Chapter 16: - Cat, Rat, Duel Monster and Dog
Kari and Ombre looked at each other and then at the group, "We should be glad the Duel Monsters are missing, but how does Fudge know about the dragons?"
"Shush!" Joey hissed, as they hid in the trees near Hagrid's hut. "Students talk, its common knowledge there's dragons guarding the school now."
"And Kisara and Tobias's children aren't registered in any Ministry records…" Kari paled, "They have to be warned!"
"Scabbers!" Ron hissed as the rat struggled, then his eyes widened and Hermione and Kari groaned, of all the times for the cats to show up.
"No, Crookshanks, Bastet, Kiyoshe go away." Hermione hissed.
"Scabbers! No!" The rat escaped Ron's clutches and ran for it, the cats in hot pursuit.
Ron ran after Scabbers and the cats before anyone could say anything.
Joey snarled something that the translation spell they were under refused to translate, "Kari, Ombre, you warn the dragons, we'll go get Ron."
The girls nodded, well aware that if any of the semi-Duel Monster Dragons were caught by Fudge then the transfer students, Professor Dumbledore and anyone else caught up in keeping the dragons quiet would be in a lot of trouble. "Be careful." Kari murmured, and shot off, Ombre in tow, staying out of the view of Hagrid's windows.
Harry, Hermione and Joey raced after Ron, easily hearing where he was from all the commotion he was making. "Get away from him… get away… Scabbers, come here…" There were three loud thuds, "Gotcha… get off you stinking cats!" Harry and Hermione almost fell over Ron, and Joey only didn't because he caught himself in time.
"Ron, we have to go back, we can't stay out in the grounds, not with Fudge around." Joey growled.
But before they could start their retreat, before they could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws. Something was bounding towards them out of the dark… an enormous, pale eyed, jet black dog.
Joey, used to having to react to physical threats quickly, somehow managed to put himself between the leaping dog and Harry, the huge beast knocking him over backwards and into the black haired boy, sending them both sprawling.
The force of its leap interrupted by the sudden appearance of a Joey-in-the-way, the dog had rolled off the boy and as Joey got to his feet quickly, the dog skidded around for a new attack.
Joey moved again attempting to grab the dog, but in doing so, got too far away as it launched a second attack at Harry who was trying to stand up.
Ron pushed Harry aside, and the dog's jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm. Harry lunged at it and seized a handful of the coarse fur but it pulled free and was dragging Ron away as easily as if he was a rag doll.
Harry heard Joey yelp and hit the ground, and then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face that he was knocked off of his feet again.
"Lumos!" Joey snapped as Hermione shrieked in pain and fell too.
Harry cast the same spell, blinking blood out of his eyes.
The light from their wands showed the trunk of a thick tree. They chased Scabbers into the shadows of the Whomping Willow and its branches were whipping backwards and forwards, in an attempt to stop them getting nearer.
And at its base the dog was dragging Ron into a large gap in the roots. Ron was fighting furiously, but his head and torso were slipping out of sight.
"Apparaître!" Joey snapped wincing against the pain in his arm. Harry was surprised at the size of the Duel Monster that appeared, "Baby Dragon…" Joey froze mid command, as a sickening crack cut the air like a gun-shot… Ron's leg had broken and the next second Ron's legs had vanished from sight.
"Baby Dragon, follow them!" Joey snapped. The little dragonet ducked under the branches and vanished into the hole.
"We have to go for help!" Hermione cried. She was bleeding too; the willow had cut her shoulder.
"There's no time." Joey growled.
"Joey's right, that thing's big enough to eat him!"
Joey reached for another card, but was interrupted as Crookshanks darted forwards and placed his front paws on a knot on the trunk.
"How?" Joey demanded of Hermione.
"Crookshanks is friends with that dog, I've seen them together." Harry answered for her.
"I'll go first." Joey said, "But keep your wand out, Harry." Harry nodded and they entered the gap, led, not by Joey, but by Crookshanks who'd dived into gap before them.
"I didn't know you could summon Monsters like that." Hermione whispered as they made their way along the corridor after using Lumos herself.
Joey didn't answer for a second, and Hermione wondered if something had happened, then the young man sighed, "Apparaître can be used more then one way, the monsters summoned this way aren't able to do more then simple commands, and they're not free willed like the monsters that came here during the tournament the year before last, but…" Harry saw Joey shrug in the dim light.
The tunnel began to rise and twist, Crookshanks vanished and Harry could see light round the corner. "Stay close." Joey murmured. Harry and Hermione nodded, though Joey couldn't see them, and followed the man out of the tunnel.
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The castle was unusually busy tonight, even considering exams had finally ended and those of a prankster nature were doing their best to make up for lost time.
The teachers were a bit more lax about curfew after the exams, and only Snape and Flinch was as harsh as usual to the ones they caught.
Then again, Bakura the thief king never had any trouble sneaking about the castle, between dark corridors, more than a hundred broom closets, hundreds of unused rooms, high ceilings with easy handholds, and a continuous awareness of where the painting could see, lets just say that Bakura had never been caught.
Draco on the other hand was another matter entirely. Even when he was trying to be silent and creep along he stuck out like a sore thumb. Or he did to Bakura's critical eye.
It didn't take the two boys long to reach Hufflepuff territory, the Slytherins weren't the only ones based in the dungeons.
It took even less time for Bakura to get in 'Badger's Den'.
"Ryou, fancy a little trip into the forest?" Bakura asked with a grin when he had cornered Ryou.
"Not really." Ryou said, slowly backing away. It wasn't enough that Bakura had to keep catching him in the corridors, now he was getting into the dormitories?
"Come on, I'm bored, you don't like it when I get bored, do you?" Apparently Bakura watched movies, who knew?
