Gotc: So…sleepy…

Ace: That's what you get for working two jobs and doing the good scholar thing in college.

Gotc: But…must….keep….scholarship…

Ace: So killing yourself is the most logical course of action?

Gotc:…

Ace: While her overly stimulated brain short circuits, please enjoy these musings by the Whale.

Squeaky: Squeak. (I have a name you know.)

Ace: Don't care. Do the disclaimer so our meal ticket doesn't add license plate making to her list of things to do.

Squeak: (No, we don't own them, except for Ace…but then again, he doesn't really count. Go on now, Enjoy your chapter!)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Rising Dragon

CHAPTER 14: Inconspicuous…not.

It was right there in the name; Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Muggles weren't even supposed to know wizards existed, much less know that a school for training young wizards was hiding in the countryside. The castle itself supposedly had anti-muggle charms encompassing the grounds, illusions were placed that would make the castle look like a run-down old house to those without magical blood.

And yet there he stood, no robes, no wand. Just a ratty old jean jacket covering his sturdy frame, and both hands shoved indifferently into his pockets, as he took a seat at the end of the teacher's table. Nearly the entire Great Hall was staring at him, as if they looked hard enough, he would vanish into thin air. Instead, he simply stared back, arms crossed against his chest staring back with a smug grin on his face. He was no illusion, and he wasn't going anywhere.

Some of the other teachers looked at him with the same air of disbelief, until a short, bald teacher tugged lightly on his sleeve. Suddenly, this new professor seemed more human, as the two began to talk and a warm, genuine smile crossed his face. Dumbledore had already continued on with his announcements, but no one in the Hall was really listening.

"Seamus," Hermione tried to reason, "You have to be thinking about someone else. I mean, there's no way a muggle could possibly-"

"Think whatever you want Hermione," Seamus huffed, "But I know who that man is."

Yugi was only half listening to them, while another part of him was staring hard at this new stranger. His body suddenly felt lighter than it should have been, and his vision blurred for a moment before the world re-focused around him. The students were gone, but the long wooden tables were instead filled with cheering soldiers and massive plates of food. One in particular caught his eye, a winged helm sat atop his head, inlaid with gold and silver filigree twisted into the brightly polished metal. The men had all thrown up another round of cheering to this man, and he willingly obliged them by grasping his own goblet in an armored hand. He raised it high to the men, before downing the contents amidst the roar of celebration.

"It seems kinda strange either way doesn't it Yugi?" Ryou muttered in the distance.

"….."

"YUGI!" Ryou said louder, and much closer to his friend's ear.

"OW!" Yugi yelped, "What was that for?!"

"You were spacing," Ryou said, popping another piece of nigiri in his mouth, "You alright?"

"Yeah I think so," Yugi said grinning sheepishly, "It's all a lot to take in at once."

"Tell that to Malik…" Ryou said shaking his head, and pointing to the Slytherin table.

Sure enough, Malik already had a following of Slytherins hanging on his every word. They were too far away to hear whatever he was talking about, but judging by the hand motions, he was really getting into it. Not everyone was enjoying their new housemate, however. While Malik had quickly assimilated to his new surroundings, he'd also managed to split the Slytherin house in two. Malfoy and his cronies all sat glaring at the new arrival, and openly mocking his enthusiasm. Yugi and Ryou weren't the only ones that noticed either. Malik's eyes flicked over to Malfoy, and he simply sat down in his seat without missing a beat. One hand quickly slipped inside his robes, just as Malfoy guided a spoonful of custard towards his mouth. The faint glimmer under the table passed so fast, it could have been mistaken for a candle or torch reflecting off of the floor, but at the same moment, Malfoy's spoon seemed to miss his mouth altogether and instead plastered custard on the side of his face. Almost everyone at the table erupted into laughter, and even some of those sitting near Malfoy were trying hard to keep the snickers off their face as he angrily wiped the desert off of his face. Yugi and Ryou exchanged worried glances, and the commotion even seemed to catch Kaiba's attention. But Dumbledore's voice interrupted the confrontation before it could begin to escalate.

