Chapter 19

So thank you for the feedback guys! I've decided to continue writing although updates may come a little (just a little I promise) sparser because I will slowly work on older chapters but I won't upload them until I finish the story itself so I hope that appeases most of you. I'm literally having so much trouble focusing right now because I just got the IOS 10 update and I literally cannot stop playing with it someone stop me. Just by the way I honestly didn't realize I left my story on a cliffhanger I was just so excited to upload I didn't even see it so I'm sorry I 'updated' without updating and got you all excited. (BTW 300 REVIEWS AND ALMOST 100,000 HITS HOLY SHIT GUYS THAT'S INSANE just so you know I've read every review I've ever gotten they mean a lot to me). It means so much to me when people tell me they binge read my story cause I do that all the time for other people and I don't know, to think my writing actually drew some of you guys in like that just means so much. Just as a side note I've extended the length of Arthur's cannon time as King. I know it wasn't long in the show but in my story he ruled for a little under a decade before dying. I'm sorry this was such a rambly intro, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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Merlin couldn't stop smiling.

He had yet to process that his secret identity had been revealed to the entirety of Hogwarts as he looked at his best friend's face for the first time in a thousand years.

Arthur on the other hand wasn't as enticed with Merlin as Merlin was with him. He glanced around a room he had seen only a few days ago, yet everything was different. Thrones had been removed and replaced with five extremely long tables and the Camelot crest that had adorned the stone walls for his entire life was replaced with black banners with the word 'Hogwarts' printed on them.

"Merlin what's happening?" he asked again, as hundreds of people stared at him in complete shock. Merlin opened his mouth to answer him but closed it when he could not get any noise to come out. Arthur realized his heart was beating extremely fast, but he didn't think this room full of children could cause any harm to him.

A strange looking man at the high table stood suddenly and pointed a stick at him. Arthur pushed Merlin behind him and grabbed the hilt of his sword.

"Who are you and why are you here intruder?" the strangely slimy looking man announced in a condescending voice.

"Um..." Merlin tried, but was silenced when Arthur held up an iron clad hand.

"I could ask you the same thing, seeing as this is my home" Arthur said, his voice laced with venom. The man faltered for a moment as Arthur adopted his 'kingly' poster (as Merlin and Gwen had so lovingly dubbed it).

"Preposterous!" he announced, scoffing and straightening his back.

Arthur suddenly drew his sword ready to defend his home, as strange as it now was.

"Stupify!" yelled the man with a whip of the stick and a glowing beam of red light shot from the tip straight towards Arthur.

"Wha-?" Arthur managed before the beam of light was stopped by an almost invisible barrier that suddenly surrounded him.

Merlin snorted behind him, "that's not going to work!"

Arthur turned to his best friend, the back of his mind suddenly reminding him that Merlin had magic. For the first time in the many years he had known the other man, he feared him; strangely though he couldn't find it in himself to hate him. As much as he still believed magic was evil, he knew Merlin was incorruptibly good so by that logic Merlin was still a good person in his mind.

"Explain yourself Ben!" suddenly shouted an aged woman who Arthur remembered had been sitting next to Merlin when he had entered the room. The man who had originally cast the spell glared at the other woman, but let her speak.

"Who's Ben?" he muttered allowed and Merlin smiled at him sheepishly.

"There's a lot of things I need to tell you Arthur" Merlin said quietly, the ecstatic smile still plastered on his face. He walked up the aisle back to the head table, Arthur following behind him like a lost puppy.

"Minerva, I'm so sorry. There's much I haven't told you, but I do believe I have ample chance to do so now."

The woman, Minerva, glanced up at Arthur before sighing, "you haven't given me a reason to distrust you until now Merlin. I will convene a staff meeting and give you one chance to explain yourself." She turned to the hundreds of awestruck students that were looking at the man they thought was simply their teacher and his strange new companion.

"Merlin" Hermione whispered, face still red as the Gryffindor table continued to stare while they waited for an explanation for her sudden outburst.

