Chapter 14 – Graduation Day
The sound of quills scratching against parchment echoed throughout the vast expanse of the Great Hall. The seventh year students were completing their final NEWT exam, an arduous three hour History of Magic test. Several students were looking worried as they struggled to recall anything from their lessons with Professor Binns. Some even joked before they entered the hall that the final exam should have been staying awake during one of his lectures.
Sitting in the middle of the room was Cho, perhaps one of the more relaxing looking students in the hall. She chewed idly on the end of her quill whilst proof reading her final answers. Quite when she would use knowledge of the Goblin Rebellion of 1637 or the first wizard to use the jelly legs jinx she didn't know. "Last two minutes", the guest invigilator called out, leading to more furious writing from most of the students.
The pink ranger sighed and placed her quill down, if she wasn't going to write anything else then there was no point of staring at her test. She placed her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling and thought about the last few days. Voldemort had sent a couple more monsters loose in the country but with the new Megazord at their disposal, they were no match for the rangers. Hermione had been obsessively trying to work out who snuck in the mirror that cursed her last week, however, she was no closer to a solution. At least Ron had finally gotten his act together and was pulling his weight in training.
"Alright quills down", the examiner said, "please remain seated whilst we collect your parchments". A couple of older witches moved up and down the aisles and removed the test papers from their desks and finally the examiner added, "Excellent you're free to go".
There was a cheer from the student body as they ran as quickly out of the Great Hall as possible. All they had to do was stay out of trouble for the last couple of weeks and then their time at Hogwarts would be over, "Hey Cho", someone grabbed the pink ranger's arm.
"Hey Marietta", Cho smiled at her friend. A few days ago Cho had used the yellow ranger's countercurse and the facial scars had receded from her red headed friends face, "that was a little easier than I thought".
"Speak for yourself", Marietta scoffed, "I like what you've done with your hair", she flicked one of Cho's high pigtails that were held in place with a couple of pink hair bands. The pair exited the Great Hall and walked in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower, "So that's it then", Marietta began, "we're not students anymore".
"We're still here for another couple of week Mari", the pink ranger shook her head.
"Yeah but no more classes or tests", the red head was practically skipping down the corridor. "By the end of the month, we'll be out in the big wide world", she nudged her friend in the arm, "so what've you got planned".
Cho was momentarily silent, she hadn't really thought about life outside the castle too much. She was a decent flyer but not good enough to play professional Quidditch. There was always an admin job at the Ministry but given the current threat of Voldemort, she wasn't too keen on that either, "I'm not really sure", she finally replied, "probably help my Dad over the summer and think about it some more".
"Surely the great Cho Chang has better plans than that?" Marietta chucked. Cho wanted to reply that she did, saving the world from the Gormal and Voldemort but she couldn't say that. She hadn't thought what it would mean for the team, she would've graduated but her fellow rangers would be returning for their final year. Perhaps she could get a teaching assistants job with one of the professor, "Cho are you listening?" Marietta waived her hand in front of her face.
"Sorry I was miles away", Cho smiled back.
"I was saying that the seventh years are having a party in the tower tonight", her friend began, "I hear that someone snuck in some Muggle alcohol".
"Not tonight", Cho sighed, "I feel like relaxing", she checked her watch, "look I'll see you later". She quickly headed in the direction of the ranger's training room, leaving her confused friend behind.
A couple of hours later in the Ranger training room, the other ranger's were practicing on the central mat but Cho sat to one side and stared into space. She was still thinking about her upcoming graduation and what it would mean for the team and for her future. The pink ranger was so deep in thought that she didn't feel Ginny take a seat next to her, "Hey", the youngest Weasley elbowed her in the arm, "I've been calling your for the last couple of minutes".
Cho rubbed her arm, "Sorry I've been thinking and oww by the way", she added whilst rubbing her arm.
"Sorry it was the best way I could think of to get your attention", Ginny gave her a sweet smile that suggested she wasn't sorry at all, "Care to share, we are friends after all", Cho raised her eyebrows, "well allies at least".
