Mercenaries, Ninja, Martial Artists, and Wizards

Ride to the Feast

The sun rose to find the Leaky Cauldron to be best described as chaos barely controlled. Despite the fact that only the Weasley's, the group of ninja, a pair of somewhat newlyweds, and two others were the only people who were leaving for King's Cross Station that morning, their sheer numbers within the small hallways and stairs along with their belongings stressed the building itself to new limits. Thankfully most of the group had been packed the night before with the exception of today's necessities but that did little to truly help the situation. Even through the chaos that disturbed every other tenant in their own rooms the last minute packing and gathering in the bar barely took more than an hour, Mr. Weasley opened the door to let everyone know that Ministry cars had arrived to take them to the station.

For Ranma that was the best news he heard all day since Hermione was talking about letting Crookshanks, her new cat, out on the train and the thought terrified him if he wound up being in the same car as that, that evil thing. Akane was by his side and noticed him tensing up and recalled the previous day when the large group of youths visited the pet store for medicine for Ron's rat, Scabbers. Ron had been attacked by what looked like a small tiger and in that same instant Ranma had run out of the shop as fast as he could, it was one thing if a cat was merely looking at him but quite another when they were on the attack and that brought up very painful memories of his younger days. Akane had enlisted the help of Denko and Tsume to find her estranged husband and even then it had taken them twenty minutes to find him and nearly as long for him to calm down.

Back at the present she slipped her hand into his and he instantly turned to look at her in the eyes, her eyes full of understanding of his plight and reassurance that was there to help in any way she could. It didn't take him more than a second to relax before they both grabbed their packs and walked out the door into Muggle London and loaded their belongings into the first car in the line which happened to be right outside the door. Denko and Tsume had the same idea and climbed in the same car a minute later and they watched as the rest loaded themselves. Fortunately Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, with the help of the Ministry drivers, were able to get everything settled and they were on their way. Squeezing through tight spaces that normal cars would never be able to go through without the help of a hydraulic press and small jumps to the front of lines the drivers managed to get the massive group to King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare and even helped load their luggage onto trolleys, at least for the Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione since everyone else had a backpack, before they left and somehow managed to jump ahead of a red light at the intersection.

The wizards and witches laughed a little when they saw their guests looking around the station, checking their tickets and the signs and repeating several times over and getting nowhere, until Mr. Weasley tapped Neji on the shoulder that is.

"Watch carefully." Is all he says before he takes Harry and they both lean against the barrier separating platforms nine and ten... and passing right through the seemingly solid brick wall without a trace, including the trolley Harry was using to transport his trunk. The non-British stared in awe before Mrs. Weasley urged them to imitate her husband's actions in pairs and as each group passed through the barrier they looked around them in contained excitement with some showing their emotions more than others. The Hogwarts Express sat on the tracks, gleaming red and billowing smoke and steam as it prepared to leave the station, students of all ages along with their parents, pets, various family members and a few who looked like Ministry wizards who tipped their hats to Arthur when they saw him.

As they group scrambled to load themselves and their luggage on the train Neji had noticed Mr. Weasley pull Harry off to the side where there were very few people and start talking in low voices, not that anyone outside of five feet could have truly heard what they were saying due to the noise around them. However no one noticed Shino standing just on the other side of the brick pillar the two were standing next to, nor the small beetles that were positioned on Harry's collar and on his trunk.

Just as they finished they're conversation the train started to move and thankfully Ron was able to haul Harry and his trunk into the car in time while Shino silently slipped not just inside but was walking down the aisle ahead of them as if nothing happened and joined his friends. Ranma, Akane, Denko, and Tsume were already occupying a compartment themselves with the ninja taking the two across the aisle leaving only the compartment with an adult in rather shabby robes who was sleeping by himself that Harry, Ron, and Hermione let themselves in and began speaking slightly quieter than normal as to not disturb the man.

Overall the train ride wasn't particularly exciting, after the initial shock had worn off for the ninja anyway. And so they tried passing the time playing cards, practicing hand seals (the ninja), eating some snacks they got from the lady with the cart when she stopped by their door, Shino telling Shikamaru what he had overheard… anything to occupy their time during the long ride. After two hours Sakura, who had seen a number of the other students change into their Hogwarts robes, suggested they did the same.

