Chapter ten: Three Questionings

I tried doing some last minute editing but there is no auto save here :O

Taking liberties with the Memory arc, Bakura with prior knowledge turned around three years of the Pharaohs rule into less than a week, many of the events were rushed and compacted by Bakura himself.

My friend is going to be so pissed when he finds out I clocked in 60,000 plus words on a fanfic when I've barely got chapter one finished for the work I want to have actually published. O.o

He will never know.

Brief Case

The appearance of Dumbledore had been so perfectly timed, it nearly convinced Kaiba that this whole thing was a stunt. That everything was a big old stunt and everyone around him was in on it. He was waiting for Pegasus to pop up and admit that this whole thing had been staged for a cheap laugh, with reality cameras popping up out of everywhere, Malik getting up from next to the fountain from his cationic state and laugh with Bakura, who would straighten up and stop acting injured.

"Darcy" would be revealed to be an actor that tailored her entire character to impress and blend in with them, she would loudly proclaim that she better have gotten enough screen time for the episode to kick start her acting career. Yami would then try to convince him that this was all still real- NO, MUTOU. HE MENT MUTOU.

There were no cameras, no stunts, no actors. Time to finally suck it up and admit that this was not a trick and no one was out to make him a fool. His life was in danger, his brother was in danger from his involvement in this.

Seto Kaiba was not blind, Battle city, Malik's attempted high jack of his tournament… And he hated to say it, after years of turning his head covering his ears and closing his eyes to the truth that's been in front of him for years. Magic was real and it threated to take him and everyone around him down as well.

He could not explain the words he heard in his head that were not his, how he could speak a language he never learnt and how he could feel the language translate in his mind. It had been so gradual. It started as whispers, then to voices that sounded no different than a speaking person. He found himself talking to what appeared to be nothing to normal people. If Wizards can be considered normal that is.

There was one thing that cemented that this was not a setup had been the Mind Link. At first he wasn't able to respond in his head, and up until half hour ago could not understand the gibberish that was the Ancient Egyptian. He slipped up once and no one had ever picked up on it. He had not known what to make of it, if they had not been distracted by Malik's arrival they might have reflected back and saw it. If this whole scenario had been to fool him, why did they not make a big deal of it?

He couldn't deny that he felt a strain from taking the final step to summon something. Peten the Dark Clown giggled and moved like he was a real living breathing creature. No hologram could be solid, no computer program is that sophisticated to listen to any command he gave.

Mutou, other Mutou, looked like he could collapse the moment Kaiba looked away. Picking up on the changes had become easier now he chose not to be blind. Mana was out doing half his work of watching over the others while they were this weakened.

Bakura, the spirit, was walking even when he shouldn't be. After the first warning he found no reason to give another to the Thief. He wasn't going to rest until Malik was up again and frankly, if the Pharaoh wasn't- goddamnit not again.

With a sigh he sat down on the edge of the fountain. Spirits were one thing but Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs were another. It was almost too much to take in at once. But everything always happened at once, how was he expected to drop what he knew and start believing in this nonsense?

They had refused to go anywhere after the Ministry sealed the entrances off and swatted their media away with out-dated cameras with bright flashes. He had lost Harry sometime after the wizard equivalent of SWAT charged in. Kaiba was sure the wizard boy had been carted away by someone, either Ministry or of Order affinity he did not know. They were going to have to talk to him very soon because as far as Kaiba was concerned Potter was just as in deep as they were, and having more shoulders to stand on is always an advantage.

Basil had stuck with them, adamant not to leave them again. He was making sure no one tried forcing them again until Dumbledore himself had freaking appeared to help them. He snapped at anyone that tried to inquiry on what happened, even on threat of arrest. They were no one's present jurisdiction, so until someone came it was the best to leave them along before things became that much more messy.

He was still going over everything in his head until Basil had given chocolate out. Malik had revived himself after Basil waved her wand at his face for a while. A little drama than predictably Bakura was at his side, the conversation while translated did not perk his interest other than the conformation that Malik wasn't going to start killing people anytime soon. He didn't need to find a distraction when the woman walked up to him, a chocolate bar in hand.

"Please don't try to strangle me." She said in an almost joking manner. "Chocolate is good for the effects, muggle studies show it's a pretty good anti-depressant."

"They didn't affect me." He said bluntly. He did not mean it to deny the chocolate on principle, but from genuine lack of a need for it. There had obviously been some type of effect that sucked the strength out of everyone. Everyone but him. She sat next to him on the fountain, he ignored it as the common consoling gesture it was. He did not like pep talks.

