Chapter &

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Morgan Le Fey watched as Harry and Bellatrix were drilled by Sauron. The magic they would be learning from her would be demanding, and they needed to be in good physical condition to learn, not to mention that until they learned what she taught or acquired new wands, the swords they were currently practicing with would be their only defense besides their fist.

And she wouldn't put it past that bastard Merlin to take advantage of their weakness to take them out.

It was hard to believe she once looked up to the wizard. He had even offered to take her as an apprentice when she got older back when she was a child.

Before Uther ruined her family, with Merlin's help.

She was the daughter of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall and Duchess Igraine. Gorlois had, along with Merlin, fought alongside Uther when he fought Vortigern for the crown and had been a member of Uther's court. Unfortunately, Uther lusted after her mother.

Uther laid siege to her home, her father's fortress. And for three month's Uther waged a war with her father, simply so he could fuck her mother, consenting or not. Hundreds died because Uther had a cold prick, and only wanted her mother to warm it. Then Merlin, and his damned greater good, showed up. With the excuse that the means justified the end, Merlin sought to end the death that the fight between Uther and her father had caused.

After luring her father out, he cast a spell upon Uther, rendering him in a likeness of her father. Then, in her father's absence, Uther had come into her home in the likeness of her beloved father. It was a likeness that only she, as another magical, had been able to see through. She had tried to warn her mother, but Uther had pushed her out of the room before she could.

That night, Arthur was conceived, and her father was murdered by Uther's men.

Nine month's later, Igraine died giving birth to her half-brother, Uther's son.

She had nothing against Arthur, it wasn't his fault that her family had been destroyed, she laid that squarely at the feet of Merlin and Uther. In fact, had Arthur been allowed to remain with her, she probably would have supported him, despite Merlin.

But to have him taken away, and educated by Merlin...Arthur had become the symbol of her hatred. Son of Uther, student of and advised by Merlin, the two people she hated most in the world.

So she taught herself magic, learning from many sources, so that she could take her vengeance on the embodiment of her enemies. Her greatest teacher had been Queen Mab of the Fae, who had also been Merlin's enemy.

She didn't actually hate Arthur, in fact she thought he was a great man. He was a little idealistic, but everyone had their flaws.

Smiling as she watched her students practice, Morgan Le Fey turned to begin the preparations for their first lesson.

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"Dead," Sauron said for the eighth time, as his dulled practice blade was held against Harry's throat. Pulling the blade back, Sauron took up a ready stance several steps away and said, Again," before launching into another attack.

Harry glared at the goblin, and he held back his smirk.

He liked this human. He had fire in his blood, and was stubborn as hell

A few feet away, one of Sauron's weapon masters shouted, "Dead!" for the twelfth time, signaling that the other human, the woman, had lost...again.

It was to expected of course, he thought as he engaged Harry again, the goblin's training method wasn't called 'Thousand Deaths' for no reason. It was a brutal, but effective method of training, that forced the student to learn on his own. With each match, the student was expected to watch his opponent and learn from his success and mistakes. No verbal rebuke was necessary, the student either learned, and persevered, where the only incentive necessary was the desire not to lose once more. Or the student quit.

As Sauron stabbed Harry in the chest with the blunted tip of his blade, hard enough to guarantee a bruise, and said, "Dead," once more, he was pleased to see the spark of determination light up in his pupil's eyes.

Oh yes, he liked this human.

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Bellatrix collapsed in her bed, utterly exhausted and sore.

She resented being trained by goblins, they were below her as a pure-blood witch after all. Unfortunately there wasn't anything she could do about it, she had no wand, and Le Fey would certainly harm her if, should she actually have her wand, she harmed the goblins via magic. She may have been locked up in Azkaban, but that didn't mean she was a complete idiot.

There was a reason Morgan Le Fey had the reputation she did, even a thousand years later.

She winched as, turning to lay on her back, she put pressure an a newly received bruise.

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4 Weeks Later

"Now that you two have been sufficiently prepared, physically, it is time for you to begin learning what I have to teach you," Morgan said, sitting in front of her two students.

4 weeks of 'Thousand Deaths' and other physical exercise had helped the two apprentices build some muscle and endurance. And while neither Harry nor Bellatrix had yet to score a hit on their goblin teachers, they were at least able to last longer than a few seconds against them now. The continuation of the regime would only help their bodies more.

"What exactly are we learning? Bellatrix asked suspiciously.

Morgan smiled as she answered. Bellatrix was clearly not used to not being in control, and it grated on the witches nerves. Morgan just found it amusing. Harry on the other hand, he took to training without protest, and though he didn't speak up much, she could tell he was still forming his judgment. "You will, at this time, begin learning the basics of blood magic," Morgan said happily. "But before you can use blood magic, you must be able to access your own magical core and inner life force on demand."

"Inner life force?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Morgan explained. "Your inner life force is, basically, a counter, of how much time you have left. Blood magic, uses your own life force, or the life force of others, to perform powerful magic. After you are able to access your magic and life force, I will teach you how to absorb another's life force into your own. Should you not absorb another's life force, your own will be reduced every time you use blood magic, shortening your own life the more you use it. You be be able to also transfer your life force to another, healing them or prolonging their life, which is what I did to both of you upon your arrival here."

Harry looked nervous, no doubt he was uncomfortable with taking another's life force, while Bellatrix looked intrigued.

"How exactly do we access our life force?" Bellatrix asked.

"That is something we will cover after dinner," Morgan answered with a smirk.

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After dinner, as Morgan lead him and Bellatrix to another room, Harry began to feel uncomfortable. He couldn't explain it, and he had no idea that Bellatrix was beginning to feel the same way.

Morgan lead them into a room with no window, covered in runes. The ceiling, floor, all four walls, and even the door, were covered in runic symbols. "After you," Le Fey instructed.

Bellatrix went into the room first, followed only a moment later by Harry.

Only for Morgan to slam and lock the door behind them.

"What the..?" Harry yelled.

Bellatrix growled. "MORGAN!"

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The Next Morning

"What happened?" Harry groaned as he woke up.

"I would think that was obvious," Bellatrix growled, causing Harry to snap up. To find a very naked Bellatrix sitting in the corner of the room, and to realize that he was also naked. Suddenly memories of last night came rushing back to him, causing him to blush heavily.

"Le Fey gave us a timed delayed lust potion with our meal, a very strong one I might add," Bellatrix continued. "And judging from the room we're in, I imagine we just went through a ritual of some sort, though what, I have no idea. I don't recognize many of the runes."

"Correct," Morgan said from the doorway, causing the two apprentices to stand up.

"What did you do to us?" Bellatrix demanded angrily.

Morgan smirked. "I ensured that neither of you would harm the other," she explained. "I have seen both of your minds. I know neither of you trust the other, and that you will have problems working together because of this. Yes, you may have been willing to work with the other, for various reasons, but I'm under no delusions that you would harm each other, given the proper provocation."

"What did you do?" Bellatrix demanded again, this time in a growl.

"I bound your lives together. If one of you dies, you both die. I can remove it of course, but I will only do so once I am sure that you both trust each other with your lives," Morgan said smugly. "Which means that now, I can teach you how to access your life force."

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