Yuugiou!
Episode Nine and Three Quarters
I have no excuse for not putting out a chapter yesterday, other than my own laziness. This chapter was actually rather easy to write, and contains a scene from the original Harry Potter book that got butchered out of the original. I hope you enjoy.
CHAPTER FIVE – DUELS AND BROOMSTICKS
Harry and Ron were quick to discover that Yuugi was to the Muggle world as Harry was to the Wizard world: insanely famous. Everywhere they went now, either students were trying to get Harry's attention, or people were practically glomping Yuugi, asking for dueling tips. He looked positively harassed when he plopped down at the Gryffindor table that Thursday, a week after the duel. Malik gave him a sympathetic look, before leaning close and dropping his voice so the others would not hear.
"Maybe we should have left the pharaoh out of it…" he murmured.
"I would have still dueled," Yuugi pointed out, snagging a piece of bacon, and noticing Harry and Ron looking particularly glum. "What's wrong, guys?"
"We've got flight lessons today," Ron replied. "With Slytherin."
Malik groaned. "Oh, whoopty fucking whee-ha…"
"Indeed," Harry agreed half-heartedly. "I'm not in the mood to make a fool of myself in front of Malfoy."
Draco Malfoy, the boy that the Sorting Hat had been all too willing to drop into Slytherin House, was an obvious mascot for the house of the school that had cranked out the most Dark Wizards. He was snooty to a fault, and everything had to be in his view of things, or it was wrong. What made it worse was he was from a family of Pureblood Wizards – a family that did not have a single drop of Muggle blood in it – and his pride as such made his overbearing ego even more so.
Mail came, and one of the school's owls dropped a note from Sugoroku in front of Yuugi, who eagerly snatched it up to read, while a barn owl dropped a package in front of Neville. He unwrapped it quickly, happily showing off a glass ball lined with gold, which seemed to have white smoke billowing about on the inside.
"It's a Remembrall," he explained. "Gram knows I tend to forget things; so it'll turn red when… oh…"
He trailed off, watching as the smoke inside suddenly turned red.
"The only problem is you can't remember what you've forgotten, hunh?" Malik asked. Neville nodded sheepishly, drawing a chuckle out of Harry.
Just then, Draco passed by, snatching the ball out of Neville's hands. Malik, Ron, and Harry sprung out of their seats; half hoping the Slytherin boy would be there to pick a fight… only to be deterred thanks to Professor McGonagall.
"What's going on?" she demanded, eyeing them suspiciously. Neville looked up to Malfoy, who simply dropped the Remembrall back onto the table.
"Just looking at it," he muttered, swaggering off.
-.oOOo.-
Classes went by quickly that day, and at three-thirty in the afternoon, Gryffindor house was marching out to the practice field where they would finally get their first chance to fly on a broom. It seemed to be the perfect day for it; the sky above was crystal clear, and there was a slight breeze blowing through the school grounds. Slytherin joined them soon after they arrived, Malfoy throwing Harry a quick scowl before their instructor, Madam Hooch, showed up.
Madam Hooch was a stout elderly woman with nearly pure white hair and hawk-like eyes. Despite this, she seemed kindly enough with her friendly, but stern, smile. She reminded Yuugi of a gym teacher in her mannerisms.
"All right, everyone!" she announced. "Stand next to a broom. Quickly now."
The two groups of students stood next to a broom, facing each other. Malik looked down at his, remembering that Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, said something about the school brooms being some of the worst. He did look like he got one of the bad ones, too, as many of the twigs were sticking out at strange angles.
"Now," Madam Hooch continued once everyone was settled, "put a hand over your broom and shout, 'up'!"
"Up!"
Yuugi's and Harry's went to their hands right away, but they were one of the few brooms that did. Hermione's just kept rolling on the ground, while Neville's did not move at all (though the fact that he could hardly be heard as he tried to shout "Up" might have had something to do with it). Ron's took two tries before it flew into his hand. Malik was at his third try when the broom handle swung up and cracked him on the head before flopping back down again.
It took awhile, but once everyone had one in hand, Madam Hooch showed everyone how to properly mount the brooms. Yuugi had a bit of difficulty because of his height, but both he and Harry were the only two students who managed to get it right on the first try.
