Hey again, all!
Welcome to yet another chapter of the story, "Millennium Magic." !
First off, one of my reviewers asked if Harry would be recieving a Millennium Item or a Yami. The answer for both of these, is No. Sorry. I'm not going to create an entirely new Millennium item simply for Harry, because, as peoples have pointed out in other Yu-Gi-Oh ficcies about Mary Sues, there are only SEVEN items for a reason, and if you change the number of items, you'd have to change history itself...
And if he doesn't have an item, there's no point in giving him a yami, either... ^_^ So that's why...
I will, however, go ahead and have him construct a deck, as he will be finnaly meeting up with Yugi in this chappie, and the deck will be a spellcaster one if you want. ^_^
So, anyways............... How is everyone? Good? Good.... Okies... I, obviously, have nothing better to be talking about before we start the fic today, so let's just get right into it, shall we? Okies! Let's go!
**************************************************************************
The bus stopped off at number 4 Privit Drive, just as Harry had asked, and he quickly raced off the bus, shouting, "Stay there, be right back!" Over his shoulder.
He ran around to the side of the house where he had ditched his stuff, and began sorting it into two piles: Stuff he could take, and useless things that he had only packed in there for school. (Meaning his Potions textbooks.)
Once those were sorted, he pulled his dad's special cloak out of the trunk. Pulling it around him, he gathered up his pile of unneeded items and slipped into the house. Dashing up the stairs, (and almost running into Dudley, who was on his way down) he ran into his room and stuck the books under his bed, where they would, hopefully, not be found by any of the Dursleys.
On his way down the stairs, he realized that he would be needing muggle money so that he would be able to get someplace to stay. Somehow, he didn't think there was a wizard inn like the Leaky Cauldron in Domino.
He snuck into his Aunt Petunia's bedroom and took a fifty pound note off her nightstand. He'd return it later. For now, he needed it, and he didn't have any money of his own to spend other than his wizard money.
"Fifteen years worth of late Happy Birthdays." He muttered to himself, shoving it in his pocket. Then he slipped down the stairs and out of the house again, throwing off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffing it back in his trunk.
He picked up his trunk and hauled it over to the Knight Bus. Stan helped him heave it up the stairs, then Harry took his seat on one of the beds once again.
There was a loud BANG, then they were off once again! Harry willed himself NOT to look out the windows, knowing that doing so would make him slightly sick, but he couldn't help it. He mentally needed to know where he was going, even if he couldn't make sense of it.
The scenery whipped by, so fast it was a blur. Occasionally, things would fly in an upward direction, apparently jumping out of the way to avoid being hit by the bus, but mostly all Harry could see was the mass of color.
Ern and Stan apparently wanted to get there in a real hurry so that they could run around the country-side searching for more customers... or whatever it was they do when they're not currently running the bus...
He looked down at the floor of the bus. Fast driving was not something he was particularly fond of. For some reason, Stan's words from his third year kept coming back to him...
"Can't do nuffink underwater."
Harry gulped slightly. They had BETTER not be close to an ocean..... They had BETTER not....
**************************************************************************** **
About an hour later, Harry stepped off the bus, feeling just a little bit more than woozy from the trip. Stan helped him haul his suitcase down the steps, then the bus took off again with yet another loud BANG!
The bus could fly...... lovely..... why hadn't anybody told him this? There was apparently an ocean between England and Domino.
Not that he wasn't used to flying, it's just that... It's really hard to not be surprised about something when you've been looking at the floor for a long time, you notice the bus is going slower than it had been going, so you look out the window, and you're about a couple hundred feet up in the air and above an ocean.
Harry took a few deep breaths and looked around. The city of Domino...
It wasn't too much different than his own city... Except for one big fact. HIS city didn't have somebody in it that had made Hogwarts disappear.
"Slow down" Harry whispered to himself. "Let's not jump right into that... First, I have to find someplace to stay..."
He began to walk down the street, searching for a hotel... an inn.... something....
But after walking around for a while, he had found nothing but an old, rundown, three-story place with a "For Rent" sign in front of it.
Harry thought for a minute, then walked inside the building, lugging his suitcase inside with him. It was very dark inside. He peered around the extremely dim room, searching for a lightswitch. When he finally found one and switched it on, it lit a very small bulb that was hanging from a thin wire from the ceiling.
"Hello?" He called out. "Is there anybody in here?"
He listened for a moment, then sighed. There was nobody there.
He went up the stairs, leaving his suitcase by the bottom of the stairs. He looked around as he went. He called out again on the second floor. Again, no response.
Up the next flight of stairs to the third floor. "Hello?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time you called. No need to shout. Whaddya want?" A raspy voice said from the shadows. Harry stepped forward, trying to see the man. He remained in shadow.
"I-I'm here because of the for rent sign in front of here." he said as confidently as he could, though still stuttering a bit. "I'd like to rent it for a while."
The man leaned forward a little, letting a bit of light rest on his face. He was an slightly old man, with a scraggly beard and an extremely small, slightly evil looking smile. (Think Filch) "So you would, would you?" He asked, showing some of his jagged teeth.
Harry gulped. "Yes."
The man nodded, then held out his hand. "It'll cost, ya know."
