Wild Magic Chapter 16 (Chapter Finished)

[KonokoHasano]

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever


"Speech"

'Thoughts'


Chapter 16


Ranma glanced out the window of the train compartment she was currently occupying. It would still be a few more moments before the train started to get a move on. On her head, Laira gave a small yawn as she twitched her nose. Looking away from the window, she glanced down at the mini-computer that was sitting on her lap. After a long while, she finally gave the thing its own name. “Stringy 2.0 is a weird name, momma.” The small cabbit on her head mumbled out.

“Well, it’s better than calling it ‘mini-computer’ or ‘laptop’, right? I mean, giving it a name gives it more of a personal touch.” This was exactly the reason she hardly ever used the damn thing. She knew that if she did start using it, she’d get attached to the stupid thing. “I just HAD to go and copy all of that data from the Eternity Main Systems onto this thing, didn’t I?” The cat-girl grumbled out. “Well, at least Washu made it so that it won’t be affected by magical interference. This also means I can get and send messages at any time without having to worry about owls.” Feeling a little better after the last sentence, Ranma began to snoop through some of the new info she gained from the Moon computer. She decided to start near the first part of the formation of the Solar System kingdom.

What she found out was slightly intriguing. The first people to arrive in the Solar System to create what would be known as the Moon Kingdom were outcasts from other inter-planetary kingdoms. They didn’t agree with the ways of the planets they used to live on and decided to flee from the area, and they soon found themselves in a mostly primitive backwater area where they got to work turning the planets into places that could nurture life. ‘Hmm… it looks like there was also a large disagreement about how things should be run. The people who disagreed were forced to live on the planet that already supported life-- Earth.’

The one thing that piqued her interest about the archaic knowledge about that time was that, instead of Sailor Senshi that weren’t around in the Solar System during that time, there were people who combined the use of Martial Arts and Magic. They actually focused strong magic of different elements into their bodies. Things such as punches and kicks coursing with such magic as ice, fire, electricity, and other elements to fight ‘what needed to be fought for’. Sadly, that fighting style seemed to have died out about 500 years later when the planets finally lent their magic to certain girls who became their ‘avatars’ and the formation of something called the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou. ‘Dang, that Ginzuishou thingie seemed like an incredible object.’ There was a small part of her that wished she could have something like that, but she managed to shake it off. ‘It’s a shame that nobody used that fighting style after that. I wonder if I could replicate it.’ It would have to be something that she’d try later.

Her head turned when the door to her compartment opened up to reveal Hermione and Nashigi. Apparently the two had met up with each other as they got onto the express. Upon seeing the redhead with cat-ears, Hermione waved. “Lina, did you enjoy your vacation?” She asked in slight interest. Before Ranma could answer, the bushy-haired girl spotted the computer on her friends lap. “Oh, what’s that?”

“It’s my mini-computer. I call it Stringy 2.0.” She received a couple stares as soon as she said the name. “What, I think it’s a fine name for a mini-computer that happens to be shaped like a yarn-ball. I’ve actually had this thing for a few years, but I never bothered to use it for anything except play games and browse the internet.” The cat-girl finished as she moved her tail a little.

“I thought that electronics don’t work at Hogwarts.” Nashigi provided with a blink. Her confusion soon turned into a smirk. “Ah, now I get it. You’ve gotten forgetful over the small break that we had. It’s too bad that your mind lowered. I, on the other hand, haven’t forgotten a thing!” The raven-haired girl was about to laugh when an energy sword found its way in front of her face.

“I’m not in the mood for your laugh right now, Nashigi.” Ranma simply stated before looking back at Hermione with a smirk. “Anyway, Washu was able to tweak Stringy so that magical interference won’t be a problem at all. With this, I’ll be able to do something when I’m bored, won’t have to rely on owls, and other such things.” A bicolored eye looked towards her Gryffindor friend. “You know, maybe I can get Washu to create one for you. I’m sure you could keep track of your scheduling better and all that stuff.” Hermione WAS a fanatic for something making schedules.

The brown-haired girl gave a small blink at that. Her very own mini-computer that could work at Hogwarts and help her with schedules and several other things of interest? “Really?” She asked as a feeling of excitement started to build.

Ranma gave a nod. “Yeah, perhaps I can get you to come over and visit Washu and the people I’ve spent most of my life with.” Inside, the cat-girl was smirking. If she was able to learn the secret, it would probably blow the girl’s mind. “Perhaps I could even get Nashigi and Gosaria to visit. However, I’m not exactly sure when I’ll have the time to get you to come over.” Ranma added as they all noticed the train start to move.

“Why’s that?” Nashigi asked curiously.

“I promised my mom that we could spend the entire first month of my vacation together.” The redhead still felt a small pang of guilt whenever she thought about how Narcissa was sad about not spending that much time together. “The most I’ve ever spent with my family was 10 days before I left to go back with Washu. When I realized how sad it made my mom, I felt bad about it. I then promised her that we could spend the entire month together, and we could do whatever she wanted to do.” A small grimace appeared on her face. “Somehow, I think I’ll end up regretting that last part.” Ranma sent a glare towards the laughing Nashigi. “Oh shut up.” She stated with a frown. “I’ve also planned on taking a small trip somewhere after I get done spending time with mum.” She wouldn’t tell either of them, but Washu decided that the second month would be a good time to visit that planet Mau.

“Who knows, maybe you’ll have an incredible amount of fun with your mother.” Hermione stated with a smile as she put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Oh, Lina, there’s something that I want to ask you.” When the blue/red eyes of her friend centered on her, she began again. “Did you find anything at all over your break about Nicholas Flamel? I wasn’t able to check too much because I had no resources.”

A smirk appeared on Ranma’s face. “I did find out a minor bit of information, but,” this prevented Hermione from jumping up in excitement, “we will wait until we get to Hogwarts and meet up with Ron and Harry. When we get there, gather both of them up and meet me in the library. It may not be much information, but it is a clue that could lead into the right direction.”

Hermione gave off a small pout at the fact that her friend was taunting her. Nashigi, on the other hand, just gave off a small yawn. The other sorceress already lost interest in the whole thing about this Flamel guy. “Aw come on, Lina. Can’t you please tell me?” The bushy-haired bookworm asked. She hated it when information was out of her reach. She blinked when Ranma made a hand motion for her to come forward a bit.

“Do you really want to know?” At her friend’s vigorous nod, the cat-girl cleared her throat. She even noticed Nashigi leaning closer as well. With a smile, she began to whisper to them in a soft voice. “It’s...” she drawled it out some more, “a secret.” She finished with a quick wink and a wag of a finger. The end result to this was two girls on the ground in shock. “You know what, that really is fun. No wonder Xellos does things like that.” She soon found herself on the receiving end of a small slap to the shoulder from Hermione. “Well, I said that you’d have to wait until later.” Ranma stated to her cross-armed friend. “Aw come on, there’s not need to pout, Hermione.” Giving a small shrug, the cat-girl smiled. “Hey, do you two want to see what Laira can now do?”

The two other occupants of the room looked on in curiosity as the small creature sitting between the redhead’s ears gave a small ‘myah’ as she leapt off. Both had eyes as wide as saucers when they saw Laira transform into a humanoid form of around six. Her crimson fur became lighter in color and her purple hair fell into a braid that reached her legs. Another change was that her long and floppy ears changed into elf-like ears. She was also wearing a small purple Chinese dress as well. After transforming, Laira grabbed a hand from both Hermione and Nashigi and pulled them to their feet. “Aren’t hands fantastic?!” She asked with a giggle before she let go and jumped next to Ranma.

