Might & Magic: Tales of Ranma Saotome, Boy Wizard

by thablackkuririn

11 year old Ranma Saotome discovers that his mother is a witch, he is a wizard, and he is set to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Britain! Book 1 of a RanmaHarry Potter Xover, set to span all 7 Harry Potter books.

14. Through the Trapdoor

Might and Magic:Tales of Ranma Saotome, Boy Wizard

A Ranma ½ and Harry Potter Crossover

Book 1: The Map, The Stone, and The Boy Who Lived

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters (see J.K. Rowling and Rumiko Takahashi), I'm just making up a new story with them. Please don't sue me (especially for any OOC).

Author's Notes: Please note that this chapter contains and is inspired by portions of Chapter 16 and 17 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Philosopher's Stone for you Brits). If you're keeping score, it has the same title as well.

Chapter 14: Through the Trapdoor

"Quills down, please." Professor Binns called out over the the sound of quills scratching on parchment. As he dotted the last period on his parchment, Ranma wondered how the History of Magic professor managed to drone on even with the shortest of sentences. He rolled up the exam paper and flashed a grin at Hermione, who, despite the random seating arrangements, ended up sitting the exam right next to him. Ranma could see that she was struggling not to look too pleased with herself. Normally after an exam, Hermione would act as if she'd answered every question incorrectly. Her failing attempt to look modest was probably a good sign that he'd done well, especially as he'd spent the previous months revising with her.

"That wasn't too bad." Ranma said, rising and following her to the Binns' desk, where they deposited their exam papers. "How do you think you did?"

"You know she got perfect marks, don't be thick." Ron said jovially, slapping Ranma on the shoulder as he and Harry joined them.

"Well, it was much easier than I thought it'd be." Hermione admitted. "I may have over-studied a bit..."

"Right, and Hagrid may be just a bit over-grown." Ron quipped. Harry and Ranma sniggered good-naturedly while Hermione rolled her eyes. "Anyway, let's skip the review of the test this time, Hermione. It's far too nice outside to revise after the exam, and I'll probably be sick if I have to think about another goblin rebellion before September."

"Here, here!" Harry and Ranma said quickly. Hermione, who was known to take great pleasure in going over test papers immediately after an exam, looked both annoyed and disappointed.

"Oh, all right." she acquiesced with a huff. "I guess it won't hurt to take a break."

They set off into the castle grounds, the sounds of other students, who'd already finished their exams, drifting through the warm summer air. Their wanderings brought them to the lake, where they threw themselves down beneath a large, shady tree. About fifty yards down the lake shore, the twins and Lee were playing with the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows and seemed to enjoy the attention. Ranma narrowed his eyes, his expression darkening, and muttered something that ended with the word "gits". Harry and Hermione raised their eyebrows but Ron seemed slightly uncomfortable.

"We can move, if you want." he said casually to Ranma.

"No, I'm fine." Ranma said with a shake of his head. He made a great show of repositioning himself so that his back was to his former friends.

"Right. So no more revising until next term." Ron said quickly. "Merlin knows we've done enough of it."

"Don't be silly, Ron, we've got revising to do over summer vacation, plus homework." Hermione remarked.

"Don't remind me." Ron replied, flopping down on the ground. "Honestly, Hermione, you..."

Ranma let the conversation slip by him, knowing that Ron and Hermione would probably go back and forth for a while. A week ago, he might have jumped in to keep the two from getting out of hand with their bickering, but, since his detention in the forest, Ranma had found his spare moments occupied by thoughts of Voldemort. Truth be told, after his first confrontation with the Dark Lord, he was worried and, he hesitated to say, afraid. Though Ranma had gotten the better of him, Voldemort's power had been frightening and he had incredible control over it. From what Firenze had said, though, Voldemort wasn't even at full strength! The very idea of a more powerful Voldemort was almost unthinkable.

If he hadn't been concentrating on his exams, Ranma may well have worried himself sick. The thought of the Dark Lord storming into the castle for him had Ranma on his guard, almost to the point of paranoia. He had taken to using a few ninjutsu surveillance techniques as well as his magical sight at all times and had focused all his training time on trying (with mixed results) to effectively use his wandless magic. If Voldemort was coming for him, Ranma was determined to be ready.

The only person who seemed as concerned about Voldemort was Harry, being the only other person who had seen him. Ron and Hermione, while definitely frightened at the prospect of a revived Dark Lord, took great comfort in knowing that, every time they checked, Fluffy was still guarding the third floor corridor.

Fortunately for Ranma, he worked very well under pressure and he was certain that his exams had gone swimmingly. This was true even of the practical portions, much to the surprise of everyone but Ranma. He'd taken extra special care to practice disguising his wandless spellcasting (and it helped that his teachers allowed him to pick up or touch the item to be charmed or transfigured). Potions had been particularly easy and he had finished first with a picture perfect Forgetfullness potion, despite Snape's attempts to sabotage his efforts. Harry and Ron didn't seem to do as well, though it probably didn't help that Harry was plagued by bad dreams that were keeping him up at night. In all, it had been a stressful week and, until school let out the following week, Ranma knew he would not be able to relax.

Ranma suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, hearing his name called. He looked up at Ron. "What?"

Ron sighed, shaking his head while rolling his eyes. "I said you could look more cheerful. You too, Harry. Nothing to worry about till we get the results, right?"

"You think I'm worried about the exams? Are you daft?" Ranma asked incredulously. "There's still that little thing about Snape trying to restore Voldemort to power."

Ron flinched badly. "Don't say the-"

"Gah!" Harry burst out suddenly, cutting Ron off. He was angrily scrubbing his forehead as if he were trying to erase the lighting-bolt scar. His face was darkened with frustration. "I wish I knew what this means! My scar keeps hurting. It's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madame Pomfrey." Hermione said, almost automatically, as she'd been wont to do since Harry had started complaining about the pains.

"I'm not ill." Harry replied dismissively. "I think it's a warning...it means danger is coming..."

"Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone is safe as long as Dumbledore's around." Ron said, trying to sound reassuring, though he didn't seem all that confident about his statement.

"The Stone might be safe, but what about us?" Ranma asked pointedly. "If there's one thing I've learned, Harry, it's to trust your instincts. It's a curse scar, right? Maybe that's its power, some kind of danger sense."

"I don't know. I've never read about any curse scars with that sort of power." said Hermione.

"You-you've read about curse scars?"

"After I met Harry, yes. I was curious." Hermione replied airily. "Of course, just because I haven't read about it doesn't mean it can't detect danger, the study of cursed scars is still very new."

"But, hold on, Snape's just after the Stone, right? Why would you get a danger sign if it's the Stone he's after?" Ron replied, trying to get the conversation back on a track he could handle.

"C'mon, Ron, use your head." Ranma replied. "Snape gets the Stone and Voldemort will come back. Who's the first person you think he'll go after?"

Both Ron and Hermione flinched at the name, and even Harry seemed slightly bothered. Ron shook his head stubbornly. "Snape can't know how to get past Fluffy, or he'd have gone after the Stone by now. As long as Fluffy's still there, he won't get near, and there's no way Hagrid will let that secret slip. Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

Ranma looked at him skeptically, recalling all the things Hagrid "shouldn'ta told" them during the year. "Maybe. Or maybe Snape doesn't need Hagrid's help since he's got Voldemort on his side." Ranma said, casting significant looks at them.

"M-maybe we should tell Professor Dumbledore about it." Hermione said uncertainly. "He's bound to know-"

But what Dumbledore was bound to know, they didn't hear, because Harry suddenly jumped to his feet, startling them. He'd gone pale and looked as if he'd just heard the worst news in his life. Without a word, he turned and started up the hill towards the castle.

"Where're you going?" Ron asked, scrambling to his feet.

"I've just thought of something." Harry said over his shoulder. Ranma easily caught up with him and Ron and Hermione trailed close behind. "We've got to go see Hagrid."

"Why?" panted Hermione.

"Because I think he's already let slip how to get past Fluffy." he replied gravely.

The effect of his words was immediate. Ranma felt his leg seize up, stopping him mid-stride. His brain churned frantically, almost in a panic, before a few calming breaths and rational thoughts cleared his head. Though he'd half-seriously thought this anyway, he hadn't voiced his thoughts because, honestly, Ron's assessment of Hagrid's reliability was pretty solid, especially when it came to Dumbledore. But hearing Harry say it, and him being so serious about it, jarred Ranma quite a bit.

"Harry, that's ridiculous." Hermione said, though her faith in this assertion seemed half-hearted. Like Ranma, she and Ron had also stopped, having been rather stunned by Harry's statement.

"Is it really? Then how do you explain Norbert?" Harry asked, turning and walking back to them.

Ron looked confused. "What's that ruddy dragon got to do with this?" he asked.

"Everything. Think about it. Hagrid wanted a dragon more than anything, and suddenly he meets someone with an illegal egg in his pocket, ready to practically give it away." Harry said, his brow furrowed.. "How many people carry around illegal eggs like that and just tell a complete stranger about it?"

