"He went that way!"

"Where'd he go?"

"Over there!"

"Gotcha you stupid brat!"

And then there was screaming once more.

"Master?"

"Just having my fun Rishid. I have to say though that England is a rather fun place to visit every so often." Eyes glinted mirthfully as Malik chuckled.

When Someone Won't Take No For An Answer

written by Shaun Garin

Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and Harry Potter owned by JK Rowling.

Day 2 : ...When You Are Poking...

"Jolly old England." Jounouchi coughed as he held his nose. "What the heck is with the air in here?"

"England suffered a lot of pollution of the air during the industrial era," remarked Kaiba as he seemed unaffected by the smell of the air. "I've had to come here to readjust the operations of Kaiba Corp England and I found to my disdain that England suffered a lot of heavy pollution during it's operation as a military company."

Anzu held her nose. "Ugh. I hope the air is a lot more cleaner where we're going."

Ryou shrugged. "I've visited here once or twice while me and my father were still traveling. It's not too bad here honestly once you get used to it."

Honda raised an eyebrow. "This speaking from experience or just the fact that you speak English with a British accent there Ryou?"

Ryou snorted and smirked, a very Bakura-like expression. "For your information I was taught how to speak here in England. And my accent isn't that bad especially when you speak English with a Japanese accent."

"That makes most of us barely able to speak any English," said Yugi as he hefted his large backpack. "Out of all of us, it's you, Anzu and Kaiba who can speak english."

"At least we don't need an interpreter," remarked Jounouchi as he swung his bag onto a cart. "Okay, where the heck is our hotel?"

"I didn't book a hotel," replied Kaiba. "Look over there. Someone is calling for us."

Yugi turned to see a sour-faced man with long greasy black hair holding up a sign. The sign read in Japanese Hiragana, "Mutou and Company." Beside him was a black haired woman with small glasses perched on her nose. She wore a red suit that reminded him of Pegasus' frilly outfits minus the frills. Gathering up his things, Yugi walked over and the woman looked down at him.

"Mutou Yugi I presume?" she asked in passable japanese.

"Yes," said Yugi.

The dark haired man looked at them and raised an eyebrow. "Quite the group of people Dumbledore assembled," he remarked to the woman in English. Only Anzu, Kaiba and Ryou caught the sarcastic drawl in his voice.

Ryou cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, perhaps we could head out to where ever you're taking us?"

"Of course, this way," replied the woman, honestly happy to know that someone was able to speak English in the lot.

"Master?"

Malik sighed as he looked over at Rishid who hovered over his shoulder protectively. "It is all right, Rishid. And call me brother like I insist."

"Yes mast... er, I mean brother."

"There is something on your mind," said Malik as he let Rishid sit down across from him.

Rishid sighed and nodded. "I have growing concerns about those English Wizards who keep harassing us from time to time."

A faint smirk. "I DID set Egypt's' Ministry on fire."

Rishid coughed politely to avert a discussion of setting things on fire. He gave his younger brother an evil eye, the best imitation he could do of Isis' stern glare. "You have been hanging around the Tomb Robber too much," he said in the most stern voice he could manage.

Malik chuckled. "I'm afraid that I have had the larcenous streak even before I met Bakura."

Rishid shrugged. Then, he sat up straight. "Company."

"Wizards?" asked Malik.

"We ARE in a Wizarding Bar," remarked Rishid blandly as his fingers curled around the long hafted dagger concealed within his robes. Malik's fingers curled around a similarly made dagger. He didn't need the Millennium Rod to do his dirty work.

"Mr. Ishtar Malik and Mr. Ishtar Rishid?" asked a pleasant voice. Rishid released his dagger back into the sheath as he nodded politely at the man who sat down. "Remus Lupin."

"Ah, Mr. Lupin," said Malik, releasing his own hold on the dagger. "We were not expecting you for another few minutes."

Remus nodded. "I was a little early arriving."

Remus then called over the waitress and ordered two Firewhiskey and one Butterbeer which Malik promptly changed to a Firewhiskey. "I take it that you accepted our offer to visit the school?"

"Something like that," said Malik calmly as he took a sip of his Firewhiskey. Finding that he liked it, he took a longer drink.

