Yami's eyes started to flatter open slowly. He had a weary feeling in his head, like he was floating. He opened his eyes rather unwillingly, feeling the fatigue from the previous day coming back to his body that was laying flat onto the bed. His eyesight was a bit blurred in the beginning and he was wondering where he was. Once his vision cleared, saw the room around him and felt how heavy his body was, he remembered. He was a wizard too. He was taken into some strange school along with his brother and now he was inside some inn's room. Everywhere around him could smell the essence of moisture on the wood, a rather pleasant scent that reminded him of traditional rooms or the scent of some older, magic, era like those he had read about in books. Despite the quite unpleasant sensation that his body weighted thirty kilos more he half-lifted himself from the bed to look around. The room was showered in the dim sunlight and had a gray color. It was still too early, Yami presumed. The calm breathing next to him made him fasten his eyes to the human figure next to him and smile. Yugi was still asleep.
Yami looked around at the room once again. It was quiet and warm in there. There was always the grand bookcase with the leather-dressed books. Yami guessed it would be too risky to wake Yugi up if he decided to wake up now so he lay back down on the bed. Soon his eyes felt heavy once more and he drifted back to sleep.
When he opened his eyes again, it was clearly morning. The golden sunlight had filled the room making it look less depressing but the same old-fashioned. Yami lifted himself in sitting position once more, feeling the wonderful warmth leaving him as the cover slipped from his body in the process. It didn't take more than a couple of seconds to realize he was alone. Yugi was not sleeping next to him anymore. The side of the bed was empty and pretty much tidy. Yugi must have gone down for breakfast or something. A bit unwilling to leave the warmth of the bed, Yami threw the covers off him to get out of bed and stretched himself a little. He then looked towards the bookshelf again. For the first time in his life he saw so many leather-dressed books. He couldn't really remember seeing another before. Moreover, for the first time in his life he felt such a strong urge to actually read something! The temptation was scary and finally went to it and picked a thick blue-leather-dressed book and opened it. Its pages had started turning yellow by the amount of time. The letters were also looking like written by hand with an old quill instead of the computer or even the typewriter. He whistled impressed at the beautifully shaped letters before his eyes. Thirsty for more, he read a couple of paragraphs and then closed the book to see its title. It said Hogwarts History with black letters on its back. It sounded promising, to say the very least. He put the book aside and then picked another one, smaller this time and dressed in crimson-red leather cover and golden letters that said Charms Jinxes Curses and Spells. He did the same thing with that book too. And next he picked up an even smaller one, dressed in green leather and with brown letters that was named Herbs and Ingredients. This book has plenty of sketches inside as well. Deciding that this was enough for now, He placed the books onto a small pile by size (the blue on the base, the red then and on top of them the green one) onto the table. He then changed into his last night's outfit and taking the books under his arm he walked out of the door.
To his utter astonishment the first thing he saw when he reached the dusty stairway to the ground floor (where he guessed the dining room was in), was a…mop and a water bucket swapping the floor…on their own! The mop was constantly collaring itself within the water bucket, emerging once more and squeezing itself dry and then it would start swapping the floor and stairs. Yami shook his head, blinking once or twice to make sure he wasn't imagining things or dreaming (for one moment he was sure that he was still in his bed sleeping or something) before smirking enthusiastically and whispering:
"God, I love magic!"
He walked past the mop trying not to…disturb it from its work (also earning a slight hit by the mop's stick on the head for stepping over the wet floor) he walked down the stairs towards the direction where he caught a nice aroma coming from…
He stepped through the doors of the room and –as he had rightly guessed- it was the dining room. There were tables all around and there were one or two groups of children at the age of 11 more or less, sitting around and eating. When Yami opened the door to enter the room, he attracted the glances of everyone sitting there. Yami mentally cursed at that, since he appeared to be the oldest of the people in the dining room and he hoped they would at least stop staring him so intensively. He caught with the corner of his eye, Yugi waving at him from a table at the corner. Breathing out in relief, he opened his footsteps so he could reach him faster.
Yugi was already eating; he had before him some slices of buttered, backed bread, a large glass with milk and another with pumpkin juice. Billy's cage was also on a chair and the small rat inside it was constantly sniffing around. Yami took a seat opposite Yugi placing the books on the table.
