/Text/ Spirit to host

/Text/ Host to spirit

Chapter 15: Suspicion

The house was dark, save for the light coming from the roaring fireplace in the upstairs study. Most of the windows were coated with a thick sheet of dust, having been sealed shut for decades. A large python lay curled by the lone armchair in the middle of the room, its occupant leafing through an old tome on ancient runes.

The python raised its head and flicked its tongue towards the door. The man in the chair did not look up from his book.

"Ah – someone approaches. You may soon have your dinner after all," he said.

The python unwound itself and circled around the armchair as a cloaked figure knocked on the doorframe to the study.

"Apologies for the intrusion, My Lord…but I have returned from my travel."

"That is obvious, Macnair," said the chair's occupant, his voice high and cold. "Have you something of importance to say, or are you volunteering to become Nagini's next meal?"

The visitor paled. "We have brought this back from Egypt, My Lord. It set off our detectors, though we are not sure why."

The book was set aside. "Very well…what is it that you've brought?"

The man called Macnair moved to the front of the armchair and presented something long and skinny wrapped up in a cloth…

Harry woke with a start and propped himself up on his elbows, breathing heavily. He hadn't meant to inadvertently connect with Voldemort, not since the last time had gotten Sirius killed.

Harry drew his knees up to his chest and rubbed at his eyes. He recognized the room as the same one from the summer before fourth year – when Barty Crouch Jr had met with Voldemort just before the Quidditch World Cup. But what did Macnair give to him? And why was he in Egypt of all places?

Reaching through the scarlet curtains, Harry grabbed his glasses and sat up against his headboard. Ripping himself out of Voldemort's mind left him wide awake. There was no way he would be able to fall back asleep now. He peered through the gap in the curtains. It was still dark outside and he could hear Ron snoring in the next bunk over.

Sighing, Harry reached for the Marauders Map again. Would the mysterious figures be back, or was he setting himself up for another wild goose chase? At this hour, no one would be wandering the castle except for the ghosts, or maybe Filch and Mrs. Norris. But maybe watching the castle would help him fall back to sleep.

"Lumos," Harry whispered. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

He didn't waste time perusing the whole map first, and went looking immediately for Yugi's dorm room. The '?' and Bakura were still missing off of the map, but he saw 'Set' right next to 'Seto Kaiba', and this time, no one was disappearing.

Did Seto bring a pet to Hogwarts, and he just missed it around the school? Perhaps he brought a toad, like Neville had. It wasn't as if Trevor stayed put in Gryffindor Tower all the time. Over the years, they've found him all over the grounds.

Harry frowned. Seto didn't seem the type to get a toad for a pet. If anything, he would have gotten an owl for practicality, but they all went shopping in Diagon Alley at the same time. None of the new students had purchased animals. Harry quickly moved his lit wand around the map, looking for the Owlery. Set couldn't be an animal – Hedwig and Pigwidgeon didn't even show up there.

Could Set be like Peter Pettigrew and be disguised hiding in the school? Was he a Death Eater? He gripped his wand tightly – if that was the case, everyone in that dorm could be in danger.

He twisted around to reach under his pillow where he kept his Invisibility Cloak. Harry looked for his shoes in the dark, but decided that it would be quieter to sneak downstairs in his socks. Halfway down the staircase to the next door he stopped and looked back down at the map. Set hadn't moved.

With a quick-placed silencing charm on the door, he pushed it open and crept inside.

"Something is definitely going on with those three," said Harry the next morning. "Okay, I know you're tired of listening to this, Hermione, but hear me out. I've been overhearing things about Millennium Items – I've even done research in the library, but haven't found anything. Whatever information is out there for those items, if it's in the library, it's in the restricted section."

"Good luck getting past Madame Pince for that," said Ron, "None of the teachers are going to give you a pass to go on a wild hunt."

"I'll worry about that," said Harry, "But there's more. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back to sleep, so I went looking at the Marauders Map…."

"In the middle of the night?" asked Hermione, "What were you expecting to find? Everyone would have been asleep."

"Ever since term started, I've been seeing extra people on the Map. A 'Set', 'Bakura', and someone with only question marks for a name."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You do realize Bakura is Ryou's last name, don't you?"

"Yeah, but these are in addition to Yugi, Seto, and Ryou. I mean, I saw Ryou, and then someone else named Bakura. But here's the weird part – aside from these three people randomly showing up, they just vanish without a trace."

