Yu-Gi-Oh!
Episode Nine and Three Quarters

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – PARTING COMPANY FOR THE SUMMER

Days later found Marik sitting under a tree on the front lawn of the castle, the owl Panseru hooting next to him and a piece of parchment in his lap. He stretched, letting out a lazy yawn, before starting on a letter to his sister, Isis, back in Japan.

Dear Onee-san,

School's almost over, and I'll be coming back home
within the week. Hope you haven't missed me too
much! Oh, and you don't have to worry about me
scaring the neighbors; if I use my magic outside of
school, I could get expelled, and I don't want that.

Guess what! We won against Ravenclaw in Quidditch!
But… it doesn't really matter much as far as house points
are concerned. Gryffindor is so far behind; we have no
chance of getting the House Cup. Oh well, maybe next year.

You're probably going to hate me for this, but I gave the
Millennium Rod to Seto. Actually, never mind; it doesn't
matter if you hate me for it, because Seto hates me enough
already. I don't know what he's complaining about; the high
priest is actually a pretty cool guy.

He was about to write more, when someone tossed something at him, nearly making him blot the ink. Marik caught the offending object and was about to snap at whoever threw it, when he realized exactly what it was he was holding.

The Millennium Ring!

He looked up in surprise, spotting the person who threw it. Yami Bakura stood not all that far away from him, his arms crossed and a bit of a scowl on his face.

"Take it," he said. "I don't want it anymore."

Marik stared at him as if he grew another head.

"There's no catch," the tomb robber continued, walking closer until he was standing just above him. "The Ring has the power to transfer one's soul into something else, so I've taken up permanent residence in my hikari. You needn't worry about any after effects from me."

Marik stared at him for a good moment, before saying, "Okay, here's a good question: why!"

Yami Bakura smirked, putting his hands on his hips. "The damned thing almost got me strangled down in that chamber. Besides, it hasn't been working for me since Pharaoh got his memories back, probably because it misses your ancestor, the high priest Mahaado."

Marik frowned in thought. "Which high priest was that?"

The tomb robber waved a dismissive hand. "The one that's sleeping in Yugi's deck right now."

Marik was about to ask what he meant by that, when suddenly the normal Bakura took control. He rubbed the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed.

"Gomen, you two," he said, "but I really should go and see if my final scores are in. Ja ne, Mark-kun!"

With that, he took off toward the castle, leaving a very confused Marik in his wake. He shook his head before looking down at the Millennium Ring in his hand, hardly believing that the tomb robber actually willingly gave it away. Of course, he still had the Millennium Eye, but he knew Yami Bakura would not be so desperate as to try and use it. Despite how many times he complained about how his hikari was useless, he would not force the usage of the Eye on him.

Marik shook his head again, before slipping the leather strap that held the Ring over his head and letting it dangle around his neck. It felt good there, almost as if it belonged. He fingered the points a bit, before turning his attention back to his letter.

Onee-san, you know how I always said that tomb
robber was a little batty? What he just did really
takes the cake…

-.oOOo.-

A massive headache pounded in the back of his head, stirring Yugi into consciousness. He opened his eyes, staring up at ceiling of the hospital wing of the school. Dizziness overcame him almost immediately, and he shut his eyes once more, wishing his head would stop pounding. His movements obviously caught someone's attention, as he felt a slight weight at the foot of the bed he was in. He opened his eyes again, to see a patched up Harry smiling down at him. He opened his mouth, as if to say good morning, but stopped and cleared his throat.

"Ohaiyo, Yugi-kun," he said instead. It sounded a little odd coming from his mouth, especially with his English accent, but it got a smile out of Yugi all the same.

"Good to see you again, Harry-kun," he said, his voice coming out a little weak. "How long have I been out of it?"

"A few days," Harry answered. "Don't feel bad. I just woke up myself. Here, have some chocolate, it'll help clear your head."

Yugi never would have imagined substituting a piece of chocolate for aspirin as a headache cure, but the piece of dark chocolate Harry handed him worked faster than any Motrin or Tylenol he had ever popped into his mouth. Apparently, the darker the piece, the faster it worked.

"We should be able to go to the end of year feast tomorrow," Harry said, grabbing a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from a pile next to his bed that looked like half the candy shop. Yugi looked over to the side of his bed to see the other half of said candy shop. "Pretty amazing, hunh?" Harry continued, seeing the perplexed look on his face. "As Dumbledore put it, what happened between us and Quirrell is an absolute secret, so of course the whole school knows about it. Apparently, Fred and George tried to send us a toilet seat, but Madam Pomfrey took it away. Good thing too; I don't know about you, but I wouldn't have wanted to wake up to see that."

Yugi chuckled, sitting up in bed and looking around. Spotting the Millennium Puzzle resting on the nightstand, he grabbed it and slipped the chain over his head.

