Yugi: Well then...let's get this chapter started, shall we?
Kitty: Okie, dokie, artichokie! (glomps Yugi)
Yugi: (blinks skeptically)
Lina: (raises an eyebrow) You're in a good mood today...
Kitty: I just started partner voice lessons, and I'm partnered with a girl who likes Disney music as much as I do!
Yugi: Wow. Lucky you.
Marik: Did she memorize every single song or something?
Kitty: (sweatdrop) Well...no...
Lina: (rolls her eyes) Suppose we can't ask too much of the poor girl...
Kitty: Poor?
Lina: Yeah...being stuck with you and all.
Kitty: LINA!
Lina: (sweatdrop) Aw, c'mon, can't you take a JOKE?
Kitty: (growls) Oh...I'll show you "joke!" (puts her in a clown suit)
Lina: KITTY!
Kitty: (imitates) Aw, c'mon, can't you take a JOKE?
Lina: (fumes)
Yugi: (sighs) Can we please start the chapter now?
Seto: Yes, please do.
Diana: R&R!
Chapter Seventeen:
Through the Trapdoor
"Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort," Diana told her friends the next morning, "Voldemort's waiting in the forest and everything, and here we are, thinking all Snape wanted was to get rich! But no, he's trying to bring Voldemort back!"
"Stop saying the name!" Ron wailed, his hands over his ears.
But no one except Hermione seemed to feel the same way as Ron about saying "Voldemort," so they mostly ignored it.
"Firenze saved Diana and me, but he shouldn't have," Harry said.
"Well, I probably wouldn't have needed saving," Diana pointed out, "Artemis is quite powerful. You, however, were in agony, the way you were gripping your forehead like that..."
"Alright, Firenze shouldn't have saved me, then," Harry snapped, "Anyway, Bane was furious...he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen..."
"They must show Voldemort's coming back, then," Bakura said dully.
"And Bane thinks Firenze should've let Voldemort kill me," Harry agreed, "I suppose that's written in the stars as well..."
"Will you stop saying the name, all of you?" Ron hissed.
"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone, and then Voldemort will come and finish me off," Harry finished pessimistically, "Well, I suppose Bane will be happy."
Luckily, the others had some comfort to this statement.
"But you know, Harry," Marik said, "Dumbledore was the only one Voldemort was ever afraid of...and if Dumbledore's around, Voldemort likely wouldn't lay a finger on you, not just because of his status, but also because of his power."
Harry looked at Marik curiously, and Marik shrugged.
"You hear things from the Slytherins," he muttered, "I suppose Voldemort being Dumbledore's enemy is one of the main reasons I hear everyone saying he's a muggle-loving old fool."
"Besides," Hermione said, "Who says the centaurs are right? The whole 'reading stars' thing sounds like fortune telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise brand of magic."
"There has not been a real Seer in more than a century," Diana noted, "However, centaurs are known for reading the stars. It may sound like fortune telling to you, Hermione, but to me, it sounds like destiny."
Atem nodded. "And destiny is almost never wrong."
Seto rolled his eyes. "Great. We're back on this whole 'Egypt destiny' thing, are we?"
"Who said anything about Egypt?" Atem said coolly.
Seto clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Whatever."
"People could argue, of course," Diana said, "That destiny can be changed...and you know? I think this is one of those times."
"I sure hope so," Harry muttered, "I sure hope so."
The exams were finally over, and there was no one more relieved than Diana. She had sat next to Hermione all through them, and she felt nervous enough with her friend's easy completion of the exams without having to concentrate on finishing them herself.
This afternoon, Diana, Yugi, Seto and Harry were sitting under a tree near the lake, watching the two Weasley twins and their friend Lee Jordan tickle the tentacles of the giant squid nearby.
"No more studying," Seto sighed, "Finally...I thought those exams would never end..."
"Same here," Yugi said, as he lay against the tree trunk and closed his eyes, "I'll finally be able to sleep peacefully tonight."
"If only I could..." Diana muttered, "Artemis is getting hungry for blood again...probably right before the Award Ceremony for the House Cup...but it's not like I'll miss anything, Gryffindor won't win..."
"I think Slytherin's in the lead," Yugi said dully, "At least we can be happy for Marik's sake."
"But Marik won't even be happy for himself," Seto pointed out.
Harry didn't say a word, but was rubbing his forehead furiously.
"What's up, Harry?" Diana asked him, "Is your scar hurting again?"
