Chapter 13

Ranma happily bounded over several beds and landed behind them. "So, how long have you three been here, anyway? I haven't been paying as much attention as I should. And what's this, anyway?" He took the Invisibility Cloak from Harry and held it up carefully.

Harry was the first to come out of his shock. "It's an Invisibility Cloak. It used to be my father's."

Ranma nodded in acknowledgement. "Don't worry, I won't rip it or anything. But you didn't answer my question. How long have you been here?" It was hard to take him seriously when Ranma currently had his head stuck under the cloak, making it look like he was headless.

All three snickered slightly at that, but Hermione decided to answer. "We've been here since you explained how you knew that fat man who turned into a panda."

Ranma nodded. "So the only important thing you missed was me telling Bumblebee-san about the 'Winds of Change.'"

Hermione shook her head in confusion. "Winds of Change? What does that mean?"

Ranma shook his head and moved the cloak slightly so that his body was invisible but his head was not. Harry had to bite his lip at the sight, trying not to laugh. It reminded him of how he had first found out what the cloak was. Then Ranma started to speak.

"The Winds of Change is what I call something that I've heard my whole life. Whenever something big is going to happen, I hear a sound like a wind picking up, changing. It's why I've been on edge all day, even before Genma showed his snout." He turned and snarled, making the three jerk in surprise.

Ranma walked over to the bed holding Genma. "Well, well, you're awake. I should have known. Not even you could hold a faint from terror for long. I'm not even going to bother asking. After all, I know how long you've been awake, Genma. Even paralyzed your breathing changed just enough."

Ranma jumped up on top of his belly, changing in mid leap to female and crouching on her high perch. "I wonder if I should ask one of the teachers to let you speak. It's almost a pleasure being able to be around you when you're not blathering your head off, though."

Before she could say anything else, a sound from outside the ward had her ears pricking for just a moment as she rose from her crouch. Then, with a happy and distinctly feline sound, she propelled herself off of Genma.

Harry, Ron and Hermione instinctively ducked when she went straight over them, but it wasn't necessary. Ranma was able to clear their heads easily.

Everyone stared at each other, and after a moment three students, three faculty, one old woman hopping on a cane, and a girl with purple hair were out the door after Ranma.

Out in the hall, Ranma didn't take long to find the ones she was looking for. "Hey, Tornado! Where have you been? And who did you bring?"

Ryouga looked up at the sound of Ranma's voice and grinned at the sight of his friend. "Hey Ranma. I was trying to get back to Japan." He motioned to the girl standing beside him, carrying a backpack and holding a kind of lead attached to Ryouga's backpack. "This is Kasumi Tendo."

Kasumi smiled. "Hello, you must be Ranma. Ryouga has said so much about you."

Ranma tilted her head slightly, studying the girl wordlessly. She barely heard the ones who had chased her halting a few feet behind her. Finally, she smiled and stepped forward to give the surprised girl a friendly hug. "Hello, Dove. It's nice to meet you."

Kasumi blinked in surprise. "Er, thank you. May I ask why you called me dove?"

Ranma grinned happily. "The dove is a sign of peace. Makes you a perfect compliment to Tornado, who is rarely peaceful."

Ryouga shook his head in confusion. "Tornado? I didn't think you had a nickname for me."

Ranma's grin widened. "Yes, Tornado. I had one, it just didn't come to the surface until now." She turned and led the way to a nearby empty classroom. "Besides, it fits you perfectly."

Kasumi smiled slightly and decided to follow the redhead. "Come on, Ryouga, she seems nice." The ones who had been in the Hospital Wing sighed in frustration and decided to follow. Pomfrey already had a ward on her domain that would let her know if she was needed.

Ranma waited in the classroom for them. For some reason, there was absolutely no dust, even though the room had been abandoned for some time. McGonagall automatically pulled out her wand and transfigured enough seats for all of them.

As if no time had passed, Ranma calmly turned to Ryouga to explain his nickname. "I didn't have a name for you before because I wasn't sure how to classify you. I call those people who I dislike or who I am unsure of by their own names. Genma is a good example of that. You were another." She paused for a moment to see how he would take it. After a moment's thought, he nodded for her to continue.

