Hey guys!
I intended for this to be a little bitty short chapter, but it ended up being the longest one of the story so far. Oops! There was just so much that needed to be explained, and I wanted to make sure that I did it right. I'm just hoping and praying that I didn't leave out anything!
Disclaimer: Both HP and YGO belong to their respective creators, and not me. A girl can only dream . . .
Enjoy!
Chapter 28
Ellie just could not believe how stupid she had been! The key to where she had seen the Eye of Horus before had been staring her in the face all damned year, and she still hadn't realized it.
All that time she had spent in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom brewing dreamless sleep potions, just sitting on top of the entrance, and she still had never realized that the Chamber of Secrets was where she needed to be in order to find out what was going on with her. And now she was being drawn to the Chamber as though nothing else existed. Ellie knew that something waited down there for her, and she had to greet it. Whether it was friendly or not did not matter, Ellie knew that she had no choice.
She could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. She figured that it was a combination of the stress of the day worrying about Malik, and the fact that she had not eaten anything recently and was exerting herself by sprinting towards the second floor. Ellie did her best to ignore it, because she had more pressing matters to deal with.
She ran down the dark corridors, the slapping of her feet on the marble floors the only sound meeting her ears. Curfew was very soon, so Ellie was lucky to meet no one on her travels. Not even Filch, Mrs. Norris, or a teacher. And Ellie just thanked Merlin that Peeves was elsewhere, hopefully diverting all of their attention.
She finally reached the second floor girl's bathroom and slipped in, hurrying to the tap engraved with the tiny image of a snake.
It was at this point that Ellie remembered that she was not a parsletongue.
"God damn it!" She cursed in an uncharacteristic display of rage, kicking the sink in frustration. "Ouch!"
Ellie let out a string of profanities while she hopped around, clutching her throbbing foot. She barely had time to wonder where her sudden bout of anger had come from before she heard an unwelcome giggle coming from behind her.
"What?" She snapped, whirling around on Moaning Myrtle. Ellie did not have the patience, as her headache was progressively getting worse and her foot hurt like crazy, all while the pull to the inaccessible Chamber was driving her insane.
"My, someone's a cranky one, isn't she?" Myrtle taunted, swooping down from the ceiling. "I didn't know Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes was capable of such language."
"Myrtle, I really don't have the time-"
"Well I do!" Myrtle screeched, her mood switching completely and her eyes welling up. "I have all the time in the world, don't I?! I'M DEAD!" She collapsed dramatically into her favorite toilet, sending up a splash that sprayed Ellie with toilet water.
"Ugh," Ellie sighed, and took off her drenched robe. Luckily, her uniform skirt and blouse underneath hadn't gotten wet in the splash. She tossed the sodden garment over the door of a stall.
Myrtle was right, she was being unreasonable. Even though Myrtle drove Ellie nuts, she felt bad for hurting her feelings and wanted to apologize.
"Myrtle! I'm sorry," Ellie said, knocking on the door to the stall. "I just have a really bad headache, and I need to get to the Chamber, but I can't open the-"
"Well why didn't you just say so?" Myrtle suddenly appeared through the stall door, causing Ellie to emit a small scream in fright as she jumped back. "I suppose that you're meeting that man down there." She frowned.
"What man?" Ellie asked in shock. Could this be who was causing the pull drawing her down to the Chamber?
Myrtle frowned moodily. "The man with the turban, and blank eyes. He wouldn't even talk to me!" She whined. "I expect he would be quite handsome if he didn't dress so funny -"
"Shadi?" Ellie asked fearfully.
"I don't know!" Myrtle said, crossing her arms and getting upset again. "I told you, he wouldn't talk to me!"
"Did he have a golden key around his neck?" Ellie asked.
"Mhm," Myrtle nodded, jutting her lower lip out in a pout. "That means that he must be rich, too. Hmpf!"
Ellie felt sick. If it was Shadi that had gone down there, Ellie did not want to go anywhere near him. Especially alone. Not only had Ellie promised Malik that she would stay away from him, but on top of that she was terrified. Ellie had been downing dreamless sleep potion every night for the past week in order to avoid seeing him in her dreams, and she certainly did not want to meet the real live Shadi where no one could help her. Ellie was nowhere near as good at defensive magic as Harry was, nor was she as clever as Hermione or as brave as Ron. And Merlin knew what kind of magic Shadi was capable of unleashing on her. She wished that she had her friends by her side.
Ellie shook her head, coming to a decision. There was no way that she was going down there. She could resist the pull that was drawing her in, at least for a little bit. The thought of this man had been haunting her for a week now, and Ellie realized that she just was not ready to face her fears alone. Maybe she could go round up Yugi and Ryou to help her out. Judging by what they had just told her in the hospital wing, they were more than strong enough to protect her.
"Yeah," Ellie muttered to herself, backing towards the door.
"Huh?" Myrtle said. By now she was drifting along just below the ceiling, hands behind her head and humming a dreadfully awful tune.
"I changed my mind," Ellie said, hurrying over and grabbing her wet robe from where it hung. "I'm not going down after all." She chuckled weakly. "Besides, I can't speak parsletongue anyway."
