Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion
By
Eric Thorsen
***Disclaimer: The characters and concepts employed in this story are the
sole property of their respective creators or those people to whom they have
seen fit to sell their rights. The author of this story makes no claims except
where the character or concept is original. In other words, what's mine is
mine, what's theirs is theirs, so leave me alone all right?
**************
Chapter 2: Shocks and Misunderstandings
**************
"How are you feeling Harry?" Charlie Weasley's cheerful voice was very
annoying to Harry in the mood he was in currently. It was the day before his
birthday, and he was more depressed than ever. Hermione hadn't talked to
him in the three weeks following his blow-up. Instead, members of the Order
of the Phoenix had been calling him every other day. Some of those calls
had been rather funny.
"The Dursleys are treating me fine, and I'm not sick." Harry replied, hoping
to get out of talking, just as easily as he had the last ten times. He was
disappointed.
"That's not what I asked and you know it Harry." Charlie's voice had an
angry bite to it that surprised Harry. "I asked how you were feeling. The
others may be willing to let you get away with blowing every body off like
this, but I would never here the end of it from Mum if I did. So stop trying to
cut yourself off from everybody and talk to me!"
"I… I can't. You wouldn't understand."
"Listen Harry, I understand a lot more than you might think. I've been
involved in this war from the very beginning. You're not the first person in
history to make a mistake that cost someone his or her life, and you at least
had a good reason for doing what you did. Fudge's refusal to accept You-
Know-Who's return last year cost us three aurors, as well as five civilians.
We're just now finding out about it because the Ministry of Magic finally
stopped trying to hush everything up. All you did was fall into a trap that
would have caught most of us. It wasn't your fault."
"Yes it was. It was because of my weakness where Voldemort is concerned
that I fell into that trap."
"You're right Harry; it was because of a weakness. Just remember this,
weaknesses only become problems when you give up on strengthening
them." Charlie sounded like he wanted to say something more about that to
Harry, but he didn't. Instead, he sighed in frustration. "Listen Harry, the
reason that I called a day early was because the mad scientist and the wolf-
man will meet you at your place around the eighth hour tomorrow." Harry
understood that Charlie meant that Mr. Weasley and Remus Lupin would be
coming to pick him up at 8 am.
"Okay." Harry hung up the phone and stared at it for a second, then turned
to go back to his room.
"Well Boy? What did they want this time?" Uncle Vernon demanded, lowering
his newspaper to glare at Harry. "I thought they would only be calling you
every other day."
"They're coming to get me tomorrow morning."
"Is… Is your godfather coming?" Aunt Petunia gasped when her son asked
this question.
"No, you won't have to worry about Sirius coming here anymore. He'll never
come here again." Harry tried to leave the room again, but Dudley stopped
him with his next words.
"Why? Does he think he's better than we are or something? Doesn't want to
be seen with the mugg…"
"Sirius is DEAD!" Harry's eyes flashed with barely contained fury. "His own
cousin was working for Voldemort. She attacked me and some friends, and
he died trying to protect us from her."
"While you were at school? I thought you that the school was safest place in
the world?"
"It is. We went to the Ministry of Magic offices in London to save Sirius, but
it was a trap. He wasn't there."
"Then how…" Harry couldn't stand it anymore, and bolted out of the lounge.
Running up the stairs, he slammed the door to his room, locking it. He then
collapsed face-first onto his bead. He felt his tears soaking into the pillow as
he let his grief and rage out. After what seemed to him like hours, Harry got
out of bed again and started packing. An hour later, everything except for
his toiletries and the shorts and t-shirt he usually slept in away from school
was in his trunk. Harry wrote a short message to Ron asking him to take
care of Hedwig, and sent her on her way. After cleaning her cage, Harry took
a shower, dressed in his nightclothes, and got into bed. As he passed into
sleep, he could have sworn that he saw Sirius standing next to his bed in his
dog form. Then he was asleep.
**********
"Mom, where are my clothes?" Ranma shouted from his bedroom, where he
was searching through boxes while wearing towel around his waist. "All I can
find is my 'Happosai collection' and the clothes you bought me when you
thought I was Akane's cousin."
