Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Merlin or. Harry Potter or any of the. places or settings, I do. Not own either franchise

Arthur glanced around, he was still unsure if this was a dream or not, wizards, secret alleys, running through a brick wall, ending up on this platform, bustling with parents and children; younger siblings staying close to mummy and daddy, older students in their final years casually hanging around and chatting, the nervous gibbering of first years; despite his senses being on high alert Arthur failed to notices
*CRASH*
A young boy with messy black hair and gangly limbs crashed into Arthur, who had been stood by his trolley trying to work out where to go next, this boy sent them both sprawling across Arthurs luggage, scattering it to the floor. Before Arthur had a chance to recover from the shock the dark haired boy had scrambled off of him and was offering him a hand up; Arthur was annoyed and embarrassed, he had wanted to make a good impression on the people here and now this, he knocked the boys hand away and got to his feet by himself
"Sorry, I didn't see you till it was too late!" the boy said in a cheery voice with an apologetic grin on his face,
"Yeah well next time look where you're going, idiot," Arthur snapped, dusting off his clothes, the other boy looked down at his feet before mumbling something and disappearing into the crowd once more.

As Arthur gathered up his luggage he replayed what had happened in his head and began cursing himself for being so rude, the first fellow student for him to talk to and he had behaved like a right arse, annoyed he dropped off his luggage and climbed aboard the train where he found an empty compartment; he sat down and gazed out of the window, observing the hustle and bustle before the whistle blew and the train began to slowly move away, parents waving as the train began to pick up speed; Arthur felt a twinge of sadness that his own parents weren't there, with his mother gone his father had thrown himself into ruling over his kingdom; ever since Arthur could remember his father had been obsessed with building a strong import/export empire.

Arthurs thoughts of how his father had hopes that Arthur would one day take over his business were looking rather unlikely, with this whole new world opened up to him; the compartment door slid open and a familiar face smiled nervously at him, then the boy with the dark hair and bright blue eyes entered and took a seat across from Arthur,
"sorry, there was no room in the other compartments," he explained, trying not to sound uncertain, Arthur looked at him for a minute before responding,
"Okay" with a small nod of his head, the other boy nodded back, grinning slightly, before looking down at his hands, Arthurs gaze flicking between the window where the landscape was whizzing by and the boy across from him.

They sat in awkward silence for five minutes or so before Arthur couldn't take it any longer,
"Look, about earlier, I didn't mean to be so harsh," he said, choosing his words carefully
"Don't worry about it, I did crash into you,"
"Yes, yes you did…" the silence threatened to fall again but it didn't get a chance,

"I'm Merlin," The boy said, extending his hand as a sign of friendship, Arthur glanced at it before taking it in a firm grip,
"Arthur Pendragon,"
"Nice to meet you, so, do you have any family at Hogwarts?" Merlin asked curiously
"uh, no, I didn't even know that magic existed until a month ago!"
"oh right so you're a muggle born? Cool,"
"What did you just call me?" Arthur asked suspicious and unsure
"A muggle born, a muggle is someone who doesn't have magic and muggle born means that your parents aren't magical, then you have half-bloods, who have a muggle and a magical parent, then you have pure bloods, like me, whose family has magic… there's also squibs who are non-magical children of magical parents," Merlin explained knowledgably, as if it was something so normal, which, Arthur guessed, it was for him,
"So, you've known about magic all your life and grown up surrounded by it?" Arthur asked curiously
"Yes, well yes and kind of, you see I grew up in a small village where my mother and I were the only magical ones there so we couldn't be open about it and my mother rarely used it, but I have always known about it," Merlin told Arthur about his house, only a little cottage but it was enough for his mother and him, about how it had only been them because his father had died before Arthur was born and how proud his mother had been of him when he had first managed to move thing, even though it had been her favourite vase and it had ended up smashed against the wall, Merlin told him about how he had been able to do magic before he had even been able to talk; suddenly Arthur felt like his magic was greatly inferior; suddenly Merlin paused to take a gasp of breath
"So, what about you?"
"Me, oh well, I grew up in the country in the manor," Arthur stopped, mentally kicking himself
"you live in a manor?!" damn, he had known this would happen, he would let slip about how his father had a huge company and how he had had a privileged life, and just like at school before Hogwarts, the other boys would give him hell for it, "That's so cool!" This took Arthur by surprise, "There are a lot of pureblood families which have big manor type houses which have been passed down through the generations, is it like a properly old house?"
"uh, yeah, it's quite old but dad has the money to keep it good so it's not like rundown or anything," Arthur explained,
"Ah cool! What does your dad do?"
"He owns and runs an import/export company,"
"Cool! What's that?" this made Arthur smile before explaining how his father would bring everything from kitchen pots to cars into the country and selling and shipping things to other countries, Merlin listened to this, absorbed in the muggle world that Arthur was creating with his words.

