Author's Notes: I'm not supposed to be writing a new story when I've already been delaying on updating my two stories for months now. But to be honest, the plot of this story did come to me first before my other two WIP stories. But at the time, I wasn't in the mood on writing this story. Anyway, tell me what you think so far of this story, okay? And if you want to, go read my other stories Harry Potter and the Godfather and Fantastic Four.
Teddy Lupin was only a few weeks old when his parents died in the Second War. Ever since then, he spent his whole life with either his grandmother or his Godfather. When he finally went to Hogwarts for his first year, from the moment he set foot on the train till the time he sat on the stool with the Sorting Hat on his head, everyone present was staring at him with wide-eyed. There weren't many students back then, due to the small birth-rate after the War, but Teddy still felt restless with how they all stared at him. His parents were war heroes, and his Godfather was the war hero. He should have anticipated all the attention. But Teddy was very much like his father, who despite being a teacher and loving every moment of it, even though it was only for a year, rather disliked people gawking at him like Muggles did at the zoo. So, for the next seven years, it was safe to say that Teddy didn't have much friends. He got a little paranoid that people would only befriend him because of who his parents and Godfather were. For the longest time, except for his childhood friend and eventually wife Victoire Weasley, Teddy spent his life alone. It tended to get a little lonely at times, but he didn't mind. It was much more preferable than the alternative.
When he was asked by his grandmother about what he wanted to do once he graduated, Teddy had no idea. Other than the fact that he wanted to marry Victoire and have his own family with her, the Metamorphmagus didn't know what it was that he wanted to do. Thus, when his favourite professor Neville Longbottom, a family friend, told him that he should try looking up Magi-archaeologist, since he loved to read about the ancient civilisation of both wizarding and Muggle world so much, Teddy knew that he would forever be in the good professor's debts. Since the wizarding world had no classes that would help him with archaeology other than History of Magic, everyone who was interested in becoming a Magi-archaeologist had to come to the Ministry's Muggle Liason Office and Research Committee so they could ask for permission to study archaeologist in the Muggle world. Once they were granted permission, plus six months of Muggle studies, they would be given credentials that they would need, also nearly-unlimited access to books regarding archaeology in Ministry's own private library. Seeing that he had Harry Potter as his Godfather, Teddy managed to get his permission and he didn't have to take the Muggle studies class. Not to mention, the Prime Minister, Kingsley Shacklebot, was a very good friend of his father and mother. When the Minister heard that there was a one Teddy Lupin asking for permission so he could study archaeology, it was the Minister himself who granted him the permission. Long story short, just three months after his graduation, he enrolled into the world's best archaeology university in the world.
The University of Cambridge.
Even though he grew up with a very Pureblooded grandmother, Teddy was lucky that Harry often took him to the Muggle world. The Auror believed that it was better if everyone, especially kids who were born to two worlds like Teddy and Harry himself did, to have a balanced knowledge of both worlds. However, when he discreetly Apparated to the residential side of the university with his suitcase in tow, Teddy couldn't help but to feel a little nervous. This would be the very first time he was completely alone, without his family there to help him. He took a deep breath though, and he tried to channel his mother's optimism into him before he made his way to his assigned dorm-room. Much to his (pleasant) surprise, he found that he would be sharing his dorm with a fellow wizard. His name was Neil Collins, and he too was studying to become an archaeologist. At first Teddy was a little hesitant about the man. But when Neil petulantly insisted that he would take the bed by the window because he liked it better than the one right next to the wall, Teddy knew that the guy didn't care about who he was. They hit it off almost instantly, quickly becoming the best of friends in the matter of weeks. Neil proved to be a great friend and brilliant competition. The amount of knowledge the bloke knew about practically everything was an eerie reminiscence of Hermione Weasley. In only three years, the two of them graduated with bright colours and were even offered scholarships to continue their study. Needless to say, they took the offer, and continued studying until they both got their doctorate degree when they were only twenty-eight.
