Gotc: I hate finals. But they're over now and the happy fun time of reviewing known only as Summer Vacation can now begin!

Ace: Enjoy it while it lasts. Not that reading your drivel more frequently should be anything worth celebrating.

Gotc: Did I tell you I'm moving your stuff to my basement to live with the rats? But ignoring the disembodied voice I'm now choosing to ignore, let's move on with this chappie! Squeaky!

Squeaky: Squeak! (No ownage here, but look out for disembodied voices.)

Gotc: Very good. Now move along and enjoy!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Rising Dragon

CHAPTER 18: Always Watching

Hermione practically jogged back to the Gryffindor common room, dragging Harry and Ron with her all the way. Even the Fat Lady seemed surprised by her abrupt behavior, as the young witch forced her way past the opening and rushed into the room.

"I'll be right back," She announced without even turning around to her companions, and disappeared up the stairs to the girl's dormitories.

"What do you think she's after?" Ron asked his friend, flopping into an available chair by the fire.

"Dunno," Harry shrugged following suit, "I still don't understand how they managed to vanish like that. I mean there's no apparating in the school so how-"

Harry's thought was cut off by a large book dropping onto one of the side tables next to him. Hermione took a seat next to them, and opened the other book she still had in her arms.

"Don't tell me…" Ron scoffed, "Light reading?"

"It's OWL year Ron," Hermione said, without even looking up as she flipped through the pages, "I figured it couldn't hurt to have a little extra studying under my belt before exams."

"That's not extra Hermione," Ron said resting his head on one hand, "That's excessive."

Hermione spared an irritated glance at her friend for a moment, before going back to the gigantic book in front of her. Harry couldn't make heads or tails of the massive tome, since most of the pages were covered with scrawling lines of runes and hieroglyphs. Plus, Hermione was rushing through so quickly, he didn't have time to catch more than a brief glimpse of each page before she flipped on to the next one.

"It wasn't quite a late dialect…." She mused to no one in particular, carful to keep her voice down so she wouldn't be over heard, "An Old Kingdom pronunciation perhaps…."

"There's different ways to pronounce the same word?" Ron asked incredulously.

"There's different dialects throughout Egypt's history," Hermione said, not looking up, "We have to be able to tell them apart, or you could risk mistranslating something. Here."

Hermione brought a finger to rest on a line of hieroglyphics, as her eyes scanned the page. Whatever she was reading, obviously wasn't much to her liking, as her eyes seemed to get wider with every passing second.

"What does it say!" Harry demanded starting to get impatient

"Well..I…I couldn't translate everything," Hermione stuttered, "But they definitely mentioned something about tearing out souls and torture."

"WHAT?!"

Harry had to bite down on his tongue as a couple of first-years cast him an odd look at his outburst. Forcing an embarrassed grin to his face, he didn't look back at Hermione until they had walked off.

"Are you sure that's what they said," He asked in a much lower voice this time.

"Positive," Hermione nodded, "They were talking about a shadow too."

"A shadow?"

"Maybe it means like darkness or something," Ron suggested, "It was starting to get dark out."

"Or Dark Lord." Harry pointed out feeling bile rise up in his throat.

"We don't know that Harry," Hermione said skimming back over the page, looking for something she might have missed, "I missed a lot of the conversation-"

"How many other things come to mind when you're talking about souls, torture, and darkness?" Harry snapped, feeling his scar prickle.

"You think they're Death Eaters?" Ron asked.

"I think they're not who they make themselves out to be," Harry said, "McGonagall said something about not giving away too much about how they managed to get away from the Death Eaters in Domino before the Order saved them. I don't think even Dumbledore really knows how they did it."

"You think it was all just a rouse to get them into the Order's headquarters?" Hermione thought out loud.

"Well how many students has Hogwarts ever admitted 5 years late?"

The three sat silently for a while, as that thought sank in. In Harry's mind, this was worse than Malfoy. At least he knew where he stood with the Slytherin golden boy. But Yugi and the others? His thoughts drifted back to their confrontation with Umbridge earlier in the day. As much as he hated to admit it, they had acted different; like different people as Hermione had put it.