So removing the clothes that were in the packages that Tsunade had given each of them before they left, the girls retreated into one of the compartments and kicked out anyone of the opposite gender in the process though Kiba had received a black eye for commenting that he wouldn't mind staying where he was. The boys were left to change in a few turns so they'd have enough room to do what they needed. Soon they all wore what appeared to be Konoha Ninja Academy uniforms that consisted of a mesh shirt under a green haori with brown edges and brown pants for the boys and a matching yukata that ended above their knees. They still wore their shuriken holsters on their legs, which were slightly modified to hold their wands as well, and their gear bags at their lower backs, their headbands, and their sandals but what each of them had that distinguished them from each other were sashes around their waists that served to help hold their new uniforms closed and had several hidden pouches worked into them like the rest of their uniforms. But it wasn't the sashes themselves that were different but the colors they were, Naruto's was a burnt orange, Hinata and Ino's were purple, Sakura, Chouji, Kiba, Lee, and Tenten all wore red, Shino and Shikamaru both had grey sashes while Neji's was black and Sasuke's blue.

The time it took them to change wasn't long but they could see that their four other friends had just finished changing as well in their own compartment, granted it wasn't as though Ranma or Denko had actually changed but simply threw a set of robes over their normal attire of red Chinese silk shirt, black pants, and shoes and green t-shirt and cargo shorts complete with kodachi at his hip though Denko's sleeves ended just after his elbows and Ranma's short of his wrists. Akane wore a red knee length skirt and a dark yellow long-sleeved shirt under her Hogwarts robe. Tsume was now wearing a similar outfit to Akane but in blue and still wore her knee high boots.

It wasn't as if there wasn't anything interesting happening on the train, around midafternoon three boys visited the compartment where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. Their friends in the other compartments didn't even seem to register to the three as they were so focused on the threesome, even though they had their doors open so they could toss paper airplanes and other things back and forth, including a kunai or two.

"Well look who it is, Potty and the Weasel." The smallest of the three smirks and his two larger friends chuckled. That was all that it took to get the others attention and with a quick look they decided to intimidate them by speeding up their game of catch and adding three more kunai and even a shuriken, thus making the space between the doors look like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie with the very sharp implements flying back and forth that none dared to get near.

Unfortunately either they were too stupid to notice the crisscrossing wall of death or too focused on trying to rile up Potter and friends with a jab at Ron's mother and his families usual lack of wealth. Somehow due to luck or some other strange occurrence the man in their compartment got the boys attention with a mere snort in his sleep and with Hermione proudly claiming him as a teacher they were rather quick to leave. That was when they noticed the flying objects which had grown again to even include two rubber balls bouncing back and forth and Akamaru running from room to room with a kunai, shuriken, plane, or ball that happened to have fallen or dropped. Needless to say any bravado they had left from dealing with the sleeping teacher left them as they nearly ran away from the sight of flying razor blades.

The rest of the ride was fairly quiet as the sky outside grew steadily darker and the rain continued, much to Ranma's dismay but Denko and Tsume seemed to be enjoying the pounding rain and howling winds outside. In another compartment Kiba asks "Are we there yet?" and no sooner does he ask the train began to slow.

"We can't be there yet." Hermione says loud enough that the entire group could hear her. Obviously similar questions and answers were being tossed around because when Harry and Naruto poked their heads out of their compartments to see what was going on they saw dozens of others doing the same thing. Without any warning all of the lamps went out and plunged them all into near total darkness. As soon as the lights went out the ninja and martial artists leapt to their feet, Neji and Hinata instantly activating their Byakugan, Kiba and Akamaru had their noses sifting through the air, a small stream of insects flew and crawled out from Shino, and Denko produced a small glowing blue ball in his palm that crackled randomly allowing some light to penetrate the darkness that enveloped them all.

They all jumped when they heard the door to Harry's compartment open and there were a couple low, confused mumbles quickly followed by the angry hissing of a cat and a yelp of pain that caused Ranma to briefly freeze in terror as he recognized the sound of Crookshanks. A few seconds passed before there were any more sounds, this time it was Hermione.

