Chapter 2
Eventually, Professor McGonagall came out to find out where her class was. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but almost every one of the Slytherins and Gryffindors in her class were missing.
Their first meeting startled both Ranma and McGonagall.
Ranma was happily playing with the ball she had found. It was going almost forty feet in the air now. She jumped and tagged it from above, but was startled when she realized that she was by the entrance to the big school, Hogwarts. She was even more startled by the fact that there was someone standing almost right below her.
Ranma barely had time to try and twist in mid-air to avoid crashing into McGonagall, but wasn't able to avoid it completely.
McGonagall was almost thrown back into the door she had just come out of, and her wand was automatically in her hand. She stared at the girl before her. She had red hair with orange-ish ears now flattened against the top of her head. An orange-ish tail was resting against the ground behind her, and the look on her face was a mixture of some strange fear and concern. McGonagall blinked as she realized both emotions were directed at her. She put her wand away and looked into the eyes of the child before her. She was startled when she realized that they had slit pupils, like cat's eyes.
Ranma was relieved when she realized that the woman in front of her was not injured, but still felt horrible. She sniffed, trying to understand why she was feeling so ashamed of hitting the woman in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise when she recognized the cat-scent hidden within the woman's own scent. It wasn't like her scent, half-cat and half-human, it was more like the woman had an alternate scent.
McGonagall was somewhat surprised. The girl almost looked like she had tried to transform into a cat and got stuck halfway. Little did she know how close she was to the truth. Ranma's body had been caught by two entirely different curses and had settled on a compromise.
Ranma stood slowly, studying the woman in front of her. Then, without knowing quite why she did it, Ranma mewed softly. The woman started slightly, staring at her.
McGonagall was not surprised that she had understood the mew, which conveyed a certain uncertainty and wish to be accepted. What surprised her was the fact that the child could convey exactly what she meant to, even in her seemingly half-transformed state. She smiled and nodded slightly. She would accept the girl without reservations.
Ranma grinned happily, pleased that she would be accepted. Her grin showed off somewhat fang-like teeth.
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McGonagall quickly decided that Ranma should know most of the professors. Besides McGonagall, only three of them stood out in Ranma's mind. The first had been the extremely small and excitable Flitwick. He had been so excited that he had fallen backwards off the stack of books he had stood on when the Ranma and McGonagall came in.
"Oh, hello Minerva. Who is this?" Flitwick was delighted at the obviously unusual girl's appearance.
"Hello, Filius. This is Ranma. Hagrid found her in the Forbidden Forest last night." McGonagall was acting calm, but she was inwardly confused. What was this strange girl doing in the Forbidden Forest?
Both teachers watched for a moment as Ranma happily explored the classroom. She looked up as she caught the scent of McGonagall's bewilderment. "Don't worry, Auntie Min. I'll tell you everything later."
McGonagall nodded distractedly. Then her head snapped up in sheer surprise. "What did you call me?"
Ranma smiled as her plan to distract her Auntie Min was pulled off. "I called you Auntie Min. You aren't my momma, but you act like an aunt." McGonagall stared. She was vaguely aware of Flitwick laughing behind her, and the muffled thump that signaled that he had, yet again, fallen off his stack of books. But most of her attention was focused on the small girl in front of her. She had never had anyone have the nerve to call her anything like Ranma's new nickname for her, but she didn't mind too much. It was the fact that she had said it to her face that really stunned her. Ranma seemed to know she was fine and had gone back to exploring.
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After Flitwick, there was Professor Sprout. Ranma had taken an immediate liking to the cheerful woman.
"Oh, hello Minerva. How are you today?" Sprout was repotting several plants when they came in.
"Hello, Rosemary. I'm fine, thank you. I decided Ranma here needed to get acquainted with some of the teachers here."
Sprout looked up from what she was doing for the first time since they had come in. Ranma was peeking shyly around Minerva, not seeming very sure of her.
Sprout looked startled, but came over anyway. "Hello, Ranma was it?"
Ranma came out a little more and got a good look at Sprout. "Yes. My name is Ranma." She sniffed the air. "You smell good." She came out completely and went over to Sprout. She sniffed some more before leaning forward and rubbing her head against Sprout's hand. Sprout was startled, but she tentatively reached forward and scratched Ranma's head. She was startled again when she felt a pair of cat-like ears, but she didn't hesitate to scratch them. This seemed to make Ranma very happy, and a loud purr resounded throughout the greenhouse.
