633Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. belong to J.K. Rowling, while Power Rangers and all related concepts belong to Saban/Disney/Jetix/whoever (Who does own the broadcasting rights to the series these days anyway?)
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Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Guardians
"Um… hello?" Harry said, as he stepped back into the office, followed by Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He hadn't been able to give them much of an explanation as to why he'd wanted them up there; he'd just said that there was something the portrait wanted to tell them all, and that had been it.
Quite frankly, he was just grateful nobody had laughed in his face, and that he'd been able to get the three of them away from the main 'party' before anyone wanted answers.
"Ah, good, you're here already," Dumbledore's portrait said, nodding at the four of them in approval.
"Well, what else were we to do?" Ginny asked, shrugging slightly as she looked up at the portrait inquiringly. "Wait around outside, or come in here to find out something that could help us sort this mess out quicker?"
"True, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said, nodding in agreement at her point. "I would have preferred that what I am about to tell you about would never have been necessary, but unfortunately, recent activities of Voldemort's have rendered it necessary for this to be used."
"For what to be used?" Ron asked, looking at the portrait in confusion.
"Well, to properly explain what they are, I have to go back to over a thousand years ago, when Hogwarts was first founded," Dumbledore explained, as he indicated a few chairs around the office. "You should sit down; this will take a while."
"Um… OK," Hermione said, as the four of them pulled some of the chairs out and sat them around the room, in a position where all four of them could comfortably see the portrait.
"As I said, what I am about to share with you began over a thousand years ago, shortly after Hogwarts was founded and Slytherin left the school," Dumbledore explained. "After Slytherin's departure, Godric Gryffindor began to cast elaborate detection spells to try and find where Slytherin had hidden himself, to make sure that his old rival could not pose a threat to Hogwarts in the future."
"It didn't exactly work, I take it?" Ron asked.
"No, it didn't," Dumbledore said, shaking his head. "No matter how hard Gryffindor tried, he was unable to penetrate the protective spells that Slytherin had cast around himself; even today, some magical historians believe that Slytherin may have developed the Fidelus Charm at this time. However, he was able to find another powerful source of magical energy in the area that we now know as America, and went over there to investigate, leaving the school in the care of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff until he got back."
"Wait a minute; America?" Hermione said, looking at Dumbledore in confusion. "But America wasn't even discovered until the late fifteenth century; how could Gryffindor have known about it a thousand years ago?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Please, Miss Granger, do you honestly believe that any wizard in those days would have wanted to attract attention to himself and his acquaintances?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Hermione, the typical quizzical gleam in his eye. "In that day and age, you should remember, magic was still regarded by the general muggle populace as a tool of the devil; no wizard would have wanted to draw attention to himself for any reason."
He sat back and shrugged casually. "Besides, Gryffindor was uncertain at the time whether the world as a whole was ready for knowledge of America to be made available to the public. He told Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff upon his return, naturally, and left details in his diaries to ensure that all his successors would know about the existence of this security measure, but otherwise he kept his discovery private."
"But what was that security measure?" Ginny asked, looking at Dumbledore impatiently. "And what was the source of the magic he detected?"
Dumbledore smiled. "The source of the magic that Gryffindor had detected," he explained, "was quickly revealed to be an ancient and powerful wizard known as Zordon, who cam for the distant planet of Eltar and had been sealed in some sort of 'pocket dimension' linked to our own by a dark witch called Rita before he had trapped her away for good."
The four students could only stare around at each other in bemusement for a time, until Harry looked back at Dumbledore.
"Um… did you say Zordon came from another planet?" he asked sceptically. "As in, he didn't come from Earth at all?"
"Correct," Dumbledore said, smiling at Harry.
"But… but…" Hermione stuttered, before Ginny spoke up.
"How could someone powerful enough to be detected from America all the way over here have stayed secret all the way to the present?" she asked. "I mean, wouldn't someone have found out about him by now?"