"Master Malik insisted on it," said Rishid, obviously not pleased with the fact. "Although it is only a weeks stay, I am worried that those Ministry wizards of yours will try and arrest us."

"The ministry will not do anything of the sort," said Remus with a faint smirk to his expression. "Professor Dumbledore is quite a man to be reckoned with. He has made every precaution that the Ministry will not interfere with your visit."

"Very well," said Malik. One of the things that he had gleamed from using the Millennium Rod for such a long time was that he was able to read the truth behind expressions and words. And Remus Lupin was indeed speaking the truth. "Very well, when do we leave?"

"Nice. In a high gothic medieval sort of way," said Jounouchi. He got punched on the arm for his remark.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said McGonagall as she pointed out the building before her. "Normally it repels all muggles in this area due to the wards. Also, muggle technology will not work due to the effect of magic on electrical circuits."

Honda leaned in and muttered, "You think Yugi is going to find a way around this?"

"I dunno," replied Jounouchi. "If anything, Kaiba will, despite his reluctance to admit that there's actually magic in the air."

Anzu snickered and Kaiba gave the pair a dirty glare. "If you two are done talking about me from behind my back, we're already moving up to the castle."

"Someone's touchy," remarked Honda.

Anzu smirked. "It's because you two keep suggesting that he'd die without his laptop."

"Workaholic I may be, but there's always room for throttling people," growled Kaiba. "It's not like I'm going to DIE being away from Kaiba Corp for a week."

"Touchy," repeated Honda as they crossed the threshold from the large double doors of Hogwarts.

Yugi scratched his head. "Does anyone feel that?"

"Feel what?" asked Anzu.

"That tingling sensation," answered Ryou. "It's foreign magic."

Jounouchi suddenly sneezed. "Oh geez, my nose is acting up. I can practically smell the magic in this room. Gyah...CHOO!"

"EEW!" Anzu exclaimed, jumping back and brushing snot off her skirt. "That's gross." She dug into her purse and handed Jounouchi a hankerchief. "Take it. I won't need it back."

Jounouchi blew his nose loudly and Honda grimaced. "Well that's disgusting."

"If you three are quite finished with discussing the mediocre one's snot color, you'd notice we're climbing stairs," said Kaiba from the head of the group.

Ryou's eyes flicked from side to side, a slight mischievous grin on his face. Leaning into Yugi he said, "Later on, want to go and explore this place?"

"Sure," said Yugi with a similar smirk. "This place looks like it's full of surprises."

"Oh boy, the other Yugi and Bakura are conspiring," said Jounouchi.

"Jou, look again. That's Ryou and Yugi conspiring, not their darker halves," said Honda. "I think they've been together a bit too much considering they led the raid on the Japanese Ministry of Magic."

Anzu blinked. "What raid?"

The boys stiffened and even Kaiba let out an uncomfortable cough. It was Yugi who spoke up, although Snape and McGonagall who lead them upwards through the tower staircases had their attention. "Well, we kinda lit the Japanese Ministry on fire," said Yugi. "But it wasn't our fault!"

Anzu palmed her face. "I can't take you guys anywhere, can I?"

There was a short chuckle from Ryou who's hair had turned upwards for a moment.

Stopping at a portrait with a fat lady in a dress, McGonagall turned towards the group. "This will be your quarters for the remainder of your visit," she said, her tones crisp. "The password is monoculous and will be your way in. Quarters are made up for you and your things have been brought up."

Giving the password, she led them into Gryffindor Tower.

Once in, Snape spoke. "While you are free to explore the castle, may I remind you that the classrooms are off-limits due to the professors preparing for the beginning of the year. Do not disturb them unless necessary." With that, he swept out of the room.

"Dinner is at six, " said McGonagall, "though you may wish to rest up from your long flight. Clap your hands twice to summon a house elf and they will escort you to the Great Hall." She then left as well.

Honda whistled as he looked around. "Nice place."

"A bit too red for my liking," remarked the other Yugi as he had taken control.

Jounouchi yawned and slumped onto the couch. "I'm gonna take some sleep when I can."

He was then out like a light.

Seto merely moved towards a table on the side of the room and unclasped his case. Opening it up, he picked up a Duel Disk from the inside and picked up his deck. "Get your duel disk out, Mutou," he snapped.