"Maybe they move around the castle. Could they be pets? Just think of how many times we've helped Neville look for his toad," said Hermione.

Harry shook his head. "Pets don't appear on the Map, only people."

"Then who are they?" asked Ron.

Harry sighed. He didn't have an answer for him. Not yet, anyways. "So like I said, when I woke up last night, I checked the map. I saw someone named Set in Yugi's dorm last night, and I went to check." He saw the look Hermione gave him. "Don't give me that look, I used the cloak. No one saw me go in and out, but what I saw was…"

Harry looked up and down the Great Hall. None of the other Gryffindor students were within earshot, and there was no sign of Yugi or his friends yet. "Where Set was on the map? It was Seto, only…he was a ghost."

"What are you talking about? Seto can't be a ghost." Hermione pushed away her toast. "We saw him last night; he was moody, but fine. Are you saying he died?"

"No, and that's the weird part," said Harry. "Seto was in bed, asleep, but he was thrashing around, as if he was having a nightmare or something. And then there was a ghost that looked just like him standing over him, with his hand on his living self's forehead. He was muttering something, but I couldn't tell what it was."

"That makes no sense," said Ron, "How can someone be both alive and dead at the same time?"

"I don't know. But I think the map might be damaged. How can it not identify someone in the castle? All of the other ghosts are labeled, so who could possibly be the question mark guy – and why do they only show up in Yugi's dorm?" said Harry.

Hermione leaned forward, "And I've told you before what will happen when you're caught meddling. You have to think from their perspective, Harry. You're going to cross a line you can't come back from. Once trust is broken, it cant easily be won back."

Harry nodded, hardly listening. This wasn't the first time Hermione's gone off on him.

"Look alive, mate, here they come," said Ron.

"Morning," said Ryou, taking a seat next to Harry. Yugi gave a little wave in greeting before dishing some fruit onto his plate.

"So…Charms is the only class we haven't had yet this week. Should we be worried?" asked Yugi.

"Nah," said Ron, "Flitwick's alright. So long as you give an honest effort in class, you're fine."

"Isn't Seto going to come down?" asked Hermione, giving Harry a side-eye glare. "He's going to miss breakfast."

"I don't think so," said Yugi, looking over at Ryou. "Normally. he's the first out of our room in the mornings, but today he was still asleep when we got up. I don't think he had a good night."

"We'll check on him before class starts. We won't let him miss out on Charms, don't worry," Ryou gave them a small smile.

/I hope, by that, you mean that task will not be left up to me/ said Bakura. /I'm not the Priest's keeper./

/Of course not, Spirit. You must not have been paying attention when Yugi and I spoke with Set this morning. Set will make sure he gets up for class today. And Yugi has already agreed to make a run to the dorm as well, just in case./

/Good./

"Are you going to come and watch Quidditch tryouts?" asked Harry, "I signed out the Pitch for next Saturday."

"I will," said Ryou, nudging Yugi's arm. "Someone has to be on your cheer squad, right?"

Yugi laughed, "Yeah. I'm just glad Madame Hooch was okay lending me a broom for tryouts."

"I was meaning to ask," said Ryou, "What is there to do on the weekends?"

Ron snorted, "Besides homework, not much. Every so many weeks there's a trip to Hogsmeade, or there will be a Quidditch match, but otherwise, do whatever you want."

"The time is yours, so long as you don't do anything to get on Umbridge's radar," said Hermione, "Unless she's completely reformed her ways, she'll revoke any of your privileges without batting an eyelash."

Yugi stole a look up at the teachers table. "She's not there."

"Maybe she's off plotting with the Ministry again," said Harry, "What I wouldn't do to find out what brought her back in the first place."

"We probably won't know unless we search her office. And after what happened last year when we tried to do that, she's probably going to expect it," said Hermione, "If you're going to try and snoop, you'll need a new strategy."

Yugi blinked. "I thought you were done with that, after it got you in trouble last year."

Hermione poked at her toast. "Some habits are just too hard for some people to break."

Ryou looked up towards the ceiling as they got up from the table. "Are you going out to practice after classes today, Yugi? Looks like a good day outside for Quidditch."

"I think so. There should be plenty of time between Charms and Potions today so long as Madame Hooch is okay with it. I don't want to short any of her classes."

He paused at the end of the hallway. "I'll meet you in class," said Yugi, turning back towards the staircase. "I'm gonna make sure Kaiba got himself up."

