"Malik!"

<Well, that certainly explains a lot,> Ryou thought, internally glaring at his yami. <He's a bad influence on you...>

<What?> Yami Bakura asked innocently. <I don't know what you're talking about.> Ryou just rolled his eyes.

"You were invited, too?" Yugi asked, ignoring his yami's internal rants about everything that could go wrong now that Malik was here.

"That's why I'm here," Malik replied dully. He turned to Crabbe and Goyle. "I think you should take your friend back to your compartment now." Yugi and Ryou couldn't help but notice how Malik had one hand deep in his pocket. The goons each grabbed the fallen Malfoy by an arm and pulled him away. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks. What was going on here? Since when did Crabbe and Goyle have the brains to mutiny? Malik closed the compartment door and plopped down between Yugi and Ryou. "So, you didn't know I was coming, Yugi? Someone's been withholding information, then..." Malik glanced at Ryou.

"What?! You don't think he tells me, do you?" Ryou replied defensively before he could catch himself.

"Malik, you're going to get us all expelled before we even get to school if you're not careful," Yugi warned. "Please don't ruin it for the rest of us."

"Relax, Yugi"

"Did I miss something here?" Ron mumbled as he and the other two stared at the new arrival. Malik seemed to finally notice the attention on him.

"Please excuse me," Malik replied smartly. "This is sort of a reunion. My name is Malik Ishtal."

"Any enemy of Malfoy is a friend of mine!" Ron said as he reached out to shake Malik's hand. "Pleased to meet you."

Malik was introduced to the rest of the gang. But Yugi couldn't help but question what Malik had done to get that Malfoy guy so mad at him. "Just a monetary dispute. Nothing to worry about," was the only answer Malik gave. Malik was actually a little disappointed that Malfoy didn't show more signs of their little brawl. He thought he must be losing his touch. Malfoy didn't even have a black eye. Yugi and Ryou (and Yami) could tell that this was going to be the start of a long year.

"So, where are you guys from," Hermione asked.

"Domino City, Japan," Yugi and Ryou replied.

"Cairo," Malik said.

"Wow, you've come a long way just for school," said Harry. "Why didn't you go to a closer school for magic?"

"You mean there are others!" Malik blurted out. "Nobody told me that. Then why didn't one of those schools ask us to attend?"

"I'm sure there's a good reason," Ryou said.

"Yeah," Yugi said nodding, "Maybe the other schools heard about you and knew better than to invite you."

"You speak as though you expect trouble from me," Malik replied with a laugh, knowing Yugi too well to take offense from the statement. "I'm not going to cause any more trouble than, say, Bakura is."

"That's not very reassuring," Yugi mumbled.

"I know," Malik replied with a grin. Ryou sighed heavily.

"Finally," Ron said. "Looks like there will be somebody besides us to get in trouble this year, eh, Harry? If what Fred and George says is true, they're already on Snape's bad side."

"But I didn't do anything to get him mad," Yugi said.

"Doesn't matter," Harry replied. "Snape has this 'guilty by association' thing going on. Don't worry. He's got it in for us, too."

"So," Hermione said, speaking up, "Do you know what house you're in?"

"House?" Ryou asked. "I've heard it mentioned, but I'm still not sure what it is."

"Students at Hogwarts are separated into houses, which basically is just the group you have classes with and room with," Hermione explained. "We're Gryffindors. Malfoy and his gang are prime examples of Slytherins. As you can tell, the two houses typically don't get along."

"That's for sure," Ron muttered. Hermione ignored him and continued.

"There's also the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs."

"Each house has its own reputation," Ron interrupted. "Gryffindors are pretty much known for courage. Ravenclaws are known for cleverness. Hufflepuffs are the hard workers, though they also tend to be pushovers. And the Slytherins are the power-hungry jerks."

"Ron! It's not fair to make those kinds of generalizations," Hermione said.

"It's true, Hermione. The Slytherins are the one's who turn to the dark arts."

"Dark arts?" Malik spoke up.

"Yeah. You know, the bad guys. Bent on destruction and world domination." Ryou and Malik exchanged glances and shivered involuntarily. Been there, done that.

"Uh... How is it decided which house you go to?" Ryou said, nervously speaking up.

"The Sorting Hat," said Harry. "It's this tattered old hat that they put on your head. It kinda looks around in your mind and determines which house you belong in most."

