Gotc: I'm SORRY!
Ace: -Muffled yelling-
Gotc: The only good thing about having a crapload of homework to do is that Ace has been buried for the
last two months, and the silence has been oh-so-nice. Plenty of time to study, no time to write, but studying's good too. Anyway, I think you all have waited long enough for this chapter sooooo….SQUEAKY!
Squeaky: Squeak! (Ahhh…So quiet….)
Gotc: Indeed…so nice…But Fic time is now! Enjoy!
Harry Potter and the Order of the Riding Dragon
CHAPTER 15: Bright Pink Headaches
Waking up the next morning hurt. Yugi and Ryou were both the last ones out of bed, both bleary-eyed and disheveled. There had been some argument the night before between Harry and Seamus after they'd all made it back to their dormitories, but both were out almost the very instant their heads came within reach of their pillows. But unbeknownst to them, neither of their darker halves could find any rest during the long night.
Maybe that was the reason a new, and more vicious throbbing had manifested claws and teeth to deeply root it into the teen's skulls.
"Owwww….." Ryou moaned holding his head, Yugi complaining in unison with him as they slumped
over their plates at breakfast.
(What did you do Bakura?) Ryou said holding his head to keep his brain from spilling out of his ears, (Sneak a couple of gallons of sake on the train to drink after I went to bed?)
((Yeah, Yandoushi,)) Bakrua growled, in a similar position in his soul room, ((And I invited the Pharaoh over too and we just had a great time! Now will you stop talking so loud!))
Ryou didn't feel like arguing with the irritable spirit, and instead rolled his head just enough so he could look at Yugi.
"How do you feel?" He asked, already guessing the answer.
"Like Ra just got done using me to pick its teeth," Yugi groaned, "How's Bakura?"
"Miserable, for once" Ryou sighed, "I just wish I felt better to enjoy it. How's Yami?"
"Dying." Yugi said managing a weak smile, "He won't even talk to me."
"Lucky..Any idea what happened?"
"All this new magic is my guess," Yugi shrugged, keeping his voice low "It's way stronger than back at the other place. It must be clashing with the Items."
"Then why does Malik get off like he's been sleeping on a cloud of feathers?"
Yugi could only glance over at his friend wolfing down his breakfast, before he caught Yugi's gaze and waved to him enthusiastically.
"I dunno, maybe it has something to do with Yami and Bakura being more sensitive to the magic." Yugi sighed, "I don't really care what's causing it right now though. I just want it to stop…"
"You boys have a headache!?" The grating voice of Fred Weasley nearly bellowed in their ears.
Yugi and Ryou both winced in unison, then turned a glare on the Weasley twin their yamis would have been proud of.
"Please don't talk so loud," Ryou practically hissed between clenched teeth. He didn't know whether it was his own misery or Bakura's that was boiling over into an urge to strangle the redhead to stop the noise.
"Ya know," George said plopping down in the open seat next to Yugi, and throwing one arm over his slumped shoulders, "We're working on a new formula that might help take care of those headaches. We'd be willing to make it worth your while too-"
"Fred! George!" Hermione yelled, from a few seats down the table, "You can't be testing your horrible 'products' on students! Yugi and Ryou are new here and they're going to have a hard enough time keeping up without a daily trip to the infirmary!"
"Why Hermione!" Fred gasped in mock insult, "How dare you insinuate that our products are anything but safe?!"
"Besides," Gorege added, "You only said no advertising for testers on the bulletin board in the commons. This is a mutual agreement."
"It is nothing of the sort!" She protested, "You'll get your products tested, and they'll be missing half their faces! Back me up on this Ron!"
Ron only stuck his face closer to his plate, while Harry watched the whole scene from the corner of his eye with a small smirk on his face. Hermione didn't seem to notice however, as she stood firmly behind her decision.
"No. Testing. On. Students." She said enunciating each word to make her point.
"And what are you going to do about it?" George said playfully jabbing Fred in the ribs, "Give us detention?"
"No," Hermione said with a devilishly sweet smile, "I'll write your mother."
Both twins paled instantly, and met Hermione's triumphant grin with a disbelieving stare.
"You wouldn't,"
"I would and will."
The two sides stood in silence for a moment longer, staring each other down as if not blinking would decide who was bluffing and who was not.
"Come on George," Fred said breaking the silence, "We might be able to sell a few Extendable Ears before Herbology."
