Chapter 21 – The Evil That Women Do
Command Center
"What the hell is going on?" Jason voiced his frustration out loud. All of the rangers were exhausted after fending off one of the biggest platoons of Putties they had ever seen. There hadn't been any warning of the coming attack so they and the residents of Angel Grove had been caught completely unawares, "Did the sensors pick up anything before the Putties arrived?" the original red ranger added.
"I'm afraid not", Zordon began, "this attack surprised everyone".
Kim nervously bit her nails, "Does this mean that Rita's back?"
"Her space dumpster is still safely sealed and floating out in space", Alpha replied, "I've already checked that".
The Mystic Squadron stood slightly to the side of the other rangers. Hermione was checking her new communicator and frowned, "I've picked up a couple of magical signatures in the area, could be some of the city's own magical population".
"It's probably Remus and Tonks", Harry replied to the surprise of the yellow ranger, "apparently they came to send me back home".
"The same people that didn't even know that you had left?" Trini asked.
Harry nodded, "Some of them yeah, welcome to my world".
"Alpha and I will continue to monitor the situation closely", Zordon began, "for now I suggest that you return to the city and wait. Whilst this attack could be nothing it would be unwise for me not to take precautions". There was a flash of light and five of the original rangers were now holding small silver coloured boxes with a golden coin set in the middle, "I have reactivated your Power Morphers, hopefully they won't be needed".
"Never thought I'd see this again", Jason said with a mixture of reverence and resignation.
The red Mystic looked over at Tommy who was the only one of the original rangers not to have a morpher in his hand. The original green ranger tried to look happy for his friends but he could see a hint of disappointment in his eyes. He remembered that Tommy's powers were all but destroyed by Rita and Zordon had chosen not to try and restore them in the intervening three years. For now though he had a slightly different problem to take care of, "Go with the others back to the Youth Center", he said to his team.
"Where are you going?" Dean asked his leader.
"To take care of a furry little problem", he answered cryptically.
Angel Grove Shopping District
After failing to locate Harry, Remus and Tonks retreated to a nearby cafe to regroup. The former Professor tried to use a 'Point Me' spell to locate the teen but he wasn't able to get a fix on him, "He must be in an unplottable location", he whispered to his new bride.
"I didn't think that California had a strong magical presence", Tonks frowned, "I know about Salem and the community around there but that's on the other side of the country.
"There is a magical school not too far from here", Remus began, "it's relatively new so it doesn't get much attention but the chances of Harry finding someone from that place must be astronomical".
The pink haired Auror slumped forward and took a sip of coffee. Having a muggleborn for a father meant that she had picked up on some of his drinking habits, "Those grey skinned things, do you know anything about them", she asked.
Remus shook his head, "Not too much, I know they're called Putties and they were under the command of someone called Rita Repulsa. She tried to attack this city in 93 and into 1994 but the Prophet didn't pick up on it".
"How come, seems like pretty big news to me?"
"Probably because most damage was being inflicted on muggles and happening in America. In case you haven't noticed, our society is a little xenophobic", Remus answered bitterly. "I thought they had been eliminated because there haven't been any sightings of them in about three years".
"Must be my own welcoming committee", a voice called out from behind them. Harry plopped down into one of the empty seats at the table, "Places just love rolling out the red carpet for the Boy-Who-Lived".
"Jesus Harry", Tonks grasped her chest, "are you trying to give us a heart attack?"
"Now why would I inflict that on my two favourite Order members", Harry gave them a smile, "congratulations on the wedding by the way, I assume you went to Vegas?"
"Yeah my Dad gave me the idea", Tonks replied, "don't think he was being serious but you know me, never take the easy route". Harry nodded slightly in agreement, "But stop changing the subject, what the bloody hell are you doing here".
"Working on my tan mostly", Harry joked, "California has some truly exceptional beaches".
Remus rubbed his head in frustration, "Harry stop distracting us, firstly you run off without telling us and show up in America fighting putties". Remus looked at the red ranger, something was different about him. Harry was relaxed yet also on alert at the same time. He was looking in better shape than he could remember and his clothes, a white t-shirt with a red shirt over the top and a pair of shorts, actually fitted him, "You're involved in something", he leaned in closer, "possibly illegal".
"Me, breaking rules?" Harry tried to feign ignorance, "Never broken one in my life". The pair gave him a firm look, telling him to get serious, "Alright yes I'm involved in something but it's not illegal and I can handle it".
"You can tell us Harry, we can help you", Tonks pleaded.
