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Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, Pokémon to WB and Nintendo, and Ranma 1/2 to Rumiko Takahashi.

A Lost Friend

By: USA Tiger

Chapter 15

Harry and Ryoga snuck out of the library quickly so Madam Pince wouldn't notice Shirokuro. Finding a nice out of the way alcove in one of the hallways with a window seat and a view of the surrounding forest and lake, Harry sat down across from his oldest friend smiling as Ryoga's dog settled down beside them with his large head resting in Harry's lap while Ryoga cast a quick ward to block anyone from hearing them.

"I really missed you while you were gone," Harry said as he scratched Shirokuro behind an ear.

"Really?" Ryoga said, a silly grin crossing his face.

"Yeah," Harry said a faint pink blush on his cheeks. "So where did you go this time?"

"A lot of places," Ryoga said, his nose wrinkling in distaste. "I saw a lot of weird things. I saw this group dressed up in these skin tight outfits, they sounded like teens, and were fighting either monsters or demons, I wasn't sure about that. Then the monster thing suddenly grew into a giant and this giant robot came out of nowhere and started fighting it!" Ryoga waved his hands and shook his head. (1)

"Really?" Harry asked with wide green eyes. He tried to imagine it and it wasn't hard, it sounded like something from one of Dudley's shows that he had snuck a peek at once or twice.

"Yeah, I almost got stepped on," Ryoga said with a shake of his head. "And that was one of the more tame things I saw. Some of it..." he shuddered in remembrance. "I can't talk about that now, it's just.... still to real. So umm... what have you been doing?"

"Professor Dumbledore turned over my training to Padfoot and Professor Flitwick for now, he said he's setting something up that I need to know," Harry said. "And Cologne had me start this really important potion, said it had to do something with my lessons. But the most important thing, I did find out Malfoy really is up to something like I thought."

"Really, what?" Ryoga asked leaning forward. Harry said and took off his glasses so he could rub at his face.

"I still don't know, I heard him talking to an older boy that he called Griffin," He explained. "Said that Riddle was having him watched. I just wish I knew just what Malfoy's mission was so we could stop it." Harry sighed and leaned his head back against the cool stone behind him.

"We'll figure it out Harry-chan," Ryoga assured him. "Oh, here this should cheer you up. I got you something." Harry sat up, slipping his glasses back on to watch Ryoga dig in his large pack he had put on the floor. "Here."

"Chocolates?" Harry said with a touch of excitement as he took the box of ROYCE' chocolates. Ryoga flushed and smiling happily as Harry grinned over the treat.

"Hai, the finest chocolates from Hokkaido," Ryoga beamed then became very nervous as he fumbled a small box. "I... umm... I-I also got you something else. H-here." Ryoga bowed his head as he held out the box to Harry. Harry blinked as he took the box from Ryoga after putting the chocolates to the side. Highly curious, Harry lifted the top of the box to look inside.

"Oh!" Harry said as he picked the golden ring out of the box. He ran his finger over the silver etched winged lion and the red stone. "This... wow..."

"D-do you like it? Ryoga asked, holding his breath. He wasn't sure how Harry would take him giving the younger boy a ring. "I-I mean I-" Ryoga stammered over his words.

"Ryoga, I like it," Harry said with a grin, trying to get the other boy to calm down.

"Really?" Ryoga asked, looking up hopefully at Harry thought his thick bangs.

"Yeah, it's great," Harry said. No one had ever given him a gift just for the hell of it like this. He thought back for a moment the conversation he heard between Luna and Ryoga in the library, Ryoga hadn't said that he was in love with Harry or anything but Luna seemed to hint that the older boy was. Harry decided to think about it later, Ryoga gave him a heartfelt gift much like the snitch necklace he wore all the time and Harry couldn't help but love it.

Harry slid the ring on the first finger of his right hand, the ring fit perfectly and Harry swore it felt warm against his skin. The silly happy grin on Ryoga's face made the younger teen feel a burst of warmth in his chest and smiled in return.

***

Snape gnashed his teen as he glared down at the petit red head sitting lazily in the desk in front of him. He hated Ranma Saotome, in some ways even more than he hated Harry Potter. Ranma's girl from reminded him too much of his lost friend and love Lily Evans. The hair was just a fiery red and if Ranma's eyes were green then Severus would have almost been sure that Harry's mother had come back to life.

But Ranma was nothing like Lily Potter, even as a girl Ranma acted and called herself as boy. There was another reason why Snape hated the boy/girl, the cursed boy was cocky in a way that was reminded him of James Potter. The boy swaggered around like he owned the place and always claimed he was the best. This was mostly in Snape's mind of course, while Ranma did claim he was one of the best marital artist, and was a quite cocky, but he didn't act like he owned the place.

"Pay attention you addled brain brat!" Severus roared at Ranma. He hated that he was forced to spend his free time with Ranma giving her extra lessons in DADA to catch her up with the sixth years.

"I listening," Ranma said in a bored tone. She was resting her chin in her hand and was staring ahead with eyes half lidded. Snape narrowed his eyes at Ranma, how he hated this girl, and he hated lazy students he was forced to teach. "You said I have to point my wand at the thingy and say ridiculous,“ making Snape sneer as that was not how the spell was pronounced.

"Get up, the sooner we get this lesson over with the sooner you are out of my hair for the weekend," Snape snapped. Ranma sighed and stood up, following Snape over to a shaking trunk. "You act as though you have the spell now, so let's test that theory," Snape said with a dark smirk.

