Ryou stared at the scenery in shock. How had he gotten to London like this?
The moment Seth took a drink of the tea, after adding a few sugar cubes to it, he smiled.
"Much better. The Japanese have their way with fish, but when it comes to tea the British are by far better."
"How...?"
"How are we in London when we were just in Domino?" asked Seth.
Ryou nodded numbly.
"That, Ryou-kun, was magic."
"That wasn't magic! It didn't feel like apparition or a port key!"
"Ah, so you're familiar with modern magic. Long story short, that wasn't modern travel," said Seth, drinking his tea calmly.
Ryou decided to follow his example, and once he drank some proper earl gray he started to relax, if only slightly. It was hard to be tense around Seth, for some reason.
"I am a mage."
"You're a wizard? How did you do that without a wand?" asked Ryou.
"No, I am not a paltry wizard. Wizards, are weak, idiotic people who cling a little too strongly to the middle ages," said Seth flatly.
"But you just said..."
"What I said was that I am a mage. Mages and wizards are two entirely different types of magic users. Wizards, by and large, rely entirely on their wands and are helpless without them magic wise. It is extremely rare to find one who can perform without a wand. Mages are an entirely different kettle of fish," said Seth.
"What is the real difference?"
"Mages...can use true magic. Summoning creatures from the Shadow Realm for example is one of the most basic of all magics, though thanks to that idiot Pharaoh the art has been sealed. We can conjure solid items, transform into any animal we wish, stop time... But the training takes much longer, and the necessary level of magical potential is beyond ridiculous in this day and age," said Seth.
He took a long sip, finishing his tea.
"To be blunt, becoming a mage is almost impossible these days, because the Ministry or whatever the hell it's called, has made most of the arts that are required illegal. All the restrictions they have in place is making it harder and harder for those with real power to be trained properly. In a few generations even wizards will become rare," said Seth.
Ryou finished his cup.
"I'm more interested in how you knew the spirit. According to you, you're from the same time period as he is...so how is it that you're completely at ease in the present?"
"Simple. I'm originally from this age. Bastet threw me into the past nine years ago, from what I can tell, and some idiot wizard and several accomplices brought me back. Rather roughly I may add," said Seth.
Ryou's eyes widened.
"So you're really...?"
"Yes, my birth name is, according to the blood test administered by the goblins, Harry James Potter. Personally I like Seth or Horus better. Britain is no longer my home country."
Seth had registered himself in Egypt, making him untouchable by the British Ministry. Because he had been trained in Egypt, and had an Egyptian name, they couldn't lay a finger on him unless he did something.
The best part of all was that the Egyptian Ministry had gladly accepted him as a citizen...particularly when he handed over several cultural artifacts thought lost to time and thieves. They even forged records that claimed he had graduated with honors from their schools.
As Seth so often said, it wasn't the gold that made him happy, but the accumulation of it. He liked the stealing, not the counting and all that.
Ryou couldn't believe it. Harry Potter, the savior of the magical communities...was Seth, a boy who had been in Egypt during the times of the Pharaohs.
It was a good thing he was sitting down.
"But it doesn't make any sense! You're easily in your twenties, when you should just now be turning fifteen!" said Ryou.
"Ryou-kun, I lived five thousand years in Egypt's past. I spent over fifteen years there. It's only logical that I would age more than I should have. Though I have to admit, that annoying wizard could have picked a better way to bring me back. It hurt like hell falling through time like that."
"Annoying wizard?" asked Ryou.
"Some old geezer with no taste for fashion sense and what I think was a pet phoenix. I didn't exactly get a good look before I used my powers to wipe their memories of my face and the ritual."
"Um...did this old man have half moon glasses and a twinkle in his eye?"
"Yes...why?"
"You...attacked Albus Dumbledore?" said Ryou finally.
"Who?"
"Albus Dumbledore...Headmaster of Hogwarts and Supreme Mugwump of the Wizangamot."
"And I should care why?"
"He's the only wizard able to go toe to toe with Voldemort!" said Ryou hysterically.
Seth noted a rather irritating woman behind them flinch.
