With a leather pouch full of food, her potions, and a few sets of clothing made of Silk tied to her hip and her walking stick firmly gripped in her palm, Harry stared beyond the gate of Joketsuzoku. The sun was just starting to rise beyond the horizon, and there was a light fog floating above the earth. To her, the world seemed to be at peace under the rays of the early sun, but she knew it wouldn't be true the moment the duo stepped outside of the village walls.
She could already see a fat looking man standing beyond the village ward line, his arms crossed and a frown upon his brow. The clothes he was wearing looked beyond dirty and needed either a bleach bath or tossed in the bin.
It still amazed her that her female form had eyes that could see so well when her Male form was practically blind in comparison.
"…ready to…. man?" a boyish but deep voice said beside her spoke up.
Turning her eyes upon her fellow teen, Harry wanted to complain about him speaking in Japanese when she had even less understanding of it than Mandarin. But from the annoyed look in his eyes as they settled upon his father, she could figure out what he meant to say to her.
"Hai." Her voice firm, even to her own ears, but it still sounded strange to her to hear it.
She turned her eyes on her friend and couldn't help but notice that he was smirking in the direction of his father. There was a touch of laughter in his eyes, and his body was relaxed, which she found strange when she thought back on a few stories that he had told her about the interactions between him and Genma.
He looked better now that he wasn't wearing that ratty Training outfit, not that she was not much to talk about since she used to wear circus tent sized clothes before coming to the past. With the Aid of one of the few Magicals in Joketsuzoku, he was able to get a set of clothes enchanted with size altering charms and a self-repairing runic array stitched along the inside of his shirt. It was bright red, similar to his girl form's hair, with black buttons running down the left side to latch it closed. He also wore black martial arts bottoms that are slightly baggy but tapered around the ankle and a simple pair of black slips on his feet.
All in all, it suited him.
For her, she was slightly embarrassed to admit that she was taking a liking to the short kimono style clothing that the Guide had gifted her a few weeks back, especially when it made her feel comfortable under the slightly muggy weather that was rolling across China at the moment. She had a pair of trousers in her pouch similar to Ranma's, but hers were done in a light green colour. But today, she wore just a simple short kimono in a pale blue colour with black trimming and lavender lily flower patterns that started at her left shoulder and right hip before making their way inward.
Ranma still gave her funny looks for wearing female clothing, even though he knew she was only cursed into a female form, but she had said it was simply more practical to wear them instead of baggy male clothes. He didn't seem to catch the fact that she could have just gotten clothes similar to his own, but she wasn't going to remind him anytime soon. Her actual sticker was that since they still had to travel back to Japan, they were bound to get hit by cold water, so this way, it would draw less attention.
Giving farewells to the villagers that she had been able to talk to, albeit with extreme difficulty and the occasional hilarious misunderstanding, and a hug to Healer Koh Lon, she tightened her grip on her staff before taking slow steps out of the village.
She'd miss the friendly people of the Joketsuzoku, but it was time for her to move on.
The walk towards Genma was slow going, and she only stumbled a few times, but Ranma was always there to keep her from falling. His grip was always floating above her shoulder for a few seconds after every missed step.
It wasn't enjoyable but welcomed more than she was willing to admit aloud.
When they reached the older Saotome, Harry didn't even get to blink before he was bearing down on them with his fist buried in Ranma's stomach. She heard the air forced from his lungs and his gasps for breath around the pain in his abdomen.
And yet, he didn't retaliate.
She could feel her magic churning in anger, demanding to be let free and be able to strike at the overweight idiot, but she forced it down. If Ranma couldn't stop the man from beating on him, then she would have no chance in her current state.
"Dare ga anata ga otokonokoda to anata wa dōomoimasuka! Yowai murabito to gaikoku hito igai no nanijin mo inai sono mura ni tomaru!"
