Author: Mister Bear (Collectively: Krissy & Cassie)
Rating: PG-13 (so far)
Warnings: future slash themes, both male and female
Notes: This is an answer to a challenge on the HP fanfic challenge site:
"Harry get splashed with some of that wonderful Jusenkyö water, and now has a female counterpart named Harriet. Unfortunately, the only way to get rid of his female body is to pour tea on himself. Chaos is just the beginning when Draco Malfoy discovers Harriet and falls in love with her. How will Harry/Harriet survive the rest of the term?"
Although, we didn't like the name "Harriet" and changed it to "Hallie." And we used the hot/cold water deal (only because, in the future chapters, we have plans for it).
This is a crossover with the incredibly popular anime series "Ranma 1/2," which is the story of a boy named Ranma Saotome who falls in a cursed spring in Jusenkyo and is doomed to be switching back and forth between girlhood and boyhood every time he gets wet from then on. Like this fic, it involves a lot of people loving or hating Ranma and then falling for or wanting to kill his girl half. It's a very funny and crazy anime that's a lot of fun, and we really recommend it. For more information on it, Anipike.com's Ranma 1/2 page is full of great links.
Okay, okay, so, we love to torture Harry, and we make it blatantly obvious.
Disclaimer: All the characters (except sub. Levia) belong to J.K. "I'm Your Goddess" Rowling. Jusenkyo and other Ranma 1/2 terms and references are Rumiko Takahashi's. We're only using them for our sadistic pleasures. ;D
//...// denotes thought
*...* denotes emphasis
"I am Levia Taifa, your teacher for History of Magic," the young woman smiled brightly at the two rows of Gryffindors. Levia ran a hand through locks of bright blonde hair, and picked up a folder, the Hogwarts emblem blazing in bright colors on the cover. "I'll call role and we'll begin today's lesson."
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley exchanged amused glances. The class, that usually bored them to tears, had suddenly become very interesting when Professor Binns, their normal teacher, had been requested to an old friend's Death day Party, leaving the need of a substitute. Harry shuddered as he remembered his own experience of the function.
Levia ran through the list of students, and paused on Harry's name. "You're Harry Potter?"
Blushing furiously at the curious glance, Harry simply nodded.
"Ahh, so you're the one Professor Trelawney was rambling on about. She said you're going to die by falling off Hogwarts' roof today."
Harry just rolled his eyes and sighed in relief. It was nice to finally see someone who didn't know him for who he actually was.
"Every day an adventure, eh, Mr. Potter?" Instructor Taifa smiled, then continued down her list.
Hermione Granger leaned over to Harry and whispered fervently, "She's so young! This ought to be interesting."
Harry agreed. Hermione's eyes were not bright with anticipation for no good reason. Young though she was, there was a rather wise, sort of worldly air about their cheerful new substitute. Not only that, but she had a rather large carpet bag sitting on Professor Binns' desk, and it looked stuffed with all sorts of incredibly interesting things, as odd bulges made it look quite full indeed.
Ron leaned over to Harry too.
"Bet you Hermione just said something about how exciting and interesting this is," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth, and Harry broke into a smile at his best friends' never-ending wheedling. That and the fact that he'd just pinned down Hermione pretty squarely.
A clap from the teacher made Harry and Ron straighten and pay attention. Her eyes were glinting with excitement.
"Hope you don't mind a small break from your subject," she started. This was met with joyous whispers from the entire class.
"But, Professor," Hermione started, "we can't fall behind in learning about the Great Wars of the Wizarding World! The OWLs..."
"The OWLs can wait a few days, Miss Granger," at this many students began to whisper again, and Hermione sat back in a huff. "Instead, we're going to learn a few things about a different culture. Does anyone know anything about the Chinese civilization?"
For once, Hermione remained silent. Harry wondered if it was out of protest, or if she really didn't know.
"No? Well, neither do I," a few students tittered, "but I am going to teach you about some legends and curses passed down from generations to generations."
