Telly: Yay! Chapter 8!
Vaness: And it's the return of the really random mini-story!
Telly: And the exams are ALL OVERRRRRRRR! They have been for around four months actually.
Vaness: Yes we have had a tremendous hiatus. But eventually I got bored and decided to RETURN! Bow to me folks!
Telly: Anyway, it's mid-term break now. Hahahahaha.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"What are we doing here?" Malik asked, obviously annoyed.
"Beats me," Jounouchi shrugged. Ryou yawned and gradually woke up. Then confusion registered on his face and he asked blankly, "Where are we?" Then Seto stood up and looked around. "Oh," Jounouchi said, disappointed. "You're here too. Why must I always be with you?" he groaned, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. Seto opened his mouth, as if to ask a question, but Malik interrupted him.
"Don't. Ask. The question," Malik commanded Seto. "We don't know where we are."
"Of all the places we could be..." Seto grumbled. "I have a company meeting to go to!"
Jounouchi smirked. "You brought your laptop, I see. Neopets?" he suggested.
Seto's eye twitched.
So our heroes were stuck in an indescribable, unnamable place.
A lone eagle flew overhead.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Japanese names to dub names: Malik – Marik, Jounouchi (Jou) – Joey, Seto – Kaiba, Ryou – Bakura (But everyone calls him Bakura anyway), Sugoroku – Grandpa Moto (Solomon? Simon? Who knows?), Otogi – Duke Devlin, Isis – Ichizu, Shizuka – Serenity, Honda – Tristan, Anzu – Teá.
Key:
(( )) - yami to hikari
( ) - hikari to yami
" " - speech
' ' - thoughts
Italics - Newspaper articles, stupid little unrelated mini-stories etc.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Chapter 8 –
"Let's go shopping!"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Morning, Grandpa!" Yuugi said brightly at breakfast the next morning. He had obviously slept very well, which was not the case with our heroes from Japan (with the exception of Seto, who was well-used to jet lag). Seto walked in, followed by a trooping Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, Malik, Ryou and Mokuba. Well, fine. Anzu was more alert than the rest.
"I don't know how you can get used to the time difference so quickly, Kaiba..." Malik said blearily. "I mean, it's what... 10 or 11 hours?"
Seto chanced a smirk. "Get used to it."
"You're going to have to introduce them to Quidditch some time soon," mused Fred aloud. "What's Quidditch?" Malik asked curiously (Ryou, ever diligent, had translated despite his fatigue).
"It's a game we play in the wizarding world," Harry explained. "Kinda like a mix of basketball and hockey. We'll show you after breakfast."
"I'm not going," Honda said abruptly. "What's the point of me going when I can't even play it? After all, isn't it only for magical people?" he finished bitterly.
"Honda!" Anzu admonished.
"Anzu, I know you feel the same way too!" Honda said to her quickly in a low voice so that Ryou could not hear him and thus, translate. "We've been dumped out of everything important that's happened! Don't tell me you don't think that?"
"Honda!" Yuugi said in Japanese, shocked. "Like Anzu said, It's not only you! I'm out too!"
"Big deal!" Honda said, rounding on to Yuugi. "You've been included in everything else!" He suddenly stopped talking and closed his eyes, trying to steady himself. When he opened them the bitterness remained, but there was also a steely look in them.
"Yuugi," he said softly. "You're too nice. You won't ever understand what I feel like. Ever."
He left the room.
The room was filled with a rather awkward silence. Anzu looked distressed and worried, but composed herself.
Eventually, Harry cleared his throat loudly and tried to find something to say."
"Anyway... Ginny, you're a wicked Chaser, aren't you?"
"Hmmmm, yeah..." Ginny answered, not really listening. She had her eyes fixed on Malik, you see.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Right. Then there's the Quaffle. It's sorta like a basketball. You have to get it through one of the three hoops. And there's a person, called the Keeper. He's like the goalkeeper in football," Harry explained as they walked out to the nearest field.
"So Quidditch is like a mixture of our games?" Ryou asked, yawning.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Except that there's one last thing. The golden Snitch. The Seeker's supposed to catch it, and when he does, the game's over."
"Not very interesting," Malik said dismissively (Ryou translated). "Kind of easy to just catch the Snitch."
"Just wait till you see it," Harry replied, smirking. "Small and fast, it's an inexperienced Seeker's nightmare."
"Really," Malik said skeptically.
