Disclaimer for the rest of the story and all chapters before this: I do not own Harry Potter or Merlin. I only own Charles (and you'll meet him later)

Merlin blinked, sure he had misread. But it was still there when he opened his eyes, blinking up at him. Merlin. He looked at the card, which seemed to hold many facts about himself. Apperantly they knew he had invented many potions and spells. His house was left blank though. Why would they leave that blank? Merlin just shook his head and turned the card over, expecting to see more small facts about himself. What he did see nearly gave him a heart attack. "Where did they get this picture?" Merlin mumbled under his breath as he looked into the face of the Great Dragoon. Merlin stared at it expectantly for a moment waiting for it to move. The sooner he remembered who had taken the picture the sooner he could get revenge. Unfortunatly for him, it was a still picture. "Dang it." Merlin mumbled again. "Does anyone know who took this picture of Merlin?" He asked his new friends.

"That is the only known photograph of Merlin. It was taken by Godric Gryffindor at an unknown time." Hermoine stated matter of factly.
Merlin was plotting all of the ways he could vandalise Godric's portrait when Ron rejoined the conversation.

"So you got Merlin then? He's a pretty cool card, except for the missing facts and the muggle picture."

"Yeah. Why is there so much missing information though?" Merlin asked curiously

"Because noone knows that much about Merlin. He was just super powerful and super smart." Ron answered back simply.

Merlin nodded and sat back into his seat. He sat and thought about his new friends. Harry seemed like an okay guy, if a little quiet. Ron seemed bubbly and Hermione seemed smart. Neville seemed to be just an all around good guy. And Luna... she was just amazing. When Merlin had first met her, he had been dubious. I mean, ear holes with dangling radishes. Ouch! But when she had said all of those things, and then he read her aura. It was spectacular! Normal people have an aura that sticks to their body like another skin. It is filled with the color or colors that best represent that person. Now Luna's aura had been a beautiful blend of purple and yellow, but that was not what was strange. Her aura had been pulsing. Every now and then it would spike around her head. Otherwise it was like all other auras.

Merlin's own aura was not of the norm either. His was a dark blue mixed with deep gold with a dash of red. And it hovered around him like a cloud. Gaius had nearly passed out from shock when he had first read Merlin's aura (they had learned together). Gaiuses own aura had been a deep burgundy mixed with slight dashes of dark blues and greens. When Gaius and Merlin had learned how to read auras, they learned what some meant. The pulsing indicated she was of druidic descent. But the spikes had meant something much more rare.

Luna was a true seer.

She wasn't like those old women at carnivals, dressed in scarves and reading palms. She wasn't like prophetic seers either, who only spoke the words when they came. No, true seers did not need parlor tricks or prophecies to see the future. They simply knew. Merlin vowed to pull her away from the group and talk to her about her gift sometime in the near future.

The rest of the ride was spent in making small talk and contemplating about his year at Hogwarts.

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By the time the train arrived at the station, Merlin was ready to hop off and run towards the castle. Not only did he still dislike trains, but he could feel Hogwarts' magic calling to him. He smiled brightly as he weaved his way through the crowd of students.

He stopped short when he got to the carriages. His thestral was still alive. Being a creature of magic, all of the inhabitants of the forest called him friend, but this was a new level entirely. When he had heard of the bad reputation of thestrals, he had sought them out to either deal with the problem or fix the prejudice. One of the babies had followed him home. He had completely forgoten about Charles! He had left the school for one day to experiment in a safe house in the woods and the Old Religion knows how that went. He had thought none of his friends would have survived a 300 year wait.

As he began a light jog towards his old friend, Charles spotted him too. Giving a great whinny he bit the reins attaching him to the carriage and sprinted towards his master. Most of the students who had fought during the Final Battle screamed and pulled the younger children out of the way. Merlin only had eyes for Charles.

He was welcomed back with another whinny and a lick to the cheek. In turn Merlin wrapped his arms around Charles' neck and hugged him tight. He then pulled out his 'wand' and conjured Charles an apple.

"Who's a good boy? Who's a good theastral? Oh Charles I'm sorry I forgot you." Merlin grinned as he hefted himself onto his friends back. Once he had made himself comfortable, he realized all of the strange stares he was getting.

To the older students, he had just hugged a thestral and then climbed onto it's back.

To the younger students, he had just talked to and hugged thin air, and now he was floating.

It was pretty shocking either way.

=====OOO=THE=MYSTERIOUS=LINE=BREAK=IS=BACK====

Merlin was blushing from all of the attention by the time he made it to the Great Hall. He was lined up with the first years (apperantly he had been supposed to take the boats) and they were all staring at him for being the only 'seventeen year old' in the group of eleven year olds.
Finally, the doors opened and he made his way into the Great Hall once again. He felt around some of the enchantments he had put there, occasionally charging them with a spurt of magic. The most noticable was when he charged the ceiling and a golden shooting star had flown across it.

As he stood behind the first years, the sorting hat ripped at the seam opened the tear and began to sing.

"Over the hills the four founders came

To build a school for witches

They saw a castle on the horizon

And filled it with many riches.

They filled it with light and magic and love

But there was something missing

And as I speak of him even now

I find myself reminiscing.

There were days when a fifth founder teached

Alongside the others as a friend

He brought to the school a special spark

That will stay here until the very end.

Gryffindor, with bravery and wit

Found himself with a new prankster

While Ravenclaw, with knowledge and books

Found to the history an anchor.

Hufflepuff, with loyalty and friendship

Found another as cheerful as she

And Slytherin, with ambition and cunning

Found himself a mentor with glee.

And though the castle flourished

When the fifth founder was around

It soon began to crumble

When he never again was found.

A fight between Godric and Salazar

Broke out soon after his departure

And Salazar left the castle then

And vowed always to live in nature.

This, children, is the untold story

Well, it was untold 'till now

How Hogwarts truly came to be

And how it was never the same without.

Merlin gasped as he learned what had happened to his friends after he had fallen asleep. 'I had only meant to be gone one day'.

So, how do you think my sorting hat song went? Love it? Hate it? Let me know. And how about Charles? Am I using two many question marks? And how do you feel about that? Haha jk Plus for naz2702, the explanation should help with some of your questions. And yes, Voldemort is dead. This is basically canon except for Merlin's time with the founders and after this story starts. Hope that helps :)