Rewritten Magic

Bakura had been at Hogwarts consciously for two days. He had to make up his mind soon if he would stay at Hogwarts of surrender himself to the Ministry Of Magic. At the moment, he was looking across the lake that was one of the two Hogwarts entryways, watching a giant squid flop around happily. The small waves coming off its frolicking washed up around Bakura’s running shoes. He stared at them blankly. He knew that he had his preferable way out that the old man didn’t know about. He had recovered enough magic to be able to shred his soul again…

But he didn’t want, for some strange reason that he couldn’t determine, for the old man to know he killed himself with his dark powers. Maybe it was because he wasn’t sure if Dumbledore could sense his Shadow magic… if he could; he may be able to stop him… he didn’t want to be stopped! He ground his teeth in frustration. There was no way out!

A large splash from the squid sent water up to cover his feet. He blinked in surprise. That was the answer! The old man couldn’t stay under water at all, or he’d drown! Bakura could, he didn’t need to breathe. He could kill himself, so easily, out of reach.

Determinedly, he took the first step forward. Slowly, the water crept up his legs, then his torso, and finally over his head.

Using his powers to anchor himself so he wouldn’t float to the surface, he reached deep within the Ring, pulling the magic as he did before. The water became a swirling mass around him. Almost finished…

/Stop/

A large slimy tentacle wrapped around his torso, breaking his concentration. His scream of rage turned into a mass of bubbles frolicking around his head.

/ Please, O Ancient One, do not end your life in such a manner./

He opened his eyes to see his reflection in the intelligent ruby eyes of the giant squid… though, as he thought about it, the creature looked more and more like something he had seen before… it clicked, and his head shot up in recognition. This was a Fiend Kraken a monster turned card from the old days. How?

He could feel its warm amusement and happiness permeating his brain, and also calming him.

/ Some monsters were not able to be captured during the ancient battle, and thus I am here, millenias later, and now with someone who is as old as I, and can understand me. It brings me such joy to be able to communicate with someone. Even the Headmaster does not have the power or the magic to be able to contact me in any way./

While “speaking”, the Kraken had slowly brought him towards the surface, and gently placed him on the ground near the edge of the waters to release him from the suprisingly gentle coils of its tentacle.

/If you ever feel the urge to speak with me, please do so. I am, and always will be open to talk./ And with that, it submerged itself back under the waters.

All Bakura could do was stand there dumbly. A living, breathing monster from Egypt…

“ Oi! Are yeh okay?” a voice from behind ripped Bakura out of his thoughts.

He turned slightly, and was shocked at the mere size of the man standing in front of him. Towering over his slight form even at a distance, the man was clothed in skins from head to toe, while his beard and hair almost eclipsed his worried face.

The strange giant came to a breathless stop in front of him, only to yank him away from the water and onto the grass. “ I was afraid for a moment that the squid was going ter hurt yeh. Are yeh alright?”

Blinking dumbly, all Bakura could do was nod and shiver… he may not be hindered by such things as breathing under water, but he could still feel the cold.

But the giant seemed to notice the small shivers he tried to hide, and threw his equally gigantic coat around him, then gently steered him towards a house that up until now, the Ring spirit had not noticed.

“ It seems ter me that yeh’ll need a bit o’ warmin up. That’s meh hut over there, we can grab some tea, and dry yer clothes out,” the large man then jerked his head back then blushed, “ Er, sorry. Where’s meh manners. I’m Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys and Groundskeeper o’ Hogwarts.”

A soft “ Bakura” was all that came from the “ teenager” who was suddenly feeling the after exhaustion of his last attempt.

As they stepped up to the door, Bakura wondered exactly how did Hagrid fit into this house? It looked tiny compared to him. But as the door opened, he could easily see that the outside was only slightly deceiving of the inside. Yes, there was enough room for an oversized bed, table, fireplace… dog (who inspired a bit of fear in the spirit, whose few encounters with dogs in his past life were none to good, and this one was huge…) and kitchen stuffs, but there was literally no room for much else other than a tiny path that was made right through the house.

But then, Hagrid turned his full attention to him. He picked him up as if he weighed very little ( and to Bakura’s surprised admission, that was probably true. He hadn’t been properly sustaining his body with food like normal mortals), and placed him on the oversized bed, then turned his back and ordered the wet boy to strip out of his clothes.

