Magi Ranger

by Tenstar12

Betrayed by the world he had given his all to save, Harry finds himself cast into the void. With some help Harry ends up in another dimension, but in classic Harry Potter fashion gets himself into trouble almost immediately. Can he make his way in this strange world he finds himself in where giant monster attacks are a daily occurrence and hardly anything is familiar? AU Harry, MOD

26. Chapter 26

Magi Ranger

By: Tenstar12

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

Chapter 26, in Which Harry and Hedwig Step Up

Three steps.

Turn.

Three steps.

Turn.

Three steps.

Turn.

Pacing in the Command Center wasn't nearly as good for letting off anxiety as Harry might have liked. There just wasn't enough room in the ring of consoles to really let out much steam. Worse still, the watching forms of Zordon, Alpha, and Hedwig were unable to help alleviate Harry's feelings of helplessness any more than his rapid pacing.

After saving him from Rita's spell, Hedwig had taken Harry far enough away from Mutitus and Rita to avoid further attack. Once she returned to her smaller form, Harry then teleported the two back to the Command Center to try and figure out what had just happened. Upon arrival, Zordon had explained, rather briefly, that Rita had sent the other six Rangers outside of his reach and there was nothing that could be done to help them from where they were now.

From what he had seen in the Viewing Globe, Harry knew that Mutitus actually wasn't causing any further problems in the city. In fact, as soon as Rita had cast her spell, the monster went completely silent. It was still shifting as if breathing, but it wasn't destroying the downed Zords or any more of the buildings in the city. It was all quite puzzling, but not anywhere near the top of Harry's mind at the moment.

Suddenly, the Magi Ranger paused in the middle of his pacing with a frustrated grunt and spun to face Zordon. "Are you absolutely sure there's nothing you can do for the others?"

Zordon sighed as he looked forlornly at his apprentice. "I'm sorry, Harry, but as I said before, Rita has trapped the other Rangers on her Island of Illusion in a parallel dimension where I cannot reach them. They must rely on each other and have confidence in themselves in order to escape. I know they are capable, but for the time being you will be on your own against Rita and her forces."

"And how am I supposed to do that, Zordon?" Harry snapped, a swirl of wind kicking up briefly as his magic surged in response to his emotions. "How am I, a barely trained beginner of a Power Ranger, going to face off against a monster that the entire team couldn't beat? And that's not even bringing that Lokar guy into the equation. The Power I felt from him was immense."

Zordon said nothing, merely staring back with an even look on his face. After a few moments, Harry sighed and forced himself to relax. "I'm sorry, Zordon…" Harry mumbled before looking up to meet his mentor's eyes again. "I just… I don't know what to do here. It was bad enough back in my old world when I was thrown into the fight with little to no preparation against opponents many years my senior, but to be in a situation now that's so similar… it's a bit nerve wracking. But I shouldn't have snapped at you over it."

Zordon nodded, a soft smile on his face. "Apology accepted, Harry. And I do understand your dilemma. As you said, you are indeed poorly prepared for a solo fight against Rita's forces. However, I do not believe that Lokar will be as much of a threat as you fear. While he is indeed a dark wizard of incredible strength and skill, his nature and that of his entrapment works to our benefit. He can only take actions as directed by the one summoning him and as defined in the spell that is used to do so. Failure to carefully word the summoning ritual to call Lokar to our dimension has cost the lives of many an untrained or ill-informed potential summoner. Lokar is in the habit of twisting a summoner's words to get every bit of freedom he can and release his rage at the universe wherever he can, even if that means turning on his summoner at the first opportunity which inevitably returns him to his prison upon their death. Rita is anything but ignorant of this and will likely have instructed Lokar only to enhance the strength of Mutitus and then remain there until released back to his dimensional prison. It has been found unwise to task Lokar with anything personally destructive in the past as he tends to turn that back onto his summoners especially often."

Zordon paused for a moment to let Harry process the information before continuing. "In any case, the fact remains that you are not alone in this fight. You have Alpha and I here to provide advice and support, and you have Hedwig to help you on the field of battle. If you work together, combine your Powers as one, you will find that you are infinitely more powerful than you were separately."

Harry felt a surge of Power flare up within him briefly and eyed Zordon warily. "Was that some sort of poorly veiled advice that will lead to some more of the dramatics that the Grid loves so much, but will give me an edge in the fight?"

Zordon merely smiled, a few muffled chuckles escaping him, much to Harry's chagrin.

Before Harry could further grill the floating head on the potential hidden meanings behind his last statement, the alarm in the Command Center began going off. "Ai yai yai yai yai!" Alpha shouted pointing behind Harry. "Look at the Viewing Globe!"

Harry spun in place only to find himself looking into Goldar's ever hideous visage in the Viewing Globe. "Mageling…" the monster simian grumbled. "I know you can hear me, Mageling…"

"What the…" Harry breathed before turning his head to glance at Zordon over his shoulder. "How did he manage to connect to the Viewing Globe? I thought it was entirely reliant on your own spells from within your time warp."

Zordon's brow furrowed. "I am not entirely sure, but it is likely that Rita somehow caused the connection with her magic."

Harry rolled his eyes, careful to turn back to the Globe before doing so, as Goldar continued speaking. "You left so suddenly before, Mageling, that we weren't able to finish our fight."

Harry snorted. "Yeah right, he ran off after Tommy decked him…"

"But I think that you will come running to fight me again now." Goldar's face took on a sneer as the image began to pan out, showing he was standing in a large, open area mostly made of grey rock. Based on the vertical stone wall behind him, and the fact that Rita never seemed to do anything anywhere but around Angel Grove, Harry would bet it was one of the quarries outside of the city. "You see, I have a little friend of yours, Mageling…"

Harry's heart dropped when he heard a familiar voice emit from the Viewing Globe. "Let me go, you big creep!" The camera finally drew out far enough for Harry to see Marie, the little girl he had rescued just an hour before, with her upper arm held firmly in Goldar's grasp as she struggled ineffectually. "Let me go I said! Magi Ranger will come and beat you up just like he did before! Just you wait and see!"