“Wha… but how did…” Both of the cat-girl’s friends were stunned at the sight of a small rabbit-like creature turning into a four-year-old humanoid.

“I ate a powerful magic sword!” Laira announced cheerfully. “I also ate many other magical things. Oh, we need to travel to the Moon again, Momma!” The cabbit announced as she jumped and floated in front of the one she considered her mom. “Grandma Washu stated that if I build up enough energy and magic, I’ll be able to use what I built up!”

Hermione and Nashigi looked at each other and blinked. The former was totally lost, while the latter was only mildly confused due to already knowing most of the stuff about the redhead. ‘Lina really needs to let Hermione know the rest about her.’ The reincarnation of Naga thought to herself.

As if sensing the confusion, Ranma gave off a nervous laugh. “Don’t worry, Hermione. Laira has such a big imagination.” She then directed her thoughts to her daughter. ‘Do not mention anything about space travel to Hermione at the moment. She doesn’t know anything about me outside of what she and everyone else around here knows.’

‘Then maybe you should tell her sometime, momma.’ The currently humanoid cabbit thought back as she toyed around with the redhead’s wand. She giggled whenever she made sparks come out. “This is fun.”

“Hey, how’d you get that? Also, how are you able to-- of course, Washu created her by using some of my DNA structure.” The last part was said softly enough so that only Laira could hear. “That still doesn’t tell me how you were able to get into my own ki-folded space!”

An innocent look appeared on the creature’s face. “I’m sorry momma, but that’s a secret.” Ranma gave herself a slap upside the head as the other two in the compartment smiled at something that was turned around on their friend.

“Whatever, just go ahead and play with it. I don’t need it for right now, and maybe you could learn how to do a little of your own magic. I need to go back to figuring out if I can include elemental magic within my martial arts.” The redhead went on to mumble about ‘pushing magic into the desired place’ and ‘figuring out how to keep it there’. “I just need to figure out how to grab hold of my mana, push it into an area, and use it instead of my ki.”

Hermione became slightly curious at the words ‘mana’ and ‘ki’. In all the books that she had read, mana had only been mentioned twice, and there wasn’t enough information on it other than ‘mana flow within the body’ that Prof. Binns talked about during one of their classes. Ki, on the other hand, was completely foreign to her. “Lina, what exactly are mana and ki? I’ve only vaguely heard of mana before, and I’ve never heard of ki.” She received a momentary blank stare before the redhead gave a cat-like grin.

“Ah ha! There IS something that the great and intelligent Hermione Granger DOESN’T know.” Ranma merely shrugged the glare off. “Mana is the energy in which all magic is crafted upon. The more mana that is available to a person, the greater magic they can do, and even get to a point where they don’t need to rely on a pathetic wand to mediate it. If I remember correctly -- I was half-asleep at the time -- Prof. Binns mentioned something about the mana flow within was greater over a thousand years ago, and the mana ability within humans started decreasing through the years. In my opinion, I believe the cause is because of items, locations, and creatures that were rich in mana began to dwindle down because of fear, and the stupid attempts of keeping magic a secret from non-magical people. I mean, I think that does more harm than good.” Ranma then rolled her eyes. “If you ask me, I think trying to keep it all hidden from non-magical people is hurting the magical world the most.”

Not waiting for the other two occupants of the compartment -- Laira was busy making sparks with Ranma’s wand -- to say anything, the bicolor-eyed cat-girl began again. “As for the other thing you asked about. Ki -- also known as chi in some places -- is the life force -- also known as spiritual energy -- in which every living being needs to survive. I won’t get into complete detail, but ki is an element that can be used in a multitude of things. One of these things includes martial arts. With enough training and practice, one could even achieve the ability to turn their spiritual energy into a visible aura.” She brought forth a small outline of her own aura. “There is also the possibility of bringing it out and using it as a weapon.” Holding out her left hand, a small ball of white energy came into creation above it. In her right hand, a sphere that contained a pinkish tint to it appeared and hovered. “In my left hand is a sphere of my ki, and in my right hand is a sphere of my own mana. Of course, you -- as well as most of Hogwarts and the surrounding forest -- have seen me use such things before when I lost my temper -- or was under the influence of that cat-nip curse. Nashigi and Gosaria already know all too well about the mana aspect, even though Gosaria can only do simple spells with it.”

Hermione nodded for a few moments as she began to store that data in her mind. “I see, so you, Nashigi, and Gosaria must have a higher mana capacity than most wizards and witches, but I’m guessing that you still need to practice so that you don’t accidentally destroy things.” Ranma gave a small nod and a smile. If Washu ever got hold of this girl-- no, better not think about it. “And if you are unable to perform magic for some unknown reason, you still have your martial arts and ki to fall back on, as well as a couple other things I’ve noticed.”

“Yep, you got it, Hermione. It’s so nice to know that there is someone at Hogwarts I can talk to -- besides Laira many times -- who understands things right off the bat without needing a second explanation.”

“Hey, what about Gosaria and me?” Nashigi asked with a frown as she pointed to herself.

Ranma gave her an ‘are you kidding me’ look. “Get rid of the whole ‘rival’ obsession and I’ll think about it. Also, Gosaria may be smart, but you, me, and her all know that she has incredibly ditzy moments.”

Nashigi gave off a fake pout. “You’re so mean, Lina.” The discussion was brought to a close when Laira waved the wand again. This time -- instead of sparks -- a jet of magic flew out and hit the raven-haired sorceress-in-training. The result of this was that Nashigi’s raven-black hair had turned into a bunch of hissing snakes. “Lina! Get them off of me!!” She yelled out as Hermione gave off a minor shriek in terror. Laira gave off a small blush of embarrassment, turned back into her full cabbit form, and jumped into Ranma’s clothing. The bicolor-eyed cat-girl, on the other hand, started laughing her ass off. “It’s not funny!”

“Gorgon without the petrification danger, I love it!”

“Lina, if you don’t stop laughing and fix this, I’m going to encase you completely in ice!”

“Alright, jeez, I’m the only one here who finds it amusing.” Ranma grumbled as she got to work trying to figure out how to reverse it. It seemed that the rest of the trip would be a long ride.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nashigi patted down her hair as they made their way back to the castle after getting off the train. It had taken the rest of the train ride for Ranma to finally get her hair back to normal. It also didn’t help that some of the snakes decided it would be fun to bite her on the ear or other places, and having someone open up the door to the compartment and faint upon seeing the snakes was not good either. The most annoying thing of all, however, was that Ranma found it completely hilarious and thought they were making it into too big of a deal. Laira kept on apologizing throughout the train ride to her, and Nashigi couldn’t bring herself to get angry at the tiny and cute creature. A certain cat-girl on the other hand was fair game.

