Magi Ranger

By: Tenstar12

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Power Rangers.

Chapter 12, In Which Harry Becomes Potter… Harry Potter…

The Rad Bug was actually surprisingly similar to Mr. Weasley's flying car, apart from the fact that it apparently used science and technology to fly as opposed to magic.

The first thing he noticed was that it was rather more cramped as far as elbow room went. Not surprising since his previous flying car experience came with an internal space expansion charm standard. This didn't really have too much of an effect on Harry during this trip as it was just him in the back while Kimberly and Zack rode up front, but he could tell it would be a rather tight fit with too many more.

As far as the flight went, aside from a few jerks and drops when they first took off and again when they landed, the Rad Bug flew much smoother than Mr. Weasley's car. That certainly could have been because Ron had been flying the car last time, but the fact remained.

When they finally landed, around twenty minutes after takeoff, they drove around a few slow turns before finally parking in what he was told was Billy's garage/lab, Harry decided that the only real issue he had with the Rad Bug over Mr. Weasley's car is that the Rad Bug had a radio. Zack's taste in music was far from appealing to Harry.

"Alright," Zack spoke as the three gathered in front of the now parked car. "How do we want to do this?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Why don't you guys go to the Youth Center? It wouldn't surprise me if he's trying to maintain his normal cover as best he can. That's about the only reason I can think of for Rita to send him down outside an attack anyway. If my guess is right, he's probably gonna be there or at his home, which we don't know the location of."

After a few more moments Kimberly spoke up. "And what about you? What'll you be doing while we scope out the Youth Center?"

"I'm going to apparate to the location of the teleportation spell under my cloak and try and find him from there. Whether or not I find anything, I'll contact you and we can work from there."

Zack smiled and started bouncing in place in his excitement. "Alright then, let's get going!"

Harry shot him a small smile before reaching into a pocket and pulling out the Cloak of Invisibility. "Couldn't have said it any better myself." With a flourish, he wrapped the cloak around his shoulders, fastening it around his neck in the same smooth motion, and flipped up the hood. "Stay safe, and contact me if you need me." Harry didn't even give them time to respond before vanishing with a soft pop, reappearing almost instantly in a familiar alley near Angel Grove High School.

Looking around, Harry couldn't see anything really different from the last time he had been here, apart from the lack of Tommy's school bag that is. Carefully drawing his wand so as to stay under the Cloak, Harry cast a revealing charm only to learn that there were two humans nearby... In a dumpster…

As Harry moved closer he could hear various whispers and hisses as the two talked only for them to suddenly go silent when Harry accidentally kicked a stone, making enough noise to catch their attention. Curious now, Harry glanced around for onlookers before lowering the hood and pushing the cloak off his shoulders before stepping up to the dumpster and throwing the lid up.

Bulk and Skull stared up at him from within, covered in garbage and blinking at the sudden daylight. "What the hell are you two doing in there?"

Bulk squinted at him for a second before visibly relaxing. "Hey, you're that geek Ernie has working at the Youth Center!"

"Yeah!" Skull parroted. "You're that geek!"

Harry rolled his eyes, subtly pocketing his wand again. "And my question remains. What are you doing in a dumpster?"

Bulk's face paled slightly, his eyes widening in fear before he started speaking. "It was that new kid. Tommy. We saw him in the alley and decided to… see how he was doing… But then his eyes started glowing and he was glaring at us… We decided to… uh… calmly walk away and then something picked us up and threw us in here." The entire time Skull was nodding stupidly.

Harry could easily read between the lines. Based on what Kimberly had said, Tommy had stood up against these two to get them to leave her alone at school. Obviously they decided to try and get even with him when they saw him alone in the alley, probably just after he was teleported down. Tommy had then somehow used his Green Power to scare them off and then throw them into a dumpster. In all honesty they probably got off rather easily seeing as he could have killed them.

Shaking his head slightly, Harry refocused on the dumpster diving teens. "Did you see which way he went by any chance?"

Bulk gave a shaky nod toward the far end of the alley. "He had a gym bag with him too. He might have been heading for the Youth Center… Are you gonna try and go after him?"

Harry ignored his question, offering a hand to the skinnier form of Skull. "Come on guys, let's get you out of there. Once we have you out, Skull, we can work together to help Bulk."

It took a few minutes of heaving, and much whining and cursing, to get the two out. Finally, once they were once more standing on pavement, Harry looked them over casually, once more palming his wand. "Well, you two were rather helpful today."

Bulk looked up from where he was brushing off his pants. "We were?"

"Yeah… we were?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, surprisingly so. In fact, Obliviate!" Harry focused his magic tightly, fighting against the imbalance in his wand to make sure he only removed the memories regarding Tommy and their recent encounter up until Harry helped them out of the dumpster. It wouldn't do to have these two connecting Tommy with strange powers. It could well lead to them learning the secrets of the Rangers, even as dim as they were.

With Bulk and Skull staring blankly into space, Harry once more pulled the Cloak of Invisibility around him and vanished. As he turned and started walking the way that they indicated Tommy had gone, he heard the bully and his sidekick start squabbling and arguing about how they had gotten there. He sighed as he shook his head. Those two reminded him of a strange combination of Draco Malfoy and Crabbe and Goyle. They felt they were more important than they really were but didn't have the brains, or the common sense, to back up anything they tried to do, relying instead on Bulk's muscle and nebulous wit.

Shrugging, Harry activated his communicator once he was sure he was out of easy hearing range. "Zack, Kimberly, come in. It's Harry."

Moments later, his communicator gave off a chirp. "Go ahead Harry." Zack's voice sounded slightly out of breath. "We're nearly at the Youth Center now. Did you already find something?"

Harry nodded before remembering they couldn't see him. "Yeah. I found a… well, let's just say a source that is rather questionable at the best of times that said Tommy may be heading for the Youth Center."

Zack said nothing for several seconds. "… Do I even want to ask?"

Harry chuckled. "Bulk and Skull were thrown into a dumpster by Tommy when they tried to engage him shortly after he was teleported down. I got them out and wiped their memories of the encounter before calling you."

There was another pause before Zack spoke again. "So you think he really is coming to the Youth Center?"

