Some quote were taken from Merlin.
"Merlin, get up," Arthur hissed. "The centaurs are coming and I would prefer not to die again."
"What's Merlin going to go?" Ron whispered. They were all going to die and Merlin wouldn't be able to save them.
"Do you remember what he said about centaurs?" Ron shook his head. "They respect him. Merlin, get up."
Merlin's head snapped up as he heard the sound of their hooves getting closer and closer. Merlin stood and walker closer to the noise, positioning himself in front of the others. The centaurs would have to go through him before they got to the others.
"Identify yourselves," one of the centaurs commanded.
"Bane, they are children," another centaur said, either unable to see Professor Flitwick or confusing him for a child.
"Quiet Firenze," Bane spat. "Identify yourselves."
Merlin took a step forward. "I am Emrys," Merlin announced. "With me are Professor Flitwick, Ron Weasley and…" he paused, "Arthur Pendragon"
"You dare claim to be Emrys," Bane hissed. "You dare insult us claiming that boy is the Once and Future King."
Another centaur shot an arrow at them. Merlin' eyes flashed gold and the arrow disintegrated. "I claim nothing. I am Emrys, the last of the Dragonlords. And that is Arthur Pendragon, former king of Camelot." His eyes flashed gold again and the bows flew out of the centaur's hands.
"Emrys," they all gasped.
The centaurs in the back bowed their heads. "You have returned," Bane noted.
"I have," Merlin agreed. "The unicorns," he gestured to the dead unicorn. "What happened?"
"There are dark things in the castle," Firenze said.
"You mean Voldemort." It wasn't a question.
"You know," Bane said surprised.
"That Voldemort is somewhere in the castle? Yes, I know that. I also know about the Sorcerer's Stone," Merlin told him.
"You don't know," Bane realized. "The Dark Lord is in the castle yes, but you don't know that he is possessing one of the professors." His eyes flickered to Flitwick.
Ron gasped beside them. Bane glanced at him in surprise, as if he hadn't seen him there before. "You bring a boy here Emrys?"
"He can be trusted," Merlin said firmly.
"He's human," Bane scoffed. "He cannot be trusted."
"He's just a child," Firenze protested.
Merlin moved in front of Ron. "I am human too. In case you have forgotten."
"You have a duty to all magical beings," Bane said gritting his teeth. "As the child born of magic you have a duty to those of the Old Religion, not to these humans, in case you've forgotten."
The leaves rustled around them and a breeze picked up. Flitwick could feel the magic in the air, and so could the others. Flitwick tried to go to Merlin, he was after all responsible for him, but Arthur held him back.
"Leave him be," Arthur whispered. "If he becomes out of control, I will jump in."
The centaurs shivered at the magic in the air. A few glanced at Bane, unsure what to do. Their bows were held limply at their sides.
"Enough," a new voice said stepping forward.
Gold eyes darted over to the new voice, a voice Merlin recognized. "Torvus," Merlin said. The breeze died down.
"Hello Emrys," Torvus, the clan leader, greeted. "It's been a while. Please forgive Bane. He takes protecting our clan seriously, to the point of stupidity."
Arthur snickered and Torvus turned his attention to the former king. "Hello Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther."
"You know me?" Arthur asked.
"I know of you," Torvus corrected. "You brought magic back to Albion. You will find there are not many that don't know of you." Arthur blushed while Torvus rounded on the others. "Leave us," he commanded.
"But Torvus," Bane protested.
"But nothing," Torvus interrupted. "Without Emrys we would not have the Forbidden Forest to call home. You are doing a poor job at repaying that kindness. Now all of you, leave. Emrys and I have much to discuss." The others left, albeit reluctantly. Bane was the last to go. "I apologize for them," Torvus stated. "They grew up hearing stories about you but I don't think they understand just what you've done for us."
"No apologies are necessary," Merlin said. He glanced at the unicorn. "What can you tell us?"
"Bane filled you in everything we knew," Torvus said. "We know the Dark Lord is in the castle. We know he has to be possessing a professor due to his size."
"Possession," Merlin said sharply. Torvus nodded. Merlin ran a hand through his messy hair. "That changes things."
"What do you mean?" Ron asked. He shrank back when Torvus looked at him.
