Disclaimer: All rights belong to J.K. Rowling and Kazuki Takahashi.

Whispers had started to travel through the entire school. Two of the foreign teachers were going to duel! One used to be an auror, and the other knew shadow magic. It was probably one of the greatest spectacles sense Dumbledore fought you-know-who.

Harry Potter, who had seen that fight between his mentor and his worst enemy first hand, did not want to see it again, especially not between two of his teachers. This was the cause of his visit to the teacher's quarters.

Harry had a suite just off the headmaster's office, and he had always assumed that teachers lived in or next to their offices. However, he had found out soon after becoming headmaster that teachers had a tower of suites, so he headed there now.

He opened the door to the teacher's tower and found a spiral staircase. As he mounted it, he found a door on each landing, telling him which teacher it belonged to. Yuugi's suite was not too far up, and he knocked and entered.

Yuugi's suite was quite large. It was obvious that the castle changed the teacher's suites to fit the personality of the professors, as Yuugi's was simple but elegant. There was a bed on a raised area of the room, which also included a doorway with a silk curtain. The sheets on the bed were also silk, Harry noted appreciatively.

In another part of the suite was a study area, where it appeared Yuugi spent most of his time. The table was littered with essays that needed to be graded. Harry noticed the only other door appeared to lead to a bathroom, so he decided to check out the balcony.

Harry brushed passed the curtain and found himself on a medium- to large-sized balcony. There, on the edge, stood Yuugi. He faced the lake, and appeared to be looking in the middle of it, perhaps trying to catch a glimpse of the giant squid.

However, Yuugi was merely staring off into space. His duel with Malik was on his mind. He hadn't even realized that Harry was in his room, so he jumped when he heard the headmaster's voice in his ear.

"Why are you dueling Malik?"

Yuugi stared at Harry. "I'm sorry, it's complicated. All I can say is that it has to do with my mission."

Harry did not seem impressed. In fact, he now appeared a little worried. "Is there anything I can do to stop you from doing this?"

Yuugi shook his head. "Believe me, I've been trying to convince myself not to do this for hours. But it needs to be done."

Harry nodded. "What about Malik? Is there some way he could stop this."

"Only if he were to tell me the information I want. And he's not about to do that."

"Thank you then." Harry turned and left, shutting the muggle professor's door on his way out.

Harry continued to the fourth-highest suite. Malik's suite was there. It turned out that the top four suites were all for the heads of houses, and penthouse went to the head of the house that won the house cup the previous year, then the runner up, with the loser at the bottom. Slytherin had gotten very few points last year, so Malik's rooms were the fourth to to the top. Hermione's were second, and Luna had the penthouse, it seemed Ravenclaw had been doing very well since he had left, although he thought that had more to do with Hermione's departure than his own; after all, she was the one who answered questions in class and earned Gryffindor points, he had just lost them points and gotten into detention.

Whatever Harry had expected to find in Malik's room, it wasn't this. If he were to venture a guess, he'd probably say he expected to find something similar to Yuugi's room, if maybe a touch darker. However, what he found wasn't a touch darker, it was nearly pitch-black. The darkness was pushed away only by the torches found in sconces along the walls. Even then, it was only just possible to see enough to walk without running into anything. However, near where the torches were lit, hieroglyphs were visible. At this point, Harry wished, not for the first time, that he had paid more attention to Hermione's lectures during their youth. Now, however, he walked the long, narrow hall, being careful so as to not run into any furniture in the dim light. Only, there was none, at least not in the hall.

At the end of the hall, it expanded into a large room, roughly square-shaped. Here, Harry found most of Malik's possessions: books, papers, and the other bric-a-brac that a wizard accumulated living his daily life. A doorway set at a right angle from the hall led straight into another, larger room, this one more rectangular in dimensions. Here, Harry found some sparse furniture: a desk with a chair, a candle glowing brightly on it, showing neatly stacked scraps of parchment, a small table, with a book lying face down on it, a wand next to it, and finally a small bed, with a wizard with platinum blond hair lounging on it.

"Hello, headmaster. I didn't expect to see you here. Though maybe I should have, considering the rumor mill that is always in full swing around here. How can I help you, defeater of the dark lord?"

Annoyed as Harry was at that last comment, he swallowed his anger and sat in the spartan chair, turning it to face the Egyptian first. "Yuugi tells me that you refused to give him some information regarding his research."

