Chapter five
Chapter four: Last preparations before Hogwarts
Bakura woke up, he let out a groan. Something was clenched to his cheeks, and he felt wet all over. There was something soft under him, but it was rough at the same time. It tickled him a bit, but not too much to make him giggle. His limbs felt like they had not been used in thousands of years. What happened?
He was sure this was not the circumstances he normally woke up to, but right now he did not quite remember. He clenched his teeth. What were these emotions? No, he did not need to think about that right now. He needed to figure out where he was and then check for danger. He might as well be in the midst of danger.
His eyes snapped open, he saw a wall covered in moss, mould and creepers. He felt shallow as he started to get on his knees. He rubbed his eyes with his hands. Wait… his hands… his hands?!
His hands were not Ryou`s skin tone! No, they were more similar to Malik`s, what was happening? He looked around and he gasped audibly. Around him Ryou, Yugi and another person. He looked like the pharaoh and it was most likely him too!
He thought back to what he could last remember, he remembered panic, Ryou hurt and then nothing. They were supposed to go and do a ritual and got attacked by a monster. The bastard Dumbledore did not help them, so they had to do it themselves! Plus he could not take over Ryou`s body to help! He gritted his teeth, anger bubbled up inside him.
It felt like fire was to burn him alive. Burn him to dust, to a diamond. He was to kill with that diamond, no, he was the diamond. He was going to kill!
This time when he studied the room he looked for eventual traps, for a white beard bastard who he was to kill! He noticed that he was in one of the cells they had walked past when they came here.
He strutted towards the cell bars. They were locked, he stared at them. The anger had not subsided one bit. He tried to call forward the shadow realm and felt a sick happiness strike him as it came as easily to him as robbing a high priest. The blackness of the shadow realm surrounded the bars and when the shadows evaporated the bars were as good as gone forever.
Dumbledore was nowhere in sight outside of the cell, on the left side of him there was a dead end and on the right the hall stretched out as far as the eye could see. He let out a scream, before he went inside the cell again. He looked at Yugi and studied him for a minute. He kneeled down beside Yugi and searched his clothes and chuckled under his breath as he found the knife as clean as ever, but soon enough it would be stained.
He sprinted through the hall as fast as he could and tried to avoid things on the ground, but since he had just woken up with this body it was unfit for this kind of physical strainment. It was his pure will to kill Dumbledore at that moment who kept him going.
The door showed up way too fast for them to have used such a long time to get to that cell! He thought back, could they have walked extremely slowly or perhaps a spell was involved?
He pushed the door open, it was hard, but his willpower got it open after a few seconds of struggle. It shut firmly behind him and the cave they had entered to come here corrupted in lights from candles along the cave walls.
The guardian laid on some stones beside the door. It eyed him carefully. Bakura glared at it in return. Time for it to get paid by its own medicine, Bakura thought and launched at the creature with a knife.
The creature dodged and turned towards him, it flapped its tail. Bakura launched at it again, but this time threw himself to the ground, so he ripped the stomach open with the knife. The blood poured out and splattered on his face. He groaned.
He shrieked in agony as something had bit into his leg. Its sharp teeth opened flesh and his own blood poured out over the floor.
“You act irrationally,” the guardian said. Bakura turned to glare at it, he saw the snake tail and cursed himself for forgetting such an important detail. He tried to call forth the shadow realm, but the similar feeling felt lost. He could not even feel a spark of it as he would even though it was far away. He himself was basically the shadow realm and would have been able to call it forth from far away from one of the millennium items.
“You can't call forth the shadow realm, you first have to fill the condition of Akhet,” the guardian explained and motioned with his snake tail to his heart. He protectively held his hand in front of it.
“I never agreed to this!” he shouted. The guardian wrinkled his face.
“You did,” it stated.
“Not to fight that monster!” he said angrily. The guardian narrowed his eyes on him.
“The headmaster didn`t warn you of Bahrd and what it could do?” it asked thoughtfully. Bakura nodded. His anger started to subside a bit. There was something missing with the way the guardian reacted.