"Morning, Yami!" Yugi said while feeding a small piece of cheese to his new pet rat
The rat started munching it impatiently.
"Hey Yugi." Yami greeted back, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Well…you seemed quite tired and you were sleeping deeply so I thought it would be better not to wake you up" Yugi replied taking a good bite of bread and drinking some warm pumpkin juice, "However I ordered you stuff too" he added with his mouth full
"How heartless of you to keep me alone there and come here to eat!" Yami said with a fake over-dramatic look as he took his own juice and milk and some bread before him
Yugi giggled and stuck his tongue out at Yami, before giving some more cheese to Billy again. Yami had started eating as well and he also opened one of the books he had brought with him reading a little.
"What're you reading?" Yugi asked curiously while chewing yet another bite of baked bread.
Yami barely looked up from the lines of the book, and he was chewing some bread as well.
"Something I found to the library in the room" he replied turning a page over, "It seemed interesting…"
Yugi blinked in amusement for a second. It was quite unusual to see Yami reading a book with such dedication so early in the morning. He knew that Yami liked to study but he had never seen him having his nose stuck in a book for long. He didn't need to anyway. It came natural to him getting good grades. Not perfect but at least one of the best in his class.
"Ah, also Mr. Titan has left a message for us" Yugi added
"Hm…is that so…?" Yami mumbled absentmindedly as he was reading one really interesting part in the book.
"Yes. He told us to wait for him in the room after breakfast. He says he wants to inform us about something"
At this point Yugi looked at his brother questionably, and perhaps a bit hopeful to get an answer.
"What do you think he wants to inform us about, Yami?"
Yami took a peek over the book at him and shrugged.
"No idea"
Yugi shrugged back.
"Oh, well. It sounds important though…" And he then clapped his hands together. "I'm really excited Yami! And I am so happy you're with me too!"
Yami gave him a small smile.
"Yeah…it sure is great…"
And then returned back at reading the book in deep thought.
"Great…" he thought
Later on they were both sitting in their room. Yami was reading to kill some time while Yugi was playing with Billy. He had him out of his cage and he had him running onto his hands and shoulders. Smart rat, Yami thought, well, as smart a rat could be considered (and he had heard rats are indeed smart animals). However he appeared to have grown used to Yugi's presence and even to his voice. He didn't make an attempt to run away from Yugi. On the contrary; he was playing with him like a well-trained puppy, running with his small paws all over Yugi's arms or legs, making the second one giggle in the process, feeling the furry paws on his limbs.
"Did you know that Hogwarts has more than a thousand-year of history?" Yami asked out in the blue.
Yugi got hold of Billy in his palms and started petting his head.
"No" said, "Wow! Seems quite a lot of time!"
"Aha!" Yami nodded; obviously contented by the fact someone was listening to his voice for a change, "It was practically founded by four people; Godric Griffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin"
"Really?" Yugi questioned while petting the rat's small head. Billy gave his finger a light, friendly bite
"Yes. At least this is what this book says" Yami shrugged it off. Obviously Yugi was only half-paying attention
No sooner had he finished his words and the sound of someone knocking the door drew their attention. The two brothers looked at each other.
"Come in, it's open" Yami said
And so it happened. The door opened to reveal Titan Darkwaters. The hulky man greeted the two brothers with a nod of his head before stepping through the door and closing it behind him in the process. He marched through the small room and after a couple of steps he had reached the table where the brothers were sitting. He pulled one of the chairs out and sat himself on it with his face towards the bed once more and motioned to the kids to sit on it. Yami and Yugi obeyed and sat on it side by side like they had done the night before. Then their violet-colored eyes fastened upon Titan's masked face, and both of the kids subconsciously leaned their bodies closer to him, waiting patiently for what he was about to tell them. Titan drew a deep breath through his nose and then started talking
"Well, you two, as you know, you are here so you can get to know our world a little bit before entering Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Therefore my role now is to give you some information about the school and the system in the world of magic. First of all, the school you are heading to, accepts students usually coming from Britain. You two go there because of your mother's English origin… There are other schools to other places too, Japan included, however you were chosen for Hogwarts instead, and that was another reason you needed to be picked up from your place and be moved to London"
There was a nod from Yugi and Yami almost in perfect harmony of movement.