Chinese? That was certainly something different.
"China," continued the young instructor, "is one of the most densely populated regions on Earth, and their immense wizarding culture is actually very firmly ingrained into their Muggle culture. Many people there who aren't wizards or witches or even squibs believe in curses and magic and all sorts of things, although they really don't have it quite straight like the wizarding population does." She stopped to smile again, looking around at her rapt pupils. Decidedly, she continued, "I believe I'll start with something that you all will recognize quite quickly indeed, but in a form you'll find very different than what you're used to."
Nobody had ever paid so much attention in History of Magic.
"Transfiguration," she revealed to the eager class. "Accidental, unwanted, unavoidable transfiguration - what the locals of Chouchuanshan, or Jusenkyou, more commonly, call a curse to all those unfortunate enough to accidentally fall into any of more than a hundred ancient springs that are 'cursed.'"
She paused.
"Erm, Instructor..."
"Taifa," she smiled at Hermione. Hermione had her hand curiously raised.
"Instructor Taifa... if there was a 'curse' on these springs, it could be lifted, could it not?"
"Excellent question, Miss..."
"Granger." Hermione was in her peak of student potential.
"Miss Granger. And I'm afraid that your answer is that no wizard, Chinese or other, has been able to penetrate from the magic that is so natural in that area."
"So, what," spoke up Seamus Finnigan, making half the class turn and look at him in surprise. He blinked around at them before asking, "So, people... fall into these 'cursed' springs and... transfigure?"
"Doesn't transfiguration require incredible concentration and magical skills? Could a Muggle fall into the springs and transfigure?" Hermione broke.
Instructor Taifa nodded and held her hands up to halt the questions that were popping up. "Muggles and wizards alike have fallen in, and each are just as susceptible to the odd magic in the water, and are as powerless as each other to alter or change them. And while this is transfiguration on a level, it is also a curse on another, only not one as Muggles would think of it. Under a curse you are nearly powerless to help yourself - I assume you've learned about curses in your Defense Against the Dark Arts courses?"
There was a murmur of agreement from the class.
"Instructor Taifa..." It was Hermione yet again, who was sitting with a fascinated look on her face. "What do these victims transfigure into? And are they stuck that way since they're powerless to reverse the changes of the water?"
"Well." To everyone's surprise, the young instructor pushed herself into a sitting position on the edge of Professor Binns' desk, pleased at all the discussion. "You see, it depends on which of these cursed Jusenkyou springs the victim falls into. Each has a specific curse on it, which all comes down to the very first of each of the victims to fall in and actually drown in it. The oldest of the cursed springs is 'The Spring of the Drowned Girl.'"
There came an immediate eruption of comments, from even the quietest of students.
"You're not likely to convince me into Apparating to China anytime soon," muttered Seamus.
"So if I were to push good old Harry here into this Drowned Girl Spring," grinned Ron next to him, "We'd have Harriet?"
"There wouldn't happen to be a Spring of Drowned Weasel would there?" teased back Harry, using their arch rival Draco Malfoy's favorite nickname for his best friend.
"Well, we should certainly try and shove Malfoy into it," Ron said dryly.
Hermione turned a frown on Harry and Ron, but went back to eagerly asking questions. "All right, so someone falls into the cursed water. Then what happens? They just think about it and they transform?"
"Not quite," Instructor Taifa shook her head. "When doused with cold water, the body triggers the transformation. And to change back? A bucket of hot water will do the trick."
"What other kinds of springs are there?"
"Almost anything you could think of," Instructor Taifa allowed. "There's also Drowned Man, Panda, Squirrel, and many other animals and objects."
"Objects?" Ron wrinkled his nose, "you could transfigure yourself into a broom?"
Instructor Taifa shrugged, "All depends. Possibly. I'm not sure what all new springs are being created, but it's possible."
"Sounds pretty flaky to me. It's only water, wouldn't it wear off after a while?" Dean Thomas sat forward, calmly presenting his case.
