Magi Ranger

By: Tenstar12

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

Chapter 21, In Which the Rangers Have Downtime, and Then See a Turtle

"Ready one."

Ready position.

"And… punch two."

Right foot forward. Punch with right fist. "Kiai!"

"Block three."

Right arm vertical.

"Punch four."

Right fist back to ready position. Punch with left fist.

"Back, and…"

Rise up and pivot on left foot, turn around and land in ready position. "Kiai!"

"Step six."

Left foot forward. Punch with left fist.

"Block seven."

Left arm vertical.

"Punch eight."

Punch with right fist.

"Back nine."

Right fist back. Pivot torso and place left palm on right fist.

"High block ten."

Pivot back. Left forearm horizontal near forehead with right fist at ready position.

"Punch eleven."

Punch with right fist. Left arm back to ready position.

"Step up twelve, and…"

Rise up and pivot on left foot, turn around and land in ready position. "Kiai!"

It had hardly taken any time at all for Harry to get into the groove of Jason's Karate class. Despite his initial misgivings, he actually found most of it to be rather interesting, if not exactly the easiest thing he had ever done from a physical standpoint. But if nothing else, Harry was used to hard work and sore muscles, so he managed to get by.

It also didn't hurt that Rita had been completely silent in the two weeks and some change since Tommy had been freed from her control and joined the Rangers. Jason and the others had been more than happy with the down time, taking the chance to relax a bit since they didn't have to worry about the struggle to save the Earth as much. For his part, Harry couldn't help feeling a bit jumpy as more and more time passed without any activity from her. After all this time and all he'd been through, Harry just didn't have the same naiveté and innocence that the others did.

Harry had joined the Karate class a few days after Rita went quiet, on a Saturday, as that was when most of Jason's beginner classes were held. There had been a bit of a tense moment when it came time for Harry to pay for his place in the class. Since he had only had his job at the Youth Center for a bit over two weeks at that point, his first check was a bit short to cover all the necessary fees. The other Rangers had, of course, offered to loan him some cash, but he had stubbornly held out. In the end, a quick trip to the park and a wide area summoning charm (followed by a trip to a bank to change the numerous formerly lost coins into paper bills) had eased the burden enough that with a bit of magic to transfigure his own Gi instead of buying one, he was able to pay.

Once he was officially enrolled, he spent his first lesson learning the very basics of form: how to punch and kick properly without hurting yourself, the most basic ready stance, and how to move with a fall to help decrease the chances of injury. The other Rangers had been more than helpful in their tutoring of him throughout the week so that by the time his next Saturday lesson started, Harry was moving with the grace and speed of someone who had been practicing for much longer than he actually had, much to his own surprise.

When he brought up this extreme learning curve, Zordon had reminded Harry of his connection to the Grid and how it would improve his rate of information retention and muscle memory development in regard to his fighting skills. It had certainly helped ease his nerves as his unnaturally quickly developing reflexes had thrown Harry off at first. He was actually more surprised that more of the other students hadn't approached him about how skilled he appeared to have become in so short a time, but the few that mentioned it seemed to explain it away themselves with the extra teachings they had seen him getting from several known acquaintances of their teacher.

And if that was how they wanted to explain it, then Harry wasn't going to try and convince them otherwise.

At the same time as his martial arts tuition was going on, Zordon had started Harry on learning to control his Grid Power. They had begun with a great deal of meditation and learning to access and manipulate the mote of energy within himself. It was a much more complicated process than just pulling up the Power and letting it guide him as he had been doing.

He needed to learn to instruct the Power on what he wanted done as opposed to surrendering total control to it. It was more similar to Harry's own magic than his limited experience with Grid magic thus far, and yet still different enough to cause issue.

If there was one plus to his lessons though, aside from the more obvious learning to use his new power, it was that he had gotten a further explanation for the seemingly random gesticulation he had noticed multiple times since joining the Rangers in their battles. Apparently, those seemingly nonsensical hand and body movements were caused by the grid because they were vital components to utilizing the Power. Zordon had likened them to Harry's own wand movements, though more along the lines of gathering the Power as opposed to guiding it to the appropriate spell effect. More importantly to Harry, the movements would become less and less necessary as the wielder grew more experienced.

This was something that Harry was rather happy to hear, as the currently necessary motions to prepare even the simplest of spells left him feeling rather stupid.

His suffering would continue with the poses and declarations though, those were just because the Grid liked the showboating.

Among the first lessons Zordon taught him after learning to access the Power was how to determine his specialty. Apparently Rita specialized in magics of destruction and various rituals, quite fitting for a psycho who wanted to conquer/destroy the Earth. Zordon, when he had been free from his time warp prison, had been rather capable with illusions and various mind magics. This tied in with his own physical fighting prowess and lead to him being more of a stealth fighter when possible.

Of course, these specializations were on top of typical general use spells. Harry had compared them to the various branches of magics he was familiar with from his own home world and how he had been particularly apt at learning and using more combat oriented spells while others had been better with certain types of Charms or Transfiguration. A comparison that Zordon accepted, though he had little to go on other than Harry's own insistence that similarities existed.

In any case, after a battery of tests where Harry spent most of his time channeling Grid Power for Zordon to examine, it came to light that Harry leaned toward what Zordon called Kinetic Magics. These spells affected motion and force. Some of the highest level Kinetic spells that the wizened mage had heard of could be used to allow the caster to fly under their own power.

This was a prospect that Harry was more than ready to explore.

However, magical flight would have to wait as Harry still had a long list of basics to learn and master before he could even begin to attempt the simplest of kinetic magics.

And so Harry had had a rather busy few weeks. With his initial success in the beginners' Karate class, Jason had given Harry clearance to join up with his regular lessons after his second Saturday lesson. He was scheduled to join short, one hour classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and a longer one on Saturday mornings. With this, along with additional instruction from the other Rangers that he had been talked into continuing, Harry was confident that he would be able to physically defend himself well enough to get by in one or two months.

