So, I'm updating early! I finished this chapter and wanted to update as soon as, since I've left you hanging an extra week, due to... issues. Good news is my friend and her family are doing better, and we have reached a part of the story that I have had planned for a really long time. Hopefully it shouldn't take so long to update but I'm going to change updates for this story to every other week, rather than weekly, just in case. I'm working on this and an original and am determined to stay that way until this is finished. We're not that far off.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, a lot of stuff happens!

To avoid confusion:

Words Yami speaking mentally

Words Yugi speaking mentally

"Words" Characters speaking Japanese

"Words" Characters speaking Ancient Egyptian

"Words" Characters speaking Arabic

"Words" Characters speaking Akkadian

Yugi glared at the small rock, glowing innocently on his bedside table. The gem Yami had taken from Grumio had not once changed, done little to nothing in the month they had had it. With the new information Kaiba had revealed and the heavy deadline of Atem's approaching death, it seemed now more than ever was the time to try and figure out what it was.

Yugi, it isn't up to you to fix this, Yami said quietly. It isn't your fault.

"You say that," Yugi said, safe in his room to be able to speak out loud and not look crazy, "but I was the one to solve the Puzzle. I was the one that started this whole thing. If it wasn't for me…" A ghostly hand settled on his back.

Yes, you solved the Puzzle. The first I allowed to do so. That doesn't make this your fault. Prophecy is not always straight forward and I have always known that the missing parts of my soul were out there. He paused, quiet and Yugi turned to see him staring into the distance. I did not know about him, but I always knew there would be a price to pay.

"If I complete the prophecy in time, do you think he will live?" Yugi asked. He had to know, just in case there might be a chance he could salvage this. Yami was quiet, turning away.

The method the Ishtars know involve my soul moving on. The result would be the same.

"So it's hopeless?" Yugi whispered. "Even if we defeat this Dartz, complete the prophecy and regain your lost memories, there's nothing that can save his life?" Yami said nothing. It was an answer in and of itself. "No wonder Akhefia hates me."

No Yugi, he does not hate you, Yami said, eyes wide in surprise. He's scared and worried for his friend who is dying. But he knows, even subconsciously, that you are not to blame for this. You didn't know when you were given the Puzzle, nor when you solved it, what the consequences would be.

"Right," Yugi murmured, turning his gaze back to the necklace. "I was thinking about maybe contacting Professor Hawkins," he mused, deciding to move on. He wasn't entirely convinced, knew that Yami could probably sense that, but also knew that stewing on it would help no one. "Grandpa says he's been studying Atlantis, that he may have found the possible location of the city. Maybe he might know something about this." Yami wandered closer, gently nudging the stone with a finger.

It seems like a good idea. We should consider warding this too, just in case. I do not know what magic it uses, but it is Dark in nature, Yami agreed.

There was a gentle knock on the door and Bill's head appeared around the door.

"Hey," he greeted, "Am I interrupting?" His gaze glanced over towards Yami, who raised an eyebrow back. Yugi gave Bill a smile and shook his head, switching to English.

"No, not really. We were just thinking about what to do with this." Bill frowned down at the necklace.

"How long have you had this?" he asked, poking it with the end of his wand. The stone sparked, crackling with green lightening for a moment. Yugi blinked- it hadn't done that when Yami had probed it.

"About a month. Since we defeated Grumio at Hogsmeade."

"And you didn't think to tell me? To let a teacher know?" Bill asked, voice strangled.

"I… um… we didn't know what to do," Yugi said, flushing. "I sort of forgot that we might be able to go to you or Snape with everything else that's been happening." Bill paused, nodding.

"Right, I get it," he murmured, wand flicking something around it. There was a translucent barrier around it and Yami suddenly wobbled on unsteady feet.

"Ya- Pharaoh?" Yugi asked, jumping up. The Pharaoh blinked rapidly, looking as if someone had pulled a rug out from under him, an odd vague sensation of vertigo leaking through the bond.

