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?)
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Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Guardians
"OK, so, can we start with the obvious issue of how you two know each other and work our way on from there?" Ron asked, looking in obvious confusion between Sylvia and Jason. "I mean, I get that you apparently knew a previous Black Ranger-"
"Carlos Vallerte; he was the second Green Turbo Ranger and the Black Space Ranger," Jason clarified for Ron's benefit. "I never worked with him myself, but he was chosen by one of my old teammates to replace him when the time came for them to move on from the Ranger business; he did a good job by all accounts."
"Yeah, he definitely did that; I was there when he fought the Psycho Rangers," Sylvia said, smiling at the memory.
"The who?" Ginny asked.
"The ultimate evil Rangers, to put it simply," Jason explained. "The Psycho Rangers were created to be the perfect counterpart to the Space Rangers- Carlos's second team-; each Psycho Ranger scanned the minds of their Space Ranger counterpart to predict their moves in their first confrontation, and fought them for a few months before the Space Rangers managed to figure out a way to fight them one-on-one while negating their advantage by switching opponents so that the Psychos no longer knew how to beat the other one."
"It was a bit more complicated than that, but you're essentially right, yes," Sylvia confirmed, smiling slightly grimly at the Hogwarts Guardian White Ranger before she shrugged. "Anyway, my mum was Carlos's teacher back when he was a Ranger- they had to actually continue to go to school rather than your ability to wander relatively freely; it was a lot more 'comic-book-esque' back then-, and I found out that he was a Ranger when he morphed in a photo booth and left the photograph behind because he was responding to a call from his team."
"How old were you back then?" Hermione asked
"Oh, about nine or ten; I had a birthday while the Space Rangers were active," Sylvia replied, shrugging nonchalantly at the Blue Ranger. "Carlos took me on a quick trip to the Moon and I helped Andros- the Red Space Ranger- activate his full Battleizer armour when the Psycho Rangers briefly returned, but we fell out of touch after the Space team went into semi-retirement and my mom moved to another city for work."
"Ah," Ron said, nodding slightly as he looked uncertainly at the gem on the young woman's wrist. "And... you got the Black Gem... where?"
"Found it shortly after I began my gap year; I'd just graduated from high school, but I wanted to take a year out before I headed off to college," Sylvia explained. "I was out walking a few weeks ago- I was trying to figure out what to actually do for the gap year; I had a couple of ideas about trips I might take, but I hadn't settled on which one to go for yet- when I found it lying on the ground in the park, looking like it had just landed there, and when I picked it up, Dimitria... well, she appeared to me."
"Yeah, on that topic, why didn't you just tell us you knew what had happened to the Black Gem in the first place?" Jason asked, turning to look pointedly at Dimitria.
"Sylvia and I wished to ensure that she had mastered its power before she made full contact with you all," Dimitria replied. "When Ron Weasley converted the Black Gem to repel Draco Malfoy's influence, it also converted the Gem to allow a non-magic-wielder to use its power, but it also requires the user to concentrate to a significant degree in order to maintain control of the power and its associated weapons; Sylvia wished to be sure that she had mastered her control of the Gem before she appeared to you."
"Just... y'know, wanted to make a good impression; I didn't want you guys to think that I was weak or impulsive or anything..." Sylvia said, looking awkwardly at the other Ranger.
"Hey," Jason said, walking over to give Sylvia a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Back when I started out as a Ranger, we went through a period where the Green Ranger's powers were almost drained- he had to get regularly 'charged up' by the rest of us just so that he could operate on an equal footing in a fight-, and we still considered him just as much a member of the team as everyone else; just because you've got a bit of trouble doesn't mean you're weak, OK?"
"Quite," Harry said, nodding in understanding as he looked back at Sylvia. "So... that's why you sounded a bit tired after you summoned the Dark Zords last time?"