"They… must have been concentrating on the others." She started slowly, like she was scared of his reaction. "They go for the ones that have suffered severe trauma, or have extreme regrets and made terrible decisions they wish to take back." His eyes darted to Ishtar and Bakura, then Mutou and Mana. He was not sure how long their mind links reached, but his covered a very large area.

"There were a lot of them. Are you telling me every single one ignored me?" He asked flatly. He did have no severely traumatizing events that he still hasn't recovered from, or any large regrets. But nothing at all? He knew there was something wrong with that and he was finding out why that was.

"Dementors concentrate on feeding first, planning later. They made the British ministry believe that they were under their control to gain executioner rights. They must have felt your presence and went into a frenzy." She finished, and the information still didn't satisfy him.

"And this Dark Lord, in the past he had them under his control." He said, she would have known obviously, just a little more information.

"Yes, their alliances shift to the cause that would feed them. Voldemort had let them rampant before he went down, then they changed to the ministry." Her features darkened. "They are the only creature I would love to see become instinct."

She said nothing else on the matter and they sat in silence. Giving up on it for the mean time he started with his own theory.

"This can work to our advantage still. This Ministry is not going to admit they lost control of those things without an external force to blame. Not with foreign representatives here to look bad in front of." He looked over to the left entrance, where cameras and reporters were being continuously pushed back. Just like home they were scrambling for a story, the grander the better. "They will have to consider to the public the possibility of the Dark Lord returning after something this big."

"And I hope that happens so you guys can finally find a way out of this mess. You're only kids." She sighed deeply, getting back up. "But you guys won't see yourself as that. Good luck to you guys, I hope you all get out alright."

She walked over to a group of Aurors that were coming their way and intercepted them.

[I need to find a bargaining chip. Cover me.] Bakura's voice filtered through the link.

Rod

Malik came back to his senses when a chocolate bar was pushed under his nose.

It was one of the oddest things to happen directly after having your worst memories resurface and repeat like the first time they occurred. He was propped up, by the sound of it he was leaning on the fountain, the water rushing again. Basil was leaning over him, waving her wand in front of his face.

"Oh Thank Merlin your eyes started to focus." She said, relieved as see put her wand away. "Do you know how hard it was keeping you out of Mungo's for testing?"

She only left just before those creatures attacked. Why did she leave them in the first place? How was it possible to find the one person that could listen to your conversations, the one person that can 'naturally' see spirits across the hall at the pub you were staying at? What of her promise not to tell the Order of their communication link? What was she planning?

He was calling bullshit on this one.

He grabbed the front of her robes and pulled her forward, he went for the Rod, and realized it was not clipped to his side as it always was. Mind probing and stabbing were out of the question.

"Who are you?" He hissed darkly. A flash of genuine fear crossed her eyes and he grinned. It was good that she had some sense.

"Get back." Bakura's harshly shoved the woman out of the way. How Malik had missed the Thief hovering over them he blamed on disorientation, anything past the thief was still blurry. Bakura looked like he had gone through the shadow realm blindfolded and bumped into every creature. "Malik, calm down-"

"Oh stop it, I haven't gone Dark." He tried getting up,finding that he was having trouble to he gave up. "I don't trust her." He sent her a dirty look. She brushed herself off and excused herself quickly to annoy Kaiba with her chocolate. There was a low chance of her knowing Ancient Egyptian, so maybe their link while not as safe as it had been would stay untranslatable.

"No one does but you would still be in la-la land without her." He grunted, crossing his arms. Malik could tell he didn't like the idea of owing her anything. "So her life is still not forfeit at the moment."

"Where's the Rod?" He asked, pressing to a more important matter since the Thief clearly didn't have it. There was no item or wristlet in sit, covered in clothing. They didn't want to show that they possessed the items, The Order had specifically mentioned that the Ministry was corrupt and had sleeper agents in their ranks, as well as 'ex' members.

"The Magician took it off me, thought I would make off with it." Bakura huffed. "Serious trust issues."

"Good. Tell her she'll have to hold it for a while." He said. He ignored the surprised look as he sank deeper into thought. "Actually, I need her bag."

"Why? What was so important about the artefacts you took?" he asked, why did he sound so… hostile? Was that the right word? There wasn't anything he took from the Dark Art's shop that he could

"Not the artefacts." He shook his head. "Bakura, the wands from the Death Eaters I killed, the other thief was not able to retrieve them. The ministry must have them, how else did they find out our involvement if not for those bags? The only thing left from everything is the money bag, everything else is gone."

"How are the wands going to help us?" Bakura raised an eyebrow, other than prove they had taken the wands he couldn't think of why they could help. The people hadn't been reported as missing yet, so why would he need them?

"You'll see. We need to find out where they put the things from the cauldron because Darcy's bag has our next bargaining chip." He said, he was so glad that Bakura didn't press for his plan. "It is somewhere in this place, it has to be. Would you be able to find it?"

