Magi Ranger
By: Tenstar12
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Power Rangers.
Chapter 4, In Which Harry Receives a Crash Course in Monster Battling, Power Ranger Style!
It didn't take long for Billy to find the rest of the Rangers who had dealt with their share of the putties by this time. It took even less time for the four to track down the clown with the magical cardboard dust, finding him outside the carnival area and in the main part of the park.
"You're going down, clown!" Red announced as the four ran up on the clown.
"No more clowning around…" he said as he sank to the ground with a psychotic laugh before melting into a puddle of goo that quickly reformed into some kind of strange plant looking monster. It had two black and red tentacle like arms, stood on a large mass of tangled looking vines, and had no readily apparent face. Instead, there were several yellow tentacles sprouting out of a large red flower that was perched atop its rounded leafy green body.
Harry was once more struck by the oddness of the situation and a passing thought left him wondering if he would ever have a normal day again as the plant creature continued to laugh in a deeper voice than before.
"Man," Black said, pointing toward the monster. "That's one big pineapple."
Harry slowly shook his head in exasperation. In what way exactly did that thing resemble a pineapple?
"It's Morphin' Time guys!" Red announced before, as one, all four reached behind their backs and pulled out the same octagonal devices Harry had seen on their belts in the Command Center.
"MASTODON!" "PTERODACTYL!" "TRICERATOPS!" "TYRANNOSAURUS!"
In a bright flash of light the four teens were once more clothed in the skin tight suits that Harry had first met them in and immediately charged the "Pineapple" monster as Harry watched from behind some trees a short distance away. Before they could reach it, however, Harry caught sight of the golden armored monkey creature that Zordon and the Rangers had called Goldar, along with two more beings. One was tall and very skinny and looked like some kind of part monkey creature with dark blue fur all over its body while the other was just the opposite, being rather short and round with light blue skin and a heavily protruding lower jaw. Much to Harry's confusion, these two settled down on a bench and seemed to be eagerly anticipating the upcoming battle if their cheers were anything to go by.
As Harry looked on, the four Rangers were intercepted by a horde of putties which they laid into with ease. Red was delivering strong, solid blows that often sent the putties flying with a metallic clang that seemed to ring out each time one of them was hit. Billy was struggling slightly more with them, but it seemed to be more about form than anything else. He appeared to be using a fighting style similar to Red's, just less refined. Pink was fighting off her share of the putties with a style that mostly consisted of flips and quick strikes and throws while Black was almost dancing around his opponents, often jumping and twisting into blows that sent the grey skinned beings to the ground.
While this melee was going on, Goldar suddenly perked up. "AH! It seems as if the Rangers have brought along a little friend!" Before Harry could react, Goldar jumped through the air and landed next to the tree that Harry had crouched behind.
Looking up slowly, Harry couldn't help but swallow at the sight of the large simian glaring down at him. "How's it going there mate? Goldar, right? Haven't seen you in a bit. How's the old lady?"
"Mageling!" Goldar roared before swinging his sword at Harry, a swipe that he barely ducked under, leaving the nearby tree to take the blow which cleaved it in two.
"Now that wasn't very nice," Harry said as he backpedaled, once more calling up his magic. "You could have hurt me you know."
"You have no business here, Mageling, but as long as you're here I may as well finish what I started when we last met!" Goldar brandished his sword as he stomped toward the rapidly retreating Harry.
Just as Harry was about to start casting, Goldar was struck by a blast of energy, causing sparks to fly off of him and send him falling to the side. Harry glanced over in the direction the blast came from and saw Billy running toward him with his blaster in hand. "Are you alright Harry?"
"Yeah," Harry said, pausing to catch his breath as the other Rangers joined them having driven the putties off. "I get the distinct impression that Goldar doesn't like me though."
"That's because I hate unfinished business!" Goldar roared as he climbed back to his feet.
The four rangers immediately formed up between Harry and Goldar. "If you want him you'll have to get through us Goldar!" Red shouted, drawing his own blaster and converting it to a short blade like weapon, an action the other three quickly copied before they all charged toward the golden monkey.