Ryou sighed. While his main strategy of stay away from Bakura worked most of the time, out of sight really had meant out of mind last year, it was no longer working, meaning the only strategy Ryou had to fall back on was keep the dangerously crazy person happy.
"Why do we want to go into the Forbidden Forest?"
"Because there's an angry escaped prisoner who wants me dead out there, and I want you to be bait so I can play with him."
Ryou paled by several shades as he tried to wrap his mind around, 'wants me dead' (which was rather too easy for his comfort), 'bait' (which if he was honest with himself, which was what Bakura normally used him for) and 'play' (he really didn't want to think about what Bakura meant by 'play').
The time it took him to think through that sentence was more than enough for Bakura to start dragging him out of Badger's Den, through the back exit.
Why did Ryou have a feeling that whatever was going to happen in the forest was going to add to his nightmares?
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Professor Remus Lupin was frantic as he raced down the stairs into the Entrance Hall.
The Marauder's Map was never wrong but it couldn't possibly be right this time.
Two Gryffindor girls were just on their way out the Main door when he overheard their conversation.
"Of all the times for Yugi to be in the Hospital Wing…" The taller one growled.
"We warned the Dragons…" The shorter said, "They're in hiding, which means we can't get their help in finding them and besides Yugi has to rest, whatever went wrong drained a lot from him."
"Professor?" Ombre looked at the man as he went to pass them. "Are you alright?"
Kari took a closer look at their panicked teacher and twigged, "Professor…" She looked around; there was no one there, "Have you taken your potion?"
Lupin froze and turned to look at the two girls properly. Real concern was on both their faces.
"What do you…?"
"We know, Professor. Blame Snape's essay and two bright Gryffindors." Ombre said, "Tonight's a full moon, have you taken your Wolfsbane?"
"You know that too?"
"When Kari and Hermione research things, they do it properly." Ombre said.
Lupin nearly swore; he'd been so distracted that he hadn't, in fact he'd left without even shutting off the Marauder's Map. He looked at the two girls, wondering what to do about a yami and hikari who knew his secret, whose friends were down in the Shrieking Shack with Sirius Black and…
"I need you both to get Professor Dumbledore immediately and ask him to meet me here." Lupin decided. "Thank you for reminding me." Kari shot off in the direction of the Headmaster's rooms, but Ombre chased Lupin for a moment. "Ombre!" Lupin snapped.
"Is this about Hermione and the others?" Ombre asked as they reached Lupin's room.
Lupin stared at her.
"Professor?" Ombre asked as Lupin pointed his wand at the map.
"Mischief Managed." Lupin croaked. Snape hadn't come with the potion yet, he'd have to wait a bit longer… did he have a bit longer? "Yes, Ombre, it does." Ombre swore but Lupin didn't call her on it. "What happened to Yugi?" Lupin asked, trying to come up with something, anything to distract him from the fact that something bad could be happening in the Shrieking Shack, but he didn't dare leave until Snape had provided the Wolfsbane Potion.
"Yugi was taking a lesson in his specialised type of magic…"
"Shadow Magic?"
"Partly." Ombre conceded, "But something happened that wasn't expected and Yugi used too much of his power and passed out."
"Is he alright?" Lupin frowned, he'd heard from Dumbledore how dangerous their magic could be when he'd been warned about the twins.
"He just needs rest. The Duel Monsters have vanished though." Ombre frowned, then decided to change the subject, "Professor, how did you know which Muto twin was which on the first day? Nobody gets them right first time."
"Their scents are slightly different." Lupin said with a small smile, "And I worked out which scent belonged to who on the train." Ombre just smiled, though it was a worried one as Snape came into the room. He gave Ombre a sour look and walked over to Lupin, putting the potion on the table. "Make sure you drink all of it Lupin."
The Professor nodded and Snape exited the room.
"Oversized bat." Ombre murmured under her breath.
Lupin had to hide a smile as he drank the potion, grimacing at the flavour.
Once it was all gone, Lupin pocketed the Marauder's Map and a couple of other supplies and then turned to Ombre. "I'm telling you and your hikari to return to the Gryffindor Common Room."
"If our friends are in trouble…" Ombre started.
"Ombre, as your Professor, I'm telling you to go back to your common room. As someone who is responsible for your safety, I'm begging you to go back to your Common Room. Things are going to be difficult enough without having extra people to worry about." Lupin told her as they raced back down the stairs.
Ombre hesitated.
"I won't let anything happen to your friends, I promise."
"Alright." Ombre conceded as they met Kari in the Entrance Hall.
"Professor Lupin, he wasn't in his office." Kari said worriedly.
"Alright, you both head back to your Common Room, I'll go down on my own." Lupin headed for the door and looked over his shoulder, "Ombre?"
The Princess nodded. "Kari let's go."
"But…?"
"We have to trust the Professor."
"Alright." Kari didn't like it but nodded as the Professor headed outside. "Why aren't we following him?" She demanded as they headed upstairs.
"I promised Lupin we wouldn't." Ombre said quietly. "He has enough to worry about without us going too."
"But…" Kari growled.
"No buts."
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"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry roared, and with a huge effort broke free of Hermione and Ron's restraint and dodged around Joey, lunging forwards.
He had forgotten about magic, he had forgotten that he short and skinny and thirteen, whereas Black was a tall, fully grown man. All Harry knew was that he wanted to hurt Black as badly as he could and that he didn't care how much he got hurt return.
Perhaps it was the shock of Harry doing something so stupid, that Black didn't raise the wands in time. One of Harry's hands fastened over Black's wasted wrist, forcing the wand tips away; the knuckles of Harry's other hand collided with the side of Black's head and they fell, backwards into the wall…
Hermione was screaming, Ron was yelling, Joey was moving; there was a blinding light that missed Harry's face by mere inches; Harry felt the shrunken arms under his fingers twisting madly, but he clung on, his other hand punching every free part of Black it could find.
