Yugi and his friends were sitting quietly- well, as quietly as Bakura and Ishtar got- at the Gryffindor table. They had only been at Hogwarts for a few weeks, and Yugi was enjoying himself for once. It was rather nice catching a break from shadow games. If only it would stay that way. He was just about to intercede between what could be a potentially hazardous situation between Ishtar and Bakura when he noticed something strange out of the corner of his eye. Or rather, he felt something and then the shadows in the corner caught his eye. Instantly, the Millennium Items grew warm and started to glow, causing Bakura and Ishtar to immediately stop fighting. Yami switched with Yugi, and the guardians of the Millennium Items stood, trying to find the source. They knew it was not from another item, but did not know where it could be coming from. But it was getting stronger. Beside them, Hermoine Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weasely stopped their conversation to look at the now standing teens.

The shadows continued to grow, but no one took any notice besides the shadow keepers. A feeling of dread slammed against Yami as he stood, and instantly he knew what it was. Seto stood beside him. "Hello? Anybody home?" queried Ron. By unspoken agreement, Bakura and Ishtar jumped onto the table, shouting for everyone to clear out of the Great Hall. It grew quiet, everyone simply sitting there blinking at the two. "Are you that stupid, sitting there like sheep? Look around, fools! You are in danger! MOVE!" Bakura ordered. Ishtar, beside him, said essentially the same thing, only with more cussing and nasty threats. Professors started to move in. Seto, annoyed since he could have simply used the rod to control a teacher to do the same thing without the dramatics, used his rod anyway and finally there was some movement- but not enough.

They did start to move though, when a Slytherin student noticed the giant shadow creature headed straight for the castle.

It became rather a panic then, and Yami, Seto, Bakura and Ishtar did their best to have a controlled panic. Harry, Ron, and Hermione resolved not to leave, instead ducking behind a bench. They hall was over two-thirds empty when Yugi stopped helping the crowd- the shadow creature had knocked in the wall, and suddenly, there, in all his evil intent, was the one thing Yami had hoped to never see again-

Zorc.

'This,' Bakura thought idly, 'is bad.' Yami flung off the student robes and stood there, transformed into the clothing of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, his Millennium Puzzle glowing brighter than any of the gold ornaments he was now adorned with. His DiaDhank opened, and he was ready for battle. Of course, Zorc had a few words for the ancient spirit. Of course he did, he was going to decide when to send past, present and future into oblivion, wasn't he?

"Namenaki Pharaoh," came the low, growling, definitely evil voice, "I see that I somehow failed to destroy you in the realm of your memory." Harry watched in shock. Spells were being simply absorbed into the dark thing. Finally they stopped, seeing that no matter what they sent at it, nothing affected it. The professors who remained in the hall and the three students who had hidden, watched and listened in awe as one lone boy stood in front of what seemed to be pure evil. The voice continued.

"I am not here to speak with you, Zorc. You will not prevail, for I have the power to defeat you." Yami spoke calmly, although inwardly he was not sure this would work. He could only hope that the three cards he now held would be a working substitute for the tablets that once contained the beasts. Zorc moved, turning to fully face the Pharaoh. Seto, Bakura and Ishtar set to protecting those who remained in the hall (foolishly, Bakura thought) from the now-crumbling ceiling that had started to rain down on their heads.

A dark laugh, if it could be called that, rose from the very earth and it seemed as though existence trembled. "You will not. You did not defeat me the first time, and I survived the second time. You will not have another chance." Zorc, in his amusement, failed to realize that Yami had activated Obelisk, Slifer, and was now releasing Ra from the Orb of Light.

Harry watched in awe as the rather strange Japanese student, now looking very King Tut, summoned one, two, monsters and a ball of light. He gasped as Yami's chanting grew louder, and the ball turned into a third monster.

Professor Snape, though he would never admit it, was completely astounded by what he was seeing. Despite all warning shouts, the boy was standing there, daring to challenge the thing that simply absorbed the weakest and most powerful spells. Never reaching for his wand, instead grabbing three playing cards from a belt apparently hidden under the robes, his clothing transformed. And Namenaki Pharaoh? What a night for Dumbledore to be late. Glancing over for a second, he realized that besides the three students who had started the evacuation of the hall, the three trouble-making Gryffindors had remained behind as well. Just great. He was distracted from the errant students as the boy- Yugi Moutou, wasn't it?- called into existence, "Obelisk, the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky-Dragon, and Winged Dragon of Ra!" That ball was Ra? Moutou started chanting, and a golden dragon appeared.