The other Yugi blinked. "Whatever for?"

Seto smirked. "If my company is going to deal with these barbarians, I may as well figure out how to get these things to work." The machines whirred to life for a split second before dying with a beep.

Bakura, who had taken control, sniggered at Seto slapping the side of his Duel Disk. "Foolish mortal," he said. "Magic by nature does not work with mechanics."

"Then what do you suggest? I didn't come all this way to be stuck playing Magic and Wizards by hand," snapped Seto.

Bakura grinned. "First, we'll need iron."

Anzu blinked, having watched the exchange. "Oh I get it. The old fairy stories."

"Care to enlighten us?" asked Honda.

Anzu leaned against the table, feeling good about herself. "It's an old fairy story. Magic doesn't work against the insulating power of Cold Iron."

"Exactly," said Bakura. "And look." He tossed a knife at the wall and it bounced off with a loud CHINK.

Rapping his knuckles against the walls, the other Yugi smirked. "Stone. No iron or nickel in there."

"What you want to do, Kaiba, is to slap a small layer of iron onto your precious machines either inside or outside. That way, they'll be protected from magic." said Bakura, obviously amused at outsmarting Kaiba.

Seto blinked as he looked at the dead machine in his hands. "How do you know all this?"

"Kukukukuku!" laughed Bakura, an eerily scary laugh. "Kaiba, you always ask a lot of things. But lets put it this way; Cold Iron is what I used to get in and out of enchanted tombs."

The other Yugi startled at this but held his tongue. A shouting match could come later.

Seto snorted. "Fine. Then where can I get sheets of iron small enough to insulate the Duel Disk?"

Bakura dug into his pocket and threw Seto a few pieces of cold iron. "That's enough to place onto the disk. Just a shard in the right spot will insulate it from the effects of magic."

Seto looked through the pieces carefully before selecting one of the flat pieces. Opening the power source, he slipped it on top of the batteries before closing it. Clicking it on, the machine whirred to life as it slid into a playing position.

"It worked!" exclaimed Anzu and Honda even took notice from the girly magazine that he had found stuffed between the cushions of the couch.

"Well what do you know," said Seto with a smirk. "looks like science triumphs over magic any day." He then pulled out his cell phone, slipped another piece into the battery. His cell phone activated and he rang up a direct number. "Mokuba," he said. "Yes, I know it's late but I want you to send out the order to have small iron sheets being placed into the inner workings of all Kaiba Corp Technology. I know it'll make things heavier but it's needed. Yes, this is about the wizards. All right." Seto clicked off his cell phone. "Kaiba Corp is now working on getting everything insulated from magic." His grin turned fiendish. "The wizarding world is about to get pulled into the twenty first century kicking and screaming."

A long pause from the unreality of the scenario. And then Bakura spoke.

"I think I'm turned on."

"BAKURA!"

"Oh god, I'm glad I didn't sleep through dinner," said Jounouchi as he leaned back in his chair. "I can't eat another bite!"

"Better save room buddy cause the dessert just appeared," said Honda. He pushed a plate of fudge towards Jounouchi and the lanky teenager grinned, his expression lighting up.

"On second thought, dessert for everybody!"

Snape leaned over towards McGonagall and remarked, "And we're supposed to save THEM from the Dark Lord?" he remarked dryly.

McGonagall shrugged as she watched the group eat and joke around like a group of sixth or seventh year students. "Perhaps they do not need saving."

There was a tremendous belch and most of the professors jumped. Jounouchi was laughing hysterically as Bakura, who had deemed to be the belcher grinned and made that odd "kukuku" laugh of his. Anzu, the only girl in the group shook her head as Yugi continued to eat. Seto on the other hand had finished early and ignored his supper in favour of his technology.

"Poor boy," Sprout said from the other side of McGonagall. "He doesn't know that technology won't work in Hogwarts?"

"I'm sure he knows, he just doesn't care," said McGonagall. "Where is Albus at the moment?"

"Dealing with the aftermath of that bloody Wizengamot I'm sure," said Snape with a snort. "They should just lock Potter into a cell."

"Severus, that is not right," snapped McGonagall.

"Minny's right," said Sprout. "With the rivalry between houses, how much more if you're still dumping on the Boy-Who-Lived?"

