Snape had tried to deprive the obstinate cat of the warlock's room, attempting to wrap his arms around the scurrying animal without the distant worry of being scratched or bitten on the fingers by the feral creature that had suddenly taken interest in hiding behind Merlin for additional protection. Merlin could only laugh before scooping her off her paws and ruffling her head before handing her over to Snape. Unfortunately for him, he had received at least two short slashes across his cheek — to which Merlin simply waved a hand in front of his face before informing him that he was fine. Severus spent no supplementary time to dawdle within his new assistant's chambers and instead began to flee to his own, momentarily letting the ferocious cat run loose when he spotted Filch down the corridor holding a lantern in hand.

It was only after a glacial, frosty night that everything began to finally sink in for good. The clouds had steadily started to part away from each other, no longer concealing the beauty of the deep blue sky that was held high above. Merlin, being as he always was and always has been, woke up earlier than most of the staff members and started his saunter around the domain without any worries of being seen. Of course, there were always the caretakers — Argus Filch and Mrs Norris — but he was certain he'd be allowed to wander around the castle without permission. He was a professor after all, or, he was close to being one.

He gives a soft chuckle to himself as he passes through the training grounds, glinting a smile that was hardly missable even from view from far away. Merlin could imagine himself trying to explain to Madam Hooch his reasons for not wanting to participate in any sort of flying activities or any of the sort — instead, he would modestly vouch to keep his eyes on the students in case any of them were to mess up. He will most likely have to keep his distance from their broomsticks as well, as he could recall Severus looking down at his pocket — where he assumed was where he kept his wand in place — rather apprehensively. He was fairly convinced that it was his very presence that made it tremble underneath his fabrics, and it didn't dwell nicely on his conscious well. He was all too used to loosening his grip around his magic to the point where it grew rather difficult to keep it under wraps for a specific period of time. As a way to resolve this troublesome issue, he decided to just obscure it whenever a student or staff member approached him.

A good majority of his day was spent bouncing around from one side of the castle before switching to the next, rigorously taking in every detail that he came across. It was only until he was striding down the first-floor corridors that certain affairs finally began to come into motion. It was almost dark out, the dark clouds once again coating the sky and hiding the radiance of the stars from sight. It was unfortunate at the moment, but Merlin was sure that they'd come back out when the time was right, certain of it.

With a jaunty grin sketched across his face like he was a portrait, he mused on his soon-to-be students. It had been a long while the last time he had taught other people, especially in magic. Five centuries… No, maybe seven. To him, in this one moment, it felt as though no time had passed since those times. But how he yearned to see their faces once again, all of them, every single one of them. Of course, he knew that it was no longer possible, even with the help of magic. Well, it wasn't entirely unimaginable or doable, it was just… too dark to even consider thinking about. To bring one from the dead entirely was to bring havoc among the nature of magic, to devour it like it was nothing — it was wrong in so many ways. And not to mention that the consequences were dire. He knew that much with his knowledge. And it just wasn't worth the risk and pain that came along with it. It just wasn't. Contemplating for a while longer on his thoughts, he sighed.

It wasn't until much later that he unintentionally ran into Snape further down the passageway, his person seeming as ghastly as he always was. With his cloak billowing out behind him, Merlin couldn't help but find himself completely immersed in the action, briefly wondering just how he was able to do that without even trying. Might be magic, he thought to himself. Or, he's just trying to show off.

With a grin now evidently spreading across his mouth, he turned his cloak over his shoulder as it draped behind him like a cape, similar as to what Snape was doing. He took long-striding footsteps down the hall, lifting a hand in the air before flicking the professor a subtle and polite wave, earning himself a look of aversion towards himself. Which only caused him to smile wider, much to Snape's chagrin.

"And what do you think you're doing at this time, Mr Evans?" He cocked a brow, curling his lips curtly. Both of them came to a pause by each other's sides, Severus eyeing down his cloak that mocked his own. Snape's stance straightened highly, and at an almost daunting angle, glared down at his assistant.

Merlin stood adamant, adjusting his back into a military bearing. "It never hurt to take a stroll around the school, right? Have a look around, get to know the place better," he trailed off on his words, letting his gaze wander through the window and up into the night sky. "Just enjoying the little things, I suppose." He smiled tenderly, returning his attention back to the unamused bat-like man.

With an exasperated sigh escaping his pursed lips, any sign of emotions of anger disappeared from his features in less than a second. "You're supposed to be in the Great Hall with the other staff members as well as the headmaster," he explained airily, his tone sounding more bothered than his usual one. "You have ten minutes before the older students arrive, I suggest you hurry unless you wish to be bombarded by them." And with that, he passed him by without looking back, throwing his cloak over again as it flowed more violently behind him.

Yeah, he's definitely trying to show off, Merlin thought, shaking his head. "What about you? Aren't you coming?" He called out, turning his body around just in time to observe the professor swiftly walking around the corner without so much as stopping to answer his question. Merlin huffed before making a face, clearly offended and wounded that he was ignored. Even if it was an expected reaction from him.

Merlin had no trouble finding his way to the Great Hall, instead, it was actually quite easy, too easy in his own opinion. It required no effort all in all, for it was just a simple trick that Merlin had gotten used to using in certain situations where he was needed to get to somewhere quickly. Apparate, was what it was called, a spell — or just a trick as Merlin would describe it to be — that would teleport the user to wherever they wished. So in other words, it was really useful, especially in emergencies.

The doors were already wide open, allowing him more than enough space to enter. The Great Hall was lit by thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the students would soon be sitting in only a matter of minutes. They were donned with glittering golden plates and goblets, most of which hand a glinting sparkle to them. At the top of the hall was another long table where most of the teachers were already sitting, one of the seats next to Dumbledore being left vacant — most likely being his own.

