Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. belong to J.K. Rowling, while Power Rangers and all related concepts belong to Saban/Disney/Jetix/whoever (Who does own the broadcasting rights to the series these days anyway?)

Feedback: Please; I'd really like to know that somebody's reading this

Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Guardians

"Hermione, Ron is not dead," Jason said grimly, crouching down beside the blue Ranger to grab her hand and hold it to his unconscious teammate's neck, smiling slightly as he felt the familiar slow but present beat of a heartbeat below his fingers.

Just like he'd suspected, really; Voldemort might be ruthless, but at the same time, just like Zedd, he evidently wasn't the type of villain who'd want the particularly big pains in his neck to die quickly.

It seemed to be the same with bad guys the world over; they could never just outright kill their opponents when there was an opportunity to torment them in some way or another before they actually dealt the killing blow.

"Right," Jason said, glancing back at the serpent creature before them even as he pulled out Saba. "We need to move fast here; we need to figure out some way of stopping this thing long enough for us to figure out what happened to Ron. You guys have a spell that can stop people moving, right-?"

"Ron and I already tried that; it didn't work, REMEMBER?" Hermione yelled in frustration at the team's White Ranger, noting that Basiliskdor was already beginning to stir. "We CAN'T immobilise him-"

"On your own, maybe not, but what if all three of you channel the spell through Saba?" Jason countered, spinning the sword to look anxiously at Tommy's old partner. "Think you can handle it, Saba?"

"Naturally," Saba replied, the sword sounding almost offended at the idea that it wouldn't be capable of such a simple task. "Simply aim your spells at me; I shall do the rest."

"Right," Harry said, stepping back and drawing his wand, Hermione and Ginny joining him as they subsequently aimed their wands at Jason's sword, the blade pointing in the direction of the currently-dazed Basiliskdor.

"Impedimentia!" the three wizards cried, the spells from their wands striking Saba, causing the blade to glow a brilliant blue before Jason hurled the sword at Basiliskdor. As soon as the sentient sword had struck its target, Basiliskdor froze in position, only for it to almost immediately afterwards be engulfed in a bright light and vanish.

"What the… did you just kill it?" Harry asked, looking incredulously over at Jason.

"Saba?" Jason asked, glancing at the sword that had now returned to his hand.

"It is not dead; I merely teleported it to a location some distance from this city to prevent it harming innocents in the event that it was still able to use its powers while under your spell," Saba clarified, looking nonchalantly around at the other Guardian Rangers. "After all, its body is paralysed, but its mind is still active; if it can move its eyes, it might be able to take action against other innocents before we can return."

"Good call," Harry said, nodding in approval at the sword before he turned his attention back to the White Ranger holding it. "Let's go."

Even as Jason nodded, the increasingly familiar light of teleportation surrounded the Guardian Rangers…

A few seconds later, the five of them were once again standing in the ruins of the old command centre, the control consoles still faintly glowing from what power remained after Jason and Saba had restored the command centre to some semblance of life during their last visit.

"What the- what's the point of coming here?" Hermione asked, indicating the consoles around them in frustration, glaring at Jason as she removed her helmet, her teammates quickly copying her action. "There can't be anything here about a 'cure' for what Basiliskdor's done to Ron and the others; checking Harry's brain is one thing, but this is something that kills you-"

"Look, we already established that this thing doesn't kill you with its 'Gaze of Death' thing- or whatever you want to call it-; given that Ron's still got a pulse, it looks like it doesn't kill its victims instantly, either," Jason countered, glaring briefly at Hermione before he glanced over at where Harry was currently standing. "You know Voldemort best; would he be willing to deliberately sacrifice his followers to achieve a more important goal?"

Before Harry could reply, Ginny shook her head, stepping forward slightly to answer Jason's query herself.

"What with how rare pure-bloods are these days- most wizards are half-bloods at best, quite frankly; if they hadn't been willing to marry muggles they'd have eventually died out - I don't think he'd want to risk doing anything that would limit the amount of people who he'd accept the allegiance of without having some kind of antidote," she said, looking curiously at the White Guardian. "Why do you ask?"

"Because," Jason clarified, as he indicated the fallen forms of the basilisk-thing's first victims, "if that's the case, we might be able to take this guy out and still manage to save Ron."

"What?" Harry asked, looking in confusion between his teammates. "Did I miss something?"