"I don't know but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up just in case."

Harry heard Zack huff slightly before responding. "Alright, thanks Harry. We'll keep an eye out. Are you heading this way now too?"

Harry nodded again before cursing internally. He'd never get used to these stupid communicators! "Yeah, I'm going to make my way there on foot so I won't pass him up if he's really going that way. I don't want to apparate past him and get caught off guard myself."

"Sounds good. See you soon then."

Harry gave his affirmative and deactivated his communicator. Remaining under his cloak, Harry lay his wand flat on his palm and whispered, "Point Me Angel Grove Youth Center." His wand lifted unsteadily before spinning to point slightly to his right, showing that he was at least heading in the right direction. Then, having another thought, he cancelled the charm and tried again. "Point Me Tommy Oliver." The wand lifted once more before pointing in the same direction.

"Well, that is indeed convenient," Harry mused before setting off, finally exiting the alley and merging with the crowd as only an invisible person can.

-MR-

Harry was quick to learn that his limited experience using the Cloak to travel through Hogwarts after curfew and on a few missions with the Order wasn't enough to prepare him for traveling through a city during the day. Everyone seemed to be in their own kind of hurry and more than once Harry found himself nearly colliding with various people numerous times despite his own attempts to stay out of the way. And the sad thing was, he knew he wasn't really in the busiest part of the city. Traveling through crowds under his cloak in Downtown Angel Grove would probably be impossible if his current difficulties were anything to go by.

After twenty minutes of frustration and difficulties, Harry finally made it within sight of the Youth Center. It was with a great deal of relief that he tucked himself into a corner a short distance from the public entrance and activated his communicator again. "I'm here."

This time it was Kimberly who responded. "So are we. And so is Tommy…"

Her voice trailed off and Harry rolled his eyes. "Alright Kimberly, stop ogling Tommy and let's get back to business."

Zack answered him with the slightest hint of a chuckle. "Sorry, Harry. He's working out and Kimberly has been hard pressed to stop staring. This girl has it bad."

Harry sighed before answering. "So it would seem. Have you guys found anything else?"

"Not really," Zack let out a sigh of his own. "Nobody knows where Jason might be, though one of our classmates said that he saw him heading into the school a bit after classes ended. That's it."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I thought we had already concluded that Rita had Jason. Why ask around for him?"

"To cover up for our being here," Zack said quickly. "It was Kim's idea. This way it won't be suspicious that we're hanging around the Youth Center. We're just looking for our buddy. This way, Tommy won't get suspicious."

Harry processed that for a moment before responding. "I hate to ruin your plan for you, Zack, but Rita knows who you guys are. She would have to if only because it sounds like Jason was kidnapped out of uniform. If she knows, it's a safe bet Tommy knows too…"

"Shit!" Zack's sudden exclamation came across the line loud enough to make Harry recoil slightly before glancing around him to see if anyone heard the curse coming from an otherwise empty area. Zack continued unabated. "That explains why he was staring at us earlier and why he was smirking so much. Gah! I can't believe we didn't think of that ourselves. We knew that she knows who we are… Hang on Harry, I'll get back to you after we move. I doubt he's going to do anything with two Rangers so obviously watching him." The line went quiet for a moment before Zack continued. "Or at least one obviously staring at him and the other slightly less obviously watching… I'll call you back."

The line went dead again and Harry relaxed into his corner. He kept his eyes trained on the door to the Youth Center just in case, but otherwise relaxed as best he could while standing there, his thoughts wandering aimlessly in the back of his mind.

After ten minutes of waiting, his communicator chirped an incoming call again. Before he could lift his arm to respond, Zack's voice came through with a sense of urgency. "He's on the move Harry. Tommy just left the locker rooms. Must have gone in there after we moved. We're gonna try and follow him. He might lead us to Jason." The line closed before Harry could respond.

Harry had his doubts as to how effective they would be at following Tommy when he knew they were around, but since that was why they had left the Command Center anyway, he figured that it was worth a shot.

Less than a minute after Zack's report, Harry caught sight of Tommy leaving the Youth Center. A few seconds later, Zack and Kimberly made their way out, trying to stay at least partially hidden in the small crowd as they turned onto the sidewalk in front of the Youth Center and followed the Green Ranger. With a sigh, Harry pushed off the wall and moved to follow as well. He had a bad feeling that things were going to get complicated soon.

-MR-

After a relatively leisurely fifteen minute walk, Tommy led Harry and the two Rangers to Angel Grove Park. Harry was rather tense the entire time. He kept expecting Tommy to spin around and confront them before morphing and beating them into the ground. There was nothing to hide since everyone knew who everyone was so it was a credible fear to Harry's reasoning.

The unease only increased as they got deeper into the park. It was getting to be later in the afternoon so the sections of the rather enormous park that were further from the entrance were far less populated than normal. Without the public to hide identities from, Harry grew more nervous with each step.

Finally, they came to a relatively open area, the path they were walking on cut through it as it sloped up a gradual incline that vanished over the top of a hill ahead. Tommy was at least twenty yards ahead of the Rangers and Harry was another fifteen or so feet behind them still under his cloak.

The Rangers froze when Tommy stopped and glanced back over his shoulder, looking right at them. At this distance, it was impossible to really make out his face, but he just gave off a cocky aura that suggested a smirk. Before they could say or do anything further, however, the area around Tommy lit up in a flash of light that quickly faded to reveal a half dozen Putty Patrollers.

Tommy turned away and continued walking up the hill, ignoring the upcoming battle behind him with casual ease. As the putties charged in, Harry readied his wand as Kimberly and Zack exchanged a look and a few quick words before nodding. As the Pink Ranger stepped up a few paces, Zack activated his communicator. "Harry… Harry I'm not sure where you are, but we need you to keep following Tommy. Kimberly and I can handle a few putties but we need to keep track of him. I don't think he knows you're here too or there would probably be more putties… You're our best chance of keeping up with him now."

Harry nodded to himself before raising his communicator and answering. "Got it, Zack. You guys be careful."