"If I respect someone but neither like nor dislike them very much, I will choose a name and call them exclusively by that." She gestured towards Snape. "Raven over there used to fit there, but since he helped Auntie Min, he no longer does.

"The last category of people are those I like and consider friends on some level. I call them by the names I choose, but if I am absolutely serious about something, I call them by their own name. That includes everyone in this room, even though Grandma has asked me not to use my name for her."

Cologne smiled slightly as the younger ones turned to look at her curiously. "Ranma explained why she called me by the name she chose, and I asked her not to because of how revealing it was." She shrugged. "Now Ranma uses Grandma in the same way as any of the others."

Ryouga smiled slightly. "Well, that does explain a lot, but why did you call me Tornado?"

Ranma grinned and leaned towards him. "Silly! Means you're my friend. I trust you now. And Tornado because you're like one. Your rage is fierce and can cause a lot of damage, but at the same time it lasts for a much shorter time than it might seem to a target of that fury."

Kasumi giggled. "She seems to have you pegged, Tornado." She commented teasingly.

Ranma grinned. "And you know him just as well, Dove. How long have you two been dating?" She asked innocently.

Both Ryouga and Kasumi blushed bright red and stammered slightly. Finally, Kasumi answered. "Ah, well, for some time now. My family doesn't know, though."

Ranma considered that for a moment, then closed her eyes, frowning in concentration. "Dragon knows, but she respects you. She knows that you wouldn't choose to give your heart away lightly. Hurricane and Storm have no idea." She smirked ever so slightly. "Rather oblivious, aren't they? There is also a kind of pride directed towards you, but not from any of them, but someone else who knows you well."

Kasumi shook her head. "Dragon? Do you mean Nabiki? And who are Hurricane and Storm? How do you know that anyway? And who else would know me well?"

Ranma opened her eyes and smiled slightly. "Yes, your sister is Dragon. They have been known to hoard wealth, after all. Hurricane is your other sister and Storm is your father. Nothing else really matters at the moment. All that matters is the happiness of two souls who can find little of it on their own but much of it together."

Kasumi looked like she wanted to question more, but Ryouga just put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head slightly when she looked at him. Now was not the time. "Don't worry Kasumi, Ranma is contrary at times, but she doesn't lie about certain things."

Ranma playfully stuck her tongue out at Ryouga and smiled at Kasumi. "Don't worry, Kasumi, Ryouga is telling the truth about me." Leaning forward, Ranma once more hugged the surprised girl and whispered into her ear. "Be happy, big sister. You make Ryouga happy, and both of you have more than earned that happiness."

Pulling back, Ranma gave no sign that she had said anything and turned toward Dumbledore. "Hey Bumblebee-san, are you going to fix Ryouga's curse now?"

Ryouga jerked in surprise before Dumbledore could answer. "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about that!"

Dumbledore chuckled slightly in amusement. "Well, we had better get it taken care of now, before you are lost or forget again," he answered, the twinkling in his eyes taking away any sting the words might have had.

> > > > > > >

Dumbledore led the small group on their way. Snape, McGonagall, and Pomfrey had all said they had things to do and would not be able to join, and Kuh Lon had dragged Xian Pu off, saying something about training. All that was left were the Gryffindor trio, Ranma, Kasumi, and of course Ryouga, who kept having to be pulled back on the right path.

Finally, the group reached a hallway that all but Ryouga and Kasumi recognized. Ranma tilted her head curiously. "You're going to use the Room of Requirement? Why?"

Dumbledore smiled as he paced in front of a certain section of wall, imagining what would be needed. "Well, it seemed the easiest way to have the room and items that would be needed. Besides, we won't be interrupted."

Ranma smiled. "That's true. So what do we have to do?"

Dumbledore simply smiled and led the way in. There was a room about the size of the average classroom, with a circle of protection on the floor. Turning back to Ranma, he smiled. "How did you heal Remus?"