But Black's free hand had found Harry's throat… "No." He hissed, "I've waited too long…"
The finger's tightened, Harry choked, his glasses askew.
Then Joey's foot swung out of nowhere. Black let go of Harry with a grunt of pain. Ron had thrown himself on Black's wand hand and Harry heard a faint clatter. He fought free of the tangle of bodies and Harry saw his wand rolling across the floor; he threw himself towards it but… "ARGH!"
Crookshanks had joined the fray, both sets of claws dug into Harry's arm. Harry threw him off, but the cat leapt for the wands.
"No, you don't!" Joey snapped; scooping up all four wands before Crookshanks could get to them. "Harry, Hermione, Ron!" He chucked the wands to their rightful owners. Ron had crawled back to the four poster bed and was now collapsed onto it, panting, his face now tinged with green, both hands clutching his broken leg.
"Get out of the way." Harry snapped.
Hermione moved and Joey found himself looking through his deck urgently for a certain card, chucking it to Ron, he pointed his wand at it. "Apparaître, Dian Kento the Cure Master."
It didn't heal Ron's leg but it helped ease the pain and some of the greenness left Ron's face. "Knew I had one in there for a reason." Joey said seriously then turned back to the scene in hand.
Black was sprawled at the bottom of the wall. His thin chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched Harry walking nearer, his wand pointing straight at Black's heart.
"Going to kill me Harry?" Black whispered.
Harry stopped right above him, his wand still pointing at Black's chest, looking down at him. A livid bruise was rising around Black's left eye and his nose was bleeding.
"You killed my parents." Harry said, his voice shaking slightly, but his wand hand quite steady.
Black stared up at him out of those shrunken eyes. "I don't deny it." He said very quietly, "But if you knew the full story…"
"The full story?" Harry repeated a furious pounding in his ears. "You sold them to Voldemort, that's all I need to know!"
"You've got to listen to me," Black said, and there was a note of urgency in his voice now. "You'll regret it if you don't… you don't understand…"
"Harry, you need to calm down." Joey said, but neither Harry nor Black seemed to be listening to him.
"I understand a lot better then you think." Said Harry and his voice shook more then ever. "You never heard her did you? My mum, trying to stop Voldemort killing me… and you did that… you did it…"
Before either of them could say another word, something leapt onto Black's chest and settled himself there, right over Black's heart. Black blinked and looked at the cat.
"Get off." He murmured, trying to push the cat off. But Crookshanks just dug his claws in deeper.
Harry stared at them, so what if he had to kill the cat too? It was in league with Black… if it was prepared to die, trying to save it, that only proved Black cared more about the cat then he did his parents. Harry raised his wand.
And found his arm caught by someone he'd thought was a friend. "Joey?" Harry half gasped, half snapped.
"Don't do something you'll regret." Joey said, if Harry had been thinking rationally, he would have realised he'd never seen Joey looking so serious, even when their friends had been in the hospital wing.
"He killed my parents."
"I know."
The two boys stared at each other.
"Harry, killing him won't bring them back."
"Joey…" Harry growled.
Black leapt up.
But he didn't go for Harry.
He went for Ron.
Joey had to let go of Harry to go for Black. Harry cast a spell in Black's direction. Black avoided it and it hit the wall, leaving a black mark. In the half a second before anyone reacted to anything else Joey yelled, "Apparaître." Summoning Gearfried the Iron Knight, Garoozis and Flame Swordsman. "Protect Ron, protect Harry, and restrain Black." He ordered, pointing to each in turn. "Harry, I swear I will tell Garoozis to restrain you too if you don't calm down."
Hermione, Harry and Ron, even in the serious situation, gawked at him.
"Start talking." Joey pointed at Black.
Black stared at him, figuring it was better not to fight with the warrior that the blonde had made appear out of nowhere, then to have one of them try to kill him again.
"I as good as killed Harry's parents." Black started, then paused. "How much do you know?"
Harry looked at the lizard warrior thing that was regarding him carefully then swallowed his anger and answered. "That you were my parent's secret keeper and betrayed them to Voldemort." Harry bit out, unable to comprehend why Joey was determined to get Black's story out.
"I was supposed to be their Secret Keeper." Black said slowly. "I convinced them to change at the last minute."
"Why?" Hermione couldn't help asking now things had calmed down slightly.
"Because I was the obvious choice and if they swapped then Voldemort would come after me and not their real Secret Keeper."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Harry snapped, then remembered Garoozis and held himself in check, "You could be lying out of your teeth."
"If you let me have that rat, I can show you." Black smirked.
Joey shook his head. "No. I'm not giving you a chance to hex us."
"Then you do it." Black said. "The rat is an Animagus."
Joey looked at Ron.
"Scabbers has been in our family for years, he's just a rat!" Ron protested.
"Aren't you surprised he's lived so long?" Black asked then looked at Joey. "The spell is complex, you might need my help."
Joey frowned, thinking quickly. Nothing would surprise him anymore. "First tell us who you think Scabbers is."
"Pettigrew." Black growled, "The real traitor."
"You killed Pettigrew!" Harry shouted, stepping forward ready to attack again.
"Garoozis." Joey snapped.
The crocodile warrior monster grabbed Harry, stopping him from going anywhere.
"Pettigrew cut of his own finger and fled as a rat!" Black snapped back, "He's the one that blew up all those Muggles; he's the one that betrayed your parents to Voldemort!"
Joey made up his mind. "Ron, give me the rat."