"What do you mean?" Ranma said with a suspicious frown and narrowed her eyes at Snape.

"You will cast the spell as soon as I open the trunk, we'll see how you'll do against a Boggart," Snape said. Ranma's eyes widen, she may act lazy but she did pay attention to all her lessons. She knew what a Boggart was and she knew what it did.

"Wait! Don't open that lid!" Ranma screamed as she quickly backed away toward the door of the class. Snape ignored her and flicked his wand at the trunk, letting it fly open as the Boggart rushed out, its form twisting into a skinny, ragger looking hissing and spitting cat. Snape, in his haste to get this lesson over and wanting to punish Ranma, had forgotten that Albus had forbidden him from setting a Boggart loose on Ranma. He couldn't remember the reason why, he assume it was special treatment for the Squib that could use magic through a freak accident.

Ranma screamed in terror, tripping over her own feet as she tried to get to the door. The Boggart-cat stalked closer to Ranma as she scrambled to her feet and ran for the door. Snape scowled and quickly cast a spell at the door that kept it locked.

"Stupid girl," He said darkly. "Cast the spell already." Ranma didn't listen; she pulled and tugged at the door franticly trying to get it to open. The door groaned but otherwise didn't budge, still shut tight. The Boggart-cat jumped at Ranma with a yowl who gave another terrified scream as she flailed her arms and fell back into the desks with a crash. The desks landed with a heap around her, screams echoing from the room and down the corridors of the school, many students and teachers looking up in surprise.

Snape scowled and strode forward to banish the Boggart back to the trunk. As he neared the pile of desk, Ranma's screams cut off and the room seemed to fill with deadly silence and Snape froze in shock. Gulping, Snape rushed forward as he knew Dumbledore would kill him if he allowed any student in the school to be killed.

As Snape neared the desk a low yowling filled the room. Freezing again, the noise sent a shiver of fear down Snape's spine. The desks seem to explode outwardly and the Boggart-cat flew through the air to land on the other side of the room. The Boggart turned tail and ran back into the trunk, the force of the creature hitting the inside snapping the lid back shut.

Snape gulped slightly, he had never seen anything that scared a Boggart! He turned back to the destroyed desks, in the middle of the debris he spied Ranma hunched over, stand on her hands and feet not unlike a cat.

"Sa-Saotome," Snape winced as he heard the stammer of fear in his voice. "Stop this nonsense now!" He started to walk closer with his wand drawn, the stunning spell on the tip of his lips if Ranma should make a wrong move.

Ranma yowled like a cat loudly, sending another shiver of fear throughout Snape and when he looked into her eyes, his breath left him. He could see the teen's blue eyes didn't have an ounce of human intelligent anywhere within them. No, all Snape could see was a primal rage in the girl's eyes as she hissed. His self preservation finally kicking in, Snape turned and ran for the door to get away.

Before Snape could cause the counter spells to the one he had cast earlier to lock the door, Ranma leapt at him with a yowling scream her hands outstretched in front of her. Snape turned and watched in horror as a strange energy surrounded Ranma’s hands taking the shape of claws. This was the last thing the man saw before Ranma pounced on him, and then there was nothing but blinding pain.

**

Students surrounded the corridor where the DADA classroom was located. They could hear what sounded like a wild animal and the most god awful screams. Girls screamed as the door to the classroom seem to explode and a body sailed through the air to hit the opposite wall.

Harry and Ryoga joined the other students in the hallway, Shirokuro on their heels, in time to see Ranma-neko run out of the class room.

"Oh no," Ryoga moaned as he saw his rival crouched on all fours, hissing and spitting at the students who were too dumb to move. Ranma turned toward his voice and saw an opening. Ryoga grabbed Harry and pulled the smaller boy to his chest, careful not to crush him and protected his friend with his body as Ranma-neko ran at them. She leaped into the air above their heads, pushing off Ryoga's head with her feet, and sailed over the milling students. Once on the other side of the crowd, Ranma-neko ran down the hallway out of sight.

Neither Ryoga nor Harry had noticed that Ranma was now gone. When Ranma-neko had used Ryoga's head as a launch pad, Harry had craned his head back to see what was happening. The force of Ranma jumping off of Ryoga's head had forced Ryoga's head down to met Harry's, their lips meeting in a short kiss. After a shocked short pause, both boys quickly pulled away blushing heavily. No one seem to notice what happen, they were either watching the hallway where Ranma had off down or going over to check on the crumpled pile of robes. Except one person that is, Luna smiled to herself as she watched the Boy-Who-Lived and The Eternal Lost Boy.

'I bet that kiss was a lot better than the one you had with Cho big brother,' Luna thought happily with a hum as she turned and walked away.

"Merlin!" One of the seventh years yelped. "Someone get Madam Pomfrey! It's Professor Snape!"

Ryoga blinked and shook his head, he'll think about how soft Harry's lips were later.

"Come on, we've got to follow Ranma before he hurts someone," Ryoga said. Harry quickly jerked his thoughts away from his first ever kiss with a boy and nodded. This was much more important, he had been told about the other times Ranma went like this by Shampoo.

"Come on, the stairs are that way," Harry said, grabbing Ryoga's hand and leading the other passed the crowd of students.

The pair searched high and low for Ranma-neko and finally found a clue when they heard someone say they saw the red head in the Great Hall.

"Harry!" Hermione called, jumping and waving her arms to catch his attention. "Thank god! What is wrong with Ranma? He's acting like a cat, is this that Neko-ken thing?"