Having gotten his answer, Zack stepped up next to Kimberly just in time to meet the onrushing putties, easily knocking the first one aside with a spinning kick before he started his normal dance-like movements. Next to him Kimberly cartwheeled into one of them, hooking her ankles and feet around its neck and then pulling it with her as she flipped back, throwing the construct to the ground. Ignoring them as best he could, Harry took advantage of his invisibility and snuck around the group before continuing down the paved path Tommy had been following just as the Green Ranger reached the crest of the hill ahead.

Grimacing, Harry picked up his pace, running as quietly as he could in hopes of catching up before Tommy got too far away. It was a lightly panting Harry that reached the top of the hill only to see Tommy standing a mere ten feet ahead, just out of sight over the hill actually, apparently talking to himself.

"… done, my Empress…" Tommy was standing in one spot, his head tilted upward as he spoke, most likely communing with Rita now that Harry considered it.

"Yes, the putties should distract those pathetic Power Rangers more than long enough." There was a rather long pause, presumably as Rita responded, then Tommy spoke again. "I am ready whenever you are, Empress."

Harry felt a buildup of magical power that he recognized from the residual energies in the alleyway. Rita was preparing another teleportation spell. Probably preparing to bring Tommy back to her side. In an act of monumental Gryffindor bravery/stupidity, depending on whom you asked, Harry moved as quickly and quietly as he could to Tommy's side before subtly grabbing ahold of the loose fabric on the back of his shirt through his cloak.

Before Harry could rethink his plan, he felt the teleportation spell take hold. The magical energies wrapped around Tommy, and Harry by extension, and whisked them away from Angel Grove Park in the blink of an eye and a flash of green light.

-MR-

Harry was expecting some kind of disorientation from this new (to him) form of magical travel, but it was surprisingly absent. The moment he and Tommy arrived, he released Tommy's shirt and stepped back from him, coming to a stop when he bumped into a stone railing of some kind. He kept his eyes forward though as that was most definitely where the threat lay.

Before him stood Tommy, impassively facing away from him as he had landed from the teleportation spell, but beyond him stood Goldar, Squatt, Baboo, and Rita Repulsa herself. The sorceress was standing next to an overly large telescope that was positioned further along the balcony from where Harry was standing. From what he could see without turning to look directly over the balcony, wherever they were it was nighttime. And a very clear night too. The sky and stars beyond were clearer than he had ever seen during his nighttime astronomy classes back at Hogwarts.

His musings were cut short when Goldar began to speak. "Welcome back, Green Ranger. I trust the Power Rangers were no great problem for you."

Tommy let out a dark laugh. "Please. Those two were fools to believe I didn't know they were following me from the beginning."

"Silence!" Rita's raspy voice called out suddenly, cutting off Tommy and Goldar. "There's something else here. Something that came along with the teleportation spell…"

Harry cursed silently. Of course Rita would have been able to tell that he had ridden along. It was her spell after all. Thinking quickly, Harry toed off his right shoe before casting a quick transfiguration and animation charm at it, suppressing the magical signature as best he could.

Rita seemed to perk up for a moment and started turning in his direction before her attention, as well as that of everyone else in the room, was caught by a small meow.

Harry had transfigured his shoe into a black cat, hoping that the color would explain why it hadn't already been spotted in the rather dark room. As they all watched, the cat moved from behind Tommy and sat, staring at the various beings in the room with the idle indifference only a feline can pull off.

Squatt was the first to react. "OH! Look your evilness! A kitty cat!"

Baboo started clapping his hands, a look of eagerness on his face. "Can we keep it? Can we?"

Goldar seemed unconvinced. "A cat? Where did it come from?"

Rita scowled, her gaze shifting from the cat/shoe to Tommy and back. "I suppose that is what got pulled along in the teleportation spell… It's not yours, is it?" She directed her last question toward Tommy who was scowling down at the animal next to him, now grooming itself without a care.

"I have no idea where it came from," Tommy growled. "It's possible it's a wild cat… Or perhaps it was once a house pet, which would explain why it tried to get close to me and got caught in your spell, my Empress."

"Yeah, yeah!" Squatt was practically vibrating with eagerness by this point. "It must be wild! Does that mean we can keep it?"

Baboo was bouncing up and down as he continued clapping. "I've always wanted my own pet cat!"

Rita turned to glare at the two before gesturing to Tommy to step aside. Once he had done so, Rita smirked at Squatt and Baboo before pointing her scepter toward the cat, inadvertently letting Harry catch sight of the Elder Wand still mounted through the circle on the end. "No." She said simply before releasing a pulse of magic that smashed into the cat. The transfigured animal let out a momentary yowl of pain before it vanished, apparently vaporized by Rita's spell with nothing left behind but a scorch mark on the floor.

Harry let himself breathe again as they seem to have bought his distraction. Though it was going to be annoying walking around this place with only one shoe. He would transfigure himself a new one but he didn't dare risk any more magic this close to Rita. She had nearly caught him already and if he pushed his luck he could only imagine what his fate would be if caught.

Squatt and Baboo had begun whining over the fate of "their kitty" almost immediately when Rita blasted it, but it didn't take long for her to walk over toward the two and whack them over the head with her scepter. "Shut up you incompetent imbeciles! There will be no pet cats in my fortress!"

"Yes your evilness!" Baboo shouted at once cradling his head as he dropped to his knees, bowing before Rita.

"Of course Empress, please forgive us!" Squatt dropped next to him and mimicked his actions.

Rita whacked them each a few more times before turning to Goldar. "Are you still taking your time with the Red Ranger, Goldar?"

Harry perked up, immediately interested in this line of conversation. Goldar chuckled darkly as he nodded. "Yes my Queen. I have greatly enjoyed toying with him, though I will admit that it grows tiresome. He is quickly losing his fire as he realizes how pointless his struggle is."

Rita's face twisted into a mockery of sorrow. "Oh, so you don't think your fun will last much longer then? How tragic…" After a moment's pause Rita burst into cackling laughter as she nearly doubled over. Goldar joined her a moment later, adding his own voice to the mix followed quickly by Squatt and Baboo. Tommy was alone amongst the visible peoples in the room in his silence though Harry was too busy ruminating on the subject of their laughter to really give it much thought.