Welcome back, aibou, Yami Yugi greeted him almost immediately.

Good to be back, Yami Yugi-kun, Yugi replied, before going for a chocolate frog out of his own pile.

"Um… Yugi, er… both of you," Harry began, still a little unsure of how to address his other half. "Thank you… thank you for saving me back there. I don't think I could have made it without you."

Yugi smiled. "Hey, we promised each other we would help one another out in the beginning, remember? That wasn't just limited to class work!"

Harry sighed. "We'll definitely need to help each other out at the feast tomorrow. Slytherin won the House Cup, and I can only imagine how pig headed Malfoy's going to be."

-.oOOo.-

Apparently, when Harry said that the whole school knew about what happened down beyond the trap door, he meant that they knew everything, including the fact that Yugi, Seto, and Bakura were possessed by Egyptian spirits. Some students, especially ones from Slytherin house, kept giving them strange looks as they made their way down to the Great Hall in the company of Marik that night. The young Gravekeeper looked like he was going to have a fit, but Yugi managed to calm him down before they entered the Hall.

The great hall was decked out in drapes of the green and silver house colors of Slytherin, with one large drape behind the professors' table showing off the Slytherin snake, much to everyone's disappointment. Yugi and the others sat down in their respective seats, trying to ignore Malfoy as he looked at them with a sickening smirk on his face. Harry joined them soon after, and then the whole hall fell into a hushed silence as Dumbledore stood up at the professors' table to make a speech. Yugi and Marik more or less zoned out – Slytherin had four hundred and seventy-two points, Gryffindor had three hundred and twelve points, yadda, yadda – until the elderly headmaster started awarding extra points!

"First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points," Dumbledore announced.

Ron turned so red, it was hard to tell where his hair ended and his face started, as the other members of Gryffindor house started cheering the second youngest Weasley. The cheers died down, and the headmaster continued.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione buried her face into Marik's shoulder, crying in shear joy as the students started cheering again. The Egyptian flushed bright red, rubbing the back of his neck as a goofy grin spread out across his face.

"Third!" Dumbledore shouted, so as to get the Gryffindor's to calm down. "Third, to Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

The shouts of joy coming from the Gryffindor table were so loud, they nearly shook the bewitched ceiling. Their house was just ten points shy of being tied with Slytherin! If only they had eleven more points…! Dumbledore raised his hands for quiet, and it took awhile, but he had it once again.

"And lastly," he began, "it takes a great amount of courage to keep a secret, but even more courage to risk that secret's exposure to save a friend in need. Therefore, to Mr. Yugi Mutou, Mr. Marik Ishitar, Mr. Seto Kaiba, and Mr. Ryou Bakura; I award each of you fifty points for your houses."

The resulting explosion of cheers, shouts, and applause from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor nearly made Yugi go deaf. He sat in his seat, shocked, as people started congratulating him and pounding him on the back. They had overshot Slytherin by ninety points! They had won. He closed his eyes, tears of joy welling up inside of him.

We did it, Yami Yugi-kun! he exclaimed. We really did it!

Yami Yugi chuckled within his mind. Way to go, hikari. Congratulations.

-.oOOo.-

Their bellies full and their eyes drooping in a need for sleep, the seven friends left the Great Hall to make their way back to their respective common rooms. They were about to part company, when someone shouted for them down the hallway. All seven of them stopped, not even bothering to turn around, as they already knew it was Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle behind them.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you, starfish-head?" Malfoy asked. "You and your friends have gotten awarded for being freaks of nature!"

Everyone else in the hallway also stopped. Some of them were excited, as if they were hoping they would get their first chance to see the Egyptian spirits they had heard rumors about. After a moment of considering, Seto smirked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Marik-kun, I seem to recall you making a bet that whoever cast a Batsu-game on him first would get a day at the arcade, your treat," he said.

Marik raised an eyebrow. "Are you taking me up on that bet?"

Yugi fingered a corner of the Millennium Puzzle, a slow smile spreading onto his face. "You know, this would be the perfect time to do it too," he said. "Gryffindor has already been awarded the House Cup, so we don't have to worry about loosing points."

Bakura cracked his knuckles. "This should be fun."

All seven of them exchanged amused looks before Yugi, Seto, and Bakura spun around to face Malfoy, their darker selves taking over. The pale blonde boy let out a shout of surprise and made like he was going to run, but Yami Seto pointed the Millennium Rod at him, making him stop in shear terror.

"Oy, Malfoy, don't go anywhere," the high priest said, a smirk creeping up on his face. "If you want to prove to everyone here how big you are, then you'll have to play a little game with us…"

-.oOOo.-

Before any of them knew it, the school year was officially over, and they were all packed and ready to go off to the Hogwarts Express. Seto was loading up his belongings in the horseless carriage that would take them to the train and was about to head off to the boats to join his friends, when he became aware of something shouting from his back pocket. He reached behind him and pulled out a small glass jar, big enough to fit in the palm of his hand, with an even smaller Malfoy inside, shouting and pounding his fists against the glass.