"That is correct."

"Do you care to tell me why?"

"Not really. But, I shall anyway. The slab I found was in a temple to the god of the dead, Osiris, who was also the king of the gods. It describes the different styles of magic found in Egypt, one of the most powerful countries in the world at the time, and almost without a doubt the most magical. One of the descriptions it gives is of shadow magic, the 'magic of darkness'.

"Along with it, it describes white magic, which is the magic that you and I practice daily with these." Marik picked his wand up and waved it, sending a shower of green sparks all over the place. "It also describes several types of magic that different gods grant their followers. However, I have not finished reading it yet. While I do not doubt that he could read it more easily than I with his knowledge of Egypt, I worry.

"As an auror, my specialty was in the ancient magics that often haunted old tombs, disabling them when they became too dangerous and warning others, especially visiting wizards, about them. Your brothers-in-law can tell you about some of that, I'm sure. Your in-laws may not have been rich, but Molly and Arthur Weasley were known to the wizarding world as defiers of the dark arts. We kept a close eye on them when they were in Egypt.

"It was on one of those trips that I found that tablet. It had always been my intention to return and explore there more as a kind of an amateur archaeologist. Instead, however, I decided it would be fun to get thrown out of the country. But I know that there's more there, Harry. I think it's possible that there's another kind of magic there. I can't give it to Yuugi, I don't know what he would do."

Harry sat there for a few beats, staring into space (Malik's space at that, and it was really starting to creep him out), taking it all in. Then he stood. "I see. I will not tell Yuugi what happened. However, I recommend you do. He may be able to help you, remember that he was a muggle expert on ancient Egypt."

"I have modified the memories of more muggle 'experts' on ancient Egypt than I care to remember."

"Very well. Just don't cause or receive any permanent harm. And remember, you never know who might be helpful to you."

"'...and you never know who is an enemy. Use all, trust none.' I went through Auror training too."

Malik watched as the headmaster disappeared into the darkness. Now, he was more easy than ever. One thing was for sure though, he needed to win that duel.

Ryou watched as the last class before lunch disappeared down the trap door. Luckily, he had several hours before his next class. He had time to learn some magic himself as well as to get something to eat before he had to teach again, and then it was only two classes before he would have to watch the two professors duel each other. It was not something he looked forward too, but it was something he was felt obligated to do.

He decided to start with white magic today. He had just gotten the hang of getting his shadow magic to force the white magic through the wand, and he wanted to play with it more. He pulled his wand out of his sleeve and went into his office behind the classroom. There, he pulled out a book "beginning charms". He had read most of the theory behind levitation, and now he was going to try it out for real.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Swish, flick. The book lifted into the air, following his wand movements. After a few moments he set it down. He was just starting to feel rather proud of himself – it was his first time, after all – when he heard some light clapping coming from the doorway.

Rather more red then his usual pale complexion, he looked up to find Luna Lovegood standing there. "Very good. Was that your first time?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah." The other teachers knew of his inability to preform most magic, but it had been decided that it was best if the students didn't know, since some of them may have resented being taught by a man who was, basically, a muggle.

"That's excellent. I'm sure that if you had been in Hogwarts, you would have been a Ravenclaw."

Ryou took that as the compliment that it was meant to be. "If I could, I'd like to be able to do what all of you can do. Then maybe I'll feel like less of a freak."

Luna smiled. When Luna Lovegood smiled, it wasn't like when other people smiled. She seemed to smile like a child, who doesn't need to put any effort behind it. It was full of real joy.

Of course, it was also a bit spacey, but then, so was everything about Luna Lovegood. If half the stories he had heard about her youth were true, she was more stable now then she had ever been.

The same was true of Ryou. He had spent so much of his childhood in the occult – divination, symbolism, and many other subject that a child or teen had no business studying – that he had never had time for a real childhood. Yuugi and his small circle of friends had been the closest things he had to normal friends, and Yuugi had only fed his studies when it came to ancient Egypt.

One summer, in high school, they had spent the entire summer working complex mathematical constructs that the Egyptians had claimed held sacred power. The teachers the next year had been surprised; Yuugi still paid as little attention as ever, and Ryou now paid none, however, the two made high points on exams.

