/Text/ Spirit to Host

/Text/ Host to spirit

Chapter 7: Introductions

Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly at them once introductions were made. "Are either of you hungry? I can fix something up for you while you unpack."

Yugi shook his head, "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley, but we ate before leaving home. Japan is eight hours ahead of your time."

Mrs. Weasley slapped a hand to her forehead. "Of course, I'm so used to Harry and Hermione visiting that I forgot you're not from around here. Come, let me take you to your room. I hope you boys don't mind sharing. It's going to be a crowded house this summer."

She led them up the winding staircase and stopped at a door on the second floor. On the way up, Ryou gawked at a set of knitting needles on an armchair making some sort of sweater by themselves. "You'll be in Percy's room. I hope it's comfortable enough. Now you boys settle in and let me know if you need anything."

"Percy won't mind?" asked Ryou.

"Oh, no," said Mrs. Weasley, and Ryou thought he detected sadness in her voice. "Percy moved out of the house into a London flat last year. We…well…he doesn't visit."

Judging by Mrs. Weasley's sudden mood change, there was a story behind that, but Ryou didn't think it right to ask. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. I'm sure this will be fine. It was very kind of you to take us in for the summer."

Mrs. Weasley waved a hand dismissively. "Think nothing of it, dears. I'll be downstairs prepping for dinner if you need me."

"Will you need help?"

"Thank you for offering, Ryou dear, but I'll be fine."

"Can I ask you something, Mrs. Weasley?" Yugi asked. "Professor Dumbledore told us that there were wards protecting your house. How far out do they go?"

"Ah! Of course, you won't want to spend all summer in the house." Mrs. Weasley nodded knowingly, and pointed out the window. "You see the tree line out the window there? Not the orchard, but past the field. Yes, that one. That's the boundary line. So long as you don't leave the field around the house you'll be fine."

Yugi and Ryou took a look around the room once Mrs. Weasley turned to go back downstairs. It was small. There was only one bed meant to be in the room, but a second one was shoved under the window on the opposite wall, leaving little room to walk around. A few books sat on the shelves along the wall, but other than that, it was devoid of any other decoration.

"It's been a while since I've shared a room," said Ryou. He hoisted his suitcase onto the bed under the window and began to look for a place to unpack his clothes.

"It'll be the first time for me," said Yugi, "Being an only child and all…but I suppose now is as good a time to get used to it as any, since I guess we'll share a room with other people at Hogwarts."

"You're probably right," said Ryou. Sliding his empty suitcase under the bed, he flopped down and fluffed up the pillow behind his head. Grinning, he twisted around to look at his roommate. "…You don't…snore, do you?"

Yugi chucked his pillow at him as someone knocked on the open door. Standing in the doorway were four teenagers. Two had to Mrs. Weasley's children, as they both had the same shade of red hair. The other boy in the group had untidy black hair and round-rimmed glasses, and following in the rear was a bushy-haired brunette.

"Uh, hi," said the red-haired boy, gawking at Yugi – mainly, Yugi's hair. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Mum didn't tell us you were arriving today…" he trailed off, eyes resting on the top of Yugi's head. "…Wow. Now that is a hairdo."

The red-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Way to introduce yourself, Ron. Hi, I'm Ginny, and this dunderhead here is my older brother Ron."

The brunette held out her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger."

The boy with glasses nodded. "Harry Potter."

/That is the boy Dumbledore told us about, Yugi. I didn't realize we would meet him this quickly./

/They must be friends./

Yugi shyly returned the handshakes. "I'm Yugi Muto, and this is Ryou Bakura. It's nice to meet you."

"Yugi Muto…" said Harry, "I've heard that name before…probably from something Dudley got into once…"

"Oh! It's from Duel Monsters," said Hermione, "You're the world champion!"

Yugi laughed nervously. "Wow. I didn't realize I was known out here."

"I've never heard of you before. What's Duel Monsters?" asked Ginny.

"It's a Muggle card game. My cousin Dudley got into it once, but, like everything he got for his birthday, it kept his interest for three days before the cards got forgotten in the trash," said Harry. "It hasn't gotten a lot of interest out here, but I hear it's the game to play over in Japan. At least that's what Dudley's said."