His Grid magic skills, while not increasing at nearly the same speed as his martial arts ability, were still growing all the time.

On top of his training, Harry had started putting in more and more hours working at the Youth Center. After his money issues revolving around the Karate class, he was a bit more eager to get some financial stability going, and until he could get back into disenchanting his Galleons with his new wand, the Youth Center was his best source of income. Ernie had been more than generous with his curiously lenient working schedule, but he was equally happy to have Harry there every day they were open. So that's what Harry did.

He would wake up in the Command Center each morning, eat a quick breakfast, tend to his morning routine, and then spend the first several hours of his day in meditation and training with Zordon. Once the clock hit two in the afternoon, Harry would teleport to the Youth Center and spend the next few hours working to help set things up for the after school rush. Jason and the other Rangers, sometimes including Tommy and sometimes not, would show up after school let out and Harry would excuse himself to change into his Gi. On those days he had class, Harry would join Jason's other students. When Jason was teaching a different group, Harry would spend time training with the other Rangers, usually Zack and Trini since they were more skilled in martial arts than Kimberly and Billy. On the days Tommy came along he would occasionally give a bit of advice, but he largely kept to his own devices unless someone specifically asked for his input.

When the class ended, Harry would change back into his regular clothes and spend another few hours working. He typically stayed until most of the crowd had left and helped Ernie with cleaning things up a bit before leaving him to close for the night and going back to the Command Center. It was a somewhat grueling schedule, especially at first, but Harry was finding himself growing accustomed to it even after only really being on it for a week.

Harry snapped his mind out of the slight daze he had adopted as Jason led the class through the kata they were studying when the Red Ranger called his name. "Harry! Come up here for a second."

Raising an eyebrow curiously, Harry made his way from his spot in the middle of the pack to stand next to Jason. "Alright, copy me." Jason almost immediately started moving, calling out the same steps of the kata they had just been doing and leaving Harry to scramble to get into form.

After running through the entire thing, twice, Jason nodded sharply, his brow slightly furrowed. "Not bad, Harry. Make sure you're concentrating on your footwork, though. You were a little out of position a few times."

Harry was confused. As far as he could tell his feet had been right where they were supposed to be, but Jason was the teacher after all. With an internal sigh, he gave Jason a small bow before returning to his spot in the class as Jason spoke once more. "Alright everyone, good job today. I'll be seeing you all next week." After a bow to his class, returned by them all, Jason dismissed them.

With his third ever Saturday class over, Harry turned and jogged to the Youth Center's locker rooms, grabbed a quick shower and changed back into his street clothes before taking his place once more behind the juice bar. Ernie was a bit swamped by the released students and their families and eagerly welcomed Harry's help.

An hour or so later, Zack came in to the Youth Center, bouncing a basketball as he went. Harry noted his presence, but quickly turned his attention back to the stovetop he was working at, idly prodding the hamburger patties Ernie had set him to cooking for Bulk and Skull. The two bullies were sitting at a table a short distance away from the counter, watching the various teens using the exercise equipment around the Youth Center and mocking them occasionally.

His concentration on his cooking was broken by the jubilant voice of the Black Ranger as Zack eased himself onto a stool across the counter from Harry. "So, how's it going there, ah… Ranger-Who-Flipped-Patties?"

Harry groaned slightly. In the days following his telling of his past, all of the Rangers had had further questions for him. He had fielded questions on his classes, Quidditch, his friends and dorm mates, Hogwarts itself, some of the battles he had fought, and even a few more detailed questions on his life with the Dursleys, but Zack had always been the one to ask the most seemingly nonsensical ones. It seemed that Harry now knew the reason behind Zack's questions about his title, both before and after ending the war.

"Zack," Harry sighed. "Aside from the fact that that is an absolutely horrible name, I can practically hear they hyphens in your speech. Cut it out before I have to curse you."

Zack merely laughed, a sly look forming on his face. "Oh, and what kind of curse would we be talking about? You really can't do too much here in public."

Seeing that the burgers were in no danger of burning for a bit, Harry turned to face him, noting the presence of Angela, the girl that Zack had declared the love of his life, as she walked into the Youth Center. He smirked. "Oh, I could think of a few. For example, I could use a babbling hex on you. You would be completely unable to stop talking about the most random things no matter how hard you tried. Then I could couple it with a compulsion charm to make you unerringly seek out Angela's company. Best part is that at this range, I could cast both spells without anyone seeing them. That would certainly be an interesting combination, wouldn't you say?"

Zack's eyes widened before he spun on his stool, seeing Angela on the Youth Center Gym floor, and spun back around, laughing uneasily now. "Ah, well, we wouldn't want that then, would we?"

Harry smiled at the Ranger before turning back to the stove. With deft movements, Harry took the patties off the stove and assembled the two fully dressed burgers on their plates, placed the plates on a tray, and took it over to the counter next to Zack. "Bulk! Skull!" he called to the two. "Order up!"

With hunger dancing in his eyes, Bulk shoved himself away from the small table, coincidentally pushing it into Skull as he did and knocking the skinnier teen down. With a swagger in his step that was more comical than anything else, Bulk made his way to the counter.

"It's about time you got these done!" He snapped, giving Harry a sneer.

"Yeah!" Skull parroted, having climbed back to his feet and run up next to Bulk. "It's about time!"

Rolling his eyes, Harry pushed the tray over to the two. "They get done when they get done, guys. I can't speed up the cooking process without ruining the food."

Bulk squinted slightly, looking somewhat constipated in Harry's mind, before speaking again. "You know you should be giving us better service than this! We're famous, you know!"

Zack let out a short bark of laughter. "You two? Famous? Give me a break."

