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Chapter Six: Shadows on the Wall

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Hermione was still wincing when she stepped into the hotel's lobby. The only consolation she could find in her pounding headache was that a least the spell had worked. The blank Japanese-English dictionary in her purse proved the point just as well, though. It had been hours since she preformed the spell in plane's restroom --while over the ocean, to not involve sticky legalities.

The spell was still working, and she could only understand about half of what was being said, and only if she concentrated. She was really being to understand why the spell wasn't popular, border-line dark arts classifications aside. It was taking her hours to make sense of the mash it had made of her language skills. Even with the fact it wasn't recommended to perform the spell more than once a year, she didn't see herself using it again, any time soon.

Checking in for the hotel was easy, and she had her bags sent up to her room with in a matter of minutes. However, the line to the tournament to the official tournament registration table was significantly longer. Most of the people in line had sat down, and already decks were out.

Hermione felt for her own, in her purse beside the blank Japanese-English dictionary. There was barely enough room in the bag for the deck, as she found when she had grabbed it out of her luggage. It had been bulging with books, and when she had put in the deck the day before, she could have sworn stitches were popping.

Her wand was safely at her side, stabbing her armpit slightly, but it was the best place she could find for it. She was afraid to put it in her bags, and wouldn't wear it openly. It had been enough of a hassle to get it though airport security.

"You're new," a voice purred from behind her.

It took Hermione a moment to process. The spell was effective, even if it took a moment for her to figure out what the woman meant.

The woman asking it was a whole other matter. Hermione hadn't a clue about what to think of her. She had a cocky smirk, and looked like she would take on even a king with aplomb. Her choice of clothes startled hermione slightly, and she couldn't help but wonder if she could breath a corset with that much upward push.

Hermione blinked, absorbed all of it, and smiled. "Yes. Hermione Granger. I'm from England."

"Mai Kujaka."

The name rang a bell, and Hermione recalled that she had been a finalist in a number tournament. She was a pro, and made a living off of tournament winnings. Mai was also just one of many high caliber duelists.

It's a good thing, Hermione thought, that I'm not here to win.

"Nice to meet you."

"You too. What I meant was that you're completely new to world stage, aren't you?"

Hermione nodded. "You aren't the first person to comment on it."

"You could be big news," Mai shrugged. "Newbies used to attract a lot of attention before the game got really popular. They don't so much now, not most of them anyway." Her eyes were distant. "Unless they win."

"Oh." Hermione wondered if her win in the tournament in England was enough to attract that sort of attention. She couldn't figure out if Mai had been looking for unfamiliar faces in general, her especially, or whether it was chance they had met.

Suddenly, Mai was leaning on her shoulder. "Anyways, hon, you are big news as is."

"I... am?" A dozen thoughts and idea flitted though Hermione's mind. "Why?"

"You're a girl. This is male dominated game. I don't have to do the math there, do I?" Mai was smirking when Hermione looked up.

Hermione flushed and shook her head, very mindful of how Mai was still leaning over her. "I understand what you mean."

"Mhhh," Mai clearly doubted her words, but she was smiling. "So how long have you been into the game?"

Hermione shrugged again, feeling uncomfortable. "I started to play this summer."

"Really? You've picked it up fast." Mai smirked. "It'll be fun to duel you later then."

"Er, thanks?" Hermione offered, unnerved by the predatory look in Mai's eyes.

"Don't worry," Mai laughed. "This is a traditional single-elimination tournament setup. Unless I have some luck, we probably won't face each other now."

Hermione forced herself to smile back. That was good. Mai, she seemed confident, and there was no way that didn't carry over to her game.

"But," Mai added wickedly, "If you go to World Walkabout in October, I would love to face you then."

"Can't."

Mai looked at her strangely. "If you can get this far, there's no way that couldn't go."

"I go to a boarding school," Hermione clarified.

Mai shook her head. "You really should talk to your teachers then. Walkabout is one of the best tournaments out there. Are you going to Illusions Reborn next month?"

"I don't know. I'm rather surprised that I'm even here," Hermione admitted. "When I went to my regionals, and then nationals, it was just meant for a bit of fun. I never thought I would..."

"Ahhhh, I see," Mai murmured, as a spark kindled in her eyes. "I definitely want to duel you."