"Possession will kill the host body," Merlin explained. "The amount of time it will take depends. I imagine the unicorn blood is slowing the decay. If whoever this is has been possessed since the beginning of term then they won't last the rest of the year."
"You are certain?" Flitwick asked.
"Yes Profe—" Merlin trailed off, remembering something he was told by Professor Flitwick not too long ago. "Do you remember what you said about Snape and the Dark Magic being the magic I felt in his arm?" Flitwick nodded. "And when I mentioned the Dark Magic in Quirrell's head?" Another nod. "I thought it meant Quirrell was working for Voldemort but what if… what if Quirrell is the one possessed and I'm sensing Voldemort himself?"
"Son of a bitch," Arthur shouted. "I'll kill him."
"Arthur be reasonable," Merlin said rolling his eyes. "He was hit with a rebounding killing curse and is still alive. What do you think you're going to do?"
"Merlin, there are children in the castle," Arthur said.
"I know that Arthur," Merlin snapped. "Right now, he hasn't done anything. If I make a move against him, I put everyone in the castle in danger. Gah!" His eyes flashed gold and a tree exploded. He sunk to the ground.
"Emrys, you're too hard on yourself," Torvus said gently. "You will know what to do when the time comes."
"You're about as helpful as Kilgharrah," Merlin joked. Torvus rolled his eyes as Merlin stood.
Merlin turned to Flitwick. "What do you think?"
"As much as it pains me to admit, you're right, so for Voldemort has done nothing. I think we should wait for now. I have no doubt that the Headmaster is aware of Voldemort's presence," Flitwick said.
"So, we wait," Arthur said unhappy.
"So, we wait," Merlin agreed, equally unhappy. He glanced at the unicorn again. "Torvus, do you remember all those years ago when you said you owed me?"
"I do," Torvus said slowly.
"I want to call in that favor," Merlin announced. "Will you tell me if Voldemort returns for the unicorns?"
"I will," Torvus vowed. "How will I get word to you?"
Merlin snapped his fingers. Mipsy popped in immediately. "Master Emrys," Mipsy squeaked. Mipsy yelped when she saw where they were.
"Mipsy, I have a favor to ask you," Merlin started. "When Torvus calls you about the unicorns, I need you to find me immediately and let me know. Don't be seen by anyone but Arthur, Professor Flitwick or Ron. Can you do that?"
"Yes Master Emrys. Mipsy will do whatever she can do to help," Mipsy promised.
"Thank you." Merlin turned to Torvus. "Is that acceptable?"
"Yes. If anymore unicorns are found dead I will call for the elf," Torvus told him.
Mipsy returned to the castle. "We need to head back," Professor Flitwick stated. "It's late."
"Professor, can you levitate the unicorn?" Merlin requested. Professor Flitwick was confused. "Bane was right. I am responsible for all magical beings. It is my duty to give this unicorn a proper burial."
Professor Flitwick pulled out his wand and gently lifted the unicorn. Merlin's eyes flashed gold and the ground cracked open. With another flash of gold the dirt moved to the side leaving an empty grave. Professor Flitwick lowered the unicorn and Merlin moved the dirt back to cover it. With one last flash of gold he made several flowers appeared over the grave.
Torvus watched in silence. This was one of the many reasons he respected Emrys. He treated all magical beings the same. It didn't matter if to Emrys if they were human or not. Everyone was equal to him, even house elves which weren't considered slaves to other witches and wizards.
It was the same for Arthur Pendragon. The man brought magic back to Albion. It was because of him that his clan had a chance to live. Without Arthur, Emrys never would have been able to bring them to the Forbidden Forest.
"Merlin," Professor Flitwick called. "We need to go."
"Right," Merlin agreed. "Torvus, if you need anything, my name in this life is Harry Potter."
Torvus laughed. "Harry Potter, of course," he said. "I should have known. Go Emrys. I'm sure we will see each other again."
Professor Flitwick escorted the three boys back to Gryffindor Tower. It was after curfew.
"How much trouble are you going to be in?" Arthur asked the professor.
"I… don't know," Professor Flitwick said slowly. "The Headmaster won't fault the three of you for being curious and no one was hurt."
"Is there a chance Hagrid won't say anything?" Ron asked.
