Yuugiou!
A New Generation of Priests
...I have no words. Enjoy. XD
CHAPTER SIX – A LITTLE DETECTIVE WORK
Before any of them knew it, the headmaster had arrived, along with some of the other professors, and their little group (plus one Malfoy) was whisked off to Lockhart's office. Hermione kept wringing her hands in nervousness, while Draco positively fumed. He could not believe he got caught up with this riff-raff; no doubt Filch would blame them all, and he would be packing his bags before the end of the night. Maybe if he were lucky, he would be able to move off to Bulgaria and attend another magic school with his cousin… assuming his father did not kill him for this.
Their group was forced to stand in a corner by Professor Snape and McGonagall, while Mrs. Norris was set down on Lockhart's desk. Dumbledore hovered over her, inspecting the cat closely as the pretty boy teacher kept prattling on about a Transmogrifian Torture and how he had saved a village from it and other such nonsense. Kaiba twitched a few times in annoyance, before he finally snapped.
"Oh, shut up!" he growled, making Lockhart come to a stuttering halt. McGonagall tried very hard to give Seto a reprimanding look, though she seemed far too amused to pull it off.
A moment later, Dumbledore straightened himself, before announcing softly, "She's not dead, Argus."
Lockhart looked scandalized as Filch's lip quivered.
"Not dead?" he repeated. "But why is she… she all stiff like that?"
"She's been petrified," Dumbledore replied, a sort of "Ah-ha! I knew that," look coming to Lockhart's face at that. "But by what, I do not know…"
"Ask him!" Filch suddenly roared, pointing a finger at Harry. "He's the one that did this!"
"No second year could have done this, Argus," the headmaster replied. "It requires much skill in the dark ar—"
"He did it, I know he did it!" Filch bellowed. "He knows! He knows I'm a… a… a Squib!"
That did not exactly have the effect Filch was undoubting hoping for.
"What the hell's a Squib?" Bakura asked dully.
"What he said," Harry replied as Draco snorted back a laugh.
"Don't give me that!" Filch snapped. "I know you saw my Kwikspell letter!"
"If I may, headmaster…" Snape suddenly spoke up. Harry could feel the cloud of doom suddenly come over them. "It could just be that Potter and his friends were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
They exchanged worried glances. Snape? Coming to their defense…?
"Though I find it odd…" Snape continued, and the doom cloud fell ever closer, "that they were in the upstairs corridor, when they should have been at the party."
"We were just arriving when we bumped into Malfoy," Yuugi said quickly. Well, it was sort of true… minus the whole lying in wait for him to come out part.
"I left early," Draco quickly picked up before he could stop himself. "Wasn't in the mood for it; haven't gotten much sleep."
Snape raised an eyebrow at Draco, not sure how to take his defense, before his gaze shifted to Harry.
"And… you three…?"
Hermione shook as Harry answered, "We were at Sir Nicholas' Death Day party."
"We weren't very hungry afterwards; we just wanted to go to bed," Ron added… just as his stomach grumbled, drawing a rather nasty sneer out of Snape. Dumbledore, giving him a look over his half moon spectacles before shifting his gaze over to Harry, quickly diminished it however. Harry squirmed slightly where he stood, uncomfortable under his gaze…
"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," the headmaster said finally, before nodding to their group. "You may go."
They did not stay long enough to see the enraged look on Snape's face, darting out of the office and down the corridor. Once they were one floor up from Lockhart's office, dragging Malfoy along with them the whole time, they darted into an empty classroom. Draco shrugged them off, glaring at them in the darkness.
"Haven't you gotten me into enough trouble tonight!" he snarled in annoyance.
"Malfoy, you're the one that started acting weird and running off," Malik reminded him… drawing a rather confused look from the pale boy.
"You mean… you didn't hear that voice?" he asked.
"We didn't hear anything either when Harry started acting weird," Ron provided.
Draco and Harry exchanged confused looks. "You think we should have said something?" the later asked.
"Absolutely not," Malfoy snapped. "Are you dense? Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good thing."
Atemu leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "This is getting very, very weird," he stated.
"The whole thing is weird," Harry agreed. "And what about that writing on the wall? 'The chamber has been opened'. What's that all about?"
"It sounds familiar…" Ron began.
"It ruddy well should," Malfoy snapped. "The Chamber of Secrets?"