"Are you sure you two haven't flown before?" she asked them, which of course, they had not.
She continued down the line, correcting grips and seating positions. Harry was thrilled when she informed Malfoy he had been holding his wrong for years. She went to the front of the lines once everyone was properly mounted on their brooms, out of the way.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you'll kick off from the ground hard, fly up a bit, and touch back down," she announced. "One… two…"
Neville, so nervous he was shaking, kicked off of the ground early. Madam Hooch shouted for him to come back down, but he was so scared that he could not control his broom. It shot straight up into the air, and he slid off the end, landing on the ground with a sickening thud. The broom, caught in a wind gust, floated off until it disappeared into the canopy of the Forbidden Forest.
The instructor raced to Neville right away, her face as white as her hair. She helped him sit up, and he let out a whimper of pain as she took hold of his arm.
"Oh, it's all right," she cooed softly. "It's just a broken wrist." She helped him stand up, before turning to the rest of the class. "Everyone is to stay with their feet firmly on the ground while I escort Mr. Longbottom to the Hospital Wing. If any of you use your brooms you'll be out of this school faster than you can say 'Quidditch'."
Neville slumped off, whimpering softly as Madame Hooch wrapped a comforting arm around him. A few students – Malik included – flopped back on the grass or started conversing softly amongst themselves. No sooner were the instructor and Neville out of earshot, however, did Malfoy start on one of his tirades.
"Did you see the look on his face? The great lump."
"Put a sock in it, Malfoy," Malik grumbled, laying back and throwing an arm over his eyes.
There came a shuffling of feet before Malfoy spoke again. "How 'bout I shove this in yours instead?" he sneered, and the Egyptian sat up to see the pale boy clutching Neville's Remembrall. Malik scrambled to his feet to get it back, but Harry beat him too it, standing before him, clutching his broom.
"Give it here, Malfoy," he said in a soft voice that made everyone around them hush.
"No," Malfoy replied stubbornly, mounting his broom and kicking off, floating up in the air. "I think I'll put it somewhere he can find it… like the roof."
Yuugi pulled out his wand. "Why you… you… brat! Get down he—Harry, what are you doing?"
As Malfoy rose still higher, Harry mounted his own broom. Hermione pushed her way past Malik and Ron, trying to remind them of what Madame Hooch said, but it was no use. Harry kicked off the ground, flying up after Malfoy. He wobbled a bit at first, but quickly got the hang of it, looking like he had been flying for years. Words were exchanged that those down below could not hear, before…
"Try and catch it then!" Draco shouted, tossing the Remembrall.
Almost instantly, Harry dived after it. Yuugi and a few others shrieked his name, watching in wide-eyed horror as the younger boy came within inches of the ground… before his hand snapped out, snatching something that could only be the Remembrall out of the air. He pulled up the broom just enough so he could gently tumble back onto the grass.
Everyone surged forward, just as a shriek came from the grounds…
"HARRY POTTER!"
Everyone spun around to see a white-faced Professor McGonagall stomping across the grounds toward the group. Malfoy, his feet back on the ground long ago, smirked at the teacher's appearance, as if he knew that Harry was a dead boy.
"Never in all my years at Hogwarts…!" she began. Yuugi jumped in front of Harry as she approached, protecting his friend.
"Iie, McGonagall-sensei!" he exclaimed, forgetting to speak English. "It wasn't Harry-kun's fault!"
"Be quiet, Mr. Mutou," McGonagall snapped. "Come with me, Mr. Potter. Now."
-.oOOo.-
Malik, Yuugi, and Ron were just leaving from the common room to go to the Great Hall for supper, when the Weasley twins – Ron's older brothers Fred and George – approached them, giddy with excitement. They started yammering on at a rapid fire pace, and it took the three of them yelling over the twins to get them to settle down enough to speak clearly.
"You guys won't believe it –" Fred began.
"– Harry Potter is –" George interrupted.
"– the new Gryffindor seeker!" they finished.
"No way!" Ron exclaimed.
"Um… what's…?" Yuugi began.
"He is so good too!" Fred exclaimed. "Wood took him through some practice runs and he caught the Snitch every time!"
"No way!" Ron cried again.
"Ano… nani…?" Malik began, speaking the wrong language.
