Ch8

Any prediction that Minerva could have produced about the innate curiosity of the students of Hogwarts had been proven an understatement in the days that followed Yugi's abrupt arrival at the hospital wing. All it had taken was a misplaced bludger during Hufflepuff Quidditch tryouts, a broken wrist and a loudmouthed fifteen-year-old to start the mystery of the curtained bed.

The curtain had lived up to its designed purpose of protecting the identity of Yugi, but it had done little else to keep his presence a secret. The next morning during Minerva's Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Transfiguration double, she had served off two detentions and deducted twenty points from each house before they decided it would be smart to quiet down.

The rest of the class had proceeded no better.

Transfiguration was without a doubt a dangerous subject. In fact, Potions was the only class that had more trips to the hospital wing to date. Today, however, it seemed that ratio was coming uncomfortably close to tipping in Transfiguration's favour.

"Let me see if I understand, Miss Patil. Instead of turning your needle back into a match as you were instructed, you've managed to change your fingers into a handful of needles?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the first year Ravenclaw chirped, blowing a long strand of black hair out of her face, as she was unable to remove it with her hands. It was almost unnerving how similar this girl looked to her Gryffindor twin. Minerva had only been hoping that, as a Ravenclaw, Padma would have at least some level of common sense. Apparently Padma and Parvati shared more features than just their faces.

Dark eyes twinkled from the dim light of the candlestick that stood on Minerva's desk. The flickering light illuminated every aspect of Padma's face, including the soft wrinkles around the mouth that were barely hiding a proud smile. "Do you think I will have to go to the hospital wing?"

Minerva paused, looking Padma up and down, from her quivering cheeks to her mutilated fingers. Padma stood stock still under her Professor's scrutiny and flinched as Minerva's eyes hardened behind her glasses.

"No," Minerva said, ice slipping into her tone as she pulled her wand free from her sleeve and tapped Padma's fingers. "I don't think that will be necessary."

A warm glow erupted from the tip of Minerva's wand and washed over Padma's fingers. The Ravenclaw gasped as the needles started to thicken out, losing the metallic sheen and pointed tips which were replaced with soft flesh and electric blue nail polish.

Padma squeaked as she looked back down to her hands, her mouth forming a wide O when she raised her fingers up to her face and flexed the digits.

"Fifty points from Ravenclaw, Miss Patil, and a detention with me this evening," Minerva snapped, watching as Padma scurried back to her seat and sat down, truly desperate to hide her flaming red cheeks from the prying eyes of her classmates.

Minerva stood up, her high-backed wooden chair scraping against the stone floor of the classroom. The remaining students froze and immediately fell silent, every eye on the Transfiguration teacher as she swept into the centre of the room.

"On the first day of my class, I do believe that I issued everyone here a warning," Minerva began, pacing from one side of the front row to the other. Every single face followed her movements. "That if anyone in this room fooled around in my class, they would not be welcomed back."

The colour had left Padma's face, the embarrassed shade of red fading into an odd grey-green colour. Her wand slipped through numb fingers as she collapsed bonelessly onto the smooth surface of her desk. The Hufflepuff sitting behind Padma immediately extended a consoling hand to rub her back.

"I am aware of the rumours going around the school and will accept that with your inquisitive minds you will do just about anything to get into the hospital wing. That is why you can consider this your final warning. If anyone uses my class to deliberately injure themselves again, I will personally make sure that all your new Transfiguration-free time will be spent helping Mr. Filch."

The class was barely given a second to consider the possibility of working for the well-hated and feared caretaker before the bell rang. The shrill, chiming sound hadn't even finished its first cycle before Minerva's classroom was empty once more.

Minerva sighed as she collapsed into her chair, resting her back against the smooth wood. This was becoming ridiculous. Every class for the last two days she had delivered the same warning. No matter the year, there was always some idiot who would use her class as a get-into-the-hospital-wing-free card.