“Ah, I can understand your anger, I will fulfil your true wish when the time comes, just call my name,” the guardian promised. Bakuta wrinkled his brows and frowned.
“What is your name?” Bakura asked, as it sounded empty if he did not know the name.
“You will know when the time comes,” the guardian said.
---
“Ugh, where am I?” Atem sat up and held his head. He was confused to say the least. This room? Why were they here? He looked around, and both Yugi and Ryou appeared to be fast asleep. He frowned. Yugi and him were separated. Had he faced out?
He looked at his hands, his eyes widened. They were different, these were not Yugi`s hands, they were, who knows who`s hands? “Oh you are awake,” a voice said from outside the room, which had no door.
Atem looked shocked at the tomb robber. What was he doing? How did he also have his own body? The body in question also looked a lot like the past tomb robber. Scar on his face and he also wore the same robes, just a younger version, perhaps ten or eleven years old.
He wore ancient Egyptian robes himself.
“What is going on?” he gave Bakura a suspicious glance as he stood up on his feet. He had to be up to something? This was already strange and he was here which meant nothing good happened. Bakura gave him a calculating look, he looked like he was thinking about something thoroughly.
“Do you not remember? The ritual?” Bakura looked alarmed as if something was wrong. Atem looked around, he had forgotten the ritual, but now that Bakura mentioned it he remembered everything. They had walked into a cave then they had met the guardian and then he did not remember. That might be a side effect of the ritual though.
“I remember now,” Atem stated. He looked around, he wrinkled his nose. He had noticed that someone was not here. Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is Dumbledore?” he frowned and stared accusingly at Bakura.
Bakura glared back, but shook his head. “I have no clue, he has appeared to have left us alone, that bastard!” Bakura sounded very angry and grit his teeth so it echoed through the room.
“Well, since you are awake, I think it is time to get out of here. Help me get those two with us,” Bakura took Ryou and lifted him up and placed him so he gave him a piggy ride back. Atem was still suspicious, but lifted Yugi up the same as Bakura.
“If this is one of your lies then I will give you a punishment,” Atem snapped his head to the side and started to walk through the cell and out into the hall. Bakura followed.
They walked in silence and reached the door soon enough. That was fast, Atem thought.
“Hey pharaoh! Come help me get the door open!” Bakura smirked and gestured to the heavy stone door. Atem groaned, but came to help still. They pushed it, it was heavy, but they managed to get open. It shut firmly behind them when they were through the door.
“Not bad, pharaoh,” Bakura mocked and stuck his tongue out. Atem glared.
“I have got to say the same for you tomb robber, I didn't think you knew anything other than how to rob people of their precious belongings,” Atem mocked back.
“Oh, I certainly know how to open doors, how else would I rob them?” Bakura snorted. Atem`s lips thinned.
“Well, you needed help with that one.”
“I see you have made it out,” the guardian interrupted before anyone could get a word out. Bakura appeared to give the creature a glare.
“The headmaster left me this foot wear to give you, he said it would lead you back,” the creature informed and pushed out a boot from under them. “However please leave the cave before you decide to leave with the foot wear.”
“Okay, Fleroks,” Bakura said and got the shoes. The guardian looked a bit offended, but appeared to let it go.
“Fleroks?”
“It's their name,” Bakura shrugged. “No, it is not,” the creature muttered.
---
Malik awoke, he had the whole day ahead of him. He let out a groan, he wanted to go back to sleep, there was nothing for him to do when both Ryou and Yugi were somewhere else to do a ritual to have the spirits of their respective millennium item get their own body.
He had not thought about how he felt about it, because in the end it was not his decision to make even though Yugi and Ryou had asked for his perspective. How would it be to have Atem and Bakura… here. Bakura… he would be a pain in the ass, but that was because of mutual hate. Atem - he had a dilemma with him, which he shared with Bakura. Atem was less punchable than Bakura, but he did not want to back out of his childhood belief completely. He had more or less admitted he was wrong, but that does not mean that he would tolerate the pharaoh. That was what he and Bakura had in common. While they had some other shared interests, past acquaintanceship has led to a less pleasant relationship of the mutual agreement that they get on each other's nerves.
