Hey y'all! I would just like to dedicate this chapter to the lovely and beautiful JKR herself, as it's her birthday today. Harry's as well. Not that they'll ever read this. But if they do, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! C:

Disclaimer: What you do recognize, I don't own. And what you don't recognize: I don't own either.

Enjoy!

Chapter 18

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Asked Ellie, as her and Hermione hurried into the library.

"We're going to look up everything we can find on Ancient Egypt."

"You can do the reading, Hermione. I'm going to write Bill." Ellie said, wincing at the thought of unnecessary research to do on top of all their homework.

After putting their heads together and reliving their conversation with the transfers the previous night, the two had deduced that since they were throwing around terms like 'Pharaoh' and 'Tomb Robber' they had to be referring to Egypt. Besides, Malik was native to Egypt, and both Ron and Bill were positive the eye that marked their items was from there. It couldn't be a coincidence.

"Be careful what you say," Hermione whispered to Ellie as she pulled out her parchment and quill. "We promised that we wouldn't tell."

"Of course!" Ellie nodded. "I'll make it sound like a project for Ancient Runes."

Hermione selected a few books from the shelves, and took a seat next to Ellie. They both worked in silence for the next little bit.

Writing a letter to Bill asking for information, without actually giving anything away was a lot harder than Ellie originally thought. She actually found herself glancing wistfully over at Hermione, who was eagerly flipping pages and taking notes on Merlin knows what.

She eventually finished her letter, and showed it to Hermione who read it quickly and gave it her stamp of approval.

"Good, now you can get started on this," She thrust a huge book towards Ellie, whose face fell.

"I was hoping that I could go mail-"

"No. The library closes in half an hour and we're not allowed checking these books out."

"Why not?"

"They're too old. Now stop putting it off and get started!"

Ellie scowled, but did as she was told.

She opened the book, and immediately lost herself in the contents. It was not, as she had anticipated, boring. In fact, Ellie found everything she was reading quite interesting. Sure, there wasn't anything that was helpful to their cause, but she was enjoying herself.

Ellie was quite sorry when the library closed and Madame Pince booted them out the door. They had just enough time to make it to the Owlery and back without breaking curfew.

Hermione sighed. "Well that was a complete waste of time! The only new thing I learned was that the Egyptians mourned their cats by shaving off their eyebrows."

"Excuse me?"

Both girls turned around to see a very bewildered, yet amused looking Yugi clutching a letter.

Ellie blushed, but Hermione beamed. "Oh, hi Yugi. We were just researching Ancient Egypt."

Yugi did not look surprised, in fact he looked like he was about to laugh. But Ellie noticed a small flicker of worry in his eyes. "Did you have any luck?"

They both shook their heads, Hermione scowling. Ellie almost laughed herself at the look on her face.

"We were just heading to the Owlery to mail something." She told him, gesturing to her letter.

"Me too." Yugi smiled.

"You're a little far from the Owlery, Yug." Ellie laughed, as the three fell in step to walk together.

He looked at the ground sheepishly. "I got lost," He mumbled.

"Well it's a good thing you found us, then." Hermione said, leading him behind a tapestry that led to yet another secret passageway.

"You guys sure know a lot of secret passages," Yugi mused, raising an eyebrow.

Ellie bit back a laugh and forced herself not to meet Hermione's gaze. "They can be pretty useful," She said, thinking of all the times that they'd snuck around in the past.

Not that they should take credit for the passageways, a lot of what they knew came from the Marauder's Map. But Ellie wasn't ready to share that information with just anyone.

The three of them made small talk the rest of the way to the Owlery. As soon as they walked in, a beautiful tawny owl swooped down and rested on Yugi's shoulder. He stroked her beak affectionately.

Ellie was immediately distracted by her own owl landing on her shoulder. "Hey, Genevieve," She cooed, petting her owl much in the same way that Yugi was stroking Akil. "You up to a trip to London?"

Genevieve tilted her head incredulously at Ellie, as though to say that she was always up to it and was offended her owner thought otherwise. Glancing sideways to make sure Yugi wasn't listening, Ellie took a few steps away to be sure she wasn't overheard. "I need you to take this to Bill Weasley." She tied her letter to her leg and pulled an owl treat out of her pocket. Genevieve gobbled it up instantly and fixed her amber eyes on Ellie, as though begging for more. "Hey, you can have more when you get back. Don't want you getting too fat to fly."

