Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, Harry Potter, or Ranma ½.

Author's Notes:

Whom should I pair with whom? (I will only accept answers listed for the specific characters.)

Ranma: a) Nabiki b) Kim (OC) c) Hermione,

Harry: a) Hermione, b) Ginny, c) Videl

Gohan: a) Videl, b) Shampoo, c) Hikari (OC)

Also, another poll: Should I have Mirai Trunks come back when he's close to the same age as Ranma and Gohan? Yes/No

If yes, who should I pair him with: a) Akane, b) Shampoo, c) Original Character

"/Japanese/"

Three Young Heroes

Chapter 6

Nabiki kept a hold of Ranma's hand as they entered the castle, not wanting to be separated from him for anything. She also did not like the look some of the boys were giving her.

Gohan moved up on her other side as Harry occupied the last space next to Ranma. "Ready?" he asked.

Ranma shook his head and Nabiki grinned. Harry also looked a bit nervous and Hermione was muttering behind him, trying to figure out what spells she would need. Ron looked a bit sick, wondering what was going to happen as they waited for Professor McGonagall to return.

Moments later, McGonagall returned and led them into the Great Hall, where everyone seated was focused on a grungy hat sitting on a stool in front of the Teacher's Table.

Harry stared confusedly until a rip opened up at the top of the hat and it began to sing.

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a thinking cap!"

Professor McGonagall then turned to look at the first years, "I will now call your names out. When you are called, come up and place the hat on your head and it will shout out what house you belong to."

Ron groaned, "Fred was going on about wrestling a troll."

Ranma grinned, "I bet I could do that."

Nabiki snorted and Gohan grinned, "So could I, without breaking a sweat."

Harry shook his head and watched as first year students each took their turns at getting sorted. It was no surprise when Draco Malfoy got into Slytherin, a pleased look upon his face. Harry gulped when it came time for his turn.

As he placed the hat on his head, he could hear a voice, the hat's voice whispering in his head. "Hmmm, now where to put you? You would do well in Slytherin….."

'NOT SLYTHERIN!' Harry frantically thought, trying to keep his emotions from his face. He knew if Ranma thought there was something wrong, he would charge up and tear the hat from his head.

"Are you sure? You could be great! It's all there. Well, if you are, then it must be….. GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry sighed in relief, taking the hat off his head and placing it on the stool. He walked to his table, failing to notice he was getting the loudest cheer of them all. He saw Ranma shake his head from the corner of his eye, and wondered what the matter was. Nabiki was grinning beside him, and Harry figured Ranma had lost a bet. 'Wonder what he lost,' Harry thought, having a suspicion about what the bet was about.

Soon Gohan's name was called, and the hat sat atop the young saiyan's head a few moments before shouting out "Ravenclaw!"

Ranma frowned and looked between the Ravenclaw table and the Gryffindor table before walking up to the hat as his name was called. The hat automatically shouted out Gryffindor, putting an end to that mystery. Ranma bit his lip and waved to Gohan before walking over to the Gryffindor table to sit next to Harry.

Harry could almost feel the tension in Ranma as Nabiki's name was called. 'I bet he wants Nabiki with him at all times,' Harry thought, trying to force off a grin. He remembered the display in the train and wondered what was going on between the two.

Nabiki sat on the stool and daintily put the hat atop her head. It wasted no time in calling out, "RAVENCLAW!"

Harry could feel Ranma's disappointment through their strange, magical link. He patted Ranma on the shoulder, "Look on the bright side, she's got Gohan over there to help her out if she needs it."

Ranma shifted uncomfortably, but nodded. Harry was quite surprised his cousin hadn't run off to join those two at the Ravenclaw table. 'Why's he so overprotective of her anyways?' Harry wondered to himself.

As the last of the names were called, Professor Dumbledore stood, and the whole room grew silent. "Before we befuddle our brains with this splendid feast, I would like to say a few words. Nitwit. Blubber. Oddment. Tweak! Thank you."

Harry didn't know whether or not to laugh at the ridiculous speech. "Is he mad?"

