Magi Ranger

By: Tenstar12

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

Chapter 22, In which, Harry Reunites with a Familiar Friend

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

Wait… what…?

For Harry, everything froze as the words he had just spoken, guided as he was by the Morphing Grid's Power, finally registered in his brain. Could it be possible? Or was this just some odd tribute by the Grid to what Harry had lost before coming here?

Time started once more when he took note of the giant Shellshock with its cannon once more protruding from its shell and pointed at the downed Zords. "ITS OVER FOR YOU, RANGERS!" the monster taunted as a slight glow began to emanate from the end of the cannon. "I'M GIVING THIS ONE MY FULL POWER! THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN SURVIVE!"

"Harry!" Trini's voice came from his communicator. "Do something! Please!"

Harry was still frozen in place, held by the ever-growing river of Power flowing through him with the Magi Staff in his left hand and his right extended into the air over his head.

Finally, after a mere handful of seconds that felt like hours for all of the Rangers, Harry felt the Power that had been growing within him finally release itself in a burst. Harry at once found himself both able to move freely and so weak that he immediately used this freedom of movement to collapse to one knee, tightly gripping his staff as he went down.

Before Harry, or any of the other Rangers, could react further, the air was split with a crack of thunder as a bright, multi-colored vortex appeared high above Angel Grove. From within this vortex, which had somehow caught the attention of Shellshock (despite the fact that its head was currently replaced by a massive gun) and thus delayed the defeat of the Rangers by a few more seconds, came a screeching sound that was both hauntingly familiar to Harry and strangely mechanical at the same time.

Before the drained wizard could further contemplate the mysteries of the situation, a bright flash of silver-white light emanated from the vortex and a large shape came flying out of it at high speeds. As the vortex closed without a sound, the shape resolved itself into that of a bird of some kind, though before Harry could identify much more about it than that and the fact that it was largely a metallic silver in color, it released another of those hauntingly familiar screeches and plowed into Shellshock, talons first.

The sheer entry speed of what had to be Harry's Zord was enough that even though it was rather smaller than the turtle monster, it was still able to knock it backwards just before it could fire its cannon, the resulting streak of red energy lancing upward through the clouds overhead and harmlessly into space.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Shellshock roared as it struggled to roll off of its shell, succeeding after a few moments and climbing back to its feet, its turtle head replacing the cannon as it stood, bat still clenched tightly in its clawed hand. The Zord had completed a vertical loop by this time and now hovered several blocks away (comparably twenty or so feet with the giant sizes involved) in front of the still frozen forms of the Megazord and Dragonzord, its wings flapping much too slowly to realistically provide lift as it glared at the monster with a yellow pane of glass it had in place of the eye Harry could see.

Now that it wasn't moving so fast as to only appear as a blur, Harry was able to study the machine from his kneeling position. It was, as he had previously noted, largely a metallic silver in color, though there were a few spots on its chest that were darker grey or black. Its body seemed mostly sharp angles and smooth planes, occasionally interrupted by a feather design, particularly near a joint or the neck, unlike the other Rangers' Zords with their general lack of detail.

Its legs hung about half its torso length below it and just in front of its tail feathers, talons idly clenching and unclenching with each slow flap of its wings. From each side, just outside where the legs protruded from the body, were the only, as far as Harry could see at the moment, non-avian like feature on it. What looked like two sets of two long tube like structures stretched down just over half the length of the legs, angled out slightly and serving no easily discernable purpose to the wizard.

The wings themselves, aside from having an actual feather pattern, appeared to have some kind of fan or turbine about midway down their length, the top of each circular fan resting just below where the bones would have been in an actual bird. The center of the currently spinning fans appeared almost crystalline and glowed internally with a deep purple light.

That same purple light also shone from a smooth dome atop its head, though it seemed focused on a tiny point at the very top as opposed to coming from within. The dome then merged almost seamlessly with the sides of the Zord's head as it sloped down into the neck, its beak protruded from the center of its face, occasionally opening and closing sharply and making a clacking noise each time that echoed over the area.

