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Gotc: So glad you approve! Ahhhhh…what a happy day! And for such an occasion: I dedicate this chapter to those loyal viewers who have been so loyally reviewing for the last 17 chapters!
Ace: That's all it's been? God…and it's nowhere near over…
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Squeaky: Squeak! (Since this is dedicated to you who know what's going on, I feel no need to repeat myself.)
Gotc: Eh, whatever. No stealing, have fun, all that jazz.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Rising Dragon
CHAPTER 17: Shades of Blue
There was silence amongst the three, save for the occasional word or two loud enough to reach their ears from across the veiled corridor. Ron had a disbelieving look all over his face, while Harry and Hermione stared straight ahead as if it would help them understand the conversation any better.
"Are you sure it's ancient Egyptian?" Ron asked quietly, "How do you know it's not just Japanese or something-"
"Ron, maybe if you would take a useful class like Ancient Runes instead of that nonsense people call Divination," Hermione hissed, "Then maybe you'd be able to tell the difference."
"Can you tell what they're saying?" Harry asked anxiously.
"I don't know," Hermione said with doubt in her voice, "I've only read a few tablets, and we've only just started in Egypt-"
The sudden sound of someone clearing their throat from the hall behind them caught the three's attention with an unsettling start. They spun around on the spot, eyes wide with shock at being caught in what should have been a deserted hallway. But when they turned to face whoever had startled them, the hall was just as empty as they last saw it.
"Who-"
"Over here," The same voice chuckled with obvious amusement, scaring the three once again.
Right next to them on the opposite side of the hall, stood Professor Cooper. He was leaning against the wall, both arms folded across his chest and one foot against the stone behind him. A knowing grin was plastered all over his face, and his blue eyes shone out of the shadows he stood enveloped in.
"Professor!" Hermione started, shaken at being caught off-guard.
"You know," Cooper said, glancing about the hall rather nonchalantly, "There's something I don't quite get. Why would the three of you be sneaking about this part of the castle at this time of day, well night actually isn't it?"
There was no trace of discipline or even cruel mockery that seemed to suit Professor Umbridge so well in Professor Cooper's voice or features. Instead he looked like a mother who had just caught her child with his hand in the cookie jar.
"We were on our way to the library," Harry hurriedly explained, then gestured out to the hall where Yugi and the others were standing, "But we just got….side..tracked."
Harry followed his own gesture and looked out to where they had been watching the three exchange students arguing only moments before. But in the few moments they had turned their backs, the three had vanished into thin air. Harry stared at the spot long enough for Professor Cooper to crane his neck slightly to catch a glimpse of whatever Harry wasn't looking at. He quirked an eyebrow, before glancing back at the students.
"You see something I don't?" He asked.
"No Professor," Harry stammered, shaking off his confusion, "I guess not."
"Well, get your eyes checked if that keeps happening," The Professor said with a light laugh, "But I do suggest you three get moving before that old caretaker of yours comes through here in a few minutes. I bet he'd be pretty interested as to what you all are doing out here."
"Of course Professor," Hermione said quickly, almost pushing Ron and Harry towards the stairwell.
"Good night," Cooper said easily, before stopping them one more time, "And by the way…"
The three winced; expecting some sort of reprimand to follow the statement left hanging in the air.
"You don't have to keep calling me "Professor"," He laughed, "My name's Ace, and I don't mind if you use it."
Harry, Ron and Hermione all exchanged glances as if they had just dodged the proverbial bullet. No missing points, no extra detention, and hardly even a warning. Instead of questioning it though, they gave a quick nod of acknowledgement and hurried onward without looking back. Ace shook his head, still grinning until the three were well out of his sight, before his features melted into concentration, as he turned his gaze back to the spot where Harry had pointed. He stared at it hard for a few seconds, almost expecting something to come leaping out from behind one of the narrow pillars, but simply shrugged after a moment and sauntered off with both hands in his pockets.
"Why are you two idiots doing this again?!" Yami sighed following behind Bakura and Marik, as the three rounded another corned into an empty corridor, "We have homework to do-"
"Our hikaris have homework. We're spirits thousands of years old wielding magical items with the power to warp reality as we see fit." Bakura huffed with a matter-of-factly tone, "We don't have to do a damn thing."
"Speak for yourself," Marik snorted in mock offence, "You and the Pharaoh may be older than the sands, but I am nowhere near as decrepit as you two."
"Half as old, twice as crazy," Bakura rolled his eyes, "It all evens out in the end. Now shut up, I hear another one coming."
