Note: I'm going to touch a little more on Ranma and Shampoo in this chapter to help cover some of the reviews I've gotten about Ranma being a dead beat dad. Talk about surprising reviews. Heh.

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Potter – The Stone
Chapter 17
By Cory D. Rose
(c) 2005
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-Four Years Ago-

"Now let's see…" Ranma said as he sat in front of the small camp fire holding a note book. "In the last sixteen hours you've ran ten miles, done two hundred push ups, sit ups, pull-ups, and spared with me for an hour."

The wasted heap that was barley conscious on the other side of the fire groaned in response.

Ranma nodded. "Not bad for now, but you need to increase that. Now your Ki control has been getting sloppy lately. You should be advanced enough that doing all that should just make you tired, but still able to move."

The heap groaned again, though it sounded rather nasty and had two syllables.

This just made Ranma laugh. "You say that now kid, just wait till you have to do all this in under three hours."

The heap, who was Harry, shuddered a little.

Standing up, Ranma walked around the fire and dropped a blanket over the kid. "Get some sleep."

It only took a few seconds for the kid to start snoring. Ranma wandered around the outside of the camp for several minutes kneeling every now and then. Then glanced at Harry and walked away from the camp. He wandered through the trees of the forest for several minutes, just enjoying the silence and thinking about when he was younger.

There was no way his old man would've ever let him slack off with a measly ten mile run and two hundred of each exercise. Genma was fanatical about martial arts training and would have gone over and kicked Harry awake, tied a couch to his back, and made the boy run for another ten miles while running from the local wild life.

Ranma had gone through the training and always managed to think up other ways to teach a student something that didn't turn into a life or death situation. It also helped that Harry took the training right quick. The kid just had a self esteem problem that slowed him down at times.

Some days he would have a learning curve that rivaled Ranma, but then completely screw up something basic. Ranma really wondered if that was normal for everyone, because Akane had been the same way when he taught her the basics of the Anything Goes School a few months ago.

He was just lucky she was a skilled martial artist and had years of training under her belt. Though he had only taught her the lower school. Happosai had made that quite clear. Only the Grandmaster could know the Higher School unless a suitable student came along and showed incredible ability in the art. There was no need to let talent go to waste after all.

Harry's odd talent still confused Ranma a little. He had a pretty good idea what it might be, but he wasn't sure he should bring it up to anyone. Even after the incident with the flower bomb Ukyo had gone out of her way to think of some excuse that might explain what the kid did. Eventually she settled on calling it a Ki shield and congratulated Harry.

It had only taken a second for Ranma to rule that out though. Whatever it was only had a tiny bit of Ki and that hadn't been enough to even do anything. There had been some other kind of energy there. Ranma shook his head and peered through the trees again. In the distance he could see a small campfire and headed that way.

He grinned a little as he came to a stop outside edge of the camp and looked at the purple headed girl sitting there. "Shampoo."

"Ranma-kun." She purred. She was wearing her usual short dress and leaving nothing to the imagination. The fire crackled, making the shadows around the campsite jump around. "You came."

"Of course." He said.

Shampoo grinned at him and motioned for him to sit on one of the simple stools sitting beside the fire. He wandered over and sat down easily. "It nearly year and half Ranma. You no come to village yet."

Ranma shrugged. "I'm a guy Shampoo. You warriors would just shoot me on sight."

Shampoo huffed. "They won't."

"Maybe, but it would best if I never set foot inside your village again. You know that." Ranma said.

The purple haired beauty sighed. "You gave me a daughter Ranma. Her name is Kalima."

Ranma looked at the girl and grinned a little. "At least I know she will do well in your village."

"Even if boy, we would honor."

Ranma just snorted. "Yeah right. I saw how Mousse was treated Shampoo. He was lower than dirt."

"Mousse special case."

He shrugged. "So were is Kalima?"

Grinning, Shampoo stood up and stretched seductively before stepping into the tent and coming out with a little girl wrapped in a simple blanket. She had bright red tufts of hair on her head. "Shampoo consider naming Ranko, but Great Grandmother say not to."

"She's cute." Ranma said as he took the girl and held her.

"She's a fighter. Nearly kicked hole in stomach before born." Shampoo laughed.

Ranma just grinned down at his daughter. "She's a Saotome, we're all fighters even if we don't want to be."

"Stay and help raise her?" Shampoo asked.