“Hey, it’s not my fault that you were in the way of the spell. Laira was only toying around with the wand, and I wasn’t expecting-- hey, stop that!” Ranma shouted as she dodged several ice arrows. Finally annoyed with the barrage, the martial artist/sorceress created a dill brand that knocked the dark-haired sorceress out. Ranma then grabbed her by the leg and began dragging her across the ground towards the castle. She made sure to go over a few small and pointy rocks in the process. Most of the students returning from break decided to play it safe and walk several feet behind the redheaded sorceress. “Hey, Hermione,” Ranma began as she glanced towards her friend next to her, “go get Harry and Ron and meet me in the library. I want to inform you all of what I learned before dinner begins. Damn that train ride is long.” As soon as Hermione nodded and walked away to find the two boys, Ranma made her way towards the Slytherin dorms -- via teleportation -- to drop off the ‘dead weight’ she was dragging. “Jeez, those breasts of yours must tribute to half of your own weight.”

A certain ear-splitting laugh erupted from the downed dark-haired girl. “Ooohohohohohooo, you’re probably just jealous of me, Lina!” Nashigi then got to her feet and dusted herself off. To anyone looking, they’d notice that she seemed non-the-worse for wear.

Ranma waved her hand at the older girl. “Yeah, I’m jealous of someone who probably can’t see her own feet and possibly suffers from terrible back and balance problems.” The sarcasm was thick and picked up on by everyone present except for a certain candidate for a banshee who suddenly decided to hug the younger magic user.

“Oh don’t worry, Lina my eternal rival, I’m sure that someday your body will mature. If it doesn’t, then I’m sure you will be perfectly content with being short, flat-chested, mistaken for a young child, fore--” Nashigi didn’t get to finish due to the fact that she found herself completely encased in a block of ice.

“Why am I always surrounded by goofballs?” Ranma mumbled to herself as she turned around and started to walk off. Before she made her way out of the common room, she turned her head around and looked towards the people who appeared to be slightly nervous of the frozen Nashigi. “If she isn’t thawed out within half-an-hour, please help her out.” At the quick nods from her fellow Slytherins, Ranma made her way through the passageway entrance and passed by the Bloody Baron. The martial artist/sorceress’s ears picked up the Baron saying something about the ‘Grey Lady’ and ‘Beautiful’. Not really caring about the solemn ghost’s mumblings, Ranma continued on her way towards the library to wait for Hermione to bring Harry and Ron. Laira had mentioned something about going and getting a few carrots from the house elves in the kitchens.

As she made her way through the halls, her ears could pick up the voices of students whispering about her being back. Quite a few seemed to be afraid of her due to the brand of weirdness that seemed to appear with her, and the things she could do. There were many others -- mostly some of the older students -- who thought that Ranma’s presence in the school destroyed some of the usual boredom that the school always seemed to have after one got past some of the more shocking things. It was these students who usually greeted her with a smile instead of a fearful look. ‘I need to find Fred and George after this. A prank would be just the thing to get this place lively again.’ The catty smile that appeared on her face sent shivers down a few of the students’ spines.

Nearing the library, Ranma noticed that Mrs. Norris was prowling around the area. /Searching for trouble-makers, old lady?/ The cat-girl asked as she switched into feline language. The residents of the school had taken to calling the whole thing ‘felislingua’. She had to ask what it meant, and found out that it consisted of the Latin words for cat -- felis -- and tongue -- lingua. At least they didn’t go around and call it ailurtongue.

The cat glanced towards the martial artist/sorceress with what looked like a smirk. /I think we both know of at least one troublemaker around here at the moment./ Ranma then grumbled about ‘lippy cats’ and ‘no respect’. This caused the nosy cat to give a chirrup in amusement. /By the way, I should tell you to be a little more careful with Prof. Quirrel. A few of the cats -- as well as I -- here at Hogwarts have sensed something very strange on the back of his head, and it seems to be getting stronger as well. The owls may have noticed something as well, but they’re just featherbrained coots./

Ranma’s ears gave a small twitch towards the sound of students whispering about her talking to the cat that makes lives difficult. /Thanks for the tips, old lady. You know, maybe we should get all the cats in Hogwarts together sometime and create a feline spy-ring. I’m sure that by doing that, we could root out foul play, and we could even have nice little meetings./ The bicolor-eyed 11-year-old finished with a chuckle. Mrs. Norris rolled her eyes before walking off to go on her rounds. The cat went on to mumble something about ‘needing a small nap’. “Well, I thought having all the cats get together for a nice convention inside the castle would be fun.” That comment earned a few sweat-drops from passing students.

Upon entering the library, Ranma made her way towards one of the tables. Her eyes drifted over to the restricted section that was guarded by a rope. It was a part of the library that she found herself wishing several times to gain access to, but of course Dumbledore thought that it would be too dangerous. The librarian, Ranma thought it was Pince, had a habit of watching her closely more than she did other students, and Ranma attributed that to the fact that the redhead always stared towards the restricted section. Giving a small sigh, Ranma grabbed a book that contained a large glossary of magic and spells throughout the ages to read while waiting for Hermione. ‘Hmm… the polymorph spell sounds fun.’ After a few minutes of reading, Hermione finally entered the library with Ron and Harry following behind. The trio walked over to the table Ranma was at and sat down. Looking up from the book -- but keeping her place -- the cat-girl smiled as she began with a whisper. “Good to see you two again. So, how was your holiday break, and did you find anything of interest on Flamel?” Hermione was also curious about what happened with the two.

The two boys softly began to tell them about how they didn’t find anything, and Harry went on to mention about the invisibility cloak that he had gotten for Christmas. The mention of a cloak that could make you invisible caused Ranma’s head to perk up completely. Sure she had the umisenken, but that needed concentration to use properly, and this cloak could just be tossed over you and make you invisible. She also became amused when Harry mentioned about how he used the cloak to try and get a book from the restricted section. Hermione was shocked at the thought of him being out at night, but Ranma merely gave him a thumb up. When the subject of the Mirror of Erised came up, the redheaded cat-girl caused them all to look at her strange when she told them of her own experience with it.

“Lina, you mentioned something about you having some information on Nicholas Flamel?” Hermione asked in interest. The three others at the table could tell she was getting slightly antsy.

“Yeah I did. It’s not much information, but it could probably be a lead.” Pulling out Dumbledore’s card, Ranma looked at the back. “I found out on the train ride home for break and decided to wait to show you three all at once.” Hermione gave off a large pout at her friend refusing to inform her upon the info when she first got it. “--and his work in alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel.” As soon as that sentence left Ranma’s mouth, Hermione gained ‘the look’ in her eyes. It was the kind of look that revealed that she had figured something out. The two Gryffindor boys and the Slytherin cat-girl watched in curiosity as their friend quickly made her way out of the library. “You know, I think I just might have sparked something in her mind.” Ranma obviously stated. “Oh well, back to reading this article about polymorphs before she comes back.”

“Why do you want to read about something like that?” Ron asked.

“Well, if I ever want to turn somebody into a pig, frog, cow, ferret, etc, then it would to good to understand the aspects of how to go about doing it. This book doesn’t mention much about how to cast the spell, but I figure experimenting will be a little fun.” Bicolored eyes noticed the looks she was receiving from her two companions. “What, I like to broaden my skills. You never know when you will come across a terrible monster or dark wizard and NOT be in good condition to fight. Turn whatever it is into a pig, and you’d be able to get away, and have a nice pork roast in the process.” She was mostly kidding about the ‘pork roast’ part. “The school of martial arts that I practice is Anything Goes Martial Arts, and as the title says, anything goes as long as you can defeat your opponent.”