Meanwhile, Yuugi, Mokuba and Seto (Anzu had declined to go) were walking a fair distance behind Harry, Ryou and Malik. "Is it true you're the head of some company in Japan?" Ron asked Seto curiously. "Yeah, he's the CEO of KaibaCorp," Yuugi said. "I'm surprised Granger here hasn't even tried to flirt with me yet, considering the attention I get everywhere," Seto added, an expression of half-disgust, half-admiration on his face.
"Oh, please," Hermione said. "I'd rather concentrate on my studies, and besides, you're not my type."
Seto smiled. "You know, Granger, I think we might just get along."
Hermione half-grinned. "I'm not used to being called Granger by a friend," she commented.
"You'll get used to it eventually," Yuugi said, grinning. They reached the field, and Harry, dealing with the Weasleys' spare/old brooms like an expert, thrust one at Ryou, Yuugi, Mokuba, Jounouchi and Malik. "You sure you don't want to?" he asked Seto and Mokuba, who shook their heads. "I've got no time for things like this," Seto said, "and Mokuba has motion sickness." Ron whistled. "Boy," he said incredulously, "running a company must be tough."
"Okay," Harry said, "Place your brooms on the ground directly under our hand. Then, I know this sounds dumb, but say 'UP!' Don't quaver or anything, the brooms can sense it."
"Like Duel Monsters," Malik whispered. "UP!" they all commanded confidently.
The brooms jumped in Jounouchi and Malik's hands immediately. Ryou's broom hesitated a while, then flew daintily into Ryou's hand. Yuugi's broom stared at him, and if brooms could stick their tongues out, this broom would've. "That's a nice start," Harry said, smiling. "Oh, and your first try doesn't matter much, Yuugi. Ron's didn't do much during his first try, and he's now Gryffindor Keeper."
(((Nice start for the Game King,)) Yami Bakura snickered.)
Then Harry showed them how to mount their brooms, and Yuugi's broom finally listened to him. Pretty soon they were flying around the field, and Ron, now on his Comet Two-Ninety demonstrated how to Keep while Ginny tried to score a goal.
"You know," Harry told Malik and Jounouchi thoughtfully after their lesson, "you'd be perfect for the Chaser position."
Malik and Jounouchi looked at each other. "Maybe," they said, and shrugged.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Honda angrily went up the stairs and stumbled into his room, intending to sulk for the rest of his stay. Childish, he knew, but he was justified.
He heard a tiny, audible cough. Looking around, he realized that he wasn't in his room after all... he was in that boy's room. The one Ron didn't like.
Glaring at the boy, he growled in Japanese, "What the hell do you want?"
Without waiting for an answer, he stormed out.
Blaise Zabini was left there, slightly confused. It seemed that he had a lot to learn about Muggles...
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Right," Mrs. Weasley announced. "We're going shopping for your school supplies. Blaise, Bakura, Jounouchi, Kaiba and Malik, you've got money, I assume? Yuugi, Mokuba, dears, you'll have to stay here... Tell Yami and your friends, okay?" She bit her lip, remembering Honda's outburst that morning.
Blaise nodded as Ryou, Jounouchi and Malik stared at Seto pleadingly. Seto sighed. "Oh, all right. But you have to pay me back." Meanwhile, Ryou was appealing to Mr. Weasley to do something about Jounouchi and Malik's English problem.
"Jounouchi, Malik, come here please," Mr. Weasley ordered. Then he performed a very complicated spell than Ryou couldn't remember, and said, smiling, "There, they know English now. But since this is a new charm and has side effects we haven't fixed yet... I think they've forgotten how to speak Japanese."
"Well," Ryou sighed. "At least it's better than not understanding what's going on in here."
Malik experimentally tried out a few words in Arabic, then in the High Language. "At least I haven't forgotten those..." he told himself, relieved.
Ron was arguing with his mother. "Mum, does Zabini have to come with us?"
Mrs. Weasley glared at Ron. "Yes. Now keep quiet!"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"So this is Diagon Alley?" Malik asked incredulously. "Yeah," Ron answered. "Come on, we have to get our 6th year school supplies."
"Bring Blaise along with you," Mrs. Weasley said sharply, overhearing them. "Meet us in the Leaky Cauldron when you're done, alright?"
"Yes, Mum," Ron replied, rolling his eyes.
"I can buy my own books, thank you very much!" the sable-haired boy said indignantly, face reddening. It was at this point some Slytherins saw him and tried to hex him. Thankfully Blaise moved quickly enough to avoid it and it hit Eylops' Owl Emporium instead.