"Classes for today are cancelled" McGonagall announced, glancing down again at Umbridge's still empty chair, "Prefects, Heads of Houses, please escort your houses back to your common rooms. For now, I ask that you cooperate with me, please."

Some students yelled in protest, but most got up and began to file out of the great hall; still in shock.

"I'll meet you all in the teacher's lounge in ten minutes" Merlin said, glancing at Arthur. McGonagall seemed to get the message and the Hogwarts staff filed out after the students.

"Merlin, please, tell me what's happening" Arthur said, cursing the desperation in his voice.

Merlin looked up at Arthur, "Sire, I..."

"I'm assuming you don't really need to call me that anymore" snorted Arthur as he followed Merlin out of the great hall. Merlin smiled, albeit rather sadly.

"There's so much I have to tell you Arthur" he started, "but for now, I believe you should probably catch up on your sleep." Arthur did admit he felt rather exhausted and followed Merlin without protest around the castle.

They walked for five more minutes before Merlin stopped so suddenly that Arthur almost ran into his back. Merlin looked back at the taller man and rolled his eyes with a small smile.

"et ostium mihi" he chanted under his breath. A large wooden door suddenly appeared on the wall and Arthur gasped.

"How did you...is that my room?" he asked, his brow crinkling.

"Yeah" Merlin said simply and let Arthur walk past him into the familiar place. Arthur collapsed on the bed, still in full amour and fell asleep. Merlin rolled his eyes and they flashed gold; Arthur's amour flew off his body to the rack in a corner of the room.

"See you soon Arthur" he whispered, before closing the door which promptly disappeared behind him.

The walk back down to the staff lounge was a long one. Now that he knew Arthur was safe and sound his mind had time to wander into other, less productive areas of worry.

What if they thought he was insane? He wouldn't blame them; the fact that he was the warlock Merlin would be a bit hard to swallow. Now he had to explain the whole business with Arthur, and the prophesy, and Albion too. In comparison his 'secret identity' seemed completely reasonable.

He reached the suddenly daunting oak door and deciding it was best to just get it over with he pushed it open and strode into the room.

The Hogwarts staff he had come to know and love were scattered around the room whispering, which ceased as soon as the saw Merlin. They looked at their former friend with fear and distrust in their eyes, something that hurt Merlin's very soul.

"Be...Merlin" started McGonagall, breaking the thick silence that had enveloped the room. Merlin looked at her with gratitude before taking a seat at the head of the table. "I believe you should explain yourself" she continued rather coldly, looking at Merlin with an expression she had never shown him before.

"I believe I should" Merlin said quietly, lowering his head, "I would like to start by apologising to all of you. None of you deserved to be deceived and I'm sorry I lied to you all, but you must know it wasn't without reason."

"Elaborate" said Snape simply, looking Merlin straight in the eye.

Merlin sighed, "I guess I'll start from the beginning. When I was born, magic was something one could learn, not something one had their entire life. The king of Camelot at the time, King Uther, had used the magic of the high priestess so his barren wife would conceive. Little did he know that to create a life one had to give up a life. Arthur was born but his birth took his mother from him. Uther was never able to handle the pain of losing the woman he loved so he focused his rage on magic. Anyone found practicing magic in Camelot was to be immediately executed; this was true in many of the kingdoms of Albion.

"I on the other hand was, uh, special. I was born with the innate gift of magic which was something that not even the Druids understood. I could never contain the magic inside of me, there was just too much of it. After the villagers grew tired of hiding me my mother sent me to live with the court physician of Camelot, a man named Gaius."

"Are you saying that any person, no matter who, used to be able to practice magic?" interrupted Professor Flitwick, looking at Merlin with extreme intrigue. Merlin simply nodded in reply. Although Merlin didn't realize it at the time, this simple confession would change the future forever.

"After I saved Arthur's life from a sorceress seeking revenge after Uther killed her son, I was appointed as Arthur's personal man servant by Uther himself" Merlin laughed slightly at seeing the shocked faces of the other staff, "I know quite the reward."