Hermione watched the two walk off, scrutiny never leaving her face until they were out of sight. Yugi and Ryou both re-buried their heads in the crook of their folded arms, trying to find some relief from the gnawing pain that was eating away at the inside of their skulls.
"You two should probably go see the nurse if you feel any worse later…" Hermione offered.
"It's probably just nerves," Yugi said, not bothering to lift his head, "I'm sure we'll get over it."
"Get over what?"
Malik helped himself to the open seat where the Weasley's had been sitting, ignoring the incredulous and angry stares that were coming from the other Gryffindors around them.
"Headache." Yugi sighed, "Bad."
"You don't think it has to do with the Items do you?" Malik asked, reverting back to Japanese and lowering his voice with so many people nearby.
"Wish we knew," Ryou said, forcing a forkful of eggs into his mouth to try and keep up appearances, "How bout you? You feeling alright?"
"I'm fine. A little fuzzy from the magic, but no pain or headache to speak of-"
"What are you guys going on about over there?" Ron asked from across the table, enough of the foreign conversation reaching his ears to pique his curiosity.
"Nothing," Malik lied quickly, "We just forgot to go see Professor McGonagall last night is all."
"Then I suppose it's a good thing I found you."
All three looked back over their shoulders, or in Yugi and Ryou's case, rolled themselves into a better position. Emerald green robes and stern eyes met the three as they looked up at the professor. Malik started to utter a quick excuse, before she cut him off by holding up one hand.
"Don't worry about it Mr. Ishtar," McGonagall said, straightening her glasses, "I think we all had a bit of an…..interesting evening. Although Mr. Kaiba did manage to make it to my office."
"Figures," Malik snorted, "Where is Mr. King-of-the-World anyway?"
"He had some pressing business matters to attend to," McGonagall said raising an eyebrow at Malik's comment, "The school interferes with any muggle made devices, so he was escorted off of the grounds until he puts his affairs in order. Not to worry, he'll be back before class begins."
Just then, Professor Cooper came striding into the Great Hall, a thin sheen of sweat across his forehead and his jacket tossed over his shoulder. He stopped only briefly to say hello to a few of the other teachers, and grab a piece of fruit and a small loaf of bread, before heading back the way he'd came. Professor McGonagall watched him like a hawk the entire time, but never did let any indication of some kind of distrust reach her face.
"Professor," Harry asked, "Why did Professor Dumbledore hire a muggle to teach? Isn't that breaking some kind of law with the Ministry?"
"Most likely," The Deputy Headmistress said handing slips of paper to each of them, "But Professor Dumbledore knows what he's doing , and he never would have brought Cooper to Hogwarts if he didn't have a good reason for it."
"You don't happen to know him do you?" Yugi asked, not looking at McGonagall, but rater at the door where Professor Cooper had just vanished behind.
"I'm afraid I don't," She said, giving Yugi a strange look, "Not personally anyway. I've done a little research on him after he was hired, but nothing more than that. Why do you ask?"
"No reason really," Yugi said, suddenly becoming very interested in his schedule, "I just thought maybe he had some connection to the magical community if he came so highly recommended by the Headmaster."
McGonagall continue to eye Yugi carefully, before she continued on down the table to finish passing out schedules to the rest of the Gryffindors. Both Malik and Ryou picked up where the Headmistress had left off with her inquisitive stare, but didn't have the chance to say anything, before Ron's groan spread a sense of despair across the table.
"Look at this! I don't think they could have had us lined up for a worst first day!" He complained , "History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defense against the Dark Arts!"
"Joy…" Harry sighed in unison after confirming Ron's discovery, "Binns, Snape, Trewlney, and Umbridge all in the same day…. What about you guys? How's you schedule look?"
"About the same I guess," Ryou shrugged, "No Divination. We've got Ancient Runes and Muggle studies instead. It looks like we don't have Professor Cooper until Thursday though."
"We have potions together," Malik pointed out, "That won't be so bad, right?"
"If you say so…" Harry said destitutly gathering up his things.
Three hours later, and Ryou thought he would physically have to restrain Bakura from sending someone to the Shadow Realm. The History Professor had actually helped, his voice had been unnaturally boring had put them both to sleep. In fact, he awoke in time to head off to his next class strangely refreshed, and with his headache somewhat lessened. Yugi on the other hand still looked miserable. His normally spiky hair seemed to droop in tandem with his pounding head. More than once, Ryou thought he caught Yugi and the Pharaoh switching places, no doubt to give the other some relief from the unrelenting pain, of course, it might have been Ancient Runes. The announcement that they'd be starting with Ancient Egypt was a welcome break from the unfamiliar magic. All in all, the day had been going rather well, at least until they had set foot in the dungeons.