Harry couldn't help but agree, but before he could comment, Bulk rounded on the other teen. "Damn right we're famous! We helped the Power Rangers chase off that big gold guy a few weeks ago. They even interviewed us for the news!"

Zack leaned back slightly and turned his face away from Bulk, shooting Harry a look of incredulity. "You know, I think I saw that interview, Bulk. Didn't they say that you guys were taken hostage and then saved by the mysterious cloaked figure that's been spotted helping the Power Rangers a few times?"

Bulk jerked back quickly, his face turning red in embarrassment before he tried to cover it up with bluster. "Well then the news guys got it wrong! We were right there in the thick of it with the Rangers and if it weren't for us, they wouldn't have won!"

"Yeah, right in the thick of it!" Skull shouted, nearly climbing on top of Bulk in his effort to stare Zack down.

Harry just rolled his eyes again. "Well, whatever the case, why don't you guys just take your burgers and move on. I have other orders to fill."

Bulk spun to face Harry again, knocking Skull off balance as he did. The flailing teen, accidentally smacked his hand into the back of Bulk's head, somehow propelling him forward and face first into the two Burgers Harry had just finished making for them.

As the overweight teen slowly rose up, bits of bread and tomato liberally covered in ketchup and mustard stuck to his face, Zack started laughing again. "Well," he said through his chuckles. "That's one way to do it."

Nearly growling, Bulk took the tray with the now squashed hamburgers in one hand and grabbed Skull by his jacket with the other. Dragging Skull behind him, Bulk went back to their table and plopped down in his seat before starting in on his deformed meal.

Harry was shaking his head as Zack's laughter died. "You know," he mused. "I really don't understand how that always happens."

"What's that?" Zack asked after he calmed down.

Harry waved his hand toward the food covered teen, now fending off Skull as he tried to get his own burger off the tray. Apparently Bulk was going to eat both as payback for Skull knocking him into the food. "How Bulk and Skull always end up either knocking something over or getting covered in various foodstuffs. I mean, seriously, every single day they come in here, either one or the other happens!"

"That's not necessarily true," Ernie interjected as he walked up from behind Harry, nodding to Zack in greeting. "Sometimes they get covered in paint or something. Not edible."

Harry smiled at Ernie's good natured jab. "My point stands though. How and why?"

Harry, my man." Zack said with an easy smile, leaning over the counter to rest one hand on Harry's shoulder. "Some mysteries are better left unsolved."

Harry snorted briefly before turning back to the stove and starting to scrub the residue from the burger patties off. He only got a few strokes in before Zack once more spoke. "So I had a reason for coming over here actually."

Harry half turned toward him, showing the Ranger his raised eyebrow. "Oh? So you weren't just here to make up stupid names for me then?"

Ernie coughed slightly, an intrigued look on his face, but Zack soldiered on. "Nope. I wanted to see if you wanted to join the guys and me in the park for some b-ball."

Harry finished cleaning the stovetop before turning to face Zack, idly tossing his cleaning rag between his hands. "I don't know Zack, I'm not really a basketball kind of guy. I don't think I've ever even played to tell the truth."

"Come on, man," Zack was near pleading now. "Even Tommy is going to be there, at least until he has to head off to his Karate practice. You've just gotta come!"

"I think you should go, Harry." Ernie said suddenly, bringing Harry out of his thoughts and making Zack smile. "You've been spending too much time around here lately. I know that you need the money and are more than willing to help out, but you should spend more time with your friends. Get yourself some fresh air before it gets too cold outside to do it anymore. We're already more than halfway through September, and this time of year we won't get too many more clear days like today."

"Yeah, come on, Harry!" Zack cheered, nearly dancing in his seat as he saw Harry's resistance fade.

Finally, Harry sighed and pulled off his cooking apron before handing it to Ernie. "Fine, but I go under protest." The smile that took over Zack's face sparked off a similar one on his own as the Ranger danced over to the others, presumably to inform them of Harry's attendance.

"Go on and get yourself cleaned up, Harry." Ernie said, patting Harry on the shoulder as he took the cleaning rag from him. "I'll finish up here. You just go out and have some fun."

Harry sighed, wondering what he had just gotten himself into as he headed over to the sink to wash up.

-MR-

As it turned out, he got himself into getting schooled in basketball.

Oh yes, school was in session and the Zack-man was the teacher!

And Zack had been saying that so much since the group had arrived at the courts in the park that Harry was now narrating it to himself in his head!

Harry groaned as he shook himself slightly, idly watching from the sidelines as Jason tried, and failed, to block yet another shot from the Black Ranger. The Magi Ranger found himself sitting on a picnic table bench next to Billy with Kimberly and Trini sitting on the table top behind them, watching as the Red and Black Rangers tested their basketball skills against each other. Tommy was standing behind the goal, both to help retrieve the ball as necessary and because he was the next scheduled to take the court against the incredibly skilled Zack.

Not that Harry felt his attempt should really even count. He hadn't even been on the court for more than a few minutes before Zack realized he hadn't been kidding when he said he had never played before. The next several minutes had been spent with Zack and the others giving him various pointers on how to properly dribble and shoot the ball before they unanimously decided to just show him how it was done, resulting in the current arrangement.

All in all, he preferred Quidditch. Give him a flying broomstick and a Golden Snitch and Harry would show Zack how to play a REAL game.

Harry tuned back into the game in time to hear Zack taunting Jason again. "Now it's time for my slamma-jamma, double-whamma, hip hop it 'cuz you can't stop it, big disgrace 'cuz it's in your face, long shot." The moment he finished speaking, Zack snapped up the ball and jumped into the air, almost easily getting his shot past Jason's attempted block and sinking yet another three-pointer.

Harry groaned again and leaned slightly toward Trini. "I really don't know what's worse: the fact that he's winning so easily, or the fact that he's so casually taunting everyone as he does so."

Trini smiled at him, trying and failing to fight down a giggle at the dejected look on his face as she patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry about it Harry, I guess basketball just isn't your sport."