"We haven't won since Charlie graduated, but this year we're gonna kick –"
"Excuse us!"
The three Weasleys clamped their mouths shut, looking over to Yuugi and Malik as they stood before them with their hands on their hips.
"What the hell are you people talking about!" Malik demanded.
"Quidditch," a voice said behind them. They turned to see Harry approaching them, a broad smile on his face. "It's a wizard's sport, kind of like football on broomsticks and with three different balls instead of just one."
"Yeah, and Harry's going to be the seeker," Fred cut in. "His job is to catch the Golden Snitch, a really tiny gold ball with wings that's really fast and damned impossible to see."
"That's great, Harry!" Yuugi exclaimed as they continued their walk back to the Great Hall. "But… um… it does sound a bit dangerous when you compare it to football…"
"Oh, don't worry," Fred said, waving a dismissive hand. "No one's gotten killed in a few years."
"That is so reassuring," Malik replied dully as Harry laughed.
"Anyway, we've got to go," Fred began.
"Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new passage out of the school," George explained.
"Probably the same one we found our first week of school," Fred ended, waving as they walked off.
Harry, Yuugi, Ron, and Malik exchanged amused looks, before the Weasley twins were replaced by a less than welcome presence. Malfoy smirked at Harry, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him with the usual dull expressions on their faces.
"Walking toward your last meal, Potter?" the pale boy asked, sounding amused. "When are you getting on the train to go back to the Muggles?"
Harry gave him a cool look. "Much braver now that your little friends are with you," he replied. Granted, Crabbe and Goyle were far from little, but from the way Malik was practically bristling like a cat, he did not think he would get hurt too much if it came down to a fight.
"I'll take you on anytime, Potter," Malfoy sneered. "In fact… tonight, if you will. Wizards duel, wands only – no contact. You… do know what a Wizards duel is, don't you?"
Harry's mouth was open, but Ron answered. "Of course he does," he stated. "I'll be his second, who's yours?"
Malfoy glanced back at Crabbe and Goyle. "Crabbe," he replied, looking back at Ron and Harry. "Midnight, at the Trophy Room; it's always unlocked. As for loud mouths that call me a 'brat' like you…"
Malfoy and his goons turned a glare to Yuugi, who gulped and backed up. Malik went to move forward to stop the three of them… when they suddenly stopped on their own, looks of horror on their faces at something above Yuugi's head. The smaller boy blinked, before he found an arm draped over his shoulder. Malik looked then yelped, backing up in surprise, and Yuugi could just see him mouthing "tomb robber" out of the corner of his eye.
"Now you three brats wouldn't happen to be causing trouble, would you…?" came Bakura's purring voice from behind Yuugi, making him gulp again.
Apparently, the three Slytherins were more afraid of Bakura than Yuugi was of him. They backed away, muttering something under their breaths before taking off.
Yuugi turned around, looking up at the tomb robber in surprise. Bakura backed off, giving him and his friends a casual smirk as he leaned back against the wall. Ron gulped softly; apparently Bakura had been setting up quite a… reputation for poor Ryou.
"Yuugi, how come you haven't introduced me to your friends yet?" he asked.
Yuugi made a nervous sound… before he suddenly stood up a little straighter, his voice coming out a little deeper.
"This is Ron and Harry," Atemu introduced, eyes narrowed. Harry and Ron exchanged confused looks; did Yuugi just… change?
Bakura smirked, raising his hands defensively. "No need to get testy, your highness-ness," he said, grinning as Malik winced.
"Your highness-ness?" Ron asked, making the Gravekeeper wince again.
"Nickname, kiddo," Bakura explained fluidly, standing up and walking over to the pharaoh, getting rather close to his face and making him lean back a bit. "Yuugi-chan has a tendency to be rather royal sometimes."
Harry and Ron would never be certain what happened after that; Bakura moved far too fast for even Harry to follow. All they knew that Bakura walked away cackling, with "Yuugi" holding his rear end with an "I've just been violated" look on his face.
"Any…way…" Harry began, eyeing "Yuugi" suspiciously as he rubbed his rear end. He turned to Ron, giving him a look. "What are you getting me into?"