He would have seven long years to share with all of them at a magical school, which up until recently he had not known existed. He knew magic existed, what was his three thousand year old family line for if he did not know that? However, he had not known that this type of magic existed, which was weird since his family had been involved with magic for a long time. They had possession of many magical artefacts and old scrolls which told them about ancient and historical magic.
He fell into a slumber with the help of thoughts. Half dream, half awake.
He was in a big forest, the kind which was easy to get lost in, the kind you did not go in without anyone to help you. What was he doing here? There were pine trees all around him, moss on the ground. It seemed that the forest had not been occupied by humans for a long time, at least not this part of the forest.
He started to walk over the lightning he had found himself in and in between the trees. The trees swallowed him in darkness, it appeared night. He felt uneasy, there was this vibe to this place that Malik did not like. It was similar, which was worse. Nausea washed over him.
“Malik…” a voice said. He snapped around, no one. He started to sweat and that said something. It sounded familiar.
“Malik…” the voice repeated. What was this? Where did this voice come from? He looked around himself, no one was around.
“Who are you? Show yourself!” He stood in a defence position, his hands out in front of him.
“Malik, I am right here,” the voice laughed. From behind him, he threw himself around. No one.
“I said show yourself!” he shouted. There was a pause in the air.
“Now would you like to know who I am?” Would he? A strong wind and a loud banging sounded through the forest.
He shot up from where he had been sleeping. He panted and made himself breathe properly. There was knocking coming from the door. He dragged himself up and over to the door and cautiously opened it as he was still affected by the dream.
On the other side of the door a Dumbledore stood, but no Yugi or Ryou. No Atem and Bakura either.
“Hello Malik, I have the supplies that some new roommates need,” he said. He got two trunks of school supplies pop out of nowhere and said a spell and two more beds appeared out of nowhere. This must be Atem`s and Bakura`s stuff.
“If you could tell them to go to Ollivanders and get their own wands that would be great, the wand chooses the wizard or witch, so I could not get the stuff for them, they will come soon,” Dumbledore said. Malik stared for a second. The ritual must have taken longer than anticipated.
“Okay professor,” Malik said. It was strange, should Dumbledore not be with Ryou and Yugi now?
“Do you know where Yugi and Ryou are?” he asked and studied Dumbledore. He appeared calm, not anything out of the original.
“They will come soon, but they are okay,” Dumbledore informed. Malik nodded. He left it at that and they said their goodbyes.
---
Ryou awoke by the feeling of moving. He was not walking himself, but someone had planned to take him somewhere. He stirred. White hair?
“Oh, you are awake,” Bakura`s voice came. He stopped. Ryou was baffled. What happened? Were they in a virtual world? How could Bakura have his own body?
“Do you remember anything?” he asked. Ryou shook his head. What was he supposed to remember? He looked around and saw that they were in a forest. Bakura let him climb off his back. He saw that Atem was carrying Yugi. Who appeared to have woken up.
“Well, we have done the ritual, we were actually just planning to take the portkey back right now,” Bakura explained. Ryou then remembered the ritual, but not much surrounding the ritual. This must be the aftermath of the ritual. Both Atem and Bakura looked to have taken the form of their past life self, but a younger version than they had seen in the virtual world.
“Oh okay, but is Yugi okay?” Ryou asked. He was worried for his friend, he felt stiff himself, but that was all.
“Yeah, I am,” Yugi smiled.
“Are you okay?” Bakura asked. He had thin lips as he studied him. Ryou felt a bit weird, but otherwise he felt fine.
“Yeah, don't worry,” he reassured. He was surprised Bakura asked, but he let it be.
“We left the cave and are on our way back to Leaky Cauldron, we have to buy our stuff, school starts tomorrow,” Atem shifted his grip on Yugi and gave an encouraging smile towards Ryou who gladly returned it.
“Everyone hold this boot tight!” Bakura said. Everyone took a grip on the portkey and it spun.
When Ryou opened his eyes, they were in a new room with five beds, but it looked like a room the leaky cauldron would provide.
“Hi, there you are!” Malik said from where he sat on one of the beds. He looked bored, but appeared to have been looking through a magazine of some sort.