Myrtle smirked. "Chicken."
Ellie scowled, but otherwise ignored her. She knew that it was perfectly true. Ellie had always had trouble rushing headfirst into danger when she was alone, and she felt horrible about going to ask Yugi and Ryou for help. She knew that they would never drag her into a dangerous situation like this. She didn't understand how they did it all the time.
Ellie sighed, and dejectedly pulled out her wand to dry her robe, but a screeching noise from behind her made her whip around.
Her heart skipped a couple of beats when she saw that the door to the Chamber had opened, seemingly of it's own accord. Her robe fell out of her hands, and landed on the cold floor. The sink that was perched on top of it had slid down into its grate, and the gaping hole in the floor that led down to the Chamber was revealed.
"Eeep!" Myrtle squeaked, diving into her toilet once again. Only this time, she did not resurface.
Ellie hastily backed away from the entrance, not wanting to turn her back on it but wanting to get the hell out of there now.
Ellie was moving so quickly towards the door that when she slammed into a solid barrier it knocked the wind out of her, and she whirled around to see what had hindered her progress.
There was nothing there.
Ellie once again tried to get through, but was blocked. She raised her hand, only to find that there was an invisible wall stopping her from getting to the door.
Panicked now, Ellie ran to the left, all while pounding as hard as she could with closed fists against the barrier. She felt no give.
"Reducto!" She cried, thrusting her wand at the barrier. She tried to get through again, but to no avail. Her spell had no effect on it whatsoever.
It was then that Ellie heard a scratching noise coming from the entrance. It was very quiet at first, but it quickly became louder and louder. It sounded like something, a very big something, was climbing up the tunnel.
Ellie did not want to be caught with her back against the barrier, so she took a few steps forward and raised her wand to try and scare off whatever was coming for her.
The creature was getting much nearer, Ellie knew, and with it the scratching and scraping noises got louder. They were soon accompanied by a heavy, labored breathing.
Ellie gulped. Her foot no longer hurt, but her headache had escalated to the point of near agony. However, she barely felt it because she was so terrified of whatever was climbing up to meet her. How did it create a barrier to prevent her from escaping? Her wand arm was trembling, she noticed, and she could see in the reflection of a mirror across the room that she was very pale.
And then the monster finally climbed out of the hole, letting out a mighty roar so powerful that it blew Ellie's hair back.
Then it all happened too quick for Ellie to react at all. It reached out with one of it's massive paws and seized Ellie around the waist, jerking her forwards so hard that her wand flew out of her hand. She screamed in terror as it squeezed her firmly, and then gasped in pain. But upon hearing her gasp, the monster instantly relaxed it's grip so that it wasn't hurting her anymore at all. Then it lifted her clear off of the floor and dragged her down the tunnel leading towards the Chamber. She was completely defenseless. She couldn't believe that she had been so careless as to drop her wand. Now it was too late.
The monster was all too familiar to Ellie. She had seen it before in that dream that had scared her so much. It was the monster with the head of a crocodile, torso of a lion and it's hindquarters were that of a hippopotamus. It was the monster that had saved her from the basilisk in her dream in the Chamber of Secrets. But this was no dream, she knew. Ellie screamed again when she realized the implications: what if her dream was prophetic? Was she being dragged down into the chamber only to be fought over by a gargantuan snake with a lethal gaze and a massive monster that was a deadly combination of three of the most dangerous animals? Would they kill her? Or worse, would they eat her alive?
Ellie felt her ears popping as the monster carried her deeper and deeper below the school, the darkness pressing around her on all sides. She had stopped screaming by now, and her breathing had reached a desperate level. She would suck in a breath and let it out quickly, doing this over and over again until she felt as though she wasn't getting enough oxygen. She felt as though she were on the verge of a panic attack, and wished that she had at least a paper bag to control her breathing.
She didn't even try to escape. Ellie knew that she had to go down to the Chamber and face her fears no matter what, so she figured that she would do it in a way that told this man Shadi that she wasn't going to resist, so he had no reason to hurt her.
Not for the first time, Ellie wondered why she was put into Gryffindor instead of Hufflepuff. The most dominant trait of Gryffindor was their courage and boldness, but Ellie knew that she was just about as brave as Professor Quirrell.
The monster finally reached the end of the tunnel, and it carried Ellie through a familiar looking cavernous room. It was walking with only three legs, and Ellie was still being held in the fourth. But the monster's limp did not make it any less terrifying for Ellie.
She wished that she had never followed the transfers into Knockturn Alley. This never would have happened if she had just listened to Hermione.
Her eyes landed on the fifty foot long snake skin that was still there from second year and shivered. Ellie certainly did not remember the basilisk being that big, and she hoped that it was still dead. Ellie knew from experience that things that should have been dead weren't always what they seemed. Voldemort, and even Yami and Bakura were prime examples.
The monster came to the big pile of rocks that had been the result of Professor Lockhart's memory charm backfiring. Tucking Ellie into it's chest to shield her from harm, the monster plowed straight on through the rocks with no problem whatsoever, and Ellie found herself inside the Chamber of Secrets.