Harry smiled weakly before turning back to the court, seeing that Tommy had now actually joined Jason as the two attempted to double-team the Black Ranger. Unfortunately for them, however, Zack was still nearly unbeatable. The few times Jason and Tommy managed to score it was only by tricking Zack out of position. More often than not, he would almost easily snag the ball out of the air when the other two tried to pass it around, which only increased the lead he had over his two friends.

Harry just shook his head in disbelief as the score gap increased.

Then, after a quick series of passes, Tommy tried to drive in to score, only for Zack to block him, almost casually knocking the attempted shot aside and knocking the Green Ranger off balance. While Zack helped Tommy back up, an easy smile on his face, the ball bounced off the court and onto the grass opposite where Harry and the others were sitting.

Before any of the players could even start toward the ball, the air was split with the sound of the high pitched mumbling of Rita's Putty Patrollers as a group of seven appeared in a flash of light. Almost cautiously, one of them bent down and picked up the basketball, tilting his head this way and that as it examined it before holding it up tauntingly and looking toward the Rangers.

"Look," Billy called, slightly panicked. "Putties!"

"Come on," Trini said with a slight scowl, idly grabbing Kimberly's arm as the two girls climbed down from atop the picnic table.

"Oh good," Harry joked, glancing toward Billy as they stood as well. "I was getting bored of basketball anyway."

"Everybody spread out!" Jason said, once more using his overly loud, near-shouting command voice that he tended to slip into during tense situations.

Harry and the other Rangers spread out around the court as each was approached by a putty. Casually shaking his hands and bouncing in place to try and loosen himself up, Harry watched the clay construct approaching him even as he touched the Power within him and brought a hint to the surface. There was no way he was going to try and fight this thing without a little support, but it might be a good idea to see how far he had come in his martial arts training.

The court was soon filled with the sound of grunts and shouts, accompanied by the unique sounds Tommy made when he fought, as Harry's putty charged him. The creature came in almost blindly at first, its hands stretched out in front of it in an attempt to grab onto the mage. Harry almost casually sidestepped it, lashing out with one hand and striking the putty in the back, knocking it off balance and sending it into a tumbling roll that it quickly recovered from.

The putty quickly spun around, this time moving in and sending a spin-kick at Harry's face, prompting him to duck underneath the attack. Before he could make an attempt at a counterattack though, the basketball they had been playing with flew through the air and bounced off his face, knocking his glasses askew and throwing him to the ground. The ball, after ricocheting off his face, hit the putty in the chest, somehow knocking it back to the ground. Luckily enough, this kept the putty from following up on its attack on Harry, though the wizard wasn't quite sure he appreciated the thought.

"I really, really hate basketball…" Harry mumbled, fixing his glasses and climbing back to his feet as the putty did the same before charging him again.

This time, the creature lead with a punch. Acting on instinct, Harry leaned to one side, letting the punch go past him before grabbing onto it with his left hand and jerking it forward. As the putty stumbled, Harry almost casually drove his right fist into its stomach in a quick jab, only to then release the putty and clamp his left hand over his slightly throbbing right.

"What the hell are these things made out of?" He complained. "Screw this, I'm sticking with what I know." Turning to face his opponent once more, Harry stepped in close before delivering a palm strike with the heel of his left hand. Upon contact, Harry released a stunning spell into the putty, the brief flash of red light diminished by the proximity of the casting. The result, the putty dropped almost instantly and Harry had to shake off a bit of wooziness from his wandless magic side effects.

Shortly after it fell, the putty vanished in a flash of light. Looking around quickly after settling into a slightly off balance stance, Harry noticed that the others had vanished as well.

"Harry," Billy said, making his way over to the off balance wizard. "Are you alright?"

Harry shook himself slightly before responding. "Yeah… yeah, I'll be alright. I cast a wandless stunner on mine and I'm just shaking off the effects."

"Did you try and fight it first?" Jason asked, letting himself relax slightly since the obvious threat was now gone. "Try and put some of what you've learned to use?"

Harry rolled his eyes as Billy followed him back to the picnic table, the Blue Ranger keeping a close eye on him in case he started to fall. "Yes, as a matter of fact I did. It just didn't work out too well. What the heck are those guys made out of anyway? I've never noticed any of you having any problem while fighting them, but I punched that one and nearly screwed up my hand."

Jason shared a glance with the other Rangers, all of whom were smiling good-naturedly at Harry's plight. "It's something you get used to after practicing martial arts for a while."

Harry just groaned yet again. "Well in the meantime I think I'll just stick to cursing any more that I fight and leave it at that."

Kimberly squinted at him for a moment. "That may be a good idea, Harry. Did you get hit in the face? You're pretty red…"

Harry winced at the memory and reflexively raised his good hand to his slightly sore nose. "No, actually that was the freaking basketball. Stupid bloody game…"

Harry's grumbling set off another round of laughter from the other teens before Zack ran off to recover said ball. Before they could get back to their game though, Tommy announced that he had to leave. Apparently the short battle with the putties had led to him checking the time and noticing he was going to be late for his karate practice if he didn't hurry it up.

As the Green Ranger left the area and Harry continued to pout, the other Rangers got back to their game. This time, Kimberly joined Zack and Jason as the three idly passed the ball around, taking turns at trying to make various crazy shots while Trini and Billy went over to a recently arrived hotdog vendor to get everyone food.

Harry was slightly concerned at the thought that the vendor apparently hadn't seen the very recent putty attack, but it was entirely possible that he had, but was used to such things after so many months of Rita's attacks.

It wasn't until Harry heard an irritatingly familiar voice that he looked back toward the court to see Bulk and Skull trying to harass the Rangers once more. "Game over wimps," Bulk announced, snatching the basketball out of the air. "This is our space."