"It looks... in your mind?" Ryou asked. Harry nodded. Ryou sank in his seat again, obviously disturbed.

The witch with the snack trolley came by. Yugi and Ryou didn't really want to spend anymore of their money and Malik never had much of a sweet tooth, but Harry bought plenty and he was more than willing to share. That included Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"Watch it!" Harry warned. "They mean every flavor."

Yugi popped a red bean in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. It was cherry. Malik did the same with a green one. Spearmint. Ryou watched as everyone snacked on the jelly beans before he took one himself. A black one. Liquorish was his favorite. It seemed safe enough. What had Harry meant in his warning? Ryou popped the bean in his mouth. His face then became quite green as he fished desperately in his pockets for a tissue to spit the bean into. Hermione answered his prayers and handed him one. Ryou made several faces, unable to rid himself of the offending flavor.

"What was it?" Malik laughed.

"Black olive," Ryou said.

"That's not so bad," Ron said. "My brother claims to have gotten a booger flavored one."

"And Professor Dumbledore doesn't eat them anymore since he got a vomit flavored one. And earwax," Harry said. Ryou's face progressed through several more shades of green.

"Be about right that Bakura gets the bad flavor," Malik said with a laugh as he picked up another green bean. "Luck never has been on you're side." Malik tossed the bean into his mouth. Ryou smirked, something he rarely did, at the reaction on Malik's face. Malik tore into his bag and pulled out a bottle of water, which he began to gulp down greedily.

"As I recall," said Ryou, "your luck isn't that much better than mine. Jalapeño, right?"

Malik gasped as he finished off the bottle of water, and narrowed his watering eyes at Ryou. "Shut up." Ryou grinned contentedly. Perhaps more of his yami was rubbing off on him than he realized.

Understandably, Yugi, Ryou, and Malik did not eat anymore jelly beans.

They were rapidly nearing Hogwarts and had not yet changed into their robes. Hermione, being the only girl, went elsewhere to change, leaving the boys alone.

"Aren't your robes a little long, Yugi," said Harry. "You'll trip."

"Just...uh, preparing for a possible growth spurt." Yugi said. He'd had his robes made a few inches longer than needed because of Yami. But Yugi's unusually long robes were soon forgotten.

"Whoa! Cool tattoo!" Ron exclaimed. "Where on earth did you get that?"

"I'd rather not talk about it," Malik said, his voice completely free of humor for the first time since he got on the train.

"Well, does it mean something? Those symbols, I mean. They look a lot like the hieroglyphics I saw on the tomb walls when I vacationed in Egypt." Ron said.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they were the same symbols," Malik replied dully, slipping his robes over his head and covering his tattooed back. Ron seemed to catch on that the subject was closed and let it drop.

Malik had good reason for not wanting to discuss it. His father had carved that tattoo onto his back with a heated knife when he was only ten. He had been bedridden for days because of it, and in pain for much longer. And that pain had spawned Yami Malik.

Seeing the attention the others were getting, Ryou decided to just slip his robes over his clothes. He'd rather not be questioned about the scars, and there were a few of them. Souvenirs from when Yami Bakura was at his worst.

Hermione returned, reporting that they would arrive shortly. Ryou looked more nervous than ever and he absentmindedly lifted the cloth cover off of Nightshade the raven's cage and began to comb her feathers with his quill. Malik eyed the bird, having not noticed a cage before. "A raven, huh? Suits you, Bakura."

"Oh! Is that one of those new trained ravens? The ones who can carry mail just like owls? I saw an advertisement in the Daily Prophet newspaper," Hermione said excitedly.

"Y-yeah," Ryou said.

"They're nice, but I don't think that they'll replace owls. Right, Hedwig?" Harry said, lifting the shade off of Hedwig's cage. She hooted softly in response.

"They can replace my owl," Ron muttered. "Good thing Ginny has him right now."

"I thought about getting an owl," Malik commented, "but I spent a little more than I originally planned to at that wand shop." 'Though I don't know what I'll need that swizzle stick for...' Malik added mentally.

'Oh, that was him,' Yugi thought, recalling Mr. Ollivander's tragic tale. 'There's a surprise.

"I wish I could have brought my cat, Crookshanks," Hermione said sadly. "But with my schedule and being a prefect, I just can't give him the attention he needs. He's happier with my folks. Mom adores him."