Slowly, Bakura complied. After a few moments, he was down to his freezing boxers, when he chanced to look up, and saw his reflection in the mirror.

He instantly thought that the pathetic figure in front of him couldn’t be him. When he realized that it was him, he felt severly disgusted with himself. He was disturbingly thin ( and could clearly count all his ribs), and had lost a lot of the muscle that he previously had. His face was paler than usual, and the almost black circles under his eyes yelled out that they knew he hadn’t been sleeping very well. And on top of that, his hair was a greasy mess, and was knotted down and soaked, making him look like a drowned rat. But not only a drowned rat, he looked like a sickly drowned rat.

“ Yeh can keep your boxers on if yer that modest,” came from the man with his back still turned. Startled, Bakura turned away from his poor reflection, and peeled off the wet undergarments.

“ Yeh can also wrap yerself in one o’ my blankets. They should warm yeh up real fast.”

And so they did, for it only took minutes to dispel the chill from his skin, and he sighed in releif. Taking that as the cue for him to turn around, the friendly giant quickly picked him up and deposited him in front of the fire as he bustled about getting some tea ready. Bakura just relaxed, feeling more content than he had for a very long time letting his hair dry by the heat of the fire. By the time the tea was ready, his hair was sufficiently dry, and he was very glad for the hot drink.

And he was doubly glad that Hagrid didn’t ask him any questions. He speculated that Dumbledore may have told the man about Bakura being at the school, but then, with how Hagrid was cheerfully talking about the latest wizard gossip, and not acting as if he knew the boy in front of him didn’t understand more than the tiniest bit about what was being said.

Eventually, the warmth, the comforting smell of herbs mixed with various animal musks, plus the quiet drone from Hagrid put all Bakuras troubles behind him, and he dozed off to sleep peacefully for the first time since before everything started to happen.

~~~~

It was definatly hours later when Bakura woke. He could see the setting sun out of the window in Hagrids house. He blinked slowly as his awareness returned. Looking around, trying to get the last remnants of sleep out of his eyes, he knew that he had been moved back onto the bed. His clothes had taken up the spot where he once was, and now looked perfectly dry. And Hagrid seemed to be missing.

Quickly, he darted over to the fire and threw his clothes on, pleased with how warm they were. By the time he was dressed, Hagrid ( who must have heard him start to move around) came through the door with a plate of food.

“ Hey there! Now that yer awake, I got some food from Hogwarts. And yeh are goin’ ter eat,” he frowned, “ Yeh are way too thin. Help yeh get yer strength back.”

Not being able to disagree ( because Hagrid was just repeating what he had thought earlier), he grabbed a bread roll from the plate and started to eat. Or at least tried to. Hagrid was, though he was trying to hide it by fiddling around with stuff hanging on the walls, staring at him. Finally giving up on eating, Bakura just asked “ What?”

Embarresed from being caught, Hagrid flopped down in the empty oversized chair.

“ Er, yeh see, school doesn’t start for another month. And we’ve never had a student come early an all”-

“ I’m not a student.”

Hagrid turned to look at him, from avoiding eye contact while he spoke. “ Then, what are yeh doin ‘ere?”

Now it was Bakuras’ turn to try to avoid eye contact. Unfortunatly Hagrid would have nothing of it, and lightly picked him up, deposited him on his large lap, and started to stroke his hair.

“ S’all right if yer different. I won’t tell nobody about yeh if yeh feel like tellin me…”

Frozen stiff, and caught between lying and being truthful (something he had never felt like before), Bakura didn’t know what to do. Finally, he decided, and relaxed.

“ You remember back a ways, in that Daily Prophet newspaper, with the Death Eaters, and what they were doing that night?” at Hagrids’ nod, the spirit took in a deep breath to continue. “ Well, they weren’t trying to revive whoever it was… they were… chasing me” he finished quietly.

After a long pause… “ And yeh were the one who killed them?”

All he could do was nod.

Another long pause.

“ Well no wonder Dumbledore brought you here! Any Death Eaters who weren’t there would be after yeh! It ain’t safe out there for yeh anymore!”

Admittedly, Bakura had never thought of it THAT way before.

“But,” he continued ( Bakura that is), “ Dumbledore only gave me two options after he brought me here. Stay at Hogwarts, or be handed over to the Ministry of Magic… I don’t know which one’s worse…”

Another pause, then “ Well, I can tell yeh two things. One is that if yeh go to the Ministry yeh’ll be treated as inhuman, a lab subject, locked in a cage more likely. And two, if yeh stay here, yer guaranteed me as a friend so it won’t be as horrible as yeh think.”

Well, that was a surprise… especially for someone who never did have a friend. A host yes, a partner, yes, but not something that close.

Before he could say anything, a knock on Hagrids’ door interrupted them. Setting Bakura back on the bed, Hagrid got up.

The cheerful “ Good evening Hagrid” from behind the door set Bakura on edge. It was Dumbledore. Still not forgiving the old man for trying to get information out of him via veritaserum, and threatening him to stay.

“ Good evenin Proffesor Dumbledore.”

Hagrid let the old man inside. Dumbledore looked around and immediately spotted Bakura from his spot on the bed.

“ Ah, Mr. Bakura, I was wondering where you got to. I hope you have been well.”

It irritated him that the old man could act like he did nothing wrong!

“ And now that I see you are okay, it is time for me to get back to the school. I need to keep working on sending out all the letters for the new first years.” and he turned to leave.

With only a couple seconds hesitation, Bakura dashed out the door after Dumbledore.

“ Dumbledore, wait!”

He stopped, and turned around, the cheerful expression never leaving his face.

“ Yes Mr. Bakura?”

Holding his breath, he clamped together his teeth. He was not going to like this…

… “ I’ll stay.”

Dumbledore insessent cheerfulness seemed to double at those three words.


