Yami Pandora: Thank you for your reviews. I noticed there was some confusion with Joey. He's not actually in this fic, he was only compared with Ron, and as he and Joey are so alike Seto likes to pick on him. Hope that's cleared up.
DARLENEARTIST: Glad you like it! I am going to try to keep them in character as much as possible, because it's often funnier when they argue. I also like Yami Bakura… probably because he's sadistic…
Nachzes Black-Rider: Thanks for your review! No, Joey's not in it (as explained above), yes Draco is smart, but then all boys should learn not to piss a female off. My brother pisses me off all the time, and he always winds up getting hurt and he's twice my size! No, Hermione's not PMSing, she's just stressed that her friends can't accept the change in the Slytherin students.
Hinageshi: oops, I made a mistake in that chapter, I have now corrected it. Yami was not supposed to be seen, sorry about that but hey, no ones perfect.
DreamCherry66: You really seem to like this fic, YAY; I must be doing something right then! I found your review quite funny. Me like funny.
NKingy: I'm glad you like it, and as I mentioned before there was some confusion with Joey.
Scarab Dynasty: I am having fun writing this, I wouldn't be doing it if it was boring me. Yugi was only joking about the whole shadow realm thing; he couldn't harm the most vile cockroach in the world! He also doesn't know how much magic McGonagall has been involved in… so yeah. Hope you read the rest of it… oh yeah, if you're reading this you've already read the rest of it… duh, I'm so stupid. I am soo glad people are enjoying this fic! 16 out of 17 like it so far!
Chapter 7
(Last Time)
It took some time trying to get the exchange students through the barrier, as all of them were known to the muggles, so they kept on attracting attention. Eventually, the wizards had to put a cloaking spell on them and erase the memories of the muggles. "These exchange students had better be worth all the trouble we're going through" Mr Weasley grumbled.
(This Time)
When they were all on the station, they saw a large red steam train. "Don't see one those every day" Ryou remarked casually. Yugi and Marik nodded, while Seto snorted and walked off towards the train. The others blinked.
"Is he always this moody? It's not normal, he's a teenager for Merlin's sake" Ron asked.
"Yep, Kaiba's been a cold hearted bastard ever since I met him… but I was a bit of a psycho so I've got no room to talk" Marik remarked as though announcing the weather. Harry and his friends stared at Marik as though he had grown another head. "What?" he asked noticing their stares. "Have you never met a psycho before?" he continued, as though meeting a psychotic mind controlling person was an every day occurrence, although, for Yugi and the others it probably was.
"Um… yes, I guess I have met a 'psycho' before, but… you don't really strike me as a psycho" Harry said. He was surprised to hear that Marik had at some point been psychotic, but then up until his eleventh birthday he didn't believe magic existed.
"You didn't watch the Battle City tournament" Hermione said.
"Huh?" Harry, Ron and Ginny said simultaneously. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I'll explain on the train" she said.
There was a lot of pushing and shoving to get onto the train. There were kids everywhere, and some of the younger ones looked nervous and were still clinging to their parents, while others were chatting enthusiastically to any other kid they could talk to. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny led the exchange students onto the train and after much heaving; they finally got their trunks on the train and went to find a compartment after saying good bye to the Weasleys and Remus. It didn't take them long as they'd arrived quite early. Harry, Ron, Hermione and the exchange students managed to fit themselves into one compartment while Ginny went to find her friends and the Slytherin students went to find their own compartment. Both Enma and Seto sat as far away from the others as possible, near the windows. Enma stared out at the station, watching all the students saying good bye to their parents and getting on the train, while Seto got out his laptop… again… and started working. Harry and Ron stared at him. They had never met a person who took his work as seriously as Seto did, not even Hermione was this obsessive. "What" Seto snapped at them. He found it irritating when people stared at him, which meant he got irritated a lot, as he was one of the most popular people in the world.
"… Nothing…" they said together, flinching away from the death glare he was giving them.