Harry adjusted his glasses as he thought about the cat-girl floating in mid-air while firing off magical spells that turned panicking dark wizards and monsters into small animals while laughing her tail off. “Just… don’t ever use it on us, ok Lina?”

“You’re bloomin’ crazy, you know that?” Ron asked rather bluntly. Ranma was about to comment back when Hermione made her way back into the library and to their table. In her hands was an old book Ranma had to raise an eyebrow when Hermione mentioned that she checked the book out for a little light reading. Then again, the cat-girl had to do ‘light reading’ before with bigger books than that.

“I knew it,” Hermione whispered with force, “Nicholas Flamel is the only known creator of the philosopher’s stone.” At that sentence, Ranma’s eyes narrowed completely as Hermione continued to read about the stone itself.

Closing the book she was reading, Ranma grew contemplated over what she had just learned. ‘Prolong life and turn metal into gold? That’s weak; the one in Lina’s time actually had power to it.’ Still, it seemed powerful enough to cause some real damage if in the wrong hands. At Ron’s comment about it being powerful, the cat-girl had to give off a small snort. ‘This is obviously a case of some wannabe creating a half-assed copy of the stone. Still, creating something that could prolong your life does take some skill.’ “I guess this means that we just need to keep Quirrel from obtaining it.” Ranma decided to make a mental note on trying to get the cats of Hogwarts to possibly help. They could move around without suspicion.

“Lina, Snape is obviously the one who’s after the stone. He did get bit by the dog on Halloween, and Quirrel did warn everyone about the troll.” Harry pointed out to the cat-girl as if it were obvious.

Ron decided to interrupt. “Just because you’re in Slytherin, and that the head of it is Snape, it doesn’t mean that--”

“--I’m not blinded by the fact that Snape can be a bastard and that there are some gut feelings that I have against Quirrel?” Ranma interrupted with the ears on top of her head flattened out and her crimson eyes narrowed. “I guess that being in Slytherin automatically labels me as a defender of the greasy-haired dungeon-dweller with a stick up his ass.”

The Weasley boy felt a little guilty. “Well, I didn’t mean--”

Ranma raised a hand. “Think nothing of it, Freckles. I have moments of speaking what’s on my mind as well, and I have a past of putting my foot in my mouth, so I understand that you couldn’t help yourself from blabbering about what was on your mind.” Ron was about to protest when the redheaded cat-girl reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know how it is to be thought of as an insensitive jerk, and my prayers go out to you that you’ll be able to beat your chronic foot-in-mouth issue.” Standing up with the book in her hands that she decided to check out, Ranma gave a small wave. “See you later Harry, Hermione, Freckles.” As she walked away, she noticed -- out of the corner of her eye -- that Ron was slightly fuming over the nickname. ‘Hmm… I almost gave into my temper back there, but I managed to hold it in. In your face, Lina Inverse.’

After checking out her book, Ranma made her way out of the library and caught sight of Fred, George, and their friend Lee Jordan. “Hey guys.” Ranma called out with a smirk. She soon found herself with a couple of arms on her shoulders.

“Hey Red Cat, it’s good to have you back at Hogwarts.” Fred started with a smirk.

“Yeah, this place has been boring without you. There hasn’t been any screams of terror, any crazy energy from you, no wild and unruly magical events, and our pranks have been a little stale.” George added with mock tears in his eyes.

“Your pranks were as good as they always were, guys.” Lee Jordan stated with a smirk. He ignored the mock glares he received from the two.

Ranma smiled a catty grin when an idea came to mind. “Say guys, how would you like to play a little prank on your younger brother? There’s no true reason at all, other than he put his foot in his mouth and lopped me with all the other Slytherins.”

“What?” George asked being dramatic.

“Our dear little brother compared you to all the other evil, detestable, and whiny Slytherins?” Fred provided. “I think we can all agree that you are a diamond in the rough when it comes to the Slytherin house, but to play a prank on our own little brother.” The twins looked at each other before George responded.

“What do you have in mind, Red Cat? He may be our younger brother, but as his older brothers, we need to set him right.”

Ranma’s catty grin became bigger. “Well, let’s see here…” She began to explain softly to the three around her. After-all, the old phrase did go ‘don’t get mad, get even’.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma was hard-pressed to keep from laughing the next day when she caught up with the Weasley Twins before they arrived at breakfast the next morning. She wanted to ask them how the prank that they concocted against Ron. Ranma was amused at how well it worked out as planned. “…and when he opened his trunk,” Fred began in a whisper, “that multi-colored ink bomb you helped us with blew up and covered him from head to toe in multiple colors.”

“And then that experimental spell you told us about, I think it was called polymorph or something, acted next and turned his ears into floppy little rabbit ears.” George finished with a grin as he kept his voice at a whisper as well. “Of course, he blamed all three of us for the marvelous bit of color that we added to his existence. He then got into a huff and, last we heard, made his way to the infirmary to turn his ears back to normal.”

Ranma felt slightly guilty in a way at doing something like that, but the fact remained that the school would be so boring without interference, and so it was the job of the twins and her to provide a little excitement. “I really do need to learn more about that spell. I was going for him turning into a multi-colored rabbit for a few moments, but only managed the ears.” She mumbled to herself. Ranma then shrugged and figured that the next time she used the spell, it’ll be correct. The cat-girl noticed that Ron -- now normal -- was sending a few dark looks towards them. Ranma merely twitched her nose -- in the way a rabbit would -- and gave him a thumb up and a smile. The redheaded boy’s ears turned pink as he stalked into the Great Hall.

Breakfast proved to be the usual three-way battle between Ranma, Nashigi, and Gosaria even though there was enough for each of them there. Because of the two-week absence of this particular event, everyone had to get use to witnessing the food battle again. Some even wondered why the teachers never put a stop to it, and others figured that if the teachers did that, they’d risk losing a limb in the process. The biggest mystery yet was the subject of how three young girls could stuff so much food into their stomachs and not feel the slightest bit sick. Many had also found themselves wondering just where it all goes.

Ranma soon found herself back in the old grind of her class schedule with her Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The first thing she noticed upon entering was that Mrs. Norris was right in mentioning how the sinister feeling around Quirrel seemed to be stronger than ever. She could now get a feeling of two ki signatures within the same body, and there was a distinct smell of something lingering off of him. She remembered smelling it on him before, but it was weak, and she couldn’t identify it. After taking a small adventure into the forbidden forest last month before break, the smell finally sparked recognition. It smelled vaguely of… unicorn blood? Outright mentioning it to the turban-wearing professor would probably mean disaster, so she had to be discreet about it. However, discreet was not one of her specialties, but she could always try. A twinkle appeared in her eyes as she turned towards Gosaria. There was something she read a while back -- and remembered from Lina’s memories -- about unicorns. “Hey Gosaria, have you heard that drinking the BLOOD of a UNICORN can keep you from dying, even if you are seconds away from it?” She put emphasis on blood and unicorn.

“I don’t think I ever heard that before. That sounds so fantastic!” Gosaria announced with wide eyes. Ranma noticed that Quirrell’s attention was centered upon her. The man seemed to have his lips pursed together.

