Gotc: See? I can post in semi-regular intervals!...Sometimes…..

Ace: Ha. Three posts a year as opposed to two is not anywhere near a regular interval.

Gotc: And what would you know about it?

Ace: I'm in it. Unfortunately.

Gotc: Oh yeah! I forget how much tormenting you makes me happy! BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ace: All the authors in the world, and I get stuck with you.

Gotc: Talk to a therapist. If you guys haven't noticed, I've tweaked the timing of some of the things that happen in the original book. Bear with me, I know things have been slow, but they get sooooooooooo much better from this point forward! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!

Ace: Uh-huh. How long have you been saying that for now?

Gotc: I'm like in year two of this fic's progress right?

Ace: You're hopeless. WHALE! DISCLAIMER!

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

Ace: Amazing how you think I care.

Squeaky: Squeak. (Fine, then I guess I won't tell you what happened to your toothbrush today.)

Ace: Wait, what-

Squeaky: Squeak! (Nothing owned here, except for Ace's soul! Keep reading and find out what happened to the toothbrush!)

Ace: WHAT DID YOU DO?

Gotc: Sigh….. by the way folks, if you had noticed, I did in fact use Percy's letter to Ron from the original book in my last chappie, though it was tweaked just a little ;D.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Rising Dragon

CHAPTER 29: A New World Order

Mornings weren't supposed to be stressful, but it wasn't a day at Hogwarts if it didn't start out that way Harry sighed to himself. Yugi wasn't the only one having odd dreams, and the only one he could ask about it was under house arrest for fear of being discovered. Still, in the midst of the chaos of detention with Delores Umbridge, he'd very plainly felt the pain lash across his forehead. Normally, he would have gone to Dumbledore, but since the Headmaster seemed to be otherwise preoccupied, here he was at the break of dawn trying to write a letter to Sirius and coming up with nothing.

Not that he didn't have enough to talk about. Umbridge, his scar, or the fact he'd just learned that two of his housemates were ancient Egyptian wizards. Hagrid had also been missing since the start of the term and had yet to make any kind of appearance, which also had him worried. It felt like he'd been at Hogwarts for a year rather than on his way to starting his second week. The sun nudged a little further past the horizon and urged him to put something down on paper before anyone started waking up. Dipping his quill into an ink bottle he finally pressed its tip to the blank parchment and quickly scribbled a note.

Dear Snuffles,

Hope you're ok, first week back's been terrible. Hoping this one will be better. New exchange students have really fit in well too. We've got two new Defense against the Dark Arts teachers this year, Professor Umbridge and Professor Cooper. Umbridge is nearly as nice as your mum, Cooper's still a bit of a mystery though. I'm writing to you because that thing that happened last summer happened again the other night while I was in detention with Umbridge.

We're all still missing our biggest friend, we hold he'll be back soon.

Please write back soon.

Best,

Harry

He looked over it a few times to make sure he hadn't put anything incriminating in the letter, before he sealed it up and started to head for the owlery before breakfast. The halls were still silent in the early morning hours, at least until a familiar voice came drifting though the empty corridors.

"Look, can you point the way to the stupid birds or not?" Malik's voice carried against the cold stone.

"I should say not, especially with that attitude." Nearly Headless Nick huffed, hovering just out of the reach of Malik's arm. Not that it would have mattered even if he was, but it was still an interesting sight to watch the Egyptian chuck whatever he managed to get his hands on at the resident ghost.

"Damnit! I just want to send this package!" The Egyptian fumed, lobbing a candle through the ghost's head.

"Having some trouble?" Harry chuckled a little, interrupting Malik's tirade.

"Harry!" Malik swiveled around, reaching for the next solid object within his grasp, "Grab one of these talking paint stains and help me will ya?"

A flourish of indignant chatter immediately rose up from the surrounding portraits, as the Gryffindor ghost slowly drifted higher clicking his tongue in disappointment.

"As if a member of the Gryffindor House would ever stoop to such levels of barbarism," Nick held his head high, "Not surprising to hear it come from a Slytherin though. Perhaps Mr. Potter would demonstrate how a civilized human being should act."

Harry shook his head, and clapped Malik on the shoulder to drag him off towards the owlery, rolling his eyes to help hide the grin forming on his face.

