/Text/ Spirit to Host

/Text/ Host to Spirit

Chapter 30: Celebration

In complete contrast from the depressing mist that seemed to coat England and Scotland on their journey back to London, the plane landed in bright, sunny Japan during the morning hours.

"This place sure is busy," said Ron, weaving around a throng of tourists to follow after the group. Having flown the most out of all of them, Seto seemed to know the building like the back of his hand and took charge in leading them through the crowds towards the exits.

"This is the Narita Airport," said Yugi, "It's pretty much the main international airport in Japan, and the closest one to Domino City."

"And those planes take off all day and night?" asked Ron.

"Yep," said Yugi, "People can travel all over the world in a matter of hours!"

"Doesn't beat the Floo Network, or Portkeys," said Ron, "Since you get wherever you want to go instantly, but I gotta admit – that was a pretty nice ride."

"I can assure you that most airplane rides aren't like that. They're full of passengers, and there isn't a whole lot of sitting room," said Ryou, "And sometimes you're squashed between nosy, noisy people. We lucked out that Kaiba was using a private plane to shuttle us back."

"Although we probably would have used a Portkey if that wasn't the case," said Harry. And then they wouldn't have lost almost an entire day of their vacation. But it seemed convincing Seto to use wizard transport was still a futile effort. Perhaps they'd manage to get Remus or Tonks to Portkey them back to school instead.

"Where are your friends, Yugi?" asked Hermione, looking around. "I thought they would have met us here somewhere."

"Yeah," said Yugi, "I bet they're waiting outside where we can find them. It's really easy to get lost in here. I've only been here twice – once to see Grandpa off on one of his archaeological digs when I was still really young and my mom was still staying with us, and the other time was when Pegasus flew us out to San Francisco."

"Where is your mother now, Yugi?" asked Ryou.

"She went off to spend time with my dad. I think he's in Australia now." Yugi shrugged. "It's hard to keep track."

"What does he do?" asked Harry.

"He's an archaeologist too, but spends a lot of time in restoration and shuttling artifacts around the world to different museums rather than spend all his days in the field like my grandfather did."

They passed through the exit doors leading to the drop off/pick up circle. Harry had to stop short or else the small, black-haired blur that bolted right by him would have knocked him right over.

"SETO!"

Seto braced himself as his younger brother barreled right into him and caught him in the tightest hug his shorter arms could manage. "Mokuba."

"I'm so glad you're home!" Mokuba sniffed. "It's been so long!"

"It's been just over three weeks."

Mokuba snorted and straightened himself. "Pssh. That's like forever!"

"I didn't think the kid could run that fast," said an amused voice off to the side, and Yugi's eyes lit up.

"Duke!"

Duke Devlin waved from his spot leaning against his car. "Long time no see, guys. How's it going?"

"Great!" Yugi gestured him over. "Harry, Ron, Hermione, this is Duke Devlin, one of my friends. He owns the Black Crown game shop back in Domino."

"Nice to meet you," said Duke, flipping a stray lock of hair up behind his headband. He had traded in his sleeveless vest for a warmer coat, but it seemed he still wore his signature dice earring. Duke shook hands with the group, and Harry was surprised at how deeply green his eyes were.

"When did you get back into town? I thought you were in America," said Yugi.

"Last week," said Duke, "Thought I'd drop by and see how everyone was doing. I just didn't expect you to not be there."

Yugi rubbed at the back of his head. "Heh, yeah….sorry about that."

Ryou looked around the entrance to the airport. "Are you the only one here?"

Duke nodded. "Yeah. You didn't expect to all squeeze into your grandfather's tiny little car, did you?"

"I'm sure we would have been able to fit," said Ron, "Or we could expand the inside like they do with the Ministry cars."

Yugi shook his head, slightly put out. "Well…Grandpa's car is really small…I'm just surprised that no one else came."

Duke waved a hand dismissively, "Nah, chin up, Yugi. They're all waiting for you back at your place." He suddenly frowned, realizing he had said too much, and then shrugged it off. "That was supposed to be a surprise. Oh well." He gave Yugi a deadpanned expression. "Act surprised when we get there."

Yugi chuckled and nodded, his mood instantly improved. "Got it."

"Alright, so who's ready to go?" Duke pointed to his car, parked behind Kaiba's limousine. "I know a good couple of people who have been eagerly waiting for your flight to get in…."

Yugi looked to Kaiba and Mokuba who were talking quietly to each other. "Are you guys coming to the Game Shop too?"

Mokuba shook his head. "Nah. But I'm sure I'll catch up with you guys later sometime, and at the very least at the Christmas party."

Ryou blinked. He didn't remember them talking about a party back at Hogwarts. "What Christmas party?"

Mokuba smiled mischievously. "Oh…I didn't mention that there was gonna be a big Christmas party?"

Yugi and Ryou shook their heads.

"Oh. Well, there's gonna be one. I planned everything."

Seto narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Mokuba's all-too innocent grin. "And…just where is this party of yours?"

Mokuba clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on the heels of his sneakers. "Well, it would be rather hard to fit everyone comfortably at Yugi's place…."