Fred and George Weasley had transfigured another student, for goodness' sake! Potions must be an absolutely traumatizing experience; Minerva was almost afraid to ask how Snape was dealing with the whole ordeal.

The second bell came and went, jolting Minerva from her thoughts. The last class before supper she had as a spare, which she had been planning to fill with a visit to Yugi. There hadn't been time to do so since her first visit – a combination of being far too busy with classes and partaking in numerous meetings with Albus, all of which pertained to the single piece of gold that rested in her pocket, feeling far heavier than it ought to have. For hours, Albus and the staff of Hogwarts had been discussing the final piece of the Puzzle.

Cornelius had seemed determined to keep the Puzzle away from Yugi, and while Yugi was under no circumstances to be treated as a prisoner while he was at the school, they were unsure as to whether they should allow him to complete the Item – an Item of which only one piece had been able to possess a fully-trained wizard.

Albus, however, in his usual rather boyish manner, had seemed far more curious than concerned about the whole matter. He had raised several good points. Hogwarts was the safest place in the wizarding world. If they had been able to keep Voldemort out at the height of his powers, Albus was positive that they could control what latent powers Yugi had, especially if they gave the boy no reason to have to defend himself.

It was not a short walk from Minerva's classroom to the hospital wing, but the trip seemed far longer than usual as Minerva struggled with her dilemma. At the moment, the Puzzle piece was being kept in a magic-repressing bag that had been dug out of the depths of one of Albus' many cupboards.

For the tenth time that day, Minerva pulled her hand away from that pocket, the appendage falling limp at her side as she forced herself to start walking once more. It almost had an addictive quality to it. When she finally grew close to the hospital wing, however, the dull murmur of hushed voices drew her attention, and the Puzzle piece was wiped clear from her mind.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were standing in the corridor across the hall from the hospital wing when Minerva made her way down there. As the head of Gryffindor house, Minerva had a rough idea of where her students were supposed to be, and she knew that at that moment the first year Gryffindors were supposed to be in History of Magic with Professor Binns.

Instead, however, they were pressed up into a corner, hidden in the shadow of a large unicorn statue. It was obvious that neither boy had seen their Transfiguration professor, because they continued on with their hushed conversation as if nothing were wrong. So Minerva paused for a second, listening to what amazing plan these two had come up with.

"Oh, come on, mate. Fred swears this spell is foolproof. All it does is make you throw up once or twice, and then it wears off. Don't be such a chicken."

That was Ron. The shock of red hair and the height that rivalled that of any fourth year made it easy to spot the entire family from miles away. He was clutching a small piece of parchment in his hands, waving it in Harry's face – obviously the aforementioned spell.

Potter, on the other hand, had a rather hesitant expression on his face, and for reasons that Minerva could easily understand. The symptoms that Mr. Weasley had so proudly announced sounded like no first year-level spell she could think of. In fact, only a few fifth year curses were coming to mind right now.

"Ron, I don't think this is a good idea," Harry whispered, staring at the piece of paper as if it were a venomous spider. "I mean, did you hear the way Hermione was laughing when you read it out?"

Ron shrugged, reading over the parchment one more. "Yeah, well, she laughs at everything I say, know-it-all git."

"What I'm saying is that she only laughs like that when you're about to mess up a spell. So I'm saying that I am not going to be the victim in this."

"But Harry!" Ron cried, looking for all the world as though someone had stolen his wand and snapped it in half. "How can you say that? This spell could be our only chance of sneaking into the hospital wing and seeing whatever it was that Dean was so excited about this morning. It's your duty. Where's that Gryffindor spirit?"

Enough was enough. Minerva gave a loud cough as she stepped into the boys' limited line of vision. Both Ron and Harry jumped nearly a foot into the air as she walked up in front of them. Ron hastily shoved the piece of parchment back into the pocket of his robe while Harry's expression quickly folded into that of mock innocence.