"Blaise, dear, that's why you have to stay with the others!" Mrs. Weasley told him kindly. "I know you're a Slytherin and Slytherins don't go with Gryffindors... but who knows? Maybe Malik or Kaiba might get in Slytherin! And anyway, it's for your own good..."
"Yeah, don't worry, Zabini, we'll protect you," Malik said, "We have a lot of experience when it comes to dealing with these matters." He fingered his Millenium Rod, kept hidden in his pocket.
"So," Ryou said thoughtfully. "I think we should get our money first, don't you, Kaiba."
Malik and Jounouchi both somehow chose to clear their throats after this.
"You had better pay me back... Come on," Seto growled as they walked towards Gringotts.
It was... impressive, Seto admitted. It was snow white and towered over all the other shops, and it had polished bronze ballroom doors, where a goblin, Hermione had said, stood, wearing a scarlet and gold uniform. Malik noted that the white steps were made of stone as they walked in, and faced yet another door. It was an exact duplicate of the first door, except it was silver. There were words engraved on them, and the newcomers to the wizarding world read them, all thinking, 'Don't, Yami Bakura.'
"Don't steal from it," Ron warned. "No one's ever tried, and no one ever will, if they like living."
Ryou smiled.
One hundred Galleons each later, they were all ready to go shopping.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Okay, now we've gotten all our books and clothes and stuff... Where's the wand shop?" Jounouchi asked, consulting his supplies list.
"That way," Hermione said, pointing. "I'll bring them," Zabini said firmly. All this Gryffindor company was a bit traumatizing, and he needed to get away.
"When you've finished, go to the Magical Menagerie, okay? Crookshanks is looking a bit strange," Hermione replied. Crookshanks was her squashed-faced ginger cat with block-like legs. No one argued, and so off they went.
No one talked as Zabini led them to Ollivanders', until Jounouchi broke the silence.
"Err... why do they treat you like dirt? I mean, apart from the obvious. I thought you'd defected to the Light?"
Zabini sighed. "There are many people who can't see beyond their beliefs. If it's their belief that all Slytherins are evil, they'll never be able to accept that a Slytherin is good."
"Ron Weasley thinks that way, obviously," Malik smirked.
"Hm, Granger doesn't, though," Seto said.
"Kaiba, this is England! Her name is Hermione!" Jounouchi said.
"Whatever, mutt."
"I am NOT a MUTT!"
"Bonkotsu no Duelist (1)."
"What?" Jounouchi asked, a blank expression on his face.
Kaiba sighed. "Your not knowing Japanese is becoming increasingly inconvenient."
"You look all right to us," Ryou said.
They entered Ollivanders', and Blaise looked around and shivered. "I swore I'd never come here again," he said quietly, and Malik could see why. This room was unsettling, even by his standards, and that was saying something indeed, as the Ghouls had been a very scary organization. "Let's go," Malik said, turning around. "He's obviously not here."
"Hello, young Ishtar," a voice suddenly said from behind Malik. Malik jumped. "Who are you, and how do you know my name?" he demanded. The person, a short and mysterious old man ignored him and said, "So... whom should I serve first? Young Ishtar? Young Kaiba? Young Bakura, or maybe young Jounouchi?" The boys flinched silently when the strange man said their names. Then, catching sight of Blaise, the man smiled. "Ah, Mr. Zabini. Have you come here for a new wand? Or just to show your friends around?"
"I like my wand the way it is, Mr. Ollivander," Blaise said firmly. "But my... my friends need wands."
Ollivander peered at them. "If you say so, Mr. Zabini. It is best for a wizard to have several wands though, one for charmwork, one for transfiguration and such. Young Kaiba, you first. Hold out your wand hand, please."
Seto wondered why he was there. 'I have a COMPANY, for God's Sake!' But he sighed, and held out his right hand. "You mean this hand?"
"Yes, perfect, perfect, young Kaiba." Ollivander pulled out a long tape measure out of his pocket and started measuring Seto. The others (except Blaise) stared, and finally Malik plucked up his courage and asked, "Er, Mr. Ollivander? What does the length around your head have to do with swishing a wand?"
Ollivander passed him a withering glance and answered, "You'll never understand, young Ishtar. Now let me do my work." He shuffled off to a shelf and started collecting several boxes while the tape measure continued measuring the length between Seto's ears and head. "Every Ollivander wand has a bit of a powerful magical substance, young ones. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are completely alike, just like no two unicorns are completely alike. If you try using someone else's wand, you will, of course, produce a weaker result than if you used your own wand. The wand chooses the wizard, you know. Not like window-shopping for new dress robes.