"He's a bloody rule breaker and puts himself higher than anyone else," snapped Snape, half standing. "He's just like his bloody father."

"Severus, that's enough," said McGonagall with a scowl. "Harry is not his father."

"Prove it to me and perhaps I will reconsider it," growled Snape as he turned back towards his meal.

Suddenly Seto stood and said something to Yugi. Yugi got a grin on his face as he dug out his own disk and gave it to Seto.

"What are they doing now?" asked Snape, feeling bored at the whole baby-sitting scenario of theirs.

Seto's machine folded into a level playing area and he nodded before speaking to the others. Jounouchi jumped up with an eager expression which Seto smirked and retorted in his own language. Jounouchi had to be restrained before he clobbered his friend with the large piece of pie in his hands.

"There's only ONE place where we should test this," said Seto with a self confident smirk. "The Astronomy Tower."

"You and your heights," said Anzu with a shake of her head.

"I happen to like them," retorted Seto. "So, besides the mutt who wants to duel, are any of you up for the challenge?"

Yugi leaned back and said, "I would... if I wasn't so full I could burst."

Seto scowled. "Bakura?"

"None for me thanks," said Bakura with a shake of his head. "I'm overstuffed. Why not give the others a chance."

Anzu shook her head. "NO WAY! Kaiba would cream me in ten seconds!"

Seto growled. "I need someone to duel! HONDA! You're elected!"

Honda's fork stopped halfway into his mouth. "ME? Why me?"

"Because I have no interest in trouncing the mutt," growled Seto, earning a similar dog-like growl from Jounouchi. "So are you going to duel or not? I KNOW you have a deck."

"Most of my cards are with Jounouchi," said Honda but he reluctantly reached into his pocket. "I have a deck. I warn you, I'm not good at all."

Seto got a predatory look on his face. "That's all right. I just need a warm up."

Honda sighed. "Gee, I dunno if I should be happy or distressed."

"Is this all right?" asked Honda, holding out his disk as he slipped his deck into the case. The winds were blowing hard that night and you could see for miles around.

"It's perfectly fine," replied Seto as he activated his own disk. "Since I was so nice challenging you, you go first."

"Gee, thanks," Honda deadpanned.

"DUEL!"

Honda drew his card and placed it onto the field vertically. He then slipped two cards into the magic and trap zone. "Cypher Scouter in attack position! I then set two cards face down. Your move, Kaiba."

"Watch and learn!" exclaimed Seto, drawing his card. He then placed it into his hand and took another out from his hand. "I now activate Jar of Greed! Which allows me to draw two cards from my deck." He drew and added them before removing another card from his hand and sliding it into the magic zone. "I now activate White Dragon Decent! By offering a level four monster from my hand, I can special summon Paladin of White Dragon!"

The large mini-Blue Eyes appeared on the field as the warrior riding atop it brandished it's weapon. "Now attack the Cypher Scouter!"

The monster blown away as the Cypher Scouter caught the full force of the Gunge Lance attack. Honda grimaced as his life points dropped sharply. "I DID say I wasn't very good!"

"Quit stalling, I need to test this thoroughly," said Seto with a hint of a pleased smirk. "I end my turn."

"All right then. I play a magic card, Foolish Burial! It sends any monster from my deck to the graveyard!" Honda pulled out a card and slid it into the grave and shuffled his deck. "Now I activate Raise Dead! Which allows me to summon any monster from the grave. And I choose the one I just sent!"

Seto smirked. "Well well, you DO have some skills."

Honda grinned and slapped the card onto the field. "Meet Tyrant Dragon!"

A huge tan dragon appeared on the field and Seto nearly yelped in shock. "What in the world? You have a card that powerful in your deck?"

"Oh yeah! My sister gave it to me!" Honda grinned. "Tyrant Dragon, attack the Paladin of White Dragon!"

Seto shielded his face as the monster was blown away in a huge blast of fire. "I end my turn," added Honda.

Seto grimaced but drew. "You have a good move. But a singular good move isn't everything. I set one card in defence position and set another face down. That's all."

Honda drew and pointed at the face down. "Attack!"

The card flipped face up and Cyber Pod appeared onto the field. It beeped twice and exploded, taking the Tyrant Dragon with him.

