DICLAIMER: Obviously, I don't own the rights to Harry Potter. I don't own the rights to Ranma, either. I own nothing but the clothes on my back and the laptop this was written on. Please don't sue, I'm not making a penny off of this, I swear!

Outside Intervention

By

RanChan2k3

Chapter 1: Here's...Ranma?

April 17, 1989

Little Whinging, Surrey, England

It was a relatively pleasant day as Japanese martial arts prodigy, Ranma Saotome, heir apparent to the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, strolled through the hamlet of Little Whinging, whistling a tune to himself. He was in the area as part of a worldwide training journey to clear his head, started after Soun Tendo's insistence that Ranma get his personal life in order before any further talk of marrying Akane comes into play. As he turned a corner, however, he spotted something in the playground that made him see red. Three boys, all fairly large for their age, were beating up a fourth one, one who was very small for his age and wearing a pair of taped-up glasses along with worn out clothing that was at least 3 or 4 sizes too large for him. In fact…yes, they looked more in keeping with the large, fat oaf that appeared to be leading the assault against the group's small target. Worn-out hand-me-downs from the large one, then, which further incensed Ranma because it meant the small boy was being beaten up by a family member. With a growl, Ranma dashed into the melee. In seconds, he had them all down and incapacitated, though the large one was still conscious. It was he that Ranma decided to interrogate.

"Alright, fat-ass," growled Ranma. "You got one chance to tell me just what the hell you think you an' yer no-good group of boyfriends were doin'."

The very frightened large boy could only stutter.

"Fine, we'll start with an easier question," the martial artist tried again. "What's your name?"

"D-D-Dudley D-Dursley…s-s-sir," the fat boy whimpered.

"And why were three of you beatin' up a boy who very obviously couldn't defend himself against even one of you, let alone all three?"

Dudley gulped. "W-W-We were j-j-just…just beating up the freak a little…"

That was the wrong answer, it seemed. A quick pressure point poke quickly relieved Dudley of consciousness. With a huff, Ranma turned his gaze to the small boy he'd rescued, squatting down to be more on the boy's level. "What's your name, kid?" His voice was soft and gentle, compared to the harsh coldness he'd spoken to Dudley with.

The reply came in a soft, quiet voice. "Harry Potter, sir."

"And how old are you?"

"I'll be 9 at the end of July, sir."

"Can you tell me why these boys were beating you up?"

Harry swallowed nervously. "I can't. If I tell, I'll get in trouble."

Ranma blinked. "Trouble from who?"

"Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia."

"I see," replied Ranma slowly. "Can you tell me where they live?"

"Number 4 Privet Drive, sir." The boy's eyes suddenly widened. "No! You can't! If you tell them, I'll be locked in the cupboard again! I-" He suddenly stopped speaking, his hands over his mouth.

Ranma narrowed his eyes. "Locked in the cupboard? Again?"

Harry sighed, realizing he'd messed up. "Yes, sir. My aunt and uncle keep me locked away in the cupboard under the stairs whenever I do anything they consider freakish. Sometimes even if I just do better than my cousin Dudley in school."

"And what do they consider…freakish?" Ranma was calm on the outside, but inside he was raging.

"Um…sometimes things happen around me when I feel angry or scared," Harry answered in a small voice. "Like, one time, when I was running from Dudley and his gang, I was really scared and wishing I could be somewhere else. Next thing I know, I hear a loud crack, and then I'm up on the roof of the school. I don't know how I got there, but I got punished for it when I got home."

Ranma was putting two and two together and getting four. 'A teleport,' he thought to himself. 'That would mean the kid's a magic user and doesn't even realize it. His aunt and uncle seem to know it, though, and from the sound of it, they hate it. Not that I can't understand the sentiment, but to take it out on an innocent little boy who can't help it?' Out loud, he said, "Harry. What would you say if I told you…you never have to go back to your aunt and uncle again?"

Harry's green eyes lit up with so much hope that it practically broke Ranma's heart. "I think that would be the answer to every Christmas and birthday wish I've ever made, sir."

That settled it in Ranma's mind. He pulled out a pen and paper and wrote a note, then pinned it to Dudley Dursley's shirt. That done, he stood up and took Harry's hand, then led the boy away from the park, heading in the opposite direction from Privet Drive.

Hours later, Dudley Dursley returned to his home at #4 Privet Drive, bruised and in tears. "Mum! Dad! Come here, quick!"

The boy's cries were answered by a large man with a brush-like mustache – Vernon Dursley - and a horse-faced woman – Petunia – who was immediately all over Dudley. "Oh, heavens, what in the world happened to you, Duddikins?!"

In response, Dudley handed over the note he'd had attached to his shirt. Petunia took it and read through it, then gasped and handed it over to Vernon. Vernon read the note.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,

By now you're wondering about the state of your little baby whale of a son. I'll tell you the complete, undiluted truth.

My name is Ranma Saotome. I'm a perfectly ordinary human being, except for one thing: I happen to be a highly trained martial artist. I was walking through your quaint little town looking for a place to train, when I came upon a sight that truly disgusted me: Your fat oaf of a son and two friends of his were beating the utter crap out of a defenseless little boy much smaller than they are. A boy wearing your fat-ass son's cast-offs. So I did what any martial artist in that situation would do. I put a stop to it and interrogated the children involved.

Hearing your son say that he was "just beating up the freak a little" filled me with so much loathing that I honestly thought about going to the supposed adults who would raise a child to think like that and rending them into a pair of unpleasant red stains on their living room carpet.

Let there be no mistake: You three FREAKS will never see Harry Potter again. I've taken him directly to a hospital in London to have him checked out. The doctors there are going to be building a case against you for what I suspect to be years of child neglect and child abuse. Once you two alleged adults are safely behind bars where you can't destroy another innocent child, your son will find his way into England's lovely adoption system, and I personally will be taking custody of young Harry. I'll be teaching him to protect himself from abusive freaks like you, and when the time comes, I fully intend to be there when he learns to control the special abilities he happened to be born with.

It really is a shame. If you'd seen your way clear to loving him like you should have, you might have had a ready-made ally against the people you're clearly so terrified of. A protector. All you needed to do was be the family he so desperately needed. But that, apparently, was far too much to ask.

I'll also be looking into how he ended up in the custody of filth like you in the first place. Rest assured, if I don't like what I discover, everyone responsible for it will suffer.

By my calculations, the police should be showing up at your door in just a few minutes, with a search warrant and plenty of unpleasant questions. Enjoy.

Sincerely,

Ranma Saotome – Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts

P.S.: Karma's a bitch, and she's back in heat!

Vernon's face went pale as he finished reading the note. It then went even paler as he heard the unmistakable sound of police sirens approaching at a rapid clip. They'd never believe the boy was just a freak; all they'd understand is that they'd kept the boy in the cupboard under the stairs.

'We're screwed,' was the last thing Vernon Dursley thought before three police cars pulled up and parked in front of his house.

Author's Notes: Yes, I've gone ahead and joined in on the Harry Potter craze. I know I have two incomplete stories, but I've honestly hit a dead end on those. I know more or less what I want to do with this, so I'm hoping this one doesn't sputter and grind to a halt like the other two. Read and review, please, and let me know if you're interested in how this goes!

A/N 2: Okay, as of 2/9/17, the first 8 chapters of "Outside Intervention" have undergone a rewrite, mostly for clarification purposes, but also for the fixing of verb tense in a few places. No Chapter 9 yet, but as I'll mention at the end of Chapter 8, it's gonna be in your hot little hands within the next few days.