"I may be mistaken," Minerva said, pushing her square-rimmed glasses a little further up her nose, "but last time I checked, History of Magic was not across the hall from the hospital wing. So why, I must ask, are you two standing here and not in class?"

Both Harry and Ron looked to each other. Even from a distance, Minerva could see the gears working in their minds. The only rumour spreading around the school faster than the hospital wing mystery right now, to Minerva's knowledge, was the rumour of how many detentions she had handed out today alone.

Ron was biting his lip as his ears turned a more vivid red then even his hair. Harry, though, had squared his shoulders, straightened up a little bit and said in an almost innocent voice, "I'm not sure, Professor. I think we're lost."

If Mr. Weasley had been doubting Mr. Potter's Gryffindor spirit, he could now rest easy. It seemed to be in fine working order. "Mr. Potter, most students figure out the way the school works in the space of the first two weeks. How is it that even after a month you end up in the complete opposite end of the school?"

"I have no idea, Professor, but we're going to go and figure that out right now, aren't we, Ron?"

Ron nodded in shell-shocked agreement, not even noticing as Harry grabbed onto his wrist and started to pull him in the direction of the stairwell.

"Boys, if I catch you down here again without a broken bone or pneumonia, then you are both going to have a detention."

Minerva didn't hear a response, but she knew the boys had heard her and that was enough for now.

Madam Pomfrey was pacing around the room when Minerva walked through the door. The school nurse's arms were overflowing with bandages and bottles of a clear liquid. Blinking at the odd ensemble, Minerva ran forward to help, taking a handful of the tightly rolled cloth. Somewhere beneath the mass of material, Minerva was finally able to spy Poppy's still frazzled-looking face.

"Oh, hello, Minerva!" Poppy said as she bustled over to the curtained bed in the far corner of the hospital wing. "So good of you to drop by."

Minerva followed Poppy's example, placing her portion of the bandages on a small stool as Poppy dragged back the curtains that were hiding her patient. "I know that it's been a while, but things have been so crazy lately. Has there been any change?"

A small furrow appeared between Poppy's eyes as she sat down on the side of the bed. "It's hard to say for sure. He finished that Puzzle of his with all the pieces he had, but when he realized a piece was missing, poor dear just fell over unconscious. It's good that he's getting the rest he needs and it seems to be natural, but he refuses to wake up."

"Magical Exhaustion maybe?"

Poppy nodded her head in agreement as she reached out to grab onto Yugi's limp arm and started to unwrap the blood-stained bandages. "Yes, almost a textbook case – however, without any magic I can't do anything to help him. I also have no idea what could be causing it. He hasn't used any magic since that one little incident at the Ministry, and he should have recovered from that by now."

Minerva stared as the long, nasty-looking cut that was almost sure to scar was bit-by-bit revealed. It ran along the most sensitive skin on Yugi's arm, designed to hurt. Sitting down on Yugi's other side, Minerva moved to the bandages on his thigh, slowly unwrapping those as well.

"I think it must have something to do with the collar that the Minster placed around his neck," Minerva said finally. "I don't know what it does and Fudge was by no means willing to explain at the time, but it's definitely a Ministry device."

"Maybe..." Poppy said, running her fingers over the air above the smooth piece of metal. "I want desperately to take the blasted thing off of him. I may not know what it's doing, but it's not good whatever it is. Again however, no magic means no help."

For the next little while, both woman sat in silence as they slowly began to re-bandage Yugi's wounds. It was a slow process, as Minerva would occasionally have to stop and ask for instructions, but eventually they finished the disgusting job. A pile of blood-soaked bandages unraveled onto the ground. In the end, the only cut still open was the gaping gash on Yugi's shoulder.

Poppy reached forward and grabbed one of the bottles of clear liquid. Minerva looked at it quizzically as Poppy unscrewed the cap. An odd smell filled Minerva's nose – the only word she could use to describe it was sterile. It was almost acidic and seemed to burn at her nose.