It had taken all of three seconds for the dark-haired Potions Master to decide that the new students weren't to his liking, and another four to make his displeasure known. The rest of the period was then spent continually berating the three for their lack of knowledge about potions, their ingredients, and even the tools that should be used to prepare them. Malik even caught an earful after a remark under his breath about homemade hair oil, once Snape had turned his back. In fact, the only break they had caught in the Potion Master's wrath, was the few moments before class had ended where he had taken some time to publicly humiliate Harry in front of the entire class.
((ARROGANT MAN!)) Bakura roared inside of Ryou's skull, ((Bottle fame? Stopper death?! Ha! His little chemistry set is no comparison to real magic! I wonder if he has a flask of pepto bismol that will stop the bleeding when I-))
(Bakura!) Ryou said cutting him off before he could elaborate, or send any more pictures of exactly what he'd like to do into his head, (It's only the first day. Don't you think it's just a little too early to start making threats against a teacher's life?)
((Oh please,)) Bakura scoffed, ((If I had my way, I'd take the Necklace from the Keeper's sister and get rid the world of men like him before they even had a chance to come into existence.))
(What a wonderful thought. Look, he even got on Malik's case, and he's in the guy's House. We stay out of his way and then we only have to see him twice a week. So do you think you can keep the bloodlust to a minimum just for this next class?)
Ryou and Yugi silently filed in behind several other students into the large classroom and quickly found a seat somewhere in the middle. Professor Umbridge was already sitting at the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom adorned in her fluffy pink cardigan and matching hat with black velvet bow. No one spoke a word as they all filed into the room and found seats under her watchful gaze. Harry, Ron and Hermione took their seats next to them with a silent nod and rustle of parchment as they all dug for their supplies before the period began.
((How many Barbies do you think had to die so she could make that outfit?)) Came Bakura's snide comment, as Ryou settled back in his chair.
He had to choke back a laugh in a fit of coughing, drawing and odd look from Yugi and the rest of the students around him. Ryou muttered a quick apology, before resituating himself in his seat. Yugi kept casting sidelong glances at his friend, until Ryou opened his link and relayed Bakura's comment. Yugi suddenly became very interested in a spot on the ceiling, and did whatever he could to avaoid looking directly at Professor Umbridge.
"Good afternoon children!" Professor Umbridge said brightly once everyone had taken their seats.
A half-hearted mummer went up in reply from a handful of students, earning a "tut-tut" from the lips of their new professor.
"Oh come now, that will never do," She said in the same voice one would use when speaking to a toddler, "Let's try again shall we? And I would like you all to say 'Good afternoon Professor Umbridge'. Now, Good afternoon children!"
"Good afternoon Professor Umbridge," The class chanted back lamely but enough to placate their teacher.
"There now," She said sweetly, "That wasn't so hard now was it? Now, wands away and quills out please."
A unified moan went up, as everyone sluggishly obeyed. Umbridge didn't seem to notice however as she began pace in front of the classroom. She cleared her throat with a 'hem hem' before continuing on, her voice much more business-like than it had been only moments before.
"While I had planned on addressing the entire student body yesterday evening before our little, hem, interruption," She said with a small smile on her face, "I'm sure you all will be just as attentive in hearing what I have to say today. Now, as you all know, the Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of the utmost importance. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community passed down from generation to generation lest we lost them forever. Every Headmaster or headmistress has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, which is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress sake should be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions require no tinkering. A balance then, between old and new, permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"
Ryou was having a difficult time deciding whether Umbridge was better or worse than Professor Binns at putting her students to sleep. Well, perhaps sleep was the wrong word; her voice seemed to be causing brain damage more than anything. Most of the students were staring back at her with glazed over eyes, the way Ryou remembered many of Bakura's victims looking after he'd sent their souls to the deepest parts of the Shadow Realm. Hermione was listening intently, as was Yugi…No the Pharaoh, they must have switched again, and neither one of them had a pleased look on their faces about anything she had to say.
"…Because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, meanwhile others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, and intent on preserving on what ought to be preserved, perfecting whatever needs to be perfected, and pruning where ever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."
At last, there was a pause in her droning that registered with the students as the end of her speech. There was a general rise in the level of activity amongst the room, which unfortunately, Umbridge took to be a sign of approval of her speech. She waddled back to her desk, where she promptly extracted her wand from the depths of her handbag and gave the board behind her a sharp rap. Words instantly began to appear on its surface, as if drawn by some unseen hand: Defense Against the Dark Arts, A Return to Basic Principles.