His study of alchemy was something else that Yuugi's friendship had spurred. Yuugi had caught him reading a book on it, and had asked him about it. He seemed to lose interest when Ryou described the powers of the Greek alchemists. However, his ears had almost visibly perked up when he had heard that the Egyptians had been suspected to being much closer to finding many of the alchemist's dreams. They had learned a lot then. If only they had taken chemistry before, not after, that.

Ryou smiled back at Luna. His was a little bit more normal, a little bit more sadness was hidden behind it. It was the smile of someone who realized that he was considered a freak.

"I'd be very happy to teach you. It's not hard, especially at your level."

"That would be much appreciated, Luna. How could I ever repay you?"

"There's no need. The act of doing is a reward in itself."

They ordered lunch up from the kitchens. A small house-elf delivered it. Strange creatures, Ryou thought. Most of the wizards and witches he met seemed completely unfazed by them. He agreed with Hermione, it seemed so awful that these creatures liked serving the humans. It rather reminded him of a scene from one of the books that Yuugi had gotten him to read, or rather, Yuugi's friend Seto had. It was not Ryou's normal style – it was a comedy/science-fiction. However, he liked it, and read the whole series.

The scene he was thinking of was out of the third book in the series. At least, he thought it was the third book. Was it? In any case, at this point, a strange creature, a descendant of cattle, came up to the table and offered itself to them for food. It explained that after they ordered it, it would go to the back room and shoot itself in the head – 'painless, that's the point' – and then a chef would cut it up and serve it. Of course, the earthling protagonist was completely disgusted, but everyone else at the table seemed delighted to order from the soon-to-be-dead creature.

The reality was a little better than that of course. A little, but not much. While now there was a small community of free elves, who worked for wages and wore clothing, mostly inspired by Harry and Hermione's elf friend Dobby, who had passed on during the great war, the majority of the elves shunned them and became belligerent when offered freedom or wages.

As they ate, Luna described many of the theories of magic. She was astounded, as was he, by his knowledge, his occult studies often being correct. His experience in numerology put him ahead of the pack especially in arithmancy – "O.W.L. level already, at least," Luna commented – and his knowledge of ancient runes was near perfect (he had spent many hours studying magical secrets that required him to know many ancient languages). Much of the theory behind the wandwork was already there.

The time came for her to go to her next real class, down in the greenhouses. "A couple more sessions and you should be up to speed with charms and defense against the dark arts. Then you need to round out your education a bit with herbology and potions, those should be a bit harder, and transfiguration. You'll have to get Hermione's help with that, I'm horrible at it. I can barely transfigure a box turtle into a box."

She laughed at her own joke, and he tentatively joined in. Turn a turtle into a box? He didn't care if the turtle was called a 'box' turtle, that sounded hard. He really would need some help on that one.

Luna turned and started out the door. Just as she was about to close it, Ryou let out an 'oh!'.

She turned. "What is it, Ryou?"

"Here, I'd like for you to have this." He held out what appeared to be a small plant, green, with a purple flower on top. On closer inspection, it was a small creature, it appeared to be rather calm, friendly even. She took it.

"What is it?"

"I... I'm not quite sure. It's from the shadows." She looked surprised. This little thing was from shadow magic? "It's quite benign. It gets all the energy it needs from the sun, so there's no need to feed it, and it will help with the plants."

"Why, thank you so much. It's great. I will treasure it dearly." She looked at him one last time, and then she left. Over her shoulder, the little creature waved.

Ryou sat on his desk for a second, and then he heard voices. His next class was starting to file in. Quickly he summoned a house-elf to clean up the mess from lunch, hearing whispers about Professor Lovegood as he did so. He took a deep breath, and stepped into his classroom.

Yuugi stepped onto the quidditch pitch. He was surprised to see that the poles had been taken down. All that was left was a field of grass, perfect for the duel of two magics that was set to happen now. He saw the taller professor on the other side of the field, wand in hand. Yuugi did not have a wand.

Students and other teachers filled the stadium. Harry had met with them both just before the duel, checking to see if there was any way to stop it one last time. There was not. So he gave them a dire warning not to cause any permanent damage and not to harm anybody else in any way, on threat of immediate dismissal.

Yuugi stepped up to the middle of the field, as did Malik. Malik bowed, so Yuugi did like wise. Malik stood, raising his wand. A red beam of light shot out of it, heading directly towards Yuugi. Malik smirked, this duel was going to be over before it began.