Goldar rounded on Marie and drew his other arm back as if to strike her. "Silence child! Or I shall end you myself before your precious Magi Ranger can arrive!" Marie shrunk into herself, her fear shone through her face and the tears now running down her cheeks. Goldar huffed before turning back to the 'camera.' "As you can see, Mageling, my patience with this child is running thin. If you don't come to the rock quarry where you first showed your Power in the next thirty minutes, this child shall pay the price!"

The Viewing Globe went blank as Harry stared, wide eyed with fury and concern for the child. Turning back to face Zordon, Harry barely kept himself from shouting. "I have to go, Zordon. I have to save her. I can't just let Goldar kill her!"

"I know, Harry, and I agree completely." Zordon's calming voice had little effect on Harry's once more raging emotions as he fidgeted in place. "But we must not rush into this. Doing so will only put the girl, and yourself, in even greater danger."

"Then what should we do, Zordon?" Harry barely restrained a huff as he began massaging his forehead with one hand to try and relieve some of the tension he was feeling while the other clenched into a fist at his side. "We can't wait too long or there's no telling what Goldar will do to Marie."

Zordon nodded solemnly. "Let us consider our options…"

-MR-

As with most of the strangely numerous rock quarries and flatlands around Angel Grove, the one Marie was currently in was almost completely barren. Stone and gravel was piled up here and there, but there was no sign of the heavy machinery needed to move such large quantities of it, indicating to those who knew of such things that the quarry was not currently being mined.

Marie herself, still in what she had earlier that day considered her lucky dress since she had been saved by a Power Ranger while wearing it, sat near the center of the area. Standing to either side of her, if the crouched and jerky stances they were in could be considered standing, were two putty patrollers. Goldar, who was now standing a short distance away idly swinging his sword, had called down the duo of clay constructs after the first time the child had attempted to run away. He knew that they needed her as bait to draw in the Magi Ranger, but that didn't mean he was going to deal with keeping track of her personally.

Growling to himself, Goldar waved his free hand in the air, an ornate looking hourglass appearing in a flash and floating before him, the sands almost all on the bottom. With a cruel smirk, Goldar snatched the floating hourglass out of the air and moved closer to Marie once more, setting it on the ground before her shaking form with a thud. "It seems your hero isn't going to be showing up, little human."

Marie sniffled a few times before shaking her head violently. "You're wrong!" she shouted up at Goldar defiantly, sniffing once more and wiping her nose with her forearm as she tried to fight back another bout of tears. "I know that the Magi Ranger will save me! He's a Power Ranger, and saving people and beating up bad guys is what Power Rangers do! My mommy said so!"

Goldar threw back his head and laughed wickedly. "Oh, you think you know him so well, do you? Did you know that your dear Magi Ranger is a coward at heart? Why else wouldn't he have shown up before now? The thirty minute time limit I gave him is almost up and a true Power Ranger would have come here right away at the first sign of danger to anyone, especially a child."

Marie continued to glare at him with all the power in her twelve year old body. "Well what do you know? You're just a big dummy!"

Goldar growled again before swiping his sword at Marie, making her recoil as the blade passed a mere fraction of an inch from her face, and watched as a few severed hairs fell to the ground before her. "That was a warning, child." Goldar grunted as he returned to a relaxed position, smirking at Marie's shocked and frightened face. "Next time I intend to cut a bit deeper than a few loose hairs."

Marie just scrambled backwards across the ground and away from Goldar as quickly as she could. She didn't make it far though as the two putties grabbed her upper arms and hefted her to her feet at a small motion from Goldar. The monster in question, however, just picked up the hourglass once more, smiling as he watched the last few seconds' worth of sand drain away.

Goldar threw the hourglass aside where it shattered on the ground. "You see! He isn't here. The Magi Ranger is nothing more than a coward, and you shall pay the price for his cowardice."

Goldar began stalking forward to where the two putties were still holding Marie between them while the girl futilely tried to escape their stony grasp. "Farewell, human." Goldar growled as he pulled his sword back to cleave the girl in two.

Just as he was about to bring his weapon forward, a bolt of magical energy slammed into his back, wrenching the sword from his fist and sending it spinning through the air where it was caught rather nonchalantly by the purple clad figure of the Magi Ranger. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, Goldar. Traffic was terrible getting here, what with that big snake monster standing there and blocking up all the roads through downtown."

Goldar snarled as he spun around fully to face the Ranger. "Mageling! So you did show after all. I didn't think you had it in you after I beat you so soundly earlier today."

Marie perked up instantly seeing the Magi Ranger beyond her captor. "Magi Ranger! I knew you would show up! I just knew it! You see, you big dummy! I told you he'd be here and that he'd save me!"

Goldar glanced back over his shoulder briefly before scoffing. "You aren't saved just yet, child. As soon as I'm done with him, I'll be back for you."

"Ah, but I seem to have your sword here, Goldar," the Ranger continued. "It seems to me that you have a surprisingly difficult time against me without your sword."

Goldar merely narrowed his eyes as he felt his anger rising. "I don't need my blade to defeat the likes of you, Mageling!" With a roar, Goldar brought his right hand up to his eyes briefly before flinging it out to his side accompanied by twin lances of bright yellow energy that shot across the distance between the two in the blink of an eye. An explosion erupted around the Magi Ranger, hiding him from view and bringing a cry of fright from Marie as the shockwave washed over her.