"Look who you're talking to." He grinned, getting up. "Oh, before I forget-" He grabbed a bar of chocolate that had been sitting above Malik's head on the fountain.

"You can't be serious." Malik deadpanned.

"Eat it. The cure for crippling traumatic flashbacks is apparently cocoa beans." He said dryly. "Ate mine because Ryou needed it, the whole body needs it. He's too weak to take over at the moment." Malik knew he added the last bit for his own benefit. He took the chocolate bar and examined it. 'Honeydukes' in big gold letters on bright red wrapping, he took a square and after a look from Bakura egging him on he ate it. He had not been joking about it making him feel better, it felt like the bad mood had been exorcised.

"You know you're going to have to apologise to him." Malik said.

"For what?" Bakura asked blankly.

"Shutting him out in the fight, the other fight, where there was a lot of yelling." Mentioning the fight did get the right reaction out of him, he could sense that Bakura wouldn't ignore that jab.

"I don't need to. I was keeping him out of it." He justified. Actually trying to justify why he had blocked Ryou off was a big change from Battle City. He did not know the actual details of what had made them have a partnership on the level of Yugi and the Pharaoh but he had to be close to finding out how. It however was still rocky, Bakura fell on his old habits when things got slightly out of hand.

"You kind of picked that fight." Malik said, while blocking Ryou out was a second nature picking a fight with anyone was conscious, there had to be a gain in it. Other than prodding at the Pharaohs lack of memories provoking an actual attack was not.

"You were angry too about how they were talking." He said hotly, sitting on the fountain again. Malik raised an eyebrow while looking up at him. Did Bakura think he was sticking up for Malik somehow? He did not know what to actually make of that thought.

"Yeah, but I didn't chuck a spazz over it." Malik sighed. "Kaiba's just doing what he's good at, thinking and Darcy's just like his cold hearted self. They're a match made in heaven."

His attempt at a joke didn't faze the Thief. He managed to sit on the fountain instead of leaning on it. He didn't mention the Pharaoh or the Magician spirit who had come out for blood because he was sure that the jab about 'Mahad' was a knee jerk reaction that escalated.

"If you need to talk about what you saw, I'm all ears and a shoulder to cry stupidly on." He smirked, throwing an arm over his friends shoulder. "If not, you could try talking to Ryou. Say sorry for being a dick and mean it."

"Get off me." He said flatly, a warning from the psychopath would have been the only thing needed.

"I can't actually move my arm again, I'm just leaning on you now." Putting him arm up had been a terrible mistake, because his reserved energy had been used up. Bakura pushed him off and he snickered at Malik's scowl. Totally worth it.

"It is not that big a deal." Bakura continued. Malik adjusted himself to be more comfy.

"Oh yeah? If he's still awake why isn't he apart of this conversation?" He asked.

"He's to-"

"Weak, yeah. But his spirit should have recovered enough to walk around." He pointed out, Bakura growled softly at how much trouble Malik was giving him.

"Basil said we can be detected, so no chances from here on out."

Malik scowled both from Bakura using the woman's words for his argument and how it had actually made sense. He stuffed his hands into his hoodie pockets in annoyance. Why he kept giving himself the job of mediator between the two halves he would never know.

"You win this round, but seriously. Talk to him. He might need someone to talk to." He said. Maybe Ryou was listening in now, and Malik knew on that Ryou would need someone to talk to about what he saw, Bakura would as well and nothing would be better than them talking like equals.

"I'll go find that bag." He said, getting up again, he didn't stagger like earlier. [I need to find a bargaining chip. Cover me.] He said over the link.

[Nothing stupid] Kaiba said. Kaiba. The look of surprise on Malik's face could have been priceless, he composed himself quickly before anyone not in their little group saw it. How Did Ryou and Yugi keep a straight face with talking in the link?

[I forgot to mention Kaiba's summoning monsters and tapping into the link.] Bakura said dryly. [The Egyptian is a new thing though.]

[We can all talk when we're not so out in the open like this.] He sounded like he was still coming to grips with it himself. Malik could imagine his reaction to everything. But in Kaiba fashion had made it look like it had barely bothered him and acted natural about it.

[You're clear.] Kaiba said, barely turning his head to the left. Malik nodded. Bakura walked off casually and merged into the shadow of one of the statues. Malik breathed out and got up, he felt much better and stalked over to annoy the other spirits.

Wand

Harry had been locked into an office with Rufus Scrimgeour, head of the Auror Office. Mr Weasley had been dismissed and had to leave. Harry felt uncomfortable under the stare of the older man. He, like everyone else were under the impression that he had gotten rid of the Dementors, he saw fear in most of the people around him when Mr Weasley had taken him away before the Daily Prophet got closer. He mentally cringed at the flashes and the screams of questions.