Finally after nearly a full minute of evil laughter, Rita slowly straightened up, idly smoothing out her long robes as she did. "You may as well finish him off Goldar. He is of no further use to us and eliminating one of the Rangers and holding the Red Power Coin will only help cement our victory at this point."

Goldar knelt in front of the dark sorceress. "It will be done at once Empress."

Rita idly waved her free hand and nodded before turning to Tommy. "Go and rest now, my Evil Green Ranger. I will call upon you when the time is right for our next encounter with the other Rangers and their pet wizard."

As Harry bristled at being called anyone's "pet" anything, Tommy bowed at the waist while Goldar stood again. "It shall be as you say my Empress."

With another nod, Rita turned away from Tommy and walked past Squat and Baboo, who had now backed up against a wall, and out of the room. Once she had left, Goldar rounded on Tommy with a smug look on his simian face.

"It's really too bad, Green Ranger," Goldar spoke confidently, a hint of mocking in his voice. "Empress Rita was considering allowing you the honor of disposing of the Red Ranger yourself. That is until I had to be dispatched to save you from the mageling."

Tommy tensed up, nearly growling at Goldar as he spoke. "It was a mere miscalculation on my part. It will not happen again."

Goldar turned away from Tommy and began walking out of the room. "I should hope not. The mageling is powerful. Undoubtedly not as powerful as our mistress, but powerful all the same. One should never underestimate users of magic. The next time you face him, I expect to see his corpse lying on the ground at your feet. Otherwise, I will ensure our Empress leaves me in charge of your punishment."

Harry shifted his way around the room away from Tommy, keeping his eyes firmly on Goldar before slipping out of the room to follow him. He knew that his first priority while here in Rita's base would be finding and freeing Jason. Especially since it seemed as if they were preparing to execute him.

Following the golden armored monster from a rather short distance, Harry did what he could to match his footsteps to Goldar's. He was still unwilling to cast any magic, even something as minor as a silencing charm on his feet. Despite the fact that Rita wasn't in the same room anymore he felt it was better to be safe than sorry. He just wished that Goldar's stride wasn't so much longer than his.

Goldar unknowingly led the invisible wizard down a long, narrow hallway and around various twists and turns before suddenly stopping. Harry tensed up, idly shifting himself to the right side of the hallway and crouching down as he readied his wand only for Goldar to turn to his left and place a hand on an otherwise unmarked section of wall. Moments later, a hiss emanated from the wall and a doorway receded from the general's hand, sliding to one side easily once it moved back enough to reveal a lightless room beyond.

Harry was forced to move quickly again to catch up to Goldar as he moved through the doorway without hesitation. He was forced to move faster still when the door began closing behind him with another hiss, barely managing to keep his cloak from getting caught in the door as it sealed. Now fully in the dark, Harry cursed inwardly as he gazed through the light film of the cloak in a vain attempt to locate Goldar again, only to be nearly blinded as a bright light source lit up mere feet away.

As it turned out, the room was barely six feet deep and Goldar was standing just a few feet away from him staring eagerly at a large mirror at his eye level that was the source of the light. Moments later, the light dimmed and the image on the mirror showed a clearly agitated Jason, spotted with cuts and bruises on his face and exposed arms, pacing in a dimly lit room with fog drifting across the floor. The room was surrounded by several green colored columns interspaced with torch holders held up by a starburst pattern of golden bars anchored into the same columns. Beyond the bars Harry could see nothing but a black void with the occasional spot of light reminiscent of stars in the night sky.

"Oh, Red Ranger," Goldar spoke in a mocking voice as he observed the scene on the mirror. "Lost and trapped away from your friends without even your morpher to save you." Goldar began cackling as he reached to a small table below the mirror and picked up what Harry quickly recognized as Jason's Power Morpher. The simian brought the device up near his face, observing it in the light from the mirror as he turned it this way and that, studying it.

On the mirror, Jason suddenly started throwing a furious barrage of punches in his frustration, the movement attracting Goldar's attention. "Ah, but it looks as though he has regained some of his spirit since last we spoke," Goldar's tone now practically dripped with satisfaction. "Excellent! This means it will be that much more satisfying when I finally finish him off!"

Goldar's laughter redoubled as he reached for the table again with his free hand, this time coming away with a green orb around the size of a baseball. Extending one of his fingers from around Jason's morpher, Goldar gently tapped a spot on the top of the orb. The spot he touched began to glow before the light spread quickly to the rest of the orb. Grunting in satisfaction, Goldar placed the glowing orb into a small pouch hanging from his waist before taking a casual stance and waiting.

Harry felt the telltale buildup of another teleportation spell and moved around behind Goldar. Moving carefully, he placed the tips of the fingers on his left hand just barely onto the surface of the golden armor in the center of Goldar's back, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be noticed.

In another flash of green light, Harry and Goldar vanished from the small viewing room only to immediately appear in the room the mirror had shown, catching Jason off guard as he moved to face the simian.

"Back again Goldar?" Jason half-shouted, defiance on his face.

"Back for the last time Red Ranger," Goldar taunted. "Empress Rita has given the command for me to end your foolish existence!"

Harry moved back a few feet, idly glancing down and noticing the void in the fog around his cloak. He knew that he would be discovered quickly if he didn't make his move, but he knew from experience that Goldar had his own resistance to his magic on top of being a formidable warrior. Whatever he did, he would have to be fast and decisive. The size of the room meant he couldn't really use anything too destructive, but that didn't mean he was out of options.

"You'll find that I'm not so easy to beat Goldar, even without my morpher!" Jason was fully shouting now, his voice booming around the relatively small space they found themselves in.

"Yes, because you've been so successful against me so far," Goldar was outright laughing at him now as he once more held up Jason's morpher, mocking the Ranger with it. "And your morpher is right here too. If only you could get it."

Goldar's taunting was cut off as Jason dashed the few steps separating them and made a grab for the morpher in Goldar's hand. The monster was too fast for him though as he jerked his arm back, taking it out of Jason's reach before planting his other fist into the Red Ranger's stomach. Laughing darkly as Jason doubled over, Goldar gave his arm a heave, sending Jason backwards and to the ground as he struggled to catch his breath.