I… I'm fine… Yami reassured him, settling heavily to the floor. I think the stone was affecting me without my knowledge however. There's a… lightness.

"I thought it was doing something. Atem's been peaky for weeks," Bill muttered, as if he had heard their conversation in full. He was eyeing the Pharaoh carefully. "That should have sorted the worst of it."

"What was that?" Yugi asked, alarmed.

"Orichalcum," Bill said gravely. "It corrupts those with even the slightest trauma, twists it into something vile. It's what drove Haphiri made, for centuries. It's why she isn't here now."

"Corrupts?" Yugi murmured quietly.

"Yes," Bill nodded, looking oddly sad. "From what I know, it does it quietly. For someone with the kind of trauma your friend has lived with, it was probably having a field day." He grimaced, the necklace floating in it's small translucent prison at arm's length. "It can make it hard for the wearer to make proper rationalizations, like Professor Schiavone."

"I was going to send that to a friend," Yugi said, horrified. "I was going to ask him to study it."

"Someone magical?" Bill asked, curious. Yugi shook his head.

"An old friend of my grandfather's," he explained. "He's working on Atlantis at the moment, may have found the possible site. I thought maybe…" Bill's eyes widened.

"Atlantis?" he asked. "You're sure?" Yugi nodded and Bill swore quietly under his breath. "That makes a stupid amount of sense. I'll ask Snape as well: he thought that Dartz knew more than he should." He hesitated a moment. "Yugi, I know this isn't the most important right now but… how are you doing? Akhefia told me Kaiba spilled the beans on… well." Yugi shrugged.

"I'll be fine," he said firmly. "I… I want to help but we just don't know how. Or even if we could." He paused, wondering. "Bill, what would have happened if Atem was the one to solve the Puzzle?" It was a thought that had been nagging at the back of his mind for a while. Bill shrugged.

"I don't know," he answered. "I know that Akhnankhamun was angry that the Puzzle was taken long before Atem was born. When word reached him that it had been solved he was furious. But by then, there was nothing that could be done. Other than that… I'm not sure. Not even the Princesses have said what might have happened."

"But he might have lived? If he did?" Yugi pressed. "And what about if I handed the Puzzle over now?" Alarm radiated down the bond and over Bill's face.

"No!" the man half-shouted. "Don't! The Nameless Pharaoh chose you to be the wielder of the Puzzle, anyone else would pay. Unless he is the one to hand it over, it would kill the new holder." Yugi stared.

"But… that can't be right! I gave the Puzzle to Joey once during a duel, and Bandit Kieth stole it…" He trailed off, noticing Yami was shaking his head. And he knew, deep down, Bill was right. Bandit Kieth had been under Marik's influence at the time, had nearly died in that fire and Yami had allowed Yugi to give the Puzzle to Joey. And those were the only two times that he had let the Puzzle go in the interim years since he had solved it. Not even Pegasus had tried to simply take it from him, instead to win it in Duelist Kingdom.

"The Millennium Items have always tested their holders," Bill said quietly, seemingly able to tell that Yugi had worked it out for himself. "In ancient times, priests and priestesses would train for years to be able to attempt the trials of the Items. And even then, some didn't survive."

"Oh." It dawned on him that perhaps Grandpa might have known that fact too. He remembered how many time he had been warned off the Puzzle as a child, how his Grandpa had once begged him to give up on it. When Yugi refused, and evidently wasn't affected, was only when he started to really encourage Yugi to solve it in the end. "So no giving the Puzzle to Atem," he agreed firmly. Bill gave him a sad smile, settling one reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Atem's known this his whole life. He doesn't blame you, probably never will. It's just… something we all have to come to terms with." Bill looked sympathetic. Yugi tried for a smile but ended up grimacing instead.

"I'll send that letter to Professor Hawkins," Yugi said to distract him. It was better than thinking too hard on all the things he couldn't do. Bill nodded, leaving with the necklace.

Yugi pretended that he couldn't feel the wave of sadness down their mental link, instead reaching for his laptop. Emails were so much easier than letters and he was eternally grateful to Atem for giving them access to technology. It would have been a pain otherwise.