~~~~


As fast as Dumbledore could, he got a small room ready for Bakura. With just a bed, a desk, and a window, it was drab, but Dumbledore assured him that he would soon be filling it up with all his school supplies… and that he would be going to get some of those supplies in the morning, and that he should rest.

But of course, Bakura would never listen to Dumbledores advice. He was out exploring the old castle as soon as everything was dark. Even he was surprised at the size of the school inside compared to out. The almost never-ending hallways with classrooms that were mainly abandoned, and it looked as if some were abandoned far longer than others. The staircases (that abruptly moved in other directions), went up much farther than what looked to be the height of the castle from the outside.

Finally tiring from all the exploration, he sat down hidden behind one of the many statues of famous wizards. He started to doze off, when his senses alerted him to a presence close by. He opened his eyes, only to stare into the glowing eyes of… a cat. He sighed. Okay, so the school had animals wandering around it. He could live with that.

“ Hello.” he said. Might as well enjoy some silent company.

A quiet mewl was his answer. He lifted his hand, and frowned when the cat backed away.

“ It’s alright. Strange as it is, I don’t hurt cats.”

As if reassured from this, the striped cat butted its head under his outstretched fingers, demanding attention. Which Bakura was entirely willing to give. But eventually, sitting in such a small, cramped space, he knew that it was about time to head back to his room.

~~~~

By dawn, he was awake again, and ready to leave. But, seeing his reflection in the window in the room reminded him that he was disturbingly out of shape. He also knew that before this school started, he would be back in shape. After all, he was in danger from that You-Know-Who (even though he didn’t know who he or she was), and if he stayed in such poor shape, he would have less of a chance to defend himself in case of attack. Which, he knew could still happen in this supposedly ‘safe’ place.

A knock on his door signaled the arrival of Dumbledore. He opened it, only to see someone who was clearly not Dumbledore. This man was black from head to foot, hair slicked down, black robes (though in Bakuras mind, they were still dresses) billowing, black eyes glaring. (he was about to think black teeth sneering, but his teeth were immaculatly white)

Bakura straightened self-conciously aware that this man would critisize him for imperfection.

“ And you are?” he asked.

The sneer seemed to be permanently glued to that mans mouth. “ Proffesor Snape. Dumbledore asked that I escort you to pick up school supplies.” With the way he stressed asked, Bakura could easily bet that he wasn’t asked, just ordered.

“ Alright then. Lead the way.”

Twisting around, and subsequently making his robes look like a cape instead. Smirking in amusement, Bakura followed.

Keiko: Ha! Did I surprise you with my lack of top Authors notes? Ingenious, ne? Unexpected lack of top notes… kukuku.