As the smoke cleared moments later, Goldar growled in frustration when he caught sight of the Magi Ranger, still standing in the same place, but with a translucent purple barrier around him. "Wow, Goldar, I'm impressed," he mocked. "That one nearly got me."

Moving somewhat unsteadily, the Magi Ranger took a few steps forward, Goldar's sword tightly clasped in his left hand. "Now, Goldar, release the girl, and I might not turn you into a frog when I'm through with you."

Goldar let out another roar as he charged toward the defiant Ranger. "Never! I will not be bested by the likes of you. Not now and not ever!"

The furious monster covered the distance in mere seconds, leaving the Magi Ranger only enough time to take a half step back, as if in shock, before the monster's fist was planted firmly into his chest with a loud clang. The Ranger went flying backwards, dropping Goldar's sword on the way, before hitting the ground and rolling head over feet for several more yards and sliding to a stop.

Goldar almost casually strolled toward his weapon before picking it up and twirling it in hand. "And where are your confident words now, Mageling?"

"…" the Magi Ranger was mumbling to himself as he slowly climbed back to his feet. "Ai yai yai…"

Any further taunting from Goldar was cut off by a victorious shout coming from behind him. "Diffindo!"

Marie gave off a short shriek of fright as each of the two putties holding her in place lost their heads. Quite literally as they fell from their necks just before their bodies collapsed, luckily releasing her before pulling her down with them. Then, mere moments later, the bodies simply ceased to exist. There one moment and gone the next.

"Are you alright, Marie?"

Marie spun around quickly, her hair flying out as she did, and saw the Magi Ranger standing behind her, staff in hand and the silver runes on his suit blazing brightly. "But… you…" she stuttered, turning again to see the other Magi Ranger back on his feet with a confused looking Goldar mimicking her as he looked back and forth between the two Rangers. "How did…"

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Goldar roared, throwing his head in fury.

Harry, from his position next to Marie, jumped slightly before crouching down and picking up a small stone. "Marie, things are about to get kinda scary here, so I'm gonna send you somewhere safe, ok?"

Marie turned back to look at him before nodding slowly. "Are you gonna make me spin around a bunch again?"

Harry chuckled as he tapped the stone with his staff, turning it into a portkey. "Yeah, I know it's not the most comfortable way to travel, but a bit dizzy and nauseous is better than getting hurt by monkey butt over there, right?"

Marie nodded quickly, a brief giggle escaping her lips, "Monkey butt…" Before Harry could give her the portkey, she turned to face Goldar again. "He called you a Monkey butt!" She started pointing and jeering at the monster while sticking her tongue out between taunts. "Monkey butt, Monkey butt, you are a Monkey butt!"

Groaning to himself, Harry quickly stuck the portkey stone to Marie's back with a quick sticking charm before activating it and sending her, once again, to the Youth Center.

"Well…" Harry gave a sigh of satisfaction as he stood up again. "Now that that's taken care of… Good job Alpha, you can head on back now."

Goldar spun to face the first Magi Ranger again when he started to speak. "Thank you, Harry. You don't have to tell me twice." Mid-sentence, that Magi Ranger's form began to waver before the illusion around him shattered revealing the form and voice of Alpha 5. "Activating teleportation sequence now." Without another word, Alpha vanished in a flash of light, teleporting himself back to the Command Center, his part in the rescue now completed.

Now only having one target, Goldar spun to face Harry once more and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Very tricky, Mageling. I never thought you had it in you."

Harry shifted into a fighting stance, holding his staff defensively as Goldar began to approach him. "As you've learned time after time already, I'm rather full of surprises, Goldar."

Goldar smirked before stopping his approach around ten feet away and taking a stance of his own. "Yes, but is one of those surprises a sudden increase in your fighting skills? You know that you don't stand a chance against me, and once you're out of the way, my Empress will take over Angel Grove, and from there, the world!"

Harry smirked briefly under his helmet before speaking, doing his best to keep his voice steady. "Is that why Mutitus is just standing in the middle of the city? Because Rita wants Angel Grove mostly intact? I was wondering about that. It should have leveled half the buildings by now, but it hasn't moved a bit."

Goldar scowled at what he had inadvertently revealed before shaking his head slightly. "It doesn't matter, Mageling. You will not live beyond today!"

"We'll see…" Harry replied mockingly, unable to fight the smirk now stretched across his face.

Goldar charged Harry at full speed, swinging his sword in an overhand strike that Harry blocked with surprising ease. As Goldar began to press down with his sword, Harry shifted his grip on the Magi Staff, angling it so that Goldar's blade slid to the side, throwing the monster off balance and giving Harry an opening to spin his weapon around and land a solid blow to Goldar's back, sending him to the ground in a shower of sparks.

The monster growled as he climbed quickly back to his feet while Harry retook his stance before charging in again. This time, Harry parried Goldar's thrust, almost nonchalantly sweeping the weapon to one side, before stepping the other way himself and tripping Goldar up with the bottom of his staff. Spinning his weapon briefly, Harry fired a point blank Forcewave, the purple spell smashing into the now prone Goldar's back and driving him several inches into the ground in a Goldar-shaped crater.

"It seems that I have the advantage this time, Goldar." Harry mused, stepping back slightly while Goldar slowly pulled himself free. "Why don't you just run along back to the moon like a good little monkey, eh?"

Goldar snarled angrily as he regained his feet. "I don't know how you did that, Mageling, but it won't happen again!" Goldar lunged forward, thrusting his sword out in front of him, but Harry merely rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah," he mumbled. "Because that tactic worked so well for you already…"

To Harry, it was as if Goldar was moving in slow motion.

With the Power running through him at that moment, Power that was being willingly donated by Zordon and transmitted to him, it was as if every single sense he had, every hint of awareness, was running at super-speed.