Bed rest was boring even at the best of times. Atem was no fool- he knew he needed the rest, it was just so boring. Seto did the best he could, giving him basic admin duties if he thought he could handle it, but the jobs were more mind-numbing than entertaining. Occasionally he would have visitors. Harry was rather insistent and he had to haul Akhefia away from the door to stop any potential banishings to the Shadow Realm.

That would be the last thing they needed.

Nofret was around, but never for long. She flitted between him, Haphiri and Snape, her new favourite companion. Apparently he had some interesting contacts. Bill was also a rare occurrence, although that was his own fault. He had written out a statement, copied it three times, and stamped it with his own seal. It was simple really: in the case of his being incapacitated, the document stated that all power would fall into the hands of his cousin, to do with as he pleased. He trusted Seto not to abuse that too much.

On top of the boredom was the constant ache beneath his ribs. Drawing breath was a chore at times, but he refused to return to the Hospital Wing. Death would come soon enough and there were still things to be done. With his Father soulless, he had to keep order within the Tomb Keepers, the Egyptian Ministry and keep as much peace as he could with the British Ministry. That was a whole task in and of itself.

And then there was Haphiri.

The orichalcum in the castle was no help. Not only did it make him feel worse, she had once been taken over by it, clawed herself out of that pit and avoided it ever since. With the return of Dartz to her afterlife, resisting the orichalcum was far harder. Nofret was quiet on what had occurred all those years ago- it was never particularly clear which of them their grandmother had attempted to marry off to the Minoan, but it wasn't hard to guess. The rock fed off of negative emotions, hightening and twisting them to the extreme until you could think of little else.

Eventually, Atem was sick of inputting data into spreadsheets, reading textbooks and playing the odd game of whatever with whoever was available. Usually Seto. His cousin spent much of his time sat either in the Common Room or within Atem's own room himself, and if he wasn't there then Akhefia, Marik or Mahad would be accompanying him. It was maddening. The week was ending, he just wanted to get out of the Palace Dorm.

He coughed as he stumbled out of the Shadows, a safe distance away from the Palace Dorm. He would pay for that from Mahad later, but for now, it tasted like freedom. Hogwarts was far more interesting to explore when not shadowed by a guard, just as the tombs and temples had been in his youth. The corridor he found himself in was not too far from the History of Magic classroom. Atem sighed and mentally shrugged. Might as well, he thought. He had promised Nofret after all, and this would be one promise he could keep.

The Monster was not too hard to find. While Atem couldn't do too much Shadow Magic, he could still sense it and he knew to ignore the pull from the Seventh floor and the other mages. He knew Akhefia's signature like the back of his hand, the others were a little harder but still distinct, enhanced by either proximity to, or ownership of, the Millennium Items. Those he ignored in favour of the string closest to him, waiting right outside the classroom door.

The Monster stared at him, startled. It seemed she hadn't expected to find him there.

"Hello," Atem started. Coptic was always a good start when talking to Monsters- it was the language most were familiar with. Some of the newer ones responded better to Japanese or English, but most had been around for centuries and spoke the same language as the others. "Princess Nofret informed me of your problem." The problem was more than obvious. Corrupted feathers were dropping to the ground, sores present on her hands and face. Her hair was patchy in places, face gaunt. Atem knew that her master would not see it, the orichalcum around his neck preventing his sight from working properly and weaving a new reality around him.

"I asked her to say nothing," the Monster whispered. "I told her…"

"Mahad will not blame you," Atem promised. "But you are in need of help before you perish." She glanced down, eyes sad.

"I have tried to speak to him. But the corruption… it prevents him from hearing my pleas. I only want what is best for him but…"

"But if he cannot hear it, you cannot help him," Atem finished for her. She nodded miserably. "I'm afraid there is not much that I myself can do. But I will speak with Set, who has both the power and soon the authority to do something. To save your master."

"The Orichalcum has too much power over him. It has been years," she argued.