"All right, young Kaiba. Let's see if you're a tricky customer or not," Ollivander said as he took out a wand from a box. "Pine, this is. Unicorn hair, twelve inches, quite bendy. Give it a wave." Seto waved the wand rather uncertainly, and nothing happened. "Well, that's to be expected," said Ollivander. "People rarely get it on their first try. Here you go, this one's fir, dragon heartstring, eleven inches, quite hard." Seto waved it, and blue and white sparks sputtered from the wand. "That's done for you, then," Ollivander said, smiling. "Next, Young Jounouchi, please."
He measured Jounouchi, and flit around the shelves once again. "Here you go, young Jounouchi. This one is beechwood. Eight inches, phoenix feather, rather swishy." Jounouchi waved it and yellow sparks shot out from his wand almost immediately. "Well," Ollivander said, impressed. "You're one straightforward customer, I'd say. Join Young Kaiba there. Young Bakura, your turn."
Jounouchi walked towards Seto and they displayed mutual dislike once again. "You know, you really are quite impressive. It only took one try for you to meet your wand," Seto smirked. "Quite a small amount of time, just like the amount of brain cells you have..."
"Kaiba..." Jounouchi growled.
"And there you go! Yew, eleven-and-a-half inches and unicorn hair! Join young Kaiba and Jounouchi, young Bakura," Ollivander said. "Now, young Ishtar, you next..." There was an intensity in Ollivander's eyes that Malik did not like...
The infamous tape measure started working again and Ollivander said, "Here you go, young Ishtar. Fir, fourteen inches, pure gold dust, an ingredient we don't normally use, and quite a bit too hard for normal people's tastes. Then again, I get the distinct feeling it suits you..." Malik waved the wand and a golden necklace quite similar to the Millenium Tauk appeared. Malik smirked. "I'm liking this thing already..." he said, holding his wand the way he held his Millenium Rod. "That's very nice, young ones," Ollivander said, smiling. "Now if you'll excuse me, 30 Galleons for your purchases, please. Gold dust is quite hard to come by these days, Young Ishtar, so your wand is a little more expensive, at 10 Galleons. Then again, Young Jounouchi's wand is quite cheap to produce, so it is only 5 Galleons. Young Bakura's wand and young Kaiba's wand cost seven Galleons and eight Sickles." Seto paid for all of them and they left.
"Boy," said Blaise. "I'd like to get away as quickly as possible."
"Have we finished yet?" Seto asked. "You all owe me about ninety Galleons each already."
Ryou shrugged. "Hermione seemed to have a surprise for us," he said. "Let's go to the Magical Menagerie."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Here at the Magical Menagerie we have rats, rabbits, ravens, toads, snails and cats. Oh, and we have an import from Egypt. He doesn't take to here well," the witch said sympathetically. "You wouldn't want him, though. Nobody likes snakes now..."
"You have a snake?" Malik asked curiously. "Yes," the witch sighed. "A poisonous cobra, actually. Nobody wants him... he would have been happier back in Egypt, but that's miles away." Malik grinned. "Considering that very animal nearly killed me when I was 4," Malik said, smiling, "I'd be glad to keep it as a pet."
The others looked at him as if he was crazy, but Malik was oblivious. "Yes," he said happily, coiling it around his neck. "I'll call him Osiris, after the God of the Underworld. How much?" he asked the witch. "Fifteen Galleons," she said, and Seto, sighing, started counting his money.
Meanwhile, Ryou was looking at the cat section. "I like cats," he told Hermione, who was also looking. "They're so... elegant."
"Yes, and they're smart, too," Hermione answered. She pointed at a tiny one. "That one there seems you like you," she said. "Really?" asked Ryou, surprised. "I'll take it, then." He picked up the jet-black kitten carefully and brought it to the counter. "I'll take this one," he said. "Err... is it a he or a she?"
"It's a she," answered the witch, "Ten Galleons please." Seto paid again, and Ryou smiled. "I'll call her Raven," he said, and they left, Ryou holding Raven protectively (her black fur was a quite stunning contrast with his white hair) and Osiris proudly curled around Malik's neck for everyone to see.
"Are we done yet?" Seto asked. "You all now owe me three hundred Galleons altogether!"
Malik checked his list. "Yes, we're done. Don't worry, I'll pay you back sometime."
"Let's go back to the Leaky Cauldron, then," Harry said. "Mrs. Weasley said to meet us there."
