AN: So I have been re-reading and trying to write the new chapter, and it just hasn't been working out, but fear not! I am not abandoning this, it just needs some editing. This is the updated chapter one. If you already read the original chapter one, there isn't a big need to read this, but you do need to know that I'm changing the POV from first person to third person. Other than that the chapter hasn't changed that much. Thank you everyone who has stuck with me so far. I will do my best not to disappoint you!

I don't own Harry Potter or Merlin

Chapter 1

For once, Merlin was managing to have a good day. His chores were done on time (with a little magical help), Gaius was in a good mood today, and Gwen had woken Arthur up this morning, so he wasn't yelled at for being late (as much). Of course that meant that something terrible was coming.

It all started during a round table meeting. Leon was droning on about patrols. Nobody was paying much attention, although most people were acting like they were listening intently. Gwaine wasn't even pretending to listen. Instead, he was tossing up and down an apple he'd produced from somewhere, even though Arthur had explicitly said no food in the council room after a fiasco last month involving three dogs, a sidhe, and a whole roast pig.

Speaking of Arthur, he was doing his best not to fall asleep on the table. Merlin noticed his eyes begin to close and his head begin to slump on more than one occasion. Suddenly, the doors to the council chamber burst open, and a man ran inside followed by two guards.

"We tried to stop him, your majesty," one of the guards said, panting.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt," the stranger spoke, not sounding out of breath at all. "But I have very urgent news that I think you'll want to hear." The guards that had been chasing him grabbed his arms.

"What would your majesty like us to do with him?" the one that had spoken before asked.

"Hang on," Arthur said, studying the man's face. "Let him speak. Obviously, he feels that whatever he has to tell us is important enough to risk punishment." The guards released him.

"Thank you, your majesty," the man said, bowing.

"What exactly have you come to tell us?" Arthur asked.

"Well, sire, my name is Matthew and I come from a small village near the western border of Camelot. For years my village has told stories of a great castle filled with students of magic. Nobody ever believed them, of course, which is why the king was never alerted before, but recently I was out hunting and I saw them. There were hundreds of them, and I saw one of them do magic. He waved his hand and a pineapple did a strange dance." Merlin glanced at Gaius. He had an expression on his face that was easily recognized. It was the expression that meant I-think-I've-heard-it-before-but-just-to-be-sure-we-should-spend-all-night-looking-through-my-stacks-of-illegal-books. Merlin groaned internally. Of course.

Arthur's face, on the other hand, looked skeptical. Matthew could see it too.

"Sire, you have to believe me, I'm not crazy!" He looked like he was going to protest more, but Arthur held up a hand to stop him.

"I will check the area myself, and if this magic school is real, I'll figure out what to do about it then. Merlin, pack the bags, we leave at dawn tomorrow."

"Yes, sire," he said, leaving the room to do as he said. As Merlin walked to Arthur's chambers, he couldn't help but think about the magic school. Who knew what kind of things they could learn there?

As soon as Merlin was out of the room, Arthur dismissed everyone and told someone to get Matthew a room. But before Mordred could leave, Arthur called for him to wait.

"Mordred, I'd like to speak with you privately." Mordred stopped and waited for everyone else to file out of the room.

"What would you like, sire?"

"You used to be a druid, did you not?" Instantly, Mordred froze, panicked thoughts racing through his head. Seeming to sense the knight's distress, Arthur spoke again.

"Don't worry, Mordred, I'm not going to have you executed. If I wanted to do that, why would I have knighted you?"

"You knew?" Mordred asked in shock.

"Of course I knew, how could I forget the druid boy I smuggled out of Camelot?"

"I just kind of assumed- I mean, you never said anything."

"Yes, well now I need your advice as a former druid. When you were living with them, did you ever hear anything about a magic school like this?" Mordred paused, thinking.

"There was one story the druid elders liked to tell," he began cautiously, half expecting him to attack. "It told of a castle deep in the woods that was designed to keep out all those who didn't have magic, and was meant to train those who did. The strangest part of that story, which is why I remember it still, is that supposedly, the students came from the future."

"The future?" Arthur asked incredulously. Mordred nodded.

"According to legend, the founders of the school wanted to keep hidden from anyone who would be able to find them and stop them from practicing magic, so they enchanted their school so it would transport their students to the past to learn."

Arthur seemed to think about this for a minute before speaking. "Very well then. Mordred, I'm assigning you a secret mission while I'm investigating the location where the castle is supposed to be. If this… magic school is real, we need to determine if they'll be a threat to us. I want you to go to the druids and learn as much about this school as they know." Mordred was shocked. He couldn't believe that King Arthur was actually sending him to the druids. Then he realized Arthur was waiting for an answer. He nodded.