It smelt terrible. Ellie instantly clapped a hand to her nose to try to block out the stench and then began struggling to get down. The pull that had been drawing her here relaxed, but her headache had increased even more. She was starting to believe that her headache was being triggered by this monster, and the pungent smell certainly was not helping matters.
It carried her to the statue of Slytherin, and set Ellie down quite gently for such an intimidating beast. She took a nervous step forward, and looked up.
Salazar Slytherin looked exactly as she had remembered him. The statue was still as intimidating, and the Eye of Horus stood out directly on his forehead, just as Ellie knew it would. She reflected once again on how stupid she had been to not remember it.
She shivered when she realized that this most likely meant that Voldemort, who was Slytherin's true heir, would most certainly be able to wield the Millennium Items.
Ellie turned around to face the monster once again, shocked that it wasn't mauling her or eating her. No, the terrifying monster was laying down, with it's head and ears perked up, watching the opposite end of the Chamber where they had just entered. It looked for all the world like a dog guarding his house while his master was out.
Ellie nervously took a few steps to the monster's right in order to get a better look at the Chamber. She almost retched when she found the source of the smell: it was the half-decomposed body of the basilisk. There were countless rats feasting on the undoubtedly endless amount of flesh that the serpent provided. Ellie shuddered, and quickly looked away. It was revolting, but the sight of the dead basilisk at least provided Ellie with some comfort. She now knew that she only had one monster to worry about.
"Elizabeth Grace Milton, I presume?" A voice came from behind Ellie, and she whirled around.
It was Shadi. Ellie gulped and nodded nervously, pulling her hand away from her nose and forcing herself to breathe through her mouth instead. The monster, who Ellie was beginning to realize probably did not want to devour her, actually was eyeing Shadi as though he were a threat. Ellie decided that she would rather take her chances with the monster than Shadi, and took a few steps in it's direction.
"H-how did you get in here?" She asked, hoping that she sounded braver than she felt. "Professor Dumbledore has placed every level of protection on this school possible. And Yugi and Ryou will know that you are here."
"I am not your average human, Elizabeth. I have covered my path so they will not be able to sense me," Shadi replied, stepping towards her and smiling in a very unfriendly manner. "As I am sure that you know, Shadow magic has many advantages."
The monster growled as Shadi approached, and Ellie began to feel bad for ever fearing the monster at all. Even though it had dragged her down here, it had never ever hurt her. And it was still acting like a very loyal and protective dog to her, so she was immensely grateful for it's presence even though she believed that it was causing her to have the worst headache she could possibly imagine.
"I know," Ellie replied quietly, fiddling with the buttons on her blouse nervously. Once again, she desperately wished that she had her wand. "What do you want with me?"
"I believe that your friend Malik has already answered that one for you, my dear." He said. Ellie's skin crawled at him calling her 'dear', but she quickly forgot about it.
"My endurance in the Shadow Realm?"
"I must admit that I would not have given you a second glance, Elizabeth. You seem to be most insignificant." Shadi said. "But when you got caught in the Shadow Mage's duel in the Shadow Realm you gained my attention. How could a weak little girl last so long in the shadows?" He mused, tapping a long finger on his chin and staring at Ellie in a creepy manner. "That invisibility cloak could not hide you from me, my dear. I keep an eye on all happenings in the Shadow Realm." He laughed. "But it's not just your endurance that I want," He continued, approaching even more. Ellie took a step back, and the monster continued to growl at Shadi's proximity to Ellie, but it never made a move. Perhaps it wasn't as protective over her as she thought?
She gulped.
Shadi laughed.
"I see that my beast has taken a liking to you, Elizabeth," Shadi said. "Not that I am surprised. But don't be fooled, dear, her loyalties will remain with me until I forfeit possession of the Scales."
"The Millennium Scales?" Ellie asked. "You're the one that took them from Malik?"
Shadi nodded, smiling at her again. "Your friend Malik did not know how to use them properly. He was never fit to wield them." Shadi said, coming closer still. "The beast's name is Ammit. She would never answer to him. Do you know what her job is, Elizabeth?"
Ellie shook her head.
Shadi pulled out a golden object, which could only be the infamous Millennium Scales. "If these deem a person's soul to be impure, then Ammit will devour them, preventing their souls from reaching any form of an afterlife."
Ellie jumped back from the monster, which fixed it's gaze on her threateningly.
"Whoever wields these holds great power, and great responsibility, Elizabeth." Shadi continued, as though she had never jumped back. "But you are not ready. You have failed all of my tests so far."
"I failed all of your tests?" Ellie asked confusedly.
Shadi nodded. "Yes. I have tested your wit, courage and loyalty and you failed each trial."
Ellie still didn't understand. "I don't remember any trials."
"The first trial," Shadi said. "Was identifying the Eye of Horus. You knew what it was when you initially saw it in Knockturn Alley, yes?"
Ellie frowned. "And then I got distracted by the boy's duel-"
"You did not forget. I pulled the information from your head after the Shadow game, while you were unconscious."
"You went inside my head?" Ellie squeaked, unconsciously crossing her arms over her chest. Malik had said that his Millennium Ankh allowed him to enter a person's soul room and see everything or make adjustments, and it sounds like that was exactly what he had did. Ellie felt incredibly violated.
