Chapter 20

Okay so I have to leave the announcement up for now because apparently you can't comment on a chapter twice so a bunch of you got frustrated that you couldn't leave another review. Sorry if you got a bunch of weird notifications the day I uploaded because I had to do it like three times to get the website to work. I'm also sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, I had midterms and it was a really rough month. Any of you who are new to this story I normally don't wait this long to upload and I feel really bad for making you all wait so long in such an exciting part of the story.

(PS I wrote the part of this chapter with Arthur and Merlin to the song Sun- Sleeping at Last and I think it goes really well with that part of the chapter so if you want the full experience go for it)

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The dust had been cleared and possessions had been replaced. An armor rack sat still in the corner, in use for the first time in a thousand years. A bay room window was cracked slightly causing the faded red curtains to flutter delicately and the biting cold of winter to seep into the room. Despite this though, the air felt warm and the two men filling the space slept soundly with unconscious smiles. The slighter of the two sat sprawled across an elaborate arm chair looking more at peace than he ever had. It was this man that woke first, stretching and popping unhappy joints as his electric blue eyes squinted against the golden sunlight that streamed through the large window. He yawned and stood to close said window but was stopped by the other man.

"Keep it open Merlin" Arthur muttered sleepily, "the cold reminds me it's real." Merlin raised an eyebrow but kept the window as it was and turned to one of the many mirrors instead. He frowned at the untamable mess on his head at set to work trying to fix it.

"You know Merlin; in one thousand years you'd think you'd be able to find a way to fix that mop of yours" Arthur commented with a signature smug smirk.

Merlin rolled his eyes, "and you'd think a thousand-year nap might improve your attitude a little, I guess some things are impossible."

Arthur threw a pillow across the room and his friends who easily dodged the feather filled projectile. The two made eye contact and burst out laughing.

"I guess some things never change" Merlin sighed with eyes that sparkled with joy.

"I wouldn't know" Arthur sighed, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. Merlin flinched ever so slightly, but it did not escape Arthur's field of vision.

"I do promise that we will sit down and I will explain everything; I'll tell you everything. But for now I might have to stop the entire wizarding world from destroying itself" Merlin sighed.

"You keep telling me that but at this point the 'I'm busy excuse' has started to lose a bit of its charm" joked Arthur, but Merlin could see the lost expression behind his eyes.

Merlin stopped in his tracks and looked Arthur dead in the eye, "I really am sorry Arthur and I will tell you everything you want to know. Everything. But for now I really do need to get to class."

He could tell Arthur was anything but sated; instead of arguing though, he simply nodded and turned away from Merlin. He felt guilty, but there was nothing to be done at the moment; there was somewhere he had to be.

Despite this Merlin quickly strode across the room and enveloped his best friend in the first hug he had given him since his rather unexpected return. Arthur's eyes widened slightly as he was sure he could count the number of intimate moments he had shared with Merlin on one hand, but embraced the slightly embarrassed warlock back anyways. A vocal communication was still rather lacking between the two, as it had been for a millennium but the connection had not faded; it was not lost.

After a moment, Merlin straightened himself up, gave Arthur a quick nod, and left the room. Arthur smiled faintly as he watched Merlin dart from the golden light enveloping his room.

Nothing had changed.

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Ever since his true identity was revealed two days ago, he had done his best to avoid the student population. He spent most of his time in meetings with the staff (not including Umbridge) or badly avoiding Arthur. He knew there was much to tell him and although they had exchanged a few stories, there was still much to share. Last night was the longest time the two had spent together and Merlin had tactfully avoided the subject of the future by reminiscing, something Arthur was strangely happy to do. Surprisingly, it seemed that no one had gotten around to telling Umbridge or the wizarding world of his identity yet. He knew he was well liked among the students, but secrets as big as his were never kept. Merlin's best guess was someone was intercepting their letters, but that still seemed a bit improbable.

He had agreed with McGonagall that the students should be left to make their own decisions. He knew that the younger children would most likely keep his secret if asked, at least until summer. It was the older ones he worried about. Many had come to knock on his door in the past 48 hours, but he had done his best to avoid them.

That was over now.

He had agreed to continue teaching his classes as long as he could, if the students would let him. He had argued that many of the younger students saw 'Merlin' as muggles saw God: an all-powerful mythical figure that was made of the universe, not of flesh and blood. Minerva had told him to stop being a coward and teach the students he had spent the last four months getting to know.

Today things were supposed to return to normal, but Merlin highly doubted that would happen. He hadn't even bothered to prepare a class schedule as he knew the students would demand answers and if nothing else he owed them that. As he entered his classroom, it felt strange to see such normalcy. It seemed as if something seeming so routine and comforting didn't belong in his life anymore. His days spent teaching the students of Hogwarts felt like a lifetime ago; he would know he had experienced many.

Merlin took a deep breath before walking across the room to stand behind a bookshelf. If he was going to explain this he was going to do it right.

Within the next twenty minutes his first class of the day had arrived and not a soul was missing; not that Merlin was surprised. The fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors all took the seats and began intense conversations with one and other, waiting for their teacher to arrive.