"And why you lost control after the Boggart turned into Carlos," Jason said, a contemplative expression on his face as he looked at the first female Black Ranger he'd ever met. "Being confronted with everything you were afraid of about your worth to hold onto the power..."
"Threw off my concentration; pretty much, yeah," Sylvia confirmed. "It's getting easier to maintain control of the morph itself most of the time, but the effort needed to control the Dark Zords is a bit trickier, and like you said yourself, being faced with Carlos like that..."
She swallowed. "I mean, I get that it wasn't him, but that doesn't make it any easier to hear that..."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Jason said, smiling reassuringly at her. "Trust me, we've all been there to some extent; my team had to go up against a monster that made itself look like the Dragonzord- that was the zord used by the Green Ranger back in the day-, and even knowing that it wasn't him didn't make it any easier for us to fight that thing."
"Really?" Sylvia asked, looking at Jason with a hopeful smile.
"Hey, you're a Ranger now; I wouldn't lie to you," Jason said, nodding reassuringly at her. "Fighting other Rangers isn't easy even if you know they're not real; what's important is that you don't give up no matter the odds against you."
"We can discuss the past later; our immediate priority right now is taking out that boggart," Harry said, looking apologetically between Sylvia and Jason at his sudden interruption for a moment before he assumed a more focused expression as he looked at the new Black Ranger. "And if we're going into a fight, I have to know this right now; can you help us beat this thing, or do you need more time to get the hang of the Gem?"
"I..." Sylvia began, pausing for a moment before looking at her gem, swallowing in apprehension before she looked back at Jason and nodded resolutely. "Yes, I'm ready."
"You're sure?" Ginny asked, looking pointedly at the Black Ranger. "No offence, but you had a point in your reason for not sticking around earlier; if you can't be sure you'll remain in control in a fight-"
"I can do this," Sylvia said, her eyes narrowed as she glared back at the Green Ranger. "I'm not letting one slip-up ruin this; I've been training in martial arts since I knew Carlos, I've been working with the Gem for weeks, I've wanted to be a Ranger for years, and I'm not letting all that time and training go to waste just because I lost focus once."
After the rest of the Hogwarts Guardians had stared at their newest member for a few moments, Harry finally nodded.
"OK," he said, walking forward to place a firm hand on their new teammate's shoulder. "Just stay focused; you've been a good help to us so far, but if you don't think you can do this, I don't want you diving in to try and 'prove' yourself."
As they reappeared back in the town they'd just left, it didn't take the now-six-man team long to spot their current foe; the 'Uber-Boggart' was currently in the shape of something that could best be described as an amorphous blob, constantly shifting its appearance to such an extent that it was hard to tell what it was from one moment to the next apart from the fact that it was constantly attacking everything around it.
"Huh?" Ron said, looking at the creature in surprise. "What's up with that thing?"
"It's probably finding it hard to focus on one person's fears over everyone else's because there are so many people around it," Hermione suggested, the Blue Ranger taking in the fleeing civilians around the Uber-Boggart as its latest blow took on a form that looked like some kind of rhinoceros shattering a nearby window. "Damn, that thing's strong..."
"'Damn'?" Ginny repeated, looking over at Hermione with a slight smile. "That's not exactly normal for you, Hermione..."
"I'm going around in blue spandex controlling a massive metal eagle to stop the most evil wizard of our time using an alien queen's wand to conquer the world; I think I'm entitled to some foul language," Hermione countered grimly.
"On the topic of the... boggart," Sylvia began, looking hopefully around at her teammates, "if it's drawing on the fears of everyone around it, is there any chance that we could... overload it by making it draw on more fears than it can cope with?"
"If it hasn't suffered any side-effects from acting like that so far, I don't think it's going to experience any any time soon," Hermione responded. "Sorry, but it looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way."
"OK," Harry said, the Rangers drawing their blades to stare at their foe. "Hogwarts Guardians, attack!"