At Merlin's final arrival to the hall, Dumbledore beckoned him over in a rushed motion, the warlock dutifully following his signal and bolting for the seat next to the headmaster. Awkwardly and rather speechless, he directs his gaze towards the long-bearded man. "Come, sit." he patted the cushioned seat next to him, "The students will be arriving soon."

Once seated, Merlin leaned over tentatively and whispered, "What about Severus? Shouldn't we wait for him?" True, Merlin didn't exactly like the man, but he still held some form of respect for the man. And he didn't want to be rude either. Dumbledore simply smiled as his orbs focused more on what was behind Merlin.

"Courteous one, aren't you?" Merlin turned around with a frown, his lips immediately pulling up into a gleeful smile once he realised who it was. Severus gave an irritated grunt at the look of his face and took his seat, obviously frustrated by the fact that Merlin had stolen his usual seatings. "I'm surprised you made it on time." He sneered.

His remark seemed to only broach the warlock's amusement as he quickly quipped back, "I could say the same to you. How did you even get here so fast?" Merlin ignored the scowl that Snape gave him.

"Magic," He sneered vehemently. Before Merlin was about to open his mouth to answer back — which was surprisingly fast —, Snape smoothly interrupted his sentence. "Before you even think of adding another childish joke into this meaningless excuse of a conversation, I'll have you washing the cauldrons for a month," He paused, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Without magic."

Merlin paled visibly, steering his head down the hall with his mouth tightly clamped down securely. He found himself thinking over his choices of being assigned to the Potions Master, regrettably biting his lips from slipping out another remark that was ready to launch. Sure, he was used to cleaning and all, seeing as they were just simple chores to him, but he didn't want to end up having to repeatedly do them every day for the entirety of the first month. That was out of the question. He wanted to have the chance of conversing with his students and fellow teachers, as well as dwell on his own affairs.

Fortunately, Merlin was finally liberated from the blankets of silence as the chatter of distant students began to flood through the doors like a tsunami of water. His eyes darted around the vicinity frantically, a wave of ecstasy engulfed him instantly, an even bigger wave devouring him wholly as old, forgotten memories began to resurface. He didn't notice the way that Snape looked at him, nor did he realise how wide his eyes had gotten. His brightly coloured orbs followed one student to the other, snapping his head in the opposite direction with a smile slapped across his face like it always was.

"Good grief," Snape muttered. The least he can do is keep his composure.

There were the first years that were tightly compressed against each other in their robes, most of them scuttering across the floor as they tried to straighten themselves — most of which was highly expected from the ones in the back that had to stand on the tips of their toes just to see the staff members at their table. Three, in particular, caught the interest of the old warlock disguised as an assistant, no less a professor to them. A very bushy-haired girl with more knots than those of the stars that were highlighted in the enchanted ceiling above them, causing Merlin to muse on the thought of how it would feel like to just reach out and grasp it. The second one from the far left side of the crowd was a rather slender boy with sleek white-blonde hair. His eyes were gold, and grey that, oddly enough, matched perfectly with his pale complexion and rather sharp, pointed features.

Merlin was forced to squint his eyes and lean over the table slightly to gain a better look at the two standing idle beside the boy though, for they merely looked like humanized gorillas from where he sat. Although it was fairly clear that none of the two were actual physical gorillas, he didn't see much that proved them different from them. The one with the pudding-bowl haircut made him grateful that he still had his luxuriously — in his own opinion — soft mat of black hair. Nevertheless, he was going to keep his eyes closely observing the three of them.

Now focusing back on his main objective of inspecting, was Harry Potter. The One Who Lived. Merlin rolled his eyes at the mere recall of labels that were pinned on this small, skinny child. Judging by his overall expression, he seemed nervous and uncomfortable — as were many others, yes, but he had many different reasons for why. Once more, he took in his appearance like he did with the others and memorised them, placing them in the back of his head for afterthoughts. Harry wore untidy jet-black hair, much to Merlin's amusement as it resembled his own, but what stood out from his thin features were his almond-shaped startlingly green eyes that hid protected by his round-rimmed glasses.

Merlin spared a meticulous glance directed to Snape, who was already scowling with his pervasive obsidian eyes that pointed dangerously towards Harry. "Control your composure, Snape." The warlock chided boldly, moving his gaze back among the students nonchalantly. He remained stoic even when he could physically feel the sharp glare he was getting in return for the remark. Instead of caving in and ending it there, he decided to take it a step further. "Don't want them running out the door because of you now, do we?"

Severus sneered, "Would that really be such a loss, Mr. Evans?"

The warlock could feel a grin automatically smearing across his face heavily, a small chuckle surfacing from his chest. "Well, I'm very much sure that you can't have a class without its students," he pointed out before continuing after a short pause, "And I've heard how delighted you are when it comes to passing out unreasonable detentions in class." Thinking he had undoubtedly made the Potions Master speechless, he turned his head around to find a conspicuous smirk plastered across the black-eyed man. And almost as soon as he saw his expression, he dreaded for the worst with a deepening frown.

"While you are, for the most part; correct, I won't only be having students in my class, will I now?" His tone gave off a slightly haughty attitude to his words before he added on, "Although you are not an authentic student, you are still my assistant during class times. And in those periods of times, I can order you as I please." Merlin gulped audibly. "Which also means that I am authorised to make you clean the dungeon floors with all but a small toothbrush as your aid."

As the students were steadily being sorted into their houses each time one of their names were called, the loud cheering of celebration brought Merlin back to the present by force. He managed to rip his gaze away from the bat-like professor before straightening his back and closing his hands together over the table. "Sounds like a Sunday afternoon." He chimed.

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