Harry nodded as well. "Yeah, I've got money." He dug around in his pocket and pulled out the twenty pound note, handing it to the man.
He stared at it for a moment, then began laughing. He laughed and laughed. Harry just stared at him.
"What?" he asked finally.
The man wiped tears of laughter from his eyes and handed Harry back the note. "Look here, son. This is America In America, you use American dollars." he said, grinning. "These is English pounds."
(A/N Yes, I know Domino is supposed to be in Japan, but I moved it. So there. Nyah.)
Harry stared at the note. "Right..." He said. He thought hard. What was he going to do now? He had nothing else but the twenty pound note and some wizard money. A few sickles, some knuts, and... Gold Galleons! He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Galleon.
"I know this isn't American money, but... Will this work?"
He gave the man the Galleon. He stared at it. As he did, his eyes widened. He looked back at Harry. "This gold?" he asked. "Real gold?"
Harry nodded slowly. "I think so..." He had no idea what the coins were made of...
The man licked his lips and grinned very widely. "Got any more, kid?"
Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out two more Galleons; the last ones he had. "Erm... two more..."
The man nodded once more. "Alright. One of these for a week's stay, three for the month. Sound good?"
Harry nodded, giving the man the other two Galleons. After a while of staring at the coins, the man looked up at Harry.
"Thank you! Now, I must disappear mysteriously..." He said, taking a step backwards. Suddenly the floorboards underneath him groaned, then cracked with a loud CRASH! The man fell, yelling as he went.Then...
CRASH! Through the second floor.
CRASH! Through the first floor into the basement.
CRASH! Through the basement's floor into the floor beneath the basement.?
CRASH! Through THAT floor as well!
CRASH! And THAT floor!
CRASH!And THAT one!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
Finally, there was the sound of dust rising up, followed by a soft, "I must work on my mysteriousness... I got the disappearance part down pat..." echoing upward from the very bottom floor.
Harry looked down the hole into the darkness below. "Um... sir? Are you all right?"
There was no reply.
Harry went down the flights of stairs to the first floor. Just as he got there, the front door closed. He ran over and opened it again and watched in confusion and amazement as the man walked down the street, flipping one of the Galleons up in the air occasionally, as if he hadn't just fallen down about fifteen stories into the bottom floor of his multi-floor basement.
Harry shook his head and closed the door. "That was weird." he muttered. He looked around the room. It wasn't exactly the best place in the world to stay, but it would have to do... He went over to his suitcase and pulled it over to a corner, where there was a dresser, and unpacked. Then he went exploring the house.
He found that it had a total of twelve basement floors, all filled with tons of unpacked boxes that were duct taped shut. (And each with it's own hole in the floor, of course.)
He went back up the twelve flights of stairs to the first floor and sat down on one of the couches. He sighed.
"Alright, now that I'm here..." He said to himself, "What do I do now? Where do I start looking?"
He sat there, pondering this for a while. He got up and began pacing the length of the room. Then he went up the stairs and started pacing on the second floor. Then up to the third floor for a little more pacing. Finally, he sat down on a couch up there and sighed.
Suddenly, there was a tapping on the window.... Harry looked over in surprise.
Why would there be tapping on a third story window? He walked over and opened it. He immidietly got knocked over by a large white mass coming into the room.
"Hedwig!" Harry cried. Hedwig perched herself on the back of a chair, looking pleased with herself.
Harry ran over to her and began idly stroking her feathers. She perched herself on his shoulder. "Good girl, Hedwig." he murmured.
She gave him a friendly nip on the ear, then held out her leg, indicating that she wanted him to take the letter off of it.
"Oh! Sorry..." He untied the letter from her leg. She hooted gratefully at him. Harry grinned at her, then opened the letter. It was from Sirus.
Dear Harry:
Wow, Hogwarts disappeared? That's kinda scary... I'm betting Voldemort had something to do with it, though I'm not sure HOW even he would do something like this... This is really powerful magic, Harry. I strongly suggest that you stay away from it. I know that you feel like you should be doing something about this, but do NOT go looking for Voldemort, hear me? Let the Ministry of Magic take care of it.
Signed, Sirus.
Harry grinned. Whoops... A little too late for that now....
Although, hadn't people told him specifically not to go looking out for and going after Sirus Black? And guess who he turned out to be and what his intentions were...
Harry shook his head.
He looked back at Hedwig, who was looking at him expectantly. He walked down the stairs back to where he had unpacked his trunk and opened Hedwig's cage, allowing her to get food and water. Then he took out some parchment and a quill.
He needed somebody to help him with the search, and if he told Sirus what he was doing, he'd get mad. He decided to write to Ron and Hermione. Hermione would know just where to search, and Ron was usually pretty good about figuring out where different types of people like to be. That and they were both his friends.
He wrote each letter to them almost exactly the same:
Dear Ron, (And in the letter to Hermione, it said, Dear Hermione, of course)
Do not show this letter to anyone, Ron. I've come across some very interesting facts about the Hogwarts disappearance, and I need to talk about them to you and Hermione. I'm not at my house though. Meet me at the house I'm staying at, and bring your Hogwarts stuff... We might stay here for a while. Go to the street and hold out your wand hand. That will summon the Knight Bus. Tell Stan and Ern to take you to the house next to the shop in Domino city. It doesn't have a legible address... Send a reply with Hedwig before you go.
