Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter.

Warnings:

Primarily be based on the Yu-Gi-Oh manga universe and the Harry Potter book series.

Several years ago (16-17 years ago actually)

December 23

Far from any large civilization, in land of sand and sun was an oasis hidden by sand dunes. If one stood on any of the five giant mountains of sand that surrounded it, one could see they made a small enclosed valley with the oasis at its center. However, it any other direction, nothing could be seen except the barren desert that rolled with the gentle waves of sand dunes that reached the horizon. On the other hand, if one dug deep enough into the same sand dune (a feat that would take much time and aid), one could come across an underground tunnel. Appearing similar to the tunnels excavated for the tombs of kings no longer worshiped, theses tunnels were much wider and much more stable than any of the ones created by archaeologists.

These tunnels twisted and turned and sometimes going up and down levels until it was all a giant maze that weaved around the aquifer that feed the oasis at the surface. Tunnels would eventually branch off to provide doorways to the world above or ending in chambers for the multiple purposes of the inhabitants. However, in one chamber that few were ever allowed to enter was a stone table. On top of it was a large roll of papyrus paper and papyrus reed. These materials were made not even two centuries ago but the seeds from which the papyrus grew from were collected from the tomb a high priest over 3000 years ago.

The reed laid flat on its side before it stated to float upwards with quick jerky motions. It made its ways to dip into an empty container (the same containers that used to house its seeds for millennia), before making its way to the papyrus scroll. With fluid motions, contrasting to when the item first "woke up," a name was quickly written down. Once it floated away, the jerky motions took over to return the reed back to its place.

...

June 4

On an island in the Far East, hidden deep in a mountain cave underneath a tall Japanese palace, laid an ancient bamboo scroll on a short wooden table. By its side on an ivory plate, was a brush as ancient as the scroll. Its handle was made of Cherry wood and its bristles were from the tail a tanuki. The set was seemingly left together alone in the room when suddenly the brush quivered and lifted into the air by an invisible scribe. Without dipping into any sort of inkwell, the brush touched an empty section of the old scroll. Instantly, black ink seeped from the dark fur of the brush and onto the paper below. With the gentle fluid movements of an artist and poet, the brush drew a name in kanji. Once done, it floated back to its ivory board to rest once more as the black ink finished drying in this secret cave.

...

September 2

Deep in the Pyrenees Mountains in the south of France, a beautiful chateau sat nestled among numerous enchanted gardens and fountains. Among the vast landscape of the valley was a small secret garden. This garden's location was unknown to the throngs of teenagers and preteens clad in the light blue shade of a clear day's sky in early spring. In fact, even the majority of faculty in charge of the cyan-robed students of the student was ignorant of this garden and the objects that lay within the walls of the towering hedges. Inside; at the center of the garden was a light-colored glass gazebo that housed and protected a small crystal table. This table supported an ancient quill sitting in a golden inkpot and a large book several centuries old.

Delicately, the quill floated up as if blown by a quiet breeze that should not be present; before gliding gently to its book companion. With a few looping strokes, the quill wrote down a name that can be seen underneath another in a list that went down the center of the page. Once its deed was done, the quill gently floated back to its empty golden inkpot to sit before it was needed again.

7 years later (9 years ago)

In a little game shop with a facade resembling a turtle, a little boy looked up towards the highest shelf behind the cash register. It was a gold box with a stylized eye that seemed to beckon the boy's own violet eyes to it.

"What's that Papa?" asked the boy to the man sitting behind the counter.

His father, a man that had crazy hair just like his son, albeit of a shorter length replied," I think Grandpa said it was a puzzle."

With those words the boy's eyes grew wide.

"Can I do it?" he pleaded.

The boy's father turned toward the puzzle with a slight frown and mumbled, "I don't know."

The golden box was certainly an attractive showpiece for the store after the grandfather of the family decided to sell it. He had given up on it after some unsuccessful years of trying to solve the puzzle. If someone were to purchase it, it would bring a hefty amount to the store's income. It might even be enough of a bonus that he could go to one of the big game and toy expos in Europe or America this year.

However, with a sly glance at his son's apprehensive face, the boy's father remembered the reason he started the game shop – his love and joy of games. His heart swelled thinking about his son also shared his passion (never mind at the age of seven all kids do) and his mind was made. With a smile, he turned to his son and said, "You can have it, but first let's make sure that it's OK with Grandpa. It is his puzzle from Egypt after all."

With a big grin splitting his face, the boy bounced toward the back shouting, "Grandpa! Grandpa!"

Much later, after dinner and desert, an older short man resembling the father son duo, used a step ladder to reach the golden box containing the gold puzzle pieces. He gave it to his jumpy grandson with a small chuckle, "I hope you'll have better luck than me."

"I want to see it finished before I die," he added mischievously. His grandson's eyes widen and nodded in a serious promise while the father face palmed at his own father's humor.