Red charged in first, swinging his blade at Goldar to no avail as the surprisingly agile simian spun to the side and struck out with his own weapon, catching the ranger across his chest, leaving a scorch mark on his suit and sending off a shower of sparks. Black followed him in, only to have his own weapon parried and get knocked to the ground in another burst of sparks for his effort. Billy and Pink had no better luck, the two rangers getting taken down easily in a quick pair of strikes from Goldar and still leaving the monster with enough time to spin around and knock Red away again with one final stroke sending him rolling across the ground where the other three helped him up.
Harry quickly ran over to the Rangers as Goldar prepared to step in to finish them, only to be cut off as the pineapple monster shuffled over with the two spectator creatures that had arrived with Goldar. "Wait!" it shouted. "Don't finish them yet, these pathetic Power Pups are mine!"
The monster began laughing again as the vines on its head started twitching and a wind picked up from behind it, blowing the pollen the vines were emitting toward Harry and the Rangers. "Now to make cardboard out of the lot of you!" the monster taunted with a laugh. "Don't worry, it won't hurt a bit, but it might hurt a lot!"
Harry could feel the magic in the pollen and could only watch as the rangers began coughing and stumbling as if disoriented. Harry however had absolutely no reaction to it at all. Before he could ponder this at length, the pollen shower stopped and Harry noticed that Goldar and the other two were sneezing from the pollen as well. "Go away, fools!" the plant ordered. "Their suits are protecting them from my magic and I can't increase the power without catching you in the spell as well. Be gone so I may do my duty for Empress Rita!" Without another word, Goldar and the other two disappeared, presumably back to Rita's side, and the Pineapple monster once more shifted its attention toward the Rangers. "Now you shall feel the full force of my power. My Empress gifted me with stronger magic than ever before. There is nothing you can do to stop me, the mighty Pinoctopus!"
"Harry," Billy called as he and the other Rangers recovered and brandished their weapons once more. "You shouldn't be here, you could get hurt."
"Bil- Uh… Blue, what are…" Black started before Harry cut him off.
"Look, no time for this now, but I know who you guys are. Having seen you in costume before and seeing your reaction or lack thereof to the threat in the carnival made it rather easy to figure out. I already talked to Billy, but for now we have something to take care of. This guy's attack may not have turned you to cardboard like I assume he did to Yellow's cousin, but it still affected you. I on the other hand felt nothing at all. I think my own magic is counteracting his, but from the way it sounds Rita has already found a way to enhance her monsters with the Elder Wand. Like it or not, you guys need my help."
"If you're done wasting my time…" the Pinoctopus flung his arms forward, sending two vines flying toward Harry and the Rangers. Again, before Harry could cast anything, Pink jumped in front of him, blocking his line of sight and leading to her taking the blow that he could have easily shielded.
"Bloody Hell!" Harry shouted as Pink was flung back into him, sending the two of them to the ground in a heap as the other three charged toward the monster that was now once more releasing clouds of its pollen.
"Look Harry," Pink said with a short scoff as she slowly climbed off him and to her feet. "I know you want to help, but changing your clothes around isn't going to help us beat this guy." Without giving Harry time to respond she turned and charged toward the battle, attempting to aid her teammates against the Pinoctopus, though with the pollen weakening them by the second, none of them were making much headway.
"Oh for the love of Merlin," Harry mumbled as he stood again, dusting off the back of his pants as he did so. "It's not like that's the only thing I can do… But of course they don't know that… I guess I'll just have to give a demonstration… This is gonna freaking hurt…"
However, just as Harry was about to launch his own magical assault on the Pinoctopus, the monster had apparently decided it was done playing around with the Rangers. With a ferocious roar that still trailed off into demented laughter the monster knocked them all back before wrapping them in his vines and bundling them all together between Harry and himself. "And now, puny Rangers, feel the power of the mighty Pinoctopus!" There was a flash of light and a surge of magical energy traveling down the monster's entangling vines and into and around the Rangers followed by a shockwave that knocked Harry to the ground again.
Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it he sat up and was almost immediately knocked to the ground once more, though this time it was more from shock as he was struck with four flying cardboard cutouts that had once been the Black, Pink, Blue, and Red Power Rangers. Shifting the four off of him, Harry stood once more, looking on with shock as the Pinoctopus monster laughed and reveled in his apparent victory over the Power Rangers.
