Chapter Two

Merlin hummed to himself happily as he walked through the corridor, drinking in the familiar environment. True, he hadn't set foot in Hogwarts in nigh on 400 years, but he was a busy man with people to see and places to be. Coming back to the same school every century would get dull eventually, even one as magnificent as Hogwarts.

Still, he couldn't deny that the feeling of being surrounded by magic, which was as much a part of him as his ancient beating heart, warmed him to the core. The whole castle, from the foundations of the dungeons to the looming towers, was saturated in it. Merlin had initially been dismayed to watch as people slowly became less and less receptive to the magic of the old religion. It wasn't like the power had diminished, after all he was a creature of the old religion; if the strength of the old ways had faded Merlin wasn't sure where that would leave him. Over time, sorcerers found themselves unable to wield magic in its raw form, resorting instead to channeling the basic energy through sticks.

Well. Not sticks… wands.

Sometimes Merlin thought about the concept of the wand - to someone like him it was a strange thing to understand, but if he had to compare them to anything it would be Gilly's ring, which had served to amplify the boy's virtually non-existent magical ability into something with substance. Despite his misgivings, he soon discovered that he delighted in waving a stick around dramatically, even if the first endeavour of forcing his power through a wand had resulted in the explosion of half a building.

Acceptance of this new form of magic reminded him of the long and tedious hours spent slaving away in Gaius' chambers, painstakingly bent over dusty volumes as he attempted to teach himself control of his own magic, rather than only relying on his instinct. Watching the formation of modern magical society filled him with pride, although he was saddened by the secrecy which the wizards had confined themselves to.
The rise of Voldemort, of course, had changed his feelings about that. He found himself relieved that those without magic had not seen the poisonous, ugly misuse of power that had occurred in those dark years. Just remembering that snake-faced, egotistical, ignorant, disgusting excuse for a wizard filled Merlin's body with such seething anger that he frightened himself. Such atrocities against his own kind… such prejudice, he had never witnessed since the reign of Uther. The scale of terror that one evil boy could bring had shook Merlin, almost into action. He had yearned to dive into battle, eyes blazing gold, delivering righteous punishment, coated in ash and blood and-

No.

No. Merlin shivered. The monster he would have turned into, after so long spent distracting himself with whimsical adventures to prevent a slow descent into madness through his own loneliness and grief, was too irritating to think about.

So he didn't.

He never spent long in his own memories and thoughts if he could help it, there was a large danger that he would lose himself to the insanity and the darkness that he was more than aware existed within him.

Instead, he focused on the task at hand. Teaching. With this new brighter train of thought, Merlin could feel his face spread into one of his signature clumsy grins. After his application for the post had been received and accepted by Dumbledore, he'd barely been able to contain his enthusiasm. It was ridiculous really, such an old man getting so happy over a teaching post where he would inevitably have to deal with the cockiness and attitude of children barely out of their teething stage. But Merlin had been alone for so long now that the opportunity to engage with new minds, even if to tolerate their cheekiness, was a welcome one.

Of course, he hadn't simply decided to apply for the job on impulse. There was a reason to his sudden involvement in the world, which he no longer really felt that he was part of anymore. That reason was a young 14 year old boy named Harry Potter, who he had just had the pleasure of bumping into. Quite literally.

The boy was not the only reason he had returned; that would be creepy to say the least. It wasn't an urge to interact with the teenager, who frankly had enough on his plate without an old warlock stalking him on top of everything. It was a primal feeling deep in Merlin's soul. It was the first time in a millennia that Merlin had felt so compelled to watch events from a closer area than the sidelines; that he had felt such a need to act on instinct.

He knew that he could help Harry. And from what he'd seen, Dumbledore was being frustratingly obscure as far as guidance went. In fact, the headmaster was almost as cryptic and unhelpful as Kilgarrah had been.
Merlin turned the corner, too busy reminiscing the dragon's many infuriating and vague statements about "destiny" and "coins" that he failed to notice the tall dark figure directly in front of him.

For the second time in half an hour, Merlin crashed into someone.

That "someone" had turned out to be the sneering, black-haired potions master, Professor Snathe. No, wait. Merlin closed his eyes momentarily against the sight of his latest victim, who had smoothly stood and was currently sending venomous glares down at him. That wasn't quite right. Slate? Snake?

The potions master continued to shoot daggers at Merlin, who remained sprawled ungainly on the stone floor with his brow furrowed as he tried in vain to recall the man's name. Sprout? No, no that was the lovely herbology teacher.

"Snape!" Merlin exclaimed suddenly, leaping to his feet. "Professor Snape! Of course, I'm so sorry."

Professor Snape was unamused. The corner of his mouth curled in distaste as his black eyes raked over the combination of shabby muggle clothes, the beaming smile and unruly hair.

"Mr Emrys I presume."

Merlin ignored the cold emphasis that Snape put on the Mister, choosing instead to nod and straighten out his shirt. "Yes I am, and I'm so sorry for running into you."

Snape ignored him. "We've been waiting in the staff room, but you're late. I will take you there."

Merlin smiled again, undeterred by his cold reception, and was forced to jog slightly to keep up with the imposing figure. After turning a few corners at a brisk pace, they reached a large oak door, which automatically opened at their arrival. The smell of fresh herbal tea hit Merlin as he entered the room, his sour-faced companion just ahead of him.

The room was small, but brightly lit and warm. The entire space mainly seemed to be occupied by armchairs and ornate coffee tables.
The members of staff were all clustered around a large fire, each had a squishy comfortable armchair of their own and all were engaged in conversation. At his arrival, the talking halted and immediately one of the teachers, who had been sitting on a plush tartan armchair, primly walked across to meet him. Her grey hair was neatly tied in a severe bun which rested under a pointed hat and she had a kind yet stern face, lined with age. Merlin recognised her as Professor McGonagall. She smiled tightly and offered her hand to him, which he took with a wide smile and shook. She had small hands and her bones were prominent with age.

At his easy smile, she seemed to soften. "Good evening, Professor Emrys. Welcome to Hogwarts, we're very pleased to have you."
"And I'm pleased to be here, thank you." He returned, withdrawing his hand and thinking that his mother would be proud of his manners. Hunith was never one for rudeness.

"We were beginning to wonder if you'd fallen through a trap door and gotten lost, Professor." She continued with a smile as the staff members began to file out of the room, heading towards the Great Hall and the first Hogwarts feast of the year.

He laughed, "I'm really sorry about my tardiness, I'm afraid I lost track of time."

Professor McGonagall nodded in understanding, "That's quite alright, you managed to arrive before the students. If you would just follow the other teachers to the hall, I need to go and meet the first years in preparation for the sorting. I'm sure we'll have time to talk later."

"Of course, Professor. Thank you."

With a final exchange, Merlin joined the other teachers in the procession to the hall, smiling the entire way.

A/N: Okay, I'd really like to say thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, they were lovely and really encouraging. Actually succeeded in encouraging me to write. For the person who asked how frequent my updates would be, i can guarantee that they won't be as frequent as this one. The reason i updated so fast was because i have exams really soon, so i'll need to go and study and yeah. Its going to be a while until the next? Unless i decide to procrastinate (as usual). But i'll say maybe a week in between chapters? no promises. and of course it depends on how you guys feel about where its all going. Sorry about this long prattle, hopefully you found this chapter okay. And as usual, feel free to point out any weirdness/mistakes, thank you