"Eatos," he started carefully and she jumped, surprised. "There will be literally nothing we can do if you will not let us." She hesitated, considering.

"I just want him to see what it does to us," she whispered, tears leaking from red eyes. "I just want him to be happy again." Atem smiled, holding out a hand.

"I promise, we will do what we can," he said. She gave him a watery one in return, reaching to take his hand.

They were interrupted by an axe.

"I should have known," came the man's sardonic tone. "Finally, the Pharaoh appears." Atem blinked, cocking his head to one side.

"I'm sorry?" he asked. Raphael Schiavone gave him a grim smile.

"I've been waiting for this moment," he said firmly. "I know what evil you wreaked upon this earth."

"I think that you are mistaken," Atem tried. The orichalcum at his throat was glowing, the world a dizzying swirl around him. Mahad is going to kill me, he thought. Akhefia too. Well, it would save the slow death of drowning in blood.

"Dartz showed me what you are," he hissed, duel disk activating on his arm. "I know you don't have your memories, but I know what you don't."

"My memories are fine," Atem snapped. "And I have no desire to face you. As I said, I think you are mistaken. I'm trying to help." It was pointless. Raphael was not hearing anything that he was saying. He wasn't sure what the other was hearing, but it certainly was nothing that he meant.

"I challenge you, Pharaoh, to a duel." Atem barely had time to open his mouth before Raphael played the one thing that he couldn't fight against right now. "And I'll activate the Seal of Orichalcos before you even think about running away!"

"No!" Eastos shrieked, trying fruitlessly to stop the movement of his hands. Raphael made no move to have heard her, the Seal already in play. Atem blinked blearily at the barrier, vision swimming.

"If it is a duel you want…" he murmured. "Why don't we play this properly?" I'm dying anyway, he thought. But I refuse to go out without a fight. Raphael raised an eyebrow.

"Trying to bend the rules in your favour?" he sneered. There was a red glint in his eyes, and Atem swallowed heavily against the nausea. He would need to be quick before he lost consciousness. If he did that here, he might as well say goodbye to half the world if Severus' research was true.

"Of course not," Atem attempted to fake confidence. "But I did think that you wanted this out of the way before class lets out." Raphael blinked, as if remembering where they were.

"What do you suggest?" he asked. Atem forced himself to stay upright, despite the increasing vertigo.

"We each summon a monster. If our monster is destroyed, that person loses. A slightly lesser version than the original." Raphael still looked suspicious, but placed a single card on the field.

"Guardian Eatos!" he called. The Monster looked pained and apologetic as she flickered into true form. The wounds and corruption were covered, her wings now looking pristine. A difficult Monster to defeat he thought. But I must. I'm sorry Eatos… It looks like I'll have to leave the decision to Set after all…

He reached deep into his soul, calling forth the only Monster that would help him at this moment. And called out to the Shadows to pass on a single message.

Severus sensed the vibrations a moment before the castle shook. His Fifth Year Potions class looked alarmed as centuries of dust dislodged itself and the entire castle shook from it's foundations out. The wards stretched and snapped and an unholy wail echoed down the corridors. Severus ignored the blooming headache, dropped the textbook and vanished twenty cauldron's worth of Shrinking Solution.

"Out!" he snapped, wordlessly pushing the doors open. "Now!" It was no earthquake and he could feel that the repercussions would be much much worse if nothing was done. But first, he had the safety of his students to worry about.

Potter and friends stupidly waited around for others to leave first, Granger frantically trying to pack up. Severus waved her out.

"Now is not the time for dithering!" he shouted at her. "Books can be replaced, your pathetic life cannot! OUT!" He could sense cracks that she could not see. He chivvied them out, ignoring the looks of alarm and Granger's petrified, pale face. He would question her later why a book on Shadow Magic was more important than her life. He led them out of the halls, into the grounds, ordered them to stay put and went back for his Slytherins. Thankfully, MArik had had the sense to get them out as he sorted his class.

