The Tree Sorcerers - Part 1
Merlin and Arthur come across a curious trio of wanderers as they hunt in the woods. the trio, Harry, Ron and Hermione, have just escaped the Malfoy Manor and have been mistakenly brought in Camelot by Dobby the house elf, who died shortly after their arrival.
Merlin's story is set in the middle of season 2, so Uther is still king and Morgana isn't evil yet.
Harry, Ron and Hermione story is set in Deathly Hallows, just after they escape Malfoy Manor ith the help of Dobby. Unfortunately, the elf won't get them to Shell Cottage as they thought, probably due to his injury. How are they going to get out of this mess?
The Tree Sorcerers
"MERLIN!"
Merlin ran to the chambers as fast he could while Arthur kept shouting for him. He seemed angry, and Merlin hoped he wasn't the cause of it.
"We're going for a hunt." Arthur said bluntly. Clearly something was troubling him enough to want to escape his daily duties.
"Yes, My Lord."
Merlin went to prepare Arthur's hunting tools and gathered the horses in the court yard. Arthur passed through the wooden doors and came down the stairs looking more furious than ever. Merlin decided to shut his mouth (for once) and helped Arthur get on is horse.
"Hurry up you idiot!"
Merlin climbed his own horse as fast as he could, a forced smile scotched upon his lips. That was definitely going to be a very long day. As much as he enjoyed being at Arthur's side, the prince was sometimes unbearably arrogant and selfish – those were two things Merlin couldn't stand at all. Of course, he had never told Arthur anything about him, preferring to mutter (or not) creative insults directed towards his royal master. Merlin turned around and trotted until he reached Arthur, who was already standing on his horse under the great stone arch leading to the lower town. His head stood high and proud upon his shoulders, looking straight ahead.
"C'mon, you lazy backside, I'm not going to wait till the sun comes down to hunt game."
They went into the woods as the sun glistened hot directly above them , they left their horses chained to a tree near a grass floor. The suns' brightness allowed them to spot the animals easily as they tried to hide behind bushes or escape. It didn't take Arthur more than half an hour to catch three rabbits and a bird. Still, he didn't seem to be satisfied with it. The angry look on his face wasn't fading away. At all. Merlin began to be annoyed by it and tried to cheer Arthur up by doing his usual comedic tactics.
"What's frustrating you so much? I hope it's not the rabbits, because I don't think they can do much for you anymore". That was complete trash talking. He had to find something better.
"Hey I think I saw a deer that way Arthur!" That was definitely better. At-least it got a reaction from the scowling prince.
" Merlin, shut up and find me that deer. I need greater stuff than these stupid rabbits!"
"Okay, then" Merlin nodded, he was starting to feel Arthur's mood shifting onto him..
As Merlin had, in fact, not seen a deer, they wandered through the woods for 45 minutes until Arthur got bored and declared they had lost the deer trail.
"I don't even know why I listened to you, you're such a bad hunter I bet you wouldn't even be able to hunt your own self!"
That was a little too much.
"Sorry Sire, I lost the trail. Now please will you tell me what's on your mind before I lose my own nerves? I've been trying to cheer you up since we left Camelot."
"You never remember even the simplest rules do you Merlin? I decide when we talk. Your only meant to be here to serve me. Now stop wasting time and take my bow. I'm tired."
"Yes, my lord… brat" He muttered irritatingly as he tried to secure the mechanical bow Arthur had roughly handed to him.
They were preparing to go back to their horses when they heard a very loud noise accompanied by a gust of wind.
CRACK!
They froze. Arthur's rude facial expression dramatically changed into a worried one.
"What - what was that? Where did it come from?"
Merlin was searching between the branches. He was nearly sure he had seen someone getting down behind a dead tree in the ditch near them. He put up his most convincing look and turned to Arthur.
"We should go take a look. I'm almost sure I saw someone just there."He said, pointing at a fallen tree fifteen feet away from them.
Arthur carefully walked towards to the tree, calculating and ready for battle expression scotched upon his face. Merlin followed him with caution. This wasn't a good day to play soldiers, and he certainly had not planned on revealing his magic today for some shabby smugglers or bandits. They heard mutterings coming from behind the trees. One girl and two boys apparently, breathing heavily enough to be heard by anyone in the vicinity. The girl seemed panicked and one of the boys was having a hard time breathing. Merlin wondered if they were injured.