"Yeah, where is he?" Ryoga asked.

"He got into the rafters right under the illusion on the ceiling," Hermione said while pulling them both into the Great Hall. The boys looked up at where Hermione pointed at, Ranma-neko sat on one of the wooden beams high above them. She was calmly licking her arm then rubbing her head just like a cat cleaning herself. "What do we do?"

"Usually he either falls asleep in someone's lap or we change him with water, that can knock him out of it," Ryoga said.

"This perhaps we should try that," Dumbledore said as he walked up behind them, his wand in his good hand.

"I would not recommend it," Cologne said as she pogoed at his side. "Like this Ranma think and acts just like a cat. He is very quick; unless you catch him by surprise Ranma will avoid any attempt to get him wet. Believe me, he may not seem like it but he is very aware of everything we do right now." Albus sighed and looked up at Ranma again.

"Well Elder, what do you suggest?" He asked.

"Clear out as many students as possible," Cologne said. "Let's see what my Great Granddaughter can do." Albus quickly agreed, having the Prefects and other professors push and herd all of the students out of the great hall. Harry, Ryoga and Hermione were allowed to stay but they had to stand by the doors. Shirokuro had to be put outside as well since he was a dog.

Once the hall was cleared, Shampoo entered the Great Hall looking up at Ranma. She had never done this, it was always Akane who got Ranma to calm down from these episodes. But Cologne, who heard the sounds coming from the other parts of the castle and recognized what they meant, told Shampoo she might be the only one who might be able to bring Ranma back to her senses.

~Here kitty kitty kitty,~ Shampoo cooed softly in Mandarin, catching Ranma's attention. Ranma tilted her head to the side watching the purple hair human, somewhere in the back of her mind she knew this human. ~Come to Xian Pu, I have a nice bag of catnip for you.~ Shampoo held up the bag, pulling the string so it opened. Ranma-neko's nose twitched, she knew that wonderful small.

"Nyan!" Ranma-neko leapt down from the rafters, many people in the hallway outside of the Great Hall gasping as Ranma fell several felt and landed on her hands and feet like a cat. Shampoo knelt down and spread the cat nip on the floor. Ranma sniffed the grass and started purring loudly, rubbing her face in the treat. "Nyan."

Satisfied after a few minutes, Ranma looked at Shampoo again and decided her lap would be a good place to nap. Curling into a ball, Ranma nuzzled Shampoo's stomach while Shampoo started to pet the smaller girl.

"Now would be a good time to leave," Cologne said, guiding the others out of the Great Hall quickly.

"Mr. Saotome will be alright after this, correct?" Albus said as they exited the hall and quickly closed the doors with a wave of his hand.

"While Son-in-Law is sleeping, his mind will reset itself and return to normal," Cologne assured him. "Just let my Great Granddaughter take care of him."

"How did this happen?" Ryoga asked. "Wasn't all the cats here suppose to stay away from Ranma so he wouldn't fall into the Neko-Ken?"

"They are," Albus confirmed with a frown. "Could you two tell me what happen? Oh, and welcome back Mr. Hibiki."

"Ryoga showed up an hour ago and we were catching up," Harry explained, absently twisting the ring on his finger. The action caught Hermione's attention and she tilted her head as she tried to study the ring. "We heard this loud awful screaming."

"I recognized Ranma's voice and we followed it to the hall with the defense classroom," Ryoga added. "When we got there the halls were already full and we saw a body fly out of the classroom."

"Then Ranma came out afterward, jumping over our heads," both Ryoga and Harry flushed brightly as they remembered the accidental kiss. Albus smiled slightly as he noticed, he was glad to see Harry have a little love in his life. He thought maybe Miss Weasley or maybe Miss Granger might be the one Harry fell for but it seemed he was happily wrong. "We heard somebody say the body was Snape."

"I saw her, I mean him, run into the Great Hall and after that you ran up Professor," Hermione finished the story for them.

"I see," Albus said with a frown. "I have a few things to look into. Have a good day children, elder." He turned and walked away.

"You children should go, enjoy the rest of your day and make sure Ryoga is caught up in his classes," Cologne suggested. "I will watch over Shampoo and Ranma, I'm sure they will join you later."

"Alright," Harry said, he grabbed Ryoga's hand and walked off with his two friends. Cologne watched them leave then look back at the door.

'Foolish boy,' She thought to herself. /'Snape was warned that Son-in-Law and cats do not mix.' /Cologne snorted and shook her head as she balanced on top of her staff in front of the doors and ordered a House Elf to bring her a cup of Oolong tea.

**

Anyone who saw Albus Dumbledore storming down the hallway quickly moved out of the way, the elderly wizard's power seem to cloak him and felt like it was barely held back. The doors to the hospital wing opened on their own, startling Madam Pomfrey who placed her hand against her breast.

"Headmaster!" She scolded with a hiss. "I have patients that are healing."

"I apologize Poppy," Albus said as he quickly reigned in his magic. "Severus was brought here correct?"

"Yes, I placed him in the private room in the back," Poppy said.

"How is he?" Albus asked.

"He'll be fine, he was covered in scratches, his right arm was broken and I had to pull out several wooden splinters," Poppy said. "But he's well on his way to mending, a day more or two and he won't have a scar on him. Albus what happen? He looked like he was attacked by one of Hagrid's pets."

"It was nothing like that," Albus assured her. "Young Severus disregarded a warning I gave him at the start of the year and paid the price. Is he up to having visitors?"

