"Tell us everything you know. Spare no details."
"Do we really have to tell this story again? This'll be the third time," Ron complained.
"Not only have I spared your lives, but I am also the Prince of Camelot. You'll treat me with respect and do as I say. Now sorcerers, tell us how you got here."
Harry realized it would be futile to argue with this man, so he cooperated.
"This is going to sound mad, it is mad, but I think we're from the future. We were born in the twentieth century, we're eighteen, and we attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We were on our way to visit a friend of ours when we found Malfoy at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and decided to go talk to him," Harry explained.
"You decided to talk to him, we wanted to go to Hagrid's," Hermione interrupted. "You know what, maybe I should tell it to avoid your obvious bias. Anyways, we were speaking with Malfoy when all of a sudden there was this explosion of blinding light. The next thing we knew we were in your forest and he was bleeding. We decided to walk until we found people, and we found you. You have to believe we mean no harm, in our time magic isn't a crime."
Arthur huffed at them and shook his head, "These sorcerer's are insane. This is the biggest pile of lies I've ever heard." He looked to Merlin, hoping he would agree with him, but his servant was not as skeptical.
"Alright," Merlin said, ignoring Arthur. "Prove it."
Hermione jumped into action. The first thing she did was remove her left shoe and hold it out. "Ever seen a shoe like this? A shoe with soles and nylon laces and fake leather? I bet you haven't, because it was made in 1997."
The scowl on Arthur's face vanished and his eyes widened with wonder. He brushed past Merlin and took it to examine for himself. "I've never seen anything like this," he mumbled, flipping it over and running his fingers over every inch. He handed it back to Merlin, and he got serious again. "But I'd like to see more proof of these outlandish claims."
That was when Harry remembered his watch. He took it off and handed it over to Arthur.
"What is that?" Merlin asked, peeking his head over Arthur's shoulder.
"It's called a watch. It tells the time every second of each day. They were invented in the 17th century, I believe," Harry explained.
"I can't believe it, Arthur I think they're telling the truth. Have you ever seen such a thing?" Merlin asked.
Arthur shook his head no; he grew pale as he realized that this was not a whacky, elaborate scheme. "I-I don't know. I've experienced insanities before, but time travel? That's so far fetched I can't even wrap my head around it."
"But one thing is certain, King Uther should not know about this. He won't react well to four teenage sorcerers sent from the future. Do you agree Arthur?" Gaius said. Arthur took a look at Merlin, who seemed to be on board with keeping them secret, and let out a sigh of discontent.
"Fine, but if they make one wrong move I won't hesitate to go to my father. We'll get to the bottom of whatever is going on here, but it's getting late and I've had enough of this day. Merlin, with me," He said, turning on his heel to march out the door.
"Hold on," Merlin said. "Where are they going to stay? We can't put them in any guest rooms and leaving them at an inn would be foolish."
"Do you want us to sleep in the woods then?" Ron quipped, Harry could tell he was tired of them acting like they weren't even there: Harry was tired of it too.
"Actually-" Arthur began like he was considering it. Merlin cut him off before he could continue.
"No, no. Don't listen to anything he says, he's a dollophead. Hold tight, I have an idea," He shoved past Arthur and ran off down the hall to do whatever he needed to do. Arthur puffed his mouth in irritation, but said nothing. Awkward silence festered in the room. Arthur refused to make eye contact with Harry or anyone, not even Gaius. Harry could feel his dislike for them across the room. He wanted to ask so many questions about Camelot and Arthur, but he was terrified he would say something wrong and be thrown in the dungeons, so he remained silent and stared at his shoelaces like they were the most interesting thing in the world.
"Do you think they know we're gone?" Ron asked out of the blue.
"Huh?" Harry said.
"We've been here for awhile now mate, do you think people at Hogwarts have noticed we've disappeared? You think they'll go to Hogsmeade without us? What if we can't get back and they forget about us forever?" Ron elaborated, looking like he was in the middle of an existential crisis; to be fair, he probably was. "What if time there has stopped altogether?" Harry just shrugged, he'd been trying hard not to think about all that, and he wasn't going to start now. It was too mentally taxing.