"Um, Kaiba…" Yugi started, but was cut off when Seto turned his glare to him and thought better than to say anything to the agitated CEO. A flash of light was seen from the puzzle and Yugi's features changed slightly, amethyst eyes changing to crimson, hair spiking up more, a large height change and a severe change in attitude. "What Yugi was trying to say, Kaiba, is that you should try to get along with people, instead of scaring them away like that" he said. Seto rolled his eyes.
"Not another friendship speech, don't we get enough of them from that cheerleader of yours?" he sneered. It was Yami's turn to roll his eyes.
"No, not a friendship speech. Advice, you need to stop pushing people away. Do you really want to be alone for your whole life?" Yami questioned. His only reply was a sharp glare.
"Um… Hermione, you were going to tell us something about this 'Battle City' thing?" Harry asked, quickly changing the subject. Marik flinched, knowing what was going to be said.
"Yes. Not too long ago Kaiba here hosted a Duel Monsters tournament. Amongst the eight people to reach the finals were Yugi, Ryou and Marik. Ryou was eliminated on his first match of the finals, against Yugi. Kaiba later lost to Yugi, and another duellist named Joey Wheeler, was defeated by Marik. Thing is, every duellist who lost against Marik ended up in some sort of coma and every duel Marik was in, the entire duelling arena was enshrouded in darkness. The final match between Yugi and Marik decided the fate of these duellists. Well, Marik seemed to be… fighting himself and forfeited the duel, and then just like that everyone was OK again. I found it… weird, even for wizarding standards" Hermione said.
"I was fighting the darkness and hate within my own heart. I was led to believe that the Pharaoh killed my father, but in reality it was this darkness within me. I tried to get revenge on the Pharaoh, but my darker half took over. With Yami's and Yugi's help, I was able to banish my darker half to the Shadow Realm" Marik explained quietly, looking at his hands.
"I sort of know how you feel. At the end of our fifth year, I was possessed by Voldemort, but that was just for a few moments. If your darker half was around for most of the tournament, you must have been possessed for days" Harry said.
"Ryou knew how it felt too. He used to be possessed by Bakura at odd times" said Marik.
"Well, Bakura's changed now, as have you" Ryou defended. Harry and his friends could only stare. They had encountered things before, but these exchange students and the spirits topped most of what they had seen.
"Don't let our past worry you, the only one you should beware of now is Kaiba. He has a temper even when he's in a good mood" Yami said, finishing off sarcastically. They laughed nervously. So far they got the impression that these students were dangerous, and they had enough worries on their mind, without these new kids to add to it. An awkward silence passed over the compartment, and only the sound of Kaiba working at his laptop could be heard. Enma continued to stare out of the window, as though she had heard nothing of what had been said. But she had heard every word, and even if she had not been listening, she already knew it all anyway.
"So…" Yugi said in an attempt to break the silence. "What is Hogwarts like?"
"Oh, it's brilliant" Hermione said. "I'm muggle-born, so I knew nothing of magic when I got my letter. I was so fascinated by everything. There are all sorts of charms and enchantments on the castle…"
"CASTLE? Hogwarts is a castle? How the hell do you manage to hide it from the 'muggles'?" Marik asked.
"I told you, there are enchantments all over the castle. To muggle eyes, the castle would look like a bunch of old ruins with a 'danger' sign over them" Hermione said.
"Wow" was all Marik could say.
The rest of the journey was fairly quiet, the only interruption being when the cart lady came with the food. The exchange students, being rather curious about wizarding food, bought a little of everything. The thing that really caught their eye was the every flavour beans. Ignoring Harry's and Ron's warning, they tried them and were surprised to find that they did mean every flavour. "OK, why does this taste of sand?" Marik asked with a frown on his face.
"Well it does say every flavour… wait, how would you know what sand tastes like?" Ron asked curiously.
"Me plus Egypt plus falling equals sand in mouth" Marik said sarcastically.
"Oh" Ron said simply.
When the castle came into view Marik's jaw dropped. "WOW" he exclaimed. When Harry and the others gave him a funny look, Yami decided to explain.