"As you know already probably" Titan continued, "you'll be going to Hogwarts by train, the train you'll catch from King's Cross Station, to be exact. Once you enter there, you will train yourselves in a variety of magical arts and spells for seven years. This is how long your schooldays are going to last"
He made a pause and looked at his small audience to make sure both of them were paying attention before continuing.
"Now, when the two of you will enter the school, you'll be sorted in one of the Houses."
"Houses?" Yugi questioned petting Billy behind the ears, completely forgetting his previous fears for Titan
"Exactly" Titan pointed out, "I am not sure if you are aware of that but Hogwarts is a school with rich history that reaches up to more or less a thousand of years ago"
"Yes, I know" Yami replied in a low voice, changing the leg he was sitting onto, crossing it along with the other so now he was sitting squatting onto the bed, "The school was founded by four people"
Titan glanced at Yami once, his face showing genuine surprise at Yami's answer since he thought that Yami's knowledge on this world was more or less like all Muggles'; negligible.
"Exactly" Titan finally said, surpassing his previous surprise, "Godric Griffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. Those four Founders have given their names to the Four Houses of Hogwarts; Griffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Once you enter the school, you will be shorted in one of those houses."
Yet another pause followed.
"This has to do with your character purely and it will not affect the lessons you will be attending to. It organizes the students better and puts them to the right House in which more or less will find people with similar interests and ideas. The classes will include students regardless of the House they've been shorted to. So far so good?"
The kids gave him a startled nod almost in perfect synchronization.
"Good. Now it is important to say this too; in the past Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry was only a school. In other words, once the student finished his or her seven years of studying magic, then he or her would leave the school and start searching for career. However this has changed the latest years.
Now the school works also as some kind of Academy so any student who desires to stay after their seven years of studying are over, then he or she can remain at school and be trained to become a teacher or at least gain more knowledge on one subject. Usually this happens with the students with the greater grades. Those can actually attend those extra classes without payment while the others must pay a price of around 500 golden Galleons a year, but that also can differ from situation to situation"
Here was another pause and for one more time the children nodded their heads.
"For school regulations you will be informed once you go there" Titan continued, "What it is important to know, though, is that it is strictly forbidden for under-aged witches and wizards use magic outside school"
A panicked expression distorted Yugi's face.
"But we HAVE used magic outside school!"
Titan shifted his gaze upon Yugi.
"You two are okay. You didn't have wands yet. However once you enter Hogwarts, you won't be allowed to use magic outside school. And this gives me the opportunity to explain you what the Trace is"
"Trace?" Yami cocked an eyebrow up
"Yes. Every under-aged witch and wizard, who starts attend to classes, gets on him a Trace. This Trace can give us, or more specifically, the Ministry of Magic, the exact location of the witch or wizard plus it informs the Central Headquarters of Ministry of Magic straight away if an under-aged magician uses magic and breaks the regulation"
Observing the looks on Yugi and Yami's faces he added;
"I guess this is similar to what you younger ones call 'microchip'. It gives the Ministry of Magic the exact location of all under-aged witches or wizards"
"So we have this…'microchip' for the rest of our lives?" Yami barged in half-jokingly, half-serious
"No" Titan retorted, "The Trace remains onto the witch or wizard till the day he or she becomes Of Age, in other words when he or she becomes seventeen years old"
"Seventeen?" Yami questioned fast once more before Titan could continue
"Yes" Titan replied again, "I know you Muggles usually have different adulthood ages but in Magical World a witch or a wizard becomes Of Age or else Adult once he or she becomes seventeen years old. The exact moment that will have passed exactly seventeen years after your birth, then you are considered Of Age and the Trace will be deactivated. This is the Magical Law."
Being born in a country where someone should be twenty to be considered an adult, Yami and Yugi exchanged a jigger look with each other. They seemed really ecstatic by the news.
"Wow, Yugi! In the end we won't need to wait till we turn twenty to be considered adults! In Magical World we'll be by our seventeen!" Yami pointed out with passion
"I know!" Yugi closed his small fist in excitement
Titan cleared his throat, a bit irritated the kids had turned their attention elsewhere and not into his saying.
"Well" he started once the two children stopped and looked at him once more, "Yes. Once you become Of Age you'll be able to choose a career in Magical World"
The children nodded once more. It appeared it was the only thing they could do since they were left at loss of words.