Percy chose to answer that question, "Mad? He's a genius Harry of course he's mad. Potatoes?"

Harry suddenly noticed that the plates in front of them were filled with food, and Ranma was grabbing everything he could. He snuck a glance over to where Gohan was and grinned. Gohan was acting the same way. He shook his head, 'Their appetites will get them in trouble one day.'

Everyone stared at the strange spectacle the two half saiyans were making at the table, and Harry noticed Nabiki's embarrassed look from across the room. He shrugged, and began helping himself to a rather large portion, being starved himself. 'Of course,' he thought, 'I'm not half alien here.'

By the end of the feast, everyone had managed to stuff themselves, including Ranma and Gohan. Dumbledore stood up once more, "I have a few, start of term announcements to make. First, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students. Some of our third year students would do well to remember that. Second, to those who don't want to die a horrible death, the third floor corridor is off limits."

Very few laughed, and Harry snuck a glance at Percy, who was frowning, "He usually gives a good reason for the things he says. He should at least of told us prefects."

Ranma snorted, "I think 'You will die a horrible death,' is a good enough reason to stay away."

Those around them chuckled at that while Percy turned bright red. George grinned, "He does have a point, that one."

Percy snorted and turned his nose up, causing everyone around him to laugh harder. Harry looked up to Dumbledore, whose amused eyes were watching them curiously. "Now for our school song! Everyone pick your favorite tune!"

Ranma grinned, "Their smiles are becoming rather forced, don't you think?"

Harry chuckled and waited, wondering what the school song was.

Harry grinned at his cousin as Ranma held the pillow to his ears, groaning. "It was an interesting experiment," Harry offered, wondering what he could say to help console Ranma and sooth his sensitive ears.

Ranma glared at Harry from underneath the pillow, "A cacophony of poor singing. My ears were about to bleed."

Seamus chuckled, "At least its over till next year right?"

Ranma groaned and Neville piped up, "Just remember earplugs next time. Maybe you could magic some to play your favorite tune while you waited for Dumbledore to stop conducting."

Ron's eyes lit, "I bet we could make a fortune coming up with something like that!"

Ranma and Harry exchanged a glance, "Magical headphones?"

Seamus grinned, "That would be something wouldn't it?"

Harry chuckled, and Ranma finally came out from under his pillow.

"There is a little marvel the muggles call 'Technology,'" Ranma said, "They have these, 'earplugs,' that play your favorite song. If you wanted to create magical ones that would be something, but you'd probably have to use those as your basis."

Ron's face fell, "Wouldn't work. The Ministry of Magic would confiscate it as a muggle artifact. We aren't allowed to enchant those."

Ranma shrugged and fell back on his pillow, putting his hands behind his head, "Well I'm going to sleep now. Classes start tomorrow you know."

The boys nodded and all got into their respective beds, yawning as they all nodded off.

Ranma sat bored in Snape's class as all the attention seemed to be focused upon Harry and Neville. 'So far the only interesting thing is Snape picking on Harry and scaring Neville out of his wits,' Ranma thought as he took notes. He gave a quick look around the room to see Malfoy whispering something to his cohorts and chuckling and shook his head. 'Snape won't get that one, he likes him too much. What shall we do?'

Ranma smiled to himself as Snape announced the end of class, mind still abuzz with ways to get back at Malfoy without getting in trouble. He then noticed Harry walking with Ron, not waiting for him and paused a moment. Covering the disappointment in his heart, he plowed forward, knowing Harry ought to be able to make his own friends. 'Why does it hurt though? Gohan always waited for me, and Nabiki would tell me to hurry up,' Ranma thought as he lost sight of the two.

He frowned, and decided to head for the library for the break between classes. 'I hope Gohan and Nabiki are there, cause studying will be boring without them. Don't want to feel Aunt Chichi's wrath though.'

Ranma dejectedly left the library a few hours later, having not seen head nor hair of Nabiki or Gohan. 'Well I did get a bit done before class started again,' Ranma thought, shifting his enhanced satchel. He gave a strained grin when he remembered the note he found from Aunt Chichi as well as quite a few advanced language and math books. 'Now I'm sure that most kids my age aren't learning Advanced Calculus and Arabic,' he thought as he headed to Transfiguration.