"Not really," Dumbledore smiled. "After Gryffindor found Zordon, the two of them worked together to improve the security around Zordon's home; nobody could find him unless Zordon himself wanted them to find him."
Then he smiled. "However, he has not exactly stayed quiet; Harry and Hermione in particular may have heard of his activities in America a few years ago."
"What?" Harry said, growing ever more confused. "But surely anything about a wizard would be in the Prophet? Wouldn't Ron and Ginny be more likely to know what Zordon's been up to?"
"Not when his activities were more often recorded in the muggle news," Dumbledore smiled. "Tell me, did you ever hear of a group of individuals from the American city of Angel Grove, who called themselves 'the Power Rangers'?"
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I saw some stuff about them a fe- wait a minute," he said, stopping suddenly and looking up at Zordon inquiringly. "Are you saying that Zordon was the guy who created the Power Rangers?"
"The first few teams, at any rate," Dumbledore replied. "Tragically, he sacrificed his life a few years ago to avert a mass invasion of evil; you may recall the story."
"Oh, you mean that 'Countdown to Destruction' thing?" Hermione asked, looking at Dumbledore eagerly. "I always wondered what had stopped it…"
"Um, hello?" Ginny asked, raising a hand. "Could Ron and I have an explanation, please?"
"Oh, right, sorry," Hermione said, as she looked over at the youngest Weasleys. "Basically, the Power Rangers are a group of American heroes who fight monsters created by some main adversary- I think their original foe was called 'Rita Repulsa'…"
She stopped and glanced over at Dumbledore. "Would that be the same Rita that-"
"Trapped Zordon in his time warp?" Dumbledore asked. "Oh yes, it was."
"Oh," Hermione said, before turning back to her friends. "Anyway, there were always five Rangers at a time, each team member wearing a distinctive colour of some kind. Team colours and costumes colours always include red, yellow, and blue, being joined by some combination of pink, green, black, or white, although there's often a sixth member of the group who has extra powers and doesn't follow the normal colour rules; there's been the Gold Ranger, the Phantom Ranger, the Quantum Ranger, the Titanium Ranger, and the Silver Ranger that I can recall. All the teams have commanded massive fighting machines called 'Zords', which normally resemble animals of some kind in their original form, but can combine to form a larger, human-sized machine to battle any monsters that the foe may have sent."
"Ah," Ginny said, before looking over at Dumbledore again. "So… what do the Power Rangers have to do with a meeting that took place a thousand years ago?"
"Simple, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore smiled, as he stood up in the painting and walked slightly closer to the frame. "During their time together, Gryffindor and Zordon foresaw a time when their two worlds may face an identical threat, most likely a Dark Wizard commanding the power of one of Zordon's foes. To this end, they created a secret weapon, although they preferred to think of it as a defence measure, that would be used at such a time to protect the world."
He swallowed and looked around the room. "And, I regret to say, such a time has come. Shortly before my death, I received reports that Voldemort had been seen wielding a weapon that matches the description of the staff that was used by Rita Repulsa to create the monsters with which she battled the first Power Rangers. How he acquired it, I cannot say, but it is clear that the time for the defensive measure to be activated."
"This measure being?" Harry asked.
"I would rather show you than tell you," Dumbledore explained. "Mr Weasley, if you would please go to my desk and open the top left-hand drawer, I would be grateful if you would remove the box that the drawer contains."
"Uh… OK," Ron said, as he got up, walked over to the desk, and opened the drawer in question. As the others looked over, Ron took out a large ebony box with the Hogwarts crest on it and laid it on the desk, before reaching out and opening it.
"Woah…" Ron muttered, as he looked at the contents before looking up at the others. "Check these things out!"
Getting up, Harry, Ron and Ginny walked over to stand behind Ron, and looked at the box. In it were for largish glowing stones, each one a different colour; one was red, another was green, a third was blue, and the last was yellow.
