Unwilling Students
Yugioh/HP Crossover
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Yu-gi-oh or any other references I may make.
AN: Ok I know this took way too long. I was on a very long vacation but am back now and hoping to get past my writers block. With the finishing of this chapter I am only one away from where everything came to a crashing halt. I think/hope I can move past this mental block this time. We shall see.
Thank you again everyone for all your support. I truly hope you continue to enjoy my story.
I really appreciate the words of encouragement and those of you who have allowed me to babble and talk about what's going through my head as I am writing this story. (You know who you all are) . Thank you also for the ideas and the inspiration where I have gotten stuck.
/mindspeech one on one/
[Group Mindspeech]
Things you need to know:
Ring: can erase short term memories, locates millennium items, locates anything bearer seeks, and puts souls in an object
Eye: The Millennium Eye allows the possessor to read people's minds and see through their eyes. It can also seal away the souls of those who lose in a duel to the possessor. Can also steal souls from mortals and put them in a form of a card.
Scales: The Millennium Scale can weigh a person's heart against the feather of Ma'at, the goddess of truth; if a person lies while being interrogated by the owner of the Scale, the side opposite of the feather will lower, as if weighted down by the person's sins, and if the side without the feather drops to the bottom, Ammit, the monster of the abyss, will consume the person's soul, giving modern science the assumption that the cause of "death" was a heart attack. Or soul can be sent to shadow realm instead of death.
Hathor is essentially the Egyptian goddess of love
I kinda just started typing some new conversations in here and I am not sure where it is coming from I am leaving it in the story for now.
Chapter 25
Original Chapter 15
Tuesday/HOM/Herbology/Charms/COMC
A few days after the incident with Bill the mages awoke groggily and slowly headed down to their common room. The teens quickly decided to eat breakfast in the common room instead of dealing with people in the Great Hall.
"So what have we missed these last two days?" Marik asked while letting out a huge yawn and stretching like a cat.
"Oh nothing much. It has been a quiet two days. With no Lupin we got out of tutoring." Yugi replied as he relaxed in the squashy chair.
"Meh, sheer boredom. Our babysitter didn't let us out on Sunday while you guys were out cold and Monday we refused to attend classes without you, the tomb keeper, and the High Priest." Bakura added coming out of the ring ready to get out and cause some mayhem.
"Oh, but Atem look what Dobby brought me to help pass the time." Mana said excitedly as she showed him a stack of books lying on one of the tables in the common room.
Atem paled at the titles of the pile of books she was carrying with her. He saw Valentine's Day Around the World, Valentine Traditions, Strange and Wonderful Traditions, Origins of Valentine's Day, and a few others that made him shudder.
"And have you read all of these already?" Atem asked nervously dreading the answer.
"Of course not silly. I am still working on where Valentine's Day comes from. But think of it. WE can learn all about the holiday and all the wonderful things people do in the name of love, fertility, and romance. Then we can pick out all the ideas we like and present them to the tribes and magical Egypt!" Mana started off excitedly.
The boys all paled when they realized she was not done telling them of her plans.
"Well I suppose I would have to visit one of Hathor's temples to see if she approves of this new love and fertility holiday that would of course be celebrated in her name. I mean as your Queen I would have ended up her Priestess anyways so I should come up with something to honor her. Won't this be great?! Egypt will get its own Valentine's Day! The goddess Hathor will be so pleased that we found a holiday for her." Mana exclaimed excitedly ready to continue on and on until she noticed something off and stared at Atem.
"Atem where is your puzzle?" Mana asked, worry replacing excitement.
Atem looked down and realized his puzzle was missing. "What the…?"
Marik and Seto checked for their items and found them missing also. "What is going on? Where are our items?" Seto bit out frustrated immediately missing the comfort the Millennium Rod provided.
"Snape must have taken them but why? No one has shown any hint of knowing what our items are. I haven't even activated the puzzle for protection to avoid suspicion." Atem wondered aloud while an inner rage built inside of him. He was sick of the Headmaster and his meddling.
"It must have been Weasley! He must have discovered something when Isis got her necklace stolen." Marik said vehemently beginning to pace angrily again at the mere thought of that man.
"No more mind control how are we supposed to survive Umbridge's class with no more mind control.?" Bakura whined resenting the fact that now they had to deal with her as she was.
"Be glad they didn't find the ring." Seto said darkly quieting everyone down with that sobering thought.
Severus had amazing timing; he had literally walked into the mages dorm just in time to hear Ryou and Seto's statement.
"What did you just say?" Severus said in that oh so deadly tone that told his students they were dead as he walked further into the dorm.
"Oh…um…nothing of importance." Ryou squeaked out as Bakura disappeared back into the ring.
"Somehow I don't believe you." Snape sneered as he got closer to the mages ready to grab his wand just in case they attacked. This was the first day all of them had been awake in a few days so he was unsure as to what their mood might be like.