Yuugi's arm flew up in a motion as if he was swatting the incoming beam out of the way. Malik's face fell as it seemed to do just that. "Shadow magic, huh?"

As if in answer, the entire stadium was suddenly enshrined in darkness. Shadows flowed everywhere, flitting in and out of students. A cheer went up in the stands, this is what they came here to see.

Malik grimaced. He could feel his white magic, it was weaker now, and Yuugi's shadow magic was stronger. Oh well, he could still win this duel.

Ropes flew out of Malik's wand, binding Yuugi's arms to his side. The little sorcorer's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't seem to have any other reaction. That was when he realized that there were several disks of shadows flying at him. Obviously, Yuugi didn't need his hands to attack. Malik let his spell fall, the ropes around Yuugi dissolving into nothingness, as he leaped over the disks of shadows.

Malik began sending curse after curse at his foe. Nothing seemed to hit. That was when he realized that Yuugi was parrying them with a sword made of shadows. That couldn't be good.

Yuugi flew at him, sword flashing. Malik met each of his strokes with a shield charm, but he still earned himself a scratch on his left side, where there had been a near miss.

There was no way that Yuugi had been that good at fencing before. No, this had to be another effect of the shadows.

Yuugi finally broke away, realizing that this line of attack was useless. He could keep going, hoping that Malik would make a mistake, but there were too many variables. No, he had to use a spell.

He closed his eyes, and cast about for a way to defeat Malik. He sensed another stunner coming at him and swatted it away. As he did so, the eye of Horus began to glow on his forehead. He opened his eyes and looked at Malik. "Behold the power of Amun-Ra, whose rays drain liquid and whose fury creates deserts!"

The light of the Sahara sun beat down on them. Malik was the only one targeted, but even the students in the stands were affected. Yuugi was not worried, however, they would at most be a little dehydrated. Malik appeared to be standing the heat, having lived in the Sahara most of his life. However, even he could not last long in this heat, especially with the heavy black Hogwarts robe.

Malik thought. He needed to cool down. There had to be something he could do! But nothing came to him. Then, he heard it, like a whisper in his ear. His wand shot forward, and he muttered a simple charm.

Yuugi had not been affected by the sunlight. The spell would only do harm to it's target, and have no affect at all on it's caster. However, he now stood there, and he was starting to feel truly hot. He cast around, looking for a reason that his spell would affect him. That's when he noticed Malik lowering his wand.

A quick check confirmed what Yuugi expected: his robes were on fire. Dammit. A quick call to the cooling powers of Horus's other eye and it should all be taken care of. He was bathed in silvery light, and started to shiver. It got very cold, and he couldn't feel most of it, but the fire should have cooled so much as to be out by now.

It wasn't. It continued to burn bright and warm. Yuugi's eyes widened, and Malik smirked. "You're the only one who can put this out, aren't you?"

Malik only nodded, choosing to conserve what water he had in the light of the desert sun that still beat down on him mercilessly. He could survive this for a day or so if Yuugi didn't attack him; Yuugi however, had to avoid being consumed by the flames. Yuugi nodded. "You win. Put them out."

The shadows over the stadium disappeared, as did the sunlight that Yuugi had called down. Both duelists were carted away to the hospital wing, the fire around Yuugi immediately extinguished. They were to be treated for burns and dehydration, and then resume teaching classes the following Monday.

Rose and her friends filed out of the stadium. The duel had been exhilerating, and Yuugi's spell had been exciting, but in a way it had been disappointing. They had gone expecting to see much more, a battle for the ages.

However, it hadn't been a total loss. There was something new for the rumor mill. Professor Lovegood had been seen coming out of Professor Bakura's office after lunch, and the two Professors had sat together during the match, occasionally chatting.

It wasn't long before the news had spread all over school. Rose, for one, could not wait for Potions the next day.

Hey, I'm back again, and this chapter was a bit longer. I'm sorry I've been gone so long, let's see how quickly I can get the next chapter up there. I rather enjoyed writing the lesson with Luna and Ryou. Will romance flourish? Even I don't know!

Also, anyone who can review and tell me the book and series that Ryou references will get mentioned in the authors note next section. The answer will also be there. Guess it yourself though, no googling! Maybe now I'll get more than one review for the chapter.

As always, your comments and creative criticism are appreciated. Thank you all very much, especially to you, Lolchen, for being the only person to leave a review.