“Hi Malik,” Ryou smiled. Bakura and Atem stood behind Yugi and Ryou. They looked a bit awkward.
“Wow, you guys look like real ancient Egyptian guys,” Malik smirked as he gestured towards the two new humans. Bakura glared at Malik.
“Yeah, we took the form of our younger past selves,” Bakura said.
“Would have been a drag to explain why two eighteen year olds went to Hogwarts, wouldn't it?” Malik said. He did have a point, Ryou thought.
“I don't quite feel like an eighteen year old, I feel like I am eleven again,” Atem said, he looked conflicted.
“Perhaps you are, you do have the body of one and it has the bodily function of an eleven year old,” Yugi said. He shrugged.
“Well, we have to get our stuff, but if you guys want to be in here all day like some idiots, then I will find a way to get all my school stuff,” Bakura said. Ryou then understood that both Atem and Bakura had not gotten anything on their supply list.
“Oh! That is true, you need to get the stuff on the supply list,” Ryou said.
“Yep, that's right and judging by the time you took to get your supplies we have little time to do it and might not get all the we need,” Bakura said matter of factly.
“I never thought I did see the day you cared about that sort of stuff,” Malik smirked. “But you don't need to, Dumbledore already bought all the stuff you need,” Malik gestured to two trunks in the corner. “However, you need to get the wand yourself.”
“WHAT?! That is what the bastard did? I am not going to believe that,” Bakura marshed over to the trunks and started to drag stuff out. He looked at each item, inspecting them. Everyone was surprised. Bakura seemed easily angry, but usually not like this.
“Seems like you were correct,” he muttered and after he had looked through both trunks. Everything was thrown on the floor now.
“Why did you do that?! Now you have to put everything back,” Malik said. Bakura glared at him, but started to put them back in their rightful place. Ryou would never have guessed that Bakura of all people would willingly clean up after himself.
“We should probably leave and get that wand, the clock is already five pm,” Atem looked at the clock in the room. “Bakura, you can clean that up later.” Bakura gave him a glare.
“Don`t tell me what to do.”
Atem sighed. “Well, we will be going now.”
--
They found Ollivanders soon, Atem had memorised the way to Ryou`s and Yugi`s impression. Bakura said he would come soon after he had cleaned his mess up, but he and Malik had gone at it with an argument no one but them understood.
They all went inside, Ryou and Yugi looked around amazed by all the boxes of presumably wands.
“I didn't think I would get someone come in so late,” an old man behind a desk said. He smiled. “But better late than never, wands presumably?”
“Yes, we are here to get wands,” Yugi confirmed. He looked around the room, there were so many he could not see the end of the wands.
“Well, you can go first then, what`s your name?” Ollivander asked.
“Um… Yugi Motou…”
“Okay, wait here,” he vanished behind a pile of wand boxes. He came out again holding a box.
“Here try this, 12 inches, unicorn tail hair, maple,” Ollivander handed him the box and Yugi took out the stick.
“What should I do with it?” Yugi said, as he remembered Malik mentioned that the wand chooses the wizard or witch. He did not know if this wand was the correct one.
“Give it a little flick,” Ollivander instructed. Yugi did what he said and a hurricane made a pile of wand boxes fall. Yugi flinched, was that supposed to happen?
“Not that one then, but on the right track,” Ollivander said to himself and took the wand. He vanished again and found a new wand.
“Here, try this, 14 inches, unicorn tail hair, Cypress,” Ollivander said. Yugi did not understand what those unicorn stuff meant, but he gave the wand a flick. This time a wind swept over them, but much more controlled.
“Ah, that's the wand for you, it's a good wand, a loyal wand. It is hard to turn it into dark magic. It also chooses brave individuals, I am sure you will achieve great things,” Ollivander said.
“What about you? What`s your name?” Ollivander turned to Atem.
“My name is Atem Sennen,” Atem stood tall as he said it. Ollivander went to a nearby shelf and pulled out a box.
“Try this, eight inches, unicorn hair, applewood,” Ollivander again said. Atem did the same as Yugi, but nothing happened.