"You took our items Snape," Atem accused taking an aggressive stance while wisps of shadows were rising at their master's angry emotions.
"You attacked the Weasley boy, Lupin, and I." Snape shot back taking his wand out and getting into a defensive stance while watching, waiting.
"That is irrelevant. We want our items back now!" Seto demanded watching both the Pharaoh and the black haired professor carefully.
"Well that is not an option. Dumbledore has them and I do not know where he has hidden them. What does it matter they are mere trinkets are they not?" Snape asked sarcastically getting an idea of what one of those items must have done based on what he overheard walking into the dorm. He made no aggressive moves but continued to hold his wand out ready to defend if need be.
"None of your Ra damned business Snape," Atem growled out aggressively knowing they couldn't tell this man the truth of what their items truly were while taking an aggressive step forward with the shadows flaring dramatically as he moved towards the professor eyeing the wand warily.
"Pharaoh, take control of the shadows before the bracelet drains you!" Bakura suddenly snapped realizing why the shadows were surrounding their master so chaotically. The puzzle helped control the immense power of the Pharaoh when his emotions ran high.
Atem immediately stopped glaring at Severus, sighed, and closed his eyes trusting that his priests would protect him if need be. He focused on the ebb and flow of his magicks and called the shadows back and dispersed them. He was lucky this didn't take much energy, just concentration and calming himself. Atem opened his eyes and gave a silent stony glare at Severus but made no move to attack.
Severus sighed loudly at the distraction that seemed to have broken the standoff between him and Atem. It was no use arguing with the grumpy mages, all it did was give him a migraine though he was curious about those items of theirs. He gave up, put his wand away, and sat them down to breakfast and hoped for a peaceful meal.
"Is Lupin doing alright?" Yugi asked shyly distracting their captor from the mental conversation going on between the others.
[We need to protect the scales and ring at all costs] Marik said to the others.
[Especially the Ring.] Atem added worried what would happen if the Tomb Robber got trapped in the ring.
[I have no interest in being locked in a desk drawer or wherever the old fool has put the rest of our items.] Akefia added grumpily dreading the thought of being trapped in the ring for an extended amount of time. [However, if they do get the ring. I will always find a way back to my host.] Bakura said creepily. (Am I the only one who finds that weird that the ring just magically finds Ryou throughout the anime?)
[I have kept the scales well hidden. They won't find them.] Yugi reassured everyone.
"He is fine no thanks to your magicks. He will be down for tutoring later today. We expect you all to attend every class today and get all your makeup homework that you missed during your "illnesses". Is that understood?" Snape said firmly leaving no room for argument which by the looks on the mages faces is exactly what they wanted to do.
The mages grumbled their agreement and got their books for the day ending their mental conversation.
The mages headed to class seemingly still dragging their feet from breakfast. They were exhausted and grumpy still but they had already missed a day of classes which Snape insisted that they would make up and get extra tutoring though no one was sure how that would work since it felt like they were in tutoring already 24/7 since the werewolf was determined to get them through first year material.
"Why again are we going to History of Magic?" Marik whined pitifully seriously not wanting to attend this class. He understood history was important but he had no interest in England's wizarding history.
"Because our dear babysitter kicked us out of the dorm with threats of more history lessons if we didn't start attending this class." Seto pointed out while stating the obvious not overly thrilled himself.
"I don't see the point. Daphne and Tracey told me how this professor is a ghost and doesn't actually teach much history at all." Mana added in not having any interest in this enclave's history. Hence the reason she had her stack of valentine books in her book bag.
"Good morning everyone. How are you all feeling?" Hermione asked the mages as she, Harry, and Ron ran into them while also heading to class.
The trio was shocked to see them since they were pretty sure the mages had skipped every HOM class so far.
"We are doing much better now, thank you." Ryou responded politely not sure if they should tell the trio what really happened. He figured with Weasley's brother involved it was not a good idea.
"You should have pretended to still be sick this class is bloody awful. The professor is a ghost and all he talks about are the goblins and their bloody rebellions." Ron ranted while Harry just nodded his head in agreement.
Marik and Atem glared when they heard the word goblins. "You harbor tomb robbers in this enclave?" Atem asked caustically while seriously wondering what other surprises this enclave held.
Ron paused at the harshness of Atem's tone.
"You didn't know there were Goblins here?" Hermione interjected hoping to not gain the ire of the mages but curious as to how they didn't know that.
"No, how would we?" Marik asked looking annoyed while trying not to scare Hermione.
"Don't goblins run your banks in Egypt?" Harry asked now as intrigued as the other two at the topic at hand.
"No they were banned from entering Egypt for stealing treasures and secrets from the tombs of our pharaohs and priests. They also had a tendency to dig where they were not allowed." Atem replied somewhat calmly while internally trying to control the anger he felt bubbling inside.
Ron bit his lip from that statement wondering why they allowed Gringotts to excavate digs then. And his curiosity got the better of him.
