Chapter 28: The game's on

Minerva sat at her desk and tried to understand the paper in front of her. The essay was written so poorly, she would write a recommendation for this Hufflepuff student to be admitted to the extracurricular English class. She had already made a similar request for her twins. Elsa seemed particularly appalled at the thought, and Minerva tried to convince her that it was a very common problem for home-schooled children.

She pondered if English should be a part of the core curriculum for all first-years and optional for the following years. Over the last few decades, children had arrived at their school with poorer and poorer basic writing skills. This argument had been discussed repeatedly with no action ever taken. She had to bring it up again during the next Board of Governors meeting. Change was difficult. The Board liked to keep things the way they were. She needed to get the support of influential Board members if she had any hopes of success.

Someone knocked on the door and she welcomed the distraction. Honestly, she was bored.

"Come in."

Merlin Ealdor and Jack walked in.

"Good Afternoon, Professor," Merlin spoke up. "If you have a few minutes, we'd like to discuss something with you."

She motioned for them to sit in the two chairs in front of her desk. Merlin appeared confident and relaxed and looked around her office with a detached curiosity. Jack looked nervous and just stared at his hands in his lap.

"Professor," Merlin started, "we brought this request to you first, but I imagine that we'll have to speak with the Headmaster as well. It is about the curriculum of the Transfiguration class."

Minerva did not like where this was going. Did this boy dare complain about her teaching methods? It wasn't her fault that he was so bad at this subject. Some wizards did not have the natural aptitude for this difficult branch of magic. "Go on."

"Some of the spellwork required in this class is against the values of our religion, and we would like to be excused from practicing it."

Minerva's eyes locked onto Jack. What was this boy up to?

"Let me guess," she said shortly. "Old Religion?"

"Precisely. Our religious beliefs forbid senseless harm done to other living beings. Practicing spells on animals just for the sake of practice is against the values of our faith."

Minerva tapped her finger on her desk absentmindedly. She didn't take her eyes off of Jack who sat quietly and wouldn't look at her.

"Mr. Ealdor, no matter what your faith is, do not think that you can get special treatment just to get through a class you are struggling with."

"That is not my intention at all, Professor. I fully accept that you would give us assignments of a similar difficulty which did not require the use of animals."

The boy thought he had everything covered. "Mr. Ealdor, if we were to proceed as you request, that would require me to give you assignments from the second-year curriculum. Seeing as you struggle with current tasks, how do you imagine you'll keep up?"

"I have an excellent tutor now," Merlin said with a smirk. "I am confident that my performance in your class will improve."

Minerva shifted in her seat. "Jack," she said and the boy reluctantly lifted his eyes to her, "what is this? You or your sister have never said anything about practicing any religion."

"The question never came up," Jack said quietly.

This was all too neatly wrapped up. Were these two boys making it all up? The only way to find out was to probe them further until they slipped up. Sticking to a lie wasn't as easy in the long term. It was all in the details. "Is there anything else you require that your religious practices demand?"

"We need to have a similar talk with Professor Snape," Merlin said.

Minerva couldn't imagine how they could succeed in that task. Severus was not a tolerant man. "I do not imagine that you will be able to avoid preparing certain potions."

"We could substitute some of the ingredients," Jack offered.

Minerva sighed at the boy's cluelessness. "It isn't that simple, Jack."

"We'll take it one potion at a time," Merlin said, leaning back in his chair.

The boy's confidence unnerved her. His attitude bordered on arrogance. "At this point, I believe we should speak with the Headmaster. This isn't a simple matter that I alone can decide. It may have an impact on your O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. examinations. A request like that has to be submitted in writing to the Board of Governors by your parents," she looked at Jack, "or guardians."

Jack hunched his shoulders. Minerva was his acting guardian for the time being. Did she want to draw attention to this boy? The Ministry wasn't accepting of those who had a shifty background. A pair of twins who came out of nowhere and demanded special treatment would not sit well with the officials. Minerva wasn't even convinced that they were orphans, though they'd told her their mother was dead, but she checked recently, and still, no one reported them missing. Yet they escaped from someone. Whoever was looking for them did not want to alert the authorities and that just made her worry even more. Just what type of trouble were they in?

