Yuugiou!
Episode Nine and Three Quarters
Oy! Xx I'm so sorry this took so long; I've recently made up with one of my very good friends of... well, several years now, and I'm finding that I can't really talk and have fun with her and write at the same time. I needed to take a break tonight -- we usually end up staying up to like... 5am Eastern time; not good -- so I made an effort to get this done.
Enjoy the new chapter; the first part of the remake is almost complete.
CHAPTER TWELEVE – THE FORBIDDEN FOREST
It could not have gotten any worse.
Filch marched them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat in silence, waiting for their doom to come for them. Atemu was wringing his hands, not believing their stupidity. How could they forget the cloak; and why in gods name was Harry there on top of it! Bakura was trying to figure out a good excuse for why they had been out and about, but there was no way McGonagall would believe anything they had to say.
When the professor finally came into the room, she looked more likely to breath fire than Norbert had been.
"I would never have believed this of either of you!" she shrieked. "Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o' clock in the morning, explain yourselves!"
Atemu actually shrank back, actually looking rather fearful. He looked down at his lap, too afraid to say anything.
"I think I have a good idea of what's been going on," she continued, nostrils flaring. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Potter here heard the story and believed it too?"
Harry looked down at his feet, feeling awful…
"I'm disgusted!" she exclaimed. "Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Mr. Mutou, I though you had more sense. And you, Mr. Potter; I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions – nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night."
The three of them slumped in their seats; just great…
"And seventy-five points will be taken from your houses – for each of you."
Atemu felt like the bottom fell out of his stomach. A hundred and fifty points lost in one night! He could hear Yuugi whimper in misery; how his host was ever going to forgive him for this…
-.oOOo.-
There was a line of four large hourglasses in the main hall that led from the dormitories to the Great Hall, and they were used to keep score of the house points that the students received and lost for their respective house. Everyone passed by it every day when they went to breakfast, and they normally did not pay much attention to it. However, it did catch everyone's eyes the following day when they were going to breakfast. Usually, Gryffindor house was neck and neck with Slytherin house, but somehow their points had taken a nosedive, quite literally.
"How did you manage to loose a hundred and fifty points in one night?" Seto asked Malik as they headed to breakfast, frowning.
"No idea," he said, tapping the glass. "Maybe it's a glitch?"
Seto rolled his eyes. "Computers glitch, Ishtar."
"Whatever…" Malik muttered, looking up to see Yuugi coming down the hall. "Oy, Yuugi, do you… eh…?"
Yuugi just walked right by him, looking utterly miserable. Malik and Seto exchanged confused looks… but it did not take them very long to find out what had happened. It was not long before people were snubbing Yuugi, Ryou, and Harry.
Harry had fallen from the hero to the Wizarding world to the traitor of Gryffindor house. No matter where he went, people pointed and did not bother to lower their voices as they insulted him. Even Quidditch was no longer fun; while Wood wanted to keep him around to try and make up those points, the rest of the team snubbed him, and when they had to address him, they only called him "the Seeker".
Yuugi and Ryou were not much better off. No one would talk to them, and Ryou's friends had turned away from him, which made Bakura royally pissed.
A few weeks later, their little group was together at the library, studying for the finals that would be coming in seven weeks time. However, the atmosphere was grim, as Harry, Yuugi, and Ryou had detention that night, along with Malfoy. After about an hour into the study session, Seto closed his book and looked at everyone.
"Look , we're not getting very far here," he stated. "It's Friday and we're on our break anyway. Let's call it a day and go outside."
Hermione was a little reluctant, of course, but majority vote beat her out. They gathered their study supplies and went outside into the warm spring weather. They walked toward the lake, and Malik stretched his arms up toward the sky before wrapping one around Hermione's shoulders, trying to comfort her.
"Aw, cheer up, Hermi-chan," he urged. "I'm sure we'll be able to get those points back. Besides, Atemu and Bakura had a good excuse! They were getting rid of a dragon!"
