumbledore unrolled the thick parchment and read hastily. He glanced at the smaller papers that fluttered to his desk, picking them up he studied them closely. In his hands he held two sketches of what his contact believed two of the Millennium Items looked like, the ring and the puzzle.

Dumbledore was away that Voldemort's main focus at the moment was the ring, since a follower had claimed to have seen it recently. He studied the picture of the ring, committing it to memory before turning to the puzzle. It looked so familiar, but he just couldn't put his finger on where he'd seen it before. Committing that picture to memory as well Dumbledore re-read the letter one last time before burning all of the parchment with a tap of his wand.

"I know I've seen that puzzle somewhere before, but where?" Dumbledore thought aloud as he scratched Fawke's head on the way out the door to his sleeping quarters.

……

The next morning Hogwarts was up and out of bed early, excitement for the first Hogsmede trip was thick in the air. It was a perfect day, the ceiling of the Great Hall showed a nearly cloudless sky and once outside the students were delighted to find it was still rather warm.

As the students climbed into the strange horseless carriages Yugi, Malik and Bakura shared a knowing smile and walked with an extra spring in their step. Once they were seated in a carriage alone the extreme joy played across Yugi's face.

"It's been so long since we've duelled!" Yugi exclaimed as he patted his concealed duel disk.

Ryou laughed, "I haven't duelled in eons, it's always Bakura, not that I mind, he is a better duellist."

"You two get the shaft a lot," Malik stared out the window at the passing scenery, "always the Pharaoh and the Tomb Raider out for a bit of fun."

Yugi and Ryou shrugged. "I really don't care, so long as Bakura behaves most of the time," Ryou explained distractedly as he shifted though his deck.

Suddenly the car seemed much more crowded as a slightly see through Bakura appeared.

"No, not that card! The other one!" he urged his hikari, avidly pointing at the card Ryou had just discarded. "Don't be so obvious," he chided, "you want them," he jerked his thumb towards Yugi, "to know our whole deck?" Ryou merely rolled his eyes.

Once everyone had arrived in Hogsmede the new students quickly wandered off to find the Shrieking Shack, Fred and George made a beeline for Zonko's, for business purposes, and Neville, Nami and Ginny headed for the Three Broomsticks, since never having butterbeer should be illegal in their opinion. This left Ron, Harry and Hermione to their own devices.

"Honeydukes?" Ron suggested leading the way.

"So," Hermione demanded, looking around to make sure no one would overhear them, "how is Snuffles?" she used the codename just in case.

Harry smiled, "Well, two weeks ago he was fine, if not a little underfed."

"You sound like my mother when she sees you after the summer," snorted Ron.

"He was in Egypt, doing something, wouldn't say much. Though he said he saw Hedwig there, near a house he was watching."

"Impossible, why would Hedwig be there?" Hermione demanded. (AN: in a demanding mood now isn't she.)

"She was. I lent her to –"

"Malik!" Hermione exclaimed, instantly trying to form connections between Malik and Death Eaters in her head.

"No," Harry corrected his jump-to-conclusion-happy friend, "Nami. Her person-guardian-friend of father or whatever lives there."

"Near Death Eaters?" questioned Ron nervously.

"Seems so," Harry shrugged. "Snuffles said to keep an eye on her and the new students."

When they entered the famous candy shop the conversation came to a halt for fear that someone would overhear them.

Across the village, at the Shrieking Shack, stood Bakura, see-through-ish Ryou and Yugi, as well as a completely solid Yami and Malik.

"Lovely piece of real estate," muttered Malik, eyeing the peeling paint and boarded up windows.

"Like you can talk," replied Bakura in the house's defence, "you lived in an underground cave."

"At least it was in a good neighbourhood," joked Malik, allowing himself a small chuckle.

"Ready?" asked Yami as he hopped the wooden fence.

"This place makes the Shadow Realm look hospitable," mumbled Ryou as he too hopped over the fence.

"No time like the present," Yugi affirmed, trying to inspire confidence.

"Let's go," Malik said as he marched up the pathway at a brisk pace, "no need to get caught."

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All right, thanks for putting up with me! Again I apologize for the unbelievably long wait. Thanks to the reviewers:

Serryn – haha you have mastered the art of instant review…now if I could just master the art of instant chapters….

Kaze-chan – hey you're not on here! Lol that's alright, I forgive you…I'm working on the kai thing next . and I'll send it your and misuto's way once I'm done typing up what we have! ja

NephyRiddle – that sucks, I can understand not having a computer connected to the net…hope you can find a way around that…procrastination is a way of life! Thanks for dropping a line!

a-A-a – no, not much Kaiba…but thank you for leaving a review!

Misuto – hiya! Another chapter down the drain! Its coming…soon…I swear…Halloween…so maybe chapter 22 ;

Anime Lover – Malfoy escaped unharmed…though he can get away with murder when Snape is involved…specially if it was Harry's murder lol! Sirius should be making an appearance next chapter! Keep an eye out for him!! Thanks for reviewing!

Evil Gerbil D – heh heh heh…well it wasn't soon…in any way shape or form…but it is an update! Yatta! thanks for leaving a review!!

Corrupt Angel – wow thanks! I'll try to make updates a little more regular, at least not months between updates like this one ; thanks for leaving a review!!

Sun-Princess 2 – mika-chan!! oh I'm getting around to reading your story…this I swear! evil laugh ummm…have you started your assignment for Storytelling in East Asian Religions?…or the essay? ; I need a topic cries wah!

Dark - Kitsune – lol…thanks for the suggestions…I'll see if I can check them out sometime in the future! Maybe once I'm done school for the semester!

Hui Xie – sorry, but sometimes these things take time…plus I'm in school and trying to pass French but its done now…of course the login is down at the moment for a few days…so I'll send this to you via email just make sure to still leave a review! ja

Jt – well I usually thank reviewers in the order they reviewed…but I had to leave you for last so I could think of something to write. At first it made me a little angry, but now I'm all right. I have read the fifth book, I know what happened, but this is fanfiction…I don't have to follow what the author wrote…that's just the way it is. Thank you anyways for leaving a review.

Ok! Done! (that was for you mika-chan) Until next time, which I promise will be sooner than last time ;