/Ugh, it would be easier if we didn't have to make stories up like this./

/I know, Yugi. But leaving them in the dark keeps them safe. The trouble with the Millennium Items, the Shadow Realm, everything we've faced since the Puzzle was put together…Harry and his friends don't need to worry about that as well./

/Harry's had his fair share of crazy over the years too. We could probably be helping each other instead of sneaking around like this. We already know Harry was being a little nosy with his questions once before. The others probably won't agree, but opening up to Harry and the others might prompt them to do the same with anything they're keeping from us./

/I suppose you could always try to dig up whatever information you can on your own…but your peers clearly have the home field advantage here. If they wanted to keep anything from us, they can hide something anyplace in this castle and we would never find it. We can't say the same about the Millennium Items. Bakura and Kaiba may be able to hide their Items, but the Puzzle is out in clear sight./

Yugi hurried down the corridor to reach the portrait hole. /I suppose the good news is that the Millennium Items have been kept such a secret that there's no real written information about them anywhere. The wizards can look, but they won't find anything./

/Exactly – and it seems that the stone tablets in Egypt are protected enough that it's very hard to get close to them. Try to let things be for now. I'd rather avoid making Harry, Ron, and Hermione even more of a target for Voldemort just for knowing about us. We'll just have to watch how we communicate while out in the open./

Upon giving the password, Yugi stepped up through the portrait hole and towards the boy's staircase. It was eerie to see Gryffindor Tower so empty, but then again, he had just left the rest of the school at breakfast.

"Ten minutes 'till class," Yugi muttered, "I hope he's up."

/I'm sure Set would have woken him in time for class, Yugi. He might already be there./

/Which would have made this a wasted journey./

Yami chuckled. /Exercise is always important, Yugi!/

Yugi pushed open the door to their room and sighed. /Well…I could have had another slice of toast this morning./

/At least you won't have to worry about Kaiba being a grump because he missed class./

Yugi shook his head, unsure of why he was smiling as he walked back out of the common room. /He's going to be grumpy anyway./

"Sorry, mate," said Ron, once Yugi made it to the classroom. "He was already here when we got here."

Yugi squeezed down the long row to sit between Seto and Ryou. "How long have you been here?"

"Just a few minutes before everyone else arrived," said Seto, turning the page of his library book.

/You were right, Yugi…he does seem to be grumpy this morning./

Ryou leaned closer. "Are you feeling…better?"

Seto snapped his book shut and reached for his coffee mug. "Depends on your definition of better." He took a quick side-eyed glance to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione talking quietly amongst them before looking back to Yugi and Ryou. "Twice last night."

"Have they ever come more than once before?" asked Ryou.

Seto shook his head and rubbed at the circles under his eyes as Professor Flitwick climbed up onto the stack of books he was using as a podium to address the class.

After a few minutes of lecturing, he set the class onto their task.

"What use is there for turning vinegar into wine?" asked Ron, "It doesn't seem so difficult. I mean, Seamus managed to turn his water to rum first year."

"And then it promptly exploded in his face," said Hermione, "I imagine this would do the same if we do it wrong."

The small boom heard on the other side of the room drew everyone's attention, and nearly startled Professor Flitwick enough to knock him off of his books. The goblets in front of Seamus and Neville were smoking.

A few more glasses exploded before Flitwick sagged his shoulders, dismayed at the lack of progress around the room.

"Oh dear, keep trying. We are trying to create wine, not have a goblet-shattering contest!"

Harry's attempt froze his goblet solid. He sighed, and looked over to see Hermione's face screwed up in concentration as she made her attempts.

"What's with her?" he whispered to Ron.

"Remember how she was outdone in Transfiguration yesterday? I don't think she can take not being the smartest or most gifted person in the room." Ron looked over to his other side where the three exchange students were sitting. "Though it doesn't look like anyone else in here is gonna come close. The only other person who's gotten close before was Seto, and he doesn't look any closer to getting this done than we do."

Yugi watched as Seto slammed his wand down on the desk with more force than necessary. "It's okay if you don't get it on the first shot, you know."

The glare he then received certainly told him otherwise. Yugi sighed.

"I know I can do it – that's not the issue," said Seto bitterly, "I can't focus."

Ryou leaned around Yugi. "Is it because of last night?"

Seto reached for his coffee. "This isn't the time or place."

Ryou nodded. The long rows were too close together to have a good conversation. "Yugi and Harry are going out to try and get some Quidditch practice in before tryouts next weekend. The stands will be empty." He paused for a second. "And he says Yugi looks ridiculous on a broomstick."