From, Harry.
He tied the two letters to Hedwig's leg. She gave him an encouraging nip, then flew out the window and into the starry night.
************************************************************************
When Yugi Moto got home from school, he went up the stairs and immedietly flopped on his bed. What a day....
//I hate school.//
//So does everybody else.// Yami replied.
//I know.// Yugi replied. //That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to hate it.//
//Well, don't get too comfortable, Yugi. You still have homework, you know.//
Yugi shuddered. //I think I hate homework more than I hate school.//
He sat up and looked out the window. He really didn't have much of a view out that window. It looked out into the alleyway below, and he could see into the neighbor's window when they left the curtains open. Not that there was usually much to see in there, either. He had the most boring neighbor in the world... He never put up any pictures, he almost never came into that particular room because he spent all his time on the third floor above, and there was no carpet or wallpaper anywhere. It was simply the most boring-
Suddenly, his thoughts were interupted as a series of crashes resounded through the air and a blur flew by the window, falling from the floor above and going down into the floor below.
"Grandpa!" Yugi called. "Jeff fell through the floor again!"
He heard a groan coming from downstairs. "He ok this time? Or do we have to call 911 again?"
The front door of the house opened, and Jeff walked out, tossing a coin up into the air every now and then.
"I think he's fine, Grandpa..." Yugi sighed. "This time..."
He looked back down at the lonely house next door, staring off into outer space.
After a while, he realized that Yami was trying to talk to him. //Huh? Sorry, what did you say?//
//Homework, Yugi... You still have homework to do. You shouldn't be daydreaming right now.//
//Right. Sorry Yami.//
//That's ok. Go do your homework.//
Yugi sighed again, then went over and sat at his desk, pulling his math book out of his backpack.
//I hate math...//
//I know.//
There was silence for a while as Yugi stared at his Math book, trying to delay starting on it. He really did NOT feel like doing homework, even more than he usually did... What with what had happened only a few nights before. What he had done... He hadn't told anybody, though. Not even Yami knew... But still...
Yugi suddenly spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A movement in the window. //Looks like somebody finally rented the house from Jeff.// He commented.
//What do you mean?//
Yugi got up and looked out the window again, grateful for a break from his homework, even though he hadn't started it yet. There was nobody in the room across from him, but from the newly formed hole in the floor, he could see somebody on the floor below.
//That's interesting.// he thought. //He doesn't look very old... only about my age.//
//He's probably there with his parents. He'll probably have to go to school with you tomorrow, Yugi. And speaking of school...//
Yugi sighed. //Yeah, yeah, I know... Homework.//
//Yup.//
He sat down again and finally started working.
***********************************************************************
{The next morning}
Harry sat up in the bed that was located on the third floor and looked out the window.
The window had a pretty good view of the city, except that the roofs of the other houses kinda got in the way... Most of the houses around were two stories, and "his" was three. It was still a pretty sunrise...
He looked at his watch. He had set it to Domino's time yesterday. It was.... 5:45?!?!?!?
He flopped back down on the bed and sighed. Way too early to be getting up when he didn't have any classes or anything to be going to... In fact, he really didn't have anything to do all day...
He should be out looking for whoever it was that had made Hogwarts vanish, but he had no idea where to look... he knew Domino city, but nothing else...
Hermione would be able to figure out something, and Ron too...
But they might not be able to get there for a few days at least! Hedwig was fast, but not that fast...
So what could he do to get a lead?
He thought. Who would want to make a school disappear? A kid, of course. Where would kids be right now?
"Well, normal kids would be SLEEPING right now..." he muttered to himself. "Or getting ready for school, I guess."
He blinked. School... He might not be in school, but the kids around here still were, unless their school had disappeared as well, which was highly unlikely, as the schools around here had no magic at them...
He got up and began getting into his normal muggle clothes. If the person who did it was a kid, then the best thing to do would be to go to school with the kids around here and try to blend in... Observe what people were doing, what they were saying...
Maybe then he'd get a clue.
And there was NO way he was going to go to a muggle school wearing wizard robes. That would be just a bit strange, though he knew of some wizards who probably would...
He grinned, remembering some of the outfits of the wizards who had gone to the Quidditch World Cup and tried to blend in as muggles.
He was almost ready, when suddenly he realized something. He didn't have a backpack, like the kids around here had. He shrugged. He wasn't going to the school to get a good grade or to get an education; he was going to observe the kids...
He went down the stairs and checked his watch again. 7:00. The school around here started at... uh...
He went outside and stood on the top step in front of the house. He looked around. If only there was somebody else on the street who went to the school so he could just follow them...
Just then, his wish was answered. Down the street came a young girl wearing all pink. Pink coat, pink mini-skirt, pink headband, even a pink backpack. She saw him standing there and waved. He waved back, not sure what else to do.
"You just move in there?" She asked him, stopping in front of the walkway leading up to the door.
He nodded. "Renting it, actually."
"You starting school today?"
He nodded again. "I'm afraid I don't know what time the school starts, though."
The girl looked at her watch. "Um... It starts in about half an hour, but you'd better get going if you want to get there in time... I just gotta pick up Yugi, then we're going to school. Wanna come with us?"