"Sure thing Sir Nicholas," Harry nearly laughed, as he pulled the Egyptian down the corridor, "We'll see you at breakfast."

Satisfied, it only took a moment before Nick's mutterings about manners were floating steadily away from the two as they headed in the other direction. Malik stopped for a moment to make a face at the retreating ghost's back before trotting to catch up with Harry.

"Thanks for that," Malik crammed his free hand into his pocket, "It would have been another week before I would have gotten an answer out of him."

"Sure thing," Harry shrugged, "I was on my way to mail a letter before classes myself. What'd you do to make Nick so mad at you anyway?"

"Called him Peeves." Malik shrugged, "I don't know how in Ra's name they expect us to tell the difference when they all are wearing the same bundles of lace and frills…."

A welcomed smirk crossed Harry's face, until his gaze drifted down to the package in Malik's other hand. It wasn't large by any means, but it did seem to give off a strange feeling that set the hairs on the back of his neck on end. Malik was supposed to have one of the Items Hermione was talking about, and he and Bakura seemed the type to be very apt to use them.

"Did you um-"

"Jinx it?" Malik's eyes flashed mischievously, "Something like that. A jinx might have been a little nicer though. Still, there's important stuff here and we need to be sure it gets to the right person."

"Those scans, right?" Harry gestured, "Hermione told us something about them having to do with why Yugi was in the hospital wing."

"We're hoping it's that simple," Malik grunted, pushing open the door to the owlery, "But we won't know until we can get them translated properly."

Harry glanced up into the tower, looking for the telltale white flash that normally gave away Hedwig's presence, when a mewl and brush of fur at his legs caused a pause in his step. Mrs. Norris turned her yellowed eyes on the two students before bounding off back they way they'd just came, her tail twitching excitedly as if she'd just caught her prey in a well planned trap.

"What was that about," Malik scoffed, stretching out an arm for a school own to rest on, "It's not like we were doing anything wrong."

"I have no clue," Harry shrugged, finally spotting Hedwig as the bird came swooping down to alight on his shoulder.

He wasted no time tying the letter to her leg, and carrying her over to the window. They weren't doing anything wrong, but that didn't mean he wanted to have to explain a cryptic letter to the suspicious caretaker. Malik seemed to be having a bit more trouble with his bird, who seemed to move or shift just when he was about to tie the final knot to secure the parcel. A muted string of Egyptian curses floated around the tower for a moment, before he finally managed to attach the thing and sent the owl off without any great love.

Harry slouched against the windowsill watching the two fly off until they were little more than specks on the horizon. Malik joined him, his apprehension nearly palpable as they saw the two off into the morning. It was when they were just about ready to leave, when something shifted a bit closer to the ground. The treetops of the Forbidden Forrest swayed lightly in the morning breeze, but like the fin of a shark, a pair of great leathery wings broke the leafy surface and disappeared again beneath them just as quickly.

"Did you see that?" Harry nearly threw himself out the window to try and catch another glimpse.

"I sure did," Malik craned his neck to get another angle, "I looked like it might have been one of those horse things that pulled the carriages to the castle that first night."

"Hold on," Harry turned to face him, "You saw those too?"

"Well yeah," Malik shrugged, "I didn't think they were some kind of secret."

"Ron and Hermione couldn't see them," Harry said, "I thought I was going crazy."

"Cheer up then," Malik laughed, throwing an arm around Harry's shoulders, "If that's the case, you're in good company."

The door behind them opened with a sudden bang, and a flustered Cho Chang stood in the doorway holding a small package under her arm.

"Oh," She said with a note of surprise in her voice, "I didn't think anyone would be up here this early."

Harry stiffened, his brain seeming to grind to a halt as he fumbled around for something to say. Malik seemed to pick up on Harry's sudden unease and took the opportunity to excuse himself.

"No problem," Malik grinned, nudging Harry in the ribs, "I was on my way out. See you at breakfast Harry!"

"Yeah," Harry muttered at Malik's retreating form, as the Egyptian left he and Cho very much alone, "See you at breakfast."