A wave of relief washed through Ryou, as some the apprehension about using spells he'd never even heard of evaporated away. Back to basics meant he and Yugi might actually have a chance to catch up with the rest of the class.
"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her, "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your OWL year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."
She gave the board another tap with her wand, and the previous heading promptly disapeared, only to be replaced by the heading "Course Aims"
-Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.
-Learning to recognise situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.
- Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.
Everyone began to scribble down the aims, with the same half-hearted attention that they had given to their new professor during her little speech. The entire time Umbridge watched them with her beady squinted eyes, as the room was filled with the sounds of quills scrabbling against parchment.
"Now, I see everyone already has their textbooks out in front of them," Umbridge crowed, "So if you will all please turn to page 5, please begin reading the first chapter."
Ryou sighed and opened his book to the beginning, and only took a glance at the page before a feeling of disappointment washed over him. While he did have his doubts about how proficient he'd be with this new magic, he had also been looking forward to practicing it as well. He was just about to start reading, when Bakura's voice cut back into his thoughts.
((Yandoushi. What are you doing?)) The Thief King asked as if Ryou were about to burn himself by touching the book.
(Reading.) Ryou said shortly. Umbridge hadn't been too bad, but there was an air about her that defiantly spelled trouble, (You know...Like I'm supposed to?)
((Humph. Maybe the old hag should teach you how to grow a back bone, rather than some fancy magic tricks,)) Bakura chided him, but without the usual venom behind it, ((It looks like His Royal Highness is about to start an uprising.))
Ryou looked over at Yami puzzled by Bakura's comment, until he saw that Yami had yet to even touch the book in front of him. Instead, he sat leaned forward on the table, both hands clasped loosely and still looking at Umbridge as if he still expected her to have more to say. And he wasn't the only one. Sevral seats down, Hermione sat in her chair, book unopened in front of her as well, with her hand straight up in the air. Umbridge's eyes seemed to look everywhere else in the room, except for where they were sitting.
But Ryou and Bakura weren't the only ones to notice the blatant display of civil disobedience. One by one, students were quickly deciding that watching the so-far futile attempt to capture Umbridge's attention to be far more interesting than reading a chapter that might as well been written for toddlers. It wasn't until over half the class forsaken their assignment did Umbridge finally look up at Hermione.
"Yes dear?" She asked sweetly, as if she had just then noticed her, "Did you have a question about the chapter?"
"No, not about the chapter," Hermione said, "I have a query about your course aims."
There was a nearly imperceptible pause, as Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows.
"And your name is?"
"Hermione Granger."
"Well, Miss Granger. I think the course aims are quite clear if you take the time to read them thoroughly," Umbridge said straightening her outfit from her seat behind the desk.
"But there's nothing up there about using defensive spells." Hermione persisted.
"I had noticed that myself," Yami said in a very diplomatic voice, straightening his posture a bit, "We will be practising the methods were reading about, correct?"
"Students must raise their hands if they wish to speak in my class Mr-?"
"Yugi Motu."
"But he's right isn't he?" Ryou joined in, "We will be learning to use these spells right?"
"Hand Mr-?"
"Ryou Bakura."
Ryou could have sworn he saw Umbridge make a quick note on a scrap of paper, before she re addressed him.
"Mr. Bakura," She said, the babyish sweet tone in her voice starting to become highly annoying, "Are you expecting to be attacked during my class?"
Ryou had to bite his bottom lip, as he exchanged a quick glance with Yami. He'd learned to live with the constant threat of being attacked for years. It was just sort of a package deal that came with being an Item Bearer. He opened his mouth to say something, when he felt the familiar prickle of magic trickle down his neck, as Bakura assumed control.
(What are you doing?!) Ryou exclaimed.
((She said Mr. Bakura, not Mr. Ryou. Therefore I do believe she was speaking to me.))
(Bakura!)
"To be entirely honest," Bakura said, in a perfect imitation of his hikari's voice, "I think the day you stop looking over your shoulder is the day someone'll slip a knife between your ribs."
Bakura let a small triumphant look slide onto his face, as a stunned and horrified look crept onto the professor's. Next to him, he heard the Pharaoh let out a long, relenting sigh, obviously resigning himself to a very long year.