"Rubbing alcohol," Poppy explained. "It's a Muggle substance used to disinfect wounds, very different than the normal alcohol we drink. Unfortunately, it's rather painful for the patient, but it's the only thing Severus was able to make that wouldn't affect Yugi's sensitivity to magic. Luckily for the dear, he shouldn't really feel it."

Poppy picked up a clean, white cloth and covered the top of the bottle with it. Then, with a definite turn of her wrist, Poppy turned the bottle upside down, letting the alcohol soak the cloth.

The wound on Yugi's shoulder was looking far better than it had before. The dark purple bruising had disappeared, leaving only red. The pus had all but disappeared as well, leaving a clean wound. With careful precision, Poppy dabbed the cloth along the cut, never pressing down too hard or rubbing, but just dabbing gently.

"His fever broke last night," Poppy said as she removed the cloth and placed another white cloth and bandage that she wound tightly around his upper chest and opposite shoulder. "I hope that's a good sign. If he wakes up soon, then he'll be fine."

Minerva nodded, standing up from her stool and walking towards the open window that Yugi's bed faced. The sun was slowly starting to set, covering the lake in brilliant gold. Taking a deep breath, Minerva placed her hand into her pocket once more and pulled free the dark, velvet bag.

Poppy came over, looking over Minerva's shoulder at the bag. "Is that it?" she whispered, as if there were someone in the room to overhear, or if she spoke too loudly the piece could reach out and bite her.

Minerva nodded, sitting down on a small, wooden stool that rested by Yugi's bed. "Albus seems to want him to have it, and part of me agrees. Another part of me is afraid of what will happen. Severus is right: as much of an idiot as Fudge is, he must have taken the Puzzle away from Yugi for a reason. I don't want to risk the students' safety."

Poppy sighed, bringing her hands up to her face. She stood there, hands pressing into her eyes as if trying to remove the exhaustion that was plaguing her body so heavily, both mentally and physically. "I understand, Minerva, but I also agree with Albus. Once Yugi finds out that we are taking care of him, he won't be hostile. He seems like such a sweet boy and I want him to be well again. In my opinion, the Puzzle is what helps."

"All right," Minerva said, nodding. Hesitantly, she pulled at the silken rope that tied the top of the bag together. The knots slipped open without a problem and she placed her hand inside, withdrawing the last piece of the Puzzle.

Minerva looked at Poppy, who gave a quick nod of encouragement, before taking a deep breath and reaching over to Yugi, slipping the last piece of the Puzzle into its slot.

/

Crimson eyes snapped open as their owner gulped in a lungful of air. Yami's body jerked while he coughed and spluttered as his lungs expanded desperately, trying to take in as much of the life-giving substance as possible. His lungs were burning as if he had been holding his breath for much longer than his body cared for.

For several minutes, Yami lay on his back, trying to get his lurching body under control, at least for long enough to focus on what was going on around him. When oxygen finally started to flow to his brain, his senses began to wake up, no longer caged by the heart-gripping panic of asphyxiation.

Yami was back in his soul room. The surreal labyrinth of his mind was taking form before his very eyes – staircases that lead everywhere yet nowhere and doors that appeared in any place that the mind could produce. Physics had no bearing here, in the place that continued to taunt Yami with the unreachable goal buried so deeply in the Puzzle.

If Yami was back in his soul room, then the Puzzle must have been solved once more. The mind-numbing darkness from before was gone, taking the bone-wrenching cold with it. Hesitantly, Yami curled long fingers around the edge of the step he was lying against. A sigh of relief slipped through his lips as he felt the appendages respond and experienced the cool, rough texture beneath his fingertips.