"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on." No sooner did they hear her slide the door open there was an easily recognizable sound of skulls crashing into each other. None of the ninja had made a move since none of their sensory specialists declared what was going on as a threat yet stayed on high alert regardless while they listened to Hermione and Ginny identify themselves to each other before trying to get her a seat.

"Quiet!" A hoarse voice declares in the darkness and within seconds everyone recognized that the teacher that Hermione had identified as Professor R.J. Lupin was now awake and holding a ball of blue flames in his hand. "Stay where you are." He says as he rises from his seat and reaches for the door only to find it opening from the other side.

The flames in his hand revealed a cloaked figure that was tall enough to reach the ceiling and its face was completely hidden by its hood. The only part of it that was visible was its hand that looked like something dead and left to decay for a few weeks under water before it was hidden within the folds of its cloak. Then the newcomer began to take a deep rattling breath and with the air went all sense of warmth, comfort, hope, happiness… leaving nothing but cold, despair, and the worst memories.

The next thing he knew Harry was lying on his back on the floor with his friends watching over him. Professor Lupin was at the door watching as they talked amongst themselves and getting Harry back up to speed. And with a loud crack that caused all of the occupants in the surrounding compartments to jump Lupin broke an enormous slab of chocolate before breaking it into smaller pieces, passing them among the small group of friends and Harry noticed his was equal to all the others together. "Here, eat it. It'll help." Lupin says before going to the other compartments and distributing the largest chunks to Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, and Ranma, though Hinata also received a slightly larger piece than the others who didn't collapse to the floor like the aforementioned boys but she was about to collapse herself.

"Wha- What was that thing?" Shikamaru asks since he was one of the first to recover from that thing.

"A dementor, one of the dementors of Azkaban." Lupin answers and Shikamaru quickly put the pieces together as he chewed his chocolate and noted that warmth spread from within. The breakout of Sirius Black, the inability of the Ministry to recapture him in more than a month, the guards of the Wizard prison searching the train… obviously they were taking no chances in the possibility of the criminal sneaking into Hogwarts among the students or on the train.

Meanwhile the others began to get to what resembled a capable person yet Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, and Ranma could only be described as men who witnessed true acts of horror and barely managed to live through it. Granted the chocolate that Lupin had given them had brought the some color back to their faces and stopped them from trembling but they still looked rather ill. Naruto and Hinata were trying to comfort each other with their arms around the other and rocking with the train while Akane was trying to keep Ranma calm as he lay across the seat and mumbling about cats every now and then. Neji had Tenten's arm across his shoulders as he slowly rubbed the seal on his forehead, exposed now that he took his headband off meanwhile Sakura and Ino were doing what they could to comfort Sasuke. The others listened to anything that may be useful among the gossip in the train, in particular when Hermione mentioned that Lupin had driven off the dementor with a spell and making mental notes to look that particular spell up when they finally reached the school.

Suddenly without them knowing that he had even left, Lupin returned and informed them all that they'll arrive at Hogsmeade Station in ten minutes, something that relieved them all. Surely enough in ten minutes the train screeched to a halt at the platform and each of them were feeling much better since the incident with the dementor though they still looked a bit sick. As expected the moment Ranma stepped out of the train and the rain hit him, he turned into her. Denko had turned female some time ago and grumbled about the ease that Ranma had in returning to his male form, not for the first time but it did serve its purpose in bringing a smile to her face.

"Firs' years this way!" a loud voice called out over the crowd of students with ease since the owner of the voice was already twice as tall as the students to begin with and had a lung capacity to match his enormous size. "All righ', yer lot?" Hagrid calls out to both the friends he'd known since their first year at the school and the new students that he escorted into the country and received several waving hands in response.

As a result of the crowd pushing them along the ninja and martial artists found themselves at a muddy dirt road with deep wheel tracks from the carriages that were pulled along it. Most of the group saw what looked like severely starved horses with white eyes and large leathery wings pulling the carriages but followed the lead of the other students and climbed in for the ride to the school itself. Unfortunately as they reached the wrought iron gates of the school there was a dementor on each side, though they did nothing to the students this time other than cause fear with their mere presence.

