Malik knew that his new house would not make things easy for him. He very much did not like his fellow Slytherins. He had hoped that it was just Malfoy and his cronies, but after a little observation, he saw that most of his housemates were the same. Egotists to an extreme that even Yami would find repulsive. Every single one of them had an attitude as if he or she knew a big secret and couldn't wait to tell, but didn't dare. It was as if they thought they'd be ruling the world one day. Malik couldn't stand them, and at least for one Slytherin, the feeling was mutual.

"Who does that guy think he is?" Malfoy complained under his breath to Crabbe and Goyle, who, as always, did nothing but nod and grunt in reply. "It's a privilege to be a Slytherin, and he's acting like that. And WE will have to share a room with this guy. Wonder if all that gold of his will fetch a good price in London... Probably not even enough to even things up. I can tell that, like him, it's dirty and of poor quality."

"Hey, Draco," a fellow Slytherin said, leaning in. "Didja hear what them first years are sayin'? They heard some of those new guys talkin' about the Dark Lord! But not just talkin'. It was like they knew 'im and wanted to keep it quiet."

"I don't believe that for a second," Malfoy replied. "The Dark Lord has better taste than that. Why on earth would he recruit the likes of them? Besides, Father would have mentioned it. He tells me everything. For instance... Keep this quiet, you hear? Right now, they have a bunch of Death Eaters in Egypt. It hasn't been revealed what they're doing, though. I just know they're looking for something." In truth, Malfoy hadn't been told anything. He just happened to overhear bits and pieces of his father's conversations. But there was know fun in telling that.

"So you think them first years were lying?"

"That or the new kids were. It wouldn't surprise me. Especially that one." Malfoy pointed to Malik, who noticed but didn't seem to care. "They were probably just claiming to know the dark lord."

That closed the subject. Malfoy knew he would have to make Malik's life a living Hell just to break even. Malik knew he would have to make Malfoy's life a living Hell to assert his dominance. In short, the Slytherin house (and the teacher in charge of keeping the peace there) would be seeing Hell. Absentmindedly, Malik once more buried his hand in his pocket and gripped the millennium rod as if he sensed he was going to need it.

At the Gryffindor table, Yugi stared forlornly at the empty plate in front of him. He was starving. He hadn't eaten anything except a few jelly beans since breakfast. He sighed.

"Something wrong, Yugi?" Hermione asked. She was not going to be put off by Ron's paranoia.

"Just hungry is all. How long 'til they bring the food in? This is a banquet, right?"

"Sure is," Harry said. Hermione had broken the ice again, and the four-and- a-half foot tall boy still covered in a thin layer of flour didn't seem very intimidating.

Even Ron was starting to doubt the danger of the new students. First years weren't a very good source of information anyway. So he decided to volunteer his information to the newbies. "Dumbledore'll start the feast in a minute."

As if on cue, Dumbledore stood again. "The Sorting is complete. Remember... while at Hogwarts, your housemates are your family. Those with more experience should set a positive example for the new arrivals. Help them in their times of need. Be understanding and compassionate. And now, I'm sure we are all quiet ready to eat."

Dumbledore clapped once and the plates, dishes, and glasses filled with food and drink. Yugi's eyes grew wide, first in surprise, then delight as he stared at the bowls of steamed vegetables and the plates of pork and potatoes. Then he remembered what Ryou had told him about English food...

"Umm... Suppose I don't want to eat anything that has kidneys or intestines in it. What should I eat?" he whispered to Ryou.

"The chicken's probably safe. And the vegetables. But stay away from the pies, sausages, and casseroles."

Yugi nodded and helped himself to a spoonful of potatoes. "It seems the house elves have been catering to your tastes," Hermione observed as she pointed out a few dishes of fish, noodles, and rice. "They're good about that." Yugi didn't see the point in letting consideration going to waste, so he helped himself to the specially prepared food. The other students seemed to have the same distrust of his food that he had had of theirs. Ryou, however, was curious again.

"House elves?" he asked Hermione, as see seemed the most inclined to share information.

"They make the food and do the cleaning and such," she responded. "And they like it, for some strange reason. Won't even accept pay or days off for the most part. But they're happy. You don't see them often, though. They just send the food in by magic." Ryou nodded in interest and took some food for himself.

Yugi was just about to start eating when something stopped him. That something was a head sticking through his plate. A transparent head.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Yugi shrieked. Ryou was speechless. The transparent figure continued to rise until the whole form was "visible". It was dressed in very old fashion clothes complete with a frilled collar. Yugi and Ryou stared in awe.

"D-did you let something out Bakura?" Yugi stuttered. Ryou shook his head slowly. It wasn't one of his cards.

"'Lo, Nick," Harry responded, almost dully.

