Harry Potter, the Half Blood Prince, and the Order of the Shadows

Summary: (HPxYGO) Based on the sixth book (Slight AU). Yugi, Ryou and Malik have been transferred to Hogwarts from Japan's Takazumiryu Magic School to be representatives of Japan in Hogwarts. As the members of the OotS they plan to find out more about Voldemort...

Disclaimer: I do not own any thing of YGO and HP in this fic (or food/drink merchandise or anything that are commonly known)...only part of the plot and OCs...parts of the text truly belong to J.K.Rowling from the book of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (I'll tell which parts)...

I'll put this note on every chapter:

Yamis mind link -((text))-

Hirkaris mind link -(text)-

Parts form the 6th book or any HP book -text-

Upcoming paragraph (s) to do with emails, articles or flashbacks Text

Writing Xx … Text … xX

Status of Duel Monster: (No. Of Stars or Level /ATK/DEF)

Any Japanese will have a translation next to it or somewhere in the same chapter.

AU Note:

Sorry for the long wait! April and May weren't the best of months (considering the amount of assignments and I had end of year exams) I couldn't really focus on my fic because of those and only visit once in a while if I had the time. But FINALLY I updated! As I said… long time no update equals to longer chapter… so for this chapter we got…. Behold…Another 14,000 WORDS! Hahaha… (And No AU notes included!) At least the holidays are now back! Yay! It took a lot of effort to put this chapter all together, so hope you like how it turned out!

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR GETTING ME OVER 100 REVIEWS!

Well you'd probably be interested about the fate of our threesome duellists in Hogwarts…

Seto Kaiba is in this chapter folks! My treat for Seto fans due to updating this late!

Enjoy!

Chapter 13: 'The Society of Order of the Shadows.' (Part 1)

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Hogwarts Castle, The Main Hall

Beginning of October

One rather noisy morning… (Local Time)

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That very eventful morning the halls of Hogwarts were filled with gossips about the three transfer students who had arrived that year. This time of course people weren't talking how weird they looked, rather they were trying to figure out how did they became world renowned duellists and were they really the same people who were in the Weasly's DM magazine? Those questions of course were only in the minds of the thirds years and up who certainly had experienced Hogwarts change because of Harry Potter… but having celebrities coming to their school seemed too good to be true. The second-years and the first years didn't even think twice about they could look alike and started to search for the three transfers.

Harry and Ron decided to go ahead to transfiguration to check if the transfers were there, and if lucky, ask them first about them being the so-called world top duellists and in Yugi's case… the undefeated world champion.

Hermione on the other hand thought it was quite logical. High grades, talented in the Darks Arts and what had made Hermione sure they weren't normal transfers was how they handed situations fairly well planned… or more precisely with deadly accuracy. It was in their first DADA lesson they had not only to confront a teacher but also an ex-Death Eater with no problem what so ever. Yugi had confronted and even defeated Snape with confidence, as though he knew the strength of his opponent. Ryou and Malik on the other hand answered questions in a careful manner, either never giving an answer to Snape too short or exceedingly long... precise and simple…

Hermione sighed as she walked to through the corridors. Well, it seemed to be another long year for them (Harry and co.), but it didn't mean they couldn't look for other interesting information… This very intelligent girl of course had not stopped at all to search about the D4 wizards since Snape had mentioned it in class. Even when she asked the other Gryffindor girls in her dorm, none of them actually gave her a clear answer on what were actually D4 wizards are and how they became to be. In the end they would always ended the conversation of saying on the lines, 'To speak about D4 wizards is taboo'. She had figured that maybe she could asked Yugi, Ryou and Malik that very day… yet due to the DM magazine, Hermione thought it wasn't really possible to get in contact with the Japanese students since they'd be chased down by their fans.

Given that there were at least 15 minutes left to go to Transfiguration, Hermione decided to go to the library to check whether the librarian would have found any book that could be related to the D4 wizards.

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Hogwarts Castle, The Library

Beginning of October

Morning… (Local Time)

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Just as she walked into the library Madam Pince immediately called Hermione over.

"Ah, miss Granger, I think I have found the book you've been looking for. Here it is. I think you searched the wrong name by mistake, the book is very old so take care of it well." The librarian handed a battered book to Hermione.

"Thank you." The girl replied.

Hermione took the battered old book with her to the farthest table from anyone. She had at most five minutes to check the first pages of its contents, and flipped to the first page. To her surprise, the title wasn't the D4 wizards after all… but 'The Balancers'.

'So that what's Madam Pince meant, the D4 wizards long ago were called the Balancers!' she thought excitedly.

However just as her excitement was starting to wash over her, when she tried to open the book the pages were stuck. It was as if all the pages were stuck together with an adhesive for metal. Hermione tried to pull to the next page… it didn't even budged.

"Why won't you open?" Hermione muttered to no one in particular. Just when she finally got the information, the book was going against her. Then something odd happened… the empty front page suddenly letters appeared with an amazing ink of colours. The words would turn into a different colour now and then, as though it were enchanted to show the colours of the elements.

Xx … Do you mind? It hurts when you pull me like that. …xX

Hermione raised an eyebrow and all of a sudden had her suspicions high, it wasn't the first time she knew about books that had a mind of its own. In her second year it had a soul of the Dark Lord, but how can a book feel it own pages? It was already bothersome enough to know the Half-Prince's book was annoying her immensely in Potions… Could this book be considered safe? She hesitantly looked at the book in front of her, and immediately wrote back with her quill.

'…Do you have any relations to the Dark Lord? …'

The feedback was instant, scratchy, and the writing somehow portrayed the book's feelings as though it were annoyed why the girl had brought that subject immediately.

Xx … Yeesh, don't even think I want to have any relations with the heir of Salazar Slytherin at all! Voldy-morty has continued the stupid tradition…Lousy ideas of being 'pureblood'… humph… so what is it that you want? Just because I'm a book with a conscience doesn't mean you have to tag me as an outlawed object! Bah… wizards these days… Do you always think everything that SOUNDS dark, IS evil? Frankly, I'm not on their side. Got it memorized? … xX

It suddenly struck Hermione how unusual the book was. Unlike other books that were maybe proud to show off the pride of wizards, this one was literally pissed off of the ideas of all wizards should be pureblood and incredibly taunted the Dark Lord's name. If indeed the book was very old, why on earth did the book was so angry with Salazar Slytherin? Then the girl replied…

'… Sorry, I know a diary that nearly killed my friend's sister in my second year. I just wanted to know if you knew anything about D4 wizards…'

This time the words appear more slowly…

Xx … I see, trust is such a fickle thing. By the way, we are originally were called 'Balancers' before we were exiled; please refer to that than 'D4 wizards'. The Ministry branded us that name, which isn't really our identity. How about your name? On the other hand are you a pureblood, half or a muggle? … xX

Hermione scribbled her quill quickly, '…Hermione Granger, I'm a Muggle-born, why do you ask? 'We' were exiled? Are you by any chance… a Balancer? …'

Now the letters were fluid and tidy as though the book regained its true kinder personality…

Xx … Nice to meet you Hermione Granger, the name's Axel. It's been a while one of my own kind opened me. Balancer? I am and still one…even though I am sealed inside this book… xX

'… Are you a muggle born too? Why were you sealed? …'

Xx … Why yes, Balancers are a 'mixed race' by muggle terms. Some are pureblood, half, and muggle born... call it a cocktail mix if you want. I have my own reasons I will not tell you right now why I'm sealed. Kind of the hush, hush stuff… I wish to gain your trust first in the meantime, in return of course I can tell you what there is you want to know about us Balancers … xX

Hermione was stunned when Axel mention he himself was a muggle. Technically Axel would the same as her, yet instead he was a D4 wizard. All along she had thought the D4 wizards or in this case the Balancers were no better than the Purebloods like Malfoy who detested muggle born wizards and in turn calling them 'mud bloods'. 'Maybe if I try to help Axel, I might know more what happened to the D4 wizards and also…' She stopped and thought, 'I could ask his help if he knows anything on how to defeat Voldemort…'

Without further or do she wrote her reply.

'… I wish to gain your trust as well. Are you the only Balancer left? I heard they are all but extinct right now …'

Xx … Really? I guess times have changed, I don't know for sure myself. I've been sealed in this book for too long, I do not even know the existence of any other Balancers around here in Hogwarts … xX

'… That's a shame, but what really happened to your race those centuries ago?…'

Xx … Talk about BLANK with a capital 'B'…Your Ministry of course covered the truth, I don't you are not ready to accept for what had truly happened. So… How about I tell you something about that past and generally & who we were? Read carefully… xX

This time Hermione waited patiently but then gaped as the book told it's story…

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"Upon this Earth, We are the Balancers,

We never truly sided with neither black nor white, for we were Grey.

We never truly sided with neither good nor evil, for we were Neutral.