Professor Flitwick snorted. "You obviously don't know Hagrid very well. He's a sweet man but he cannot keep a secret to save his life. I imagine if you three spent more time with him then you would have learned about the Sorcerer's Stone from him."
They stood outside the portrait of the Fat Lady. "You two go in," Merlin told Ron and Arthur. "I would like to speak to Professor Flitwick for a minute."
Ron went inside. Arthur glanced between the two before following Ron inside. "I'm sorry," Merlin said. "My actions may have gotten you into trouble and I'm sorry about that."
"Merlin I'm not angry," Professor Flitwick promised. "Even though I know who you are, sometimes I forget what that means. You're not just an eleven-year-old kid. You have a duty to magic itself."
Merlin nodded. "The unicorns, they are innocent. They're the purest creatures. To know that Voldemort is killing them. It angers me and when I'm angry things tend to go badly as I'm sure Arthur will tell you."
Professor Flitwick put a hand on Merlin's arm. "You're not alone Merlin. I'm here for you."
"Thank you Professor," Merlin said. "For everything you have done for me."
Merlin stepped through the portrait. Arthur and Ron were sitting in front of the fine, waiting for him. Arthur jumped up when he caught sight of Merlin. "Everything okay?" Arthur questioned.
"Fine," Merlin told him. "I just wanted to apologize for getting him in trouble."
He nodded. "So, what are we going to do?"
Merlin looked around the room. There were a couple of older students doing homework but no one was paying attention to them. "I don't know. If I confront him it's just going to end with innocent people dead," Merlin said with a sigh. "Even if I could kill him I wouldn't be able to. I don't have the power for that."
"You're Merlin. How can you not have the power to take on Voldemort?" Ron exclaimed.
"My body is eleven," Merlin reminded him. "While I have the knowledge and power, my body can't handle it and it makes me weak. On top of that we don't know how he is staying alive. I can't risk dueling him when I can't stop him."
"So not even Merlin can beat the Dark Lord," Ron said shaking his head.
"I can hold my own," Merlin said. "But I can't kill him, not till I find out what's keeping him alive. And he can't kill me."
"Do you think anyone knows the killing curse literally bounced off you?" Arthur questioned.
"I would imagine so," Merlin said thoughtfully. "Though I know they don't know why. I'm sure they think it has less to do with me and more to do with Voldemort."
"Do all killing curses bounce off you or just Voldemort's?" Ron asked curious.
"All of them," Merlin answered. "I can still feel pain but any attempt to kill me will be ineffective. For instance, a cutting curse to the neck will cause me to bleed but I will never die from it."
"So all those times you almost died…" Arthur said slowly.
"Probably wouldn't have died," Merlin said cheerfully.
Arthur shook his head and started mumbling under his breath. "We should head to bed," Ron suggested.
The three trekked upstairs. They quickly changed and collapsed into their beds.
While Merlin slept, he dreamed of the past. He missed aspects of his past but there were things he would never miss.
In this dream he was face to face with Morgana. Arthur was on the ground to his left, dying from the wound Mordred had inflicted while Morgana taunted him.
"You lost Emrys," Morgana said gleefully. "As we speak my army is taking over Camelot. Soon I will be Queen."
"You won't win," Merlin disagreed. "It's my destiny to beat you."
Morgana laughed. She was no longer the sweet girl he befriended. She was a monster. "I blame myself for what you've become," Merlin said sadly. "But this has to end."
"I'm a High Priestess," Morgana scoffed. "No mortal blade can kill me."
Merlin plunged Excalibur into her chest. "This is no mortal blade. This is a blade, forged in dragon's breath." He withdrew the sword. "Goodbye Morgana."
The dream changed. Morgana didn't fall to the ground. Instead, she stood there. Blood poured from the wound in her chest. Merlin looked at her face. Blood was dripping from her mouth. It was all wrong.
"You failed Emrys," Morgana said. She laughed. "Arthur is dead and soon everyone else you love will be gone."
The bodies of Ron, Professor Flitwick, Gauis, Gwen and Arthur were on the ground, covered in blood.
"No," Merlin protested. "This isn't real."
Morgana cackled loudly, morphing into Voldemort. "You have failed Merlin," he whispered. "I failed once but I won't fail again. Soon, very soon, the end will come."