“Yeah, but I’ve also read that for SLAYING a creature of such innocence just for your own GAIN, then you will be cursed to live a half life.” If possible, Gosaria’s eyes grew wider, and the turban-wearing professor seemed to be sweating a little as the second energy signature grew a little stronger. “But, one would have to be very DESPERATE to do something like that. I couldn’t imagine anybody doing something like that, could you, Prof. Quirrel?” Ranma asked with eyes completely full of innocence and devoid of any look of malice or accusation. She could now smell the sweat coming off of the man.

“N-- n-- no I c-- can not imagine someone do-- doing such a deed to a p-- poor creature such as a u-- unicorn. W-- what brought this s-- subject up all of a s-- su-- sudden?” Quirrell nervously asks. ‘Does she somehow suspect something about us?’ He thought in his mind.

Ranma gave off a small shrug. “It was something I read over the break and decided to share it with Gosaria.” She suddenly gave off a large yawn that showed off her fang-like canines. “A small nap sounds good right about now.” The cat-girl mumbled to herself as she laid her head down on her arms.

“M-- Miss Lina, h-- how many times do I have to tell you to n-- not sleep in this class? It is v-- very important to your education.” Prof. Quirrell’s nervousness regarding Ranma was mostly thrown out when the idea of a student sleeping in his class, again, got to him.

One of Ranma’s eyes cracked open a little. “What’s on the lesson plan?”

“I f-- figure that v-- vampires would be a suitable--”

“I already know enough about them, so if you will excuse me, I need to get a little shut-eye.” Ignoring the indignant professor and the looks she was receiving, Ranma decided to give in to her cat side and take a nap during the class. She already knew stuff about vampires, and so it would be a waste of her time.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma still thought that History of magic was a slight oddball class. It wasn’t because of the ghost professor, or that Prof. Binns didn’t give a care about what his students did in his class as long as he could drone on. No, the oddest thing was that she could never sleep during the class. While almost everybody in the school -- except for Hermione and a select few -- found themselves bored to hell, Ranma found that she didn’t have that luxury. The redhead mostly figured that it was due to the idea of learning just why magic was like it was today through learning the history of it. The info on ancient wizards and events was mostly interesting in that there was often a mention of some spell that sounded interesting.

Still, it sucked that she couldn’t join the world of dreams.

Lunch quickly came and went, and before Ranma knew it, Transfiguration was upon her. She didn’t do too bad in the subject, in fact, she found Prof. McGonagall easy to get along with for some reason. The most she could figure was that it was because of the ‘cat’ that was within the older woman. Still, problem would sometimes abound when the redhead attempted to transfigure something. She would usually get the assignment right, but cause a little damage to something else. Still, getting the assignment right was all that mattered.

The assignment that they were supposed to do would be one of those easy things used to ‘get back into the feeling of things’. The class was put to the task of turning a piece of string into a life caterpillar, and full marks would be given to the caterpillar that most resembles one. Ranma figured it would be a complete breeze to do, and as she was handed a string, she reached for her wand. That’s when she stopped in realization. Her wand wasn’t in her item pocket. The only reason for this would have to be that Laira took it again. “Crap,” she said out loud and gained the attention of everyone else, “Laira currently has my wand!”

Prof. McGonagall didn’t understand how the little… creature could get hold of the redhead’s wand, but decided not to question it. “Well then, I guess you won’t be able to do this assignment then.”

Ranma jumped to her feet. “Wait, I can still try and do it without a wand. I’ve been meaning to practice doing wand magic without one, and this will be some good experience.” As soon as she said this, the tables around her started to move away a little. “Oh come on, I’m not THAT dangerous.”

“Miss Malfoy, I do believe that since you don’t have a wand--”

“Alright, let’s do it!” This will provide some great practice, and then she’d be one step closer to doing away with her wand all-together. Ignoring her teacher’s protests, Ranma gathered some magic into her hands and waved her right hand over the string. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, and it caused the cat-girl to sulk. However, the string soon started to move, and everybody stared intently. Then, with a puff of smoke, the string transformed into a caterpillar-- a caterpillar the size of a rhinoceros. A few of the girls in the class screamed at how gross such a large thing looked, and McGonagall could only stare with wide eyes.

Ranma -- who got knocked onto her ass -- blinked at her creation before glancing around and seeing the incredulous looks she was receiving. After a few moments, she pointed a finger towards the massive wiggling creature. “Well, it’s a caterpillar, a very big one, but a caterpillar none-the-less.” She noticed that Gosaria was under part of the tail. ‘At least it’s not me.’ The tail then proceeded to move and knock Ranma against the wall. ‘Ow’

Prof. McGonagall gave a small and reluctant nod before waving her wand and turning the caterpillar into a smaller form. “Yes, you certainly did manage to improvise and do what was required. Next time, however, make sure that the thing you make does not attack you or flatten Miss Negia again.”

“Well that’s obviously a given.” Ranma snorted as she helped her friend up from the ground. “Next time I’ll have to use less magic.” The silence was deafening after that left her mouth.

“N-- next time?” Gosaria asked in slight fear.

“Next time it’ll probably be a dragon!” Pansy shouted in disbelief as a few other students. “You realize how dangerous your wandless magic can be?”

A cat-like grin appeared upon the redhead’s face as she looked towards Pansy. “Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be able to control the dragon… maybe.” The dark-haired Slytherin turned pale at the thought.

“That’s enough, Miss Malfoy.” McGonagall stated as she cleared her throat. “Now, if everyone is done with turning my class into a monkey-fest, let’s get back to the task at hand.”

“Hmm… a monkey polymorph sounds amusing.”

“What was that, Miss Malfoy?”

“Nothing, teach.” Ranma ignored the older woman’s annoyance at being called ‘teach’ and went back to her seat.

After Transfiguration, Ranma had managed to get her wand back from Laira by the time that Charms had started. Laira pouted at not being able to play with the sparks some more, but understood that the cat-girl needed it. Charms was another class that Ranma had found to be easy and merely needed some proper motions to use the spell, and Prof. Flitwick always seemed to have an amusing humor when the redhead made explosive mistakes. Ranma actually managed to get through the class by unusually NOT causing a large show.

When Herbology came around, the cat-girl was feeling incredibly bored. Ranma could never find any real interest in messing around with plants, and she already had enough experience with deadly plants to last her a life-time. Pink and Link were two names that usually came to mind whenever Ranma showed up for Herbology.

Shaking her head, the cat-girl made her way into the greenhouse to see just what they’d be working with. What she saw made her completely stop. ‘No, you can not be serious.’ She thought to herself as she laid her eyes upon the plant that was sitting on the table. The thing was familiar because she was once attacked by the damn thing. Deciding to keep her distance, Ranma watched as Prof. Sprout greeted the class. “Welcome back after the enjoyable holidays, class!” She stated happily before she motioned towards the plant on the table. “Now, can anyone identify as to what this species of plant is. It’s quite rare, so none of you may know.” Her eyes caught sight of the way Ranma was acting. “Miss Malfoy, you seen to know what this plant is. Care to tell us all?”

Cursing to herself, Ranma gave a small nod. “It’s an annoying plant known as the Shotgun Bean Plant. It is named that because it will spit out a barrage of beans if it feels threatened in some way. The things were once used in ancient Japan to drive away oni. If one is not careful with their emotions, the plant may mistake them as a threat and attack them.”