They returned to their lives in the wizarding-world and wasted no time to start on their first mission, which was to go find the infamous Holy Grail. The expedition was funded by – surprise, surprise – Draco Malfoy. The former Death Eater even sent his only son, an aspiring archaeologist himself, to tag along. It took them around a year to find it, and that day was the happiest he ever felt, secondly only to his wedding day and the day his son was born. The journey wasn't exactly an easy one – they nearly died because of the ancient booby-traps that were set to kill trespassers. They didn't only find the Holly Grail, but also some other ancient artifacts that were both magical and non-magical. The first thing they did after reporting their findings was to decide with the Ministry officials about which artifacts the wizard-folks could keep and which ones they could give the Muggles. Once all the legal matters were settled, their findings were revealed to the whole wide world. Since the both of them had a doctorate degree from the Muggle-word, practically every single person on Earth, wizards and Muggles alike, knew about their achievement. Jobs became much easier then, and in the next four year since they graduated, they'd found the tomb of the Roanoke colony and the lost treasures of the Qin Empire. The whole world was now willing to pay obscenely large amount of money for their next expedition. Teddy suggested that they should try finding the El Dorado, to which Neil agreed, when the news came.
("Ted? What's wrong?")
("Harry, I've got something to tell you.")
"Hello?" Teddy said to his phone, as he kept his eyes closely on the two men in front of him. After Neil explained to his aunt Elaine and asked her to cover for him, he and Neil decided that they should take their two…captives-slash-guest back to their shared office in London. Neil had gone to contact Harry while Teddy decided that he would watch over their guests until Harry came.
"Hi, Teddy. It's me," a feminine voice said from the other line. "I've been trying to contact Neil's phone since this morning, but he's not answering."
"Really? Well, he was with me the whole time. But now he's gone to fetch Harry though."
"Oh, okay. You're at the office? With uh…with them?"
"Yeah."
"I'll be there in three seconds."
"What?"
Whipping around at the sound of the fireplace blaring, Teddy was more than surprised when a girl hopped out. The girl was very pretty, with blonde hair the same shade of his wife's, and eyes very similar like Neil's own hypnotising blue ones. It was Lynne Collins, his best friend's little sister.
"Twenty-four isn't exactly little anymore, you know," Lynne said, grinning at him as she literally waltzed to the seat beside him.
"You need to stop doing that," Teddy grumbled, quickly putting up mental-blocks. "It's rude and it's definitely annoying."
"Sorry," the girl said sheepishly. "You know I can't help it sometimes."
Teddy scoffed but said nothing else, even though he knew that it was a lie. For someone so young, Lynne was an exceptional Legillimens. In fact, he was pretty sure that the only other known Legillimens that could give a run for her money was probably Lord Voldemort. Sometimes it scared him to know that the girl was so powerful. But, out of respect for his best friend, he kept quiet. It helped that in the fourteen years he knew Neil, the girl only recently started seeing her brother. Neil told him that Lynne spent her life with Elaine in Dublin until they moved to London four years ago. Despite her powers scaring him at times, Teddy had to admit that she was a nice girl. She was very polite, though a little cheeky at times. She also got along really well with his wife, despite their age difference, which was bonus points for him. He lost count how many times Victoire told him that the girl had helped her to babysit their son.
"So, when is my brother coming back?" Lynne asked.
Before Teddy could answer her, there fireplace blared one more time and Neil stepped out with Teddy's Godfather. Upon seeing his sister, the wizard cocked an eye brow at her. "What are you doing here, Lynne?"
"Oh, Elaine told me to tell you that you need not to worry about anything. She'd Obliviated all the customers and planted false memories on them before the Ministry officials came." Reaching out into her pocket, Teddy tried not to blink when she pulled out a thermos and passed it to Neil. "And here's some hot coco for everyone. See you later, Neil."
"That's your…sister?" Harry asked when the girl had left. He muttered a 'thank-you' when he received his glass of coco.
"Yeah," Neil said, glancing at the fireplace with obvious pride. It was obvious how he loved the girl and would probably go to the end of the world for her.
"She's beautiful," Harry complimented with a polite smile before turning his attention at their still unconscious guests. Going all serious, the Auror said, "Alright, let's get this over with. Wake them up."
Neil nodded and pointed his wand at the soldier then at the lawyer, muttering Ennervate both times. The soldier was the first one to wake up, jerking slightly in his seat before twisted his head around, his eyes wide in panic as he took in his surroundings. The lawyer took longer to gain his consciousness, his head lolling to the side before his eyes fluttered opened slowly. Teddy watched them both closely, marveling silently that they were really there with him. When Neil first told him about them, Teddy could hardly believe it. Magic was a wonderful thing, everyone knew that. But even as amazing as magic was, there was no known history of reincarnation in the wizarding world. If it wasn't for the urgency in Neil's tone, the panic in those normally-mischievous eyes, Teddy wouldn't have believed his best friend. After all, who would believe that the greatest wizards of all time were coming back? As Muggles.