Harry sighed and laid his head in both hands, as a dull ache seemed to settle in just behind his scar. He wondered vaguely for a moment what it must be like to have a normal year. No conspiracies, no madman out to kill him, no evil teachers bent on making his life hell. He'd come to expect some kind of turmoil every time he set foot in this school, but he just never thought he'd have to look for it in his own house.

Just then, the portrait hole swung open, and Yugi and Ryou came into the common room each carrying a stack of books. Yugi was obviously having trouble with his stack, judging by how he couldn't quite see over the top of the books and tripped before he had taken two steps. Harry felt like maybe he should have gone to help the teen, instead of pretending he was working on his potions essay. Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that the two seemed to be glancing every now and again in their direction as they picked up the books. He halfway expected them to come over and try to brush the whole situation off, but the pair made no move of doing so and instead headed up to the dormitories for the night.

Looking back down at his essay, Harry sighed and started to put his books away. There was simply too much on his mind to worry about moonstones tonight. The pile of homework he still had waiting just seemed oddly insignificant next to the mountain of suspicion that had settled in his stomach.

"I'm going to bed." He announced gathering the rest of his things. Even if he couldn't fall asleep, maybe his presence would be enough to deter the two from anymore nightly jaunts or conversations about their souls.

"I might as well too," Hermione agreed, "I can't concentrate on this now anyway."

She and Ron began following suit, when Hermione stopped for a moment and pulled out two misshapen knitted blobs and placed them down on the end table before covering them with a few scraps of used parchment and a broken quill.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked, looking at her as if she had lost her mind.

"They're hats." She said in a very matter-of-factly tone, "For S.P.E.W. I knitted them myself over the summer. I'm terribly slow at it without magic, but now that I'm back at school, I should be able to make loads more!"

Harry shook his head. Hermione had just as much homework, or perhaps even more than he did, and she was talking about having enough free-time to knit.

"You're trying to trick the house-elves into being freed!" Ron accused her, as her intentions sank in.

"I'm not tricking anybody!" She defended herself, now throwing books back into her bag, "Those house-elves want to be freed! And don't you even think about touching those hats!"

Ron and Harry watched her storm up the stairs looking highly affronted by such a remark, before Ron removed the trash piled on top of the woolen hats. He nodded his head in satisfaction before picking up his own bag and heading off to bed.

"The house-elves should at least see what they're picking up," He said with a yawn.

A small grin crossed Harry's face as he sleepily made his way to his own bunk. Yugi and Ryou were already sound asleep and splayed out across their beds, a fact which put Harry's mind slightly more at ease, despite the tingle that persisted just behind his scar.

The next morning was just as bad as the day before. Dawn, if you could even call it that, had failed to chase away the persistent overhanging clouds that only served to dampen any hopes for a better morning.

Yugi and Ryou had still been asleep when most of the Gryffindors had headed off to breakfast, and had to practically run downstairs to catch up with everyone. Harry was making a titanic effort not to watch their every move, especially when Malik once again vacated his seat at the Slytherin table to sit with his friends, blatantly ignoring the looks he was getting.

"Well, at least we won't see Snape today," Ron said trying to force some cheer into his voice that was obviously as discouraged as the rest of the school by the abysmal weather.

"Or Hagrid," Harry muttered, noting the continued absence of their Care of Magical Creatures Professor.

What did catch his attention was Professor Cooper as he strolled in through the main doors. As he passed by the Gryffindor table, Harry could just make out the faintest glimmer of sweat on the muggle professor's brow. He didn't have much time to look though, before he headed straight for them and gave Harry a hard clap on the back as he passed by.

"Didn't stay up to late last night did ya'?" He asked in a voice a bit louder than Harry would have cared for.

"No sir," Hermione said quickly before Harry could respond.

"Good," Cooper beamed, before walking away and resuming his journey to the Teacher's Table.

"Well that was odd…" Ron remarked, after the professor had walked out of earshot.

"No kidding," Harry said, now painfully aware of how many more stares he was getting now, "Did he have to do that in front of everyone like that?"

"I don't think he meant to embarrass you Harry," Hermione said pouring herself a cup of coffee, "He's a muggle, remember? I doubt he has any idea about what happened at the end of term last year."

