Chapter 2
Hello Ducklings! I hope you've all been well, but I have chapter 2! I'm going with JK Rowling's idea of having Merlin be a Slytherin, I just like it. Please comment and enjoy everyone!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me; the only thing I own is the plot.
Merlin opened his eyes to find golden sunlight pouring through the open curtains. He groaned as his brain struggled to catch up to his body. He had always hated mornings, especially when he was forced to rise before the sun to cater to Arthur. Sighing, he chided himself for thinking about the past; it always made him rather sad for the rest of the day. Merlin sat up and forced himself out of bed. He stood up, stretched, and walking over to his robes he began to get dressed.
After centuries of living in different cultures, climbing mountains, and trekking through deserts, he had managed to acquire a better build than he had in Arthur's days. He was much better fed and had managed to build a decent amount of muscle on his still lean form. His stomach, once worryingly thin, had filled out enough to have the ghost of abs. His ribs no longer stuck out from the rest of his body, but were still quite visible as Merlin had never been able to build any fat on his body (much to his annoyance). His legs were strong enough to carry his body wherever he went and his arms were muscular enough to aid Merlin in whatever mountain he wanted to climb or river he wished to swim in.
He finished dressing in the plain wizarding robes, but even after all this time found them uncomfortable. Sighing, he undressed and pulled on a pair of form fitting jeans and a large Cal Poly sweatshirt. It had always been his favorite American college. Opening the door to his room, he walked down the hall; only getting lost once or twice on his way. He scanned his memories for the once intricately detailed mental map he had once created on the whole of Camelot, but found it muddled and great pieces lost to time. Even his great mind was unable to remember everything.
Once he reached the great hall, Merlin took his seat at the staff table; unfortunately next to the most unpleasant witch he had ever had the misfortune of meeting, Dolores Umbridge.
He offered her a small smile and a kind "good morning." He reached for the eggs and began to pile them on his gleaming plate.
"Good morning Professor Emrys" she greeted formally in her girly voice. He offered her another smile, but found it rather forced this time.
"I hope you understand that I will be dropping by the defense classes periodically" she said casually, but Merlin knew it was a warning, "I've found it the class that has fallen behind most in the past few years."
"Oh yes, I heard that that hack Lockhart taught a few years ago" answered Merlin with a sad shake of his head.
Umbridge looked scandalized, "Hack?! I would recommend you check your sources Professor Emrys. I was referring to the werewolf that was allowed within school grounds two years ago."
Merlin sighed and swallowed the bit of toast he had been chewing, "oh come now. I personally find werewolves fascinating. The fact that someone is a werewolf has nothing to do with their character or intelligence."
Umbridge huffed and shook her head, "you are very young Professor Emrys, and you seem to have much to learn."
Merlin felt his neutral expression slip into a frown. He knew many of the wizarding population had become very prejudiced, but he had never imagined meeting someone who gave off the vibe of hatred as much as the short woman next to him.
"Blimey, I'm starving" muttered Ron as they walked down to breakfast.
"You're always starving" answered Harry cheekily. Ron punched him lightly on the shoulder and they laughed. Hermione may find Ron's appetite disgusting but Harry found it entertaining. The topic had always been one he had enjoyed teasing his best friend about.
The pair entered the great hall and Hermione called them over. They sat next to her and looked up at the staff table. The new professor seemed to be talking with Umbridge.
"Blimey, I hope he's not one of those Ministry lackeys" Ron muttered through mouthfuls of bacon.
"Doubt it" muttered Harry, as he watched the professor's face slip into a frown and well concealed contempt at Umbridge's words.
"He's so young. I'm sure he's very smart," commented Hermione off handedly.
"Hermione" called Lavender from across the table. Their friend looked up in surprise, the Parvati twin didn't address her often.
"Do you think the new defence teacher is hot?" she asked, giggling with Lavender. Hermione looked scandalized, but kept quiet a small blush creeping across her pale face.
Ron elbowed Harry, "she's blushing." Hermione shot Ron an angry look before standing up and leaving the room.
"She really enjoys storming out of places doesn't she?" muttered Ron, shaking his head. Harry smiled and continued to chew his eggs quietly.
"So what'd you think of the new defense teacher?" he asked his friend, hoping for conversion.
"I dunno mate, he looks too young to be any good at teaching us, but he may be fun" Ron answered absentmindedly.
"The Slytherins are gonna have a field day" Harry said, pitying the new teacher. He glanced over to their table and saw Malfoy, who seemed to be imitating tripping over a long scarf. He rolled his eyes and focused back on his toast.