"You're not serious!" Harry yelled at him.
"Black's no threat while Flame Swordsman has him restrained." Joey said, "The Dementors are probably patrolling now the Duel Monsters have disappeared, and Minister Fudge is on school grounds, if Scabbers is a rat, we hand Black to them. If the rat is Pettigrew, we hand Pettigrew to Fudge."
Harry glared, but Hermione nodded.
"Will this hurt Scabbers?"
"Not if he's a real rat." Black said with a small smile on his face.
"Joey, are you…?" Hermione asked.
Joey nodded and Ron handed over Scabbers.
Joey used Petirificus Totalus on it to stop it escaping, and then walked over to Black. "I'm giving you my wand," Joey said, "But remember that Flame Swordsman is right behind you. If you attack anyone, I will not take the blame for his reaction."
Black nodded and Joey handed over his wand.
Black looked like he wanted to do something else for a minute, and then pointed the wand at the rat and a flash of blue white light shot from the end of the wand.
The full body bind vanished, and the small form twisted madly. Ron yelled and Joey took his wand back as Scabbers turned from a rat, into a man.
A short, ratty looking man, with thin hair and a big bald patch, with the appearance of someone who's lost a lot of weight in a short time.
Harry saw his eyes dart to the door and back to Black.
Joey didn't miss this either.
"Apparaître." Alligator Sword appeared and Pettigrew flinched at Joey's order, which put it between the ex-rat and the door.
"That's… that's…" Ron stared.
Black growled as Pettigrew squeaked, "S…Sirius…"
Black looked from Joey to Pettigrew and snarled, "You traitor." He snarled at the man, "How could you have done that to Lily and James?"
"Me? Me?" The man squeaked, "I'm not the one who killed all those Muggles…"
"If you weren't a murderer, why didn't you come out of hiding when you heard Black was caught?" Joey asked with a look of distaste on his face.
"I knew he'd escape that's why!" Pettigrew squeaked, "I knew it!"
"How, when no one's ever done it before?" Black snarled. Flame Swordsman had to tighten its grip to keep a hold on the man.
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named must have taught you tricks!"
Black let out a terrible laugh, "Voldemort, ha, teach me tricks?" Black snorted in disbelief. Pettigrew winced, "What scared to hear your Master's name?"
Pettigrew didn't answer.
"I heard things in Azkaban. His lot aren't happy with you."
"If they aren't happy with me, it's because I put their best spy in Azkaban!"
Black nearly broke free of the Warrior's grip and Joey nearly summoned another monster to help. "How dare you?" Black sounded like the dog he had been, "I would never betray my friends like you did! I should have known it was you. You always did like big friends that could protect you!"
Joey found a hatred of Pettigrew growing as the man tried to defend himself.
"Excuse me." The timid voice that interrupted made everyone turn to its owner, "Ummm, Mr Black."
Black looked taken aback to be referred to as Mr Black and nodded.
"Scabbers… I mean Pettigrew has been sleeping in the boy's dorm for years." Hermione said, "Why hasn't he tried anything before?"
"Pettigrew has only ever done something when there's something in it for him. Besides, is he in Harry's dorm?" Black gestured towards Joey. Hermione nodded, "Then Peter was probably too scared to do anything."
Hermione looked thoughtful and then spoke again, "Mr Black, how did you escape Azkaban if you didn't use Dark Magic?"
"Exactly my…" Pettigrew trailed off at a glare from Black and Joey.
"I don't know how I did it." Black admitted, "I think I only stayed sane because I knew I was innocent. It wasn't a happy thought so they couldn't steal it. When I saw Peter in the picture in the newspaper, I knew I had to do something, so I when I turned into a dog to escape the power of the Dementors and they opened the door to give me food, I slipped past, I was very thin then. I swam to shore and got here as fast as I could." Black looked at Harry, "You fly as well as your father did, Harry, and I believe I owe your short spiky haired friend a thanks for saving you."
Harry smiled slightly, then realised it…
"I swear; I would never have betrayed your parents. Believe me; I would have died before betraying them."
Harry nodded slowly, still uncertain, but ready to believe, for now.
"No!" Pettigrew started to weep.
"Stupefy!" Joey stunned Pettigrew, who went flying into a wall and fell to the ground, unconscious. Joey turned to Black. "He goes to Fudge."
Black growled. "Azkaban is too good for a rat like him."
"Sirius." Harry as Garoozis let go of the young wizard. "I don't think my Dad would want his friend to become a killer."
Sirius stared at Harry, then turned to Joey and nodded.
Flame Swordsman let go of Black who gave Pettigrew a vicious kick in the ribs, before going over to Harry.
"Hermione." Joey poked the teenager who stared at him blankly and then raised her wand. "Mobilus Corpus." She murmured and Pettigrew's limp form rose from the floor.
"Petrificus Totalus." Joey looked over to a very angry looking Harry, whose green eyes were flashing enough to probably even scare Yami. "Just in case." Harry murmured.
Joey nodded, called his Monsters back to his deck and moved over to Ron, who was very green and looked like he was going to pass out. "Sorry Ron, I'm not Yugi or Yami, no Mystic Box." Ron looked confused.
"I'm going to have to carry you," Joey continued, "Your leg won't take your weight even with Dien Kento's help."
"Let me…" Black trailed off, unsure of what Ron's reaction would be.
"Go on." Harry prompted.
"I'd need a wand."
Joey frowned but Harry passed him his and Black hurried over to Ron's side, "Ferula."
Bandages spun up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint.
"Try it now." Black said, handing the wand back to Harry.
Ron stood up and didn't wince. "Thank you." Ron nodded at Black who nodded back.
"You would be surprised how often we needed that one when we were at school."