Overall, the machine was just under half the size of the Megazord, perhaps four or five stories tall if Harry had to guess, though since it had a wingspan nearly twice that height it appeared much bigger. As Harry, Tommy, Shellshock, and the Rangers still trapped in the Megazord watched, the Owl Zord's head spun clockwise a full 360, revealing that the yellow glass plate for its right eye took up that entire side of its face.

When the left eye passed over Harry's location atop one of Angel Grove's skyscrapers, the turning head paused for a fraction of a second and Harry felt a purely internal magical snap as something connected to his mind.

-Harry/Wizard!- the familiar voice of Harry's oldest companion rang through his mind with a tone of happiness and contentment. -I told you that I would always be with you if you knew where to look.-

Harry nearly completed his fall, his body growing so weak from shock that he barely caught himself before face-planting into the rooftop. How could it be possible that this machine could speak with the same voice of his dead familiar? Was this some kind of trick? A mockery of Hedwig fashioned by the Grid from his memories from his old world?

Was it possible that this machine really was Hedwig?

-Talking later, Harry/Wizard.- the voice spoke once more. -Now I must stop Not-Turtle from hurting your friends.-

By this time, Shellshock had recovered from his surprise. "SO…" it drawled. "ANOTHER LITTLE MACHINE FOR ME TO DESTROY! AND THIS ONE FLIES! THAT MAY MAKE THINGS A BIT MORE… SPORTING!" Shellshock pulled its left arm into its shell and brought it back out moments later holding a… baseball of all things. Idly tossing it into the air, the monster swung its bat and knocked the ball toward Hedwig(?) with a loud crack.

As the ball flew toward the Zord, it started glowing brightly before one ball became two, then two became four. Mere moments later there were dozens of giant baseballs flying toward the still hovering Zord that seemed to have no concern at all.

As it turned out, the lack of concern was rather appropriate as the balls merely clunked off of its metal body doing little to no damage in the end. Hedwig spun her head around again, stopping with her eye angled slightly toward him. -Should I respond, Harry/Wizard?-

"Huh?" Harry said aloud, still rather stunned at his apparent situation.

-Should I attack Not-Turtle, or only stop it from hurting your friends?-

"Uh… I guess so…" Harry answered, not sure himself if his response was a question or a statement.

Hedwig clacked her beak a few times, a move Harry recognized from his old world when his Familiar was slightly annoyed with her human. Mere moments later, she reoriented fully on Shellshock as the turbines in her wings began to hum as they started spinning faster. -Very well then.-

"OH," Shellshock spoke again, apparently unconcerned with the lack of damage caused by his previous attack. "YOU WANT TO PLAY, LITTLE BIRDY?" taking a step closer to Hedwig, it brandished the baseball bat once more in its right hand while retracting its left only to push it back out with a large pirates hook on it moments later. "THEN LET'S PLAY!"

By this point, the turbines were spinning so fast that it was impossible to make out the individual blades. The wind started picking up and Hedwig's wings were flapping slightly faster now, kicking up even more wind and dust on each downthrust. Finally, just as Shellshock started to charge forward, Hedwig let out another of her vicious hunting screeches and the tubes by her legs lit up abruptly, revealing their purpose as thruster of some kind and launching Hedwig up into the air at speeds rivaling those of her initial arrival.

After a deceptively lazy loop, Hedwig came back down toward Shellshock in a stoop, talons forward, wings back, and a fierce light coming from within her metallic yellow eye. The two titanic forms slammed together with a loud crash, knocking the turtle once more onto its back. The resulting shockwave broke several windows on nearby buildings and nearly knocked Harry flat once again as dust rose around the struggling figures.

As effective as the tactic had been at knocking the monster down, as a bird, Hedwig was not exactly built for prolonged close-combat with a larger opponent. This was proven as Shellshock was able to wrench itself free from Hedwig's talons and launch the Owl Zord off of itself with a powerful kick.

Hedwig managed to right herself in the air with a little trouble, but it took long enough for the monster to roll off its back once more and take a kneeling position that she was fully in control before it attacked again. "LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE THIS ONE!" Shellshock shouted as the red light on its stoplight lit up once again.