With that command, the six Guardians drew their weapons and charged towards the Uber-Boggart, which swiftly turned to look at them before it shrank down into a single form. Unlike their previous encounter, its new appearance was wearing the gold armour of the Green Ranger over the same Ranger's upper costume while the legs were wearing the black spandex of the Black Space Ranger, the green helmet possessing the smooth featureless 'mouth-plate' of the Space Ranger helmet as well as a black circle at the top of the head where the slight horn-like decoration had been on the Green Ranger's original helmet.
"What the...?" Sylvia said, pausing in her charge as she looked in confusion at the creature before them.
"Move-!" Harry began, before the Ranger-Boggart drew a gun from one of the holsters on its belt and fired it at Sylvia, Ginny only just managing to knock the Black Guardian out of the path of the attack before it struck her.
"You return to face me?" the creature said, its voice now sounding like two people speaking at once. "You are truly foolish adversaries, Rangers!"
"I prefer to think of us as persistent," Jason said, looking grimly at the creature as he drew Saba and shifted into a combat stance as the Ranger-Boggart drew its duplicate of the Sword of Darkness.
"Anyway, what's with the combo look?" Sylvia asked, sounding somewhat more relaxed now as she indicated the creature's new appearance. "I mean, it's different, but it's not exactly-"
"Enough!" the Ranger-Boggart yelled, charging towards the Rangers, the Sword of Darkness in one hand and a long black stick that Sylvia recognised as the Black Space Ranger's Lunar Lance in the other. Raising Saba, Jason managed to counter the Ranger-Boggart's attempt to strike him with the Sword of Darkness, but the Lunar Lance would had struck him in the side if Ron hadn't dived in and managed to intercept the blow himself.
"OK, I take that back," Sylvia said, her eyes widening slightly under her helmet as she witnessed the Ranger-Boggart spin the Lunar Lance to throw off Ron's Guardian Blade before ramming the rod into his chest to throw him back. "This is bad..."
"Rush him!" Harry yelled as the Ranger-Boggart knocked Jason back with a powerful kick, the Red Guardian Ranger charging for their foe with the Blue and Green Rangers close behind him. Bringing the Lunar Lance between him and his foes, the Ranger-Boggart was able to use its length to neatly block all three Guardian Blades before they could make contact with its body, spinning the lance in a circle to send all three Hogwarts Guardians off-balance before sweeping the lance in a forward circular motion that knocked them all off their feet.
As his teammates fell, Ron leapt into action, launching a quick series of spells from his Blade, only for the Ranger-Boggart to neatly dodge his attempted attacks and draw a blue pistol that he swiftly attached the Lunar Lance to. As their foe fired a rapid series of blue energy bursts at Ron, the Yellow Guardian erected a hasty Shield Charm that the blasts flying back towards their source, only for the Ranger-Boggart to pull out the Dragon Dagger and blow a few quick notes on it before the blasts could strike home, the golden armour around his shoulders glowing as it deflected the blasts back at the Guardians.
"NO!" Sylvia yelled, drawing her own blade as she charged towards their foe. With the Ranger-Boggart still slightly off-balance from the last few blows, the Black Guardian was able to get in close enough to knock the amalgamated Ranger off his feet, but this only lasted for a moment before he separated the Lance from his pistol and used it to knock Sylvia down herself. Leaping back onto its feet, the Ranger-Boggart raised the Sword of Darkness as though about to bring it down onto her neck, but a yellow blur tackled the creature before it could lower the sword, and it swiftly found itself wrestling with the Yellow Guardian.
"Give it up, you freaky SOD!" Ron yelled, grabbing the Ranger-Boggart's fists as the other creature attempted to punch him, straining against his foe's strength as they rolled around on the ground, balance constantly shifting as each of them tried to overpower the other. "We won't let your boss WIN!"