"I've won!" it cheered, still laughing the entire time. "With four of the Rangers down there is no chance of the fifth stopping me! Once she's taken care of, Empress Rita will rule the Earth!"
Harry however, had had enough. His temper was building, both through being disregarded by the freak of nature before him and in righteous fury derived from his "saving people thing" working on overdrive. Here was a being that thought he could take over the world? Not while Harry James Potter was around!
"You've not won just yet you bloody fruitcake." Harry taunted as he stepped closer, putting himself between the monster and the Ranger cutouts.
The Pincotopus froze, its laughter stopping before it turned toward Harry for a moment, apparently staring… and then its laughter returned, redoubled beyond its previous levels. "You think you can stop me? What can a puny human like you do against one of Rita's finest?"
Harry's anger now bled over, his magic beginning to whip around him as it rode the waves of his temper, causing a strong wind to flow across the park, whipping Harry's jacket and the monster's loose tentacles on its head uncontrollably. "THAT IS IT!" Harry shouted. "Ever since I showed up in this bloody dimension I've been assaulted, mugged, threatened, disbelieved, underestimated, and even ripped off by a bloody carnival food vendor! I! HAVE! HAD IT!"
Momentarily lost in his rage, Harry flung his left arm forward, sending an arc of pure magic known as a Levin Bolt flying at the stunned monster. Unable to react in time, the Pinoctopus was sent spinning though the air and crashing to the ground. Sparks went flying off of it as Harry kept the attack going, the stream of energy raking across the monster and leaving scorch marks in its wake.
Finally, after several seconds, a panting Harry let his attack die off. Keeping his eyes on the plant monster where it lay some twenty feet ahead of him. When the monster started shifting, Harry's eyes narrowed and he prepared another attack. He was completely unprepared, however, for the monster to melt into goo just like it had when it first transformed from its clown form only to reform instantly on its feet. "You have some pretty good moves after all, but you're still no match for me." The monster then brought its tentacle arms up to the base of its flower before flinging them out to the sides, firing multiple small pink bolts of energy at Harry in the process.
Reacting on instinct from his own war, Harry threw up a Protego shield, only to have to reinforce it immediately as the barrage attack hammered his shield almost beyond its ability to resist.
"HA!" the monster taunted as it continued its energy barrage. "It looks like I've got you on the ropes now human! You may have some power on the offense but it's nothing compared to what I can dish out! Prepare to DIE!" The Pinoctopus's victory laugh was cut off by an explosion of sparks coming off of it in response to a blast of energy coming from the side.
"Not so fast Pinapple head!" the Yellow Ranger shouted, brandishing her blaster as she ran up to stand next to a panting Harry as he dropped his shield.
"Thanks for the assist Yellow," Harry gasped, "I don't suppose you managed to find a way to cure your cousin did you?"
"How did you…" Yellow started before shaking her head, "Never mind, it's not important. Yes, Alpha figured out a way to fix Pineapple's curse. All you have to do is add water and they turn back to normal."
Harry stared at her for a moment. "Just add water and instant Power Ranger, huh? Alright then. Aguamenti!" The last was said as he pointed over his right shoulder, causing a shower of water to shoot out of his finger and rain down on the four Power Ranger cutouts behind him.
In a brief flash of light, the four Power Ranger Cutouts piled up behind him turned into an awkwardly stacked pile of costumed heroes who immediately began groaning as they struggled to stand. Yellow, in a show of concern for her friends, holstered her blaster and ran to help them up while Harry kept his eyes on the Pinoctopus monster.
Once the monster noticed the recovered Rangers as they stood, his fury erupted. "NO! How did you break my spell?!"
Harry scoffed. "Look mate, all we had to do was get them wet. It's not like water is in short supply around here. And since I can conjure it almost at will… Well, it wasn't any hardship."
The Pinoctopus let out a shout of rage. "GAAAH! I'LL FIX YOU!" Without any further warning, the monster let fly another of its vines toward Harry. Yet once more before Harry could react, one of the Rangers stepped in front of him.
This time, Red moved into position, though he was carrying a red hilted long sword that he used to block the path of the vine before slicing it off, leaving a section a few feet long lying on the ground before him. "Not this time, pineapple face!" Red shouted as the rest of the Rangers formed up around him. "We're taking you down now!"