"I can't, I'm still on my mastery quest."

"Training that boy?"

"Yes, he was in a bad situation and needed help."

"Ranma always help." Shampoo said with a grin as she stood up and shucked her short dress and stood in front of him completely naked. "Shampoo want another child."

Ranma gulped. "Um…"

She straddled his lap and kissed him.

"…what the hell." Ranma finished as he picked her up and sat her down on the soft ground beside the fire. It only took a few seconds for Ranma's clothes to fly off into the darkness. Quickly followed by Shampoo making mewling noises as Ranma knelt over her.

The next morning Ranma would have to climb one of the trees just retrieve his pants and one of his shoes. Of course he never did find his socks. He was a little tired, but Shampoo had challenged him in her usual way and made the whole experience unforgettable. With any luck she wouldn't be able to walk for a day or two.

He smirked as he headed back towards his own camp. When Shampoo awoke she would find a large Emerald among Kalima's blanket to help pay for anything that was needed. Ranma may not have been able to be there as she grows up, but he could support her anyway.

oooooooooo

Several weeks later Harry had to admit that maybe there was more to Quirrell than he thought. The man hadn't cracked yet and the stone seemed to stay right where it was supposed to be. Harry even wondered if Snape was just waiting for something to happen before really leaning on Quirrell.

Harry used his cloak to keep an eye on the third floor corridor. Heading up there at least once a day to make sure he could still hear Fluffy moving about in the locked room. He even stumbled across Hermione pressing her ear against the door a couple of times as well.

They had given up on the idea of setting traps though. Hermione figured they just didn't know enough magic to set a trap that would prevent an adult wizard from entering the room. They had also considered that the large three headed drooling dog needed to be fed as well. There was no way that Hagrid could get through their traps to do that.

That was why they were checking the room whenever they had a chance between classes. It was after one of these checks that Ron caught him just as he was about to leave the common room. "Harry, have you heard anything about this Wind Monster that everyone says haunts the dungeons?"

"Wind monster?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, it's caught several students, even Snape, and literally ripped their clothing off with large bursts of wind."

"I heard about the bit with Snape. Who else got hit?"

"Seems Malfoy and his goons were victims a few days ago." Ron said with a laugh. They were found hanging from the rafters in shredded robes that didn't cover anything."

Harry laughed with his friend. "Well, they certainly deserved it. Did you hear about Malfoy hurting those students over near Hufflepuff?"

"Yeah, but no one would go to a teacher." Ron mumbled.

"A Slytherin was seen running from something over near the third corridor too." Harry mentioned. "No one knows who it was though."

"Probably Malfoy, the jerk seems to be spreading his filth everywhere." Ron grumbled. "I can't believe they let someone like him even attend Hogwarts."

Harry shrugged. "Hard to say, but Snape is still stalking around the area so something must be happening over there."

"You think he's trying to get into that room?"

"Maybe."

"Bloody hell." Ron snapped.

oooooooooo

Harry liked being friends with Hermione, he really did, but he really wished she would loosen up a little. Not five minutes ago she just walked up to him and handed him color coded copies of her notes, some revised tables for studying, and brand new quills.

"Um…"

"Exams are only a few weeks away! We have to pass these just to get into second year." She said, looking a little panicky.

"You'll do fine." Harry told her.

"We have to study!" She insisted, dragging him to the library.

"But, I'm caught up in all my classes."

"Then you can get ahead in all your classes." She told him in her bossy McGonagall voice.

Harry took it all in stride. He had very few friends and she was one of the people that seemed to be able to see past his scar and fame. Of course that didn't keep that pack of girls from stalking him around the school every now and then. Then, to his horror, he found out that the teachers had the same idea as their homework started to steadily increase in length and size.

Hermione was in her element and Harry figured he would always see her as she looked up from a pile of books, her glasses reflecting torch light. That kind of thought was quickly dragged off to the back of his mind and forgotten about.

Did Ranma care? Not one bit and just kept pushing his training as the days passed. Constantly running him through one kata or another for hours on end until he had the down perfectly. By this time, Harry had gotten used to all the weighted clothing though. Giving him even more sculpted look that had the girls watching him all the time.

After that Ranma had him meditating and learning how to recognize the Ki pathways throughout the body. These seemed to run right along side the magical pathways as well, something that Ranma thought was quite interesting. Once these were mapped he would be one step closer to controlling his Ki with precision.