"Hedwig!" Harry shouted both mentally and aloud as he struggled to his feet, leaning heavily on his staff. "Don't let that beam hit you. It'll freeze you just like it did to the others!"

-Of course, Harry/Wizard.- Hedwig replied calmly even as Shellshock's attack lanced toward her. With an almost negligent beat of her wings, Hedwig easily dodged the attack, as well as the next several that were sent her way.

-Let us see how Not-Turtle does without this strange light stick.- Hedwig commented just before her rockets lit up again, sending her up and out of the way of another beam before she folded her wings back and dove down toward the monster. This time, when Hedwig hit Shellshock, she wrapped her talons around the light pole where it was sticking out of its shell. As her momentum carried her forward, and without the bulk of the turtle monster to negate her speed, the pole broke off with a wrenching snap in her iron grip.

Shellshock screamed out in either pain or rage and began flailing its arms around, trying to hit Hedwig who was still bleeding off her excess speed with the monster's traffic light clenched tightly in her talons. "GIMME BACK MY LIGHT!" the monster roared, throwing its bat at Hedwig, an attack she dodged with an almost negligent shift of her wings and what would probably have been a scathing glance if her eyes hadn't been mechanical.

Harry felt Hedwig's mental shrug and a sense of mischief before hearing her speak. -Okay, Not-Turtle wants its light stick back, then I will give it back.- In an instant, Hedwig folded her wings again, dropping out of the sky like a stone before flaring them just in front of Shellshock. The momentum of her drop was largely negated for her, but the traffic light in her claws kept it all as she released it to crash into the monster, the glass in the lights shattering on impact accompanied by several metallic clangs.

It was a few moments later, as Shellshock rose to its feet again still complaining, that Harry realized that the metallic clangs weren't coming from Shellshock.

Turning back toward the now clearly unfrozen Zords, Harry watched as the Megazord finished disassembling into the individual component Zords before the Dragonzord began transforming. The Zord's arms snaked back into its torso as the center of its body lifted away and the sides folded together over the gap to form a sort of armored chest plate. At the same time, the Triceratops and Saber-tooth Tiger Zords changed into the same form they did for the Megazord, only to attatch to the legs of the Dragonzord while the Mastodon did the same, becoming the back and arms of this new mechanical combination. Finally, the Dragonzord's tail detached, the bulk of it retracting into itself to form a pole and then connecting with the detached Dragonzord chest piece to form a drill-tipped spear that settled into the right hand of the machine while the Dragonzord's mouth opened fully, revealing a blank, yet somehow stern face on the lower jaw.

From Harry's communicator, he heard Jason and the other Rangers chanting together. "Dragonzord: Battle Mode! Power up!"

Before Shellshock could react, the drill on the tip of the Zord's spear began spinning furiously, lightning crackling around it as the Dragonzord in Battle Mode charged forward, driving the weapon through the turtle and leaving a sparking hole. While Harry watched and Hedwig hovered once more overhead, the mighty machine turned away from Shellshock as it fell backward, exploding mere moments after it hit the ground.

"Well…" Harry commented idly as the machine seemed to pose for a moment before it started disassembling again. "That almost seemed anticlimactic…"

Harry's thoughts were interrupted as he heard the soft whine of Hedwig's wing-turbines when not prepped for battle, a sound he had missed before because of the distance, as the Zord floated closer. The wizard found himself struggling to stand as the wind buffeted him fiercely. Only moments later, the wind began lessening. A quick glance up revealed that the once building sized owl robot was now shrinking, only being the size of a semi-truck now. And now just a compact car. And now the size of a regular snowy owl.

As the robot flew closer, now flapping its wings as a regular owl might, Harry lifted his left arm on instinct, catching Hedwig as she landed on his forearm and bringing her down so he could meet her eye to eye. There was no real change in her appearance besides size, though he could now see an all too familiar shiny black stone perched at the peak of the dome atop her head. In retrospect, he did call on the "Power of the Resurrection Stone" when he summoned her, so it only made sense that the stone itself would be around somewhere.