The monster merely started laughing anew. "I already beat you Power Geeks once and I can do it again!"
Suddenly, Harry felt an upsurge of magical energy coming from… above? "Guys…" Harry said, looking up where he could now see a tiny red glint heading toward them. "We may have a bit of an issue… I feel some kind of powerful magic coming this way…"
The Rangers looked up and caught sight of the red light just as it streaked down and landed a few feet from the Pincotopus. The bright light faded revealing the scepter that Harry had seen Rita with sticking out of the ground, a soft glow still coming from the red gem within the circle at the top. He also saw the Elder Wand had been fused with the staff, bisecting the circle alongside the gem and sticking a few inches out of the top end.
Before Harry could even make a move to try and reclaim his wand the gem let out another flash of light before it sank a few inches more into the ground, letting off streams of red magical energy that danced along the earth around it, opening a fissure and releasing a huge cloud of steam that then engulfed the Pinoctopus, hiding him from sight for a few moments. The effects of the magical light show were immediately made apparent as Harry could only watch in stunned helplessness as the giant plant got even more giant, topping out at nearly ten stories tall before it started laughing again as it stomped off out of the immediate area, heading toward the main part of the city of Angel Grove.
"Ah…" Harry found himself at a loss for words. "You know… I don't think I have anything that can help against that… not without a wand anyway…" A hopeful glance showed that Rita's scepter, and the Elder wand with it, had vanished, presumably magically returned to its owner, causing Harry to let out a soft curse.
"No worries, Harry," Black said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We're old hands at this part of the game."
"That's right! Let's do it guys!" Red shouted again, stepping to the front of the group that Black quickly rejoined before they all threw their right arms into the air in perfect synchronization. "WE NEED DINOZORD POWER, NOW!"
Harry could only watch in stunned silence as five gigantic robots, one for each Ranger and in their unique colors, stomped, flew, and rolled into the area. His amazement only increased when the five Rangers somehow leapt into the air and flew to their respective robots. The Red Ranger landing on a red tyrannosaurus that was nearly the same height as the Pinoctopus had become. The Yellow Ranger landed on a yellow cat like robot with long fangs coming from its upper jaw that only stood thirty or so feet tall. Billy, landed on top of a Blue triceratops that stood at a similar height to the yellow robot. The Black Ranger landed on an elephant looking robot that also matched his color while the Pink Ranger was on a flying robot of some kind that appeared to have a beak and wings, but it was otherwise rather unidentifiable.
The dimensionally displaced wizard could only watch as the Rangers dropped down into what must have been the cockpits for their respective giant battle machines and the five robots sprang to life. The triceratops then rolled up and launched its two longer horns at the monster while the tyrannosaurus distracted it, revealing chains attached to the bases that it used to entangle the Pinoctopus much like it had done to the Rangers with its tentacle vines. While the monster was trapped, the black robot stomped up and raised its trunk firing out a stream of icy cold air that entrapped the giant plant in ice.
Then the machines combined together.
The tyrannosaurus's legs folded up and it connected to the backs of the blue and yellow robots while the elephant-like one split in half, revealing what looked like two cannons, and slid up to attach to the back of the red machine with the elephant's head resting on its chest below the tyrannosaurus head. Finally, the pink robot flew down and attached itself to the back of the contraption, above the black one but behind the head of the red robot which its comparatively small, beaked head stuck out above.
The resulting conglomeration of colors and dinosaur parts rolled forward like a tank, moving to face the frozen monster before the two cannons lit up as it opened fire, sending showers of sparks and ice crystals flying from the Pinoctopus as it screamed in rage and pain.
Then the machine began changing again.
This time, it seemed to stand up. The heads of the blue and yellow robots folding in such a way as to resemble feet with the rest of their bodies acting as the legs. The ends of the cannons from the elephant robot flipped around to reveal two mechanical hands. The elephant head seemed to disappear entirely. The pink bird thing took flight again, only to spin around, the beaked head and wings tucking into its body, and attach itself to the chest of the now more humanoid machine, covering up the head of the tyrannosaurus that had folded down to the chest as well, revealing a much more humanoid head to go with the rest of the body that then gained a pair of horns as they folded around from the back to match the one already on the top. Its eyes flashed brightly as it finally stood completely erect and took a fighting stance, facing the slowly recovering Pinoctopus.
