Heir Apparent
Formerly 'Merlin's Little Brother'.
By Lady Sardonyx and Lady Aster
Authors' Notes: We did a little revising and the story has changed a bit, but mostly it's the same. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related materials are property of JK Rowling, not two fanfiction writers.PROLOGUE
Opening his emerald eyes, Harry James Potter, age 3, stared into the darkness of his cupboard. He shouldn't be disappointed, he knew. The family that he had dreamed about, with the laughing red-haired mother, didn't exist. Even if they did exist, why would such a nice family want him, the freak? Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had explained to him many times why he was with them; because his real mum and dad were dead. The explanation usually consisted of a plentiful amount of shouting, threats and insults and ended with an order to his cupboard.
"Boy!" screeched his Aunt. "Get up and help with breakfast!"
Sighing ever so slightly, he did so without complaint. Why would he? After all, today was just a day like any other. Well, except that today, July 31st, was his birthday. But he wasn't excited for his birthday like normal little boys. He knew that the Dursleys had only told him to make him more miserable.
The little boy crept out of his cupboard and trotted into the kitchen. Aunt Petunia handed him a pan, her lips pressed together tightly. However, as most (read: everyone but the Dursleys) know, at three years old, it is quite difficult to see over the stove while cooking. It was Harry's additional bad fate to be unusually short, most likely from his malnutrition.
A hot blob of grease flew off of the bacon and, with deadly precision, landed on Harry's arm. A scream of pain escaped from the poor boy as a very red and painful blister was created in the burnt place.
"Shut up, freak!" yelled Uncle Vernon from his place at the kitchen table, waiting impatiently for his breakfast.
Harry bit his lip to try to stifle the sound but another whimper escaped him. Uncle Vernon, furious that the freak would dare disobey him, stomped into the kitchen and towered above Harry. Harry cowered and tried to shrink as small as possible.
"I said shut up!" Uncle Vernon growled, his face purple, and smacked Harry with the palm of his hand. "Go to your cupboard!"
Whimpering and trying to hide it, Harry nodded. He was too slow for Uncle Vernon, who grabbed him and threw him into the open cupboard and slammed the door. Once safely hidden in the darkness, the tears began to flow. Outside, Harry heard Aunt Petunia. "Good riddance!" He sobbed harder into the thin blanket in his hands.
"Be quiet, freak!" Uncle Vernon yelled from the dining room.
Fearing a beating, Harry quieted. He thought of the warm, happy feeling that was now just a distant memory, when he was cuddled in soft arms and when he was thrown up in the air. He wished for that happy feeling again. 'I wish I was somewhere else, where someone would love me. I wish to be loved. I wish to be loved. I wish to be loved,' he thought in a mantra, concentrating all his thoughts on that one word: love.
Harry didn't notice that golden sparks of magic in the air. He didn't notice his scar pulsing with his heartbeat. Nor did he notice bright swirls of light that surrounded him--green and silver and gold. He didn't notice the screams of his aunt and his uncle's repeated banging on the cupboard door. No.
As the house collapsed and giant flames licked hungrily at the cupboard door, he did not notice anything outside. With his eyes closed and his mind, soul, and magic focused on his wish, he only felt the sensation of wind and then--soft darkness.
Across the Wizarding World, a giant burst of magical energy was felt as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, disappeared, not to be seen again for ten years. Of course, they had no way of knowing this and all slept peacefully on.
CHAPTER ONE
The Magic felt the boy's fervent wish and reached out its consciousness. Feeling the strong will, immense reserves of magic, loving heart, and pure soul of the boy, it granted the young boy his wish. To fuel the journey, the Magic took a couple of years of the boy's young body—then sent him on his way, bathed in light.
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A young woman stood on the balcony of her castle, holding an eighteen month old boy in her arms. He was hell spawn, she knew, but when little Myrddin opened his eyes, the curious innocence in them shocked her and she knew that she could not abandon him.
As she entered, there was a sudden burst of emerald and gold light. Extremely frightened by this mysterious power, she let out a small shriek and backed away quickly, shielding little Myrddin. The light, however, followed.
Looking closer out of morbid curiosity, she noticed a small, human-shaped figure in the center of the light. She reached into the light without knowing why and felt an odd probing in her mind. The light then disappeared, leaving not just Myrddin but another child in her arms.
Gazing down at the child, who looked about 18 months old, she felt the rush of warmth that she'd felt when she held Myrddin in her arms. The child had black hair, emerald green eyes, and a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on his face, right above his right eyebrow. She knew at once his name was Harry but Harry sounded too much like a peasant's name. He would be called Harrison.
She herself had green eyes and auburn hair, but her father had blue eyes and black hair. The first thought in her mind was that she could claim the boy was Merlin's twin brother, as demons don't have appearances that could be passed on, and the boy's father could have kept him as a possible heir, but found him to human.
Still… With yet another child, she would be more at risk with enemies and so would the children.
"Why must such miserable fortune seek to rest on me?" the princess moaned out loud. Yet she knew that it was her duty, as the princess of her kingdom, to make sure no ill came to her people.