Suddenly, something clicked in Ranma's mind, and he saw what Harry was getting at. Hermione also seemed to be on the same page, but Ron remained skeptical. "Well, it's just lucky they found Hagrid, he's the only person who'd want a dragon egg, I reckon." Ron said with a shrug.

"It wasn't luck," Ranma said, shaking his head. "it was planned."

"Of course, Snape would know about about Hagrid's thing for dragons since he's worked here so long." Hermione added, her eyes widening. "So he tried bribing Hagrid-"

"Not bribing, Hagrid's too loyal for that. More likely to loosen his lips. You know how he goes on when talking about magical creatures." Ranma replied.

"But...no, I can't believe it." Ron said stubbornly. "He'd never let something important like that slip, not if Dumbledore asked him to keep it secret."

"Just like he didn't let important things slip to us?" Harry said quietly. "We've got to ask him."

They found Hagrid in front of his hut, sitting in an armchair with his sleeves rolled up, shelling peas. He smiled on seeing them. "Hullo. Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"No thanks, we're in a hurry." Harry replied. "Hagrid, can I ask you something about the night you won Norbert?"

"I guess so. What do yeh want ter know?" he said, wiping his hands on his shirt.

"What did the stranger you won him from look like?"

Hagrid looked thoughtful a moment before shrugging his massive shoulders. "Dunno, he wouldn't take his cloak off." He raised his eyebrows at the looks of alarm on their faces. "It's not unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folks down in the Hog's Head – that's the pub down in the village. Mighta been a dragon dealer, mightn' he?"

"Hagrid," Ranma breathed shakily, his mind reeling. He couldn't believe that the gamekeeper could be so naive. "There aren't any dragon dealers. It's illegal."

"Well not everywhere." Hagrid replied airily.

"Hagrid, what did you talk to him about?" Harry said quickly, cutting off a sarcastic remark from Ranma. "Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"It mighta come up." He said with a frown. "I told him I was gamekeeper, an' he asked about the sorta creatures I look after-"

"Did he ask about Fluffy?" asked Hermione.

Hagrid looked sharply at her. "No, he didn't." he said. "But I mighta mentioned 'im..."

Ranma groaned loudly. "Calm down, calm down, it wasn't nothin'," Hagrid said reassuringly. "He just wanted to know that I could take care of a dragon, an' I told a dragon'd be easy after Fluffy."

Harry cast worried looks at them before asking his next question. "Did he seem particularly interested in Fluffy?" He sounded like he was fighting a losing battle to remain calm.

"Well, yeah, how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece of cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off to sleep-" The words were no sooner out of his mouth before a look of horror flashed across his face. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that! Forget I told yeh!"

But neither Ranma nor any of the others were listening. They'd all sprung to their feet and begun walking as fast as they could back up to the castle. They didn't stop until they reached the entrance hall, slightly out of breath and casting worried looks at one another.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore." said Harry. "Hagrid told the stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak – it must've been easy once he got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him."

"Calm down, Harry, you're rambling." Ranma said seriously. "Let's just go find Dumbledore, he needs to know about this."

"Yeah." agreed Ron, a worried look on his face. "Where's his office?"

Harry blinked a few times, a blank look on his face. "I, er, I don't know." he admitted. "I've never been there."

"Oh. All right then, we'll just have to -" Ranma began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.

"What are you four doing in here?" It was Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stack of books. Ranma groaned inwardly, wondering why she, of all people, had to question them. Even though almost two months had passed, he still hadn't gotten past the harsh punishment she'd handed out.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore." Hermione said.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" McGonagall eyed them suspiciously. "Why?"

"It's sort of secret." Harry said. Ranma knew immediately that this was the wrong thing to say because McGonagall's eyebrows raised and her nostrils flared.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once." She said coldly.

"He's gone?" said Harry, the panic rising in his voice. "Now?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very important wizard, and he has more important things to do than listen to the secrets of schoolchildren."

"Yeah, well I bet he'll want to hear what we have to say about the Philosopher's Stone." Ranma retorted, feeling nettled by McGonagall's dismissive tone.

Professor McGonagall was so shocked by this statement that the books in her arms tumbled to the floor. She didn't bother picking them up. Instead, she fixed her gaze on Ranma, who returned the look stubbornly. "What did you-"

"Professor, please, we have to see Professor Dumbledore." Harry said quickly. "We think – we know - that Sn - that someone's going to try to steal the Philosopher's Stone."

She looked both shocked and suspicious, and it took her a moment before she responded. "Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow." she said, dismissive again. "I don't know how you found out, but rest assured that the Stone is safe. It's too well protected for anyone to steal."

Ranma snorted derisively, earning him a reprimanding glare that he ignored. "That's what you think." he said.

"What I think, Saotome, is far more precise than what you think, seeing as I helped protect the Stone." she snapped, her nostrils flaring again.

"Yeah, and we've known that for months too. We're only first-years, and we've known almost everything about the Stone for months, and that doesn't make you worried?" he threw back. "Professor, the Stone's in danger, you have to believe us!"

"Enough! Unlike you, Saotome, I actually do know what I'm talking about, and there is no danger to the Stone." she said with such finality that Ranma knew there was no point to arguing. She took a long, calming breath before speaking again. "Now, I suggest you four go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

They pretended to follow her advice but, once she was out of range, they stopped. Harry looked around before speaking. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight." he said. "He's found out everything he needs, and now-"

"Harry, shut up." Ranma hissed suddenly.

"What?" The other three looked stunned, so he jerked his thumb at a nearby exit from the hall.

"Someone's around the corner." he said quietly. "They're trying to listen in."

For a few moments, it seemed Ranma was mistaken, but he could still feel the person's magical energy lurking around the corner. Then, the last person any of them wanted to see walked around the corner. It was Snape, walking so quietly that, had they continued talking, none of them would have heard him approach. The four of them watched him approach and, for a second, he looked surprised that they'd noticed him.

"Good afternoon." he said in quite possibly the least friendly way imaginable. They stared at him, dislike and suspicion apparent on their faces. "You shouldn't be inside on a day like this." A twisted, almost malicious smile played across his face.

"We were-" Harry began, but Snape cut him off.

"You want to be more careful." said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"

Ranma's eyes narrowed at the implication. "Can we go now?" he bit out, glaring at the man.

Snape's face darkened. "Yes, but be warned – any more nighttime wanderings and I'll personally make sure you're all expelled." Without another word, he turned on his heel and headed towards the staff room.

They were quiet until they'd stepped outside the front door. Harry turned to them, his words carrying a sense of urgency and action that Ranma had never heard in his voice before. "All right, we've got to keep an eye on him. He's in the staff room, so you'd better go do that, Hermione."

"Why me?"

"No one's going to question you waiting outside." said Ranma.

"Yeah, you can pretend you're waiting for Professor Flitwick." Ron added. He put on a high voice. "Oh Professor Flitwick, I think I got question fourteen b wrong..."

"Oh, shut up." Hermione snapped.

"Ron, this is no time for joking around." Harry looked at Hermione. "Just keep an eye on him, all right?"

Hermione nodded and hurried back into the castle. He turned back Ron and Ranma. "While she does that, we'll go watch the third floor corridor."

"You two go ahead. I need to get something from the Tower that will help us keep track of Snape." Ranma said, thinking of a certain map. "I'll meet you there."

Harry and Ron looked inquiringly at him, but nodded before heading up the marble staircase. Ranma took the stairs up to Gryffindor Tower three at a time, barely pausing to give the Fat Lady the password, and sprinted through the empty common room. He stopped on the fifth landing of the spiral staircase and, detecting no magical auras, entered the room. He headed straight over to the twins' beds, debating where to start looking for the Marauders' Map.

During the months he'd been their friend, Ranma had seen just how paranoid the twins could be about the safety of the Marauders' Map. This was why he was sure the Map was in the room; they never risked getting caught with it if they weren't going to actually use it, so on a day like this, they'd probably have stashed it away in their belongings. Where, exactly, was a mystery, because he'd never seen them put it in the same place twice. There was even a better than average chance that they'd given it to Lee for safekeeping, since he was much less likely to have his things searched for contraband. Then there were also detection charms he had to worry about, which the twins had learned to apply to their belongings. The twins were very clever and he knew he'd have to be careful while rifling through their things. With this in mind, Ranma strengthened his magical sight, opened Fred's trunk with a wandless spell similar to Alohamora, and began carefully sifting through it.

Ten minutes later, he finally found it nestled inconspicuously amongst the cast off wrappers of Zonko's joke products. Ranma interrupted the spells he found surrounding it and had just stood to leave when the door to the room burst open. Fred, George, and Lee stood there, chests heaving, glaring at him. They looked behind him to George's still open trunk and back to the map in his hands. It could not have been clearer that they'd divined what had transpired and were angry. "I need this." Ranma said simply, as if this were the only explanation needed.