"Yeah, but we can't tell anybody that, or Hagrid will loose his job," Yuugi replied reluctantly, skipping a rock on the lake. "We didn't want to tell anyone… the less people that knew, the less likely we would get caught."
"Well, at least Malfoy's got detention along with us," Harry said, kneeling down next to him. "Maybe that'll teach him not to strut around like he owns the place."
"Don't count on it," Seto replied sourly, sitting on the grass.
Ron pounded a fist into his open palm, frustrated. "If only we could go to Dumbledore and tell him about what Snape plans to do."
"But we've got no proof!" Ryou exclaimed. "Even if he did believe us, all Snape would have to say is that he was never in the forbidden forest that night, and we're done for! Professor Quirrell's too scared to back us up, and without him, we can't discredit Snape."
Ron jumped at that. "Maybe we could convince him! Maybe if we assure him Dumbledore will protect him, he'll back us up. Or maybe we should do some more poking around—"
Harry shook his head. "No," he stated, "no more three-headed dogs, no more Stones, no more adventures, no more poking around. We've gotten into enough trouble, and Gryffindor has suffered for it."
They were quiet over that… before Seto sighed softly, leaning back.
"I just have one problem about what happened with this dragon," he said.
"Oh? What?" Yuugi asked.
"You didn't let me see it."
Yuugi and Ryou sweatdropped, shaking their heads.
-.oOOo.-
At eleven o' clock at night, Atemu and Harry and Bakura headed down to the entrance hall, where Filch was already waiting, along with Malfoy. He glared at them vehemently, as if him being there was all their fault.
Filch lit a lamp, before leading them outside, looking delighted. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a rule again, eh?" he leered. "Shame they let the old punishments die. I miss the screaming…"
Atemu and Bakura exchanged looks, the former noticeably paling in the bright moonlight. The tomb robber grabbed his hand, holding it as they approached the forbidden forest… as well as Hagrid's house. Even in the darkness, they could make out the faint outline of the giant, and Harry let out a soft breath of relief. Filch sneered at the sound.
"Think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again – it's into the forest you're going tonight."
Malfoy stopped dead.
"Th-the forest?" he stammered. "But… we can't go in there. There's… things in there. Like werewolves!"
As if to exemplify the point, a wolf howl came from somewhere deep in the forest. Malfoy shrank back in fear as Hagrid approached, Fang at his heels.
"Shoulda thought of that before 'ya did wrong," Filch sneered, before turning to the giant. "I'll be back at dawn… for what's left of them…"
Atemu sweatdropped, turning and watching as the caretaker left. That guy had issues… He turned his attention back to Hagrid after a moment, who was lecturing a rather red faced Malfoy.
"Right then," Hagrid began once the pale boy shut up. "Listen carefully now, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want yeh takin' any unnecessary risks." He nodded back toward the forest. "There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time this week. I found one dead on Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor think. May need ter put it out of it's misery. We're gonna need ter split inter two parties; one o' yeh will go with me, the other with Fang."
"I'm going with Fang!" Malfoy exclaimed immediately.
"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a ruddy coward," Hagrid cautioned. Fang just yawned lazily.
"Oh, they're perfect together," Bakura sneered, getting Malfoy to turn red again.
Hagrid raised an amused eyebrow at him. "An' am I gonna be able ter separate the two of yeh?"
Atemu blinked, wondering what he was talking about, before he looked down… and realized he was still clasping Bakura's hand. He pulled away quickly, trying to look casual and failing miserably.
"Right," Hagrid replied, sounding amused. "Well, Harry, Yuugi, I'll take you two. Ry'u, try to keep this idiot from doing something stupid."
Malfoy puffed his chest, looking highly insulted, but did not get a chance to retaliate. Hagrid led them to a path dotted with silvery blood that soon forked off in separate directions. Atemu wished Bakura luck as they disappeared down one of the paths, leaving Bakura and Malfoy to go off their own way. The tomb robber grumbled privately at his bad luck, glaring at the younger boy's back. Malfoy's protests were as loud as they possibly could be as they plodded through the forest. Louder… longer… and he just would not shut up.