Goldar gave off a sigh of satisfaction as he stepped closer to the downed Jason and Harry moved to stay close behind him, feeling his opportunity was nearing. The monster stared menacingly down at Jason, idly placing his right foot onto his chest and pushing the Ranger back down to the floor as he struggled to rise. "It really is too bad that our time is over Red Ranger. I've enjoyed this so much I'm almost sorry to see it end! But when my Empress commands…" Goldar let out a few dark chuckles as he summoned his sword to his free hand in a flash of light and pulled it back to his shoulder, preparing to stab the downed Ranger. "I obey!"

Seeing his chance, Harry gathered himself as best he could and leapt, hooking his left arm around Goldar's neck and pulling him backwards even as he brought his wand up in his right hand and placed the tip just under Goldar's chin. The sudden extra weight threw Goldar off balance, the foot he was using to pin Jason down was moved quickly to catch himself as he stumbled backwards with his arms flailing in surprise. "Hey there Goldar. Fancy meeting you here." Harry taunted as he dangled from Goldar's neck. "By the way, Stupefy!"

The instability in his wand worked in Harry's favor this time as the overcharged stunning spell practically engulfed Goldar's entire head, the flash of red light nearly blinding Harry and Jason both with its intensity. Goldar simply froze for a few seconds, his body standing motionless before he collapsed bonelessly, Harry's cloak falling open and the hood falling off as they went down. The wizard unfortunately found himself with his legs trapped under Goldar's torso and heavy armor once they settled.

"Gah! Ah bloody hell…" Harry mumbled as he struggled to free himself from beneath the monster. "Hey Jason, a little help would be appreciated."

"Harry?" Jason's voice easily conveyed his surprise. "Is that really you?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, Jason. I am really here to save you. Now that that issue is out of the way would you help get this bastard off me? I can't feel my feet."

Jason quickly scrambled to his feet and hurried the few steps over to Harry's side. He stood there for a moment, examining the situation. "Alright, it looks like he's just got you pinned so maybe I can lift him up enough for you to pull yourself out."

"Whatever works, just please hurry it up!"

Jason hunched over for a moment before shifting around and crouching next to Harry, placing his hands under Goldar's armored shoulder. "Alright then, on three. One… Two… Three!" With a great heave, Jason lifted for all he was worth and yet still barely only managed a few inches against the great weight of Goldar's armor. Luckily enough, a few inches was all Harry needed to free himself, sliding quickly out from under the unconscious monster, allowing Jason to let him drop with a sigh.

Harry lie there in the rolling fog for a few moments, collecting himself. He idly rolled each of his feet at the ankle, making sure he hadn't been injured in the fall before pulling himself up to a sitting position. Jason crouched down again next to him, a blank look on his face. "Thanks for that." Harry smiled, gesturing to Goldar with his wand. "I have to say I didn't quite think that move through before I started. Oh well. It worked out well enough in the end."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Why didn't you just magic him off of you?"

Harry's smile slipped. "That reminds me. There's a better than even chance that Rita sensed the magic I just used, which is also why I didn't use any more by the way. We need to get out of here."

Jason's body tensed again as he stood. "Easier said than done… I've been trying to find a way out of here for hours. Ever since I got here. I couldn't find anything. I can't fit through any of the holes in the bars and there doesn't seem to be anything past them anyway. Not to mention that they give you a nasty shock if you touch them."

Harry glanced around briefly and then shrugged. "I may have a way to help with that, but first…" He idly reached over and plucked Jason's Power Morpher from Goldar's limp hand. "I believe this belongs to you."

Jason gave Harry a slim smile. "Thanks, man… Goldar has been taunting me with this thing since the first minute. It's good to have it back now…" Jason sent the unconscious Goldar a glare that could melt stone.

Harry just chuckled. "Feel free to take a free shot at his bollocks if you want. I don't know how much damage you'd do through his armor, but it might be therapeutic."

Jason shifted his glare to Harry for a moment only to pause as he saw Harry was now rolling Goldar over again. "What are you doing?"

Harry grunted in effort as he heaved Goldar over before reaching out and retrieving the green orb Goldar had been carrying. "He used this thing to teleport us in here. This may be our way out."

Jason nodded slowly. "But where will it take us?"

"In all likelihood, right back into the heart of Rita's fortress," was Harry's dry response.

Jason sighed. "We don't have much choice though, do we?"

Harry shook his head as he stood, studying the orb in his hands as he answered. "Not really, no."

"Alright then…" Jason shifted into a wide stance before lifting his morpher before him. "TYRANNOSAURUS!" Harry was momentarily blinded by a flash of red light before a glance showed him that Jason was suited up and ready to go with his Power Sword in hand. "If that's the way we have to do it, then let's do it right and do as much damage as possible on the way out."

Harry shot him a mischievous smile before turning the orb in his hands again, this time catching sight of a tiny rune carved into the surface. "Sounds like a plan to me, and I think I just found the on switch for this thing. You ready to do this?"

Jason nodded his helmeted head but said nothing. Just as Harry was about to tap the activation rune though, he was interrupted by a chime from Jason's communicator. "Jason! Jason do you read me?!" Billy's voice sounded frantic over the line. "Come on Jason, please respond!"

Jason glanced at Harry before switching his sword to a more relaxed grip and raising his communicator. "Jason here…"

He was cut off before he could say anything else. "Thank God you're alright! We were so surprised when the computer's registered your morph we didn't think we'd be able to connect to your communicator signal. Are you alright?"

"I'm a little beaten and bruised but Harry showed up before Goldar could finish me off."

"Harry's there?!" Zack and Kimberly could be heard giving shouts of joy in the background. "We were worried about him too since we lost track of him a few minutes after he teleported with Tommy to Rita's fortress. It's good to know he's alright as well."

"Yeah, he's here too, we were about to try and fight our way out of here. Unless you have another suggestion."

Billy paused for a moment before responding. "Just a moment. Alpha got the teleportation systems back up to full functionality just a short time ago so we might be able to just teleport you both out." There was another pause as Harry and Jason heard the telltale sounds of the computers in the Command Center beeping and buzzing as Billy worked the controls. Finally they heard a frustrated huff. "It's no good. I can lock onto Jason easily because his energy signal is enhanced by being morphed, but I can't find Harry's signature even knowing that he's there. Wherever you are right now there's too much interference to get a proper signal lock. Without that, I don't want to risk trying a tandem teleportation either."