Genevieve looked just about as pissed off as an owl could get. She nipped Ellie's finger hard enough to break skin. With a powerful flap of her wings, was out the window and flying off into the darkening horizon.

"Ouch!" Ellie cried, cradling her bleeding hand. "What'd I say?" She asked Hermione, who only laughed and shook her head.

"You insulted her!" Yugi chastised. "You have to treat her with respect." He couldn't help but laugh. He was very good with his owl, Ellie noticed. And it wasn't like he had been sending letters with them for five years like she had. He was just a natural with animals.

"Are you ready for a long trip, Akil? Take your time, and feel free to rest a bit at Grampa's. He won't mind. Don't forget you've got letters there for Anzu, Jonouchi, and Honda as well." Yugi said to his owl, tying a very fat letter to her leg. "Do me a favor and scare Jonouchi. He won't know what hit him." Yugi smiled fondly. Akil hooted and nipped his ear (a lot more gently than Genevieve had done to Ellie's hand) before flying off gracefully into the night.

"Friends of yours?" Hermione gently asked Yugi, who was leaning against the window and staring absently into the rapidly darkening evening.

Yugi turned to face them, smiling broadly. "The very best. I miss them." He then frowned. "It will be a long time before I see them though, we can't go home for Christmas. It's too dangerous for them to be associated with me."

Ellie was not used to seeing sweet Yugi's face looking so troubled, and she didn't know how to react.

"What are they like?" Hermione asked.

Yugi tilted his head, and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, Honda and Jonouchi are both very loyal, brave, funny, and protective. They've helped me out of a lot of tight spots." He averted his gaze for a moment, then looked slightly uncomfortable. "They remind me a lot of Harry and Ron, actually. Because they can be very-"

"Stupid?" Offered Ellie.

"Close-minded?" Hermione said at the same time.

Yugi laughed. "I was thinking stubborn, but that works too."

"And what about Anzu?" Asked Hermione, with that trademark glint in her eye that says she knows more than she's letting on.

Yugi blushed. "Anzu and I have been very close for a very long time."

"Is she your girlfriend?" Ellie asked, grinning at the blush on his face.

"No!" Yugi was quick to deny, which told Ellie exactly how Yugi felt about Anzu. "She's just . . . She's always been there for me. Even before Jonouchi and Honda, she's always stuck up for me. She's kind, funny, and talented. She's amaz- a really good friend." Yugi blushed again, looking at his shoes.

Ellie and Hermione shared a knowing grin.

"Is she pretty?" Ellie asked, not quite teasing Yugi, but not entirely letting him off the hook either.

He nodded his head fervently.

"Can they. . . I mean, are they like you? And Ryou and Malik?" Asked Hermione, lowering her voice and looking around.

"Well, Jonouchi is a really talented duelist. But no, none of are like us."

The trio began walking back to Gryffindor Tower, still engrossed in conversation.

"How come you haven't told us about them before, Yugi?" Ellie asked as they climbed a set of stairs. "Watch your step." He had almost stepped in another trick stair.

Yugi hopped the fake, and smiled gratefully at her. "Well, the thing is that we didn't really know if we could, um, well if we could trust you guys." He looked embarrassed. "Professor Dumbledore told us we could, but we didn't even know if we could trust him."

Ellie wondered what changed their minds about trusting them.

"I was just trying to protect them. If Voldemort knows that he could get to me through them, well . . ." Yugi trailed off, looking upset at the very idea of his friends being put in danger because of him.

"And you thought that we would tip him off." Said Hermione dryly.

"I didn't think that you guys would!" Yugi said quickly, his anxious face broadcasting nothing but the truth. "I just . . . Had to be careful. My friends mean everything to me."

"It's okay, Yugi. We understand," Hermione told him, smiling genuinely down at him.

"And back at Grimmauld Place, we weren't exactly. . . Well, you know." He waved his hands uncomfortably, as though that would explain the awkward situation back at headquarters. "We just weren't sure."

"By 'We', you mean. . . ?" Asked Ellie.

"Well, myself and Yami, as well as Ryou and Malik."

"Not Bakura?" Ellie couldn't help asking. She was curious about the so called 'not so nice' spirit that sometimes took control of Ryou.

Yugi laughed bitterly. "Yami says that Bakura couldn't care less. Which was more or less true until recently."

The girls shared a confused look. "What do you mean?" Asked Hermione.

Yugi shook his head, smiling. "I really shouldn't be telling you guys this."

