Merlin's Chosen
Rating: T
Summary: Arthur has slept in Avalon, the otherworldly place just beyond the reach of magic for all but Merlin and his chosen, recovering from the injuries sustained in the battle at Camlann. Years have passed and times have changed and Hogwart's school of Witchcraft and Wizardry has taken it's place on the edge of the Lake of Avalon, unknown to modern witches and wizards. The world is in need of the Once and Future King to protect Albion again but to do that the immortal Merlin, the man that has learned to live backwards, must be there and he is nowhere to be found. It is now the job of Merlin's Chosen. Only, Harry Potter thinks he's going mental.
This is based on the mountains that are around the movie version of Hogwarts and the lake that Merlin takes Freya to in season 2 episode 9.
A/N: Well, 2020 was quite a year. Hopefully, 2021 will calm itself before we reach February. Considering that I live in the US and what is happening on Wednesday, it is not likely. I'm okay, though. My family has been relatively okay considering everything.
I wrote and rewrote this monster of a chapter. It's a monster because it was difficult, not because it is long. It fought me every step of the way, but I will say I was cackling at the middle portion. Some characters are just fun to write. I am still planning out what comes next and I have a new project I am working on. I have a few ideas so hopefully it won't be 10 months before my next update. Who knows.
Just an interesting tidbit, I listened to "Hadestown" on repeat as I was writing this.
Chapter 23
The healer in Merlin sent Sirius up the stairs to a spare room to rest while he made an anti-nausea tonic from on of Gaius' old recipes - one that could still be made over a thousand years later. Morgan added a few potions of her own make if only to help with the man's obvious trauma.
"The nightmares are going to come back," Harry said. He stood at the top of the stairs that lead to the bedrooms watching for the door to open on the one furthest down and Merlin to come out again. Remus quietly agreed, looking tired. The normal tired, not moon tired.
Harry had known about Regulus. It was hard not to at least know he existed considering the family tapestry, yet Sirius had a sad sort of smile when Harry asked about him.
"He was the perfect son," Sirius had said. "Everything I wasn't. Obedient. Stoic. Willing to do the dark magic inherent to our line. The perfect Pureblood. The perfect little Slytherin." Sirius sighed. "Even then it didn't save him from our mother's ire and plain insanity. And our father didn't give a shit one way or another." He got a far away look in his eyes. "I tried so hard to get him to run away with me. Your grandparents wouldn't have batted an eye taking us both in. They were great like that." Sirius shifted in his seat and his hand looked like it wanted to hold a tumbler of some alcoholic drink, yet it stayed empty. "He wouldn't leave. Said he was already in too deep. By the time I saw him next in any significant way, he had already taken the Mark."
Harry drifted out of the memory with a shift of his feet, still leaning against the wall. He looked down to see Remus smiling at him sadly.
"Sirius was inconsolable for days when we heard Regulus disappeared," Remus said, guessing correctly at Harry's thoughts. "His mother had sent a howler accusing him of hiding his traitor of a brother. Whatever that meant. We still don't have any answers."
"So what do we do now?" Harry asked softly, watching as Merlin came out of the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind him looking solemn.
"Until we have more information there isn't anything we can do," Remus said.
Merlin walked passed Harry and down the stairs to the low table, taking an apple from what was left of the breakfast tray and with a groan sank into the low couch. After a moment Harry followed taking the left over high backed chair that looked out over the couch and the window that overlooked the grounds.
"Where did everyone go?" he asked.
"We're up here," Merlin," Morgan said and all of them looked up to the upstairs part of the Library that hung over the kitchenette. There was a small balcony that hung out over the sitting room. "Figured we would research how Mordred could take over a not-quite-dead body, especially if the soul hadn't moved on yet."
"If you don't find anything there, we can check the library I have stashed at Gringotts," Merlin said in between bites of his apple.
Morgan nodded and disappeared back over the railing.
"How is he?" Remus asked.
"Tired," Merlin said. "And sad. I gave him a mild sleeping draught after the stomach soother and told him to sleep as long as he needed." Merlin finished off the apple and flung the core toward the direction of the kitchen, which probably meant he magicked it into the rubbish bin. "Were he and his brother close?"