He was really back. Yami knew he had to be – he was able to command his body on his own, or whatever representation of a body the Puzzle allowed him to have – and if he was back, that meant the Puzzle was back together, which meant that Yugi was in control of the Puzzle again, for the Millennium Puzzle wouldn't let anyone besides Yugi solve it. But if Yugi was in control of the Puzzle, then why couldn't Yami feel the link? Yami paused as he let his mind run over the section that was usually reserved for Yugi's thoughts alone, but there was only silence. He could still feel its presence... but he couldn't hear anything coming from it.

Before Yami even knew what was happening, he was on his feet and running towards the door in his soul room. Yugi's side of the link was always open, always. Even when he was annoyed with Yami, even after their second duel with Kaiba Yugi had left the link partially open. Yami barely knew what silence was anymore; he could always feel Yugi's thoughts bubbling over the top of his own. Dead silence was unnerving, yet he could feel it right now, as keen as a knife blade.

"Aibou?" Yami cried, listening to his own voice echo around the stone walls of his soul room. There was no response to his cry. A lead weight dropped into the pit of his stomach.

Why wasn't Yugi answering?

"Aibou, please, this isn't funny anymore."

Faster and faster Yami's steps became, until he was moving at a full sprint.

"Aibou! Aibou, where are you!"

The last time Yami remembered seeing his light, Yugi had been all but kidnapped by a group of people who were clearly unopposed to violence as a means to get what they wanted. On the other hand, Yami was ninety percent sure that Yugi was the only one that could solve the Puzzle. The incident with Black Clown had answered that question. So Yugi had to be all right, had to have enough control to put the Puzzle back together.

But why had it been broken in the first place?

The questions were starting to make Yami sick to his stomach. He couldn't handle them at the moment, so he let his entire mind focus on finding Yugi. The steel door that marked the edge of Yami's soul room swung open without hesitation, allowing access to the hallway between his and Yugi's minds. Yami coughed as the sudden dry taste of dust filled his mouth and nose. The first step into the hallway had caused a sudden blast of decay and icy wind. The hallway felt dead, like his soul room. The sudden shock to his system had not come so much from the change of environment, but from the unexpected lack of change.

The hallway was always a cross between his and Yugi's soul rooms: dark bricks reminiscent of Yami's room, but filled with the light from Yugi's room, with an underlying warmth. But not this time. This time it was far too similar to his room. Slowly, Yami walked into the centre of the hallway, and his eyes adjusted to the darkness. As he waited, however, he stumbled in the dark, his boot catching on something.

He stooped down, squinting at whatever had caught in his heel. In Yami's fingers was a large piece of splintered wood, one that looked as if it had been ripped out of a more solid object. He ran the wood over his fingertips.

Where on Earth could it have come from?

Yami's head perked up as the dark hallway started to come into focus, and his eyes narrowed at the sight before him. The only source of wood that could possibly be in their mind was Yugi's soul room door.

The door which stood before Yami in pieces. The door itself was still up – which was not necessarily a good sign, for Yugi only raised his mental shields when he had no other choice in the matter – but there were deep gouges in the dense wood. The surface was littered with scratches and holes, one of which went straight through the door itself.

Yami's mind froze. The whirlwind of questions came to a shuddering stop. With a jerky hand, Yami ran his fingertips over the scarred wood, feeling the rough splinters against his skin. Suddenly, Yami's mind filled with Yugi's thoughts once more, but they were slow and lethargic. When Yami moved his fingers the noise fell silent. Dropping his arm, he pressed a shoulder against the door. It groaned miserably, but remained steady.

Yami had been the one who had taught Yugi how to raise these shields – barriers that could protect his mind from any attack. After Pegasus and during the stint with Malik's evil half, such a thing had become imperative. Yami had created layers of his own spells to reinforce his hikari's mind. It was almost impossible to break without a lot of persistence that would have seemed like torture to Yugi. Yet they had broken through...

If these people were so willing to torture Yugi's mind, what did that mean for the rest of him?

He couldn't wait anymore. Yami couldn't let this play out for another second. Standing in the middle of the desolate hallway, staring at his light's mutilated door, Yami took a deep breath, centring himself. In his mind, Yami envisioned the body he wanted to create – whole and in the outside world.