We never truly sided with neither magic nor non-magic folk, for we were the Mixture of both races.

We never chose sides, for we protected the world's existence."

Together us Balancers were from the Four Scared Clans,

The Alter-Matters controlled the balance of Change.

The Element Masters controlled the balance of Nature's Elements.

The Soul Summoners controlled the balance of what is Life and Death.

The Shadow Casters controlled the balance in realms of both Light and Darkness.

Yet from the Four Scared Clans there shall be the Divine Ones,

Worthy of controlling more then one balancing realm,

Some who will live short lives never to be seen again,

Others who may live again from the past to the future,

And few who will live eternally ever watching the changing world.

We are the Balancers that connected everything,

But our bond is weakening.

The magic folk have gone against us,

Selfishly claiming the world is theirs alone.

They are blinded by the idea of purity.

The Courage we had found was so easily lost by Fear,

The Love we had connected was so easily shattered by Hate,

The Hope we had built was so easily destroyed by Despair,

Only Desire drives them into madness.

And yet this is how the world will reside…

If we were the Rain,

Could we connect people's hearts?

As the Rain can unite

The Eternally separated Earth and Sky?

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Hermione's attention was snapped back into reality when the library was emptying for the first class of the day. She cursed herself for taking so much time on the book. Maybe this time a book like this could be trusted, the Ministry of Magic had its secrets and somehow the Balancers had been the victims of the Ministry's dirty work. There was one thing for sure in Hermione's head she knew what she had to do… tell Harry and Ron as soon as she can about this new founding.

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London, United Kingdom

The Central Daily Prophet Office

Beginning of October

Morning… (Local Time)

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A very sleepy young looking man yawned as he looked to his office window wondering how on earth he would at least stay up for the whole day. Different from the other wizards in the news agency he preferred wearing blue jeans, a black Billabong with a white logo t-shirt, and a jeans jacket. You could say he was very muggle-ish compared to the others that worked in the agency. He had his long hazel hair tied and his light blue eyes looked hazy due to lack of sleep.

Kyle Evans sighed as he looked at the amount of paperwork that was mounted on his desk with a feeling he wanted to puke and immediately banged his head on the desk. The 1-meter paper work looked as though it was there just at mocking him. Well… that was a risk to anyone who was an editor. However, ever since the Death Eaters made more appearances and killings… Kyle had to admit his job that was previously specified to only edit the sports section soon changed to the politics section or actually… it was more of the whole newspaper these days. Not the he wanted it in the first place, but the sports section everyday was starting to diminish to the overwhelming news of people getting killed and warnings that had been sent out to the Ministry.

He was like any other D4 wizard who had a double life; he just wanted to enjoy his life without being called a 'terribly dangerous wizard that supposed to be extinct'. Kyle had a great admiration for sports and got a job that he liked. Nevertheless, history had a bitchy character of repeating itself. Just when everything finally settled down… you got more problems to deal with.

"Yo! Kyle!" as voice shouted from the door.

"What?" he said weakly sliding his desk to the side looking at his office door that seemed to be filled with people waiting there for him.

The burst in and everyone came in saying, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Kyle only stared at them with a comical face, "It's my birthday? I'm not dreaming am I Rachel?"

"Of course it is! Don't you remember your own birthday?" Rachel said.

Kyle only looked at his secretary in confusion. Considering he was immortal and he knew what his real birth date was, he had to disguise himself from his real identity, which at times made him forget what his new birth date was…

"You've been working overtime again haven't you?" Barnabas Cuffe said looking rather sympathetic at the amount paperwork he had to finish. "Why don't you take some time off, it'll be good for you."

"Time off my ass! Ever since the dark lord's Death Eaters went on a rampage the sports section is cut by half every week! How do you think I'm supposed to mingle with politics when I'm the sports section editor?" Kyle blurted out.

The main editor of the Daily Prophet sighed, "Well, its both exiting and hard work to edit the news. But really, you need the rest. What better day then your birthday?"

Then a small girl came in, "Kyle-san! I got you a wet towel to wash your face, it'll make you fresh!"

"Thanks Yuri," Kyle said and wiped his face feeling refreshed again. "I guess I could use the rest Barnabas."

"You have a tendency to change your mind quickly, don't you Kyle?" the main editor mocked.

"If Yuri and Tea get the day off as well," Kyle added.

Barnabas sighed, "Fine, I guess those two can get the day off as well. They're both your employees and have been working a lot lately; I think it's fair they get the rest too."

"You're a real pal."

"You better get out of those office doors before I change my mind", Barnabas threatened cheerfully with a smirk.

Kyle quickly stood up, "On my way sir! Yuri, please get Tea. I'll meet you outside, we're going for a drive."

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London, United Kingdom

Pizza Hut Restaurant

Beginning of October

Morning… (Local Time)

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Causally, Kyle ate his pepperoni pizza with delight and satisfaction... in a very err… carnivorous manner… like a lion that hadn't eaten in days. The girls of course only looked at him with sympathy.

"Working too much does kill you," Tea commented.

"Stress does affect people in odd ways," Yuri added.

-((Mind you, Kyle is immortal and stress is very much apart of him.))- Septi said a matter-of-factly.

Since it was Kyle's 'birthday', they decided to celebrate breakfast at a restaurant. To Septi's gladness a hologram device covered the scene that was unfolding them. As the member of the OotS, you can't live without one…

"Eat wfal ou cn laffies. (Eat while you can ladies.)," the second head of the Element Masters said still eating at the same time.

Tea sweat dropped, "I think I'll go for a walk somewhere, just to get my mind off."

Kyle looked confused, "What did I do?" Without thinking he went back eating the pizza.

'Made the pizza look totally gross,' Yuri thought.

-((You want to switch Yuri?))- Septi asked.

-(Ugh…Yes, I just hope he doesn't vomit later. It's okay with you?)-

This time Septi took over Yuri's body and took a slice of her own and said, "So, what does it feel like celebrating a birthday that is not your own?"

Kyle slowed down and stopped, "Why the sudden question?"

"Just curious, I've slept far too long not knowing what happened to the world and I've been in the Millennium Scales ever since."

Kyle shifted his attention to the black pony tailed girl, at times he wondered if the blond streaks in her hair were natural… though one would wonder how Yugi's hair had three colours instead and he said all of that was natural. Kyle took another bite of his pizza slowly and said, "I'm wishing I was back in my time where celebrations like birthdays were celebrated with singing and tale of folklore in a family gathering. In other words at times I fell obsessed in trying to find the roots of my descendants or actually travel back in time"

"You have all the time in the world," Septi said.

"Yet with all that time, it's hard deciding what to do next," Kyle admitted.

"So, what I heard from Atemu is true. You're one of the Divine ones that are labelled to be the 'eternal ones'."

Kyle sighed and scratched his head, "Yeah, ironic how those who wish for a longer life die and those who don't live far longer. I'm glad I didn't turn into a ghost though, I'd be white and won't be able to eat, and I don't think I'll have a good sense of music anymore," he joked.

"Hmm, that's true. I can't imagine all that stuff either. Immortality does have rules, huh?"

"You and Atemu are no different. Though, you'd be the ones who have a second chance in living in the mortal realm."

Septi only nodded mind absently.

"How about you? How's the long sleep?" Kyle asked back.

"It's better then going with too much painful memories… but getting your previous memories in Ancient Egypt nearly wiped out can cause problems." Septi said.

"True, I met so many people. They come and leave and it's odd… in the end I always stay here. It's as though I feel like-"

"You're left behind." Septi finished. "Even I feel that way at times."

"But you still have an attachment to this world."

"For my hikari, I guess it may be less then a century." Septi stated. "If you had a wish that could be granted right now, what would that be?"

Kyle looked towards the girl. They were both immortal in their own ways, nevertheless he respected the fact she knew what he wanted. Accordingly he replied, "Eternal rest. Nothing more."

"That bad?"

"When my business in this world is finished." He added.

Septi only looked to Kyle oddly wondering what he meant.

Kyle only smiled at her, "Nothing is truly immortal. Even in the end, those who live on will want to rest. The pizza's getting cold, eat up lass."

"Using old dialect Kyle son of one-of-the-royal family line of Wessex?" Septi mocked.

Kyle laughed, "Oi! I do not belong to thy royal line anymore, I was exiled."

Septi only raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"My mother's a Balancer or witch in their terms, shortly after my mother married and my 'royal' grandparents actually sent an order to kill my mother. However my father saved my mother and told her to hide. Even though they were separated, they still kept in touch and love each other." The editor explained.

"Have you met your father?"

Kyle added briefly, "Once."

"Once?"

Kyle remembered and told her, "Never got to meet him the second time, the Normans from Normandy (now it would be France) took over Wessex and killed him with the other royals in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings."

"Reality is painful, I guess it affects everyone in different ways. No wonder many people are always on the line of finding the so-called truth of why do we exist." Septi said sarcastically.