"Well you can't bloody well have it, not after we caught you trying to steal it!" George countered angrily.

"You ran all the way up here. How'd you know I was here?" asked Ranma, trying to stall for time.

"Detection charms, you know that." Fred responded. "But you didn't know that these ones go off if you dispel them too."

"Thought it might be a good idea, just in case." added Lee. "Though you shouldn't've been able to dispel them."

"Yeah, I'm full of surprises." Ranma said brazenly, though he was kicking himself mentally. "Well, like I said, I need this right now. Don't get your knickers in a twist, I'll bring it back when I'm done with it."

"No, you won't, because you're not leaving this room with it." said Fred coldly, his hand reaching into his robe slowly. George and Lee followed his example.

Ranma massaged his temple in frustration. "Look, you idiots, I need this for something more important than our stupid fight or your pranks. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you that I'm taking this map." he growled. "Now get out of the way, and don't try anything stupid, or I'll have to hurt you."

The three boys looked slightly taken aback, but then hardened their expressions. Without a word, they spread out around Ranma, hands in their robes and on their wands. "Go ahead, Ranma, have a go at us." said Lee, finally pulling out his wand and pointing it at him. "But you can't get us all at once, and how long do you think it'll take one of us to transfigures something into a cat?"

At these words, Ranma felt like a block of ice had dropped into his stomach, and his chest felt constricted with dread. The other three Marauders were near the top of their class in transfiguration, according to their grades, but he knew that they were already doing fourth year work in private. This was no bluff; even at his fastest, one of them could easily transfigure a cat before he'd disarmed the other two. They had him cornered, and he certainly couldn't afford to be running around the castle acting like a cat, not now.

"Fine," Ranma huffed, throwing the map onto George's trunk. He glared at them angrily. "I guess I should've known you'd go for the low blow." At the door, he turned back to them, ignoring the wands that were still pointed in his direction. "I wasn't lying. Tomorrow, you're going to wish you'd helped me."

Ranma rushed down the stairs, cursing himself for his carelessness and his former friends for getting in his way. He had just reached the portrait hole when he heard Harry call out to him. He and Ron were sitting in armchairs nearby. "What're you two doing in here?" he asked. "I thought you were watching the third floor corridor."

"McGonagall saw us up there. She got a bit angry with us."

"A bit?" Ron snorted, shaking is head. "I thought she'd blow off her witch's hat. She even threatened to take fifty points from Gryffindor, can you imagine that?"

"No, Ron, I can't remember any time at all in the past where she's done any thing like that." Ranma said, rolling his eyes.

"What about you?" asked Harry. "Weren't you getting something to find Snape?"

Ranma frowned. "I was, but-"

Just then, the portrait swung open and Hermione entered, running headlong into him and sending them sprawling onto the floor. Ranma stood and reached down to help her back to her feet. She was slightly out of breath and looked very worried. "What happened to following Snape?" he asked.

"I tried to!" she wailed. "But Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I only just got away, and I don't know where he went."

Ranma's heart sank and, again, he cursed his former friends. If they had the Map, they wouldn't have to worry about finding Snape. Now, the only place they were sure Snape would be that night was the third floor corridor. Harry seemed to be thinking along the same lines. A strange calm had settled over him. He had gone pale, looking half fearful and half eager as he spoke.

"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" He said, looking at them with strangely glittering eyes. Ranma stared at him, recognizing in Harry, for the first time, the same fierce determination that he'd seen in countless other fighters. He was steeling himself for a fight. "I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"Harry, don't be stupid!" said Ron. "We can't just go wandering around, and what if we run into him?"

"We don't have a choice, Ron." Ranma disagreed. "We're the only ones who know about what's really going on, and no one who can do anything about it will believe us."

"Ranma, Harry, we can't!" said Hermione. "After what Snape and McGonagall said? We'll all be expelled!"

"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup?" He paused, his chest heaving, glaring at them. In those few moments, a change had come over him. Harry seemed to radiate power and authority, and Ranma had to blink to make sure he wasn't seeing an actual aura.

"Voldemort killed my parents, remember? And right now, we're the only ones that can stop him from coming back to kill others." Harry said, his voice hard as steel. "I'm going to stop Snape, with or without the three of you."

There was a silence as they let his words sink in. Ranma hardly had to think of what Harry had said. Direct confrontation and fighting were two things he understood best, and he had as much interest in keeping Voldemort safely "dead" as Harry. Besides, it was past the time for the Potions Master to get his comeuppance. "Definitely with, Harry." He said flashing a wry half-smile.

"Yeah, no way we're letting you go alone." added Ron. "Hermione?"

"You're right, Harry." she said quietly. "We'll all go. We'll stop him, somehow."

Harry looked very relieved. "Thanks."

"Thank us after we get through whatever the teachers put down there." said Ranma.

"Right, I should go look through my books, there might be something useful..." Hermione said before running up the steps to the girls' dormitory.

Ranma watched her go, smiling to himself. With Hermione's brains, there wasn't likely much that would stay in their way. "I'm going down to dinner. You two coming?"

They goggled at him. "How can you think about food at a time like this?" Ron said.

"I'm going to battle. I need to be well fed and rested." he replied simply.

At dinner, he was far too busy eating to notice people being horrible to him, and he hardly payed attention to Neville's talk about carnivorous magical plants. He did notice, however, that Snape wasn't in the Great Hall; no doubt he, like Ranma, was preparing for what awaited later that night. Having eaten his fill, Ranma returned to the common room and asked Harry to wake him when they were ready to go, then ascended the stairs to the first-years' dormitory.

For the first time since arriving at Hogwarts, Ranma hopped into his four-poster, closed the curtains, and settled into the soft mattress. He wanted no tension or strain on his body, and the bedroll could not help him there. The effect was almost immediate, and he felt drowsy as he tried to clear his mind of any thoughts that were not about sleep. Within minutes, he had drifted off completely.

"Ranma, it's time." he distantly heard Harry say. Ranma blinked twice and felt a sudden rush of energy sweep away his drowsiness. With the silence born from many years of practice, he quickly slipped on his most comfortable pair of loose Chinese pants and a sleeveless, collarless vest. Thick, steel reinforced leather bracers, which he hadn't worn in almost two years, fastened quickly and securely to his forearms before he threw on a threadbare robe that, he hoped, would be easy to slip or tear off. Finally, Ranma slipped his feet into well-worn, black canvas shoes before heading out the door and down the stairs.

When he reached the foot of the staircase, Ranma became aware of two things. First, because his senses were particularly sharp and on hair-triggers due to what lay ahead, he immediately sensed that there was one too many magical auras in the common room. Second, the owner of the extra aura was Neville, and he was standing between the portrait hole, his wand pointed at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. In his other hand, Neville held another wand, and Ranma had a good idea about who owned it. "What's going on here?" he asked, startling Neville as he emerged from the shadows.

"Neville's being an idiot." Ron volunteered, sounding very annoyed.

"Don't you call me that!" Neville said angrily.

"He won't move because he's afraid we'll lose more points." Hermione explained before giving him a pleading look. "We haven't much time."

Ranma nodded and turned toward his student, across whose face flickered a look of hurt, as if he'd been betrayed. "Neville, please, get out of the way. We've got something to do and it's more important than house points."

"No." he replied with his jaw clenched, a determined look on his face.

Ranma shook his head and sighed. He wasn't exactly surprised by this; he did, after all, teach Neville, and knew that he could be stubborn even in the face of overwhelming odds (like fighting with Ranma). Ranma had witnessed Neville's increasing confidence and decreasing fear during their training sessions. When he set his mind to something, very few people could match his determination. "Sorry, then, but I have to move you."

Ranma did not give Neville enough time to register these words before moving close and grabbing the outstretched wand arm. On instinct, Neville, expecting a throw, tried pulling away using a move Ranma had taught him, but neither he nor the other three were expecting what happened next. Ranma whipped out his wand, pointed it at Neville's chest, and incanted "Petrificus Totalus!" Neville's body immediately assumed the position of the Full Body Bind and became petrified. The others were so surprised that they completely missed the lack of a spell actually exiting Ranma's wand.

Ranma caught his friend before he hit the ground and gave him an apologetic frown. "Sorry 'bout this." he said lamely. Neville's eyes burned furiously at him.

"Leave him there, Ranma, we've got to hurry." Harry said, unfolding the invisibility cloak.

"I can't. He needs to know why we're doing this. He must not know, otherwise he wouldn't've been going on about house points."

"We don't have time." Harry insisted.

"This'll only take a second." Ranma looked back at Neville. "We'll tell you everything later, but what's important now is that we're going to stop Snape from stealing the Philosopher's Stone that's being guarded in the third floor corridor. We know he's going to do it tonight with Dumbledore out of the castle. If he gets it, he's going to use it to help bring Voldemort back. " Ranma gave him a moment to let this sink in before continuing. "Now you have a choice, Nev. You can spend the night petrified on the floor, or you can come with us and help stop him."

