Disclaimer: Me no owny! Rowling and BBC do!

Harry Potter and the Will of Magic

As soon as Gaius had appeared on the scene with Merlin right behind him, he had ordered a stretcher of sorts to be made to transport the child to the hospital. Once there, the court physician quickly got to work applying herbs and other remedies to the small body until you couldn't see any skin beyond his lips and a small area around his eyes. His bones had been carefully returned to their original places beneath the skin.

Days past with no sign of improvement, and Morgana visited the young boy every day since his arrival, feeling, (correctly) that he must be magical because how else could he have arrived in the courtyard out of nowhere in a blinding flash of light?

It wasn't until almost two weeks later that the boy finally opened his eyes, and it was to the sight of the most beautiful women he had ever seen resting her head on his bedside. Now, while he couldn't move because his body still needed a bit more time to heal, he was able to speak, but even that was hard since his relatives forbade him from doing so.

"H-h-hel-l-lo?" the child said brokenly.

Morgana, who had just laid her head down brought her head up with lightning speed, and stared happily at the boy, tears falling down her face, "Hello, little one." She said softly as she moved his hair from his eyes, "Can you tell me your name?"

He tried to shake his head but cried out in pain. Her eyes widened and she was quick to move his head back to its original position on the pillow.

"Don't move. You were badly injured and we had to patch you up. So, let's try this again, shall we? My name is Morgana, what's yours?"

"F-fre-eak."

Her eyes narrowed, "What did you say?"

"M-my n-name i-is f-freak," he said in the same broken voice.

Her eyes softened for a moment before the word registered in her brain, at which point they were twin glaciers, but she was quick to put on a smile so as to not scare the boy who called himself Freak.

Running her fingers through his hair, she said softly, "Well, I think we need to come up with a better name for you. Would you like that?" At his quiet affirmative she smiled. "Good, then how about we call you... Geoffrey. Yes, that's what we'll call you!"

The newly dubbed Geoffrey's eyes watered. He couldn't believe it, he finally had a real name, and not what his so-called family called him. Upon seeing the tears, Morgana gently wrapped her arms around the injured child and whispered sweet nothings into his ear.

It was this sight that Gaius walked into when he returned to check the status of his patient. His eyes softened at the picture before him and strode forward calmly and when he was behind him he gently placed his hand on Morgana's shoulder and said, "My Lady, while he is awake I would still suggest that you be careful. He is not yet fully healed and it will take some time before it will be done. For now he needs to rest, don't worry you can still visit but in order for his body to fully recover he needs to sleep."

Nodding her head, Uther's unwilling Ward gently lowered Geoffrey's head back onto the pillow and stood up. But before she could leave, she heard a small voice ask, "W-will I s-see yo-you a-g-g-gain?"

Turning back around, she kissed his forehead and said, not seeing his eyes widen at the gesture, "I will be back tomorrow, young Geoffrey, don't you fret." And with that, after running her fingers threw his hair one more time, left the hospital.

When the door closed behind her, Gaius walked up to the table and looked down in the boy's eyes, "How are you feeling, young man? Can you tell me where it hurts?"

At the quiet "yes", he told him that his arms, legs, and chest hurt. The wizened healer nodded as he had suspected that they would. "Good, good. Now then, I must change your bandages, young Geoffrey, so this might hurt a bit."

Stealing himself for the anticipated pain, the four-year-old closed his eyes and tensed. And when the time came for him to cry out he stayed silent, much to Gaius' shock. He wondered what could have a made someone so young so used to such things, and, after shaking his head ruefully, finished switching the wrappings and left him to sleep.

The next day, Morgana returned as promised and sat with him all day, listening to him talk about his life with his relatives for the three short years he was with them. Needless to say, she was appalled. She couldn't believe that someone could be so cruel to a child let alone someone as sweet as Geoffrey.

To lighten the mood, she decided to tell him about her own life, and he was quite happy to hear about it if the way his eyes were shining was any indication. She told him about her mother, Gwen, Arthur, Gaius, and yes, even Uther. She didn't say anything about being magical, lest he spill her secret if Uther or someone else showed up, although the likelihood of the king walking into the hospital was unlikely.