Ryou rubbed his head wearily as he stared at the cooling food in front of him. A full night's sleep and yet he still felt like he'd been hit by a bus. He had the sneaking suspicion that it had to do with a certain Thief King, but he was almost certain that the spirit had been locked away in his room since his last appearance the night before. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask him whenever Bakura decided to grace him with his presence. A sudden slap on the table in front of him shook Ryou out of his reverie, and the sudden fly-catching smile spread across the entire front page of the newspaper brought him crashing back into reality.

"We have a problem." Hermione said darkly, taking a seat across from him.

"Hogwarts High Inquisitor?" Ryou read the headline in disbelief, smoothing out the paper as if it would somehow change the text, "What is that?"

"Doesn't sound good whatever it is," Ron muttered sleepily, picking up a nearby piece of toast as he sat down.

"In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Hermione read, her voice shaking angrily despite her attempts to keep it calm and level.

"'The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time,' said Junior Assistant to the Minister Percy Weasley. 'He is now responding to concerns voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve.'

"This is not the first time in recent weeks Fudge has used new laws to effect improvements at the wizarding school. As recently as August 30th Educational Decree Twenty-two was passed, to ensure that, in the event of the current headmaster being unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry should select an appropriate person.

"'That's how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed to the teaching staff at Hogwarts,' said Weasley last night. 'Dumbledore couldn't find anyone, so the Minister put in Umbridge and of course, she's been an immediate success, totally revolutionizing the teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts.'

"It is this last function that the Ministry has now formalized with the passing of Educational Decree Twenty-three, which creates the new position of 'Hogwarts High Inquisitor'.

"'This is an exciting new phase in the Minister's plan to get to grips with what some are calling the "falling standards" at Hogwarts,' said Weasley. 'The Inquisitor will have powers to inspect her fellow educators and make sure that they are coming up to scratch. Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in addition to her own teaching post, and we are delighted to say that she has accepted.'

"The Ministry's new moves have received enthusiastic support from parents of students at Hogwarts.

"'I feel much easier in my mind now that I know that Dumbledore is being subjected to fair and objective evaluation,' said Lucius Malfoy, 41, speaking from his Wiltshire mansion last night. 'Many of us with our children's best interests at heart have been concerned about some of Dumbledore's eccentric decisions in the last few years and will be glad to know that the Ministry is keeping an eye on the situation.'

"Among those 'eccentric decisions' are undoubtedly the controversial staff appointments previously described in this newspaper, which have included the hiring of werewolf Remus Lupin, half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, and delusional ex-Auror 'Mad-Eye' Moody.

"Rumors abound, of course, that Albus Dumbledore, once Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, is not longer up to the task of managing the prestigious school of Hogwarts. "'I think the appointment of the Inquisitor is a first step toward ensuring that Hogwarts has a headmaster in whom we can all repose confidence,' said a Ministry insider last night.

"Wizengamot elders Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden have resigned in protest at the introduction of the post of Inquisitor to Hogwarts.

"'Hogwarts is a school, not an outpost of Cornelius Fudge's office,' said Madam Marchbanks. 'This is a further disgusting attempt to discredit Albus Dumbledore.' (For a full account of Madam Marchbanks' alleged links to subversive goblin groups, turn to page 17)." Her voice cut out in disgust at last, as Hermione thrust the paper away from her, "That horrible woman! She's going to be inspecting the other teachers!"

"Oh I can't wait," Ron smirked, "I just hope I'm there when she inspects McGonagall. The Toad won't know what hit her."

Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to the paper, her gaze raking through the pages for any sign of a more hopeful situation. The pink toad herself was floating about the Teacher's table looking rather pleased with herself, engaging Professor Sprout in what appeared to be a very one-sided conversation. Ryou's attention didn't linger long on the professor, as he caught a glimpse of tri-colored hair making its way across the room tailed by Kaiba and Malik.

"Check out what I found wandering the halls," Malik snickered flopping down at the Gryffindor table, ignoring the indignant looks from its occupants, "Kaiba actually went to pick Yugi up from the doctor!"

"Can it, Desert Rat," Kaiba growled, as Yugi stifled a laugh with a coughing fit, "Some little gremlin was sitting on my bedpost this morning and told me that the nurse wouldn't release Yugi unless someone was with him, in case he passed out again on the way down here."