They chatted for hours, where they had gone to school (Arthur had gone to private school and Merlin had a mixture of the local village school ad home schooling from his mother) to what their favourite things about the worlds they had grown up in were (Merlin loved reading about all the creatures that Arthur had previously thought were myths, Arthur loved the technology of the muggle world), they talked about what magic they had done and Merlin pointed out to Arthur that whilst it seemed that Merlin had been able to do magic from a much earlier age that Arthur that he had probably been doing it for years without realising, or rationalising it into a way his muggle logic could understand, like he had just forgotten that he had moved his juice, or that the helicopter had always been green and it was only his imagination that told him it was yellow before; and this made Arthur feel a lot better about his powers.

As night began to fall they went to get dressed and Merlin shared the lunch that his mother had made him, they were going to by some sweets from the trolley but some jerk further up the train had bought all they had to share with his like one friend, so they settled with sandwiches and homemade cake, Arthur had never had a meal like this before, where it was made with such care and thought, he had grown up on what the nanny could be bothered to make which was usually just some instant food or ready meal, then school lunches where they'd just dollop some gloop on your plate and that was it. Merlin mumbled something about Arthur having bread crumbs on his robes through a full mouth.

Arthur stood up and brushed himself off, feeling something inside his robe he pulled it out and saw it was his wand,
"What's your wand made of?" Merlin asked, swallowing his mouthful of cake and noticing what Arthur had in his hand,
"uh the guy in the shop said that it was a 10 inch black walnut with a dragon heartstring core " Arthur recited
"Nice" Merlin nodded in appreciation before drawing his own wand, it was slightly shorter than Arthurs and dark brown "Mines a 9 ¾ inch Chestnut with a phoenix feather core" Merlin said, spinning it impressively between his finger, well it was impressive for about three seconds before Merlin fumbled and dropped it on the floor, he picked it up sheepishly as Arthur laughed as he collapsed back into his seat, he gazed over at Merlin who gave him his goofy lopsided grin.

They fell into a comfortable silence with the compartment filled with the gentle glow of the lights for the sun had pretty much set, Arthur still gazed out into the darkness, Merlin snoozing, sprawled across the seats opposite, Arthur shook Merlin awake as he saw lights ahead, the station was well lit, contrasting with the inky black of its surroundings, its old fashioned benches and railings seemed to fit with the train and the idea of what Hogwarts would be like that Arthur was building in his mind, both boys watched as they drew closer and soon they were pulling into the station; scrabbling to get off the train, they were suddenly surrounded by hundreds of other students, neither being used to crowds having grown up in a small village with a class of only 6 and living in an empty manor with a privet school education where all the boys were reserved and snobbish and the classes were small because of the extortionate price of education, now that they were being swarmed by people, many of whom were a lot taller than themselves, Arthur and Merlin instinctively reach for each other's hand, Merlin glanced over at Arthur and caught his eye and they exchanged sheepish grins, Arthur giving Merlin's hand an encouraging squeeze. They caught the loud cries for the first years to gather over by the speaker, Arthur followed the voice, pushing through the crowed, pulling Merlin after him, when they emerged from the crowd they were greeted by a clump of people their height, the speaker towered over them, and the other students bustling about on the platform,
"Now that most of yer are 'ere, my name is Rubeus Hagrid and I am the gamekeeper and keeper of the keys and grounds of Hogwarts, now if all first years will please follow me," he boomed in a loud jolly voice before striding off along the platform, anxious first years scurrying along behind him, the sea of older students on the platform parted before him, allowing them safe and easy passage. They reached a great lake, or maybe it connected to the ocean, it was too dark for either of the boys to tell; they were grouped with two other boys and directed into one of the little boats bobbing in the water, the other two boys took the front and back seats, leaving the double middle bench free for them; Merlin was handed a lantern by Hagrid and then the boats began to move. Arthur gave a little gasp of surprise when this happened, peering over the edge of the boat into the black water below trying to see what was pulling them, he heard Merlin chuckle and turned to him with a questioning look,
"It's magic you dollophead! There are no oars or motors!" Merlin whispered in a low voice, still chuckling,
"Oh, yeah of course… wait, did you just call me a dollophead?"
"What? No, course not!" Merlin replied, grinning his cheeky smile, Arthur watched Merlin, bathed in the yellow glow, it wasn't until all the other students gasped that Arthur glanced ahead and gasped to. They could see the castle, a hundred plus windows all glittering with a welcoming yellow glow, like a nights sky, dark stone littered with glowing jewels, there were turrets and spires, towers and halls. The first years craned their necks back as they got closer and closer until they were at the boat house and climbing out of the boats before following a lit path up to the grand doors.