"Fourth floor," Marik gasped. "Orichalcos! And Kaiba can't find Atem!" The boy's eyes were wide, scared. He too, had guessed what had happened. Severus cursed under his breath, shoving the boy roughly towards the grounds.

"Get the students to stay where they are. If we cannot stop her, the whole castle is in danger of collapsing," he snapped. Marik nodded, moving already. Severus didn't bother to wait, knowing the boy would get it sorted. Instead, he sprinted back into the castle, and up the stairs, influencing them to move for the quickest route and stay that way for the rest of the staff.

The green glow gave away the current fight. Schiavone had his own corrupted Monster on the field, Atem a blue warrior. The Egyptian boy looked terrible, sweat beading his brow and pale. No doubt, it was a mere act of will that was keeping him upright and awake and nothing more.

Outside of the Seal, was the terrifying force of Haphiri Enheduanne, Princess and Priestess.

Severus was glad he left his own piece of orichalcum in his office. Perhaps, if he was lucky enough, it would get crushed in the collapse of the castle. Shadows flickered around the Seal, raw power shaking the place in her rage. Even Dumbledore would find standing in her presence difficult, fear, anger, pain and grief pouring off of the ghost along with unrestrained magick attacking the Orichalcos. Schiavone looked as if he had just realised that he had made a mistake.

"Call off the Seal!" Severus roared at the dunderhead. "She'll bring the castle down rather than see what idiotic move you are about to make!" Not to mention that she might murder your Soul Monster, just to see you suffer he added mentally. The woman had killed before, had murdered in both her right and wrong mind. The orichalcum had influenced her once before, had made her lose control in the past. This was just one extra danger of it.

"Dartz needs his soul!" Schiavone shot back. "Eatos-!" The ground cracked and broke underneath them. The Seal was currently the only thing keeping them from dropping to their death.

"Finish that move and you die either way!" Severus shouted. "Drop the Seal and I can stop you from being eviscerated by any involved party!"

"I promised Dartz the Pharaoh's soul!" Schiavone snapped. Severus rolled his eyes.

"Perhaps, but that isn't the Nameless Pharaoh and you'll make life a whole lot harder on your master if he is dead!" Severus bluffed. It wasn't wrong, technically. If Atem died, right here and now, the Egyptian Ministry would hunt his head for the rest of however short his miserable life would be. Not to mention Haphiri might just do it right now, and if not her, then Nofret. The younger Princess could be vicious all on her own. "If you are responsible for the death of Atem Menes, you'll bring down all of your master's plans!" Thank the goddess no one else is here he thought. And sent a quick prayer to the Triple Goddess that the dunderhead listened.

Schiavone hesitated. It was enough for Eatos to kneel, submitting a silent draw. Atem nodded and the Seal flickered. Schiavone swore and ripped his card off the field.

"Just this once," he muttered. The Seal dropped. Severus cast a levitation charm. The castle stopped shaking.

Atem collapsed into his arms, unconscious but alive. Raphael, however, still had one angry ghost to face.

Harry stared, watching as cracks formed in the walls of Hogwarts and students streamed out into the grounds. Marik had roped Hagrid into helping, and Professor Sprout had soon joined in after noticing the damage and students waiting around on the grounds. He stood in disbelief as Snape ran right back into the castle without stopping.

"Oi, morons!" Akhefia shouted, grabbing Harry's shoulders and giving them a shake. "Have you seen…?" Harry didn't hear the end of the sentence, too horrified and confused.

"No, we haven't," he heard Hermione answer in a small voice. "We thought you were keeping an eye on him."

"Kaiba has been," Akhefia snapped, "but your Head of House desperately wants us in class. He must have gotten away somehow." Harry heard him swear and shivered. It occurred to him that it was truly very cold, even colder than the dungeons, and that none of them were dressed for the outdoors.

"Hogwarts might collapse," he said numbly, in shock. He wasn't alone. A fair few students were watching the damage in horror, waiting for the inevitable.