The monster was struggling to free itself from the remaining ice during this entire time, even though the transformation itself only took ten to fifteen seconds in all, but was still mostly immobile when the mechanized warrior made its move. With another flash of its eyes and seemingly pointless gesticulation of its arms as it brought them down to its sides, electricity built up on the two horns on the sides of its head before arcing up to the center horn. From there, a powerful burst of energy shot out, arcing across the ground and toward the entrapped monster. When it hit, the monster screamed once more in agony before it slowly disintegrated into a shower of yellow motes of light, leaving the Power Rangers' machine the sole gigantic entity standing.
Harry stood there for a moment more in stunned silence. Well, at least the Rangers had been right about having the giant monster part of things under control. Without a wand or some other kind of focus there was really nothing he could have done about something that size without hurting himself more than the monster. And chances were it would be a while before he could get his hands on the Elder Wand again…
He slowly found his eyes drawn to the discarded section of the Pinoctopus's tentacle that Red had severed before everything got huge. The monster had said that Rita gifted it with more magic than ever before. That implied that the Elder wand had been used to increase the monster's strength and such. That being the case, then the excess magic would be more attuned to Harry's own brand of energies and some of that magic might linger in any severed parts… Which was also the case in components used in crafting wands…
Harry had been taught quite a bit by Mad Eye Moody during the last few months of the war. The man's view of always maintaining constant vigilance (and regularly shouting that same phrase) had led him to teach Harry many esoteric things that he felt may one day come in handy. The runes for his hidden room in the Command Center were one of those lessons… The skills to craft a rudimentary magical focus in an emergency was another…
With these thoughts in mind, Harry stumbled over to the severed vine and knelt down to pick it up… Only to immediately collapse onto his face as his legs finally gave out on him through a combination of shock, adrenaline wearing off, and his body's protests over the burns on his left hand that his emotion fueled casting of a Levin Bolt had caused.
Gathering himself and fighting to stay awake, Harry managed to gather the short section of vine and coil it up in one of his jacket pockets before he lost himself to oblivion. The sight of the Rangers running up to him just as his eyes fell shut was his last before losing consciousness.
-MR-
Harry woke all at once, not knowing where he was for a moment before he recognized the somewhat familiar black walls and ceiling accompanied by the beeps of the various consoles around the Command Center. After a moment more, he found himself once more lying on the fancy cot he had been on when he first woke the day before. A stiffness in his left hand proved to be the result of bandages wrapped around it to help protect the burns left there by his wandless magic attack.
Harry slowly pulled himself up, swinging his feet off the cot to find himself facing the backs of the Power Rangers, still in costume. Their attention was apparently focused on something out of his line of sight, and whatever it was had shocked them into silence if their stances were anything to go by. Harry glanced over to Zordon who merely nodded toward the Rangers, or more specifically whatever had their attention, saying nothing. Alpha just continued with whatever work he was doing on the computer consoles. With a shrug, Harry heaved himself up and off the cot before half stumbling off to one side so he could get a look at whatever the Rangers were watching.
He found them staring at the glowing white orb he had noticed when he first woke up the day before, however the orb was no longer solid white. From within the depths of the orb, a series of images were playing, particularly images of Harry himself and his dealings with the putty-clown and his short fight with the Pinoctopus before Yellow had arrived. It showed the same set of images from multiple directions before finally fading back to the solid white Harry had first seen, leaving the Rangers to continue to stare unmoving as they processed what they had been watching.
After a minute or so of silence, one of them spoke. "I… I can't believe it…" Pink said, awe clear in her voice.
"Neither can I," Harry responded, making them all jump as they finally realized he was not only awake but standing right near them. Ignoring the Rangers for the moment, he turned to face Zordon. "Were you recording the entire fight? And how did you get some of those camera angles? I certainly didn't see anyone there…"
Zordon chuckled for a moment before he smiled at Harry. "The orb you see there is called the Viewing Globe. It is yet another device that is used to access the time warp that I am trapped within. Through this device and by manipulating the forces of my time warp prison, I can allow those of you in the Command Center to view any location or event that is taking place at the present time or in the recent past. I can even allow limited glimpses of the future if I am willing to expend a large amount of my strength to do so. I used the Viewing Globe to show the Rangers your short fight against the putty in the carnival and against the Pinoctopus while they were trapped by the monster's spell."