"Well then why do your Egyptian fellows allow my brother to have dig-sites? He works for Gringotts and your people have never had an issue with him before." Ron asked genuinely curious and not expecting the mages to react so angrily.
Atem stopped walking and faced the red head clenching his fists looking ready to destroy anything in his path. "Your brother works for goblins?" Atem seethed, it was just one thing after another with this enclave.
"Yes" Ron squeaked not comfortable with the death glare he was getting from not just the Ishtar boys but the others as well.
Seto realizing the Pharaoh might lose control at any moment put his hand on Atem's shoulder in hopes to calm his cousin down. He was worried the shadows would answer their master's call. He was actually surprised they hadn't shown up yet. Atem had to be holding them at bay for them to be so docile at the moment.
Atem felt the pressure from the hand on his shoulder. He sighed. He knew he needed to calm down. He focused on suppressing his anger and trying to center himself. It was taking too much effort and concentration to keep the shadows at bay. They wanted out so badly with all his pent up power and rage. It was hard to keep control with the bracelet which was making him almost physically ill at this point because he could feel his magick being suppressed. And without the puzzle to channel his raw power it wanted to manifest and release. It felt like his magick was fighting to escape its bonds.
Everyone visibly relaxed once Atem chilled out, even Marik who was just as angry as the Pharaoh but ended up more worried than anything. Something was not right with Atem.
Seto further interrupted what was left of the tension with his observation. "Is it just me or is Malfoy following us? I am pretty sure we don't have class with Slytherin until Herbology."
They all blatantly turned and saw the Slytherin prince with a few of his groupies. Malfoy and his cronies quickly walked past the group while glaring once he realized they had been noticed. Big mistake on his part.
Atem took his burning anger out on the one who tried to kill him. He started chanting in ancient Egyptian, "Eka sha du kekeway su hed vesr sai ahew um du kheben kur asha doaek." Atem whispered quietly as he visibly slumped a bit from using some of his magicks.
"Pharaoh?" Bakura questioned a bit unnerved at the ancient shadow spell that he had used to punish Malfoy.
"It was deserved." Atem snapped irritably not feeling the need to explain himself to his priest.
"I know that." Bakura snapped while mentally adding, /I was merely concerned. That is not a low level shadow spell. How much power did you put into it?/
/I am fine Bakura. The lingering pain will only last a couple of days. I couldn't put much more into it. Thank you though./ Atem responded mentally.
"What did you do?" Hermione asked as she watched Malfoy's goons suddenly have to support Malfoy as he buckled in pain.
"Don't worry about it." Marik stated as they walked into their classroom with a warning glare to encourage Hermione to drop it.
Mana and Yugi followed everyone in glancing at the Pharaoh with worried eyes.
History of Magic
During History of Magic Atem was bored out of his mind not really wanting to hear about how the Goblins rebelled, were conquered, and now ran their economy. He was completely disgusted with the enclave entrusting those greedy little creatures with their money. He would certainly be making some changes when he got back to Egypt including trying to get Egypt's treasures back from the greedy little creatures.
While the others were occupying themselves with random games, except Hermione who was actually taking notes, and Mana well he didn't want to think about what she was doing to pass the time. Those books…Atem shivered at the thought. To take his mind off of those books and alleviate his boredom Atem decided to take the opportunity to pass notes to Harry.
He wanted to talk to the boy about what Dumbledore had mentioned after the attack on the school. Though he figured they would need to meet somewhere where they wouldn't get caught. So after a few notes back and forth they agreed to meet at the room of requirement while everyone was at lunch. The two of them wouldn't be missed if everyone else showed up especially if they convinced the Weasley twins and the terrible twin psychos to team up and make things interesting.
Unfortunately or fortunately depending on whom you are; Bakura was bored stuck in his soul room while Ryou sat through class playing chess with Ron. Boredom is not good for crazy people especially destructive crazy people. He left the ring in spirit form and wandered around the castle until he found Peeves. They spoke, plotted, retrieved hidden materials, and headed for the currently empty Herbology classroom.
The greenhouse was quiet and peaceful except a few birds chirping here and there. Bakura snuck in undetected with a giggling Peeves. Bakura's eyes lit up when he saw all the empty watering cans out. This would be perfect. He quickly sliced up the pure sodium which cut as easy as butter and Peeves created an encasing around the substance to be removed when all the students had filled their watering cans full. Bakura then placed sodium capsules into each watering can. Peeves watched the crazy spirit with rapt attention not quite understanding how this stuff was gonna cause chaos and destruction. But Bakura had assured him this modern chemical stuff would cause destruction and chaos. Then when all the sodium was split up he handed Peeves a huge chunk of the stuff.
"This is for the well after everyone gets their water into their cans. There is a slight time delay and then we'll watch and enjoy the chaos! Don't forget to block any of the debris that might come towards any students. Ra only knows what will happen if one of them gets hurt." Bakura told the crazy spirit.