He spoke way too fast for her to understand, and the rage in his voice only made it even harder to tell when one word ended and another began, but she could feel her hands clenching her staff, the wood digging into the palm of her hands.
Thankfully Ranma managed to pull himself together from the unexpected blow and pulled himself back into a standing position before glaring at his father. But, unfortunately, his words came out in short hissing like quality, and for a moment, she thought he was somehow speaking Parseltongue. Still, she quickly recognised the burning fury try to break out through his voice, which resulted from him trying to keep himself from striking back.
"Hari ga iyasa reta to kakushin shite imashita! Soshite, kare ga sore o nozonde iru ka dō ka ni kakawarazu, kare wa watashitachi to isshodesu."
The words went over her head once more, but as his glare grew, she understood his meaning at least, if only from him saying her name. Genma continued to stare at them, his eyes roaming over her body as a look of distaste settled upon his brow.
"Ī ko yo, demo kare no kimagurena josō de watashi no chikaku no doko ka ni kare o sa sete wa ikenai. Honmono no dansei wa josei no fuku o kite yorokonde imasen."
He didn't say anymore, and Ranma only nodded, if a little unhappily, before the panda man turned around and started making his way from the Village. Seeing no way out of it, the duo trudged along behind with Ranma whispered to her in very slow Japanese so that she could file the words away for later and then repeated it in the same slow English.
"He says ya can come with us, but ya can't stand near him. He thinks ya a crossdresser and not a true man."
As Ranma's words fluttered around in her head, Harry found herself staring with a watery quality to her eyes. But, of course, she had expected it; after all, Ranma had spent the last two weeks trying to tell her about his adventures over the last decade. And during those tales, she had learned that the teen's father was many things that would have made him friendly with the Pureblood Patriarch and Vernon Dursley. So actually, he was scarily similar to them that it wouldn't surprise her if he had at least met Vernon at one point in his travels.
It was just her luck to run into the Japanese version of the bigoted hypocrite.
Travelling with the Saotome family was demanding for Harry; her legs were constantly aching when they finally stopped to rest for the night. Usually, if she pushed too hard, Ranma would be forced to carry her the day after.
Of course, Genma would always throw them snide remarks when he bothered to look back and see her in his son's arms. But, if they stopped for them to practice their Martial Arts, Harry found herself watching how they moved, the force they would put behind their blows, and using what little ability she had at sensing magic to see just how it flowed through her friend as he fought.
It was fascinating to her. Ranma's magic would fill his body, reinforcing his muscles and bones to avoid real injuries and soothe strained muscles. In her last four years of study at Hogwarts, she never came across any texts stating that what he was doing was remotely possible. Of course, it was entirely possible that she just wasn't looking in the right places, not that she was all the big on studying until she was forced to survive that stupid tournament last year. Then again, it could just be that what Ranma was doing was something that only Oriental style Magicals learned if they even did. It was something she'd have to look into when she finally managed to get to a Magical alcove.
She did wish that she could do it right now, though. She was sure that her body would rapidly heal from the damage it was sustaining, but she didn't think it would be a good idea to mess with her current healing regime. It would be faster but with even more risks towards her health in the long run.
Beyond all this, Ranma would take the time during their walks to point out the world around them and say what things were in Japanese. Everything was said slowly until he would eventually stop saying it, and she would have to. It was frustrating, but she got her revenge by doing it right back at him with English.
Both of them would spend moments just laughing to themselves over each other's mistakes before going back to fix them. She wondered if he was teaching her proper Japanese or slang, but she wouldn't know until they got to Japan. She noticed that he spoke differently when answering Genma's questions, similar to the older man's actually, so it made her feel a tad more comfortable that he only messed with his speech patterns when his father was around. It didn't make her happy that he did it, but she could understand it.
The greatest relief for her in their last weeks of travelling was when they finally came upon Shanghai's oceanside city. The building was cramped together, and there were strings covered in clothes hanging from balcony to balcony ever where they went, but, in a way, it reminded her of London. From the crowded streets to the shouting of wares up and down the road.
