Chapter 5
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me; the only thing I own is the plot.
Merlin leaned against his desk as he watched his last class of the day begin to slowly filter into the classroom. He squinted against the rays of late afternoon sun that poured brightly though the large window to his left. Merlin felt a stab of disappointment when it was clear that the class was segregating itself, leaving a row of empty desks between the two houses. What had happened at Hogwarts that had made house prejudices this unyielding? The last time he had been almost a century ago, but even he knew that when these children's parents attended this school that there were alliances, friendships, and even romances between feuding houses. He couldn't fathom how all that had changed so quickly.
He knew he couldn't completely blame the innocent children sitting in front of him. Every prejudice they had was either a result of their parents or the influence of other students. The Warlock found it was very irritating how bad most wizarding parents are. Although to be fair many muggle parents try to live though their children as well.
As soon as the last student sat down, he plastered his usual lopsided smile onto his face, "good afternoon class! Today our normal classes will be postponed, as I must administer a ministry-required test to all 5th year students. He waited for the groans and panicked yells of 'we didn't get a chance to study!' died down.
"Alright, alright. Have any of you ever heard of the Ministerium exams before?" he asked, taking a seat on his desk. Surprisingly Draco Malfoy raised his hand, drawing some surprised looks from the other Slytherins.
"Yes Mr. Malfoy?" asked Merlin.
"The Ministerium exam is used to measure the amount of magic and magic containment in young wizards over the age of 14" he answered in a robotic, monotone voice.
"Very good Mr. Malfoy! And does anyone know why it is only administered to witches and wizards over the age of 14?" he continued. Hermione's hand shot into the air, but Merlin was drawn to the tentative hand raised a few chairs away from her.
"Mr. Longbottom?" he said warmly. The entire class turned to face the chubby cheeked boy, it was obvious that he did not normally speak in class.
"W-well, it's because a magical being's energy peaks at around 15 years o-old...so, that's when the test is most a-accurate" he stammered out, completely red in the face by the time he was finished.
"Wonderful!" Merlin exclaimed, clasping his hands together, "the Ministry is strangely obsessed with keeping power tabs on magical youth. They're always keeping an eye on anyone who's powerful enough to become the next dark lord." The entire class began to shift uncomfortably at this. It was hard for any of them to imagine that the person sitting next to them could be pushed to that sort of evil.
"Now, in this box are Bellum Crystals. They have the power to measure the power inside of any creature of the old re-sorry, any magical creature." Merlin cursed himself at the slip-up, but the students seemed not to notice. He sighed internally; he was getting too old for this. He tapped the box with his wand and watched as the jagged, black crystals floated to each desk.
"Now if everyone would look at the bored and check the charts before you take the crystals. The amount of power is judged by the color, which follows the rainbow. Red being least powerful and violet being most powerful. How bright the crystals glows show how much access one has to that power. Let me warn you. The amount of power one has does not determine how good of a wizard they are. People with less power have more access and people with more power have less access. So it normally comes out even." He motioned for his students to pick up the stones.
"Grip them tightly then check them after ten seconds." When ten seconds was up, each student peered excitedly into their palms and turned to share their results with each other.
Ron peered wearily into his hand and Harry could not help but laugh at the expression his best friend made.
"What does it look like mate?" Harry wondered trying to peek into his friend's hand.
"It's kinda a yellow-green color and I dunno it's not super bright..." Ron muttered.
"I'd say a five or six" said Hermione glancing over at Ron's hand. Harry held back a laugh as his friend's face as it turned slightly red.
"What about you Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Well it's yellow and glowing pretty bright actually" she said rather proudly. Ron rolled his eyes and Harry just smiled. She leaned over and looked over at Harry's rock and sighed.
It was a green color with a small tint of blue glowing about the same as Ron's.
"Don't let Malfoy see" Ron muttered as they looked over to see most the Slytherin's shielding their eyes from his blinding stone. Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Hey! Look at Neville!" exclaimed Hermione and every person in the class turned to stare at the poor boy. His stone emitted a dull glow but shone a bright indigo.
"It's so pretty!" exclaimed Lavender and most of the girl's in the class nodded in agreement.
Merlin wandered around the room, copying down each result.
"Professor why is Parvati's stone bright and bluey purple?" complained one of the girl's in Slytherin, making everyone look a bit jealous.
"Well it's because she has a fair amount of power and access to it, which isn't common but not impossible."
"Is it possible to gain more access to your power?" asked Harry curiously.
Merlin smiled at the boy, "I wouldn't suggest that Mr. Potter. The reason why access and level normally even out is because a wizard's body cannot handle that kind of power. It was an evolutionary step when most of the power in our magical reserves was locked away from us, as a thousand years ago it was easy for a wizard to overload their core and die.
"But it is still possible to drain your magical reserves, especially when casting complex and powerful spells. So if any of you feel fatigued or nauseous after casting a spell, please report to Madam Pomfrey immediately." Most of the students looked completely terrified after this and Merlin felt a bit guilty.
"Although it is VERY hard to completely drain your reserves, so I'm sure none of you have anything to worry about" he added, failing in comforting the still weary looking students.
"What does your stone look like?" asked Seamus curiously.
"Ah, it doesn't matter" Merlin muttered, waving off the question.
"He's probably next to powerless," whispered Malfoy, loud enough for most the Slytherins to hear him.