Seto's eye twitched as he sighed and stalked off towards where Fuguta stood waiting by the car. "That's it," he said, "I'm spending the next two weeks in the office."

Mokuba laughed and ran after his brother, arms flailing dramatically. "But Seto – the office will be closed!"

"We're going to check in with Hestia and Sturgis so they can get back home," said Remus, turning back to the group. He pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to Harry. "This is the address of the house, in case you guys need to find us." He turned to Yugi. "We'll check in at your grandfather's shop in a little while."

Yugi nodded. "Okay."

Duke opened the front passenger side door and gestured with a sweeping overdramatic bow. "My lady, your chariot awaits."

Hermione looked back to Harry and Yugi, the corners of her mouth upturned before sliding into the vehicle. Duke looked amongst the others. "Hm. Yugi you might be able to squeeze up front. Everyone else to the back, and we'll be off."

"It's a little tight back here," said Ryou, squished between Harry and Ron, as Duke followed Kaiba's car out of the drop off/pick up circle and into traffic. Harry nodded, wishing they got Remus or Tonks to increase the sitting room in the vehicle before they left.

"So…," Duke began conversationally, "I was quite surprised to find that you had up and left town, and that you left the gang behind. I hear you're in the middle of another crisis, huh?"

"You could say that," said Yugi.

Duke glanced at Harry and Ron in the backseat through his rear mirror. The two of them had looked at each other nervously, as if unsure of what to talk about. "It's okay you guys. Joey and the others filled me in with what was going on. You don't have to worry about me blowing any secrets."

Hermione leaned forward to peer around Yugi sandwiched between her and Duke. "So…you know about magic?"

Duke snorted. "Are you kidding? I've been in the thick of some of Yugi's craziest adventures – one of which having to do with a cult running around stealing people's souls with shiny green rocks. Knowing that there were legit wizards out there was not the shocker you'd expect it to be. So don't worry – your secret is safe with me."

Harry leaned back in his seat and looked out the window. "How far from Domino are we?"

"Not too far. So when did all the crazy start, anyhow? I seemed to have missed quite a bit while in America."

"The Headmaster of the school we went to came to visit us over the summer," said Ryou, "Apparently a wizard in Britain found out about the Millennium Items and…well…you can imagine where this is going."

Duke nodded. "Yeah. A crazy guy got greedy over a bunch of gold artifacts. I get it. So…you all went off to…learn magic? I think that's what your grandfather mentioned."

"Yeah, to help fight and defend against Voldemort, or as you put it – the crazy guy."

"You're going to have to tell me how you managed to drag Kaiba with you – unless you've just been using him as shuttle service."

Yugi let out a huge exhale. "It's a long story."

"Gotcha. Say no more." Duke watched the limo turn off of the highway to head towards the Domino City business district as they continued onwards. "So…new friends - how do you all feel about games?"

"What sort?" asked Hermione.

"Well, if you're friends with Yugi, you've probably seen him play Duel Monsters. And while I'm a duelist as well, I'm nowhere near as good. I've made my own game called Dungeon Dice Monsters. If you're interested in it, you can stop by my shop while I'm in town, and I'll set you up for a game to see how it works."

"That might interest them more than me," said Hermione, nodding to Harry and Ron in the backseat. "I'd love to watch though."

"Alright," said Duke, "So what sorts of things are you into?"

Hermione turned pink. "Well, I spend a lot of time reading."

Ron snorted. "That's an understatement. You know she had her nose stuck in a textbook for light reading on the ride over."

Hermione glared at him through the corner of her eye.

Duke shrugged. "Hey, to each their own. Just remember that Domino is a gamer's town. Almost everyone duels or knows someone who does. But if card or dice games aren't your thing, there's the main arcade in the center of town, or Kaiba Land."

Ron blinked. "Kaiba…Land?"

"It's open?" Yugi asked. "I didn't think the Japanese one was going to be ready for another few months."

"That's what Joey thought, but it seemed to be running last week," said Duke. "They must have finished ahead of schedule or something, but I gotta say – considering this is one of Kaiba's projects, it didn't have nearly the amount of pomp and circumstance that I would expect. You remember the grand opening of the one in America? That was huge."

"Have you been there yet? To the one here?" asked Ryou.

Duke shook his head. "Not yet, but we should all go sometime and see how it compares with the other one."

"They're probably the same, no?" asked Ryou.

"Maybe," said Duke, "Though there was a lot more land available in the States than here. I imagine a few attractions got left out."

"What exactly is Kaiba Land?" asked Ron.

"It's an amusement park. Arcade, food, rides, dueling arenas," said Yugi. "You guys don't have something like that in the wizarding world?"

Ron shook his head. "Nah. Closest we got to huge, mainstream attractions is Quidditch."

"What's Quidditch?" asked Duke.

"It's a sport played on broomsticks," said Harry, "Even Yugi made the team!"

Duke laughed. "That doesn't surprise me in the slightest."

The car turned onto more familiar roads and Yugi's eyes lit up. "There it is!"