"Yes you should!"

"Come on, Yugi! We can handle ourselves!"

He rolled his eyes, but appeared to be trying very hard to hold back a smile. "Fine. Not even Ryou or Bakura know this, but we -meaning myself, Yami and Malik- think that Bakura is being," he struggled for the right word, "Influenced by someone. Or something."

"So you're saying that the spirit possessing Ryou is being possessed?" Hermione asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes. Well, no. Bakura isn't possessing Ryou, he just, um, takes control sometimes." He thought a moment. "And Bakura isn't being possessed either. We think. It's as if something has been influencing him for some time, and now it's lessened. Yami can sense it. It's not gone altogether, but it's made room for Bakura to actually be, um, well to be not so not nice." He shook his head. "Does that make sense?"

Hermione immediately nodded her head fervently, but Ellie took a minute to work out what Yugi had said and she nodded slowly too.

"Is that why he scared Malfoy off on the train?" Ellie asked. "Because that doesn't seem like something that Bakura would normally do." She thought back to how he had threatened Malfoy into staying away from her.

"Oh yes, definitely." Yugi said, nodding earnestly. "Bakura would never have thought to protect anyone other than Ryou, before. But even that was for his own benefit. He needs Ryou to exist in our world." He paused for a moment, obviously listening to something Yami was saying. "Yami believes that something happened to make him strong enough to push the influence away."

They had finally arrived at Gryffindor tower, and their conversation abruptly stopped as they made their way into the common room to join Malik and Ryou by the fire.

The girls spent the last minutes of the evening helping the boys with their homework. Ellie couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride, they were doing so well. Especially Ryou. Ellie thought that if he had been at Hogwarts as long as they had he would have been smarter than even Hermione at this point.

It was weird being around him, though. Especially after what Yugi had just said. Hearing confirmation that the two boys were sharing their minds with dark spirits was a lot to take in, and Ellie had barely had enough time to digest that before she was given even more crazy information.

Poor Ryou, she thought. He looked content enough, reading a book in front of the fire, his adorable little kitten curled up on his lap. But Ellie couldn't stop thinking about what he must have gone through with Bakura controlling most of his life. She wondered for the first time what his home life was like. Did he have friends like Yugi did? What about his family? What were they like?

With a slight pang of something Ellie didn't recognize, she wondered for the first time if he had a girlfriend back home.

Ellie didn't realize that she was staring at Ryou until a tanned hand was waved in front of her face. "Yo, earth to Ellie. You awake in there?"

She started, and jerked her gaze away from Ryou, who was curiously looking over in her direction. "Yeah, sorry. I guess I just zoned out." She was rattled, it wasn't like her to stare like that. "What do you need, Malik?"

"Can you give me a hand with this potions homework?" Out of the three transfers, Malik was the one that was struggling the most. And seeing as potions was Ellie's best subject, she was only too happy to be of assistance.

"Of course, let me see," Ellie got up and went to sit next to him on the couch. She examined the homework and explained it to Malik as slowly as she could. The boy wasn't stupid, in fact he was quite smart, but when Ellie was talking about potions she sometimes couldn't help but get caught up in her explanations. As a result, she lost people frequently.

"Do you get it?" She finished, leaning back and looking at Malik. She furrowed her eyebrows. He looked quite dazed. Almost like she had a second ago. Maybe she hadn't explained that slowly enough.

"Malik?" When she still didn't have his attention, she repeated his action earlier and waved her hand in front of his face. Hermione, Yugi and Ryou were all watching by this point. "Malik! Were you paying attention at all?" She shook his shoulder.

Finally, the physical contact seemed to break him of his daze. He shook his head and looked confused. "I really don't get this potions homework, Ellie. Could you give me a hand?"

They all stared at him. "Malik, I just did." Ellie said after a moment's silence.

"No you didn't," He insisted. "I think I would know."

"Are you feeling alright, Malik?" Ryou asked.

"I'm fine!" He looked annoyed, and turned towards Ellie again. "Now will you just explain it to me?" He snapped, thrusting the parchment into her hands.

"Malik, she just did." Yugi said calmly.

"Maybe all the stress is getting to you. I can take you to Madame Pomfrey for a calming draught," Hermione offered, eyebrows knitting together worriedly.

"I don't need a calming draught!" Malik yelled, causing people sitting around them to stop what they were doing and stare.

Ellie was actually getting quite worried, not just because Malik was kind of scary and she was only sitting a foot away, but she was worried for him. What if there was something wrong?