“A very good job, Miss Malfoy. You almost act as if you’ve had to deal with this type of plant before.” Prof. Sprout stated in interest. “That is exactly why I decided to have you all learn about this plant species. Since it coincides with the Japanese idea of the ‘end of the winter holidays’, I decided a little culture could be a fun thing. Except for the beans it spits out, the plant is harmless.” Ranma did not like the way that Prof. Sprout was looking at her. “Miss Malfoy, could you please give a demonstration as to just how the plant operates?”

“I’d rather not, Prof. Sprout.”

“But you seem to be the most familiar with the specimen.”

Ranma gave a small glare towards the earth-covered teacher. “I’d rather not be a target to that stupid th-- OW!” She shouted as the plant charged forth and started pummeling her with beans due to her… slightly threatening disposition that it felt. “Hey, knock it off you stupid plant!” Ranma shouted as she hit it upside the head. This prompted the thing to shoot out a jet of beans that filled up the cat-girl’s mouth completely. In response, she proceeded to do a familiar action that she had once did long ago: she spit the stream of beans back at it. While it was stunned, Ranma grabbed it and held her hand forcefully over its mouth.

“You always seem to have a way with things around here, sis.” Draco stated sarcastically with a half-lidded stare. This prompted a few chuckles and giggles from the surrounding students. The glare he received didn’t faze him at all as he proceeded to do a little teasing. “At lease we know that you can always attract the fire of something dangerous if it were near, assuming it doesn’t run away from you first.”

Ranma uncovered her hand from the plant. “Spit beans at the blonde-haired boy, otherwise I’m going to introduce you to some fire. I’m sure you’d burn pretty well.” Scared over the thought of being set on fire, the plant fired a couple rounds at Draco before flying off and back onto the table-- very far away from Ranma. ‘Damn I really hate this class.’ Ranma thought to herself as she watched Draco spit beans out of his mouth. ‘If I could, I’d introduce all these plants to a little fire.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Getting back into the grind of the way things went at Hogwarts was easy, but that didn’t mean that Ranma was enjoying everything. She mostly found herself sleeping during Defense Against the Dark Arts class due to Quirrell’s inability to make things seem interesting -- something that had to do with werewolves, -- and her knowledge of the stuff already. Her danger senses were also on higher alert more than ever before. What she wouldn’t give to expose the bastard to Harry, Ron, and Hermione so that they would learn that it wasn’t always the ‘obviously sinister’ that would do the deed. There was also the question as to why none of the teachers -- including the old fart -- thought that something was up with the turban-wearing man.

Ranma was completely forbidden by McGonagall from doing Transfiguration assignments without her wand after a couple more… violently explosive mishaps happened. Flitwick, however, had no problems with her not using her wand and still managing the assignment, although he did dock points away a few times. Ranma figured that a little more practice would be needed before she could fully manage.

Oddly enough, she seemed to be quite good at Potions class-- despite the fact that Snape and her didn’t really care much for each other. The potion-maker decided to go the ‘high and mighty’ route whenever they started to get annoyed with each other, but it seemed like he was impressed with her as well. Ranma would sometimes help Neville and Harry a little when Snape wasn’t looking. The former of the two had the most problems when it came to their professor, while the latter let his dislike get to him. In fact, after Ranma had helped them figure the part about the Philosopher’s Stone out, Ron, Harry, and Hermione have attempted to keep an even sharper eye on the greasy-haired man to make sure he didn’t try anything fishy. Oh well, they’re find out soon enough.

Ranma still hated Herbology, and she was sure that the plants even hated her as well. There was no other reason for why she had so much trouble with the damn things. Astronomy was actually one of her favorites. This was mostly because of the fact that when you live in a house full of aliens for almost nine years, you tend to learn a lot, and when you have a way to go to outer space anytime you want, learning about the stars would be a good thing. Even in her previous two incarnations, watching the stars had a slight calming effect.

She also managed to earn a few more stares when she took to using her computer. If walking through the halls with a small yarn-ball shaped mini-computer floating in front of you as you type away wasn’t weird, then having Laira pop up and transform into her humanoid form was even weirder. However, this caused quite a few squeals from female students about the cabbit being so much cuter. Ranma could only roll her eyes at her daughter’s behavior, but smirked once she learned that Laira managed to score free candy and snacks off of some people by using her cuteness as a weapon. The young cabbit was truly a chip off of the block after-all.

Ranma soon found herself actually anticipating the re-starting of the Quidditch season. The game may have seemed slightly odd, but it was actually fun to watch two teams challenge each other to a game and see who would come out on top. Dodging those bludgers took some skill that some didn’t seem to have, and outflying the competition with the quaffle thingie needed speed. Even the snitch required one to have fantastic senses, reflexes, and speed to obtain the small ball before the opposing team. To the redhead, Quidditch sounded like a great game, but the redheaded cat-girl figured that she’d probably never play a game.

No, it would be best if she didn’t get completely involved with the Slytherin house at all. She had found a few weeks before holiday break, and even more so after, that many in her own house -- sadly, including Draco -- had a ‘better than thou’ attitude, bullied quite a few people from the other houses, and were just plain detestable. This, however, wasn’t true for ALL of the Slytherins. There were some that Ranma knew -- including Gosaria and Nashigi -- who were helpful and nice. Still, it wasn’t enough for her to actually feel any ‘house pride’ or priority to help the house overcome the others. Playing Quidditch and working hard to earn points would help her contribute to the asses in the place.

Ranma, for the sake of getting out of the castle, would often watch teams practice. This nearly got her into a shouting match with that Oliver Wood guy when he noticed that she was watching them practice. He went on to mention about her possibly being a spy to try and inform Slytherin of Gryffindor’s SUPERB new plans. Ranma had managed to piss off the Gryffindor Quidditch captain even further by dismissing him as a complete fool and walking off and away from the area. Wood became smug at the thought that he got rid of her, but didn’t know that Ranma still watched in secret.

It wasn’t long before one of the first matches of the new year would be upon them -- more like a week away, and as it turned out, the first match would be between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. That alone wouldn’t seem interesting, but the fact that Snape would be refereeing caused Ranma to raise an eyebrow. She was almost certain that Gryffindor would have a slight disadvantage because of that, and she wondered just what would come of it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“So who do you think will win the match, Lina?” Gosaria asked in curiosity. The blonde seemed to be greatly excited about being able to see another Quidditch game. Ever since Ranma had gotten back from holiday break, her friend would constantly talk about how she couldn’t wait for Quidditch to begin again.

Ranma closed her eyes for a moment and thought about it. After watching all the teams practice -- and the strategy that each did, -- she was able to get a clear idea of their skills. Still, early planning could only get you so far in a challenge, but if she were to make a guess… “I’d say Gryffindor will have the edge in this match.”

“Ooohohohohohooo, but of course, you have an eye for skill, Lina.” Nashigi stated as she prepared another laugh, but she was stopped by her shorter friend before any of the surrounding students could pull their wands out to jinx her. “You always ruin my laugh, Lina.” Nashigi pouted.

“That’s because the thought of your death -- while it would stop that laugh -- is not something that I like to think about.”

“You certainly do have a good heart, Lina.” An aged voice behind the redhead stated in amusement. Turning around, Ranma saw that the one who spoke to her was Dumbledore. The old wizard’s eyes twinkled with that half-hidden mirth he always seemed to carry around. “It’s good to know that your use of black magic hasn’t taken that away from you after all these years.”