Ranma looked around for Harry and Ron, wondering where they were. He took a seat next to Neville, thinking they would like to sit together. Neville gave him a shy grin, and Ranma grinned, "Think this class will be any better?"

Neville shivered at the mention of their potions class. "I hope so," he squeaked.

Ranma grinned, "Don't worry, we'll all get through it one way or another."

Neville gave Ranma a shaky smile, mind still obviously on how scary potions class was. Ranma shrugged and turned to where Professor McGonagall now stood. She was looking at the empty desk, eyebrow raised as she tapped her foot. Neville gulped and took out his stuff, getting ready to take notes. McGonagall then shook her head and got ready to begin class when the door banged open and Harry and Ron rushed in.

"Perhaps I should transfigure one of you into a pocket watch, so one of you could be here on time," she said, crisp voice stern.

Ron gulped, "We got lost."

"A map then," McGonagall shot back, "Take your seats."

Ranma sighed and shook his head slightly so McGonagall wouldn't notice. He then began to concentrate on the lesson she was giving, absorbing the information relatively quickly.

Harry snuck a glance at Ranma, wondering where his cousin had been. A few thoughts crossed his mind and he shook each one of them off as very unlikely. He then shrugged and paid more attention to the lesson. 'I know, I'll invite him down to see Hagrid with me this afternoon. He looked kind of disappointed earlier,' Harry thought as the class was dismissed.

"Ranma!" he called out, catching up to his cousin and leaving his new friend to catch up to them.

Ranma seemed to brighten a bit as his cousin started talking. Harry grinned, "Want to come visit Hagrid with us? Me, and Ron are…"

"Ron and I," Ranma corrected absently.

"Ron and I," Harry replied obediently, "are going down there after next class."

Ron soon came up next to them and nodded a little out of breath from how fast the two were walking. Ranma seemed to think about it for a moment before agreeing. Harry grinned and the trio walked to their next class, "This'll be fun."

Ranma followed Harry and Ron down to the game keeper's hut, wondering what they would talk about with the giant of a man. He was surprised when a large boar hound lunged outside to lick Harry to death, or at least attempt to before Hagrid grabbed his collar. "Back Fang! Back!"

Ranma took a good look around the house after they were let in, wondering about the lack of rooms. Hams and pheasants hung from the ceiling, a copper kettle boiled on the open fire and in a corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt on it.

"Make yerselves at home," Hagrid said, letting go of Fang who bounded to each of the children in turn to lick their ears.

"This is Ron," Harry said, pointing to his friend, "And you know my cousin Ranma."

Hagrid nodded to Ranma and then looked at Ron, "Another Weasley eh? Spent half of me life chasin yer twin brothers away from the forest."

Ranma looked dubiously at the rock cakes Hagrid had presented them as they began to talk about their first day at school. Privately, Ranma agreed that Snape really seemed to hate Harry, and Neville was second on that list just for being the way he was.

"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron, "Great with animals that one."

Ranma was automatically interested in Ron's description of Charlie and his work with dragons, not noticing the piece of paper Harry had picked up until he felt his cousin's frightened excitement.

"Hagrid! That Gringott's break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!" Harry exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention.

Ranma watched interestedly as Hagrid refused to look Harry in the eye and offered up more rock cakes. He briefly wondered what kind of adventure was going to happen for his cousin this year.

Ranma stretched as he walked down the stairs, glancing over to where the small crowd of first years was gathered. He walked over to Harry, "What's wrong?"

"Flying lessons," Harry said grouchily, "With the Slytherins. I bet I'm the worst one there."

Ranma shrugged and shifted uneasily, "Flying on broomsticks?"

Harry nodded and Ranma sighed, "Could be worse I suppose."

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to give Malfoy more excuses to make fun of me," Harry said sourly, glaring at his cousin. Ron rolled his eyes, "You don't know you'll make a fool of yourself. I know how Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch but I bet that's all talk."