"But you can teleport Jason out, right?" Harry interjected, causing Jason to whip his head around to stare at him.

"Yes, easily. I already have a lock on him and I'm monitoring the signal for any unexpected deterioration."

"Then do it. I can get out the same way I got in."

Harry could practically feel Jason's stare through the faceplate of his helmet. "Hold on Billy. I think I need to talk with Harry for a second."

Billy hesitated before responding. "Okay Jason, but please don't take too long. There's no telling how much of a window we'll have to get you out."

"Noted," Jason responded before lowering his arm as the channel closed. "What do you think you're doing, Harry? I'm not going to leave you here."

Harry gave Jason a steady look, drawing himself up as best he could before speaking. "Look Jason, I know you don't like me, but you need to listen to what I'm saying here. All this really comes down to is who is needed more right now. We have no Zordon, a damaged Command Center, an evil Ranger out to kill all of us, and until just now none of the others knew where you were or if you were even still alive. You didn't see them after you disappeared, Jason. They were lost without you. You're the leader of the group, the leader of the Power Rangers and that's who you need to be right now. You need to get back to the Command Center as fast as possible because without you the others' morale is shot and all upcoming battles are as good as lost."

Jason just stared at him silently for a few moments before responding. "You're right. I haven't liked you since I first met you. You're cocky, arrogant even. You aren't taking anything as seriously as you should. But even with all of that I'm not going to let you try and fight your way out of here alone. The others may need me, but you became involved in this battle the moment you fell into our laps. That makes you our responsibility. You wouldn't even be here in Rita's palace if it weren't for me being captured so I'm not going to leave you stranded here if I can help it. No matter how much the others need me."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I might come across as cocky and carefree, but that's because I've done this kind of secret war stuff before. I lived through mine and had to learn to live life as best I could just to survive with my sanity something near intact. I promise you that I know what you're going through right now. I know the pressures put upon a leading figure of one side in a war and I'm telling you right now that you can't try and take everything onto yourself. You need to trust the people on your side to do their jobs or you'll burn yourself out before you know it and then things are as good as done. Right now, you need to trust me to be able to escape here myself. I'm not going to try to fight my way out. I got in here with stealth and a bit of deception and that's how I'm going to try and leave. If that doesn't work out then I'll play it by ear, but up until that moment I have a solid plan and I'm going to stick to it."

Jason said nothing for several moments until his communicator chirped again and Billy's voice called out. "Jason, we're reading some degradation in the signal strength. There are some random fluctuations in the morphing grid and its reducing our ability to penetrate the shielding around Rita's palace. We need to get you out of there now if we're going to at all!"

The Red Ranger ignored Billy's comment and asked Harry a question. "Do you have a plan for how to get back?"

Harry nodded. "I'm going to head back to my entry point. Billy said they still had a lock on my communicator for a few minutes after I disappeared, that tells me that they only lost it once I got deeper into the fortress. When you get back, have Billy keep scanning for my signal around where he lost it and tell him to teleport me out at his first opportunity."

"If you can make it that far."

"No," Harry interjected strongly, staring straight into Jason's visor. "When. Not if. When I make it that far, you guys can pull me out. You have to trust me to do my job or nothing will work. I will get out of here and we'll meet up back at the Command Center."

Jason stared for another moment before nodding and lifting his communicator again. "Alright Billy, get me out of here."

"Affirmative, Jason. Teleporting now. And Harry, I'll be maintaining a continuous sensor sweep for your signature. Please hurry."

Before any more words could be exchanged, Jason was engulfed in a red light, forcing Harry to shade his eyes with his arm. The light seemed to flicker for a moment, a result of the fluctuations Billy mentioned in all likelihood, but eventually it lifted into the air and vanished in a streak though the ceiling and presumably back to the Command Center.

Harry let himself slump slightly. Nearly all of his speech had been made up on the spot. He was just glad that it did its job, though it was not especially surprising since he had been saying a lot of what Jason himself believed and wanted to hear. Never let it be said that Dumbledore's manipulations of his life, well-meaning they may have been, hadn't left their mark or taught their lessons. All he had to do now was put his cloak back on and try to sneak out. If worst came to worst he could just apparate away from Rita's fortress and keep making short jumps until he found a city or town where he could find out where he was and take things from there. Eventually he would have to find something, right?

With a sigh Harry straightened and pulled his cloak and hood back around himself, vanishing to the outside observer. With one last glance at the still unconscious Goldar and a self-congratulatory smirk, Harry tapped the rune on the green orb, smiling when it began to glow just as it had when Goldar used it.

-MR-

Things went pear shaped almost immediately.

The instant the glow of the orb's teleportation spell faded, Harry found himself face to face with a Putty Patroller standing in the open doorway to the small observation room he had followed Goldar into earlier. While the clay man couldn't see Harry himself, he had seen the flash of light he arrived in thanks to the teleportation orb.

This was a problem.

Thinking quickly, Harry dropped the orb and stepped forward, grabbing the oblivious putty's shoulder. Before the golem could react to Harry's touch, Harry jerked it into the room, snapping off a quick stunner from his wand once it was no longer standing in the doorway and sliding out of the room when he saw the putty collapse to the ground.

His first escape crisis averted, Harry glanced down the hallway in each direction. Seeing nothing, He set off to his right, doing his best to backtrack the path he had followed Goldar down earlier. This was a rather simple task since it was basically a straight shot back to the balcony room he had arrived in despite the various turns the hallway took. His biggest issue came in the form of stress and fear of capture. The minute or so it took him to traverse the long hallway seemed to last ten or more as his anticipation and paranoia caused time to drag.

As he neared the end of the hallway and the doorway that was his goal, Harry heard the sound of voices coming from an opening to his right. The cackling sound of Rita's voice was easily recognized, but the comparatively gentler voice he heard after was unfamiliar.

"FINSTER!" Rita shouted as Harry slowly approached the opening, checking his cloak swiftly to make sure he was still covered. "Are my Putty Patrollers ready yet?"