"The reason being, they don't realize the truth is right in front of them.If you asked any of the other eternal ones about life, they would say the same answer about 'the truth' of it. " Kyle said as he sipped his Coke can.

"Considering you lived and been around for centuries, you should know." Septi indicated.

Kyle laughed.

"What's so funny? Come on, you could at least give some description." She said annoyed the fact the man was toying with her.

"All right, I'll give it to you in… 13 words."

Septi's eye twitched, "A bit short for the description about the truth of life itself…"

"That's my point."

"What?"'

"In every older person is a younger person wondering what the heck happened. That of course is the truth…in 13 words." He added.

At first she only stared at the element master oddly but then she broke into a laugh herself, "So the question is left unanswered."

Kyle mischievously grinned, "Well… indirectly. In the end no matter how old we are, at times we might never know the truth."

"Some questions are best to be left unanswered I take it?" Septi asked.

"Aye, lass."

She pouted, "Stop calling me that, I feel old."

"You are 5000 years old, that's VERY old by the way." Kyle added with a grin. "You got any conclusions about what you've been feeling so far?"

Septi ignored the first comment, "Yeah, and I'll describe life in three words… it… goes… on…"

"I'll take that one as a yes." Kyle commented.

"I guess being a Master for the Order and an editor at the same time really does you good."

"At times I envy your beloved of being a Master and yet he has fun with his espionage work." He said with a grin. "The others are far too busy in their own work…"

"Atemu along with the thief and psycho will most likely be chased by crazed fans right now," Septi corrected. "You did put a report in the Daily Prophet and you were the one who gave the information to the Weasly Twins' DM magazine." She said sternly.

"Whoa, lady, take it easy! I had to!"

Septi eyes went sharper that somehow sent chills through Kyle, "By what means of reasoning?"

"Uh…Föin's orders." Kyle said quickly. 'So…it's a wonder why Septi looks like Atemu. Soul mates are meant to look like each other.' Kyle thought.

Septi sweat dropped, "What is our leader thinking?"

Kyle's eye twitched, "You're asking me?"

"I'd thought you would know!"

"Despite I've lived nearly a for a thousand years… Sorry, no idea."

"Now I feel sorry for Föin… Atemu, the Psycho and the Thief won't be happy with him if they get a chance to meet."

This time, Kyle's face looked confused.

"Trust me, the Shadows won't be happy either since he's responsible of getting their three main masters into jeopardy. I'm betting there will be plenty shadow monsters on Föin."

Kyle sweat dropped, "Our leader is insane."

Indeed Kyle was correct for Tea arrived in quickly from the door…

"Kyle, there's a message!" Tea handed over an envelope.

Kyle studied the envelope. It was jet black and the envelope frame with words 'The Order of the Shadows Needs Your Attendance' was in gold, the only thing it meant was…

"A Master's meeting so soon? Sounds serious." Septi said.

Kyle sighed, "Nah, sounds like suicide. Atemu and the two dudes will get Föin's neck for sure."

"I wonder how will Yugi, Ryou and Malik get out of school for this one?" Tea wondered.

Kyle said simply, "Our leader is an insane person. He'll figure out some bizarre ways to get them to the meeting. Trust me."

Septi and Tea sweat dropped wondering… 'How much bizarre could their leader get?'

"He's done a lot of crazy things in the past, that's one thing for sure. And-"

'THWACK!'

A DM magazine had flown into Kyle's face sending his face on the pizza…

'Ugh…' Tea thought disgusted. Her face was starting to turn green and immediately turned the other way to lose sight of the incident.

Septi looked at rather frustrated duellist who didn't look too well and it seem a part of his jacket had torn off. "What happen to you?"

"British fan-doom problem," Joey growled. "No thanks to this dude not only posted it in the DM Magic world magazine, but also sold the information to the London Times!" the bad tempered teen pointed at the editor said.

Tristan who was next to him looked exhausted as though he had done a 10km marathon, "I don't think… we're safe… walking freely… on the streets… both in the muggle… and wizarding world…"

Kyle was now wiping his face and trying to get the cheese and tomato sauce off looked at them with a pale face.

Septi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea sent their own death glares to the second head of the Element Masters.

"Uh… Föin's orders?" Kyle squeaked.

Joey tapped his foot impatiently.

"Well?" Tristan asked irritably.

Kyle sweat dropped. Maybe they should know…. Of course… Shadow Casters are pretty creepy when they're angry… not to mention if they did a Shadow Game…he wouldn't even want to imagine the faces of the three OotS members who were now in Hogwarts… Since, they were the masters of the darkness and god knows what will they do if they ever met Föin again…

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Hogwarts Castle, Transfiguration Classroom

Beginning of October

Morning… (Local Time)

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Meanwhile on the other side of the UK…

To everyone's astonishment, the transfers had managed to be the first ones to enter the classroom (including Marik), sadly none of the students had the time to even try to interrogate the duellists since Professor McGonagall directly went towards her lesson. Though one could clearly see apart of Marik's cloak was ripped, it seemed he had made a great escape to class without being seen. As usual McGonagall wasn't the type of teacher who favoured students, yet she was fair to anyone who had a deep interest and a knack for her subject. Instead of changing dragon statues to lizards, that very lesson they were learning on how to make birds appear out of thin air.

No one else was able to produce a bird, only feathers out of their wands except for Hermione, Yami, Bakura, and Marik. Hermione had successively produce many small birds, Yami had produced larger birds like pelicans, emus and now he had started to produce an ostrich with his wand, Marik produced many birds of prey and the thief had produced odd selections of birds such as flamingos, ducks, and even chickens.

-((Ra, what the hell are you trying to do tomb robber?))- Yami looked incredulously at the white haired teen beside him.

The thief only grinned. -((Trying to make a chicken that lays golden eggs!))-

-((Never thought anyone would actually believe to try and make chickens to lay golden eggs like in 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. I don't think anyone is that daft to try.))- Marik chuckled.

-((Ooh… you're not mad anymore… Daft? I thought someone who couldn't make use of his 'special' powers to escape was the really ignorant one…))- Bakura mocked.

Marik grumbled, -((At least the Pharaoh gave me a hint in using my shadow ability… unlike you…))- Luckily Yami had slipped a small parchment in Marik's pocket before he turned into his wind form. The darker tomb keeper wouldn't want to imagine how he could end up like if he didn't get away from those crazed fans.

-((Hey… I'm a thief. The role of the saviour goes for the Pharaoh; his highness saves everyone… including you!))-

-((All right, break it up you two. We have more problems right now… the last thing I need is you two having a fit of each other.))- Yami sighed.

Then Marik admitted, -((So… crazed fans chasing us… I thought we weren't even going to get caught of our duellist status.))-

-((I have a feeling our leader had something to do with this.))- Bakura complained.

Yami nodded to that one, -((He could at least gave us the warning…Shadow creatures on top of him when I meet him face to face…))- he muttered.

-((About our hikaris… you think they should be taught a lesson?))- Marik implied.

Yami shook his head, -((Unnecessary, haven't you heard about any odd noises coming from your soul room?))-

-((Odd noises?))- Marik asked, and then listen carefully. There was a distant 'hachooes' in the distance… somebody was sneezing a lot lately…

Bakura only cackled, -((People are talking about them. As the old saying goes, when somebody talks behind your back, you sneeze!))-

Yami only rolled his eyes and sniggered to himself, 'Poor Yugi… he's been having multiple sneezes so far since he's the undefeated world champion.' He thought.

-((Has anyone realized we have both Slughorn's and Snape's class today?))- Marik changed the subject.

Bakura looked rather sceptical, -((Nuts… one's going to prowl us as if we're dunces that joined the celebrity people, while the other is going to beg his knees to make sure we're going to his 'Slug' parties…))-

-((This is going to be a long day…))- Yami muttered.

-((So does this mean we're going to switch to 'fan defensive mode'?))- Marik asked.

Bakura scowled. –((Of course you baka! It's a good thing Professor Ryu told us all those nifty spells back a Japan's magic school or would most likely be in the torture of our fans by now. I'd shudder to think about getting caught by the eccentric fan girls… ugh…))-

Yami chuckled. –((Somehow it reminds us when we got chased at the magic school in Japan huh? Majority are hysteric fan girls… Used to be a daily routine until they settled down…))-

-((Doesn't seem to be any different here.))- Marik snorted. –((So… what are we going to do when we get out of this class?))-

-((Run.))- Yami stated simply.

-((Since when did you have a thought about chickening out Pharaoh?))- said Marik surprised.

Yami was itching to roll his eyes, but stopped himself. –((Next time you get chased by crazed hungry fans, take it as your death toll.))- he said flatly.

-((What did I do?))- Marik said and looked at the thief.

Bakura scratched his head trying to figure out how daft the psycho was. –((Ever heard of 'live to fight another day'?))-

-((Well it's not like a chicken you made is going to lay golden eggs…))- Marik snorted.