Hermione, on the other hand, tried to be more helpful. She grabbed his hand and rubbed his back gently. "Don't torture yourself Ronald. We can't control what's happening back at home, we can only control what's happening here. If time hasn't stopped, then I'm sure they'll notice we're gone and look for us. And your mum will make sure we're not forgotten, no need to worry about that. Just...don't think about it, it's easier that way."
"Now I'm thinking 'bout me mum again!"
That's when Merlin reentered the room with a girl in tow. She was very cute, with dark curly hair, a freckled nose, and warm brown eyes. Although, she didn't look very happy to be there. "Merlin what have you brought me here for? I'm busy!" Her eyes landed on Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and she froze.
"You're roping Gwen into this?!" Arthur exclaimed, throwing his hands up in anger.
"Merlin what am I getting roped into? Who are these people with strange pants?" Gwen asked with alarm.
"Nothing! Well, something, but it's really important and I don't know who else would help us," Merlin said. Before she could say anything or walk out, Merlin began introductions. "Guenivere, this is Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Harry, Hermione, Ron, this is Gueniviere."
Gwen examined them with uncertain eyes. "Uh, hello," She said timidly.
"Hi," They replied in unison.
"Merlin, explain what's going on please," Gwen said, gazing at Hermione with curiosity.
"To keep it simple, these four teenagers are wizards-" Merlin tried to explain, but he was cut off.
"Sorcerers!" Gwen gasped, backing away from them. "What are they doing here? Arthur!"
"I'm aware. I'm not happy either, but let Merlin explain," Arthur said in a calm voice. Merlin gave him a nod of appreciation and continued.
"They're from very far away, they don't know the customs of Camelot. It would be unfair to arrest them, they didn't know magic is outlawed. Our problem is that we need to hide them from Uther, and they need a place to stay for the night. We'd send them to the inn, but they stick out like sore thumbs and we don't want them running about without supervision."
"We're eighteen you know, not children," Ron muttered under his breath, but Merlin didn't hear.
"So what, your plan is to make me hide sorcerers from the King? How could this possibly turn out well?"
"It'll turn out worse if Uther finds them and kills four people who have committed no crime."
"Magic is a crime," Arthur mumbled, smirking at Merlin's little eye roll.
"Not relevant. Please Gwen, I wouldn't have gone to you with this if it weren't necessary," Merlin said.
"It may be necessary, but is it safe?" Gwen asked. Merlin's silence gave the answer away. But Gwen looked at the three and sighed. "I mean...I guess they don't look that dangerous."
"We're not," Harry said, "I promise."
She contemplated for a little while longer before stomping her foot and groaning with exasperation. "Alright Merlin! I'll help you! But only because you're my friend and I trust you. I can't take all of them though, I only have enough room for two other people in my home."
"We'll do it!" Hermione and Ron exclaimed before Harry could get a word in. He was unsure why they were so eager to stay with Gwen, but he was fine with it.
Gwen was a little shocked by their energy, but nodded in agreement and said, "OK then. It's a bit of a walk though and it's getting dark, so I should probably take you guys now. Uh, this way I guess." She walked by Merlin and jabbed a finger in his face. "You owe me so many favors for this," and continued on with Ron and Hermione in tow. They each gave Harry apologetic looks, but Harry still didn't get why they were being like this. What was he missing?
"Alright," Arthur said with the clap of his hands. "Now we have to deal with you two." Harry's stomach dropped. Malfoy was so quiet, so still on the cot that Harry had pretty much forgotten he was there. If he woke up, Harry would probably have to share a living space with him.
"Bollocks!" He exclaimed. He wondered if this was his cosmic punishment for every bad thing he'd done in his life. Maybe he deserved it if he'd been so foolish to let Ron and Hermione get the best of him like that.
"Excuse me?" Arthur asked with raised eyebrows.