The Easter holidays were just starting when Harry had a break through in training. He formed his first ball of Ki. Ranma's Ki was a bright blue when he used it, so Harry was a bit surprised to be holding a marble sized ball of green Ki. Ranma wasn't sure why it was green.

"I don't sense any depression coming off you." He muttered as he peered at the little ball.

"Well, it's not blackish green like Ryoga uses." Harry said. "It's an almost florescent green. Would that make a difference?"

Ranma frowned. "I wouldn't think so."

"My magic?"

"Maybe." Ranma said. "Alright, I want you to focus on the ball of Ki and try and make it change colors."

"But you've said that the color is determined by the emotion used?"

Ranma nodded. "Exactly. I've been trying to read what emotion you're using for that and I can't feel any emotion."

Harry shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"Now just try and will the ball to change to blue."

Nodding, Harry pictured a blue ball of Ki in his hand and it instantly changed. The blue ball of Ki also increased in size. Nearly the size of a golf ball. "This one is even brighter."

"I think you're charging the Ki unconsciously." Ranma said. He held up his hand and formed a softball sized ball of Ki. It was a light blue, nearly transparent, and held enough Ki to blow a regular door to splinters. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone.

Ranma leaned in a little closer. "That ball is giving off that same glow as the stones and your cloak."

"So it's magic after all."

Ranma nodded. "I think it's a mix of both. You're using magic to enhance the power of the Ki."

He thought about it for the next several minutes, pacing the room while Harry watched. Ranma stopped with a frown on his face. "Ki is the energy of life, something anyone can use if they train correctly. Your magic is slightly different, but I was thinking that it be along the same lines."

Reaching out, as if grabbing air, a ball of bright blue Ki suddenly forms in Ranma's hand. Even brighter than the one Harry is holding and fills the room with light. Then it pops like a bubble, giving a loud bang of displaced air, and Harry lost his concentration.

He opened his eyes to see Ranma sitting on the floor looking at his hand as smoke wafts of it. "Hmm…"

"Are you alright?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, just realizing something." Ranma said. He closed his hand for a second and opened it, holding a small bright blue ball of Ki. "I've been examining that glow on everything that seems to have magic in it. I just pulled some of that magic out of the air. And created this."

"Can you do anything with it though?"

Ranma gave him a look. "I'm not sure. This is all new to me, but I think I'm beginning to understand how I can tap into magic."

He stood up, took a stance, and brought his palms to his side in a classic Ki firing position. Harry quickly got out of the way as Ranma focused on a training dummy on the other side of the room and the Ki in his hand turned into a little sun.

It wasn't a blast of Ki, it was a beam of bright energy that launched across the room. The dummy seemed to just vaporize under the force of the blast. Harry got a look at Ranma's shocked face just as the wave of energy rebounded around the room and slammed into both of them.

They crashed into the far wall as the rest of the energy seemed to bleed out. They fell to the floor coughing. Ranma turned to Harry and gave him a giant grin. "That was so cool. For a second there I felt like I was in a DBZ anime."

Harry nodded. "A little too much power though."

"Feh, the life of a martial artist is fraught with peril." Ranma said, slowly climbing to his feet.

"The bloody panda's saying can rot." Harry muttered and suddenly wondered if anyone outside his trunk had heard that blast. "Uh oh."

Ranma's hands were smoking and quickly turning red. He glared at them, as if daring them to actually start hurting.

oooooooooo

Harry figured he was quite lucky when he exited his trunk a few minutes alter and found that the dorm room was empty and breathed a sigh of relief. "It's clear."

"Good." Said Ranma. "I'll have to be more careful."

"Yeah. Are you going to get your hands looked at?"

"Naw, they'll be fine here in a couple of hours. They're already healing and I should be able to do some experimenting. I over charged that blast and I didn't have any control over the attack like I usually do."

"So you won't be doing anything like that again?"

"Not unless I need to." Ranma said. "You better head to the library, your friend asked you to show up about now."

Harry blinked. "Oh yeah, I wasn't paying attention to the time. Thanks."

"There are a couple of books down in the trunk that I want to check before our next Ki session as well, that little blast I just pulled off has given me a couple of ideas."

"Like what?"

"You'll see here in a few days. I need to figure them out before I train you how to do them. Better get going."

"Sure." Harry shrugged as he pulled on his school robes and headed for the door.