Upon reaching the stone stairs of the castle they all climbed out to find that the blond boy and his larger cronies were beginning to harass Harry again and were about to jump in when Professor Lupin walked up to the confrontation and quickly broke it up without any trouble. With that resolved they hurried up the stairs to get out of the rain. Upon their entrance though they heard an older woman's voice calls out "Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"

The voice belonged to a woman who looked to be quite stern and one who didn't take crap from anyone and around fifty years old. Upon seeing the ninja and the martial artists she gestured to Harry and Hermione to follow her as she approached the group of sixteen. "You must be the students from abroad that Professor Dumbledore spoke about." She says as soon as she reached them and gestured for them to follow her to a room near the Great Hall but keeping Harry and Hermione out. "I am Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster wishes to speak to you before we begin the feast. Potter, Granger, follow me to my office." And with that she closed the door before they could say a word.

Obviously the room was used for storage as there were a number of desks and chairs as well as other equipment and a few things they couldn't identify. There was a little small talk while they waited but in less than five minutes the tall, thin form of Albus Dumbledore appeared in the doorframe with a smile.

"I'm glad you've all made it here safely and I do apologize for the dementor on the train, Professor Lupin was kind enough to send an owl ahead to inform me what occurred then." He began. "But now that is in the past and I'm sure you all have many questions for me about the situation, however I'd like you to save them for after the Feast and I'll be showing you to your dormitories. Mr. and Mrs. Saotome, Denko, and Tsume when I leave this room I'd like you to follow me so that we can get you to the staff table where you will be introduced." At this statement the ninja exchanged glances with each other but clearly none of them knew that the older Japanese students would be among the teachers at this school but the time for questions and finding answers could wait. If Dumbledore took notice of this or not was unknown but he let them digest the information for a few seconds anyway before continuing. "As for you ninja of Konoha, I'll be introducing you before addressing the staff changes for the year. And for that I'd like you to wait just outside the doors of the Great Hall so you know when to make your entrance. As a quick word for you all, normally when those of us from different countries and cultures get together we do have a habit of putting on a bit of a show, a sort of brief demonstration if you will. I do hope you will make this entertaining. Come along, we have a feast waiting for us!" With a swish of his long robes he turned on his heel and out the door leaving the twelve shinobi at the now closed doors while taking the older four with him through a slightly hidden door that presumably lead to the staff table.

Albus Dumbledore couldn't help but smile at the reactions from the students when his four new teachers followed him to the staff table and took their seats and he heard some of the gossip as it floated across the Hall to where he sat. It made him smile more at the reactions from his own staff who he knew most of them knew there were going to be new teachers this year. His smile grew at the thought that his bag of surprises wasn't empty quite yet knowing that each surprise was just yet another bag of surprises waiting to be opened. He closed his eyes and collected his thoughts for a few moments before standing and the Great Hall grew quiet.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it is best to get it out of the way before we are befuddled by our excellent feast. Let me introduce to you our guests from Konohagakure Ninja Academy!" Dumbledore declares and even to his surprise twelve figures could be found dropping down from the rafters, walking down the walls, or jumping around so they were little more than blurs to the untrained eyes before all gathering in a line kneeling in front of the staff table with their heads bowed before they slowly stood to attention and turned around to face the student population of the school/

"Magnificent entrances thank you. You may sit wherever you wish at the tables" Dumbledore says with a small bow and the ninja found some open seats at the Gryffindore table. "These students will be spending the year here with us attending classes with the rest of you so please extend a welcoming hand and build bonds with those you never thought you would." Clearing his throat and effectively silencing the chatter caused by the ninja's introduction he continued. "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises – or even Invisibility Cloaks." Harry and Ron cast a quick look at each other and each of them could have sworn he looked straight at them when he added that last part. "It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors." At that Percy made himself more pompous looking, if possible.

"On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome a few new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was some applause scattered around the Hall, concentrated mostly with the Gryffindores while Snape glared at Lupin as he took a humble bow in thanks.

"As to our second new appointment, well, I'm sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, has retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his game keeping duties." At this bit of news there was far more applause than there had been for Lupin and once again mostly concentrated from the Gryffindore house table.