"That's what one might think, but there are no reported cases of any of the Jusenkyou victims recovering their true form and sticking with it. However, there are rumored ways--"
"Cold water transforms them and hot water changes them back?" questioned Hermione, who was scribbling it all down on a piece of parchment.
"That's correct." The teacher smiled.
"What if it was heated Ju... cursed water?" Ron asked pointedly.
"Mr. Weasley, the world may never know. Would you like to be volunteered as a test subject?"
"Not bloody likely," Ron snorted under his breath.
"What a shame," Instructor Taifa joked. Then, she reached for her immense carpetbag. "And I just happen to have a jar of water here straight from Jusenkyou."
Half the class sat forward eagerly, half the class scooted back.
Hermione furrowed her brow, staring at the jar's water in contemplation. "Does it work differently in smaller doses?"
"Unfortunately, no," Instructor Taifa shook her head, "The magic in it will work just the same if its just a drop, a splash, or you fall into the whole spring."
Nodding, Hermione added her words to the parchment. "Have you ever met anyone who has been cursed?"
"Yes, in fact I have. He fell into 'Drowned Panda,' and leads a perfectly normal life. He just avoids going out during the winter or a rainy day. And usually doesn't converse much outside of friends."
Hermione took this all down quickly. "And does it--"
"Jeez, Hermione, are you interviewing someone for the Daily Prophet or what?" cracked Ron, which made their studious friend stop mid-sentence and stare at him, hurt glowing somewhere in her light brown eyes.
Instructor Taifa was gently setting the jar of harmless-looking water on the desk next to her. Neville Longbottom, who was sitting closest to the desk, gulped a little at the very sight of it and moved slightly behind Ron.
Harry had been listening to all of this with Hermione's fascination and Ron's cynicism, not knowing whether or not he really believed in magic so impermeable and irreversible. It was dangerous, yes, but for ninety-five percent of spells he'd heard of of, there was an anti-spell, a way to reverse it. Especially if a wizard were able to transfigure themselves - they could just stay as they were all the time, since they could transfigure. But he remained quiet, as Instructor Taifa was getting the class settled again.
"Are you all ready to move on to the next interesting historical magical anomaly?" she said with cheer, and everyone indeed was. The jar of Drowned Girl Spring water remained at her side without incident.
***
"... and that's never been able to be proven curable by the Department of Magical Correction. Oh, dear, is class over already? Well, you're all dismissed. It was fun, wasn't it?" The young woman remained seated quite comfortably on Professor Binns' desk as all the Gryffindors began to pack away their things in their bags and rise slowly from their chairs.
"That was great, but... lunch is by far greater," Ron said with a particularly ravenous look in his eyes. "I'm absolutely starved."
Hermione was packing away her quill slowly.
"I wonder if I can visit with her after school," she remarked softly as Gryffindors all around them filed out, talking avidly of their unusual history lesson.
Instructor Taifa smiled, catching Hermione's words. "You may, if you'd like, Miss Granger. I'm free lunch period, as well."
Harry lingered at the door, waiting for his friend as Ron left, already in discussion about Quidditch with Dean and Seamus.
"Coming, 'Mione?"
"In a minute," Hermione said distractedly, walking up to the desk. "Is this the only example you brought?"
"I'm afraid so," she replied apologetically, "if I'd realized it would be this interesting to the students, I'd have brought more, although they all appear the same."
Hermione carefully picked up the jar, and stared at it. It appeared to be just normal water, although seemed to have a thickness to it. "Come look at this, Harry," Hermione called. Hesitating, Harry ambled up to the desk.
"Looks like water to me," he affirmed, making Hermione send him an exasperated look.
"Here, hold it and you'll see--"
"No," Harry backed up a little when she tried to offer the jar forward to him. "Er, thanks anyway."