Ranma nodded as they made their way to the dining hall. Nabiki quickly ran over and hid behind Ranma, giggling as a few boys ran past them. Ranma looked over his shoulder and cocked an eyebrow, causing Nabiki to go into further fits of laughter.

She then held out her hand, showing various nuts and sickles. "They lost a bet," she said simply, pocketing the money.

Ranma turned to her, "Isn't that against the rules?"

"Only if you're caught," she said loftily, "Sides, you know daddy doesn't have enough money to really put me through here."

Ranma shifted uneasily, knowing that even with the money from Satan's purchasing of the dojo the Tendo's still had to borrow a bit of money from them. His mom made it look like a gift, however, so as not to hurt the Tendo's pride.

"/Careful/" he muttered in Japanese, "/I'd hate for my best friend to get expelled./"

"/You worry too much Ranma-kun/" Nabiki said, a glint in her eye that he was not sure that he liked.

Ranma shifted uneasily as she sauntered back over to her table, and he sat down near Harry mind on anything but his food. He barely registered Harry poking him in order to get them to their first class.

Ranma eyed the broom before him a few days later, ignoring Malfoy's snickers and snide remarks about what he thought would happen with many of the people there. He also managed to tune out Hermione's tips, which Neville was eagerly listening to.

A few moments later Madame Hooch strolled outside the castle, golden eyes flashing. "Everyone quiet!" she said, voice carrying over the field, "Stand next to a broom, quickly now! Line up!"

Ranma sighed as he took his place next to Harry. Hermione stood on his other side, giving him a shy glance. Ranma shrugged as he paid attention to the teacher once again, wondering if this was any different than using his ki to fly.

"Ok, now hold your hands over your broom and say 'Up!' on the whistle. One, two, 'tweet'!"

Ranma noticed Harry's broom go right into his hand and frowned as it took two calls to get his own broom up. Hermione's broom sat there as she whined at it, and Ron's broom just rolled over. He then noticed Neville, whose voice was stating that he clearly wanted to keep both feet on the ground. Not even Malfoy's broom came when he called to it. Ranma sighed, and then stemmed his flow of jealousy. Harry was allowed to be better at something. Besides, he could fly without the broom.

Soon everyone, even Neville, had the brooms securely in their grip. Madame Hooch smiled and blew her whistle, gathering all attention back to her. "Now mount your brooms, like so," she said, demonstrating how to mount the brooms. As everyone copied her to the best of their abilities, Madame Hooch prowled the lines like a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse. She did pounce a few times, even telling Draco he had been holding his broom wrong for years. Ranma heard Ron snigger slightly at that, and shifted uncomfortably on the item underneath him.

Madame Hooch passed them by and soon was at the head of the lines again, "Alright when I blow my whistle I want you to push off the ground lightly, hover for three seconds and then lean forward to slowly come down. One, two…"

Ranma's head swiveled to see Neville push too hard off the ground right as Madame Hooch put the whistle to her lips. She quickly brought the whistle down as she moved to try to instruct the terrified boy down.

Once again Ranma shifted nervously, getting closer to where he knew Neville would fall. If he had been able to use his powers as a Saiyan, then he would have no problems helping the boy, but as it was he would have to settle for catching him.

Harry watched his cousin out of the corner of his eye, wondering why he didn't just fly up there of his own power and grab Neville. Then his sense and reason caught up to him, 'Very few people know about saiyans and other aliens,' Harry thought, 'I guess it would be a bad thing to reveal what he is right now, but I wonder why.'

Ranma winced as Neville slid off his broom and hit one of the second story windows hard before dropping towards him. Ranma deftly caught him, and Madame Hooch rushed over to check on the boy. "Nice catch boy," she said as she examined the dazed Neville. She tsked at what she found, "Sprained wrist and ankle from that crash against the building. Help me take him to the nurse's office," she said with a tone that brooked no argument.

Ranma nodded and they set off, Harry watching them, and wishing he was able to do the things Ranma could. He then noticed Malfoy picking something up. "Well, lookie here," the blond drawled. Harry saw red.

Ranma grimaced as he felt a strange wave of hatred coming from Harry. He quickly sent an emotion down the link, hoping Harry would keep his head and not do anything stupid.