"NO!" the Ranger-Boggart yelled, suddenly sprouting large spider-like legs from its back, the legs grabbing Ron and throwing him into Hermione as she tried to move in to help. Even as the Blue and Yellow Rangers fell, the Green and Red were leaping into action, charging towards the creature that had just knocked out their siblings- both biological and unofficially adopted-, only for the entity to suddenly sprout a long cloak that it swept over their heads, temporarily blocking their vision before it leapt off its feet to kick them in the chests and knock them off-balance.
"Get down!" Jason suddenly yelled, throwing Saba at the Ranger-Boggart. As the other Rangers scrambled to their feet, they quickly noted that their current adversary was temporarily off its feet, its shape blurring as though it was trying to figure out what it should become next.
"Nice job," Harry said, wincing slightly as he got back to his feet to join the rest of the team.
"You're welcome," Jason said, flexing his wrist as he grabbed Saba as the sentient sword flew back towards him, looking grimly at the dazed boggart. "We need to think this through; that thing's down for the moment, but I don't think it's going to stay out for long."
"And the second we get up close to it, it'll transform into something-" Hermione began, before she snapped her fingers in inspiration. "Of course; that's it!"
"Huh?" Ron asked, looking uncertainly at the Blue Guardian Ranger. "What're you talking about?"
"We need to change our strategy!" Hermione said, grinning enthusiastically at her old friend. "We're trying to fight this thing like it's one of us; we need to fight it like a boggart!"
"And how are we meant to do that; I don't think riddikilus is going to exactly cut it against this thing-!" Ron began indignantly.
"It's drawing on our fears to help it in combat; we need to make it turn into something that we can fight so that we can weaken it!" Hermione clarified, sounding like she was smiling under her helmet as she turned back to look at the creature. "And I think I know what to use..."
"What?" Harry asked, looking in confusion at the Blue Ranger.
"Just try and keep calm and keep your minds blank- I don't think this thing finds it as easy to draw on our fears as a normal boggart; it looks like it has to think about what it turns into-, and let me try something..." Hermione said, drawing her Blade as she turned to look at the Ranger-Boggart as it advanced towards her. "Here I go..."
Not sure what else to do, Harry held out his arms to hold back the other Rangers as Hermione charged towards their foe, a wild scream that Harry had never heard his friend make before bursting from her lips as she cut and slashed away at the creature, the occasional defiant "NO!" that was at odds with her exceptional progress in combat the only sign that Hermione was thinking about anything other than a fight. For a few moments, the Ranger-Boggart simply parried Hermione's wild slashes without any sign that he was thinking of changing his strategy, but then it suddenly stood back and changed into a form that the three Hogwarts students quickly recognised.
Professor McGonagall? Harry thought to himself in confusion, a quick glance at Ron and Ginny all that he needed to confirm that they were just as puzzled by this as he was. What-?
"Miss Granger," the McGonagall-Boggart said with a stern voice, "your performance has been-"
Harry didn't need to hear any more of the boggart's latest 'speech'; its opening sentence was enough to remind him of their third-year Defence Against the Dark Arts encounter with a boggart, where Hermione had failed the last stage of their exam in that course due to her boggart manifesting as McGonagall informing her that she'd failed her exams.
It made perfect sense; since Harry, Ginny, Jason and Sylvia's fears were all obviously capable of fighting back, and even Ron's fear of spiders could be dangerous if they were big enough, Hermione's fear of official failure- personified in McGonagall- was technically the least dangerous fear they possessed (His head of house might be strict and capable, but she didn't exactly compare to evil Rangers, Voldemort, or giant spiders).
"Get it!" he yelled, the rest of the team drawing their blades and charging at the creature before them, Before the boggart could transform into something more combat-capable- McGonagall's spell-casting abilities might not exactly be flawed, but compared to Voldemort, evil Rangers, or giant spiders, she was probably the least dangerous threat their fears could 'generate'. Before the boggart could react to the attack, the Rangers had struck the creature with multiple blows from their various swords, sending it reeling back with a scream of rage as its body began to shift again, Harry quickly noting that its current transformation speed was significantly slower than it had been earlier.