"What is your point? He's a senile old man who thought he could control me simply because he had the power to summon me through the time stream. I follow no one's orders aside from my own. Hell I threw daggers at the damn Pharaoh because he pissed me off!"
He ignored the scratching of the quill behind him. Though he did make sure to blur his face and Ryou's from the witch's memories. After feeling her flinch at that name, there was little doubt she was one. He might as well give her a real story.
"So how do you know the spirit?"
"He's my brother. Though what I want to know is why you were reborn in England instead of Egypt."
"That would be my doing. I made a small suggestion that he be reborn with his brother...though apparently because you were claimed after you were born the two of you were placed on opposing sides of England. On the plus side, Ryou here is a natural wizard much like yourself because of my interference...and by extension his sister."
Ryou's face fell when he was reminded of his sister. Amane had been presumed dead after the accident, and his father had refused to allow him to go to Hogwarts. Because he had moved around a lot when he was younger, the Ministry couldn't seal his powers away like they did any magic user who didn't go to Hogwarts and was registered as an English citizen.
Bastet jumped onto Seth's shoulder. She seemed perfectly at ease there.
"So where is his sister?" asked Seth. He ordered a small saucer of milk for the goddess...and another cup of tea for them both.
"His sister is currently at Beauxbatons. She survived the crash, but her memory was almost lost."
"Amane is alive?" said Ryou in shock.
Bastet looked at him with amusement.
"Your twin sister is still alive and thriving. She is starting to remember you, but if you want to make sure she does you might want to get an owl and send her a letter sometime," said Bastet.
Ryou looked relieved at the news. Amane had been presumed dead, since the crash had been next to a river and her body was never found. It was assumed that her body had been thrown into the river.
"Now to proper business. Since we are in London, why don't we visit Diagon Alley? It's not like Kaiba will care if I take a day off," said Seth.
"What about Mokuba?"
"I've already gotten him onto a level where he can jump into the Shadow Realm, and Dharc has agreed to watch over him for me. If anything can get past him, he'll alert me and we'll go back."
Ryou finished his tea, and Bastet drank the last drop of her milk. They got up, left the money on the table, and left. Bastet felt like exploring the magical alley, so she stayed on Seth's shoulder like a parrot. She looked like a stereotypical black cat.
The moment Seth stepped into the bank, the alarms went off.
He snapped his fingers and the noise abruptly shut off.
"Honestly, I thought I cleared this up with the goblins back in Egypt?" he said amused.
"Unfortunately we need your magical signature in order to reset your vaults," said the goblin.
"Sorry about that, but I really don't want to deal with the idiots who run this particular community," said Seth.
"Understandable, but you still need to sign the forms in person," said the goblin.
"Why don't we get that out of the way now then?"
An hour later, Seth walked out with a bag of gold and a disguise. He wasn't going to make it easy for the old man who tried to manipulate him. Authority figures never sat well with him.
Ryou had his hair turned black, at Seth's suggestion. It was a temporary dye, and would wash out in the morning. They were even wearing contacts.
Seth went into the Owl Emporium and walked out with a new snow owl that had caught his interest. Neither of them even glanced at the wand shop, since Seth had agreed to show Ryou how to use real magic instead of the wizard kind.
Seth decided to avoid the packed Flourish and Blotts and went straight to Knockturn. One look at the daggers and ease of how he handled them, and the residents left him alone to shop in peace.
"Ano...Seth-kun..."
"Just Seth is fine. Though you can call me Horus if you wish. I can tell you won't mangle the name like most people," said Seth cheerfully. It felt just like home.
"Why are we in Knockturn for shopping?"
"Because they don't give a damn about the Ministry and their stupid ban on certain types of magic. Besides, half of what they use is too weak for me to even consider teaching you," said Seth.
"Isn't that magic for beginners anyway?" asked Ryou nervously.
"If you're so afraid why not let 'Kura out? He'll protect you from any harm."
"He's caused most of the harm I've been in since I moved to that town!" said Ryou.
"That was probably his built up aggression towards that idiot king. My brother and I hate hurting children," said Seth.
"Ano...Seth...If I hang out with you more, can you keep him under control? I really don't like blacking out and finding that I hurt others..."