"Oh, Harry, it's in a jar, it won't touch you," she laughed. She moved it all around in her own hands, watching it swirl slowly. "Funny to think many men possibly drank this water and were switching back and forth between male and female for the rest of their lives. Instructor Taifa, it wouldn't affect me, since I'm a girl, would it?" She suddenly looked up.
"No, it wouldn't," Professor Taifa said softly.
"May I open it? Just to touch it," Hermione begged.
"Well, if you like. I did get that sample myself, and I'm still in one piece, aren't I?" The teacher watched Hermione with a hawk's eye.
Hermione beamed, gently twisting the lid off. Immediately, she made a face. "Well, it sure does *smell* like spring water."
Harry began to edge away from Hermione, "I think you can close it now," he said uneasily.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Nonsense." She dipped a finger into it, shivering as she felt the magic flow as if right through her. "It has a weird sensation," she remarked.
"Well, it is a curse," Harry reminded her.
"I know," Hermione said, "Come a little closer, Harry. I promise I won't bite you." she added as he backed away once again.
"I'm not worried about *you,*" Harry muttered.
"Be careful around Mr. Potter, Miss Granger," requested Instructor Taifa pleasantly. "Professor Trelawney would have a field day with him if she could be here right now."
"Sucks to Professor Trelawney," said Hermione just as pleasantly, which made Harry erupt into laugher.
"Hermione!" he was almost aghast, but it was just too funny to be horrified. Hermione began laughing too, taking her finger from the jar--
Which suddenly slipped from her fingers, splintered into shards on the desk, and left Instructor Taifa, Hermione, and Harry all soaked, dripping with the cursed Jusenkyou water. Except where Harry had once stood, there was an even more petite, cinnamon-bobbed, full-lipped, full-bosomed female.
Hermione abruptly let out her belated scream when she saw Harry. Harry stepped back dizzily, his robes soaking around his shapelier legs, feeling a bit weightier on the top than he remembered previously feeling, swaying since his balance was now so off.
"Oh my God, Harry, I-- I'm-- so sorry!" blurted Hermione, covering her mouth with her hand in horror. "I-- Harry! You're--!"
"Quite a pretty female," said Instructor Taifa, a bit shocked herself.
Harry took it upon himself, or rather, herself, to promptly faint.
***
Harry groggily opened his eyes. His head felt like it was splitting into two. Had he been drinking? Then, before he could blink, the previous events came rushing back to him. Jusenkyou water. Broken glass. Water all over him. His hands went to his chest, feeling, and to his relief, felt nothing out of the ordinary...until he realized the area he had gingerly touched *moved.*
"Harry!" he glanced up at Hermione's voice, face paling as he realized it wasn't a nightmare. "I'm so, so sorry!" she rambled, not allowing Harry a chance to speak, "I honestly didn't mean to drop it! I feel so aw--"
"Hermione," he croaked, and he fell silent as her name fell from his lips. It came out softly, not as deep as it should have.
"Well," Instructor Taifa said, bringing Harry's green eyes to her, "at least we know it works."
"Oh, Harry," broke Hermione again. "You -- you just look so different..." She sounded so hoarse and near tears.
"Is there a mirror around?" he gasped, the pitch of his voice nearly making him faint once again.
"I have one, dear, hold on," said Instructor Taifa, getting up from where she was kneeling by Harry. Harry quickly tried to sit up, and found that there was a torrent of auburn hair dropping unceremoniously into his eyes, messy. And he couldn't help but notice how all his clothes seemed to fit him wrong now, pants too loose in some places and too tight in others, and his chest seemed so heavy and uncomfortably free... God, how utterly, amazingly embarrassing.
//I'm... a... girl...//
The thought was so foreign to him... *her*... that she felt dizzy from it.
"Oh, Harry..." Now, a few tears were trickling down Hermione's cheeks.
"There, there, Miss Granger, this is easily fixed with some hot water," soothed Instructor Taifa, before handing Harry a gold compact. "There's a mirror... just open it, Miss Potter."