As if to avoid the question, Remus made himself a cup of tea and as if a second thought passed through his mind, poured one out for Merlin. He glanced at Harry and Harry shook his head.
"No, they weren't." Remus said bluntly. Merlin looked up from his tea cup confused. "In fact, they were on opposites sides of the war, but Sirius tried so hard to get him out. This…" Remus stopped and fingered the tea cup handle. "This is just a reminder of how bad he failed."
Merlin hummed into his cup as he took a sip.
"Sirius loves easily and deeply," Remus said. "I think it was because he never got the parental love he craved until he met James' parents. I think he really wanted to share that with Regulus and when he wouldn't leave, Sirius felt like he failed at providing that kind of love and protecting him from their parents." Remus sighed. "He knows he didn't have to provide it for Regulus, but it is in his nature to love and loves those that need it."
"It could be why betrayal is the ultimate sin to him," Merlin said.
Remus stopped mid-reach for a biscuit and pulled back his hand already deep in thought. "Yes," he siad. "I think you're right."
Merlin turned to Harry. "Do you think your friend is at work today?"
"Charlie?" Harry mused. "Maybe. I'm not sure if he was able to get New Years off."
"Probably not if he got Christmas," Remus said, biscuit in hand. He took a long sip of his tea with a grimace and proceeded to finish it off.
Harry leaned back in his chair and pulled up his feet. "We can fire call the Weasley's and see when he will be in," Harry suggested.
A knock sounded at the door. Harry glanced at Merlin who was staring at the door and one by one, Morgan, Leon, and Arthur all leaned over the railing to stare at the door.
Merlin stood and cautiously approached the door with a hand raised and already whispering a spell under his breath. Only to open it and find Charlie on the other side.
"Uh, hi," Charlie said awkwardly. "A woman by the lake by the name of Freya said you would be here. I'm Charlie. Charlie Weasley."
Harry shared a gobsmacked look with Remus. But looked back when Charlie called his name.
"Wotcher, Harry," he greeted. "I had some questions about Christmas and came looking for you. This was the first chance I had to get away."
Merlin gestured him inside and Charlie cautiously followed.
"Only a few?" Harry asked as Charlie took a seat on the couch. Harry could see the trio was still watching from the railing up the stairs and Merlin had taken a spot by the fire.
Charlie looked around the room, waved sarcastically at the audience on the railing, and smiled at Harry. "Admittedly, the list has gotten longer in the last thirty seconds. Such as: Is that really him?" Charlie pointed to Merlin as he stood at the fireplace, a look of confusion and concentration on his face.
Harry nodded. "And that is Morgana, Arthur, Leon, who was a knight of the Round Table," Harry said pointing to the still ogling group over the railing.
"Merlin," Charlie said amazed and then squeaked with a hand over his mouth.
The actual Merlin groaned.
"Do the modern magic users swear by you, Merlin?" Arthur called from the railing. He sounded a bit sarcastic. Merlin ran a hand over his face. "Because that is going to get old real quick."
"Better me than you, you clot pole!" Merlin shot back and Arthur cackled.
Harry looked up in time for Morgan to shove her brother back deeper into the library still laughing. He shook his head and turned back around to see Charlie a deep read that was starting to rival his hair and a tired looking Merlin.
"I will never live that down," he said with a groan.
"I'm sorry," Charlie said.
"Don't be," Merlin said. "It was going to happen sooner or later. I never was able to convince magic users to stop though." Merlin smiled and clapped his hands to conjure another chair. With a ridiculous flourish that might have been for Charlie's benefit, he sat. "So you had questions?"
"Um, yeah," Charlie said. "I guess I will start with: who was that guy? That day at the Reserve. I'm assuming you know or at least have a theory."
Merlin slid a glance to Harry and he nodded, letting Merlin know that they could trust him. "We have a pretty strong feeling we know who that was, we just aren't sure how."
"He looked a lot like Sirius, but used magic I had never seen before. I even asked Bill and he was baffled."
Merlin looked at Harry. "Bill is the oldest. He works for Gringotts as a curse breaker."