Remembering Myrddin's birth and the accompanying blue and silver light, she decided to take the child to the priest to lock away Harrison's demonic side, just like she had with Myrddin. Having decided on a course of action, she decided to take the boys with her to the new high priestess.
She walked through the long, winding halls of her father's castle. To her dismay, when she reached the doors, she saw a group of her suitors standing outside.
'Oh, no!' she thought, bemoaning her fate. 'How will we get out? They already hate Myrddin because he is my son; he is as good as dead in their eyes.' Then her eyes lit up. 'I know! I can go through old secret passage I used as a kid.'
With that thought in mind, she grabbed a plain brown cloak that could be mistaken for commoners' clothes and set off for the third floor and the passageway. Stopping in front of a tapestry, she reached behind and pressed a jagged stone. She heard a click as the tunnel rumbled open.
Inching through the thick, almost tangible, darkness, her arms grew weary and her feet sore. When she finally hit the dead end, she felt like cheering. She placed the babies gently in a niche and reached her hand around the wall. Feeling around the wall, she found what she was looking for—a round rock. She pressed softly down on the rock, but nothing happened. 'Oh, no!' Her heart in her throat, she pressed harder on the rock. After a few moments, a gate creaked open where there was only inky blackness before. She sighed in relief and walked out, heading for the giant cathedral.
Upon reaching the royal church, she requested the high priestess.
Looking at her ragged brown cloak in disdain, the clerk replied haughtily, "The high priestess is busy. She can't take the requests of the likes of you."
Just that moment, the high priestess walked over. "Is there a problem?" She had beautiful jet black hair and gray eyes. Looking under the princess's brown hood, her eyes widened. She turned toward the clerk and said, "She will be coming with me, Brother." The last word was said in a cool tone. She turned toward the disguised princess. "Come."
The high priestess walked down a long marble corridor and into her private chambers. There, she turned and spoke. "Princess Adelaide. What is your reason for coming here?"
Princess Adelaide looked around, suspicious. The high priestess caught this and replied, "Set your fears to rest. There are no spies here."
She sighed in relief. "Not too long ago, a boy who may be Myrddin's twin arrived the same way he did. He needs to be purified like you did with Myrddin, to have his demonic powers taken away." The princess shrugged off her cloak to reveal two babies.
The high priestess looked at Harrison in interest. "He is a beautiful baby. I shall perform the binding, but you must also let me do the blood adoption ritual, just in case."
"Why must I do the adoption ritual if he is already my son?" Princess Adelaide asked, confused.
"He has been around demons since the beginning of his life. You may need to stabilize him after he loses the connection to the only constant he has had in his life up to this point. If you don't do it, he will die."
Princess Adelaide paled dramatically and hesitantly nodded, too stunned to vocalize her answer.
"Very well, give me some time to get my supplies," the high priestess stated calmly.
Again, the princess nodded.
An hour later, all was ready. First, the high priestess dunked the boy in holy water, to remove the demonic taint. Then she laid the now screaming child onto a table that was decorated in holy symbols. Finally, she began chanting. First, the boy glowed emerald green, then howled in pain, as though he were being tortured. After an unbearably long time, where the princess shut her eyes in helplessness, he fell limp onto the table.
Quickly, the princess picked up a ceremonial dagger lying on the table and sliced her palms with the high priestess's help. Then, the priestess sliced both of Myrddin hands and both of Harrison's hands, and joined Myrddin's left hand and Harrison's right to their mother's hands. At last, he joined Merlin's right and Myrddin's left together.
Instantly, a blindingly bright flash of sapphire blue and emerald green light, swirled with gold and silver, filled the room. As the light faded, the room was revealed. The high priestess had been thrown clear across the room. The princess, after making sure her babies were okay, rushed over to check the priestess and sighed in relief. The high priestess was only knocked out.
But the biggest and most impressive change was in the middle of the room. Harrison, originally with messy jet-black hair and emerald green eyes, now had wavy black hair with tinges of auburn and red at the tips of his hair, and his emerald green eyes with a sapphire blue tint to them. But the one thing that would always mark him as Harry Potter, in this time or another, the lightning bolt-shaped scar, would never leave. Myrddin, on the other hand, had wavy auburn hair with jet black and brown tips, while his sapphire blue eyes were now tinted with emerald green. The princess noticed these at once. But what nobody noticed was the slight tinge of brown and gold Harrison's emerald green eyes or the slight hint of grey and silver in Myrddin's sapphire blue eyes.
Unfortunately, (or fortunately for the magical world), the high priestess would never know how big a mistake she made or how much this mistake would contribute to history, or at least she wouldn't know until it was too late. The binding would normally weaken them, permanently, always dropping their power until none was left. But with the blood ritual—well, let's just say that Myrddin and Harrison will be the most powerful wizards for at least ten millenniums.
Lady Aster: We--that is, I-- just wanted to tell you guys (if you haven't already figured it out) that in this story Merlin is Myrddin and Harry is Harrison (instead of being Merlin and Myrddin, respectively).
Sardonic Notes: Why are you telling them that? They should have figured it out already. That's why you read.
Lady Aster: Don't be offended by her cough manners. It's just how she is. You know? Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and no one is offended by the revisions we made…