This was the plan Zordon, Alpha, and Harry had come up with to deal with the problem in Angel Grove.

First, Alpha would teleport in and distract Goldar while under an Illusion to appear as the Magi Ranger. Once Goldar was away from Marie, Harry himself teleported in and freed her. The Super Putties were an unexpected twist that they probably should have expected (Rita didn't seem as if she could do anything without sending down a horde of Putties first), but Harry's quick and quite overpowered cutting and vanishing spells had taken care of them and prevented them from regenerating easily enough.

Once Marie was out of the way, Alpha was to head back to the Command Center himself and monitor Zordon's condition. While the old wizard was sending Harry Power to aid him in his fight, he was both vulnerable to attack and liable to drain himself so far that he would lose connection to the Command Center again. If that happened, it was entirely possible that he would die within his time warp prison before they could locate him again. While the time warp prevented him from aging, it also greatly slowed the rate at which he regained his strength, and so extreme exhaustion, such as that caused by overusing the Power, could be fatal to him in much the same way untreated magical exhaustion worked in Harry's old world.

This had all been explained to Harry in a very short time, and it had worried him greatly. The last thing he wanted to do was be responsible for the loss of the Power Rangers' mentor while they were trapped on the Island of Illusion. Jason didn't really need another reason to dislike him after all, especially after they had only just somewhat settled things between them, but Zordon had assured him that he would be fine.

Right now though, with the incredible feeling of Zordon's Power running through him, completely blocking off the comparatively tiny supply of his own Power and magic, Harry was a bit too euphoric to worry about much of anything. He was not, however, too far gone to keep his mind on task.

In the blink of an eye, Harry knocked Goldar's sword aside again before whipping his staff around in a blur and jabbing the butt end into Goldar's armored stomach. The monkey monster stopped dead, the magic enhanced thrust delivered by Harry easily countering Goldar's momentum without even affecting the Magi Ranger's stance.

While Goldar watched with a shocked expression, gasping furiously to regain his breath, Harry flipped his weapon again before rapping Goldar's wrist, forcing him to drop his sword. Smirking cheekily, Harry used the top of his staff to lift up Goldar's chin before placing it up against his chest plate. "Bye." Harry smiled cheekily under his helmet while waving with his free hand. "Flippendo!"

The knockback jinx sent Goldar hurtling backwards, flipping through the air uncontrollably as he was still too disoriented by the blow to his stomach to recover. "Bombarda!" Harry's exploding curse lanced from the top of his staff and chased down Goldar just as his tumbling flight began to slow. The curse hit him and blasted him even further back, now smoking slightly and with numerous scorch marks on his face and armor.

When the monster finally hit the ground, he was almost too injured to stand again, but when he did, it was to the sight of the Magi Ranger slowly pacing towards him, his brightly glowing staff spinning furiously as he gathered Power. "I… I don't understand… HOW DID YOU GET THIS STRONG!" Goldar demanded, one arm cradling his chest where it felt like he had a few broken ribs. "I SHOULD BE ABLE TO MOP THE FLOOR WITH YOU! YOU'RE JUST A PUNY HUMAN!"

Harry smirked again as he continued spinning his staff. "And there you go again, Goldar, always underestimating me." With a grunt, Harry shifted his spinning weapon into a powerful thrust straight up into the air, changing the gathered Power into an enormous bolt of lightning that arced up into the sky before striking back down a moment later and engulfing Goldar in a blaze of magical energy.

Goldar's scream of pain was cut off mere moments into it with a pulse of dark Power. Harry just sighed and let his spell die off, seeing no sign of Goldar or what might be left of him, but knowing that Rita most likely pulled him back to the moon with her own Power, saving him from destruction at the last moment.

With yet another sigh, Harry released the tentative grasp he had on the Power loaned to him by Zordon, the runes on his suit almost immediately returning to their normal, dull silver color as he slumped to a knee in sudden weakness.

Moments later, his communicator went off. "Harry. Come in, Harry."

Sighing, Harry lifted his left arm up while his right clutched his staff which was pretty much the only thing keeping him upright at the moment. "Harry here." He grunted. "Go ahead, Alpha."

"Oh, good." Alpha sounded slightly less panicky now that Harry had responded. "You're still conscious. The sensors here detected Goldar being teleported away, but we couldn't tell how you were dealing with the aftershocks of Zordon's Power."

Harry panted briefly as he felt his own Power and magic returning to him, filling him with strength now that the greater well of Zordon's energy wasn't there. "Yeah, I'm recovering, sure enough. Might need a minute though…"

"I'm afraid you won't have much time for that, Harry." Zordon's voice came through, sounding a bit winded, but otherwise alright. "While it is good that you didn't lose consciousness after releasing my Power, you still have to deal with Mutitus."

Harry groaned, stifling the complaints he wanted to voice as he forced himself back to his feet. "And how am I supposed to do that, Zordon? You already said that even with your Power I wouldn't be able to magic Mutitus away, and we both know that Hedwig just doesn't have that kind of strength on her own. If the Megazord and Dragonzord couldn't take it down together, how can Hedwig and I manage?"

Harry could hear the slightly humor in Zordon's voice. "I have spoken with the Grid, and it is time for the next aspect of your Power to be revealed to you. Trust in yourself, Harry. Trust in yourself, in Hedwig, and in the Power, and it will protect and guide you to victory."

The wizard had to fight down another complaint. "So basically I was right earlier about your advice and the dramatics and stuff?" When Zordon didn't reply, Harry slumped slightly. "Great…"

"You will be fine, Harry." Zordon spoke again, pride overtaking his voice now. "You have worked hard to get where you are now, both in your Karate studies and with me in your studies of the Grid and the Power. While this is much earlier than either of us would have liked for you to be forced to fight without the other Rangers, I know that you are ready for the challenge ahead. Just as the other Rangers must rally their confidence in themselves and each other to escape the Island of Illusion, you too must believe in yourself if you are to win this next battle."