Shadi nodded. "The trial was to see whether or not you could regain the memory of this," He said, and gestured around the Chamber, "Being where you had first seen the Eye of Horus."
"But I remembered!" Ellie said excitedly. "I just remembered now, in the hospital wing-"
"No." Shadi said. "You did not remember. I returned the information to you because I have run out of time."
"Run out of time for what?"
"I gave you all of the information that you needed," Shadi carried on, ignoring her question. "The dreams were my doing. I arranged your mind so that these dreams would haunt you until you realized that Salazar Slytherin was a wielder of a Millennium Item many years ago." He sighed unhappily. "And when that did not work I provided you with the dream of Ammit feasting on the basilisk, but alas, you still did not heed my call."
"That was you?" Ellie asked angrily, her fear multiplying. Ammit echoed her fury by growling from behind her, and a fresh stab of pain radiated in her temples, reminding her of the ache in her head that had yet to go away. She flinched.
"Yes, my dear, it was." Shadi continued. "I took the Millennium Scales that same night. I purposely left the darkness trailing on you so the transfer's wouldn't suspect me of thievery, because that could interfere with my plan. However," he frowned. "It seems that the three of them trust you a lot more than I had originally accounted for. They believed you when you told them that you did not take the Scales."
"Are you saying that you framed me?" Ellie asked sadly, thinking back to how Malik reacted. "But they could have hurt me!" Ellie knew how badly they would have hurt her had she actually taken the scales.
"Yes," Shadi said. "They would have."
Ellie tried her best to remain calm. "But what about Harry?" She asked. "He didn't recognize the Eye when Yugi showed it to him. And he would have seen it in second year."
"There is no divine explanation for that, Elizabeth. Your friend simply did not see the eye. He was fighting the basilisk while you tended to the little girl. He did not get the chance." Shadi said. Ellie felt stupid, because that made perfect sense. The memory of Tom Riddle had instantly sent the basilisk after Harry, and Ellie had remained by Ginny's side to try and revive her. This was when Ellie had looked up and seen the Eye of Horus imprinted on Slytherin's forehead. Harry was a little too busy to look up.
"The second trial was to test your courage. And I must say that you failed the courage portion magnificently." His blank eyes stared off at a point above Ellie's head, and he looked very lost in thought. Ellie didn't dare interrupt him. "This was when I visited you in your soul room."
"My soul room?" Ellie asked. She knew what it was, Yugi had explained them to her. But Ellie wasn't aware that she had one. She thought that it was just for the Millennium Item holders.
"Yes, Elizabeth, your soul room. It takes the shape of your bedroom. In your case, your soul room is where you feel the safest and most comfortable."
Ellie's eyes widened, as she remembered this. "That was the other dream, where you tried to get into my head!"
"I did not try," Shadi said. "I have already been inside of your head." Ellie shuddered, remembering that he said that he had gone into the depths of her mind that day in Knockturn Alley. "That was the second trial. I wanted to terrify you. I came to you where you felt the most safe. I invaded your dreams, and still left my imprint on your mind when you were awake. And then-"
"You eclipsed my aura," Ellie finished. "Why?"
"To scare you," Shadi continued, smiling again. "I knew that you were too shy to tell the Shadow Mages about me visiting you in your dream, so I eclipsed your aura so they would demand to know what happened." He laughed. It was a low pitched, disturbing sound. "I wanted you to know who I was. I wanted you to fear me. And who better to tell you than the three who fear me most?"
Ellie sighed. "So how did I fail that one?"
"You began taking the dreamless sleep potion." Shadi replied simply. "All wielders of the Millennium Items must have the courage to face their fears."
"Wielders of the Millennium Items?" Ellie demanded. "Are you saying that I'm a wielder?"
"I gave you another chance to redeem yourself," Shadi said, once again completely ignoring Ellie's question. "It was a last minute attempt, but I thought that you would at least pass this one." He shook his head sadly. "I had the dead girl in the bathroom tell you that I was down here. Had you come down without question, then you would have passed. But you tried to run."
Ellie hung her head shamefully. These trials seemed to be very humiliating, as they were forcing Ellie to stare all of her mistakes from the past month or so in the face.
"I still don't get why you've put me through these trials," She eventually said in disbelief, trying to change the subject. "Because I know that you're not going to give me the Millennium Scales-"
"The third trial," Shadi interrupted. "Was to test your loyalty. I did not need to interfere with this trial, as an opportunity presented itself. But alas, you still failed."
Ellie hung her head. She did not need an explanation for this one. "Malik," she whispered.
"Yes, Elizabeth," Shadi said. "But the way that you conducted yourself today has influenced my decision. You treat your friends very well, my dear. You still failed the loyalty portion of the trial, but had you not redeemed yourself today we would not be having this conversation right now. Which brings me back to why we are here."
Ellie gulped, and took an unconscious step back into Ammit. She jumped when she felt the beast's breath on her neck, but Ellie did not move. She was determined to at least save some face in front of this man who had shamed her so much.