"Yes, he's awake," Poppy said with an annoyed sigh. "And cranky of course. Try not to damage him any more than he is."

"Of course, don't worry my dear Poppy," Albus said with a smile. Poppy just nodded and turned away to tend to one of the students in the beds. Albus entered the private room in the back of the hospital wing where Severus glowered in his bed.

"Headmaster," Snape said as he noticed the older wizard in the doorway.

"Severus, do you enjoy ignoring everything I tell you?" Albus said as he closed the door and quickly warded the room. "Did I or did I not tell you not to use a Boggart on Mr. Saotome?"

"Y-you did," Severus said, ashamed to hear the slight stuttered in his voice but it was hard not to be nervous when he could almost see the magical aura around his boss as the man stared down at him in anger and disappointment.

"Then why, may I ask, did I find a Boggart in a trunk in the defense classroom? I warned you at the start of the year that Mr. Saotome’s fear of cats was dangerous," Albus said.

"I thought... that maybe you were exaggerating Saotome's fear of cats and coddling the girl since she is a friend of Potter's," Snape confessed. "I felt no need to coddle any of these brats I'm forced to teach and the girl was not paying attention. I wanted to see if Saotome could use the Riddikulus spell."

"I can only assume that you now find that I was not exaggerating how dangerous Mr. Saotome’s fears are," Albus said, stroking his beard with his one hand.

"Headmaster, that girl...boy... whatever is a menace! Did you see what she did to me?" Severus said as he held out his bandaged arms. "You knew that girl would be this dangerous and you still allowed her to come?!"

"I was warned not just by Mr. Saotome but Professor Cologne as well that this 'Neko-ken' would be dangerous if Mr. Saotome was allowed to slip into it," Albus said. "But I also took precautions, Mr. Saotome is warded so no cats are allowed in a certain amount of distance of him, Minerva is not allowed to change into her Animagus form and somebody," Albus glared at Severus as he said this, "was to keep Mr. Saotome away from Boggarts."

Severus grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest, looking away from the older man.

"Mr. Saotome will not be punished over this incident," Albus said.

"What!?" Severus said as he sat up in the bed, groaning in pain and flopping back against the pillows as he strained his abused body. "That crazy girl almost killed me!"

"Mr. Saotome had no control over himself once his minds snaps and he goes feral," Albus said. "You brought this on yourself when you ignored my warnings. For the sake of everyone, you will no longer be required to tutor Mr. Saotome as you simply cannot be trusted not to allow your personal feelings to get in the way. I should have learned my lesson after you blotched Mr. Potter's occlumency lessons so badly."

"That boy-" Snape started to say.

"'Clear you mind'? How is screaming 'clear your mind' teaching anyone occlumency?" Albus said coldly. "You refused teach Mr. Potter just how he is to clear his mind."

"I had to take time out of evenings to teach that little spoiled brat how to shield his mind and he didn't even bother to listen to my lessons or read any of the books," Snape tried to defend himself.

"Books on occlumency are closely monitored, all of ours in the school are in the Restricted section of the library," Albus countered. "The only way he would have been able to check out a copy if someone gave him a pass. I check Severus, Mr. Potter never even tried to check out any of the books on occlumency in the library. You assured me that you would take care of everything after I asked you to teach Mr. Potter."

"You know I did not wish to teach that dunder head," Severus groused. "You forced me into that."

"Yes and how I regret it," Albus said as he brought down the wards and turned toward the door. "Severus for now I would cut back on the attitude if I was you. What would Lily think after all?"

Severus screamed in rage and tossed a pitcher of water than had been on his bedside table at the door as Albus closed it.

***

"Will Ranma be alright?" Hermione asked as she, Harry and Ryoga settled into the Room of Requirement. Shirokuro gave a content sound as he flopped down in front of the fire place the room gave them.

"Yeah, once Ranma wakes up he'll be back to normal," Ryoga said as he leaned back on the comfy couch. "He won't remember a thing about it."

"Why?" Hermione asked, the Neko-ken had never really been explained to any of them. Ryoga shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, that's just the way it's always been," he said. "I've never seen him in the Neko-ken, I've just always heard about it from Akane. I just know he can be dangerous when he goes 'cat'."

"I do hope Professor Snape is alright," Hermione said. Harry snorted softly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"It serves him right," He said. He didn't want the man dead but it was something he was going to treasure in the back of his mind to see Snape get what was coming to him, the memory would be right up there with the end of third year.

"Harry," Hermione said in a warning tone.

"Don't even start Hermione," Harry said. "I have no love for that man, he had done nothing but pick on and bully me since our very first potions class. I looked up the answers to the questions he asked me. That first question, about the Draught of Death, that's a fourth year potion."

"I knew the answer," Hermione said.

"Hermione, you read ahead," Harry pointed out. "I bet you already know a lot of stuff we're going to learn in seventh year for a while now. Snape doesn't like me because of my father, a man I don't even remember and has been dead for 15 years. He's like a child in a man's body sometimes. I understand that he'll always hate my dad, and Sirius and Moony but don't you think it's going a little far to take it out on a kid?"

"I guess," Hermione said softly. Ryoga shifted slightly uncomfortable, the same could also apply to him almost. His dislike for Ranma sometimes clouded his judgment though he had gotten over that mostly after the failed wedding between Ranma and Akane. But Ryoga had his reasons; Ranma had picked on and tricked him several times.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I didn't mean to snap," Harry said, rubbing his forehead. "I'm stressed out over Malfoy and whatever it is he's doing."