Yami was relieved that his shadow magic called forth the monsters, every bit as real as they had been 3,000 years ago. He paused for a moment. It was easier said than done, using shadow magic to summon the three most powerful monsters created.

Zorc finally deigned to notice the three Egyptian gods, only acknowledging them by more laughter. "Foolish, name-forsaken Pharaoh! I will destroy your resistance just as I will destroy everything else." More laughter followed, and Zorc knocked down more wall, just to emphasize his point.

Yami smiled. He simply said, "My name- is ATEM."

And summoned Horakhty.

Zorc was dispatched swiftly.

As the light from Horakhty faded, a rather disgruntled group of Item-Holders came climbing over debris, followed closely and carefully by professors. "Baka Pharaoh! You simply HAD to do this inside, didn't you?" Bakura yelled. Yami, who had sunk to his knees in exhaustion, looked up, slightly angry. "I did not see YOU volunteering to fight him, or convince him to do this outside," he said frostily, every inch still the ancient Pharaoh. "Yugi is right. What did you expect Zorc to do? He wants to destroy the past, present, and future. Is he really going to just waltz on outside to conveniently duel out there?" came Seto's characteristically sarcastic, superior voice. Ishtar pinched himself. "Is it just me, or did the Priest just agree with the Pharaoh willingly?" he mocked. The Tomb Robber hissed, "You truly think that I, of all people, don't know about Zorc?" Ishtar ignored him, continuing. "OH, I can see it now. 'Please, Zorc, I know you're awful busy getting ready to destroy everything, but we would like to move this fight outside, if you don't mind." Bakura looked ready to start a fight, but Yami cut them short. "We have more important things to discuss. For example-"

"For example," interrupted Seto, "Why are WE dressed as though we were in ancient Egypt?" Yami looked at his friends/enemies, and realized it was so. Ishtar shrugged it off, though he muttered about Ishizu getting mad, Bakura looked rather happy (not in an evil way, rare for Bakura) to be out of the 'stupid European Magician's robes', and Seto was looking…angry. "I suppose it might have something to do with when I…changed," Yami said slowly. "Let it go, Priest," said Bakura. "How about Zorc? I can assure you, I had no part in his sudden and most unwelcome reappearance."

Yami nodded. "I think I know." "You do?" asked Malik, switching suddenly. Seto got that look on his face that told everyone the wheels were turning and pieces were clicking. "Yes, I do. Let me explain-"

"Yes indeed, Mr. Moutou. If you could, please explain why in the world we are standing in the midst of a very destroyed Great Hall, and why only you four seem to know anything about the reason why?" came the rather angry questionings of Professor Snape. Ishtar, back again, and still with no sense of self-preservation, snickered and muttered something to Bakura about the goody-goody getting the heat. He fell silent once Snape's glare fell on him, but still kept the amused grin on his face. Yami had interacted little with Snape, and the troublemaker in Ishtar wanted an explosion.

Unflustered, Yami nodded his head slowly, ever so regally, and opened his mouth to explain when they were interrupted once again, by the simultaneous arrival of both Dumbledore and the other Item-Holders. No one seemed surprised at the Headmaster's appearance, but Shadi seeming to float up through the floor and then Pegasus and Ishizu suddenly 'glowing' into the room was a little more unusual to the wizards present. Harry and his friends moved out from behind the bench and came closer.

"My Pharaoh," said Ishizu, addressing him with the utmost respect as always, "the Items alerted us to a great disturbance." Yami made a movement to continue, and the professors watched the proceedings in awe. "I had a vision from the Millennium Necklace. Was it truly Zorc?" Bakura snorted. "Of course it was, Tomb-Keeper. Why ELSE would we be standing in a destroyed hall? For fun?" Marik elbowed him. "Obvious or not, she IS my sister," he reprimanded Bakura. Or so he thought. Ryou was standing there instead, looking dazed. "Why'd you do that?" he asked confusedly. Seto rolled his eyes. "Considering your Yami, do you really have to ask?" he said. Ryou nodded in understanding, then glanced down, horrified. "What am I wearing?!" he gasped. "Bakura, you get back out here and fix this!" He yelled at the ring. Yami smirked, and soon Yugi was joining Ryou in protest. "These aren't my clothes, mou hitori no boku! This is just mean, and the gold weighs a TON!" The two ancient yet still annoying spirits finally traded back again, laughing at their hikari's and at their Hogwarts professors, who stood there, unsure but starting to worry about their students sanity. Yami settled down first, and attempted to explain once more.