"Yes, yes. Chaos only no injuries." Peeves replied while swooping all over the place.
Bakura went back to HOM and warned everyone through the mind link while Peeves waited for his chance to create chaos.
Mana had finished her origins of Valentine's day book and had a disgusted look on her face much to Atem's relief at least until she told everyone about what she had discovered.
"Some of these origins are kind of disgusting. They used to sacrifice goats and dogs. Yuk. And you don't want to know what those barbaric Romans did with the animal hides. Bleh. Then there was this part about modern gifts and it talked about giving hearts to the ones they love. I am not sure I like the idea of cutting out animal hearts to show love." Mana was saying completely disgusted as they were walking towards Herbology.
Hermione blanched at what she was saying and quickly corrected her new friend. "That is not what the book meant. Modern hearts are generally cards made in the shape of a heart or cookies and candy. Generally it is a really sweet gift to show one's affection. People do not sacrifice animals anymore to celebrate Valentine's day."
"Oh, thank Hathor. I was getting nervous. I guess I will just have to read more of my books and see if I can find more modern ways to celebrate love." Mana said once again excited at the prospect of finding fun ways to embrace the day of love.
The boys just face-palmed and quickly entered the greenhouse hoping to get away from the topic of love, romance, and fertility.
Herbology
The 5th year Gryffindor and Slytherin students walked in minus Draco Malfoy who was oddly missing. Professor Sprout had them start by getting their watering cans and filling them at the well in the greenhouse. She was going to have them water the Dogwood trees after her lecture. Each student got their cans and set them on their tables in front of them.
Professor Sprout jumped right into her lesson ignoring the annoying and ever present Dolores Umbridge standing over by the well taking notes and having no clue what was about to happen.
"Who can tell me what Dogwood is used for?" A few students from both houses raised their hands immediately. "Ms. Parkinson."
"For wand making," Pansy answered her teacher.
"Excellent, Miss Parkinson. Five points to Slytherin. Now, what characteristics does Dogwood have? Yes, Miss Granger.
"Well, dogwood has a tendency to be quirky and mischievous; they have playful natures and insist upon partners who can provide them with scope for excitement and fun. (Harry Potter lexicon)" Hermione responded.
"Very good Miss Granger," Professor Sprout was saying and about to give points when a huge explosion could be heard and screams suddenly erupting from everywhere.
Bakura's capsules had finally dissolved and while the watering cans were all exploding Peeves dropped the huge block of sodium down the well. The well soon exploded and debris went flying everywhere.
Unfortunately for Dolores, Peeves did not consider her a student so therefore was unprotected from all the debris flying around. A huge chunk from the well hit her square on the head and knocked her out cold. Chaos ensued as everyone was running for dear life from the exploding watering cans. It was quite the sight to behold. It took every ounce of self-control the mages had to not bust out laughing then and there but that would get them caught so they controlled themselves for the moment.
Professor Sprout dismissed the class immediately and took Professor Umbridge to the infirmary. The mages got into the hallway and waited until the other students had headed to the Great Hall since lunch was next and they now had some free time before hand. Bakura started laughing manically.
Hermione realized the explosions had to have been caused by the mages and immediately rounded on them. "Have you gone mad? Someone could have been hurt or worse. Killed."
"Oh relax precautions were taken so no one would be injured though I guess Peeves didn't deem Umbridge worthy of protecting from the debris." Bakura immediately defended still laughing hysterically.
The other mages were also getting a kick out of this last bit of destruction and not trying to hide their amusement either as they all began to head down the hallway.
"How did you make the watering cans explode?" Theo asked curiously as he walked alongside the others relieved to be out of class early.
Ryou took a little piece that was left and showed it to Theo, Daphne, and Tracey who were all curious about it.
They looked at the strange silvery-white metal and passed it around. It was much softer than expected.
"What is this stuff?" Daphne asked in wonder.
"It's called pure sodium. It is a chemical that non-magical people use and just happens to be a bit explosive when added to water." Seto explained as simply as possible not wanting to try and explain chemistry to wizards.
"So Harry and the Phar...er Atem need a distraction at lunch time. Marik stated while they were still all walking down the hallway away from the greenhouse changing the subject away from explosions.
"How about something that isn't destructive, some of us would like to eat our lunch." Hermione snapped grouchily still miffed about Herbology.
"What fun is that?" Bakura piped in.
"Did we hear the word destruction?" Fred asked as he, his brother, Adrian, and Terrence ran into their friends.
"If chaos is needed you must include us. It's only fair." George added grinning amusedly.
"And us! Terrence and I never get to plan pranks." Adrian added thinking how completely corrupted him and Terrence had become by befriending the twins.
"Shouldn't you four be in class right now?" Hermione interrupted before they got started on their planning.
Fred: We were ah…
George: bored and decided to have early dismissal.