Nodding, Ranma descended back into the trunk and shut the lid. Harry realized that he had his robes, but had forgotten to put on the shirt and tie. He shrugged it off. He really didn't like to wear the things anyway. Adjusting his blue silk shirt, he made sure it was laced up, and grabbed his books.

He entered the library a few minutes later. Of course this was after descending two levels, dodging a pack of giggling girls, and hiding from a couple of teachers that were wandering around.

Hermione was sitting at a table on the opposite side of the library where the Troll had attacked her. The table was nearly buried under books and scrolls as she worked on a homework assignment. He watched her adjust her glasses, sigh, and start writing with the quill again.

"Hermione." Harry said.

The girl looked up at him, blinked a few times, then went back to her paper. "You're late."

"Ranma discovered a new technique." He said as he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. He pulled out his homework and a quill.

She looked up at him. "He did?"

Harry nodded. "Some mix of Ki and Magic. He destroyed this training dummy and nearly took out a wall."

"He mixed Ki and Magic?"

"Yep."

"I didn't think that was possible."

"We didn't either, but I managed to pull it off on a smaller scale and gave Ranma the idea to pull his off."

Hermione was starting to look excited. "I want to see it."

"Sure, when we get a few free moments. Homework first, right?"

She glared at him.

He just grinned back just as he spotted Hagrid moving around one of the stacks pulling out a couple of books. The large man had a large grin on his face as he placed the books under his arm. Harry waved at him.

"Ah, 'arry!" Hagrid said, looking a little shifty as he stuffed the books into his long coat. "What're you doin today? Not still looking for that guys name."

"We found that ages ago." Harry said, smirking. "Care to give us some more information?"

"Ya shouldn't be messen with this thing." Hagrid said. "Anyway, come ter see me when ya get a chance." He said, glancing around eying everyone, then strolled out of the library.

"That man couldn't keep a secret to save his life." Hermione muttered.

"No kidding and I'm a Gryffindor. We're bad a lying." Harry said with a sigh.

"I wonder what house he was in?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged.

"Any idea what book he just took?"

"No idea."

"Check the section he was just in."

Harry shuffled over to the stack and checked the books. He grabbed a couple of books and came back to the table. "Dragons." He whispered.

"Oh great, he's always liked animals a little too much." Hermione muttered. "You've seen him wandering around with those animals they use in Care of Magical Creatures."

"You think he's gotten a dragon?"

Hermione thought about it for a second and nodded slowly. "They're illegal to own too."

"They are?"

"There are no dragons left in Britain."

"Where did you hear that?"

She smirked at him. "I read it somewhere."

"You've got to get out more." Harry muttered.

She was glaring at him, again.

"What?"

oooooooooo

"Harry, I can't believe you're still hanging around that girl." Ron muttered as Harry entered the common room.

"Huh?"

"The Ravenclaw. Are you a couple or something?"

Harry sighed. "I'm only eleven you know. A little young to have a girlfriend, I would think."

Ron smirked. "That's not what the girls are saying."

Now Harry shuddered.

"Now you seem to be showing interest in a Ravenclaw. I'm quite surprised." Ron said, trying to sound older and more knowledgeable.

"That's ridiculous, she's just a friend." Harry snapped.

"Right." Ron sang.

Harry huffed. "I'll be heading down to visit Hagrid here in a few minutes."

"Sure, run away." Ron said.

"Yeah, well, whatever." Harry muttered as he headed up to his room and changed his clothes, grabbed his invisibility cloak, and headed back down stairs.

He noticed as he the portrait opened that several of the girls were staring at him again. It probably didn't help that he was wearing his 'Ranma' outfit again. The blue silk shirt and loose black pants. The instant he left and the portrait closed, half the girls in the common room sighed.

Ron just shook his head and went back to playing chess with Seamus.

"You're not going with him?"

"Naw, he needs some time alone with that Ravenclaw girl. Heard them talking when they were in the library a little while ago. Something about dragons."

Seamus just nodded. "The way to a Ravenclaw's heart is through a book."

Ron just laughed.

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"Harry." Hermione said. She was standing next to the main door to the castle.

He hopped down the stairs, hopped over the side, and dropped the last ten feet to the floor. Her eyes widened a bit as he landed with ease and ran over to her. "Hey."

"You could have hurt yourself." She muttered.

"True, but I've done things like that hundreds of times. So nothing to worry about."

"Humph."

"I brought this as well."