"What!" Harry and Hermione exclaimed.

"No. No, absolutely not." Ron said. "He is not coming with us."

"Yes, he is." Ranma said, glaring at Ron. "Neville's good in a fight, I'll vouch for that."

"Well, more help wouldn't hurt." Hermione admitted. "Snape can't curse us all."

"Fine, let's just go." Harry said impatiently, cutting off Ron's protest.

"Finite." Ranma waved his wand while pushing a small bit of magic through his hand on Neville's shoulder. Neville shook himself but was restrained by the iron grip Ranma kept on his shoulder. "Are you with us?" Ranma asked, training his wand on him.

"Yeah, of course." Neville grinned nervously. "I would'nt've gotten in the way if I'd known that's what you were up to."

"Just one problem, Ranma." Ron said, pointing at the cloak in Harry's hands. "All five of us can't fit under there."

Ron was right. Ranma doubted the cloak would have even hidden four of them. "Well...don't worry about that. I might know a shortcut that will keep us out of sight most of the way. Just follow me."

One by one, they slipped out of the portrait hole and into the dark castle corridors. Ranma led them to a tapestry and held it open for everyone to enter, walking in after Neville.

"Oh yeah, by the way," Ranma said, rapping Neville hard on the top of his head, "we don't fight girls."

"OUCH!" hissed Neville, rubbing the top of his head gingerly. "But I had to, she was the biggest threat." he complained.

Ranma considered his student and shrugged. "Well, I can't argue with that." he said wryly.

He edged around the others in the rather tight passage and led them to a door. Sensing nothing but deciding to play it safe, Ranma motioned for Harry to hand over the invisibility cloak and, slipping it over his head, slowly opened the door and peeked out. The corridor was empty, so he slipped out and waved for the others to follow. It was dead silent and their ears strained to hear the slightest noise above the faint scuffing of their shoes and the brushing of their cloaks against the stone floor. Ranma was the only one walking as if he were unconcerned with being caught, which he was not, since his heightened senses and magical sight would give him due warning far before anyone could come close enough to see them. This came in very useful when, just before they reached the staircase up to the third floor, he felt a large magical presence.

"Stay back." he whispered, waving them against the wall. "Someone's around the corner."

"How do you know that?" Ron wondered aloud.

"I'll explain later." Ranma replied dismissively.

"I'll take a peek." Harry said, slipping on the cloak. Ten seconds later, he whipped it off, looking chagrined. "It's Peeves."

Everyone groaned except for Ranma, whose face lit up with a calculating smile. "Don't worry about Peeves, I'll handle him." he said. Harry pressed the cloak into his hands, but Ranma shook his head. "Don't need it, but you guys might want to get behind it."

"Ranma!" Hermione said, grabbing his arm. "If Peeves sees you-"

"I want him to see me." He gently disengaged her hand. "Trust me."

Ranma ascended the staircase soundlessly and stopped behind the poltergeist, whose back was turned as he loosened the carpet on the stairs. Peeves was singing a song about students rolling down the stairs and breaking their necks, so Ranma wasn't very sorry to break up his reverie. "Hello Peeves." he said in a falsely-friendly tone. Peeves started so violently that he did a back flip and landed flat on his face. Ranma barely contained a laugh, instead settling on flashing an unfriendly smirk.

"Oooh, you'll pay for-" The little man shouted as he turned over quickly, red with anger. Catching sight of Ranma, the words froze in his throat, and he looked slightly fearful. "M-mr. Saotome! W-what a pleasant s-surprise." he said, his voice suddenly ingratiating. "I wouldn't've yelled if I'd known it was y-"

He flinched as Ranma reached down, only to have himself hauled into the air. He seemed very surprised and relieved. "Not a problem. Oh, and call me Ranma." Ranma said after picking the little man up and letting him go. "My friends all call me that, and we're friends, right?"

"Of course Mr...er, Ranma." Peeves agreed, nodding earnestly. "Er, Ranma, you're out rather late-"

"That's my business." Ranma cut in before flashing another disingenuous smile. Peeves seemed to pale but, to his credit, stood his ground. "Since we're friends, Peeves, you wouldn't mind doing me a favor, would you?"

"Of course not, anything, anything at all." Peeves replied in his oily voice.

"Great. I have business down this way and I don't want to be disturbed." He said pointedly.

"Of course, Ranma. I was just thinking of going-"

"Also, I'd like you to do something else for me that's very important, so listen carefully. In exactly three hours, come back here. If you don't see me, go to Professor McGonagall and tell her that the Stone is in danger and to hurry to the third floor corridor. Got it?" Peeves nodded. "Good. And don't mess this up, I'll know if you do."

"Not to worry, Ranma, anything for my friend." Peeves said, backing away. "I'll, er, just be off then." And he sped away down the stairs faster than Ranma had ever seen him fly.

Several seconds later, Ranma's cohorts joined him at the top of the stairs, all four looking utterly flabbergasted. "Since when does Peeves listen to students?" Neville asked for the other three.

"Especially you." Hermione added. "He hates you."

"Yeah, but he's also scared of me." Ranma grinned wickedly before explaining. "Peeves bothered me one day when I wasn't up for playing around and...well, I took a swipe at him with more strength than normal. That's why no one saw him for six weeks." This was mostly true, except for the fact that he was acting like a cat and had, apparently, slashed the poltergeist with claws of pure ki, the only things that could have harmed the highly magical Peeves. "Ever since then, we've gotten on fine. Whenever he's not able to run the other way, of course."

Ron laughed despite himself. "Oh man, wait 'til I tell everyone." he chuckled.

"That might not be a good idea." Ranma said, turning and leading the way towards Fluffy's door. "He's scared of me, not you, and he holds a grudge worse than Filch."

They were silent as they crept down the hall. As they came nearer to the door, they saw that it was slightly ajar. They looked worriedly at each other, hit by the sudden realization that all their suspicions were right.

"Well, there you are." Harry said grimly. "Snape's already got past Fluffy." He looked at them, jaw set with determination. "If you all want to go back-"

"Don't be stupid." said Ron.

"We're all going. You're not facing Snape alone." Ranma added. Hermione and Neville nodded in agreement.

Harry rifled in his robe pocket for something, pulling out a wooden pipe. "I've got my flute to play. Lucky Hagrid gave me this for Christmas, otherwise we'd have to sing."

Ranma nodded and slowly pushed open the door. Fluffy immediately set to growling. Peeking inside, he saw the dog's three heads staring directly at him, it's hind legs taut and ready to spring forward. He pulled his head out just in time, as Fluffy threw himself at the door, slamming it shut, his snarls and barks loud despite the solid wooden door. "Um, maybe you should start playing before we go in." Ranma suggested faintly.

"Oh, right." Harry said sheepishly. He put the flute to his lips, but was stopped by a tug on arm from Neville, who was looking at the door with a look of dawning comprehension.

"Hang on. That's the door to that three-headed dog." he said, backing away. "You didn't say anything about the dog!"

"Relax, Neville." Ron grabbed one of Neville's arms and tried to pull him back, rather unsuccessfully, before Ranma grabbed the other arm. "We know how to get around him, look."

Harry raised the flute again, this time blowing a long, shrill note that Ranma hardly thought constituted music. It seemed to do the trick, however, because Fluffy's barks and growls suddenly stopped and were soon replaced by deep, long snores. Hermione pushed the door open, revealing the monstrous dog sprawled on the floor, it's three heads each snoring loudly, tongues lolling and dripping drool. It had fallen asleep almost directly on top of the trap door, but a good push by Ranma moved Fluffy out of the way. He pulled the large iron ring and flung effortlessly open the door, which seemed to lead to a dark, gloomy nothing. Even focusing with his magic sight hardly helped; all Ranma could see was a fuzzy glow that seemed to vibrate slightly. "Can't see a thing. I guess we'll just have to drop." he remarked.

Harry pointed at himself, indicating he wanted to go first. "Okay, but be careful. There's something down there, it might be dangerous." warned Ranma. Harry nodded. "All right, I'll go last then."

They exchanged the flute and, one by one, the others began dropping down the hole. It was apparently quite a drop, if their long shouts were any indication. Steeling himself for a potentially unpleasant fall, Ranma, too, stepped into the darkness, tucking the flute into his robes. Unlike his comrades, Ranma actually could see, to some degree, how far he had to fall, and only hoped the others were able to handle the landing. With instincts and grace honed from years of mid-air combat, Ranma braced himself for impact. He did not expect, however, to land on something that felt almost as soft as a stiff pillow, and he stumbled a bit before doing a corrective roll, springing forward into one more tight roll, and jumping to his feet within an inch of the wall. He turned around to discover that rolling clear had been a very good idea.

Harry and Ron were struggling against what, it seemed, had been the large glowing form Ranma had glimpsed earlier. He could barely make it out in the dim light, but it was definitely some kind of plant with thick, leafy vines that were doing their best to throttle his friends.