-((What did you say?))- Bakura growled.

Somehow the subject of debating about the chicken laying golden eggs was the more important topic.

Yami sighed mentally and figured out one thing that was true...

'I'm surrounded by idiots,' He thought. He felt like slamming his head onto the desk.

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Hogwarts Castle, Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom

Beginning of October

Two hours Later… (Local Time)

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-Flashback-

Just a Moment ago…

It was true they did managed to train themselves to escape their fans… yet there was a limit on using their 'special' powers as Balancers in Hogwarts, that limit was basically they had to use the spell out of sight. Considering that time was coming towards break, more people had flooded the corridors. Of course their last option was to use wands… without Filch seeing them. Being the thief that Bakura was, he was faster in running but even thieves make mistakes. He had accidentally tripped and nearly got caught by the mob of fans. Somehow after he escaped, Ryou's tarot cards were missing from his bag.

-((Bloody shit! How did someone steal something from ME? I'm the King of Thieves and someone STOLE from ME!))- he exclaimed.

Yami couldn't help but laugh as he ran. –((Looks like someone has a reputation crisis to settle.))- he mocked.

-((I wish I could just send them to the Shadows and get over with it.))- Marik sighed.

-((I'd do the same tomb keeper, you know I love torturing and blood but I don't think 'his highness' would appreciate it…))- Bakura mocked with a merry tone.

Yami grumbled. -((You mind of thinking a way to get out of this predicament more strategically then trying to think ways to make me disgusted!))-

Marik grinned. –((Come on Pharaoh, we live to make others tortured! Including you!))-

-((That's the spirit tomb keeper! Make the Pharaoh pissed!))- Bakura laughed with Marik.

Yami rolled his eyes. –((Well… at least it's better then getting late to Snape's class))-

-Back to the Present-

Even being early didn't help things in DADA class. Snape had taken off house points for the three Japanese boys to come in rather sweaty to his classroom. This enraged the Gryfinddors… however Yami had managed to calm them down. Bakura was very sure Snape wasn't going to miss a chance like this to hover around them and mock them about how their celebrity status was near to as Harry Potter who had been their friend. He was wasn't wrong at all, during those two very LONG hours Snape hovered around them trying to make them nervous as if he was hoping to take more points away from Gryffindor.

Bakura playfully tossed a smaller wand he had nicked from a first year behind his back. He kept his face expression to look as though he was gloomy, though mentally he felt he wanted to laugh at Snape's feeble attempts to make him nervous. The thief didn't seem to mind about Snape's behaviour, the only thing he wanted to do was stay out of trouble. Not that Bakura wanted to be a goody-goody, but he'll just have to suppress his thief urges at least… for the moment… 'Maybe I'll nick back Ryou tarot cards tonight…' the thief thought. He had been wondering who had stolen Ryou's Tarot cards that person had to pay the consequences. Though on the good side it hadn't been his deck, which he carried around with him all the time in a concealed pocket. Then he looked at the Slytherin headmaster thinking he might make another detour that night, 'And… Maybe I'll have a visit to Snape's dorm… that would be brilliant…' he thought excitedly.

Marik being the psycho that he was kept his face expressionless and also kept his view away from getting into contact with the ex-potions master. He wasn't too far off in thinking how to get revenge on Snape about these two hours of DADA class like the thief was thinking of. How to make the revenge satisfying was the thing Marik thought of as he worked on the practical. '… I got to make sure he won't suspect us…' Marik thought. Seeing that they were now members of the OotP did hinder their movements… but being a D4 wizard didn't hinder them using magic without being detected. 'A little D4 magic wouldn't hurt…' he considered.

Yami of course didn't seem to react at Snape's behaviour at all though he would answer Snape if he were addressed. He silently did his work and kept an eye on the other Gryffindors if they were to attempt in trying to rescue them, he would give them a signal to lay low. Ron and Harry seemed to be the ones who were frustrated about Snape's behaviour, but Yami signal to them not to interfere. At first they were reluctant in letting Yami and the others handle Snape alone, but after looking on how Snape wasn't going to succeed in getting house points off… they went back to their own work.

Though they went back to their work, Harry Potter kept an eye at the transfers now realizing how why the transfers were handling Snape's hovering and abusive comments carefully. During on the way to DADA class Harry read in the Duel Monsters magazine that it was a necessary need to mock your opponents to make them psychologically unstable so they would give up without a proper fight. Seeing that if the three are world-renowned duellists, they didn't seem to take in Snape's words seriously… rather it was like daily food for them. Harry wasn't sure why he had an odd feeling at times when he looked at Yugi; at times the spiky teen was compassionate, friendly and cheerful. At other times when Yugi faced Snape he was calm, collected and … dark for some reason. He noticed the changes were there too for Malik and Ryou, though it wasn't as clear. Harry then figured maybe it was some sort of mode they get into. Like when Ryou duelled Malfoy, he seemed to be more confident in his skills and took on the opponent seriously. So in Snape's classes they treated the subject as a game, a duel of patience. Truthfully, Harry wasn't sure himself that Yugi was the number one duellist in the world. Someone at his age had accomplished something that amazing… in Harry's case he was famous because he did something he vaguely remembered. Harry sighed, 'At least he doesn't have a fate like mine… he doesn't need to fight a dark lord…' Harry thought bitterly. Ironically, Yugi and Yami had face many that had such a title… even Anubis, the Lord of the Dead himself.

Ron on the other hand figured about the letter he received from Fred and George this morning just as he and Harry made their way out of the Great Hall. The twins were very keen in wanting an exclusive interview with the transfers, not that Ron minded to get equally a large sum of money that the twins had offered. Yet he didn't want to injure another bond of friendship just because the one he befriended happened to be famous. He had enough of Percy of being a prat to Harry, the next thing he wanted were Fred and George ordering him around because the transfers were in fact the most famous Duellists in the world. 'They might as well beg for it…' Ron concluded. The red head was likewise curious about the transfer's status; he might as well head in first before his brothers have a chance. And at the same time… maybe he could ask Yugi, Ryou or Malik if they have more advanced pointers on Duel Monsters.

Hermione unlike Harry or Ron was much more keen in knowing more about the book she had borrowed from the library which had revealed itself to her that in fact there was a 'Balancer' or a D4 wizard that was sealed into the book. The wizard had proclaimed himself as Axel and told her what there was about the Balancers. Balancers, meaning they guarded the world at equilibrium state and had a large responsibility in doing so, for the races of both magic and non-magic folk. Hermione predicted, maybe the whole war did start off roughly in the time when the Hogwarts' Four Founders had separated though she wasn't exactly sure if they had anything to do with the tension the Balancers had with the magic folk at the time. Honestly, Hermione wanted to ask more about the D4 wizards in class. Still, with Snape's mood like this and the transfers were in the middle of it all, Hermione thought maybe it was wiser if she asked another teacher like Professor McGonagall or the worst scenario with Professor Slughorn then get the ex-potion master in a serious temper that would make him take 100 or more points off from Gryffindor.

To Snape's displeasure, he failed to make the transfers lose house points. To heal his disappointment, he had sent the whole class with a rather large amount of homework that even made Hermione worry that if she could finish it or not. The rest of the class of course sweat dropped and didn't seem to think they weren't going to finish the homework in a week, seeing that the amount looked as though it would at least take a month.

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Hogwarts Castle, Potions Classroom

Beginning of October

Another Two hours Later… (Local Time)

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Potions on the other hand had started off with Professor Slughorn's explanations about the most very complex potions that existed in the modern wizarding world, which lead the transfers getting about 10 questions in a row correct and left Hermione of with nine. It wasn't odd there were praises from the walrus professor going towards the exchange students as though it seemed Slughorn was holding back one very obvious question. It seemed he was holding to that question like a suicidal terrorist who was waiting about the right time the bomb should burst and kamikaze right on spot with plenty of victims or so Harry thought.

To Professor Slughorn's dismay, the transfers seemed to be avoiding him if he led the conversation they were having in class in the direction of their duellist status. However, it didn't make the potions teacher give up. 'If they don't wish to speak to me in class… I might as well get them after class,' Slughorn figured.

Ron who looked at Slughorn's movement and thinking about what Harry said about earlier that Slughorn loved to 'collect' soon to be famous people or already world renowned celebrities (in the transfers' case), had a feeling the teacher was eager to hold the three at the end of the class. Seeing that it maybe he (Ron) could stay back and hear what the transfers had to say wasn't a bad idea after all.

That lesson was about making antidotes for various types of poisons. As what it looked like, the Half-Blood Prince's book said of using a benzoar in curing the poisons yet again saved Harry. The transfers didn't mind about the attention that Harry was getting since they knew Slughorn had save some for them in the end of the lesson. They were quite content in getting a good reply from Professor Slughorn when they made a bottle of an Antidote to Uncommon Poisons. Though Ron and Hermione were steamed up, they had their own suspicions for the transfers.