"That is not a problem," Merlin said with a smile. "My uncle can make the request personally to the Minister if that's what it takes."

"Then, your uncle will be the best point of contact. I will bring up this issue to the Headmaster and will inform you of his decision." She waved her wand to open the door for them. "Mr. Ealdor, I would like to meet that uncle of yours."

"I can arrange that," Merlin said with a sly smile and she had an uneasy feeling that he was humoring her but she didn't understand exactly how.

"I suggest you both bundle up for tomorrow's game. I recommend winter attire." She looked firmly at Jack. "This includes shoes."

Jack nodded while Merlin sniggered. She supposed the boy's roommate had already noticed his barefoot obsession.

The boys left and Minerva couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. Later, she visited Irma Pince at the library and asked for help with locating information on Old Religion. Irma finally found a book in an ancient rune that spoke of Old Religion magic. Minerva dived right into it.

Her comprehension of runes was rusty, she hadn't read anything as old as this book in a long time, but she gathered from it a description of the customs and practices of ancient Pagans. This included the worship of multiple gods, silly rituals, and questionable magical practices, such as rites involving human sacrifice. She put the book down. It disturbed her to think that these children wanted to observe such barbaric customs.

The magical community had evolved above such crude methods a long time ago. Some things shouldn't be revived. She had an awful suspicion that the Ealdor kid was the instigator here. Was he trying to brainwash her Jack? Every time she laid eyes on him, something tickled her intuition like she was missing something important. But his arrogant confidence was what irritated her the most. What did he have to feel so confident about? His spellwork was barely above passing, he didn't come from one of the prestigious families, it even appeared that he was an orphan. She had to find out more about him. If he was going to be a problem, she'd rather be prepared.

》《

When Saturday came, everyone was excited to see the game, especially the children who had never seen a Quidditch match before, like Colin, who was in an excitement overdrive, which he attempted to satisfy by jumping on his bed.

"Merlin, you said that Old Religion is about magic. Is it different magic from what they teach us here?"

"Yes." Merlin was glad to talk about it. "It's wandless magic."

"Really? Can you show me some?" Colin plopped down and sat on the edge of the bed expectantly.

Merlin considered what to show them. He didn't want to do anything too spectacular, he was supposed to be a child after all, but he had to show them something impressive enough to keep their interest. He decided to do what he used to be able to do as a child before he even learned what Old Religion was.

With a flick of his finger, the books on Colin's bed floated up and swirled around him.

Colin giggled and fished one out of the air. "You did that during the food fight! I thought it was Peeves."

"Yes." It felt so good to not have to hide his magic from his friends anymore.

"That was you?" Jack asked.

"That's like telekinesis!" Colin squealed. "How many objects can you move at the same time?"

Merlin looked around him and lifted everything off the floor, all the furniture, rugs, trunks, shoes, and dirty robes Colin had dropped on the floor. The little boy squealed and grabbed hold of the bedpost as his bed rose. Jack looked down to the floor from his floating bed and giggled. Merlin lowered everything back to where it was and pretended to be exhausted.

"Since we're sharing, Jack, do you mind showing us what you can do?"

Jack blanched. "Me? I don't know telekinesis."

"But you can do wandless magic, can't you?"

Jack looked between them, frowning, then sighed. "You've seen my magic already."

He held out his hand palm up and a snowball formed in it. Merlin observed the boy closely and noticed no flash of magic in his eyes. This was curious. If he wasn't using Old Religion magic, how was he doing this?

Colin gasped. "You can conjure snowballs?"

"Actually, they're frostballs."

Jack threw it forcefully at the wall where pieces of it stuck and slowly spread out as intricate swirls of frost. The white tendrils adorned the stone wall as if someone was painting them with an invisible brush.

"Frost is my thing. I can make all sorts of things with it."

When he dropped eye contact, it stopped spreading. Merlin gained a new respect for the boy. This required a lot more control than the usual wandless magic that children created by accident. It was as easy for him as moving objects was for Merlin.

"Your sister too?"

"Elsa's specialty is ice. It took her a while to get the iceballs right. When we were small, some of her iceballs were solid, giving me extra motivation to not get hit." Jack chuckled. "But she's really good at it now."