"I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" Hermione said frantically. "Stop moving, it'll only grab you harder!"

"No, you can't kill it!" Neville implored.

"Well do something before it kills us." Harry choked out.

"Hang on, I'll tear you free." Ranma said, but Neville restrained him before he could wade into the mess of writhing vines.

"Ranma, no!" he barked forcefully. "If you hurt it, the Devil's Snare will become even more aggressive."

"Neville, forget about the bloody plant, it's trying to kill them!"

"It's afraid of light...we need to make a lot of light." Hermione said, sounding slightly panicked.

"WELL START A BLOODY FIRE ALREADY!" Ron shouted. She widened her eyes and nodded, pulling out her wand and pointing it at the plant. The move was unnecessary, however, because the plant suddenly stopped moving. "It's letting go!" Harry exclaimed, sounding extremely relieved. Throwing the suddenly limp vines off, he and Ron scrambled away. "Good save, Hermione."

"But I didn't do anything." she said, confusing in her voice. "How -"

She stopped abruptly, her mouth hanging open, a combined expression of shock and amazement on her face. Following her gaze, the three boys were just as shocked as she looked. Neville knelt amongst the plant's vines, all of which had begun undulating like a moving snake. He was casually petting a particularly large vine, looking completely unafraid, while muttering incoherently and gently waving his wand at the plant.

"Neville," Ranma gasped, "what're you doing?"

Neville flashed a reassuring smile before getting up and out of the reach of the plant. He seemed completely at ease and confident, something that no one but Ranma had ever witnessed before. "Devil's Snare can be fatally damaged by bright light." he explained.

"That was kind of the point, Neville." Ron remarked, rolling his eyes. "That would've been a good thing."

"No, it wouldn't have." Neville countered sharply. "Besides the fact that it's Professor Sprout's plant, I don't see why we should kill it. It didn't choose to be down here."

Ron looked unabashed and opened his mouth to argue, but Hermione cut him off. "I didn't know that, about the bright light." she admitted, causing all four boys to look at her with disbelief.

"You're joking." Harry said. "You always know these things."

"Well, I can't know everything." she said modestly. "Anyway, how did you know to do that, Neville?"

"I read it in a book on carnivorous magical plants." he said, sounding pleased with himself.

"Really? Which one?" Hermione asked eagerly. Harry cleared his throat very loudly.

"Can we compare notes later? We've got a Stone to save, remember?"

"One problem," said Ranma, looking around the room, "where's the door?"

Hermione lit her wand, shielding the light with her hand so as not to shine it directly on the Devil's Snare. Casting it along the walls, it was clear that the there was no exit to the room. She strode over to the wall and began feeling along the stones, moving right along its length. "That's odd. Why would there be a room with no way ou-" She stopped abruptly, feeling strong hands pull her back. "Ranma, what on earth-"

"Devil's Snare. You were about to walk right into it." he said, pointing at the thick mass of vines that snaked across the floor and up the wall.. Heedless of the damage the light could do to it, Hermione shined it directly on the plant, her eyes growing wider as it illuminated the thick mass on the wall. The plant seemed to shake with pain, but it held it's place. Noting this, she nodded, as if getting confirmation.

"I think I've found the door." she said, pointing at the vines on the wall. "Those vines must be fake; Devil's Snare isn't a climber. We need it to relax. Neville, do you think you could do that trick of yours again?"

Neville nodded and waded into the mass of vines, which immediately began trying to entangle his legs. Within moments, though, the vines became limp, and those on the wall fell to the ground with muffled thuds, revealing the entrance to a passageway.

"Good job, Hermione." Harry said, leading the way through the exit. Hermione and Ron followed him into the passage. Ranma started to follow them, but stopped when he realized Neville hadn't moved. "Come on, Neville." He said, but his friend shook his head.

"Can't. This plant's too stubborn. When I stop doing this, it'll cover the exit before I can get to it." he replied. "Go on, I'll be fine here. Just stop Snape from taking that Philosopher's Stone."

Ranma frowned, but realized there was no way around it. "We'll be back for you. If not...Professor McGonagall should be along." Neville smiled weakly and nodded. Ranma turned and headed down the passage, giving one last wave to Neville before the vines slithered back up the wall, closing off the entrance.

"Where's Neville?" Hermione asked when he'd caught up. They seemed a bit taken aback when Ranma explained Neville's decision. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Yeah, at least until we get back."

Ron snorted. "I knew we should've torched that ruddy plant. Now we're down a man."

"He did the right thing. And I thought you didn't want Neville to come with us." said Ranma in a cool tone.

"Yeah, but that was-"

"Will you two keep it down?" Harry cut in, sounding annoyed. "We don't know how far ahead Snape is, and I don't want him to know we're after him."

They continued in silence down the downward sloping passage, hearing only the sounds of dripping water and their shuffling footsteps. "Can you hear something?" whispered Ron.

Straining his ears, Ranma could make out a faint rustling, like leaves, and metallic clinking. "A ghost?"

"I don't know...sounds like wings to me." replied Harry.

"There's a light ahead. I can see something moving." Hermione said, pointing ahead.

The passageway ended in large, brightly-lit room with a ceiling so high that it rivaled the castle's entrance hall. The air seemed thick with small birds which flitted about and jostled one another in mid-air. Directly across the room was a wooden door. In all, it was very anti-climactic, especially after Fluffy and the Devil's Snare. Ranma scanned the room with his magical sight and wasn't the least bit surprised to see that the birds were all magical. Neither was it a shock that the door was also glowing with magical energy.

"Reckon they'll attack us if we try to cross?" Ron said, pointing up at the birds.

"Yeah. They don't look vicious, but if they swarm..." Harry said. "There's no other choice...I'll run-"

"Hey, come take a look at this door." Ranma called out. He had already crossed the room and was standing next to the door, waving them over. "Don't worry about the birds, they're not paying us any attention." He waited for them before talking again.

"It's been spelled shut. I can't budge it, and that unlocking charm doesn't work either." Truth be told, Ranma had even tried disrupting the spell but, inexplicably, it had somehow strengthened the spell.

"I wonder..." Hermione looked closely at the handle. "It's got a keyhole. There must be a key around here somewhere..."

Harry looked up, looked back down at the lock, then did a double-take. "The birds. I knew there was something funny about them; they're glittering. They're keys!"

He was right. Squinting, Ranma could just make out the jagged outlines of all sorts of keys. "Yeah, but how do we catch one?" asked Ranma skeptically. As if to answer his question, four brooms appeared out of thin air. "Well...that's convenient..."

"But which one is it? There must be hundreds-" Hermione said.

"It's an old-fashioned one." Ron said. "See, it'd match the lock."

"There, that one!" Harry shouted, pointing at a large, silver key with a bent wing. It was flying so high up that Ranma wondered how Harry had even seen it. "Right then, let's go get that key."

This turned out to be easier said than done. As soon as they jumped on the brooms, the keys really did swarm them. This wasn't much of a problem for Harry, whose Seeker skills allowed him to dodge most of them. Nor was it difficult for Ranma who, after months of Quidditch practice, was now fairly decent on a broom, and also had the advantage of a ki-enhanced arm that he used to slap away the keys. Hermione and Ron, meanwhile, had to suffer the cuts and stings, but they continued the chase anyway. The silver key, however, was quite reluctant to get caught and proved to be very elusive. Only with Hermione and Ron corralling it and Ranma stunning it with another key was Harry able to get his hands around it.

"Got it!" he yelled, turning into a dive and pulling up just in front of the door, the others right behind. The keys immediately forgot about them as soon as they dismounted, returning to their random flight paths. Harry jammed the key into the lock and, after a satisfying click, the door swung open.

The interior was pitch black but, from the glowing, Ranma could see that there was plenty of magical energy inside. The moment they crossed the threshold, however, light flooded the room, and they collectively gasped at the sight. The entire floor of the room was covered in alternating black and white squares. Directly in front of them and across the room were stone statues, half of them black and half white, all taller than a grown man and all with carved stone armor and swords. They were standing on the edge of a giant chessboard.

"Now what?" Harry whispered.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron said, an almost eager look on his face. "We've got to play across the room." He pointed at a door directly behind the white king.

"How?" Hermione asked nervously.

"I think we've got to become chessmen." He walked over to a night and touched the horse, which sprang to life like a wizarding chess piece. Somehow, though, seeing it happen to a life-size piece was a bit eerie. "Do we – er – have to join you to get across?" Ron asked the knight, which nodded in response.

Ron didn't look nearly so eager now, for obvious reasons. If they had to join, and this really was like wizarding chess... "All right, I've got it." Ron said, rather grimly. "Harry, you-"

CRASH! Ron yelped and Hermione screamed, and they all jumped at the noise. All, that is, except Ranma, whom they now saw was the source of the crash. He was sprawled atop a fallen bishop and castle, wearing a chagrined look on his face. He climbed to his feet, looking none the worse for wear, and dusted himself off. "What on earth just happened?" Hermione asked him.