"Well, maybe we can later, for fun?" Hermione suggested.

"That would be nice, but a duelist only plays her best in competition or when she has something to lose."

"I might not--"

"You will play again. One with your skill won't able not to play."

Hermione stared at her. What she was saying...

"Mai!" A boy who looked about her own age was running over, ignoring the curses that followed his haphazard path. He was grinning fiercely, and seemed to take up double the space he actually needed, waving his arms.

"Katsuya," Mai greeted neutrally, but she was fighting a smile.

"Whatcha doing here?"

"Here for the prize money, of course," Mai said shamelessly. "You?"

"Uhhh," the boy scratched the back of his neck, "I'll tell you later. Who's your friend?"

"Hermione Granger," the witch interrupted. "And you are...?"

"Jounochi." He offered her his hand to shake; his grip was firm.

"Is Yuugi here?" Mai asked abruptly.

"Hey, cut a guy some slack. We..." Jounochi trailed off before nodding. "Yeah. Kaiba too. I've been seeing a lot of other heavy hitters."

"Fascinating," Mai drawled. "I've notice the exact same thing. It's really odd. Most people prefer the roving challenge type."

"Yeah," Jounochi muttered. "It's very interesting all right. They switched the format around, up until a week ago, it was supposed to be. Now they've been having 'issues' with the bracket. For the last four damn hours."

"You joking," Mai said disgustedly. "That's what's taking so long?"

"Yep. Supposedly their computer program crashed. Something about incompatible languages or systems," Jounochi spat. "Every thing has been messed up. If it was just you choose your opponent and duel, things would much simpler. I think we won't even know who are first opponent is until tomorrow."

"If you're so upset about the layout, then why did you even come?" Mai asked wryly.

"It's... complicated. Can we talk about it later?" Jounochi begged, his eyes going to Hermione.

"Oh," Mai said flatly. "Is it to the point that I should run while I can, or are not going to know until I'm trapped again?" She glared, but fear was in her eyes, and she only met Jounochi's gaze for a second.

"Mai," Jounochi looked away. "I..."

"Never mind," Mai hissed, and Hermione felt she was intruding on something truly private. "I'll be fine."

"Liar," Jounochi whispered, and Hermione shifted uncomfortably. "I-- what the hell is he doing here?"

Hermione followed both his and Mai's astonished looks to a boy with white hair. She spared a brief thought to wonder about the amount of bleach needed for that paleness before Jounochi spoke.

"Mai, I'll catch you later. I need to--"

"Yeah. You do." Mai's voice was hollow.

Jounochi nodded, before taking her hand quickly. He seemed as shocked as her at his action, and dropped her hand as he was afraid of being burned. "I should go talk to him. I promise, I'll tell you if, well, you know."

"Go."

Jounochi nodded uncertainly, before taking off at a jog after the person, who was already out on the street. Hermione wondered if he would be able to catch up to his acquaintance, before he was swept into the crowd.

"Did he go looking for a friend?" she asked as curiosity overcame her.

Mai shook her head, and then paused. "Of a very odd sort, perhaps. I need a drink. I'll catch you later."

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The line moved slower than molasses, and by the time Hermione reached the registration table, she had recalled four spells that would have created a tournament bracket. Honestly, it shouldn't have been that hard to randomly pair up people to fight.

She nearly collapsed on her bed when she reached her room, but with the over twelve hours she had managed to sleep away on the plane, she found she couldn't. With a sigh, she began to unpack. With the brisk efficiency, and a few spells, her bags were empty. She then slipped out to the ice machine. After she returned, and had taken several too large gulps of water, she stopped stalling.

Slowly, she took out the sheaves of paper she had labored over, and quickly did her best to check to the jumps between Arithmancy, the Grammatica, and the incantation. Finding nothing wrong with it, she went to the next paper, until she had checked all of her potential spells to test.

Again, she reasoned that there was no other way. Spell testing was dangerous, and she didn't even pretend to have the proper facilities. However, Voldemort was more dangerous, and a certain and tangible peril. What ifs, and maybes were not going to stop her.

If she told herself that enough times, she hoped she'd believe it.

Hermione slowly began to move her wand in the complex patterns she had outlined. Whispered the words brought a shaky, misty shield around her. Again, she tried the spell, and then made minor adjustments to her calculations.