"How can anybody 'adore' that animal?" Ron asked. Once again, Hermione ignored him.

It was growing dark by the time train started to slow down. An announcement was heard instructing students to leave their luggage on the train, though Yugi, Malik and Ryou couldn't tell where it was coming from. Students piled out of the train and huddled together to await transportation. Malik glanced around.

"Surrounded by creepy people in dark robes," he said, shaking his head. "I might as well be back with the Ghouls."

"Ghouls? What's that, some kinda club?" Harry asked.

"It sounds kinda familiar," Ron said. "I know I've heard that before."

Malik hadn't realized that Harry and company were still there. He thought he had just been talking to Ryou. He wasn't used to being around this many people. He quickly changed the subject, but unfortunately Ron and Harry weren't the only ones to overhear him.

"Ghouls, huh?" Malfoy said under his breath. "Seems like something he's trying to keep under wraps. I'll have to investigate." He still wasn't sure what happened on the train. Crabbe and Goyle couldn't remember a thing, but he was sure that Malik guy had something to do with it. And Malfoy was not someone to let those who humiliate him get away with it.

"Are we supposed to just stick with you guys, or is there somewhere we're supposed to go?" Yugi asked Harry.

"I don't know. I suppose you need to be sorted, but I'm not sure if they plan to sort you with the first years. Hey! There's Hagrid! He'll know. Hey, Hagrid!"

"Harry? Tha' you?" Hagrid said, looking up from the crowd of first years surrounding him. Harry led the others through the throngs of students to Hagrid. "Ah, I see you've met the new ones," said Hagrid, nodding.

"Yeah, Hagrid," Harry said. "Speaking of which, do you know what they're supposed to be doing now? They're a little confused."

"Professor Dumbledore says they're to be sorted, but not with the firs' years. He'll introduce them himself. But they still have ta cross the lake with me. Come on, now, we've got to be goin'. I'll see ya at the banquet, Harry, Ron, Hermione." Ryou, Yugi, and Malik followed him, with Malik a little more wide-eyed than usual. This Hagrid guy was HUGE! He could probably pick Rishid up with one hand!

As the new students left, Ron pulled Harry and Hermione aside. "Guys, I've been thinking."

"What about?" Harry asked.

"On the train, that thing with Crabbe and Goyle, didn't it kinda remind you of the Imperius curse?"

"Now that I think about it," Hermione mused, "it was sort of similar."

"Do you think that Malik guy could have done it?"

"No," Hermione replied shaking her head. "He said he's never been to a magic school. The Imperius curse is very advanced magic. There's no way he would know how to do it without special training."

"But who's to say he hasn't had special training. We don't know this guy. There must be something special about him to start off as a fifth year at a school thousands of miles away from where he lives."

"I think you're getting paranoid, Ron," Harry commented. "You could say the same thing about Yugi and Bakura, and they seemed alright. Hagrid liked them."

"Harry, remember Fluffy and Norbert? Hagrid liked them, too."

"Yeah, but..."

"And Quirell, and Mad-Eye Moody. They seemed alright at first."

"Ok, ok, you've made your point Ron," Harry said. "But Sirius seemed bad at the start, too. I'm just saying don't jump to conclusions. We have enough problems without looking for them."

Harry and company loaded themselves into the carriages while Yugi and company loaded themselves into a boat with Hagrid. They were amazed that it didn't tip over with Hagrid's bulk. The huge tentacle of the giant squid lifting lazily out of the water didn't do too much for their nerves either.

"Is there any chance we can speak with Professor Dumbledore before the sorting?" Ryou asked, Hagrid. "Yugi and I really need to speak with him."

"'Fraid not. The headmaster's already all set for the sorting. I'm sure you can talk after though. I'll let him know you want to speak with him."

"What about you, Malik," Yugi asked. "Are you going to let him know about... you know." Yugi pointed subtly at the millennium puzzle around his neck. Malik got his meaning.

"No, I don't think I need to," Malik said. "That's not a problem for me anymore. There's nothing to gain from me telling him. If you're worried, go ahead. But I'm not."

"Whoa..." Ryou said, looking past Yugi and Malik. "Look at that..." Malik and Yugi turned to see what was so impressive, and their mouths dropped open.

"Wow..."

"Tha's right," Hagrid said with a smile as he noted the direction of their gaze. "Get your first look at your home 'til summer. Hogwarts castle."