Shaking off the last of the wariness in his body, Harry stretched briefly before nodding to himself and bringing the communicator back up. "Alright, Zordon. I can only do my best I suppose, but I promise you I won't give up."

Harry could almost feel Zordon's nod before he spoke again. "I know you won't let the other Rangers down, Harry. Now go, and may the Power protect you."

Nodding to himself, Harry brought his left hand down to his belt buckle and was almost immediately enveloped in a column of purple light that quickly arced into the sky and flew toward Angel Grove proper, taking Harry with it.

-MR-

The pillar of light touched down on the roof of a skyscraper in Angel Grove and quickly faded out to reveal Harry in his Magi Ranger uniform. Standing before him in profile, unmoving as stone, was the serpentine form of the Lokar empowered Mutitus. Lokar's head was still present in the darkened sky, glaring hatefully down at Angel Grove.

Harry sighed as he looked over the view before him. Just as he had seen in the Viewing Globe earlier, Mutitus stood in place, gazing ahead blankly. From where he was standing, Harry could barely make out the top half of the Megazord around the intervening buildings and through the darkness. The thick foam/glue substance Mutitus had sprayed them with was still caked on as the machine lay there, as lifeless as Mutitus appeared.

This was still rather curious to Harry despite Goldar's tiny slip, but not really something helpful to him at the moment. "I still don't know what Zordon was talking about, but I guess the best way to figure things out with the Power is to fly by the seat of my pants and rely on instinct. Luckily, my Gryffindors charge ahead mentality is perfect for that…" Harry sighed before readying himself mentally. "You ready, Hedwig?"

-As always, Harry/Wizard.-

With a smile for his familiar back at the Command Center, Harry began gathering up his Power in preparation for battle. Almost immediately, Lokar's eyes twitched in his direction before the floating head turned to face him. "So!" the head drawled. "It seems the little wizard has returned to try and face off against the power of Lokar once again…"

Harry didn't bother to respond, doing his best to keep Zordon's words in mind. Lokar was bound tightly by the spell Rita used to summon him and there was very little that he would be able to do in a fight seeing as Rita apparently wanted to keep Angel Grove intact. No, this battle would be between Harry and Hedwig and the serpent-headed Mutitus that was now turning to face them in response to Lokar's taunt.

Feeling his Power reach a peak, Harry nodded firmly to himself before passing his staff to his left hand and throwing his right into the air. "I call upon the Power of the Silver Owl Zord. HEDWIG!"

In a bright flash of light and accompanied by a loud screech, Hedwig appeared in the skies over Angel Grove in her Zord form, already in a full speed dive with her talons extended toward Mutitus. Given little time to react, Mutitus was completely unable to avoid the sudden attack, and so fell to the ground after Hedwig's talons raked across its face and down its long neck.

With an inarticulate growl, Mutitus climbed back to its feet before bringing its hands together over the Lokar face on its chest. Moments later, it threw its hands forward, the eyes on the Lokar face flashing with a few pulses of light before twin arcs of multicolored lightning shot out toward Hedwig. The Zord was moving too fast though. As she beat her wings and fired up her turbines to ascend again, she easily rose over the dangerous bolts before making a long turn and attempting another stoop.

Mutitus fired off the lightning attack once more, barely missing Hedwig when she slip-rolled to the side, bleeding off a bit of speed and altering the angle of her attack enough to catch the monster off guard once again and grab ahold of its right arm. Beating her wings furiously and screeching all the while, Hedwig pulled Mutitus with her into the air, firing up her rockets to help retain her speed before flaring her wings and releasing the monster, effectively flinging it beyond the city limits and into the mountainous region to the North.

Smiling, Harry nodded firmly. "Good going, Hedwig, you got him out of the city. Now let's see if we can keep things going. Keep dogging Mutitus like that and I'll see if I can't find an opening to hit him with some of my more damaging spells."

-It shall be done, Harry/Wizard.-

Feeling much more confident now, Harry twisted in place, apparating to another rooftop before repeating the process until he could line of sight to a short peak near where Hedwig was once more circling Mutitus. By this point, the monster was furious. Alternating between its lightning attack and the adhesive foam in its furious attempts to down the circling owl Zord. Hedwig continued to stay one step ahead, however, often adjusting her course just enough to avoid the monster's attack only to lash out with her talons as she passed.

Harry hummed to himself in thought as he watched. "It seems as if the guy is powerful, but really stupid. He can't plan far enough ahead to counter Hedwig's attacks… We need to try and use that to our advantage since Hedwig's attacks don't really seem to be doing much damage…"

"Don't think this fight is over just yet, Mageling!" Rita's voice echoed across the area with a crack of thunder. "You seem to have forgotten about Lokar!"

Harry snorted. "I already know that Lokar is bound by your spell and unable to do more than he already has, Rita. I don't have anything to worry about from him."

Rita's cackling laughter sounded out before she spoke again. "And who said that I only bound Lokar to one action in my spell?"

Harry's eyes widened beneath his visor as he saw his familiar begin another stoop. "Hedwig! Be careful!"

Before the owl could respond, Lokar's frightening visage appeared suddenly right in front of her. The unexpected appearance startled the sentient Zord, making her flare her wings and bank hard to the left, which left her open for Mutitus's lightning attack to catch her solidly in her right wing.

Harry's shout of concern echoed the Zord's screech of pain and dismay as she crashed to the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust as she slid to a stop.