"Oh, um..." Ranma replied, looking down at his feet in embarrassment. "I – er – tried to walk across the board. I guess there's some kind of barrier; it threw me all the way across the room. Lucky I had those chessmen to break my fall."

Behind him, the now-animated pieces were glaring murderously at Ranma's back. "Lucky all it did was throw you." Ron remarked. "Right. No offense, but I'm better at chess than all of you, so I'll run the game, okay? Oy, you two," he said to the still grumbling bishop and castle, "you're off. Harry, you're the bishop, Hermione, you're the castle. Ranma, you take the queen's spot. I'm going to be a knight."

The four black pieces left their places and the four Gryffindors took their positions. Across the board, a white pawn moved forward two spaces. The game was on.

It turned into a brutal affair, with pieces from both sides being bludgeoned without mercy. While he was by no means Ron's equal at the game, Ranma could tell that he was trying to keep Hermione and Harry out of trouble. Meanwhile, he and Ron wreaked havoc on the white pieces. On the other side, the white queen was decimating their ranks. As the pieces dwindled, Ranma and the white queen seemed to be locked in a struggle to outmaneuver one another.

"Bloody hell!" Ron yelled in frustration when the white queen evaded Ranma again and took their other castle. "Ranma, I'm sorry, but I've got to sacrifice you. It's the only way to finish them off."

"Don't worry about me; trust me, they won't hurt me." Ranma reassured him. Ron nodded.

"Move diagonally three spaces." Ranma did so. The white queen immediately swept to his square, swinging at him with her stone arms. Ranma neatly sidestepped, grabbed one of the offending arms, and heaved the statuesque white queen over his shoulder. Enraged, she leaped to her feet with uncanny swiftness and descended on him again, only to meet with the same result.

"Don't." Ranma warned when she regained her feet and looked ready to fly at him again. "Let's just say I've been taken before you embarrass yourself any more." he added, walking off the board without a backwards glance.

Despite the loss of Ranma, this exchange seemed to be exactly what Ron was hoping for, because he directed the next few moves without pause. The white queen, meanwhile, seemed to have become even more brutal, no doubt still angry at Ranma. Thus, Ron's next move was his most impressive and deserving of respect, at least in Ranma's eyes.

"I've got to be taken." Ron said softly, looking the white queen directly in the face.

"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted. Ranma jumped up from where he was sitting. From the way she had been playing, he knew he'd have to do something to prevent the queen from killing Ron.

"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices. When I make my move, she'll take me, and that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry."

"But-"

"I've got to do this! We don't have time to argue, Snape might have the Stone already!" Ron looked at Ranma and seemed to know what he was thinking. "Ranma, stay off the board. You can't help me or we'll lose the game." He looked over to Hermione and Harry. "Ready? Here I go – don't hang around once you've won."

Looking grim and determined, he took the steps right into the white queen's line of fire. She swept to his square and backhanded him so hard that he slid several feet. Harry didn't even give her time to drag him off the board before he'd made the checkmate. Ranma sprinted onto the board, yelling at them. "Go on, I'll make sure he's okay. Hurry!" They nodded and ran out the door.

A cursory check showed that Ron was unconscious but, fortunately, wasn't bleeding. A nasty purple mark snaked across the left side of his face, and there was a good chance he had at least some fractures and a concussion. Ranma was considering taking him back to the previous room when a scream and an inhuman roar blasted from the door that Harry and Hermione had just entered.

Ranma's body reacted before the noises had fully registered in his brain. He was down the short corridor and through another door in seconds, looking wildly about for his friends. The room reeked like a peat bog, and it soon became apparent why.

A troll, larger than the one from Halloween, towered above Harry and Hermione. Off to the side, another troll lay in a pool of blood that spilled from the nearly decapitating wound in it's neck. Unlike the other troll, this one wore full plate armor on it's torso and legs and matching gauntlets on its hands. Instead of a club, the troll held a massive broadsword. Its skin was the color of pea soup and its pointed, clever-looking face was stretched with a malevolent expression.

The troll slowly raised its giant sword, intent on crushing Harry and Hermione beneath the blade. Ranma, however, had something to say about that. "STOP!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, forcing a bit of magic into the command to make it louder. It did the trick, distracting the troll for just a moment, and in that moment, Ranma took off.

Later, Ranma would realize that he moved faster than he'd ever needed to before, and that he'd done so because, unconsciously, he'd used magical energy instead of ki. At the time, though, his only focus was on reaching his friends before the giant blade. Halfway to them, he realized the sword was moving as quickly as he was. Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, he willed his legs to move faster and dove at Harry and Hermione, tackling them roughly and knocking them clear. Behind them, the sword hit the stone floor with a crash and a crunch, spraying chips of rock around the room.

"RUN!" He yelled, pulling them to their feet and shoving them in the direction of the far door. The troll didn't notice that they'd escaped for several moments, thanks to blood that was already on the sword. As soon as it realized that they were still alive, though, it gave chase, it's footsteps thundering in the room. They sprinted for the door, but Ranma could tell that the troll would catch them before they could escape. He skidded to a halt, turned, and launched himself upwards at the approaching troll. A twisting forward flip in mid-air helped Ranma avoid a deadly swipe of the sword and also positioned his body for an upward strike. He straightened his legs, thrusting as hard as he could and pushing ki into them as his feet slammed into the troll's chest plate. The armor buckled and rang with a dull clang, and the troll could only look shocked and confused for a moment before the new direction of its momentum sent it stumbling backwards, crashing hard on the ground. Ranma flipped backwards, landing gingerly on his now-aching feet.

"HARRY, HERMIONE!" he shouted, not taking his eyes off the troll. "Get out of here! Close the door and don't look back!"

"Ranma, no, it'll kill you!" Hermione shrieked.

"I'm the only one who can handle this!" he insisted. "You've got to stop Snape. NOW GO!"

He heard the door slam shut and breathed easier, but only for a moment. The troll roared again, only it wasn't the mindless screaming he was expecting. The creature was sitting up and feeling the damage Ranma had done to the armor. A quick glance with his magical sight showed a trace of magical energy on the armor. Apparently, Ranma had, without intending to, successfully broken the enchantments on the armor (which explained why his feet were now hurting), and the impact of his blow had left a large, cracked dent over the troll's heart.

"ARGH! Do you know what you've done, you miserable little worm?" it yelled, glaring murderously at him. "I'll flay you alive for this, boy!"

Ranma goggled at the troll; the last thing he'd expected was a troll that could actually talk. It jumped to its feet with frightening speed and bent down to pick up the sword. Now much closer to the creature, he could tell that it was at least fourteen or fifteen feet tall and at least as wide as three of Hagrid. Bulging green muscles rippled as it moved, contrasting with the shiny silver pieces of armor. Besides being made of, no doubt, thick metal, the armor and the sword also glowed brilliantly in Ranma's magical sight

The troll breathed heavily, it's breath smelling of rotting fish and dung. It looked contemptuously down at him, while Ranma merely stood at ready, watching the smallest movements of its muscles and trying to find a gap in it's armor. Even with the enchantments dispelled, the armor would still keep it protected from his blows, and he didn't want to drag the fight out longer than necessary.

It raised the sword in the air with unnatural speed, but Ranma was already a step ahead. He charged forward and ran up the troll's legs and chest, hoping to land a knockout blow to its chin. It could only look alarmed as he pulled back his leg, loaded with ki, and swung it forward.

WHAM! The entire right side of Ranma's body exploded with pain, and he felt himself flying for several seconds before a wall brutally stopped him. His head swam and stars danced before his eyes. Ranma's left arm refused to move entirely, and his upper right arm was throbbing angrily. As he struggled to regain his breath, the troll laughed with a deep, haughty voice and slowly walked towards where he lay.

"Foolish boy," it said over the sound of the broadsword, which it dragged behind, "your useless attacks won't hurt me, not in this armor. Do you not know whom you are attacking?"

Ranma didn't bother answering. He was looking up at the monster, frantically wondering how he'd been blind-sided and whether his injuries were going to keep him from holding the troll off. "No, of course not. Trolls are beneath you humans." it said, nearly spitting. "But you will know, boy, the consequences for crossing Boss Troll."

Ranma couldn't help it; despite the situation, he snorted derisively. "Boss Troll? What kind of name is that? Is that what they call any of your lot that can string two words together?" he said, struggling painfully to his feet. He tore off his robe, which was barely holding itself together.

The troll's face darkened and it growled menacingly. "Boss Troll is what they call a troll who kills everyone who doesn't call him Boss Troll." it said, leering at him.

"Yeah, well Dead Troll is what I call any troll that gets in my way." Ranma said, looking defiant and hoping he sounded menacing. "I've already killed one of your lot, why not help me add another notch to my belt?"

"You lie, boy. You couldn't kill a youngling, much less the leader of the forest trolls." the troll roared, swinging the sword recklessly at him.