Seto dropped down onto one of the benches in the stands.

"It's huge, isn't it?" asked Ryou, taking a seat next to him. "I bet the games themselves are a sight to see."

"Probably are," Seto muttered. He watched Yugi and Harry kick off from the ground and begin to do slow laps around the edge of the Pitch.

"Bet it would be neat to duel in here, huh?" asked Ryou.

"One day," Seto sighed, taking another sip from his mug. He was glad he not only stopped by the kitchens for a second coffee run on his way outside, but grabbed his cloak and gloves. The wind was particularly biting today.

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem particularly eager for that. I'm surprised."

Seto looked tiredly over at him. "If all we were going to do is talk about my lack of energy, we could have done this back in the castle where it was warm."

Bakura phased out of the Millennium Ring. "Considering your normally icy exterior, I didn't think the cold bothered you, Kaiba."

Set phased angrily out of the Millennium Rod as Seto glared at the spirit of the Ring. "The only thing in me today is coffee – of course I'm cold out here. And if you're just going to throw barbs at me, then I'm going back inside."

Bakura and Ryou shared a glance before the spirit crossed his arms. "You're really not in the mood today, are you?"

Seto sighed as Yugi finished his lap around the field and joined Harry back on the ground. "No."

Ryou frowned, "You've been hit with these dreams before…but last night was different from the other times, wasn't it? What happened last night?"

"The dreams started not long after I went to bed," said Seto, "They were, for lack of a better word, routine as all of the others. I woke up a few hours later, did some reading, and fell back asleep. Sometime afterwards, I was hit again…it was a lot more intrusive – almost violent."

"It lasted for far longer than the normal ones," said Set, "It took a great deal of effort to repress the second attack."

"But they were the same dreams, weren't they?" asked Ryou. "More flashes of Set's past?"

Seto shook his head. "No. The memories were mine." Sighing, he looked down at the mug in his hands. Sharing personal details was not something he really wanted to be doing with Bakura of all people. "I've had difficulty sleeping before, but this time? It was as if someone was searching for a memory - something very specific."

"Like what?"

Seto gave Bakura a hard look and set his mug on the bench next to him. He reached into his cloak and removed the Millennium Rod from his belt loop. "Take a guess."

Bakura looked down at the Millennium Rod. "I think it's safe to say at this point that these dreams you're having aren't coming from one of the Items. Someone is doing this to you. And what's troubling is that it's only you."

Seto turned his Item over in his hands. "If someone is probing for information on the Millennium Items, I don't get why they would target me. Up until this summer I had nothing to do with them."

Bakura chuckled darkly, "Oh, you've always had something to do with them, Kaiba. Whoever this person is, they either waited for you to claim the Rod, or just lucked out on timing. Whatever it is their searching for can't be found in the Priest's limited memory, so that's why they've moved on to yours."

"Aside from turning my tournament into a magical circus, I don't know anything about these Items. This person would have better luck looking at you or Yugi."

"That's just it – whatever this person seeks, they must believe you have it," said Bakura. "What we need to find out is who is behind this. Voldemort didn't get a translation of the tablet in the museum, so aside from his curiosity, I doubt he is the one doing this to you. Someone else with a connection to the Items is in play, and we don't know who they're working for…or if they act alone."

"Well that's just great," Seto muttered.

"There's something else," said Bakura, "Someone was in our dorm last night."

"What?" asked Ryou. "How…who was it? When was it?"

"Late in the night. Everyone was asleep." Bakura looked over at Seto. "Well, almost everyone. His High Holiness was too preoccupied with you to notice. I saw the door open and close twice in the dark, but I didn't see anyone come or go."

Ryou furrowed his brow and scratched his ear. "Did…did you take control last night?"

"Only for a little while, and it's not as if I went anywhere – you never left your bed," said Bakura, "But the door is heavy enough that it shouldn't open and close on its own."

"Well without seeing someone walk in or out, how are you going to prove someone was there?" asked Set.

No one had an answer for that.

They sat in silence for the next few minutes, watching Yugi attempt to throw a quaffle into one of the goal posts.

"Diagon Alley," Seto said suddenly.

"What?" asked Ryou.

"In the robes shop," said Seto, turning to look at him, "When the Malfoys walked out, Harry and his friends chased after him. Yugi thought he saw Harry disappear under the cloak he brought with him. What if he really did?"