"And we may have decided to be adventurous." Terrence added.
Hermione threw her hands up in the air in disgust. It figured the twins were ditching class but the two Slytherin boys too. What was this world coming to?
The four seventh years and the terrible twin pyros were soon whispering to one another until they had a plan. Then suddenly they disappeared from the group to get what they needed.
The others went into the Great Hall and studied or did homework until it was time for lunch. Soon the pranksters returned with smirks on their faces. Hermione just rolled her eyes at the boys while Ron and the others looked at them expectantly to find out what was planned. The twins just told them to watch the show. Soon people were trickling in for lunch. Once everyone was seated and food had appeared nothing happened.
Then dessert appeared. It was a golden amber gelatin like substance. Suddenly the amber colored dessert began growing and growing and growing. Students immediately got up from their seats in an uproar running from their dessert. Students who were caught were frozen in the substance which hardened immediately. The only movement that could be seen was their eyes blinking.
The professors jumped from their seats and tried casting spells to get rid of the amber globs but to no avail they would not disappear. Soon the globs of amber without kids trapped self-destructed leaving a mess everywhere with dripping goo. The professors that had not gotten caught by their dessert were trying to free the students but every time they looked at the frozen students in amber too long they would blur and subconsciously the teachers would shift away from the amber. Ten minutes later of no success the amber began dissolving into a gooey mess and the students could move freely again with no harm done to them what-so-ever.
Albus was a bit peeved having gotten caught in one of the amber globs. He guessed it was the work of the mages but some of them had been caught as well. The mages were definitely getting restless. At least so far they seemed to not be injuring any of the students but the destruction of the castle itself and the constant disruptions was getting old. At least Dolores was in the hospital wing from some explosion that he was sure the mages were responsible for also but he had no proof since Peeves had also been involved. Maybe Severus was right and they needed a change of scenery. Albus came out of his thoughts and continued helping getting the students cleaned up and calmed down never noticing two of his students were missing.
Meanwhile…
Harry and Atem snuck off to the room of requirement after scarfing down their lunch hoping to not be missed by anyone. Harry quickly walked back and forth thinking of a place where no one could hear them.
The first thing Atem noticed when he entered the room was that his links to the others was gone. He instantly turned to Harry in slight alarm.
"So what's up Atem?" Harry asked curiously noticing the tense look on the mages face as he went and sat on a couch the room had provided.
Atem relaxed a bit realizing Harry was no threat and got right to the point. "The night of the attack on the school, Dumbledore told us something that we thought should be brought to your attention. Did you know that your Dark Lord is practically immortal?"
"What? How is that possible" Harry spluttered in complete shock at the question.
"Dumbledore told us there are some items of some sort that need to be found. He said that Voldie couldn't really be killed until those items were found and destroyed. Any of this sound familiar?"
Harry sat down and put his head in the palms of his hands. He was in complete shock at what he was hearing. How was he supposed to destroy Voldemort if it was impossible? Of course thinking back to the meeting from Grimmauld place that he had overheard he was supposed to die at Voldemort's hands. Maybe this was why but, why did he have to die? Of course he couldn't win…it all made no sense.
"No…he…he has never mentioned any of this to me." Harry said sounding broken and hopeless.
Atem feeling sorry for the boy in front of him sat on the couch next to him.
"I am sorry…"
"I don't understand…Voldemort is what 67 or something? I am 15, how am I supposed to kill some old guy that has way more power, way more experience, and now you say is pretty much immortal. I can't do this…"
"Harry…Listen to me. This is not your fight. Let the adults handle it."
"I don't think I have a choice."
"Of course you do. You can leave this place. Tell your family and disappear." Atem suggested not knowing about his family life.
"You don't understand I am stuck here I have no escape. I have no one that cares enough unlike you who is just going to leave as soon as your protector frees you!" Harry spat angrily thinking about how he had no one that would fight to save him or love him.
Atem reeled back. "How dare you. This is not my war either. Though, your Headmaster is determined to force us into it. I have responsibilities in my own country and my own people to take care of."
"That's not what Bill Weasley says. He says you are evil mages and that the Headmaster is keeping you guys from joining Voldemort!" Harry spat out not really believing the words he said.
"And is that what you really believe about us?" Atem said while glaring at the angry teen.
"No…I don't know…You have so many secrets but… no I guess I don't think you want to work for Voldemort or ever have worked for him. You don't take him seriously enough and I feel like you are not one to take orders from anyone. You're too used to having your own way. What is so bloody special about you and your magic anyways?" Harry asked as he stopped ranting and stared at the shocked mage while realizing pissing off said mage was probably not the brightest of ideas.
"We have so many secrets for a reason. It is to protect us and our families from people who seek our power. We are in enemy territory I cannot go around spilling our secrets to anyone who crosses our path.