"Look, even if this basilisk thing can control who it kills with its 'Gaze of Death' thing, you really think that Voldemort wouldn't want to make sure he couldn't cure any of his followers if this thing took them out by accident or ended up going rogue on him?" Jason explained, looking impatiently over at Harry. "If he didn't want to risk losing a follower because this thing just instantly killed everyone it looked at directly, doesn't it seem like a good bet that it'll also have a cure of some kind?"

"A cure?" Hermione repeated, looking in ever-growing frustration at Jason. "I'm sorry, but the only thing that can 'cure' petrification like this are mandrakes, and we not only don't have any on us right now, we don't have the time to grow any if we're going to find the remaining horcruxes-!"

"Mandrakes cure normal petrification; I think it's safe to say that this is anything but normal," Harry pointed out, looking between his two friends before he glanced over at Jason. "Any suggestions for where we might find that info?"

"Nothing off the top of my head- the technical side of things was really Billy's field-," Jason replied, shaking his head slightly even as he pulled out his sword once again, "but I'm hoping that the command centre's databanks will have something that we can use, assuming that Saba here can access them… can you?"

As the White Ranger turned to address his sword, the sword's 'head'- for lack of a better term- was already turning to look at the other Rangers with a slight nod.

"Of course," Saba replied, the sword sounding almost insulted at the implication that it couldn't do what Jason had just asked of it. "With the aid of the information that was contained in the Power Chamber prior to its destruction, combined with anything the Rangers can provide for me, it should be straightforward enough for me to piece together the appropriate information to develop an antidote for the Yellow Ranger's current condition and from there create something that can be delivered to all those currently affected by Basiliskdor's gaze."

"Well… normal basilisk-induced paralysis could be cured by giving the petrified person a potion containing mandrake; would that help?" Hermione asked.

"A starting-point, certainly, but hardly a guaranteed solution; Basiliskdor's gaze is doubtless more effective than the conventional paralysis these 'mandrakes' treated," Saba said, looking over at Hermione with an almost offended gaze. "If I am to have any success, I will require samples of the potion that was used to treat this petrification the last time you encountered it- I presume you actually have practical experience with this condition, correct?"

"Yeah, one was unleashed on Hogwarts in my second year; why- oh, you want us to see about picking up some samples of the potion, right?" Harry asked, smiling slightly as Saba nodded only for the grin to fade as he thought about what he'd just been asked. "I dunno… it's been over four years since the basilisk's attack; what if-?"

"She kept it, trust me; mandrakes are so hard to come by these days that any potions made using them would have been kept around just in case they were needed again, no matter how unlikely it might be," Hermione said, nodding reassuringly at Harry before she turned back to Saba. "So… if we can pick up some of those potions, you'll be able to use them to synthesis an antidote?"

"At the very least it would provide us with an avenue of investigation to begin further analysis," Saba confirmed, nodding in confirmation at the Blue Ranger.

"Right then," Hermione said, as she stood back with a slight smile, "I'll nip off to the hospital wing and see what I can find; you guys…"

She paused for a moment, evidently uncertain what to say, before shrugging apologetically. "Well… do what you can if that thing comes back, OK?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Harry said, nodding briefly at Hermione before the Blue Ranger vanished, leaving him to turn back and look anxiously at Saba. "How long have we got until Basiliskdor's able to move again?"

"Allowing for what information I have already gathered about your spells, combined with what I observed about Basiliskdor, I estimate that it should only be paralysed for a matter of minutes," Saba answered; as Ginny turned her glare on the sword, Harry could have sworn that the thing seemed to wince. "Well, it is hardly an exact science, and you still have to allow for various details such as the creature's own natural resistance towards magic…"

"Right, fine, so the thing's going to get moving again fairly soon; that means we've only got a few minutes to come up with any kind of strategy to stop it," Harry said, sighing slightly in frustration before he glanced back at Jason. "Don't suppose you've got any ideas you'd like to share with us?"

"Nothing specific comes to mind," Jason said, shrugging apologetically. "The best thing I can think of is for you guys to hit it hard and hit it fast; if you can figure out some way to turn that thing's gaze back on itself, that might help as well, but given that I don't know much about the creature itself…"

His voice trailed off as Harry and Ginny looked sharply at each other at that last comment, a wide-eyed expression of excitement on their faces.

"Could it work?" Harry asked, looking urgently at Ginny.