"And thirdly, I have decided to add a new class to the curriculum, Martial Arts, which will be standard for all students fifth year and under while optional for sixth and seventh years, your Heads of Houses will be asking the option when you receive your schedules at breakfast tomorrow. As for the teachers of this new class, let me introduce Professors Denko, Tsume, and Mr. and Mrs. Saotome." There were a few applause out of kindness around the Hall but nearly all came from the Weasley's and the Konoha students.

"That concludes all of the important things and so let the feast begin!" Dumbledore declares and food and drink suddenly appears from nowhere on the tables to everyone's delight and surprise.

Naruto nearly went into seizures when he saw the large bowl of ramen, not to mention the other foods that his fellow shinobi grew up eating, grilled squid, takoyaki, okonamayaki, rice, and miso soup to name a few complete with a pot of green tea. They tried their fair share of the local cuisine as well, especially Chouji who tried a sample of every food and drink within ten feet of himself before having platefuls of each. Given the appetites of those present it was a good thing that whenever a tray emptied that it was magically refilled seconds later.

At the staff table the five new teachers were talking amongst themselves, Lupin catching up with what has changed since he had graduated years ago while the four Martial Arts teachers, while interested in filling their bellies were also finding out as much about the school as they could from the other teachers, mostly from little Professor Flitwick and Hagrid who they were seated between. To their surprise Flitwick was just as interested in the Martial Arts as they were in learning about the castle and the students which lead to long explanations of their own styles.

While Denko was reaching for another chicken leg she saw a small hand reaching over the edge of the table and groping around before curiosity got the better of her and slid the plate of chicken towards the hand which as soon as it touched the plate it zeroed in and grabbed two legs and vanished under the table. Glancing out the corner of her eye, Akane had also noticed since she was sitting next to her and shot a questioning eye back at the blond. With a small sigh Denko slid her chair back a few inches, focused her senses for a few seconds, and in a flash her hand shot under the table and with a small squeak she held a small girl about six years old with a pair of fox ears on top of her head amidst the slightly dirty, messy reddish hair and a fox tail that was in similar condition poking out from her pants. Her face was rather dirty, though some of that was from food that had gotten smeared there.

"What are you doing here Itazura?" Denko asks her kindly in Japanese but leaving no room for excuses. Tsume and Ranma, as well as a few of the other teachers and even a few students noticed what was going on as well and were watching.

"I missed you." She says simply as she hung from her shirt collar where Denko had grabbed her. Despite her dirty appearance the fact that she pulls off puppy eyes in the situation would make just about anyone break down and give her a hug. Unfortunately Denko, as her brother, was used to it… sometimes.

"Dumbledore-sensei, this in my little sister Itazura. Can she stay with us? It seems she snuck away from the friends we left her with to follow us here." Denko says with a sigh, still holding the girl in the air.

"Of course she may stay, with such strong bonds of love between sisters- "I'm a guy!" "-siblings, it would be wrong to send her away. Especially after the journey she made to get here at her age." Dumbledore says with a smile.

"Headmaster, how did such a child manage to slip past the dementors? Not just them but the other defenses and enchantments this school has surrounding it?" Professor McGonagall asks, with obvious concern.

"Yes, it should be quite a concern regarding that a mere child managed to break nearly every defense that this school has and was under our very noses for some time without any of us the wiser." Snape comments, but his eyes spoke volumes of disdain for the foreigners.

"It's alright Minerva, Severus. Now that she has been reunited with her sis- brother, Denko will be taking care of her and keeping her out of too much trouble." Albus explains.

"But she's too young to be here! Hogwarts may be one of the safest places for students but every year we have our fair share of horrible accidents one way or another!" McGonagall tries to make her Headmaster see reason.

"Yes I can see your point however, Denko has given Itazura training since she was young, not to mention with himself and his friends here to look after her and the fact that she did slip though most of our protection just to be with Denko should be evidence enough that she can take care of herself quite well." Dumbledore explains his reasoning and with reluctance the two Professors give up. "Ah! Dessert!"