Nodoka came into the room and chuckled at the harried expression on
Ranma's face, then laughed even harder at the sight of Ranma's 'Happosai
collection'. She helped him to look through all of the boxes again, and then
sighed in defeat when they still couldn't find his clothes. "I think you'll have
to wear some of the clothes I bought you until we can go through the rest of
the boxes Ranma. It looks like some of the boxes were misplaced."
"What? No way, Mom…"
"Now Ranma, there is nothing wrong with wearing female clothing when
you're a girl. You should wear the appropriate underwear at the very least."
"Mom, I'm a GUY!" Ranma whined in annoyance.
"Yes Ranma, I know. I did change your diapers for over a year. However, I
don't want you to walk around without underwear. So unless you want to
wear what you had on before your shower, and until we find the rest of your
clothes, you will have to wear the clothes that I bought for Ranko last year."
"But…"
"Change quickly dear, we still have a lot of boxes to unpack before we can
eat dinner."
"Oh alright, I'll be down in five minutes."
Nodoka nodded and left her son's room, walking down the stairs to the
combine lounge/kitchen/dining room of the apartment that she and Ranma
had just leased in Okayama. In the three weeks since she had told Ranma
about his father, many things had changed. With Nodoka's marriage to
Genma Saotome annulled, and all of his agreements with other clans null
and void, they were free to live their lives. Seven engagements that she and
Ranma had never known existed appeared during the proceeding, but, as
the judge had said, they were Genma's responsibility now. Nodoka had also
sold the house her parents had left to her in their will, and given Ukyou the
current market value for the yatai Genma had stolen. She had also spoken
to Elder Cologne about Shampoo, but discovered that this problem was
gone.
"When the injury to Ranma's brain was discovered, he was immediately
disqualified as a suitor for Shampoo." Cologne had told Nodoka with a
pained expression.
"But… Why?"
"Our laws are very specific about anyone who is mentally defective or brain
damaged. If there is anything like that, even if it is only possible, the
individual is ineligible for marriage. Our laws are written to improve the
tribe, and such things are considered a danger to the next generation."
Nodoka nodded, trying to hide her smile as she left the ancient matriarch to
continue her packing, relieved at how easily Ranma had gotten out of the
one engagement that was actually his own fault.
Nodoka smiled again at the memory, and went back to unpacking the
collection of Japanese and English antiques that had been in storage for the
past seventeen years. The majority of the collection was swords and armor,
unusual for a woman, but then Nodoka was an unusual woman. She had just
finished putting a Scottish rapier on its stand in a corner when her son-now-
daughter came into the room dressed in a pair of black denim overalls and a
black anime t-shirt. Ranma looked at the antiques in the room in amazement
before turning to her mom with a question.
"Hey, what's with the hardware mom? Are we getting ready for a war or
something?"
"No dear, I'm just putting up some decorations that your father and I bought
just after we married." Nodoka smiled as she remembered the fun they'd
had buying each item. "Your father and I were both fascinated by the feudal
periods in both our homelands. We both trained in the art of the sword. We
often sparred with each other, teaching techniques that we thought the
other would like."
"Wow! Um, Mom, do you think you could teach me some of what dad taught
you? I know that Pop… I mean Genma, was always saying that weapons
would make me weak, but after seeing how stupid he really is, I think I
would be safe questioning every thing he told me."
"I would be happy to teach you Ranma. I only wish your father could teach
you…" Nodoka sighed and shook her head. If Ranma hadn't shown any
abilities in that direction by now, he didn't have them.
"Teach me what Mom?"
"Your father had certain abilities, certain powers that made him a formidable
opponent even without his skill as a swordsman."
"What kind of abilities? Was he a martial artist too?"
"Your father was what his people called a wizard Ranma. He could use magic
to do many amazing things. He could even change forms at will into the
large dog that was the model for my pendant. That is why I wondered about
the dog you saw. It might have been your father in disguise."
“What kind of magic? You mean like abracadabra and stuff like that?"
"Ranma, Never use those words again!"
"What? What did I say?" Nodoka saw that Ranma she'd surprised by her
tone, and tried to calm down.
"I'm sorry Ranma, I overreacted. Still, you must be careful what you say.