One, he didn't want Malik and his friends anger at him. That was his first reason, being on the wrong side of another murderer was not high on his priority. Two, even if he had only known the foreigners for a few hours he had liked them and it didn't take a genius to see how annoyed they were at their whole ideal. Ryou looked like he couldn't take any more drama, and until he was told he didn't think Malik have gotten away with his soul.

He also wanted answers as to the other people he saw, a clown and two knights floating in the air around them, disappearing with a glow of their necklaces. They had hastily stuffed them back under their shirts as the chaotic aftermath began.

"I learnt the spell in Defence against the Dark Arts, third year." He had continued to explain. The head of Auror office himself had taken it upon himself to interview Harry in the comfort of his office and it made him even more isolated. What had happened to the others? In hindsight, using the very spell that had gotten him in trouble with the ministry, in the ministry against Dementors just like he said happened would have been the equivalent of flipping the bird at them.

"That is far to advance for third year." He asked sharply, his hands untwined under his chin "Why?"

"The Dementors were affecting me; on the train they attacked some students." Harry answered. But shouldn't he know this, he had to have known of the damage the Dementors caused throughout the year and how the students could barely walk outside the school without having the Dementors affect them.

"We never heard of that happening." He said. Harry should have known.

"There is a whole train of people that had Dementors come into their carriages." He said hotly. "Dumbledore didn't want them there but the ministry put them there and you couldn't keep track of them? Just like now I suppose…"

He did not know what possessed him to say that but the different shades of red that Scrimgour's face turned the grand illusion of a proud lion into something less fierce.

"So your Professor, one Remus Lupin taught you the Patronus charm?" He finally touched some papers on the desk. They could have been from his trial. He was glad they left his honorary Uncle out of his trial. From the sound of Sirius ranting they had left the perfect opportunity to demonize werewolves even more then they had by making him to blame for Harry knowing the spell that saved his and his cousin's life, reprehending him for doing his actual job.

"Professor Lupin knew my parents." He said slowly, doing his best it ignore how Scrimgeour said Remus's name like it was a bad taste in his mouth. "He was mates with my dad and didn't want to see his best mate's son have Dementors hurt him."

"But he still taught a thirteen year old a highly advanced spell that isn't supposed to be taught in school." He said sternly. Instead of investigating way the Dementors had gone rouge they were again trying to scold him for having the knowledge to defend himself and the people around him, typical. The Trial should have been the end of this, but he was still a scrape coat.

"I haven't tried killing anyone with the great power of warding off Dementors." He said sarcastically. He's little patience was gone with him. What was Scrimgeour trying to do? Taking a shot at Remus, implying that they would target him in this slander campaign. He wasn't going to let the ministry take someone else away from him.

"You destroyed more than fifty of them with one spell." He said, sitting up more, finally getting to the point. "That is going to scare people when they find out what you can do; they think you're unstable enough."

"And somehow, protecting ministry workers from having their souls sucked would somehow stay out of the Prophet. Funny how that works." He said, crossing his arms not unlike Kaiba. "But what about the American and Japanese ministry workers? When they know how bias the Prophet is being? Pretty good impression on how you're handling things."

"How do you know about them?" Scrimgeour asked sharply. Harry backtracked and blinked franticly.

"I'm not completely in the dark," He said quickly, covering his slip up. "Death Eaters in the Leaky Cauldron? Something similar happening in Australia? The muggles have caught on that something isn't right, why haven't you?" What did he know, what didn't he know? Yugi and Ryou being attacked had been rather low key in their country.

"How about the Japanese one?" He asked, standing up. Harry could have panicked and was proud of how calm he stayed.

"It was a wild guess on the Japanese Ministry worker, from the Japanese speakers in the fireplace." Scrimgeour squinted at him, not believing Harry at all. He quickly continued, he was getting more information out of Scrimgeour then anyone out of the Order. "So you have sightings of Death Eaters around the world and you have dozens of witnesses swearing on their life that they saw Death Eaters and were attacked by them, what are you doing now?" He mustered his best know it all grin, inviting an answer that would somehow prove him wrong.

"The rest of the ministry was hoping to pin these attacks on a muggle group called 'Rare Hunters', a problem that isn't in our jurisdiction to bounce to some other country to deal with." He sounded nearly bitter. "But no, Mr Potter, he is far too blind to see that this isn't something you can brush under a rug, and dragging other countries is making this mess even bigger."

He sat back down and leaned back, contemplating the ceiling. He looked like he would realize what he was doing, giving confidential information to an unstable teenage boy. No, he was happy to give Harry this information. He knew how important Harry was now, and how 'powerful' he was.