"Malik, it's okay," She said hastily, spreading out the potions homework on her lap. She didn't want him to draw any more attention. "Look, I'll show you . . ." Ellie nervously repeated her earlier explanation, aware of the eyes of Yugi, Ryou and Hermione on them. Malik did calm down, and after a few minutes of tenseness he resumed his normal cheery attitude, but the incident had certainly shook all of them up.

XXX

The next day, Malik was a nervous wreck.

At breakfast, a bleary eyed Ellie asked him why he was so jumpy after he knocked over his orange juice when Harry and Ron sat down beside him.

"I'm not jumpy!" He scoffed, and thankfully Ellie seemed too tired to argue the point. He deduced that she was not much of a morning person.

In transfiguration, he almost punched Pavarti Patil in shock when she 'accidentally' brushed up against him.

Then in charms, he was so distracted that he accidentally set Neville's desk on fire when he was supposed to be silencing a toad.

Malik didn't know what was wrong with him. It was like his body knew something that he didn't, because he was anxious as hell. He couldn't focus on anything.

Malik was thanking Ra as the minutes ticked by in Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was the last class of the day, and he was restless. He was never able to completely force himself into reading the textbook like Umbridge assigned, but today he couldn't even pay attention long enough to finish a sentence.

When the final bell rung, he wanted to jump for joy. Malik packed up his things as quickly as he could, and was ready to sprint out the door when the most unwelcome sound ever met his ears.

"Misters Ishtar, Muto, and Bakura, I need you to stay behind for a moment, please." Umbridge said, smiling sweetly at them.

Ellie met his eyes curiously, and was quite obviously taking her time packing her things in hopes to hear what Umbridge wanted to say.

"Miss Milton, I'd advise you to get out or I'll give you detention. We can't have Mr. Potter feeling lonely now, can we?" She chuckled sweetly.

Ellie didn't answer, and instead gathered her things quickly and quietly. Ryou looked as though he was actually going to say something to Umbridge in her defense, but Ellie shook her head slightly as she walked by. "Don't drink anything she gives you," She whispered.

Umbridge followed Ellie to the door, and shut it behind her. She smiled sickeningly, and gestured for the boys to follow her to her desk.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" She asked, waving her wand and conjuring up a steaming kettle and four mugs.

"No, thank you," Yugi said politely.

"Oh, I insist." She busied herself pouring the tea into the mugs. "Cream?"

The boys all nodded, and she poured cream into all of their cups, but not her own. "Too heavy for me," she simpered, and took a gulp of her own black tea.

Something told Malik that the cream was the ingredient that he didn't want to drink, and he, Yugi and Ryou all stared at their tea without touching it.

"Well, drink up!"

Malik slowly picked up his tea, and pretended to take a sip, but his lips remained firmly shut. He made sure not to let a drop in, and he carefully set his still full cup behind a stack of papers on her desk so she couldn't tell. Yugi and Ryou followed suit, and Malik was happy to see their cups were equally as full as his.

"Excellent!" She simpered, folding her hands and settling further into her chair. "Now why don't you boys take a seat?" She waved her wand, and chairs scooted themselves out from under desks and zoomed into their legs, knocking them down into sitting positions.

Malik scowled. He was perfectly capable of sitting down himself.

Umbridge examined them thoroughly for a minute, her smile never faltering. All three boys were growing steadily more uncomfortable under her gaze. What did she want?

"Why are you here?" She finally asked.

"Why are we here?" Yugi repeated slowly, eyebrows knitting together confusedly.

Umbridge tilted her head inquisitively. "Do you want me to explain the question, Mr. Muto? Perhaps you need so put more work into your English."

Malik felt a small twitch of anger. Yugi's English was fine, and they all knew it.

Yugi's face flamed, but he shook his head. "I understand the question, Professor. What I meant to ask was, what do you mean by that?"

"Why are you at Hogwarts, and not Mahoutokoro*? My sources tell me that there are, in fact, spaces left at that school."

Malik blanched. Did she actually look into this?

"We don't know, professor." Ryou answered. "Professor Dumbledore only approached us this year with the knowledge that we were wizards." His face was the picture of innocence, and Malik would have believed him himself had he not known the truth.

"Are you sure that you don't know?" Umbridge narrowed her eyes, and glanced over at the tea kettle.

"Positive."