"Hello Harry. It has been a while. Did you have a nice summer?"

"The usual."

Yugi and Ryou stared as Harry held his casual conversation with what appeared to be a ghost. Harry didn't notice their confusion for several minutes.

"Oh, sorry. This is Sir Nicholas, the Gryffindor ghost. Also known as Nearly-Headless Nick." Rather than waiting for the question that always came about why he was known as "nearly-headless" Nick just shrugged his shoulder slightly and showed them. Yugi and Ryou gasped as Nick's head swung off and rested on his shoulder, connected only by a thin bit of transparent skin and sinew.

"Coo- Wow..." Ryou muttered. He'd almost said "cool". That would have been a bit of a strange response to someone's head just tipping over. Yugi was a bit slower to recover from this shock than Ryou was.

A few more shouts were heard as the rest of the ghosts made their appearances. One of which Yugi was pretty sure was Malik. The Bloody Baron had arrived at the Slytherin table.

Halfway through the meal, Yugi stopped for a moment with a look on his face as if he were listening to something only he could hear. Then he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Would you guys happen to know how far away from the castle you have to be for electronic equipment to work?" he asked. Ryou had a sneaking suspicion this wasn't Yugi's question.

"Farther than you're allowed to go," Ron answered. Hermione, of course, had more info to provide.

"Technology gets fried if you try to use it here. You'd have to go about five or ten miles out at least before you are far enough away from the magic of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade for electronics to work. You could get in big trouble and it's not worth the effort."

<Yes it is!> Yami argued even though Hermione couldn't hear him. <We have the duel disk, it's a waste not to use it, even if I do have to duel with Malik or the Grave Robber.>

<What makes you think they brought their disks?> Yugi asked.

<I just... know. It is a duelist's instinct to be prepared.>

<We'll worry about it later. We're not walking ten miles tonight.>

<We could just move through the Shadow Realm...>

<You're not getting me expelled the first day.> Yugi said firmly. <Maybe Bakura will duel you later.> Yami basically did his equivalent to pouting and went quiet.

Many of the students had finished eating and a few tables were leaving with confused new students following closely behind the prefects who knew the valuable passwords. The Gryffindor table was just getting up when Ryou and Yugi heard a voice behind them.

"Hagrid informs me that you wish to speak to me..." The boys turned.

"Professor Dumbledore!"

"Have I been informed correctly?"

"Y-yes," Ryou said. "It's important, and... we'd rather not discuss it here." Yugi nodded

Dumbledore's expression didn't change. He simply gestured for them to follow him. Hermione was about to speak up, but Dumbledore beat her to it. "I shall send Professor McGonagall with them when things are settled. You needed wait up, Hermione."

From the Slytherin table, Malik spied his companions heading off with the headmaster. This was the only way he could think of to solve his problem. He jumped up from the table and rushed toward them. "Professor, may I speak with you, too?" Dumbledore nodded. As they left the Great Hall, Ryou gave Malik a curious look. He responded with a shake of his head. "Not about that," he whispered.

When Dumbledore was out of earshot, the twins got at it again. Fred pulled Ron close. "Oh little brother! See how the feared transfer students move on with their fiendish plans!" he said dramatically.

"They plot to corrupt our dear headmaster!" George said. "It's terrible, it really is...The next time we see our beloved headmaster he will be a different man..."

"Oh, yes," Fred continued. "He'll be wearing earrings and makeup and have his beard dyed purple! Oh, the horror!"

Harry and Hermione laughed. Ron's ears grew red and he roughly shoved his brothers away as they repeatedly hollered "Makeover of doom! Makeover of doom! Watch out, or they'll be after you, too!"

Dumbledore led Yugi, Ryou, and Malik through a series of corridors and stairways (with the boys staring at the moving pictures on the walls as they passed them), finally stopping at a stone gargoyle. "Orange slice," he said. The gargoyle sprang to life and stepped to the side, revealing a doorway behind him. After the platform at the train station, the food appearing from nowhere, and the ghosts, the gargoyle wasn't that much of a shock. The boys were finally getting used to things in the wizarding world. So they thought, anyway.

They went through the doorway and up yet another flight of stairs. The castle was even bigger that it had looked to them from the outside. They entered Dumbledore's office at the very top. They noticed a jeweled sword in a glass case, with Ryou trying very hard NOT to notice it. He knew his yami was partial to blades. Pictures of past headmaster and headmistresses stared down at them, literally. And sitting quietly on a perch next to Dumbledore's huge desk was a fledgling bird of scarlet red. It appeared to be no more than a few weeks old and was at the point where it would just be starting to fly. Dumbledore took a seat behind his desk and faced Yugi, Ryou, and Malik.

"Now... tell me what is on your minds..."