Mere seconds had passed before Dumbledore stood up to gather the all the students' attention. "Never," he said, "in all my years teaching here at Hogwarts have we been met with such a change of events. I offer my congratulations to all of those students who have just been resorted. I also offer my condolences to any students who wished to be but weren't as I imagine there may have been." He pauses and glances around. "Now that that has been noted however, I have been informed by the 'Grey Lady' that certain provisions must be upheld. First and foremost are the housing arrangements. Our Lady will show the relocated students to the new dormitories herself. There is also the matter of class schedules. Given the colors of Red and Gold pertaining to this new house, we see it best fit to have the students work amongst the Gryffindors with a few exceptions. I have been informed there are certain requirements to be met for the students within and therefore they are required to take a few new courses that will be found on their schedule slips tomorrow morning at breakfast.

"The recent turn of events has not given us an opportune timetable, thus the rest of the day will be spent in preparation. My dear Lady if you will (He references the 'Grey Lady') show this Emrys' house to their new dormitories and allow them to settle in I would be much appreciative."

She nods her head in understanding and turns away towards the exit doors as all of the resorted students begin to follow her.

They walk a while in the direction of the Turris Magnus tower where they ascend to the third floor. Here is the location of the long familiar painting of the great Hogwarts itself. What always fascinated the students most about the piece was its context. It was Hogwarts, but around it was what appeared to be a large town full of peasant dressed people. The portrait had always been rather large and bustling with energy. At night everyone seems to disappear into their little houses.

Helena, the 'Grey Lady', stopped next to the painting and turned to address the students. "A long time ago," she began, "my mother and the other three founders made a promise to a very dear friend of theirs." She briefly glanced at Merlin. Hermione was listening intently as she stood next to him. "His house was meant to present protection to a specific few of individuals. Individuals who; in turn, have very specific destinies ahead of them. Your reason for being chosen goes far beyond anything you can currently comprehend. It is not due to cleverness, or power, or skill, or popularity, or brute strength. Unlike the other houses you are not here based on personality. Each and every one of you must discover your own reasons for being here. It will take time and patience and it will come." She smiles slightly and turns back around to the painting. "Camelot!" She says it loudly enough for everyone to hear and slowly drifts backwards as the painting opens to reveal a hidden stairwell.

All the students begin filing through and ascending to the very top. What meets them there takes their breaths away. The room is decorated beautifully in red and gold much like Dumbledore had said. But instead of Griffons, the red banners around the room took on the image of a golden dragon. Imagine Gryffindor common room except much larger and with a small library in the left hand corner. Two spiraling staircases located opposite to the entrance features the boys dormitories; one for those at the round table and the other for those at the rectangular. The girls dormitories are featured by a stairway left of the entrance, next to the small library. Each student has an individualized room. This is much easier because there are a much smaller number of students. The rugs on the floor are black featuring red Celtic Rowan trees. An entire wall is mantled with swords and shields portraying the Emrys (Pendragon) crest on them.

The sight made Merlin smile. It would be like them to go all out for the occasion.

Once all of the students had gathered into the new common room, Helena made her way in behind them. "The house elves," she began as everyone turns towards her, "have already administered your belongings to your new quarters. I believe all rooms are separate so you must merely look for what is yours to determine the room you get. If I may," she signals, "ladies to your left, gentlemen straight ahead." Then she turned and disappeared once again.

All of the students began to disperse. Merlin was about to as well when he felt a hand tug on his sleeve. He turned to see it had been Hermione who did it. She appears to be a little uncomfortable. Smiling sympathetically at her he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Why am I here?" She seems to be imploring him for the answer. It doesn't seem like she's asking him because she knows the truth about him but merely she is trying to grasp what's going on. She was asking herself the question more than she was asking Merlin.

"I don't know," he answered her honestly. So far, he doesn't quite know her connection to all of this but he intends to find out.

"Why aren't Harry and Ron here?"

"Ah, that is because they are not meant to be here. If there is one thing I know, it is that destiny can be a fickle thing. Harry HAS a destiny yes, and you are very much a part of it. But, his destiny does not intertwine with those given to us separately within this house. Here, you have a specific destiny to be followed but it does not mean you are any less important in Harry's."

"How do you know so much about destinies?" She asked him with a slight smile.

"I read it in a book."

This finally made her laugh and she seemed to be a little less on edge. "I should probably go find my room," and she turns and walks away in the direction of the girl's dormitories. Merlin's gaze lingers on her until she is out of sight. Then he too heads out to find his own room.

So, I do have school (College) and that will be my number one focus. I will try to update in my free time. You may have noticed that these first nine chapters were all uploaded around the same time. This is because I wanted to set the groundwork of the story before I published it. There is also a cover photo that I am hoping to put up very soon. There will not be a specific upload time. I will likely try to keep writing and continue to put up chapters in intervals. It helps keep me focused on continuing it that way. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story and feel free to comment...

-K