"You guys can do such cool magic," Colin said. "I feel so left out. I don't know any tricks like that."

"Surely, you've done something by accident," Merlin said. "They wouldn't have discovered that you're a wizard otherwise."

"I mean, yeah, some strange things have happened, but I didn't know it was magic and I didn't have control over it like you guys."

"Tell me about the strange things."

"Alright. This one time, we were camping and my dad was trying to start a fire but all the wood was wet and it wouldn't light. My little brother started crying because he wanted to make smores. My parents started arguing with each other about how they should've planned better. My dog got overly excited from all the hand waving they were doing so she started barking and running around. And it was so loud and chaotic, I just wanted it all to stop. And I screamed, and suddenly, there was a fire. And not just at the fire pit. It was like a ring of fire around me. I nearly burned down our tent. I don't know how I did it. I tried it again later and it didn't work anymore."

Merlin smiled at the boy encouragingly. "That is awesome." He rubbed his hands together. "We have something we can start with. Colin, it looks to me like you may have a natural affinity for fire spells. We can work on them, but maybe not in the dorm. We'll find a safe space for you to practice in. And you, Jack, you must have an affinity for water."

"Water?" He shook his head. "No, just frost and snow."

"Both are water."

The boy didn't look convinced but Merlin was sure he could make it work. This was a very productive morning. "Well, since I don't have to hide it anymore," he had his robes flow out of the trunk and neatly arrange themselves for him on his bed.

Colin chuckled. "Feel free to use whatever magic you want in front of us."

"So, Colin and I have elemental affinities, right? What is your affinity called?" Jack asked.

"It doesn't have a specific name so you can just call it telekinesis. It's one of those basic abilities some wizards are born with."

"So, that's not Old Religion?" Colin whined. "I thought you were doing an Old Religion spell for us."

"If you'd like something more spell-like," Merlin cut off and thought over a few simple spells, trying to choose one.

"Hors, beride þá heofonum," he said and the smoke from their fireplace took the shape of a horse which reared and galloped up to the ceiling where it dispersed.

"Horse, ride the sky," Jack said behind him.

Merlin turned around stunned. "You understand Old English?" He grabbed the boy's shoulders and shook him. "Jack, that's incredible. You have no idea how much easier it will be for you to learn the incantations. They're all in Old English."

"I can't actually speak it."

"But you understood. Where did you learn it?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. I've heard it. Maybe my mother spoke it sometimes."

"Your mother spoke it? In a conversation or incantations?"

"Maybe both?"

Merlin let go of the boy's shoulders. He couldn't believe it. It was yet another proof of Jack's strange connection to the Old Religion. His family might have practiced a branch of Old Magic Merlin wasn't familiar with.

Jack shuffled on his feet. "Why are you looking at me funny?"

"Jack, Old English is a dead language. No one converses in it. People stopped using it about a thousand years ago."

Jack swallowed but then shrugged. "Apparently, you're wrong about that."

Merlin laughed. "Apparently."

"This is all fascinating, but look at the time," Colin pointed at the clock, "we need to go if we want to see the game."

They all dressed in their winter cloaks. Merlin wrapped himself well and put on his warm hat. Colin bundled himself up in multiple layers and looked as if he was inside a balloon. And on top of all of that, he strapped on his camera. Jack was dressed as if it was twenty degrees warmer.

Merlin shook a finger at him. "Jack, it's going to be freezing in the stands. It's like an early winter out there. You really need more than a cloak."

Jack sighed and mumbled, "Why is everyone so concerned with what I wear?" He dug in his trunk and pulled out a Gryffindor scarf. He threw it on without care and waited for them in the doorframe. "Are you guys ready?"

Merlin wanted to fix the boy's scarf but seeing the defiant look on his face, he decided to drop it. If Jack wanted to freeze his head off over there, he was welcome to. Maybe that would teach him a lesson.

All students and staff showed up to see the first Quidditch game of the year. The excitement of the spectators was contagious. The three of them found a spot in the stands among the scarlet and gold sea of other Gryffindors who proudly displayed their House colors. As their team came out of the changing room, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs joined in the cheers while Slytherins booed.