Ranma frowned in confusion. "There was something wrong with his aura…" she trailed off and suddenly whirled toward a startled Ryouga. Her eyes flashed, and suddenly she seemed to be looking through him. She circled him closely, occasionally stopping to lean close as if trying to see something.

Finally, Ranma stood facing Ryouga and blinked. "Well, I don't know how your family managed to get a transportation spell mixed up in your aura, but it looks like it should have been under your control. Something happened to kind of cut it loose. It somehow managed to take all sense of direction with it. I suppose it has something to do with the transportation itself…"

Ryouga looked at Ranma, a little lost. "Are you saying that I'm supposed to be able to control where I go?"

Ranma nodded absently and dragged him to the middle of the protection circle. "Sit here." Turning back to the others, she calmly snagged Kasumi's arm and gently pushed her over to stand with the others by the wall. "You five stay here, too. This is different from fixing Moony's lycanthropy. I don't want any of you to get mixed up in this and have to be found again."

The five obediently stood against the wall, watching Ranma as she turned back toward Ryouga. Finally, Harry asked a question. "Professor, what did she mean about being found?"

Dumbledore just shook his head slightly. "I'm not entirely sure, Harry, but if fixing this has some backlash, I imagine it would result in sending whoever is caught in it somewhere unpredictable."

Ranma frowned as she looked at Ryouga. "Thought I told you to sit down." Ryouga sighed, but obediently sat. Ranma calmly kneeled in front of him. "Hold still, this may feel…strange." Without another word, Ranma calmly extended claws she had once only been able to use when she was lost from the fear of cats.

Ryouga watched Ranma and twitched slightly when she extended her claws. "What are you doing?"

Ranma calmly reached out and used her claws to manipulate Ryouga's aura the way she wanted it. "I need the right tool for this. It requires delicacy and I can't be as direct as I have to be any other way." With that, she carefully snagged the 'lost' spell tangled in Ryouga's aura and began to weave it back where it should have been before.

As she worked, Ranma spoke. "Someone in your family line wanted to be able to travel the way you do, only with more control. It was a trait that was meant to be passed down through the family, but something went wrong. I'm not sure if the ritual was interrupted or what, but it was unfinished." She shuffled slightly around to work on a new section.

"In a way, the spell worked. It just didn't work quite the way it was meant to. The spell was put into your ancestor's aura, but it wasn't fixed. It gave them the ability to travel, but the price of the unanchored spell was a complete loss of control." Without detangling her claws, Ranma carefully shuffled further around. By now, she was almost behind Ryouga.

"What I'm doing now should help fix it. There is nothing wrong with the spell itself, that was done perfectly. The problem is that without being anchored, it swings where it will. If it swings the right way, it does what it was meant to and sends you traveling. But the way it is, the traveling never has a destination. You are simply sent randomly to some other place."

Ranma sighed. By now, she was almost done and was once more kneeling directly in front of Ryouga. "This is a tricky part. If I thought it would help, I'd tell you to hold your breath, but that would only make it worse."

Ryouga frowned slightly. "What's the problem, then?"

Ranma shook her head slightly, hands still occupied with her claws seeming to be tangled in something inches from Ryouga's chest. "I kind of weaved the spell around you. Once the two ends are connected, it will spread all over you and be completed. The problem is that it will likely create a backlash. Fortunately, the protection circle will keep it from spreading."

Ryouga's eyes widened as he realized what she wasn't saying. "Will it affect anything in the circle?"

Ranma smiled and carefully pulled her left hand away and moved it over slight to snag something else. "Who knew Martial Arts Sewing would come in handy at a time like this?" She shook her head. "No, it won't affect you." And with that, she weaved the two ends together and there was a bright flash.

Once the light cleared, everyone realized that there was one person missing, and an echoing feline yowl was the only clue to what had happened.

> > > > > > >

AN: Aren't I mean? I was going to have this chapter out a little sooner, but I kind of forgot. Sorry. I hope you enjoy, and hopefully you will follow the not-so-subtle hints to figure out what happened. See ya when I have the next chapter!