They walked for a moment, Ryou cuddling Raven and Osiris displayed like a trophy when suddenly an all-too-familiar drawl stopped them. "Well, if it isn't Potty and the Weasel... nice snake, by the way." Harry, Ron and Hermione were mildly surprised; it wasn't like Malfoy to readily compliment someone. Nevertheless, he was Malfoy, and had to be treated as such. "Malfoy," Harry said, gritting his teeth. "Leave us alone."
"Oh, no. You see, I like your friend's snake... Mind if I get introduced to him?" Malfoy moved closer to the snake cautiously, a smirk playing on his face. Malik, not knowing that Malfoy was in Slytherin, and Harry's enemy no less, said, smiling, "Sure. Just don't annoy him. He's poisonous. His name's Osiris." Malfoy stroked the snake thoughtfully and the snake didn't react. It even seemed to enjoy his touch. Then Malfoy abruptly straightened up, sneered, "See you around, Dream Team," and left. He had not spoken or even glanced at Blaise during his introduction to Osiris.
"Well, that was... slightly strange," Hermione said. Ron snorted. "Typical snake behavior. It's the animal that represents Slytherin so if a Slytherin strokes it, and never mind if he's the biggest git on Earth, the snake'll like it."
"Come on," Blaise muttered softly, feeling uncomfortable. "Let's go."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Okay, Patty. I've finished 'socializing' with them, like Mother said. Now can we go home?" a very annoyed Draco Malfoy asked.
The small house-elf beamed. "Mistress Narcissa wishes you to get along, not like what you did just now, Master Draco."
"Whatever," Malfoy muttered. "Let's just go home."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Where's Yami, Yuugi dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked kindly. They had returned to Grimmauld Place, only to find that Yami had mysteriously disappeared.
"Oh, Yami... er... he's back in Japan, Mrs. Weasley!" Yuugi replied brightly.
"But why?" asked Mrs. Weasley, confused. "He's your brother, isn't he?"
"Er, yeah! But, um... he got news from back in Japan that was really important, and had to rush back!" Yuugi said a little too quickly.
"Really," Mrs. Weasley said, disappointed. "He didn't even say goodbye... well, I have to make dinner..." She exited the room absentmindedly.
((Aibou, you cannot lie,)) Yami noted amusedly from inside the Puzzle.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Yuugi, his grandfather, Anzu, Honda and Mokuba soon had to return to Japan. They (except for Yuugi's grandfather) had already missed enough school, and unlike Otogi, they had no legitimate excuse (well, except for Yuugi). And even Otogi had returned to Japan a week before, after hearing that all was well.
There was no sentimental goodbye. Jounouchi had tried to patch things up with Honda, but the latter had refused to listen, stonily looking at the floor. Jounouchi's inability to speak Japanese any more also did not help things.
Yuugi and Anzu had promised to write before they left on transport specially arranged by Dumbledore.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The day finally came. They went through the barrier to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters and hung around the platform exchanging goodbyes. Hermione was explaining to Seto all about Hogwarts: A History and the latter was listening carefully and frowning at occasional intervals. Malik had some business with the twins, and Ryou and Jounouchi were talking with Harry. Blaise was skulking around and seemed to have momentarily vanished.
The train conductor then blew a horn to signal that the train would leave in a minute, and, waving and wiping away a tear, Mrs. Weasley bade goodbye to Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Blaise (who had reappeared again), Seto, Malik, Jounouchi and Ryou. The twins did the best they could to copy their mum, catcalling, "Good bye, Ron! Have a nice time in Hogwarts! We'll send you some Nosebleed Nougats!" The twins had decided to continue their business, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. It was doing quite well, so the family home had gotten a bit of an upgrade. Malik, Harry and the others got on the train and waved.
The train started moving...
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
1 – Bonkotsu no Duelist – The ordinary, unskilled, unknown duelist. I quote Seto Kaiba (in the Game Boy game Yu-Gi-Oh! World Wide Edition): "You challenge me? I admire your enthusiasm, but I don't know you. And any duelist I don't know, is simply not worthy of my attention! And if you're an unknown duelist, you must be a loser! And an army of losers won't stand a chance against me!" And that was after I'd beaten him SEVEN times, and once in the KC CUP, which he ORGANIZED.
All right, I made up the bit about Mokuba's motion sickness! Sue me!
I like sable hair:)
"Have you noticed," Malik poked the long-suffering Jounouchi, "That all our surnames end with the syllable "aa" except yours?"
Please R&R:)