If they were anything like our group, no I wouldn't. Joey thought as he led the group out of the room, downstairs and into the passageway back to Hogwarts.
"Shush!" Joey hissed, as they hid in the trees near Hagrid's hut. "Students talk, its common knowledge there's dragons guarding the school now."
"And Kisara and Tobias's children aren't registered in any Ministry records…" Kari paled, "They have to be warned!"
"Scabbers!" Ron hissed as the rat struggled, then his eyes widened and Hermione and Kari groaned, of all the times for the cats to show up.
"No, Crookshanks, Bastet, Kiyoshe go away." Hermione hissed.
"Scabbers! No!" The rat escaped Ron's clutches and ran for it, the cats in hot pursuit.
Ron ran after Scabbers and the cats before anyone could say anything.
Joey snarled something that the translation spell they were under refused to translate, "Kari, Ombre, you warn the dragons, we'll go get Ron."
The girls nodded, well aware that if any of the semi-Duel Monster Dragons were caught by Fudge then the transfer students, Professor Dumbledore and anyone else caught up in keeping the dragons quiet would be in a lot of trouble. "Be careful." Kari murmured, and shot off, Ombre in tow, staying out of the view of Hagrid's windows.
Harry, Hermione and Joey raced after Ron, easily hearing where he was from all the commotion he was making. "Get away from him… get away… Scabbers, come here…" There were three loud thuds, "Gotcha… get off you stinking cats!" Harry and Hermione almost fell over Ron, and Joey only didn't because he caught himself in time.
"Ron, we have to go back, we can't stay out in the grounds, not with Fudge around." Joey growled.
But before they could start their retreat, before they could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws. Something was bounding towards them out of the dark… an enormous, pale eyed, jet black dog.
Joey, used to having to react to physical threats quickly, somehow managed to put himself between the leaping dog and Harry, the huge beast knocking him over backwards and into the black haired boy, sending them both sprawling.
The force of its leap interrupted by the sudden appearance of a Joey-in-the-way, the dog had rolled off the boy and as Joey got to his feet quickly, the dog skidded around for a new attack.
Joey moved again attempting to grab the dog, but in doing so, got too far away as it launched a second attack at Harry who was trying to stand up.
Ron pushed Harry aside, and the dog's jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm. Harry lunged at it and seized a handful of the coarse fur but it pulled free and was dragging Ron away as easily as if he was a rag doll.
Harry heard Joey yelp and hit the ground, and then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face that he was knocked off of his feet again.
"Lumos!" Joey snapped as Hermione shrieked in pain and fell too.
Harry cast the same spell, blinking blood out of his eyes.
The light from their wands showed the trunk of a thick tree. They chased Scabbers into the shadows of the Whomping Willow and its branches were whipping backwards and forwards, in an attempt to stop them getting nearer.
And at its base the dog was dragging Ron into a large gap in the roots. Ron was fighting furiously, but his head and torso were slipping out of sight.
"Apparaître!" Joey snapped wincing against the pain in his arm. Harry was surprised at the size of the Duel Monster that appeared, "Baby Dragon…" Joey froze mid command, as a sickening crack cut the air like a gun-shot… Ron's leg had broken and the next second Ron's legs had vanished from sight.
"Baby Dragon, follow them!" Joey snapped. The little dragonet ducked under the branches and vanished into the hole.
"We have to go for help!" Hermione cried. She was bleeding too; the willow had cut her shoulder.
"There's no time." Joey growled.
"Joey's right, that thing's big enough to eat him!"
Joey reached for another card, but was interrupted as Crookshanks darted forwards and placed his front paws on a knot on the trunk.
"How?" Joey demanded of Hermione.
"Crookshanks is friends with that dog, I've seen them together." Harry answered for her.
"I'll go first." Joey said, "But keep your wand out, Harry." Harry nodded and they entered the gap, led, not by Joey, but by Crookshanks who'd dived into gap before them.
"I didn't know you could summon Monsters like that." Hermione whispered as they made their way along the corridor after using Lumos herself.
Joey didn't answer for a second, and Hermione wondered if something had happened, then the young man sighed, "Apparaître can be used more then one way, the monsters summoned this way aren't able to do more then simple commands, and they're not free willed like the monsters that came here during the tournament the year before last, but…" Harry saw Joey shrug in the dim light.
The tunnel began to rise and twist, Crookshanks vanished and Harry could see light round the corner. "Stay close." Joey murmured. Harry and Hermione nodded, though Joey couldn't see them, and followed the man out of the tunnel.
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The castle was unusually busy tonight, even considering exams had finally ended and those of a prankster nature were doing their best to make up for lost time.
The teachers were a bit more lax about curfew after the exams, and only Snape and Flinch was as harsh as usual to the ones they caught.
Then again, Bakura the thief king never had any trouble sneaking about the castle, between dark corridors, more than a hundred broom closets, hundreds of unused rooms, high ceilings with easy handholds, and a continuous awareness of where the painting could see, lets just say that Bakura had never been caught.
Draco on the other hand was another matter entirely. Even when he was trying to be silent and creep along he stuck out like a sore thumb. Or he did to Bakura's critical eye.
It didn't take the two boys long to reach Hufflepuff territory, the Slytherins weren't the only ones based in the dungeons.
It took even less time for Bakura to get in 'Badger's Den'.
"Ryou, fancy a little trip into the forest?" Bakura asked with a grin when he had cornered Ryou.
"Not really." Ryou said, slowly backing away. It wasn't enough that Bakura had to keep catching him in the corridors, now he was getting into the dormitories?
"Come on, I'm bored, you don't like it when I get bored, do you?" Apparently Bakura watched movies, who knew?
