Gah...I need to write more, I'm getting rusty. I am updating en masse, so go read my other stuff. Go, go, shoo.

Magic Dice, chapter 4! (You were doubting I would ever finish it, weren't you?)

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Otogi was having a dream. It was a nice dream. Everything was calm, peaceful. He was at school with his friends, just hanging out. He was sitting with Anzu and Honda off to the side, laughing at their friends, who were playing cards. Jou was currently throwing a fit as he lost the third game in a row to Yugi, and Yugi was snickering quietly, trying not to look too pleased with himself. Otogi smiled, that was so like Jou. The poor boy always lost to Yugi. Not because he was bad – far from it – just because Yugi always won.

Otogi smiled to himself. It was a nice dream.

Two seconds later, all of it was ended abruptly by a high-pitched, blood-curdling screech that tore through the rooms of the inn, unpleasantly jolting its inhabitants from any remaining hopes of sleep.

"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY IF YOU'RE NOT DOWN HERE IN TWO MINUTES I'LL TAKE AWAY YOUR BROOM AND PUT IT THROUGH A WOODCHIPPER!"

Otogi groaned and rolled over, blinking blearily at the early morning sun that was shining through the curtains. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Otogi dimly registered the time, 10:23. There was somewhere he needed to be soon, something he needed to do. Something…important…

KNOCK KNOCK. "Oi, Otogi! Are you up yet! The train leaves at eleven, mate!"

Oh. That.

Leaping from the bed, Otogi grabbed the clothes he had laid out and dressed rapidly, praising every god and deity he could think of that he had packed the night before. Kotori, as he had decided to name his screech owl, hooted at him in confusion as he rushed around the room getting ready to go. Otogi grabbed Kotori's cage and checked his hair in the mirror (still perfect) before he left.

He slammed the door open, narrowly missing Ron, who was standing outside with a half annoyed expression. "My god, you're worse than me. And as Mum will gladly tell you, that's pretty bad," he grumbled, hefting his trunk towards the stairs. He turned back briefly to glare at Otogi. "Well, hurry up will you? We have to catch a taxi and get over to the station before the train leaves! You can ride with us."

Otogi hurried to follow him, struggling under the weight of his large suitcase. "Oh, but Hagrid said everything had been worked out already. He said someone was coming to get me…" he was cut off as Ron heaved an overly dramatic sigh.

"Oh, well that's just great. Look at you, with the special treatment and all. I swear, it's like Harry all over again…." Ron rolled his eyes and grumbled himself into silence as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Otogi stifled a snicker as Ron quaked under Mrs. Weasley's glare. Hermione made her way over to them, smiling at Otogi. "Finally got up, huh? I was wondering where you were. How are you going to get to the station?"

"I don't really know," he responded as the group made their way outside. "Hagrid mentioned something about an escort…"

"Oi! You lot! About time, huh? I've been waiting here for the last ten minutes!"

They turned to see a young woman standing a few yards away. She had a pale, heart shaped face, mischievous, sparkling eyes, and short spiked hair that was a shade of pink usually reserved for bubblegum and cotton candy. She was leaning against a large minivan, a sickly, dreary shade of maroon, motioning for them to come over. "C'mon now, load up or we're gonna be late!"

"Um," Otogi stepped forward, "by any chance are you the escort Hagrid mentioned?"

"No, I'm a kidnapper." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Will you get in the van already? Dumbledore'll be pissed if you miss the train."

The group relaxed visibly at the mention of the headmaster and started to pile their trunks in the back of the van. As Ron climbed into the van, he took another disgusted look at the paint job. "Ugh. Maroon…"

1-2-3

Fifteen minutes later, the group arrived at the station, clinging to their seats for dear life. Their escort was certainly an…interesting driver. Stepping out of the front seat calmly, she frowned back in the direction of the road. "These muggles need to learn how to drive. Am I right?" She grinned at her passengers, not noticing their frazzled looks. "All right, let's go, all out!"

Otogi climbed out shakily, clinging the cage of his ruffled screech owl, who was hooting indignantly. In the backseat, Harry, Ron, and Hermione's pets were in similar states of panic. Hermione tried desperately to get Crookshanks back into his basket, while Ron and Harry tried to calm their disgruntled owls.

In fact, the only passengers who actually seemed to have enjoyed the ride were Fred and George. The pair laughed hysterically as they scrambled out of the van and both of them made a point of shaking the driver's hand before their mother ushered them away with an exasperated look.

They loaded their trunks onto several trolleys that their escort had managed to produce from somewhere. As they headed towards the platforms, Otogi dug his ticket from his back pocket. Reading it, he did a double take and stopped walking.