"Lord Voldemort has gotten ahold of Marik Ishtar. They already have gained access to two Millennium Items, and they have set their sights on mine." Shadi pulled out the Millennium Ankh. "I would have liked to have given you more time to prove yourself worthy of the scales. Like I said, you are nowhere near ready to wield them." Ellie gasped as he confirmed her suspicions, "But I'm afraid that Lord Voldemort wants to kill me now. There is no time to waste."
"It doesn't have to be like that!" Ellie said desperately, "Professor Dumbledore can protect you, if you just stay inside Hogwarts grounds-"
"Ah," Shadi said, smiling genuinely now and not so creepily. "You are pure of heart, I can see. Even though you have failed all three of your trials, it is obvious that I have made the right choice."
"Pure of heart?" Ellie asked.
"The true wielder of the Millennium Scales must have a pure heart, mind, and soul in order to keep the balance of the scales even."
"So you're actually giving me the scales?" Ellie gasped, shaking her head. "No, no, I can't. Really. You're making a mistake, I'm not ready-"
"No," Shadi said. "You are not ready. At all. It will take a very long time for you to master the use of the scales in your current undisciplined state, and the shadows will do their very best to corrupt your pure heart. They have already begun their corruption. You remember your fit of rage just moments ago, when you could not open the Chamber?"
Ellie nodded shamefully, remembering how she had kicked the sink in her anger and cursed and snapped at Myrtle.
"That was the shadow's doing. They sense a naïve and easily manipulated mind. But you will learn how to resist them in time, and how to control your magic."
"How do you know?" Ellie asked.
"Because you're exercising your magic right now," Shadi said.
"What?"
"I was the one that conjured up Ammit, Elizabeth, but it is your own power that is keeping her here."
Ellie whirled around to face the monster. She raised her head and cocked it to the side, as though she were asking what Ellie were looking at.
"That is not any ordinary headache you are feeling, my dear." Shadi said, and Ellie turned back around to face him. "The magic you are using will drain you immensely as soon as you stop supplying it to Ammit. I suggest you dam the flow of power as soon as possible to prevent a longer recovery time."
"I don't know how," Ellie said frantically, looking around as though there would be a nearby object to help her out.
"Then I must drain you," Shadi said. He thrust the Millennium Scales in her hands, along with a long blue feather. Ellie expected something dramatic to happen. Sparks, a flash of light, something like when she had first touched her wand, but there was nothing.
"How do I-"
"The Shadow Mages will explain everything to you," Shadi said. "But for now we must go to the Shadow Realm. I wish to see how long your power will last."
"What?!" Ellie cried. "No!" She did not want to go back to that place. It still terrified her.
But it was too late. Before she knew it, a black wall of darkness was rushing towards her, and Ellie was instantly back in the place with the eyes that she dreaded so much.
As soon as the darkness enveloped her, Ellie dropped to her knees. The pain in her head instantly radiated out into her entire body, causing her to scream out in agony. Ellie saw Ammit disappear out of the corner of her eye.
"Your power is drained immensely," Shadi said calmly, ignoring Ellie's pain. "You will not last long in the shadows. And I suspect that it will take you days to recover from this. Do not resist it. The shadows can and will penetrate your soul completely, preventing you from ever returning to your world again."
Ellie couldn't answer. Shadi was right, the shadows had completely drained the last of her energy. She fell forwards onto her hands, which only supported her weight for a few seconds before they gave out. She fell to the ground. The pain in her body was still just as bad, but she was too exhausted to react anymore. She decided that it would be best to listen to Shadi, and just stop resisting. The last thing Ellie saw before the shadows claimed her was Shadi seeming to melt into the ground, and the eyes of the Shadow Realm fading into the damp walls of the Chamber. She used the last of her strength to clutch the scales and the feather that Shadi had given her to her chest, and allowed her consciousness to calmly drift away as she laid on the cold, wet floor of the Chamber of Secrets.
XXX
"Harry! Harry, wake up!"
Ryou was awoken by a frantic Hermione barging into their dorm around five the next morning, standing over Harry's bed and attempting to shake him awake. She looked as though she had just woken up, as her hair was all mussed and her robe was thrown over her nightgown inside out.
"Harry, for God's sakes, wake up! Where's the map?"
Harry sat up, grumbling at being awakened at such an ungodly hour. "It's in my trunk, Hermione. What's wrong?"
Hermione just shook her head and hurried to the end of Harry's bed, digging through his trunk for this map she was talking about.
"What's the matter?" Yugi asked blearily, sitting up and looking over. Hermione didn't respond.
What the hell is she doing, Ryou?
Ryou shrugged mentally, and looked around as his fellow roommates began to stir. Neville rolled out of bed and landed quite ungracefully on the floor, and Seamus sat bolt upright.
"Oi! You're not supposed to be in here!" Seamus called over crankily, tossing a pillow in Hermione's direction. "And it's five AM, for Merlin's sakes! Go back to bed!"
Hermione impatiently waved her wand and the pillow flew back at Seamus, knocking him straight out of bed and he ended up as an ungraceful heap on the floor just like Neville. He let out a mighty string of curses and climbed back in, but didn't retaliate. In spite of the situation, Ryou grinned.
Hermione must have finally found what she was looking for, as she pulled a tattered bit of parchment and jumped to her feet.