"So what do you think is going to happen now?" He asked thoughtfully. "I'm sorry for killing the Dementors by the way, I'm sure the impression I made on the representatives would make things run far more smoothly for you."

Scrimgeour snorted like Harry had told a joke, which he had been hoping for. It felt excellent to be talked to like an equal and not a child, or at least information wasn't held back from him.

"Please, this is just like back when You Know Who was rampant. You've backed Fudge into a corner with them there, they see you as a hero and they think Fudge can't keep control of the ministry and he has himself to blame for trying to pass on the Death Eaters to them." He laughed aloud, "Congratulations on making him hate you even more then now."

"So you do think they're back, and you believe me?" Harry asked hopefully, grinning along with him. Scrimgeour sighed deeply.

"I have eyes." He said dryly.

"So what do you think?" Harry asked forgetting to keep the eager tone out of his voice. Scrimgeour could actually be a good guy here. "You're not a blind man, you're smarter than Fudge, look at him! He's been telling you to cover up the Leaky Cauldron attack because you have Death Eaters in your care and you're lying if you're going to tell me otherwise." Scrimgeour nodded thoughtfully, like the notion would have been humorous in itself. "You can't fool a fifteen year old, how long are you going to keep the rest of the world in the dark?"

"Not long." He said truthfully. "Fudge is clinging on to his position at the moment, and is resorting to dirty tactics. Like your trial." He was glad to know that part of the ministry itself did not like how Fudge was running things.

"I was there." It was Harry's turn to be funny, Scrimgeour chuckled at this.

"Fudge can't brainwash everyone," Scimgeour stated. "Bones knows what's going on, she's not stupid, he's insulting everyone thinking he can." He got up and checked outside the door. "You have no idea what I'm putting on the line keeping you here." He admitted, sitting back down. "Fudge wants you locked up now instead of just expelled. Really, I'm pretending you're being interviewed harshly to ruffle your feathers but also to keep you away from the Prophet so they can get out of his hands."

"Really?" Harry asked, genuinely surprised. The Newspaper seemed eager to paint him unhinged since the tournament. Rita Skeeter would be exploding at the current events and dying from being unable to say anything about it.

"Yes, they are foaming nearly at the prospect of ripping into Fudge, but you don't bite the hand that feeds you." He said. "Things are going to be different when Fudge is gone." This was news, this was more information than anyone had cared to tell him without twisting their arm. If Dumbledore wasn't going to help him, he was going to find help elsewhere. "I need to check if Dumbledore has gotten through Fudges red tape yet." He said, getting up again. "I'll be back shortly, don't leave or I won't be able to help you."

There was a clocked ticking, and if he concentrated he could hear the outside hall and it didn't take long to hear Scrimgeour's footsteps fade.

So obviously there were people in the ministry that did their jobs. Harry wondered if he knew of the Order and if he would join if the opportunity arose. It could have been risky for him, but Kingsley was a member of the Order and he had a high position as well. Most of the people in the Order were fiercely loyal to Dumbledore. Scrimgeour's allegiance seemed to be with ministry, but not with Fudge if he could help it.

"Psst!" He jumped out of his chair and was not proud of his childish yelp at the gruff voice. "Hey, hey Potter!" He looked around the room, the office was large, but no one would be able to hide inside unless they were crouching behind the desk or hiding behind the pot plants. He watched the doorway as the familiar white haired teen seemed to fall out of the door itself, passing through it like it wasn't there. He looked exhausted, panting somewhat as he stuffed something down his shirt.

"The bloody hell, Ryou?!" He said loudly, he was promptly shushed by him. Why was he here? He knew he was nowhere near the fireplaces, so Ryou couldn't have accidently wandered off and found him. He felt uneasy as Ryou's shadow seemed to move on its own. The thought that he came to shut him up crossed his mind. Malik was a murderer, what about the rest? No, Ryou was a good guy, he didn't seem like he could kill someone. But at first glance Malik looked the same.

"You have no idea how many floors I've been on." He gasped out, putting a hand on the desk to balance himself. "Long story short, do you have any idea where they stick evidence? W-I know it's somewhere on this floor." His voice wasn't as rough as it had been a moment ago.

"Why, what are you doing?" He asked, alarmed.

"Making sure we don't get screwed over, we need Darcy's bag." He indicated to the door. "This is the head Aurors office but this pamphlet hadn't been much help after that." He waved a pamphlet in front of him. "You have no idea how many floors I've had to scope out I can almost feel my legs about to drop off."