There wasn't enough light to see the courtyard but once inside Arthur could see that the walls were stone and adorned with paintings and tapestries; the first years were ushered into a chamber by a severe looking women before being left alone; nervous chatter broke out between the students, they were about to be sorted,
"So, the houses? What are they like? And how do we get sorted, is it like a test or names in a hat?" Arthur asked, unsure about the whole process
"there are four houses, you're sorted by a hat that looks in your head to see what your personality is, Ravenclaw are the clever, studious ones, Gryffindor are the brave and determined ones, Hufflepuff are the kind and loyal ones, Slytherin are the cunning and ambitious ones; however the way it's seen by the students is that Ravenclaw are nerds, Gryffindor are jocks, Hufflepuff are meek and Slytherin are evil, but in truth there is much more to the members of each house than the one dimensional way that most people choose to look at it," Merlin explained
"A hat reads your mind?"
"Seriously, that is what you choose to take away from that?" said Merlin almost in disbelief,
"Well there's narrow mindedness and stereotyping by the truckload in the muggle world, but no telepathic hats" Arthur pointed out and Merlin gave him a little shrug as if to say 'fair enough' "So what house do you want to be in?" Arthur asked,
"I don't think I could get into Ravenclaw, and I'm not exactly cunning, so maybe Gryffindor or Hufflepuff? To be honest I don't mind that much, though Hufflepuff have the best deal when it comes to common room and dorms because they're next to the kitchen, Slytherin are in the dungeons which get cold and Ravenclaw and Gryffindor are at the top of two of the highest towers in the school!" Merlin said thoughtfully, evaluating each option, "What about you?"
"I don't know, Gryffindor maybe? I honestly don't know, I hope we're in the same house so that we can hang out,"
"Yeah, that'd be cool, you know," Merlin didn't get to finish his sentence because the professor had returned, she introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and lead them into the Great Hall; Arthur got the feeling of an animal in a zoo, on display, everyone watching. One by one they students were called up to take a seat on the stall and have the hat that could read their mind placed on their head, Arthurs mind wandered, until he heard his name being called, he gulped and glanced over at Merlin who gave him an encouraging smile; once on the stool the hat fell over his eyes,
"Ah! Very interesting…" A voice in his head made him jump "plenty of courage, strength, also strong sense of loyalty, you could fit in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff well, also cunning which could put you ahead in Slytherin… but where to put you…" the voice trailed away before it spoke to the whole hall "Gryffindor!" as the hat was lifted off his head a table erupted with cheers, welcoming their newest member, Arthur walked over and took a seat, grinning as he was patted on the back and congratulated.

He turned to face the front just as Merlin was called to the front, Arthur watched as his friend made his way to the front of the crowd, only to stumble and be sent sprawling on the stairs, some students laughed and applauded whilst others cringed for him; Merlin scrambled to his feet and gave the crowd an awkward apologetic smile that Arthur felt was directed at him before sitting on the stool, the had falling over his blue eyes; there was silence in the hall, though they all knew that there was a conversation going on in Merlin's head before the hat announced,
"Hufflepuff!" Arthur felt his heart drop slightly; they weren't in the same house; still he joined in the applause for his friend, whose hair looked just as messy as before. Merlin gave him a little wave once he was seated and Arthur shot back a smile and thumbs up, a gesture which Merlin copied. They watched the rest of the sorting before the headmaster congratulated all the new students, he then clapped his hands together and the plates filled with food, Arthur gasped and looked in awe, certain that things would never stop amazing him about the wizarding world. He had a conversation through mouthing and miming with Merlin who was one table over before getting caught in a conversation with the other new Gryffindor first years.

Soon the plates were emptied by another clap of the headmaster's hands,
"Prefects, please show the first years to their dorms," with that the prefects and first years rose and left the hall, whilst caught in the congestion of trying to get out the hall Merlin managed to get to Arthur,
"Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor!"
"Thanks! And you said that you'd like to be in Hufflepuff!"
"True, shame we're not in the same house but I'm sure we'll survive; anyway I have to go before I get left behind! Goodnight Arthur!"
"Night Merlin!" Arthur called as Merlin disappeared into the crowd, he spotted a mess of black hair going down a corridor as he was being lead up a flight of stairs, marvelling at the animated portraits. He thought that the fat lady was quite a character and looked forward to the evenings he would spend in the comfortable common room, soon he was in the first year's boy's dorm, and it was only him and the other five Gryffindor boys.