Those words are the focus for one of the worst, the most unforgivable curses
known to wizard-kind. It's called the killing curse, because, truly, it will kill
anyone and anything that it touches, whether you are the target, or simply
in the way. I saw it used during the attack on the train. One of our attackers
threw this curse at me. I dodged it, but a man standing behind me did not.
He died instantly." Ranma stared at her mother, trying to imagine something
that powerful, and failing. With a shiver, she tried to put it from her mind,
grinning sheepishly when her stomach growled. Nodoka smiled back at her
and shook her head in disbelief. "I know that you started another growth
spurt Ranma, be we ate only an hour ago."
"I know, and I'm really not that hungry anyway." Ranma laughed when her
stomach seemed to contradict her. "I'm not! How about we finish unpacking
this room and our bedrooms, then go to the market, and get some food for
dinner. The stalls should still be open around four. Besides, maybe we'll find
my clothes so I can change before we go out."
"But, why? You look so cute in that outfit." Nodoka laughed at the disgusted
expression on Ranma's face. The two women worked together quickly,
getting the front room organized quickly and both of their bedrooms done a
short time later. Unfortunately, it became obvious that the movers had left
some boxes behind when they had made their pickup at the Tendo Dojo.
"Well, I guess we'll have to go back to the Tendos' tomorrow morning to get
the rest of your things."
"At least Genma won't be there. It was funny when Nabiki found out that
he'd been freeloading there under false pretenses, and she called the police
to claim the reward offered for his arrest. The expression on his face was
priceless."
"Yes it was rather amusing, wasn't it? I think his expression when I told him
we were never married was even better though. He thought he could hold
out for half of what I owned, but he didn't get anything." They locked the
door to their apartment and walked toward the nearby market district to do
their shopping.
"You know Mom, wearing these clothes does feel better in this form. I never
thought about it before, but even the underwear feels better. Not that I want
to be a girl though."
"Of course not Ranma and I wouldn't want you to be a girl if it made you feel
bad about yourself. I just want you to know that I love you, regardless of
the body you're in at the moment."
"Thanks Mom, I love you too. It just feels weird to be comfortable as a girl
though."
"I can only imagine dear." Nodoka chuckled at the annoyed expression on
Ranma's face. Come along Ranma we need to get our shopping done quickly
so we can eat and get to bed. We have many things to do tomorrow."
Ranma and Nodoka went through the market, and were on their way home
an hour later as the sun began to set. Nodoka smiled as she watched Ranma
dancing along a fence several feet in front of her. It was only by chance that
she saw what happened next.
A tractor-trailer lost control coming down a hill into town and smashed
through several stalls, driving people out of the street ahead of it in terror.
Ranma started across the intersection at the same instant the tractor-trailer
entered it, heading straight for her. Nodoka froze in horror as her daughter
walked into the street, oblivious to the tons of speeding death bearing down
on her. Nodoka was afraid to shout a warning, knowing that if she did,
Ranma would stop and lose the few seconds of motion that might save her.
With every ounce of her will, she prayed for Ranma to notice the oncoming
truck, but she didn't'. Then the thing Nodoka most feared happened.
"You girl, get out of the road!" A man shouted from the other street, causing
Ranma to stop and look around in confusion. When she saw the truck, it was
much too late to get out of the way. She crossed her arms in front of herself
instinctively as the people in the street turned away, unwilling to watch such
a beautiful young girl turned into paste. Nodoka continued to watch, praying
to all of the kami for a miracle as the shadow of the speeding truck fell on
Ranma. No one seemed to here her prayer and she steeled herself to watch
her child die.
Then Ranma disappeared.
Nodoka looked around feverishly, hoping to see her daughter clinging to a
building or maybe to the truck itself, even on a light post, but there was no
sign of her anywhere. Nodoka felt the blood leave her face as she turned
back to the street, expecting to see her daughter's broken body lying there.
Ranma wasn't there either. Nodoka was becoming frantic when the cell
phone she had bought a week ago rang, making her jump. "Moshi-Moshi?"
"M…Mom?"
"Ranma, Where are you?" Nodoka looked around her, trying to find where
she was calling from."