"What's that?"

"My invisibility cloak."

She looked interested as she reached out and touched the super soft fabric. As usual it seemed to glitter in the torch light around them. "This is fascinating!"

"Yep." Harry said, quickly throwing the cloak around his shoulders. Everything but his head vanished from sight. He smirked at the look on Hermione's face. He opened the front of the cloak. "Duck in behind me and we can head out to Hagrid's house without anyone seeing us."

Blushing, Hermione moved under the cloak and they quickly made their way outside, around the school, and over to the large shack Hagrid called home. Harry was glad it was night out, it allowed the cloak to work even better because they had the cover of darkness as well.

"You feel that?" Hermione asked.

"What?"

"The air is getting hotter."

Harry stopped and nodded. "We're only a few yards from Hagrid's place."

"Oh no." She said.

"The Dragon?"

"I'd bet on it."

Sighing, Harry maneuvered them over to the door and pulled off the cloak. "Well we're here, let's see if you're right."

The girl adjusted her glasses and nodded. "I know I am."

Harry rolled his eyes and knocked.

"Who is it?"

"It's Harry and Hermione."

The large door opened, sending a wave of heat right into Harry's face. He staged back under the blast furnace level of heat, nearly knocking Hermione over as a result. "Gah!"

"Hagrid!" Hermione gasped.

"Come in, come in!" He hissed, nearly pulling them off their feet as he grabbed them and lifted them inside.

The heat inside the hut was stifling and Hagrid actually had the windows shut. "Hagrid, it's way too hot in here."

The large man didn't say anything as he poured them tea. "Here, drink this, it'll cool yeh down."

Harry was just glad that Hagrid forgot to offer them food as well. Who in their right minds would eat a Stoat Sandwich? The two students quickly noticed that Hagrid's fire place was blazing away. Hermione narrowed her eyes as she leaned forward.

It was a look that she got when she thought she was being crafty or cunning. "So Hagrid, what else is guarding the Stone in the third floor corridor?"

"I canna tell yer nothen."

"Come on Hagrid, we know about Fluffy and that can't be the only thing or the Stone would've been gone by now. For some reason Quirrell hasn't given in yet, but we know Snape is after the stone." Harry said, ticking the ideas off on his fingers.

"Yeh don't know nothen!" Hagrid growled. "Professor Snape wouldn't do anything like that and yeh know it."

"I saw what he tried at the game Hagrid. We just want to know that the Stone is safe from him."

Hermione nodded. "Indeed."

"Seeing as you already knows about the Stone, I guess it wouldn't hurt yeh to know a bit more." Hagrid said reluctantly as he stoked the fire, making it blaze even hotter. There was a gleam in his eyes that Harry hadn't seen before.

"The Stone is 'ere for a reason. Some git nearly stole it from Gringotts after all."

Harry nodded, recalling when they visited that old vault and the grubby looking package. "That little package was the Stone?"

"Yep." Hagrid said and puffed his chest out in pride. "Professor Dumbledore trusted me with the job of retrieving it. Such an honor."

"Hagrid, that thing is endangering the students lives." Hermione snapped.

"Is not! No one but us and the teachers even knows it's here."

Harry shook his head. "Hagrid, I think more than just us knows that stone is here. That thing is priceless and people will come for it."

"Each professor set a trap around the stone. 'Ogwarts is the safest place in all of Britain for the stone. Even Snape has a trap in place."

"But he's trying to steal it!" Harry said.

"Yeh still on about that? I tells yeh that he's tryin to protect the stone and isn't out to steal it." Hagrid insisted. "We aren't even allowed to tell people how to get past the traps either."

Hermione frowned a little. "But the teachers have to know what they did to protect the stone."

"Aye, we know up to a point, but not how to get past them. It's security, see." Hagrid said. "Now leave it alone."

"Alright." Harry said with a nod from Hermione. They didn't want to make their friend mad at them. "Can we at least open a window, I'm broiling alive here."

Hagrid shook his head and glanced at the fire as he stoked it again. "Can't, sorry."

In the fire Harry could make out a large black egg shaped object. "What's that?"

"Ah, well yeh see…" Hagrid said nervously and fiddled with his beard. "Um…"

"It's a dragon egg, I think." Hermione explained as she moved a little closer to the fire. "No wonder it's so hot in here."

"How did you get it?" Harry asked.