The pink ranger sighed, "Just thinking about life outside of Hogwarts", she began, "I had my final exam today and I realised that I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of my life".
"Oh is that all", Ginny snorted, "and I thought it was something simple".
"I find it hard to tell when you're being serious sometimes Weasley", Cho half smiled.
"Join the club", Ginny began, "look none of us know what the future brings, for all we know Voldemort could storm the castle tomorrow and that'll be the end of everything".
"This is the worst pep talk in history Ginny", Cho sighed.
Whilst the other Ranger's were practicing, the veteran Rangers made their way into the room. Unfortunately they were unable to spend any additional time away from home and would be returning to America. Dustin placed his bag on the ground and jumped in next to the teens, "Hey guys, what's happening?"
Ginny placed a roll of parchment that she had been holding on the ground and turned to face the older teen, "Oh nothing, just Cho having a quarter life crisis".
The pink ranger rolled her eye, "Forgive me for worrying about what to do with the rest of my life", she replied dryly.
Tori was crouched over her bag, carefully folding her clothes, "Try living in the moment. If you spend too long worrying about tomorrow then you'll forget to enjoy today".
"Shall I tell Blake that", Dustin snorted, "maybe next time you'll accept his marriage proposal".
"I'm still young", Tori replied defensively, "plenty of time yet".
Their conversation was interrupted by the monster alarm and the teens quickly hurried over to the charmed map. Harry touched the map with his wand, "Cedals are attacking a house just south of Aberdeen", he announced.
"Wait a moment", Cho zoomed in on the location, "that's my Uncle's house".
"How did they find out where he lived?" Ron asked the group, "not even we knew where that was".
"I dunno but I suggest we go in suited up", Harry glanced over at the pink ranger, "don't worry, we'll help you". Cho didn't say anything in response and quickly summoned her morphers. The rangers fell into line and the red ranger called, "Mystic Squadron, Transform", in a flash of light they teleported to the scene of the attack. Hopefully they weren't too late to help the previous owner of the pink power.
When the rangers arrived they were confronted by a raging inferno coming from one of the side buildings on the estate. The main house appeared to be in one piece but it was surrounded by a number of Cedals and surprisingly, several Death Eaters. Cho placed a hand against her mouth and stared at the fire, "Is that the living area?" Hermione whispered.
Cho slowly shook her head, "No it's mostly a training area, similar to the one we have". She was to charge towards the building when Ron grabbed her hand.
"We can't just charge in", Ron began, "we don't know where your Uncle is being held".
The pink ranger roughly snatched her arm back but she begrudgingly agreed with the blue ranger. She took a calming breath and began to reach out for her uncle's presence. After a few moments she announced, "He's in the basement, the entrance is around the back".
"Good job locating his aura", Harry said to the pink ranger. Two people who shared the same power could easily locate each other by identifying a similar type of Chi in the area. Sadly it only worked over a small area, "I think we should take care of the Death Eaters first", Harry continued, "they're more likely to raise the alarm than the Cedals". He then turned back to the pink ranger, "Once they've been dealt with, you can locate your Uncle Ling", Cho nodded in appreciation.
"Leave these masked morons to me", Dean announced to the other and placed his hands across his chest.
The Death Eaters on guard duty were new recruits and not trusted members of the inner circle. They were reluctant to work with the Cedals, viewing them as filthy creatures that were beneath wizards like themselves. Suddenly the area began to get extremely foggy as thick waves of mist rolled over the garden and in their direction. The Death Eaters first thoughts were that a group of Dementors were heading in their direction. They drew their wands but they weren't experiencing any of the associated negative feelings.
There were three Death Eaters on guard duty and two of them were surprised when one of their friends fell to the ground without warning. Just as quickly the second Death Eater slumped to the ground, "Show yourself", the sole remaining Death Eater shouted, "I'm not afraid to kill".