"But what about this silly card game?" The three boys flinched at her description of Duel Monsters. "You three are the best in the world. Is that a coincidence?"

"Must be, professor." Yugi replied, pretending to take another big drink of his tea. Malik didn't know how Yugi and Ryou were acting so polite and composed to her, as he was livid. She was prying into their lives, and obviously had attempted to drug them with something in the tea. Malik was just glad they had been warned about it.

"Why don't you boys have more tea?" Umbridge asked, her voice rising a few pitches.

They all pretended to drink some more.

She fixed her gaze on Ryou then, and Malik took the opportunity to empty some of the contents of their cups into a nearby plant.

"Where's your father, Ryou?" It was weird hearing her address Ryou by his first name. She must be trying to relate to him. Malik almost laughed, because he knew it wouldn't work.

"My father is on an archeological dig in Egypt." He replied quietly.

Malik knew that this was a soft spot for Ryou, so he jumped in. "Why do you care?"

"You will address me as 'Professor', or 'Ma'am', Mr. Ishtar." Umbridge snapped at him.

"Why do you care, Ma'am?" Malik spat angrily. He was quickly getting tired of this awful woman's games.

"I care about all of my students." She simpered sweetly, in sharp contrast to her attitude thirty seconds ago. "Now, Ryou. I've read your file, and it says your mother and sister Ana had an accident. I am terribly sorry, dear."

Ryou has a sister?

"Her name is Amane." Ryou said quietly, averting his gaze and going deathly pale.

Ryou has a sister?

"You have a sister?" Malik asked stupidly. He was too shocked to be tactful about it.

"Mr. Bakura had a sister, Mr. Ishtar," Umbridge was smiling. She was smiling. She was enjoying this. Malik was seeing red. "His mother and Ana died in a car accident 3 years ago."

"Her name is Amane!" Ryou shouted, standing up and slamming his fists against the table.

Right now, Malik didn't care that Ryou had never ever told him that he had had a sister that died 3 years ago with his mother. All he cared about was this bitch was torturing Ryou about it. And was still smiling.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Malik demanded her, standing up next to his friend. "What is wrong with you? How are you enjoying this?"

That wiped the smile off of her face. She stood up too, although both boys were so much taller than her that it hardly made a difference. "How dare you use language like that in my-"

"How dare he?" Yugi asked incredulously, standing up on Ryou's other side. "How dare you insult Amane's memory like that?" He put particular emphasis on her name, making it clear that he knew Umbridge had called her Ana on purpose.

Malik glanced over at Ryou, whose face had crumpled in pure sorrow. The rage was long gone, and he was so pale he looked as though he was about to pass out. It was seeing the pure defeat in his friend's face that did it.

Malik snapped.

He didn't even try to stop the Shadows that erupted from him. In fact, he encouraged them. He wanted that bitch to suffer as much as possible.

Not being familiar with the power of the Shadows, Umbridge luckily didn't even see what hit her.

But Malik did. So did Ryou and Yugi.

The Shadows hurdled at Umbridge at full speed, traveling the short distance across the desk and slamming into her with enough force to send her flying ten feet into the brick wall behind her.

Framed pictures of cats rained down all over her, mewling piteously.

Malik instantly regretted what he had done. He sunk down into his chair, and buried his face into his hands.

He heard both Yugi rush over to check Umbridge, and Ryou running out the door.

"She's breathing." He heard Yami's voice. Malik raised his head to see that Yami had taken over, and was crouched over their teacher.

Showing a feat of strength that would have been impossible for Yugi, Yami heaved Umbridge's limp form over and into her chair. He then waved his wand, returning all the picture frames to their original spots on the wall.

"Malik." He said.

No response.

"Malik!"

"What?" Malik finally answered. He rubbed his eyes, and tried to pull himself out of the funk that he had just sunk into.

"You're going to have to wipe her memory."

He didn't know if he was going to be able to do that simple task without causing that bitch any more harm.

XXX

* Mahoutokoro = Japan's wizarding school. I didn't think there was an actual one mentioned in the series, but I googled it on the off chance that there was. Anyways, Pottermore mentioned this at one point. Mahou = witchcraft or magic in Japanese, and tokoro = site or place. I love the internet!

Ugh. Don't you just hate Umbridge? I feel terrible for Ryou, yet I'm the one causing these things to happen to him. :C

Umbridge attempting to give the transfers Veritaserum is a lovely character trait that I stole from JKR. Cause, as we all know, she is known to do this.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!