"I can't believe this," he huffed. "They're making us do servant work! Humph… I should make you do this and go somewhere comfo—"
He stuttered to a stop, turning around to see Bakura was not behind him. Fang whined as Malfoy looked around franticly; did… did he leave him? Alone? In the… the… forest? He gulped loudly, shuddering; did it get really cold all of a sudden? Did it get… darker all of a sudden? Malfoy shrank back, hugging his arms to his chest, eyes darting back and forth.
"Ryou…?" he called in a soft voice… before he felt a presence behind him… He turned around slowly…
-.oOOo.-
Atemu nearly jumped out of his skin, hearing the blood-curdling scream before the three of them saw the sparks. Hagrid forced him and Harry to hide in the brush, before taking off in the direction of the panicked screams and sparks. The younger wizard bit his lip in worry, looking up to Atemu.
"You don't think that… thing we heard before got them…?" he asked. "I mean, I don't care about Malfoy, but Bakura would actually try to fight it…"
The pharaoh worried his lip. They had encountered… something not long after they went their separate ways. It sounded like a cloak slithering over dead leaves, and Atemu had gotten an eerie feeling… the same he felt when he encountered the ghosts in the dead town of Kuru Eruna. Hagrid said it was unnatural… it did not belong in the forest. Not only that, but Harry was right; if something tried to attack him and Malfoy, Bakura would fight back…
…then again…
Atemu sweatdropped. "Actually, I think you should worry about Malfoy."
Harry gave him a strange look, and was about to ask why he would say that, when the rustling of brush announced Hagrid's return. They scrambled back onto the path as the giant emerged, looking rather irate, with a scared Malfoy clinging to him like a lifeline. The young boy was paler than usual, jumping at the least little sound. Bakura followed close behind, a satisfied smug expression on his face.
Harry sweatdropped as well; ah… that's what Atemu meant…
"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'," the giant grumbled in annoyance. "Right, then; we're changin' groups. Malfoy'll stay with me an' Yuugi. Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot. He'll have a harder time frightenin' you."
Atemu gave Bakura a look as Harry went over to him. The tomb robber just smirked and winked, telling Hagrid he should make sure Malfoy did not piss his pants, before heading back quickly with Fang and Harry, cackling the whole way.
"Why'd you have to go and do a thing like that?" Harry asked as they arrived at the other path, following the trail of blood splatters down it.
"You saw how he looked clinging to Hagrid, right?" the tomb robber replied. "Picture that with wider eyes, mouth hanging a bit slack in shock before the scream of terror a split second later, and you have blackmail that will last until we graduate."
Harry rolled his eyes as Bakura started sniggering; although, if Malfoy had looked like that… well, he was sorry he missed it.
They continued on, walking for what felt like hours, the forest becoming thicker and thicker, until the path became impossible to see. However, as the forest grew, so too did the splatters of blood on the ground. Bakura knelt beside a pool of blood, inspecting it and some of the other patches by it.
"I don't think we're going to find a living unicorn," he said. "It's lost way too much blood. And look at the pattern; it was clearly slowing down. Either it was really weak when it came by here, or something was pulling it down. I'm betting on the former."
Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "You know, animals behave differently than humans…"
Bakura gave him a disgruntled look. "When you're dying, you're dying, kid. Human or otherwise, you behave in a similar way."
"I'll take your word on that," Harry replied as they started off again.
Eventually, the trees thinned out into a small clearing… and they saw it. The unicorn lay dead near a rotting log, its legs sticking out at odd angles, lying in a pool of its own blood.
"Damn…" Bakura murmured, going to step into the clearing… before the sound of something slithering over leaves made him stop. They stared, as a shadow seemed to detach itself from the forest, sliding toward the unicorn before dipping down and starting to drink its blood. The tomb robber took a step back, a grossed out look on his face. Harry could only watch in horror… until a terrified whimper from Fang snapped him out of it.