There was the Order, there was the ministry and there were Death Eaters. Now there were people like him stuck in the same mess trying not to be in possession of anyone. Harry liked the Order, the people in it he looked up to. But they treated him like he was nothing but something to protect and keep in the dark. The foreigners were doing what they can not to end up like him. He can be like Scrimgeour, in the ministry but fighting, as he was on the side of the Order but not how they were acting.

"I'm talking to Rufus Scrimgeour right now I can find out where it is." He offered, Ryou raised his eyebrows and a different array of expression crossed his face.

"Harry… A normal person would be suspicious at how helpful you're being." He turned back to the door and he had a frantic note in his voice. "But at the moment looking a gift horse in the mouth would be a bad idea- He's coming back."

"Hide!"

"Bollocks-" Ryou dived into the wall corner and was swallowed by it. He could hear his heavy breathing as the door opened again and it silenced like he was never there. Scrimgeour looked bemused as he shut the door.

"Dumbledore is very angry." He said simply, and Harry could sense it was an understatement. He had seen Professor Dumbledore and Fudges last meetings, Fudge was not going to last any longer so he had to be quick.

"I can imagine them talking about the Leaky Cauldron thing." Harry said, he had to build up instead of outright asking.

"Urh, my department doesn't need Fudge or Mad Eye or Dumbledore butting into that." He grumbled. "American and Japanese wizards caught, one had a muggle weapon used on them, messy."

"So what was going on about that?" Harry asked, he had to be careful now, Scrimgeour must think someone, Mr Weasley and Dumbledore were the best bet to have told him everything he knows, anything the rest could have said and anything he learnt from the Foreigners would have to stay out of it.

"Some Foreigners were attacked, Death Eaters had travelled by floo through the front fireplace. It had to be the biggest stuff up since putting Fudge in office. The very same people you saved from the horde had fled to the Cauldron, but got followed. An Ex Ministry worker picked them up and hid them before she could bring them here." He paused. "Nice woman, a bit loopy but good at what she does."

"So she managed to grab them and their things and run in the middle of an attack?" He asked, his heart racing. "I'm not thinking there is much time to do anything when Death Eaters are trying to kill you."

"Oh no, we have their things with us." He said, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Some gold jewellery, a lot of it is being tested for dark magic but so far nothing. A lot of school books, freshly bought from Florish and Blotts, and a bag full of evidence that can really damage Fudge's little masquerade." He counted on his fingers. "Illegal Porkeys, a hand full of wands, we're bringing Ollivander in to figure out who they belong to, the identity of the owner of the bag." He continued. "We still have no idea why they were attacked, Fudge is 'highly discouraging' that line of investigation. So the bag isn't actually in lock up in the evidence room."

"Where is it now?" Harry asked, he couldn't believe it was this easy. Scrimgeour waved his hand over draw under his desk and it popped open. He pulled it out from under his desk and put the black bag on the table top.

"I was not risking this bag getting into the wrong hands; it's far too valuable to suddenly be misplaced or destroyed." He muttered, sticking it back into the drawer. Harry noticed that his glove had what looked to be a ring on his finger over it. He didn't use a wand to open the draw, so maybe the ring was a key?

There was a sharp knock on the door. A Ministry worked opened the door after being given the okay.

"Sir, Dumbledore is here." She said, her eyes darting to Harry. "Harry Potter is to be released under his care again."

"And that ends this interview." He said, standing up, Harry did as well. He had gotten information on the ministry, he had found out where the bag was. He made his own glance into the corner where Ryou had hidden. He could feel him still there somehow. "Mr Potter, I hope this isn't the last time we meet, I enjoyed this chat."

"Me too." He said, and let himself be led out by them.

Ring

\I like Harry now, Harry's a sneaky kid.\ Bakura said after the wizards left. He took over yet again, Ryou was far too exhausted to control the body for long, the switch to talk to Harry took the last bit of his strength.

/So he's not going to have his soul sealed into a toy?/ They dropped out of the shadow silently, He flexed his shoulders, the corner was a tight fit.

\You're going to have to let that go, I apologised for that.\ He muttered.

/Somewhat apologised/ His light pointed out. /You're not suspicious at all? About Harry?/

\No, rest your little Hikari head suspecting people is my thing.\ He grinned outwardly, he didn't know if it was a good thing that his host was picking up on these things as well now but it meant he was making an impression. \Harry is trying to gather his own information, since the Order is so tight with what they know. Helping us is an advantage to him later on.\

/Or he's a nice guy./ Ryou mentioned.

\Both reasons are good for us.\ Bakura ran a hand over the desk, feeling the magic protecting it. \Now this is more like it.\ Bakura grinned \Oh nostalgia.\

/What does it do?/ Ryou asked, a little intrigued of the magic. Instead of a key hole there was a gem stone.