"Um…" he spoke up nervously, "I think they must have misprinted my ticket, because this says…"

Harry laughed. "It's not a misprint. It really does say 9 ¾. That's the platform to get to the Hogwarts Express. Don't worry, that's what I thought, too."

Otogi looked confused. "I didn't know they numbered the platforms like that…"

"They don't." Ron chortled. Otogi opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione giggled and patted his arm.

"You'll see," she said as they approached platforms 9 and 10. Otogi looked around, but he couldn't see anything that would direct him to a platform "9 ¾". He could see, however, that the group was attracting a bit of attention from the other patrons of the station, who gave quite a few odd looks, and several people stopped to stare.

The others didn't seem concerned by any of this as they wheeled their trolleys around to face the stone barrier between the platforms. Otogi stared at it doubtfully, wondering if they were really going to do what it looked like they were going to do. After all, that barrier looked pretty solid to him.

"Alright then, two at a time, Fred and George, you go first." Mrs. Weasley said briskly, ushering them forward. Otogi watched in mounting horror as the twins pushed their carts toward the barrier. What were they…they weren't really going to…wouldn't they crash? But just as their carts would have made impact, the two redheads disappeared. Otogi gaped openly as Ron and Harry followed after. Once again, just before impact, the cart and boys were suddenly gone.

"How did…what just…Where did they go?" Otogi stammered, staring at the place the others had just been.

"Here, I'll show you," Hermione said, grabbing Otogi's arm and pulling him forward.

Otogi flinched as their cart neared the barrier, screwing his eyes shut in preparation for the impact. Suddenly, a whooshing noise filled his ears and his eyes snapped open to see a scarlet steam engine standing idle before them, dozens of people loading trunks and belongings on board. A hanging sign overhead proclaimed that they had arrived at Platform 9 ¾, Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock.

Otogi stared in amazement as Hermione directed him towards the where the others were standing. Glancing behind him, he watched as Ginny and Mrs. Weasley appeared from the archway leading back into Kings Cross Station.

They made their way over to the train and began to load their luggage. When they were done, Ron and Hermione looked at each other sheepishly, pulling something out of their pockets.

"Well…I suppose we should be going now," Hermione said glumly, fastening a brightly polished golden badge onto the front of her blouse.

"Oh, right. You guys have to go up to the prefect carriage, don't you?" Harry responded with a positively sulky look on his face.

"Prefect? What's a prefect?" Otogi asked, puzzled once more by this odd new world he had been thrust into.

"I'll explain it to you when we get on the train," Harry replied, dragging Otogi towards the back end of the train. Fred and George followed them, glancing back at Ron and Hermione with slightly apologetic grins.

"We'll see you later I guess," Ron called to them hopefully.

"Yeah, whatever." Harry said, not looking back once.

Otogi soon found himself in an empty carriage at the end of the train. He took a seat by the window and turned to Harry "So what's all this prefect business about?" Otogi asked.

"Prefects help the head of house discipline the students and keep order in their house." Harry explained, settling into his seat. "There are two from each house, as well as one Head Boy and Head Girl for the whole school."

"Their house?"

"There are four houses that every student is sorted into at the start of their first year. The houses are Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. Each one has its own distinguishing values and discernable traits. That's how your house is chosen. The Sorting Hat chooses whichever house it feels suits you best. Does that make sense?"

"Oh, yes, absolutely. Just one thing."

"What's that?"

"What's a sorting hat?"

Harry sighed heavily. This was going to take awhile.

1-2-3

Harry had managed to thoroughly drill Otogi on the basics of life at Hogwarts, and had moved well into Quidditch by the time the train reached the rural countryside. Fred and George had long ago abandoned them for the company of their friend Lee. A plump witch had come by some time ago with a cart bearing all manner of strange treats for sale. Harry was feeling particularly charitable, and had paid for a large pile of snacks.

Laughing at Otogi's expressions when faced with the moving Chocolate Frog trading cards, and snickering as he spat out a sand-flavored Bertie Bott bean, Harry was quite content to forget about recent…events that had kept him from enjoying himself. No, now he was just a normal student, hanging out with another normal student, having a good time on their way to a fun-filled year at school. This was anything but true of course, but at the moment, both boys let themselves think it was.

As Harry was teaching Otogi about the finer points of Exploding Snap, the door to the compartment slid open, and they looked up to see an unfamiliar girl peeking inside. She looked to be about their age, with medium length dark brown hair and sparkling hazel-green eyes. She had a mischievous look to her, and a playful smile danced on the corner of her lips. "Oh, sorry…" She said, glancing around the room. "I was looking for a friend of mine. I guess she's not in here, though…unless you're hiding her somewhere." She laughed at her own joke and took another look at the two boys sitting on the floor. "Hey…I know you," she said, pointing at Harry. "I don't know you. Are you new? I'm sure I'd remember such a handsome face." she giggled, winking at Otogi.