"Emm…excuse me but…" Yugi found his voice first and managed to speak in a low voice, "What exactly is the Ministry of Magic?"
"It is the main governing body of the magical community. Head of the Ministry of Magic is the Minister of Magic and I guess he is equal to a Prime Minister for most of countries. The specific Ministry of Magic has to do mostly with the magical community of Great Britain. Other countries have their own Ministries of Magic. Moreover the Minister of Magic keeps contact with the Muggle Minister as well"
Muggle. Yami and Yugi needed to get used to that name for their…race.
"What about these?" Yugi asked again showing Titan a handful of coins
It had golden Galleons and also a couple of silver and bronze coins.
"This is Magical Money. This is the money you'll be using in Magical World. This golden one" he held up a golden coin, "is called Galleon and is the most valued coin in wizarding currency. It is also equal to seventeen Sickles or four hundred and ninety-three Knuts"
He placed the gold coin in Yugi's palm again and took hold of a silver one.
"This is the Sickle. Seventeen of this makes us a Galleon. Also this is equal to twenty-nine Knuts"
He did the same thing he did with the golden one and finally picked up a bronze one.
"This one is the Knut. It is the less valued coin in wizarding currency up to our days and it can be considered approximately equal to a Muggle British penny."
He placed that coin too back into Yugi's palm. Billy bit softly Yugi's thumb to pass the message that wanted to be released and once he was, he climbed up on Yugi's arm and finally rested on Yugi's shoulder (and his moustache-hairs were constantly tickling his cheek by the constant moving of the rat's sniffing).
"As you saw, Hogwarts gives you 500 Galleons to get a good start, however later on you must find money on your own. Gringotts Bank gives you the possibility of exchanging Muggle money in it, and get Magic Money. For example four hundred and ninety-three Knuts or else one golden Galleon, is equal to…" he did the math quickly, "1165.33 Japanese yen"
"Phew!" Yami whistled impressed, "That's indeed quite some money"
If his math were correct, and it was, then Hogwarts had given them 1165330 yen in golden Galleons
"There is something else that you probably need to know…"
Titan's voice was more serious than before when he said that, immediately drawing Yami and Yugi's attention for more.
"Really recently" Titan whispered, "There was a great crisis here in both Magical and Muggle world. A really ambitious wizard Whose-Name-Cannot-Be-Spoken tried to extinct all no-wizard-family wizards"
"Eliminate them…?" Yami whispered like an echo
"Yes. You must understand this, cause it is really important; in wizardry world sometimes witches and wizards are being 'organized' in some kind of castes depending on how much "pure" blood they have inside them. There are Purebloods, Half-Bloods and finally the Muggle-born ones. The Purebloods are wizards whose both parents are wizards and probably they belong to large magical families. Half-Bloods usually are witches and wizards whose one of the two parents is Wizard and the other is Muggle. Finally the Muggle-born ones are the witches or wizards whose families belong to Muggles and they were also considered one of them, before their powers made their appearance. What is usual in Magic world, even now, is that Purebloods and sometimes even Half-Bloods tend to look down on Muggle-born wizards. Of course their origin has nothing to do with skill or charisma. It is completely irrelevant. However it still happens even now. You two belong to the Muggle-born wizards' category. But remember that whatever you do at school and how much you study is making you good wizards or not. Not your origins"
Silence followed. Neither Yami nor Yugi could really come up with something to say on the matter. The fact that the war had taken place close to them was the most shocking part of the whole story. Titan was the first to break that awkward silence.
"So, do you have any questions?"
The children shook their heads negatively. Billy, meanwhile, climbed down from Yugi's shoulder and sat himself on Yugi's left knee.
"Good." Titan got back to his feet, "Then I'll leave you for now. I'll come to pick you up again when it is time for us to leave for King's Cross Station. Remember to be ready cause the train leaves exactly at eleven o'clock"
He greeted them once more with a nod of his head and walked out of the room closing the door behind him, just like the way he had come in before…
The rest of their days passed smoothly. Yami and Yugi got to spend some time with the other kids that were in that inn and they got to walk around the area a little. Even if the kids were looking at Yami strangely –since he was by far the oldest in that inn- as if he were some green-skinned goblin or something. Yami didn't feel right with it, but at least they did nothing more than that so…Yami tried to live with it even if it became a bit depressing after a little while.