"House elves are NOT gremlins!" Hermione shot back at Kaiba, "They are living creatures just like anyone else and if Madam Pomfrey sent one-"

"Way to go mate," Ron rolled his eyes, "She'll be going on about S.P.E.W. for the rest of the day now…."

Harry chose that moment to come drifting in to the Hall, almost in a daze as he wound his way through the throngs of people crowding in for breakfast before classes. It was a feat in itself for him to find a seat in his state, but it was another to watch as he nearly sat down at the Slytherin table.

"About time…" Malik grinned, spying Cho sneaking in the door, "You two, ah…"

"No," Harry said, though he couldn't get the grin entirely off his face.

"Think she knows anything?" Ron asked, finishing his toast.

"Who?" Harry looked up.

"Madam Pomfrey. And I wouldn't be surprised," Hermione handed the paper over to Kaiba, "She's not stupid, but she doesn't pry either. I don't think we have to be too concerned. Not right now anyway. How are you feeling…. Yugi?"

"Not bad," Yugi said, surprised at how he actually meant it. For the first time since he'd come to Hogwarts, he'd loaded up his plate, feeling as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. The headache that had become his constant companion was still dwelling somewhere on the skirts of his senses, but its attention seemed to be focused on something else besides making his life miserable.

"What in the hell is this!" Kaiba exclaimed, slamming the paper onto the table, scaring a few first years. Glances from the surrounding tables turned Kaiba's way, only to be met with an icy stare that meant he was in no mood to deal with onlookers.

"A problem." Ryou sighed, stealing another glance at the Head Table, "Umbridge now has full permission to all but take over the school."

"No, that's not a problem," Malik frowned, grabbing the paper to read the headline for himself, "That is what we like to call a full-blown clusterf-"

"Now Mr. Ishtar," An amused baritone chuckled behind them, "I certainly hope I won't be forced to take points from Slytherin for a slip of the tongue."

Professor Cooper stood smirking behind the small group, or more specifically behind Malik. The tomb keeper glanced around behind Cooper and to both sides of him, as if he would catch a glimpse as to how the muggle professor managed to sneak up on him.

"Mr. Motou," Cooper addressed Yugi, after giving Malik a satisfied look, "Glad to see you're feeling better."

"Thank you Professor," Yugi nodded his head slightly. It crossed his mind as odd that news of his stay in the Hospital Wing had reached Cooper so fast, but passing out in the middle of a group of teachers was bound to spread like wildfire, so he dismissed the thought in favor of a new question that came to mind. "What brings you to the Great Hall? I don't think I've seen you in here except once or twice."

"Ah, I'm looking for Professor Flitwick actually," Cooper craned his neck to glance about the room, "I need some help on a project and I've been told he's the man to see…..only problem is….well, I don't."

"What kind of project?" Kaiba asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Heh heh," The professor chuckled, "Can't tell ya'. You'll find out soon enough anyway, but uh, I suggest you stay out of the Hospital Wing, Yugi. A doctor's note isn't going to get you out of my class."

"I'll remember that Professor." Yugi grinned.

"Good, now if you'll excuse me," Cooper started to walk in the direction of the staff table, "I do believe I've found what I'm looking for. Professor Flitwick! There you are…"

Even the booming voice of the new professor was quickly lost amongst the din of the Great Hall as he moved off. Malik muttered something under his breath, and went back to the paper, though occasionally his gaze would drift to the muggle's new seat at the other end of the hall. Yugi couldn't help but laugh in between bites of food at his friend as he watcher Professor Cooper and Flitwick become engrossed in conversation. Ryou looked up too, his mood lightening a little at Malik's suspicion.

"He seems to have taken a liking to you four," Hermione pointed out, busying herself with breakfast.

"We're more familiar with his world than this one," Kaiba reasoned, "We are getting used to a whole new way of life just as he is, so it makes sense he'd be looking out for us."

"But is it in a good way?" She argued back, "We still don't know who we can trust-"

"Guys," Malik hissed, quickly getting to his feet, "You gotta follow me. This is going to be great."

"What? What is it?" Ron frowned, but following suit.

"Umbridge just spotted Cooper."

He'd never teach again. Ever.