"How are you feeling?" Neil, ever the gentleman, asked the soldier. He was someone around their age, blond-haired and blue eyes that made him almost too pretty for his work. He was tall, although not as tall as Teddy himself.
"I'd feel a lot better if you tell me why did you kidnap us," the blond drawled sarcastically. He glanced at his friend, and his eyes softened slightly. "You okay, Sal?"
"My brain has probably turned to mush for real, and my tongue feels like sandpaper," the lawyer, a man with jet-black hair and silver eyes, muttered meekly. He still managed a smile for his young friend though. "But, I'll be fine, kid. Really."
"Do you two need water or anything?" Neil asked again, but his hand had already Summoned for two more cups with a wave of his hand, and the thermos was pouring chocolate into the cups when he waved his hand again. Teddy tried to ignore the fact that his friend had used wandless magic and instead focused on the guests, who were staring with wide eyes at the floating cups and thermos.
"Alright then," Harry said, pulling a seat so he could sit right in front of the two friends. "Now that we've made sure you two are comfortable, courtesy of young Neil over here, I suggest we proceed immediately. I know you two must be stewing with questions already. Boys, if you will."
"Hello, Mr Griffiths, Mr Sullivan. Sorry for the inconvenience today. But really, we did nothing to cause the convulsion," Teddy began with an apology. "Anyway, my name is Teddy Lupin and this is my friend Neil Collins. We're both archaeologists. You two probably know us from – "
"You guys are the ones who found the Holy Grail, right?" Godric Griffiths said, looking thoroughly impressed. "You found other stuffs too, I think. Bloody brilliant."
"Thank you," Teddy said. "As you know already, my friend and I work as archaeologists. Our findings have been deemed impossible by a lot of people, and we agree. The thing is, there is a reason why we were able to do something thousands others had failed in the past."
"Does it have anything to do with the fact that you can move things magically?" Salazar Sullivan said as he eyed the cup in his hand closely, emphasizing on the word 'magical'.
"Magic is real," Neil said matter-of-factly. "And magic has been around for much longer than anything in this world."
"Okay… Then what does it have to do with us? I'm pretty sure we're just normal human," Griffiths said skeptically. But Teddy noticed the way his fingers twitched a little.
"This may come as a shock to you – " Neil started, only to be interrupted midway by Harry.
"And believe me, it even shocked us," Harry commented.
" – but we believe you two may be the reincarnation of the greatest sorcerers of all time," Teddy finished, sending his Godfather a look. Harry merely rolled his eyes but kept quiet.
Meanwhile, the soldier and his best friend could only stare the wizards in utter confusion. The Metamorphmagus was actually expecting them to guffaw in disbelief. He was a little surprised to find them swallowing heavily, as if they'd already expected that there was something wrong with them all along. Sullivan turned to look at his best friend, something akin to anxiety flashed into those silver eyes of his before he spoke. "Godric, before this gentlemen can proceed with whatever it is they're going to tell us, I want to ask you something. And I want you to answer me honestly, okay?"
"Sure," Griffiths agreed. "What is it, Sal?"
"Have you ever had dreams of the two of us, wearing weird-looking robes and shooting bolt of light at each other?"
The question seemed to shock the blond right to the core, and it took awhile to respond. He let out a chuckle, seemed to relief that he was finally able to talk about it. "Wow… You had them too?"
"I've had them for as long as I can remember," Sullivan admitted, smiling. "In fact, my earliest memory is of my toddler-self showing you what I think was my first magic. I had that dream when I first found you in that car, before I took you to Madam Crowe's."
"I imagine I was only a wee babe in that dream, right? Because that was my earliest memory too." Turning to Neil, Griffiths said, "Those dreams are actually our memories, right? Memories of our past lives before…this."
"Yes, they were… I'm pretty sure you two are well-acquaintanced with the story of Arthur and his knights, yes? And also his friend-slash-mentor-slash advisor, Merlin."
"Hang on," Griffiths said, holding up his hand. "Are you saying… Are you saying that Merlin is real?"
"Oh, he's real, alright. There are some facts that you Muggles – that's none magic-folk – got wrong. But yes, Merlin is real."