"I'll leave tonight," he said confidently.

"No," Arthur said. "You'll leave tomorrow at dawn with me. That way, everyone will assume you are accompanying me on my quest."

"Yes sire." Mordred bowed quickly and left the room to pack.

MerlinI was about halfway through packing Arthur's bags when he walked into the room, flung the door closed behind him, and collapsed into an armchair.

"That bad, huh?" Merlin asked, handing Arthur the cup of wine he had poured when he arrived in the room, knowing Arthur would need it. Arthur just groaned in response. Merlin went back to packing silently. He knew by now if he kept quiet Arthur was more likely to tell him than if he badgered him for answers.

"I called Mordred back after the meeting," he spoke finally. Merlin stayed quiet. "You knew, right? That he was the druid boy we helped Morgana smuggle out of Camelot all those years ago?" Merlin had of course, but he was surprised that Arthur also had.

"Yes, I did," he said cautiously, still not facing Arthur. Then, Arthur seemed to come to a realization.

"That's why you always act so strange around him. It's your magic phobia."

Merlin frowned slightly. He didn't necessarily like pretending to be scared of magic in front of Arthur, but the made up phobia did allow him to hide his magic from Arthur during attacks. The real reason Merlin was wary of Mordred was because of an old prophecy that proclaimed Mordred would one day kill Arthur. Arthur took Merlin's silence as agreement.

"Anyway, I asked him about that magic school. He told me about an old druid legend that said there was a school for magic, but that the students came from the future." Merlin couldn't hide his surprise at that one.

"The future?" He sighed.

"Apparently. I don't suppose Gaius has ever mentioned anything like this to you?"

"No, he hasn't," Merlin told him, "but I can ask him about it if you like."

"Do that," Arthur instructed me. "I want as much information as we can possibly get before we go into this mission tomorrow. Merlin nodded and went back to stuffing clothes in Arthur's bag.

Gaius and his ward ate dinner in silence. When Merlin returned to the tower after packing for Arthur and making arrangements for the trip, the room was covered in various books and pieces of paper. The court physician had barely acknowledged him when he entered the room and was instead focusing intently on whatever was written in the book in front of him. Merlin spent the rest of the time before dinner flipping through his own magic book for any mention of a magical school, even though he pretty much had the book memorized at this point. Eventually, he made dinner for the both of them. He was washing up when Gaius jumped to his feet.

"I've got it!" he shouted. He turned the book so it was facing Merlin. "When Matthew was talking about it I knew I'd heard something like this before. Not much is known about it, but most legends agree with what the druids say, that is, that the students come from the future. Once, a knight tried to go in to investigate. He was missing for weeks, and when he returned, he had no idea who he was. The only thing they managed to get out of him was the word 'Hogwarts.'"

"Hogwarts?" Merlin asked. "What in the world does that mean?"

Gaius shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know." Then an idea came to his mind.

"But we might just know someone who does." Merlin immediately realized what he meant.

"I'll be back later." Merlin dashed out of the room and, making sure not to be seen, made his way to the nearby clearing in the forest. There, he called out in the dragon tongue for Kilgharrah. It wasn't much longer before the golden dragon descended from the sky and landed in front of him.

"Hello, young warlock," he greeted. "What have you summoned me for this time?" Merlin launched into the tale of the visiting stranger and the mysterious school. When he finished, the dragon had a curious expression on his face. "That is most interesting indeed, young warlock. I'm afraid I don't have much more information for you."

"You said 'much.' Does that mean you do have some?"

"Very perspective. Yes, I do know a little more, but not enough to satisfy your curiosity completely. The dragons first heard of this school many years ago. One of the dragonlords went to investigate at our request. He spoke to a group of four magic users who explained to him their plan to bring students of magic to the past, our time, to save them from persecution in their own. They would not tell him much, seeing as too much future knowledge could have catastrophic consequences, but they came to an agreement that as long as the students there stayed within a certain boundary, we would make sure no one from this time bothered them. The dragons and their lords spread the word of an area in the woods that no one was to go to because it was contaminated with the dangerous remains of a spell gone wrong. Certain groups were told as much of the truth as we knew, the druids being one of them, but over time that knowledge has faded into legend." When the dragon had finished speaking, Merlin stayed silent letting it all sink in. It just didn't seem real to him, a magic school from the future? When he finally found my voice, he thanked Kilgharrah for the information. Then a thought occurred to him.

"You know, I think that's the most straightforward answer you've ever given to me," he remarked smirking.

"While that may be, this is only information. What you choose to do with it is still up to you." With that, he flapped his wings and flew away, not giving the warlock time to respond. He walked back up to the castle in silence, mulling over what the dragon had told him. Whatever came next was going to be very interesting, he could tell.