"I am so tired of the constant betrayals and never knowing who to trust anymore. How am I supposed to believe you over my friend's brother when you won't tell me anything? Why would he lie?" Harry shook his head desperate for some answers.
Ron was he a friend or foe? He couldn't figure it out anymore. Friend I think but then why do I have these doubts every once in a while. Harry thought as he buried his head again beyond frustrated with his life right now and tired of constantly fighting mental battles he didn't understand.
Atem sighed trying to reign in his temper by remembering that Harry was just young, scared, and lashing out. "Harry we were kidnapped because Voldie is after full immortality and wants to control shadow magick through any means possible. Your Headmaster has decided that we were incapable of protecting ourselves. He hates all mages and has deemed us and our magick evil even though he knows nothing about it or us. Weasley isn't lying it's what he truly believes. However I would disagree with his and your Headmaster's assessment of us and we would never work willingly for Voldie." Atem said feeling bad for the boy who was so full of doubt and confusion.
Harry thought about what Atem was actually saying. He guessed what he said about Bill was true because it was all a matter of perception but then if they were both telling the truth then that meant he had to make his own decision about the mages. He didn't feel like he had enough information to really decide if shadow magic was evil or not. All he knew was that it was different and had a name that made it sound evil. But the mages didn't seem evil. He was so confused, how he could trust his own judgment when he wasn't even sure which of his friends that he has known for years were trustworthy.
"I am sorry Harry, you need to decide for yourself if you want to trust us and be our friends but I will not tell you our secrets." Atem forestalled the protest on Harry's lips by holding up his hand.
"However I can tell you a few things I suppose. I am Pharaoh of Magical Egypt or officially will be after my coronation. The others are not only family but also my priests and sacred guardians." Atem told Harry and continued to tell him a little about shadow magick. He only told him what they told the twins and their Slytherin friends which wasn't much but it was something.
Harry could tell that Atem still had left a lot of information out but at least it was more information than he had before.
"Thank you Atem." Harry said wanting to ask so many questions but decided he probably got as much information as he was going to get today.
"Harry we think Dumbledore knows more than he is letting on about these objects." Atem said happy to finally be getting back on topic.
"He probably does. I will talk to Hermione and we can start researching in the library but…immortality I can't imagine there is anything in a school library on the topic unless they keep something in the restricted section." Harry said wondering how they could learn about the topic.
"Where do you think Dumbledore would hide things that are important or that he would want to keep hidden?" Atem asked having ulterior motives for that question but feeling it relevant to their conversation.
"His office. But it would be near impossible to break into there. I can just imagine all the spells that the Headmaster would have set up to protect his office plus the portraits themselves." Harry said wondering if it would be worth it to try and break in. The Headmaster probably had so much information hidden in his office and maybe even one of those objects he was talking about.
"Hmm…what about the house elves? Can they go in and out as they please?" Atem asked curiously.
"Oh yeah! Dobby could get in there and snoop." Harry agreed excitedly.
"Can we call upon him and see if he would be willing?" Atem asked.
"Sure," Harry called Dobby and the elf popped in almost immediately.
"Yes master Harry Potter sir what can Dobby do for kind Harry Potter."
"Dobby do you know if Dumbledore hides any special items or books in his office?" Harry asked politely.
"Oh yes Dobby sees Headmaster hide things all the time in a drawer in his desk. And his book shelves are filled with old magical books." Dobby said bouncing his head up and down.
"Do you remember what he has put in the drawer or what those books might be about?"
Dobby pulled on his ears thinking. "No Master Harry Potter sir. Dobby is sorry."
"It's alright Dobby. Is there any way you could find out without Dumbledore knowing?"
Dobby bounced a few times while answering. "Dobby will try to get a look in the drawer and at the book shelf."
"Ok but be careful and don't get caught."
The elf bobbed his head up and down and popped out of the room. The boys sat their quietly each in their own thoughts while they waited for Dobby to return. Harry was contemplating asking Atem more questions but seeing the apprehension on his quasi-friend he was unsure if now was the time for that.
Atem sat quietly in the room with Harry hoping the boy did not ask any more questions. Atem did not want to deal with any more ranting from a moody fifteen year old. He had no tolerance or patience left at the moment.
Thankfully Dobby soon returned, unfortunately looking incredibly distraught. He apologized profusely and said the desk and bookshelf were under heavy enchantments. He explained that he could break into the desk drawer and break the enchantments on the bookshelf but feared Dumbledore would know it was him.
Atem had an idea. He asked Dobby to make a list of what enchantments were on the desk and bookshelf. Harry looked at the mage quizzically since he doubted anyone could just break into Dumbledore's office without getting caught. Dobby popped back out to do as he was told.
"What good will that do us? Surely you don't think you could break into Dumbledore's office do you?"
"Of course not, but I know someone who can." Atem said arrogantly.