“Not that one then,” Ollivander said and took away the wand. It took many tries before Atem found a wand who set a whole curtain on fire.
“Well, something similar, how about this one, 12 inches, phoenix feather, Aspen,” Ollivander took out a wand and Atem gave it a flix. It did not set anyone on fire, but instead lit a candle on fire.
``Oh that's amazing! That's the wand for you, it`s a good wand for duelling, it chooses strong-minded individuals and it has a great deal of magic. This will surely lead you to greatness,” Ollivander said. Atem had made a face on duelling, if it had anything to do with duelling it might as well be Atem`s signature.
“Now, what is your name?” he turned towards Ryou.
“...My name is Ryou Bakura,” Ryou fiddled with the hem of his shirt. This is the second magical item he would get, the first one had ended up okay, but was a disaster for quite a while. It would be natural if he felt a bit nervous, Yugi thought.
As Ollivander had done with both Atem and Yugi he vanished and soon came back with a wand box.
“Nine inches, unicorn tail hair, cherry,” Ollivander handed the wand to Ryou.
Ryou's hand shook a bit as he took it. He closed it as he gave it a flix.
The bell that signalled a new customer rang. Ryou opened his eyes.
“Okay, so I am do-” a big pile of wands fell on a frustrated-looking Bakura. He got caught by the hundreds of wand boxes. Ryou looked horrified, Yugi stared helplessly at the pile that now had drowned Bakura in a cage of wands. Atem had a neutral expression on his face. Yugi thought he would like to laugh, but had the dignity not to.
“Oh dear,” Ollivander found his own wand and cast a spell and all the wand boxes piled themselves in its rightful place. Bakura sat on the floor, he had his arms crossed. He had an irritated look on his face.
“So who might you be?” Ollivander stretched out a hand to Bakura who ignored it and got on his own feet.
“Bakura,” he dusted off his now new clothes. Seemed like he wore some of Ryou`s clothes, now that Yugi thought about it he wondered why no one had commented on Atem`s clothes as they did not quite fit in with modern clothes.
“Oh, another one, you do look a bit alike, but different ethnicity. Are you perhaps related?” Ollivander took the wand from Ryou who just stared at Bakura.
“You can say that…” Bakura glared at Atem who had a neutral expression still present on his face.
“Oh, but now that I think about it, Yugi and Atem also look alike,” Ollivander came back with two wand boxes this time. “Yeah, many say that,” Yugi rubbed at a spot on his head.
“Here, twelve inches, phoenix feather, hazel,” Ollivander handed another wand to Ryou. “Also to you, fourteen inches, veela hair, redwood,” Ollivander turned towards Bakura and shoved a wand into Bakura`s hands.
“I guess you are also here for a wand,” Ollivander said. Bakura just nodded.
---
The clock in the Ollivander shop showed eight pm. They had almost been here for three hours. Ollivander had made Ryou try every version of the Hazel wood wand, because he said he found that it responded great, now the core was the problem. Bakura had tried many wands alongside Ryou, but had not found his either. He had started to look incredibly bored. Yugi and Atem had decided to stay and keep them in company, though Ryou had reassured them many times that they could go.
“Okay, this is ridiculous, are there any wands that like us?” Bakura let out a yawn. It had been a long day, and he felt like his limbs would fall out. Not that he knew the reason why, but these wands all just would not respond correctly according to the wand man.
“Sometimes it takes a long time for one to find the correct wand, now try this,” Ollivander gave Bakura a wand. “Eleven inches, Curupira hair, red.”
Bakura gave it a half-heartedly flix and when the window broke into a trillion pieces he groaned. “Ah, we are on the right track,” Ollivander declared. Bakura did not understand how that was on the right track, but at this point he would take whatever.
“Now, I will give you this wand, Ryou, I spared it to last as it will shock anyone who isn't its rightful owner,” Ollivander said and handed Ryou another wand. “Twelve inches, African mermaid hair, hazel,” and of course it was hazel.