"If Severus can't get the idiot to drop the Seal, Hogwart's destruction will be the least of our worries," Akhefia muttered. Harry vaguely heard the distinctive cracks of Apparition, Aurors and officials streaming past. Hermione squeaked.

"How can they-?"

"Haphiri ripped half the wards to pieces to get back in," Marik said grimly. "You're lucky this place is in the middle of nowhere, else someone might have noticed." Kaiba appeared, dragging a pale Yugi with him, Ryou tiptoeing along behind them.

"I'm going to kill the Magician," Kaiba announced through gritted teeth, visibly seething. "Slowly."

"It can't have been his fault!" Yugi argued, "You said yourself that it would be difficult to keep Atem in one place!"

"Yes, and like you, he attracts trouble!" Kaiba snapped right back. "I should have flown in Roland. Or Mokuba."

"How would they have-"

"You've never seen Mokuba on a mission," Kaiba muttered before Yugi could finish. Harry noticed Yugi raise an eyebrow but said nothing.

Someone in the background started to cry. Soon, they weren't alone.

"What do we do?" Hermione asked quietly. The castle had stopped shaking, the cracks settling. There was an imperceptible groan, almost as if the magic of the school was tired, almost sagging under the weight of keeping the building upright.

"We help those in need," Ron said firmly. "Come on, Hermione. We're prefects right?" Hermione blinked, visibly steeling herself.

"Right," she said nodding firmly. Harry swallowed and took a deep breath. They had been through worse than this- no one was even hurt, technically.

"Anything I can do to help?" he asked. He wasn't a prefect, and for the first time, that thought didn't sting. This wasn't technically his responsibility but he could choose to help instead. Hermione nodded.

"Help the first years?" she suggested. "Make sure that they're alright? This must be scary for them, especially since they are only just getting used to the castle." Harry nodded, heading off towards the little group. He recognised some from DC, huddled with friends from other Houses. He smiled at all of them.

"Hey," he called, "Is anyone hurt?" It would be good to check, after all. Several small heads shook, others just stared in wide eyed shock. Yeah, I know the feeling, he thought.

It was going to be a long day, he could tell.

Nofret watched, trembling, from the shadows as teachers flocked to the fourth floor corridor and Severus held Atem up, casting quick diagnostic charms over him. She waited as Haphiri's fury echoed down the corridors and Raphael summoned his poor Monster once again to protect himself. The fact that he was quite capable to do that without the duel disk was clearly lost on him. Less so on Severus or Bill who skidded round the corner mere moments after Dumbledore.

"Professor Snape, please see Mr Menes to the Hospital Wing," Dumbeldore said gravely. Severus gave him an incredulous look. Nofret stepped out of her corner as the old man raised his wand.

"He doesn't know," she said quietly, placing a ghostly hand on his arm. "He can't sense it like you." Severus blinked but nodded.

"Poppy, if you would help?" Severus asked. The matron nodded, pale and the pair swept away. Nofret stepped delicately around the blood on the ground to tap Dumbledore at the elbow. She was unable to reach any further up. The man blinked, surprised to see her.

"You can't do anything," Nofret murmured solemnly. "He attacked the leader of the Clans. Sister is within her rights to mete justice on those who wish her family harm."

"I do not believe Mr Menes-," the man started but Nofret shook her head.

"Sister was once Queen of Egypt, wife to Pharaoh Set. Their daughter, Nofret, was the first of the Tomb Keepers. Baba is a direct descendant of that line," she explained. "You cannot prevent her extracting vengeance."

"Familial disputes are usually conducted outside of the school," Dumbledore pointed out. "The Ministry insists after the last one almost destroyed the school." Nofret pointed to the cracks on the ground, the collapsed floor three feet behind Raphael.

"If you don't fix the floor, this one will destroy your school entirely." She gave him a sweet smile. "You might want to reinforce the dungeons first though. Hate to see the school collapse a floor." McGonnagal startled behind them.

"Damage has been undertaken all over the building. She's right about the dungeons. We may even have to close the school until after the Christmas Holidays to repair the building," she hissed, casting spells to take stock of the damage.