It was an hour before she let the air completely clear of spells.

Her wand arm was trembling for the amount of casting she had done. She couldn't move her wand in a straight line, and that was enough of a sign for her to take a break, as exultant as she was at the spell working.

She sat, and looked at her flipped though her cards, smiling at favorites, though her mind was still swirling with Arithmatical symbols and equations. Little things were making more sense now, and Hermione could see several other problems she had unwittingly added in to her other spells. Despite that, it was hard to summon any irritation. It was a good start that even one spell had worked.

A finger ghosted over her Whitewater Otter card. It was easy to relax doing that. Since seeing it in the holograms, she could picture it in her mind. It was more of a memory of a wondrous creature --like the first time she had seen a unicorn-- rather then one of a technological feat. It seemed too real for that.

She remembered her patronus, and smiled.

There could be a way to make it real, some how. There doubtlessly was precedence somewhere.

She stood and stretched, still holding the card. She examined it carefully, seeing the minute details as the base equation she would probably need came to mind.

It would be a silly thing to waste time on, but it at least would be fun. Hermione examined the card once last time as she resolved to try. She would see this card come to life, and be almost real.

Still... it was easy to draw out a picture in her mind of what it was. The way the fur would clump, the way the otter's tail lashed, and its whiskers twitch. She imagined the eyes, and the blankness she remembered from the holograms disappeared. Now they were bright and liquid, sliding to watch her and wait for her command.

Hermione's arm convulsed jerked, while her hand smashed. Her chair pitched as she fell limp, nearly tipping her out.

Before her, stood the Whiteriver Otter, as real as life, as real as magic. It stared at her unerringly, canting its head.

Unthinkingly, Hermione outstretched a hand seeing how it trembled, reaching toward the creature. Nearly touching it, she paused, and too many thoughts to think swirled through her mind. She tried to discard them, and reached the final length.

Her hand passed though air. The otter had disappeared.

"Well... hell." she said slowly, slumping.

There could have been any number of reasons that her magic had done that. It could have been a side effect of the shield, some botched Arithmancy equations that had led her to say extraneous words. That would be dangerous. With one mistake in spell testing, often came many. A wrong equations there, could mean getting webbed fingers.

One of the other more likely possibilities was accidental magic, but it had never worked like this before. Before Hogwarts it would always be little things that she truly wanted. The otter had been thought about in a fit of whimsy. If it had worked like that, she would have had a whole stable of horses and ponies by the time she was eight.

Hermione massaged her temples, already feeling a headache coming in. She sat for several minutes, further reviewing her options, and coming with nothing pleasing. She nearly screamed when she heard a knock at the room's door.

"Yes?" she snapped.

"Hermione?"

Her head banged against the back of the chair and she nearly cursed, but stood. "What?"

"It's Mai. Want to have some fun?"

Hermione regarded the door, suspicious. "Now is not really a good time."

"A lot of duelist are meeting in the ballroom."

"That wasn't on the schedule," Hermione pointed out, opening the door.

Mai smirked. "I know. That's what I meant by fun. Grab you deck and disk, and come on."

"I'm a little--"

"What else do you have to do?" Mai asked.

"Err, I..."

Mai stared at her, plainly waiting not for an explanation, but for Hermione to come. Her eyes swept over the room, the nest of papers and books, the wand on still beside them, and the abacus Hermione had been using. She saw nothing that merited more attention then dueling. "Let's go."

Hermione ignored the odd tingle going up her arm and increasing heartbeat when she picked up her deck.

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A/N:

Okay, this is the first time I'm doing notes on WotC, but I figured it needed to be done.

1.) The translation spell is borderline-illegal, and requires a very specific thought pattern to work well. Hermione was rather lucky it worked, and didn't leave her unable to talk coherently for days. It's not well known, or used.

2.) I'm leaving out the honorifics when it's from Hermione's POV. The translation spell tends to let Hermione ignore them, or if they are extreme enough, to translate them into something else in English.

3.) Katsuya is Jounochi first name, and Mai is one of the very few (as in the only person I can think of) who calls him that. This is referenced to in the anime dub by her calling him Joseph.

4.) The tournament bracket means diagram that shows how the winner of each match will progress.

Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, even if I was very slack about replying. I'll try to do better this time.