The substitute apparently had not realized her blunder, but Hermione and Harry were both staring at her with horror.
Breaths wracking in her heavy chest, Harry reached up with fingers that were slimmer and pretty than even Hermione's were, taking the compact. It was a bit heavier than she'd anticipated, and she almost dropped it. Why weren't all her limbs working correctly? It was like she'd lost an element of strength!
It took her a moment, with these shaking hands, to open the compact, and even more mental strength than a Patronus to look into the shining mirror.
It was him. But it wasn't. Glasses were slipping down the more delicate nose, eyes as big and green as ever, but framed with dark burnt-cinnamon lashes that made them stand out even more. For some unearthly reason, his hair had turned an rather charming shade of auburn, bringing out his skin tone, and had grown a couple of inches so it looked like a flapper-style bob cut, uncontrollably messy, but girlish all the same.
Timidly, he reached up and touched his cheek with his slender hand.
"Oh my God," whispered that alto voice.
"I'll get you some hot water, dear boy," blundered Instructor Taifa, whisking quickly away from the two. A crying wreck named Hermione suddenly wrapped Harry into a hug, and Harry noticed that it was a rather weird-feeling hug, as there seemed to be too much flesh between their chests.
"It's okay," Harry said awkwardly, hugging back, and it felt even more odd to comfort Hermione, when it was *his* own body suffering. But something inside him just screamed to comfort her, before himself. Maybe it was just something... girly to do? He shrugged, and Hermione sniffed, leaning back to stand on her heels.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting for Instructor Taifa to return. Harry was still in shock. The words 'no cure' repeated over and over hazily in his brain as did the statement 'I'm a girl.' Then a thought occurred to him.
"What are we going to tell Ron?"
Before Hermione could reply, Levia Taifa returned. She had no water and her face was apologetic. "I'm sorry," she said, fuming, "but I couldn't find anything to carry water in. And when I asked Professor Snape where I could find a bucket, he told me I was too weak to carry it! So, you're going to need to 'change' elsewhere."
Harry blinked owlishly, then the impact of the words hit him, "I can't leave looking like this!"
"Well, you just can't *sit there* like that, either!" pointed out Hermione logically, tear tracks drying on her cheeks in light of this new challenge. "Come on, now... everybody's at lunch, and there's a girls' lavatory just around the corner." She paused and studied him. "Plus... I mean... well, your hair *is* red, Harry. If anyone sees you, they certainly won't think, 'Look, there's Harry, and he's a girl!'"
Harry hawked on Instructor Taifa. "Hot water."
She nodded slowly. "Hot water should do the trick, I... I've been told."
"You've been told?!" Harry exclaimed. "Oh, God! Okay. Okay, Hermione, let's go, quickly."
Hermione pulled Harry up easily. "You're a lot lighter than you used to be!" she commented.
Harry was immensely uncomfortable. "None of my clothes fit correctly," he whispered, immediately trying to adjust himself beneath his robes.
"Don't worry... you can borrow some of my clothes if you ever need to."
Hermione took his hand comfortingly, and it felt strange because his hand was so much smaller and more delicate than before. Harry gulped.
"We'll be back after classes, Instructor Taifa," assured Hermione, and then ripped Harry in the direction of the hallway.
"I suppose I'll sweep up this Jusenkyo mess before Hogwarts becomes an all-girl school," mused the substitute.
Stumbling out into the hallway, Harry felt a flush of fear.
"No... Hermione..."
"Just come on. The sooner we get to the girls' bathroom, the sooner we can change you back!"
"Hermione... what if someone walks in when I change back?" Harry breathlessly asked, striding quickly beside Hermione. These girl legs felt so feeble! And the jostling of his bust was dreadfully uncomfortable.
"Well, I'll just hit you and say, 'You perv!'" said Hermione.
"What if it rains during a Quidditch game?" Harry asked, all sorts of new concerns popping up.
