A/N: Hello everyone! This story is a complete revamp of my original crossover fic, Tom Riddle's Item. It's still up on my profile, but like most writing out of my teen years, it was written terribly. I hope you will enjoy this more polished version.

/Text/ is spirit to host

/Text/ is host to spirit

Chapter 1: Interest

Malfoy Manor had never seen so many visitors come and go than in the past weeks. After the fiasco in the Department of Mysteries, the Dark Lord had been sending his followers on all sorts of information-gathering missions to little or no success.

Wormtail sighed. The Dark Lord was becoming impatient with his lack of progress. Sure there were more Death Eaters infiltrated into the Ministry of Magic each day, but there was still the matter of Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix to deal with. Every advantage led to an even greater set-back, which led to his Lord sending his Death Eaters in search of anything or anyone that could provide some kind of edge to take Dumbledore by surprise. There hadn't been anything to report, and the Dark Lord was not one to tolerate failure for long. However, after spending a week on the other side of the globe, he may have something to peak his master's interest….

"I see you have finally decided to join us, Wormtail," said Voldemort. "You have missed more than one summon. I expect an explanation."

Wormtail bowed before taking a seat at the large dining room table, taking care to avoid Nagini circling the table legs. "I apologize, my Lord, but I may have finally found something to use against our enemies."

"Oh? And what would that be? We have scoured all of Britain without prevail," sneered one of the masked Death Eaters off to the left of the table.

Wormtail leaned forward in his seat. "I took a slightly different approach, Master. I had spent several days researching various forms of old magic and came across something interesting. It seems the Ancient Egyptians dabbled in something called "Shadow Games."

"Shadow Games," Voldemort repeated. "And how did you come across this information?"

Wormtail bowed his head. "Forgive me, Master, but I learned of this in a Muggle museum."

One of the Death Eaters to Voldemort's right sneered. "You learned this from Muggles? What kind of joke is this?"

Wormtail put up his hands. "I-it's no joke, my Lord! The old tome I had read did not give much insight at all about this shadow magic, but while I was trying to conduct my research I heard about a lot of strange phenomena happening in a Japanese city. The museum in that city has on display a great deal of Egyptian artifacts. I coerced one of the curators to decipher some of the text. It seems that pharaohs and their courts tapped into some kind of shadow magic to summon monsters to duel each other. It was apparently some kind of game."

"And how is this supposed to assist me with my enemies, Wormtail?" said Voldemort, "Do you expect me to sit down with Dumbledore and play a game with him? Much of the old magic from Egypt is long gone now."

"N-no, Master. Apparently these old games got out of hand, and they nearly destroyed Egypt. The Pharaoh at the time locked away the magic and the world was restored. But it seems that in excavating the tombs, a Muggle has seen the carvings from these games and produced a card game. It is quite popular."

"How is this relevant? I am getting bored of this tale," said Voldemort. "I have no intention of indulging in petty Muggle pastimes.

"One of the tablets in the museum depicts one of the ancient battles with this shadow magic. And it appears that in this modern card game, there are two players who fit the description of the people carved on this tablet! They appear to be Muggles, but if there is a chance that one or more of these card game players have been reincarnated, they may be able to wield this mysterious shadow magic!"

"I don't see how Muggles are going to be of any use to me," said Voldemort. "Have you seen any proof of this strange magic?"

"I believe so. I was not able to witness it specifically, but the latest of their card game tournaments was somehow put on their Muggle viewing contraptions. I watched these duelists. Some of them were wearing strange artifacts that seemed to influence the matches. In one of their games, two monsters were summoned that seemed to be called "Egyptian God cards". Those cards were strong enough to destroy city walls miles away. One of those duelists wore a strange pyramid around his neck. I believe this to be how they channeled their monster's energy. There was a matching pyramid carving on one of the stone tablets in the museum."

"I see." Voldemort stood from his place at the end of the table. "I do not put much stock in what seems like Muggle foolishness, but there is a lot from the old Egyptian texts that we do not understand. If these artifacts produce the shadows like you suggest, they may prove to be just what I need to get rid of Albus Dumbledore. If not…you will be punished for wasting my time."

Yugi Muto sat cross-legged on his bed, staring down at the three Egyptian God cards and the Millennium Items spread out in front of him. Yami phased out of the Millennium Puzzle and perched himself on the edge of Yugi's desk. He glanced at the clock next to him.