In a single fluid motion, the three pressed themselves into the shadows of the corridor, as Bakura harnessed the magic that constructed a veil around them. Just as the illusion took hold, one of the school's ghosts came drifting into view. Barely able to contain his snickering, Marik pulled a card out from his deck and held it loosely between his fingers as he summoned it from the Shadow Realm. The ghost went floating past them, when a pale green specter snuck silently up behind it before Marik whispered something to the card in his hand, and the monster spat an enormous amount of transparent snot-like goo right on the top of the unsuspecting spirit's head. It cackled deviously with success, before vanishing into the darkness once more, while the ghost let out a stream of curses while it tried to scrape the goo away, before muttering something about being peeved. When it had finally gone, Bakura dismissed the veil and he and Marik laughed so hard they had to lean against the wall for support. Yami only shook his head in disapproval, continuously looking over his shoulder in case someone should be watching.
"Oh come on your Royal Highness," Bakura said pushing himself up, "Even you had to admit that was funny."
"No, and it'll be even less funny when someone hands us even more detentions for antagonizing the ghosts," Yami snorted.
"Gods Pharaoh, why did you even come if you weren't going to at least have some fun?"
"Because someone has to make sure you two won't turn this castle on its head while everyone's sleeping." Yami sighed, "And I don't trust Kaiba to do it, since one or both of you would probably have some monster cart him off to the Shadow Realm."
"Oh please. We wouldn't even dream about subjecting the Shadows to that." Bakura said, "Your girlfriend's little friendship speeches are bad enough, I think Kaiba's lectures are even worse torture than having your soul ripped out."
Yami had no chance to respond, before the Millennium Puzzle began to glow and very suddenly became red-hot against his chest. A sudden yelp, and the clang of stone against metal confirmed that Marik had dropped the Rod, and Bakura was swearing as he was fighting to pull the Ring out of the folds of his robes. The last time this had happened, Death Eaters had swarmed them like insects from all sides. Yami's hand flew to his deck, one of the gods on top and ready to make those pathetic cowards pay for what they'd done. Bakura and Marik had recovered too, and they were both scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary. But nothing leapt out at them, no bursts of magic, no attack. And yet there was a steady burn still coming from the Items.
"Well, where are they?" Yami growled.
"Do you really think they could get into this castle undetected?" Bakura hissed back, "Someone would have seen them and raised an alarm. Besides, I'd be the only one in the world with the skill to attack someone in their own stronghold."
"Or with enough stupidity!"
"Shut the hell up both of you and just hide us!" Marik barked, raising his voice a little more than he wanted to.
Bakura snarled something under his breath, before the veil encompassed the three just in time for Harry and Professor Cooper to step out into the open looking where they had been standing moments before. Yami glared hard at the back of Bakura's skull, trying to bore holes in the thick bone.
"Do you see something I don't?" Professor Cooper's voice drifted to where they were hiding.
"No Professor," Harry stammered, in response "I guess not."
"Well, get your eyes checked if that keeps happening," The Professor said with a light laugh, "But I do suggest you three get moving before that old caretaker of yours comes through here in a few minutes. I bet he'd be pretty interested as to what you all are doing out here."
There was a muddle of voices issuing their good nights as the students departed, but Professor Cooper remained where he was. His gaze turned to the spot where the three spirits were waiting silently for the chance to make their escape. It was an unnerving stare, not angry or confused, but almost like he was trying to see past the magic that concealed them. Even from a distance it was unnerving. They were no stranger to glares and hard stares, Kaiba's had even lost its sharp edge as of late, but this man wasn't Kaiba and there was something different in his eyes. They weren't the color of cold steel like their friend's, but rather the blue one sees flicker for a brief instant in the very heart of a flame.
At last, he seemed satisfied that nothing was there, and strode of down the opposite hall. There was a collective sigh of relief as Bakura dispelled the magic, and the three reappeared in the hall.
"How much do you think they saw?" Marik asked once the coast was clear.
"Enough to make them suspicious of us for the rest of the year," Yami sighed in frustration, "Well Thief? Do you think we could try to get back to the tower before they do to have some kind of story?"
"That depends, do you want to get there in one or six pieces?"
"It'll be six if we don't go soon," Marik said, his head snapping around at hearing plodding footsteps coming from around one of the corridors, "I'll see you guys later. And good luck!"
"Yeah," Yami said rolling his eyes, "We're gonna need it…"
This time, the Items did not glow red hot, as a pair of cobalt eyes watched them from the shadows…..
Gotc: Sorry for the shorter chappie. Class and finals are stressin me out! But to reiterate my earlier joy….100 REVIEWS! So I am setting the next goal at 200, and only you, the loyal viewers of , can make that dream become a reality! So I'm off to class, but I hope you all enjoyed the chappie, and I'll have the next installment up soon! Laters!