Ron blinked. "Mate, your house is shaped…sort of like a giant turtle."

Yugi nodded. "I know. Awesome, right?"

If it weren't for the fact that he was sandwiched in the middle of the car, Yugi would have jumped out before the car had come to a complete stop.

Harry got out and looked around. Yugi wasn't kidding when he said the house was small. Just from looking at the outside, it was clear that there would be no way that Yugi would have been able to hold up him and Ron and Hermione during their vacation, not while knowing that most of the ground floor area was taken up with the family shop.

The Muto kitchen had been decorated with 'Welcome Home' banners and balloons, and a couple of snack platters were set up on the small kitchen table. Yugi had barely stepped foot past the shop and into the house when he was bombarded in the cheers of his friends and family.

"WELCOME HOME!"

"Wow!" Ryou said, looking around. "Very nice."

"Welcome back, Yugi!" said Grandpa, embracing his grandson in a warm hug, "And hello to all of you too! Come in, come in! Don't be shy!"

"Grandpa, Joey, Tristan, Téa, this is Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger," said Yugi, and he gestured back to his friends. "Guys, this is Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, and Téa Gardner."

"Hello," said Harry.

"Nice to meet you," said Téa. "Yugi's told us a lot about you."

"Uh oh…what terrible things has he been saying?" asked Harry.

"Nonsense, all good things," said Grandpa, "I'm glad you all have helped to make him feel at home there."

"Speaking of home…" Ryou looked to Joey and Tristan, "Please tell me you guys remembered to get my mail and check in on my apartment from time to time."

Joey's eyes suddenly widened in horror and he looked at Tristan as if he had just swallowed a rotten lemon. "Uh oh…Trist', I knew we were forgetting something!"

Ryou's face fell.

Joey's face brightened and he clapped Ryou on the shoulder. "Aw, man you should've seen the look on your face! Of course we did! And I hope you didn't mind, but we also polished off some o' the stuff in your fridge."

Ryou sighed. "Seriously?"

"Look man," said Joey in all seriousness, "You probably don't realize how quickly you just up and left. I mean…if you wanted to come home to stinky food or chunky milk that might be growin' legs or whatever; we would've left it alone."

Ryou smiled, visibly relieved. "Alright…I take it back. But…you did leave something in my apartment, right? I don't have to go grocery shopping tonight on my way home?"

"Nah," said Tristan, "I replaced some stuff when I was by yesterday. You should be good for a few days."

"So…" said Grandpa, passing plates of food around the group. "How would you like to spend the next few weeks?"

"I…really don't know," said Yugi, "Honestly, I'm just happy to be home."

"Me too," said Ryou, "Though I was thinking of creating a new Monster World campaign. Once I create some more figures and plan out a new map, maybe we can all play."

Joey gulped. "No offense…but your evil spirit won't seal us into those figures again…right?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged nervous looks. Harry wasn't quite sure what Joey had meant by being sealed into a bunch of figures…and at the same time…he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. Clearly this was something that had happened a good while ago.

Ryou blinked. "Oh…no, no. Things are….different now than when they were before. The Spirit and I have a slightly better understanding."

"Well…if you're sure…" Tristan said hesitantly. A 'slightly better understanding' didn't sound like a whole lot of progress.

Ryou didn't seem too fazed by his friends' nervousness towards his campaign idea, and he couldn't blame them. True, he had a better relationship with the Dark Bakura now versus when Yugi and his friends first played the Monster World game, but they haven't been around to see it the spirit as he was now. All they would remember is the spirit shoving him out of the way at every opportunity to play Duel Monsters or try to kill everyone.

"It's alright if you don't want to," said Ryou, "Honestly, it is. I understand. But I've been meaning to create another custom board for a while now."

"Of course I'll come," said Yugi, "Despite what happened the last time, playing was a lot of fun! How long does it take to put the campaign together?"

"Depends," Ryou shrugged. "If it was just creating a new scenario with the map I already had, maybe a day. But I want to create an entirely new map and figures so…this will be a while."

"You're not going to shut yourself away during the whole vacation though, are you?" asked Téa.

Ryou shook his head. "I don't think so. Was there something you wanted to do?"

"Well, I was thinking of taking a look at the new Kaiba Land park," said Téa, "It's technically not open yet, not officially, but Mokuba said he could get us in early if we wanted to go, and the crowds wouldn't be nearly as bad."

Yugi bit his lip. "There's no tournament going on right? No ulterior Kaiba-esque motive going on?"

Téa shook her head. "Nope! Mokuba was just offering early admission and wanted to show the park off."

"Then it's a deal!"

"When were you thinking of going?" asked Ryou.

"I'll get in touch with Mokuba. Apparently there's something going on there over the next few days, so we have to wait until it's done."

"How big is Domino?" asked Ron. "Can we go exploring?"

"Pretty big," said Yugi, "We're considered to be in the more residential part, but we're still pretty close to downtown. We walk for most things."

"We can go on a tour if you want," said Joey.