"Nearly, oh malevolent one," the other voice, apparently Finster, answered quickly. "I must say that I have never made so fine a batch of putties despite the large rush order you requested my queen. They shall serve their purpose admirably."

Harry leaned his head into the opening to see Rita in profile facing a shorter, light blue skinned being with an upward pointing nose and huge ears on his overly wrinkled face. Finster, for this was the only other individual in the room, was wearing a long white robe with a pale blue smock over it. He was standing before a small table with a large magnifying lens on an arm over it, smoothly using a metal tool to manipulate a clay figure on the table before him.

"Good, good…" Rita nearly cooed, the wicked smile on her face clearly visible. "Once my army of Putty Patrollers are ready we can begin our plan for the final defeat of the Power Rangers and the conquest of Earth!"

Harry felt one of his eyebrows raise almost of its own accord. Was she monologuing to herself? Finster had clearly tuned her out if his happy humming as he worked was any indication.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Baboo coming from behind him. "Your Evilness! Your Evilness! Oh, it's terrible!"

Harry glanced back only to see the blue being sprinting headlong down the hallway from the direction he himself had come, a look of panic on his face. Harry's eyes widened as he realized that Baboo was going to slam right into him if he didn't move, so he quickly shoved off the wall, throwing himself backward with a stumble.

Unfortunately, he quickly lost his balance, stepping on the back of his cloak and falling to the ground. The result of this was that Baboo managed to trip over Harry's legs, sending the alien creature sprawling to the floor of the doorway into Finster's workshop. Luckily enough, Baboo's screech of panic and pain easily masked Harry's slight grunt when he landed on the floor.

Rita stomped over to Baboo and glowered down at him as Harry quietly scooted himself to the wall behind him. "What is it you nincompoop? Can't you see I'm busy plotting?"

Baboo climbed back to his feet with a groan, idly glancing around the floor as he did so. "I could have sworn I tripped on something…" he mumbled. Harry felt himself pale a bit as he gripped his wand tighter. He was not in the best position to defend himself at the moment if he was discovered.

Rita growled. "Never mind that! What's the problem that had you running like an Earthling?"

Baboo stared at her for a moment before perking up. "OH! Right! Your Evilness! It's terrible!"

Rita growled again and whapped Baboo in the head with her scepter. "I heard that already you moron. Now tell me what happened!"

Harry sat frozen as Baboo bowed quickly, one hand rubbing his head. "Of course, Empress. One of the palace putty guards was found unconscious in the Dark Dimension Control Room and Goldar is unconscious in the Dark Dimension itself!"

A look of shock overtook Rita's face for a moment before her glare returned. "And the Red Ranger?"

Baboo bowed again. "Gone your malevolence."

Rita's scream of rage practically rattled the walls. "How could this have happened? What does Goldar have to say for himself?"

"We can't seem to wake him, Majesty."

Harry slowly started to ease himself to a standing position. Baboo and Rita were standing mere feet from him and if anyone else came along they would discover him as easily as Baboo nearly did.

As if summoned by the thought, Harry heard another voice. "Empress Rita, what's going on?" Tommy was jogging up the hallway, most likely having been drawn to them by Rita's scream. Harry just cursed to himself and stood fully, pressing himself against the wall and started easing himself past the gathering of villains. He felt a nervous sweat run down the back of his neck as he moved, tightly gripping his wand in one hand and holding the cloak closed with the other.

Rita rounded on the newly arrived Tommy. "Ah! My Green Ranger. You've arrived just in time. Go with Baboo and retrieve Goldar from the Dark Dimension. I will be on the observation balcony. Bring Goldar to me when you have retrieved him and I will see what should be done regarding his failure."

With a quick bow and a "Yes my queen" from Tommy and Baboo, the two figures turned and started back down the corridor while Rita turned the other direction and started walking. When she passed Harry and continued through the doorway that was his own destination he felt his chances get that much smaller.

Mustering up his Gryffindor courage and his own desire to get out of this place, Harry followed behind the sorceress as quietly as he could. He really was putting more faith than he liked in the Cloak of Invisibility. He was much more used to being able to mask other signs of his passage, but with Rita now closer than ever there was no way he was going to use active magic unless he absolutely had to. This was especially frustrating as his shoeless foot was starting to hurt.

Cautiously, Harry made his way into the room he had initially arrived in and immediately froze. The room looked much like he remembered with the overly large telescope and balcony bordering on a truly fantastic view of the starry sky. The one thing he hadn't recalled seeing was the large, mostly blue ball floating in the middle of that sky. Harry's mind went momentarily blank as he stepped toward the balcony edge and looked out over the barren grey plains of what he could only assume to be Earth's moon.

"Bugger me…" Harry whispered, wide eyed as he stared with dumbfounded fascination at the amazing view before him.

"What!" Rita snapped, easily pulling Harry's mind back to the present as he spun to face her and quickly backed away. "Who said that?" Rita loudly demanded as she slowly stepped away from her telescope where she had been standing and toward Harry's former position with her staff held in both hands and pointing forward.

Harry continued backing up as Rita advanced. His level of panic induced by the revelation that he wasn't even on Earth only grew as she stalked forward. Luckily enough, the sound of loud footsteps coming from the hallway caught Rita's attention. "Empress Rita!" Tommy near-shouted as he sprinted into the room. "Is something wrong?" Tommy was glancing around warily, searching for whatever had set off the sorceress even as a group of putties carried in the unconscious form of Goldar.

Rita quickly spun to face the newcomers. "Nothing, I just thought I heard something…" she cleared her throat before stomping her way back to her telescope and rounding on them again. "Now, bring Goldar forward so I can examine him myself."

As the putties moved to obey, Harry let himself relax a bit. It seemed his immediate issue was dealt with, but he still had no idea how he was going to get back to the Command Center. His initial plan of making short apparition jumps was pretty much thrown out at this point. No matter how magically powerful he was Harry seriously doubted his ability to apparate the distance between the moon and the Earth safely.

Rita's sudden cry of triumph followed by a pulse of magic caught Harry's attention several moments later. His attention was further drawn out of his frantic planning when he heard Goldar let out a groan. Rita must have brought him out of the stunner induced coma, which meant his presence was probably not going to remain secret for much longer.