"I need to talk to you guys right away," She said to Harry, Ron, Yugi and Ryou. "In the common room."
"Is Malik alright?" Yugi asked worriedly, hopping out of bed and looking for something to put on over his starry pajamas.
"Yes, he is," Hermione said, before racing down the stairs.
Where's Ellie? Ryou asked Bakura worriedly as he got out of bed and began looking for something to throw on instead of his pajama bottoms. She and Hermione are usually inseparable. You don't think . . . ?
I am sure that she is alright, Ryou. Bakura replied. She was asleep in her dorm, remember?
No, Ryou said, suddenly panicked. She didn't come back to the common room with us! She raced off right before we left, saying that she had to do something . . .
Elizabeth is a smart girl, Ryou. She wouldn't go racing into any sort of danger alone. Besides, He said, chucking mentally. What could happen inside Hogwarts?
Ryou didn't respond. Bakura was right, but there was still a nagging voice in the back of his head that told him that something just was not right. He snapped back to attention quickly.
"Bloody women," Seamus grumbled unhappily, before rolling over and letting out a mighty snore.
Ron threw on a jumper, Harry slipped into a pair of jeans and Yugi and Ryou pulled on t-shirts and trousers. The four boys hurriedly made their way into the common room, wondering what had Hermione so worked up.
Luckily, since it was so early the common room was empty, save for Hermione pouring over a map. Yami and Bakura both phased out.
"What is going on, Hermione?" Yami asked, joining her in looking at the map. "What is - Ra, that is ingenious!"
"What's ingenious?" Bakura asked, somehow managing to shove his incorporeal form in between Hermione and Yami and taking a look at the map. "Damn, are those people?"
"Yeah," Ron said, plopping down on the armrest of a nearby chaise. "It shows who is in the castle, and where they are at all times."
"That's amazing!" Yugi said, joining the small group staring at the map and taking a look. "How does it work?"
"Dunno," Harry said, shrugging and stifling a yawn. "My dad and his mates made it when they went here."
"It's really complicated magic," Hermione said, eyes still glued to the map. She seemed very keyed up and nervous. Ryou thought that she was looking for something, or someone on the map. "It's never wrong . . ."
"Can I see?" Ryou asked, and she and Yugi budged up so he could join them. The map really was quite amazing, he thought. He could see Filch was prowling the corridors, and Umbridge was bustling around in her private quarters. Professor Dumbledore, he noticed, seemed to be pacing in his office.
"Why did you want it, Hermione?" Ron asked, "Don't tell me you woke us up just to watch Dumbledore pacing again! He rolled his eyes. "And where's Ellie? If we have to be missing our precious beauty sleep, then so does she-"
"I don't know," Hermione said. "She never came back!" Hermione's calm façade instantly melted into panic. "That's why I wanted the map, but she isn't on here!" Ryou's fascination with the map instantly evaporated.
"What?" He asked, whirling around and fixing his gaze on Hermione. "You're just coming to us about this now?"
Hermione burst into tears, and Ryou instantly felt bad for snapping. "I meant to wait up for her, I really did!" Ron awkwardly put an arm around her shoulder, and Hermione continued to wail into her hands. "I was reading in bed, but I fell asleep! I only just woke up, and that was because I was having the weirdest dream about the basilisk -"
Bakura looked up from the map. "Well, then maybe the map is wrong," He said.
"No," Harry replied, ripping it out of their hands and taking a look for himself. "The map never lies."
"Well where could she have gone?" Ryou demanded.
"Did you check the hospital wing? Maybe she went to see Malik again," Yugi said reasonably. Harry checked the map, but shook his head in an indication that she wasn't there.
"Can't you use that ring thingie to find her?" Ron asked, pointing to the Millennium Ring around Ryou's neck. "You said it can lead you to certain objects."
Yami shook his head. "It won't work. There's too much magical interference."
Ryou wanted to give it a shot anyways. He lifted the ring up so that it was horizontal to the floor, and used every morsel of his concentration to will it to point him to Ellie. The pointers on the ring clattered around in every which way uselessly. Ryou groaned in frustration, and angrily thrust it under his shirt.
Ryou, Bakura soothed. We'll find her.
Ryou actually drew comfort from his yami. It wasn't his words that made him feel better, but it was the fact that Bakura now seemed to actually care enough to try to console Ryou that lifted his spirits. But only by a little bit.
"Well, we know that Voldemort doesn't have anything to do with it," Harry said. "I would have felt something."
"What about Marik?" Yami asked. "He would surely strike if he had the chance."
Harry shook his head. "No, Marik is with Voldemort right now. He's teaching him how to use the Millennium Eye."
Ryou was shocked that Harry knew so accurately what Voldemort was doing, and quite disturbed that their enemies were already working on manipulating the shadows. He gulped.
"We should go to Dumbledore," Hermione said tearfully. "He might know something."
"Right," Harry said. The yamis both phased back into their host bodies, and Ryou led the way out the portrait hole.