There was a soft swoosh, and Yami shut his eyes as his body lurched forward. Suddenly, the Puzzle burned hot against his leather shirt. When he opened his eyes once more, however, the entire scene had shifted. No longer was he standing in a dark, enclosed space – quite the opposite, really. High, arched ceiling, whitewashed walls and marble floors. The room itself was huge, open and airy, with wide windows facing out towards the rolling country side.

By itself, the room was gorgeous, but the rows of sturdy medical beds ruined the picturesque vision. Upon second glance, this room was definitely medically-orientated, that much was obvious. There were two doors – one that was open, giving sight to a stone hallway, while the other seemed to give way to an office of sorts, but that was sealed shut.

Yami's eyes quickly scanned the room as he tried to figure out why the Puzzle had dropped him off here of all places. Why was Yugi in a medical room? Wasn't he being kept a prisoner?

And where was he?

There were two other people in the room, standing in the centre near a large wood-stove, talking. Both seemed to be female, wearing the same style of dress as those United Protection freaks, but the colours were different. The tallest, a lean women with a rather severe looking bun wore an elemerald green robe, while her friend wore one made from a soft lavender colour. Neither woman paid any mind to Yami, as one had her back to him and in his spirit form there was no way either could see him regardless. So Yami ignored them.

Just behind Yami was a square of dark blue curtains, it felt different from the rest of the room... like familiar face in a room of strangers. The moment Yami spotted them, he found himself unable to move for a few moments. It was odd how, at one moment, one could be racing to a destination, yet the next be so hesitant about getting fingers danced around the rough material of the curtain, feeling where the edges were, and got a firm grip on it. Eyes squeezed shut, he ripped the curtain back. He could hear the metal rings clang against each other in protest to the sudden movement, but Yami found himself unable to open his eyes.

Until a low groan registered in his mind. Yami's eyes snapped open at the sound of Yugi's pained voice. He was greeted with a sight that forced him to his knees in less time than it had taken to walk to the edge of Yugi's bed.

His light was so pale he seemed grey-faced, the skin pinched and drawn, nothing like the carefree look Yami was so used to seeing. It was obvious that Yugi had lost a lot of weight; Yami could see each and every rib along his light's thin chest. Yugi was curled around the Millennium Puzzle like a cat, his knees drawn up against his chest and the thick chain clenched tightly in his fist. But that wasn't where Yami was looking, instead his eyes fell to the white linen bandages that covered Yugi head to foot. Some were still dyed with the soft red of his blood. The skin that wasn't bandaged was bruised, some still looking fresh. There was barely an inch of Yugi's soft skin that remained uninjured.

"Aibou..." Yami groaned, staring at his light's features, staring desperately at the bandage that covered half his ashen face.

"Oh, Gods..."

The bandages were everywhere – across Yugi's arms, legs, chest – there was more gauze than there was actual skin, and that scared Yami more than he could say. "Aibou. Aibou, wake up," Yami whispered, grabbing onto Yugi's shoulder, careful not to touch any bandaged area. Yugi didn't respond, but curled tighter around the Puzzle. "Aibou, please, it's time to wake up."

Nothing. The only response Yami received was even more colour leaving Yugi's face. All the concern Yami had been feeling fell out of the pit of his stomach like a dropped weight. Shaking hands danced down Yugi's cheek, tracing the bandage that covered his eye, and further down until it jerked away from the raw, oozing, bloody mess of Yugi's neck. The worry and fear was quickly replaced with anger.

Someone was going to pay, and as Yami's attention was once again drawn to the two woman still chatting away, he knew exactly who.

/

"Did you hear something?" Minerva hissed. She could have sworn she'd heard footsteps coming from the far side of the room.