"Just a Wizard's duel," Ron assured him. "Don't worry; you two are still inexperienced Wizards, so it shouldn't be fatal."
Malik exchanged weirded out looks with Atemu. "Is there anything in the Wizarding world that doesn't involve death?"
Atemu just shrugged helplessly.
-.oOOo.-
"I still think this is a bad idea…"
Atemu (who had decided to take charge of Yuugi's body as they snuck out that night) looked about with something akin to nervousness on his face. The school could be creepy enough on its own during the daytime, but at night, with the corridors darkened and only strips of moonlight coming into the windows to see by, it was downright eerie. The fact that the pharaoh swore he heard the sound of metal screeching on metal as they made their way down a hall lined with suits of armor did not help in the least. That, and the dread over turning a corner and smacking into Filch, the caretaker, or Mrs. Norris, his red-eyed cat, had both him and Malik very jumpy.
"We're going to get in a lot of trouble if we're caught…" Malik whispered.
"We're going to get caught if you don't hush," Ron hissed in front of them, following Harry as close as he could.
It took awhile, but they finally made it to the Trophy Room on the third floor. It was deserted; apparently Malfoy and Crabbe had not shown up yet.
"Don't tell me they chickened out…" Ron said, as Harry looked around at the cups, plates, and other trophies that glittered in the moonlight. Malik and Atemu, meanwhile, were keeping an eye on the other two doors out of the room, and both jumped when a sound came from behind one of the doors…
"Sniff around, my sweet. They might be lurking in a corner."
Malik whirled around, eyes wide. "Filch," he mouthed, not that he needed to. Harry and Ron were already running as quietly as they could back the way they came. Atemu's robes had just flapped around the corner when they heard Filch's voice again, speaking to Mrs. Norris. Harry didn't want to stay to listen, waving for the others to follow him back down the gallery of suits of armor, moving as fast as they dared.
Atemu, however, was moving too fast, at least for his robes anyway. They got tangled in his legs, and next thing he knew, he was colliding into a suit of armor, the clanging noise loud enough to ring through the whole school.
"RUN!" Harry shouted, both Malik and Ron helping Atemu back to his feet before taking off as fast as they could, not bothering to look back and see how close behind Filch was. They ripped through the hallways, barreling down a secret path that brought them out just before the Charms classroom, miles away from the Trophy Room, before they stopped for breath.
"I… think we… lost him…" Harry gasped, falling back against a wall.
"I… shoulda… known…" Atemu gasped, clutching a stitch in his chest. "Malfoy set you… up, Harry. He never… planned on showing up… tonight. He told… Filch instead."
Harry was about to tell him he was probably right, when a voice from the corridor they just bust out of cut him off.
"Well, here's a sight I never thought I'd see," Bakura said, poking his head out next to the pharaoh and nearly scaring him to the afterlife. "Pharaoh Goody Two-Shoes breaking a rule."
Atemu whirled as Ron blinked. "Pharaoh?"
"'Nother nickname," Malik muttered, covering his face with a hand.
"Tomb robber, what the hell are you doing here!" Atemu hissed.
"Tomb robber?"
"Nickname…"
"Oh, and what else would a fine, upstanding student of Hogwarts like myself be doing up at night? Raiding the kitchens, of course," Bakura said with a grin.
Atemu growled. "This is so typical of you! You never thi—"
The pharaoh was cut short as Bakura smacked a hand over his mouth, grabbing and turning him around so he could hold him close and keep his hand over his mouth easier. Atemu struggled of course, but not when he heard a doorknob rattle. Something shot out of a classroom a moment later: Peeves, who let out a squeal of delight at seeing them.
"Shhh…! Peeves, please…!" Ron hissed softly.
The poltergeist just cackled. "Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."
"Put a sock in it, Peeves, or I'll go to the Bloody Baron," Bakura threatened. Peeve's eyes narrowed as Atemu rolled his eyes. Leave it to the tomb robber to get to know the ghosts of the school. The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, and the only one that could keep the poltergeist in line.
Apparently, he did not like being threatened in such a way by a mere mortal. He took a deep breath, and Bakura was already moving, letting go of Atemu before snatching his hand and dragging him behind him.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"
Harry, Ron, and Malik were not too far behind the tomb robber and the pharaoh, barreling down the corridor to the very end… and a locked door.