Ryou`s hand shook violently as he reached for the wand, he appeared to not like the shock part of the wand, but when nothing happened he gave it a flix and a soft wind came through. It was ironic Bakura thought, Ryou had just gotten rid of an artefact who would stab people who was not its rightful owner, just to get a wand who did basically the same.
“Ah, that one was really your wand, well, hazel indicates that one is very intact with their own emotions and it can perform a great deal of magic. It will surely help you greatly. It can also detect water,” Ollivander nodded to himself as he had achieved something great.
“Oh, I understand now, I know which wand will suit you the best,” Ollivander vanished again, excited. He practically came jumping back with a wand box.
Bakura immediately felt suspicious of it, it had a different vibe than all the other wands. Mischievous.
“Fourteen inches, curupira hair, olive,” he shoved the wand into Bakura hands like he had done with so many of the others. Bakura eyed it warily. It was special, he knew.
He gave it a flix. He had no idea what to expect, but he was not surprised when the glass which had been on the floor in trillion pieces fixed itself and looked as good as new. There did not seem to be a single piece left on the floor, but he could not know since it had been in a trillion pieces.
“That is really it, yeah, curupira hair indicates someone who is unpredictable, but they are unstable. They however choose a talented person. Olive as wand wood has unknown qualities,” Ollivander informed. Bakura knew that fit and by the group`s reaction they knew it too. As for the talented part, he knew this wand stole. Nothing else could explain it, he would just have to steal back, but he was professional at it. He smirked.
--
They were back at Leaky Cauldron, Malik had wondered what had taken such a long time, even he had not used that much time. When he had found out that Bakura and Ryou had taken up much time to find a wand that liked them, Malik laughed.
Now they ate late dinner, Malik had taken some food earlier due to hunger, but said he was up to some more. Bakura picked at his food and ate some bites.
“Have we seen Kaiba since that day in Diagon alley?” Ryou asked out of the blue. He took a bite of his food. Everyone paused.
“No…” Yugi put down his spoon. He ate some kind of soup, but it was not like anyone knew anything on the menu.
“Perhaps he died?” Bakura picked some more at his food. He waved his hand in the air in a nonchalant gesture.
“It's Kaiba, of course he wouldn't die,” Atem commented from where he ate his salad.
“It was just a suggested know-it-all,” Bakura took a bite of his food. He grimaced. “Disgusting.”
“I did rather be a know-it-all than being a know-nothing,” Malik said, defending Atem. “Oh? I say I know pretty much.”
“Anyway, I will go up,” Bakura stood up with his plate and threw everything in the rubbish, including the plate, which got a glare from Tom. Tom had been a bit surprised when two new students suddenly residented there, especially since it was the last day before the school started. The student in question also looked alot like two of the others.
“Bakura? Is everything alright?” Ryou looked concerned. The spirit, well, now human have acted weird since he had awoken in the forest, perhaps it was the ritual side effect or something.
“Yeah…” Bakura paused. “Yeah, I am fine.”
-
Bakura marshed up the stairs and down the hall so he stood in front of the door which led to the room which they would leave tomorrow. He felt weak, too weak. He was supposed to protect Ryou, but he had failed miserably. He had got his shadow magic banned by some unknown guardian on an impulse he appeared to not have been able to control. What was wrong with him? He normally would make a plan.
He opened the door, and the room now had five beds. He gritted his teeth. That Dumbledore had also left them, he knew he should not have trusted him. He felt angry, he would make Dumbledore pay for what he had done. He will make him suffer, this was not going to be an impulse, this was going to be a thought out plan and he would fulfil Akeht`s wishes whatever they were. He would figure out the guardian`s name and get it to fulfil his wish.
He eyed the trunks that Dumbledore had gotten them, he felt that he could not trust those, they made him mad just by looking at them. He had acted irrationally lately, he should be more on guard. He would have to gain as many people`s favour as he could. He got to be perfect.
--
The night seemed to stretch out, Bakura laid awake on the bed he had assigned himself. Furthest from the pharaoh. The others were asleep, he did not know what to do. His limbs felt numb and ached with something he did not know what was. It felt like pain, but different. His eyes also hurt, so he closed them. Just let them be closed for a few minutes, perhaps the pain will go away.