"Tell that to the mountain troll I killed here last Halloween." Ranma shot back with a smirk, jumping over the sword with seemingly little effort. He hoped the troll wouldn't notice how worried he really was. Both his arms were damaged, though his left one would be much better if he could somehow get the shoulder back in socket. The right one was probably fractured, so it would be only slightly useful, even with ki reinforcing it.

The troll stepped up the pace as it slashed at him. Ranma frantically rolled, ducked, and dodged, cursing the armor that brought the blade closer and closer to striking him. The Boss Troll's angry growls punctuated each swing as it grew frustrated. As if that weren't enough, Ranma was also forced to dodge flying chips of stone and showers of sparks in addition to the sword itself.

CRACK! The sword finally found it's mark. Ranma barely had time to gather his ki to protect himself, but it was fortunate he had. Instead of cleaving him in half, the blade only doubled Ranma over, knocking the wind out of his chest and shooting him into a wall dangerously fast.

For the second time, he slammed into a wall, cracking the stone slightly on impact. Ranma's entire body screamed with agony, except for his left shoulder, which had been popped back into place by the impact. Black spots danced across his periphery, threatening to engulf him in unconsciousness. He swallowed hard and clung tightly to the act of circulating his ki, hoping it would clear his head. After a minute, he pushed himself to his feet, his hands sticky with blood. Ranma looked down at the source of the blood and stumbled backwards into the wall, slightly sickened by the long, shallow cut that had sliced into his stomach and arms. Trying not to panic, he concentrated his ki at the sites of the wounds before turning his attention back to his attacker.

The troll had obviously (and with good reason) thought he was dead, because it had gone back near the entrance to the room and was squatting in front of the door, laying in wait for the next person that came through the door. It was obvious to Ranma, as he quietly considered the way the fight had gone so far, that he needed to disable the armor. The problem with that plan was that doing so would require more ki than he was willing to use in his current condition. Of course, if he didn't do something soon, he wouldn't have a condition to be in at all. He had to end the fight quickly before the troll hit him again and really did kill him. He scrutinized the troll's armor and, this time, without any distractions, he found the weak point he needed.

Genma had told him many times that strength alone wasn't enough to win a fight, and that stronger opponents could be outsmarted. Ranma almost never approached a fight with that mentality, always thinking himself the stronger fighter, but his fights with Genma, who was technically stronger, never let him forget that lesson. His exchanges with the Boss Troll so far had been frontal, power versus power clashes, and that plan had nearly gotten him killed. It was time for a new strategy.

"OY! Running away already, are you?" he shouted.

The Boss Troll jumped to his feet and whipped around, a shocked look on his face. "How are you still alive?" it roared.

"It's not hard when your sword skills are so terrible and you swing like a girl." Ranma retorted, trying to look calm. "A human girl."

"You dare speak to me with such insolence?" the Boss Troll thundered, running at him and slicing down with the sword. Ranma quickly dropped to the ground, ignoring his body's protest, and pushed away from his spot with a magically imbued palm. He rolled away just in time, the blade missing him by inches and burying itself into the floor. Ranma immediately popped to his feet and jumped back to where he'd just stood and where the sword was now stuck two feet into the floor.

"What -" grunted the Boss Troll as it struggled and failed to free the sword, "- manner – of – magic – "

Ranma looked proudly at his handiwork, thankful that his spell had worked. He had to work fast, though, because, even now, the effects were starting to wear off and loosen the sword. "It's my magic, troll." he replied disdainfully. Gathering ki in his right hand, he jabbed the blade and let loose the energy, which overwhelmed the unbreakable charm. He punched hard at the blade with is left hand, forcing a spell into the blade that made it as brittle as a crisp. The blade shattered and the troll, in the process of pulling on it, stumbled backwards and fell hard against the wall.

Ranma, himself, stumbled and fell to his knees, breathing hard and struggling to remain conscious. Though the powerful combination he'd just used had just destroyed the enchanted sword, the rapid, successive use of a large amount of his ki and magic seemed to drain him as badly as doing several wandless spells over a distance. He hadn't counted on that at all. Luckily, the Boss Troll was just as out of it as he was, and it gave him the opportunity to recover. He staggered to his feet again just as the troll, too, rose.

"Sorry about your little toy there." said Ranma as flippantly as he could muster. "Not like you knew how to use it anyway..."

"YOU!" the troll shouted angrily, clenching it's metal clad fists. "I'm going to -"

"Yeah, yeah, you're going to kill me." Ranma said dismissively. "Why don't you stop talking about it and come do it?"

"DIE!" The Boss Troll bent over, grabbing at him and screaming bloody murder. Ranma smirked as his opponent took the bait, confident that he would now win the fight.

The Boss Troll swiped at him, growing more and more frustrated and missing him by wider margins. Though the armor did seem to make the troll faster, it did nothing to disguise the troll's moves. Ranma's quick eyes and training gave him just enough time to anticipate and move, giving the impression that he was hardly trying. "Come on, are you trying to bore me to death?" Ranma said, dancing around a large fist. The troll roared impotently and finally over-extended itself. Ranma pounced.

He hopped to the left, easily avoiding the errant swat that pulled the troll's face directly above him. Exploding upwards with his left leg, Ranma twisted his body twice before lashing out with his right foot, which he'd heavily infused with ki. There was a loud, sickening crack as the heel of his foot slammed into the Boss Troll's chin, loosing the ki into it's skin and destroying the magical protection. Its head snapped back and the troll fell to the ground with a thud, a cry of anguish on it's lips. Ranma landed lightly ten feet away, praying that the blow had been enough.

Not quite. The Boss Troll was down for only thirty seconds before it pushed itself to its feet, staggering a bit and drooling blood. Its lower jaw was horrible shaped, and Ranma could see a bit of bone poking out. "Yuuuuggh!" The troll gurgled, it's eyes wide with pain and rage. The blow had taken it's toll, though, and it lurched at him half as quickly as before.

'No more chances. Gotta take him down now' Ranma thought, easily dodging the troll's hands as he darted between its legs. He jumped and kicked the backs of both its knees, dislocating the joints and bringing the Boss Troll down onto all fours. He flipped up onto the troll's back and ran to its neck, which he straddled and held in a vice-like grip with his legs. "YIELD!" he shouted over the pained cries. "YIELD OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

"HURGGH!" Wide-eyed, Ranma scrambled out of the way as the troll's right hand, balled into a fist, tried to smash him. It missed, and there was terrible crack when it smashed into the troll's own neck. The Boss Troll wobbled but, much to Ranma's amazement, it remained awake. Seizing the opportunity, he punched it in the neck with a ki-infused punch and followed up with a wandless spell that, he hoped, would finally knock the troll out.

The effect was instantaneous. Ranma felt the troll's body go limp just before it crashed to the ground with a loud thump. His breath came in heaves and his head swam as he rose to his feet. 'And stay down.' he thought, blinking hard to clear the haze in his eyes. Ranma tried to take a step, but his body refused to move, and the edges of his vision became blurry. "Oh, brilliant, I guess I over-did it." he mumbled blearily before falling back in a dead faint.

"Ranma..." A voice was calling to him from what seemed like very far away. "Ranma...please..." The voice was closer now. Something soft that smelled slightly of flowers brushed pleasantly against his face, making Ranma smile a little. "Oh god, please wake up, Ranma." The voice said in anguish. A drop of hot, salty liquid hit his lips. He recognized the voice. Something inside him snapped awake, ignoring the exhausted protest of his body.

"Hermione..." he said tiredly as he slowly opened his eyes. She was sitting on the ground, cradling his head in her lap, her face streaked with tears. "I'm alright." This was a lie, of course, but Ranma didn't want to worry her any more.

"No you're not, you idiot." she said with a relieved laugh and a tentative smile. "Can you walk? We've got to go."

Ranma nodded. "Where's Harry?" Her fearful look was enough of an answer.

"Let's go." she said as she helped him to his feet. He put his arm around her shoulder so she could help him walk. "You killed another troll, I see."

"It's unconscious. I told you all I'd be ready the next time I faced one." he said tiredly with not a small hint of pride. "It would be my luck that I'd have to face the 'Boss Troll', though."

"It's lucky you faced one already."

"Yeah, lucky that...lucky..." Ranma trailed off, his eyes becoming suddenly glazed over. For some odd reason, something Harry had said repeated in his head, as if it were trying to tell him something. 'It's lucky they found Hagrid...' Only that hadn't been luck at all, it had been deliberate. Glancing to the side, he saw the corpse of the other troll laying in a thick puddle of its own blood, looking much like the troll at Halloween. Unbidden, the memory of that night came back to him, but not a part he expected. Instead, he saw Quirrell run into the Great Hall, stuttering about a troll in the dungeons. He had been wrong, though, it was no where near the dungeons. And why was his wand in the wrong hand...

Ranma stopped suddenly, causing Hermione to stumble. "Hermione, I just thought of something." he said quickly. "What was in the room after this?"