Ranma frowned before giving a snort at the statement. “You wizards and witches have it completely wrong, old fart. It’s not the dark arts that end up changing a person, it’s the person their self who is the reason. They get a little bit of power in their grubby hands, and then they think they can do anything. They don’t care about the little guy and insist on causing pain and misery. It’s those types of people who turn the dark arts into something of evil and fear. It is then my job as a martial artist to protect people to the best of my abilities. You hear that, old fart?” Dumbledore’s eyes merely twinkled in mirth as he gave a nod. ‘God, I really hate how all these older than dirt and powerful people seem to have ideas on what is happening and keep it hidden.’

“You are quite right, Lina.” Dumbledore responded with a sage nod. “It is good to know that the future is in safe hands.” A chuckle escaped from the elderly wizard. “Well, at least as soon as you learn how to NOT cause explosions and property damage with that magic of yours.”

Ranma gave a small glare before smirking. “You know very well that I can take you on any time and win, old fart. We also know that it’s not ALL my fault when explosions and property damage happen.” She said the last part with a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

“That’s only if we were fighting without wands, Lina. I dare say that if we were restricted to just wands, you would find that you still have a lot to learn.” Dumbledore commented with a smile as he started to walk away.

“Is that a challenge, old fart?” Ranma yelled after him. “I’ll take you on anytime and win!” The cat-girl shouted with a cocky smirk. It fell when she noticed that the old man was just going to keep on walking and not turn around. A small whack upside the back of her head happened a second later. Turning around, Ranma saw that it was Gosaria who did it. “What was that for?”

“You’re making a scene, Lina.” Nashigi answered while trying to contain a smirk. Looking around, Ranma noticed that several students were staring at her as if she was crazy. “Wouldn’t it be best if we just hurried up and found some seats to sit in?” The dark-haired girl asked her slightly red-faced ‘rival’.

“Err… yeah, let’s go.” The redhead stated as the three continued on towards the bleachers and made their way up. When they reached an area with enough room, a smile appeared on Ranma’s face. “Hey Hermione!” The cat-girl greeted to her brown-haired friend as she sat down behind the intelligent witch. Glancing next to Hermione, Ranma smirked. “And how are you today, Freckles?” The name caused Ron’s ears to go slightly pink and Hermione to almost giggle. “Aw come on, the name suits you perfectly. Oh, and hello to you too Neville.” The third Gryffindor gave a small wave and smile in response.

“Stop calling me Freckles!” Ron stated in annoyance. “It’s bad enough that you teamed up with my brothers to turn me into a human painting with rabbit ears.”

“Well, I didn’t appreciate the thought of being told that I was just like all the other Slytherins because of my doubt of Snape. I like to think of this as making us even, Freckles.” The redheaded boy gave off a huff and turned around. His calm and commentary of Snape was short-lived as Draco bumped into the back of his head. This also earned Draco a heavy glare from Ron. “Come on, Draco, don’t go and start anything now.” Ranma stated with a frown.

Her brother gave off a fake look of sadness. “Aw come on, sis. It was an accident. I wasn’t aware that Weasley was sitting there in my way.” He was lying of course, and it was easy to tell by the fact that his two friends gave off a chuckle. “I do honestly wonder how well Potter will stay on his broom this time. Don’t you all wonder as well? What about you, Weasley?” Ron was actually trying to ignore him and watch what was going on in the game.

“Draco--” Ranma began.

“Oh, I know how they pick players for the Gryffindor team! They feel sorry for them. I mean, you have Potter who has no family, the Weasleys have no money, and maybe you should try out for it, Longbottom. After-all, you don’t have any brains!” This caused Neville go to red.

“Well, it’s easy to see that the Malfoys are all the same when it comes down to making fun of others.” Ron growled out as he looked at the two siblings. The surrounding students flinched when Ranma’s eyes flashed crimson. After a quick moment, her eyes turned back to normal and she gave a slightly bored look to the redheaded boy.

“There’s a difference between us, Ronnie boy. My teasing of people is meant to be more along the lines of ‘good natured’, or something like that. Hell, I just have a habit of insulting people when I try to get along with them. My brother here, however,” she started with a point to the blonde boy, “is another story. His insults, put-downs, and attitudes towards other people are fully meant to do what they attempt. Next time you think about lumping me with others because of your bias, think about it.” Ranma then proceeded to pull out Stringy 2.0 and plug some headphones into it, ignoring the people around her.

“Good job at angering my sister, Weasley.” Draco stated with a fierce glare towards Ron. “At the moment, Longbottom seems to have more brains than you do, and that must be saying something.” The three proceeded to get into a war of words for several more moments until both Ron and Neville decided to vent their annoyance by attacking Draco and his two friends. This went unnoticed by Hermione -- who was watching the match intently. Ranma, Gosaria, and Nashigi on the other hand…

“Freckles could use a little bit more work on that left hook.” The cat-girl commented to her two friends.

“I don’t think rolling around is all that effective in fighting someone.” Gosaria added with a frown. “They seem to have no skill whatsoever.”

“Ohohohoho, I disagree with that. Longbottom looks like he could make a fine fighter someday.” Nashigi observed with a finger to her chin. “Still, they are nowhere near your level, Lina.”

“Well, who knows, maybe with enough practice and guidance, they’ll go far. Neville could use more of a confidence booster. Oh look, Harry caught the snitch.” Ranma announced as her attention went back the game just as the end was announced. “I told you guys that Gryffindor would win, although I didn’t think it would be so quick.” ‘The whole thing still looks like it would be fun.’ She thought with a frown.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Your form during your fight was terrible, Draco.” Ranma stated as she proceeded to tell her brother all the mistakes that he did during his scuffle with Ron as they made their way back to the castle. “And that black eye isn’t all that appealing either.”

“Weasley just got in a lucky shot is all.” The blonde boy stated grumpily as he placed his hand near his eye and winced. “I never thought a black eye could hurt so much.” It was mostly because he had never got into a complete fight before. Ranma had hit him in the shoulder and gave him a slap to the back of his head before, but she never punched him hard enough to leave a large mark.

The cat-girl gave a small snort. “A black eye is nothing compared to broken bones, concussions, being near death, and numerous other things I’ve experienced.” Draco glanced at her with wide eyes and wondered just what the hell she had been doing over the years. “Here, let me fix that eye for you. I shouldn’t do it because you deserved it, but since I’m so kind and generous.” That caused a few people to roll their eyes. Placing her hand on the area of the battered eye, Ranma pumped a little healing magic into the area. After a moment, she removed her hand. “There, you’re as good as new.”

“Thanks a lot, sis.” Draco said with a smile. His sister may be a bit on the weird side, but her abilities were impressive. It would have probably taken longer for Madam Pomfrey to help him, and the thought of walking around with a black eye for everyone to see was not appealing. Telling Ranma that he’ll see her later, Draco walked off with Crabbe and Goyle right behind him. As Ranma, Gosaria, and Nashigi were about to follow, there came a small rustling in the bushes. This peaked Ranma’s curiosity as the cat-girl made her way over and peered into them. What she saw made her groan in defeat.

“Damn it, not you already, old freak. I was hoping to go a little while longer without you showing up.” Gosaria and Nashigi walked up behind her to see who she was talking to and frowned as well at seeing the diminutive form of Happosai.