\It opens with magic, but the lock and the key aren't mechanical, just stones.\ He answered, \Priestess and the like had Jewellery boxes used this locking method, wear the key around your neck or head band and still look stylish.\ He patted himself down out of an old habit. \I used to carry a bunch of blank stones from a jeweller, hard to get otherwise. The blank stone copies the other stone and becomes a new key and opens. No one expects their little trinkets to be unsafe.\

/So what are you going to do?/ The ring glowed and Bakura pushed his hand through the draw thought the shadows. He pulled the bag out and nothing was changed.

/We should get back quick before they notice we're gone./ Ryou walked through the door and looked for anything. Seeing the coast was clear Bakura exited the office and bristly turned into a corridor. Shadow jumping would be impractical, now they had what they needed there was no need to rush. He checked the bag to make sure the trip wasn't a waste.

/The wands and the rest of Darcy's crap is here. / He threw it over his shoulder and walked again, he felt something dig into his back, knowing it couldn't be the wands he slipped it back off to look inside again for a closer look.

/This is a drawing book./ Ryou said, stating the obvious as Bakura pulled a pad out, it was the same colour of the inside of the bag, so a glance it blended in.

\Mana liked her art.\ He said offhandedly, recognizing the Egyptian hieroglyphs plastered on the front.

/How do you know that?/ He didn't answer and against better judgement he flicked the pages. Ryou, surprised that he had paused their journey back to look at some drawing shad him peak over the thief's shoulder. Egypt, Pyramids, tombs, hallways, Vases, people, either made of charcoal or pencil. People he both recognized and didn't, Isis, Mahad, Set in their youth, people he suspected were Darcy's friends with more modern clothing. The next page made him drop it like it had turned into a viper. Ryou managed to catch a glimpse of the picture that caused such a violent reaction.

/Is that-?/ Ryou trailed off, not knowing if continuing would be wise.

The memory was so distant. The scar under his eye seemed to have shrunk from his grin so widely in genuine happiness. Time and effort went into this. The ghost of a sketch on the other page made his stomach tighten. There was no mistaking the Princelings hair when the rest of his features blank. Mana remembered him very clearly from way back then? He was twelve at the time, but she was half that and the memory of such a young child couldn't be that long…

He picked it back up and stuck it back into the bag like nothing happened. \We never saw it, you never saw it.\ He grumbled. Ryou stayed quiet.

The warning from Darcy rang in his ears. This might have been her first impression, the recovering, happy child that was robbing tombs for a living. Mana could have told her everything but by the looks of it she hadn't. She was keeping secrets from her own other half. He growled, knowing that shrugging of the similarities was childish. Her agenda was still a mystery to him, step one, find the Pharaoh, step two ?, step three profit.

She knew about Mahad, Him. So why hadn't she ratted him out for being far more than a petty Thief that got his hands on an item? The one thing he did not remember was the day of the sealing, it stayed a black spot that wouldn't go away. Maybe Mana actually remember the sealing and had lied when she told the Pharaoh?

/So you knew each other?/ Ryou asked as the made their way back downstairs, keeping to the crowds. People were too preoccupied with what happened on the ground floor to give another look at him.

\We met a few times.\ He said briskly. Hoping the colder he was the less likely his Hikari would ask questions.

/What about the Pharaoh, did you meet him to? Were you friends?/

\Ryou.\ He didn't even sound angry. \Things are complicated enough as it is, bringing the past back is going to make things more complicated.\

/Hark whose talking!/ Ryou snapped, Bakura stopped walking. When was the last time Ryou got angry? It didn't last long and he sounded apologetic. /I would let it go completely if it was solely her throwing a wrench in everything, but you are upset about this./

\We were never friends!\ He snapped, and sighed as he explained. \They idiotically stumbled in to a tomb raid dressed like commoners. Apparently they did that often to avoid everyone and slipped the royal guard. Kids are light, they don't set some pressure traps off and when they did nothing of value was lost. So the thieves made Princeling walk through a trap infested hall. I so kindly motioned from a pillar the princelings steps so he didn't get skewered, shouldn't have.\ He laughed harshly. \But he owed me, so a few years later he stopped me getting a village execution. I punched him later, so it wasn't such a terrible day.\

/And Mana remembers this. / Ryou said, wondering how it was tying together.

\I'm not sure how detailed, but she knows what happened to Mahad. So I'm guessing everything.\ He shrugged.

/Did you kill him?/ Ryou asked, it was a natural question to ask from him. Maybe he thought that Bakura took another option, or did something far worst.

\The ring had to come into my possession somehow.\ He said, he moved pass a crowd of wizards and ducked into another corridor so they didn't get another look at him. His hair and uniform would arouse suspicion. \Mahad was cocky, he walked right to his death.\

Ryou was quiet for a while, Bakura had thought he had nodded off.