"Well," Umbridge said, quickly recovering her composure, "I can assure you nothing of the sort will be happening in this class. The Ministry has devised a new program that will allow you learn about defencive spells in a secure, risk-free way-"
"What good is that?," Harry piped up, "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a-"
"Your hand is not up Mr. Potter!" Professor Umbridge trilled shrilly, before turning away from him.
"Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a good theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examinations-" Umbridge started again, before she was quickly interrupted.
"Being asked to use a spell in a situation under pressure, especially a dangerous one without attempting it beforehand is suicide! You might as well hand us each a death sentence now!" Yami exclaimed, starting to lose his temper. It didn't take half a thought to figure out their last night in Domino was still fresh in the former Pharaoh's mind.
"It's like he says," Harry said, his voice bolder now that there were others on his side, "What good is theory going to be in the real world?"
"This is school Mr. Potter," Umbridge said softly, "Not the real world."
"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting for us out there?" Harry nearly shouted back.
"There is nothing out there."
"Oh yeah?!"
"And just who would want to attack children like yourselves?" Umbrdge asked, almost daring Harry to go over the edge.
"Hmm...Maybe Lord Voldermort?" Harry huffed with mock thoughtfulness in his voice, "I'm sure you heard about what happened to Cedric Diggory?"
A ripple of worried murmurs and shocked gasps spread throughout the room, as if by saying the Dark Wizard's name Harry would summon him into their midst.
"Ten points from Gryffindor. And detention." Umbridge said with a sneer of triumph on her toadish face, "Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident, but as I'm sure that you've all heard stories about a certain Dark Wizard, I'm here to assure you, they're nothing but lies,"
That did it for Yami. Ignorance was something he could put up with, but such a blatant disregard for the loss of a life, for the purpose of maintaining pretences or not, stirred a raging fire in the pit of his stomach.
"A lie?" He said slowly standing up, the sound of his chair dragging across the stone floors capturing everyone's attention, "How can you possibly disregard someone's life as a 'tragic accident'?"
"I suggest you sit down Mr. Motu," Umbridge said dangerously, "And calm yourself before you join Mr. Potter in detention. Students shouldn't be speaking of such things when they have no idea what it is they're speaking about."
"They came to my home!" Yami shouted back at her. He had a glare set on his face that Bakura had once thought he reserved only for the Shadow Realm. Even Umbridge notice it and took and imperceptible step backwards from him as he continued on.
"Your 'Dark Wizards' attacked my friends, and would have killed us if we had given them the opportunity! Whatever fool is running your Ministry should be the one to shut his mouth and listen to what's going on around him, because he sounds like the only one that has no idea of what's happening around him!"
"Detention! And-"
"For what?" Bakura jumped in before the shaken professor could finish her sentence, "For hitting the nail on the head? To be honest, it sounds like all of this is to keep us from finding out what's really going on. If you ask me, I think your Ministry's covering this entire thing up, because you're scared about how much we really do know!"
There was a palpable silence in the room. Umbridge had turned a shade of pink that matched her cardigan with unnerving accuracy, as she stood there behind her desk fuming silently at such an unprecedented show of defiance. With a controlled motion, she sat back down at her desk and pulled out a slip of pink paper from her hand bag, before motioning for Yami, Bakura and Harry to come forward. The three walked up to her desk as she tapped the paper with the tip of her wand, sealing it seamlessly so it couldn't be opened.
"Take this to Professor McGonagal, and I will see the three of you Wednesday night for detention." She said the mockingly sweet tone back in her voice.
Harry made no attempt to conceal his frustration, as he snatched the note from her hand. Bakura really looked as if he didn't care one way or another about the situation he'd landed himself and his hikari in, but Yami still looked as if he were going to face off with the toad-faced witch. But instead, he turned away from her with a disgusted snort, and strode proudly out of the room behind his friends.
"So much for keeping a low-profile Pharaoh," Bakura jabbed at the fuming spirit, keeping his voice low enough so Harry couldn't hear them
"I will not be told by that woman that what happened to us was nothing more than some dreamed up hallucination," Yami snarled.
"You let the Priest."
"Only because he does it to convince himself." Yami said, catching Umbridge's placating voice drifting out of the door behind them preaching something about coming to her with any concerns, "But I won't take it coming from her."
Gotc: Yeah….so it's been several weeks since my last post…I sincerely apologize for that. And to make it up to you, and extra long chappie! Hopefully college won't continue to drain my life away. Anyhoo, you guys know the drill, R&R and I'll have the next chapter up in something similar to a timely fashion.