It wasn't that Hogwarts was full of bad kids; as a matter of fact, Ace was surprised at how enthusiastically some of them had taken to their first lesson. There was a decent group of the snake kids he was going to have trouble with though…Slytherins. Obstinate bunch. No, entitled seemed to be more like it. From what he could tell, most of the kids in that whole house came from one prestigious wizarding family or another and had never had to earn a single thing in their lives. It wasn't the first time he'd dealt with a stubborn case, but it was a first to teach so many. His craft wasn't one to be taught en masse like some evening pee wee karate league, but they did need to be taught.

And therein was the problem.

One on one was the only way to really pound in what they needed to know, but the little time he had was nowhere near enough for that. Which meant he needed to enlist a little…..creative thought. Which was why he needed Professor Flitwick. He he'd spent the better part of the week hunting down the parts he needed, but the diminutive professor was his best shot of getting any of it working again.

"I must say my dear boy," Flitwick looked over Ace's hand drawn sketches of what he needed to be done, "This is quite the undertaking."

"I know," Ace nodded, biting into a pear, "But it's all I could think of on such short notice."

"Oh-ho! You misunderstand!" Flitwick clapped him on the back, "It's brilliant! I haven't had a good challenge like this myself in quite some time! I mean it's not often you get someone wanting to-"

"Hem hem."

Both men stopped and looked up at the mass of pink velour and frills that had taken up residence just behind Professor Cooper's seat. Flitwick regarded the Minister's aide with an impassive glance and turned back to the paper in front of him scribbling notes, while Ace faced Umbridge with a pleasant grin.

"Good morning Professor," Ace greeted her warmly, "How can I help you?"

"I was simply stopping by to make sure you have been fully informed of all recent events," She smirked, "And that you had properly received the date of your evaluation."

Ace's grin faded to an expression of confusion, which only served to fuel Umbridge's obviously euphoric mood.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to catch me up," Ace frowned, "Dumbledore hasn't mentioned anything about an evaluation-"

"Yes, well if you would have read today's paper," Umbridge interrupted him, "Then you would have seen that I have been appointed the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts by the Minister of Magic, and to oversee the quality of the education all students are receiving during their years here."

"High Inquisitor?" Ace almost laughed, causing an indignant flush of pink to rise in her face. Flitwick actually had to turn away from the two to adjust the hem of his robes to hide a snicker as Ace continued on. "Didn't the inquisition end in the 1800's? I mean, being a witch in a school for magic kind of seems like you would know that already-"

"As I said before, Professor," Umbridge hissed, the gloating all but gone from her voice as she struggled to remain composed, "If you had but read this morning's paper-"

"Well that's the problem right there," Ace waved her off, going back to his business, "I don't bother with a newspaper anymore. After all, you read a paper to learn things you don't know, so if you don't know what you don't know, how can you be sure you're getting the right information in the first place?"

"Well, I think-"

"If you're going to learn about something new, you should be the one to discover it for yourself," Ace continued on, "Wouldn't you think?"

"As a matter of fact-"

"I mean, that's the whole basis for the principle of education isn't it? Giving young minds the tools to discover the world for themselves? What good is a newspaper to force feed them information they would most likely discover on their own?" Ace spoke more to himself than anyone else, before looking back up at Umbridge again, "Anyway, pardon the philosophy. I'm sure you have more to do than to sit here and listen to me, what with your new promotion and all. I can imagine you must be very busy. So, I'll see you in a few days for my evaluation then, yes?"

"Umm.." Umbridge stammered, slowly moving away as if she'd just woken up from a daze, "Yes, yes of course. I'd stay and chat longer, but I am very busy this morning, so I'll leave you to it then."

Ace nodded his head politely as she walked off and settled back in his seat. He did covertly follow her across the room with his gaze until she was nearly at the other end of the Great Hall when he noticed Flitwick staring at him with a look of complete awe and astonishment.

"What?" Ace asked.

"How in Merlin's beard did you do that?" Flitwick gaped.

"I'm sorry," Ace smirked innocently, "Do what?"

Flitwick snorted, a smile still working through his features as he continued to make adjustments to Ace's original design on his sketch. Ace leaned back in over the table, quietly finishing off his breakfast and wiping the juice off of his fingers as he observed his fellow professor.