Harry nodded in relief. What a lucky break!
The girl nodded back at him then said, "Alright, We just have to pick up Yugi at his house first so we can all walk to school together, then we'll go!"
Harry nodded and followed her as she hurried down the street. He stopped at the end of the walkway when she turned into the... Game Shop next door?
She knocked on the door and another kid with spiky red, black and yellow hair came out of it, dressed all in blue and wearing a blue backpack. He also had a golden upside-down pyramid looking thing as a pendant around his neck.
The girl talked with him for a bit, then turned back to Harry and walked back over to him, Yugi trailing along behind her..
"Where's your school stuff?" the girl asked him.
He shrugged. "I don't really have any..." he admitted.
"No transfer stuff from your old school?"
He shook his head. "I. went to a private school before." he said. "And the records were, erm, lost..."
The girl nodded. "Oh. I just realized that I don't know your name!"
"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." he said.
"I'm Yugi, and this is Tea." The shorter boy said, finally speaking up for the first time.
Tea grinned. "Yugi Moto and Tea Gardner." She added, giving full names.
Harry nodded. "Cool. Erm... Should we be going to school now?"
Tea nodded. "Yeah. he's right, Yugi! Let's go!"
The three began to walk down the sidewalk.
Well, now that little problem was solved. He was on his way to the school, and he already had some friends! Couldn't get any better.
Tea was very energetic and practically skipped as she went. She seemed to enjoy the prospect of going to school. This was not somebody who would be making schools disappear. But...
That Yugi was a little quiet... And that pendant was kind of strange... But maybe that was just something that everybody in Domino did... Have the guys wear necklaces and stuff...
Of course there was always a possibility that... He knew he had read somewhere that some magic people needed specific items in order to use their magic... And Yugi seemed... Well...
The three were almost to the school building, (Harry could see it up ahead,) when suddenly two other guys walked up.
"Hey Yugi! Tea!" one of them called out. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Harry. He just moved here yesterday." Yugi said. Harry nodded. "Harry, this is Joey and Tristan."
"Heya" Joey said, letting out a grin. Harry couldn't help but grin back.
"Hello." Tristan said.
"Hi." Harry returned.
"Now where could Bakura be? School's about to- Oh, there he is! Bakura!" Tea called out to a boy walking by.
The boy with white hair and soft brown eyes looked up from where he had been concentrating on the ground. When he saw who had called him, he smiled and waved. Then he came over and silently joined the "little" group as they trooped into the building.
When everyone was inside, they all said goodbye and split up down the halls toward their separate classes. Except Harry, of course. He suddenly had NO clue what to do.
"New here?" He heard a soft voice behind him. Harry turned around. Bakura was still standing there.
"Yeah... Do you know where I'm supposed to go?" Harry asked.
Bakura nodded. "I'm a transfer student myself." he said.
"From where?"
"England, actually. And judging by your accent, you are too."
Harry nodded. "Yeah."
"Come on, then. Follow me, uh..."
"Harry. Harry Potter."
"Alright then, Harry. I'm Bakura, by the way. You need to come over here."
Harry smiled gratefully. He was so much like Bakura...
******************************************************************
"Tell Stan and Ern to take you to the house next to the shop in Domino city. It doesn't have a legible address... Send a reply with Hedwig before you go. From, Harry." Hermione read aloud to herself. "Alright, if Harry knows something that can help us figure this out, I'm definitely going."
She sat down at the desk in her room and took out some parchment and her quill and began to write a response. Hedwig looked at her impatiently. She still had another letter to deliver after this. She ruffled her feathers and began looking around the room. It was a very clean room, as most of Hermione's things were still packed in her Hogwarts trunk. Crookshanks was sitting curled up on her bed, fast asleep.
Hedwig looked back at Hermione and hooted softly. "Hurry up" she was trying to say. Hermione didn't look up.
"I know, Hedwig! I'm going as fast as I can here." She said. It was true, she was scribbling on the paper very quickly. Faster than Harry could write anyway. Hedwig fluttered over to the chair Hermione was sitting at and perched herself on the back of it.
Hedwig liked to read over people's shoulders. The letter so far read:
Harry,
Sure, I'll come as quickly as possible. I'll still have to pack up the things that I've unpacked already, of course, but that shouldn't take too long. I'd be willing to bet that Ron would be happy to go as well, although he might have to sneak out. I know I'll have to as well. How long will we need to stay there? What should I tell my parents? Oh never mind, don't answer that. I'll come up with something. I'll probably be there within the next day or so, depending on how fast this Knight Bus of yours travels. See you soon, then.
Hermione.
Hedwig was just able to finish reading it, when Hermione folded it up, stuffed it in an envelope, and turned back to her.
"There, now I'm done."
Hedwig held out her leg for Hermione to put the letter on, then she hooted and flew out the window towards Ron's house.
*******************************************************************
Ok, that's it for now!
Like it so far? ^_^
Now then, off to write the next chapter of this! And finish the next chapter of "Where's Yugi," of course.. And do up a new chappie of "Ring Logic." . And I've been getting some new idears for my Collection as well.. Gee, I need to get going on some of this stuff, huh?
^_^
See ya!