"So he would have seen a bunch of strange magicks," Charlie said.
Harry sent a look that clearly meant We really can trust him and Merlin nodded. "We believe the sorcerer you encountered was Mordred."
"Mordred?" Charlie deadpanned. "The Mordred?"
Merlin rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Yes, the Mordred, but not in his natural form."
"So he's a shapeshifter?"
"No, he's dead," Morgan said appearing in the doorway of the library with a rather ancient looking book in her hand. "We found something."
"I found something!" Arthur shouted from somewhere in the bowls of the room.
Morgan rolled her eyes. "Does this sound familiar?"
"Cornelius Segan?" Merlin asked. "Yes, I remember him. He possessed that dolt that tried to take my place as Arthur's servant, but his soul was contained in a giant ruby heart. Mordred has been floating around for the last thousand years."
Remus did a little jump thing and stared up at the two ancient magic users something akin to terror in his eyes. Remus's look jumped to Harry and for a second Harry thought he was looking at his scar.
"Then I'm surprised that we haven't run into this already," Morgan said flatly, clearly still annoyed with Merlin's way of dealing with the situation. "But what I am saying is that if we can force Mordred out of the body then we can trap him like we did with Segan."
"Yeah, no," Merlin said. "I had to let Segan take over my body while reciting the spell to trap him again and I am not letting Mordred do that."
"Hmm, that is a good point, so that's out," Morgan said. "We may need that Library at Gringotts if we don't find anything else."
Morgan drifted up the stairs again and Charlie cleared is throat. "So Mordred is possessing this guy? Do we know who he is? Or was?" Charlie pulled a face at the prospect of the victim already being dead.
"We think it's Regulus, my brother," Sirius answered for them. He looked haggard, near what he looked like the day Harry met him in the Shrieking Shack. He certainly didn't look like he slept any.
Charlie was quiet for a second until he broke out into a foreign language that Harry assumed was Romanian. From the look on Merlin's face they were some creative swears.
"Sirius, I am so sorry," Charlie said. "If I had known…"
"It's okay, because you didn't know." Sirius fell into Merlin's abandoned chair and looked like he was trying not to cry.
Merlin muttered something and the room rearranged itself for more seating and Harry laughed at Charlie's surprised yelp when the couch underneath him tuned into a chair.
"Anymore questions?" Merlin asked.
Charlie thought for a moment. "How can I help?"
Merlin laughed. "Can I see Aithusa?" he countered.
"You know Aithusa?" Charlie asked. "What am I saying? Of course you know Aithusa."
"And I should considering I hatched her," Merlin said.
"What do you mean you hatched her?"Charlie asked.
Merlin smirked. "I'm a Dragonlord. It was part of our job, but I know things have changed and while dragons have flourished under your care, they are closer to their Wyvern cousins than Aithusa or Killgharrah."
"There are legends in the older parts of the world that dragons talked," Charlie confided. "I didn't realize they were true." Charlie thought. "I might be able to get a visitor's pass for you, but no one else. After what happened with apparently Mordred, security has been a bit tight."
"Thank you, Charlie," Merlin said, honestly.
"In the mean time, I need to get back to work." Charlie stood and made for the door. "Oh, one more question. The woman by the lake? Freya? She was standing on top of the water. Is she the Lady of the Lake?"
Merlin nodded. "And a dear friend."
Charlie blinked as if he was processing the information, a contemplative amazement on his face. "What has my life become?" he asked whispering. Clearly not needing an answer, he turned and left, the door gently closing behind him.
Sirius leaned forward and Harry knew that if he was reaching for food he was feeling a little better when a gentle clicking sound came from the direction of the window. Remus stood and opened it wide enough for the tawny owl to land on Sirius' shoulder.
"Were you expecting a letter?" Remus asked.
Sirius shrugged. "Maybe Tonks has news?"
He untied the letter from the owl's leg before offering it some bacon that managed to survive breakfast. Harry watched it fly off into the distance as a small feeling of foreboding at it's arrival settled into his stomach. It was a speck in the sky when Sirius gasped. Harry looked over that feeling solidifying into a rock as Sirius said, "It's from Regulus."