"So do you think it's possible?" Ace said, lowering his voice ever so slightly.

"More than, I should think." Flitwick nodded forcefully, starting to get up, "If you've got everything here, I may even be able to have everything ready by your first class!"

"Perfect!" Ace said, rising from his seat to follow, "How can I repay you for this?"

"Tell me how you sent Umbridge off like that and we'll call it even?"

"My friend," Ace laughed, "Get this done as fast as you say, and I'll teach you every last trick in the book."

If week one had been as miserable as it was obligatorily seeing Umbridge just once, then the rest of the year was shaping up to be something straight from a B-rated horror movie. It didn't matter if the rag-tag group of wizards split off to their individual classes, or if they converged into one, the new Inquisitor seemed to haunt their very shadows through every class. No matter where they turned, she lingered with them like a bad smell. One that only got worse when they finally made it to the dim room that house their Defense against the Dark Arts class. Harry looked up as Yugi, Hermione and Ryou joined him and Ron while the rest of the class got seated.

"You seen her today?" Ryou whispered to Harry, as he pulled out his book.

"Yeah, she almost had Trelawney in tears," Harry nodded.

He was about to elaborate when a syrupy-sweet 'wands away' interrupted them as Umbridge came brushing past. There was a groan of disappointment as everyone resigned themselves to another class of reading a book that would have bored a two-year old.

"As we finished chapter one last lesson, I would like all of you to turn to page nineteen and commence reading Chapter Two: Common Defensive and Their Derivations. There will be no need to talk."

Umbridge sat at her desk with a self-satisfied grin on her face, as the rest of the class settled in to their fates for the rest of the period. But two at the very front didn't move, aside from a single hand being thrust into the air. Harry glanced up from his book, and snuck a glance over at Hermione who waited patiently to be recognized, and at Yugi….or was it Yami?...At any rate, the teen sat just as still with his arms folded across his chest, leveling a steady gaze at Umbridge until she finally rose from her seat to walk to the row where they sat. Ryou had seemed to notice as well and was far more conspicuous to catch a glimpse of what was unfolding, but judging by the look on his face, he was just as confused about the proceedings as anyone.

((What in the hell is the Pharaoh doing?)) Bakura frowned, watching Umbridge draw closer, ((The self-righteous son-of-a-bitch tells us to lay low? What in the hell does he call this?))

"I wonder…" Umbridge said, her grin still fixed in place, leaning in so closer to the two that only they could hear the conversation, "If either of you plan on opening the book at all this year?"

"Actually," Yami said very calmly, matching her volume, "I was wondering if you were planning to teach us all year?"

"Excuse me?" Umbridge balked, he smile faltering.

"Pardon my bluntness," Yami said politely, "But I've never been one to simply read how it's done. It's always lead to disaster."

"Does it now?" Umbridge smirked, as if she thought his opinion on the matter cute, "And you Miss Granger?"

"I've already read the chapter," Hermione said, not bothering to lower her voice.

"Then proceed to chapter three."

"I've already read the whole book."

There was a pause, though Umbridge still maintained her composure, but with a dangerous glint in her eye.

"Well then, perhaps you could tell me what Slinkhard says about counter-jinxes in chapter fifteen." Umbridge said sweetly.

"He says that counter-jinxes are improperly named," Hermione recited right on cue, "He thinks that 'counter-jinx' is just a name people use to make jinxes more acceptable."

There was a moment of satisfaction as an impressed look passed on Umbridge's face, though she hadn't meant to show it. It didn't last long, as Hermione sought to follow through with her own thoughts on the matter.

"But I disagree." She said. The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees as she uttered those three words.

"You disagree?" Umbridge repeated, as if she and the rest of the class hadn't heard her quite clearly.

"Yes, Mr. Slinkhard doesn't seem to like jinxes very much," She said very matter-of-factly, "But I think that they are extremely useful when used defensively."

"I see," Umbridge stood up and straightened her robes, "Well be that as it may, I'm afraid it is Mr. Slinkhard's opinions that matter in this class and not yours."

"But-"

"That will be more than enough," Umbridge silenced her, "And I will be taking five points from Gryffindor."

Any pretence of 'learning' was suddenly dropped and an angry round of muttering went up at the announcement.