Placing the small girl on his lap to allow her access to the food on the table the siblings helped themselves to the treats while Denko dully noted to make sure that his pants get washed and Itazura received a very thorough scrubbing, clothes and all, before bed. That and there were more than a few students giving them odd looks but she was more concerned about her fellow teachers and how they didn't want her sister here. Granted Denko knew how manipulative the little kitsune could be at times by means of charm, force, or blackmail… or a combination and that was without her using her other tricks but she figured she'd let them find out on their own. After all, if Itazura didn't like someone she made sure they knew it and she had a track record of sending one person into a mental hospital and a slew of others into requiring years of therapy.

With the ninja's…

"So that's Denko's little sister that he talked about! She's so cute!" Tenten squeals as she tries to get a better view of the siblings.

"I know, she's adorable! I wonder if she's staying with us?" Ino sighs from her seat.

"You two are so troublesome. You do remember that she's adopted by him right? And she's a kitsune to boot." Shikamaru grumbles loud enough to be heard several seats away. Naruto flinched just slightly at the mention of kitsune before going back to his 'conversation' with Shino while Hinata watched as Lee, Kiba, and Chouji engaged in pudding speed eating.

It wasn't long before the desserts vanished from the tables leaving the golden plates sparkling clean once again. "Once again I welcome you all back to Hogwarts and I wish you all good night!" Dumbledore announces signaling that the feast was over. Turning to his side he says quietly, "Ranma, could you tell our guests from Konoha to wait for a moment? I'll be escorting all of you to your rooms." With a nod Ranma stands and jumps across the tables, barely disturbing the cups and plates on them, to where the ninja were gathered.

It didn't take long for the native students to clear the Hall and for the Headmaster to join them with the others who with a smile and a simple gesture of his hand he began leading them through the long corridors and various stairways and explaining the various details of the school en route. Itazura was nearly asleep thanks to a full stomach as Denko carried her but she still did her best to translate what Dumbledore was saying for the young kitsune.

Pushing aside a small tapestry revealed a small arch that lead to another corridor, and upon entry the group found a pair of samurai armor complete with katana and wakazashi at their waists and a naginata in their hands, one on each side of the arch like guards. Further down the one hundred foot long corridor were two more pairs of samurai armor, the first pair located thirty feet from the arch and armed like the first pair but they held kanabo at their sides while the next pair at sixty feet held yumi with full quivers sitting next to them. At the end of the hall was yet another archway to which Dumbledore led them, along the way they could see a small bit of the view due to a small break in the storm through the couple windows. At the archway were six more samurai armor standing at attention and once again the first pair held naginata while the other four had no other weapons but their katana and wakazashi and stood within the arch itself.

Upon reaching the samurai guarding the second archway the first pair blocked their path with their naginata before they spoke in nearly perfect unison, despite the armor being empty and in perfectly clear Japanese ask for the password to which Dumbledore, who the ninja and Japanese citizens were quite sure that he really didn't know much about their language other than the little they shared with him, answered "Kabuto."

With that one word the naginata were pulled back to their wielders sides and the other armors took a step to the side into small recesses into the walls of the arch leaving their path clear and Dumbledore took the lead again and once through the arch they climbed a small set of stairs and pushed open a door to reveal a large room filled with several long tables, comfy looking chairs and couches, and two fireplaces, one on either side of the room, and four doors with three samurai armed with yumi standing between the doors.

"Wow…" the gathered youth said in unison as they looked around the room, taking in the sights from the windows and the comfort and beauty of the large room.

"I believe that you all like your common room then?" Dumbledore chuckles, not really expecting much of an answer. "Four you twelve, the boys beds are through the door on the far left, girls are the second from the left. The bathroom is complete for all hygienic purposes and is through then door second from the right." He explains and the ninja left to explore or use the facilities.

"What about us sensei?" Akane asks as she looked around.

"Your rooms are through the door on the far right." Dumbledore says with a small smile as he leads them through the door to reveal a spiraling staircase at the top of which was a room much smaller than the common room below but was large enough to easily accommodate the five residents and a few guests with a table, some chairs, a small couch, even a small sink and stove in one corner along with three more doors on one wall.

"Through those doors are your rooms and a private bathroom. All of your belongings have been brought up already. Now it's getting quite late and we should get some sleep." Dumbledore explains before turning to leave.

"But what about the classroom that we're supposed to teach in?" Denko asks as she shifts the drowsy girl in her arms.