"Hedwig!" Harry shouted, twisting in place to apparate closer and summoning up a burst of wind to help clear the settling dust and debris. When he finally caught sight of his familiar/Zord again, he nearly sobbed at the sight of her mangled right wing. Aside from a being slightly out of shape, the turbine blades were completely missing from the wing and the feather markings were badly scorched around it. Slowly, Hedwig struggled to a vertical base, her injured wing held out slightly as she hopped up in an attempt to regain altitude, only to drop back to the ground again, her one working turbine not enough to achieve lift.

-I do not think I can fly anymore, Harry/Wizard. Given enough time, the Power will fix my wing, but for now I am helpless!- Harry could almost feel the anger in Hedwig's mental voice as she glared at the somehow smug looking face of Mutitus and the clearly smug face of Lokar. If he were to guess, Rita most likely gave Lokar freedom to move around near a battle as he saw fit. Lokar had used this freedom to startle Hedwig enough to give Mutitus the time to hit her with his attack.

Harry growled to himself, turning to face the giant form of Mutitus from his spot near Hedwig's talons. "What do we do now…?"

"You must remember what I told you, Harry." Zordon's voice echoed from the communicator. "If you and Hedwig are to combine your Power, you will become stronger than ever before. You must believe in yourself, believe in Hedwig, and trust in the Power to protect and guide you. If you do so, you will surely be victorious."

Harry sighed before turning to glance up at Hedwig. –I am ready, Harry/Wizard. We must work together to defeat this dead snake-thing and the mean floating head.-

Harry nodded firmly, pulling himself together as best he could before drawing up the Power within him and letting himself go.

"It's about time, young Harry." The voice of the Morphing Grid spoke into this mind, chastising him lightly. "This monster, empowered by one who has perverted my Power cannot be allowed to remain. Prepare to receive the next use of the Power and the true Strength of your old companion's new form."

Feeling the grid take hold, Harry relaxed himself as best he could as his body performed a super jump, rising into the air quickly before back flipping and landing smoothly on top of Hedwig's head. Glancing down briefly, Harry saw the glimmer of light that was the Resurrection stone at the peak of the dome on her head before he once more felt Power flaring up within him.

Spinning his staff around him, Harry glared at the still cocky looking duo. "You think this is over already? Well, you're dead wrong!"

Gathering his Power into his staff, Harry stopped spinning it suddenly, holding the weapon vertically before him in two hands before bringing it down into the dome at his feet with a solid clang. Immediately, purple light flared up from the point of impact and Harry almost completely lost his feeling of self. It was as if he and Hedwig had truly become one being, a very literal translation of what Zordon had earlier advised them. Opening his/their eye, which had closed when Harry released his Power, Harry first noticed that he/they could still see clearly out of the solid plate on the right side of his/their face as if it was a normal, functioning eye. It was a relatively minor thing, but it was still the first thing to jump to his mind as Hedwig's own comfort in the form settled into him and prevented him from overreacting to the unfamiliar body he now found himself sharing.

-Are you ready, Harry/Wizard? With the two of us standing as one, I find I can make use of a Power that would be most helpful in this battle.-

Harry 'nodded,' feeling the owl body shift slightly as he did so. "Alright, Hedwig." He said, noting that his voice was echoing out around the area at the same time. "Let's get this done."

"And what good will fusing with your crippled Zord do you, Mageling?" Rita's echoing voice demanded. "With that wing damaged all you've done is make it easier for Mutitus to finish you off at the same time!"

Even while Rita was mocking them, Harry could feel a steady buildup of Power from within him/them. Suddenly, his/their wings flared out, the damaged right one slightly slower, and he/they hopped into the air before floating there as a purple flash of light shone from the Resurrection Stone atop his/their head.

Then, Harry felt his/their form transforming.

It started with the wing joints. The rotated horizontally at the shoulder until they were sitting parallel to the ground before folding backwards behind his/their head and neck and then down along his/their back. The feather tips meshed smoothly, even though some on the right wing were a bit bent out of place from Mutitus's attack, forming an almost cape-like structure.

Then, his/their chest split open down the middle, the now loose halves folding around a full 270 degrees to come to rest over the rockets that had folded up to his/their sides. On what used to be the inside of his/their chest, a pair of humanoid arms rested folded up, one on each side, until the panels locked into place over the rocket boosters and the arms relaxed, straightening out in a more natural position.

Below him/them, his/their legs seemed to unfold as well, extending out from within his/their torso as the individual talons locked together and folded up slightly to create more land-worthy feet.

Then, the owl head lifted up slightly before tilting forward, coming to a rest with the front of the face pointing downward and the dome atop his/their owl head with the Resurrection stone pointing straight forward. The avian head shifted back into the torso a bit before seeming to click into place as the rest of the torso compacted and shifted around it, quickly forming a more defined humanoid form as opposed to the rounder one of an owl with the purple orb from atop the owl's head resting in the center of the chest.

Finally, from where the owl head formerly sat, a humanoid head rose up. It had a few avian features in that there were feather like markings around the bottom of the head, almost seeming to flow up to the top where they created a sort of crest, but the actual face of the head was flat and smooth, a dark purple metal framing a sort of grilled faceplate and the dichromatic eyes, one the yellow of Hedwig, and the other Harry's own emerald green.

"Silver Owl Zord, Warrior Mode!" Harry/Hedwig shouted out as he/they moved their humanoid body together for the first time. Guided as they were by the Power, he/they moved smoothly into a fighting stance, his/their fingers hooked slightly to reveal the pointed talon-like tips on them.

Almost immediately, Harry felt a rush of information flood his/their minds. Spells he/they could use, fighting techniques, attack patterns and tactics that suited his/their new form. He/they now knew what this new form was capable of, what weapons he/they now had at their disposal, and at least half an idea of how to take the monster before them down.

Rita spoke once again, her echoing voice starting to sound the slightest bit nervous. "So… you seem to have your own Megazord now. I suppose that this new form will be a more appropriate challenge for one of my best warriors. Mutitus! Destroy them now!"