"Umm… you won't believe me. Mom, could you come to Tokyo with a change
of clothes and some money for train fare back to Okayama?"
"I would be happy to Ranma, but where are you? How will I find you? And
how did you get back to Tokyo?"
"I don't know how Mom, but one minute that truck was almost on top of me,
the next I falling into the Tendos' koi pond." Nodoka pulled her phone away
from her ear, and stared at it in shock for several minutes and then started
to laugh softly. After a moment, she put the phone back to her ear.
"Mom, are you still there?"
"I'm right here Ranma. I'll have to go back to the apartment and drop out
food off first, but I should be able to make the seven o'clock bullet train. Do
you think it would be alright with the Tendos if we stay the night there,
before catching the early bullet train back?"
"Hold on, I'll check." Ranma was talking to someone on the other end,
probably Nabiki based on the squawk of protest about a high price. There
were some rapid-fire negotiation, and the Ranma came back on with a sigh.
"It should be fine mom, but could you bring the box with my Happosai
collection in it? Nabiki wants a full spread of lingerie pictures to make up for
lost business since I left."
"Are you sure Ranma, we could stay in hotel instead."
"It's no problem Mom, it's just she found out I was wearing a bra and
panties, and wants to sell some pictures to Kuno to get him off her case.
After this, it's over."
"All right dear, I'll meet you at the Nerima station at about eleven tonight."
"See you then Mom."
Nodoka pressed the cancel button on her phone and hurried back to the
apartment. As she gathered the clothes Ranma had asked for she started to
smile. "Oh Sirius, you would be so proud of our child. Boy or girl, he is so
helpful and kind. And he's a wizard."
**********
"Auror Ninomiya, have you located the suspect?"
"No sir," Hinako Ninomiya said as she watched the Tendo compound from
the roof of a building a few blocks away. "All I can is the members of the
household and the Jusenkyo curse victim I was sent here to monitor."
"Are you sure that is the same person? You'll need a deep aura scan to be
positive. Remember, the English Ministry of Magic still hasn't found that
unlicensed animagus that broke out of Azkaban Prison three years ago. For
all we know, he could have killed Saotome and taken his place." Hinako
sighed and drew her wand from its holster between her shoulder blades. She
hated doing deep scans, especially high-powered martial artists like Ranma.
They usually glowed so brightly, they gave her a headache for the rest of the
day from the glare. Pointing her wand at herself, she muttered "Verus Auro
Videre." As she finished the last word, the colors around her seemed to
change. Everything alive gave off a faint glow. The rest glowed from the
energy the living things gave off naturally.
Steeling herself for the next step, she pointed her wand at Ranma and
muttered "Auro Videre Profundo." Hinako gasped as the light surrounding
Ranma intensified. She winced as she tried to focus; it was like forcing
herself to stare into the sun. She was almost about to cancel the spell when
she noticed a strange flare. Swallowing and willing herself past the pain, she
muttered a third spell. "Magia Segregare Viderus." The light around
everything winked out with the exception of the light around Ranma and a
pattern of light she recognized immediately.
"Sir I have confirmed that the unlicensed apparation ended within the Tendo
compound, and that the person who appears to be Ranma Saotome does
have an identifiable magical pattern. It appears that the unlicensed
apparator was Saotome as the apparation ended above the Tendo's koi pond
and she appears to be the only one who is wet."
"We are sending an observation team to your location now. Continue to
watch this wizard or witch, and stay at a distance. If this is Sirius Black, we
don't want to tip him off that we know he's there. Once the surveillance
team arrives, report back to head quarters to have your aura reading
recorded. We need to send the information off to London for verification."
"I understand." Hinako said, watching her suspect carefully and noting the
odd flares in their magical aura. "Strange, that looks like the aura of a magic
student, not someone wanted for the magical murders of thirteen people.
Unless those people died by accident." The surveillance team arrived ten
minutes later, and Hinako sighed in relief when she could let her spell
collapse. She winced when the headache she was expecting made itself
known. After telling her replacements what was going on, Miss Hinako
apparated away. Ten minutes later, the recording of the suspicious aura was
on its way to London.
(
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