"...couldn't wait, we deserve some bloody answers" Ron was muttering loudly to the other Gryffindors. Most nodded in agreement but Hermione only shook her head.

"I still trust Professor Em...Merl...I still trust him" she said stubbornly, "he's given us no reason not to."

"Yeah other than lying about his identity and the fact that his presence here puts us all in danger, his track record's clean" muttered Harry, drawing some snickers from his friends.

Merlin took a deep breath before emerging from behind his bookcases. Silence swept the room and Merlin smiled uncomfortably.

"Uh, hello class" he said, wringing his hands. He expected them to say something, anything, but every soul stayed silent. It seemed that every student was analyzing their teacher, trying to find some detail that was different. They found nothing. Although Merlin could see they were just as uncomfortable around him as he was with them.

"I'm, ah, sure you all have questions..." Merlin started, hoisting himself up so he was sitting on his desk top.

"That's an understatement" muttered Draco, but his quip lacked its usual malice.

"...and I owe you all answers" Merlin continued, barely sparing the Slytherin a glance, "so ask away."

A dozen voices broke through at once, before Merlin smiled and raised his hand, "one at a time please."

"Why did you lie?" Pansy Parkinson piped up, crossing her arms.

"Straight to the point I see?" Merlin said with a well-meaning smile, "I'm assuming you're asking about who I am?" She nodded.

"Well, I figured if the wizarding world realized I was teaching at Hogwarts it would put you all in more danger than you're already in."

"Then why come here in the first place?" asked Ron.

"To...ah...protect you" Merlin answered sheepishly rubbing the back of his head at the lack of a better answer.

"From what?" asked Dean

"Voldemort I'm guessing" said Hermione, her eyes calculating.

A few students rolled their eyes, but none replied.

"Ms. Granger is right" sighed Merlin, drawing some surprised looks.

"But he's dead" whispered Lavender Brown.

"I wish that were true" Merlin said simply.

"How did you know he was back?" asked Harry quietly, looking Merlin in the eye.

"Ah yes well this is where things get a bit complicated" Merlin joked, coughing awkwardly. "You see back in the old days people used to draw power from something called the 'old religion'..."

"You've mentioned that before" noted Hermione.

"Ah, yes one of my many slip ups" Merlin smiled, "but almost anyone could draw power from the old religion, not specific people. Some were better at it than others, but anyone could practice magic that wanted to. As time went on certain families continued to practice magic like it was a tradition, but most were never exposed to the old religion. After repeated generations of people cut off from the old religion, their bodies ceased to be able to access it at all while the few families that had continued to practice magic found ways to hone their craft leading to the magic you see today."

"But then why do muggle-borns exist? If magical evolution was due to ancestral practice, how does someone from a true muggle lineage suddenly have magic?" asked Draco, looking surprisingly interested. Some of the other Slytherins turned to look at him incredulously and he shrugged uncomfortably, "I like history and this is obviously accurate so..." Most of the Slytherins accepted his explanation, but the confusion in the air did not dissipate.

Merlin simply smiled, "that's an excellent question Mr. Malfoy. To be completely honest I'm not entirely certain why muggle-borns exist. My best theory has to do with the muggle concept of evolution, do any of you know what that is?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air, "it is the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form."

Merlin nodded, "exactly. I believe that due to the small amount of families that actually continued to practice magic the old religion was dying off. You can only keep a dozen families alive for so long if they can, or are only willing to, breed within that circle, which explains why all pureblood wizards are so, uh, complexly related." Some of the students snickered at that. "So while a few more rebellious pure bloods started magical families with muggles, other muggles suddenly found themselves with magical children. The old religion had reignited the spark that lie dormant inside them for generations in order to survive. The magical gift is most likely a dominant trait, which means when wizards and witches have children, only one parents needs to be magical to pass that gene onto their children which means those muggle born wizards could make more magical children no matter who with."

"That's fascinating" said Hermione, almost entranced in the lecture. Merlin noticed that most of his students were also rather involved in his lecture. They were some of the first to hear about magical genealogy in a long time; maybe he should have taught a class on that instead.

"Why isn't this really public information?" asked one of the Slytherins.

"I feel like this could do a lot to undermine the pureblood ideology" mentioned Ron absentmindedly, turning red when some of his classmates gave him incredulous looks.

"Well, not much is known about the old religion to wizards today. Those who do know anything are purebloods who heard about it from old family tales which aren't always credible" Merlin answered.

"You should write a book Professor" commented Dean from the back of the class.

"I should probably write a lot of books" Merlin answered with a small smile.

"I'll admit this is fascinating, but you never really answered my question Professor" said Harry, "how did you know Voldemort was back?" Some students squirmed at the mention of the dark lord's name, but most looked at their teacher curiously.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot. Because I am a creature of the old religion, the first human to be born with ingrained magic instead of having to learn it, I have a special connection with it. I can feel...the fabric of it I guess. With all that Voldemort has done to escape death, he has damaged some of the fabric, hurt the old religion. It's hard for me not to feel everything he does" Merlin said, unconsciously wincing.