Pink stepped forward hesitantly. "Uh… Harry? I just wanted to apologize for being rude earlier. I had no idea that you were capable of… Well… That!" She gestured aimlessly at the globe behind her.
Harry just raised an eyebrow. "Did you guys all honestly think that I would be so eager to help you out if all I could do was change my clothes and turn invisible with my cloak? And did you also miss that part where I mentioned being involved in a magical war? And that I was the one to personally take out the terrorist leading the other side? Yes, I know how to fight with my magic."
Harry ran his eyes across the group, wishing to himself that they weren't wearing the helmets so he could meet their eyes. "Now don't think that I don't appreciate what you did for me in the battle, Pink. While I'm certain I could have protected myself from that vine attack I'm thankful that you were looking out for me. I just want you to know that I'm not completely incapable of handling myself in battle, wand or no. I know better than to let a little misunderstanding like this get in the way of things when we have a constant battle on our hands though. Lives can be lost that way. Quite easily in my experience." Harry's eyes clouded over briefly as the ghosts of his past washed over him. The others in the command center saw this, though only Zordon and perhaps Alpha recognized it for exactly what it was.
There was silence again in the command center before Yellow lifted her hands to the side of her helmet. With a quick snapping sound, the helmet opened vertically along the sides of her head and she lifted it off.
"What are you doing!?" Red almost demanded as Yellow's helmet was removed to reveal the dark haired Asian girl Harry had seen earlier in the carnival.
She was quick to fire back at him, her frustration clear on her face. "He already admitted he knows who we are and Zordon and Billy confirmed it. There's no point in hiding anything now. Besides, if we're going to be working together against Rita and her forces it would be good if he could recognize us out of morph if necessary. How can we expect him to trust and work with us if we don't do the same for him?"
After waiting for Red to make a response and getting nothing, Yellow turned to Harry, stepped up and offered him her hand. "My name is Trini Kwan, Yellow Ranger and pilot of the Saber-Tooth Tiger Dinozord."
Harry happily shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you Trini."
The instant Harry released her hand, he found himself facing Pink who had also removed her helmet and offered her hand. "Kimberly Hart, Pink Ranger and pilot of the Pterodactyl Dinozord."
Shortly afterward, Harry was reintroduced to Billy Cranston, Blue Ranger and Triceratops Dinozord and introduced to Zack Taylor, Black Ranger and Mastodon Dinozord, leaving only Red standing firm with his helmet still on.
It was a surprisingly tense situation, Red standing defiantly before Harry while the other Rangers, sans helmets, stood with the wizard. Finally, after a few more moments, Red slowly removed his own helmet, revealing the short hair and round face Harry had seen earlier that day with the others.
"I really hope we're not going to regret this…" he mumbled to himself, though easily audible to everyone in the room, before he offered his hand as well, "Jason Lee Scott, Red Ranger, Leader of the Power Rangers, and pilot of the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord."
Harry took his hand, careful to match the firm grip Jason gave him. "Thank you for your trust Jason. I swear to you I will do everything I can to prove myself worthy of it."
Jason merely nodded before stepping back again, his eyes growing slightly distant as he became lost in his thoughts.
"Now Rangers," Zordon interjected into the relative calm that had grown after the introductions. "We have received clear evidence that Rita has gained the ability to use Harry's stolen focus to increase her own power and the power of her monsters. We must remain vigilant and stand ready for the attacks that will inevitably follow."
"Of course, Zordon." Jason responded instantly with a nod. "We can handle anything she can dish out."
"I just have one question now," Zack said after another moment. Turning to Harry, he continued, "What happened to your hand? It was pretty well cooked when we got you back here, but I didn't see you get hit with anything while we were watching the fight."
Harry gave a half smile. "Whenever Rita and Goldar stole the Elder Wand from me, she made a comment that I was 'of no consequence' without my focus. While this is not expressly true, as you all now know, it cannot be said to be completely false either."