"By all accounts, Zorc should never have come back. If someone had…recreated him, we would have detected the magic. That means it would have to be the first Zorc we battled. But we destroyed him." Seto nodded, already realizing what Yami would say next. "So is it a fake Zorc? Like, a hologram?" Ishtar broke in impatiently. Bakura fixed him with a glare. "Do not interrupt the Pharaoh, he is long-winded enough already without having to deal with your running commentary, Tomb-Keeper. Let him explain!" Yami thanked Bakura, who snorted in return, and continued. "No, it was indeed the real Zorc." He hastened to explain, seeing that he was about to be interrupted again by Ishtar. "Bakura, perhaps you remember when you challenged Yugi in my tomb? It was a shadow game, correct? And you were sent to the shadow realm, or at least that part?" Bakura nodded, seeing where Yami was going. "Then that's how. Part of Zorc, who was 'bonded', or something like that, with Bakura at the time, was NOT destroyed, but instead dwelt in the shadow realm. When he felt the time was right, he escaped and came for revenge."

Harry and his friends were now standing behind the professors, listening in confusion to the clearly mental students. A flash of blond caught Harry's eye, and he turned to see Draco, who had also apparently stayed in the Great Hall. He rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to the group.

"Apparently, even Zorc is affected by the shadows, or else he would have remembered that I could defeat him. Or perhaps he thought he was still more powerful. Either way, he is destroyed, for good now I hope." Yami sighed, suddenly sounding less like a royal pharaoh/ancient spirit and more like a very tired teenage boy. Seto had been watching reactions to Yami's theory, and rather unsurprisingly, Shadi did not seem to think this revelation surprising. "I suppose you already knew something about this, Shadi?" Seto asked, already knowing the answer.

Shadi nodded. "The time was not right to tell. I see many things, I know many things, but only because I am a spirit only, and some things I cannot share with the living world." Seto managed not to roll his eyes, but Ishtar did. "So yes you did, but like usual you played your hand close and made us figure it out the hard way. Are you truly working for the best for the Pharaoh?" Seto finished mockingly. Yami intervened, not sure if Shadi would react but figuring it would be best not to find out. Just in case. "I believe," he said pointedly, "that we have some explaining to do to our fine professors." Ishtar brightened up. "Hey, are we going to get expelled? Does that mean we can leave? Japan, here I come!" Malik came out scowling. "He's just upset I don't let him out as much here. He'll have to figure out one day that the world does not revolve around him."

"You do realize, that you're referring to yourself, correct?" asked a professor, perhaps Flitwick. Malik sighed. "I see we still have a ton of explaining to do. Fine. Let's fix this place back up and then explain." "Are you sure we want to do that?" asked Seto. "This whole protect the shadows thing works best when people don't even know that it exists." Ishtar agreed. "Perhaps you should use that rod of yours to…" he trailed off. "No. As long as this stays…relatively contained, we shouldn't go around using the Items like that," said Yami firmly. Seto agreed. Ishizu and Shadi bowed respectfully. "As you say, Pharaoh," and both disappeared. Pegasus, who had previously been standing silently, no small feat for the man, spoke up. "Seeing as how Yugi-boy has already handled things nicely, I will be off." And with that, he was gone, and Seto let out a breath he hadn't quite realized he had been holding. He still didn't trust Pegasus after that little soul-trapped-in-card/little brother kidnapping/company takeover incident.

Bakura smirked. "Seems as though they don't want to be here while we try to convince our esteemed teachers that we are not insane, despite believing that there are two of us using the same body. And of course, it would only be those who do share a body that stayed." A few snickers came from the group. Quickly, using a few duel monsters and spells, the Great Hall was almost back to normal. Tables and benches were still smashed into pieces, food was everywhere, and there were a few large cracks in the floor, but at least the walls and ceiling were back in place, and house-elves could take care of the rest.

Draco, Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing agape. Harry was sure his jaw was on the floor. They weren't supposed to be able to do that, yet there they were! Rebuilding the Great Hall like it was nothing. Giving a satisfied nod, Seto put the Rod away, and Yami's third eye stopped glowing. "It's safe for the kids to come in now," Yami stated. Once more the ever regal pharaoh, he added, "perhaps we should discuss this elsewhere?" Dumbledore, the only 'European magician' who seemed to fully accept the situation, agreed.