Jason, Kimberly, and Zack made their way over to confront the two punks while Harry stood to join them. "Yeah?" Jason shot back. "Well it's our space too, and that is our ball."

"Oh, it's your ball?" Bulk mocked, talking in a baby voice. "And his mommy said we can't play with it…" Skull broke into his gratingly high pitched laughter while Bulk continued glaring at the teens.

"Don't you guys ever get bored of this?" Harry asked, cutting through the annoying laughter and bringing the bullies attention to him.

"Hey, look Skull," Bulk said, tossing the ball over his shoulder and starting toward Harry. "It's the wimp from the Youth Center. Ernie's new help."

Harry sighed, idly rubbing between his eyes before speaking. "Hardly new, Bulk. I've been working there for over a month now."

"Yeah," Bulk said slowly, his face screwing up in confusion for a second before returning to glaring. "Well we owe you for earlier."

"Yeah, for earlier!"

Harry raised an eyebrow and shot a glance at the other Rangers before giving the bullies a flat look. "Oh? And may I ask what for?"

Skull froze for a second before turning to Bulk. "Yeah, Bulk, what for?"

Bulk rounded on the skinny teen and grabbed his shirt. "For messing up our burgers you halfwit!"

Skull looked confused for a moment before he suddenly perked up and turned toward Harry again. "Yeah, for our burgers!"

Harry held his blank look. "As I recall, Skull, you were the one to knock Bulk into your food. That's hardly my fault."

Skull once more turned to bulk, nodding with a goofy smile on his face. "You know, he's got a point there Bulky."

Bulk just growled, using his grip on Skull's shirt to throw him off to one side as he moved to stand right in front of Harry, his face mere inches from the Ranger's. "Well I don't think so. And I'm gonna make you pay for it."

Harry held his ground, staring evenly back into the bully's eyes. He had more than a little experience with dealing with guys like Bulk, both from his cousin Dudley and from his time dealing with Draco Malfoy at Hogwarts. So he stayed where he was, showing as little emotion as possible, not even speaking until he saw the larger bully start to shift uneasily.

"Walk away, Bulk, before you do something that you'll regret." The warning was delivered in a hard, flat tone, one he hadn't really used since the war in his old world. One that gave hint to the toughness he had had to build up just to survive in a world that was led by a terrorist whose primary goal was to kill him.

It turned out to be more than enough to break through the bully's bravado as he quickly backed off.

"Yeah well…" Bulk looked rather panicked as he started rapidly backpedalling away from Harry. "I have better things to do anyway. You got off lucky this ti-!" Bulk's speech was cut off when he tripped over the sprawled form of Skull, still laying where he had fallen when Bulk threw him away. After tripping, Bulk stumbled and ultimately fell, crashing into the hotdog cart Billy and Trini were at, knocking over several containers of condiments and other toppings and spilling their contents all over him.

Harry just shook his head as the other Rangers smothered their laughter at Bulk's predicament, even as the hot dog vendor rounded on him and started demanding that he pay for the toppings he had spilled. Billy and Trini rejoined them, handing out the hot dogs they had procured before Bulk's accident and were quickly caught up on what had happened.

"Yeah," Zack explained with another huge smile on his face. "Harry went all hardcore on him. It was morphinominal!"

The wizard blushed slightly. "I have some experience with bullies like him. They're all bluster. I'm still more concerned with how one or both of them always end up covered in food! It boggles the mind!"

Zack just started laughing again. "Like I said Harry, some mysteries are better left unsolved."

Rolling his eyes at the answer, Harry and the other Rangers moved back to the table once more to eat their hot dogs while Bulk and Skull were forced to push the vendor's cart away while he ranted about them working off the wasted ingredients.

-MR-

Zack and Jason were the first to finish eating and they quickly moved back onto the court to resume their game. By this point, Harry was more than ready to call it a day and head back to the Command Center to relax for a bit. But after Zack blocked yet another shot from Jason, knocking the ball off the court, things changed.

As soon as the ball stopped moving, it exploded.

"Holy shit!" Zack, who had been going to retrieve the ball and was therefore the closest, jerked back in fright, backpedaling quickly to meet up with Harry and the others as they all gathered together.

"Look over there!" Kimberly pointed to a nearby tree line where Squatt and Baboo were standing with a spike covered turtle monster with what looked like a… stop light coming out of the top of its shell…

Alright then.

"It's Morphin' Time!" Jason called out after glancing around to make sure they were otherwise alone. Shrugging, Harry pulled out his wand and took his morphing stance alongside the others.

"MASTODON!" "PTERODACTYL!" "TRICERATOPS!" "SABER-TOOTH TIGER!" "TYRANNOSAURUS!" "MAGI RANGER, POWER UP!"

Harry once more felt a rush of energy wash over him as his Ranger suit formed. When the light faded from them all, the Rangers were standing once more in their suits and, much to Harry's irritation, in a group battle pose.

"Hurry," Baboo called, pointing to the Rangers. "The Go Beam!"

Nodding its head, the turtle monster faced the posing Rangers as the green light on his traffic light started glowing before a lance of energy shot out, hitting Trini and suffusing her with a green aura. Almost immediately, Trini started running in place. "Oh no!" she shouted, panicked. "What's going on? I can't stop moving!"

Relaxing out of his pose, Harry summoned the Magi Staff even as the other Rangers charged toward the three monsters. With a wave of his weapon, Harry levitated the Yellow Ranger just as she started to turn to run off and then cast a diagnostic charm. "Hmm…" Harry said after a moment. "There's some kind of spell on you…"

"Well yeah." Trini snapped, sounding somewhat irritated even through her panic. "I think that's kind of obvious."

Harry smiled under his helmet. "Sorry, just talking things out. The thing is that it doesn't feel like any of Rita's other monsters that I've seen…"

"That's because this one isn't like any other you've seen, Harry." Zordon's voice came from his communicator.