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Snape's introduction did not go as well. Ranma and McGonagall soon found him down in the dungeons brewing potions. The moment they stepped in, Ranma started sneezing. Snape looked up, and was surprised by the sight of McGonagall with a young red-haired girl. The girl was sneezing.
Snape sneered slightly. "To what do I owe this…pleasure, Minerva?"
McGonagall's lips firmed into a thin line. "Ranma here will be joining Hogwarts for some time. I thought it best to introduce her to the professors. Unfortunately, she seems to be allergic to something."
Ranma smiled slightly. "I'm not allergic to anything, Auntie Min. The potions just smell bad."
Snape raised an eyebrow at the 'Auntie Min' but did not comment. "The smells of the potions are a way to gauge the correctness of them." His tone was extremely sarcastic, and Ranma growled softly.
"I did not say they werrre wrrrrong. I have no way of knowing such a thing. You arrre the one brrrrewing them. If they are wrrrrong it is yourrr own fault." The words had a slight growling undertone to them. "Though if you arrre as much of a massster as I think you arrre, then therrre shouldn't be a prrroblem."
She started to turn to leave, but turned back just before she did. Snape was staring at her in surprise. "How did you know I was a Potions Master?" he asked, but for once it was a question without the biting undertone.
Ranma looked at him for a moment and snorted. "You smell like an incredible number of different ingredients, you are at home in this place, and I can see a master of an art from a mile away." She turned and started to walk away, but added something over her shoulder as she went. "Besides, it's in your aura."
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AN: This is slightly shorter than I like, but this was a good stopping point. Sorry, but that is just the way it goes. Besides, if I get good response for this, then I will have the next chapter out soon. I've got the first few chapters already written, but once I get past the ones I have written, it will take me longer to update them. I didn't put in any of the other teachers because I really don't know what they're like. So, sorry if I didn't do your favorite teacher or whatever.
And now, I decided to respond to a few of the reviews. I won't respond to all of them because a lot of them are either just something saying they like my story (I love them, but I saw no reason to respond.) or repeat a question. Anyway...
goku: I don't really have any way to explain in the story just yet, but the first chapter didn't directly follow the Prologue. There are some months between that I saw no reason to write about.
Tigger-69: I love your review! I was reading it and I had this huge grin on my face. Anyway, no hot water in the wild is a good reason, but it's not the only one. The next chapter should explain that, but I already had it written and it didn't fit in this chapter. I chose Neko as the title of the story because it sounded better than "HP R12". I'm not kidding because that is what I call those files that I hadn't decided a name for. Unfortunately, I haven't decided exactly what Ranma's place in Hogwarts actually is. I just got this idea stuck in my head at one point and started writing it down. It was a spur of the moment type of thing. I never plan out my stories, because if I did, I probably wouldn't be able to stick to the plan. My brain just likes to be somewhat spontaneous. Besides, with as much response as I've gotten with just two chapters, it seems to work.
Ebona Nite: I won't be able to really explain this in the story, so I will here.
Snakemind is just something I made up. To me, it basically means that when he wants or has to, Harry can think without emotions clouding his judgement. He relates well to snakes. This doesn't mean he's emotionless, it just means that he can pretty much shove all of his emotions into the back of his mind with very little effort. looks at explanation I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense, but it is the best I can do. I haven't exactly tried to define it before.
Fireheart is also something I made up. In my mind, it means that Ron always feels something. He can't shove his emotions away like Harry can, either naturally or by necessity. If he tried to confine his emotions, the best he could do was make it so that they didn't affect him so much. It would be like having a campfire set up. To confine his emotions, Ron would have to put some kind of fire-proof sheild around the fire. The fire would still be there, but the heat wouldn't affect him as much. Does that make sense? Because, again, that is the best I can do for the moment.
Dragon Man 180: Sorry, but Ranma won't have to deal with hot water for a while. I'll explain in the next chapter. I would love to see Malfoy humiliated by being shred to his underwear. Unfortunately, it may not happen. pouts It may sound weird, but even dragon-boy isn't idiot enough to insult someone who is using a teacher's shoulders as a resting spot. snaps fingers Darn it! But who knows, it may happen later.