"Wǒ xīwàng wǒmen kěyǐ shǐyòng mófǎ, dàn zhǐ xūyào yǒu suǒyǒu zhèxiē má guā!"
She barely heard it over the crowds around her, but she knew she had. Mófǎ only stood for one word in Mandarin, and Elder Koh Lon made sure she knew how Magic was said in China by its Wizards and Witches.
Perking up, she scanned the area for anyone that looked remotely Magical. The street was thick with civilians, but over in front of an incense shop, she saw what looked like two twenty-year-olds wearing old fashioned tops that looked like a long tunic that extended beyond their knees with black trousers underneath. One was dark blue, while the other had a black colour, but both had Silver trimming along the edges. Each of them had their ears pierced with studs that held different gemstones, which ones she wasn't exactly sure.
And both of them tweaked her magical senses.
Grabbing Ranma, she pulled him along with her while absently noting that Genma stalked after them with a glare in his eyes.
The second she got within a few meters of the pair, they visibly tensed and turned their eyes upon herself. They didn't say anything, but she could feel their power washing over her, scanning her to see if she was magical like they were. With Ranma's hand intertwined in her own, she could feel him tense under the feeling of their actions, but with a quick squeeze, she felt him relax, knowing that she believed them to be safe.
The pair looked at each other for a short second before nodding. The one in dark blue motioned for them to follow before going into the shop while the other kept standing at the door as if to guard it against intruders.
"What's going on, Hari?" Then, finally, she heard her friend whisper just enough for her to hear.
"They do magic like Elder Koh Lon. She tells me to find a person in Mongolian Magical Community to saw if they aid us. I need to end my Magical teaching, and you need to start, but it is hard since we are so far back."
She nearly giggled out loud when she heard him groan at her mention of school, and while it was apparent that Ranma was brilliant, he was not a fan of school in the slightest. That or it was from her horrible butchered Japanese. Although, it was nowhere near as bad as Shampoo's was, and she had been learning it for a few years compared to Harry's three weeks.
Giving a rather graceful eye-roll, Harry pulled her friend inside the shop to talk to the Chinese Wizard. They didn't go too far in which she was thankful for because the smell was hurting her nose before running into the man that there were to talk to.
He glanced at them before pulling out his wand and giving it a few short waves through the air. She couldn't see what he was doing, but she could feel the ward form around them and the sounds of the outside world dimming around them. When he finally finished, he stowed his wand before turning his attention onto them fully.
"Why is it that you are here, tàibǎo? Mahoutokoro started a month ago, and yet, you do not wear the school uniform?" His words were slow, as if he already knew that they didn't speak Mandarin fluently, but she could pick her way through what he said.
Shaking her head, Harry pointed to Ranma and Herself as she prepared to tell him a lie that she had been making up for the last few weeks. To make sure she got her story right, she brought up all her feelings of sadness that she held from her childhood and made sure her head was bowed downward so he couldn't see her eyes.
"We not invited; he is travelling with his father as he learns Martial Arts for ten years while me left in muggle world by family…disowned when little."
She felt the magic in him sing with sadness for her words. The family was essential to Eastern Magicals. It was relatively rare for them to give up their children to the Non-magical world; however, anyone abandoned when little would be cherished when found. Or at least, that's what Koh Lon told her when she explained the differences between Western and Easter Magicals. Her homeland was stricken with the desire for power and the belief that human magic was superior. While ability was necessary on this side of the world, it wasn't an essential aspect. The most crucial element was unity among those who know of the magical world and advancement.
The complete opposite of Magical Britain.
"I will speak with the Headmistress of Mahoutokoro; she will send someone to your home in three months to explain everything you will need to attend the academy. School start on the first of September; the school's Storm Petrels will pick you up then."