'Wish I was outside and not here carrying an unconscious Neville' he thought, and quickly squashed the thought. 'Neville can't help that he has a large propensity for accidents,' Ranma thought miserably as they reached the medical ward.

Harry, for his part, was finding out the joys of flying as he raced at Malfoy, scowling as the blond threw the remembrall. Harry chased it as Malfoy landed, diving at the bauble as it neared the ground. He pulled up out of his dive meters before colliding with the ground and grinned as he flew over to his cheering classmates and landed.

The cheering quieted as Professor McGonagall's voice rang out over the field. "Harry Potter!"

Harry could hear the snickers of the Slytherins as he was towed away by the professor.

Gohan sighed, taking notes as his ghost of a professor continued drawling on about some goblin war. He glanced at Nabiki, who looked about as bored as he was. Most of the class was asleep, and Gohan wished he could do the same. 'Why'd we have to have flying lessons so late in the evening?' he thought once more, 'I'd rather have them with the Hufflepuffs.'

Gohan wondered once again if he hadn't been misplaced in the houses. Gryffindor seemed more his style, or Hufflepuff. He scratched that thought, 'No I'd rather be in Gryffindor with Ranma,' he thought, marking down another date he had already read about in his books.

Nabiki glanced at Gohan and sighed, knowing it'd be up to her to sort all of the notes later. Between the two of them, they made some extremely good notes, and she planned on copying them and selling them to the general failing populace. 'Anything to keep my expenses to a minimum,' she thought determinedly. She was going to make her father and mother proud in her grades and keep her family housed and clothed as well. She just hoped Kasumi didn't ask too many questions about why Nabiki wasn't asking for any money to pay for little extras. Now if she could just figure out a way to get Professor Snape off her back in potions class so she could look up more profitable potions.

'Wish Ranma was up here with me,' she thought, looking outside the window to where she saw his class outside. She winced as she saw Harry taken by Professor McGonagall, and sighed sadly. Harry was someone without the strength of her other two friends and made him easy to talk to about things that pertained to a natural human's life. Of course lately they hadn't talked at all.

'Well, Ranma's cousin is making more friends,' she thought as she turned back to the professor and jotted down a few more memorable dates, 'I hope Ranma isn't having any problems with that.'

Ranma had an idea, a very devious one. He had to hide a grin as he looked up at Madame Hooch.

"Madame Hooch, I have to use the bathroom," he said, catching up to the teacher in front of him.

Madame Hooch sighed, and quickly brought out a small scroll and wrote a note. "All right, but that's only because you saved Neville a lot of pain and days in the infirmary."

Ranma took the hall pass and quickly ran in the direction of the bathroom. Reaching it, he went inside and looked around, determining there was no one in there. Turning on the cold water tap, he splashed himself, and looked outside to determine if there was anyone to see the red-headed girl coming out of the boy's lavatory.

She grinned and quickly went about determining how to change the colors on her robes. 'Not a hard problem for someone as great as me,' she thought, casting a small, unnoticeable spell. Moments later she was running down the hallway, on her way to the Slytherin common room. She hid herself behind a statue, grinning evilly. All she had to do was wait for someone of Slytherin to walk by and sneak in.

Moments later her chance came as a 7th year came by, opening the wall that separated the rest of the castle from the Slytherin common room. Ranma quickly snuck in behind them and hid in the shadows.

'Now let's see,' she thought, 'what to do, what to do.'

Ranma gave a nasty grin as she figured out exactly what to do and began to move faster than the naked eye could see. In a few moments she was satisfied with her work and made her way, to the entrance of the dorm. Still chuckling over her mischief she didn't notice someone coming in.

Draco and Ranma fell to the floor with an 'oomph' and a scowl. "Watch where you're going you little," Draco trailed off as Ranma lifted her head.

He put on a dashing smile, "Oh I'm sorry, let me help you up."

Ranma gave him an odd look but accepted his hand. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going and I needed to look something up for Potions," Ranma lied smoothly, averting her eyes and blushing a bit. 'Thank you Nabiki,' Ranma thought inwardly.