With another inarticulate roar, the serpentine monster charged forward, one hand drawn back to punch at him/them. Harry/Hedwig merely shifted to one side, letting the fist pass right by his/their face before ducking down slightly and delivering a swift backhand to Mutitus's side and slipping around behind it to rake his/their claws down its back.

It became very apparent with just that one exchange that this new form, while definitely more slender and a fair bit shorter than Mutitus's current form, indeed shorter than both the Megazord and the Dragonzord as well, it was also much, much faster.

Turning swiftly, as if the previous strikes had no effect on it, Mutitus swung wildly at Harry/Hedwig, attempting to use its immense strength to its advantage, but the fused duo merely danced around each blow, occasionally striking back with a swift jab or strike from his/their clawed hands that was summarily ignored by the monster. And so the battle continued.

Finally, after several minutes of ducking, dodging, and striking to no avail, Mutitus backed away and began charging its lightning attack again. Harry/Hedwig watched carefully as the eyes of the mini Lokar on Mutitus's chest glowed brightly before the lightning bolts lanced out. Mere moments before the attack would have hit, Harry/Hedwig thrust his/their arms forward with a triumphant shout. "Protego!"

The lightning bolts flared harshly as they struck the translucent purple barrier that formed before Harry/Hedwig. Growling, Mutitus seemed to redouble its efforts, the bolts of lightning growing thicker while Harry/Hedwig began sliding backwards along the ground from the sheer kinetic force produced by the attack meeting his/their shield.

"Harry," Zordon's voice echoed throughout his/their mind. "You and Hedwig, powerful though you may feel in your current form, cannot hope to stand against the empowered Mutitus directly. Your only hope is to destroy the source of its enhanced power. According to our sensors, the Mark of Lokar on Mutitus's chest is the focal point. If you are able to sufficiently damage it, Mutitus will lose all of its strength and become vulnerable to conventional attacks once again."

Nodding, and noting that his/their mechanical head nodded when he did, Harry responded mentally. "Thanks for the heads up, Zordon. We'll see what we can do." Hoping that Zordon received his/their message, and also thankful that he/they didn't actually say that out loud (this double identity thing was getting difficult to manage), Harry/Hedwig once more slipped slightly to the side, shifting the facing of their shield and deflecting the overpowered lightning attack away and behind him/them, causing an explosion and kicking up debris.

Sagging slightly as the magical drain from the shield hit him/them briefly, Harry/Hedwig used the cover of the dust cloud formed by the deflected attack to dart forward, erupting from the cloud with his/their right hand cloaked in purple energy as he/they thrust it forward into the mini-Lokar on Mutitus's chest.

For an instant, everything froze. The wind blew past the two titans locked in place, the smaller, metallic one with a glowing purple hand thrust into the small effigy on the chest of the taller more serpentine one. And then, again all at once, Mutitus and Harry/Hedwig both were thrown back by a massive explosion emanating from the damaged Mark of Lokar.

Shaking his/their head groggily, and how strange was it for him/them to feel groggy with one now a mechanical owl and the other not expecting such a thing in this new mechanical form, Harry/Hedwig climbed back to their feet. Looking over the battlefield, he/they immediately noticed that Mutitus was having a much harder time standing again, and after a few more moments, it became apparent why.

Each time the monster tried to stand, its arms or legs would give out from under it. It seemed that the sudden lack of Lokar's Power had its own brand of side effect on Mutitus, quite similar to Harry's own reaction upon releasing Zordon's Power earlier. Once the dust cleared enough to make out more detail, Harry/Hedwig noted that on top of its apparent weakness, Mutitus had also reverted to its former, zombie-like appearance.

Smirking to him/their-self as Mutitus finally managed to regain its feet, if incredibly unsteadily, Harry/Hedwig took a fighting stance, once more holding his/their clawed hands at the ready. "You're going down now, dead-thing!"

While the weakened Mutitus stood there helplessly, Harry/Hedwig's wings unclasped from each other before spreading wide behind them while they hunched over slightly. Then, they suddenly shot forward in the blink of an eye and with a burst of Power and a crescent moon glowing in the air behind them. Reaching the monster in a fraction of a second, Harry/Hedwig lashed out with their once again glowing claws, leaving behind dark scorch marks and sparks flying everywhere. Sliding to a stop behind Mutitus in a crouch, Harry/Hedwig smirked internally as the monster swayed back and forth before finally falling to the ground. "Silver Owl, Moonlit Claw Slash!" With a massive explosion, Mutitus was destroyed and he/they rose from their crouch to face Lokar, still floating in the sky.

The massive head growled at them. "You are lucky I am limited in my abilities, little wizard, but rest assured, we will meet again, and you will fall." Without another word, Lokar began to glow before changing into an orb of light and shooting off into the sky. With Lokar's departure, the sky lightened to the bright blue it had been, though with the sun a few hours farther along in its daily journey.

Just as Harry/Hedwig started to relax, he/they felt the ground start shaking beneath them and spun back to face Angel Grove proper, only to see the welcome, if a bit late, forms of the Megazord and Dragonzord stomping his/their way as fast as they could go.

Smiling to him/their-self, Harry/Hedwig waved to the approaching Zords. "Hey there, guys. You're a bit late to the party, aren't you?"

-MR-

"And after Lokar left, you guys came running up and that was that." Harry finished telling the other Rangers the story of his first solo battle with a smile on his face. Mostly, he was just relieved that everything had worked out well. Marie had been saved, Alpha wasn't too terribly damaged (and boy had the robot worried about that when they were making their plans), Mutitus was destroyed, Lokar had left, and with the other Rangers free from the Island of Illusion, Rita's plan had been foiled once again.