--Daricio
Welcome to yet another chapter of the story, "Millennium Magic." !
First off, one of my reviewers asked if Harry would be recieving a Millennium Item or a Yami. The answer for both of these, is No. Sorry. I'm not going to create an entirely new Millennium item simply for Harry, because, as peoples have pointed out in other Yu-Gi-Oh ficcies about Mary Sues, there are only SEVEN items for a reason, and if you change the number of items, you'd have to change history itself...
And if he doesn't have an item, there's no point in giving him a yami, either... ^_^ So that's why...
I will, however, go ahead and have him construct a deck, as he will be finnaly meeting up with Yugi in this chappie, and the deck will be a spellcaster one if you want. ^_^
So, anyways............... How is everyone? Good? Good.... Okies... I, obviously, have nothing better to be talking about before we start the fic today, so let's just get right into it, shall we? Okies! Let's go!
**************************************************************************
The bus stopped off at number 4 Privit Drive, just as Harry had asked, and he quickly raced off the bus, shouting, "Stay there, be right back!" Over his shoulder.
He ran around to the side of the house where he had ditched his stuff, and began sorting it into two piles: Stuff he could take, and useless things that he had only packed in there for school. (Meaning his Potions textbooks.)
Once those were sorted, he pulled his dad's special cloak out of the trunk. Pulling it around him, he gathered up his pile of unneeded items and slipped into the house. Dashing up the stairs, (and almost running into Dudley, who was on his way down) he ran into his room and stuck the books under his bed, where they would, hopefully, not be found by any of the Dursleys.
On his way down the stairs, he realized that he would be needing muggle money so that he would be able to get someplace to stay. Somehow, he didn't think there was a wizard inn like the Leaky Cauldron in Domino.
He snuck into his Aunt Petunia's bedroom and took a fifty pound note off her nightstand. He'd return it later. For now, he needed it, and he didn't have any money of his own to spend other than his wizard money.
"Fifteen years worth of late Happy Birthdays." He muttered to himself, shoving it in his pocket. Then he slipped down the stairs and out of the house again, throwing off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffing it back in his trunk.
He picked up his trunk and hauled it over to the Knight Bus. Stan helped him heave it up the stairs, then Harry took his seat on one of the beds once again.
There was a loud BANG, then they were off once again! Harry willed himself NOT to look out the windows, knowing that doing so would make him slightly sick, but he couldn't help it. He mentally needed to know where he was going, even if he couldn't make sense of it.
The scenery whipped by, so fast it was a blur. Occasionally, things would fly in an upward direction, apparently jumping out of the way to avoid being hit by the bus, but mostly all Harry could see was the mass of color.
Ern and Stan apparently wanted to get there in a real hurry so that they could run around the country-side searching for more customers... or whatever it was they do when they're not currently running the bus...
He looked down at the floor of the bus. Fast driving was not something he was particularly fond of. For some reason, Stan's words from his third year kept coming back to him...
"Can't do nuffink underwater."
Harry gulped slightly. They had BETTER not be close to an ocean..... They had BETTER not....
**************************************************************************** **
About an hour later, Harry stepped off the bus, feeling just a little bit more than woozy from the trip. Stan helped him haul his suitcase down the steps, then the bus took off again with yet another loud BANG!
The bus could fly...... lovely..... why hadn't anybody told him this? There was apparently an ocean between England and Domino.
Not that he wasn't used to flying, it's just that... It's really hard to not be surprised about something when you've been looking at the floor for a long time, you notice the bus is going slower than it had been going, so you look out the window, and you're about a couple hundred feet up in the air and above an ocean.
Harry took a few deep breaths and looked around. The city of Domino...
It wasn't too much different than his own city... Except for one big fact. HIS city didn't have somebody in it that had made Hogwarts disappear.
"Slow down" Harry whispered to himself. "Let's not jump right into that... First, I have to find someplace to stay..."
He began to walk down the street, searching for a hotel... an inn.... something....
But after walking around for a while, he had found nothing but an old, rundown, three-story place with a "For Rent" sign in front of it.
Harry thought for a minute, then walked inside the building, lugging his suitcase inside with him. It was very dark inside. He peered around the extremely dim room, searching for a lightswitch. When he finally found one and switched it on, it lit a very small bulb that was hanging from a thin wire from the ceiling.
"Hello?" He called out. "Is there anybody in here?"
He listened for a moment, then sighed. There was nobody there.
He went up the stairs, leaving his suitcase by the bottom of the stairs. He looked around as he went. He called out again on the second floor. Again, no response.
Up the next flight of stairs to the third floor. "Hello?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time you called. No need to shout. Whaddya want?" A raspy voice said from the shadows. Harry stepped forward, trying to see the man. He remained in shadow.
"I-I'm here because of the for rent sign in front of here." he said as confidently as he could, though still stuttering a bit. "I'd like to rent it for a while."
The man leaned forward a little, letting a bit of light rest on his face. He was an slightly old man, with a scraggly beard and an extremely small, slightly evil looking smile. (Think Filch) "So you would, would you?" He asked, showing some of his jagged teeth.
Harry gulped. "Yes."
The man nodded, then held out his hand. "It'll cost, ya know."
