Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling and Time Warner.

Prologue: The Dark Lady's Freedom

1985. It was in a crystal cave shrouded from mundanes and magicals alike, in the south of England, where a tall, dark black-haired beauty sat, glaring at the crystals that have been her prison for nearly a thousand years. She had lost a duel against Merlin after the fall of Camelot and death of Arthur. Merlin had done his warding well. Too well. He had trapped her in here, instead of just killing her. He always had that ridiculous need to see the good in everyone. He had spelled it so she would only be let when she felt true remorse for her actions. She had long since repented for her actions, but Merlin's wards weren't the only thing keeping her in here.

She had learnt that after she had woken up in 1600s. She remembered falling to her knees as she watched her fellow brethren being persecuted and massacred by mundanes, in huge numbers. She had begged whoever was listening to let her out so she could help her fellow kind, but she wasn't. Not by killing by the mundanes but by hiding the magical folk so they couldn't be hurt again. But not only had it not been heard, she had felt the Old Religion hum in agreement with her but refused to let her out. It was then she found out that Merlin had been in part doing the will of Old Religion when he trapped her in here. That she would be let out when the Old Religion deemed it necessary.

Grief stricken and filled with sorrow, she had cried for years until she had spelled herself into a slumber, not doubting that she would be awakened when the need arose. Undoubtedly, she was awakened and shown visions. She was disgusted how the magical community had fallen into a false sense of security in their own bubble, behind the International Statute of Secrecy.

She saw Grindelwald march on the wizards and rule over Europe. She had seen him make much of the same mistakes as she did. It was like looking in a mirror. Then she had seen the hypocrite Dumbledore battle Grindelwald. Her colourful swearing and language were particularly loud when she saw him defeat Grindelwald and win the wand of Destiny.

At first, she thought Dumbledore might be like Merlin. There were similarities, but he was far from it. But his manipulations and unwillingness to see people for who they were, made him too dangerous. Merlin for all his faults, had always cared about the little people and always cared about his actions affected others. Seeing Dumbledore skirt around the political arena, manipulating everyone around him, label all magic he didn't agree with as dark, teach heavy prejudice against Slytherins, and continuously frown upon Tom Riddle, she knew he could never be the Merlin to Grindelwald's Morgana. He disgusted her.

As it is, she still didn't know why she was still in here. It had to be more than repentance. She had done that centuries ago. Yet, she was still kept in here, not aging or requiring food for sustenance. The Old Religion, while it does not take many steps to interfere in the lives of humans, can be very thorough when it wants to.

Morgana scoffed at Dumbledore's stupidity in labelling magic he didn't agree with as 'dark'. Magic was all about intent, power and will. The Old Religion was sentient, as was magic itself, alive and everlasting. This new magic that witches and wizards possessed was so watered down and diluted through their little sticks, made it incredibly weak. The closest anyone had come to using Old Religion was Grindelwald himself. Alas, he was locked up in Nurmengard just as she was here.

Still, she agreed with Dumbledore's disgust on Voldemort's method of immortality. Horcruxes were the foulest bits of magic existing, created about a thousand years before her birth. They were incredibly unstable, chipping away at the soul, the source of magic, is not only dangerous but incredibly stupid. There were other, easier paths of immortality she could have taken. She was one such example. The Scandinavian witch Dahlia was another example. Hell, even the Philosopher's stone is better than horcruxes. Though it leaves the user frail and weak, albeit immortal.

Seeing the newly minted Order of the Phoenix and the ministry aurors fight death eaters, she felt the urge to act again. But stuck here as she was, she had plenty of time to plan out what she would do when she got out of here. She thought of several contingencies as she immersed herself in meditation and connect with the Old Religion.