Hagrid grinned proudly, his eyes gleaming with glee. "Won it!"

"You can't win a dragon's egg!" Hermione almost yelled. "They're illegal!"

"Can too, just last night actually. Playin cards with a couple of guys down at the pub. Guy was glad to get rid of it too."

Hermione sputtered. "But Hagrid, what about when it hatches?"

"I've been doin some readen." He said. "Perfectly safe."

"Hagrid, dragons breath fire! You live in a wooden house!" Hermione screeched.

The large man wasn't listening though as he stoked the fire again, the gleam was back in his eyes. Harry shook his head and knew that when it came to dangerous animals Hagrid rarely listened to reason. "Great." He muttered.

They quickly said their goodbyes and headed back to the castle using the cloak again. Harry escorted Hermione right to Ravenclaw tower before he let her out. She was fidgeting a little, bouncing from foot to foot, and looking excited again.

"What?"

"I don't know what to do about Hagrid. That thing of his could get him fired. They are very illegal."

Harry sighed. "I know, but he probably knows what he's doing. He wouldn't be the grounds keeper for Hogwarts if he didn't know what he was doing."

"That thing is going to cause problems, I just know it. We should tell a teacher."

Harry knew that she didn't like to break the rules. "Hermione I think we should just keep quiet about this. I don't want to get him in trouble."

She gave him a stern look.

"I mean, just ignore it for now."

"Alright, but what if he gets hurt?"

Harry really hoped that wouldn't happen.

oooooooooo

As they talked, a blond headed boy poked his head around a wall and sneered. He didn't know what Potter was doing, but he would find out. Fear and hate filled Draco's mind whenever he was close to Potter. He could still remember what happened on the train.

Whatever that was it had given him nightmares for the first few weeks of school. Even his own father didn't scare him as much as Potter had in that one moment. He could still see Harry's glowing eyes, the nearly transparent flames of energy swirling around his body as they burned the floor. Or the feelings that had welled up in him at that instant.

He would have his revenge. Looking back down the hall he noticed that Potter wasn't there anymore. Nor was the mudblood girl who was going to be his target to make Potter pay.

"Granger." He hissed, feeling like himself for the first time in several months.

oooooooooo

Author Notes: Well, this chapter marks the first steps towards the end of this fic. There are only three main scenes left to go before the final fight at the end and I've got some plans in mind for that things that should add to the originality of this fic.

Ranma's attack isn't what people are probably thinking. No this won't turn into a DBZ replay. They were experimenting with mixing Ki and Magic, this made me think of the Expecto Patronum spell from the movie where it lit up the whole sky. Ranma condensed the Ki and Magic into a tightly packed ball and projected it from his hands. Think of it as Raw untamed power. He may not pull off such a move again for a while though.

I've also got this scene in mind with Nodoka arriving at Hogwarts, but I'm having problems finding the right place to place it. It may be at the end though, right after the fight. We'll see what comes up.

oooooooooo

Omake

Winds swirled through the dungeons as the lone blond Slytherin stalked down the hall plotting his revenge against Harry Potter. He cackled occasionally. He barely noticed the wind at first, but then it picked up, making his robes ripple around his body.

"Uh oh." He muttered, recalling what happened to Snape.

He turned to run, but the wind suddenly picked up speed, pushing him of his feet, and throwing him down the corridor. Yelling out, he spun around and felt his robe ripped off his body.

Little pieces of black confetti filled the corridor as he slammed into the wall, pinned there by the force of the wind. Then it quickly calmed down, letting him fall to the floor.

"What the hell?" He asked.

Then he suddenly lifted off the floor and catapulted to the ceiling with a loud splat. Pink gum covered his body from head to toe, pinning him to the ceiling. The only thing not covered was eyes and nose.

Down below, Ranma appeared from nowhere and looked up at the student. "You're not Snape."

"Mmmph!"

"Well, shit."

"Mmmph mmm!"

"Sorry?"

Draco Malfoy glared.

"Fine be that way." Ranma said as he pulled a book from his robe and walked away. "Stupid Slytherins, they all look the same."

"Mmmph umph ugh mmmph!"

Of course, that was when Mrs. Norris came by, sniffed around, then slowly looked a the ceiling. "Meow."

"CAT!"

A blue beam of magic flew down the hall and hit the cat. Draco sweatdropped, eyes nearly as wide as his head as the cat ran out of the spreading wave of smoke, it's tail on fire.