Poppy perked up her head at Minerva's comment and tilted it to the side. "No, I don't hear anything," she said, blinking as she looked around the room. "Maybe you're just hearing things. You must be exhausted, dear. I'm sorry that solving the Puzzle didn't immediately fix everything as you had hoped."

Minerva's eyes had a distant look to them as she slowly turned her head around and nodded. "Yes, well, it was a feeble hope. I'm sure that he'll get better on his own, though… Are you certain you didn't hear anything?"

"Minerva, dear, go to bed. You have class tomorrow and your hard-earned reputation will be tarnished if your class sees you snoring on your desk."

There it was again – the sound of footsteps, followed by the sound of clanging.

"Did you not hear that?" Minerva demanded once more, jumping slightly as the sounds continued.

"Hear what, Minerva?" Poppy said exasperatedly. "There's nothing to hear. It's probably just Peeves being a nuisance."

Minerva shook her head. "No, Peeves isn't allowed in the hospital wing, he knows that. Besides, I've never heard him make footsteps before."

Poppy placed a hand on Minerva's shoulder, leading her towards the door. "Then it's just Mr. Filch. Please, Minerva, it's late. I'm about to close up, so go to bed."

Minerva wasn't looking at Poppy anymore, but instead at the empty air about ten paces in front of her. About to reprimand the professor once more, Poppy turned around and noticed a tray of potions that she kept on her desk had spilt, splattering Pepper-Up Potion everywhere. "What on Earth did that?" the matron said, walking towards the toppled platter with the intention of cleaning up the sloppy mess.

"Poppy, don't!" Minerva cried, grabbing onto Poppy's wrist and yanking her back.

"What is it, Minerva?" Poppy snapped, rubbing her shoulder from where Minerva had nearly ripped it free from the socket. "Why are you acting like this?"

"You mean you don't see him?" Minerva whispered, her face losing all its colour rapidly, and still she stared at a point just beside the fallen tray.

"See who? Minerva, what's going on?"

But Minerva didn't respond. Instead, she pulled her wand hand behind her back. A small shower of gold sparks fizzled for a second before they disappeared. In a few seconds they would reappear in front of Albus, signalling that something was wrong. Poppy had fallen silent as she stared at her colleague. As tired as Minerva was, Poppy sincerely doubted she was seeing things. Every indicator of Minerva's body language was rife with tension; the fingers holding her wand shook with the grip she was keeping on it.

"Minerva, what's happening?"

"There's someone in here," Minerva murmured, her eyes darting away from the open space to the Puzzle still clenched in Yugi's hand. Had the curtains around his bed not been closed? The eye piece that Minerva had just placed in the centre was glowing in an eerie light. "I think he came from the Puzzle. He's transparent, though, like a ghost. Looks just like Yugi, yet so different and I don't understand why you can't see him."

"From the Puzzle?" Poppy hissed in return. "Do you think he's the one that possessed Arthur?"

"That's a real possibility, my dear."

Both Minerva and Poppy jumped as Albus entered through the now open door to Poppy's office, having used the fireplace there to respond to Minerva's call.

"It's good you called me, Minerva, but I wonder what we will do with our invisible spectre."

The temperature of the room suddenly dropped and every torch was immediately extinguished. The room was plunged into darkness as even the warm glow that came from the wood-stove was snuffed.

A chilling voice arose from the darkness, far colder than the temperature of the ward. "Oh, I really don't think you will be able to do much of anything."

The shadows of the room immediately seemed to gather where Minerva had been staring so blankly, to form a dark spot so vivid that all three people in the room could easily see the outline of what looked like another body taking form. Glowing eyes stared at them from the mass, unblinking and the colour of freshly drawn blood.

"And for what has happened to my light, I will grant you no mercy."

Minerva jumped at the voice, feeling it dig into her bones like a shard of ice. Albus stepped forward, his wand extended out in front of him, prepared to fight if this got any more out of hand.