"This is it!" Ron wailed as the sound of fast moving footsteps reached their ears. "We're doomed!"
"Move it, brat," Bakura snapped, pushing Ron out of the way and pulling his wand out of his robes, tapping the lock with it. "Alohomora!"
The lock clicked and the door swung open. The five of them piled into the room, throwing the door closed quickly. Barely a moment after it was closed, Atemu whirled on Bakura.
"You would know a spell to unlock doors," he snapped.
"Take a pill, your worship," Bakura snapped. "It's in the Standard Book of Spells. Chapter seven if you want to look it up."
"SHHHH!" the other three boys snapped, their ears pressed against the door, trying to hear what Filch was saying to Peeves. Bakura and Atemu could not hear very well from where they were standing, though they did hear a shout of "nothing!" followed by Filch swearing angrily.
"I think we're okay," Malik said, stepping away from the door. "Filch thinks the door is locked and—" The Gravekeeper cut himself off, frowning. "Is it me, or is it—EEEEWWWW!"
Something large, slimy, and wet had fallen on Malik's shoulder. He reached up, trying to wipe it off and find where it came from at the same time…
"Oh… shit…" he said in a small voice.
Harry, Ron, Bakura, and Atemu turned around… only to see a nightmare standing behind them. It was a dog; an extremely huge, three headed dog that filled the whole room from ceiling to floor. Three pairs of angry looking eyes… three noses, sniffing in their direction… three drooling mouths, saliva dripping from yellowish fangs… Atemu let out a quavering yelp, realizing the only reason they were not dead yet was the fact their sudden appearance had caught it off guard. Its surprise was quickly wearing off, if the low, thunderous growls were any indication…
They had been told of a forbidden corridor during the opening day feast. They were told not to try and go in if they did not want to suffer a most painful death.
Now they knew why.
Harry grabbed the handle of the door, flinging it open. Everyone piled out a moment later, and Harry just barely managed to fling the door closed again before joining the others in barreling down the halls again. Filch must have moved on elsewhere to look for them, but neither of them cared. They ran as fast as they could, back to the Gryffindor common room, even Bakura, half dragging the pharaoh along, as he had yet to let go of the death grip he had on his hand.
A portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress guarded the Gryffindor common room, and she jumped at their sudden appearance, eyeing their robes half hanging off their shoulders and their sweaty faces.
"Where have you been?" she asked. "And what is he doing here; he's a Hufflepuff boy!"
"We don't care," Harry gasped out. "Pig snout. Pig snout."
The portrait swung open at the password, and the five of them piled into the common room, falling into a heap into armchairs or onto the floor. It was a long time before any of them spoke, and it was Atemu that broke the silence, managing to smack Bakura's hand off of his, scowling at him.
"What do you think they're doing, keeping a dog like that?" Ron asked as the tomb robber and the pharaoh got into a staring contest. Bakura broke it after a moment, getting to his feet, obviously in a bad mood from how Atemu brushed him off.
"You don't use your eyes, do 'ya, kid?" he asked. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"
"The floor?" Malik suggested dully.
"Ha ha, smart ass," Bakura replied dryly. "Not the floor; it was standing on a trap door. It's a freakin' guard dog."
A thoughtful look crossed Harry's face as the tomb robber stalked out of the room in a huff. Guard dog… it was guarding something… maybe a grubby old package…?
Ron let out a yawn, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I'm going to bed. That was too much adventure for me tonight," he said, already getting up.
Harry went to join him, but Malik put a hand on Atemu's shoulder before he could do the same. The pharaoh raised an eyebrow at the Egyptian, waiting until he heard the door click up in the boy's dorm before asking him what he wanted.
"Maybe it's just me… but ah…" Malik began, clearly trying not to grin. "I dunno if you noticed, but the tomb robber seemed to be flirting with you quite a bit today."
Atemu stared at him like he grew another head. "Flirting!" he exclaimed after a moment. "Malik, there's only two things Bakura knows how to do: destroy things, and make my life miserable, and usually these two things coincide with one another. He wouldn't be flirting with me."
Malik bit the inside of his mouth to prevent the smile that was trying to creep onto his face. "As you say, pharaoh."