And so the lesson ended… with Harry's prediction going underway. The transfers did get called to stay after class, but by Harry's surprise he and Hermione were called to stay as well. Ron had wanted to stay behind, he didn't want to miss the opportunity to see the three's confessions.

"I believe you three have something to tell me!" The fat pompous walrus added excitedly. "Well come on then!"

"What would exactly do you wish to know sir?" Bakura imitated Ryou's polite antics as if he didn't have a clue what Professor Slughorn was saying.

"That you three are indeed the most famous duellists in the world of course! Why didn't you tell in the fist place! Blimey, not just famous in the muggle world now in the wizarding world as well!" he exclaimed bouncing up and down.

"Well… we figured you might found out soon sir, you are a great teacher with plenty of links with famous wizards…" Yami added.

All quite a sudden Slughorn's face turned into a shade of pink, clearly showing his embarrassment.

The thief and the psycho would of rolled on the floor with laughter if Slughorn, Harry and co. weren't there, but the laughs through the mind links was enough to make Yami smirk.

"Now, now," Slughorn waved his large stubby finger at them. "I just wanted you boys to join the Slug Club meetings sometime! So how about Christmas? I mean- Oh, Harry! I managed to fix the date just at the right time where you got no Quidditch practices! Since they are apart of your team, I guess they'll have the time off too!"

Harry slowly nodded reluctantly and his face looked at the transfers in saying 'sorry'. Marik waved it off and was trying to indicate a message how to get out of the dungeons quickly to get to break by indicating to a watch.

"So!" Slughorn got their attention again. "You must tell me how your skills are like, is it true that strategically the most best duellists are far better then the best muggle strategist in the military?"

Bakura was trying hard not to mess Ryou's innocent face seeing that Professor Slughorn attitude seemed to get more annoying by the second. "You see sir…"

"Are you three going to compete for the wizarding world duel competition in another two weeks or so? It's just about 3 days after the Quidditch match of Slytherin VS Gryffindor! And-"

But Yami cut him off short, "We'd love to tell you everything professor, yet we don't have the right amount of time… break will be over quite soon sir. Your watch indicates we have about 15 minutes left. We don't really have much time for break or to get to class if we stay and tell you everything. Of course there might be another sufficient time like one of your parties, well if we could attend."

Ron looked at Yami quite comically how all of that was said very rapidly and very smoothly at the same time. Hermione raised an eyebrow seeing that her watch indicated very well it was only five minutes into break, she figured Yami did some non-verbal charm to the watch while he was talking. Harry signalled Hermione to ask anything so Slughorn would quickly get his attention off them.

"Professor! Can I ask you something about the Darks Arts?" Hermione quickly went into getting the walrus' attention.

"Why the sudden question young lady? Could you not ask Professor Snape?" Professor Slughorn looked at the girl strangely.

"Well, I didn't get to in class and the topic was at least two weeks ago and you know he doesn't want to repeat things unless we read our own books. I couldn't find any information from the library." Hermione said quickly. "Sir, were the D4 wizards called the Balancers before they were hunted down? Do you know what happened to them that made them dangerous?"

The potions master looked at the girl with awe where she had gotten the information, "So you really are the bright girl! Balancers indeed! Though I'm not quite sure they were called that for a reason, most of what the information you hear today isn't much. Unless you've met a D4 wizard or happen to be one yourself."

-((Uh… isn't this getting a bit too far?))- Marik indicated.

-((They couldn't have gotten that far, psycho!))- Bakura snapped.

-((Shut up! Just let us hear them, we might know something useful.))- Yami quietened the two down.

"I'm err… kind of curious too sir,' Harry added. "Why were they hunted down and when did this happen?"

Slughorn, seeing that he was getting the most undivided attention from young talented students (according to him) had no use in stopping to make this information leak out. As they (Yami, Bakura, Marik with Harry and co) all had assumed in the first place, the dam of information finally broke down.

"Well, seeing that you are all talented students… I guess I could trust this information to you. Just don't go telling other teachers I told you this," he stated as the students nodded in agreement. "According to the Ministry of Magic, it wasn't too far off just about when the Four Founders of this school separated. The Ministry thinks the D4 wizards caused the separation of the Four Founders!"

-((Come to think of it they haven't gone anywhere…))- Marik sweat dropped.

"Really sir?" Harry asked.

"I'm not quite sure how, but it's what I've been told in my days at Hogwarts. These days they don't tell anything about D4 wizard anymore you know? Don't to be telling about extinct wizards found in fossils and coming alive again!"

-((Extinct huh? I know fossils would turn up in about a million years…but a thousand years is a bit short… By the way, did he ever heard of people sealing themselves into items?))- Bakura commented.

-((He knows you baka. I doubt he'll tell us, you remember Sieg mentioning that they don't even talk about Horcruxes amongst the staff?))-

Bakura then realized, -((Oh, yeah))-

"Has anyone thought about searching for them sir?" Hermione asked carefully.

"Not in a few centuries! They don't have an existence anymore, and I highly doubt they exist today. I'm pretty sure anyone saying such things are just trying to rouse up worry in the wizarding world!" Professor Slughorn snorted and soon to find four students who were in front of him vanished into thin air.

-((Looks like that problem is sorted. We won't have to worry much about fooling others.))- Yami assured.

While Professor Slughorn explained all of that, it was enough to give Bakura, Marik, Harry and Ron to make an escape. Yami and Hermione soon quietly excused themselves in getting away from the potions master before he got the chance to ask more questions. It was instant they got run down by fans; luckily Harry had let them know about one of the secret passageways of Hogwarts and entered a secret passageway behind one of the paintings.

"That was too close!" Marik panted. "How do you know these secret doors and passage ways?"

Harry chuckled. "I used them to get away during my 4th year during the Tri Wizard tournament."

"Thanks Harry." Yami said smiling. "I doubt we wouldn't get away if you didn't help us."

"Wait a second! Why didn't you tell us you guys were the most famous duellists before?" Ron went straight to the point.

-((That… was pretty blunt.))- Bakura said sarcastically.

Then Bakura said, "You never really asked the question specifically."

"And you never asked Harry about anything to do with You-Know-Who." Ron added.

"We didn't think it was polite to say straight in anyone's face about something personal and we didn't wanted to get our own identities caught since it's nicer just being a usual student at school." Yami said truthfully.

"But you did had all that time to ask me, I was as if expecting you'd ask me sometime." Harry said.

Marik scratched his head, "We were planning to, and since we couldn't find the right time… you think now's the right time?"

Hermione then stepped in, "I guess. How did you guys meet anyway?"

"In the tournaments mostly." Bakura said giving no actual clues.

Ron then asked, "So, what do you think about the wizards version of Duel Monsters?"

The three laughed, leaving three confused Hogwarts students.

"Out of date! They're still using Duellist Kingdom Rules!" Marik sniggered.

"It's a lot better using a duel disk then the duelling mats, that's for sure." Bakura added.

Yami then explained, "Duel disks are a lot more mobile then duelling mats, and the projections are about real life size."

"How many tournaments have guys been in?" Harry asked.

"Lost count. Though the main ones were Duellist Kingdom, Battle City and KC Grand Prix, the others were lesser events." Yami said.

"Awesome…" Ron gaped at them.

Then there was a growling noise… They all looked at Bakura.

"I haven't ate a good breakfast by the way." He snorted. "Any way to get to the kitchens?"

-((Let's just hope there no raw meat.))- Yami said through a private mind link with Marik.

Marik nodded to that one, -((Or else we'll just have to hope Ryou has high metabolism rates in his stomach))-

"This way," Hermione said happily and led the group towards the kitchen. She appeared to have something in mind.

"What's so interesting about the kitchens?" Marik asked timidly.

Ron groaned, "She's not really going to persuade you guys to join her for SPEW?"

"For what?" Yami questioned.

Harry explained. "You see…"

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Tokyo, Japan

Kaiba Corp branch in Tokyo

Beginning of October

Nighttime… (Local Time)

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Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Kaiba Corp was bustling with economic activity despite the sun had disappeared. The gaming expo on the ground floor was filled with people who were seeing Kaiba's new technology products. On the most top floor, Seto Kaiba sighed as he finally finished the last paperwork he had to submit that day and gazed at the window. Ever since Mokuba had gone back to Takazumiryu Magic School, he had felt rather lonely while he was doing his work. Minori had been busy in repairing the buildings that the Death Eaters had damaged in parts of England so she didn't have time to visit. Even though his yami would show up once in a while, it didn't affect in uplifting the CEO's mood. On second thought, Seto felt drowsy… when was the last time he slept well?