"Are you any further on that?" Hermione asked she was coming around to see Harry's point of view.

"I heard him and another boy talking, Malfoy said he knew what his mission was and didn't need a babysitter but I didn't hear anything beyond that," Harry said. "It's kinda driving me nuts."

"Maybe you should relax today?" Ryoga suggested. "With all the excitement today over what happen to Snape, he might lay low."

"Hmm, I guess." Harry said as he stretched out.

"Oh Harry, I've been thinking about your ability to transform," Hermione said, changing the subject into something lighter. "Have you discovered any more forms?"

"Not really," Harry said. "Siri had me practicing using my different forms mostly. Some of them are really weird. My deer form, the one called Sawsbuck, I think it's part plant. I've got leaves growing out of my antlers and I cast off a bunch of seeds that landed on Sirius and I swear it leeched some of his energy away."

"That's... that's amazing," Hermione breathed in excitement. "Just how do you find new forms?"

"I don't know, I just think of an animal and it turns into the closest thing or sometimes I see something and it triggers the ability," Harry said with a shrug. "Or I think of something I need and it does the same thing. I found my Joltik form because I needed to be small and my Haunter form after seeing Myrtle."

"Yes, and we mentioned owls and you turned into the two different types of owls," Hermione said. "You know, we should document each creature. Let me get a quill and parchment," she said in an excited tone as she dug around in her bag.

"You up to being her guinea pig?" Ryoga breathed into Harry's ear. Harry shivered slightly as the older boy's breath ghosted over his ear and turned to look up at Ryoga with a smile.

"Yeah, I like being in my Mew form," Harry said softly. "I feel so... happy... like that. Playful you know?"

"You are very kittenish when you're Mew," Ryoga said with a smile. "It's really kawaii." Harry blushed slightly, he got Ukyo to tell him what kawaii meant when he was back in Nerima.

"Found it!" Hermione said as she fished out her things. She looked up at her friends and smiled secretly to herself as she watched the two boys. The bushy hair girl let them have their moment before clearing her throat to get their attention again. "Ready?"

"Sure," Harry said as he stood up from the couch and popped into his Mew form. "Meewww, mew mew mew." Harry-mew flipped in the air as he was filled with childish joy. He loved being in his Mew form, there was about it that made him happy. Hogwarts seem to sense that Harry changed and shifted the room to suit the playful wizard. Ryoga laughed as the room suddenly had different toys while Hermione looked amused as Harry mewed excitedly and flew straight to the ball pit.

"Ruff ruff!" Shirokuro barked and ran over to jump into the pit with Harry. Ryoga roared with laughter as his ninja dog played like he was a puppy again.

"Mew mew mewmewmew," Harry-Mew's head popped out of the pit, the teen's green eyes lit up with happiness.

"Harry," Hermione scolded lightly, fighting to keep from smiling. It was rare to see Harry so happy and playful after all the crap her friend had to go through every year. "We're supposed to record all of your forms."

"Meeewwwww," Harry blew a raspberry at Hermione and dove back under the colorful balls in the pit, his long tail the last to disappear.

"Harry," Hermione sighed. "Come on now."

"Mew!" came from the ball pit. Shirokuro barked and dived under the balls with Harry.

"Can't you call him out?" Hermione asked looking at Ryoga who looked extremely amused.

"Harry-chan, the sooner you get this done for Hermione, the sooner you get the play," Ryoga called. The ball pit was quite for a moment then the colorful plastic balls started to quiver. With a joyful bark, Shirokuro burst out of the ball pit with Harry-Mew riding on his back.

"Mew!!" Harry's paws were up in the air as the dog bounded around the room. Shirokuro came to a sudden stop, throwing Harry into the air. The Mew twisted in the air and started to glow as he changed shape. Harry landed on the floor on all four paws.

"Growl!"

"Oh! He looks like a tiger striped puppy!" Hermione squealed as her quill raced over the scroll. Ryoga agreed, Harry had turned into a puppy like creature with reddish orange fur and black strips and had a tuff of fur on top of his head in a lighter shade of red and a really fluffy tail in the same color. Harry was panting happily, his tail wagging as he playful tussled with Shirokuro. The larger dog jumped over Harry's head as the puppy like wizard jumped at him.

"Growlithe," Harry shook his whole body, sending embers flying everywhere. Hermione and Ryoga yelped as the burning embers landed on the couch and Hermione's scroll.

"Oh my god," Hermione said as she quickly cast a spell to douse the fire. "That was fire, he was able to shake fire out of his fur!"

"He was able to breathe fire as Tepig so I'm not surprised," Ryoga said.

"Growl lithe!" Harry ran over to Ryoga, barking happily as he jumped up onto his friend's chest. Not prepared for Harry's action, Ryoga yelled as he was knocked onto his back. Harry licked the older teen's face making Ryoga laugh. Hermione covered her mouth as she giggled watching them.

"Harry, stop before you drown him," Hermione said between her giggles. Harry stopped licking Ryoga as his brain caught up to what he was doing. With a pop Harry changed back into a human, sitting on top of Ryoga and blushing heavily.

"Sorry, got really caught up," Harry said as he ducked his head. Hermione peeked up from her scroll and bit her lip to keep from giggling again. Ryoga looked dumbfounded up at Harry, his hands hovering over the younger boy's hips like he wanted to wrap his hands around them but was scared to. Harry on the other hand didn't seem inclined to move off of Ryoga.