Draco frowned, "Are you a first year? How come I haven't seen you in classes?"

'Kuso, think, think, think, Ranma,' she thought as she blushed prettily, "I'm a transfer from Japan's school, where I started early. Mother wanted me to go to school here so she pulled some strings and got me enrolled, though I am now on a different schedule than the others my age."

Draco shrugged, "Well I am Draco Malfoy, and these are my associates, Crabbe, and Goyle. I hope to see you around."

Ranma gave a customary Japanese bow and quickly left, chuckling slightly to herself, 'Just wait till I tell Gohan, Nabiki, and Harry!'

She paused at the boy's lavatory and listened for anyone inside, looking up and down the halls at the same time, 'I wonder if I told Harry about my curse,' she thought absently.

Hearing and seeing no one, Ranma quickly ran inside and turned on the hot water. Splashing himself and changing his colors once again, he ran outside just to see Harry, who had apparently been looking for him, "Ranma! I've got good news!"

Nabiki looked over to where Ranma was chatting excitedly with Harry enviously. She wanted to be near him, and get him to explain the boring Goblin wars from a fighters point. Gohan was good at taking notes and dates, while Ranma made the battles real. She sighed, 'Real like watching a movie. I bet he could produce a pretty realistic representation if he put his mind to it.'

She glanced up mournfully at him again only to see him looking at her. He grinned and waved. She smiled and returned his with a smaller one. She then poked Gohan, "/Something's up with Ranma/" she whispered.

Gohan gulped, "/Something's always up. Where do we meet/"

Nabiki gave a few hand signals to which Ranma nodded, "/Library, hour after dinner./"

Gohan gave her a look, "/That's dangerous./"

Nabiki gave him a pout, "/Don't be such a spoil sport./"

Gohan shrugged and returned to his meal, neither noticing the odd looks they were getting for speaking in a foreign language.

An hour later, Ranma, Ron, Harry, Nabiki, and Gohan were all settled in a rather secluded area of the library. "So what's up?" Gohan asked, fixing Ranma with an eye.

Ranma quickly looked around the small area to see if there was anyone listening in while they appeared to be studying. Then he slowly filled them in, first telling Harry and Ron about his curse. Ron scoffed a bit, but Ranma came prepared. He quickly produced two thermoses, and doused himself with cold water, giving them a small peak at his female side, before quickly dousing himself with hot water again. He opened his mouth again to explain when two voices interrupted.

"Now that's a jolly good curse," one of the Weasley twins said.

"Quite," the other said, grinning.

"You've quite a propensity for mischief."

Ranma's eyes gleamed, "Why thank you."

Both twins cocked their heads, "Now don't mind us, continue your story."

Ranma motioned for them to sit down, hoping he could trust the Weasley twins.

Quite frankly he was wondering if he could trust Ron to keep his mouth shut.

After he finished his story, Harry was grinning like an idiot, while Nabiki and Gohan just shook their heads. Ron looked like he couldn't decide whether to scoff in disbelief or laugh his head off.

Ranma quickly put a finger to his lips as the Weasley twins began to talk loudly, excited.

Ron sighed, "You're all loony."

Ranma shrugged and glanced at Nabiki. She was watching one of the Weasley twins out of the corner of her eye, as if calculating. Gohan the grabbed his attention as he slid a note over to him written in Japanese. Ranma quickly read it and nodded, stuffing the note in his pocket to be burned later.

Nabiki and Gohan then got up. "It's time to get out of here before we're caught," Nabiki said, faking a yawn, "Good night."

"Good night," the rest of them chorused.

The next morning Harry saw first hand what Ranma had managed to do to his arch nemesis. Draco walked in, fuming, his hair black as night, giving him an almost sickly look. The whole dining hall burst into snickers when they saw the rest of the Slytherins walk inside. It didn't just stop at Draco's hair making him look sickly, all Slytherins had somehow managed to turn their hair all different colors. Their clothing was also not of their house colors as it ranged from neon yellow to hot pink. A few people also had clown faces that changed, and a few of the girls had facial hair.