But there was one thing that drew her eye as she talked with him over the next few days. His eyes, that had once been a brilliant emerald-green were now identical to her own, and yet, while still green, where now forest instead of gem. She knew Gaius had noticed as well. His hair had also become more like hers, a dark brown instead of black. His hair had even calmed down, now being more wave-like instead of messy. At first she had thought he was a creature sent to impersonate her, but the only thing that happened over the last days of his recovery was that he became like her much like a child to his mother. She only had one answer for such an occurrence: magic.

Now while she didn't understand it entirely, she did know someone who would, and so she sent a message out to Morgause who, a couple days later, sent her a reply, that said:

My dearest Morgana,

There are many obscure types of magic in the world, the one you described to me

was one known as metamorphosis, the ability to change one's appearance at will.

Although I doubt the child knows he is doing it being so young. I have not

encountered one so young to possess such a rare and powerful ability. I wonder

what else the child can do, for if he can do that, he must be a powerful being indeed.

I would suggest keeping a close eye on him, and don't let anyone take him away. He

could be exactly what we are looking for.

Until we meet again, keep well

Tucking the letter in a safe place, Morgana hurried to the hospital where Geoffrey was about to be released from, and smiled at the sight of the young boy struggling to get his tunic over his head. Walking over, she helped tug it down and smoothed it out.

"There we go." She said happily as she looked at him, "It won't be long until you'll be beating the girls off with a stick." Geoff blushed, "Now, come along, I am going to show you to your room."

He looked up at her with wide eyes, "R-room? I get a r-room?" His speech, while improved, was still slightly broken, or rather, had transitioned into stutters.

"Of course, you'll be staying in the room next to mine, now come along."

She turned around and was about to walk away when she heard him fall to the ground, his legs too weak to support him from injuries and disuse.

Smiling sheepishly, he looked up at her with shy eyes, "I c-can't walk."

Shaking her head in amusement, she leaned over and picked him up, ignoring how he tensed when she grabbed him. She placed him on her hip and left the sick bay. It was just as they made it to the foot of the steps that lead up to her chambers that he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his head against her, smiling softly, she went up the stairs and over to a door just beyond her own, and opened it with one hand. She placed Geoff on the floor, where he wobbled for a bit before grabbing her leg for support. When he looked up, he couldn't believe his eyes.

The room didn't have much in the way of furniture. There was a four-poster bed with big fluffy pillows, a giant (to him) window with drapes opened wide, a small table in the center with three chairs arrayed around it, a dressing screen and a wardrobe to the right of the bed. All in all, it was just perfect for the small boy.

Morgana looked at the room guiltily, "I'm sorry it's so small, but I am sure we could add things to make it, ack!" She cried out in surprise as Geoffrey threw himself into her arms through means unknown.

Unfortunately the happy moment was ruined when behind them she heard the stern voice of her warden, Uther Pendragon.

"And what are you doing here, Morgana? I thought you would be down with Gaius in the hospital." It was right after he said that that he noticed the small form hiding behind her dress, green eyes that he would recognize anywhere looked up at him before disappearing again. "Morgana," he began cautiously, "Why does a child have your eyes? I know you haven't been pregnant, as I am sure that I would have noticed and Gaius would have told even if I hadn't. So who is he?"

Now one thing to know is that Uther's one weakness is Morgana, not Arthur, as some would think, as he believes her over everyone even his own son.

Morgana quickly tried to think of an excuse that her caretaker would believe, and it was then that she remembered what was going on four years ago. She had been going through a hard time and she just felt fat all the time, and had been incredibly grumpy the entire year, well, perhaps not the entire year, and she had worn dresses that made her look bigger than she was, and snapped at anyone who commented on her appearance. After she got over it, she had hid in her bedroom for the remainder of the year in mortification for her actions. It was almost like nature itself had made the perfect excuse for her. Now what was she going to say about the father?

"Uncle, do you remember four years ago when I was extremely irritable and didn't want anything to do with anyone?"