Harry nodded as well. "Yeah, I've got money." He dug around in his pocket and pulled out the twenty pound note, handing it to the man.
He stared at it for a moment, then began laughing. He laughed and laughed. Harry just stared at him.
"What?" he asked finally.
The man wiped tears of laughter from his eyes and handed Harry back the note. "Look here, son. This is America In America, you use American dollars." he said, grinning. "These is English pounds."
(A/N Yes, I know Domino is supposed to be in Japan, but I moved it. So there. Nyah.)
Harry stared at the note. "Right..." He said. He thought hard. What was he going to do now? He had nothing else but the twenty pound note and some wizard money. A few sickles, some knuts, and... Gold Galleons! He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Galleon.
"I know this isn't American money, but... Will this work?"
He gave the man the Galleon. He stared at it. As he did, his eyes widened. He looked back at Harry. "This gold?" he asked. "Real gold?"
Harry nodded slowly. "I think so..." He had no idea what the coins were made of...
The man licked his lips and grinned very widely. "Got any more, kid?"
Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out two more Galleons; the last ones he had. "Erm... two more..."
The man nodded once more. "Alright. One of these for a week's stay, three for the month. Sound good?"
Harry nodded, giving the man the other two Galleons. After a while of staring at the coins, the man looked up at Harry.
"Thank you! Now, I must disappear mysteriously..." He said, taking a step backwards. Suddenly the floorboards underneath him groaned, then cracked with a loud CRASH! The man fell, yelling as he went.Then...
CRASH! Through the second floor.
CRASH! Through the first floor into the basement.
CRASH! Through the basement's floor into the floor beneath the basement.?
CRASH! Through THAT floor as well!
CRASH! And THAT floor!
CRASH!And THAT one!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
Finally, there was the sound of dust rising up, followed by a soft, "I must work on my mysteriousness... I got the disappearance part down pat..." echoing upward from the very bottom floor.
Harry looked down the hole into the darkness below. "Um... sir? Are you all right?"
There was no reply.
Harry went down the flights of stairs to the first floor. Just as he got there, the front door closed. He ran over and opened it again and watched in confusion and amazement as the man walked down the street, flipping one of the Galleons up in the air occasionally, as if he hadn't just fallen down about fifteen stories into the bottom floor of his multi-floor basement.
Harry shook his head and closed the door. "That was weird." he muttered. He looked around the room. It wasn't exactly the best place in the world to stay, but it would have to do... He went over to his suitcase and pulled it over to a corner, where there was a dresser, and unpacked. Then he went exploring the house.
He found that it had a total of twelve basement floors, all filled with tons of unpacked boxes that were duct taped shut. (And each with it's own hole in the floor, of course.)
He went back up the twelve flights of stairs to the first floor and sat down on one of the couches. He sighed.
"Alright, now that I'm here..." He said to himself, "What do I do now? Where do I start looking?"
He sat there, pondering this for a while. He got up and began pacing the length of the room. Then he went up the stairs and started pacing on the second floor. Then up to the third floor for a little more pacing. Finally, he sat down on a couch up there and sighed.
Suddenly, there was a tapping on the window.... Harry looked over in surprise.
Why would there be tapping on a third story window? He walked over and opened it. He immidietly got knocked over by a large white mass coming into the room.
"Hedwig!" Harry cried. Hedwig perched herself on the back of a chair, looking pleased with herself.
Harry ran over to her and began idly stroking her feathers. She perched herself on his shoulder. "Good girl, Hedwig." he murmured.
She gave him a friendly nip on the ear, then held out her leg, indicating that she wanted him to take the letter off of it.
"Oh! Sorry..." He untied the letter from her leg. She hooted gratefully at him. Harry grinned at her, then opened the letter. It was from Sirus.
Dear Harry:
Wow, Hogwarts disappeared? That's kinda scary... I'm betting Voldemort had something to do with it, though I'm not sure HOW even he would do something like this... This is really powerful magic, Harry. I strongly suggest that you stay away from it. I know that you feel like you should be doing something about this, but do NOT go looking for Voldemort, hear me? Let the Ministry of Magic take care of it.
Signed, Sirus.
Harry grinned. Whoops... A little too late for that now....
Although, hadn't people told him specifically not to go looking out for and going after Sirus Black? And guess who he turned out to be and what his intentions were...
Harry shook his head.
He looked back at Hedwig, who was looking at him expectantly. He walked down the stairs back to where he had unpacked his trunk and opened Hedwig's cage, allowing her to get food and water. Then he took out some parchment and a quill.
He needed somebody to help him with the search, and if he told Sirus what he was doing, he'd get mad. He decided to write to Ron and Hermione. Hermione would know just where to search, and Ron was usually pretty good about figuring out where different types of people like to be. That and they were both his friends.
He wrote each letter to them almost exactly the same:
Dear Ron, (And in the letter to Hermione, it said, Dear Hermione, of course)
Do not show this letter to anyone, Ron. I've come across some very interesting facts about the Hogwarts disappearance, and I need to talk about them to you and Hermione. I'm not at my house though. Meet me at the house I'm staying at, and bring your Hogwarts stuff... We might stay here for a while. Go to the street and hold out your wand hand. That will summon the Knight Bus. Tell Stan and Ern to take you to the house next to the shop in Domino city. It doesn't have a legible address... Send a reply with Hedwig before you go.
