The ship in storm, the frog and Sam's café belong to me. Merlin belongs to Zelazney. The rest belongs to Rowling.
Merlin swept into the classroom, a few minutes late. The class silently filled in after him.
"Sorry about that," he said when everyone had taken their seat. "I was out and forgot about the time. Anyway. Enjoyed Snape's lecture last time? Learnt anything useful?" A few of the students nodded slightly, the other sat unmoving, following his every move with their eyes.
"Come on. Speak up!" Merlin waited a few seconds, but when yet no one made a sound he shrugged and turned to the blackboard.
"Well, he sure seems to know how to keep the classes in control. I maybe should ask him for a trick or two... OK, today we're going to start with magical creatures. As I understand it, you've already learnt quite a lot on this subject, both from my predecessors and from... Hagrid, is it? The game-keeper?" He let his glance sweep over the class, but again no one said anything.
"So, since you have dealt with what you are most prone to encounter already, I'll start with a few creatures you hopefully never will encounter, but if you do will be better off knowing a thing or two about. You know, I haven't really planned these lessons yet, so if you have any favourite creatures, this is the time to tell me."
He paused in front of the silent class again, looking more carefully at his students. They all sat very still in their seats, regarding him very attentively. He too stood silent for a moment, then sat down on his desk, chuckling slightly.
"Ah, come on class. Tell me. What on earth did Snape do to you? I haven't seen you this silent since the first day. Someone? Anyone?" The class exchanged uncomfortable glances, but after a few seconds Malfoy raised his hand.
"Sir! We were practicing curses and non-verbal incantation." He paused for a moment, hesitating whether to continue or not, but then he said, a bit faster then usual; "and we got homework. We are to write about... demons." He shut his mouth with a snap and regarded the teacher as if frightened for his reaction. The rest of the class eyed him even more attentively than before. Merlin sat with a blank expression for a few seconds, then started to laugh softly.
"He did, did he? Very well, I had thought of laying low on the demons for a while, but they'll make as good a start as any creature. Have any of you done the essay already... Miss Granger of course. No one else?" He turned to the slightly pale Granger with one of his warm smiles.
"Then, Granger, I'm sure Snape won't mind if you help your friends with the homework. Please tell us a few facts about demons."
The brown-haired witch swallowed and gave the boys next to her a short look, as if pleading for support. Then she started to talk.
"Demons, sir, are beings from beyond our world. They visit it sometimes, but they seem to prefer their own realms. They seem to be able to come and go as they like. It is known that wizards sometimes attempts to summon and control them, but the effects are usually disastrous. Their intentions are quite often surprisingly neutral, they don't seem to care much about human affairs... they are known to fight quite a lot among themselves... Eh... the demons are usually quite grotesque in appearance with huge claws and teeth, spiky tails and scaly skin. However, they are s...s..." She took a deep breath and gave her teacher a short, frightened glance before focusing on the blackboard instead.
"...They are shape shifters, sir, and can thus take any appearance they like, including a human one. This is a total transformation. They are humans in every biological sense, down to every organ and muscle, but they are generally physically superior to most humans. Tougher, faster, stronger... Eh... they are known to be very able magicians, using the prime chaos forces that surround them as a magical lens. Eh... they don't need a wand as we do..." her voice trailed off, and she joined the rest of the class in a silence that was growing more tense at the second. Merlin, taking no notice, nodded approval.
"Very good indeed, miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, who can tell me, for five points more, anything about how to recognize a demon?" No one made any move to speak, but after a few seconds Granger raised her hand again.
"Sir! Demons can, as I said, take any shape, but even in human form they are usually... remarkable. Muscular, handsome..." a small red spot appeared on her otherwise pale cheeks "...attractive, really. They have extraordinary physics, they can heal faster than humans, and of course do all sort of things humans can't. If a demon stays long enough in one place, it starts to alter reality. Small things change, like the shade of the grass, or the sky, or the dialect of the local people... Their magical ability sometimes betrays them, as they can do things no one else is able to. They can summon magical powers from the primal chaos itself, which can appear like something of a magical thunderstorm with lighting bolts that are alive... There is not really any simple way to tell if someone is a daemon. You have to look for the details and put it together..." Her voice trailed off again.
Merlin stood up and took a step forward, towards the class, standing with his hands in his shoulders.
"Five more points to Gryffindor, then. And I would really like to learn after this lesson where you found that description of the primal chaos, miss Granger. It was most descriptive, and I'm sure that it can't be found in your ordinary textbooks..." He hesitated for a moment, and then went on, thoughtfully.
"Tell me, do I understand it correctly that one of my predecessors turned out to be a werewolf?" The class looked even more startled by this, but a few of them nodded.
"And is it true as I heard that... someone had you writing an essay on werewolves, in the hope that you would recognize him for what he was?" This time, only Granger nodded, the rest of the class sat as petrified, staring at their teacher with wide eyes.
Merlin waited a fair number of seconds before flashing off his widest grin so far. "So, how many of you think I'm a demon. Raise a hand!"
The class was in shock. No one dared to even whisper, but a lot of glances were exchanged, saying quite a lot. Merlin stood grinning, waiting. After almost half a minute, Granger slowly raised her hand, not daring to meet Merlin's eyes. Then, a pale Slytherin boy named Nott raised his hand too. A few more seconds passed, then Malfoy raised his hand, and Crabbe, Goyle, Bullstrode and Parkinson joined him. Merlin's grin widened even more.
"I see... Five points to your respective houses for each of you who have raised your hand. I must say that I'm very impressed. I have spent seven years in this world without being noticed. Even at a wizard's school, I thought I would have been able to do it for a year, but I only lasted three weeks. Very good." He chuckled at their shocked expressions.
"Yes, I am a demon. Son of Corwin of Amber and Dara of the Courts of Chaos. From an earth point of view, you might say these are the extreme poles of existence, both inhabited by demons. When I do magic, I use the primal chaos as a magical lens, just as Granger described it... and as for shape shifting..." Suddenly his face started to melt. The scared students could see muscles and bone move under his skin, which became scaly and gray. The seams of the robe tore open when his body grew bigger. They could see a pair of leathery wings emerge from his back. His face was now more like that of a gargoyle than of a human, a large mouth filled with huge fangs, his hands spurting claws, a pointy tail growing from his back. His large, fiery eyes regarded the terrified students.
"As for defence," the demon roared. "We demons can be killed, as anyone else, by brute force or by magic, but we're a lot tougher then humans, and we usually have magical as well as other defences." His horrible mouth formed what seemed to be a sneer, but maybe was a smile after all. "Growing up with other demons gives us a natural sense of paranoia, you see, and it's more than likely that any demon you might encounter have more than one trick up their sleeve. If you're ever unfortunate enough to encounter a demon, I strongly advice you to run like hell." He started to laugh, and at that, the students finally lost it and started to run for the exit.
"Class dismissed," the demon growled after them.