Ryou laughed. "I suppose that's true."

"And Yugi is the titled 'King of Games', which the highest ranked spot in the world," said Hermione matter-of-factly, "You defeated Seto Kaiba to take the World Championship crown!"

Yugi awkwardly scratched behind his ear. He really didn't expect wizards to know who he was. "Don't let him hear you say that."

"Don't mind her," said Ron, "Hermione researches everything. Now that she knows who you are, she'll probably know your entire life story by the end of the day tomorrow."

Hermione huffed. "It does not hurt to be a little knowledgeable about what's going on in the world, Ron."

Ginny rolled her eyes at both of them before focusing on her new house mates. "That's an interesting necklace you've got, Yugi. Egyptian?"

Yugi nodded. He really wished he could hide the Puzzle under his shirt like Ryou had with his Ring. "It's um…a family heirloom. How did you know it was Egyptian?"

Ginny pointed to the eye on the front of the Puzzle. "A few years ago we visited our older brother Bill in Egypt. He works there as a curse breaker for their wizard bank. He toured us around some of the pyramids and I remember seeing a few similar symbols inscribed on some of the walls."

/Perhaps this brother of theirs was the one who found the Millennium Tablet./ Bakura crossed his arms from his soul room. /That stone tablet is protected by magic these fools could only dream of. It's impossible for the enchantments to be broken by some nobody with a fancy stick./

"Interesting," said Ryou. It was hard to listen to his spirit and not appear spaced out. "…Does your brother work in the tombs too?"

Ron shrugged. "Not normally, but Dumbledore's been sending him on – ow!" He rubbed his arm where Ginny had jabbed him.

Yugi and Ryou exchanged confused glances.

Hermione cleared her throat. "So…what school are you guys transferring from?"

"Well…uh…you've never heard of it," Ryou sighed, "We…didn't go to a magical school before. Just a normal high school."

Ron blinked. "You guys are Muggles? How'd Dumbledore manage to get you into Hogwarts then?"

Ryou paled. This was not the time to get into how their magic worked. He felt Bakura stiffen in his mind. /You will not tell them anything, Landlord. The Millennium Items are none of their business./

Harry watched the two. Yugi looked nervous and Ryou seemed to go as white as his hair at Ron's question. Whatever the details were, they didn't look like they wanted to go into it, and he couldn't blame them. They had just met, and the reasons might have personal or painful to share. "I'm sure Dumbledore has sound reasons. You know he doesn't give details away if he could avoid it."

Yugi blinked. "What do you mean?"

Harry shook his head. It wasn't as if they knew everything about what had gone on the last few years at Hogwarts. "Don't worry about it."

"You must have some sort of magic, otherwise you won't be able to even see the school," said Hermione. "Muggles just see a condemned hazardous building when they approach the grounds. It's one of the protective measures to make sure they don't accidentally stumble upon it. But if you're not coming from a different magical school, I suppose Professor Dumbledore is starting you off with the first-year class, even though you're technically much too old."

"Well, not exactly," said Ryou, "I think he said we were going into the sixth year class."

"Sixth year!" Hermione gasped, "That's our year! But that can't be! There's no way Dumbledore would let you jump that far ahead without practicing magic before!"

Yugi shrugged. "That's what he said. Maybe he wanted us to be in classes with people our own age."

Before anyone could comment further, Mrs. Weasley called them down for dinner.

"We'll be out in the garden. There are just too many people to squeeze around the kitchen table."

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" asked Yugi once he reached the bottom step.

"Oh no, dear. Everything is outside already."

"Fred and George here?" asked Ron.

"They arrived about ten minutes ago. Unfortunately, your father is doing Order work this evening and won't be joining us. Now, come on dears! Out to the garden!"

Ron started to lead the group outside and paused on the kitchen door. "Just a warning you two – Fred and George take some getting used to."