Bakura grinned wildly and turned to Ryou. "Well, Landlord, are you up for a little adventure?"

Set narrowed his eyes. "What are you up to?"

Bakura rubbed his semi-transparent hands together. "Nothing dangerous. If Harry is going to snoop through our room, I think it's only right I can return the favor. And if he doesn't have this magical turn-me-invisible cloak at his disposal, then we'll know it wasn't him that broke in last night."

"This is probably going to end badly," said Set.

"Have a little faith," Bakura snapped, "I've broken into much more secure locations without getting caught. This is the perfect opportunity while he's out there in the air with the Pharaoh. Kaiba, you stay here and fill in the shrimp when he decides he can't play this ridiculous sport."

"It'll be fine," said Ryou, reassuringly, "I'll have to go back to the common room at some point today to get my things for Divination anyhow. It'll give me a reason to get up the staircase without any questions."

Everyone turned to look at Ryou as if he was mad.

Ryou blinked. "Did I say something?"

Bakura pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "Oh look, I've corrupted him!"

The remainder of the week passed without incident. Harry kept a close eye on the Marauder's Map, but he was unable to see any of the strange figures. After two days without seeing Set or Bakura, he returned to watching Malfoy, but his Slytherin rival also hadn't done anything to warrant special attention.

It was rather infuriating. He had to be up to something…but what? Perhaps keeping an eye on the map in the late evenings was no longer the answer. But he couldn't just as well take it out and look it over while in class – that would be a one-way ticket for the map back to Filch's office, and probably a good deal of detentions if it was Snape or Umbridge who had caught him.

By the time they knew it, the second Saturday of term had rolled around. Seto walked into the Great Hall that morning to see Ron uncharacteristically picking at his breakfast.

"Nerves," said Hermione as he sat down. "I don't see why you're so nervous, Ronald. You were on the team last year, and Gryffindor won the cup."

"It's him," said Ron, nodding down the table. "You see him? Cormac McLaggen? He's been bragging about his Quidditch expertise all morning."

Yugi shrugged, and took a bite of his toast. "So?"

"He's tryin' out for Keeper too, like me," said Ron, "Against some hotshot like him, what chance do I have?"

"If you're going to think like that Ron, you've already lost," said Harry.

"Are you going to watch the tryouts too?" Hermione asked Seto.

Seto nodded glumly, "I was going to spend the day in the library, but it seems my quiet corner has been compromised."

"It's just for one day," said Yugi, "And not even the whole one at that. You can work on getting your tech to work afterwards."

Seto huffed and spooned some eggs onto his plate.

"Do you think you're ready?" asked Ryou.

Yugi nodded. "I think so. I mean, I'm a little nervous, but I'll still be happy if I don't make the team. I'm just glad that you guys were so helpful in getting me some practice time."

Harry nodded. "No problem. We'll see if it pays off – just don't eat too much though. I need to return your broom in the same condition that it was borrowed."

One of the other Gryffindor girls in their year skipped up energetically and patted Ron on the shoulder on the walk outside. "Good luck today, Ron! I know you'll be brilliant!" With a wink and a smile, she rejoined her friends.

Hermione glared at her as they followed them up and into the stands.

"Look at the turnout," said Ryou, "I didn't think that many people would sign up for the team."

Hermione snorted and pointed down where a group of girls were huddled near the field's entrance. "Look – those there aren't even Gryffindors."

Ryou leaned against the front wall of the stands. "It's hard to hear what they're saying down there. I think we went up too high."

"I think they're doing beater tryouts first," said Hermione, pointing down to the locked box. "The bludgers are in there. Just be careful in case they decide to fly off and into the stands."

Ryou paled. "Those are the balls that try to knock people out, right? Do they…normally attack the spectators?"

"Well, no, but there was a rogue bludger in our second year that tried to kill Harry."

Beater tryouts were fairly simple. Harry released the bludgers into the air and blew the whistle. The four Gryffindors trying out for the position flew into the air and attempted to hit as many bludgers as they could at their competitors before the whistle was blown again.

"I imagine the beaters have the easiest job," said Ryou, watching the players zoom past, "They just have to knock those things around at the other team."

Seto leaned forward and propped his arms against the rail. "None of them seem to be doing a decent job at it."

"I don't think anyone is going to be able to replace Fred and George," said Hermione, "But…I just wish most of the people trying out for the team had some…actual interest in it." She pointed down to where a cluster of students were gathered along the wall, holding what looked like school brooms. "Look – I'm pretty sure those are first year students. Technically, they're not even allowed to join the team except in special circumstances, and I'm positive none of them have done anything to earn that."