Harry had his doubts but what did they have to lose at this point. Dobby soon returned with a list of spells and Atem took the list and thanked the excitable house elf. The two teens left the room of requirement directly after that to head to charms class with Atem promising to tell Harry as soon as they got a hold of the stuff that Dumbledore kept hidden.
Charms Class:
Everyone groaned when they learned what spell they were learning that class. What was the point in learning to conjure a wicker basket?
"Alright class the phrase is Calathus. Now everyone move your wands like this while chanting Calathus." Professor Flitwick was instructing. Unfortunately Mana was struggling with this whole latin gibberish and what was coming out was cafferus over and over again.
"Cafferus, Cafferus, Cafferus…this is so not working" Mana complained.
"That's because you are pronouncing it wrong. It's pronounced ca-LATH-us not CAFF-er-us." Hermione corrected the ditzy girl.
"Oh, oops." Mana giggled.
Suddenly screaming could be heard out in the hallway and a loud thundering noise that was unrecognizable.
"What in Ra's name is going on out in the hallway?" Atem asked after hearing screaming and a loud pounding noise.
The students didn't have a response nor did Professor Flitwick so they all got up and went to the door and the sight was interesting to say the least. A whole herd of buffalo were running down the hallway running over anyone in their path. There just happened to be a few Slytherins who were currently running and screaming bloody murder with Malfoy in the lead and Peeves riding the lead buffalo yelling Yippee-Ki-Yay!
Hermione groaned loudly realizing immediately what had happened. Her new friend had summoned a herd of buffalo while pronouncing the wicker basket spell wrong. She looked over to the ditzy girl who also seemed to realize her mistake.
"Oops," she giggled. "I guess I was really off on the spell we are learning. Oh well, this couldn't have happened to people more deserving" Mana said with a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes as she watched the Slytherin students try to stay ahead of herd.
"She was fury, she was wrath, she was vengeance, my Queen of Shadows." Atem whispered in her ear and bowed with a flourish.
Harry and the others just face-palmed at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. The mages on the other hand were getting a kick out of the accidental chaos/revenge. Professor Flitwick came out of his stupor as he watched the Buffalo pass on by and cast a Finite Incantatem just before they caught up to Malfoy and his 'friends', which promptly made the buffalo disappear. Class then continued until its regular ending time.
The mages walked out to COMC with the Golden Trio.
COMC
Care of Magical Creatures was as normal as well its definition of normal at least. Hagrid decided to introduce the Asphinx*. When the class arrived, they all stared slack jawed at the creatures they saw before them. The mages were even wary of Hagrid's newest pets.
[Nāgá Hayya*….Is he trying to kill us all?] Atem paled considerably from his normal exotic bronze color while slowly backing away in fear.
[Wow, I thought the guardians of the tombs were extinct!] Bakura commented looking at the serpentine creatures in fear and reverence.
[This guy is a lunatic. Who in their right mind would show a bunch of teenagers the most deadly creatures on the planet?] Seto asked completely bewildered at the sheer insanity of it all.
Hagrid looked around before starting class wondering if Professor Umbridge was going to observe his class today since she had been since he was put on probation. A few minutes went by and no Umbridge. Hagrid shrugged his shoulders and decided to begin his lesson.
"Now today we are gonna learn bout the Asphinx. These little buggers are rarely found anymore. Who can tell me about these serpents?" Hagrid asked his class full of strangely deathly white students.
Hermione raised her hand nervously while staring at the serpentine/humanoid creatures that were various shades of greens, blues, and blacks. (Think naga hatchlings*)
Hagrid pointed to Hermione and she answered shakily. "Those are creatures that supposedly were extinct since people felt they were too dangerous to keep them around. Egyptians used them to guard the tombs of their dead Pharaohs thousands of years ago. They …they are compared to the crossing of an Egyptian Cobra and an Asp and cousin to the Sphinx though extremely small." (About the size of a WoW goblin or gnome)
"Excellent Hermione! Five points to Gryffindor. These little guys are one of the most deadly creatures on the planet. You can die from their venom in less than ten minutes. Let's see here if one of the little guys will let us pet it."
The students immediately backed off not wanting to be anywhere near those creatures. Hermione raised her hand tentatively. "Yes Hermione, would you like to give it a go?" Hagrid asked.
"Um...no thank you, professor. It's just, you do realize that if they are angered they are intelligent enough to forgo the poison and turn a person to stone through one bite which is said to be incurable and one of the most painful ways to die."
"Aw don't worry Hermione these little guys are friendly enough." Hagrid said while walking towards one of the creatures.
The one nearest Hagrid began hissing and its scales around its head flared out. "Hmm…I guess they are a bit grumpy at the moment." Hagrid mumbled while backing off a bit.
The Gryffindor's let out a sigh of relief while the Slytherin students had a look of disappointment in their eyes. Hagrid went on lecturing about the deadly creatures and then dismissed the class. Everyone was relieved to get out of there as fast as humanly possible.