Fred and George, Yugi found out, were tall red-headed twins identical down to the last freckle. He wasn't sure just how to tell them apart – if there even was a way. After assuring them that yes, in fact his hair was not styled by magic and was 100% natural, he didn't know what a Canary Cream or a Ton-Tongue Toffee was, but after seeing the looks both Hermione and Mrs. Weasley gave the pair, he really didn't want to find out.

He tried to tune back into the nearest conversation, which was Harry asking how the twins' shop was doing.

"Harry here fronted the money so we could get our dream off the ground," said maybe-Fred, noticing Yugi's puzzled look, but speaking low enough that their mother didn't hear.

"If it was anything like the shop my grandfather owns, then that must have been expensive to do, and a lot of work. It's great that your shop seems to be doing well!"

"It was expensive, but we funded it with winnings from the Tri-Wizard tournament," said Harry, "It technically wasn't my own money."

"What kind of shop do you guys run?"

"Joke shop," maybe-George grinned, "We were experimenting with products while at Hogwarts last year, but after deciding that finishing school was not in our cards…"

"…We decided to just open up shop with the tournament winnings Harry gave us," said maybe-Fred. "It wasn't like we were gonna learn anything new by staying at school anyways."

Yugi was confused. Wouldn't they want to learn as much as they can if they were going to run an magic joke store, especially in a wartime? "Why didn't you want to finish school? Was it boring?"

Fred and George shared a quick glance with Harry. "Not quite," said one of the twins.

"I'm not sure how much you know about our world yet, Yugi, but there's this dark wizard who came back last summer…."

"Dumbledore told us a little," said Yugi. "Apparently we're arriving in the middle of a war."

"Okay, he probably told you the basics then." Harry nodded. "Voldemort – " he ignored the twins' flinches, " –came back at the end of the Tri-Wizard tournament, but no one believed me that he had returned. The Ministry of Magic was trying to discredit me and Dumbledore, and since no one wanted to take up the Defense Against the Dark Arts posting at Hogwarts –"

"Why not?" Yugi asked. "Sorry – I didn't mean to interrupt, but why would the job be so hard to fill? Did someone retire?"

Maybe-Fred laughed nervously. "Not quite."

George tallied off with his fingers. "No one has ever filled the post for more than one year. Let's count back to the last couple. One was a Death Eater in disguise hiding the real professor in his trunk, another was a werewolf – he was actually pretty good, but resigned once everyone found out about his condition, the one before him was a fraud who got his own memory wiped…."

Harry grimaced. "And the one before that was actually being possessed by Voldemort through the back of his head."

Yugi's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"It's true," said Harry. "Voldemort hardly had any power, so he had to hide under Quirrells' turban in order to survive. But anyway, after the track record Hogwarts had with the post, the Ministry put Professor Umbridge in charge."

"She was one of the ones who didn't believe You-Know-Who was back, so instead of actually learning defensive magic, we ended up reading the textbook all year. Fred and I had enough since we learned more from Harry during the DA than in actual class, so we left our usual mark on the school and departed."

"Leaving as much destruction in our wake as possible," George added proudly. "Supposedly part of the swamp is still there somewhere."

"What's the DA?"

"It stood for Dumbledore's Army," said Harry, running a hand through his hair. "Professor Umbridge cracked down on us, and since we weren't learning to defend ourselves, we started a secret club to do just that. We got caught but Dumbledore took the fall, which led to her becoming the temporary Headmistress."

"Wow…" said Yugi. It's a good thing that this Defense Against the Dark Arts job only seems to keep teachers for one year.

/Indeed. After all, that's one of the reasons we're going to this school. If we weren't going to learn how to defend ourselves from the wizards, we might as well go back home and just wait them out./

/Yeah. Although, if what they said was true, Harry was teaching them magic, and he's just our age! Maybe in a worse-case scenario, he could help us out too!/

"…no way she would be back at school again," Yugi heard Ron say, "Remember at the end of last term? Dumbledore had to go rescue her from the centaurs? She's probably back in her cushy Ministry job, thankful she doesn't have to deal with us troublemakers anymore."