"Well that little creature you turned into was amazing," Hermione said loudly, getting both boys' attention. Both of them blushed and quickly got up off the floor. "You turned in a puppy with stripes but when you shook your fur, pieces of ember came flying out."

"So I wasn't a dog with skulls?" Harry asked.

"No, not at all," Hermione said. "We should try again, but do try to keep on task this time," she teased gently as Harry gave her a bashful shy grin.

**

Ranma yawned as she started to arch her back and stretch out her arms only to pause as she felt fingers card through her hair. She quickly tried to remember what happen and where she was. The last thing she remembered was being in the classroom with Snape and him opening that trunk. Ranma froze as she remembered the thing that came out, all claws, fangs and yowling from hell. After that it was a blank but Ranma could guess what happened.

~I don't mind holding you Ranma, but my legs are starting to fall asleep,~ Ranma's eyes snapped up and she looked up at Shampoo who looked down at her amused.

~Where are we?~ Ranma asked she sat up and moved off of Shampoo's lap. The Amazon sighed in relief as she stretched out her legs to get feeling back into them again. ~Was anyone hurt?~

~We are in the large hall where everyone eats,~ Shampoo said. ~And I think the only person hurt is that greasy hair man.~

~Snape,~ Ranma spat and snarled. ~I told that bastard not to open that trunk.~ Shampoo wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, Ranma hated when she slipped into the Neko-ken. She had no control over herself and to know she could have hurt an innocent person shook her to the core. Ranma blinked and glanced to the side at Shampoo as if she realized the other girl was still there. ~So... um.... did I?~

~You make such a cute 'kitty' when you sleep,~ Shampoo teased with a grin, nuzzling Ranma playfully.

~Stop that,~ Ranma said with a blush as she turned her head away in embarrassment. The two teens looked up as the doors of the Great Hall opened.

"Ah, Mr. Saotome I am glad to see you are back to yourself my boy," Albus said with a smile as he and Cologne entered the hall.

"Yeah... umm sorry about all that," Ranma said as she quickly stood and rubbed the back of her neck.

"No no, it is I that should apologize," Albus said gravely. "I informed the staff at the beginning of the year of your phobia and not to include anything feline related in your lessons. When Professor Snape mentioned you were to start your lesson on Boggarts, I warned him to teach you the banishing spell only and not to use any Boggarts."

"That idiot man of course didn't listen," Cologne said in a dry tone then looked up at Albus. "Why again do you keep him on staff?"

"Sometimes I wonder that myself," Albus muttered softly then smiled as louder he said, "Elder, I trust Professor Snape and I think he's learned his lesson." Ranma and Shampoo looked at each other, wondering why he muttered one thing they said something different afterward. They didn't notice the teen at the door slip away, one of Voldemort's spies who only caught the second part.

"I would hope so," Cologne said. "That fool will get himself killed one day."

"What happen to Snape?" Ranma asked.

"Professor Snape," Albus corrected. "He was a bit hurt from the... incident... but he is on the mend. I assure you Mr. Saotome, you will not be in any trouble over this." Ranma hung her head, she didn't like Snape but she hated to hear that she hurt anyone.

"Do not look that way Son-in-Law, this is Snape's fault," Cologne as she lightly hit Ranma on the head with her staff. "He was warned about what would happen so he is the one to blame. Now I suggest you and Great Granddaughter head back to your tower, I'm sure the rest of your friends are waiting and I know Hibiki arrived back this afternoon."

"Porker is back?" Ranma said. "Guess we should see where he's been this time." Shampoo happily agreed and left with the smaller girl.

"You need to get that man under control Albus," Cologne said once the girls left. "Do you know how much damage he caused? Only a handful of these children have any idea how to properly brew a simple potion. I wasted several of both my and my two student's days getting everyone caught up!" Albus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his crooked nose.

"He is very rough around the edges but I need him here at the school," Albus said, looking down at his withered damaged arm. "Soon he'll be in the thick of danger at the end of the year."

"Albus, sometimes I think you are just as big of a fool," Cologne said with a shake of her head.

**

"Mr. Potter, if I may have a moment of your time," Minerva asked as Harry, Ryoga and Hermione passed her office on the way to the Gryffindor Common room. The rest of the time in the Room of Requirement had better spent, Hermione had recording all of Harry's current forms and they had figured out some of the powers a few of the forms processed.

"Oh, um sure Professor," Harry said as he split from his friends. He stopped and looked back at Ryoga and Hermione.

"Don't worry Harry, I'll make sure he makes it back to the common room," Hermione promised. Harry smiled and nodded then followed Minerva into her office.

"Mr. Potter, I would like to inform you that your Quidditch ban that... woman... placed on you has been lifted," Minerva said, a strong note of distaste in her voice as she mentioned the previous year's Defense professor Dolores Umbridge without saying the woman's name.

"Oh, that's great professor," Harry said. "But isn't Ginny the seeker for the team now? I know she's been doing a great job."

"Miss Weasley has a talent but she is not as good as you," Minerva said. "Mr. Potter, I know it's a little later than usual but I would like to offer you the Quidditch captain position."

"Me?" Harry said in surprise. "But what about Katie? She's been on the team longer than me."

"I did offer it to her but as this is her final year she declined as she feels it will be too much with her NEWTS studies," Minerva said. "And she said she felt you would be a better captain."

"But I've got extra stuff too," Harry pointed out. "I've got extra lessons with Elder Cologne and those lessons with Professor Dumbledore."