Lifting it to the mouthpiece on his helmet, Harry responded. "Do you have any input, Zordon? Do you know why this spell seems so different to me?"

"Indeed I do, Harry," Zordon responded quickly, almost sounding smug if Harry were to judge. "In this case, the reason that the energy doesn't feel familiar to you is because there is no magic of the Elder Wand in this new monster. I suspect that Rita had nothing to do with the creation of this creature. Based on Squatt and Baboo's presence without Goldar or Scorpina, I believe that they created this monster themselves."

"And that means what exactly?" Trini asked, slightly calmer now, but still more than ready to get rid of whatever spell the turtle had used on her.

"It means that Harry can break the spell if he uses his own Power properly."

Harry glanced up at Trini, surprise on his hidden face before glancing back down toward the communicator incredulously. "Ok… but I don't really recall being taught any kind of cancellation spell using Grid Power, Zordon. How am I supposed to be able to fix this?"

"Your morph gives you several benefits, Harry." Zordon seemed to be going into a lecture mode, though Harry felt it might not be the best time as he heard the telltale sounds of explosions as the other Rangers battled with the turtle monster nearby. "One of the greatest of such is how it combines the two brands of magics you wield into a much stronger whole. If you focus properly, you can use your unique magic as a framework and power your spells with Grid energies. By casting this way, you should be able to use your own cancellations spell to break the enchantment on Trini, and indeed break any spell that isn't reinforced by the magic of a more powerful magic user with relatively little difficulty."

Harry blinked, glanced up at Trini, and then blinked again. "Alright…" he said slowly. "I suppose I can give it a shot if you think it'll work."

"Trust in your instincts, Harry." Zordon responded calmly. "Trust in your instincts and trust in the Morphing Grid. The Power will guide you."

"Right," Harry nodded as he lowered his arm and firmed up his grip on the Magi Staff. "Hold still as best you can, Trini. This should only take a second… hopefully…"

Trini just stared at him, her arms and legs still pumping uncontrollably under the effects of the monster's beam. "That's not too reassuring, Harry…"

Harry just shrugged before calling up his Power, letting the purple aura engulf him as he relaxed as best he could. It was a technique that he and Zordon had worked on rather extensively during his training as it allowed a student to use the more complex Grid Powers the easiest. Needless to say, it wasn't the best or simplest thing to do during a pitched battle, but it worked in a pinch.

Almost immediately, Harry felt the Power flowing through him and, working as quickly as he could, grabbed ahold of it before impressing his need onto it. This was the most basic technique for casting with Grid Power. As a result, it was also the least efficient, but he had to start somewhere.

Feeling the Power accept his command after a few seconds, Harry was more than a bit surprised to feel his own magic rise up as well and mix with the Grip Power. A few more seconds later and Harry felt himself start moving, spinning his staff around his body, passing it from one hand to another while it began glowing as he channeled Power into it. Finally, he thrust the staff toward Trini. "Finite Incantatem!"

Trini was briefly surrounded by a purple glow before she both stopped running in midair, and stopped floating in midair as Harry's counterspell cancelled both the monster's spell, and Harry's levitation charm. "Whoops!" Harry said with a slight laugh. "Sorry about that Trini." Moving quickly, Harry switched his staff to his left hand before offering his right to help her back up.

Accepting his help, Trini climbed back to her feel. "You can make it up to me later, for now we have to help the others!"

Turning toward the battle, Harry noticed that Trini was right. As ridiculous as the turtle looked with that stop light coming out of him, it was apparently not a monster to take lightly. It had somehow acquired a baseball bat and was using it to great effect in warding off the Rangers, occasionally sending one of them flying in a shower of sparks as it scored a hit. Nearby, Squatt and Baboo were cheering the monster on while Squatt… recorded the entire battle on video camera…

Alright then.

Before Harry and Trini could move in to help, the turtle seemed to grow tired of beating on their friends with his bat as it grabbed Zack and threw him into the other three, making them all fall into a pile. "Alright then!" it shouted as it drew its right arm back into its shell, taking the bat with it before the arm came back out without it. "Now it's time for Shellshock to show you his Stop Ray!"

After flailing its arms around briefly, Shellshock's red light started glowing before blasting the four downed Rangers with a wide area beam of red light. Jason, having managed to struggle out of the tangle of limbs that he and the others had become, barely managed to dodge out of the way. When the light faded, it revealed Zack, Kimberly, and Billy frozen on the ground where they had been lying.

"No!" Jason cried dramatically, summoning his Power Sword and charging the turtle, Trini pulling her daggers and following behind. "What did you do to my friends you freak?!"

Shellshock just laughed as it turned on the spot, deflecting Jason's first sword strike off its shell before completing the spin and bringing his oversized claw hands down across Jason's torso. "The same thing I'm going to do to you Red Ranger! You and the other Rangers are finished!"

Then Trini leapt into the air and brought her daggers down across Shellshock's head, knocking the monster down and sending sparks flying. "What!" it roared in confusion. "How did you break free of my Go Beam? You should have been miles away from here by now!"

"You aren't the only one around here with magic, mate!" Harry shouted from next to the frozen rangers, spinning his glowing staff as he did so. Finally, with yet another thrust from his focus, Harry released his spell once more. "Finite Incantatem!"

Just as with Trini, the three Rangers were covered briefly in a purple glow before the spell holding them in place broke and they started moving again. "Oh man…" Zack groaned as he struggled to his feet. "What happened?"

"No time now," Harry said, helping Kimberly up as Billy too regained his feet. "Kill the turtle and I'll explain later."

"Right," Zack nodded, striking a pose before summoning his Power Axe. "Let's do this, Rangers!"

Without another word, Zack and the others charged in to assist Jason and Trini against Shellshock. With their weapons now in hand and with the monster not having its bat, the Rangers were having a much easier time keeping it on its back foot. Harry though, still wasn't quite confident enough in his close combat skills to join them. Instead, he decided to stay back and look for an opportunity to assist magically.