"After I'm through with you, you'll be able to bring him out as a corporeal ghost. Besides, I was always the one to rein in my brother anyway," said Seth amused.
Once they were done shopping, Seth opened another portal straight back to where they were.
Mokuba seemed very excited that he was going to have a new friend join him in Seth's magic lessons.
Ryou didn't seem that enthusiastic, but he had at least been willing to give it a shot since Seth didn't mind him borrowing Sopdet to mail his sister.
(I read in another fic that Sopdet was the Egyptian goddess of the stars.)
When asked why he gave the owl such a name, Seth said that it fit her better than anything else he could come up with. According to him the black specks reminded him of stars and the white was the predawn sky.
Mokuba seemed to be extra hyper, which was most likely because Seto had given him a lot of sugar and coffee that morning as payback for leaving him with his brother the day before.
It was a very, very good thing Seth liked kids, because Mokuba was driving him up the wall. Fortunately he had a cure for that hyper energy.
Lots and lots of gratuitous magic training! By the time they were done, Mokuba could safely travel through the Shadow Realm 9 times out of ten, and each time Kisara (that's the name of the Blue Eyes, from what I remember of Memory World) guarded him. Seth didn't think anything of it, because clearly Kaiba remembered his former lover and it was obvious she recognized him on sight.
Once he could be reasonably sure that Mokuba could escape everything but magical prisons (which was unlikely but still a valid issue) he got him started on knife training. Mokuba was barely 11, and therefore could not legally hold a gun. Knives, on the other hand, were perfectly acceptable so long as they didn't qualify to be a short dagger. There were acceptable excuses for him to carry a knife, such as opening packages and the like.
Ryou turned out to have a much different problem. Once he learned the real issue with the spirit in the Ring wasn't because of Yugi but the soul inside the Puzzle, he started to relax a little bit around the darker spirit. Hearing first hand how the former Pharaoh reacted around Bakura and Seth made it much easier for him to relate to Bakura.
It didn't hurt that Seth had confronted his brother inside the Ring and made him stop possessing Ryou so forcefully. Ryou watched the whole thing and he had never seen anything so...shocking. Seth practically browbeat Bakura into leaving Ryou alone. It didn't hurt that when he was confronted with his brother his memories started coming back, stronger than ever. Ryou had no idea how close Bakura was to Seth...or Horus as he called him. He didn't seem the least bit surprised that Seth had changed his name to something else in order to prevent his name from being mangled.
Though he did snort when he heard what he had changed it to. Apparently Seth was an alternate way of saying Set, who happened to be the Egyptian God of chaos, storms and the desert.
Considering how much he loved Egypt, it was rather fitting.
After the confrontation, Bakura actually helped more than hindered Ryou's progress. Apparently he was of the same mind as Seth. If he could learn how to protect himself then Bakura wouldn't have to come out and stab people. Though nothing Ryou could do would get him to cooperate with the spirit of Yugi's Puzzle.
He was actually very, very relieved that Seth and Bakura had nothing against Yugi himself. After hearing a description of the kid they were more likely to help him with the bullying problem...provided he kept the spirit of the Puzzle away from them in exchange.
It was a fair trade.
Ryou decided to insure Yugi would be safe from Seth by introducing them. He only agreed to it provided Yugi didn't wear the Puzzle when he came.
If he had to Seth would tell Yugi exactly what the thing was made of, because it most certainly wasn't gold.
Seth took one look at Yugi and tried not to scowl. He looked like a much younger version of the damn Pharaoh! No wonder he had been stuck with the prick.
Fortunately for Yugi, the moment he started talking to Seth, the man had already pegged him as someone to protect. The boy was far too innocent for his own health, which meant that he was ranked in the same category as children were when it came to Seth.
Bakura and Seth had a longstanding agreement. Adults were fair game but children and innocent bystanders weren't to be harmed. Scaring them into leaving the area was fine, but not hurting people who were just at the wrong place and wrong time.
He left that meeting felling like he had started to undermine the Pharaoh's tenuous support with his present day body. The more Yugi would learn of the spirit, the less likely he was to cave in to everything the jerk had to say.
He couldn't help but feel this would help in the long run.