In their room they kept company to each other, playing with Billy or dueling with each other with their favorite card game: Duel Monsters. Even the old books around them seemed interesting. Yami found himself falling asleep with a book on his face at nights; obviously he had fallen asleep on the spot while he lay flat on his back reading till late at night. One thing was for sure though. Both of them were counting down the days till September the first. On the last day of August, they had already packed their stuff by morning. Their hearts were hammering against their chests as now the final countdown had started. Only a few hours separated them from the journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They could hardly think of anything else in their excitement.
They went to sleep early but Yami hardly slept at all, and he doubted Yugi did either, even if he never asked him or confirmed it. They both got up and out of bed at around six o'clock in the morning, too nervous even to sleep. They both got up and got dressed almost at the same time as if they had planned I beforehand the night before and passed their time with checking their decks, hoping the clockwise would move a bit faster. Finally at eight o'clock they went down to grab something to eat but their stomachs were clenched and they hardly got to eat some bread and drink some milk before returning to their room.
Titan was accurate at time. He was there at around nine o'clock. It was needless for him to tell them to hurry up because by the time Titan opened their door, he found them already on foot, with their luggage in hand. The large man had brought with him two trunks for the brothers to put their stuff on. When they finished, Yugi placed Billy's cage onto it last and the strange trio walked out of the inn's central door, pushing the trunks with them. The day was cool and a bit of misty as they got out in the narrow alleys of Diagon Alley. The shops' pointy roofs seemed to be emerging out of the haze as if they were sunk into really washy milk. Titan led the two of them to the wall they had seen before and tapped the usual bricks on it. The gate opened once more and the small company passed through it back into Muggle World of London…
They reached King's Cross Station at around a quarter to eleven. The kids put their trunks onto carts and wheeled them inside the crowded station. It was full with people walking around, sometimes even bumping into their shoulders as they carelessly passed by them, in too much of a hurry to check. The three of them walked a little further till Titan told them to continue and he would catch up with them in a minute. He then left them. The kids shrugged it off and continued.
"Let's see…" Yami was murmuring while looking up at the plastic numbers of the platforms, "Platform eight…platform nine…platform…ten"
He checked at their ticket and sighed.
"Where on Earth is Platform 9 ¾?"
"I…I don't know…but we don't have much time… The train will be departing soon!" Yugi had started to panic now.
"Don't panic, Yugi…Let's check that way…"
They wheeled their carts around the brick pile that separated platforms 9 and 10 and searched around but still they hadn't found anything and returned to the spot they had started from, empty-handed. They checked at the large clock of the arrivals board and they saw they barely had five minutes left before the train would depart from platform 9 ¾ and they had no idea how to get there. They were left in the middle of the station with two over-loaded carts they couldn't even dream to lift, with their pockets filled with wizard-money and useless, in England, Japanese yen and a cage with a rat!
"Now what?" Yami said, constantly looking around, trying really hard to keep his calm and not to panic.
Another group of people with carts caught their attention though. Two of them had a cage with…and owl with them? Yami blinked but he was almost certain what they where. They were wizards, there was no other explanation, or else they wouldn't have owls with them.
"Come on!" one of the oldest said, "We'll be late!"
Yami smug around and Yugi followed. They watched the small group of people heading towards the separating wall between platforms nine and ten. Hearts hammering against their chest-ribs, Yami and Yugi pushed their carts after them hoping to see what they would do. Even if they watched the scene with their eyes completely wide, trying not to blink and miss him, the older boy pushed the cart briskly towards the wall and when he almost hit it…he wasn't there anymore!
They blinked in shock and Yugi even brushed his eyes with his fists to make sure he hadn't had any illusions. The second person soon followed the first but…with the same result. That couldn't be a coincidence.
"What the…" Yami mumbled
"What's wrong, lads?" They heard Titan's voice behind them
They smug around to see him standing right behind them staring down at them, obviously noticed their shock and bewilderment.
"Emm…Mr. Titan…how…how are we supposed to…"
"To get onto the platform?" Titan finished for him
Yugi nodded.