"Sign me up!" Harry grinned. The Dursleys never took him anywhere if they could avoid it, and even after leaving them each and every summer, he was either stuck at the Weasleys' or Grimmauld Place, or even the Leaky Cauldron. The idea of being able to get out and do something, even to just walk around a town sounded heavenly.

The welcoming party lasted for the majority of the day, and it wasn't until later, after dinner that everyone went their separate ways. Hermione left with Téa for the short walk back to her house. Tristan took Joey back to his dad's house on his motorcycle, and Duke gave Ryou and Ron a ride home before going back to his apartment above the Black Crown.

Harry helped Yugi and his grandfather clean up the leftover food and then crashed in the living room. While Yugi got ready for bed, he took the lull in action to look around. Photos from Mr. Muto's archaeological days were on the walls and end tables. The shelves on one wall were decorated with a few odd-looking games that appeared to be a good number of years old.

A photo on a small side table by the doorway into the kitchen caught his eye and he picked it up. After being engrained with wizarding photography for so long, he had to get used to looking at normal images where the subjects didn't move. Yugi, surrounded by his friends and family, smiled up at him.

"Ah," said Grandpa, and Harry jumped – he didn't realize Mr. Muto had even entered the room. Pillows and blankets were in his arms. "That was right after Yugi won the Kaiba Corp Grand Championship Duel Monsters Tournament in America. It was to help promote the park opening, but, like most things, Yugi got wrapped up in a hoot of a drama." He pointed to one of the faces in the photograph. "Mokuba was very kind to offer us the expenses-paid trip for helping them out."

"Seto's not in the photo?"

Grandpa raised an eyebrow. "No," he said. "I'm afraid you won't see him in any of these photographs. Even without the rather…tense relationship that he has with Yugi and his friends, if you can even call it that, Kaiba spent a good deal of his time dealing with company matters. He didn't even participate in his own tournament, to all of our surprise."

"Huh." Harry pointed to the only two people in the photo he didn't recognize. "Who are these?"

"That is Professor Arthur Hawkins, an archaeologist and a dear friend of mine, and his granddaughter, Rebecca. She's a duelist as well, and the current American Duel Monsters champion."

Harry's eyes widened. "She looks really young."

Grandpa nodded. "She is quite a child prodigy. I think she's….eleven now? Maybe twelve, and already taking university courses!" He glanced behind him, as if looking to see if Yugi was nearby, and leaned in closer to Harry with a mischievous grin plastered on his face. "And she has quite a crush for my Yugi, too!"

Harry chuckled. It seemed not even Yugi was safe from unwanted affection. "Looks like you all had fun."

"It was a wonderful time," Grandpa smiled. "And I'm sure you'll have the same when Yugi and his friends take you to the one opening here."

Harry put down the photo. "I'm really looking forward to going."

Grandpa set the bedding down onto the coffee table and frowned. "Are you sure you'll be comfortable? Sometimes the couch isn't the best for a good night's sleep." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Or that just might be my old bones…."

"It's alright, really," said Harry, "I spent up to my eleventh birthday living in the cupboard under the stairs. The couch is fine."

Yugi froze halfway into the room, already in his pajamas. "You what?"

Harry blinked. He had forgotten that unlike Ron and Hermione, Yugi and his friends didn't know anything about his early life with the Dursleys. "My aunt and uncle essentially considered me a blight on their house because of my parents being wizards, so they tried very hard to pretend I didn't exist."

Harry shrugged. "I didn't get my own room in the house until I got my Hogwarts letter, and even then, it was probably only because they were afraid wizards would drop in on them or something, despite Uncle Vernon using the excuse I was growing out of the cupboard."

Yugi cringed. "…Were you?"

"I dunno, I might have had a year or so before it really became tight in there, but seriously – the couch is more than plenty."

Grandpa shook his head sadly, but he didn't want to feel as if he was prying into Harry's childhood days. "To think that they could do that to their own family…." Sighing, he moved back towards the steps. "Well, I'll see you boys in the morning. Don't stay up too late!"

After reassuring him that they wouldn't keep themselves up through the wee hours of the morning, Harry turned to Yugi. "That was a really nice party your friends threw for you."

"Yeah. It's so great to see them again. I couldn't believe it was almost six months since I've been home."

Harry draped the blanket around the couch. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't swing a visit back with Seto. He's been home and back what – every month?"

Yugi nodded. "Just about. I had thought about it at times, but some of our schoolwork has been so intense, I think I was worried I would fall too much behind. But maybe in the spring, if things aren't as crazy, I might be able to sneak back once or twice."

"At the very least, there's the Easter holiday," said Harry, "It's not nearly as long as this one is, but a break is a break."

"That's true," Yugi mused.

"So…Christmas is tomorrow." Harry shook his head. "That flight messed up my perception of time…but anyway, do you guys have any traditions?"

"Not really," said Yugi, "Grandpa closes the shop of course, but that holiday isn't as big a deal here. Joey usually comes over, and we'll hang out, play some of Grandpa's older, more unique games, or try out something new that's going to the shop, but it's pretty much a family day. Téa and Tristan usually are at home with parents."