"Stay still Ron, I've seen someone, I'm sure of it!" said the girl in a squeaky voice.
"I hope it's not snatchers or we're all definitely dead. Harry's the only one in shape for some fight, and getting back at that damn Malfoy Manor will surely be our last trip." retorted a struggling voice. The boy coughed in a way that made Merlin suspect he was losing a lot of blood.
"shhhh!"
Merlin had no idea what a snatcher was, but it seemed like they weren't nice people - or things. He searched the branches for Arthur... who had successfully sneaked around the three wanderers to be a few yards beside them. He made some signs in Merlin's directions, but Merlin had no idea what they meant so he decided to stay still. Playing soldiers was definitely not his favourite game. He witnessed Arthur's slow progression to the trio until he shouted:
"Who are you and what are you doing in Camelot's kingdom?"
A black haired young man with round glasses got up rapidly and got in front of his two friends.
"Okay Merlin you can get out of your hiding, I've got them!" said Arthur in a confident way that told Merlin he was enjoying himself.
Merlin stood up and walked around the tree carefully. He lowered his guard at the sight of one of the weirdest scenes he had seen up to this day; tree young people, a red haired boy who seemed in very bad shape, covered in bandages, a dark haired boy with round glasses as perfect as he had ever seen before, and a messy haired girl how had a nasty cut on the neck and a panicked look who could've get any knight of Camelot worrying about the situation (well, any knight except Arthur). The strangest thing in all of this was the kids clothes. For instance, the girl was wearing a strange pair of pants and a buttoned shirt which seemed very warm for the time of the year, she had soft shoes in her feet and a bag way too small to carry anything substantial. The two boys were wearing the same type of weird pants and warm coats strangely designed with shades of blue and brown. None of them was carrying a bag, but the three of them had two to three wood sticks in their hands. A strange creature was lying a few feet away from them, a knife stuck in its chest, dead. It had a very long nose and wore some kind of blanket and way too many pairs of socks. Arthur noticed the creature by looking for the thing that was distracting Merlin.
"What the hell is that?! Who are you?"
He pointed his sword to the bespectacled boy, whose body stiffened, he seemed in shock but still very alert.
"We... we're travelers coming from... from the north. We've been attacked by a group of... of... of burglars a few hours ago, and they, they took everything we had and... and my two friends have been injured. That creature saved our lives but… he lost his in the aftermath." The boy pointed at his two friends. "My name is Harry Potter. My friend over here is Ronald Weasley and she's Hermione Granger."
The girl squeaked "Harry!" as the boy spoke. Something was wrong, but Arthur didn't seem to notice.
"Merlin, go fetch the horses. We're going back to Camelot. These people need rest."
"Okay."
" Er... ", began Harry. He seemed uncertain and confused.
"Do you want your friends to be okay or not?" said Arthur impatiently.
"Yes, of course!"
"Then come with us. We want you no harm I can assure you."
The boy seemed disturbed by the dead creature. Merlin helped the girl, Hermione, to get up.
"Will we be able to get back here later?" asked Harry. "I want to bury the elf".
"Then take it with you. We're nearly an hour far away from Camelot." suggested Merlin.
"...Okay."
The boy removed his jacket and rolled the creature in it, it seemed pretty light. Arthur helped Ron, the red haired boy, and ended up carrying it because he was collapsing too much due to his injuries. The girl had a nasty wound on her neck, but otherwise she didn't seem to have lost a lot of blood, even if she seemed to be the one who was in great shock. Harry walked in silence, the body of the creature in his arms.
" What is it exactly, the creature? Asked Arthur.
"It's... it's called a... an elf. It usually lives deep in the woods but that one wasn't afraid of us." Responded Harry.
"If it lives in the wood, why does it wears socks?"
"I... I don't know." Harry babbled.
"Oh, okay, you don't know if it's a creature of magic then?"
Merlin took a look over his shoulder just in time to see a surprised look on the boy's face.
"No... No I don't. Sorry."
They finally saw the horses a few yards away. Arthur commanded Merlin to help the girl get on his horse. He would mount the horse with her. Merlin attached the ginger boy on his own horse and they rosealongside Arthur's.