Harry had to agree with her, but it still didn't make the hundreds of pairs of inquiring eyes any easier to bear. Picking at his breakfast, he stole a look up at the Teacher's Table again. Professor Cooper had found his way to Flitwick and they seemed to be enjoying a very lively conversation. They were too far off for Harry to make out what was being said, but it was certainly putting the Charms teacher in a wonderful mood.

A fleeting feeling of envy washed over Harry; Professor Cooper wasn't even a wizard and he was having a better time of fitting in than Harry ever had. Not that it was surprising; the new professor seemed to be a very charismatic man and the type who would leave an impression no matter where he went. But the thought did little to brighten Harry's mood as they all shuffled off to their classes.

"What you must remember," said little Professor Flitwick squeakily perched as ever on a pile of

books so that he could see over the top of his desk, "is that these examinations may influence

your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your

careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder

than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"

The class gave a collective groan, already bored from hearing the same OWL speech for two days straight. Harry and Ron found themselves joining the group, remembering the still monstrous pile of homework they had yet to finish.

"Today we will be working on Summoning charms," The diminutive professor continued on, "Such charms are bound to come up in your OWL so it's important for everyone to practice them."

They started with feathers, which made Harry feel like a first-year once again as he tried to get his feather to move towards him. Sure, he'd been able to call his broom last year, but with so much on his mind he was finding it nearly impossible to concentrate. Of course, he wasn't the only one.

/How ridiculous!/ Yami grumbled as he watched his hikari unsuccessfully call his feather, /Summoning magic should be used for more important things! Not having trinkets scurry across the desk to your hand because you're too lazy to pick them up yourself!/

((I think I might agree with you Pharaoh…)) Bakura huffed. Ryou was making no more progress than Yugi.

/This would be easier if the magics weren't so conflicting,/ Yugi sighed, taking a break, /I feel the Puzzle flare up every time I try to cast a spell and negates it./

/We could try and combine the two, rather than have them working against each other,/ Yami suggested.

/I'm not that great at controlling the Puzzle as it is,/ Yugi pointed out, /Much less keeping track of this new stuff mixed with it./

/ Don't worry Aibou,/ Yami assured his lighter half, /I won't leave you to do this on your own./

A thin smile crept onto Yugi's face as he closed his eyes and reached for the magic within the Puzzle hidden beneath his robes. As he felt the first tendrils of magic, he could tell Yami was keeping the majority of it in check, so Yugi could work at melding small bits of it at a time.

It was like trying to push two magnets together that kept repelling away from one another. The closer and tighter Yugi bound the magics together, the more they resisted it. The energies coming from the Millennium Puzzle were far greater than the ones the spell required him to use, but by no means did that make it any simpler to overcome. Then all of a sudden, Yugi found the balance between the two and everything seemed to click into place, without him having to force it to stay there.

Tentatively, Yugi tried the spell again, and this time, the feather came to him without hesitation. Ryou gave his friend a disbelieving stare, until Yugi quickly passed on the advice. It wasn't long before both of them had the charm down, and had earned the applause of Professor Flitwick as he dismissed the class, but not before assigning them another mound of homework on top of what the rest of the class was given to help them catch up with the rest of the fifth years.

Even so, Yugi and Ryou couldn't help but feel some sort of satisfaction at their accomplishment when the rest of the class, save Hermione, had struggled with the spell. Transfiguration was another story. Moving a feather had been one thing, but making a snail seemingly vanish into thin air was another story, especially with Professor McGonagall scrutinizing their every move.

((What about the Shadow Realm?)) Bakura grumbled, ((It'll disappear then…))

(You are not going to send the snail to the Shadow Realm!)

((Snail? I was talking about the Professor.))

Yugi had no better luck, and was disappointed after they'd managed to do well in their last class. Of course, it was probably best they didn't come off as experts anyway when this was supposed to be some of the first spells they'd ever practiced. Still, leaving Transfiguration, even with another armload of assignments, was a relief.

Any hope of the day getting better was almost instantly ruined as the Gryffindors trudged across the lawn towards Care of Magical Creatures. They sky had still stubbornly refused to make up its mind to rain or clear up and continuously spat raindrops at the students below. The only good thing about the whole situation, was Malik managed to break away from the rest of the Slytherins to join up with his own friends. Yugi could tell none of his fellow housemates were pleased with the idea of having class with their biggest rivals, but the thought was soon replaced by curiosity at the condition of the other house. Mud caked their clothes, and everyone looked as if they were out of breath. Only Malfoy and his cronies seemed to have the energy still to talk.