He and Richard had been in touch ever since that day he got drunk and planned to get revenge on the Ministry in any way possible through the Order. With permission from the Leader of the OotS, their plan had already been underway; with Kaiba's help, Richard's office was intercepted by recorders that muggle devices can't detect. Prime Minister Richard Williams was aware that is was dangerous to put such a device in his office but he insisted he'd help Seto to try and make Fudge talk into the direction about the project on finding the Millennium Items.

So far the recordings have been proved useful, in one conversation the methods of Bartimus Crouch, who was the head of the Magical Law Enforcement during Voldemort's rise to power were no different than the Death Eaters themselves. This only fed the rage that was swelling in Seto's heart, not too long ago he heard from Sieg that Malik's mother and twin brother who was actually Marik were killed in the same method as well by Scrimgeour himself. The more information Seto received from Richard the more it drove the CEO to find any medical records that had to do with the accident when the car went over a cliff led to the death of his parents. Seto was told that Voldemort's Horcrux killed his parents; it made Kaiba wonder why he didn't remember anything on the day of the accident.

His blue eyes soon gazed on what it looked to be medical records that he got from the hospital and from the police officers that handled the case. After getting such a document with ease (because Seto had plenty of links in the police department), he somehow never had got the time to open it in the last three days. Not that he was always busy with his work, but he thought it was better if he finished his expo project first, and then open it. Yet, something was hindering him in opening it, it was the last words of what his friend in the Police Department said…

-Three Days Ago-

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Tokyo, Japan

Central Police Station in Tokyo

Evening… (Local Time)

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In a neat office Seto Kaiba sat on a chair waiting for his Inspector friend, Inspector Seimaru to give him details on what he found out about the night of the accident. Of course Seto didn't trust just anyone in handling personal cases, Seimaru did in the past helped Kaiba kick out a couple of his employees who tried to make corruption in KC. And for that, he was grateful and made sure Seimaru would handle things that may be happening in his company. In return, Seimaru was rewarded handsomely with a good sum of money.

"Well? Any results?" Seto asked.

"Some medical records, and autopsies from the police." Seimaru said as he handed the files to Kaiba. "Though truth to be told I can't really solve what really happened. It's just too vague. No wonder they called it case closed, in those days technology wasn't as good as now."

Seto accepted the files and flicked them quickly. "Seems rather thick for just one case," he commented.

"Exactly, the private detective who was working on the case seemed to have found many oddities in how the victims died, your mother didn't show any signs of physical injuries and the time she died couldn't be predicted very well."

The CEO suspected that would be the Avada Kedavra Spell, it was the only spell that doesn't do damage but takes one's life.

Seimaru only looked at the CEO curiously and put both his hands on his waist, "You sure you want to look at this case? It's already far fetched as it is…"

"I've made my decision." Seto said curtly, and sat up. "I still need to get business done at KC, thanks for the help."

They both shook hands. "I guess I won't be able to stop you. Good luck on it though, I asked a couple of my friends who are talented in criminology and they said their heads cracked in trying to solve it for hours. There was one thing that didn't make sense at all with the case." Seimaru admitted.

"What's that most far fetched clue did you find?" Seto questioned.

"You and your brother's survival is one, but… Your real father's time of death seemed to be… a bit off. It doesn't seem to fit inside the time frame of an accident if one's car fell off a tall cliff. He should've died a few minutes right after your real mother died or at the same time…"

-Back to the Present-

'…A few minutes after or at the same time?' Seto repeated in his head.

Seto eagerly wanted to know about what really happened on the night where his parents had died, but that meant he was going into the past again. It was the thing he hated the most… And yet, this time, he wanted to fix everything straight… this wasn't just for himself… he wanted to do this for Mokuba as well…

Without thinking twice he poured into the contents of the folder. Mostly the files contained text and it had a few photos that were to be said that have cause the car to crash. According to the autopsy on his real father, he died about five hours later after the accident, his mother died according to the muggle police random prediction instantly just seconds or minutes after the fall. Seto felt rather suspicious about this, in muggle terms it wasn't possible since his real father did get heavy injuries that would definitely put him the ICU immediately and survive it in five hours later. In magical terms Kaiba figured it was just the same oddity, they were both Balancers/D4 wizards and could've escaped unscratched by magic.

'… That's unusual, if Voldemort intended to kill my real parents he might as well do it quickly. He wouldn't want to wait for another five hours to let some sort of poison work.' Kaiba thought sceptically as he paced around in his office. Not knowing what to do about the current situation, he went to the mini fridge in his office and poured a glass of water. He sipped the cool water and felt slightly better as it moistened his dry throat.

Then there was an odd sensation Seto felt in his office, he turned around and found the Millennium Rod hovering in mid air facing at him. Seto thought he secured it in his desk drawer but there it was, looking at him as if it wanted something. Seth materialised beside him looking rather confused as his host.

-(What's going on?)- Seto asked the darker half quickly.

-((I'm not quite sure, but it seems to know something.))- Seth predicted. –((The Items don't usually react like this unless there's something important they wish to show.))-

Could this have been like Battle City? When Seto and Yami saw the past? 'Wait… the past…' Seto thought.

-(Is it indicating the past?)-

Seth looked slightly surprised at his host. –(…Yes, it is. Though it's not from 5000 years ago…it seems to be much more recent then that. Maybe it's yours?))-

-(Mine?)- Seto asked.

-((If the Millennium Eye did deflect Sieg's spell to Marik's memory then Malik's, I might guess the Millennium Rod knows something we don't know.))- Seth said.

-(Don't give me that destiny and fate shit.)- Seto said flatly.

-((I'd rather not mind you, but I think there is a reason why the Rod wants you to know.))- Seth countered smoothly. –((I don't find that the items reacting in a sequence is a coincidence either.))-

Seto had the urge to smack his yami in the face for saying that, but it was true enough. The items never reacted to any situation unless it was getting dangerous and would reveal something to their wielders of something useful. If one item had reacted, most likely the rest will be affected.

-(Let's go.)- Seto said determined.

Seth only smirked; at least his host was now accepting that visions were apart of him.

Seto held onto the Millennium Rod as it gave a blinding ray of light…

-----------------------------------

Somewhere in Japan

Coastal Cliff Road

On a hot summer night…

-----------------------------------

Seto opened his eyes as he found himself hovering in the air just above the family car; the stars were shining brightly that night and the driveway just at the cliff of the shoreline. It ached Seto's heart as he saw them together… his younger self, Mokuba and his real parents laughing together. It all seemed an illusion to him now, he never really thought all of that was reality. Ever since the accident, life had turned 180 degrees for the Kaiba brothers. He never really thought he had that kind of a happy past before and now it was in front of him again…

-((You alright?))- Seth asked.

-((Yeah…))- Seto shrugged him off.

Though honestly, Seto felt unwell and there was an unsettling feeling the memory was giving him. He didn't know why, but he felt there was something trying to escape from this memory and it had been locked up somewhere. '… Why is my head throbbing? …' the CEO thought.

Seto followed the car carefully along the road, intently looking for any signs that it was magical work. Behind him, the Priest only watched as the situation unfolded. Just as the car was heading to a left turn on the cliff, it suddenly skidded and crashed into the safety road fence and tumbled down the cliff. The two only stared at it at the moment… there were no magic things involved.

-((By Ra? Nothing happened!))- The priest looked at the scene taken aback.

-(Wait, look!)-

Without warning, the incident re-winded by itself and just as the car was about to skid, the Millennium Rod hovered in front of Kaiba and blasted him through the head. "Arrgh!" Seto cried clutching he head painfully. Images were flashing in front of his eyes and everything he saw blurred. Seto thought at that moment his head was being ripped into two and started to fall as he lost the ability to hover.

Seth without delay went to rescue and grabbed his light just in time; he slung Seto's left arm around his neck and lifted him up. As the pain ceased, Seto weakly leaned on his darker half. If the situation wasn't as worst as this Seto's pride would've told him to get away from the other's grasp, but Seto thought better of it. If it weren't for his yami he would've crashed down.

Seth grumbled as he looked to the Millennium Rod. Unlike the other items that were 'softer' in revealing visions, the Rod had a harsh way in doing so. The priest looked somewhat worried about the condition of his light. Seto was looking pale, tired, and his breathing heavy after the affects of the blast. It made Seth wonder why the Rod would exert such a force on Seto's memories; he doubted that any of the other Items would do such a thing unless something strong was need in breaking. Next, the car started to move very slowly…

-(Seth… bring me… down there…)- Seto said weakly.

-((What? After all of that? You got to be kid- ))-

Seto cut him off, -(There's something… I need to see…)-

-((Not like this you won't!))- Seth argued.

-(Please…)- Seto said out of breath.

That word shocked the darker half. Never in his time with Kaiba he said such a thing to either then his younger brother. Then Seth thought to himself, '… It was the reason why he wanted to see this past, even if it meant sacrificing his pride.' Then it suddenly hit the yami, if Kaiba was like this in the memory world… what happened to the real Kaiba outside? If any of the employees found out, things won't be good. Seth slightly panicked; the only way was to get through the memory as soon as possible.