"At least they look like they can get on their brooms, unlike those girls." Ryou pointed to one of the girls who was ogling Harry, fell off of her broomstick and started giggling nonstop.

Hermione shook her head. "That's Romilda Vane, I think she's in Ginny's year. She's been crushing on Harry since the term began, and I've seen her look at you two as well." She sighed. "Watch out for her – back in Diagon Alley, when Ron's dad took you to Gringotts, she was in Fred and George's shop stocking up on love potions. I wouldn't take anything she offers you."

Ryou blinked. "Good to know."

The whistle blew again, and everyone touched back down. Harry announced the new beaters to be Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote.

"I suppose they were the best of the bunch…even if they did miss most of their shots," said Ryou. "That doesn't say a whole lot for the team though.

"There's Yugi!" Hermione pointed to the other end of the Pitch. Yugi was standing, a ragged-looking broom in his hand, talking with Ginny. She was tossing the quaffle up and down while they waited for Chaser tryouts to begin.

"Do you recognize anyone else trying out on the team?" asked Ryou.

"Well, Ginny, of course," said Hermione, "Over there by the ball crate is Katie Bell, she's a seventh year, and has been a Chaser for as long as I can remember. And Ron is…" she scanned the field and found him talking to a large blond boy. Ron didn't look too pleased to be near him. The blond boy looked up at the stands and met her gaze, raising eyebrows at her. She scowled and looked away. "…with Cormac McLaggen."

"That's the guy Ron was worried about?" asked Ryou. "He's huge – doesn't seem like the kind of guy to be a goal keeper."

Hermione snorted. "All he's been talking about to anyone within earshot of him the past few days at meals is how great he is on a broomstick."

Seto looked down at him as Cormac and Ron joined Harry and the other students on the field. "Looks like Quidditch isn't his only interest."

Hermione glared at him.

Ryou nudged both of their shoulders. "Look – they're starting Keeper tryouts. They're both going up in the air."

Harry turned to the huddle of people hovering around him. "Normally we would do chaser tryouts first, but I don't have a Keeper to defend the goal posts, and I'll tell you guys right now, I would make a terrible one. So we're going to start with Keepers. Ron, Cormac – you're the only two trying for that position so you'll each take a goal post. Everyone trying for Chaser, I want you to split off into two groups. Each group is going to have a goal side to try and score. Ron, Cormac – you guys need to defend the goals. First to make five saves gets the position. Or, if you both each make the first five, then whoever breaks the tie wins. Then we'll run Chaser tryouts with the new Keeper. Okay? Great, let's split off."

Hermione rubbed at her arms as the chaser hopefuls formed teams and lined up around the center of the field. Ginny and Yugi sided on the same team, and took positions near Cormac's side. They would have to get their goals past him. She watched Harry toss the quaffle into the air and the players scattered.

Ginny passed one the quaffle to one of the other girls on their makeshift team, but it was intercepted. Katie Bell received it and she zoomed towards Ron's goal posts. The quaffle was tossed…and caught. Barely.

Yugi nearly dropped the quaffle when it was passed to him and tried to make a scoring pass on Cormac's left post, but it was easily caught and tossed back to Katie.

Hermione sighed. Ron was obviously nervous, and was fumbling to make his saves – the last one he barely stopped and that was because it bounced off of his head. She looked over to the other side of the field as the chasers regrouped to the center, waiting for Harry to release the quaffle again. Cormac was radiating confidence…and was looking right at her.

"Come on Ron! You can do it!" screamed a girl a little ways down in the stands. It was the same girl that wished him good luck back in the Great Hall.

"Lavender certainly is vocal today," said Ryou.

Hermione broke her gaze away from Cormac, who was still staring at her, and turned towards Lavender. "She's never bothered to show interest in him before," she said, barely hiding the bitterness in her voice. She stepped back from the front wall and sat down on the bench, using Seto and Ryou to shield her from Cormac's ogling view.

/Heh. Someone certainly is jealous./ Bakura snickered. /Teenagers./

/I'm a teenager, Spirit./

/You don't have an issue with girls here, Landlord – it's the opposite. These little witches are infatuated with your too-innocent face. Heed your friend's warning about those 'love potions'. If you stupidly fall for a thirteen-year old, I won't guarantee her safety while I snap you out of it./

/…Understood…/

He returned to focusing on the tryouts as Lavender let out another encouraging shout. Both Ron and Cormac had both made four consecutive saves. The quaffle went to one of the girls on Katie's team, and when it was hurled towards the goal post, Ron managed to grab it before it could sail through the center hoop.