He looked at her confused, "Yes, of course I remember. It was annoying how whenever I sent someone to bring you to me you would snap their head off and continue on your way. What does that have to do with this?"

She smiled, she seemed to be doing that a lot today, "Well, that was when I was pregnant with Geoffrey. I am still not sure how I got pregnant, as I don't remember sleeping with anyone, but it still happened and here we are with my darling little boy home again."

Uther decided to humor her, "And why wasn't he here for the first years of his life?"

Her smile drooped, paining his heart, "It was deemed unsuitable by Gaius to have the boy raised by a lady without a husband and so he had my child taken to be raised by a family he knew. Although apparently they didn't do a very good job," she muttered the last part angrily.

Uther looked down and noticed a bandage peeking through the top of the tunic the boy was wearing, "Are you saying that they abused him? Morgana, that is a very serious crime."

She nodded sadly, "Yes, it pains me to say it but they did. Now while they had no way of knowing he was my son, that still doesn't excuse them from hurting him."

Uther's eyes hardened, "You are right in that. Tell me who they are and they shall be executed forthwith."

It was at that moment that four guards appeared dragging behind them an incredibly fat man and a thin women with the face of a horse.

"Your Majesty, we found these two wandering outside the castle gates, what do you want us to do with them?"

Before he could answer, Geoffrey had peeked his head out and upon seeing who they were, whimpered in fear and pressed himself deep into Morgana's skirt.

Also, the fat man noticed the child as well, "So, this is where you ran off to, is it, freak? Well, you'll get what's coming to you, you little brat! You will rue the day you ran- oomph." His tirade was ended when the guard hammed his hilt into the bastard's chest, knocking the wind out of him, which then incited a scream from the thin woman, who was promptly knocked over the head and knocked out.

"Well, that answers that question. Guards, take them to the dungeon, I shall deal with them shortly."

The two were dragged away, one kicking and screaming obscenities and the other just pulled along the stone floor, all the way down the stairs. Their cries of agony were like music to Morgana's ears.

Uther lowered his gaze to the spot where the child was peeking out from behind his Ward and smiled, "Don't worry, they will never hurt you ever again."

And with that he turned on his heel and followed the Dursley's. He wanted this mess dealt with quickly.

What no one knew was that the vindictive couple had been spirited out of their jail cells while waiting for trial by Magic herself and that she wasn't overly fond of child abusers. In fact, one could say that whenever she found one, she did something similar to what she did now. Although she did one time send that one dad to the Aztecs. That wasn't a nice moment, but she felt he deserved it for raping his daughter.

With everyone gone, Morgana turned around, bent down and picked up the quivering child who promptly latched onto her neck and bawled his eyes out. She rubbed his back whispering "there there, it'll be alright" and "they can't touch you anymore" and one that managed to confuse him but comfort him at the same time, "the mean man isn't here anymore".

Personally, Geoffrey thought the man was okay, but he had felt a weird vibe coming from the Witch Hunter King, as he would later think of him in his head.

Morgana led him into his new room and told him that she would have a seamstress sent up the next day so they could get him new clothes, which brought another round of hugs and thank you's.

When it came time for dinner, Geoff had been given a pair of trousers that Arthur had worn when he was that age and fit him nicely, and even though Morgana thought he looked precious, she wasn't happy that he was wearing her half-brother's clothes. She swore that the first chance she got, she would burn them.

At dinner, Geoffrey sat next to Morgana and looked decidedly out of place as servants walked about him setting food on plates and filling goblets. Merlin, who was serving Arthur, looked suspiciously at the child, knowing that 4 weeks ago he had looked nothing like his 'mother' and that the only explanation was magic, but he wasn't as well versed in the subject as Gaius, and even his mentor wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, although he had hazarded that the boy was unaware of his powers and had unconsciously changed to look like the one who looked after him while he was injured.

Needless to say Merlin wasn't happy with the prognosis and swore to keep an eye on the new member of the royal family in case he was more than he seemed, which had happened more often than he cared to count.

All in all, the boy's life was turning for the better, but some didn't like the new development. Dangers lurk in the distant future and the ones who started it all would not stand for his survival start a chain of events that would bring the former present into startling clarity.