From, Harry.
He tied the two letters to Hedwig's leg. She gave him an encouraging nip, then flew out the window and into the starry night.
************************************************************************
When Yugi Moto got home from school, he went up the stairs and immedietly flopped on his bed. What a day....
//I hate school.//
//So does everybody else.// Yami replied.
//I know.// Yugi replied. //That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to hate it.//
//Well, don't get too comfortable, Yugi. You still have homework, you know.//
Yugi shuddered. //I think I hate homework more than I hate school.//
He sat up and looked out the window. He really didn't have much of a view out that window. It looked out into the alleyway below, and he could see into the neighbor's window when they left the curtains open. Not that there was usually much to see in there, either. He had the most boring neighbor in the world... He never put up any pictures, he almost never came into that particular room because he spent all his time on the third floor above, and there was no carpet or wallpaper anywhere. It was simply the most boring-
Suddenly, his thoughts were interupted as a series of crashes resounded through the air and a blur flew by the window, falling from the floor above and going down into the floor below.
"Grandpa!" Yugi called. "Jeff fell through the floor again!"
He heard a groan coming from downstairs. "He ok this time? Or do we have to call 911 again?"
The front door of the house opened, and Jeff walked out, tossing a coin up into the air every now and then.
"I think he's fine, Grandpa..." Yugi sighed. "This time..."
He looked back down at the lonely house next door, staring off into outer space.
After a while, he realized that Yami was trying to talk to him. //Huh? Sorry, what did you say?//
//Homework, Yugi... You still have homework to do. You shouldn't be daydreaming right now.//
//Right. Sorry Yami.//
//That's ok. Go do your homework.//
Yugi sighed again, then went over and sat at his desk, pulling his math book out of his backpack.
//I hate math...//
//I know.//
There was silence for a while as Yugi stared at his Math book, trying to delay starting on it. He really did NOT feel like doing homework, even more than he usually did... What with what had happened only a few nights before. What he had done... He hadn't told anybody, though. Not even Yami knew... But still...
Yugi suddenly spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A movement in the window. //Looks like somebody finally rented the house from Jeff.// He commented.
//What do you mean?//
Yugi got up and looked out the window again, grateful for a break from his homework, even though he hadn't started it yet. There was nobody in the room across from him, but from the newly formed hole in the floor, he could see somebody on the floor below.
//That's interesting.// he thought. //He doesn't look very old... only about my age.//
//He's probably there with his parents. He'll probably have to go to school with you tomorrow, Yugi. And speaking of school...//
Yugi sighed. //Yeah, yeah, I know... Homework.//
//Yup.//
He sat down again and finally started working.
***********************************************************************
{The next morning}
Harry sat up in the bed that was located on the third floor and looked out the window.
The window had a pretty good view of the city, except that the roofs of the other houses kinda got in the way... Most of the houses around were two stories, and "his" was three. It was still a pretty sunrise...
He looked at his watch. He had set it to Domino's time yesterday. It was.... 5:45?!?!?!?
He flopped back down on the bed and sighed. Way too early to be getting up when he didn't have any classes or anything to be going to... In fact, he really didn't have anything to do all day...
He should be out looking for whoever it was that had made Hogwarts vanish, but he had no idea where to look... he knew Domino city, but nothing else...
Hermione would be able to figure out something, and Ron too...
But they might not be able to get there for a few days at least! Hedwig was fast, but not that fast...
So what could he do to get a lead?
He thought. Who would want to make a school disappear? A kid, of course. Where would kids be right now?
"Well, normal kids would be SLEEPING right now..." he muttered to himself. "Or getting ready for school, I guess."
He blinked. School... He might not be in school, but the kids around here still were, unless their school had disappeared as well, which was highly unlikely, as the schools around here had no magic at them...
He got up and began getting into his normal muggle clothes. If the person who did it was a kid, then the best thing to do would be to go to school with the kids around here and try to blend in... Observe what people were doing, what they were saying...
Maybe then he'd get a clue.
And there was NO way he was going to go to a muggle school wearing wizard robes. That would be just a bit strange, though he knew of some wizards who probably would...
He grinned, remembering some of the outfits of the wizards who had gone to the Quidditch World Cup and tried to blend in as muggles.
He was almost ready, when suddenly he realized something. He didn't have a backpack, like the kids around here had. He shrugged. He wasn't going to the school to get a good grade or to get an education; he was going to observe the kids...
He went down the stairs and checked his watch again. 7:00. The school around here started at... uh...
He went outside and stood on the top step in front of the house. He looked around. If only there was somebody else on the street who went to the school so he could just follow them...
Just then, his wish was answered. Down the street came a young girl wearing all pink. Pink coat, pink mini-skirt, pink headband, even a pink backpack. She saw him standing there and waved. He waved back, not sure what else to do.
"You just move in there?" She asked him, stopping in front of the walkway leading up to the door.
He nodded. "Renting it, actually."
"You starting school today?"
He nodded again. "I'm afraid I don't know what time the school starts, though."
The girl looked at her watch. "Um... It starts in about half an hour, but you'd better get going if you want to get there in time... I just gotta pick up Yugi, then we're going to school. Wanna come with us?"