Harry nodded, looking irritated. "I wish I knew what this means! It's happened before, of course, but never anything like this..."
"Maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey," Yugi suggested.
"Nah," Harry said, "I think it's a warning...it means danger's coming..."
Seto would've been sympathetic and concerned, but he was not only tired and hot, he was quite impatient with hearing so much about danger coming toward him and his friends.
"Relax," he said in a cold tone that contrasted well with the weather, "The Stone is safe as long as Dumbledore's here, and he has no reason to leave. Besides, we never found proof that Snape found out how to get past Fluffy...I mean, he nearly had his leg ripped off, he's not going to try it again in a hurry..."
"And Tea will beat me at Duel Monsters before Hagrid-san lets Dumbledore-sensei down," Yugi added.
Diana nodded, but a little voice in her head said something that made her heart wrench.
-Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore on purpose...- Artemis whispered, -But as sailors say, 'Loose lips sink ships.'-
Diana shot to her feet.
"Where are you going, Dare?" Harry asked.
"I just thought of something," she said, scrambling up the grassy slope to where Hagrid's hut was, "We've got to go see Hagrid."
"Why?" Harry said, running next to her.
"Don't you think it's a little odd that what Hagrid wants above all else is dragon, and a stranger comes up and just happens to have one?" Diana said coldly, "How many people could wander around and into a crowded pub with illegal dragon eggs in their pockets? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think?"
Seto got the hint, and immediately started walking ahead of her.
"Damn your longer legs," Yugi muttered as he struggled to keep up with Seto and the two younger Brits.
Seto smirked down at his dueling advisory as they approached Hagrid sitting in an armchair outside of his house and shelling peas into a large bowl.
"Hello," he said cheerfully, "Finished your exams, did ya?"
"Hai," Seto said simply, before changing the subject, "We're in a hurry, Hagrid, but we need to ask you something. You know the night you won Norbert? What did the stranger who gave him to you look like?"
"Dunno," Hagrid said offhandedly, "Never saw his face, he kept his hood up."
Diana and Harry exchanged a worried look, and Hagrid added, "It's not that unusual, ya get a lotta strange folk in the Hog's Head...that's the pub down in the village...anyway, he mighta bin a dragon dealer or somethin'..."
"Hmm," Seto said skeptically, "What did you and him talk about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"
"Mighta come up..." Hagrid said, frowning as he tried to remember, "Oh yeah, he asked me what I did for a livin'...and I told him I was gamekeeper here...he asked about the sorta creatures I look after, so I told him...said a dragon would be no problem...don't remember too well, to be honest, he kept buyin' me drinks...yeah, he told me he had a dragon egg and asked if I wanted to play a game of cards for it...but he added that he had to know I'd be responsible wit him...so I said, after Fluffy, a dragon would be no problem..."
"Did...did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Diana asked.
"Well, yeah," Hagrid said, "I mean, how many three-headed dogs have you come across in your life? But I told him, Fluffy's a piece of cake to take care of if ya know how to calm him...just play 'im a bit of music, and he falls straight to sleep..."
Diana went white, Seto's eyes widened, Harry gaped, Yugi clapped his hands to his mouth, and Hagrid suddenly saw what he just done...or at least partly.
"I shouldn't have told ya that!" he blurted out.
But that was small potatoes compared to whom else he might have told that piece of information to.
Diana and her three friends didn't speak at all as they ran back up to the castle, into the entrance hall, through some doors and into McGonagall's office.
"What are you four doing inside?" the professor demanded, blinking in surprise and looking slightly suspicious.
"We're got to see...Dumbledore-sensei...immediately," Yugi panted, "Very...important..."
"Really, Mr. Mutou?" McGonagall said stiffly, "Well, Professor Dumbledore is away on business; The Ministry of Magic sent him an urgent owl ten minutes ago, and he left immediately for London."
"He's gone?" Seto said frantically, "Now?"
"Professor Dumbledore is a great wizard, Mr. Kaiba, he has many demands on his time, not unlike you are back home in Japan-"
"But this is important!" Diana yelled.
"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Miss Randall?"
"Right now, yes," Diana whispered, "It's about the Sorcerer's Stone."
There was an awkward silence.
"How do you know about...?" McGonagall spluttered.
"Someone's going to try and steal it," Harry said, "We need to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
McGonagall eyed the four of them in a mixture of shock and suspicion.