"Marik lived in a tomb up until recently, and until Battle City, I doubt he'd ever left Egypt" he said.
"A tomb? You lived in a tomb?" Ron asked.
"Yes, hence the name TOMB KEEPER" Marik said bluntly.
"Sheesh, no need to get so testy… what's a tomb keeper?" Ron asked.
"None of your business" Marik snapped, it was still a sensitive subject for him.
The train stopped at a station not long after the castle came in view. They could see Hagrid waiting at the station for the first years. The students started filing off the train. Yugi and his friends started getting their trunks, but Harry stopped them. "They will be brought up later". This satisfied everyone except Seto. He packed his laptop away in its usual metal suit case and took it with him.
"Firs' years this way" Hagrid called.
"Hey Hagrid" Harry called.
"Hiya Harry. You'd better get going before all the coaches are filled, an' take those exchange students with yeh" Hagrid called over the noise of all the first years crowding round him. He turned away with all the little kids following to the lake.
"Well, let's go" Hermione said. They followed her to a long line of coaches.
"Wh… what the hell are those?" Marik said, pointing a finger at what appeared to be nothing to Ron, Hermione, Yugi and Ryou.
"You can see them too?" Harry asked.
"See what" Ryou and Yugi asked.
"How can you miss them? They're quite big" Marik said.
"They're thestrals" Seto said suddenly. "Only those who have seen death can see them".
"How did you know that?" Marik asked.
"Unlike some people, I actually read the books" Seto said.
"Where did you find time to read those books and do whatever it is you do with Kaiba Corp?" Marik asked. HE was rather bemused that Seto was able to do so much in so little time.
"Thanks to my dear adoptive father I am a quick learner" Seto said sarcastically.
"You were adopted?" Harry asked.
"Yes, so?"
"Nothing, I don't have parents either" Harry said. Seto said no more as they got in the carriage.
"What house do you think you will be sorted in to?" Hermione asked.
"House?" Ryou asked.
"There are four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Gryffindor is for those who are brave, Ravenclaw is for those who are smart (at this the other exchange students eyes darted to Seto), Hufflepuff is for those noble of heart and Slytherin is for the ambitious ones. Not a witch or wizard who went evil wasn't in that house, but bear in mind not all Slytherins are evil" Hermione explained to them, sending a sharp glance to Harry and Ron.
"I don't know what house I'll be sorted into, what with Bakura" Ryou said quietly.
"Same here. How do they do this sorting anyway?" Yugi asked.
"The sorting hat. It looks into your mind and places you in a house depending on what sort of person you are" Hermione said.
"Sounds too much like the Millennium Eye" Yugi muttered.
"The what?" Ron asked.
"Another Millennium Item. The Millennium Eye is similar to this hat of yours in that it can see into people's minds" Yugi said.
"Oh. I take it that you don't like the thought of something probing mind" Hermione stated.
"Not really. I almost lost my soul because of that item" Yugi said. Seeing the confused looks on the others faces. "Maximillion Pegasus was able to look into my mind to see what cards I was holding. It was only because Yami and I kept trading places that we actually won. Kaiba lost his soul because of it too" Yugi explained.
"Shut up" Seto said. Yugi sighed.
"And even though he now admits magic exists, he still won't admit that his soul was taken… twice" he said. This made Harry and his friends nervous. They didn't like the thought of having their souls stolen multiple times.
The coaches finally came to a stop and all the students got out and headed up the steps of a very large door. The exchange students weren't surprised to find that the entrance hall was massive. "Welcome to Hogwarts" Harry said.
Yami Pandora: That took AGES! I was trying to make it fairly long, so there is a lot of talking in there. I am currently stuck on what houses to put the exchange students in, so I hope you will vote (you'd better) for which house they will go to. Don't bother with Hufflepuff, because I just don't see them going into that house. I won't update until after the 29th June (my 16th birthday YAY), so I hope I get plenty of votes. Please review!