Walking into the Great Hall filled Merlin with much euphoria. This was a place that always made him smile. He loved the open atmosphere and vibrations in the air caused by all the chitchat. McGonagall stopped everyone directly in front of the small steps leading to a stool where the sorting hat lie and directly behind that stood the staff table. At the center of the table, towering over all others was none other than Albus Dumbledore himself.
"MHM!" Dumbledore's voice rang clear around the hall and everyone immediately silenced. He gestured a hand in the direction of the old hat for its usual opening song but something rather unexpected happened. The lights all dramatically dimmed and the sorting hat stood tall. Instead of his usual happy song, the words emitting from him were serious and unyielding.
"It began with an idea,
A thousand years ago,
Four people came together,
That is what you know.
These four great people were the founders,
The greatest magic users from their Time,
Who upon these grounds established this school,
And it was positively sublime.
Bold Gryffindor was the bravest,
And with great courage he led,
Fair Ravenclaw was the smartest,
Who preferred brains to brawns instead.
Next there was Sweet Hufflepuff,
Whose heart certainly shown brightest,
Lastly there was shrewd Slytherin,
Whose belief in loyalty hasn't wavered in the slightest.
And their idea was a noble one,
To teach magic to sorcerers through and through,
But as it was, they didn't know the implications,
Until someone else came who knew.
Now I can imagine this might shock you,
But your history got things wrong,
These halls became slightly more crowded,
Once the fifth founder came along.
A fellow worthy of legends,
Who taught the founders magic both new and old,
For never was a man more powerful than he,
With eyes glowing molten gold.
This castle had long ago been his home,
Before the founders' search,
A great kingdom upon it lay,
An even greater king upon its perch.
However, long the kingdom had been gone,
The castle still stood mighty and tall,
His single request to allow its use,
Was that it would stand the test of time and prove to be a magic safe haven for all.
The years in this school's making flew by far to quickly,
Those who heard of the fifth founder's involvement were few,
At last the time came when the man had to leave,
His true identity and purpose only the founders knew.
His departure was met with despondency,
And a rift was made between friends,
Together for the last time as a group created their friend's house,
But kept it closed with magic until the need for it begins.
Alas the time has come,
The old Religion is crying out,
The hold on the closed house doors are opened,
To be filled with the rare worthy few no doubt.
Those who fill its ranks,
Have been too long awaited,
Just hold your breath and listen close to grasp a glimpse of those,
With destinies unabated.
Now that sorting into this precious house,
May finally begin,
A re-sorting of all at Hogwarts shall commence,
To find those students belonging in his house within."
The end of the speech was met with a moment of absolute silence before everything went completely black. Whispers began to erupt from the students.
"We're going to be re-sorted?"
"What's going on?"
"I don't like this."
"Why is it dark?"
"If the school is trying to prove a point after all of those articles in the Daily Profit then this is not how to handle it."
"Shouldn't the professors do something about the lighting?"
"A fifth founder?"
"Is this some king of prank?"
"This isn't funny."
"I don't like the dark."
"Just wait 'til my father hears about this."
The sound of whispers began to echo throughout the room until it all turned into a single body of quiet noise. "SILENCE!" Dumbledore's voice sounded and everything was once again quiet except for the quiet murmurs emitted from the staff table.
That was when the rumbling started, barely there at first but then increasing in magnitude. It wasn't bad; it could hardly be classified as a tiny earthquake. The small students surrounding Merlin on all sides began to get remarkably closer to him. It is as if they are leaning towards his direction for comfort.
The rumbling was short lived and the lights once again shown bright as soon as it stopped. The problem was what followed.
The Great hall has increased in size. The width of the room expanded to make room for two new tables in the dead center. One was further back, closer to the entrance doors and looked like a shorter version of the rest of the rectangular house tables. The other; however, was completely round and very large but was not meant to fit more than those of the twenty-eight chairs provided. Something about his table screamed importance and Merlin knew why. This was not just any round table but THE Round Table. It is the very same that once stood in this room merely fourteen hundred years ago. The table itself is meant to promote equality. With no point there can be no head and everyone stood on equal level with their comrades. He couldn't help the smile that briefly crossed his mouth but it disappeared as soon as he looked up at the teachers.
Every staff member was no longer seated. Instead they stood tall looking directly at what had appeared. Still nobody spoke as they looked at Dumbledore expectantly. "Very well," he said, " it would seem that Hogwarts never ceases to surprise. As it is, I cannot go against these changes. To do so would be an act against the founders themselves. So tonight there will be no sorting. All first years are to sit at any of the four original tables for the time being."