"Are you alright, Yugi? You should be asleep at this hour."

"Something hasn't been right since Marik handed over the Millennium Rod," Yugi sighed, "I didn't pay too much attention to it before since we had Dartz to deal with, but now that the world doesn't need saving anymore and we've had the chance to relax, I've felt almost a familiar presence coming out of the Millennium Rod, even though I've never used it. It's really weird. Have you felt anything strange recently?"

"I thought I felt something peculiar yesterday, but it was very brief and I didn't dwell on it. Are you worried something is going to happen to it?"

"I'm not quite sure," said Yugi, "When Ishizu gave us the Millennium Necklace, it only activated once and that was right before our duel with Kaiba. And I thought that was just the Item's way to reassure us about Joey before we had to start Kaiba's match. The Millennium Rod has never acted up before…until now."

"If it will ease your mind, perhaps the Puzzle can lend some insight," said Yami, "And in the morning we can visit the museum and speak to Ishizu. Their family has held on to the Millennium Rod for generations. Perhaps this has happened before."

"Maybe. Marik seemed to use it just fine," said Yugi.

"That's true," said Yami, "Let me take over for a moment and I'll see if I can find out what's going on."

Yugi nodded, and in an instant, he was phased out, sitting where Yami had been on his desk.

Yami placed one hand on the Millennium Puzzle, and picked up the Millennium Rod. Closing his eyes, he tapped into the Puzzle. The light from the Millennium Puzzle blanketed the room in a golden glow.

"Well?" said Yugi.

"It's hard to explain," said Yami, grimacing. "There is definitely something going on with the Millennium Rod. Something – or someone is trying to free itself."

"Someone?" Yugi blinked, "You mean there might be a spirit inside the Millennium Rod? Could Marik's dark side be in there?"

"I don't think that's the case, Yugi," said Yami, "Remember - Marik's dark side was formed from the darkness in his heart, and not from an ancient spirit. And when we defeated Marik in Battle City, his dark side was banished to the Shadow Realm. This is something different. I can't be quite sure what it is – but I can tell that the Rod is restless."

"I guess we'll just have to see Ishizu in the morning," said Yugi, swapping places with Yami once again. He placed the Egyptian God cards back into the golden box that used to house the Millennium Puzzle, and set the Millennium Rod and Necklace next to it on his desk.

"Try to get some rest, Yugi. I'll try to keep an eye on the Millennium Rod in the meantime."

Dumbledore watched Snape leave his office and turned to the other occupant in the room. "Thoughts, Minerva?"

Professor McGonagall sighed. "Honestly, I'm not sure what to think, Albus. You-Know-Who looking into other forms of magic is troubling, but something that's that old with little or no information? It seems like he's grasping at straws. While the Egyptians did believe in reincarnation, that doesn't mean that it has happened."

Dumbledore nodded solemnly, "Perhaps. But it never helps to be prepared. When I speak to the Order next, we will have to send someone to Japan to look into these artifacts. If there is any truth to what Voldemort has learned, and there are modern-day individuals who can wield this power, they will need to be protected from him at all costs."

"Assuming these people exist, do you expect to be able to protect Muggles from afar and have enough forces here to fight You-Know-Who? He is only getting stronger, and his influence is growing. There are more wizards under his control in the Ministry than ever before, and it's harder and harder to tell who has been Imperiused."

"I know. We will have to consider this – but let us not get ahead of ourselves. We first need to confirm whether this magic truly exists."

McGonagall began to turn back towards the door to the office, and then paused. "One more thing – about the letter from the Ministry…."

"Ah. So that is what's troubling you. I was wondering...," said Dumbledore with a glint in his eyes.

"They can't possibly expect to put her back in that position again, said McGonagall, "Not with You-Know-Who completely out in the open now. How will this help our students? Is there truly nothing that you can do?"

"There is not. I seem to be outdone by a technicality. While this appointment concerns me, I have complete faith in our students, Minerva. After all, they did quite well last year, despite this setback. And, like you said, the Ministry has finally acknowledged Voldemort's return. There may be more interest in the DA this year than the last."

"A disbanded secret club hardly seems the proper method to teach our students defensive magic, Albus."

"We will do what we must in these hard times, Minerva."