"Well, we know that the original basilisk's gaze was never as effective if it wasn't viewed directly, but I don't think anyone's ever tried reflecting it back at the basilisk itself before…" Ginny mused, staring reflectively upwards for a few moments before she shrugged. "Well, it can't hurt to try it, right?"

"Probably the best shot we're going to get at doing damage to that thing until we're back at full power anyway…" Harry said, half to himself, as he turned to look at Jason and Saba. "Jason, you and Saba keep an eye on Ron and do what you can about coming up with a cure for Basiliskdor's gaze; Ginny, you see what you can do about figuring out a means of deflecting Basiliskdor's gaze back at itself, and I'll do what I can to keep that thing occupied before we're ready to strike back."

"Are you sure about that?" Jason asked.

Harry shrugged.

"Not entirely," he admitted, smiling slightly as he moved to place his helmet back on. "But hey; I'm the Red Ranger, right? Even without the rest of the team, I've got to at least try to take on the big guns if I'm going to get anywhere."

Despite the grim nature of the crisis they faced, Jason couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, we tend to do that a lot," he said, shrugging slightly as he looked at the young man he was already coming to think of as his protégé. "Just don't let Basiliskdor into a position where it can look directly at you, and you should be set."

"What he said," Ginny added briefly, the glare on her face making it clear that Harry would have more reason to fear her than Basiliskdor if he screwed this up.

"Gotcha," he said, before he put his helmet back on and teleported away…

Arriving in the middle of an empty field, apparently a couple of miles outside of the town where they had been earlier, staring at the presently-motionless form of Basiliskdor just as its fingers began to move.

Well, Harry reflected to himself as he drew his Guardian Blade, hate to kick a man when he's down, but might as well get started now…

With that thought, he charged at his opponent, slashing rapidly at the creature before it could start moving again. Its hide was too thick for him to do much more than scratch it, but he still managed to score a few decent blows- in his opinion- on the monster before him before it turned to look directly at him (Its eyes had been shut at the time they'd frozen it so he wasn't able to blind it like Fawkes had done to the original basilisk), Harry only just managing to duck under the creature's gaze before its 'beams' hit him.

"Red… Ranger…" the monster said, its voice low and rough as though it hadn't used it much (Not that it would have had much reason to, now that Harry thought about it; why would Voldemort want something that could talk?).

"Yeah, that's me," Harry countered, remembering not to mention his name; they didn't know if Voldemort knew who the Hogwarts Guardians were under their helmets yet- so far Goldar and Malfoy had both seen them unmasked, but it wasn't clear if either of them had subsequently provided Voldemort with their real names; the fact that they'd fought off the tengas sent to Privet Drive as the Guardians could just be the Guardians protecting him rather than that he was one of them-, but if he was ignorant of their identities that gave them an edge that Harry wasn't keen to sacrifice.

"You… die…" Basiliskdor hissed, before baring its teeth to charge at the Red Ranger, Harry only just managing to vault off to the side as the serpent-like creature charged where he had been standing only a few moments before.

"Sorry, but it's not going to be that easy," Harry said, drawing his wand as he glared pointedly at Basiliskdor beneath his helmet. "You care to try this again?"

The monster didn't reply vocally, but the claws and teeth it bared as it charged towards him once again made it more than obvious that it was willing to take up Harry's challenge. For a moment, Harry simply stood still as it charged towards him, his body tensed as he waited for the right moment, subsequently lunging forward with his Guardian Blade as it came within arm's length, determined to impale the creature in its mouth as it moved in to bite him-

As Basiliskdor shifted its head to the side just in time to grab the Blade between its teeth- its neck suddenly longer by several inches than it had been early; it must be able to extend it automatically somehow-, Harry barely had time to release his grip on the blade before the creature's claws slashed out at where his chest had been; as it was, he was left with a rather sore scratch on his left shoulder, but otherwise he was unharmed.

Harry quickly reevaluated his previous assessment of just how easy this fight was going to be; anything that could move that fast was not something he should underestimate…

AN: Not the longest, I know, but I figured I had to get SOMETHING up after leaving this for so long…

On that topic, any suggestions for future one-shot monsters are greatly appreciated; I have plans for a couple of old enemies showing up for my next couple of planned team-ups- so NO requests for past Ranger villains unless you have a clear idea what you want them to be doing, please; I've already made up my mind who's dropping in on that front-, but any monster suggestions you can come up with based on creatures in the Harry Potter series would be greatly appreciated