Chapter 1: An Unusual Hiring
Authors Note: So, bare with me, I know it's a rather over-used idea, Merlin teaching History and Arthur teaching Care, but I just couldn't think of how to work them in with other roles, it wouldn't exactly work with Merlin teaching defence :/
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Merlin and their characters do not belong to me, sadly.
They were just about to start unpacking (having caught an International Portkey to the Ministry), when there came a knock on the door. Having heard the tell-tale sound of apparition earlier, it wasn't overly surprising. After exchanging a glance, Merlin headed over, leaving Arthur to continue his search for the kettle.
Upon opening the door, Merlin was met with an old man, who appeared to be a Dragoon-copycat, what with the beard, weird eyes, and starry robes.
"Hello, can I help you?" he asked suspiciously. In his experience, Dragoon-copycats fell into one of two categories: the arrogant, and those out to get things.
"Well, I certainly hope so, my boy," the stranger smiled.
Merlin's eyes narrowed.
"Ok, first, I'm not your boy, and, second, how did you even find us? We've not even been here ten minutes!"
"Ah, of course, please excuse an old man," the stranger dipped his head, eyes locked calculatingly on Merlin. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, and the Chief Warlock." He smiled patronisingly.
"Right..." Merlin blinked at him.
"I was hoping to take a few minutes of your time, you see, I have a … proposition, for the both of you."
Merlin was going to make one of his snarky comments about the Headmaster already taking a few minutes of his time, when he was interrupted by Arthur walking over.
"Everything ok, Melvin?"
"Yeah, apparently the Hogwarts Headmaster wants to talk to us." Merlin replied.
"Really? How fascinating. Think he'll let us have an interview for the Ghost?" Arthur asked, pulling out his pocket-sized notebook and pen.
Mr Dumbledore chuckled.
"I daresay I can give you an interview, at a later time, of course. No, the purpose of my visit was to see if the both of you would be amenable to teaching? I seem to have found myself in a bit of a bind, and needing several new teachers..." he trailed off.
"Teachers?" Arthur frowned in confusion. "I wasn't aware Hogwarts ran classes on journalism?"
"No, no, we don't. I was actually thinking of your other qualifications, specifically History and Care of Magical Creatures?" Mr Dumbledore smiled.
"I see. You do realise, we already have jobs?" Merlin raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I'm sure we can work something out?"
Merlin and Arthur exchanged glances.
"Ok, there's some things we would need, if we were to do this, bare in mind, there might be more in the future, it mostly depends on the Ghost."
"Very well. What are your immediate requirements? Depending on them, I can get a contract sorted by the end of the day?" Mr Dumbledore asked eagerly.
"Well, firstly, we would need to leave the school, sometimes for extended periods, in addition ton time to write our articles. We would, of course, need shared quarters," Merlin raised an eyebrow in challenge. "That won't be an issue, will it?"
"Oh, no, no problem at all," Mr Dumbledore smiled reassuringly.
"I think that's it for now, if we think of anything else, we'll let you know," Arthur promised, placing a hand firmly on Merlin's shoulder.
"Very well, I look forward to hearing from you, then." Mr Dumbledore smiled, before walking off.
"Well, that was-" Merlin started, closing the door.
"Weird? Strange? Creepy?" Arthur suggested returning to his hunt for the kettle.
"I was going to say 'interesting'," Merlin retorted. "Illuminating, even. You do realise we hadn't even been in the country an hour?"
"You don't say?! At least it's obvious who's in charge, I suppose, and we know he's not overly clever, letting us know, unless he's extremely certain of his position?" Arthur hummed, opening another box, and growling. "Why didn't I just make the box with the kettle?!"
Merlin chuckled fondly.
"What are you, Arthur?" he raised a hand, eyes flashing golden, before a box in the corner lit up.
"Oh."
Diagon Alley hadn't changed much since their last visit, Merlin thought fondly as they headed towards the bank. Although there were a couple of new stores, most of them remained the same. Beside him, Arthur was currently making a list of all their errands in the Alley.
Upon reaching Gringotts, the goblins guarding the door took one look, before bowing them through, gaining them strange looks.
Arthur frowned.
"You know, living in America, I'd completely forgotten how stupid Wizarding Britain is, and how backwards. You would have thought they'd at least be polite to the Goblins, seeing as they control the banks, instead of ostracising them, and treating them like servants," he scoffed.
Merlin hummed in agreement.
"But you said it yourself, Wizarding Britain is backwards and full of idiots – just look at the Minister."
Arthur sighed.
"well, yes, but, it's just common sense!"
Merlin grinned.
"You, of all people, ought to know that common sense isn't actually that common!"
Arthur chuckled humourlessly.
"Oh, hahaha, Melvin...Ah, good afternoon, Master Goblin, how shine's the gold this day?" Arthur greeted the teller – in flawless Gobbledegook.
Hearing the traditional greeting, the teller's eyes widened for a moment.
"The gold shines all the more golden with every minute of your presence, your Majesty," he bowed from his chair. "How may Gringotts serve you today?"
"We would like to visit the Scarlet Vault, please."
"Ah, yes, I'll get a runner to take you down." the teller nodded.
"That would be great, thank you," Arthur smiled politely.
"If you would please take a seat, they will be ready momentarily." the teller motioned toward a small waiting area, featuring several dark-green marble chairs (shaped like miniature thrones) with leather cushions.
The runner, a goblin named Stormgaze, was already waiting for them.
"This way, please, My Lords."
Turning, they followed the goblin down several halls before arriving at the tracks, an empty cart waiting for them. The trip Below was long, steep, and fast, the track twisting and turning it's way round rocks, through tunnels, and under waterfalls. Knowing better than to attempt memorising their route, Arthur and Merlin simply sat back and enjoyed the ride.
The Scarlet Vault was one of Gringotts' oldest in existence, second only to the Emrys Vault. As such, it was created long before Gringott's grandson came up with the idea of using keys. Due to this, Stormgaze stayed as far away from the Vault door as possible when they arrived, allowing Arthur room.
The door's mechanism was simple: anyone who touched the door other than the vault's owner, would be sucked inside. Only the owner's touch would disable the door and allow entrance. As ownership of the Old Vaults (as they were known among goblins) passed, the new owners would be summoned to the bank for 'recalibration'.
Stepping up to the door, Arthur placed his palm firmly against the smooth ID plate. After a moment, the small stone dragon set above the door glowed red, and the door swung open, revealing a series of caverns. Pulling his list out, Arthur walked over to a white marble podium set off to the side.
As soon as he touched the surface, the podium started glowing softly. The next few minutes were spent inputting items from the list into the podium, and the items appearing. Merlin would then shrink and pack them away.
The marble podium was a feature of larger Vaults, and acted as an itinerary of everything kept in said Vault. Items under blood-protections were automatically registered, and could be summoned back to the Vault by a simple recall spell. As it was, between this Vault and the Emrys, most of the remnants of several Civilisations were assembled, the rest safely ensconced in various museums, or hidden behind strong wards.
Once all the items on Arthur's list had been collected, and they'd met the goblins regarding the Hogwarts contracts, they returned home.