"And the wards," Nofret added in helpfully. "Sister had to rip them apart to get back in." Dumbledore raised one bushy eyebrow but said nothing further.

"I'll call Kheftan," Bill said tiredly. He was watching the stare off behind them warily, knowing where this was heading. "He'll want to know that Prince Atem has been attacked while on school grounds. Again." Silence settled around the halls, Raphael looking slightly surprised that there might have been consequences for his actions, that he was the one in the wrong.

"They'll have to charge his pitiful remains when I am finished with him," Haphiri growled. Nofret swallowed, seeing the red glint in her eyes, the black corruption creeping up her fingers. She wondered if anyone else could see it.

"Please, sister," she begged, "leave this justice to the living." It was her sister's right to take justice. It was her right to ask for mercy on Atem's behalf. "Please." She flickered her gaze to her sister's hands, where she could not see the nails blackening, the skin blistering. Haphiri followed her gaze, eyes blazing, turning back to her. Nofret gave her her best puppy eyes.

Haphiri recoiled, eyes wide.

"I…" She paused, conflicted. Nofret could see the war of personal values verses the influence of orichalcum. Did Dartz give Severus the stone to influence him or my sister she had wondered many times. She was scared of the answer. "I concede to your opinion, sister," Haphiri said, bowing her head. Her delicate fingers were curled into fists. "The maggot may live, for now." Nofret gave her a small push through the Shadows.

Haphiri took it without hesitation. Raphael stood in shock and Nofret let herself cry silent tears that she had held in for near five thousand years.

It seemed no matter how much they tried, none of them could outrun history repeating itself.

I'm wondering if I should make a challenge for people to spot the Merlin references. I know they're in there and now we have more! I'm trying to stop, but they just worm their way in. Other than that, I think I've made up my mind on a few other things about this story too.

Let's be honest, Raphael is not the brightest bulb in the box. The fact that he thinks 'you could have been evil' is a valid argument against someone who a) has no memory and b) faced a being worse (theoretically) than the one that your master is calling on, is somewhat laughable. Couple that with a shaky historical background and lifelong manipulation into a cult and who have a person who has not much critical thinking going on. Not to say that he's an idiot: Raphael just needs to learn to question the biases of his sources. Mainly Dartz.

Sorry Atem, it's not going well at the moment is it? I swear I'm not torturing my characters on purpose! Poor Yugi is guilty, Yami has no clue what to do and Kaiba just wants someone's head. That part was the most fun to write, along with what Harry might be like with the removal of the horcrux and some maturing. That and I'm trying not to underutilise Ron, who gets the short end of the straw, much like Ryou in this. I actually had "Are you a witch or not!" going through my head during one part of this story (guess which part XD), so hopefully he's not too out of character!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one should be up, latest, Friday 1st May. Hopefully, we will all be out of quarantine by then too, but I'm not hopeful on that front.

Az-Bebere: Lord Voldemort: caring for Harry Potter's education since Second Year XD Yeah, I may have made it worse since but I am going somewhere with this I promise! I've always wondered what Harry's Fifth Year would have been like without the connection to Voldemort, since it's a cross between grief for Cedric, gaslighting (amongst other things) from Umbridge and the Ministry and being forgotten about be Dumbledore which leads to angsty, angry Harry. Couple that with the Yugioh characters taking none of that shit because they've faced terrifying madmen before (Pegasus and Marik being the worst at this point, perhaps even Anubis depending on where in the timeline that cursed movie is. The least said about Bonds Beyond Time the better). Considering this story however, I think Harry has well and truly learnt his lesson about snooping in places he shouldn't, especially when there's a little thing called consequences which keep biting back- a thing that Dumbledore doesn't implement for either him or his father (saving a student from a werewolf does not make said person a good role model if they have been bullying said person for five years because of their clear poverty and living standards, ahem, JAMES).

Fireking492: That sounds really cool! I wish you the best of luck! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter as much as the others- things have taken a downhill turn for our characters.