As soon as he stopped talking, a small pulse of magic left him, and Harry felt the wards around her shatter. The sound came rushing in like a typhoon, and with it, the sounds of heavy grunts outside the store. Turning towards the exit, she wasn't surprised as she thought she would be to see Genma sprawled out on the street with the other Wizard's foot pressed firmly into his throat. Genma's face was starting to turn purple from lack of oxygen, but upon sensing their attention, the man quickly moved away from the Panda cursed Martial Artist and whipped his foot upon the shop steep as if Genma made him feel dirty. The obese man grunted again before getting back on his feet, and fury seemed to radiate off his body from being manhandled so easily.
"I will mention the Father as well; perhaps something can be done about the boy's situation."
She didn't get to say anything else to the Wizard before he strolled outside and grabbed his companion and disappearing with a slight snapping sound of displaced air. Already, Harry could feel her mind churning with ideas of just what form of magical transportation the Wizard had just done. It couldn't be a portkey because those made a whooshing sound as if a bird was taking off into the air, and it couldn't have been floo travel since there was no fire nearby.
So, it had to be something else entirely.
Marching through the halls of Mahoutokoro, Koh Lon could feel her mind pulsing at the stress that she just knew was going to be forced upon her. And all of it was due to one child. A child that had been sent just over a decade back in time. A child that was now cursed with a Jusenkyo curse to become a female with the application of cold water, and yet, her magic didn't sing with the magic of the Cursed Springs.
In her mind, she found herself cursing the name Harry Potter. And yet, she found herself drawn to the polite European Wizard/Witch. Shaking her head, sending a slight wave through her hair in the processes, Koh Lon turned her mind onto what she was doing. Young Harry and Ranma had only left her village a week ago and had already managed to find themselves in contact with China's most famed International Dueling champion, Bei Hui. How they did this, she had no idea, but they did, and that was what mattered.
And now, she found herself being called to her old school, of which she hadn't set foot in over a century, going to meet a headmistress that she knew nothing truly about. There were rumours about the woman being a Hybrid of a magical creature of some sort and a human, such as the two teens she was being called in for, but never had it been confirmed. She had been warned that the Headmistress was someone that required absolute truthfulness in all action around her or risk retaliation with extreme repercussions. Koh Lon wasn't sure if she could believe some of her contacts about this Headmistress, but she would make sure she kept it in the back of her mind just in case. It wouldn't alienate herself from the leading academy of magic in all of Asia or its connections to other graduates.
She had known she would be called before the woman the moment she had sent a letter to her a few days after she started healing the young Time-Traveler, but she hadn't expected to get an invitation, if she could call it that, a week after the boy had left.
So here she was, making her way through the empty hallways of Mahoutokoro. The halls were barren, but she could still hear children's voices through the walls and the light flickers of magic as they cast their spells—some for the very first time, others for many more. And yet, she still felt at peace as she made her way across the nephrite floors that gleamed under the magic that flowed through it.
Finally coming to a stop before a seemingly empty doorway, Koh Lon took a short second to compose herself before striding through the portal. She didn't know what magic made up the magical doorway, although she suspected Runes held a heavy role in it, she could never get over the pure strangeness that she felt every time the mass of darkness seemed to shimmer as her hands would pass through.
Coming out on the other end, Koh Lon's eyes fell upon the woman that stood behind a posh black oak desk in a sea of white. The room was cold and had a light breeze that only accented the chill that she was feeling, giving off the feeling of being in the arctic or the high mountains of Tibet, but that had nothing on the Headmistress she found herself staring into the eyes of.
They were frozen over like a glacier, shining like Kamchatka's Ice Cave in Russia, and radiating a power all their own. From just the appearance of the Headmistresses' eyes, Koh Lon would have to take those rumours about her being a hybrid into an existing account. But that was not all that she noted about the woman, not at all.