Exasperated, Hermione sighed. All the questions, Harry's... transformation... It was all making to be an interesting day. "I really don't know, Harry. Why don't we just cross that bridge when it happens?"
"And we'll probably fall head first into it," he muttered. He unsuccessfully tried to adjust the robe that was tightening around his chest as he walked.
"It could be worse," Hermione suggested.
"How?" he asked, crossly.
"You could be an ugly girl."
"Yeah, true--" Harry started, then froze. And ducked behind Hermione. "Oh my God, 'Mione, its--"
"Why, if it isn't the Mudblood," Draco Malfoy remarked, nearing the duo. He lifted bored, gray eyes and gave Hermione a quick once over, snorting in disgust, then glanced to the poorly hidden person behind her. "And who might your friend be?"
Hermione squeaked, glancing from Harry to the smug Slytherin. "Um... What friend?"
"The one who has the quite fetching ass in the air," Draco airily replied. He smirked as a red-faced girl quickly stood up in embarrassment.
"Shut up, M--"
Draco blinked in surprise as Hermione elbowed the mysterious girl - hard - in the ribs. She squealed, wincing and glaring daggers at the brown-haired girl.
"You're so disgusting and rude," Hermione calmly told him.
Draco made sure to make a show of yawning, patting his hand over his mouth. "Your intellect never ceases to amaze, Mudblood, really. And interrupting your own friend like that... really! And I'm the rude one?"
He stepped around Hermione with a degree of grace the two Gryffindors had never seen him walk with before and grasped Harry's small hand before Harry, who was blushing furiously and scared out of her wits, had time to react.
"The pleasure is mine," he whispered to Harry, eyes focused on Harry's as he bent and pressed his lips upon the back of the soft skin of her hand.
Harry was too shocked and disgusted to move or even blink, staring at Draco with her jaw slowly dropping.
Draco stood again, never letting go of Harry's hand for one moment.
"You're in Gryffindor," he noted. "That's insane, you're far too lovely to be with that lot. Perhaps the Sorting Hat made a mistake - it's known to do that - after all, it put Longbottom in Gryffindor too, and he's Hufflepuff through and through. Are you new? Are you in sixth year? How odd to have a new student right in the middle of the year, it's almost unheard of..."
Hermione broke in and pulled Harry away from Draco.
"Yes, she's new," Hermione said tightly as she began to steer Harry, who was shell-shocked, towards the girls' lavatory.
"Hold on a moment, I know I've seen you before..." Draco was pondering. "What's your name again?"
"Ha..." breathed Harry.
"Ha... Hallie!" said Hermione. "Her name's Hallie. She's new. You've never seen her before. Don't you ever shut up? Go darken someone else's day now, Malfoy... Hallie's not interested in you!" She lowered her voice for Harry. "Go, Harry, move your legs for God's sake! You've got to change back, remember? Harry?"
"I..." Harry couldn't move. He couldn't take his eyes off of the Slytherin. He'd never seen him this nice before. He wasn't even this -- charming? -- to his own House members. And when was the last time that his hair was this shiny? Perfect to run her dainty fingers through...
Draco tossed a look at Hermione, and then turned back to Hallie. "So, Hallie..."
"I have to go," she finally uttered, stepping around her Gryffindor friend, quickly averting her eyes from Draco and his hair.
"So soon?" Draco asked. "So, Hallie..." he continued, "do you have any plans tonight?"
"Er..."
"I could show you around the school," he suggested. "I know all of the secrets Hogwarts has to offer. And who to avoid," he added, shooting a mocking smile at Hermione.
"We have plans already," Hermione interjected before Hallie could reply. Slipping an arm around Harry's shoulders, she quickly guided her down the hall.
Draco watched the two Gryffindors leave, feeling slightly disappointed. Oh well, it didn't really matter. There'd be other times to goggle the new witch. He'd make sure of that.
***
End Chapter One
***
A/N: So, which fanfic do you guys want to see the next chapter of next? Hallie, or Dreams of Enchantment?