"I think you will have time to fit in Quidditch," Minerva said as she pushed the badge to Harry. He still looked doubtful; he needed the time to keep an eye on Malfoy. "Mr. Potter, at least give it a trial run. If you feel that it is too much then you can suggest another member of the team to take over the position." She offered. Harry sighed and finally agreed, reaching over to pick up the badge. (2)

"I'll do my best to get the Quidditch cup in your office again," Harry half joked.

"You'll find your broom returned to you Mr. Potter," Minerva said. "Good luck." Harry smiled slightly and left the woman's office, heading back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey mate, what did McGonagall want?" Ron asked as Harry entered the tower.

"She made me Quidditch captain," Harry said, holding up the badge.

"No way!" Ron said, grinning at his best friend.

"What's Quidditch?" Ranma asked, he had turned back to his normal male form wand was sitting in one of the arm chairs in the trio's corner, Shampoo sitting on the arm. Ron looked scandalized and launched into an explanation of his favorite sport.

"So captain, how are you going to set up the team?" Ginny asked as she rolled her eyes at her brother.

"I think... we should have try outs for all the spots," Harry said as he sat down beside Ryoga. "We lost a lot of players already, so having everyone try out for every position is fair."

"Well, we already know you're a shoe in for Seeker," Ginny said with a laugh.

"Ronald, can you not go on about Quidditch for 10 minutes?" Hermione said with an annoyed sigh. Ranma looked like he regretted asking as Ron talked his ear off. Harry laughed softly as Ron pouted and Ranma looked thankful. He pulled out a sheet of parchment to let everyone know about the try outs and reminded himself to book the pitch after classes the next day.

**

The next day Harry breathed deeply as he stood on the Quidditch pitch. He had booked it the night before after he put up the notice for Sunday, everyone who was trying out would come in another hour or so but right now only he and his friends were on the pitch. Ron took off to fly around the keeper goals in practice; he wasn't too happy he had to try out again for the Keeper spot and was determine to stay on the team.

"I haven’t flown in years," Ryoga said as he held one of the better school brooms in his hand. "Kept getting lost," he added with a blush.

"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on your so you don't wander off," Harry said with a grin as he mounted his Firebolt and took off into the skies. Ryoga watched Harry fly, the younger boy looked like he was at home in the sky and he couldn't help the smile his friend and crush.

"Wow, I had no idea that thing about riding brooms was true," Ranma said as she watched Harry as well. She was already thinking about how she could use and add this to her Martial Arts. The Saotome branch of Anything Goes excelled in mid air combat, she was sure she would be right at home up there. She had another one of the school brooms in her hand.

"Have you even had any lesson with Hooch-sensei on how to ride a broom?" Ryoga asked.

"Why would you need lessons? You just get on it and ride it around right?" Ranma asked. Ryoga rolled his eyes and mounted his broom, rising in the air a little shaky at first since it had been a long time since he flown they stronger as it all came back to him. He wasn't a good as flyer as Harry was but Ryoga was half was decent on a broom, his lack of direction was the only thing that worked against him.

Ryoga lazily floated above Ranma as his rival mounted the broom she held, watching in amusement as Ranma scowled and hopped up and down trying to get the broom to fly.

"Come on you stupid piece of wood," Ranma said as she tried to get the broom to take off. She yelped as the broom flipped up in the air and sent Ranma tumbling to the ground. Ryoga laughed loudly as Ranma started to chase the broom around the pitch, drawing Harry's attention.

"What is he doing?" Harry asked as he floated beside Ryoga.

"Ranma tried to fly and when the broom wouldn't work for him, he insulted it," Ryoga said with great amusement. "I don't think the broom likes him."

"I have never seen a broom act like that," Harry said as he started to giggle as the broom hit Ranma on top of the head then took off at top speed.

"GET BACK HERE YOU ROTTON PEICE OF FIREWOOD!!" Ranma yelled as she took off after the broom again. Ryoga roared in laughter again, he felt good he finally had something else he was better than Ranma at. Ranma always manage to out due him in everything they did except one thing, calligraphy.

Ryoga had beautiful handwriting and he could use both hands to write. Ranma on the other hand had such horrible handwriting that he hadn't even been able to enter the Martial Arts Calligraphy tournament. (3)

Of course at the moment, Ryoga was also better than Ranma at magic but not by much since Ryoga had never been able to stay around at school long enough to complete lessons. Most of what he knew he either picked up on his own or his mother taught him. Ranma was quickly catching up with Ryoga in the use of magic though he could only use it in his cursed female form.

Still, Ryoga grinned as the broom tripped Ranma as she tried to catch hold of it, he was at least better at flying that her. At this rate Ranma would never get onto a broom.

The Gryffindor students that came to either try out for the team or came to watch was treated to a show of Ranma vs. the school broom, of which the broom seems to be winning.

"I guess we better stop this or we'll never get through tryouts," Harry said with a laugh then called up to Ron. "Oy! Ron! Come on!"

Harry and Ryoga floated to the ground slowly, Harry keeping an eye on his friend so Ryoga didn't float off lost somewhere. Once on the ground, Harry reached up and grabbed the rebellious broom as it flew past him. Ranma slid to a stop and panted slightly, glaring at the broom that steam to act like an eager puppy under Harry's touch.

"Maybe now you'll want to take those lessons," Ryoga said with a laugh as he shouldered the broom he had been using.

"Shut up bacon breath," Ranma grumbled.

"Come on," Ryoga said with a roll of his eyes. "Let's get out of the way of the try outs." Ranma grumbled more under her breath as she led Ryoga over to the stands to sit with Hermione.