Yugi tapped his chin. "Although…apparently, Mokuba is throwing a party. I'll shoot him a message in the morning to see when we should be there."

Harry fluffed his pillow a bit before leaning back against it. "So, besides that, and the day we go to Kaiba Land…and the day that we go exploring, any ideas on how to spend the time?"

Yugi shrugged. "Not sure. Relaxing for one thing. Grandpa is going to have to open the shop back up after the holiday, so you can help out if you'd like."

Harry nodded eagerly. "Sure!"

Yugi blinked, taken back by Harry's sudden enthusiasm. "That's…work." He suddenly looked concerned. "You really don't get to have a lot of fun, do you?"

Harry shook his head. "I mean…I got to go to the zoo once when I was ten…but that fun ended the instant I sent a python on my cousin."

Yugi wasn't sure if he should laugh or not. "How did you manage that?"

"I uh…let loose some magic without knowing it. I mean, I didn't find out I had magic until I turned eleven."

Yugi's eyes widened. He didn't think it was possible to let magic loose like that, but there was a lot of things about Harry's world that he didn't know.

"Well," said Yugi, as he got up from his spot in his grandfather's recliner. "I'm going to head to sleep, so I'll see you in the morning. But believe me, Harry - you're going to have so much fun on this vacation that you're not going to know what to do with yourself!"

.

The following afternoon, Ron's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as they made their way up the front landscaped walk to the Kaiba Mansion. He had known that Seto was wealthy from both the newspaper articles Hermione seemed to keep as bookmarks over the summer, and then from tidbits of conversation that he heard amongst Yugi and his friends yesterday during the welcome back party, but it didn't seem to dawn much on him until he was staring up at the enormous house, and he had to wonder if this was the same sort of place that Malfoy boasted about during their first few years at Hogwarts.

"You okay, Ron?" asked Harry. He knew that the Weasley's financial status was a sore point, and Harry always felt he had to be sure to spend as little time as possible at his own Gringotts vault when they went shopping each summer. It had gotten a little better over time, especially now that Fred and George had opened their shop to near instant success, but that still didn't stop Ron from turning sour anytime money became a point of discussion.

"Yeah." Ron said quietly. He shook himself out of his stupor. "…I uh…didn't expect the large dragon statue on the fountain, is all."

Duke snorted. "Yeah, well. It's Kaiba. I'd be concerned if there wasn't a huge Blue Eyes White Dragon statue somewhere on the property."

"You've been here once before though, haven't you, Yugi?" asked Téa. "It was sometime after Battle City, wasn't it?"

"Sort of," said Yugi. "It was right after the Anubis crisis, but I never made it past the front gates."

"What was the Anubis crisis?" asked Hermione.

Yugi grimaced. "Ugh…long story short – Kaiba wanted a rematch for losing in the Battle City Tournament and it, uh….got a bit intense."

Tristan snorted. "Intense is hardly the word for it. Try disastrous!"

"Okay, now you really have to tell us," said Ron. "After all, we've got into so much trouble over the last five years, disaster is practically all our middle names!"

Yugi sighed. Thinking back to the day he and the Pharaoh – not to mention his friends and the Kaibas – were nearly killed was not exactly the most pleasant of memories. "Not today though…"

They didn't have to get close enough to the front doors to hit the bell. Mokuba must have been watching them come up the walk the entire time, because he was nearly exploding with giddiness when he opened the front door.

"Hi guys!" said Mokuba energetically. He moved to the side at the entranceway and allowed the group inside. "I started setting up in the living room." Closing the door behind them, he pointed to a large open doorway off to the left. "I'll be there in a sec, I just gotta grab some stuff!"

Joey looked around the open foyer as Mokuba disappeared up the large staircase in the middle of the hall. "You know…I never thought I would ever step foot in this place."

"Why's that?" asked Harry.

Joey shook his head, chuckling. "Oh man. You guys are new to town, so you don't know the ropes yet, and tha's cool. But let me fill you in on a little secret that absolutely no one in Domino knows…."

Tristan rolled his eyes.

"…Me and Kaiba?" said Joey, "We don't get along. Guy's a royal jerk."

"He did invite you though," said Harry.

Joey waggled a finger. "Nah. Mokuba invited us. I'll bet anythin' that Kaiba probably had himself a heart attack when he found out."

"Kaiba has changed a bit you know," said Yugi.

"Not gonna believe it till I see it," said Joey. He crossed the hall into the living room and whistled. "Whooo boy, Mokuba's been busy in here."

The rest of the group filed in after him and Harry took a look around. A large bare tree was set up in the corner of the room, with two storage tubs of decorations sitting idly beside it. Four video game controllers to a console that Harry didn't recognize sat perfectly lined up along the coffee table, and a few poofy bean bag chairs were scattered around next to the couches, creating a half-circle of seating around the large screen television, and a side table near the entrance was covered in snacks. There was a bit of mistletoe hanging from the top of the open doorway.

"Ooookay," Mokuba scrambled back inside, with a bag slung over his arm. A bright red Santa Claus hat was jammed over his unruly hair. "Anyone want a Santa hat?"