Otogi smiled back at her, standing up and bowing politely. "And I'm sure I'd remember a pretty face like yours. Yes, I'm new here. My name is Otogi Ryuuji, and I've just transferred here from Japan." He looked up, flashing his perfect smile. "And you are…?"

The girl giggled again. "I'm Ethelinde Cayly. But you can call me Lind…and if you call me Ethel, you'll never walk the same way again," she said this last part especially cheerfully.

Otogi laughed nervously. "I'll be sure to remember that."

She grinned. "I really have to go find my friend now…maybe I'll see you later. I'm in Ravenclaw, okay? Look me up sometime." With a final wink, she left the compartment, shutting the door quietly behind her.

1-2-3

Nearly an hour later, the door to the compartment finally opened to reveal Hermione and Ron, looking tired and glum. Ron flopped down in the seat next to Harry and grabbed a chocolate frog from the pile and savagely ripped it's head off. "Of all the stupid gits in the world, it had to be him. That self-appreciating, stuck up, prick, that no-good son of a…"

"Ron!" Hermione snapped at him, cutting off his tirade. The redhead shoved the rest of the chocolate into his mouth and grumbled himself into silence, glaring at nothing in particular. "But he's right Harry," Hermione continued, seating herself across from Ron and helping herself to Otogi's box of Every Flavor Beans. "This year's going to be trouble, that's for sure. You'll never guess who they made prefect for Slytherin."

The compartment door slammed open once again and Otogi watched, bewildered as the other students in the room turned, in unison, to glare at the three figures silhouetted in the doorway.

"Well, hello there, Potter and friends. What's this, another loser to add to the gang?"

"Beat it, Malfoy." Ron piped up "You're not the only prefect here"

"What's this, Potter? Your little flunky appears to have grown a spine." The sleazy-looking, white haired boy in front jeered. "You're right for once, weasel. I'm not the only prefect, but just because you're one too doesn't mean you can protect your little Potter pal. Neither can your little mudblood friend here." Already Otogi didn't like this guy, even if he didn't understand what his deal was with Harry and his friends. Just then Malfoy chose to round on Otogi, continuing with a sneer. "So you're the latest addition to the Potter fan club. By your clothes, you'll be another mudblood," Malfoy waited for some kind of response, but when it never came he just plowed right on. "And a regular freak to boot."

Otogi frowned at the wiry boy; he wasn't going take this sitting down. "Look here, I don't know who you think you are or what your problem is, or what kind of stick you've got up your ass, but I just got here and I'm not in the mood to take any shit from you or any one else. So you can just turn around, take your cronies and get lost before I start to get angry." Malfoy looked shocked. No one spoke to him in such a disrespectful way. He was a Malfoy.

"How dare you speak to me like that," Malfoy hissed, drawing his wand, but Otogi beat him to it. Malfoy yelped and his wand clattered to the ground, next to a six-sided die that was sitting innocently nearby. "What the hell was that!"

"I got angry," Otogi smirked mater of factly, fiddling with another die held and ready. "Now maybe you'd like to reconsider my offer." The others could only look on in amazement, as Malfoy growled and spun on his heel, throwing Otogi one last glare before he left, clutching his stinging hand and nursing his wounded pride. One of his muscular, dim-looking henchmen snatched the wand from the ground before slinking after him.

Otogi retrieved his die before returning to his seat with a satisfied look on his face.

"Well, that was annoying." He picked up a chocolate frog and began munching on it. Looking up, he met the others' shocked stares. "What?"

"Do you know who that was!" Ron screeched.

"Didn't he say his name was Malfie or something like that?"

Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

"That was Draco Malfoy," Harry said with a bemused smile on his face. "He's my…well, my arch-nemesis of sorts, I suppose. And has been since the moment we met. His family is one of the oldest pureblood lines in the magical world, and they're very powerful in the wizarding community."

Otogi looked confused. "Why does he hate you so much? I mean, what did your grandfather ever do to his father?" Otogi smiled ruefully at the remark. "Never mind. Anyway, it's just that you all seem nice enough, unless I'm on the wrong side and need to defect before it's too late. I like being on the good side, the whole vengeful bad guy thing never worked for me. Long story," he added, seeing their confused looks.

"Well, I didn't do anything to him directly…" Harry started, not sure how to continue. Memories of the last fifteen years washed over him…visions of horrors he could only imagine…how was he to explain what everyone already knew? He almost thought it would be better to lie, to keep it bottled up…but Otogi was part of this world now, and he deserved to know its truths.

"You see…twenty five years ago, there was a powerful wizard named Tom Riddle…"

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FINALLY! Okay, you know what to do. Button, review, yadda yadda.