He snorted to his light, -((Fine, just make sure you make it out alive.))-

-(Who said…anything about… dying?)- Seto smirked

-((Stubborn hikari.))- Seth said. He was expecting Seto to retort back, but in an instant he realized Seto was growing weaker. He was leaning more on him and his weight was starting to shift on to the priest. –((Damn, I need to get this over with!))-

Swiftly he flew towards the moving car, as close as he could carry the CEO. They both had their eyes wide opened as the events unfolded. The car had skidded in trying to avoid a person in the middle of the road. That person was no other than Voldemort himself. Just as the car flew over the cliff, Voldemort apparated into thin air. Seth looked at Seto.

-(You lead)- he said.

Seth nodded and went to the scene of the crash. Much of the car was destroyed but the most amazing thing Seth had noticed was the whole family was all right. It looked like the Order had been correct that both of his parents were Alter-Matters, they both didn't seem to be hurt at all. Mokuba was unconscious with Seto beside him hidden in the bushes. Just as soon the mother stepped back to see her two sons, a green light shot into her taking her life away. The lifeless body fell to the floor, as if a marionette has lost its stings.

Rock hands had pinned down the younger Seto, the CEO noticed that his father had been protecting him not reveal himself. Finally, Voldemort made his appearance. He smiled with pleasure at the corpse of the young woman, that made Seto fume. The next scene had lead to a torture with the Imperious Curse that the CEO himself did not dare to watch. Hearing his father screaming for help was enough; he didn't have the heart to want to see his father's pain at all.

"Now, tell me again. Where is the Millennium Item you held Muggle!" the Dark Lord ordered.

The father only smiled painfully, "Muggle? What are you talking about? Probably a on another continent by now."

The Dark lord only sent him another blast, which gave another cry into the summer night, "You mud bloods think you're strong that you take us for nothing. It's a shame your life ends with me!" Another Green light was shot and the father fell, Seto tried to go to him but Seth stopped the CEO reminding him this was a memory.

Somehow, a snake had come in hissing to the Dark Lord something; afterwards the Dark Lord departed and left with a Dark Mark on the sky.

Extraordinarily, the father had survived. Seth had guess he turned into stone or something that absorbed the spell, but his condition poor. He could barely sit up, it was possible because of the countless Imperious Curses being sent by Voldemort. Yet what made Seth confused was the extent of injures and the blood that pour out from the cuts wasn't actually the affect of a normal imperious curse. The Imperious curse wasn't supposed to do physical damage, but mental damage. In this case, it did both.

Seto stared at his real father that was still alive. He then realized the autopsy had been correct; his father had survived another five more hours. The memory soon blurred as it fast forward five hours, this time it wasn't Voldemort doing the torturing, it was three people from the Ministry.

One person, whom the priest or the CEO didn't recognized, was looking out for any one who was hiding… but the other two interrogating his father were no other than…

Bartimus Crouch Senior and Rufus Scrimgeour.

-(Damn it!…)- Seto growled, he felt so helpless that night because he was too afraid to come out.

"Bartimus, there's no way in getting any information out of this one." Rufus spat.

"Surely a Death Eater wanted to know about the Millennium Items. There seems to be a Dark Mark here." The ex-Head of the Magical Law Enforcement said.

Scrimgeour simply shot a spell into the sky and in a flash and the mark was gone. "Let's just hope any muggles didn't have to see this."

"And what of the Ministry?" Bartimus said worried. "Surely they'll know about this?"

"I doubt it, it's on Japanese waters." Rufus said and looked to the young injured man. "Any last words?"

Faintly the young man said in Japanese, "I'm sorry Seto, Mokuba…. I love you both…"

This time the green light that erupted from Scrimgeour's wand marked his last breath.

Crouch only snorted, "How many more do we need to eliminate? Aren't the Millennium Items gone?"

Rufus shot him a glare, "Not as long as any muggle or wizard knows about them with great detail. It's important to seal this secret quickly; You-Know-Who's followers might want those Items to bring him back alive and…"

"What?" Crouch asked.

"Those Items were made by D4 wizards. Such artefacts shouldn't even be in the hands of Muggles!" Rufus shouted.

"Even so, it doesn't mean we need to kill them. Why can't we just erase their memory?" Bartimus protested.

Rufus looked at Crouch sceptically, "And what? Let them begin a new search? No thank you!"

Seth wanted to know more on what was going on but this time the whole memory went black. The priest's attention was back to his host who had passed out completely. He cursed at himself for being stupid not to realize how Seto had been weakening. It was a matter of time. As swiftly as he could carry the CEO, the Priest headed out towards the exit of the memory…

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Although everything was pitch black, Seto heard soft voices, one was definitely had been his yami, and the other two were female. His head was…painful. It felt like somebody had pinned a nail through it. Especially his forehead, it was the first spot where the blast had came in contact with him. Seto had guessed he was alive and his yami who was the one who saved him. Then he sensed the movement of someone's fingers through his hair.

"Seto?" the voice asked.

Truthfully Seto himself didn't feel like waking up, it just seemed so bothering. The ache inside his head hadn't settled down and he was rather reluctant to make the pain worse. But then he remembered that he must've collapse in the office, what happened if Isono found out? His right hand man would most likely had called an ambulance and sent him into hospital. Unwillingly, the CEO opened one eye. One thing he did notice was he had a feeling the place wasn't the hospital. He cracked the other eye to focus on his vision. He was greeted with a face that seemed to be relived.

"… Minori? …" he groaned.

"You're awake."

"How long… have I been out?" Seto asked trying to remember what had come over him.

"About three hours." She said softly. "Don't worry about what happened in the office. Seth took care of that."

Seto's eyes shifted to where both his yami and Kisara were standing. Kisara greeted the CEO with a wave while Seth greeted him with a nod.

-(Thanks)- Seto said in a private mind link.

-((You're welcome))- Seth said back.

Realizing that the two needed a moment with each other Kisara gave Seth a look that made the Priest agree to leave the room.

-((We'll tell Dimitri that Seto's already awake.))- Kisara said.

-((Do you wish me to tell him about the memory?))- Seth asked his host.

Kaiba nodded. "But…no one else."

Just in a few seconds, the two spirits disappeared from the room. Minori and Seto were left alone, the CEO was quite thankful that their darker halves were polite. He couldn't even imagine in having darker halves like Bakura or Marik. Speaking of where he was… it seemed they were at the OotS headquarters.

"Weren't you working on the homes that were lost in the tornado at England?" Seto asked.

"I was and still am." She smirked pointing to the laptop just beside Seto's bed.

Seto only smiled as he rolled his eyes, "Aren't we all workaholics…"

"I doubt you'd want to waste any time in working if you were on a important project." Minori grinned back.

Seto scowled, "Fine. Now I'm starting to wish I had my laptop with me."

"It's over here if you want to check your email." The architect pointed on the small desk just about a metre away from the CEO. "Though I wouldn't advise you to type with your right hand."

Seto then realized that Minori had pointed out his hand was in bandages.

"You grabbed the glass so hard it broke." Minori explained.

The CEO grumbled, "All because of that thick memory the Millennium Rod told me."

Seto looked at Minori for an answer. She was there, waiting for him if he had wanted to share the recollection of his past. Feeling the right time to tell what had happened, Seto told her everything he saw. He explained everything from the medical files, when the Millennium Rod acted strangely, the crash, Voldemort, and even to the appearance of Bartimus Crouch and Rufus Scrimgeour.

Minori was taken aback how Voldemort was there when during Seto's time of the crash; the dark lord should've been in exile. The half Italian and Japanese architect was now starting to think, 'Was the Voldemort in Kaiba's memory was his Horcrux?' Being the holder of the Millennium Charm, she felt slightly bothered the fact how the other original items acted so violently in revealing the truth. Her Item only acted as a seal, and was probably the weakest out of the rest. It still gave her visions of her own past, but for now, Seto didn't have to know that. He already had too many things in his own hands.

"Minori?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you tell Mokuba about what happened to me?"

Minori shook her head. "No, I'd thought you didn't want to make your brother worried."

Kaiba sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"But it doesn't mean you'll be working tomorrow morning." She added with a grin.

Seto was about to retort but Minori beat him to it. "Wait, hold it… I only said tomorrow morning. Me and Seth rescheduled the meetings so at least you could get plenty of rest."

Seto only sent her his infamous glare that would've sent chills through a nervous stockholder.

"Seto Kaiba, when it comes to working, you're too easy to read." Minori sniggered.

"Minori Lorenzo, my company would've crushed you if we were in the same league." Seto mocked back.

"Too bad it isn't. So, you wanna check your email?" Minori offered.

Seto gave a nod.