"Sure," Harry reached for the bag.

"Where's your brother, Mokuba?" asked Téa.

Mokuba rolled his eyes and shrugged. "In his study being a PARTY POOPER!"

"That…sounds about right," said Duke.

"Nah, he'll pop in an out," said Mokuba, and he was smiling again. "And he's gonna keep an eye on the kitchen, cuz there's still food cooking for later. We'll set that out in the dining room because there's not enough table space here."

Grandpa glanced at the snack table. While it wasn't exactly hearty, filling food, there was enough there to keep everyone from being hungry for probably the rest of the day. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but how much are you making?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I think there's enough for…twenty people?"

"Don't you think that's a bit excessive?" asked Harry, "There's…." He looked about the room, doing a quick head count. "…Twelve of us?"

"Yeah, but look who it is they're feeding," said Hermione and Téa near simultaneously, looking towards Ron and Joey, respectively. Hermione cracked a smile and Téa giggled at their common thought.

Yugi laughed. "They've got a point."

Joey feigned looking hurt. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're a human garbage disposal," said Tristan, "And everyone knows it."

Duke smirked. "You're not far behind him either, Tristan."

Joey slung an arm around Ron's shoulder. "Don't listen to 'em. They're just jealous that we can turn eating into a competitive sport!"

Ron snickered and turned his attention to the corner. "I don't mean to be offensive or anything, but that tree doesn't look right somehow."

Mokuba glanced at it. "Well it's an artificial one. And it's been hiding in the basement for a few years. That might be what it is."

"Artificial?" Ron wrinkled his nose. "You mean you don't use real trees for Christmas?"

"Some people do," said Harry, "Growing up, the Dursleys would get a real tree almost every year. They'd stick it right in the window of the front room and dress it up as if it was going to win some sort of contest." Harry shuddered. "Let me tell you – looking at that each December until I started Hogwarts was painful."

"Well, Seto doesn't like the mess from real trees. We normally don't set one up anyway." Mokuba said, "But I figured that we could all have some fun and decorate it together!"

"Oh, sure!" Yugi moved towards the boxes of decorations and began sifting through them. "Are these just ornaments?"

"There are lights in the other box," said Mokuba. "Don't worry; I untangled all the knots ahead of time."

Joey grabbed a light string and began looping it around the top of the tree. "Geez, kid, your brother spoils you rotten!"

Mokuba looked up at him owlishly from his spot sitting on the floor with a strand of tinsel in hand. "What are you talking about? Seto doesn't spoil me at all."

"You gonna tell me that all those packages there next to you aren't yours?"

Mokuba shook his head. "They're not. Seto gave me my stuff already. Most of these were already here when we got up this morning."

Harry looked curiously down at one of the wrapped packages. "Weird. Ron, isn't that your mother's handwriting?"

"Huh?" Ron picked it up and read the note. "Heh, yeah, you're right. Looks like she sent her presents all the way here this time."

Ryou looked at the squishy package in Ron's hands and then down at the rest of the pile. "There's quite a bit of them. …Did she give something to all of us?"

Harry counted them. "Seems so."

Ryou's eyes widened. "S-she didn't have to do that!"

"That's Mrs. Weasley for you," said Harry. "I had only spoken to her once in my first year – and that was just asking for help so I could get to Platform 9 ¾, and I still got a knitted sweater for Christmas."

Ron scratched at his nose. "Well…I might have had something to do with that, since you were my first friend and all…."

Joey tilted his head. "How come that one's got my name on it? Don't tell me Kaiba's gone all mushy and got me a present, cuz I'd be too terrified to open it."

Mokuba shook his head. "No…those are from Yugi and Bakura. I stopped by the Game Shop and picked them up this morning so you all wouldn't see him lugging them here."

Joey blinked. "Oh."

"Yugi, you didn't have to get us anything," said Téa, "Having you and Bakura home, even if it's just for these few weeks, is a present in itself!"

Ryou laughed lightly. "Well, in that case, I suppose I can return all that stuff then."

"Nope, too late for that now, buddy," said Joey, waggling a blue crystal ornament in his face, "My eyes laid claim to it already!"

Grandpa chuckled, plopped down onto one of the couches, and admired the tree decorating from afar. "Looking good, kids!"

Harry looked at their decorating progress and then to Yugi's grandfather. "You don't want to help dress it up?"

"Oh no," Grandpa shook his head. "I'm much more content to let you youngsters go at it."

After a while, Téa stepped back from the tree. Only a handful of baubles remained in the plastic tub, and the tree looked fairly evenly decorated from top to bottom. "I think it looks perfect. The only thing missing is a topper."

Hermione, sitting next to Yugi and Mokuba on the floor, reached out and tugged the plastic tub towards her. "I don't remember seeing one in there."

"It's here!" Mokuba reached over towards the coffee table and grabbed a small box from where it sat next to the line of game controllers.

Duke leaned over and whispered in Joey's ear. "Ten bucks that it's a dragon."

Joey sniggered. "You're on."

Mokuba didn't seem to hear them, and pulled a star-shaped crystal from the box.