"Uh… sir?" Harry asked, looking at Dumbledore in confusion. "What are these things?"
"The four gems you see before you were developed by Godric Gryffindor and Zordon before they were brought to Hogwarts for safe keeping," a voice said from behind them.
"Wh-" Harry said, the four of them pulling out their wands and turning around to face in the direction of the voice…
Only to see a tall woman, dressed all in white with a white veil covering the lower half of her dark-skinned face, standing there and looking at them with what might have been a smile; the veil made it hard to tell.
Ron's eyes widened slightly at the sight before him, and his ears turned red. Glancing over at each other, Harry and Ginny couldn't contain a slight sigh and eye-rolling; evidently, Ron had fallen in lust again.
"You are?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron's goggle-eyed behaviour beside her.
"I am Dimitria, of the planet Inquisitra," Dimitria replied, as she looked around at the four students. "I served for a time as mentor and advisor to the team of Power Rangers known as the Power Rangers Turbo; you may know of them, Miss Granger?"
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, they were the ones who used cars, right?"
Ron shook his head as though to clear it (Most likely of thoughts that he really shouldn't have been having) and then looked at Hermione in confusion.
"I thought you said that the 'zords' looked like animals?" he asked.
"Ron…" Hermione said, as she glared at him, "if you'd paid attention, you would have noticed that I said that the zords were normally based on animals; there were a few exceptions."
"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Ginny asked, looking at the two of them critically before looking back at Dimitria. "So, if you don't mind my asking, why are you here now?"
"Why else?" Dimitria asked, as she indicated the gems beside her. "I am here to aid you; the newest generation of Power Rangers."
The reactions were almost comical. Harry's eyes widened in horror, staring around at his friends as though he was hoping someone would tell him he'd heard Dimitria wrongly. Hermione, for once in her life, was speechless, unable to come up with any kind of reply to what she'd just been told. Ginny looked as though she'd just simultaneously been given her greatest gift and her worst nightmare in the same package and was currently trying to figure out which one it was. Ron, on the other hand, just grinned widely, although the expression rapidly faded when he looked around at the others.
"Um… guys?" he asked, looking at them curiously. "What's wrong?"
Harry eventually broke the silence, stepping back slightly to look at both Dimitria and Dumbledore.
"You… you want us to become Power Rangers?" he asked, looking at Dumbledore incredulously. "But… but…"
"But you wanted to do this alone?" Dumbledore asked, smiling slightly. "Harry, you should have learned by now; the greatest heroes know when to be alone, and when to be brave enough to call for help. You may be the only one who can defeat Voldemort, but that does not mean that you must do it all alone. Your friends are all competent, powerful witches and wizards in their own right, and you would be foolish to neglect any help you may need."
He raised an eyebrow. "Or have you forgotten what I told you about why Tom Riddle would favour horcruxes over a Philosopher's Stone?"
Harry shook his head.
No, he hadn't forgotten Dumbledore's assessment of Voldemort's character regarding that detail. The only reason Voldemort had developed horcruxes was because he hated the idea of being dependent on anyone- or anything- else that he had not developed himself, even if it was a matter of life or death.
Was he just making the same mistake?
Relying on himself when he knew that it would be more sensible to have others? True, his motives weren't the same as Voldemort's, but still…
He sighed, and looked over at the other three.
"Are you three all right with this?" he asked.
Ron grinned. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. "Harry, I'll take any opportunity to kick Death Eater arse I can get! Count me in!"
"Well, there's no way I'm letting you two do this and leave me behind after all this," Hermione said, as she stepped forward. "I'm in as well."
The three of them turned to look at Ginny, who was just looking at the gems nervously.
"Ginny?" Harry said, holding out a hand to her. She looked at it for a moment, and then looked up at Harry inquiringly.
"Please," Harry said, swallowing as he spoke. "We need you."
Ginny hesitated, then reached out and took his hand.
Harry turned to look at Dimitria.
"We accept," he said simply.