The quaffle was passed off to Yugi and he zoomed off to the other end of the field.

"If Cormac makes this, then they keep going for a tie," said Ryou, nervously.

Yugi passed the quaffle to Ginny. She lined up her throw and threw the ball.

"ACHOO!"

Ryou and Seto whirled around as Hermione stashed her hand back into her jacket pocket. "That was some sneeze," said Ryou, "Are you alright?"

Hermione nodded sheepishly, "Yeah, sorry."

At the same time, there was a series of "Oooh's" from the field.

"Oh no, I missed it, what happened?" asked Hermione, jumping up from the bench and returning to the front wall.

"Ron did it!" Lavender said brightly, "Cormac shot in the wrong direction completely and missed the save."

They watched Cormac hover at the goal post, a look of pure confusion on his face as Ron landed on the ground, grinning from ear to ear.

Yugi patted his back, "Well done, Ron!"

"Thanks, mate. It's your turn now. Good luck!"

"Each chaser on trial is going to make 10 passes at the hoops. The three who score the most will make the team," said Harry.

Seto crossed his arms and looked at Ryou. "I thought you said Yugi was going to make a fool of himself in the air," he said quietly, "I haven't seen it yet. In fact, I'm starting to think you just wanted me out of the library."

Ryou laughed sheepishly, "I suppose Yugi and I didn't want you to become a hermit."

Seto rolled his eyes as Yugi took the quaffle and made a pass around the field. His first throw bounced off of the rim of the left goal post. His next four passes went through easily, but as he was lining up the following throw, he lost his balance and dropped the quaffle in favor of grabbing onto his broomstick.

"Oh no, I hope that won't count against him too much," said Ryou.

"It might have been the school broom," said Hermione, "A lot of them are old and have developed a mind of their own."

"He's only missed one so far," said Seto as Yugi made his seventh shot.

"That's good, so far he's doing great," said Hermione, "He just needs to keep it up."

"Come on Yugi!" Ryou called, "You've got this!"

Harry greeted Yugi on the ground once he made his final throw. "Eight out of ten, not bad, Yugi."

"Thanks!" Yugi dropped down onto the grass and watched Ginny grab the quaffle and kick off into the air.

/I think, considering we had no prior broomstick-training until this summer, eight out of ten is an excellent score!/

/Thanks, Pharaoh! I'm surprised you're not bitter about missing those two./

/Well…this isn't a high-stakes game, at least not like dueling. And we didn't lose to Kaiba, so we don't have to worry about this being rubbed in our faces./

/He might do it anyway if we don't make the team./

/True…but considering he didn't participate, he may not care. He probably doesn't hold this sport in as high a regard as Duel Monsters./

Ron dropped down next to him. "Good run, mate. You only missed two – seems like a sure-in for the team."

"Thanks," Yugi smiled, "Do you feel better now that your tryouts are over?"

"Yeah," said Ron, "Though I can't figure out why Cormac went the complete other way on that last shot. He was ready for that save, I know it. I dunno what came over him."

Yugi shrugged. "Maybe his broom acted up."

"I mean, it's possible, but that was no school broom he was using."

Harry gathered his chasers together. "You guys did great, but I can only have three chasers, so Ginny, Demelza, and Katie are it. Yugi, you did really well, but you just missed the cut. Would you be willing to stay on as a relief chaser?"

Yugi nodded. "Sure! Thanks, Harry!"

Ryou tugged at his tie as he entered the library. The Divination tower classroom was especially stuffy today. While it was his favorite subject, it was rather hard to concentrate when he was feeling ready to pass out for a nap the entire time. He moved to the table tucked away between Magical Law and Legilimency and sank down in the seat next to Yugi. "How's this going?"

Yugi shrugged. "I'm here to help look through these books…but mainly to keep an eye and ear out for Madame Pince so he doesn't get bludgeoned to death with A Comprehensive History of the Goblin Wars."

Ryou blinked. "Is that really a thing?"

"Yes," said Seto without looking up from the notes he was writing. His phone was next to his parchment, still giving off a faint smoky odor. "And no, before you ask, I haven't been hit with it."