Rolling his eyes, Seto popped the mesh top open and tossed the contents out. The pale blonde boy appeared almost immediately, shaking, an angry snarl on his face.

"You… you… you…!" he stammered.

"Shut up," Seto replied, "and be grateful that Dumbledore went through the trouble of having your things packed for you." Then, to add insult to injury, he tossed Malfoy the jar. "Have a souvenir."

The look of absolute rage on Malfoy's face was so priceless, Seto wished he had a camera. He kept a firm bite on the inside of his mouth, trying desperately not to laugh out loud, as he rejoined his friends at the boats.

Soon, they were all back on the Hogwarts Express, sharing a large compartment, talking and laughing as they ate Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and chocolate frogs; and letting out shouts of triumph or groans of defeat as they played Duel Monsters. Outside, the scenery sped past, going from rolling green hills to muggle towns in the blink of an eye. Before long, they were pulling off their wizard robes, swapping them for jackets and stuffing them away to be used next year as the train came to a slow halt at platform nine and three quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took a while to get through the barrier back to the muggle world; they did not want to be all popping out at once after all!

"You've got to come over this summer," Ron insisted as they filed into line, "all of you. I'll send an owl."

Some people jostled them as they moved toward the barrier. Still others called after them:

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, Potter!"

"Still famous, eh, Harry-kun?" Marik asked, a grin on his face.

"Not where I'm going, I assure you," Harry insisted.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron went though the barrier first, and then Seto, Yugi, Bakura, and Marik followed soon after. As soon as they emerged, they heard a little girl squeal in excitement.

"Look, Mom, there he is, look!"

They turned to see Ginny Weasley, the youngest of the Weasley clan, pointing and tugging on her mother's sleeve excitedly. She was not pointing at her brother, however…

"Harry Potter!" she exclaimed. "Mom, look—!"

"Stop it, Ginny, it's rude to point," the roly-poly woman scolded as they approached. "Busy year, dears?" she asked them.

"Very," Harry answered.

Seto bowed respectfully. "Thank you for the Christmas sweaters, ma'am."

"Oh, it's no problem, dear."

Yugi was about to add his thanks as well, when a familiar voice rang out from the crowd.

"Onii-sama!"

Seto barely had time to react as a flying bush of black hair came toward him. He caught his young brother as he jumped on him, giving him a tight hug around his neck and nearly strangling him.

"I missed you so much, Onii-sama!" Mokuba exclaimed, getting a chuckle out of his older brother.

"It's all right, Otouto," he assured him. "I'm back for the summer."

Mokuba pouted. "Only the summer?"

Seto laughed at his brother's expression as more surprise visitors came up to them. Marik went over to his sister almost immediately, giving her a warm hug before talking excitedly in Egyptian.

"Oy, oy, Yugi-kun!" Katsuya Jonouchi exclaimed, mussing up his best friend's hair. "Did 'ya have fun?"

"You weren't too much of a terror for everyone, were you?" Sugoroku Mutou asked jokingly.

Yugi let out a giggle, rubbing the back of his neck. "Nope, not too much."

Jonouchi then drifted over to where Marik and Isis were talking, one of his goofy looks on his face. "Oy, Marik-kun, I bet you guys know a lot of cool hocus pocus now, ne?"

Bakura, Seto, and Yugi sweatdropped as Marik focused a stony faced expression on him. "Baka koinu."

Jonouchi growled as the others chuckled, looking like he was going to hit the Egyptian.

"Ready, are you?" a voice suddenly snarled.

They all turned to see a large, mustached, purple-faced man, scowling down at Harry. Behind him was a thin woman with too much makeup and jewelry and an unhealthily pudgy boy, both of them looking at all of them with terrified expressions. Yugi gulped; he remembered Harry telling him about these people. They were the younger wizard's Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley.

"You must be Harry's family!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"In a matter of speaking," Vernon replied coldly before turning back to Harry. "Hurry up, boy. We haven't got all day."

He walked off, but Harry hung back a bit, getting in a last word with his friends.

"See you over the summer, then," he said to Ron.

"Hope you have a… good holiday," Hermione replied uncertainly, watching Vernon's retreating back and wondering how anyone could be so rude.

A smile broke out on Harry's face, however. "Oh, don't worry, I will," he assured them. "They don't know I can't use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer."

With that, he took off after his uncle. Yugi waved after him, shouting, "Ja ne! Harry-kun!"

Harry turned as he ran, waving back. "Ja ne, Yugi-kun!" he shouted back. "See you at school next year!"

Yugi smiled. School next year… he would never admit being more excited going back to school. The summer could not go by fast enough; he could not wait to go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!