Seto had to admit, who'd ever thought he met someone who was identical to him in many ways (excluding his yami of course). Minori herself was a workaholic, a duellist (though not as powerful as Seto), a CEO of her company the UDA (Urban Design Architecture) and knew how important time was. Yet what probably what the CEO of KC like about her the most was her cheerfulness and her optimism in working. He guessed he made the right choice in dating someone, since if anyone one saw them how they dated, Seto doubted they'd understand at all. If anyone would think dating equalled to a stereotypical 'romantic candle light dinners' their mouth will most likely crash onto the floor. How did these two dated? Simply by sitting in the Minori's courtyard (Should I mention a Mansion courtyard?) or Kaiba's with their laptops opened, talking about work. As unromantic as that sounded, the two found, it was their own way in developing their relationship.

Yet, as happy as Kaiba was in finding who may be his partner for life, Dimitri as his new parental guardian, becoming closer to his old friend Richard and seeing Mokuba grow up, he was slightly afraid what was to come. It's funny how those times in Battle City he had always looked toward the future… now it seemed the future seemed uncertain… But he wasn't going to give up everything that life had offered to him. No matter who was in the way, either Voldemort or Scrimgeour, he only wanted one thing through the war that might come forth… he wanted to win.

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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Hogwarts Castle, The OotS Student's Dorm

Beginning of October

Night (Local Time)

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One thing that Yami could think of that day was… very LONG…

-A Few hours ago-

After Hermione had introduced them to the Elves in the kitchens, the three had requested to take their breakfast and other meals of the days to their dorm (at least until the crowd of fans decreased). Dobby in particular, had been more willing after Marik gave him one of his spare gold bracelets that he usually didn't wear. But apparently they declined (very politely) to Hermione they didn't wish to join SPEW. She was slightly disappointed at first, though, thanks to Yami's encouragement in telling Hermione that in Japan Elves were free, and that she could do the same thing in England, Hermione seemed to have a liking to Yami's attitude. Bakura and Marik laughed at this, but soon stopped only to be wiped out by flying six-inch thick dictionaries sent by Yami.

Later, they had visited Hagrid's Hut together to see if he was okay about Aragog. They had spent nearly about 3 hours or so in the giant's hut hearing him about Aragog being sick and starting to die. Aragog who was Hagrid's pet spider transfers heard about had turned out to be a giant tarantula, to the transfers' amazement. Yami sweat dropped and hoped that he didn't make Aragog swallow the love potion when he mad a prank on the Slytherins. Bakura on the other hand had shifted the conversation from spiders to dragons, which to the three Hogwarts students' astonishment had lifted Hagrid's spirit up. As a reward, Hagrid had cooked the rather large heavy muffins that one of them could fit a cereal bowl. The students looked at the muffins uncertainly in how they were going to eat it. It was Ron who first tried to take a bit out of it, only to find it was hard as a rock.

"Oh God! We'll need teeth growing potions if we eat these!" Ron exclaimed.

It was then Marik who came up with the idea of (secretly) chucking the muffins into the lake, which all of them agreed to do.

Seeing the six muffins sink, Bakura commented, "I doubt any normal stomach would digest those."

"I thought yours wasn't normal." The pharaoh mocked referring to the raw meat Bakura liked to eat.

"Shut up." Bakura snapped.

-Back to the Present-

All of them had returned from exploring the castle until late at night.

Bakura was very satisfied to find Ryou's Tarot Cards with him. The victim who stole those cards wasn't very lucky. When the psycho and the pharaoh asked the thief about what happened, Bakura only said, "Unfortunately he's sleeping upside-down from a tree." The thief also mentioned he went to visit a few places in the castle, but wasn't in the mood to tell the other two. Plus, Bakura was taking care of a chicken in their dorm.

The psycho wasn't convinced at all the chicken was going to lay golden eggs, so he suggested they should roast it instead. Soon, Marik tried to steal Bakura's chicken that he made in Transfiguration; only to be blasted with a flippendo spells sending him into the wall. Just as Bakura grabbed the chicken away from Marik… Plop! A very glittery golden egg rolled on the floor. Marik felt like someone had just yanked a carpet from under him. Yami stopped from reading his book, looked at them for a second, and soon lost interest.

Yami was more worried about why his hikari hadn't responded or even talked at all through the mind link since this morning, then wondering about Bakura taking care of a chicken. It wasn't like Yugi at all to not have contact him all day. Could something have happened to Yugi? He had read Yugi's email recently that Kaiba had some sort of vision of the past that passed him out. Could the Items…

'CLING!'

The Millennium Puzzle glowed, and the Ring followed.

-((What on earth?))- Yami said.

-((Some way to enjoy Hogwarts, eh?))- A new voice in the room said.

The three soon gazed to Seth who was watching them from the corner of the room

-((What's the Priest doing here?))- Marik said.

Bakura looked at him oddly, -((How did you get here without being close to the Millennium Rod?))-

-((I asked Dimitri to cast a spell to get me here, at least for two hours.))- the Priest replied.

-((Seth, you know what's going on?))- The pharaoh addressed his friend immediately.

-((The Items are telling us something.))- Bakura said.

Seth nodded. –((Yes, they are. Just a few hours ago Seto was affected))-.

-((Are you saying our hikaris are affected too?))- Marik asked.

-(Not me, thank you.)- Malik finally appeared.

-((Where have YOU been tomb keeper?))- Bakura growled.

Malik countered, -(In my soul room. I've only lost contact with Yugi and Ryou three hours ago…)-

-((Rats, I'm too late.))- Seth cursed.

-((What happened to Kaiba, you don't think the Items will…))- Yami hesitated.

-((Do the same thing. I'm not sure but your hosts might be in danger.))- Seth said.

Bakura raised an eyebrow, -((What kind of danger?))-

-((The Millennium Rod forced Seto to watch a memory from the past. It drained his mentality considerably; if we don't hurry those memories might knock your hikaris out for a week.))- Seth explained.

-((I don't think I'll stand doing all Ryou's homework for a week.))- Bakura said truthfully.

-(So where should we go first?)- Malik asked.

-((Inside the Millennium Ring.))- Seth instructed.

Without thinking the tomb robber made a dark portal and went in, soon to be followed after by Malik who dragged Marik behind him.

Yami stood silently, and looked at the priest.

-((Is there something you want to say to me Seth?))- Yami asked. –((I had a feeling you wanted to say it personally.))-

-((What did you think about what I said of Voldemort coming up in Seto's memory in my email?))-

-((Too vague if you ask me. Voldemort only made six Horcruxes; the seventh marked his own soul.))-

-((Exactly, and yet he spoke in parseltongue.))- Seth added.

-((I have a bad feeling in what's to come…and that our real enemy isn't Voldemort at all…))- Yami said uncertainly and walked through the dark portal first.

Seth slightly winced as a thought came into his mind and walked into the portal…'And I have a dreadful feeling we're going against an enemy that's far more powerful then Voldemort…'

TO BE CONTINUED

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Sorry about the cliffy, hehehe… I had to stop or the chapter would've been about 20,000 words long… ; … that's too much for one chapter…. I think you guys need to digest it first… ;P

Don't worry about the next chapter, I do promise it'll be sooner then this one!

The last verse of the poem or song or what ever you call it is taken from the anime/manga Bleach and is a bit modified. The rest I do not own! Do not sue!

So what do you think? Good, Bad or got your own opinion? Just drop in a review! I welcome any constructive reviews and if any of you have ideas don't hesitate to tell me!

By the way, has anyone actually noticed how hard it is when one follows the book (HP) it's that HARD getting information and making sure they're correct? Correct as in if it fits with both YGO and HP plots, and that they don't contradict with each other? Trust me, it's been a challenge! I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Himig for telling me this awesome site that has all the dates, figures, people, timeline, spells, potions and all the info based on the six books (even what's up to come in the seventh though it's a rough estimate)! For any writer who's currently doing an YGO x HP fic I advise you to check this site: www hp-lexicon org if you want to have a base in your fic. It really helps!

Either then that… For you who want help in writing HPxYGO fics please stop by the forums sometime (There's Angrychibi's forum and Shadow-Huntress-Mage's forum), it's a good place to share ideas and to ask about something! Anyone with me going for the 200-review point? Hope so!

See you in the next Chapter! (or the forums)

Next on HP, HBP, and the OotS…

Yugi and Ryou are in lost in their memories of the past…

Marik finds out the truth of Malik's past…

Hermione finds out more about D4 wizards/Balancers through Axel…

Quidditch Cup: Slytherin VS Gryffindor!

Is the Unbreakable Vow breakable?

The Duelists are invited to a mini DM tournament in the Wizarding world!

Chapter 13: 'The Society of Order of the Shadows.' (Part 2)

NOTE: (18th June 2006): I have enabled anonnymous reveiwers to review! Sorry about that! I didn't realized I disabled it! Thanks to Seithr-Kairy for telling me this. Forgive me if you wanted to review but you weren't a member or if you couldn't be bothered to login!