An enlightened look appeared on Ron's face as Hermione crossed her arms.
"That's just a myth."
"It's no myth, you stupid mudblood," Draco snapped.
Ron looked about ready to explode, but Bakura beat him to it. He grabbed the pale boy by his hair; yanking on it and forcing his head back painfully.
"Let's keep the insults to a minimum, shall we? O mighty owner of the Scales?" he added with a sneer, getting a rather glowering look from the boy before he let go. "Now, mind on enlightening the rest of us?"
Draco gave him a terse look, before explaining, "I don't know much about it myself; Professor Binns would know more. All I know is it was a secret chamber made by Salazar Slytherin back when he was cast out of the school, and the last time it was opened fifty some-odd years ago, someone died."
"Died…?" Yuugi echoed, eyes widening. "If it's that dangerous, why hasn't someone tried to find it and close it up for good?"
"No one's been able to," Draco replied. "They can't even find it."
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air, before a clock chimed somewhere in the distance.
"Midnight…" Harry announced. "Let's go before Snape finds something else to frame us with."
-.oOOo.-
Detective work started almost immediately the next morning when everyone gathered together at the library for their normal study session. While Ron was busy trying to figure out how he was going to add another eight inches to his History of Magic homework, Hermione was flitting about in an effort to find more information on the Chamber of Secrets. Malik was "helping" her, though judging from the occasional harsh word they heard from the two of them, he was probably complaining about her affection with Lockhart. Seto smirked after a particularly scathing remark, looking over his own History of Magic homework before rolling the scroll up.
"The way he's going, if Ishtar's lucky, him and Hermione might still be friends by the end of the semester," he commented dryly.
Ryou just shook his head. "I don't know why he tries so hard," he said. "When's he going to get it through his head that she's only star-struck over Lockhart?"
Atemu smirked, rolling up his own homework. "You've obviously never been in love before."
Ryou pointed an accusing finger at Kaiba. "And he has?" the white haired boy shot back, frowning. "I'll get a girlfriend when I'm good and ready. I'm in no rush."
"Ditto," Yuugi agreed, measuring his homework. Four and a half feet: way over what he needed. He smiled, satisfied, as he rolled up the scroll. Ron eyed his homework.
"Hey, Yuugi, can I copy some of yours?" he asked.
"No way," Yuugi declared. He absolutely never let anyone copy from him, even back in high school when Jounouchi would practically get on his hands and knees and beg. "Ask Kaiba-kun."
"Seto…?"
"Ask Bakura."
"Ryou…?"
"Ask Atemu."
"Atemu…?"
"Ask Harry."
"Harry…?"
Harry fixed him with a sour look. "Who do you think I copied from?"
Ron banged his head on the table. "Dammit…"
Just then, Hermione and Malik rejoined them, both of them with sour looks on their faces and refusing to look at each other. Harry raised an eyebrow at their behavior, amused.
"Well, find anything?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head. "No," she answered, "all the copies of Hogwarts, A History are checked out. I couldn't fit my copy with all the Lockhart books; I had to leave it at home. Unless you brought yours, Ryou?"
"Sorry," he replied. "I totally forgot about it. Can't you have your parents send it to you?"
She sighed. "I can just picture my parents trying to use the owl post…"
"You're not going to find it in there anyway," came a rather annoyed sounding voice. Draco emerged from behind a bookcase, looking rather harried as he went over to their table and flopped down beside Yuugi. "The Chamber of Secrets has been reduced to nothing more than a myth. It's not going to be in any factual book," he added, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Great, so we're chasing shadows," Atemu replied as Yuugi handed Draco a piece of candy ("It'll help you stay awake.").
Ron groaned suddenly. "Hermione, can I see your scroll? I only need two more inches!"
"No way," she said, her tone severe. "Ask Malik."
"Malik…?"
"Ask Malfoy."
Ron looked to Draco, who narrowed his eyes at him.
"Are you really that bloody desperate?"
Ron gave up at that point, stuffing the scroll in to his bag.
-.oOOo.-
While the others went off to the greenhouses on Monday mornings, Seto was stuck in double History of Magic with Slytherin. Under normal circumstances, he would be the only one awake, scribbling away notes while the rest of the class dozed. That day, however, he just could not concentrate to save his life. His mind kept wandering to the strange message that had been left on the wall, and what it all meant. He found his gaze drifting idly toward Malfoy, who had passed out ages ago, looking like he was being plagued by some rather disturbing dreams.