"It's all right. Calm down, let's discuss this," Albus said diplomatically, his wand moving down slightly in a show of goodwill. "We both have Yugi's best interests at heart – there's no reason to fight."

"No reason to fight? Aibou's best interests?" The laugh that erupted out of that mouth was insane – not a drop of humanity in the demonic-like sound, no remorse or good humour. "Forgive me if I don't believe you, for if any of that was true my light would not be lying on that bed more than half-dead."

Again Albus stepped forward, waving his hand towards Poppy. "This is my nurse. Her name is Madam Pomfrey and she has assured me that your... light is going to be just fine. You need to calm down."

"You will not tell me to calm down!" Yami screamed, rationality thrown out the window as he lashed out with the Puzzle's magic. One of the fragments of magic emerged from its hiding place on the wall and wrapped around Albus's neck, squeezing tight.

"You expect me to trust you? You dress the same as the people that came to our house and took him away, and carry the same weapons. Weapons that are currently pointed at my heart." Those crimson eyes darted from Minerva to Poppy. Each woman had their wand held in the attack position.

The dark magic tightened around Albus's neck, cutting off almost all of his air supply. The elderly wizard choked, his wand moving up to his neck. A flash of light appeared at the tip, but nothing happened. Albus's blue eyes widened at this, not expecting for his spell not to work. He tried again, and again his wand sparking in all sorts of different colours. But the results where the same and the words disapeared as e choked again, coughing as his hand reached out to scratch uselessly at the shadow. But his fingers just slipped through, coming to rest at his own neck.

"Feeling a little short of breath, old man?" Yami hissed, coming to stand right in front of Albus. "Your magic is useless against mine, as your friends quickly discovered. They only won by a technicality last time, one that I won't grant again!"

"We're trying to help him!" Minerva screamed, attempting to pull the man off of Albus. If only he could see that they had been the ones to rescue Yugi. But the rather animalistic apparition just swatted her away like a fly, not heeding her words. Albus coughed again as the darkness pressed a little harder. The hacking noise changed into a wheeze halfway through.

"Stupefy!" Poppy yelled from behind them.

The cluster of sparks streaked towards Yami, who quickly raised a shield to block the attack. The sudden split in attention, however, caused the spell Yami was previously performing to fall apart and Albus collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

A large smirk settled upon Yami's face.

"So you're the nurse," Yami purred, his head turning so far to the side that his ear almost rested against his shoulder. Poppy felt a chill run up her spine as those eyes looked her up and down. "I was expecting a mouse the way your boss stepped out in front, and instead I get a little lion... How…" Yami paused, his smirk unfaltering as he searched for the right word. "... quaint."

Suddenly, a blast of darkness flared from Yami's lithe form. Minerva and Poppy were slammed up against the wall beside the slowly stirring Albus. Minerva groaned as her back protested the harsh treatment. Yami crouched down beside her, keeping one eye trained on the other two.

"I can smell him on you, my light," Yami hissed, running a single finger across Minerva's cheek. The nail dug into Minerva's skin and a thin river of blood flowed from beneath it. "You have touched the Puzzle as well. That's two crimes against your soul. It's not a wise idea to touch that which is not yours... for you never know when the owner could come looking for it."

Minerva tried to hold in a gasp of pain, bitting the inside of her lip, and made sure to face this man with a steely glare. This had been far worse than anything she had been expecting. Even Albus had proven to be useless against the spectre's magic. He was right, the Minister must have only beaten them by a stroke of luck.

"Aibou is mine," Yami continued, grabbing onto Minerva's chin to ensure she would hear every word. The warmth of his breath tickled her face. "You won't ever have the chance to touch him again. I'll make sure of it."

Yami rose and took a step back, his head tilted towards the ceiling. Minerva could only watch helplessly as he lifted his blood-stained finger and licked it clean. Oh Merlin, this man, whoever he was, was insane, maybe even more so than Voldemort.

"Dark Game."

And he was going to kill her.