"I'll show it to you after breakfast tomorrow before I let you go to your first classes." With that the old man descends the stairs leaving them to their own devices.

"Well, I better get Itazura washed up before getting her to bed. She'll pass out in the tub if she's by herself." Denko says as she walks towards the correct door.

"Um Denko, if you don't mind I could give her a bath for you. I could use one myself." Akane says.

"Me too!" Tsume calls out and runs through the door to the room only to descend seconds later. "Hey, Denko! Your stuffs here with mine and just one bed!" Soon both rooms were checked and with the exception of the belongings they were the same, a double four-poster bed with curtains, a cabinet with drawers, a desk, two chairs, and a small closet.

With their investigation concluded the girls (the natural ones) gathered their bath supplies and pajamas as well as something for Itazura who was now asleep in Denko's arms despite to excitement, took the young girl and disappeared to clean themselves up.

"So are you gonna change back into a guy to sleep with Akane or stay a girl? We can get some hot water for ya downstairs." Denko asks before leaving Ranma in her room.

"I think I'll stay as I am tonight, too tired to bother doing much right now." Ranma replies as she pulls off her shirt and grabbing a sleeveless shirt from a drawer to cover her now naked top.

"Whatever, at least you can be a guy at night. See ya in the morning." Denko says before shutting the door and pausing at the bathroom door she could hear the girls trying to keep Itazura awake enough to keep her own head above the water. With a smirk she downs a cup of water from the sink before stripping to a shirt and boxers then dropping onto the bed.

By the time Tsume arrived carrying Itazura Denko was already asleep and snoring softly. So with a smile she climbed onto the bed and laid the sleeping kitsune between them before using her wand to put out the candles that lit the room.

In Ranma and Akane's room things weren't so relaxed, in fact tense would be pretty accurate in describing the situation though many could argue that stronger terms would be more suiting.

Akane walked into the bedroom carrying a small cup of slightly steaming water wearing her normal yellow pajamas and she was nervous. Ranma sat on the bed flipping through one of the books that they had decided would be good to use in teaching their class, which was odd since Akane rarely saw her reading a book that wasn't a manga or describing some sort of martial arts technique but also going to bed as a girl, willingly.

"Um, Ranma?" Akane barely manages to get out receiving a nod of acknowledgment from the redhead. "I brought you some hot water if you want to change back to a guy for the night." That got the redheads attention.

"I – I thought that, um… it would probably better if I was a girl tonight." Ranma says while her cheeks grew nearly as red as her hair.

"I was thinking that… since it's really our first night… together, we might as well… at least look like a married couple." Akane stammers out as she twiddled her fingers while holding the cup.

Flashback to an hour before the left with Hagrid to use the Portkey…

"I'm glad that you've both decided to go together but it would make us feel better if the two of you were married before you left, it could be a long time before we see each other again." Nodoka Saotome says from her seat at the Tendo living room table after she heard of their decision.

"I cannot agree more Nodoka, it would be best to have the wedding as soon as possible." Soun Tendo, Akane's father agrees.

"Me too." Genma adds his two yen to the conversation while trying to pull off the serious father and martial arts master appearance as he was common to do before making a complete ass of himself.

"Yes Ishida-san, if you can get here as soon as possible that would be best and only bring the necessities. Excuse? Tell them that you're going out drinking with some friends, we both know you've been here at least a few times before but this time we're sure we can get it done, it just needs to be as simple and quick as possible. Then you can go out drinking with daddy and Mr. Panda since that's a sure bet on what they'll be doing as soon as you're done here and you'll be telling your wife the truth, not the whole truth but it'll be honest. Alright, see you soon." Nabiki could be heard in the hall speaking on the phone less than five minutes after Ranma and Akane announced their decision to go to Hogwarts. Hagrid was sitting in a corner dabbing his eyes with what looked like a tablecloth mumbling something about loving weddings.