"So what do we have first?" asked Ron. Harry reached to his pocket to check, and found he had nothing there.
"Oi! Dean," he called across the table. His roommate looked up at him.
"Yeah?"
"What do we have first?"
"Transfiguration, I think."
"Well there you go" he said turning to Ron.
The two then finished their meals mostly in silence, occasionally casting a glare at the Slytherin table. Once they were done, they shuffled out of the hall with most of the other Gryffindors. Other than the fact that they had a new teacher it seemed like a completely normal day and Harry wanted to keep it that way. It was nice, even if it was only for a few hours, to feel...normal; to have a normal life and normal classes and normal peers. Even if he knew it wouldn't stay like that for long.
Merlin waited in his classroom, perched comfortably on top of his desk. He was waiting for his first class with the first year Hufflepuffs. He smiled to himself; he was lucky to get such an easy first class. He really wanted to make a good impression on the young mages, as he would be introducing them to the world of magic.
He was fingering through a book on medieval witch burnings when the first few students walked into the classroom. He glanced up and saw four young girls timidly glancing around.
"Oh! Hello!" he called out cheerily, "please pick any seat and don't worry you don't need to take anything out right now." The four girls shuffled off and sat one next to the other three rows from the front.
He continued to read the book, sighing as he came across another inaccurate fact. He was feeling the need to send a letter to the publishers at this point. Glancing up again he saw that the entire room had already been completely filled with nervous looking students.
"Well hello class! I'm Professor Emrys and I will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. As you all know there are what we call good wizards and bad wizards...but you see that is not always the case. Although we aren't here to discuss that, we're here to learn to defend ourselves against what we perceive as bad wizards...yes?" He smiled at a young boy who was timidly raising his hand.
"W-well, how can there be wizards who aren't good or bad?" he asked quietly, fidgeting nervously.
Merlin smiled good-naturedly at the boy, "Good people will make bad decisions and bad people will make good decisions. You see, the world isn't black or white...good or evil, there are grays and blues and pinks and no one person is only one color. We need not waste time arguing about what a good man should be, just who we ourselves want to be." The class stared at him with a mix of confusion and interest.
"I believe it is time to get started. I think we should start with a rather simple spell. Please take out your wands." There was a rustling as the students did was they were told.
"Now" he turned and drew a looped line on the board, "practice this movement for a few minutes please." He watched as they began with jerky movements, which after a few moments became much more fluid.
"Good! Now please repeat after me, Lumos." There was a chorus of young voices as they recited the spell.
"Wonderful! Now combine the wand movement with the words and let's see what happens!" The Hufflepuffs gave him worried looks, but hesitantly did as he said. Most of the class's wands lit at the tip, except for one young girl who turned red as she noticed she was the only one who had failed.
Merlin smiled happily, "wonderful! But remember the wand movement has to be fluid, not shaky. Don't be nervous!" The girl realized that this was aimed at her smiled, happy that he hadn't called her out in front of the rest of her house.
"Now again!" The class chorused once more and every person's wand lit up this time.
"Marvelous!" he exclaimed, feeling extremely proud of his class.
"Now repeat after me, Nox" The class's wand were extinguished and the bell rang only a few moments after.
"Your homework is to practice the spell we learned today! Have a good day!" The class got up and left the room, chatting happily.
Merlin smiled. He was going to like this job.
Sorry if not much plot happened in this chapter. This was a filler chapter, but I had a lot of fun writing about Merlin teaching. I always thought he would be a talented teacher, but also kind and understanding.
Right now I'm leaning for no Gwen. It really just doesn't fit with the plot I have laid out. Although, Morgana may be returning for a final battle with Merlin. I'm not sure about that yet.
Regarding updates: I've been working on this story for a while now so I have at least the outline of the first ten chapters or so. The updates will normally be weekly for a while, but once I run out of pre written chapters it will take longer to get them up. I'm trying to make them longer, maybe 2000-3000 words per chapter and I know this one falls just a bit short of that but please understand that this was a filler chapter. I am still a student and my life will be extremely chaotic for a while so there may be large gaps between chapters. The only reason this one is coming up early is due to the positive response I received regarding the first chapter (and I'm quite sick right now so why not). I would rather publish quality chapters once a month then shorter, chapters that I'm less than proud of once a week and I hope you all will agree with me on this.
I'm so glad that I've received positive response to the story so far! You all have been so kind and supportive. While I will never be one of those authors that threatens to stop the story if people don't review enough, I will say that all your reviews definitely inspire me to write more so thank you all so much!