/So now what?/ He heard, Ryou wanted to know more of their next move. Now it was his turn to be suspicious. He knew Ryou would warn the rest if he tried making the wrong move.

\Wait until we know more, what she thinks she's playing at.\ He said. \Watch for Freddy to the stomach.\

Brief Case

He should have expected him. He would be kicking himself for not seeing him coming. He recognized the bodyguards first before he could spot the millionaire.

"Kaiba boy! Yugi Boy!" The collective groan from the two teens startled the others, Pegasus in his red suit flanked by the taller men glided through the Ministry workers like they weren't there. The reaction was close to seeing a man raise from the dead.

"Where have you been?" Kaiba growled, realized that wasn't the language he was aiming for and switched it back, asking the same question.

"Oh, how are you fairing, Kaiba boy?" The American teased, ignoring the question. "I'm sure the magic must be giving you a head ache."

"Yami is the one with the head ache." He motioned to the others. Yami could actually stand by himself at the moment and refused to hand control over to other Yugi yet. He was covering a limp pretty well.

"Now you actively believe that there are spirits, good boy!" He clapped his hands. "Makes things less annoying." His eyes darted over the group and said a little too sharply "Where's Bakura?"

"Right here." He seemed to appear between Malik and Kaiba. "Got the bag." He said, holding it forward.

"Great." Malik said, the bag was given to Malik then he threw it across to Darcy, who was rather happy to get her things back. Kaiba briefly wondered why the bag was so important to risk getting Bakura caught but became distracted by Pegasus's bad news.

"I'm afraid that your appointment with the ministry has been pushed to tomorrow, giving you time to recover from today's misadventure." He informed. There was a collective groan of exhaustion.

"It would be better to get it done as soon as possible." Yami spoke up looking weary. "Before anything else happens." There were nods in agreement.

"Trust me when I say that the representatives feel the same." He said. "They've been kept on the higher levels to stay away from this disaster, and the Australian Ministry worker isn't due for another few hours, so you can rest while we wait. They are very eager to meet you before the British ministry tries anything." He paused, "They will meet us at our hotel tonight to figure out what we are doing next, tomorrow we may speak with the ministry. I have a Limo waiting outside, best leave before the muggle media catches up with me."

"Finally." Kaiba said, crossing his arms. "This is getting ridiculous."

"Hotel?" Malik asked. "We're not going back to uh, Basils house?" Even if they were relatively isolated, they didn't want to risk the Order getting angry at them for giving them away.

"I wasn't leaving you with anyone else." Pegasus said firmly. "And before you ask from my sources Ishizu and Odion are alright, rest assure no harm will come to them if they stay exactly where they are."

Kaiba waited for someone to say something over the link, but was met with silence. The thought that Pegasus might be able to listen in as well crossed his mind, he too had a millennium item in his skull, so maybe? Now it was gone he might not.

"Now that that is all settled, some introductions are in order." He said cheerfully, he turned to the more tanned members of the group. "Malik Ishtar, I've heard a lot about you." The smile seemed polite, but Kaiba heard the implications, Malik still stole a fortune from Pegasus in cards. Malik either ignored them or didn't pick up on it and shook the millionaire's hand with a grin.

"And miss Darcy Carter," He turned to her, who smiled politely.

"So you're Pegasus. It's a pleasure to meet you." Darcy paused, as though she was listening to someone. She winced and slowly said "Since everything is now settled as you said, Mana would like to speak to you."

"Hm, that's a nice change." Pegasus said, raising an eyebrow.

"WHY in Isis's name has my Ka's hologram design gotten larger?" The sudden expression of indignation made Pegasus widen his eyes in alarm. "It was not a problem before but after Battle City-"

"Whatever do you mean, dear girl?" Pegasus said, bewildered.

"You know what I MEAN." She cried, waving about her arms.

Kaiba chortled and characteristically tried to pass it off as a cough while Malik and Bakura cackled, Yami looked confused. The Limo trip would be so interesting.

8,162 words, let's end on humor the last two chapters have been an emotional rollercoaster for most of them, they would need to lighten up a little. In the Anime and Manga (I'm sure) DMG's design went from childish to more fan service giving as the seasons went on. That's the joke

Hey Look Kaiba opens on the stage for once, and has a focus. I would have had him refer to Darcy as Carter, but realized that it would be the first time her last name was introduced and didn't want to make it so forced. Harry doesn't feel in character, he can be sneaky, like in Half blood prince but half the time he lets his anger get the better of him. :/

And it later chapters I wish to expand on their memories of Egypt. Fun for everyone! Malik was the man with a plan in season 2, let's bring him back for a run. Next chapter is going to be a while, the first part is going to need a lot of planning :/