Tracking shadows.

The Pharaoh, the Hikari, and the Tomb keeper ran, speeding past what seemed like thousands of artefacts and pictures, all looking like they were steeped in history. Paintings, rugs, the stone walls and the armour all seemed to breathe life into the air, making it taste like old leather. However, the three barley took notice off it, as they were to preoccupied with not falling over there own feet to worry about the air.

"Idiotic Tomb robber…" Malik snarled, falling in behind the Pharaoh as he ran. "This better be important…"

"Must…be…" Yami panted. "You don't here the tomb robber shout like that often."

"That's what… you think." Malik snorted, and picked up the pace a beat.

The sound of the Tomb robbers voice was getting louder and louder as the trio zipped and zagged around the many corners, finally stopping when they had found the familiar locks of white hair, leaning over the edge of…

A balcony?

"Bakura!" Yami shouted, tossing the clothes he was carrying aside before running to them. Malik and Yugi followed suit, but almost stopped and the sight.

Dozens of stairs, some moving, some not, reaching to different floors of the school with ease. It looked like a long way down, and hanging from the edge of one of the stairs was Ryou, whose weight was pulling Bakura off the edge too.

"Baka no Pharaoh! HELP ME THEN!" The man roared, making Yami hiss before he grabbed Ryou's hand and pulled hard. The boy came up flying, landing heavily on the concrete floor besides Malik, who nearly burst out laughing.

"Ryou! Are you ok?!" Yugi was patting his friends back with wide eyes, but relaxed when Ryou silently nodded 'yes'.

"How did that happen?" He inquired, still chuckling, to the moody looking Tomb-robber.

"We were walking, and then the stairs started moving." He mumbled, not bothering to help Ryou up. "I hate this god-damn place." He narrowed his eyes at Yami, who wasn't really expecting a 'Thank-you' from the other male, and grinned.

"I cant believe… you followed me here!"

"Not too pleased to see you myself, Tomb robber." Yami retorted. "And you knew I was coming here." The white haired Yami murmured something under his breath and then placed his hands firmly on his hips.

"Now, your Highness, we are even more lost. Care to explain how we get back to the office?" He watched in amusement as Yami's face fell dramatically.

"I guess…" Malik smirked. "We keep walking until we find it." He picked up the forgotten stack of clothes and left.

"What?!"

"That sounds like a good idea."

Hours later…

"Bad idea, Malik. I know!" Bakura put on a high pitched, squeaky voice. "Lets keep walking till we find it!! Pah!" The tomb-robber scowled heavily as he sunk to the floor, along with his tired looking Hikari, another exhausted looking Hikari and a reluctant Pharaoh. Malik remained standing where he was.

"You didn't have any ideas, idiot!" Malik growled. Sensing the friction, Ryou coughed quietly, rousing their attention.

"Well, maybe, we can ask him…" he pointed randomly to a picture, where a man and sitting comfortably in an armchair, watching them with interested eyes. His friendly smile soon disappeared into a frown as Malik and Bakura both advanced on him, looking menacing.

"Tell us where the way out of here is!!" Malik spat, shaking the frame a little. The man panicked but remained in his chair.

"W-well, all you have to do is to keep turning left…"

"Keep turning left?!" Bakura roared, making the man run seemingly off the frame, leaving an empty picture. "What nonsense-"

"Its worth a try." The Pharaoh cut in, before the white haired Yami could rant. "Lets… keep going left."

He turned back the way they came and pulled Yugi along with him, who pulled Ryou, who pulled Bakura, who pulled Malik, who was sulking. The tomb robber and the tomb keeper where convinced that this wasn't going to work. And the former of the two was getting violent about the whole situation.

"That old man…" The spirit growled, cracking his teeth together. "I am going to kill him when I find him!!"

Everyone rolled their eyes.

There was a quiet applause from the four houses as Professor Grubbly-plank's name was announced, which slowly died down as the headmaster at the front of the hall opened his mouth to speak again. In front of him, lay four tables: one red, one blue, one yellow and one green, all looking expectant to hear the latest trends or gossip from there friends and colleges.

However, one Harry Potter, was not thinking of this. He wasn't thinking of the fact that his best friends had become prefects, or even of the OotP and the events at the Black families house, but of the fact that at the front of the hall, there was a new face. A revolting, new face which made him want to be sick. Who was that women, anyway? Realising the fact that he hadn't been listening to his teachers speech, his head instantly snapped up at the mention of a new teacher. Ron and Hermione both bristled up as well.

Wait… this woman was to teach DADA?!

"Hem hem." She stood up, wearing the most revolting piece of clothing known to man, and smiled sweetly. "My name is Professor Umbridge, and I must say, this is a most nice welcome!"

People in the audience were eyeing her suspiciously, some looking confused, others looking scared, most looking entertained at the fact that her voice was way too squeaky for its own good.

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say-"

"BANG!"

Everyone jumped. The teachers rose their wands, Umbridge hid behind Dumbledore, Harry leapt to his feet, and the students heads swung round to the main door where the sound had been heard. The doors remained shut, but everyone could hear the muffled cursing behind it. The head master relaxed, knowing full well what it was, but for the rest of the school, it sounded like an attack.