“I still owe you for the stunt you pulled a while back, Ranma. You caused me quite a bit of pain, and that will be exactly what I’ll be doing tonight. You are going to feel pain like you’ve never felt--” Before the aged pervert could finish, Ranma quickly used a polymorph spell and turned him into a temporary rabbit-- an ugly rabbit at that.

Ranma raised a fist in triumph. “Ha, I finally mastered how to use the polymorph spell!” Turning around, the cat-girl ignored the angry rabbit and started to walk away. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll meet you tonight at the usual place. The spell will wear off in a little while, so don’t get your stolen panties in a bunch.” With one last death glare, the rabbit that was Happosai stormed off to plan the tort-- err-- training session for one redhead.

xxA.Nxx
One of the biggest things I’ve been trying to figure out is how to go about doing the points for the end of the school year. That’s one thing that’s been hitting a slight snag in my thought process.

[bissek]

The comment about turning enemies into pork roasts being a joke means that Ranma probably hasn't fully remembered the incident in Slayers season 1 with Taiba the Dreaded Demon Chicken. Lina's reaction to seeing him was to order him around on pain of being turned into a giant demonic fried chicken.

In my mind, the only real question is not 'Would she have done it if she had the chance?', but 'Would there have been any leftovers for Gourry?'. This was a five foot tall chicken, after all.

[Kimina]

A great start to another chapter of one of the greatest stories in Ranma history. I am also quite honored you used one of the ideas I spoke of with you :3

[KonokoHasano]

bissek: o_o You're right, I did forget about the giant chicken man.

Kimina: Well, constantly telling me about 'polymorph' caused me to think hard about it

[Spokavriel]

Hermione WAS a fanatic for something making schedules.

The sentence doesn't quite work. You don't ever really need all caps in an action and I'm not sure what the sentiment was. Is she obsessed with the schedules? It might be able to be stated clearer.

That's cute did you borrow the getting into relatives pocket spaces from Cloud Dreamers fic?

The Medusa hairdo was also really fun. But are you so sure about the lack of petrification risk? I mean all she would have to do is laugh and allot of things would stop instantly. Just my jibe not a suggestion for something to add.

Ranma grew contemplated over what she had just learned.

Contemplative is the state of being I think you were wanting in there.

Still laughing about Don't get Mad get Even and taking a break to peek into Spamville again. Who knows this part of the fic may inspire some creativity in there again. Although ending it with a question mark doesn't quite fit. Either leave it as a statment supporting the previous question or toss on an exclimation point to show some excitment over the idea. But doubling the question well it feels off.

Will the Quiddich match end up in this chapter?

Time for comments on comments.

I thought the Pork Roast comment was a carryover into Ranma rather than Lina look at how often that idea could have popped up about Ryouga. Not to mention the Hibiki swine being served as a meal and the victim of cooking attempts.

Guess that's it for now. Looking forword to the continuation.

[Kimina]

Poor Ryoga. So misunderstood.

[KonokoHasano]

That's cute did you borrow the getting into relatives pocket spaces from Cloud Dreamers fic?

*Blinks* Which fanfic of Cloud Dreamer's had that in it.

When I saw that sentence, I was confused for a few moments until I figured that you meant that a fanfic by Cloud Dreamer had something like that.

And yeah, the Quiddich match will be in this chapter as well.

[Spokavriel]

I was reffering to Cloud Dreamer's Lonely Match. The chapters are on his page.

[KonokoHasano]

I was reffering to Cloud Dreamer's Lonely Match. The chapters are on his page.

Ah, I've actually never touched that one because the synopsis of it never really grabbed me.

[KonokoHasano]

The chapter is finished. Dang that took a long time. Distractions can be evil.

[Kimina]

And another great chapter draws to a close. There's never enough I tell ya.

[Dumbledork]

Excellent, excellent. I loved the last bit with Happi. Here's an interesting idea. Lina should take Laira to see Ollivander's. I'd really like to see his reaction to Laira. He probably won't say that he was expecting her, although... he IS a creepy and mysterious old guy. I think that he really doesn't get enough screen time in any fic. And how about giving Laira the Sailor Pom Pom outfit too? Each time Lina transform, Laira transforms as well. Or maybe when Lina transforms Laira could get a crescent moon on her forehead.

[KonokoHasano]

Hmm... maybe Ollivander COULD use another appearance.


There's an idea I've been mulling around concerning Ranma's summer vacation. First month will have her spending it with Narcissa, and second month will have her traveling to the planet Mau.

Something I've been thinking about during the Mau adventure was that Ranma could make a doppelganger -- something able to do because of masu DNA -- to stay on Earth while she goes to Mau. There'd be some things to do on Earth, and she wouldn't have much time to do them AND go to Mau at the same time by herself.

So it would go into two different perspectives. Ranma and 'clone' Ranma. 'Clone' Ranma could visit Hotaru, learn about Skuld living at a certain shrine, and a few other things. Normal Ranma could travel to Mau, learn some martial arts and magic, do a little research for Washu, and meet up with Sailor Mau -- as well as hop around the various planets like Chu, Mermaid, etc.

I like the idea, but I'm unsure if it would be good.

[Spokavriel]

I see the Schedule bug is still in there. Don't forget to check back on advice from before you finished before you post your final draft online.

Ok slight glitch I should have noticed last time. In the block of text where you describe Laira transorming you mention the apparent age being arround six, but then you have the friends stunned about her turning into a 4 year old humanoid. Pick one or the other or go between and say 5 but make both the years match.

The class was put to the task of turning a piece of string into a life caterpillar

I think that would be live caterpillar.

Oh yeah Lina has too much magic. Good thing that Caterpillar didn't break a wall.

“Miss Malfoy, you seen to know what this plant is. Care to tell us all?”

Seem instead of seen. Oh boy did Ranma ever have an experience with the Shotgun bean plants. Akane Oni anyone?

At lease we know that you can always attract the fire of something dangerous if it were near, assuming it doesn’t run away from you first.

At least ... Well if Akane were there I don't know if she would glare at it again.

Oh well, they’re find out soon enough.

they'll

Oh that's so fitting having Laira scamming treats with her cuteness.

Oh that's so nice the 3 reincarnated ones watching the fight and commenting on brawling technique.

On your points situation look at the points that there were at the end of the first book including all the adjustments. Then go over your story again and write out all the points you personaly envision Ranma and her clique causing. Let that build your equation.

The Olivanders idea is a good one. It may be the only way to keep Laira from stealing Lina's wand. For all we know Olivander would have noticed the use of the wand by someone it didn't belong to and that would have given him advance notice to expect her.

I'm not sure the Masu splitting technique would be the best idea. At least not with seperating that far appart you are talking about traveling to another stelar system afteall. Maybe if you have Washu and Ryoko discuss it first...

I see it more likely as being a usefull way to take at least a half break from Narcissa without breaking the promise to be with her and do what she wants. The way I was seeing it you were having this Mau trip take the same amount of time as the Narcissa visit. So this is just a thought.

Good chapter. Although I am wondering about all the Payback that has now built up with Happosai. Will Happy become the first victim in thousands of years of elemental fist?

[KonokoHasano]

The schedule bug?

Hmm... maybe I should just describe Laira's humanoid form as a young child. That might work out the best.

I think the doppelganger idea with Narcissa is a good one. It could allow her to visit a few other places before her trip.