"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said reproachfully, "I don't know how you four found out about the Stone, but I assure you, it's perfectly well protected."
"But-"
"That's enough, Mr. Kaiba," McGonagall interrupted, "I suggest you go back to your dormitories...quietly."
The students left the office, feeling both furious and anxious.
"I better go tell Marik about this," Seto said quietly.
"I'll go tell Ryou," Yugi added with a nod.
"And we'll go tell Hermione and Ron," Diana said for both her and Harry.
The four went their separate ways, and when Seto and Yugi were out of earshot, Diana spoke.
"It's tonight," she whispered, "Snape's going to go through the trapdoor tonight...he's found out everything he needs, and now Dumbledore's out of the way...he sent that note, I bet, to lure him away."
Harry's eyes widened, before saying, "But Dare, why didn't you-"
"Good afternoon."
Diana whirled around to see Snape standing there.
"Now why would two young Gryffindors such as yourselves be doing inside...on a day like this?"
"We were going to find Oliver Wood so we could practice Quidditch," Diana said coldly, her eyes daggers, "So we could beat Slytherin in the next game."
Snape looked back at her with a similar expression.
"You ought to be more careful," he whispered, "People will think you're up to something...and Gryffindor can't really afford to lose more House points, can it?"
Diana's eyes narrowed.
"No it can't," she hissed back, before pulling Harry by the wrist down the hallway.
Diana waited a few minutes, before saying, "I really do hate that man."
"Same here," Harry said, his cheeks a little pink, "But why didn't you tell Seto and Yugi about...you know?"
Diana sighed. "Something tells me that two to four Gryffindor students doing a mission and maybe getting killed or caught is better that eight students from all of the Houses doing a mission and maybe getting killed or caught and possibly losing three Millennium Items their owners..."
Harry stared. "That reasoning made me dizzy, but sure, I'll go along with that."
Yugi actually wasn't able to sleep better like he had thought, but instead was tossing and turning in his bed, trying to escape from a nightmare.
A man with a snake-like quality stood up on a podium, his red eyes flashing and laughing evilly as a crowd stood below him. The crowds was dressed in black capes and white, slit-eye masks and cheering in triumph, but their glee seemed to make Yugi terrified.
The man gestured to some newly appeared bodies on the floor, and Yugi's heart dropped.
"Behold the power of Lord Voldemort!" the man screamed, "Artemis's Heir and Potter have finally met their end!"
Diana and Harry were dead...and under their bodies, Yugi could see the flaming red hair of Ron and the bushy brown curls of Hermione.
"Those fools thought they could stop me from getting the Sorcerer's Stone!" the man (who Yugi realized must be Voldemort) laughed in spite, "They didn't even have Dumbledore on their side! And now...to finish off the others who tried to help them...
Yugi suddenly found Voldemort's red eyes locked on him.
"Kill the little Pharaoh," he whispered.
Yugi suddenly found himself caught in a sea of hands, and wands pointed at him in every direction.
/Yami, what do I do?/ he tried to use his mind link.
But Atem did not reply.
/YAMI?/ Yugi yelled.
No answer...the wands were waved...
/YAMI!/
The last Yugi saw was a flash of green light...
Yugi's eyes shot open. He sat up, to find himself back in the Gryffindor common room like normal.
-Are you alright, Yugi-kun?- Atem asked in concern.
Yugi didn't answer his Yami's question, but instead said, /I've got to wake up the others!/
He carefully got out of bed, and went over to Harry's bunk to wake him up.
"Harry-kun!" Yugi whispered, pulling back the curtains, only to gasp.
Harry wasn't there.
"Ron-kun!" Yugi whispered, looking above Harry's bunk to find it also empty.
/Oh, no.../
He put on his lavender slippers and white bathrobe before going down the dormitory stairs and into the common room.
Lying there on the floor was Neville Longbottom, frozen still and his legs and arms snapped to his sides.
-A full Body Bind,- Atem told his Hikari.
/Only Dare-kun or Mione-kun would know a spell like that.../ Yugi replied.
Yugi made up his mind quickly, running over to the portrait hole and getting out.
/They went after Snape themselves,/ Yugi thought, /Why didn't I see it before? Snape has everything he needs now!/
-They must've decided to go without us,- Atem said, -But why have a party and not invite the Pharaoh of Egypt?-
Yugi chuckled to himself, before continuing down the hallway toward the third floor, and pleasantly surprised to see other people there.
"Seto?" Yugi whispered.