"And Merlin had four mentors," Teddy quipped. "You see, quite contrary to popular belief about Merlin being the child of an incubus, or the fact that he's some kind of mystical being, the real Merlin is very much human. His father was an evil warlock, and his mother was a Muggle. He went to school, a wizarding school called – "
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Sullivan muttered with a dazed look in his eyes. He blushed when he realised that everyone was staring at him. "I'm sorry, I just… The name just came into my mind. I mean, that is the school that Merlin went to, isn't it?"
"It is. The school has four houses, founded by the four founders who were Merlin's mentors that I just mentioned. Their names were Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Together, they founded the world's best school in the world."
Teddy stopped, watching his guests' expression. He wasn't disappointed when he found them wide-eyed as they slowly digested what exactly the Metamorphmagus was saying. However, they were good listeners, and even though they looked shocked, they motioned for Teddy to continue.
"Just like it was in stories, Merlin became a brilliant wizard in a no time. In all his years as a student, the prodigy grew very close with one person. It was his own Head of the House, Salazar Slytherin. You can even say that Slytherin sometimes weren't being a fair mentor when he showed his rather blatant fondness of young Merlin. According to some stories, their relationship was almost like father-and-son. It was probably the reason why Merlin became a better wizard than even his mentors. Chances were, he was personally trained by Slytherin when no one was around."
"Damn, no wonder the Slytherins are so pigheaded about this," Harry muttered. Teddy had to agree, as he pictured his adoptive-brother's look, Albus Potter, whenever he boasted that Merlin was a Slytherin like himself.
"Did the guy have a friend the whole time he went to Hogwarts?" Sullivan asked. He seemed rather worried at the thought that Merlin had no friends, and Teddy could imagine already how Sullivan would be a great professor as Salazar Slytherin.
"Merlin only had one friend through out his whole life," Neil answered. "It was none other than his own pupil's older half-sister, Morgan Pendragon. You all probably know her as Morgan le Fay. While Merlin was a Slytherin, Morgan was a Ravenclaw. She too shared a very close relationship with a Founder, which was Rowena Ravenclaw herself. When Merlin graduated, Morgan asked whether he would come and be her half-brother's mentor. So, shortly after he graduated, Merlin left Hogwarts and went to Camelot, filling up the position as the young prince's mentor. Arthur, who was only eight, would always thank Morgan for sending Merlin, and it showed when he pardoned a lot of her crimes later when they were both adults. But, I believe that the siblings did love each other once upon a time. There were letters that Arthur sent to Morgan, from the moment she was still a student until the time she taught at Hogwarts, and the two seemed to be close. "
"You mean, Morgan was nice?" Griffiths interrupted. "She wasn't some vindictive witch who had a lot of angst growing up, which in turn made her the evil sorceress the stories always believed her to be? What changed her then?"
"She fell in love with Merlin, who fell in love with another woman," Harry answered, surprising both Teddy and Neil. The Auror rolled his eyes in return and pouted immaturely. "What? I asked Hermione about it when you came bounding into my home with the news. And believe it or not, I actually read some of the record about Merlin and Morgan. It's not that weird."
"It is that weird," Teddy muttered under his breath. If Harry heard it, he did a good job ignoring him.
"Damn, women are always the same," Griffiths whistled, chuckling a little. "So, she became evil because she was bitter that her crush fell in love with someone else, huh? Good ol' classic."
"Pretty much," Teddy said. "And somewhere along the way, she became really powerful that she was dubbed the most horrible practitioner of the Dark Arts. We had a war about three decades ago with an evil wizard that called himself the Dark Lord. But, after reading about Morgan and all the stuffs she could do, I don't think Voldemort could hold a candle. Voldemort had an army while Morgan did all her work by herself."
Sullivan looked like he wanted to say something, but it was almost a minute later when he spoke. "Anyway, I truly enjoy the story. It's very entertaining, really. And I understand what you two actually meant by telling us all this…secret story regarding Merlin. But seriously, there's just no way that I…that Godric and I – "
"That you and your best friend are reincarnated from Merlin's own mentors?" Harry drawled sarcastically, and Teddy wondered whether the fact that his son being best friends with Draco Malfoy's son had anything to do with Harry's newfound cynical attitude.
"Well, yeah," Sullivan scoffed. "I mean, we're not wizard. We would have known if we could do the slightest bit of magic. It's not like we're late-bloomers, right?"