"It's an expression from my time. No offense to you," Harry explained as his mind raced with scenarios of Malfoy hexing him in his sleep.
"Moving forwards. Gaius, do you know of any place where these two sorcerers could stay for the foreseeable future?" Arthur asked.
"Well, there is one place they could stay. A place with enough room, where the unconscious one will have constant medical supervision, and where I can keep an eye on them to make sure they don't get up to trouble. But that depends on whether or not Merlin will give up his room for a little while." Gaius said, and everyone looked to Merlin for his answer. He was frowning, but he didn't say no.
"Will I get to stay in a big fancy guest room?" Merlin asked, perking up at the prospect.
"Don't be ridiculous Merlin, that would be far too suspicious. You'll stay in the servants quarters adjacent to my room. Then you won't have an excuse for not doing your chores," Arthur said, patting Merlin roughly on the shoulder.
Merlin rubbed his shoulder and quipped. "I do my chores, you're just ungrateful: ungrateful and messy."
"Careful Merlin, that's borderline treason. Now go get your things so this sorcerer can get some sleep." Harry watched Merlin hurry to his room with anger simmering in his chest. If only Arthur knew the truth about his servant which he treated so rudely.
"I have a name you know," Harry snapped, tired of feeling like a second class citizen. "My name is Harry, and I suggest you use it."
Arthur was astounded. "I'm not sure if it's courage or idiocy that inspires you to speak to me, the Prince and man who holds your fate in his hands, like that. I've told you what'll happen if you step out of line, and I intend to keep my promise."
"I'd like to see you try," Harry replied, itching to perform a spell and show him he wasn't the most powerful person in the room by a long shot.
"For pete's sake, neither of you are as impressive as you think you are. Arthur, go wait out in the hall, you behave too rashly about this sort of thing. Harry, take this chunk of bread and go to your room. I'd like to work in peace!" Gaius said. He threw a piece of bread at Harry, and he realized how hungry he was. Harry tore into the bread and went to the back room where Merlin was packing a small bag. He didn't have much to take to his new room, only a few shirts and scarves.
"Thank you for doing all of this," Harry said. "Protecting us from Arthur, giving up your bed, everything."
Merlin grinned at him, it seemed nothing could put him in a bad mood. "I'm happy to help. Us magic folk have to stick together, right?"
"Definitely," Harry replied. He watched with curiosity as Merlin put a fat book into his bag. It was bigger than his transfiguration textbook, and that was saying something. "What's that?" He asked.
"This? It's a spellbook Gaius gave me a few years back. Filled with every spell you could ever need," Merlin said. "You want to take a look?" He held it out for Harry to take, but he rejected it. Since Harry wasn't at school, the last thing he wanted was to read a spell book.
"You're taking it to Arthur's room? Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Harry asked.
"It's not that hard hiding things from him. I'll be fine," Merlin replied. He went to leave, but paused in the doorway and said, "By the way, there's a few mice living here, so if you hear squeaking or feel something walking on your chest, that's what it is." Then left without another word. Harry was afraid to move, unnerved by the idea of a rodent scurrying over his feet. Hogwarts had spells to keep pests out, but he doubted Camelot would have such a treatment. Who would've thought that living in a real medieval castle wasn't as glamorous as it might seem?
He fell onto the bed and looked around at the homey room with a strange appreciation. The great and powerful Merlin had also lived in a closet (albeit a little bigger than Harry's). He was glad to find a shred of solidarity in that. After finishing the bread, Harry fell back onto the thin, unwashed pillow and grimaced. Even his mattress at the Dursleys had been more comfortable. Then again, he was sleeping on straw so was there really a comparison?
Yet, in the midst of all his discomfort and overwhelming thoughts, his weariness caught up with him, and he was on the verge of sleep. With an incantation he blew out the candles and let sleep wash over him.
Hello! It's the author! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been reading, and to everyone leaving reviews. This is my first time using this website to publish, so I'm a little unsure how to reply to the reviews, so I'm just going to say thank you here. Thank you! I hope you all continue to enjoy!