Kaiba was about to put his head down and perhaps join the rest of the class in catching up on some sleep, when he became aware of something shuffling around. He rolled his eyes before retreating to the Soul Corridor within his mind. He saw his other half's rear end sticking out from his Soul Door, and judging from the sound he was making, he was trying to sort through something.
You're being awfully loud, you know, Kaiba said, crossing his arms as his usual smirk appeared on his face. The priest Seto craned his neck around to fix his light half with an annoyed glare.
Well excuse me, baka omote, he replied. I'm looking through my memories, trying to find some kind of clues about the Chamber of Secrets.
Kaiba sweatdropped. Uh… priest. Do you need a reminder? he asked. You've been imprisoned in a rod for three thousand years. Hogwarts was founded only a thousand years ago. I don't think you're going to find anything.
The priest fixed his lighter half with a frustrated look. He hated it when he was right.
Well, fine then, he replied, standing up straight. Why don't you ask Mr. Binns? He's the history teacher… ghost… thingy. Malfoy even said he would probably know more about it.
Kaiba had to admit, he had forgotten about that. He left his Soul Corridor and returned to the real world, raising his hand as soon as he did so. Mr. Binns sputtered his explanation to a halt, surprised that someone would even want to interrupt him.
"Yes, Mr.…"
"Kaiba, sir," he answered, lowering his hand. A lot of students stirred, surprised by the sudden change of things. Not only was someone interrupting Mr. Binns, but it was Seto who was doing it! "I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets."
The ghostly professor seemed to frown. "My subject is History of Magic, Mr. Kaiba," he replied. "I deal with solid facts, not myths and legends."
He was about to start droning on again, but Seto would not let him get away with it. He raised his hand again; bringing Mr. Binns to another stuttered halt.
"Sir, don't myths and legends always have basis in fact?" he asked.
Mr. Binns stared at him a bit stupidly. Apparently, no one had ever cared to interrupt him in anything, alive or dead.
"Well… I suppose one could argue that…" he mused. "But the tale you speak of is so absolutely ludicrous that…"
At this point, the whole class (with the exception of Draco) was awake, hanging on his every word. Mr. Binns stared at all of them, caught off guard by the sudden show of interest. He threw up his hands, giving in.
"Oh, very well," he snapped. "Let me see… the Chamber of Secrets…
"You all know, of course," the professor began, "that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago – the precise date is uncertain – by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when common people feared magic, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution.
"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grown between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."
Professor Binns paused a moment at that, a sour look coming to his pale face.
"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he continued. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.
"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."
Seto had been furiously writing everything down until that point. He stared up from his parchment, fearing what that implied.
"Professor, what exactly is the 'horror within' the Chamber?" he asked.
"It is said to be a monster, which only Slytherin could control," Binns answered.
The professor started ranting about how it was all a ridiculous legend, but Kaiba was not paying attention. A monster only Salazar Slytherin could control… Slytherin… slither… a snake perhaps? What kind of snake could petrify someone though…?
The bell rang not that long after, and the class quickly vacated the room… except for Draco, who was still twitching uncomfortably atop his desk. Kaiba raised an eyebrow, before going over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking him away. Draco shot up with a jolt, eyes wide as he looked about franticly, before he finally melted down into his seat.
"I can't take much more of this…" he bemoaned, covering his face with his hands.
"What have you been seeing?" came Kaiba's voice… but it was slightly different. Draco looked up between his hands to see that the normally stoic young man's features had softened somewhat. Obviously, he was speaking with someone else now.
"Just… images. Blurred images. Sometimes a voice, but never anything coherent… except for those red eyes… they're the only thing that makes sense in my dreams," Draco answered after a moment.
The high priest frowned. Red eyes… gods, he hoped those red eyes did not belong to what he was thinking of. He rested a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it tight and giving him a serious look.
"Listen to me, Draco," he stated sternly. "I know you don't want to have anything to do with this. I think in a way, none of us did. Now that you're saddled with it, however, you've got to become accepting of it. You've got to open your heart to what the Scales are trying to show you, no matter how much it hurts. If you don't, these dreams are going to continue until you go mad and the Scales no longer have a use for you…"