Ryou sighed. While his main strategy of stay away from Bakura worked most of the time, out of sight really had meant out of mind last year, it was no longer working, meaning the only strategy Ryou had to fall back on was keep the dangerously crazy person happy.
"Why do we want to go into the Forbidden Forest?"
"Because there's an angry escaped prisoner who wants me dead out there, and I want you to be bait so I can play with him."
Ryou paled by several shades as he tried to wrap his mind around, 'wants me dead' (which was rather too easy for his comfort), 'bait' (which if he was honest with himself, which was what Bakura normally used him for) and 'play' (he really didn't want to think about what Bakura meant by 'play').
The time it took him to think through that sentence was more than enough for Bakura to start dragging him out of Badger's Den, through the back exit.
Why did Ryou have a feeling that whatever was going to happen in the forest was going to add to his nightmares?
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Professor Remus Lupin was frantic as he raced down the stairs into the Entrance Hall.
The Marauder's Map was never wrong but it couldn't possibly be right this time.
Two Gryffindor girls were just on their way out the Main door when he overheard their conversation.
"Of all the times for Yugi to be in the Hospital Wing…" The taller one growled.
"We warned the Dragons…" The shorter said, "They're in hiding, which means we can't get their help in finding them and besides Yugi has to rest, whatever went wrong drained a lot from him."
"Professor?" Ombre looked at the man as he went to pass them. "Are you alright?"
Kari took a closer look at their panicked teacher and twigged, "Professor…" She looked around; there was no one there, "Have you taken your potion?"
Lupin froze and turned to look at the two girls properly. Real concern was on both their faces.
"What do you…?"
"We know, Professor. Blame Snape's essay and two bright Gryffindors." Ombre said, "Tonight's a full moon, have you taken your Wolfsbane?"
"You know that too?"
"When Kari and Hermione research things, they do it properly." Ombre said.
Lupin nearly swore; he'd been so distracted that he hadn't, in fact he'd left without even shutting off the Marauder's Map. He looked at the two girls, wondering what to do about a yami and hikari who knew his secret, whose friends were down in the Shrieking Shack with Sirius Black and…
"I need you both to get Professor Dumbledore immediately and ask him to meet me here." Lupin decided. "Thank you for reminding me." Kari shot off in the direction of the Headmaster's rooms, but Ombre chased Lupin for a moment. "Ombre!" Lupin snapped.
"Is this about Hermione and the others?" Ombre asked as they reached Lupin's room.
Lupin stared at her.
"Professor?" Ombre asked as Lupin pointed his wand at the map.
"Mischief Managed." Lupin croaked. Snape hadn't come with the potion yet, he'd have to wait a bit longer… did he have a bit longer? "Yes, Ombre, it does." Ombre swore but Lupin didn't call her on it. "What happened to Yugi?" Lupin asked, trying to come up with something, anything to distract him from the fact that something bad could be happening in the Shrieking Shack, but he didn't dare leave until Snape had provided the Wolfsbane Potion.
"Yugi was taking a lesson in his specialised type of magic…"
"Shadow Magic?"
"Partly." Ombre conceded, "But something happened that wasn't expected and Yugi used too much of his power and passed out."
"Is he alright?" Lupin frowned, he'd heard from Dumbledore how dangerous their magic could be when he'd been warned about the twins.
"He just needs rest. The Duel Monsters have vanished though." Ombre frowned, then decided to change the subject, "Professor, how did you know which Muto twin was which on the first day? Nobody gets them right first time."
"Their scents are slightly different." Lupin said with a small smile, "And I worked out which scent belonged to who on the train." Ombre just smiled, though it was a worried one as Snape came into the room. He gave Ombre a sour look and walked over to Lupin, putting the potion on the table. "Make sure you drink all of it Lupin."
The Professor nodded and Snape exited the room.
"Oversized bat." Ombre murmured under her breath.
Lupin had to hide a smile as he drank the potion, grimacing at the flavour.
Once it was all gone, Lupin pocketed the Marauder's Map and a couple of other supplies and then turned to Ombre. "I'm telling you and your hikari to return to the Gryffindor Common Room."
"If our friends are in trouble…" Ombre started.
"Ombre, as your Professor, I'm telling you to go back to your common room. As someone who is responsible for your safety, I'm begging you to go back to your Common Room. Things are going to be difficult enough without having extra people to worry about." Lupin told her as they raced back down the stairs.
Ombre hesitated.
"I won't let anything happen to your friends, I promise."
"Alright." Ombre conceded as they met Kari in the Entrance Hall.
"Professor Lupin, he wasn't in his office." Kari said worriedly.
"Alright, you both head back to your Common Room, I'll go down on my own." Lupin headed for the door and looked over his shoulder, "Ombre?"
The Princess nodded. "Kari let's go."
"But…?"
"We have to trust the Professor."
"Alright." Kari didn't like it but nodded as the Professor headed outside. "Why aren't we following him?" She demanded as they headed upstairs.
"I promised Lupin we wouldn't." Ombre said quietly. "He has enough to worry about without us going too."
"But…" Kari growled.
"No buts."
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"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry roared, and with a huge effort broke free of Hermione and Ron's restraint and dodged around Joey, lunging forwards.
He had forgotten about magic, he had forgotten that he short and skinny and thirteen, whereas Black was a tall, fully grown man. All Harry knew was that he wanted to hurt Black as badly as he could and that he didn't care how much he got hurt return.
Perhaps it was the shock of Harry doing something so stupid, that Black didn't raise the wands in time. One of Harry's hands fastened over Black's wasted wrist, forcing the wand tips away; the knuckles of Harry's other hand collided with the side of Black's head and they fell, backwards into the wall…
Hermione was screaming, Ron was yelling, Joey was moving; there was a blinding light that missed Harry's face by mere inches; Harry felt the shrunken arms under his fingers twisting madly, but he clung on, his other hand punching every free part of Black it could find.