For starters, she was tall, around 190 centimetres at least. She wasn't bulky like the taller citizens of Joketsuzoku but instead leaned with a feeling of strength to her graceful movements. Her hair was as white as snow, wavy, and as long as Koh Lon's hair. Some sections were braided, particularly the section that would descend over her shoulder and passed her breasts. Beyond this, the woman was pale but healthily at least.
Her dress was just as simple as her office. Like many females that come to Mahoutokoro, the headmistress wore a black cheongsam with the Silver Storm Petrel pendant clasping the collar together. Hers, however, had trimming in gold and came to a stop just below the middle of her thighs. It was higher than any of the past Headmistresses and Headmasters in the past, but it still suited her figure rather well.
"Master Healer Koh Lon, thank you for coming so soon."
Even the Woman's voice made her feel like she had just taken a bath in the Sea of Japan.
"It was of no issue, Headmistress. You did call me here to clear up issues on the Duo I had told you of in my letter." As the word came from her lips, Koh Lon could see the storm cloud forming in the Artic woman's eyes.
"Yes." Her word dragged out like a snake as her frustration bled into it, "The Time-Traveling Boy-Who-Lived that is now cursed with the form of a Female Hybrid and a Mundane-Born Martial Artist, of whom is only just now starting his magical education when he should be almost finished, that shares the same curse but is also absorbing the excess magic that is coming from the Potter child." Koh Lon nodded along with the woman while waiting for her to get to her point. "You mentioned that you have put the Potter Child on a Potion regime to get them back up to health and that this…Saotome Ranma was tasked by you with keeping Potter safe until we can get them into the next school year and while outside of school."
Frowning at the tinge of doubt in the woman's voice as she spoke of Saotome's ability to keep the Potter Child safe, she had to nip it in the butt before she met the boy and got on his bad side. She was still treating Xian Pu from the beating Saotome had given her when she thought fighting him while in his Curse form was a good idea.
"The Boy is strong in Hand-to-Hand fighting, Headmistress. He defeated my Great-Granddaughter in combat while in his curse form, a form he was still adjusting to, and my Granddaughter is one of the best fighters of the Joketsuzoku. He will have no issues defending the child until they are healthy again in just short of a year."
The office was silent for a moment before a ghost of a smile came upon the Headmistresses.
"That puts one of my worries to rest at least, but there are others as well." She picked up a small stack of parchment before handing it over. As Koh Lon riffled through the papers, the Headmistress continued, "The main three issues we have is that the Potter Child doesn't have any legal paperwork that we can work with, so it will have to be fabricated which, if we hurry, we can get it all finalised before the school year starts again for new students. If we can get it done fast enough, we can have them in place for the Mundane world. It might even be better to get them registered in the Mundane world first. Other than this, neither of them will have money available to pay the tuition nor their school supplies, so they will have to have a patron to support their schooling."
Listening with half an ear, Koh Lon narrowed her eyes at the last point. While she didn't know the British Magical Families by name or status, she knew that at least the Potters had enough money to pay for the Child to attend Mahoutokoro for the next decade. Still, she didn't think it would be a good idea to bring his Time Travelling to Gringotts' attention just yet. That might harm his younger self in the coming years when he returned to the magical world.
So, he would need a patron, both of them would actually. While she never showed it to her descendants, it irked her that none of them was magically powerful enough to attend any of the Academies in Asia. But these teenagers had enough power, or would in Saotome's case, to attend Mahoutokoro. Once they graduated, any reputation they would gain in the Magical world would also affect their patron's standings, for the better or worse. The more she thought about it, the more her mind was already decided for her.
"I'll be their Patron while they attend the Academy, at least this way, all the work I put into healing the Potter child won't be for nothing."
That was a lie, and they both knew it, but neither would say it. She was, after all, required to heal the teen the moment she knew he needed aid. It was one of the curses of being a Healer; she had to heal even those she morally didn't want to recover. Such as Happosai.