"He does have a point," Teddy said, glancing at his best friend. After all, this was Neil's idea in the first place.
"Lupin, I told you we'll get there when we get there," Neil replied, closing his eyes in impatience. When he opened them again, he looked like he'd aged a decade. "And I know this is a lot to take in, but you guys have to trust us. I promise, I'll explain more about this, but you have to trust us first."
"Why do you need us anyway?" Griffiths questioned.
"The details aren't important, but the point is, we found that Morgan is coming back to wreck havoc unto the world in a few months or so. Neil here believes by bringing back the reincarnations of the Four Founders, Morgan can be stopped," Teddy said.
Teddy was a lot like his mother in a lot of way, meaning that he had less restrain than his father was when it came to cursing. But he was sure that even Ron Weasley, who was notorious for his potty-mouth, would cringe when he heard the string of profanities that escaped Griffiths. The soldier and his friend looked both amazed and scared at the same time. Teddy could only imagine what they were going through. To find out that they were actually reincarnated of someone who didn't only live over a millennium ago, but were also wizards, seemed too much to handle for anyone.
"You said the Four Founders," Sullivan said, breaking up the silence. Realisation flashed in those silver eyes of his as he and Griffiths shared a look. "You've already got two; Godric and Salazar. So, that means…"
Right at that moment, Sullivan's watch rang loudly. The lawyer paled slightly after he saw who was the caller, and Teddy noticed his finger was a little shaky when he pressed a button on his watch. Swallowing heavily, he greeted the caller in faux calmness. "Hello…Rowena."
"Sal?" a feminine voice was heard coming from Sullivan's watch in a whisper. There was loud crashing and screaming in the background, and when she spoke next she sounded really scared. "Salazar, can you hear me? Are you there?"
"Yes, I'm here," Sullivan answered firmly. Beside him, Godric stiffened as he went on what Teddy liked to think as his soldier-mode. "What's wrong, Ro? Where are you? Are you okay?"
"There was a loud explosion in my office, right out side of our entrance. Then there was this…zombie-like creatures bursting inside. There were so many of them, Sal. And they killed – "
A bone-chilling scream cut off her words, along with a loud bang that sounded far too close for comfort. Obviously, Sullivan thought so too because he started to scream to his watch. "Ro? Rowena! Rowena, answer me!"
"I'm f-fine. It's just…there was a zombie that landed a little too close to my assistant Helga. I- I don't think we can hold on much longer. There are only three of us left."
"I'm coming after you," Sullivan promised, rising off his seat at the same time Griffiths did. "Do you hear me, Ro? I'm coming after you. I promise."
"O-okay… Please hurry. My boss got hurt when tried to fight off the zombies. He's lost a lot of blood."
"Miss Rafferty, I'm fine. Seriously, I've had worse. And those aren't zombies."
Teddy thought he was the only one recognised the voice. But when he saw how Harry's eyes widened into epic proportion, he knew he was right.
"Malfoy!" Harry yelped. "Malfoy, is that you?"
"Why, hello, Potter," Draco Malfoy drawled from across the line. "What are you doing over there with my CEO's friend? I thought Head Aurors are supposed to be busy 24/7. Don't let Skeeter found out you've been slagging on your job, Scarhead."
"Oh, shut up, you git. We're coming to save your sorry arse now."
After Sullivan promised he'd come as quick as possible, he hung up and looked straight at Harry. For a lawyer, he seemed pretty intimidating when he narrowed his eyes in a way that kind of promised agony and death. "You wizards can travel fast with magic, right? Take us there with you."
"And don't say that it'll be too dangerous for us," Griffiths added rather threateningly. "I went through war, for god's sake. I'm used to danger."
"Fine," Harry said, shrugging carelessly but Teddy noticed a little smirk on his face. "But I warn you, travelling by Apparition will make you sick."
Teddy grabbed for Griffiths hand while Neil took Sullivan's. Seeing that everyone was familiar with Draco Malfoy and his multi-billion company that had branched to the Muggle world, they wasted no time and Apparated right away to his office, which was located on the fifty-sixth floor of his building. When they got there, the whole floor was in ruins and there were Inferi everywhere. From where he was, Teddy saw two female huddled around a man who Teddy knew could only be the world's richest wizard. He was about to send a spell toward one of the Inferi when Griffiths lurched forward violently.
And puked all over Teddy's shoes.
Way to go to start a rescue mission.