It took 2 hours to get back to Camelot. Merlin immediately went to Gaius because the red haired boy was in a critical state. Hermione, the girl, insisted to stay with Harry, whom Arthur wanted to get an audience with the king to assess their situation. The two of them seemed quite stressed, and not in a normal way. Harry had shown distress signs when Arthur had told him about the audience and the girl had immediately got up from the bed she was lying on in Gaius's chambers.
That audience was definitely going to be interesting.
"MERLIN!"
Merlin ran into the chambers as Arthur shouted at him. He seemed angry, and Merlin hoped he wasn't the cause of it.
"We're going for a hunt" said Arthur rudely. Clearly something was troubling him enough to want to escape his daily duties.
"Yes, My Lord".
Merlin went to prepare Arthur's hunting material and gathered the horses in the court. Arthur passed through the wooden doors and came down the stairs looking more furious than ever. Merlin decided to shut his mouth (for once) and helped Arthur get on is horse.
"Hurry up you idiot!"
Merlin climbed his own horse as fast as he could, a forced smile scotched upon his lips. That was definitely going to be a very long day. As much as he enjoyed being at Arthur's side, he found him to be very arrogant and selfish some times, and that was the only two things he couldn't stand at all. Of course, he had never told Arthur anything about him, preferring to mutter (or not) creative insult for his royal master. Merlin turned around and trotted until he reached Arthur , who was already standing on his horse under the arch going to the lower town of Camelot his head standing up upon his shoulders, looking straight in front of him.
" C'mon, you lazy backside, I'm not going to wait till the sun comes down to hunt stuff."
They went into the woods as the sun got at his highest point in the sky, and they left their horses chained to a tree near a grass floor. the sun was bright and therefore the animals were easy to see between the branches. It took Arthur less than 30 minutes to kill 3 rabbits and a little bird. But still, he didn't seem to be satisfied with it. The angry look on his face wasn't fading out. At all. Merlin began to be annoyed by it and tried to cheer Arthur up by doing his usual funny talk:
"What's frustrating you so much? I hope it's not the rabbits, because I don't think they can do much for you anymore". That was complete trash talking. He had to find something better.
"Hey I think I saw a deer that way Arthur!" That was definitely better. It even seemed to cheer him up.
"Now shut up Merlin and find me that deer. I need greater stuff than these stupid rabbits!"
"Okay, then" said Merlin, who was feeling Arthur's mood was transferring on him.
As Merlin had, in fact, not seen a deer, they wandered through the woods for 45 minutes until Arthur got bored and declared they had lost the deer trail.
"I don't even know why I listened to you, you're such a bad hunter I bet you wouldn't even be able to hunt your own self!"
Merlin decided it was enough:
"Sorry Sire, I lost the trail and I'm sorry. Now please will you tell me what's on your mind before I lose my nerves? I've been trying to cheer you up since we left Camelot."
"You never remember even the simplest rules do you Merlin? I decide when we talk. Your only meaning here is to serve me. Now please shut up and take my bow. I'm tired."
"yes, my lord.. .you mighty spoiled brat" muttered Merlin as he tried to secure the mechanical bow Artur had roughly handed to him.
They were preparing to go back to their horses when they heard a very loud noise accompanied by a gust of wind.
CRACK!
They froze. Arthur's rude facial expression dramatically changed into a worried one.
"What - what was that? where did it came from?"
Merlin was searching between the branches. He was nearly sure he had seen someone getting down behind a dead tree in the ditch near them. He took him most convincing look and talked straight to Arthur:
"We should go take a look. I'm nearly sure I saw someone just there", he said, pointing at a dead tree 15 feet away from them.
Arthur moved his body slowly as he walked up to the dead tree, his usual 'battle' look scotched upon his face. Merlin followed him with precaution. This wasn't a good day to play soldiers, and he certainly had not planned on revealing his magic today for some shabby smugglers or bandits. They heard mutterings coming from behind the trees. One girl and two boys apparently, breathing heavily enough to be heard 50 feet around. The girl seemed panicked and one of the boys seemed to get a hard time breathing. Were they injured
"Stay still Ron, I've seen someone, I'm sure of it!" said the girl in a squeaky voice.
"I hope it's not snatchers or we're all definitely dead. Harry's the only one in shape for some fight, and getting back at that damn Malfoy Manor will surely be our last trip." retorted a struggling voice. The boy coughed in a way that made Merlin suspect the boy was losing blood.