Duke frowned as Joey held out his hand. "Pay up, bub!"

Mokuba looked over innocently as he handed it to Tristan to place on the top of the tree. "Huh?"

"Just won me some change cuz that thing – surprisingly – is not a dragon!" said Joey.

Mokuba looked back up at the topper. "Oh. Seriously you guys? I know the Blue Eyes White Dragon is important to us, but not everything we own is dedicated to it."

"He's got a plane shaped like one," Duke deadpanned.

"An airplane…shaped like a dragon," said Ron. He shook his head. "I don't believe it."

"Oh, you better believe it, it's totally a thing," said Duke.

Mokuba rolled his eyes and pointed towards the light switches near the doorway. "Someone want to turn off the lights? It's time to check out our handiwork!"

Téa got up and flipped the switch. Mokuba crawled under the lower branches to retrieve the power cord for the lights and plugged them into the wall. He heard the collective gasp from the group before he reemerged to check out the tree for himself, and already knew it was beautiful sight.

The icicle-type lights, along with the tinsel, gave the overall appearance of hanging snow, and they reminded Harry very much of the usual dozen Christmas trees that lined the Great Hall each year. A few of the ornaments themselves had lights in them, and they reflected all sorts of color against the wall. The star also had small bulbs in them, and they too projected a twinkling rainbow across the ceiling.

"I love it!" Téa clasped her hands together under her chin, "It's so pretty – I don't even want to turn the lights back on!"

Mokuba shrugged. "We don't have to." He scrambled to his feet and skidded out into the hall, "Seto, come see the lights!"

It wasn't until much later, well after the snacks set up in the room had been depleted down and the dinner buffet – as Mr. Muto put it – set out along the dining room table, that Seto finally joined them in the living room for more than four seconds at a time. Emptied plates set aside, Yugi and Ryou sat on the floor near the tree, passing packages around to their friends.

Not to Harry, Ron, or Hermione's surprise, the gifts from Mrs. Weasley were none other than her knitted garments. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, already having once (or twice) received a fair number of Molly's handiwork, received scarves. Yugi, Ryou, and Seto each received one of her signature sweaters, each one a different color; green for Yugi, red for Ryou, and a dark blue for Seto. Each one had their first initial in gold across the front.

"It's official," said Ron, draping his maroon scarf around his neck, "You've officially been welcomed into the family."

"It looks so warm," said Ryou, and he pulled his over his head to wear over his t-shirt. "Oh, it is!" When Joey and Tristan started snickering, he raised a hand and patted at his hair. "Oh my, it went everywhere, didn't it?"

"Uh huh," said Mokuba.

"We'll have to send her an owl when we get back to school," said Yugi, as Ryou straightened his hair back to a reasonable facsimile of what it was before. "This was really sweet of her."

"Say, what are those still left there," said Duke.

"Oh – these are our gifts for you guys," said Yugi, passing the small neatly –wrapped gifts to his friends.

"…Socks?" said Joey, with his open package on his lap.

"I've got them too," said Tristan. He looked over at Joey's pairs. "Ours look the same."

Ryou tried – and failed – at hiding a grin on his face. "They're magic socks."

"Oh, yeah?" asked Tristan. "What, will they wash themselves or something?"

Yugi bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. "Something like that…you'll find out, I'm sure!"

"Oooh," said Téa, hugging hers, "These feel really warm!"

"They are!" Yugi smiled. "They'll heat your toes if they feel cold!"

Téa gasped, "Oh, how cool! Thanks, Yugi!"

"Say, Mokuba – which way to the little boy's room," said Joey.

Mokuba pointed down the hall opposite from the main foyer. "Down there, it's the last door on the left."

"Thanks," said Joey. He got up as Grandpa was opening a quill and ink ledger set ("For the shop records, if you want," said Yugi, "Otherwise it's a cool aesthetic piece."), and headed down the indicated hall. An open doorway with the light on inside caught his eye on the way back, and he paused at the door and looked inside.

It appeared to be Kaiba's home office, and considering the CEO's tendency to cover near everything he owned with either his company insignia or dragons, the room looked rather subdued. A bookcase on one side of the room housed various awards and certificates – of what, Joey wasn't sure, he was too far away from the inscriptions to read them. A large screen television hung on the wall opposite a rather comfortable-looking couch. Twin desktop monitors were on one side of the desk, and a laptop sat closed nearby. But none of those things were the main cause for him to stop.

It was a rather familiar golden object, one he hadn't seen in the flesh since the Battle City tournament.

.

"This is weird," said Ron, moving his fingers along the game controller, watching his vehicle do circles on the television. "But I like it."

Mokuba sat beside him and gave direction on how to use the different buttons. "If you use the joystick – no, the one on the right – you can turn better. Yeah, just like that! See, you're getting the hang of it pretty quick!"

Ron turned excitedly to Harry. "Want to race?"

"Sure," said Harry, and Grandpa passed him one of the controllers.

As Mokuba filled Harry in on how to make the car move, Tristan turned to Yugi. "Joey's been gone a while now."

Yugi blinked. "I thought it was just a couple of minutes."