"I summon X-Head Cannon and Blood Volus to the field." said Seto, summoning for the effect of the Pod.

"I summon Holy Elf in defence and chain this to the destruction of my Tyrant Dragon!" Honda revealed his face down card. "Deal with a Phantom! Now I summon Berserk Dead Dragon from my deck."

Seto had to wince, knowing what was coming next. Sure enough, Honda declared his attack and both his monsters were devastated by the Berserk Dead Dragon. Honda ended his turn and Seto looked up and smirked. "You DO have some skills. I'm impressed. But it all ends here!" With a flourish, he drew his card and activated his face down magic. "I now play Raise Dead to bring back my Paladin of White Dragon! Then, I sacrifice it to summon Blue Eyes White Dragon from my deck."

The huge silver-blue dragon appeared and Honda sweated. "I mean that much to you to be slapped by this? The attack strength of both our monsters are equal."

Seto smirked. "You do have skill, I'll say that. I'm surprised you haven't even participated in a formal duel until today. But it ends. I play Burst Stream of Destruction! Which wipes the field clear of your monsters!"

Honda shielded his face as the attack blasted his Berserk Dead Dragon and Holy Elf off the field. "And now, I fuse Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Looking up, Honda swallowed. "Oh hell."

The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon loomed overhead, roaring loudly as Seto laughed before activating his face down Giant Growth which boosted it to nine thousand attack power. "Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack directly!"

Honda was nearly blown off the astronomy tower but caught himself. As his life dipped to zero, he grinned and stood up fully. "Good game, Kaiba. I should feel honoured that you finished me off with your most powerful dragon."

Seto's lips twitched as he looked around. No one had come up to witness their duel and thus see the twitch of his lips. Honda blinked, wide eyed. "You're smiling! What the heck is wrong with you?"

"Oh nothing really. Save for that an amateur duellist like yourself is man enough to admit defeat." Seto shut down his disk and slid the deck out of the holder. "You have rather powerful cards there, Honda. Where did you get them?"

"My family gave it to me," said Honda, holding up his own deck. "I come from a big family. Seven kids actually. I'm the youngest."

Seto looked at him oddly. "Seven children and we've never seen any of them?"

Honda sighed. "Yeah. My brothers and sisters are older than me and I don't get along with some of them. Most of them are in college and stuff. Ya know, this is the first time I spoke about them with anyone else. I come from a pretty stable home. Last birthday, before all of this magical insanity started up, they got together and gave me a deck. Everyone pitched in, giving me cards I could never afford on my own. Including these for Christmas."

Honda held up three cards and Seto snorted in an almost laugh. "Yu-Jyo, Unity and Judgment of the Pharoah?"

"Funny huh? They got my hair wrong." Honda slipped the cards back into his deck. "My eldest sister works for Industrial Illusions. Croquet is handling the business at the moment while Pegasus is recuperating. She said that he had them commissioned just for me."

"I thought that snake was dead?" exclaimed Seto in shock.

"Naw, he's not dead. He's living on Duelist Kingdom without any contact to the outside world save through Croquet. Extremely weak from his sudden eye surgery. Did you know that he's named Yugi as his successor?"

"You're kidding me!"

Honda shook his head. "No, I'm dead serious. My sister was Pegasus' secretary. She's in deep and knows that Yugi when he turns twenty one, is meant to assume the head of I2. Yugi I don't think was paying attention at all when Pegasus laid down his thoughts for the condition of the duel back in Duellist Kingdom. I was."

Seto snorted. "And here I was wondering how Industrial Illusions was churning out cards without the guidance of their CEO."

Honda smirked. "You know Kaiba, this is possibly the first time we actually had a decent conversation."

"You're the only SANE one in Yugi's little fan club," Seto said. "But you are easier to talk to than Yugi."

"Yeah, that's for sure. I know I hate it when Anzu goes all Friendship Speech in the most inappropriate times."

"I agree."

The pair watched the night sky as the clouds parted to reveal a wonderful spread of stars with the moon hanging in the distance.

Then, Honda looked at the grounds and blinked. "Hey... isn't that Malik and Rishid coming up the walk?"

Seto looked down and palmed his face. "Oh god. Not him too."

"I wonder what he did?"

Seto smirked. "Probably set the Egyptian Ministry of Magic on fire."