Harry laughed, "Yeah." He turned to Yugi. "Umbridge has a superiority complex with half-bred creatures like centaurs, werewolves, and merfolk. She thinks they're inferior to wizards. Last term, she tried to get the Care of Magical Creatures professor and Groundskeeper, Hagrid, sacked all year because he was half-giant. And when she did fire the Divination professor, she was furious to find the position replaced with a centaur."

Yugi almost choked on his drink. "T-that's horrible!"

Harry's eyes wandered to the fading 'I will not tell lies' scars on the back of his hand. "She was a real piece of work. But, at least she won't be teaching us this year. No one has held the post for more than one full year."

"I suppose that's a good thing," said Yugi. "After a year like that, whoever comes in this year, would have to be better, wouldn't it?"

"I would think so," said Ron. "The Ministry finally acknowledged You-Know-Who's return, so they can't put another quack at the school. Parents would probably throw a fit."

A squeal from the other end of the table drew their attention. Ron rolled his eyes. "Uh oh. I think they're talking about Hogwarts classes over there. Hermione's gonna yammer Ryou's ears off."

"…Surely they'll let you pick your elective classes once you arrive," Hermione was saying, "There are your regular classes like Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions; but then there's usually room in your schedule for a few extra, like Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, or Ancient Runes."

"Well, what are good classes to take?" asked Ryou.

"Depends on what you're interested in," said Ginny. "Care of Magical Creatures is a required class until I think sixth year – which is where you'll be. If animals are your thing, there's that…though you have to be careful – Hagrid likes to bring in the more dangerous ones to class."

/Dangerous creatures? Ha. I'm sure I can summon something more lethal than whatever some schoolteacher could produce./

/Quiet, Spirit, I'm trying to listen!/

"What kind of dangerous creatures?"

"Well," Hermione began, "In his first lesson he taught us about hippogriffs, which don't attack unless they're insulted or provoked…but you have to understand, from Hagrid's point of view, they're harmless creatures. It helps that he's half giant."

"To put things in a little perspective," said Ginny, leaning back, "The first textbook he had us use was called 'The Monster Book of Monsters'. The book bit me."

Ryou's eyes widened as he ignored Bakura snickering in the back of his mind. I think I'll pass on that class. "…what other classes are there to take?"

"Well, there's Ancient Runes," said Hermione, "If deciphering old texts and different languages interest you."

"Hm," Ryou nodded, "I think I might like that one. My father is an archaeologist."

"Muggle Studies is also a good class to take, although in your case it may not be necessary," said Mrs. Weasley, "It was my husband Arthur's favorite subject at Hogwarts, and it helped guide him into the Muggle Affairs division of the Ministry of Magic. He led the 'Misuse of Muggle Artifacts' office."

"Really? What does he do?"

"Normally he would help sort out situations where Muggles learned of our world. Sometimes they stumble upon us by accident, or they're the victim of dark wizards or pranksters and Muggle Affairs has to go in, clean up the mess, and modify a few memories. That shed over there is full of all sorts of Muggle knick-knackery that Arthur's collected over the years. …Although with the war going on now, he now works in confiscating counterfeit defensive spells and objects. You would be surprised how many people play on the fears of others and black market protective amulets that are really cursed." She sighed. "If someone really wanted a protective amulet – as much as I'd hate to say this – they'd be better off buying one of Fred or George's Shield Hats."

"What was that?" said one of the twins from across the table. "Did I just hear Mum complement our shop?"

"You know I think she did," said the other twin, "We'll have to remember this moment for all time. I don't think this will ever happen again."

Hermione shook her head before turning back to Ryou. "Anyway, if you're into numbers, then there's Arithmancy – that's my favorite of all of them, and definitely the most challenging."

"The only other elective is Divination. Most people take it because the professor's off her rocker most of the time, but since it's about predicting the future, you can practically make it up anything and pass the class," said Ginny.

Ryou's eyes perked. "Divination? I like the sound of that."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Really? Most people can't stand it."

Ryou shrugged. "I've got a set of tarot cards back home, and have done some readings before with them, and with Duel Monster cards. I guess I've always had an interest in the occult."

"Sounds like between that and Ancient Runes, you might have your schedule all padded out," said Mrs. Weasley. "What about you, Yugi dear? What classes might you want to take?"