Soon, the remaining Item-Holders, the Gryffindor Trio, some wild-haired lady who insisted on being called 'Tonks', Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Lupin, were all in the headmasters office. Refusing the candy, the still historically accurately dressed teens looked at each other expectantly. "Well?" growled Bakura, "who's going to start?" Ishtar raised his hand and waved it, jumping and shouting "Me! Ooh, choose me!" Malik took control again, muttering 'sorry'. "If only he were that eager in class, correct professors?" Seto said wryly. "Why don't you start then, oh great High Priest of Upper and Lower Egypt?" Ishtar taunted. Seto glared, the type of glare that few could master. "Please. I was forced into this whole magic nonsense. I'm not about to pretend that I know everything about it. I believe that privilege belongs to Yugi and Yami." A quick glance at Bakura, and he backed away, leaning against the fireplace. "Don't look at me, I'm just the King of Thieves, Master Tomb-Robber. I didn't exactly choose this magic either." He struck a pose. "Some are born with magic, and others have magic thrust upon them!" He thought it was very clever. Yugi, appearing in spirit form next to Yami for a moment, said (clearly to all) "And just think, there are TWO of them in there!"

Dumbledore of course looked nothing close to surprised, but Ron's head was spinning as he watched a ghost who looked exactly like the boy standing in front of him suddenly pop up, throw an insult and then disappear. Bakura ignored the comment, and Yami took it upon himself (of course!) to begin.

"3,000 years ago, a great power was discovered. It came from the shadow realm. My father, Ahknemkanon, was Pharaoh. We were in the midst of a great war, and it looked as though we would lose. My uncle claimed he had found a spell that would save us, and left the palace to create the Items, these Millennium Items you see here. Seven in all: The Ring, held by Ryou Bakura, the Rod, with Seto Kaiba, the anhk, by Shadi, the Eye, by Pegasus, the Scales, by Malik Ishtar, the Necklace, by Ishizu Ishtar, and the Puzzle, held by Yugi Moutou. These items, however, were created at a great cost- a terrible cost. The village of Kul-Elna was destroyed and the occupants killed, sacrificed to unleash the power of the shadows. My uncle returned with the items, and we were able to save Egypt. We thought all was well, until Mahad, a powerful magician and faithful advisor to my father, discovered how the items had truly been made. He informed my father, who took to his bed and died less than a month later in his guilt over Kul-Elna. I gained the throne, and inherited the Millennium Puzzle. All was well, until civil war broke out. Many things occurred, but what led to what you see here was the unleashing of Zorc. Zorc Necrophades was a being of pure evil, feeding off every foul emotion, act, thought on earth. He wanted nothing less than the complete annihilation of everything created- even the past would be destroyed. I fought him, but was unable to stop him completely. Instead, I decided to bind him, forcing him into the Millennium Ring. The key to the spell was my name. I had originally planned to die, my name lost forever, thus sealing Zorc away. My magicians and priests, however, had another idea. At the last, they instead tore my soul in two, sealing me, 'Yami', away into the puzzle, and my 'hikari' would be reincarnated until he gained the puzzle and solved it. My body died, but my spirit lived, though the memory was locked away inside an impossible maze. Speeding forward, Yugi Moutou was given the puzzle. It had been declared impossible to solve, but eight years later he did, releasing me from the puzzle and unwittingly starting the shadow games again. The Items chose their modern holders, as you can see here, and often chose their modern-day counterparts. Bakura, the ancient Tomb-Robber" he emphasized the title, "inhabits Ryou, his own hikari. Ishtar and Malik are…slightly different. But same principle. Seto and Set, the spirit in the Rod, are not Yami and Hikari, but simply mentor and pupil. Though which is which depends on the moment."

Yami paused to take a breath. The complete confusion on the surrounding faces had long been replaced by bewilderment and disbelief. "I myself, Yami, share Yugi's body, obviously." Yugi reappeared in spirit form and gave a quick wave, then disappeared back to his mind room again. "We are, as you see, only able to use bodies one at a time, while the other remains intangible to all but their partner. We also share a 'mind-link', which enables us to communicate solely through our thoughts. So if I went off exploring as a spirit, Yugi could contact me without saying a word." Yami chuckled as a few 'so THAT explains it' went around the room. "Yes. When we stare off into space, we're simply having a little chat with our aibou's. Or each other. We can 'broadcast' our thoughts to each other as well, though we find it's best not to, and usually just keep our conversations NOT in our heads." Glares came Ishtar's way. "What?!" He asked innocently. Shaking his head, Yami continued. "We are now the guardians of the shadows. This power is extremely dangerous, even when wielded by well-intentioned people. It gets complicated when certain people decide to take revenge using MIND CONTROL" he glared fiercely at Ishtar, "and PURE DESTRUCTION" he glared at Bakura.