"We're weakening it!" Hermione said, sounding as though she was grinning under her helmet as she turned to look at Harry. "Harry, you're up; focus on a dementor!"
"Wh- oh, gotcha!" Harry said, stepping forward and focusing his thoughts on the terrifying feelings a dementor's presence could always evoke in him, the helplessness and strange apprehension he always felt when around them (He acknowledged it was weird, but it was still the most consistent experience he'd ever had of hearing his parents' voices)...
As the creature shifted and transformed once again, the four wizarding Guardians seized their chance.
"Expecto Patronum!" they yelled, drawing their blades and aiming them all at the same point; if asked later on, nobody would have been able to say why they had done this, but they felt at the time that it was the right thing to do. As their blasts struck each other, four massive golden shapes appeared from the resulting ball of energy, but Jason and Sylvia were only briefly able to glimpse something with antlers and another something with a longish-looking body and tail before the shapes merged to become a form that looked surprisingly like the original Hogwarts Guardian Megazord.
"Whoa..." Harry and Ron muttered, only able to watch in wide-eyed surprise as their combined Patronus charged towards the currently dementor-shaped boggart. The creature tried to turn to face the powerful golden figure, but before it could do anything, the gold Patronus drew its blade and tore through the dementor's black cloak. As the creature screamed in rage and pain, the Megazord Patronus turned around and rammed its sword through the monster's chest once again, the creature letting out a final scream before it fell over, collapsing into a burst of black energy before it vanished. The golden Megazord Patronus nodded briefly at the six Guardians as it turned back to face its creators and their allies before it faded back into nothingness, leaving the six Rangers to look at each other with a slight smile.
"Well," Ron said at last, shrugging awkwardly. "That was... interesting."
"That's the way it is when you're a Ranger," Jason said with an approving nod.
"But... how did we do that?" Ginny asked, looking between her Guardian Blade and the place where the Megazord Patronus had been in confusion. "I mean, the last time we did this kind of thing, we just got a phoenix..."
"Yeah, but the last time you did this kind of thing, you didn't have her there," Jason said, indicating Sylvia. "Besides, this thing wasn't a real Dementor even if it looked like one, so maybe your gems decided that they needed a more physical approach to deal with it than the phoenix last time; from what you told me dementors are mainly vulnerable to those Patronus things for... emotional reasons, right?"
Despite the fact that the theory came from someone who hadn't even known that their branch of magic existed before he met them, Hermione couldn't help but feel impressed.
"Sound reasoning there, Jason," she said, nodding in approval at him.
"Hey, you don't spend several years hanging out with a brain like Billy without picking up some idea of what he's talking about all the time," Jason replied, before he glanced around at the street that was now beginning to fill with people once again. "Anyway, that said, we should probably get going before we start getting too many questions; we've still got that next horcrux to track down, after all."
"Plus," Sylvia added, looking over at her new teammates with a slightly hopeful manner to her stance as though she wasn't sure how people were going to respond to what she was about to say, "I get the feeling I'm going to need a bit more information on you guys and your pasts if I'm sticking around..."
"Trust me," Ron said, reaching over to place a reassuring hand on the Black Guardian Ranger's shoulder. "As far as we're concerned, you're here to the end if you want to be."
As the other Rangers nodded in agreement at the Yellow Guardian Ranger's words, Sylvia smiled back at them under her helmet, grateful that they couldn't see her face at the moment.
She knew that crying at a time like this was stupid, but, as she and her new friends apparated away from the site of their latest battle, she couldn't help it; after so long thinking that this could never happen, she'd finally become something she'd wanted since childhood.
She was a Power Ranger...
AN: Well, it's into Reefside in the next chapter, and the two teams involved are going to get a very dramatic introduction to each other...