"Furthermore, in the boy's paperwork, we will have to have a name, other than his original, to put down. I'll send him a list of names that I'd suggest him using in a few days." She paused for a moment, drawing Koh Lon's eyes back onto her and away from the forms that she still held, "I believe it would be best, for both of them, to be roomed together in one of our Betrothed dorms. It will, unfortunately, send a message to their peers that they are engaged, but with their curse, it would be safer than the boy's dorms and less awkward for all involved if it was the girl's dorms. It will also make it easier since they can talk to each other about the issues of their situations."
As she finished, Koh Lon felt her mind spin with the younger woman's words. While she didn't think any of it would be an issue for either teen, she did not believe it would be a good idea to stay at the school all day and night like all the other students their age. Ranma had told her of his father, and while admittedly it wasn't much, it was enough to say to her that the man would not let the boy go to a boarding school any time soon.
And as she voiced her thoughts, she could feel the room around her fall in temperature.
"We have looked into the man named Saotome Genma over the last week and already have someone working on a case against him in the Mundane world. He has hundreds of warrants for his arrest for petty theft, embezzlement, breach of contracts, Child Neglect, and various other crimes, but it will take time, probably a year or two. The Magical Government can't go after him since he has done nothing in our world, but that doesn't stop us from having them prosecute against him, and he can't keep his son from attending Mahoutokoro; especially if he has a patron willing to pay his fees if he's willing to come. Even if Saotome denies his son from staying year-round, the pair can still use the betrothed suite as a place to study and do homework before going back home."
Feeling a downright evil smile come to her lips, Koh Lon couldn't stop the cackle from escaping her mouth. It only shows that a man should never cross a village elder, especially a Village Elder of a bunch of Female Warriors that was also Master Healer with High Connections of the Mongolian and Japanese Magical Governments.
She didn't feel bad for Saotome Genma.
NOT. AT. ALL!
Walking through the Furinkan district of the Nerima Ward of Greater Tokyo was strange for Harry. Unlike London, Nerima wasn't made up of skyscrapers and corporate business and instead played host to numerous little restaurants, game and Japanese comic shops, and martial arts enthusiasts. In addition, there were random stands posted along the street side, all selling random bits and bobs from unknown places around the world. Beside her, she could feel fury radiating off of her redheaded friend like a heatwave. Not that she could blame him, he did just get told that Genma had betrothed him when he wasn't even born yet and was now taking him to meet some girl that would be his fiancée.
She wasn't all too sure how she felt about it, but she did know that she felt terrible for Ranma. He didn't like forcing things on people, not after having it done to him all his life, and now he found himself stuck in a contract that he never had any say in.
That and he wasn't adjusting to being turned into a girl with every splash of cold water. The only reason he was still in his girl-form right now was that Genma had sold their portable heating pad, and they hadn't been able to stop somewhere to take a warm bath in a while.
Two weeks to be exact, and she was feeling beyond rip. River beds were only so good at getting oneself clean. And apparently, they weren't that good because she could see the people around them scrunching up their nose in distaste; a few ever hurried on past to get away from them. She couldn't stop the embarrassed flush from taking over her cheeks as she watched them flee from their path.
Not that you could see it under all the dirt. If it wasn't for the fact that where they were going would have a bath that she could use, Harry felt like curling up into a ball and dying.
"How far are we, freak?!"
Staring at the sign before her eyes, Harry bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from yelling at the rude panda that was holding it. She had seen this sign ever since they reached Japan, and for whatever reason, the idiot thought she would know the answer. It only got worse when she had Ranma read the sign to her so she could understand what the damn thing said. It didn't end too well the first few times since Ranma tended to punch his father in retaliation, but now she was beyond fed up with it and treated it with indifference.
"The directions we were given earlier said that it should be just around the corner, Saotome-san."
Her voice was bland, almost empty, as she gave him the same reply as she had three minutes ago. He wasn't the smartest person around; even Draco had more brainpower than this guy. Beside her, she could feel Ranma's amusement at her nonplused response through his rising magic, but it didn't last as his fury was still running high enough to squash it. The deep growling behind her told her all she needed to know about what Genma thought of her words.