"Yugi?" came a voice from the corner.
"Ryou?" came another voice from the opposite corridor.
"Marik?" came yet another from near the door.
The four Japanese boys sighed in relief.
"What are you guys doing here?" Yugi asked.
"I realized that Snape must be going after the Stone tonight," Ryou replied, "Yami-san and I were talking, and we finally figured it out..."
"Same here, except without the Yami," Marik said.
"Ditto, except with a weird dream concerning Voldemort turning our partially-sane world into a world of Teletubbies," Seto added.
The other three stared at Seto as he went slightly pink.
"Mokuba had a phase when he was really little," he muttered, "At least it scared me enough to finally figure it out."
"Well, Harry-kun and Ron-kun weren't in their beds," Yugi said nervously, "I think they, Mione-kun and Dare-kun went after Snape."
"You're serious?" Ryou whispered, "We have to go after them! Voldemort might be with Snape and who knows what he might do to them!"
Yugi nodded as he opened the door quietly. He was about to step in, but he saw the three-headed dog sleeping and stopped.
"We need something to get past Fluffy," he told the others.
"There's a harp in the corner," Ryou pointed out, "Snape must've left it there after playing Fluffy to sleep."
"A harp?" Marik said, "I could play it."
"You play?" Seto asked.
"Well...sort of," the Tomb Keeper admitted, "I learned how to play a lyre a while back, and a harp is almost the same thing."
"It'll have to do," Ryou said.
Bakura took his hikari's place and added, "But if this doesn't work, Tomb Keeper, the dog can eat you, not us."
Yugi and Seto glared at the Tomb Robber reproachfully.
"What?" Bakura said.
Marik put his finger to his lips to tell the other three to be quiet, before tiptoeing past the dog and starting to play the harp.
The dog opened its nine eyes at the sudden sound of music, before immediately falling back asleep again. Marik looked at the others, and then at the trapdoor to tell them to hurry up and open it.
Yugi gulped, before starting to walk inside. He then gestured to the other two to follow him over to the trapdoor.
Seto pushed the dog's paw off of the trapdoor softly and quietly, and then Bakura and Yugi pulled the trapdoor up to look toward what was under it.
"I can't see anything," Yugi whispered.
Seto brushed past Bakura, and, without thinking for once, jumped.
The other two heard a soft THUMP, and then Seto's voice saying, "It's alright! There's a plant all around here, it'll cushion the fall!"
Bakura nodded, before jumping himself.
Yugi looked at Marik, who was still playing the harp in the corner. "C'mon, we don't have much time!"
Marik nodded, immediately ending the music and running over to the trapdoor.
Fluffy awoke almost instantly, growling and spitting as it tried to eat Yugi and Marik, but the two of them jumped through the trapdoor, forcing the dog to chew the air where they had once stood, and growl at where they had fallen.
Kitty: I'll stop it there.
Yugi: (pouts) Aw...
Lina: WHY?
Kitty: Good cliffy.
Lina: (sighs) Reviews?
Kitty: Hmm... (looks) Only two. (pouts)
Lina: Who are they from?
Kitty: First one's from lily queen! (smiles) Haven't heard from you in a while, honey! And I'm glad you liked them (although this is chapter 17; do you mean chapters 15 and 16?).
Yugi: Anyway...who's next?
Kitty: Rainbow Guardian Angel! (grins) Hey, spookiness is required before Halloween! Besides, it was fun to write.
Artemis: (grins to show her vampire fangs) It was fun to read, too.
Kitty: (ahem) Anyway... (GRINS) Thanks for the idea. (winks) I will definitely use that later. And hey, a nice thing heard many times makes it even nicer.
Yugi: (chews on his cookie) Yum.
Atem: (chews on his cookie) I liked scaring Malfoy...I think I'll do it again sometime...
Malfoy: EEP!
Kitty: And I look forward to your enthusiastic bashing of Malfoy. I was thinking at the end of each fic to have a little "Bash Malfoy" chapter with all the reviewers doing something to him. What do you guys think?
Malfoy: (hides under Kitty's bed)
Yugi: Maybe you should do that with Malik when Destiny Dilemmas is over.
Seto: And that to Khayer after you finish the sequel to Love in Blind Eyes.
Lina: And to Count Olaf at the end of the Abysmal Asylum and its sequel.
Ryou: And to Pegasus at the end of Angel Antics.
Kitty: Maybe...maybe...
Kara: R&R!