Harry paused and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain things. "Alright," he finally began, "I'm just going to have to give you guys a bit of background information here to explain the handicap I'm working under. Back at my school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, there were six core classes that pretty much represented the primary areas of magical study. Of those six, three of them are pretty much irrelevant in my current situation. These three are Astronomy, the study of the stars and how they can affect things in the magical world; Herbology, the study of magical plants and fungi that probably don't even exist in this dimension; and Potions, the use of these magical plants and fungi as well as parts of certain magical animals and the like to create mixtures that cause different effects on the one who drinks them. The three that are still relevant would be Transfiguration, the art of changing one thing to another and conjuring objects out of nothing; Charms, a very wide branch of magic that represents most day-to-day spells that wizards use; and Defense Against the Dark Arts, a kind of magical self-defense class that covered different hexes, jinxes, curses, and their counters so that we could protect ourselves if necessary."
Taking a deep breath, Harry sat himself down on the cot, facing the Rangers now with Zordon and Alpha behind him listening intently. "The issue here is that I don't have a wand. I am capable of using wandless magic, as you have seen, but there are side effects to doing so. For example, most offensive spells; hexes, curses, jinxes and the like; tend to hurt me as well. The Levin Bolt I used earlier is what caused the damage to my hand. Offensive spells are capable of damage immediately upon leaving the focus, and when the focus is part of the wizard…" He held up his bandaged hand. "Well, you get the idea."
Jason was the first one to speak. "So you can fight, but it hurts you pretty badly to do so?"
Harry immediately shook his head. "Not necessarily, no. Purely offensive spells can and do damage the caster to various degrees when cast wandlessly. It really depends on the spell in all honesty as some will do more damage to the caster than others. Charms on the other hand are decidedly less dangerous in most cases and tend to just mirror the effect of the spell on the caster for a short time. For example, if I were to cast a charm to stick your feet to the floor you would be rather hard pressed to do much to me and all I would have to deal with is my fingers being stuck together until I cancel the charm on myself or it wears off on its own as my internal magic fights against the spell. Charms tend to be less directly useful for combat though. As I said, they're mostly for day to day stuff. Not to say that they can't be dangerous if used correctly. If I were to levitate a pointed stone a hundred feet up and drop it on a monster's head it would take just as much damage as if I had hit it with a piercing hex on the same spot. You see?"
The Rangers nodded as one, Billy looking to be immensely interested while the others seemed somewhat taken aback by the mental image. "Transfiguration by comparison is actually the safest art to use wandlessly and especially so for me. I don't like to brag, but I have one of the strongest wills out of any wizard in my world. That level of willpower makes me uniquely adept at transfiguration spells since I am, at the simplest level of comprehension, enforcing my will and magic upon whatever I'm trying to change. There are actually very few real spells in the proverbial Transfiguration Spellbook. The ones that do exist are largely geared toward certain types of transformation: animate to animate, animate to inanimate, Conjuration, etcetera. It's all about using the proper spell and enforcing your own willpower and intent to get the required result. The only real limitation that exists on wandless transfiguration is that it requires a bit more focus and willpower, which as I said I have in spades, and the range that I can affect things at is more limited than with a wand. Say… sixty feet or so as opposed to a few hundred if I had a wand…"
Jason didn't seem completely convinced. "I still don't see how that can help in battle though. I don't see how you would be able to help at all without critically injuring yourself, and we just can't ask you to do that."
Harry smiled, allowing his inner Marauder to shine through for a moment. "Alright then Jason, let's go back to my example of sticking your feet to the floor. If we were fighting and I was to do so, what would be your first reaction?"
Jason paused only for a moment before responding. "I'd pull out my blade blaster."
Harry nodded, noticing that Jason had automatically assumed he'd be in uniform at the time. "And when your blade blaster suddenly became a rather disgruntled looking chicken… What would you do then?"
The look on Jason's face was enough to send everyone, even Zordon, into fits of uncontrollable laughter.
-MR-
AN: I first came across the concept of the Levin Bolt in Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar series (which I don't own). A Levin Bolt is a burst of pure magic that is strongly reminiscent of lightning or electricity and is primarily used as a form of attack. I decided to use it on a whim here and may continue to do so throughout the story. I haven't decided yet.
Anyway, don't forget to review!
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