"Is it always like this?" Colin asked over the noise. "The other houses are cheering us."

"It's because they want Slytherin to lose," Merlin screamed in response. "There's no love for Slytherin here."

On Madam Hooch's whistle, the players flew up and the crowd roared. Merlin followed the figure of Harry who flew up above the other players.

"I can't see anything," Colin complained but attempted to take a few pictures anyway. "They're so far away."

Merlin conjured a pair of binoculars in his pocket, gave it to the small boy, and repeated the process so all three of them could look at the game in detail.

"Oooh," Colin exclaimed and snapped a picture. "A Bludger nearly got Harry. I think I captured it."

One of the Weasley twins flew over and hit the Bludger in the direction of a Slytherin player but it came back up. He hit it again, and again it came back, racing at Harry. It followed him as if it wanted to hit him specifically.

"Are Bludgers supposed to follow one player around?" Colin asked.

"Something's wrong," Merlin murmured.

"They're killing us," Jack complained, watching the game. "Slytherins are so much faster. They keep scoring and scoring."

It started to rain which made it more difficult to see and Merlin had to use his magic to be able to follow Harry, who zoomed through the pitch at full speed. The same Bludger was still following him. This wasn't normal. That Bludger was being controlled.

Merlin tried to lift the enchantment but someone held a constant powerful grip on this spell, and it didn't feel like wizard magic. It felt different, very close to Old Religion magic. Since he couldn't overthrow the spell, he had to attack the person responsible in order to break it. Who among the crowd would have abilities like this?

There was no time to waste. Merlin used his mind's eye to slow down time so he could find the culprit before Harry got hurt. Who did he know that held different magic?

Merlin checked on Jack who was sitting next to him. The boy was watching the game and wasn't even looking at Harry. He did not look like someone who was in the middle of a powerful spell. What about his sister? Merlin scanned the seats until he located her not far from them. She talked excitedly with her Ravenclaw friend. It wasn't her either.

Meanwhile at the pitch, Harry was ahead of the Bludger but barely. It was catching up and the boy was getting tired quickly.

Merlin continued checking the stands. Who else could it be? The twins were the only people here who he saw exhibit Old Magic. This time, he looked lower and spotted something at the entrance of the changing room. He looked through his binoculars and recognized the creature as a house elf. The elf's hand was up and his face was full of focus.

Merlin ran out of the stands, down the stairs, and made a cut in the fabric that made up the wall of the Quidditch pitch. He slipped through and sprinted as fast as he could underneath the stands. He made a cut in the fabric again as he made it to the changing room and tackled the elf to the ground. He quickly looked for Harry, who, finally free of the Bludger, just at this moment had caught the Golden Snitch. The crowd erupted in cheers and Harry landed safely.

Satisfied that the boy was okay, Merlin turned his attention to the elf he was straddling.

"Who ordered this?" he yelled.

Someone ran in through the slit in the fabric he had created. It was Jack and Colin.

"What is that?" Colin exclaimed, panting.

"This is a house-elf," Merlin answered and tightened his grip on the small creature. "Who sent you?"

The elf squirmed and moaned but said nothing. Colin snapped a picture.

"I repeat, who sent you? Who do you serve?"

"Dobby's master didn't send me, sir," he answered in a high-pitched, pitiful voice. "Dobby came on my own, sir. Only Dobby will needs punishing."

It made no sense for a house-elf to act on his own in this manner. Could he be lying? Merlin heard a commotion and knew that he was running out of time. The players were coming back to the changing room. He dragged the elf with him back through the fabric slit to hide under the stands. The two boys came after him.

He held him tightly, binding him with magic. Elves used Old Magic which allowed them to apparate within Hogwarts when wizards weren't. This one wasn't going anywhere if Merlin had a say in it.

"Are you a Hogwarts elf?"

"No, sir."

"Who do you serve?"

"Dobby will never say," the elf proclaimed and stuck up his chest proudly.

"Merlin?" Colin spoke up. "Why exactly are you interrogating an elf?"

"He was the one who sent that Bludger at Harry. Why did you try to kill Harry?"

"Not kill, sir. Dobby would never kill the great Harry Potter."

"Why did you attack him, then?"