"BANG!"

The noise came again, and some of the girls squealed in fright.

"What the bloomin' hell is that?" Ron gasped, wide eyed. The muffled cursing continued, until finally, there was a huge explosion of sound, in which the hall's doors were ruthlessly forced open by three people, who looked out of breath and ready to kill.

"Baka…" The voice from the one with the white hair and the red eyes was low and throaty. "BAKA!" The hall was silent, except for the heavy breathing of the three new students, who had used all there body weight to open the doors. There sides ached, there feet hurt and they wanted sleep above everything else.

However, they still had issues to address with the headmaster. And, from the Gryffindor table, Harry narrowed his eyes.

White hair, pyramid necklace, decorated eyes. These people, wherever they had come from, did not look like they were here for good intentions. Ron widened his eyes and quietly whispered to Harry as he sat back down; "Who the hell are these… guys?"

And then came speech, which baffled nearly all the students.

"You don't tell us where a thing is, and you expect us to get around properly?!" Of course, a very small percentage of the people in the room knew Japanese. And so, everything remained eerily calm as Bakura stormed past all the people who were staring at him, and looked Dumbledore right in the eye.

"I thought you were going to stay in the Library, Mr. Bakura." the headmaster answered in Japanese. He quickly instructed the teachers to lower there wands, but the more faithful ones kept them up. There was friction in the air, and everyone was confused as to what exactly was going on.

"Well, you thought wrong!!" He turned to face the entire school, glaring at them with slotted crimson eyes that held danger. Malik and Yami remained at the door, quite amazed by the amount of people in the room.

/Wow, Yami…/ Yugi breathed from his soul room. /There are so many people…/

/I know./

"Students and Teachers," Dumbledore announced with a grand sweep of his hand, making everyone somewhat relax again. "These are three new-"

"HEM HEM!" Everyone jumped again, as the seemingly forgotten, sweater wearing teacher emerged from her hiding place. "Well, this is most uncalled for!"

"Shut up." Bakura said simply. "I have no intention of listening to your whining."

"What? Young man, please speak the appro-"

"Hn? You're still talking, mortal!?" Immediately, Umbridge backed down and hid again. Of course, the tomb robber didn't understand a word she was saying. Understanding English was Ryou's job.

/The eyes, Yami!/ Ryou squeaked from his soul room. /They are all looking at us!/

Bakura simply ignored him.

"Now, as I was saying, these are three new students transferring into the fifth years this term. This is Mr Ryou Bakura," Bakura growled. "Mr Yugi Motou," Yami politely waved at all the people staring at him. "and Mr Malik Ishtar." Malik snorted and walked up to the front of the hall by Bakura, making girls 'ahhhhh' in fascination at his beauty and boys hiss at his overall look.

"They shall all be studying and learning just like the rest of you, and shall all be joining the Gryffindor house."

There was anxious murmur's throughout the entire hall. No sorting hat, no nothing, they had just been placed there. Harry raised his eyebrows as he caught the look the head-master was giving him, but said nothing.

"That bloke with the white hair ought to be Slytherin, the way he was shouting his mouth off!" Ron booed, shaking his head in dismay. Beside him, Hermione agreed.

"Its just interesting," Harry said mostly to himself, "how they ended up being here."

"You don't think that Dumbledore… wants them to be here for a reason?" Hermione had a searching look in her eyes, meaning that she was going to delve into these new people as much as she can.

"I don't know…"

"That is all. Please return to your house common rooms, and-"

"I do believe that I didn't get to finish!" There was a collective groan, in which everyone glared at the person responsible. She had already made enemies of most of the people in the room, and now the teachers, ever patient, were starting to detest her very presence.

"This is unacceptable! Three… boys barge into the room, shout at me in a language that isn't my own, and then they simply get away with it?!" Umbridge's face was red from shouting as she puffed and wheezed breathlessly.

"Please, children, go back now. I shall talk privately with Professor Umbridge." The spark of mischief in his eyes were gone, and were placed with mild annoyance. The students left slowly, along with the teachers who were hurrying them along, not wanting to miss any action. But, as the three students stood there, looking bored, they decided they had better things to do and left, leaving the five in the hall alone.

"I demand an apology." Umbridge sniffed, pointing at Bakura, who was half-asleep by now.

"Um, Mr. Bakura?"

"Huh?" Ryou stood confused as he snapped out of his thoughts to face the man.

/Why did you give me control?/

/Because I am going to kill that woman./

"What did you need, sir?" Ryou asked timidly, shuddering at his Yami's tone of voice. Umbridge was surprised at the sudden English, but shook it off rather quickly and glared again.

"An apology."

"Oh… Arigato." He bowed to both teachers. Dumbledore fully well that this was not the same person that had been speaking a few moments ago, but ignored it. Umbridge, however, was looking smug as if she had understood him perfectly.

"Good. Now, I shall take my leave." She waddled away from them, exiting the room and allowing the four left to finally relax.

