Chapter 2

"Well, and you've got a good reason for deciding to move have you?" Marik inquired dangerously from behind Malik.

Malik spun around staring, terrified, at Marik. "N-n-no master," he stuttered out fearfully, "I, I'm s-sorry m-m-m-mast-t-ter, I, I w-was j-just..."

"Shut up" Marik snarled kicking him hard. "I don't have time to listen to your pitiful excuses." He pulled the boy up by his hair delivering a hard punch to the gut, which sent Malik flying across to the other side of the room. "It's obvious that you're just trying to get out of it." He kicked Malik over and over again listening with pleasure to his screams of pain.

He didn't stop until he heard something snap, probably a rib. Then he pulled him up by his hair again and slapped him, leaving his palm imprinted on the light's cheek. Pulling out a knife he ran it lightly over Malik's arm leaving a trail of blood before shoving the boy to the ground and ripping off his shirt. He slashed the hikari's chest in short, sharp strokes, forming the kanji for a name – Bakura – before standing up, licking the blood off his knife, and leaving with a parting injunction to 'stay still now'.

When he came back to himself they were back in Isis' house and he was standing in the middle of the living room. "So you're back now?" Bakura asked him. "You took a while there; maybe you should leave him for a while now. We wouldn't want you to do any permanent damage would we?"

Marik snorted, "Yeah, like you actually mean that. Come on, you've done worse and enjoyed it too."

"True," Bakura grinned, "And since I'm on the subject of hikaris I'm going to be checking on my own for a while okay? See you when I'm finished with him. Maybe we could study together?" He looked hopefully at Marik, who grinned and nodded, before breaking out into a smile of his own and heading upstairs.

Bakura closed his eyes as he retreated into the corridor between their shared minds. Opening the door to Ryou's soul room he walked in to the plain, impersonal room. The only items in the room were the instruments that he was using to torture his hikari. He did not allow Ryou to keep things in his soul room. That, as with everything else in Ryou's life, was under his control.

Ryou was trembling with the strain of holding his position, a fine patina of sweat covering his body. Bakura smirked as he walked up to the boy, running a finger along the thread that bound his wrist to the wall. The dark took a step back, pulling a thread from the hem of his shirt and snapping it. The threads that held Ryou snapped with it but he didn't dare move without permission.

"Down," Bakura ordered him and Ryou gratefully collapsed to his knees, his sweat-soaked hair tumbling forward to hide his face. Bakura snapped his fingers and a stand with a basin of water on it appeared in a corner of the room. "Wash up" he continued harshly, and then, as he looked down on Ryou his expression softened slightly. "You've been a good boy today." He added, stroking the other's hair gently. "So I think I'll give you a break..."

Ryou didn't move until he was sure the other had left.

"Hey, Bakura, you done already? Come over here. I don't get this book." Marik called him as he came down the stairs.

"Sure, which one is it?"

"'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scamander, I decided to start with the most interesting and basic information. This is the first year stuff, of course. Yami says that we should start at the beginning, where the magic students would normally start. I hate reading, so could you read it to me? Please?"

"Okay. I've already started reading 'Magical Theory' on my own though, so I'm not going to be reading that one to you."

"Whatever, you know I live for the moment. Just start reading already!" Marik pulled Bakura onto the couch next to him and handed him the book. Yami came in to sit on a chair at the opposite side of the room and listen to Bakura's reading while sketching pictures of his old palace for Isis to look at later.

"About the author, Newton 'Newt' Artemis Fido Scamander (Wow, that's a mouthful) was born in 1897. His interest in fabulous beasts was encouraged by his mother who was an enthusiastic breeder of fancy Hippogriffs. (Anyone know what a Hippogriff is?)"

"Isn't that what you're reading this book to find out?" Yami asked him jokingly.

"Yeah, whatever, anyway; Upon graduation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Mr. Scamander joined the Ministry of Magic..."

A couple of hours later Bakura put down the book he had been reading (A.N. and yes, he's finished 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' this is a different book) and yawned. "I'm going to bed; see you guys in the morning."

"Huh?" Yami asked startled, "Is it really that late? I didn't notice. You're a good reader Thief."

"Thanks Pharaoh," Bakura replied sleepily from his position halfway up the stairs. Yami smirked and put away his sketchpad, following Bakura's example and heading up to bed. Marik stared dreamily at the stairs for several minutes before snapping out of it and following the other two up to bed. This magic stuff might be fun after all, especially if he could persuade Bakura to continue reading for them.

The three studied their course books and practiced their wand work at a feverish pace over the next few weeks giving Malik and Ryou a welcome break as their yamis were normally too busy to torture them. Actually Bakura had suggested that they all be left together in a bedroom upstairs so that they could study the books that the yamis weren't going to have time for. Without having read the previous books the ones that the three hikaris read didn't make sense, but their yamis would understand them when they pulled the information from the boy's minds and it gave them a precious chance to spend time together.

The yamis and Isis worked together, going through and mastering all of the spells in the Standard Book of Spells series and getting as much reading done for the other things as possible. By the time September 1st came they had actually managed to go through all their books and had memorized all the information thanks to Isis's efficient methods.

The three packed their stuff. They had a lot of stuff and ended up keeping most of it in their and their hikaris' soul rooms, only taking their robes and a few of the many ancient books that Isis had bought for them to read on the train. After all of them were ready they piled into Isis's car and she drove them to the station where they all pulled their trunks out and waved goodbye.

"Okay guys look for a platform 9 ¾" Yami ordered them.

"There isn't one. There's 9 and then a bunch of pillars then 10, there's no 9 ¾" Marik replied sounding annoyed "What do these wizards do with the platform anyway?"

"I don't know. Bakura, read someone's mind to find the information."

"Do you have any idea of how many people there are in here?" Bakura asked him irritably, "I'll do it, but it's going to give me a hell of headache and I'll be useless for a couple of hours after that." He pulled the eye out his pocket touching it to the ring and closed his eyes to concentrate. When he opened his eyes again he was even paler than usual and he wavered slightly where he stood. "You run through that barrier over there." he told them in a colorless voice before letting Ryou take over.

"Man, he really wasn't kidding about it draining him," Yami commented, sounding surprised at the extent of the change.

"Is he all right?" Marik asked Ryou.

Ryou smiled gently at the floor, not lifting his eyes from the ground. "Bakura-sama is fine. He's just too tired to do anything right now." That said, he picked up his trunk and walked right through the barrier. The other two exchanged startled glances before running to catch up.