"shhhh!"
Merlin had no idea what a snatcher was, but it seemed like they weren't nice people - or things. He searched the branches for Arthur... who had successfully walked around the tree wanderers to be a few yards beside them. He made some signs in Merlin's directions, but Merlin had no idea what they meant so he decided to stay still. Playing soldiers was definitely not his favourite game. He witnessed Arthur's slow progression to the trio until he shouted:
" Who are you and what are you doing in Camelot's kingdom?"
A black haired young man with round glasses got up rapidly and got in front of his two friends.
"Okay Merlin you can get out of your hiding, I've got them!" said Arthur in a confident way that told Merlin he was enjoying himself.
Merlin stood up and walked around the tree carefully. he took off his guards at the sight of one of the weirdest scenes he had seen up to this day; tree young people, a red haired boy who seemed in very bad shape, covered in bandages, a dark haired boy with round glasses as perfect as he had ever seen before, and a messy haired girl how had a nasty cut on the neck and a panicked look who could've get any knight of Camelot worrying about the situation (well, any knight except Arthur). The strangest thing in all of this was the kids clothes. For instance, the girl was wearing a strange pair of pants and a buttoned shirt which seemed very warm for the time of the year. she had soft shoes in her feet and a bad way too small to carry anything. the two boys were wearing the same type of weird pants and warm coats strangely designed with shades of blue and brown. none of them was carrying a bag, but the tree of them had two to three wood sticks in their hands. a strange creature was lying a few feet away from them, a knife stuck in its chest, dead. it had a very long nose and wore some kind of blanket and way too many pairs of socks. Arthur noticed the creature by looking for the thing that was distracting Merlin.
"What the HELL is that? Who are you?"
He pointed his sword in the bespectacled boy, who's corpse stiffened. he seemed in shock but still very alert.
"We... we're travelers coming from... from the north. We've been attacked by a group of... of... of burglars a few hours ago, and they, they took everything we had and... and my two friends have been injured. That creature saved our lives but... but the burglar took his one while he was saving us." The boys pointed at his two friends. " My name is Harry Potter. My friend over here is Ronald Weasley and she's Hermione Granger."
The girl squeaked "Harry!" as the boy spoke. Something was wrong, but Arthur didn't notice.
"Merlin, go fetch the horses. We're going back to Camelot. These people need rest."
"Okay."
" Er... ", began Harry. He seemed uncertain and confused.
"Do you want your friends to be okay or not?" said Arthur impatiently.
"Yes, of course!"
"Then come with us. We want you no harm I can assure you."
The boy seemed disturbed by the dead creature. Merlin helped the girl, Hermione, to get up.
"Will we be able to get back here later?" asked Harry. "I want to bury the elf".
"Then take it with you. We're nearly one hour far away from Camelot." suggested Merlin.
"...Okay."
The boy removed his jacket and rolled the creature in it. it seemed pretty light. Arthur helped Ron, the red haired boy, and ended up carrying it because he was collapsing too much due to his injuries. The girl was had a nasty wound on her neck, but otherwise she didn't seem to have lost a lot of blood, even if she seemed to be the one who was in great shock. Harry walked in silence, the body of the creature in his arms.
" What is it exaclt, the creature? asked Arthur.
"It's... it's called a... an elf. It usually lives deep in the woods but that one wasn't afraid of us." responded Harry.
"If it lives in the wood, why does that one wears socks?"
"I... I don't know." babbled Harry.
"Oh, okay, you don't know if it's a creature of magic then?"
Merlin took a look over his shoulder just in time to see a surprised look on the boy's face.
"No... no I don't. Sorry."
They finally saw the horses a few yards away. Arthur commanded to Merlin to help the girl get on his horse. he would mount the horse with her. Merlin attached the ginger boy to his own and he walked alongside it with Harry.
It took 2 hours to get back to Camelot. Merlin immediately went to Gaius because the red haired boy was in a critical state. Hermione, the girl insisted to stay with Harry, whom Arthur wanted to get an audience with the king to resume their situation. The two of them seemed quite stressed, and not in a normal way. Harry had shown distress signs when Arthur had told him about the audience and the girl had immediately got up from the bed she was lying on in Gaius's chambers.
That audience was definitely going to be interesting.