"We were always told Merlin was the great Warlock of Camelot's courts" said McGonagall incredulously.

"I was, for a while, but I spent my time with Arthur as his servant" Merlin said, shrugging. "Although I saved that prat's life so many times I probably should have been given a job specifically for that purpose. Anyways, I spent many years with Arthur and we became rather close. Uther was a close minded traditionalist and as hard as he had tried to instill those values into Arthur, it never truly worked. When I first met Arthur, he was a spoilt Prince who thought he was the center of the universe. The man who stands before us today is the Arthur I consider my brother in all but blood."

McGonagall had to admit she was rather touched at Merlin's little speech, "so unlike his father King Arthur accepted magic?"

Merlin laughed awkwardly, "well...not exactly." Seeing the confused looks on the faces of the people before him, he began to elaborate. "Arthur's mind began to open when he met a man named Lancelot, I'm sure you've all heard of him. The man was a brilliant knight although he was not of noble birth so under Uther's law he was unable to become a knight in Camelot. I helped him forge a certificate of noble birth and Arthur got to see how talented the man really was. Unfortunately, Uther eventually found out and Lancelot was banished until Arthur took the throne. Arthur may not have realized it at the time but seeing a man of peasant parents defeat him in a sword fight was a turning point in his life."

"I'm sorry to ask...Merlin...but why are you telling us this?" McGonagall questioned, "it doesn't seem to help clear your name at all."

"I feel as if you need to understand my past to understand my present Minerva. Don't worry I promise I won't ramble on for much longer. Anyways, Arthur fell in love with his foster sister's handmaiden Gwen, which caused an even larger rift between him and his father. Many years after my service with Arthur had begun, Uther died and Arthur took the throne. He didn't have the hatred that his father had held for magic but it had been ingrained into him that magic was utterly evil since birth. For the short time Arthur was king I watched him struggle with that internal conflict more than anything else during his reign. I became an confident of sorts to him and although it could never be official due to my status as servant; he joked that I was his top advisor. Peace lasted for a few years before the sorceress Morgana, an enemy of Camelot, eventually struck her final blow. She had been trying to steal the throne from the Pendragon family for over a decade and in a last ditch effort she threw everything she had at us. We stopped her, but at a great cost. Arthur was fatally wounded and the magic I had hidden from him for so long was finally revealed. At first he was disgusted with me and believed me a traitor, but as Queen Guinevere and I sat at his deathbed he forgave me which was more than I ever could have hoped for."

By the end of his tale, some of the more emotional staff members were looking at him with misty eyes.

"But now he has returned, so what will you do?" asked Snape, folding his hands on the table.

"I believe that Arthur is a bit too confused and exhausted to accurately assess his beliefs at the moment. I will talk to him and do what I can, but it may take some time for him to accept magic as it is today. Soon after Arthur died, Gwen realized she was pregnant with his son so Camelot was able to live under relative peace under her reign and the reign of her son. The surrounding kingdoms of Albion however grew bitter towards Camelot. Uther's reign of terror and the great purge had left fellow kingdoms with traces of his hatred that only intensified through generations. For another many years I helped the Pendragon family slowly withdraw magic from the land until the only one who knew my true identity was the King or Queen themselves. Four of the most powerful witches and wizards in the land and I joined together to create a place where those born with magic, something growing increasingly common in the magical community, could be safe from the outside world. So the five of us started by founding the Order of Merlin...Godric loved that bloody name..."

"Godric Gryffindor?" interrupted McGonagall suddenly, looking at Merlin incredulously, "the other four with you were the founders of Hogwarts? You helped found this school?"

"Yes...originally there were to be five houses but the legends of Merlin were already growing and I thought there was going to be too much of a bias. Salazar and I were too similar in too many beliefs anyways" Merlin explained with a shrug, "after a long time, with proper instruction and more, smaller schools popping up around Europe, an official ministry was formed and the first Minister of magic was chosen in 1707."