Thankfully, they didn't have to travel too much further before coming to their destination.
The first thing that Harry noticed about the place was the tall wall that seemed to surround the entirety of the property. It was a light white colour, but the tops had a small roof with tiled shingles in a nice dark blue colour. The wooden door spoke of some wealth, with the brass door knockers and the etchings of what looked like a crane standing before a Koi pond. It was different to any door she had ever seen before, discounting the portraits back at Hogwarts since nothing could beat a living painting that could talk and dance.
Harry didn't get to admire the door much more before she felt a clawed paw press into the middle of her back and flung her forward. She couldn't stop herself from stumbling or the groan from escaping her lips as she collided with the door nor the loud banging sound that had rung out as she hit the solid door that looked like it was made from a local type of Cypress. Her forehead hurt from the collision, and the pained groan to her left told her that Ranma had been shoved as well.
The gruff animalistic laughter behind them brought a glare upon Harry's brow and momentarily let her forget of the pain that rolled through her body from the harsh blow. Then, feeling her magic start to strain against her control, she forced her anger downward, and as the seconds passed, she felt the pulses settle down into a sea of serenity.
Pushing herself away from the door, absently rubbing her forehead as she did so, Harry noted that Ranma had laid his arm across her waist in an attempt to keep himself standing since he was a tad smaller than her in his female form. The feeling of his tight fingers on her waist was strange, but at the moment, she was a little too disjointed to pay it a lot of attention.
Thankfully the moment was ruined when the door was pulled open by what looked like a young woman. She couldn't have been any more than twenty at the oldest and was dressed in a light blue dress that went down to her ankles but didn't cover her shoulders and a pink coloured apron. Her hair was brown and was fashioned into a ponytail that came over her shoulder.
"Yes? Can I help you?"
Even her voice sung with kindness, although Harry could see her nose was scrunching up slightly at the smell that was wafting from their bodies, she was polite enough not to mention it.
Beside her, she noticed Ranma turn a little pink under the older woman's kind eyes before he scratched the back of his neck. His eyes were closed tight, and his smile seemed a little forced to like it turned when he got compliments on how beautiful he was in his curse form. But thankfully, he didn't shove his foot in his mouth like he usually did.
"I'm Ranma Saotome, so sorry about this."
And as he spoke, Harry spotted the confusion that shined in the older woman's eyes as she took in his name and her eyes roam over his body. She opened her mouth as if she would say something before pausing to rethink it at the last second. Finally, she bowed to them before stepping back to let them in.
"Oh my, it's no trouble Ranma-chan. But, please, do come in. Would you and your friend like to take a bath before speaking to my father? You must have had an arduous journey, and I hear a warm bath is good for relaxing after a harsh trip."
Her words were spoken with kindness, but Harry could tell she was trying to politely usher them as quickly as she could into the bathroom. And if she was honest with herself, Harry was pretty sure she was going to start crying that very second; she was going to retake a warm bath. However, when Ranma seemed to tense up, Harry already knew he would reject, but she wouldn't let him. Not after they hadn't had an actual cleaning, rivers disregarded, in what felt like a month.
Just as he opened his mouth to shove his foot into it, she slapped her hand over it before turning her eyes back to the older woman and gave her the most thankful smile she could muster.
"We would very much like that, Ma'am." The kindly woman gave her a secret smile of her own, obviously realising why she had stopped her fellow redhead from talking before gesturing them to enter.
"I'm Tendo Kasumi; it's a pleasure to meet you."
Following behind Kasumi, Harry took a few short glances at the property around her. The yard was immense, especially for living in the city, but it was a little bland. Over on the left, she spotted what looked like a Koi pond of sorts, and towards the Right, there was another building with some Kanji above the door that she didn't know the meaning of, so she'd have to remember to ask someone about it later. However, the rest of the outside looked pretty peaceful to Harry.