The day had finally come to a close. The mages were getting more tutoring from a wary and guarded werewolf. When Remus had finally finished with the mages they were exhausted but stayed awake a bit longer making some plans.
"Seto we need a way to communicate with the Medjai spies that are being sent to England. I want reports from them." Atem said while pacing the common room in Pharaoh mode.
"I will send Mokuba an email with a secure account for Kaphiri to communicate with us back and forth." Seto responded opening up his laptop and getting it taken care of.
"I want our spies to find out information on all three factions of this war. Who will we be up against if we join in this war, what are their numbers, what are their strengths and weaknesses. We also need to have someone infiltrate the Ministry of Magic. We need to figure out what they are doing and how they run day to day." Atem finished as Seto added those instructions to his email.
"We need to get our items back as soon as possible." Marik added in.
"Did you learn anything useful from Harry when you spoke with him at lunch?" Yugi asked hoping for a positive answer.
"Actually yes, I did. He believes Dumbledore keeps important things in his office." Atem responded.
"Is there a way for us to find out what kind of obstacles will hinder us from retrieving our items if that is where they are at?" Ryou asked contemplating the situation figuring he and Akefia would be the ones having to retrieve the missing items.
"Actually Dobby gave me a list of the enchantments we need to get around. I will be doing some research on them this week. I think going a non-magical route is the most viable option to infiltrating his office." Atem responded having already thought some of the possibilities out based on the arrogance of wizards.
"What about the portraits in his office don't they report everything that happens to him?" Mana asked remembering all those moving pictures in the office and the ones throughout the halls.
"I am sure we can find a non-magical solution to that as well since Dobby is willing to get us any materials we ask for." Seto said liking the idea of a non-magical strategy.
"Ideally the best time to do this would be when the castle is nearly empty and that would be when they send us to that Hogsmeade weekend. Ryou and I will just have to stay back." Bakura said with a look of glee in his eyes at the prospect of getting to steal something.
"We need to talk to Snape and come up with some plans to survive the Hogsmeade trip." Atem stated with concern in his eyes. He was not sure how they were going to protect themselves from Voldie and his minions.
"We also need to find a way to get around that truth serum. There is no telling when the old goat will try that stunt again." Bakura added remembering what it felt like being under its influence and shuddering a bit.
"Maybe we could convince Snape to use a fake potion if the Headmaster gets it in his head to try and learn our secrets." Ryou suggested.
"That is a great idea, Ryou." Yugi exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes, that could work. We will have to speak with him privately on these matters." Atem agreed wondering if Snape would agree to something like that.
The mages finished their discussions and finally headed up to their rooms for some much needed rest.
Meanwhile in the Gryffindor common room the golden trio was discussing what Harry had learned about the mages, the immortality issue with Voldemort, and what the objects could possibly be with Ron complaining about more research all the while. The group ended their discussions when Neville and Ginny joined them and they all began doing homework together.
Harry kept looking at Ginny while they were studying and thinking about the Hogsmeade weekend coming up. He finally gave up on concentrating and pulled Ginny aside and asked her to accompany him. She let out a squeal of delight and accepted his offer. Hermione looked up with a look of a broken heart. She excused herself from the group and went to bed without any explanation.
Malfoy was in the library with some fellow Slytherins' and some other supporters of Voldemort from various other houses. Everyone assumed Voldemort's followers were only in Slytherin. The fools would have no clue what hit them. They plotted and planned and re-planned different scenarios of getting at the mages with what information they did have.
Draco was so frustrated, all day he had been in pain from head to toe and no clue as to why. He knew it had something to do with the mages but he nor Madame Pomfrey could figure out what was wrong with him. He just hoped whatever it was went away soon. It was hard to function and concentrate in constant pain. He wasn't even sure which mage was guilty of whatever curse was put upon him. Not that it mattered. He hated them all. They would all pay. And the Pharaoh would soon be his to take revenge on. He just had to get him to the Dark Lord for the ritual and then he would pay.
"Don't worry Draco. Those mages just think they are better than everyone because of their magicks. But we will show them who is more powerful." Pansy said seeing how upset Draco was from all the chaos he went through today.
"They are not invincible even with their ancient magicks if Dumbledore can weaken them." Blaise reassured his allies.
Draco shook himself out of his brooding and focused more on the plans they were making. Pansy and Blaise were right those mages were nothing compared to the Dark Lord. They would succeed no matter the cost.
AN: The Egyptian cobra was first described by Swedish zoologist Carolus Linnaeus in 1758. The generic name naja is a Latinisation of the Sanskrit word nāgá (नाग) meaning "cobra". The specific epithet haje is derived from the Arabic word hayya (حية) which literally means small "snake"-according to the Quran or "viper".
The Asphinx is a creature created by the author Terry Brooks. It guarded tombs and turned people to stone. I took liberties with my description since naga are a creature in WoW.
npc=38412/naga-hatchling#screenshots