Harry nodded in relief. What a lucky break!
The girl nodded back at him then said, "Alright, We just have to pick up Yugi at his house first so we can all walk to school together, then we'll go!"
Harry nodded and followed her as she hurried down the street. He stopped at the end of the walkway when she turned into the... Game Shop next door?
She knocked on the door and another kid with spiky red, black and yellow hair came out of it, dressed all in blue and wearing a blue backpack. He also had a golden upside-down pyramid looking thing as a pendant around his neck.
The girl talked with him for a bit, then turned back to Harry and walked back over to him, Yugi trailing along behind her..
"Where's your school stuff?" the girl asked him.
He shrugged. "I don't really have any..." he admitted.
"No transfer stuff from your old school?"
He shook his head. "I. went to a private school before." he said. "And the records were, erm, lost..."
The girl nodded. "Oh. I just realized that I don't know your name!"
"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." he said.
"I'm Yugi, and this is Tea." The shorter boy said, finally speaking up for the first time.
Tea grinned. "Yugi Moto and Tea Gardner." She added, giving full names.
Harry nodded. "Cool. Erm... Should we be going to school now?"
Tea nodded. "Yeah. he's right, Yugi! Let's go!"
The three began to walk down the sidewalk.
Well, now that little problem was solved. He was on his way to the school, and he already had some friends! Couldn't get any better.
Tea was very energetic and practically skipped as she went. She seemed to enjoy the prospect of going to school. This was not somebody who would be making schools disappear. But...
That Yugi was a little quiet... And that pendant was kind of strange... But maybe that was just something that everybody in Domino did... Have the guys wear necklaces and stuff...
Of course there was always a possibility that... He knew he had read somewhere that some magic people needed specific items in order to use their magic... And Yugi seemed... Well...
The three were almost to the school building, (Harry could see it up ahead,) when suddenly two other guys walked up.
"Hey Yugi! Tea!" one of them called out. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Harry. He just moved here yesterday." Yugi said. Harry nodded. "Harry, this is Joey and Tristan."
"Heya" Joey said, letting out a grin. Harry couldn't help but grin back.
"Hello." Tristan said.
"Hi." Harry returned.
"Now where could Bakura be? School's about to- Oh, there he is! Bakura!" Tea called out to a boy walking by.
The boy with white hair and soft brown eyes looked up from where he had been concentrating on the ground. When he saw who had called him, he smiled and waved. Then he came over and silently joined the "little" group as they trooped into the building.
When everyone was inside, they all said goodbye and split up down the halls toward their separate classes. Except Harry, of course. He suddenly had NO clue what to do.
"New here?" He heard a soft voice behind him. Harry turned around. Bakura was still standing there.
"Yeah... Do you know where I'm supposed to go?" Harry asked.
Bakura nodded. "I'm a transfer student myself." he said.
"From where?"
"England, actually. And judging by your accent, you are too."
Harry nodded. "Yeah."
"Come on, then. Follow me, uh..."
"Harry. Harry Potter."
"Alright then, Harry. I'm Bakura, by the way. You need to come over here."
Harry smiled gratefully. He was so much like Bakura...
******************************************************************
"Tell Stan and Ern to take you to the house next to the shop in Domino city. It doesn't have a legible address... Send a reply with Hedwig before you go. From, Harry." Hermione read aloud to herself. "Alright, if Harry knows something that can help us figure this out, I'm definitely going."
She sat down at the desk in her room and took out some parchment and her quill and began to write a response. Hedwig looked at her impatiently. She still had another letter to deliver after this. She ruffled her feathers and began looking around the room. It was a very clean room, as most of Hermione's things were still packed in her Hogwarts trunk. Crookshanks was sitting curled up on her bed, fast asleep.
Hedwig looked back at Hermione and hooted softly. "Hurry up" she was trying to say. Hermione didn't look up.
"I know, Hedwig! I'm going as fast as I can here." She said. It was true, she was scribbling on the paper very quickly. Faster than Harry could write anyway. Hedwig fluttered over to the chair Hermione was sitting at and perched herself on the back of it.
Hedwig liked to read over people's shoulders. The letter so far read:
Harry,
Sure, I'll come as quickly as possible. I'll still have to pack up the things that I've unpacked already, of course, but that shouldn't take too long. I'd be willing to bet that Ron would be happy to go as well, although he might have to sneak out. I know I'll have to as well. How long will we need to stay there? What should I tell my parents? Oh never mind, don't answer that. I'll come up with something. I'll probably be there within the next day or so, depending on how fast this Knight Bus of yours travels. See you soon, then.
Hermione.
Hedwig was just able to finish reading it, when Hermione folded it up, stuffed it in an envelope, and turned back to her.
"There, now I'm done."
Hedwig held out her leg for Hermione to put the letter on, then she hooted and flew out the window towards Ron's house.
*******************************************************************
Ok, that's it for now!
Like it so far? ^_^
Now then, off to write the next chapter of this! And finish the next chapter of "Where's Yugi," of course.. And do up a new chappie of "Ring Logic." . And I've been getting some new idears for my Collection as well.. Gee, I need to get going on some of this stuff, huh?
^_^
See ya!
--Daricio