Ryou's mind was wracked with guilt as they ran towards Dumbledore's office. He knew that something was wrong when Ellie let Malik's medicine fall from her hands, but he didn't follow her when she ran out. He was too busy being consumed with jealousy when she had planted a kiss on Malik's forehead, and thinking of ways that he could get even with Malik when he stuck his tongue out at him behind Ellie's back again. He just wished that he had gone with her, because Ryou felt that he could have prevented her from going missing.
Ryou, you are most certainly not at fault for this. Bakura said firmly. There was no way that you could have known that Elizabeth would have gone missing. Hell, she may not even be in danger! Maybe she fancied a drink and went up to the Three Broomsticks -
Bakura, you're not helping! Ryou snapped back. There's no proof that she is in danger, but I can feel that something is wrong!
Bakura was silent for a moment, and then sighed mentally. I know, Ryou. I can feel it too. But that does not make it your fault.
I should say sorry to Hermione, Ryou said. He didn't want to address Bakura's statement. She's not crying anymore, so that's a good sign.
Ryou felt Bakura roll his eyes.
"I'm sorry that I snapped at you," he said to Hermione as they climbed a set of stairs.
Hermione gave him a small smile back. "It's alright, Ryou," She said. "I'm more than used to insensitive boys."
Ron picked up on this, and instantly whirled on her. "Hey, I'm not insen-"
"Hem hem," said a very unwelcome voice from the top of the stairs. Ryou nearly cursed in frustration.
Like the rest of them, Umbridge was dressed in her nightclothes. But she was clad in a fluffy pink robe and slippers, and her hair was curled tightly in a set of rollers.
"I am sure," She said sweetly, and Ryou felt Bakura's temper begin to boil at the mere sight of her. "That you children have a perfectly good excuse for being out of bed this early in the morning!"
"Professor," Hermione breathed. "We were just -"
"It's Pavarti, isn't it, dear?" Umbridge interrupted Hermione, who furrowed her eyebrows. Bakura growled, and Ryou felt him being to strain to be let in control of the body. Ryou only half resisted.
"No, Professor, it's Hermione," She said, flushing.
"Right," Umbridge said uncaringly, her eyes slipping from Hermione and onto the rest of the group. "Can somebody else please explain to me why you're roaming the halls for no apparent reason?"
Bakura didn't need any further excuse. He instantly took over for Ryou, and gently pushed Hermione aside so that he could confront Umbridge face to face. Ryou found that he didn't have any problem with this situation, as long as Bakura got her out of the way so they could find Ellie sooner.
"I believe that I can do that," he said to her, grinning maliciously.
"Bakura!" Yami said from behind them warningly. Ryou figured that he must have taken over for Yugi. But Bakura ignored him, and pulled out the Millennium Ring from beneath his shirt.
"I am very sick of you, woman," he said to her. She looked very confused.
"That is no way to talk to the High Inquisitor, young man!" She shrieked, waving a finger in his face. "Detention!"
Bakura rolled his eyes. "I do not think so." The ring flashed, and Umbridge collapsed, seeming to be unconscious.
"What did you do?!" Hermione gasped, kneeling next to Umbridge.
"Thief, you cannot just send people to the Shadow Realm-" Yami began, sounding quite angry.
"You sent her to the Shadow Realm?" Harry interrupted delightedly. "Brilliant!"
Ryou had to agree with Harry. Umbridge deserved it. Besides, she would wake up soon. Bakura hadn't hit her with a full blast.
Ryou felt Bakura's hand retreat to the pocket of the pajama bottoms, where he grabbed a card from his deck and held it up. Wordlessly, he summoned up Dark Necrofear, who towered over the group.
Hermione squeaked and backed away from Umbridge and stood very close to Bakura, who irritatedly pushed her off. Harry yelped and jumped back, hitting Ron who was knocked down the stairs.
"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed from his spot on the floor on the level below, thankfully appearing to be unhurt. "Is that a duel monster?"
Bakura rolled his eyes again. "What else would she be?"
Yami hurried down the stairs to help Ron up, and Bakura turned to his beloved monster.
"At your service, Master," She said, bowing.
"I need you to take this," Bakura eyed Umbridge's pink clad body with extreme distaste as he tried to think of a good word to describe her. "This witch back to her room. Put her in her bed, make her think that this was all a dream."
"Yes, Master," Dark Necrofear said, picking Umbridge up and none too gently throwing her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Within seconds the pair was out of sight.
"Bakura, you can't just-"
"Oh, shut up, Pharaoh." Bakura said impatiently. "She will remember nothing in the morning. And besides," He grinned evilly. "She could use a taste of her own medicine."
Ryou didn't want to know what that meant, but he was grateful for his yami's intervention nonetheless. And he had given Ryou an idea. He quickly retook control of the body.
"Yami, I have an idea," Ryou said. "Can you use Dark Magician to find Ellie?"
Hermione's face lit up. "Oh, will that work? That's brilliant, Ryou!"
Yami nodded. "So long as Ellie is relatively close by, Dark Magician will certainly be able to find her." He pulled the Millennium Puzzle out of his shirtfront and conjured up the Dark Magician.
Hermione, Harry and Ron only did a small double take this time, and did not say anything.
Dark Magician sunk to one knee, and held his staff upright. He otherwise remained quiet, though.