"What in the world did you do to that broom to make it act like that?" Hermione asked as they sat down.

"I think he just insulted it," Ryoga said, amusement coloring his voice. Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes then turned her attention to the pitch.

Down below, Harry handed the rebel broom to one of the others and started to separate everyone into the position they wanted to try out for. Everyone agreed that Harry should stay in the lead Seeker position but he did need to find a back up Seeker. Everyone also agreed to let Katie Bell stay on as one of the Chasers since it was her last year.

The tryouts did not go as well as Harry hoped. Within two hours there was at least one pile up, one crash that involved a Comet 250 which resulted in broken arm and a student needing to see Madam Pomfrey. Harry had several first years try out, none of which had a clue how to fly and was quickly cut from tryouts before they got seriously hurt. He also discovered that he had several students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff within the group trying out who had to be sent away with the suggestion they try out for their own house teams.

One of the biggest headaches came from Cormac McLaggen, a boy that was a year above Harry in Gryffindor. He didn't know McLaggen much, but when Harry did see in the common room, the older boy came off as arrogant, pushy and had a strong sense of entitlement.

"I was in the hospital wing when they held the trials," McLaggen said to Harry as the boy explained why he wasn't there the year before trying out for Keeper, all with something of a swagger. "Ate a pound of doxy eggs for a bet."

"Yeah... just head up to the goals, Katie and Ginny will throw the Quaffle, try to block as many as you can," Harry said. As McLaggen mounted his broom and flew up to the goals, Harry shook his head. 'Who the hell is stupid enough to eat doxy eggs?'

As McLaggen flew up to sit in front of the three goals, he spied Hermione out of the corner of his eye watching him. He turned and waved, giving her a little wink. He thought she was pretty enough... for a muggleborn anyway. Not as good looking as that smoking hot purple hair girl that sometimes hung around Saotome, but alright looking. Somebody fun to mess around with before he had to go off to find a proper pure blood wife. Hermione caught his wink and blushed slightly as she turned her head away. Cormac chuckled and turned back to the task at hand.

In the stands Hermione huffed slightly, McLaggen had taken the time to speak to her every now and then since they started school again. He had good looks but Hermione tended to find him to be a bit boring. She glanced at Ron who was watching McLaggen, she wanted her red headed friend and, only if she admitted it to herself, crush to make the team again. There was another reason why she didn't like McLaggen and didn't want him on the team, she had overheard him making very rude remarks about not only Ron but Ginny as well.

She glanced back at McLaggen and bit her lip. She wanted Ron to make the team again but she had no idea how good McLaggen as a Keeper. She glanced at Harry who was watching as Katie and Ginny tossed the Quaffle at McLaggen who blocked the ball at least 4 times already, then glanced around her before pointing her want at the boy and casting a Confundus Charm on him. Because of the charm, McLaggen missed the last shot leaving him only have 4 out of 5 shots saved.

"Alright McLaggen, you're done," Harry called as he and the girls started to fly down.

Hermione couldn't believe she had just done that but knew it gave Ron a better chance. What she didn't know one person had seen her cast the spell, Ranma hummed softly under her breath. She had saw Hermione cast some sort of spell at that jack ass McLaggen and wondered what she could do with this information. She wasn't into blackmail like Nabiki was but maybe she could use this to get the bushy hair girl off her back about homework!

An hour later everyone had tried out for the team and Harry called an end to the try outs.

"Ok everyone, I think everyone did great," Harry called loudly. "I'll post up on the board in the common room who made the team and who made the reserved team tonight! Thank you all for coming!" The Gryffindor students talked excitedly among themselves as they headed back for the castle, wondering who made the team. Ron and Ginny stay behind with Harry who was waiting for Hermione, Ranma and Ryoga to join them from the stands.

As the group of friends headed back for the castle, McLaggen stepped out in front of them.

"You've got to give me another try Potter," he said to Harry who frowned.

"No I don't, everyone had one try and you had yours," Harry said. "Ron did better than you did."

"His sister didn't really try," McLaggen said with a snort as he pointed at Ginny who looked insulted. "She gave him an easy save."

"Rubbish, that was the one he nearly missed," Harry said.

"Give me another go," McLaggen demanded. He was sure he could have made all five saves.

"No," Harry said angrily. "You've had your go. You saved four, Ron saved five. Ron's Keeper, he won it fare and square. Get out of our way," Harry pushed past McLaggen, Ryoga's hand firmly in his own. He didn't see the guilty look on Hermione's face at Harry's words, nor did anyone else. McLaggen scowled at Harry and Ron's backs as the others walked away.

**

Author note: Ok, just a quick notice, this will be the last chapter for a short while. I'm going on a short hiatus but don't worry it won't be as long as the years old writer's block I had. I am going back over the previous chapters of this and my other stories to give them a tune up. As soon as I'm done, I'll be back to writing.

(1) I'll admit, in my head I see the Power Rangers or Super Sentai if you like (I'm American so I'm more familiar with the Power Rangers) but I tried to keep it vague enough that you can imagine any other series you like.

(2) I honestly forgot about the whole Quidditch thing until the last minute. I never read the book and most of what I remember about the Half Blood Prince came from the movie so with a little research into what happen for the tryouts, I'm mostly winging it here.

(3) Ryoga according to the anime has really good handwriting.

Edit 7-14-14: Grammar and spelling fixed here and there. Corrected a couple of places that didn’t match up with pervious chapters like Harry’s ring that Ryoga gave him.