But Black's free hand had found Harry's throat… "No." He hissed, "I've waited too long…"
The finger's tightened, Harry choked, his glasses askew.
Then Joey's foot swung out of nowhere. Black let go of Harry with a grunt of pain. Ron had thrown himself on Black's wand hand and Harry heard a faint clatter. He fought free of the tangle of bodies and Harry saw his wand rolling across the floor; he threw himself towards it but… "ARGH!"
Crookshanks had joined the fray, both sets of claws dug into Harry's arm. Harry threw him off, but the cat leapt for the wands.
"No, you don't!" Joey snapped; scooping up all four wands before Crookshanks could get to them. "Harry, Hermione, Ron!" He chucked the wands to their rightful owners. Ron had crawled back to the four poster bed and was now collapsed onto it, panting, his face now tinged with green, both hands clutching his broken leg.
"Get out of the way." Harry snapped.
Hermione moved and Joey found himself looking through his deck urgently for a certain card, chucking it to Ron, he pointed his wand at it. "Apparaître, Dian Kento the Cure Master."
It didn't heal Ron's leg but it helped ease the pain and some of the greenness left Ron's face. "Knew I had one in there for a reason." Joey said seriously then turned back to the scene in hand.
Black was sprawled at the bottom of the wall. His thin chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched Harry walking nearer, his wand pointing straight at Black's heart.
"Going to kill me Harry?" Black whispered.
Harry stopped right above him, his wand still pointing at Black's chest, looking down at him. A livid bruise was rising around Black's left eye and his nose was bleeding.
"You killed my parents." Harry said, his voice shaking slightly, but his wand hand quite steady.
Black stared up at him out of those shrunken eyes. "I don't deny it." He said very quietly, "But if you knew the full story…"
"The full story?" Harry repeated a furious pounding in his ears. "You sold them to Voldemort, that's all I need to know!"
"You've got to listen to me," Black said, and there was a note of urgency in his voice now. "You'll regret it if you don't… you don't understand…"
"Harry, you need to calm down." Joey said, but neither Harry nor Black seemed to be listening to him.
"I understand a lot better then you think." Said Harry and his voice shook more then ever. "You never heard her did you? My mum, trying to stop Voldemort killing me… and you did that… you did it…"
Before either of them could say another word, something leapt onto Black's chest and settled himself there, right over Black's heart. Black blinked and looked at the cat.
"Get off." He murmured, trying to push the cat off. But Crookshanks just dug his claws in deeper.
Harry stared at them, so what if he had to kill the cat too? It was in league with Black… if it was prepared to die, trying to save it, that only proved Black cared more about the cat then he did his parents. Harry raised his wand.
And found his arm caught by someone he'd thought was a friend. "Joey?" Harry half gasped, half snapped.
"Don't do something you'll regret." Joey said, if Harry had been thinking rationally, he would have realised he'd never seen Joey looking so serious, even when their friends had been in the hospital wing.
"He killed my parents."
"I know."
The two boys stared at each other.
"Harry, killing him won't bring them back."
"Joey…" Harry growled.
Black leapt up.
But he didn't go for Harry.
He went for Ron.
Joey had to let go of Harry to go for Black. Harry cast a spell in Black's direction. Black avoided it and it hit the wall, leaving a black mark. In the half a second before anyone reacted to anything else Joey yelled, "Apparaître." Summoning Gearfried the Iron Knight, Garoozis and Flame Swordsman. "Protect Ron, protect Harry, and restrain Black." He ordered, pointing to each in turn. "Harry, I swear I will tell Garoozis to restrain you too if you don't calm down."
Hermione, Harry and Ron, even in the serious situation, gawked at him.
"Start talking." Joey pointed at Black.
Black stared at him, figuring it was better not to fight with the warrior that the blonde had made appear out of nowhere, then to have one of them try to kill him again.
"I as good as killed Harry's parents." Black started, then paused. "How much do you know?"
Harry looked at the lizard warrior thing that was regarding him carefully then swallowed his anger and answered. "That you were my parent's secret keeper and betrayed them to Voldemort." Harry bit out, unable to comprehend why Joey was determined to get Black's story out.
"I was supposed to be their Secret Keeper." Black said slowly. "I convinced them to change at the last minute."
"Why?" Hermione couldn't help asking now things had calmed down slightly.
"Because I was the obvious choice and if they swapped then Voldemort would come after me and not their real Secret Keeper."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Harry snapped, then remembered Garoozis and held himself in check, "You could be lying out of your teeth."
"If you let me have that rat, I can show you." Black smirked.
Joey shook his head. "No. I'm not giving you a chance to hex us."
"Then you do it." Black said. "The rat is an Animagus."
Joey looked at Ron.
"Scabbers has been in our family for years, he's just a rat!" Ron protested.
"Aren't you surprised he's lived so long?" Black asked then looked at Joey. "The spell is complex, you might need my help."
Joey frowned, thinking quickly. Nothing would surprise him anymore. "First tell us who you think Scabbers is."
"Pettigrew." Black growled, "The real traitor."
"You killed Pettigrew!" Harry shouted, stepping forward ready to attack again.
"Garoozis." Joey snapped.
The crocodile warrior monster grabbed Harry, stopping him from going anywhere.
"Pettigrew cut of his own finger and fled as a rat!" Black snapped back, "He's the one that blew up all those Muggles; he's the one that betrayed your parents to Voldemort!"
Joey made up his mind. "Ron, give me the rat."
"You're not serious!" Harry yelled at him.