A look of disappointment crossed Merlin's face, "five points from Slytherin for disrespect Mr. Malfoy. I'm surprised the other teachers have let you get away with that mouth of your's for five years." Looks of glee passed over most of the Gryffindor student's face and contempt and annoyance from the Slytherins.
"Now if you would all take out a piece of parchment and a quill, please write down your names, houses, and results. After you finish this place them in a pile on the empty desk up here and place your stones back in the box.
He looked out the window again as he waited for the students to finish. The afternoon sun was warm and beautiful and Merlin wanted nothing more than to take a long stroll around the Hogwarts ground. He was yanked out of his thoughts when a voice yelled, "Hey Professor Emrys: catch!" Instinctively Merlin's hand shot into the air and grabbed the object that had been thrown at him. Realizing what it was a second too late; a bright pink light filled the room, resembling a sightly pink sun. Quickly, Merlin tossed the crystal into the box, his mind filling with dread.
Looking at the faces of the students in front of him, he was met with a mixture of awe, confusion and fear. Merlin's mind went blank as he tried to think of a lie to get him out of this.
"Class dismissed" he finally said shakily, "and thirty points from Slytherin. I expect to see you after class for the next week Ms. Parkinson."
Merlin visibly deflated as the last student shuffled out of the room. Many of them whispered in hushed tones to each other, some casting worried glances back at him. How many more mistakes until someone figured something out? He knew at some point he would have discussed his secret with Dumbledore, but this was too soon. How incompetent was he if he couldn't even hide his identity from a bunch of fifteen year olds? What if it was impossible to break the hatred between houses; was his mission futile?
It was then that he saw a fifth year Hufflepuff outside the partially open doors to his classroom. The boy, Ernie Macmillian seemed to be holding back tears. Merlin remembered that the boy's crystal had been a dull orange and he had seemed extremely upset over it. Merlin was about to go comfort the boy when the Ravenclaw that sat behind him, Terry Boot, walked up and placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. He offered him a small smile and said something that Merlin could not hear. Ernie gave the other boy a small smile and the two turned and walked down the hall together, a ghost of laugher reaching the Warlock's ears.
Merlin felt his resolve strengthen and a determined smile blossomed on his lips. He could repair the bonds between the houses and he wouldn't fail.
For the next half hour he was completely absorbed in his thoughts of the future, so he barely noticed the large, billowing form that entered his room. The man stood there for a few seconds before clearing his throat, an action Merlin was unaware could sound so threatening.
"Emrys" Snape snarled.
"Can I help you Severus?" Merlin asked kindly.
"I've heard quite a few accounts of you..." he paused for a moment, "unfairly targeting my students."
"I'm sorry professor, I have no idea what you're talking about. Any punishment I've given to any member of your house has been completely appropriate. I must admit though, this is a bit rich coming from you" Merlin stated, daring the angry man to reply.
Snape looked disgusted, "Rich?"
"Well I know of quite a few students that are quite terrified of you Severus. You seem to pick on them in class like a primary school bully, which I must say is rather disappointing" Merlin answered calmly.
"And why is that" Snape asked, his voice dangerously quiet.
"Well I would think the head of Slytherin house would do his best to not make his house look like a breeding ground for villains and bullies, not act like one yourself" Merlin announced passively before standing from his desk chair and exiting the room. He was done dealing with the Slytherin house today.
As Merlin walked down the hall, even the youngest students could sense his foul mood and tried their best to avoid the teacher.
Merlin walked out onto the ivy covered stone stairs on a deserted section of the castle. He sat on the slippery steps and placed his head in his hands. He never would have imagined teaching would be this taxing.
"Excuse me" a small voice muttered, just in front of him. Merlin looked up to see a beautiful ghost, floating in the column just next to him.
"Ah, Helena" Merlin said kindly, smiling at the woman. The ghost offered him a rare smile, which Merlin returned almost immediately.
"It's been a while old friend" she said, her face almost looking a bit sad.
"That it has" Merlin sighed, moving his head so he could focus on the foggy forest just ahead.
"Why have you come back?" she probed gently.
"Voldemort returned, so I did too" he answered quietly, "his ability to harness the darkest of magic a-and defy the laws of nature...the Old Religion is hurting Helena..."
The ghost's face seemed to twist in sadness at the pain in her friend, "t-that man..."
"The diadem was not your fault Helena...it was never your fault..." he said sadly, eyes still trained on the misty forest so far below him.
"Please not this again" she whispered sadly.
Merlin forced out a half laugh and a small smile, "had to try didn't I?"
The Grey Lady sighed, "I guess so."
"I...I can feel it, the rip in the Old Religion that Tom caused. It feels as if someone ran a blade down my chest" Merlin confessed quietly.
Helena stayed silent, only giving her friend a look of pitiful empathy. They stayed like that for many moments more before a soft voice shattered the silence.
"Hello Helena." Merlin looked to find a silver haired girl smiling softly at the pair.
"Luna, it is good to see you" she answered kindly.
"Hello Luna" said Merlin quietly. She offered him a warm smile before continuing on her way.
"She is one of my favorite students" said Merlin with a small smile.
"Her soul is pure," added Helena.
The two friends sat in a nostalgic silence for many moments more as they watched the silver mist swirl and envelope the darkened forest. They both felt fear at the words Merlin had said and what they would bring.
Hey guys! I'm so sorry this is late but the website wasn't working for me yesterday so I had to wait to upload this. Sorry this chapter is a bit short, but the one next week will be longer, I promise. I'm so glad I've gotten such positive feedback on this story and I hope you all like this chapter as much as the last ones!