-Are you uninjured, Harry/Wizard?- Hedwig's soft voice echoed through his mind bringing feelings of warmth and familiarity he had once enjoyed during his time at Hogwarts.

"How is this possible?" Harry murmured, dismissing the Magi Staff as he brought his right hand up to idly stroke the metal plate of Hedwig's chest. "You don't look like you… but you sound and… and feel like you… I just don't… how is this possible? You were dead… And now…"

Hedwig clacked her beak once before letting out a soft bark of impatience. –Questions later, Harry/Wizard. Answer me now. Are you uninjured?-

Harry chuckled ruefully. She even acted like Hedwig had back in his world, pushy and as stubborn as he was. "Yes, yes I'm alright. Just a bit worn out."

"Harry!"

Harry turned around, slowly so as to avoid disturbing the now comparatively tiny Zord he was carrying and in accordance with his own weakness, and saw the other six Rangers approaching him.

"Are you alright?" Tommy asked first, his helmeted gaze switching between Harry's own helmet and the robot perching on his arm. "Is that your Zord?"

Harry smiled under his helmet and nodded slightly. "Yes… Everyone, this is, apparently, Hedwig."

"Hedwig?" Kimberly asked, stepping closer and staring intently at the owl-bot. "Isn't that the name of your Familiar that you said was… oh…"

Harry chuckled and nodded weakly again. "Yeah… oh…"

Further conversation was cut off by Zordon's voice coming from each of their communicators. "Rangers, congratulations on a job well done. If you will all teleport to the Command Center, I believe that I will be able to explain what has happened."

"Alright, Zordon," Jason responded immediately. "We're on our way." Lowering his left arm from his mouth plate, Jason glanced around at the others. "Alright Rangers, let's teleport back."

"Right!" the others chorused, even Tommy, before they brought both hands to their belt buckle morphers as one and vanished in their individually colored columns of light.

Hedwig's head spun a full circle again. -Bossy-Red needs to calm down. Is almost as bad as Red Weasel friend from Hoggy Home.-

Harry gave a soft snort of laughter before bringing his free hand down to his belt and triggering his own teleportation. As he and Hedwig vanished in a column of purple light he decided that for the moment, he didn't really care if this was the real Hedwig or not, he was going to try and enjoy this little bit of happy nostalgia while he could.

-MR-

When he rematerialized in the Command Center, Harry caught sight of the other Rangers already demorphed and looking intently at Zordon.

"Welcome back, Rangers." Zordon nodded, happiness and pride dancing in his eyes. "And another congratulations on your victory. Shellshock was a challenging adversary, despite his origins, but you all dealt with the threat admirably for your first real challenge since the addition of our newest Rangers."

"Thanks, Zordon." Jason stepped forward as he spoke for the group. "But, in all honesty, we probably would have been toast if it wasn't for Harry's new Zord." Jason glanced back over his shoulder and nodded, just barely, in Harry's direction before turning back to his mentor. "You said you might be able to explain things about it to us, right?"

Zordon nodded before speaking. "Indeed, Jason. I am sure you are all quite confused as to why Harry's Owl Zord has shrunk down to its current size and why Harry is referring to it by the name of his old Familiar. In truth, Rangers, Harry's old Hedwig and this current one are one and the same through the Power of the Resurrection Stone and the actions of the Morphing Grid."

The Morphin' Rangers seemed shocked and/or confused by the concept, but Harry's mind was racing over the implications. "You mean to tell me that the Grid used the Stone to somehow return Hedwig to life? That's beyond the power of the Stone's magic though. It can only restore an illusion of life and this is much more than that." He gestured with his free hand to Hedwig who had turned on his arm and now stood cradled into his chest.

Nodding once more, Zordon answered Harry's question/demand with sympathy in his voice. "From what the Grid communicated to me when I asked, it felt that your Power, based as it is on your own brand of magic, should be influenced as much as possible by your old world. As such, when it came time for it to decide the use for the Resurrection Stone it used the Stone's power, amplified by its own, and called upon the spirit of your old companion to animate the associated Zord."