"Guys!" The Egyptian whispered to them in a hushed voice, "I just had class with that Cooper guy, and you're never gonna guess-"

"Everyone here?" Professor Grubby-Plank asked, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence, "Good. Let's crack on then. Can anyone tell me what these are?"

Everyone looked down at the long table she stood behind at the pile of twigs. Hermione's hand immediately shot into the air, shortly followed by crude imitations coming from Malfoy's group. Malik, clearly at the end of his patience with the prefect, wheeled around and leveled a glare at him that would have stripped moss from stone. Malfoy paused for a moment, clearly shaken, but then realizing that Malik wouldn't dare touch him in front of a teacher, continued on.

"I'm gonna kill him…." Malik muttered under his breath, slowly reaching for the Rod.

"How 'bout when no one's watching?" Ryou suggested, as Hermione answered the question.

"Why? A little mind control and no one'll even remember-"

"Guys!" Yugi called, now holding one of the sticks in his up turned palm, "Did you even hear what we're supposed to be doing?"

"Take the stick and beat the Slytherin Prefects right?"

"No," Yugi sighed setting the stick down, and sat cross legged next to it. When it didn't fall over, Malik took a closer look at it, only to find two beetle black eyes staring back up at him.

"What is that?!" Malik exclaimed.

"Bowtruckle, eats woodlice, lives in trees used for wands," Yugi said listing off the highlights, "We're drawing them."

"Great," Malik and Ryou shrugged, following Yugi's example while the living twig watched them curiously.

"So what were you going to tell us before," Ryou asked, "And why do you look like a bus hit you?"

"It's Professor Cooper!" Malik said looking around to make sure no one else was listening, "I've never seen a person move that fast in my entire life!"

"What are you talking about Malik?" Yugi asked raising an eybrow.

"See for yourself!"

Malik pointed somewhere out behind them, to where another group of students was standing. Well, most of them were, a good forth of them were on the ground, laid out like the sod had been tugged out from under their feet. Amidst the group, they managed to catch a glimpse of a blue jean jacket as its owner whirled around in time to catch a charging student, and catapult him over his shoulder.

"Is that-?"

"Exactly what happened to us!" Malik shook his head, "The guy wanted to see how well we could defend ourselves! Magic or otherwise."

"So he attacked you?"

"More like we attacked him," Malik said, "He told us to so he could see how we would react. Not one of us managed to even touch him! Malfoy looked like he was going to kill him, but I'm not sure what was worse for him: getting beat, or getting beat by a muggle."

"Uh, guys?" Ryou said squinting, "Is that Kaiba?"

Sure enough, the last two standing out on the field looking like some kind of Texas shoot-out, was Kaiba and Professor Cooper. Kaiba looked as if he were trying to stare him down, but the suddenly launched himself at the professor, one fist aimed squarely at his head. They never even saw him move, as Professor Cooper twisted the arm meant to go through his skull around Kaiba's back and dropped him to his knees. Yugi was about to say something, when Ryou cried out after receiving a swift bite from the bowtruckle. It had polished off the rest of the woodlice and had sought the attention of the one closest to it, which unfortunately had been Ryou.

"Come here," Yugi said pulling some more food out of his pocket, tossing it on to the ground before looking up at where the Ravenclaws had been moments before only to find them gone.

"Where-?"

"Off on a jaunt around the school now," Malik said rubbing his arm in memory, "I'm telling you guys, he's not normal. I think after last night he knows about us."

"What makes you say that?!" Yugi asked, shock seeping into his voice.

"Because," Malik said looking off at where the Professor had disappeared, "during his start of the term speech, he mentioned the Shadow Realm."

Gotc: Buahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I am evil! But to be entirely honest, I am sooooo looking forward to when our Gryfindors meet our mysterious new professor themselves!

Ace: I'm not. I didn't know I was going to be babysitting.

Gotc: Do you ever stop complaining? Geez…anyhoo, do remember that little button there at the bottom of your screen, yeah that one, the one that you use to review. More reviews=faster updates. Of course being out of school helps plenty too, but that's besides the point so I'll leave you all to it. Until next chappie!