"Dark Magician," Yami said to him. "I need you to help us find our friend, Ellie."
"Ellie," The Dark Magician mused thoughtfully. "This is the girl with the trace of shadows, yes?"
Yami nodded. "The trace will have disappeared by now, though. Can you find her?"
The Dark Magician nodded slowly. "I shall do my best to please my master," he bowed his head. "But this castle and it's surrounding areas are very big and full of magical traps. It may take a long time."
"Very well," Yami said. "Do your best, Dark Magician."
"And steer clear of the hospital wing," Ryou said quickly. "Don't let anyone, especially Malik see you. We don't want him knowing that Ellie is missing in his state."
Dark Magician nodded. He then bowed to Yami again and sunk into the floor to begin his search.
"That's incredible," Hermione breathed. "He should find her in no time."
Ryou shrugged. "I don't know, Hermione. Like he said, Hogwarts is huge."
"Well, in that case," Harry said. "We should still go to Dumbledore. He might be able to help."
"Right," Yami said, and relinquished control to Yugi. The group returned their trek to Dumbledore's office. Ryou felt much better now that Dark Magician was out looking for Ellie. It wasn't much, but it was something. Ryou couldn't stand not doing anything before.
"Fizzing Whizbee," Yugi's voice broke Ryou out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office beginning to rotate, revealing the stairs that led up to it. Ryou had just been in Dumbledore's office yesterday morning when Malik had gone missing, and now they were there again because Ellie was gone. He hoped that none of his other friends would disappear.
The group climbed the moving staircase, and Yugi knocked on Dumbledore's door.
"Enter," he called through.
The group squeezed through the doorway and entered Dumbledore's office. Even though it was only about 6 in the morning, the headmaster was fully dressed. Ryou was suddenly self conscious of the group's own mismatched attire.
Before any of them could say anything, Dumbledore frowned. "This is the second morning that you have visited me unannounced. I fear that this does not bode well for your friend Malik."
"No, sir. It's not him," Hermione said, stepping forward. "Ellie has gone missing."
"Miss Milton?" Dumbledore repeated, his eyebrows raising. "When was the last time that you saw her?"
"Last night," Ryou said, stepping forward. "She ran out of the hospital wing saying that she had to do something. Hermione came to us this morning and said that she never returned to her dorm."
Dumbledore looked worried. "That is most unusual for Miss Milton. She is usually a very responsible girl and does not run amuck, unless," he eyed all of the boys. "Unless she is with bad influences."
"Professor, she went off alone," Ron said. "And we have, erm, reason to believe that she isn't inside the castle."
"My intelligence was not aware of any conspiracy to kidnap Miss Milton inside Lord Voldemort's ranks," Dumbledore mused. "And there have not been any intrusions on the barriers around the castle."
"Professor, there are ways -" Harry began.
"No, Harry," Dumbledore said. Ryou once again noticed that even though he was talking to Harry, he did not meet his eyes. "After Mr. Ishtar ran away I have seen to it that every exit has been accounted for. There is no way that Miss Milton could have gotten out."
Ryou felt a small spark of hope. "And nothing could have gotten in?" He asked.
"To the best of my knowledge, no." Dumbledore nodded, and stood up. "I understand that you have sent out a search party, Mr. Muto?"
Yugi flushed. "I wouldn't call it a party, Professor."
Dumbledore smiled. "Then I believe that the best course of action is to wait, I'm afraid. I will alert the head's of houses to keep an eye out for her, and I will ask Firenze to scour the forest."
"That's it?" Bakura demanded angrily, phasing out. "That's the best that you can do? She could be hurt, and it might take hours-"
"You need not worry, Mr. Bakura," Dumbledore said calmly. Ryou was actually quite shocked at Bakura's outburst. It was exactly what he had been about to say. "Help will always come at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."
XXX
Whew. Glad that's over (Just kidding. I had to force myself to stop writing and save some stuff for the rest of the story.)
Like I said earlier, I'm hoping and praying that I explained everything properly in this chapter. But I am anything but perfect, so if there's anything that I left unexplained just drop a review or message me and I'll get back to you about it.
Oh, and I made up some stuff in this chapter! Thought that I should explain.
The first thing was regarding the Millennium Scales. Shadi saying that the wielder has to be pure of heart in order to properly balance the scales was just me making things up, as well as Shadi predicting that the shadows will corrupt Ellie because she is 'naïve, and has an easily manipulated mind.' Unlike the rest of the Shadow Mages, Ellie doesn't have a badass yami to deal with the tough stuff that comes with being a MI holder, so she will (spoiler alert!) succumb to the darkness in the near future.
The second thing I made up was Salazar Slytherin being a MI holder. If we're following the canon history of all the MI's, then we know that it would have been impossible for this to be true. The Ishtar's were guarding the Necklace and the Rod, Shadi had the Ankh, the Eye and the Scales, the Puzzle was undiscovered in Egypt, and though the Ring was unaccounted for, we know that Ryou was the first person to be truly worthy of it since the original Thief King. For this reason, I'm not going to specify which Item that Slytherin held. I do not want to twist canon anymore than completely necessary.
I think that that is all for today.
Don't be afraid to review! I don't bite, I promise.