Then he caught sight of Squatt and Baboo and a smirk crossed his face.

Hopping in place, Harry brought his feet together before leaping into the air toward the two dimwitted servants of Rita. After flipping once, he landed behind them, making enough noise that they both spun to face him and almost immediately recoiled. "Hello, boys," Harry drawled, brandishing his weapon as he turned to face them. "It's been a bit, hasn't it?"

"Gah!" Baboo shouted. "It's the Mageling!"

"Oh yeah," Squatt shouted back, still holding the camera for some reason. "Goldar said he got his own Ranger Powers! I forgot about that!"

"Oh no, what are we gonna do!?" Baboo was practically dancing in place now in his panic.

Harry just felt a bit sorry for them.

Before he could start in on them, he heard Jason calling for the Power Blaster.

"Alright guys, let's bring 'em together!"

"POWER AXE!" "POWER BOW!" "POWER DAGGERS!" "POWER LANCE!" "POWER SWORD!"

As the four of the five Rangers threw their weapons into the air, they all combined into one weapon. The bow and the axe connected to form something like a crossbow while the daggers and two halves of Billy's lance attached to the underside of the bow and parallel to the axe/cannon's barrel with the bladed ends pointing backward. Finally, Jason leapt up and placed his sword down along the top before bringing the entire thing down to the rest of them as they stood in formation. "POWER BLASTER!" They chanted together. "FIRE!"

The main gun at the butt end of the axe along with the round bottom ends of each of the daggers and lance pieces lit up with bright light before beams of energy shot out of each of them. The beams then began to spin around each other, eventually forming into one solid beam of energy that flew toward the panicking turtle monster. However, before the beam could hit and inevitably destroy said monster, a bright flash of lightning struck down just in front of it, destabilizing the beam and saving Shellshock from the Rangers' finisher.

"Do you really think I'd make it that easy?" Harry whipped his head to the side to see Rita standing a short distance away. Cursing to himself, Harry moved around the stunned forms of Squatt and Baboo who were staring at Rita in fear so he could regroup with the other Rangers.

Rita followed his movement, but didn't speak until he had joined his comrades. "So, Mageling, Zordon is teaching you to use real power and you decided to use it to join with his band of goody goodies… How disappointing…"

"I do believe that I've turned down your offer to join you in the past, Rita. I don't see how me joining with the Rangers more formally is any more of a surprise or a disappointment than my initial refusal."

Rita just scowled before glancing over at the still frozen forms of Squatt and Baboo. "Get over here you nitwits!"

Squatt and Baboo jumped as if stung before scurrying over to Rita's side, Squatt leaving the camera behind, and immediately prostrating themselves before her, babbling as they did so.

"We're so sorry your evilness! We just wanted to surprise you!"

"Yeah, and Shellshock was doing really well until the Mageling broke his spell over the other Rangers! He almost won!"

Rita let a wicked smile stretch across her face as her eyes trailed over the turtle monster that had moved to stand near her as well. "Yes, perhaps you're right…"

"We are?" Squatt asked, perking up slightly before glancing at Baboo who had done the same.

"Yes, of course we are!" Baboo immediately answered, nodding frantically. "We did good this time!"

"Yes, perhaps you did do well this time… Though it seems as though… Shellshock will need a bit of help against the Rangers even now."

"You can't beat us Rita! Why don't you just give it up!?" Jason demanded. Harry had to fight down the urge to facepalm.

Rita, however, seemed to be ignoring the Red Ranger. "Yes, it is far too late for me to properly empower him, but that doesn't mean I can't make him… GROW!"

With a sharp jerk, Rita flipped her staff into a two handed grip before blasting the ground around Shellshock with a bolt of red lightning. As Rita, Squatt and Baboo vanished in a flash of light, the earth split open and a blast of smoke shot out, engulfing the turtle monster and increasing its size exponentially.

"Alright, guys," Jason called, turning to face the other Rangers. "Let's do this thing!" Turning around once more, Jason threw his right arm into the air, a pose matched by the others while Harry watched. "We need Dinozord Power, now!"

As the Zords arrived with a great deal of earth shaking and mechanical roaring, Harry felt just a bit left out. After watching the now giant Shellshock move to engage the Megazord a bit closer to the city, Harry twisted in place, apparating himself to the top of a skyscraper, hoping that he would be able to assist if needed.

The fight seemed to be rather even, all things told. The two titans were about the same size, though Shellshock's shell gave it a bit more bulk and the stoplight technically made it taller. Beyond that, though, they seemed to be about equal in speed and power.

As the fight moved fully into the city proper, mostly through stumbling and knockback from powerful blows, Harry once more apparated from building to building, looking for an opportunity to strike and keeping his Power at the ready. Then, with a powerful right hook, the Megazord sent Shellshock sprawling, the monster screaming out in pain as it rolled away.

Over his communicator, Harry heard Jason shouting encouragement. "That's it, guys, we've got him on the run. Now let's finish him! We need the Power Sword!"

Lightning flashed in the sky as the massive, compared to Harry, sword came flying down from wherever it was kept when not in use, easily caught by the Megazord when it got close enough. Shellshock regained its feet and charged toward the massive machine, retracting its head in time to avoid a swipe from the Power Sword, only for a large cannon barrel to come out in its place.

"HOW ABOUT A TASTE OF THIS, POWER RANGERS!" The monster mocked before a blast of energy fired out of the cannon at point blank range, knocking the Megazord backwards and to the ground.

"AND NOW…" Shellshock mocked once more, reorienting the cannon on the downed Megazord despite the fact that its eyes were blocked by that same cannon. "YOU'RE THROUGH!"