"I can relate" he heard Harry mutter quietly while he absentmindedly rubbed his scar.

"Is the old religion alive?" asked Neville, "y-you said it could hurt."

Merlin nodded, "in a way it is. I guess the best way to think of it would to be to imagine the muggle God. It created the universe and everything in it, kind of woven everything together like a tapestry with strings made of magic, so in a way we are all a product of it . But all that has been done by that evil man has defied the laws of nature and messed with the natural order of the universe. Humans have created things that the old religion never meant to be created. They have unwoven parts of the tapestry and woven it back together to fit their own agenda. There is natural order to things, if one lives, another must die and so on. Somehow Voldemort has messed with this order, which if I'm being completely honest endangers his magic and the magic of every creature in the universe. If you unravel one part of a tapestry it is difficult to stop the whole thing from coming apart."

"Bloody hell" Ron muttered, rubbing his temples.

Merlin continued on for another half an hour answering questions, which had shifted mostly to his personal life before he was the Merlin. All were surprised when the bell rang, signaling the period had ended.

Students slowly stood up and exited the classroom and Merlin was about to prepare for his next period of questions when he noticed one student remained in the room.

"Mr. Malfoy, is there something I can do for you?" he asked kindly.

"I just..." he started before stopping awkwardly.

"Is this about your family?" Merlin asked quietly.

Draco looked up at him in surprise before nodding slowly, "I...don't know what to do. I want to blame you. I really do, but I just can't."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Merlin asked quietly, looking at the young Slytherin with kind eyes.

"Maybe..." Draco shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Well if you Mr. Malfoy, come by my office around eight tonight and we can discuss this in private over tea" Merlin said with a kind smile, "I know what it's like to turn against the beliefs of those around you." Merlin felt like dancing for the gods, it seemed he had finally reached the boy.

Draco looked at the teacher for a moment, examining his face. Somehow the man had figured him out more in the past few months than anyone else had in five years. It unnerved him, but he still felt drawn to the warlock. Sighing, Draco nodded and walked from the room. He wasn't sure what else to do in Merlin's presence; he had to admit even he was a bit nervous around the all-powerful man.

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Merlin pushed his way through his next classes. They all seemed to mirror one another, as he answered mostly the same questions over and over again. The younger students seemed more interested to learn more about him as a person due to the fact that a legend was standing in front of them. The older students however wanted to know more about all he knew. The Ravenclaws wanted to know the different things he had learned from spending time with magical clans that had been isolated from the world for centuries and what the textbooks got wrong. The Hufflepuffs wanted to know who he had met, what he had learned, what it was like to live for a thousand years. He indulged all of them, opening his heart about how freeing it was to feel so connected to the earth yet how lonely eternal life was. Voldemort was not a topic raised again.

He decided it would be best to skip dinner as Arthur was most likely feeling very irritated and lonely cooped up in his bedroom all day. He needed a break from all the questions anyways.

Unknown to him, the entirety of Hogwarts was having an impromptu meeting concerning the great warlock himself in the great hall.

Fred and George had 'accidentally' locked Umbridge in her office for the time being, so her chair at the head of the staff table was mysteriously empty; not that anyone was complaining.

McGonagall waited until her students had finished their meals and worn out their gossip. She had learned over the years that any student would be more agreeable on a full stomach and lacking others to talk about. Taking a breath, she stood and waited for the students to cease their chatter. Soon the hall stood silent as both staff and students watched her, some curiously and some tediously.

"I would like to acknowledge how proud of you all we are. I believe it reflects the maturity of this school, as you were presented with an immense change and took it in a stride. Now, I know the secret each and every one of you hold is immense and confusing and many of you may wish to tell your parents or the ministry about it. Although we cannot stop any of you, we highly discourage you doing so. Now you all must know we will not be reading letters or invading privacy but we will ask that for the time being that this secret stays within the school. Now, you may go back to your meal time activities." She took a seat and exchanged looks with some other staffers.

McGonagall knew asking the students to keep this secret was a long shot, but she had to hope they had grown to love the teacher enough to show him this respect.

Harry shot Ron and Hermione a look. He was sure his friends would have no problems keeping their mouths shut, but he was a little worried about the other houses. He knew some Hufflepuffs who would have issues lying to so many people and Ravenclaws that would have trouble keeping such a breakthrough in magical knowledge within castle walls. Surprisingly he wasn't too caught up on the Slytherin house. They protected their own, and now knowing Merlin was one of them he doubted most of them would have any issue keeping their mouths shut.

"What are they going to do about Umbridge?" Ron asked quietly, looking up at her empty chair at the head table.

"I have no clue, I'm sure there's some plan" said Hermione, without much conviction.

"Well one thing's for sure" Harry stated, drawing the attention of most of the Gryffindors at the table, "as soon as Voldemort figures this out Hogwarts isn't going to be anywhere near safe anymore."

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So I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter. We're about halfway through the story so far, unless I make some major changes to the plot (which is probably a 50/50 chance). That's all for now, I really hope all of you in America have a lovely Thanksgiving.

(PS I am casually drinking wine from a mug rn so?)