After Merlin had finished telling the most exciting history lesson any of the Hogwarts staff had ever heard, they simply stared at him in stunned silence. The man who they believed to be the youngest, most naïve teacher of them all had experienced more of the world than any human could ever hope to see.

"What made you come back?" McGonagall finally asked, her face still wearing an expression Merlin had never seen before; admiration.

"I am the last creature of the old religion left alive" Merlin said sadly, "it's the origin of magic and of all magical beings on this earth. Voldemort has done so much evil, committed so many horrors, that his magic is pulling at the very threads of the old religion itself.

"I...I can feel it hurting" Merlin finished, looking up at the others in the room with an almost pained expression. The staff sat still for another few moments before Professor Flitwick finally piped up.

"Seeing as that horrible Umbridge woman isn't here I believe we should do our best to keep this from her and the ministry for now. Who knows what they would do if they found out Merlin was among us once again."

The other teachers nodded at this. "I'm sure we can convince the students to keep quiet, at least for a while" Snape added, "you're the most liked teacher I've seen here in years Emr...Merlin. Most of them would be happy to keep your secret."

"That's very flattering Severus, but I don't trust some of the older Slytherins to keep this information from their parents. I know many are spies within the school for Voldemort. If he found they were keeping this from him, their entire families would most likely be murdered" Merlin countered, "but I also don't think that the wizarding world is ready for Merlin to return."

Other staff members nodded in agreement. Merlin continued to tell his stories well into the night and with each word that left his mouth his friends began to love and respect him a little bit more.

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"I brought some tea" said Parvati, quietly closing the common room door behind her. A chorus of thanks echoed through the room as students grabbed a cuppa from the tray the fifth year had smuggled from the kitchens.

"This is..." started Fred before trailing off, unable to find the right words. Even so, many of his fellow Gryffindors nodded in agreement. Most of the first, second, third, and fourth years had quickly retired to their dorms to theorize about their current situation in private while many upperclassmen stayed for the impromptu meeting happening in the Gryffindor common room at the moment.

On the large couch sat Harry surrounded by Hermione and Ron on each side. To their left Fred and George had claimed the first love seat while Ginny sat at her brothers' feet. Fred had joked that she wanted the company of her big, strong brothers before being silenced after George quietly commented that they probably needed her more than she needed them at the moment. Ginny found this exchange rather amusing. Dean and Seamus shared the armchair near the fire while the remainder of the Gryffindor house was perched in random places around the room.

"Who would've guessed it" muttered Dean, shaking his head.

"Hermione apparently" replied Harry giving his friend a pointed look. The bushy haired ginger blushed at this comment and lowered her eyes.

"Yeah, how the hell did you figure it out Hermione?" Lee Jordan piped in, leaning over the back of the sofa to look at the fifth year he never really talked to.

"Well" Hermione started uncomfortably, "it all started when Ron and Harry told me that Professor Emrys said he knew Matilda Peterson the potion master during her time at Hogwarts. But she was born around the turn of the century which means it was impossible for him to know her when she was still a student. I probably would have dropped the whole thing but the incident with his stone in Defense kept bothering me so I continued to search. A few weeks or so after that, I ran into Luna who told me she had overheard Merlin and the Grey Lady talking..."

"Who's the Grey Lady?" interrupted George putting his hands up in defense at the glares his fellow students shot him.

"The ghost of Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter apparently" Hermione clarified, snorting at the looks on her friend's faces, "but anyways Luna said the two talked as if they had known each other for centuries and mentioned something called the old religion..."

"The thing Emrys accidently called magic a few months ago?" asked Neville quietly, blushing as every person in the room turned to look at him.

"Blimey Neville how'd you remember that?" asked Ron in surprise. Neville simply shrugged at looked at Hermione with a pleading look for her to continue.

"Yeah I guess he did" laughed Hermione, "It took me a while but in one of the first editions of 'A History of Magic' I found it." Hermione motioned to an extremely old book in her bag.

"Read it" said Harry, looking extremely invested in the conversation.