"Anyway, I received the three Egyptian god-cards. These are no ordinary cards. Usually, in the muggle world, they are simply illusions. Using the shadows however, you summon the real beasts themselves. Ra can only be unlocked when those who are chosen to bear his card say the chant imprinted on the card in ancient Egyptian. The rightful heir, myself for instance, can combine the three gods into Horakhty, the creator of Light, and the only thing powerful enough to stop Zorc. Which we did. Yugi and some of his friends, including Seto, entered the Realm of my Memory, and while I fought off Zorc they retrieved my name from my tomb, and although it was in hieroglyphics, they were able to transfer the memory onto an empty cartouche, and I was able to read it. Atem," he said, rather proudly. "Zorc fell. But part of him was not destroyed, instead sent to the shadow realm, where he was able to gather strength and escape to attempt total destruction once more. This is what you saw. Our destiny is bound together, and he was forced to seek me out. Zorc is not, as he fondly imagined, all-powerful." Finishing up his explanation, he looked around. "Any questions?"

The Item holders walked upstairs, still in their Egyptian garb, followed by Harry, Hermione and Ron, all of whom had remained unusually quiet the entire evening. Entering the Gryffindor common room, everyone collapsed in exhaustion, not quite ready to make the effort to ready themselves for bed. They were not prepared for the volley of questions that popped up. It seemed that no one else was ready either.

"Is all that gold REAL?" came a girls' voice. She was referring to the many gold adornments currently worn by Yami/Yugi. "Yes," he replied wearily. "It is." Malik snickered. "And you get on ME for wearing too much gold?" "It's different and you know it. This is not exactly my every day wear, in case you forgot," Yami shot back. Bakura huffed. "You should be one to talk about forgetting, Namenaki Pharaoh," he taunted. "Please. Like you remember so much more than I do? Or wore less gold when you came bursting into the palace?" Yami replied, eyes narrowing. Bakura shot something back, this time in Japanese, to which both Ishtar and Yami replied in ancient Egyptian, while Set decided to make his appearance and added his two bits in Chalcedonian. No one outside of the Item holders had a clue what they were saying, except that it was an argument and in several different languages. Finally, Bakura and Ishtar both brought out their decks. "No shadow games, remember!" said Bakura. Ishtar nodded reluctantly. "Honestly, you two. Just do this tomorrow. I don't want to hear about duel monsters for the rest of the night." Ishtar and Bakura grumbled, but Ryou and Malik agreed with Yami.

Finally able to escape to their dorms, the Item Holders took a good look at themselves in the mirror. "You do realize that you made my best robes disappear, correct?" Malik grumbled. It took quite a while for Yami to separate himself from all the gold finery he had become ornamented with. "We can send a lot of this stuff to Ishizu," said Yugi, glad to be back in normal pajama clothes. They all settled down. Then Ryou started to giggle. Yugi followed suit, as did Malik. Seto grumpily asked what was so funny. The laughing grew, and Seto practically demanded an explanation. This only caused more laughter, and Seto threatened to send them all to the shadow realm. "What is so FUNNY?!" he yelled. Yugi managed to calm himself down.
"I know it might not seem funny at first, but did you see the look on their faces? From the first moment when those two jumped on the table to when we finished the demonstration of the physical differences between hikaris and yamis, people have been staring at us with either the 'you are clearly insane' look or this strange, 'oh my gosh, WHAT?!' look. Think about it," Yugi said, collapsing into another fit of giggles. Seto, of course, did not laugh, though once he lay back down he managed to smile to himself in the dark.

~`IiIiIiIiI`~

Ahh, my first tale done. I apologize, it is more of a first draft than a true story, so do expect editing, and perhaps chapters! We will see. I just always wondered what would happen if Zorc ever happened to meet up with Atem at Hogwarts. I'd never seen such a thing happening in any of the cross-overs I read (although I admit I have not read them ALL) plus, I liked the idea of Zorc escaping due to part of him being banished, and not destroyed. It is plausible, yes? (Please say yes.)

Anyway, I know I've got tons of details wrong, and I will try to fix them. Names, etc. It just takes time. Plus, a more detailed Q and A session. Just have to remember where in my brain I left the oh-so-clever ideas I started out with. So there you have it!

One more thing. Or two. First, I do NOT own Harry Potter or Yu-Gi-Oh!. I just happen to like them. So there! Second, be nice reviewing! Criticism is one thing, outright bashing is another. Like I said, first fanfic ever. Thanks y'all!