"I don't like her." Yami muttered, turning his crimson gaze upon the door. "I don't like her one bit."

"Please bear with her, boys." Dumbledore sighed. "You are probably wondering what Gryffindor is?"

"We, meaning Bakura and I, know sir. It is one of the four houses."

/I knew that time in the library was good for us./

/Shut up, it was boring./

"And the reason for putting you there is because of a certain boy." There was twinkling in his eyes again, but the three students didn't notice it. "You will know who I am talking about when you see him. Now, remember, look out for any information, and try and found out about these shadows as quickly as you can."

"Got it." Malik yawned. His arms were heavy where he was still subconsciously carrying those darn clothes.

"Now, follow the students that are currently outside the halls doors, eavesdropping, to your common room. Good luck, boys!" The head master smiled, and Yami bowed to him. Malik dipped his head briefly, and Ryou shook his hand.

"Im curious…" Malik smirked. "I don't think he is as stupid as he appears." It came randomly, but Yami and Ryou nodded their heads anyway.

/Are you not coming out, Yugi?/ Yami asked, but Yugi yawned.

/Too tired… You don't mind, do you?/

/Not at all, other me./

And sure enough, as soon as they opened the huge doors, they came face to face with three students, looking very much like eavesdroppers. One ginger and freckly, one with bushy hair and one with glasses and a weird looking mark on his face.

"Can we help you?" Yami asked, and then immediately clamped a hand over his mouth.

That… that wasn't Japanese!

/Yami!/ Yugi wailed, confused. /How is it that you are speaking in a different language?!/

/I don't know! Im talking Japanese now, aren't I?/

"A language spell." The bushy haired girl spoke, making Yami jump slightly. "You are Japanese, correct?" The man nodded, wondering if she had read his thoughts…

"But when!" His hand flew to his mouth again subconsciously. It was going to take some time to get used to that. He spun around, trying to open the halls doors, but they were closed.

"Maybe when you didn't notice?" Ryou asked, making Yami settle a little.

"Malik?"

"You called?" Malik wasn't startled by his own English, seeing as he spoke many languages already. A new one was just a bonus. "Don't worry about it, Yugi. So, what were you guys listening too?"

The three English students all stared at each other cautiously.

"Nothing. So, you guys are in our house, right?" The blatant change in conversation was obvious, but Harry felt it was necessary to avoid any arguments with these guys. Their first impressions hadn't been spectacular.

"Hai. I mean yes." Ryou was confused that his friends were now speaking English, and was trying to adjust to it subtly.

"Well, its nice to know. I am Ron Weasly." Ron shook all of their hands, and hesitated when he got to Ryou's. But, for some reason, he looked different… like when you know someone that had worn glasses all there life, and then they suddenly took them off. He shook his hand in the end anyway.

"I am Hermione Granger." She also shook their hands, looking happy that the three new students were rather attractive. She took plenty of extra time on Malik, who she found handsome. Ron stared at him, envious.

"And I am Harry Potter." Harry winced, but no comments came fourth. It was surprising, for someone who was used to having gasps at their names to receive silence instead. He shook there hands firmly, feeling a slight nagging feeling at the back of his mind, yet he didn't know what it was. He brushed it off easily, and smiled at the three.

"And I suppose you already know our names." Malik shifted the clothing in his arms, to stare at the ginger boy who was somewhat glaring at him. Malik raised an eye brow and said nothing more.

"Yes, Malik, Ryou, Yugi!" Hermione squeaked, most unlike herself. She was pleased she had remembered all of that, because now she was hoping that she looked good in front of the three. Ron glared at the Egyptian some more. "Come, we will show you our common room."

The six ascended the steps to the common room in partial silence. The three English students were looking at Ryou's ring, and Yugi's puzzle in interest, as if trying to figure out why people would wear such absurd things outside. Harry couldn't wait anymore, and broke the silence with a question that Yami had been waiting to receive.

"Weird pendent." The boy-who-lived stated, staring at it closely. "Is it real gold?"

Inside his soul room, Bakura growled loudly. He quickly switched places with Ryou, as crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes, Yugi." He hissed, eyes narrowing. "Is it real gold?"

Yami narrowed his eyes as well. This subject always made Bakura murderous. He knew fully well how the millennium items were created, and Yami explained that it wasn't his fault at all. He still didn't know all his memories, and Bakura was not helping by dragging up his earliest ones and starting feuds over them.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all shuddered together. The looks they were giving each other were fatal, and they couldn't see why such a question had provoked such emotion. But, being the curious people they were, they mentally decided between themselves that they would discuss it later.

"Stupid Pharaoh…" Bakura muttered in ancient Egyptian, swiping his tongue over his teeth. He always done that when he was angry, Ryou noted, and he was doing it obsessively now. Malik smirked at the statement, and the original trio, who didn't understand a word of that last statement, were left in the dark as the silence fell again.

Lol, my storyline is twisted and makes no sense! :3 anyhow, thank you all you lovely reviewers! I want to hug you allll!! -hug- :D

Whitewolfkitsune xxx-