"Simply walk straight through the wall that separates platforms 9 and 10, of course! Not to fear. You won't crush or anything. Now hurry up! The train is about to depart!"
"Er…okay…"
Yugi didn't sound so sure about it. Yami was the first one to move in the end. He bestirred himself and then pushed the cart towards the wall. Despite the promise he had made to himself to whiteness every single detail, when the barrier came to a distance he was sure he would crush on, his eyes closed shut waiting for the crush…but it never came. He opened his eyes and came face to face with a scarlet steam engine of the train. It had written on it 'Hogwarts Express'. He looked back and saw the metal sign saying 'Platform 9 ¾'. He had made it! He was there! Yugi and Titan emerged out of the barrier as though they were ghosts that had just passed through the wall. Hurrying up because of their haste and also their excitement they both pushed their carts towards the magnificent train. Smoke was coming out of the engine and was drifting over the heads of the chattering crowd. The platform itself was packed with people, carts and cages with animals; owls, cats, toads or rats. The sounds the animals were making were distinguished over the babble and the screeching of the trunks.
Yami and Yugi got in the train themselves. The first carriages were already packed with students (some of them already wearing the Hogwarts's uniforms). They walked down the corridor to find an empty seat. They finally found and empty compartment and decided to sit themselves there. They took a seat next to the window, constantly staring greedily at the crowd that was getting onto the train.
Finally the train gave a last whistle and it began to move. The two of them gasped in excitement when it did, clapping their hands together in a 'double-high-five' mode as the station started to move away from their window…
The trip was going smoothly and the several sceneries were constantly changing from their window as the constant sound of the train running on its tracks was like a magical sound to them itself… They were speeding out in the countryside now, through endless lanes full with cows, sheep and birds.
Yugi was holding his cards in his hands smiling in contentment.
"Hm…kono caado de…" he placed the card on the seat, "Kogeki!"
Yami was sitting right opposite him on the same seat smirking.
"Naraba ore wa…" he flipped one of his face-down cards over, "Kono revaasu Kaado open! Senrai Barria: Miraa Foosu!"
"Huh?! Mata?!" Yugi complained playfully and pouted his face, "Yami-nii-kun wa sugoi…" he mumbled
Yami was already chuckling loudly half-satisfied with his move, half-amused by Yugi's look.
"Em…excuse me…" they heard a voice
They turned their heads towards the entrance to see a tall blonde-haired, honey-colored-eyed boy standing there, followed by a brunette brown-eyed boy.
"…Do you mind? Everywhere else is loaded"
If they minded! The two of them wished for such thing to happen!
"Please!" Yami said politely shifting position on the seat so he would seat properly and so the two children would pass easier. They did and sat to the seat opposite the one Yami and Yugi were on.
"Thanks" the blonde boy said with an American-like accent, "Ya save us! I'm Joey by the way. Joey Wheeler"
"My name is Tristan" the brunette said, "Tristan Taylor"
"Yugi" Yugi replied smiling brightly, "Muto Yugi. And this is my older brother Yami"
Yami nodded his head.
"Nice to meet you!"
"Yeah…same 'ere!" Joey replied
His eyes then fell on the cards they were still holding.
"Hey! I know dis game! It's Duel Monsters isn't it? I've read about it in a Muggle Game Magazine! You play it?"
"Yeah…short of" Yugi replied modest blushing slightly pink
"Cool!" Joey said in a childish excitement
"I haven't played it before" the boy named Tristan said, "But I've heard about it too"
"By the way, what language where you two speaking a moment ago?" Joey asked again
Yami and Yugi exchanged a look.
"Japanese" Yami replied
The other two's reaction was indeed the one Yami was expecting. Their eyes opened wide and their mouths hung for a sec.
"Wow!" Joey whispered, "So you two are Japanese? What are ya doin' here then?"
"Our mother has roots in England" Yugi replied, "That's why"
"Interesting!" Tristan said, "You two speak quite well English!"
"Thanks!" Yugi replied
"I am British" Tristan continued, "My family lives in a small town at South England"
"I'm half-half" Joey said, "Ma' old man is from America. Ma' mom is British. We lived in Britain though. That's why I ended up in Hogwarts"
"We technically grew together" Tristan barged in once again smiling, "We lived in the same town for some time…"
"Hold on!" Joey called out suddenly as if some strange inspiration came to his mind, "I know you two! You are the youngest finalists of Japanese National Child Tournament!" he was saying directing his thumb to Yami first and then to Yugi and vice versa again
Yami smirked and straightened his body proudly.