Hermione flipped to her book mark and cleared her throat, "The old religion is considered mythical by most in the magical community. It was said that many centuries ago magic was so ingrained in the earth that everything born of its fruits was a creature of the old religion. During this time magic was much darker, but could be learned by all humans. Only one human in known history was known to be a creature of the old religion: the great sorcerer Merlin. Although most of the information about the old religion is either mythical or incorrect, some theorists have used the little information we do know to create items such as the philosopher's stone and other extremely powerful magical objects."

"How long did it take you to find that?" asked Lavender, eyes wide.

"Just a few hours. I theorized at first that he had some sort of sorcerer's stone. I told Dumbledore about it before he left and he told me that he thought something was up too. He said I had answered many of his questions and knowing Dumbledore he figured everything out then and there. He had to leave that night so I never got to ask more. A month or so after that I decided to do some more research. I found this book about theories on wizarding history" she motioned to an even thicker book in her bag, "and even though most of it was rather ridiculous I found this passage on Druids who were ancient magic users."

Seeing the waiting expressions on her classmates' faces she began to read, "Although the most well-known Druids resided in England, the most dense population of the ancient wizards were located in Scotland. Most Druid prophecies and legends have been lost to the ages, but still a few remain. The most notable of which is the tale of Albion. This is better known as the tale of King Arthur and Merlin. The Druids predicted the birth of a powerful warlock a hundred years before the child was born. They knew that one day the King and his Sorcerer would one day create the land of Albion, a land of peace that encompasses all of Great Britain. Merlin, who's Druid name was Emrys, was to continue the quest even after King Arthur was killed."

"How in the hell did you ever find that" asked Lee Jordan, looking more impressed than anyone had ever seen him.

"I like to read" she shrugged, causing Ron and Harry to burst out laughing.

"That's the biggest understatement I've ever heard!" Ron practically yelled. Hermione glared at him with a blush painting her cheeks.

"I'll admit Hermione we have to bow down to your startling intellect once again, but who didn't you tell anyone about this?" asked George.

"She probably didn't think she had enough proof" laughed Ginny, giving Hermione a knowing look.

"Well I mean the book was mostly speculation so though I was pretty convinced subconsciously, consciously I still needed more. I mean the thought that our teacher was Merlin himself was completely ridiculous" Hermione laughed uncomfortably.

"Can't blame you 'Mione" signed Ron, "I still don't believe it." The rest of the common room muttered in quiet agreement. The students sat in silence for a long time while each pondered how much their life would change.

"Blimey I'm hungry" groaned Fred suddenly, breaking the heavy silence.

"Really Fred?" sighed Ginny glaring at her brother, "it's only...oh."

Almost every person in the room glanced over to the giant grandfather clock on the left side of the room. It was somehow already mid afternoon and everyone's' stomachs began to grumble at the same.

Fred and George got up in tandem with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"We we're uh, gonna go get food" snorted George.

"Same here" replied Harry.

"Between the five of us we could probably smuggle enough for everyone" suggested Fred.

"Sounds good" Harry and Ron answered in unison.

Hermione gave a bark of laughter and shook her head, "you two are spending too much time around the twins."

"Let's tone down the bants" groaned Lee Jordan, "we're hungry."

"Alright, alright we're going" answered George with a wave of his hand.

Harry walked across the room to push open the door, but someone beat him too it.

Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway with eyes that shone in a way Harry had never seen before.

"I was here to bring you all some food, but it seems you almost beat me to it" she sighed, looking Harry up and down. After a moment the transfiguration professor stepped out of the doorway and half a dozen house elves poured in carrying platters filled with a variety of goodies.

"Tomorrow classes will resume normally" she announced before leaving, surprised that the normal groans she normally expected were absent from her ears.

It seemed the students wanted to interview their professor as much as she had.

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Sorry a little of Hermione's explanation was repeated I just wanted a little reminder of how she figured it out because it happened over quite a few chapters. So I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've ever uploaded (although I can probably give some of that to my ridiculous ramble at the beginning of the chapter. I really do love my readers so I hope you enjoy this and have a great day!