She briefly told him of the walls of flame, the logic puzzle, and the seven potential poisons. With that, he began to feel as if a fog were lifting in his mind. Facts and events was starting to fall into place, but the conclusion they pointed to didn't make complete sense at all. "Hermione, I - you won't believe this. I think we're after the wrong person." Ranma said unsteadily, reeling from the revelation. "We've been chasing after Snape, when it's Quirrell we should been after."

"Quirrell? Ranma, that's not possible."

"Yeah, it is. Think about it. All the obstacles we've faced so far, which one was Quirrell's?" Ranma said. "The Devil's Snare was Sprout, the keys were Flitwick. McGonagall was the chess board, I'm sure of it, and then the poisons was Snape. So the troll-"

"Was Quirrell's." she finished, looking confused. "What about it?"

"A troll, Hermione. He summoned a troll." Her eyes widened. "Exactly. He summoned that troll at Halloween,"

"But – no – that's impossible! Quirrell wouldn't – that's not like him at all – it doesn't make sense." She said stubbornly. "And what about Snape? We know for sure that he's tried to get past Fluffy."

"Maybe he is trying to steal the Stone too, but Quirrell was the first. It all makes sense now. I bet it was Quirrell who got the secret of Fluffy out of Hagrid too. I had detention with Snape the night Hagrid says he got the egg."

"But it's just so unlikely. What would possess Quirrell to do th-" Hermione's eyes grew even wider than before. "Ranma, what if – what if Quirrell's been possessed?"

She'd said the word that had been eluding him ever since he'd had the revelation: possession. The final piece was in place, he saw the complete picture, and it scared him. "Voldemort." he said gravely. "What if Voldemort is possessing him?"

Hermione jumped at the name. "But how-"

"His arm. I shattered his wand arm out in the forest." he replied, feeling cold in the pit of his stomach. "Quirrell is right-handed, but he's been using his wand in his left hand since that night, and he's always got the other one covered up by his cloak. Why would anyone wear a cloak all day in the summer? And I thought I saw a glimpse of it once, but he covered it up too fast. It might've been in a sling.."

"S-so You-Know-Who's been in the castle - this whole time? We've been in class with him..." Hermione suddenly clapper her hand over her mouth. "Oh my god, what if it's him, not Snape, who Harry went after?"

"Then he's going to be facing Voldemort again, and he won't even know it." Ranma replied gravely.

Tears began streaking down Hermione's stricken face. "What are we going to do? You-Know-Who will kill him!"

Ranma forced the fear down, letting adrenaline clear his mind. With a deep breath, he began focusing his ki to his injured limbs and channeling his magical energy about his body. "I'll go help Harry. No, don't argue." he said, cutting her off. "I'm hurt, but I can still fight. Go get Ron and Neville, get on those brooms, and bring any teachers you can find back down here. I'll – I'll try to hold him off."

Hermione's lip trembled and, next thing he knew, she'd flung herself at him and embraced him in a tight hug. "I know you can save him, Ranma, just like you saved me. Please be careful." she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

"I will, I promise." he said, feeling a warmth spread through his chest.

"Ganbatte." She said, kissing him quickly on the cheek "I'll be back soon!" she called back as she ran out the room. Ranma idly touched where she'd kissed him as she disappeared, wondering where she'd learned how to say 'good luck' in Japanese. Shaking his head, he turned and sprinted back across the room and through the door.

The room was exactly as Hermione had described. As soon as he entered, purple flames covered the doorway back while black flames covered the forward door. Ranma paused, looking at the black flames with his magical sight, searching for a weakness. He found that the magic was weakest at the base of the door, where the flames emanated. Concentrating, he focused magical energy into his left hand while bathing his right arm in ki. The magic was very powerful, and he knew his strikes would have to be as fast as he could make them if he hoped to get past the doorway. He took a deep breath...

THUD-SMACK! Ranma's right hand dove into the flames, the ki protecting his arm until he hit the ground and channeled it into the weak point. The flames flickered out for the briefest of moments, but he slapped his palm down in the same spot and pushed a wandless flame-freezing spell into the weak point. Not stopping to admire his handiwork, Ranma dove through the door and rolled, just barely making it before his spell wore off. Shaking off a wave of dizziness and nausea from his third use of the ki-magic combination, he stood up, searching wildly for Harry.

Loud shrieks of pain and a cold, high voice shouting "KILL HIM!" assaulted his ears. Ranma whipped his head around, his eyes falling on a terrible sight. Quirrell was on top of Harry, who was struggling and clawing at the man's face. Quirrell shrieked in pain, as if Harry's very touch were burning him. Seeing the back of the man's bald head, though, made Ranma's skin crawl, and he very nearly vomited right there. The high voice, the voice he remembered from the forest, came from a malevolent, barely human face on the back of Quirrell's head. It was Lord Voldemort, and he was killing Harry.

Ranma didn't think of his fear, or of Voldemort's power, or of the possibility that he would fail. He only thought of Harry, who lay at Death's door, of his promise to Hermione, and of the consequences of not acting. Ki and magic mixed together and swelled within him, erasing his exhaustion and pain and giving him a feeling of power and energy. Across the room, Quirrell's head suddenly turned and Voldemort looked straight at him, eyes widening in recognition on his pale, snake-like face. Ranma thought nothing of it, launching himself across the room like a bullet. Voldemort's magic, clearly visible with his magical sight, lashed out at him, but Ranma gracefully evaded it with practiced ease. Voldemort seemed powerless to stop him, his expression turning from angry to fearful.

CRACK! Quirrell and Voldemort sailed across the room, Ranma's savage kick sending them slamming into the wall so hard that the masonry cracked. He rushed after them, prepared to do whatever it took to subdue Voldemort. From the unnatural angle of Quirrell's neck, however, it wouldn't be necessary; the man was dead. Ranma turned around to check on Harry, but a weak voice stopped him cold.

"Soatome...Ranma..." Voldemort's voice choked out. "When I...return...you will...pay...for...your defiance..."

Ranma looked directly into those burning, red eyes as life drained out of them. Feeling his fear melt away, he pulled back his right fist and imbued it with ki. "When you return, you'd better be stronger than this," he said hoarsely, pounding Voldemort's face with the magic interrupting punch, "because I definitely will be."

Voldemort gave one final, agonized scream, and then he was gone, leaving the battered corpse of Quirrell behind. Ranma staggered to his feet, feeling suddenly light-headed. His ki and magical energy separated and a powerful wave of exhaustion and pain swept over him. He struggled to remain standing, to walk over to Harry's prone body, but he stumbled and landed face down on the cold stone floor. Ranma slipped into the darkness, thinking of Hermione and hoping she'd bring help soon.

To Be Continued...in Chapter 15: Win, Lose, and Draw

There is only 1 chapter remaining in Book 1...

Author's Notes:

Today's word is 'finally', as in 'this chapter is finally done'. Standard excuses, of course, but I'll also admit to not working on this chapter for three weeks because, quite frankly, writing this story has the tendency to monopolize my free time. I like to write, but I have other hobbies, too, that I don't indulge in favor of doing the story. Also, it doesn't help that my favorite fics (see my favorites) are updating so regularly and X3 inspires me to get back into comic books. Oh, and did I mention that a couple original story ideas are also claiming creative time? Anyway, we're down to the last chapter, which I can absolutely guarantee will be delivered before the end of July. I'd say sooner than that, but I'm not even going to think about this story for at least a week. On the upside, expect a lengthy chapter because I need to tie up some loose ends and throw in a few surprises. I think it'll be worth the wait.

Allow me a moment to answer a couple questions. I usually save that for the forum, but I'm not so sure anyone really looks at that, and I'd like to clear some things up. First, I'm very sensitive to balancing this story. That's pretty hard because Ranma's a training freak that I've also turned into a study freak by virtue of his terrible spell casting and friendship with Hermione. It's already imbalanced with his ability to beat the crap out of basically anyone at school (this isn't universal; hopefully I showed that Voldemort could, indeed, beat him). That said, there is already a mechanism in place to keep things balanced, not even counting the 'block' on Ranma's magic that keeps him from casting spells with a wand. I can't really explain it now without giving away a major plot point in a future storyline, but it's there, and Ranma won't be turning into some super wizard any time soon. And I've got plans for dealing with is superior martial arts skills which will, nominally, translate into some serious fisticuffs at Hogwarts. Second, I'd like to note that, while Ranma can detect ki and magic, he still hasn't refined those skills to be able to recognize ki/magic signatures. Third, I need to make it clear about Ranma's magical energy: it actually is less than average for someone his age. This is why he can't do too much without feeling the effects. On the other hand, it regenerates itself faster than average. Ranma realizes this, and he also knows, from his experience with ki, that he can increase his magical energy by 'exercising' it. This has something to do with a major plot point, but I'll leave it at that.

The usual thanks are in order. Kim, you rock, and you know why. Thanks reviewers, especially ones asking good questions. Thanks other readers, drive that post count into the stratosphere :-) See you all in a month!