"Ah crap…" Harry mumbled, drawing his power up fully and sending a fireball flying toward the turtle. Just before the cannon fired again, Harry's attack smashed into Shellshock, making it rear back in surprise and causing its blast to fly into the air instead of at the downed machine.

"Good job, Harry!" Jason said over his communicator. "We're having some trouble getting the Megazord back up. Just do what you can to hold him off!"

"Right…" Harry mumbled, pulling up more Power and channeling it into his staff as he spun it. "Easier said than done I think…"

Shellshock was back on his feet again, the cannon now replaced once more by his head as he glared toward Harry on top of his building. "YOU JUST COULDN'T LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE, COULD YOU RANGER?" the turtle asked, irritation in its voice as it stomped closer to Harry's position. "NOW I'M GONNA HAVE TO SQUASH YOU FLAT!"

Growling to himself, Harry released the built up Power in his staff, summoning a bolt of lightning that arced from his focus and raked across the giant turtle's face. Shellshock cried out in pain as sparks flew from the point of impact before a small explosion lit up the area, shrouding the monster temporarily in smoke. When the smoke cleared, however, it was revealed that the monster was mostly fine, with only a few scorch marks for its trouble.

"HA!" the turtle laughed. "I GUESS I'M JUST TOO MUCH FOR YOU, 'YA LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!" With further laughter, Shellshock withdrew its right arm into its shell and produced its baseball bat once more. As the monster drew it back to smash into him, Harry froze. There was literally nothing he could do to take this thing down. Even with all his new Power and training, he still didn't have anything in his arsenal truly effective against something this size.

Before Shellshock could end him, however, a very welcome six note song echoed through the air, followed immediately by the whistling sound that accompanied a rain of missiles from the Dragonzord.

Shellshock was knocked off balance by the first salvo of missiles, and the second knocked it to the ground, forcing the giant turtle, shouting out its defiant rage as it climbed back to its feet to face off against the Dragonzord that now stood protectively near the still downed Megazord.

Harry let out a breath of relief before activating his communicator. "Cutting it a bit close there, eh Tommy?"

Tommy's voice came with a bit of a chuckle. "Sorry about that Harry, you alright?"

Harry nodded before remembering Tommy probably couldn't see him. "Yeah, the others are down for the moment and I managed to freeze up at about the worst possible time, but I'm still here."

"We're not down any more!" Jason's triumphant voice cut across the communication channel as the Megazord climbed slowly back to its feet, the Power Sword being used as a crutch until it stood upright again. The Dragonzord turned briefly toward the Megazord before roaring and turning back toward Shellshock, the drill on its tail spinning as it prepared to charge.

Shellshock brandished its bat for a second before a smirk grew on its face. "I THINK YOU GUYS NEED TO TAKE A BREAK!" Before any of the Rangers could react, the red light on Shellshock's stoplight flashed brightly and the red Stop Ray shot out, engulfing both the Megazord and Dragonzord, freezing them in place.

"Oh, bloody hell…" Harry gasped. "That's not good."

Almost immediately, Jason started shouting across the communications channel again. "Zordon! We can't move!"

"I know Jason, Shellshock's Stop Ray has frozen both the Megazord and Dragonzord cold."

"Harry!" Trini spoke next, though Harry could hear sounds of panic from the others in the background. "Can you break through the spell on the Zords like you did for us earlier?"

Thinking quickly, Harry shook his head. "I don't think so, Trini. The last time I cast a spell on something that big it was a pretty heavy drain on my reserves, and the counter spell is much more complex than the body bind I used on Goldar and Scorpina. Not to mention I don't know how long it would take to gather enough Power to cast it properly."

Shellshock was dancing in celebration, supremely confident in his victory. It was probably only this that gave them any sort of chance now.

"There has to be something we can do!" Kimberly said, panicking along with her teammates. "We can't even get out of here. The access hatches are all frozen shut just like the rest of the Megazord!"

"Even now the internal magics of the Power within each Zord are combatting the foreign energies of Shellshock's spell. It should only be a matter of minutes before the effect ends on its own. If we had the time, we could use the Diandra flower to speed up the process." Zordon mused, talking things out to himself. "It is a rare flower with powerful curative properties that could help break Shellshock's spell…"

"But something tells me that it's a bit outside of our reach at the moment, Zordon." Harry snapped. "Do you have any quicker solutions we could try?" Shellshock seemed to be calming down, and he was now taunting the Rangers in their paralyzed Megazord.

"There is one other option at the moment Harry." Zordon said after another moment. "The other Rangers are trapped in the Megazord and Tommy is just as helpless as you with the Dragonzord frozen as well, but you could always try summoning your Zord."

Harry paused for a moment, shocked at the concept Zordon had just introduced. "Wait a second… I have a Zord too?"

"Of course you do, Harry." Zordon sounded slightly amused despite the tense situation. "All Power Rangers have Zords, you just have to summon yours and use it to hold off Shellshock until the Megazord and Dragonzord break through Shellshock's spell on their own. It is only a matter of buying some more time."

"Alright, Zordon," Harry was panicking himself now, seeing Shellshock drawing its head back to produce its cannon. "Just tell me how to do it and I'll give it a shot."

"It will be just like when you first morphed, Harry." Zordon spoke calmly. "Let the Power guide you and you will know what to do."

Right, the first rule to actively using the Power: let the Power guide you. With a deep breath, Harry forced himself to relax as best he could and once more drew on the Power within him. Just as with his counterspells, he impressed a simple desire on the Power: I need to call my Zord…

Once again, Harry began moving as the warmth of the Power began flowing through him more and more rapidly. Flipping his staff once before passing it to his left hand, Harry's deep purple aura exploded into life around him. Extending his right hand over his head with his fingers spread wide, he began to speak.

"Silence in the Night! Spirit of an old friend! Power of the Resurrection Stone! I call you forth: Silver Owl Zord! HEDWIG!"

Wait… what…?

-MR-

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