Harry tilted his head down a bit and spoke toward the mechanical owl. "Then… what happened, Hedwig? Do you know how you got here?"

Hedwig's head turned this way and that with a small whirring noise before coming to a stop facing backwards so she could face Harry. -I was in the Great Beyond. Hunting to my pleasure. Much prey to be had. I was happy, but not happy. Harry/Wizard was not there. Then, Voice from Nowhere called to me. Told me that it could help me reunite with my Harry/Wizard. I knew that Harry/Wizard cannot stay out of trouble without me, so I went. And I was right! Harry/Wizard was about to be squashed by big Not-Turtle when I got here! Harry/Wizard just cannot stay out of trouble.-

Harry felt tears building in his eyes at his familiar's words and hugged her to him again. The feeling of her metal skin rubbing against his chest still covered by his Ranger suit was different, but the feelings he got from his oldest and dearest friend and companion were the same.

"Uh… Harry?" Kimberly asked hesitantly. "Are you alright?"

Harry's head snapped up, wide-eyed under his helmet. He had actually forgotten where he was for a moment. Blushing, he spoke. "Sorry, Hedwig was telling me how she got here through our bond."

"Bond?" Tommy asked. "You and Zordon have both mentioned something about her being your familiar, but not really what that meant. Is this bond a part of that or something?"

Harry sighed softly before tilting his head to one side, using Occlumency to call up what memories he could of the research that he (*cough*Hermione*cough*) had done once Hedwig's status as his Familiar had become known. "A familiar is sort of like a magic user's destined companion. It's an animal of some kind that is typically in tune with the witch or wizard's own magical wavelength. There are several levels of Familiarity though. At the most basic, you get a very dedicated pet who will always love and appreciate you and will live as long as you do. This is the most common form of Familiar in my old world. Hermione had a pet cat that was at this level with her.

"Next up, a closer match brings with it the ability for the Familiar to comprehend and react to the emotional state of the bonded magical more than usual. It typically brings with it a magically enhanced intelligence that eventually results in the ability for the Familiar to communicate with their bonded telepathically. This communication becomes easier as the bond gets stronger over time and was how Hermione and I realized that Hedwig was more than just my pet post owl during our Third Year at Hogwarts, which was surprisingly early for such a connection to form seeing as most Familiar Bonds don't reach that point for nearly a decade after the initial bonding.

"Higher than that, Familiars can help their bonded with certain rituals or complex spell casting, but that typically only happens if the Familiar itself is a magical creature, which is frighteningly rare. In one case in history, the Familiar Bond was so great that the Wizard, Merlin himself, was actually nearly twice as magically powerful when he cast spells alongside his familiar, a brown owl named Archimedes."

The Rangers seemed slightly awestruck, either from the overload of information or the reference to a wizard that they better recognized as a cartoon character. Finally, Zack asked the question on their minds. "How strong is your bond with Hedwig?"

Harry gave an unseen smile at his Familiar as he responded. "Hedwig and I seem to have peaked at the second level. This could be because she was a regular post owl back then, though I guess there is the possibility that that could change now that she is effectively a techno-magical construct, eh?"

Billy looked excited as he flicked his gaze between Harry and Hedwig. "So you were communicating entirely by thought? Prodigious!"

Harry chuckled at the Blue Ranger's enthusiasm. "Yes, Billy, Hedwig and I were speaking telepathically. She told me that she was in the afterlife when the 'Voice from Nowhere' told her that it could bring her back to me. Since she was apparently not as happy as she would like there, she agreed and came here to protect me." While the others processed Hedwig's story, Harry found himself leaning back against a computer console, still clutching at Hedwig like a stuffed animal. The Owl herself had no problems with this arrangement, as she kept up a near constant stream of contented, raspy hoots and soft barks while her Wizard held her to him just as they had in their old dimension.

