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.
Text file Source (historic): geocities.com/tokyo/shores/Shores/2307
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