"I am sure you all have plenty of questions, but not to worry, they will all be answered soon enough," The Headmaster said calmly, "But tonight is one of celebration, and welcoming all back for another year together. For now, I shall bid you all a good evening, and if the prefects would escort their houses to their commons, we can all get some rest for tomorrow."

A clatter of chairs and feet echoed in the Hall, as the students all crowded around their respected Prefects before slowly filing out and to the towers. Teachers too, made their way down from the table and vanished amongst the crowds to prepare their lessons for the next morning. Yugi and Ryou followed along behind a chattering group of second-years, and fell to the back of the procession as the Slytherin House passed them by. Malik was still surrounded by a cluster of students, but dropped back to catch up to his friends.

"What was that!" Yami's voice hissed, as the Pharaoh took control of Yugi.

"It's called 'fun' Pharaoh," Malik scoffed, "Ever heard of it? Besides, the little snob had it coming to him after the ride here."

"Which meant it's my battle to fight; he grabbed my deck, not yours." Kaiba growled suddenly towering over the three, "Normally I wouldn't care what you mental patient rejects do in your free time, but since everyone seems to think we're friends, I don't want to get called in for one of your stupid pranks. Got it?"

"But the guy's in my House, not yours," Malik pointed out, "Which means he's free game."

"Calm down Priest," Bakura said rolling his eyes, joining in the conversation, "It's not like anyone knew what happened."

"Until they see one of the Items because you're too busy having pieces of trash like that run into walls!" Yami shot back, lowering his voice as another knot of students passed by.

"Trash? Why Pharaoh! You don't even know him!" Malik gasped in fake astonishment.

"I know a corrupted soul when I see one," Yami growled, "He's the kind of person that's only going to get have fun tormenting you every moment of the day."

"Then I'll have to be two steps ahead of him, won't I?" Malik grinned.

"Hey you lot! Get back with your houses!" A ghost floating above them yelled from the rafters.

Malik took the opportunity and trotted off to catch up with the rest of his house as they started down a different corridor, leaving the other three to go their own ways.

[[You know….The Pharaoh may have a point….]] Marik mused as they caught up to the others.

[You're kidding right? Since when do you agree with anything he has to say?]

[[When the words "running him into walls" come out of his mouth.]]

[Excellent point.]

Kaiba shook his head, and followed suit after Malik, but not before muttering something about babysitting under his breath, then disappeared into the crowd. Yami and Bakura were left in the corridor, with no sign of the Gryffindors any where.

"OY! You two!" A familiar voice called out from behind them. Seamus was trotting up to the two, as the spirits quickly returned to the items as he approached, "It's Yugi and….Ryou? Right?"

"Yeah," Yugi nodded, grateful to have found someone that knew the way to their tower, "And you're Seamus?"

"For the last 15 years," He joked, turning towards a large portrait of a Fat Lady.

"Why aren't you with the others?" Ryou asked.

"I hung back to get Professor Cooper's autograph," He said excitedly pulling out a carefully folded square of parchment, "What about you two? Didn't you leave with everyone else?"

"We just wanted to talk to one of our friends," Ryou shrugged.

"Yeah, tough luck your pal there getting Slytherin," Seamus said, quickly uttering the password and climbing through the hole when the portrait swung back, "but he seems to be doing pretty well on his own."

"Let's just hope it stays that way…."

Ace had really been expecting the Headmaster's office to be in more order than the jumbled piles of parchment and books that composed most of the floor's structure. Other portraits were all looking at him and whispering to one another as he and the Headmaster walked inside, but he paid them no mind as he took a seat on a wooden chair next to the large desk in the center of the room. A magnificent bird studied him carefully with one golden eye, and ruffled it's sunset-esque plumage before strutting across the desk to get a better look at the new visitor.