Within thirty minutes Mr. Ishida was in the dojo with the Tendo and Saotome families plus Hagrid kneeling on the floor. Ishida's bag was at the door, since he planned to take the fathers and introduce them to bowling and hoping that Happosai wouldn't appear but he wasn't going to hold his breath or pray to keep him away, despite being a Buddhist priest. Sometimes he truly doubted that even the Buddha would have the patience to deal with the pint-sized grandmaster for a few hours. Even so, this was the most casual wedding he had ever seen or heard of, even the couples who came to sign marriage documents would normally dress up at least a little but these families were anything but normal. But at least he was getting paid and he prayed that this time there were to be no problem.

As it turned out, the gods seemed to have heard his prayers seeing that no Amazons came crashing through the walls, no lost boy finding himself in a closet and unable to figure out how he got there (nor could anyone else when that happened) and couldn't find his way out, no random challengers for either of the couple in question… just a very brief talk and signing that to most as though a friend had dropped by for a quick chat and asked for something to be looked at briefly, which it almost was. Mr. Ishida even had them skip kissing to end the ordeal because he would take Nabiki up on a betting pool on who or what would appear to break up that happy moment like usual, instead he merely had them hold hands and told them that they may do whatever they want to 'celebrate' their marriage (finally!) when they felt like it.

In his corner Hagrid startled them all by blowing his nose in his handkerchief, which sounded much like a foghorn. Genma and Soun were crying silent tears as they were both lost in their own thoughts now that the schools were joined. Nodoka was drying her eyes with the sleeves on her kimono, Kasumi smiled happily while Nabiki smirked as she looked over the marriage documents again and prepped them to be taken to town hall. Mr. Ishida merely sighed in relief as he looked over the young couple who were staring at the floor with some of the brightest blushes he'd ever seen but they never let go of the others hand. With another sigh, he walked out of the dojo taking the older men with him.

A short while later Kasumi and Nodoka had a quick lunch prepared for the newlyweds and Hagrid before they left and with more than a few tears from the women and wet eyes for Hagrid and Ranma they left the dojo leaving it to the giant of a man to lead them to wherever they were going.

End flashback…

"I – I guess so." Ranma stammers after a small pause to think about it before reaching for the still warm cup. He splashes the contents over her arm that was held away from the bed and red hair became black, large breasts became solid pectorals, and he grew nearly a head taller in a second. Where a short, busty, redhead was once was now a tall muscular man sitting on the bed. With a nervous smile Akane climbed onto the bed next to Ranma and looked at him as she lay there.

"We don't have to do… anything… if you don't want to Ranma." Akane says with a bright blush.

"Ah… yeah, maybe some other time…" Ranma replies and blows out the candle that was sitting next to his book. "You know 'kane, Denko said that this may be the best part of my curse."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Akane asks in the dark, barely bothering to open her eyes in the dark room, she was tired and the clouds had decided to hide the moon again.

"The fact that I can be a guy at night when he can't." Ranma says with a small smile before closing his eyes.

"Yeah…" Akane mutters as she drifts off to sleepy land.

In the boys room things were quiet, even with Naruto there. With everyone having a long day, full stomachs, soft, warm beds available, and the fact that most of them were quiet individuals combined made sure that they were all in their own beds in minutes barely saying more than a few words to each other in the process and within half an hour were all sleeping soundly.

The girls room couldn't be more different, its four occupants were all wide awake, the lamps lit, and three of them were loud, two of them especially. They had reverted back to Japanese now that they didn't have any British kids or teachers around and it really helped them get the words out without struggling to make sure they translated correctly. As usual Sakura and Ino were arguing about something having to do with Sasuke, who both couldn't remember why they actually started fighting but neither of them willing to concede to the other or declare a truce. Tenten was standing nearby trying to play referee and keeping them from resorting to blows as they egged the other while she pleaded for them to stop. Hinata sat on her bed, already changed, and watched the show go on. She knew that she wouldn't yell loud enough to get their attention and she knew they'd eventually wear themselves out and hoping that would happen soon. However all arguments stopped as soon as Tenten got irritated and pulled out a few of her pretty little toys, the very sharp ones. With that apologies were quickly made, lamps put out, and the gentle breaths of sleep were all to be heard.

AN: Here's chapter 8! 19 pages and just short of 8000 words for this chapter alone I believe this is the most I've ever written in a single piece in my life and it's only one chapter! I hope you all enjoy Mercenaries, Ninja, Martial Artists, and Wizards.
Next chapter: First Class