Summary: After Harry's fourth year, Dumbledore realizes that his blood protections won't work, and so sends him to live with his second cousin who happens to live in Japan, by the name of Ryou Bakura.

Disclaimer: Don't own. Sorry, there won't be any funny ones here.

A/N: IWA: I'm back! No, I haven't died, and no, I also haven't fallen of the face of the Earth. I've simply been in that alternate reality called "College". My brother, Vyrexuviel, and I just started working on this, so interest in this one is pretty high. I'll probably write some more during break, then forget about it when I go back to school. Have no fear, though, I will NOT leave a story unfinished. I'm OCD like that.

Prologue

The door to Dumbledore's office opened and the old wizard stepped in. He softly closed the door and strode to his desk. After feeding Fawkes and stroking the phoenix, he turned and addressed the air. "I know you're there and listening. I have much to say and little time to say it in." He sat behind his desk. "­­­­­­­­I realize this must be a shock to you, but listen well, it's important.

"Magic is ambient throughout the world. Like elemental Air or Fire. Indeed, it was what the ancient Greeks referred to as the Fifth Element. (IWA: No jokes about multipasses, please.) Like the other elements, it can be manipulated, but unlike them, it is not as limited to a specific set of effects it can produce. Fire, for example, is very good at destroying things, but it is extremely difficult for even the most skilled manipulators of Fire to create something from it. On the other hand, Water is adept at healing, but is very weak when it comes to damaging things. The problem with Water is that it's difficult to find it in large enough quantities to do much damage, except on the coasts.

"Magic, however, is only limited by the imagination of the manipulator. It can be shaped as easily into a harming form as it can be into a healing one. However, getting Magic to do anything coherently requires lots of practice and patience.

"The first four elements require minimal study, if the person in question has the aptitude. If he doesn't have the aptitude, he'd be better off using Magic, as it would take nearly as long to develop the necessary control. Everyone has an aptitude towards one element; a rare person has two elemental aptitudes, but never for opposing elements. No one has an aptitude for Magic, hence why it takes so long to control."

He shifted a bit, then stood, moving to the cupboard. "So, to recap. All five elements can be manipulated, but Magic is both the most versatile and the hardest to control. Raw magic can be very damaging, but has a bad habit of doing random things as well, such as turning the caster's hair blue.

"Shadow Magic is not native to this world, and as such leaves a faintly unsettling aura where it's used in great quantities. However, since it's not native to the world, it can only be used if the mage has an innate connection to the Shadow Realm. Such people are extremely rare, maybe one every ten generations, and usually wind up being hunted by the magical community. Part of the reason is that Shadow Magic can and will drive the user insane if used too freely. It's not native to this plane of existence, and warps first the mind, then the body of the one who uses it.

"The Millennium Items render their wielders immune to this effect due to the fact that the connection to the Shadow Realm is through an inanimate object. This object doesn't have a mind or a body to be warped, so the negative aspects of the use of Shadow Magic are nullified. Malik was a true Shadow Mage, hence why he was able to draw so much power from the Item he carried. He augmented it with his own power.

"Bakura, on the other hand, was driven insane by 5000 years of solitude with nothing to do."

The Headmaster strode across the room, checked a curved retort containing a bubbling liquid, then resumed his speech. "Even though the yamis have their own bodies, there is only one of each Item. When the new bodies were created for the alternate souls, they were bound inextricably to the Items in question. If an Item is wielded by someone other than its rightful owner, then the release of Shadow Magic is not as controlled as it should be, resulting in a slight backwash which affects the current user. That's how Malik found out he could enhance the Rod's power.

"Yugi is the rightful owner of the Puzzle. Yami has learned how to tap the power of the Puzzle to shield himself from the ravaging effects of the use of shadow magic. The same is true for the other Items.

"The yamis are dependent on their Items for existence, because they keep their new bodies from disintegrating, but they've learned how to use Shadow Magic by spending LOTS of time in the Shadow Realm, and have found ways of keeping the warping effects at bay. Bakura, not so much. And Marik..." Dumbledore trailed off, sighing and shaking his head, sitting at his desk now.

"The rightful owners can wield the Items correctly, as their souls align the energies released by the Item in a precise flow that creates whatever effect they desire. Unconsciously, they each desire for the souls trapped in the items to have a body of their own, so the Items project Shadow Magic to make such bodies. The souls still reside in the Items, but their senses and actions are relayed to the bodies they seem to inhabit.

"The yamis' bodies are soulless husks animated by the power of the Items and are inextricably bound to them. If the yami ticks off his hikari enough, the hikari can cease the flow of energy which animates the body of the yami and he'll get stuck in the Item again.

"The effective range of the Items is unknown, as no one can get far enough away to test it. More than the diameter of the Earth at any rate, so the yamis don't have problems with being away from their hikaris. It doesn't matter, though, as the Shadow Realm contacts all points on this plane of existence, and the bodies just draw power from the Shadow Realm. The release of such power is dictated by the Items, which exist simultaneously in both this Realm and the Shadow Realm.

In the Shadow Realm, each Item is a building. The Puzzle is a pyramid, and so on. Each building reflects the shape of the Item. As they are connected, the hikaris will know if their yami uses Shadow Magic, but only if they concentrate on it. Otherwise, the knowledge remains subconscious. Only major acts of Shadow Magic insist themselves on conscious awareness, like if Bakura was trying to send an entire building to the Shadow Realm." (IWA: Ryou wouldn't be too happy with him about that, though.)

At that point, there was a timid knock on the door. The Headmaster stood, stroking his long beard. "I said that time was short, but I didn't know how short. Come in," he called.

The door opened with a soft creak.

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IWA: Well? What'd you think so far? The first chapter should be posted soon, I think… I'm loath to give you a time limit, though, 'cause I'd just miss it. v.v (sigh) I hate being a procrastinator.

A/N(2): Just proofread this and caught SO many mistakes. Not to mention it was completely written in present tense. Well, that's what I get for letting my brother write it.