The Death Eater turned around and came face to face with the green ranger, "Sup", Dean said and cracked the Death Eater over the head with the butt of his Star Blaster. He dispelled his mist and Ron, Harry and Hermione jumped into the gathered Cedals.
"Go find Ling", Harry called out to Cho and Dean, "we'll take care of these guys". The pink and green ranger's nodded and headed towards the rear of the property. The back door had been blasted off its hinges and lay in pieces across the kitchen floor. Cho pulled out her Star Rod and cautiously led their pair into the house.
"Look over there", Dean pointed out a blood stained patch on the floor in the adjoining room. The room itself was almost totally destroyed, like a small tornado had swept through, "Looks like your Uncle didn't go down without a fight".
Cho tightened her grip on her rod and moved quickly towards the door leading towards the basement. It was open so they moved as quietly down the stairs as possible. The basement was substantial and when they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ling and his captors were out of their line of vision. "Tell us what we want to know and the pain will end", a voice could be heard in the room.
"N-Never", Ling replied but with a quiver in his voice.
"Crucio", the other voice shouted and the sounds of screaming echoed through the room. From her crouched position, Cho was visibly shaking, "tell us where to find these so called Power Rangers", the voice bellowed.
Unable to listen to her Uncle suffer any more torture, Cho ran into the room and pulled out her Star Blaster, "Cho, wait", Dean hissed but he was too late.
"You want the rangers", Cho called out and fired her blaster towards the hand of the Death Eater torturing her uncle, "you've got them". The shot hit the Death Eater on his wand hand and his wand exploded in a shower of splinters. He cried out in pain as the blast had also blown two of his fingers clean off his hand.
"Reducto", two more voices called out and Cho quickly hid behind a stack of boxes. It was only now that she realised that there were a total of three Death Eaters in the room. She was led to believe that the suits offered some degree of protection against normal magic but she didn't want to test that theory.
"Come out pinkie", one of the other men called out, "otherwise the old man suffers a very painful death". Cho looked around to see if there was anything in the room that could help her and quickly noticed a pile of logs that her Uncle used on his fire. She aimed a strong gust of wind in their direction and they flew towards the Death Eaters.
The distraction was enough for her to emerge from her position and she immediately took down a Death Eater with a roundhouse kick. She turned to the Death Eater with the injured hand and rammed her knees into his face, knocking him out. She was about to turn towards the third one when she felt a something slam into her back. The pink ranger immediately collapsed to the floor, "Not so tough now, are you girly", the final Death Eater taunted, "now let's see who's hiding under that helmet".
The final Death Eater didn't get a chance to remove her helmet as he was struck from behind and fell to the ground. Cho looked up and saw Dean towered over him with a log in his hand, "Next time I say wait, you wait", he dropped the log on to the floor.
Ignoring the pain in her back, Cho unclipped her helmet and moved towards her Uncle, "Don't worry Uncle", she tried to soothe him, "we won't let anyone else hurt you".
"Thank you Cho", Ling coughed, "and thank you as well Mr Thomas", he said to the green ranger.
The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs grabbed their attention and Dean moved in front of Cho and Ling protectively. They all breathed a sigh of relief when the remaining rangers appeared, "Is he alright?" Ron asked as he removed his helmet.
"I've experienced worst Mr Weasley", Ling smiled weakly.
"We'll take him back to Hogwarts", Harry said, "maybe Dumbledore can persuade Madam Pomfrey to patch him up".
"Aren't we all forgetting something?" Hermione began, "how did the Death Eaters know where to find him".
"I haven't forgotten", Harry began, "but we can worry about that when Ling is safely back at Hogwarts".
"Thank you", Cho said to her fellow rangers, "for helping to save my Uncle".
"That's what friends do for each other", Dean smiled and helped the pink ranger to her feet. Despite saying they would worry about it later, the rangers couldn't help but think about Hermione's question. The only possible answers were that they either had a spy in their team or somewhere in their extended network of friends. It was something that none of them wanted to think about but they might not have a choice. With a loud pop the group teleported away back to the safety of Hogwarts.