As the words truly sunk in, louder whispers than before once again echoed throughout the hall. The seriousness of the situation was not lost on anyone.
"Silence!" Dumbledore repeated himself. "The staff and I need time to discuss the situation in length. So tonight, we will feast. Later, all new first years will be escorted to a separate living quarters. Instead of classes tomorrow, all students are to report here by nine where the re-sorting will take place. The sorting will take place in order from highest-grade level to lowest. Only towards the end, when all other students have been dealt with, than all first year students, who have not yet been sorted, will be. First years if you will now find a place to sit, the feast shall begin."
Merlin looked around for a moment before he spotted Ron at one of the tables waving him over. Getting there he noticed a smiling Ron, a worried Hermione and a bitter faced Harry. Merlin decided to sit besides Ron.
"So, what do you think is really going on?" Hermione asked looking at the other three skeptically.
"Isn't it obvious Hermione? There was a house created in honour of a fifth founder," Ron replied.
"But there has never been Any mention of any of a fifth founder or house in the history books. It's like it just came out of nowhere," she asserted back. "And what is all that 'Old Religion' nonsense?" Merlin tensed at this.
"Ah your just pissy because you have finally realized that books aren't as reliable as you thought they were."
"What do you think Harry?" Hermione asked turning to him.
"I don't know, I'm still thinking about the poem," he replied.
"What do you mean?" asked Ron.
"I don't know, just how they described him I guess," Harry shrugged.
"Like what?" Ron asked again.
"I guess the poem did kind of contradict itself," Hermione input. "First it talked about how the four founders were the greatest magic users of their time and then all of a sudden a stranger comes along who is more powerful than all of them."
At this Merlin looked up at her. She was too lost in thought to notice his gaze. Merlin knew that far too much information could be taken from those two facts alone. If someone dug hard enough, they would realize that the founders Were the most powerful magic users from their time. Nobody seemed to realize as much as he that the sorting hat put a great deal of emphasis on the word. The only reason the 'stranger' couldn't surpass them at that time because he was a man out of it. As an immortal, time has no hold over him and thus he exists outside it.
"What about the 'eyes glowing molten gold' bit?" Harry asked.
Hermione scrunched her nose in thought. "I don't know. Maybe that was his natural eye color?" she asked.
"What about the group disbanding once he left? I always thought it was because Slytherin turned against the others," Ron pointed out. "That was what I was taught growing up. And it's the idea that has been fueling those slimy Slytherins for centuries."
"I have no idea," Hermione replied sheepishly. You could tell this matter bothered her.
That was the moment when food appeared in front of everyone and they did their best to put the situation out of their mind for now. The end of the feast itself held more surprises in store but not among the desired sort. Hagrid's lessons will have a substitute while Hagrid is on leave. Also, an awfully atrocious toad looking woman from the Ministry, Delores Umbridge has become the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Her presence alone sheds light on new measures taken by the Ministry to interfere with the Hogwarts curriculum. Fudge, the Minister, has been growing more and more restless with a spreading word of the recent revival of the 'Dark Lord'.
This made Merlin notoriously angry. Hogwarts had been founded as a separate entity from the likes of political squabbles. In reality, the Ministry has absolutely NO hold over Hogwarts but they seem to like to pretend they do. 'Something will have to be done about that'. There is even a contract magically bound and unbreakable using his own magic, which clearly states the reclusive stance Hogwarts is obliged to take in regards to any outside influence. Who would know the specific peculiarities of the contract better, after all, than the very same man who constructed it? 'This is a matter to be dealt with later'. For now, there are other more pressing matters.
That night Merlin lies awake in bed thinking. After all matters of the Ministry's interference had been pushed aside for the moment, he has become far too anxious for tomorrow's events. Everything up this this pointed had been based off of instinct. It was the instinct he has derived from the Old Religion that has driven him to put himself in the middle of everything now. But lying here, he has realized that it is finally time. Albion is readying to face its greatest threat and the 'Knights of the Round Table' are being united once more.
Merlin had already known about the reincarnations of his friends here at the school. Were it not for that feeling holding him back he would have joined in beside them a long time ago. But as it is, timing is everything and they were not yet ready to realize their destinies. At the sorting tomorrow, his long time friends will once again be at his side taking on the world. Oh what a relief it will be after all these years.
He gets so caught up in his thoughts that it simply lulls him to sleep. As the warlock drifts out of consciousness, the last thing to appear in his mind is 'Arthur Pendragon.'