When Ranma could see again, he was crouched next to a ten-foot tall hedge, which extended in both directions as far as he could see. In front of him was a stadium filled with screaming people. It was still night, and he was still in Northern Europe. Beside him, the boy he'd escaped with had laid down his dead friend, closed his eyes, and placed the trophy in his arms. If an observer didn't know better, he might think the dead boy was simply sleeping.
Ranma glanced at the boy who was still alive. Pale, shaking, cold sweat dripping off him... Ranma cursed. The kid was going into shock before Ranma's eyes. Hell, between injuries, exhaustion, and whatever that green spell had done, it was probably a minor miracle the kid had lasted this long.
Ranma laid a cautious hand on the boy's shoulder. "You need help," he said in halting English. "I go get some."
The boy blinked at him owlishly before shaking his head and raising his wand. Red sparks lit the air like fireworks.
Within moments, people started to swarm around the two young men. Unfortunately for Ranma, none of them seemed to speak Japanese, and they all also talked too fast to be understood. After a frustrating few minutes, Ranma gave up and settled for reading body language.
Over there, a girl whose posture screamed of fear for Ranma's new friend. The boy next to her, oddly, seemed to be vacillating between concern and jealousy, a romantic rival perhaps. A pretty girl with long black hair, crying, broken-hearted despair written all over her. The girl whose shoulder she was crying on radiated sadness and concern in roughly equal measure. A rough-featured boy Ranma's age who seemed confused for some reason. A beautiful blonde girl with slightly inhuman chi who was being carried away, unconscious, and what looked like her family trailing behind her. More spectators, radiating shock and curiosity. Adults in robes, radiating surprise, concern, shock, horror, suspicion. Finally, and old man with a long white beard appeared and took charge...
Except that he didn't do anything for the boy who was alive. The old man cleared a space, sent people away on various errands, took care of the dead boy, and completely ignored the boy who was still alive. And there was something wrong with his body language... Ranma frowned as he realized what it was. The old man's surface body language showed concern, but there was no surprise, and more than a hint of dark satisfaction hiding under the surface.
It might have fooled anyone else, but Ranma had spent the last few years living with Nabiki Tendo, a girl who had earned the title 'Ice Queen.' Although Ranma had yet to defeat the girl at her own game, he had managed to occasionally keep some of his own money. This was a feat that most people couldn't match. And frankly, after trying to read Nabiki, everyone else was a piece of cake.
Coming to a quick decision, Ranma made himself scarce, watching to see what happened next.
After a few minutes, an old man on a peg leg approached the injured boy and guided him away. Ranma looked around quickly. No one had noticed except the old man, who was pretending not to have noticed the boy was gone yet, but the sense of smug satisfaction was stronger than ever. Ranma double-checked the battered old man, reading curiosity and concern dominating his demeanor... And a generous helping of malicious intent lurking under the surface. Ranma cursed again and slipped into the Umi-Sen-Ken.
"And now, Potter, I conquer you!"
Harry reached desperately for his wand, knowing it wouldn't be in time, when-
A fist came out of nowhere to hammer the fake Moody in the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground, unconscious.
Harry blinked as he realized his new friend from the graveyard was standing there, watching the prone body warily. "Baka," commented the pig-tailed boy.
"I hear that," said Harry. He stood and put his wand away. "Thanks," he started to say when suddenly the door blew apart in a cloud of splinters.
There, wand raised, was Albus Dumbledore, but not the kindly old headmaster that Harry knew. No, this was the man who had defeated the last Dark Lord standing there with Power steaming off him.
"Hello Headmaster," said Harry, sarcasm creeping into his tone. "Just AFTER the nick of time, like usual. If you don't mind taking charge of your Death Eater friend here, I think I'll head to the infirmary."
"Insolent Brat," snarled Snape, but he stepped out of the doorway.
Even McGonagall shot Harry a warning look. "Gently, Mr. Potter."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure, Harry? Wouldn't you prefer to have your questions answered now? For example, while I know this is not my old friend, I have yet to discover who he is and why he helped the Dark Lord."
Harry looked at him for a long moment, then shook his head. "I trust you to tell me what I need to know." Harry turned and left.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:32)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.