"That's right! King and Prince of Games! Nice to meet you!"
Yugi giggled and so did Tristan.
"Er…Nice ta meet ya" Joey said and then as if he had one more moment's inspiration he asked, "Hey, how is "nice to meet you" in Japanese?"
The two brothers glanced at each other once more and then they turned back at Joey. They were both smiling.
"'Hajimemashite'" Yami replied to Joey's question, trying really hard not to laugh at the reaction he was hoping to get from Joey
Indeed Joey's mouth opened one more time.
"Nye…on secon' thought, betta' stick up with English!"
Yami chuckled loudly.
"Yeah…we better do!"
They kept on talking while the train kept on carrying them into the countryside. There was chattering in the corridor after some time and a smiling dimpled woman appeared, slid back their door and said:
"Anything from the cart, dears?"
No soon after that, there were all four eating and munching some sweets.
"Well…what House do you think you'll be in?" Joey asked them with his mouth full of chocolate
Yami gulped down a bite of sweet bread and said:
"Hmm…not sure. Everything sounds good…"
"Well…I'll be in Griffindor!" Joey said pointing his thumb towards his chest prideful, "Ya two betta' be with me!"
"Griffindor sounds nice!" Yugi agreed with a nod obviously to conceal his embarrassment for the fact of how few things they knew about magical world
However Yami could see a real spark of happiness in his brother's eyes. He was always shy and alone and now they barely where an hour inside the train and they were already talking to people like old friends.
"Wha' Blood Status are ya?" Joey asked again
"Huh?" Yami blinked in confusion
"I'm Half-Blood" Tristan indirectly gave him the answer he wanted, "My mother was a witch. My father was a Muggle"
"Imma Pureblood" Joey said, "But ma' family isn't…exactly one of da best…"
He looked up at the brothers. Even in sitting position, Joey was around half head taller than Yami and Tristan was slightly taller than Joey, Yami noticed.
"Judging from da question…ya're not from Magic family, aren't ya?"
Yami shook his head negatively with Yugi following his example.
"Then you're Muggle-born" Tristan said
Yugi gave a small nod for an answer.
"Nah! Who cares!" Joey said warm-heartedly, "Ya two seem like nice guys! It doesn't really matter where ya two came from!"
Yugi and Yami could breathe a sigh of relief after hearing that. The two new friends they made were not of those wizards who looked down on Muggles.
"You' re freshman right? We 're" Joey said as talkative as ever
Yugi nodded. "I am"
"I am too" Yami barged in
Tristan and Joey stiffened.
"Ya are?! Wow! Sorry man but ya seem…I dunno…how old are ya?"
"I'm thirteen!" Yami sighed tiredly he had to explain this one more time
This caused even greater astonishment, as it seemed.
"No kidding?!" Tristan exclaimed surprised, "And ya hadn't any signs of power in ya before that?"
"Never"
"Wow…that is just…" Joey stopped hoping to find the perfect word, "…Weird…" he finally ended up to one.
The countryside that kept on flying past the windows had changed now. The lanes were no more and in their place there were forests with tall trees and green hills covered in trees and bushes.
Joey took out of his small sack his wand. It was a simply made wand in a half-dark brown color. It wasn't so well polished or so elaborate like Yugi or Yami's wands were. It was kind of roughly made as if the wood was used the way it was cut without being peeled-off first.
"Willow. Dragon Heartstring. 13 inches long!" He said kind of smugly
Tristan smirked and took out his own wand; A nearly black one, completely straight, with hardly noticeable handle.
"Not as good as mine!" he said with a playful smirk, "Ebony. Unicorn Hair Tail. 13 ¼ inches length!"
Joey's answer was a grin.
"Seriously? Unicorn Hair Tail? Everyone knows dat da stronga' wands have Dragon cores!"
"Sh-Shut up!" Tristan said half-kidding, half-serious trying to sound offended
Yugi giggled showing his own wand.