"Sorry we couldn't really talk before," said Ryou, "It was too busy in the Great Hall."

"Did you find anything this time?" asked Seto.

Ryou shook his head. "The spirit looked through everything… again. He still didn't find any sort of special invisibility cloak."

"Well someone came in last week," said Yugi. "Maybe the spirits can take turns keeping an eye out at night."

"It shouldn't be too difficult seeing as my spirit has wanted to sneak off around the castle at night as it is," said Ryou.

"I wouldn't," said Seto, looking up from his parchment. "It's not just our own counterparts we can see here. If I can see Yugi's insufferable other self, it's more than possible that other people in the castle can as well. Set was out and in the room that night. Whoever came inside would have seen him, and if the thief that's in your Ring hadn't taken over your body, he might have been noticed too. We don't need the rest of the population here wondering why we seem to be both alive and dead at the same time."

Yugi nodded. "Kaiba's right. If they're going to come out, it should be where they won't be spotted by anyone else."

"So the dorm, essentially," said Ryou.

"For now, yeah…at least until we figure out who came in, or find a way to keep them out."

"That's not difficult. Just cast a spell on the door," said Seto.

"And I suppose you know what it is?" asked Ryou.

Seto rolled up his notes and put them into his bag. "It's in one of the books in my trunk. I don't remember it being incredibly difficult to learn." He got up and sideways glanced down towards the end of the aisle. "I'm heading back to the common room to dissect my phone again."

"Already?" Yugi looked at the clock on the wall. "We haven't been here for very long."

Seto tilted his head towards where he was glancing before. "I really don't want to be stalked by the gaggle of Ravenclaws on the other side of the library any more than I already have been this week. The girls in our own house are bad enough."

Ryou grimaced. "I was hoping Hermione was wrong about that when she said we were being watched."

"Well…" Yugi gathered his things. "At least it's not Colin Creevey and his camera!"

"Honestly, there are times I'd rather have that thing burning my retinas," Seto muttered.

They were halfway up one of the moving staircases when Yugi grabbed Seto's sleeve. "Wait. While there's no one else around – what made you so uptight after the first Potions class? I've been meaning to ask, but…."

Seto leaned back against the railing and looked down at the other two a few steps below him. "It was something Snape said – that we were Dumbledore's pet project."

Yugi looked at Ryou. "Well…I guess it's a weird way to put it…but Dumbledore did invite us here. He's just looking after us."

"Are you sure you're not reading too much into it?" asked Ryou.

Seto shook his head. "No, but…" he trailed off as the stairs reached their destination and a few students stood waiting at the opposite end. Brushing past, he found the door to an empty classroom and ushered the two inside.

"Look – could I be overreacting? Sure," Seto crossed his arms, "But the fact is that Dumbledore brought us here for a reason."

"He wanted to keep us safe," said Yugi. "We already knew that."

"Okay, fine. Assume that was his only reason," said Seto. "He claimed to be in contact with the Japanese Ministry of Magic at least once. Why couldn't they keep an eye on us? It would be a hell of a lot more discreet than uprooting us halfway around the world."

"What about him saying that Voldemort was going to come after us anyway? We were going to be safer here in the school versus out in the open back home," said Ryou.

"Yet people can come and go around the school without being seen," said Seto. "And to be honest, there has been no proof so far that Voldemort is even interested in us."

"We've only been here for a few weeks…you don't think you're jumping the gun a bit?" asked Yugi.

"I don't know what to think, or believe," said Seto, "I said back when the summer first started that it seemed highly coincidental that I got the Millennium Rod the same day that Dumbledore sent us that first letter. Hiding behind that calm façade was a push to get us out of Domino. He was fine with me staying behind for almost a month only because I pushed for it. Why did you two have to leave right away?"

"Safety, I guess," Ryou shrugged.

"He had planned to plant his wizard guardians in Domino to look after Mokuba and your friends anyway. You could have stayed behind and flown out with me in July."

"I don't know, Kaiba…," said Yugi.

"And, he had three British wizards come all the way out to Domino when he could have had the Japanese Ministry assign someone, anyone, and they wouldn't stick out like those three do in Japan."

"Well, he knows them, and he trusts them over a stranger," said Ryou, "Would you trust a stranger with Mokuba?"

Seto glared at him. "Look. I could be out of my mind…but my instincts are screaming that something isn't right. Tomorrow I'm heading home for a few days. You don't have to believe me, but just…keep an eye out while I'm gone."