With the box in hand, the boy felt completely giddy with excitement. He barely noticed the feeling akin to a cool blanket being draped over his body.

At the same time, somewhere on an island, in a mountain cave, on a wooden table, an invisible scribe took up the Cherry wood tanuki brush. With a single stroke, white ink that came from nowhere drew a line straight down the name….

...

Yugi Mutou.

2 years later (7 years ago)

A little boy with white hair and large brown eyes trembled in fear. His father was being attacked by dark shadowy snakes that just slithered out from nowhere. He ran to help his father but the man yelled at him to grab the golden object he faintly remembered was called a ring. He desperately grabbed it in obedience, hoping it would somehow stop the attack.

In what seemed like a blink, he was no longer kneeling on the floor. Instead, he was standing up on the opposite side of the room. Looking down, he stared in horror at his father's lifeless body. A curtain of cold numbness washed over him as he fell to the floor, hugging himself. He was going into shock and his mind quickly started burying this event deep into his subconscious. Eventually, he would no longer recall what happened to him.

When he would wake up days later in an Egyptian hospital, it was to his mother by his bedside and the golden object still in his grasp. All he would learn was his father had passed away along with his some orphans and their caretaker. The little boy could only quietly sob while hugging the item.

Unknowingly, the minute the boy touched the golden object days earlier; there was another reaction to it that took place hundreds of miles away. A book that lay on a crystal table in a glass gazebo flipped its pages before settling to open a particular page. The quill beside it lifted almost mournfully out of its inkpot. With one uninterrupted stroke, a single line crossed off the name…

...

Ryou Bakura.

1 year later (6 years ago)

A young boy with blond hair and lavender eyes clenched a golden rod. The body of his dead father was against the wall.

And somewhere, in another room that was also buried underneath by tons of sand and hidden from the sun, a man started to read and copy the names recorded on the papyrus scroll onto separate pieces of parchment paper.

He was surprised and delighted to see the papyrus reed jerk upwards. It was a rare treat to see a new name being written down. However, the papyrus scroll didn't unroll to the blank sections. Instead the reed drifted to the same section that he had been working on and drew a line straight across a name.

The man's eyes turned downward in mourning. He knew a crossed off name meant that the magical signal of the person could no longer be detected. It meant the person has died because what else could snuff out a magical signal. He has seen some names crossed off before because one can never predict death. Still, this was the first time he actually witnessed the event. To actually know at this moment a magical life had winked out.

The man looked at the crossed off name. He had just written down this name on a copy of the standard school acceptance letter. The man opened an unused drawer of the desk he was using that was situated by the stone tablet. He gently placed the letter in the drawer while muttering a prayer for the dead. As he slide the drawer back in, he glanced once more at the name…..

...

Marik Ishtar.

6 years later (Present times)

"Let's get out of here!" Someone yelled as the underground walls of the tomb started to crack and break. The group of teenagers pounded their feet as they wove through the tunnels and leap up the stairs as fast as they can. Once they all reached the surface and a safe distance from the collapsing tomb they all gave sighs of reliefs. Some were glancing towards the entrance with various expressions that ranged from wariness to sadness to fondness and one boy glanced up to the sky with hope for the future in his eyes.

...

At the exact same time, in three separate locations, three different forms of writing tools, wrote down three different names in three different alphabets. What they all had in common was that these names were not written in the newest sections of their books nor were they being written down for the first time. Pages were flipped or scrolls rolled to the location where these same names first appeared sixteen years ago and later crossed off at various moments in time.

The fur-tipped brush wrote the name over and over the old kanji symbols until the white line was barely noticeable but still visible under the fresh black ink. The ancient quill made graceful loops that recorded the name, not in the center as usual, but more to the side of the page; right next to the same crossed off name. Finally, the papyrus reed, not quite as old as either of the brush or the quill but at the same more ancient than both; wrote its name next to its older twin but then floated several inches above the scroll. It continued rewriting the name over and over in the air in a seemingly endless loop that was waiting to be discovered.

Author's Notes

I enjoy reading YGO x HP crossovers a lot and it's so sad that it's essentially a dying breed. There's not enough new ones coming out/updating frequently and a lot of the old ones haven't been completed or even gotten very far. So the next step to satiating my YGO x HP phase is to write one.

1. Guess which two out of the three schools is actually part of the HP universe. The third is completely made up.

2. According to the manga Yugi lives with both of his parents as well as both paternal grandparents. His father specifically is said to be a businessman who often travels. Since it's been established that Grandpa was an archaeologist, it makes sense for his businessman father to be the actual owner of the game shop. Running a business is tough stuff, not exactly a one-man thing to do in your 60s. It's plausible that Yugi's grandpa mostly manages the storefront just to have something to do during retirement (and help out his son) while Yugi's father does all the business end of the game shop such as inventory, budget calculations, promotions, and traveling to game expos to find the latest craze such as Duel Monsters…

3. Slight spoiler from the Darkside of Dimensions if you noticed.