"Beech. Unicorn Hair Tail. 9 2/4 inches long" he said smiling sweetly
Before Yami had time in joining them into the…wand showing, the compartment's door slid open again to reveal a blond, kind of pushy girl already dressed in her Hogwarts robes. She was about half head shorter than Yugi (to Yugi's great relief). She was pale and blonde and her hair was caught up in two pigtails to the top of her head. Freckles were spotted all over her cheekbones and her greenish eyes were behind a pair of moon-shaped, square glasses.
"Hey!" she said in a high-pitched, bossy voice, "Try speaking a bit less loudly, will you! Some of us are trying to concentrate into studying, you know!"
Joey and Tristan glanced at each other shrugging it off. The girl's eyes fell upon the wands and smirked contemptuously.
"Are those your wands? Well they're not THAT good, aren't they?" She dug her hand within her cloak and drew out a yellowish wand. Its handle had small shapes that looked like stars and the edges of her main wand had one or two points as a shape, "At least not as good as mine!" the girl continued self-complacently, "Laurel wood. Unicorn Hair Tail. Exactly 9 inches long"
And she held up her wand. Yami raised an eyebrow at the girl's behavior. He wasn't sure if he liked her.
"Moreover" the girl continued after stowing her wand back into her cloak and fixed her glasses on her nose a little, "You said 'Griffindor'? Well that would be good. If you want to be an all-talking dork that is!"
Joey narrowed his eyes angrily.
"Why? What House do YA think ta be in?"
The girl smirked.
"Ravenclaw of course! Wit Beyond Measure is Man's Greatest Treasure!" she chanted proudly, "I think there is no where else for a genius like me to be in! I have already memorized all of the books we have and I borrowed the books of next years as well! I think this will be enough! Now you all it's time to wear your uniforms! We'll be arriving soon!"
And turning around she went back to the compartment door and was ready to leave. A little before exiting she glanced over her shoulder smiling smugly.
"I'm Rebecca by the way. Rebecca Hopkins" and she left as fast as she had come in leaving everyone behind stunned and confused
"She sure misses out a few screws in 'ere!" Joey said making circular moves with his index finger to his right temple
"No kidding!" Tristan nodded his head in agreement
"Well, for one thing she was right" Yami said standing up from his seat, "Perhaps we should get dressed before we arrive"
"Agreed" Joey snorted
They started opening their packages, taking out their cloaks, shirts and pants. They started getting undressed and putting on their new school uniforms.
"If she truly goes to Ravenclaw, I'd go there to tell them how much I sympathize 'em!" Joey said causing Tristan to chuckle
Yami had already pulled his pants on and he was ready to wear his cloak over the shirt when Yugi's voice made him jerk up.
"Yami! Yami look! We're here! We're here!"
Yami quit the cloak upon the seat and rushed to the window, practically sticking his face against the glass to see. Far away at the tracks' end he could see a great castle. He climbed upon the seat to pull the upper window down and took his head out of the train.
Wind was blowing his face making his eyes tearful and his hair waving crazily at the great speed as well as the air whistling into his ears, however Yami couldn't take his eyes off that fairy-tale-like, spectacular building.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had, at last, come to view…
Yet another chapter is ready (at last!) I hope I didn't make you wait long. Once again I took inspiration from the first book of Harry Potter series for some descriptions. Yup! Here we see why Yami and Yugi are considered King and Prince of Games! Also we have Joey and Tristan. I chose to keep their English names not for any other reason but to fit them into English origin.
[Joey is half American from Brooklin of course!]
Also there are some Japanese inside:
"Hm…kono caado de…" he placed the card on the seat, "Kogeki!" (With this card...I attack!)
"Naraba ore wa…" he flipped one of his face-down cards over, "Kono revaasu Kaado open! Senrai Barria: Miraa Foosu!" (Then I will...open this reverse card! Holly Barrier: Mirror Force! [Japanese card name for Mirror Force]
"Huh?! Mata?!" Yugi complained playfully and pouted his face, "Yami-nii-kun wa sugoi…" (Huh? Again?!...Brother Yami is awesome..." [or better, "Brother Yami you're awesome" the last phrase]
Please review if you read this...
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Please do not use or copy any part of this writing without my permission. If you want to create art of it (pics, one-shot comics etc...) please give me credit and come to me giving me a link of your art so I can thank you properly and admire your work