"Yes Harry, please do tell us", everyone's blood immediately froze at the sound of that voice. Bellatrix Lestrange calmly sat herself down at the table with a drink in her hand, "Never did like California, far too hot for my taste and far too loud", she casually leaned back in her chair, "What's wrong with a nice glass of pumpkin juice next to a roaring fire".
"Guys get out of here", Harry hissed.
"We're not leaving you alone with that psychopath", Tonks fixed the woman with her finest law enforcement officer stare.
"Now is that any way to talk to your favourite Aunt", Bellatrix shook her head, "I might have to remove you off my Christmas card list". She noticed Remus and Tonks reaching for their wands, "Don't even think about it", she said with a cold voice, "or I'll kill everyone in the immediately vicinity".
"And we all know that you'll do that", Harry replied as calmly as he could. He looked around to count at least fifteen civilians. He could teleport away but that would leave them at the mercy of a mass murderer.
The dark witch smirked at the red ranger, "Remind me to visit Sirius' grave at some point, I really should pay my respects". Almost immediately Remus and Tonks were on their feet looking for a fight but to her surprise, Harry just glared hatefully at her, "I see someone has learned to control their temper, shame it came two years too late for your godfather".
"Let's cut the foreplay Lestrange", Harry stood up slowly, "I'm the one that your boss wants. I'll come along quietly if you let everyone here go".
"Harry, no", Remus exclaimed but Harry turned around and gave him a wink.
Bellatrix looked at him curiously, "This is too easy", she thought about it for a few moments, "then again I haven't warmed up yet, don't want to pull a muscle". She grabbed Harry roughly by the arm and began to drag him away, much to the alarm of some of the cafes patrons, "Shame, I was looking forward to summoning our new partner to take care of you and your Ranger friends". Harry's eyes widened slightly, "Oh yes I know you're the red ranger", she hissed in his ear.
"I guess I couldn't keep my secret away from your boss forever", Harry sighed.
"No one can hide anything from the Dark Lord", she looked back at the cafe, "you're so naive Potter, did you really think I'd let everyone go".
Harry smirked, "Did you really think I'd come along quietly?" Before Bellatrix could react, Harry grabbed her hand and immediately she felt some excruciating pain. She pulled back her hand and it was blistered from a heat based attack. Harry then flicked his wrist and a small ball of fire flew at an empty building next door to the cafe. All the windows blew out from the force of the blast, scattering the civilians in the nearby area.
Bellatrix screamed mostly from the pain in her hand but also for the failure of her plan, "Curse you Potter", she spat, "Lokar will punish you and the rest of your multi-coloured rejects". She shrieked and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Almost immediately Harry had his communicator out and was searching for other sources of magic in the area. He was still only picked up Remus and Tonks though, "Damn I forgot about them", he looked back towards the cafe and saw their stunned expression. Pushing that aside for a moment, he called up his team and the rest of the rangers, "We've got a situation, meet me at the Command Center as soon as possible".
The moment he ended the call, the Lupin's were approaching him, "Harry did you just use magic in front of muggles?" Remus stated.
"Sort of", Harry shrugged.
"You threw a ball of fire without a wand and that's all you can say", Tonks began, "if we were in the UK I'd have to arrest you, chosen one or not".
"Look there's something much bigger happening then blowing up some windows in front of muggles", Harry said exasperated, "I promise I'll explain everything to you and the rest of the Order but you need to leave the city". The red ranger didn't wait for the response and immediately activated the teleport function on his communicator, disappearing in a flash of red light.
"Well that went well", Tonks sighed, "are we going to listen to him?"
"We'll keep our distance", Remus began, "but if Bellatrix is in the area then we need to be prepared to fight".
"What about the rest of the Order?" Tonks asked.
"International Portkeys are heavily restricted now", her husband replied, "and apparating the distance isn't really an option. We're only here because we took an airplane". He paused for a moment before adding, "Whatever the situation is, Harry seems to be in control so for now we observe. Perhaps we can get to the bottom of his strange behaviour".
Tonks nodded slowly and they walked away from the remains of the cafe. Something strange was going on with Harry, he was much more focused and controlled than they remembered. On top of that he had managed to wordless and wandlessly conjure a ball of fire and throw it several meters without breaking sweat. Hopefully Harry knew what he was doing, otherwise all hope for stopping Voldemort would be gone.
A/N – Good news, I've suddenly hit upon a massive patch of inspiration and written about fifteen chapters in a week so that means I can go back to updating twice a week.
Now you might think that both Harry and Bellatrix are acting a little OOC but there is a reason for that. Firstly Harry is much more confident thanks to his new powers and his time in America has given him a slightly new outlook on life. I was inspired by Missy in the new Doctor Who series for my characterisation of Bellatrix. The reason for her lack of madness will be revealed in due course...