The elf squirmed under his hold and Merlin could feel his attempts at disapparating, but Merlin's magic bound the creature in place.

"Dobby never met someone like sir. Who is sir?" Dobby stared at him with his huge eyes.

"I'm Merlin and you will answer me, Dobby. Why did you attack Harry?"

The elf shook his head and whined in distress. This wasn't working.

Merlin ground his teeth. "Jack, could you fetch Harry for us?"

"Uh, sure." Jack disappeared in the slit of the fabric and came back with Harry who gasped when he saw the elf.

"Dobby? What are you doing here?" Harry exclaimed. "Merlin, get off him. He's just a house-elf."

Merlin huffed in frustration. "This just-a-house-elf here sent that Bludger after you."

"Dobby! That Bludger nearly knocked me off my broom. You could've killed me!"

Dobby whined and shook his oversized head. His ears flopped pitifully. "Dobby would never kill Harry Potter. Dobby wants to save Harry Potter."

"How was that saving me?"

"Dobby thought if Harry Potter was hurt, he would be sent home. Harry Potter shouldn't have come back to Hogwarts this year. Dobby tried to stop him from getting on the train but it didn't work."

"That was you!" Harry screamed and took over for Merlin in holding the elf by his rags. "You blocked the entrance to Platform nine and three quarters! I couldn't get on the train so I flew a car with Ron. I nearly got expelled because of you! And now, you tried to hurt me during the game. Dobby, you better get out of my sight before I kill you."

He let go of the elf who smiled weakly. "Dobby is used to threats, sir."

"Why do you want Harry out of Hogwarts?" Merlin asked.

"Dobby only wishes to protect Harry Potter who is a beacon of hope for all of us lowly creatures. When He Who Must Not Be Named was in power, house-elves were treated like vermin. Dobby is still treated like vermin, but Dobby has hope, sir, that Harry Potter will bring about a new world. Horrible things will happen at Hogwarts this year now that the Chamber of Secrets is open. Dobby must protect..."

Dobby gasped and ran to a wooden support beam where he beat his head against the frame. "Bad Dobby. Bad Dobby."

Harry stopped him from hurting himself. "What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Dobby mustn't tell!" the elf squealed.

"Dobby, you must tell us what you know. This is important," Merlin urged. "People are in danger."

Dobby started crying crocodile tears. "Dobby can't say. Dobby can't say."

Harry kept shaking the elf to get some information from it, but Merlin knew that they got as much as they could from the creature.

"He won't tell us," he told Harry in resignation. "House-elves are bound to keep their owners' secrets. He came to you from his own free will, but his owner's word is his law. He cannot break it no matter how much he wants to."

Harry stood over the elf and stared at it intensely as if hoping he could pull the secrets out of the creature's mind. While Merlin had that ability, it wouldn't work on a house-elf. He could only invade a human mind.

"Do you know whose family he serves?" Merlin asked.

"No," Harry answered and folded his arms.

Jack crouched next to the creature. "Why is he dressed like that?"

The elf was wearing a rag that resembled an old, dirty pillowcase with holes for arms and head.

"It's a mark of enslavement," Merlin answered. "When his owner presents him with clothes, he will be freed."

Dobby sobbed and blew his nose on his pillowcase. "Harry Potter, sir, must leave Hogwarts," he gave Harry his last plea.

"I'm not going anywhere, Dobby. This is my home," Harry snapped and walked away from them to resume the celebrations with his team.

Dobby whined to himself and pouted pitifully. Merlin felt sorry for it.

"It feels awful to know something but be unable to do anything about it, huh? Is there anything you can tell us that would help us? Anything at all?"

Dobby shook his head and sobbed. "It's not safe at Hogwarts, sir. Dobby failed at protecting the great Harry Potter."

"I'll protect him, Dobby. You have my word," Merlin said, putting a hand over his chest.

"Dobby is thankful, sir," he said and bowed respectfully.

Merlin inclined his head in response, and the creature sobbed. House-elves were truly interesting magical creatures. They possessed Old Magic, pure and simple but effective. Merlin felt connected to him and wondered if the elf felt the pull of his magic as well.

Then Dobby's huge eyes were fixed on Jack who was studying him intently the whole time.