"Always a good sign when Fawkes takes an interest in someone," Dumbledore said lowering himself into his own chair, "He's a wonderful judge of character."

"Good to hear," Ace said reaching out to stroke the bird's crown feathers, "Phoenix right?"

"For a muggle, you seem to know quite a bit about us."

Ace craned his head back to look behind him and was met by a wall of bright pink fabric.

"Evening Professor," Ace said righting himself, "Sorry about barging in like that during dinner and all…"

"I don't suppose you could have helped it," Professor Umbridge said curtly, her toadish face drawn into a political mask, "Professor Dumbledore, I was wondering if I might have a word?"

"Yes of course," The Headmaster nodded with a smile, "What can I help you with?"

"I have a bit of a concern about your choice for my new…hem hem….colleague," She said giving Ace a sidelong glance of utter distaste, "And I'm most certain the Minister would also have similar concerns about his ability to work with the students and for his own safety."

Dumbledore's eyes flicked to his newest professor, to see him listening with a reserved silence, before rising to his feet and grasping Professor Umbridge's hand in a gentle hold.

"I must say ma'am, I'm touched by your concern for my wellbeing," He said with a kind smile on his face, before letting go of her hand and straightening his posture, "But I can assure you, I'll be more than able to take care of myself and these kids, muggle or not."

"Be that as it may," She said with a condescending smirk, " It is no secret that Hogwarts has produced several…troublemakers over the years. They may prove to be more difficult that you or our Headmaster here would have anticipated."

A rich laugh filled the room, as Ace began to chuckle at her comments.

"Pardon me Professor," Ace said, still smiling with out a trace of malice in his voice, "But I live for the challenge. It's the day when we are no longer to challenge ourselves, is when we begin to die. I'll be more than alright with what ever these so called "Troublemakers" can dish out."

"All the same I just feel that for a such a position, there are perhaps others more qualified-"

"You mean a wizard?" Ace summed up.

"Or witch." Umbridge corrected him.

"M'lady," Ace said gently, "Perhaps you should make an evaluation yourself. You against myself, witch against muggle, so that I could prove to you and help put your mind at ease, that I will have no trouble whatsoever."

Umridge's eyes bulged slightly, as she listened to Ace's proposal. Her face flushed a strange shade of red, while her mind reeled to form a response to such a ridiculous notion.

"Oh!" Ace exclaimed snapping his fingers, "The students should be present as well! A demonstration of both of our abilities could only serve to capture their respect before they could think about ways to cause trouble!"

"I-I…I don't think such…barbaric methods would be quite as effective as you may be thinking," She stammered quickly, "But your enthusiasm is refreshing. We'll see how you do in the next few days and perhaps have this little chat again?"

"Of course," Ace said bowing slightly to the witch before him, "I look forward to it."

Umbridge glanced at Dumbledore once, before straightening her cardigan and turning on her heels. Only when the sound of grinding stone reached the ears of those waiting in the office, did Ace sit back down with an unceremonious flop. At the same time, Fawkes seemed to have made up his mind about this new stranger and flapped his wings to alight on Ace's shoulder where he had better access to his fingers to scratch.

"Be careful with her," Dumbledore warned quietly, "She's not the type to forget trespasses so quickly."

"I'll be sure to stay out of her way then," Ace agreed, "No trespasses, no reason to fight me."

"I'm afraid it may not be quite that simple," Dumbledore shook his head, "Simply by being on these grounds you've threatened her, and have made a dangerous enemy out of her. She may not be the most powerful person on the planet, but she has the connections to those that are."

"It wouldn't be the first time," Ace shrugged nonchalantly, before pulling an envelope from an inner pocket of his jacket and set in on the desk between them, "Now should we get started?"

Gotc: And we have our first little confrontation with the wicked toad of the west. Short, but they'll get better once we get into the year. I have a great first day planned, so keep posting and one eye peeled for the next chappie! Laters!