Mokuba turned back around as Harry and Ron began a tutorial level racetrack. "I told him where to go. I know our house is big, but it's not a maze."

Seto rolled his eyes from his spot in the armchair closest to the doorway. "This is Wheeler we're talking about. Do you really expect him to be able to follow simple instructions?"

Yugi sighed. "Really, Kaiba?"

Seto ignored him.

Tristan moved to get up. "I'll bet anything, he'll follow the smell of all the leftover food back to the kitchen."

Yugi watched as Seto opened his mouth, probably to let out another lashing towards Joey's character, but he froze, quickly turned his head back towards the hallway that Joey had disappeared down, and narrowed his eyes.

Seto felt what he could only describe as a weird tingling feeling in the back of his mind. Someone had taken the Rod off his desk, and, considering only one person was missing from the group, and staff had been dismissed for the holiday, that didn't leave a great many guesses.

"What is it?" asked Yugi.

Mokuba glanced over curiously from where he was watching Harry and Ron's atrocious run on the racecourse.

Seto let out a resigned sigh, got up, and stalked back towards his office. To his complete lack of surprise, Joey Wheeler was inside, standing right in front of his desk with the Millennium Rod in his hands.

"Something I can do for you, Wheeler?"

Joey jumped nearly a foot in the air. "Yeah," he said flatly, and waved the Ron up in Seto's face. "You can tell me what you're doin' with this."

Seto snatched it back out of his grip and moved around to sit behind his desk. "Keep your paws off what doesn't belong to you."

"It don't belong to you either, Kaiba," said Joey, hotly, "Marik gave that to Yugi after Battle City. What the heck are you doing with it?"

"Maybe you should ask your friend the Pharaoh," Seto seethed, "Who determined the only way I could ever believe in his Egyptian fairy tale was to saddle me with one of his artifacts."

"Look Kaiba, Yugi's needed those Millennium Items. It don't make sense to give 'em away once he's gotten 'em. And if he was gonna do somethin' stupid like this, he would've told us."

"Would he? I didn't realize Yugi had to ask The Committee before making decisions that had nothing to do with them," said Seto. "And what business is it to you, Wheeler? Are you upset that your best friend entrusted a Millennium Item to, of all people, me instead of one of you?"

"You don't even believe in that stuff," Joey crossed his arms. "It all 'hocus pocus' or whatever."

"What I believed doesn't matter anymore does it," Seto snapped. "And it's no business of you or your nosy friends."

"Well I –"

"Joey?" said Yugi, hovering at the office doorway. "We were wondering what happened to you. …And we heard you guys yelling from the party."

"Yellin'? We weren't…" Joey trailed off at the look of absolute murder Seto was giving him from his seat. "Yugi, I think you got some explaining to do. Why the heck didn't you tell us that you gave the Millennium Rod away….to Kaiba of all people?"

"I…didn't think it was right," said Yugi, "It was between me – well, the Pharaoh – and Kaiba."

"Yug', I know – more than most – how dangerous that thing is," said Joey, pointing at the Millennium Rod, still clenched in Kaiba's grip. "I can't believe you gave it away."

"It's not dangerous, well, not in his hands," said Yugi. "You have to trust me. I had to give it away."

"Why?" Joey asked.

Yugi sighed. "You've been to the museum, so you've seen the stone tablet of the Pharaoh with the God Cards…."

"Yeah," said Joey, "So?"

"You know that's Kaiba on the other side of the tablet. It's got the Blue Eyes above him and the Millennium Rod in his hand."

"Uh huh," said Joey, "What are you tellin' me, that Kaiba was supposed to have that thing, like you and the Puzzle, or Bakura and the Millennium Ring?"

Yugi nodded. "…Yeah."

Joey shook his head. "I don't believe it." He turned to look at it again. "That thing…has caused so much damage. What it did to me an' Téa…and Mai…how do you know it won't happen to Kaiba too? Or that he won't be the one behind it all?"

Seto scowled as his phone vibrated against his desk. "You really think I would allow myself to get possessed by an inanimate object? I have more than–"

Joey turned and looked back at him curiously. Seto had cut himself off, and was solely focused on the message on his phone's screen. "You uh…gonna finish that thought?"

Seto held up a hand, still staring at the message. A second later, he reached into a drawer of the desk and pulled out the television remote, turning it on, and flipping through channels until he found what he was looking for.

It was a news story, with the running tag line on the bottom of the screen scrolling "HOLOGRAM MISHAP?"

"…At least three people were seriously hurt after a mysterious attack on Duelist Kingdom Island, home of Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of the wildly popular card game, Duel Monsters. Security was alerted to strange light flashes on their surveillance footage, and men in masks entering the castle. This is still a developing story, and we will update more information as it comes in to us…"

"I don't get it. What makes that a hologram mishap? I don' see any Duel Monsters runnin' loose," said Joey. "Did they think the masked people were monsters or somethin'?"

"I…think it's that," said Yugi, pointing to the screen. High in the sky, hovering over the castle was an enormous skull, with a serpent protruding from its open mouth.