"I've never met an elf before," Jack said.

"Dobby never met…"

"Yes. We haven't met yet." Jack interrupted. "I'm Jack. Jack Nix."

Dobby stared at the hand which was offered to him and his eyes became larger than tennis balls. Merlin rubbed his nose. Jack must have not known what honor he'd offered this creature.

Dobby slowly extended a shaking bony hand while humming to himself as if trying to soothe his nerves. "Dobby is honored to meet Jack-Jack Nix."

Jack chuckled. "Just one Jack."

"Sir is a student at Hogwarts, sir?"

"Yes. I am."

Dobby looked at the boy in wonder and awe. "Sir uses a wand, sir?"

"Yes."

"House-elves are not allowed wands, but we don't needs them, sir, to do our work."

"Why are you surprised that I use a wand?"

The elf looked in all directions and said quietly. "Only wizards are allowed, sir, and Jack-Jack Nix..."

"Hey," Jack interrupted and touched the end of Dobby's long ear, "your ears are huge. Do you have a greater hearing because of them?"

The elf looked confused. "Dobby doesn't know, sir."

Colin snapped a picture of the two. "My parents won't believe me. A real elf. He's not like what I thought they are."

"Right?" Jack turned to him. "He's much cooler than I imagined them."

Dobby looked intently at Merlin. "May Dobby go, sir?"

Merlin released the magical binds holding him, but just in case, he touched the creature's shoulders—Dobby squealed in surprise—and whispered an incantation that marked the elf in such a way that Merlin could find it. Maybe he couldn't get the elf to talk, but now, he could follow it to its master.

The elf turned back to Jack. "Dobby will greatly cherish meeting Jack-Jack Nix. You brings me hope, sir. The great Harry Potter and sir are a sign of good things to come for magical creatures, especially weak ones like Dobby."

Jack extended a hand for goodbye. Dobby looked like he would faint from the honor of being offered a handshake twice. He shook the hand with both of his and disapparated with a loud crack.

Jack startled and fell on his behind. "Where did he go?"

Colin laughed and helped him get up.

They left the stands and raced to the castle to outrun the rain. Merlin had a lot to ponder. He wondered why Jack made such a strong impression on the elf. Was Dobby drawn to Jack's Old Magic? He wondered whose family the elf served. Harry suspected the Malfoy boy of opening the Chamber of Secrets. Their family was certainly wealthy enough to have house-elves. Was Harry correct in his suspicions? Merlin had to get a move on that plan with the Polyjuice Potion so they could proceed with their interrogation of the young Malfoy. And he would also follow Dobby's trail as soon as he had a chance to.

Once they were back inside, Jack asked, "Merlin, what was that thing that Dobby said about wands?"

"The law states that only wizards and witches can bear wands. Non-human creatures like elves are strictly banned. It's been a controversy with the goblins. They've been fighting that law for centuries."

"But why are they forbidden from carrying wands?"

Merlin wasn't sure how to answer it. "They have their own magic. I think the wizarding community wants to keep the wandlore a human-only privilege."

Jack mulled that over for a moment. "So they're afraid of what elves or goblins would be able to do with wands?"

"That's one way of looking at it."

"What would happen if one of them was found with a wand?"

"They would be tried in court. Jack, why are you asking all of this?"

Jack smiled nervously. "Just curious."

"Merlin?" Colin asked.

"Yeah?"

"At the Quidditch pitch, what did you cut the fabric with? Do you carry a knife with you?"

Everyone was very curious today. Merlin racked his brain for an explanation. He showed the boys some magic but didn't want them to realize just how much he could do. "The cuts were already there."

"Really? That's weird."

"Yeah, right?"

"But also convenient."

"They were."

It wasn't the first time that Colin had called Merlin out on something. His observation skills were probably why he was a good photographer—he noticed details others didn't.

Merlin returned to the Gryffindor tower and plopped down into an armchair. It was time to devise a plan to get that book for Harry. He didn't love the Polyjuice Potion plan, but this was what the trio wanted to do so he would help them. Now, he just had to sneak into the Restricted Section of the library. Piece of cake.

A/N: Holy milestone, Merlin! We broke 10k reads! How is everyone doing today?