"Ancient Runes sounds cool," said Yugi, trying to hold back a yawn. "My grandfather was also an archaeologist, but he stopped a while ago to open his game shop. As for the other class, I'm not quite sure. Magical Creatures sounds pretty neat, and maybe Divination too, but I don't think I could decide just yet."

"Well you still have time to think it over," Mrs. Weasley smiled and looked around the garden. Night had already fallen and the lights around the table had automatically lit once the sun had set. "Goodness, I didn't realize how late it was. You two must be exhausted."

Yugi ran a hand through his hair. "A little bit."

Mrs. Weasley got up and waved her wand. The dishes immediately rose from the table and drifted off towards the kitchen. "Off to bed, you two. There will be plenty of time to get acquainted and discuss Hogwarts once you're rested."

Yugi smiled and got up from the table. "Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Weasley. Sorry I couldn't stay up later, but the time difference is going to take getting used to."

"Was it really that long?" asked Ron.

"It was already night when we left Japan," Ryou explained, "So after being up for an entire day, we ended up redoing our entire afternoon. And speaking of…." He yawned as well, "I think I might turn in as well. Thanks again for taking us in and for a welcoming first day."

After waving goodnight, they headed upstairs. Ryou closed the bedroom door behind them. "So? What do you think?"

Yugi climbed into bed and pulled his knees up to his chest. "Harry and his friends seem…nice. They can definitely tell us all about Hogwarts."

"You can say that again," said Ryou. "Hermione was very, uh, animated when we started to talk about school."

"Harry and the twins were telling me about what happened at the school last year. Apparently when Voldemort came back, no one believed him. They stuck some horrible woman in a teaching position to basically spy on Dumbledore and keep them from learning anything useful. But it seems that particular teaching position hasn't kept anyone for more than a year, so that professor won't be there anymore."

"Well, that's a relief," said Ryou. "I hope none of the other teachers at Hogwarts are like that." He looked down at the Millennium Ring now sitting over his shirt. "You know what my spirit is like. I'd like to avoid getting suspended and sent home on my first day."

"Do you think something is weird about them?" asked Ron.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know." He followed Ron upstairs to his room. "I mean, they remind me a bit of me when I first found out I was a wizard. I didn't know what I was getting into, and neither do they, it seems. Not to mention we sort of interrogated them once we said hello. Not very welcoming of us, was it?"

"Huh. I guess not."

"It was nice to be introduced to someone who didn't read about me in a book somewhere though."

Ron laughed. "Yeah, I bet it was. They probably didn't think we knew who they were though."

"Well, if it weren't for the few cards Dudley got that one time, I wouldn't have. And Hermione's closer to her own family than I am with mine. If anyone would know who they were, she would have."

Ron tossed him a spare pillow. "Yeah, but you gotta figure – this is Hermione we're talking about. She's always gotta know everything about, well, everything, in case its useful down the road. But seriously – how did Dumbledore manage to get them into Hogwarts? They've never had foreign students before, except for the Tri-wizard Tournament, but that didn't really count."

"You think it has something to do with You-Know-Who?"

"It's possible…," Harry shook his head, "But you saw how panicked they were when we asked. There's no way Dumbledore would bring them to Hogwarts if they were dangerous or sided with You-Know-Who, but that doesn't mean they're not hiding anything."

"Don't see what's so secret about magic. Either you got it or you don't, and if Dumbledore's letting them enter sixth year instead of first, then they can't truly be Muggles, can they?"

"Well, no, but it doesn't make any sense to start someone in our year when they haven't learned any spells before. I bet Dumbledore thinks they can help the fight somehow, so he's making sure they end up around us as much as possible."

Ron leaned up against his pillow. "There's one problem with your theory, mate. They have to be sorted, and what if they end up in Slytherin?"

"Not all Slytherins are bad. Yugi and Ryou don't come from Pureblood or Death Eater families. They won't have the prejudices that Malfoy and the others would have." Harry sighed. "Look, we just met them. They probably don't trust us too much either. Maybe after a few days they'll be more open with us."

"Let's hope so…"