Unfortunately, it also drew the creature's attention to them; it whirled toward them, its front dribbling with silvery blood. Fang yelped, taking off barely a second later as the figure loomed up…
"Stand back!" Bakura ordered, grabbing the Ring, trying to call on its power…
…nothing…
He did not get a chance to wonder why it was not working though. The creature barreled toward him, grabbing him up by the neck. Bakura gagged, struggling to try to pry the iron grip from his neck, before he let a hand drop to his side. A moment later, his knife was out, and plunging into the arm that was holding him up. The creature hissed, tossing him easily against a tree.
"Bakura!" Harry exclaimed as the tomb robber groaned, holding his head and trying to stay conscious. The creature hissed again, looming toward him as Harry ripped his wand out of his robe, and managed to get off a brief burst of sparks before sharp pain suddenly pierced his forehead and the creature rushed him, forcing him to stumble and fall backward blindly.
A moment later, he could hear the sound of hooves galloping toward him, and something leapt clear over him, charging at the monster. Harry held his head, the hissing and horse-like sounds only serving to make the pain feel worse. After a moment, the sounds stopped, and Harry felt Bakura beside him a moment later, checking to see if he was all right.
"The forest is not safe for you, Harry Potter," a voice came, "especially now."
Harry looked up, to see a centaur like the ones he and Hagrid and Atemu had encountered before they heard Malfoy scream. They had been… well; "vague" was a vast understatement. The only thing they had discovered from them that Mars was bright that night.
"Who are you?" Bakura demanded. "What was that thing?"
"I am Firenze," the centaur replied, before he hesitated a moment. "Do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"
Bakura raised an eyebrow as Harry answered, "No; we've only ever used the horn and hair in Potions…"
"That is because it is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn," Firenze explained. "Unicorn blood will keep you alive, even at the edge of death, but at a terrible price; for once the blood touches your lips, you will lead a half life. A cursed life."
"Who'd be that damn desperate?" Bakura demanded. "That… thing?"
"Do you know what is hidden in the school?" the centaur asked in reply. "That which can restore a person's power to their fullest, and grant them long life?"
"The Philosopher's Stone…" Harry replied. "But… who…?"
The centaur made a horse-like sound. "Do you really not know?"
Harry blinked, before his eyes widened. He was about to replied, when the sound of someone crashing through the brush came, Hagrid's voice shouting for them a moment later.
"You're safe now, Harry Potter," Firenze replied, a hoof plodding at the ground. "Good luck, to both of you. The planets have been read wrong before, even by centaurs. I pray this is one of those times."
-.oOOo.-
Harry, Atemu, and Bakura hurried into the castle once Hagrid lead them out of the forest. Malfoy had taken off far ahead of them once they got out of the place; no doubt he was already in his Slytherin dorm room by now, hiding under his bed. They, however, had to head over to Madam Pomfrey; Bakura was holding his head, a nasty gash on the back of his head from where it hit the tree. Atemu was by his side, keeping him steady as they walked.
"But, Harry…" Atemu began. "How can you say that? Our first day here, you said yourself that he died."
"That he disappeared," Harry corrected. "No one knows what happened to him, save Voldemort himself. That was him that attacked us tonight. He was that creature."
They stopped, the young wizard turning toward the two of them. "Before school started this year, Hagrid showed me around Diagon Alley. He told me what he knew of that day… how everyone thought he died, but he didn't believe it. He said there wasn't enough human left in him to die!"
"Okay, okay, hold up a sec…" Bakura said, pulling his knife from his belt, stained with the blood of the creature. He sniffed at it, making Atemu sweatdrop.
"What are you doi—?"
"Hush," Bakura replied, sniffing at it again, before he frowned.
"What is it?" Harry asked, as the tomb robber pocketed the knife again. "Am I right?"
"Dunno, but… 'Creature' nothing…" Bakura muttered grimly. "That thing was definitely human."