The other Rangers' conversations drifted to various subjects in the next several minutes, but Harry just tuned them out until he felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced up to see Trini. "Harry… why haven't you demorphed yet?"

Her question brought the others' attention back to him again as he froze. Demorph? But if he did, wouldn't Hedwig vanish just as the other Zords did until called to battle? He had just gotten her back, would he really have to give her up again so soon, even if only temporarily?

Upon relaying his concerns, Zordon chuckled. "Harry, I feel that you may be pleasantly surprised if you were to demorph. Hedwig's presence was, above all else, meant to be a further gift to you by the Morphing Grid. A little bit of your home world to help settle you in this one. What kind of gift of that nature would only be accessible during high tension combat situations?"

Harry eyed the trapped wizard for several seconds, doing what he could to try and judge his truthfulness. It was finally Hedwig that calmed him down. -Harry/Wizard, I am not going anywhere. You still need me to take care of you after all.-

Harry felt his eyes tearing up again and gave a slow nod before, keeping his eyes on his familiar still perched on his left arm, he grasped at the Power within him and spoke. "Power Down…"

Once the flash of light that came with the demorphing process faded, Harry was thrilled and shocked to see Hedwig still perched on his arm. More than that, she looked like a regular snowy owl again.

"Woah…" Zack breathed, taking a cautious step closer as he, and the other Rangers, watched wide-eyed. "Did she just… is she fully alive again or what?"

Harry lifted a shaking hand and stroked Hedwig once again. He closed his eyes as he felt the familiar downy softness of her feathers beneath his touch, but still recognized an unfamiliar hardness just below the surface. Looking into her bright, yellow eyes, he noticed that the right one appeared slightly glazed over, quite similarly to the solid glass plate that covered the right half of her face in her robot form.

It was Zordon that answered Zack's question though. "Unfortunately, Zack, Hedwig is still a machine in body. Her outward appearance will change whenever she or Harry wills it. In this form, she is more able to stay close to her bonded wizard. A condition she insisted upon from what the Grid mentioned."

Hedwig clacked her beak sharply, her body bobbing twice in an owlish nod. –I must take care of my Harry/Wizard. I cannot do that if I cannot blend in. Blend in like this. Fight in other form. Protect Harry/Wizard and his friends. Voice from Nowhere agree and say it will tell Big Head.-

Harry let out a bark of laughter at her comment which prompted another round of confused stares from the others. "Hedwig said that she got the 'Voice from Nowhere' to agree to her terms so that she could better protect me and my friends. She always was overprotective." He gave Hedwig a scratch atop her head, which she leaned into with a happy noise.

Trini squinted in confusion from her spot still at Harry's side where she had been admiring Hedwig's new form. "Voice from Nowhere? You mentioned that before. What is it?"

Harry smiled at her, his happiness and relief overflowing since it appeared he wouldn't be losing his familiar again anytime soon. "Hedwig has a rather interesting habit of giving people names. She rarely ever uses someone's given name unless she is especially close to them. In this case, I believe that the 'Voice from Nowhere' is the consciousness of the Morphing Grid. It makes sense since the Grid didn't really have a physical form when I spoke with it. Hedwig's names are usually either very literal, based on her own experiences or observations, or based on how they treat me specifically."

"How many people's given names does she use?" Jason asked, crossing his arms as he stood watching, curiosity on his face.

Harry smiled. "To date? Two: Hermione and me. She calls me Harry/Wizard and has since we first realized the communication level of our bond. She called Hermione 'Bushy-Haired 'Mione,' I'm pretty sure it's because she spoiled Hedwig whenever she needed a letter sent. My other friends back at Hogwarts only ever got affectionate descriptors, like Ron was 'Red Weasel.' My girl here is rather picky about who she gets close too." Turning his attention back to Hedwig, Harry resumed his petting and scratching, much to the owl's happiness.

Mere moments later, he was drawn out by another question from Jason. "Has she made names for anyone else here yet?"

Harry thought for a moment before fighting down a chuckle. "Well, before we teleported here, she called you 'Bossy-Red.'" When Jason looked about to protest, Harry cut him off. "Hey, she calls them like she sees them. You might get another name later on, but her first impression of you was you ordering the team to teleport back here."