All in all, a good day to be a Power Ranger.

"So you and Hedwig fused and were able to achieve your own fighting form? Morphinominal!" Billy seemed incredibly fascinated by the details behind Harry and Hedwig's battle. Throughout the conversation/debriefing, the Blue Ranger had questioned and queried about the smallest of details from the different sensations to the strange sense of detachment Harry had felt the entire time.

"It is indeed an achievement to be proud of, Harry. And you as well, Hedwig." Zordon spoke with pride in his voice. "You have stepped up when Rita's evil prevented the others from fighting by your side and served admirably to defend Angel Grove and the world as a whole from her forces. But that is no reason to become lax in your studies and practice. In time, the two of you will become more accustomed to your new battle mode, allowing you to use more of Harry's spells along with weapons provided by Hedwig's mechanical nature. With enough practice, the synch between you will become so complete that your will no longer even feel like two separate beings in one body, allowing your movements to become more fluid and swift without the aid of the Morphing Grid, making you even more effective in your battles."

Harry smiled at the floating head of his mentor. "That's good to hear, Zordon, and thank you for the compliment."

-Yes, thank you Big-Head for the kind words about my Harry/Wizard and I.- Hedwig said with a quick bob of her head toward Zordon.

Harry chuckled even as he rolled his eyes at Hedwig's possessiveness. "Hedwig says thank you too."

-MR-

The next evening, Harry and the other Rangers were once again at the Youth Center, watching and cheering as Zack obliterated the competition in the dance contest he had previously been so worried about. It wasn't until after the contest ended and Zack was declared the clear winner (while Bulk sulked angrily in the corner, having been eliminated almost as soon as he began dancing), that the Rangers gathered at a table to drink some smoothies and relax for a bit.

"You see Zack," Trini started almost immediately after everyone sat down. "We told you that all you had to do was believe in yourself and you would do great."

"Yeah, thanks guys," Zack responded, his customary wide smile back on his face as he met the eyes of his fellow Rangers around the table. "I guess I don't know what came over me. I just got all kinds of worked up over the contest that I lost sight of myself."

Harry laughed from his seat between Zack and Trini as he clapped a hand onto Zack's shoulder. "Yeah, well don't let it happen again, alright?"

Zack joined in Harry's laughter while the others chuckled along with them.

"You know," Tommy started quietly once the laughter had died down, "I'm just really glad that Harry was able to hold down the fort while we were gone."

Kimberly snorted briefly, her face going bright red when she realized what she had done, but she soldiered on anyway. "Hold down the fort nothing, Harry saved the day on his own! That battle mode of Hedwig's is really cool."

Jason nodded slowly. "Yeah, I just want to let you know, Harry, that it's good to know that you'll be able to cover our backs in a situation like that. You saved the city, and all of our families too. Thanks, man."

Harry nodded, taking the implied olive branch. "You are very welcome, Jason. All of you are welcome. I'm just glad that Hedwig and I were able to stop them before things started to get bad. And I'm really glad we were able to save Marie from Goldar."

Sitting next to him, Trini perked up slightly before giggling and pointing past Harry. "Speaking of Marie…"

Turning to see what Trini was pointing at, Harry caught sight of the television Ernie kept on the counter at the snack bar. It was currently tuned to the local news and there was a very familiar girl on the screen.

The reporter on screen, an older looking brunette, was standing next to the slightly nervous looking child and speaking into a microphone. "And we're here now with Marie Higgens, a young girl who was saved earlier today by the mysterious Purple Ranger that has been sighted alongside the other six Power Rangers these last few months. Marie, what can you tell us about this mysterious Ranger?"

When the reporter held the microphone near Marie's mouth, it was easy to see that she was nearly scared stiff with nerves. All the same, Marie started speaking, recounting her day and her two separate encounters with the Magi Ranger. "Well, earlier I got lost and couldn't find my mommy. And then the big monster guy almost stepped on me, but the Purple Ranger saved me. He fixed my leg with magic and said he was the Magi Ranger. He said that he's a friend of the other Power Rangers and he beat up the gold monkey guy with the Green Ranger. Then he sent me to the Youth Center with his magic, but when I left to try and find my mommy again the monkey guy caught me. But Magi Ranger came and saved me again. He made it look like there were two of him and he tricked the monkey butt." At this point, Marie broke down into giggles and the smiling reporter brought the microphone back to her mouth.

"And you heard it here, folks. The new ally of the Power Rangers calls himself the Magi Ranger, and if his rescue of little Marie here and his later saving of the city are anything to go by, then I for one feel assured that we can sleep well knowing that he fights with our other heroes to protect us from the evil of Rita Repulsa."

Turning back to the smiling faces of the other Rangers, Harry couldn't help the blush that lit up his face. Even Jason was smirking with teasing good humor at the embarrassment Harry was feeling after Marie's interview.

Finally, after several long seconds, Trini grabbed her glass and lifted it up. "To the Magi Ranger. It's thanks to him that we still have a city today. May he continue to protect Angel Grove and everyone in it."

The fact that she said this loud enough for everyone nearby to hear it only increased Harry's embarrassment, but he was able to get his blush back under control to avoid rousing suspicion with everyone else in the room. Stuttering slightly, Harry raised his glass and repeated the toast along with the other Rangers and the half of the Youth Center who had heard Trini.

Once everyone had drank and Zack had gotten some ribbing in, Harry felt himself relax. He was finally feeling good about things for what was really the first time since he arrived in this dimension. There were going to be more battles in the future, of that he had no doubt, but he was now confident enough in his own abilities and in his place with the other Rangers that he no longer feared the outcome.

Let Rita send down her monsters. Let her come down to wreak havoc herself. Harry and the other Power Rangers would be here waiting for her, and they would beat her back every time.

-MR-

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