Ranma almost turned bright red, wondering what had happened, as he only meant to get back at Draco. He then shrugged as he looked at the big grin on his cousin's face. It was worth it to see the big smile on his face. Ranma gave a slight smile and returned to eating, ignoring the laughter of the students at the Slytherin's expense.

Draco then spotted Harry and grinned nastily. It turned into a grimace as his two clown faced cronies sauntered in behind him. He walked over regardless, "So Potter, when do you get on the train to go back to the muggles?"

Harry glanced at him and said calmly, "I'm not. You're a little braver now that you're back on the ground with your little friends about you."

Ranma raised an eyebrow, comparing the sizes between Crabbe and Goyle and his cousin.

"I'd take you any time on my own," Malfoy said confidently, making Ron scowl, "Wizard's Duel, no contact only wands. Never heard of one I suppose?"

"Course he has!" Ron snapped, standing up, "I'm his second, whose yours ghost boy?"

Malfoy scowled and then sized up Crabbe and Goyle. "Crabbe," he said, "Be in the Trophy Room midnight tonight. That's always unlocked."

Harry glanced at Ron when he had gone, "What's a wizard's duel? What do you mean you're my second?"

"A second is to take your place if you day," Ron said, turning back to his food, "But that only happens in proper duels, I think either of you will ever be able to do is shoot sparks out of your wand."

"What happens if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" Harry asked, developing a twitch in his eye.

"You could always toss it aside and punch him," Ranma said helpfully.

"I'm not that kind of fighter Ranma! I'm related by our mother's side!" Harry said, nearly panicking.

"Excuse me," said someone behind them.

All three looked up to see Hermione Granger standing there. "I couldn't help overhearing," she started before she was interrupted.

"Of course not, they were rather loud," Nabiki said, sauntering over. She gave a critical look to Harry and Ron, "It's dangerous for you to wander about at night, especially with Filch and Mrs. Norris wandering around. As for you Ranma," she said giving him a piercing look she had learned from ChiChi and Rose, "You aren't going to go with them are you?"

Ranma gulped and quickly shook his head in the negative.

Ron snorted, muttering "Coward" under his breath.

Harry just gulped, knowing the implied threat within that look.

Ranma sighed in relief as she waltzed over to the Ravenclaw table. "That was close," he muttered.

Ron snorted and opened his mouth when Hermione interrupted him, "Nabiki's right. If you get caught you're going to lose all those points I got for Gryffindor yesterday and we'll never win the house cup. This is very selfish of you!"

"It's really none of your business," Harry said, scowling slightly and turning back to his food.

Ron also turned back, "Good bye."

Later that night, Harry looked over to Ranma, who was snoring softly. He was glad that even though he wasn't going with them, he hadn't tried to stop them and staved off quite a few attempts by Hermione during the day. Luckily none of the other Gryffindor's or any teachers seemed to have heard of the duel.

Ron then rose from his bed and looked at Harry. Harry sat up and nodded. They quietly crept down the stairs, heading for the painting. A voice suddenly spoke from the chair nearest them as Ron started to push open the painting. "I can't believe you're doing this, Harry."

The chair swiveled and Ron scowled, "You! Go back to bed!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "He would have put a stop to this, he's a prefect."

Harry scowled and slipped out the painting while the two whisper shouted at each other for a bit. Moments later Ron came out, Hermione following him, and Harry sighed.

Harry was filling Ranma in on what happened the night before and both him and Ron on the package inside vault 713 the next morning. Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Harry and Ron sitting there at the table joking with Ranma. The two looked tired, but perfectly cheerful. Ranma looked over and caught him staring at the two, and grinned at him before turning back to his cousin and friend.

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Harry grinned at his cousin as Ranma held the pillow to his ears, groaning. "It was an interesting experiment," Harry offered, wondering what he could say to help console Ranma and sooth his sensitive ears.

Ranma only moaned underneath the covers. He then sat up, tears in his eyes, "I want my iPod!"

Harry sweatdropped while the other boys watched in shock as Ranma ranted and raved about all the technology he was missing out on because his mother made him come here.