"Black's no threat while Flame Swordsman has him restrained." Joey said, "The Dementors are probably patrolling now the Duel Monsters have disappeared, and Minister Fudge is on school grounds, if Scabbers is a rat, we hand Black to them. If the rat is Pettigrew, we hand Pettigrew to Fudge."
Harry glared, but Hermione nodded.
"Will this hurt Scabbers?"
"Not if he's a real rat." Black said with a small smile on his face.
"Joey, are you…?" Hermione asked.
Joey nodded and Ron handed over Scabbers.
Joey used Petirificus Totalus on it to stop it escaping, and then walked over to Black. "I'm giving you my wand," Joey said, "But remember that Flame Swordsman is right behind you. If you attack anyone, I will not take the blame for his reaction."
Black nodded and Joey handed over his wand.
Black looked like he wanted to do something else for a minute, and then pointed the wand at the rat and a flash of blue white light shot from the end of the wand.
The full body bind vanished, and the small form twisted madly. Ron yelled and Joey took his wand back as Scabbers turned from a rat, into a man.
A short, ratty looking man, with thin hair and a big bald patch, with the appearance of someone who's lost a lot of weight in a short time.
Harry saw his eyes dart to the door and back to Black.
Joey didn't miss this either.
"Apparaître." Alligator Sword appeared and Pettigrew flinched at Joey's order, which put it between the ex-rat and the door.
"That's… that's…" Ron stared.
Black growled as Pettigrew squeaked, "S…Sirius…"
Black looked from Joey to Pettigrew and snarled, "You traitor." He snarled at the man, "How could you have done that to Lily and James?"
"Me? Me?" The man squeaked, "I'm not the one who killed all those Muggles…"
"If you weren't a murderer, why didn't you come out of hiding when you heard Black was caught?" Joey asked with a look of distaste on his face.
"I knew he'd escape that's why!" Pettigrew squeaked, "I knew it!"
"How, when no one's ever done it before?" Black snarled. Flame Swordsman had to tighten its grip to keep a hold on the man.
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named must have taught you tricks!"
Black let out a terrible laugh, "Voldemort, ha, teach me tricks?" Black snorted in disbelief. Pettigrew winced, "What scared to hear your Master's name?"
Pettigrew didn't answer.
"I heard things in Azkaban. His lot aren't happy with you."
"If they aren't happy with me, it's because I put their best spy in Azkaban!"
Black nearly broke free of the Warrior's grip and Joey nearly summoned another monster to help. "How dare you?" Black sounded like the dog he had been, "I would never betray my friends like you did! I should have known it was you. You always did like big friends that could protect you!"
Joey found a hatred of Pettigrew growing as the man tried to defend himself.
"Excuse me." The timid voice that interrupted made everyone turn to its owner, "Ummm, Mr Black."
Black looked taken aback to be referred to as Mr Black and nodded.
"Scabbers… I mean Pettigrew has been sleeping in the boy's dorm for years." Hermione said, "Why hasn't he tried anything before?"
"Pettigrew has only ever done something when there's something in it for him. Besides, is he in Harry's dorm?" Black gestured towards Joey. Hermione nodded, "Then Peter was probably too scared to do anything."
Hermione looked thoughtful and then spoke again, "Mr Black, how did you escape Azkaban if you didn't use Dark Magic?"
"Exactly my…" Pettigrew trailed off at a glare from Black and Joey.
"I don't know how I did it." Black admitted, "I think I only stayed sane because I knew I was innocent. It wasn't a happy thought so they couldn't steal it. When I saw Peter in the picture in the newspaper, I knew I had to do something, so I when I turned into a dog to escape the power of the Dementors and they opened the door to give me food, I slipped past, I was very thin then. I swam to shore and got here as fast as I could." Black looked at Harry, "You fly as well as your father did, Harry, and I believe I owe your short spiky haired friend a thanks for saving you."
Harry smiled slightly, then realised it…
"I swear; I would never have betrayed your parents. Believe me; I would have died before betraying them."
Harry nodded slowly, still uncertain, but ready to believe, for now.
"No!" Pettigrew started to weep.
"Stupefy!" Joey stunned Pettigrew, who went flying into a wall and fell to the ground, unconscious. Joey turned to Black. "He goes to Fudge."
Black growled. "Azkaban is too good for a rat like him."
"Sirius." Harry as Garoozis let go of the young wizard. "I don't think my Dad would want his friend to become a killer."
Sirius stared at Harry, then turned to Joey and nodded.
Flame Swordsman let go of Black who gave Pettigrew a vicious kick in the ribs, before going over to Harry.
"Hermione." Joey poked the teenager who stared at him blankly and then raised her wand. "Mobilus Corpus." She murmured and Pettigrew's limp form rose from the floor.
"Petrificus Totalus." Joey looked over to a very angry looking Harry, whose green eyes were flashing enough to probably even scare Yami. "Just in case." Harry murmured.
Joey nodded, called his Monsters back to his deck and moved over to Ron, who was very green and looked like he was going to pass out. "Sorry Ron, I'm not Yugi or Yami, no Mystic Box." Ron looked confused.
"I'm going to have to carry you," Joey continued, "Your leg won't take your weight even with Dien Kento's help."
"Let me…" Black trailed off, unsure of what Ron's reaction would be.
"Go on." Harry prompted.
"I'd need a wand."
Joey frowned but Harry passed him his and Black hurried over to Ron's side, "Ferula."
Bandages spun up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint.
"Try it now." Black said, handing the wand back to Harry.
Ron stood up and didn't wince. "Thank you." Ron nodded at Black who nodded back.
"You would be surprised how often we needed that one when we were at school."
If they were anything like our group, no I wouldn't. Joey thought as he led the group out of the room, downstairs and into the passageway back to Hogwarts.