When Jason merely continued staring, a slight pout on his face if Harry was any judge, he continued. "She also called Zordon 'Big Head' just a little bit ago."

His comment brought chuckles from the Rangers, save Jason, and even Zordon himself laughed a bit. Alpha seemed less amused. "'Big Head?' How disrespectful. Ai yai yai…"

Hedwig flared her wings briefly and Harry instinctively lifted the arm she was perched on, giving her a bit of extra oomph that let her take flight more easily. Moving through the air silently as only owls can, she glided over to Alpha and landed somewhat unsteadily on Alpha's smooth saucer-head. Then she abruptly leaned down and pecked him sharply with a metallic ting. -Metal-Man needs to mind his own business. I will call people what I want to call them and as long as Harry/Wizard does not mind there is nothing Metal-Man can do about it. Tell them, Harry/Wizard.-

Chuckling again, Harry relayed her message. "She says that she'll call people what she wants to, Alpha. And she has dubbed you 'Metal-man.' In all honesty, I'm the only one who can hear her so you probably don't need to worry about it."

Bobbing her body in another nod, Hedwig took flight once again, with a bit more trouble this time since she didn't get a boost from Alpha, and perched herself on the top of one of the computer consoles and tucked her head under her wing. -I must rest now, Harry/Wizard. Travel here and fighting Not-Turtle made me tired. Big Head has more information for you. We will talk more later.-

Harry turned to the others, who had all followed Hedwig's flight and now turned to him. "She's resting. Apparently Shellshock wiped her out a bit. She also said that Zordon has more info for me."

"Indeed, Harry." Zordon spoke, his face more serious now. "As you may have noticed, you felt a great weakness when you first called upon your Zord. This is largely the result of summoning it into being for the first time, but it will still be present should you once again call upon Hedwig's power in the future, just not as severe. Your Zord is much like the Dragonzord in that she draws upon your own personal Power to fuel herself. Always keep this in mind, for if you try to call her into action while you are tired yourself the results could be disastrous. Doubly so since your Power as a wizard is more closely linked to you than Tommy's is to him."

"I will Zordon, thank you." Harry nodded. His happiness high was leveling out, but he still couldn't help but take an occasional glance toward Hedwig and smile all over again. "So, now what?"

The Rangers glanced at each other for a few moments before a large smile split Zack's face. "Well," he said. "We could always head back to the park for some more b-ball."

Harry groaned internally as the other Rangers seemed alright with the idea before a thought struck him. "But didn't Shellshock destroy the basketball before we started fighting him?"

For an instant, Harry felt hope blossom in his chest at the possibility of not being forced to endure Zack's amazing basketball skills any further that day. But then Zack scoffed and Harry felt his hope die. "Maybe so, but I have a few extra at home. I'll just 'port back there first and pick one up and meet you guys at the court. Sound good?"

Seeing the others nod, Harry couldn't help but follow their example. He did enjoy spending time with the Rangers, but he was not at all interested in playing anymore. "Alright, but I absolutely refuse to play myself. I think I've had enough of basketball for quite a while." The others laughed as Harry idly rubbed at the phantom pains in his cheek where the ball had smacked him during the putty battle earlier.

Zack stepped up next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Wizard-Who-Ain't-Got-Game, I'll protect you from the big, scary basketball."

Harry's hand snapped around to his back pocket and grabbed his wand, but before he could bring it around toward Zack, the Ranger had already teleported away and there was nothing for Harry to do but replace his wand and follow the others to the park.

-MR-

AN: The design of Hedwig, the Silver Owl Zord was based on an old Beast Wars Transformer toy that I dug out of my closet, though with a different color scheme and without the ear tufts on its head so as to be a Snowy Owl as opposed to whatever the toy is supposed to be. The toy, unoriginally named Prowl, was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about a robotic owl, so I went with it. If you google "Beast Wars Prowl," you should be able to find it if anyone is interested.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review,

Tenstar12