"So Goldar, what do you have to say for yourself?" Rita's rough voice spoke in a falsely calm tone.

"Ugh… Empress?" Goldar seemed dazed as he lay on the floor, struggling to regain enough control of his limbs to climb to his feet. "What… what happened to me?"

Rita's eyes narrowed a bit, causing the putties and Tommy to take a few discrete steps back. "Where is the Red Ranger, Goldar? Why is it that you were found taking a nap in the Dark Dimension instead of destroying the Red Ranger like you were ordered to?"

Finally standing once more, Goldar placed one hand on his head as he stared blankly into space. "I… I don't know, Empress. I… I remember toying with the Red Ranger. I remember pinning him to the floor and getting ready to kill him and then… There was someone else there… THE MAGELING! Magesty, the mageling is in the palace!"

Harry cursed silently as Rita recoiled slightly at the strength in Goldar's voice before her eyes widened and she turned toward Harry's earlier location again. Without another word, Rita lifted her staff before slamming the bottom end down on the floor, letting out a pulse of magic and a burst of wind that washed over Harry violently a moment later. It was only when he noticed every eye in the room trained on him that he realized that the wind had blown the Cloak off his shoulders and the hood off his head leaving him quite visible.

"Err…" Harry's brain froze as he stood before a group of individuals who would happily eviscerate him on a moment's notice. "Hi…?"

Rita's face slowly stretched into a smile as she stepped toward him, putting herself ahead of her servants before addressing him. "So Mageling, I see you managed to infiltrate my palace."

At this point Harry was practically praying that Billy would lock onto his communicator signal soon and teleport him out, but he knew that the more time he could buy the better his chances of escape. "Wasn't too hard to tell the truth. I just hitched a ride with Tommy over there. He never even knew that I came along."

Rita shot a quick glare at Tommy who recoiled slightly before she turned back to Harry. "Perhaps, but I did know. I felt your presence in my spell. If you tell me how you managed to avoid detection for so long and how you helped the Red Ranger escape then you'll live longer."

Forcing himself to relax, Harry leaned against the balcony railing. "Oh please. You and I know that my fate isn't going to change just because I spill a few of my secrets to you. I've been through this whole dog and pony show before so you can't fool me with your pretty words and false promises."

"Is that so?" Rita hummed for a moment. "In that case I'll just have my soldiers kill you now." Almost casually, Rita waved her free hand and the five putties that had brought Goldar in charged him.

His eyes narrowing, Harry shifted back to a full standing position. Waving his wand in a long, sweeping motion as he did so, he cast a wide area banisher at the approaching putties, sending them all crashing back into the wall behind them. Rita paused for a moment before speaking again. "Your magic is so different to any I have ever seen before. Perhaps not as powerful as my own but more versatile… Why don't you join me? With you fighting for me, we can easily defeat the Power Rangers and conquer the Earth."

Harry slowly backed up until he felt a solid wall at his back. Satisfied at having prevented anyone from getting behind him, Harry spoke again. "Right, like I haven't heard that line before either. Besides that, you have three things working against you. First, I'm not exactly on the best of terms with your main general or newest enforcer there, so that wouldn't work out too well for me. Second, you stole my wand when we first met, so that's another black mark against you. And third, you're evil and I was practically raised with the sole intention of defeating another being of almost pure evil so I'm already predisposed to fight against you in the first place. Sorry, but no dice."

Rita growled before taking her staff in a two handed grip and pointing the top toward him, prompting Harry to throw up a Protego shield. Rita smirked at his action. "Very well then. If you won't tell me your secrets or join me, then you'll just die right here and now!"

With a scream of fury Rita unleashed a bolt of lightning from the red crystal on her staff that raked over the surface of his shield. Harry was vaguely reminded of his arrival in this dimension where she had done something rather similar. The differences now were that he wasn't quite as underfed and exhausted from his time in a Ministry prison and he hadn't been caught entirely off guard by a sudden and unexpected attack. As such, Harry was able to maintain his Protego shield under the onslaught wandlessly and still manage a blasting curse from his wand.

Goldar easily stepped forward and swung his sword, deflecting the spell away from Rita and out into the emptiness of space, but this also forced Rita to stop her own attack. Harry glared lightly at his opponents, keeping a specific watch on Rita, Goldar, and Tommy, but doing what he could to keep track of the now recovered putties as well.

"It seems you are not quite as helpless as you had been when we first met, Mageling." Rita taunted in her faux-calm voice once more. "However you must realize that there is no escape for you now."

Harry's response was cut off by the familiar and ever so welcome six tone beep coming from his communicator. "On the contrary, Rita" Harry said with a smirk as he brought his left arm up and activated it. "I think that now is as good a time as any for me to make my escape."

"Copy, Harry. Teleporting now."

The voice from the communicator apparently caught Rita off guard but it was nothing compared to the look on her face and the scream she let out as Harry was engulfed in a beam of white light and vanished from the balcony observatory of her palace.

-MR-

Harry landed in the Command Center and almost immediately fell to his knees. Unlike Rita's teleportation spell that had originally taken him there, his most recent teleportation had left him feeling most of the effects of the travel. While he was thankfully spared the heat and vast pressure of a true atmospheric reentry, his entire body was still left aching from the strain of the entire process.

He almost immediately felt two pairs of hands grab him, one set around each arm, and half-carry him to a somewhat familiar cot. He blinked his eyes back into focus enough to recognize Zack and Trini had been the ones to help him just as Alpha came up and started waving a device of some sort over his body.

Moments later, Alpha spoke. "You seem to be alright for the most part. Just a bit of strain on your body from such a long teleportation. The pain you are feeling should fade shortly." The robot turned to walk away before pausing halfway through and facing him again. "By the way, I hope you enjoy the bed you're in. I couldn't seem to locate our first one so I had to obtain another."

Harry felt a momentary twinge of guilt when he realized that Alpha was talking about the cot he had purloined for his own use that was sitting in his room under disillusionment and notice-me-not charms but quickly decided to apologize later. For the moment he had a more important topic to bring up.

"Could any of you tell me why nobody saw fit to tell me that Rita's palace is located on the bloody moon?!"

-MR-

Thanks for reading and reviewing,

Tenstar12