Once inside the Entre hall or Genkan as Ranma whispered to her, they all took off their travel shoes and slipped on slippers, even Genma the Panda. It was simply fascinating to see one of the minor cultural differences between her home country and the Japanese to Harry. If she were at home, in Britain or at the Dursley's, you would never see someone walking around the house in slippers. They were either wearing their shoes or simply going barefoot. But this seemed to be more of a way to show respect to those that live in the house, whether it was to keep the home from being covered in dirt or a religious aspect. Harry wasn't sure, but it was still fascinating to her.
The group didn't go too far down the hallway before they came to what looked like a paper-thin sliding door that matched the front door. Kasumi didn't wait to slide it open for them and pointing out where everything was.
"Towels are on the bottom shelf, and the razors and other Hygiene items are on the second. So if you can just put your clothing in the basket, ill wash them and have them ready for you by the time you finish."
Looking at Ranma, Harry couldn't stop the smile from blossoming across her lips at the thought of being so close to getting a bath. But, unfortunately, she didn't get to see his expression before slipping inside of the room and started shuffling through what Kasumi called 'other Hygiene'.
There were razors and what looked like a type of shaving cream that smelled of lavender, but there were other things there. Altogether, four different hair products and just as many soaps and individual types of what she thought were sanitary napkins. Each of them was broken into a section who owned it, not that she could read their names yet. Understanding the spoken tongue was coming much easier to her than the written.
Flicking through everyone's section of stuff, Harry found herself with the hair products from the section that Ranma read aloud to her as Kasumi's and the soap and a razor from Nabiki. Of course, she would have to thank them when she was finished and when she had the money to replace Nabiki's razor. After all, you never use someone else's razor and then try to return it.
Taking her eyes off the items, she was borrowing, Harry made quick work of pulling all of her dirty clothes out of her leather pouch and putting them in the hamper that was nearly full of the Saotome's clothing. And boy, did they stink; she could already feel the empathy welling up in her chest over the pain Kasumi would go through when washing the Saotome's clothes.
Putting it to the side, for now, Harry took no time to strip off her clothing and tossed it in with the others before picking up her bathing items to join the others.
Harry came upon the sight of a very human and very naked Genma and Male Ranma Saotome in the bathing room. Both of them were thankfully facing away from her, but she could still see the muscles tensing along with her friends back. They weren't huge like a bodybuilder, but they weren't toned like the girls on her Quiddidge team either; they were kind of like Viktor Krum's were during the tournament last year. Not bulking but not lacking either.
"They are just right."
Feeling her face heat up as those wicked thoughts rolled right through her mind, Harry did her best to hurry over to the vacant stole beside her friend. Although, she did shift it over just a tad. He didn't glance over at her, so he mustn't have noticed.
Looking at what they were doing, Harry did her best to copy what she was seeing. So, with a quick fill-up of warm water from the tap, Harry doused himself in hopes that the water would -at most- give her excuse for why she was so red and at least turn her back to a boy.
Feeling the strange tingle along her skin and the clenching of her magic, Harry again noticed the shift from her female self to his male form. The slightly itchy feeling along his spine as it stretches out a few centimetres, the changes in his bones as they became slimmer and less curvy, and the stomach-churning feeling of his genitals returning to what they hadn't been since just two weeks ago. Once the feelings all stopped, he couldn't help but let his hands run along his skin, internally marvelling at the difference in feeling that he was picking up. His skin felt more rigid, less sensitive, and a tad hairier. But, of course, that said nothing about the strange feeling of his bits resting against the wooden seat of his stool or the lack of the slight weight upon his chest.
It was strange without a doubt simply because he had become so comfortable in his other form in such a short period of time. Why he didn't know, but he'd have to talk to Ranma when they finally started to settle in to see if he was feeling anything similar.