"What for?" Harry added his voice to the ongoing discussion.

Yami shot Harry a look that plainly meant for him to be quiet, followed by a pleading one from Hermione. Unfortunately the gloating grin on Umbridge's face as she flashed him a satisfied smile was more than he could stand.

"For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions," She said, her voice carrying an edge with it, "I am here to teach you a Ministry-approved method that does not include students to give their opinions on matters that they know very little about. Your previous teachers may have allowed you more license, but I'm quite sure of them could have passed a Ministry inspection, with the exception of Professor Quirrel who at least seemed to restrict to age-appropriate material-"

"Yeah," Harry agreed bitterly, "He was a great teacher alright, only he had the little problem of having Voldermort sticking out of the back of his head."

For the entire room to have fallen silent, Harry was a little surprised it wasn't quieter, until he realized the noise was the sound of his blood rushing through his ears. Umbridge looked as if she'd just caught a particular juicy fly by the smile that was on her face, but it was an interesting shade of pink that flushed in her cheeks.

"I think another week's worth of detentions will do you some good, Mr. Potter." She said neatly.

She looked back to the class about to say something else, but caught the chilling glare that was held in Yami's eyes. What made it worse was the fact that the exchange student seemed to be on the verge of laughter, despite the deathly silence around them.

"Is there something funny about this Mr. Motou?" She asked, "Something you'd like to share?"

/Bakura's going to kill you for this./ Yugi warned, not taking his eyes off of Umbridge.

/I know./

"I guess it's not really," He shrugged, "But I have to say that I would very much like to meet these people at this Ministry of yours. After all, it's not every day you hear about so many cowards gathering in one place at once."

Yami could almost imagine Ryou's look of astonishment suddenly melting away into an expression of pure rage, simply because he could feel the Thief King's eyes boring holes into the side of his skull. That and there was a brief moment where he could have sworn he heard a rather creative expletive echo somewhere in his mind.

"Mr. Motou…." Umbridge said, her voice almost shaking, "I think you might want to head back to the Hospital Wing. I can't imagine you must be feeling well enough to be back in class so soon…"

"Well I am a little sick to my stomach," Yami admitted, "But I believe it's from the utter lack of any real concern for the well-being of any student who passes though this room. I have to say, I've met some real spineless people, but to go so far as to convince an entire population that a serious threat looming over their heads is a lie because they're too afraid to confront it? That has to take the cake."

Umbridge's face turned purple, as Yami's grin deepened and he continued on.

"The only thing that could possibly be worse," Yami did begin to laugh as if the whole idea were absurd, " is anyone who would actually buy into that load of bullsh-"

"DETENTION!" Umbridge roared, a vein above her eye clearly visible, as she reached a decibel no one had though her capable of hitting, "You will see me every evening in my office for an entire month. Do you understand me!"

"Absolutely." Yami said, just as calmly as before as the class once again came to an end with no one even glimpsing at their books.

Yami quickly packed his things, but not without avoiding Harry.

"You didn't need to do that," Harry hissed at him, though there was a note of gratefulness in his voice.

"Yes, I did," Yami nodded, throwing his bag over his shoulder and walking out of the class, commanding the sudden respect of every person in the room.

((THEN I SURE AS HELL HOPE YOU HAVE A DAMN GOOD REASON FOR IT!))Bakura all but screamed into his head.

/Yugi?/Yami winced, as Bakura forced his way through the throngs of kids trying to get as far away from Umbridge as possible. He had murder written all over his face that worked quite nicely to deter people out of his way.

/Oh no./ Yugi held up his hands, /I told you this would happen if we didn't tell him./

/I know, but now I'm just wondering if Umbridge would still give detention to a corpse…/

/I think you're about to find out./

Gotc: Ahhhhhhhh…. Done. And I made it long, to make up for the lack of postings and whatnot. More mysteries here, obviously, but unlike the rest of the fic where I tell you nothing, you get to find out what Ace has planned for everyone and what possessed Yami to sentence himself to a month of hell. But that's next chappie, which is almost finished believe it or not. College can really get in the way of internet time…

So anyway, let me know what you thought, the good, bad and ugly. Slap it in a review, and the more I get, the less college will seem to matter (hint hint wink wink). Laters!