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Chapter Four: Transparent

Naturally, King Uther would provide only the best for the noble guests staying in the castle. Due to this, Draco had been given a rather comfortable suite in which to spend the nights. In fact, the room was a few steps above what he was accustomed to at Hogwarts― considering he didn't have to share it with four other guys― and nearly up to the level that he was used to in his own home.

The king's hospitality, however, did not quite extend to servants. Thus, Harry had been told that he would be rooming in the servant's chambers in the back part of the castle. And it wasn't as if he could argue, either.

As they left the dining room, Harry glared at his Slytherin rival disdainfully. Draco merely looked smug.

"You just had to say I was your manservant," the Gryffindor boy growled.

Draco tossed his hair. "You're hardly the noble type," he replied, his nose in the air. He then veered off to follow the servant who would be showing him to his room, leaving Harry alone in the corridor. He stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what he was going to do.

He didn't particularly want to follow Malfoy; he'd had enough of that annoyance for one day. He could always follow the other servants back to their quarters, where he'd be spending the night, but that wasn't exactly an appealing choice either. And, most importantly, he was absolutely starving. When― and what and where― exactly did servants eat anyway? He looked around, hoping to see someone he could ask. Most people had already left, though, and there was only one person he recognized.

That person just so happened to be Merlin. Harry wasn't even entirely sure that this was the same Merlin who was destined to be the great sorcerer that all wizards new of. Maybe it was a common name― and a merlin was some kind of bird, right? Harry realized he was thinking too much and that Merlin the servant boy who may or may not have been Merlin the Sorcerer was already quite a ways down the hall. The bespectacled wizard all but ran to catch up with him.

"Hey," he said catching his breath. "Merlin, was it?" he baited for information.

"Um, yeah," Merlin replied, slowing his long stride and only confirming Harry's thoughts on his name but answering none of the other questions that hung in the wizard's mind. Merlin's brow wrinkled slightly. "And you're… I'm not sure I caught your name."

"Ah," Harry realized this was true, "I'm Harry." Merlin smiled in acknowledgement. "So um… well, I haven't eaten in a while. I was wondering… you know…"

"Well, most of the servants have already eaten." At the way Harry's hopeful face fell, he added, "But Arthur keeps me later, so I haven't yet. Actually, I'm going to go eat now. Come with me, I'm sure Gaius won't mind another person."

Thoroughly confused as to who Gaius was and still wondering if this Merlin was the Merlin, Harry nodded, and then followed along side the other boy as he walked through the halls of the stone castle, trying to match the older boy's long strides.

Draco looked around the room, nodding to dismiss the lowly and unwashed boy that had shown him to it. Yes, this would do quite nicely; if it weren't for being surrounded by muggles all the time, he could really grow to like this place.

He then smirked, wondering if Potter was having a good time down with the rest of the underlings.

"Ah, thank you so much," Harry breathed in relief, taking the offered seat at the small table in the physician's quarters. The room looked remarkably like Snape's potion stores, but with a slightly smaller amount of creepy things floating in jars. Pushing such an unappetizing thought aside, he began to eat the bowl of soup that he'd been offered. It was no gourmet masterpiece by any means, but at this point, anything short of something creepy suspended in a jar could serve as food to him.

"It's not a problem," assured the physician (who happened to be the same old man he'd seen earlier in the throne room).

"Are you sure?" asked Harry, "Not that I'm not grateful, but it feels like we― Draco and I― are kind of taking too much advantage of the king's hospitality."

Gaius― Harry now remembered this to be the physician's name― raised one white eyebrow in what looked like suspicion. Avoiding his probing gaze, Harry looked to his bowl again. Merlin didn't seem to notice.

"Camelot is prospering; there is plenty of food and, of course, space," said the angular-faced teen. Harry sighed.

"If space isn't an issue, maybe the servant's chambers won't be so bad…" he mumbled.

"You aren't staying with your master?" Gaius asked, still giving Harry that same look.

"Ugh," Harry snorted, "I've had enough of him for quite a while." In the few seconds of silence that followed, Harry realized why it was that the old man was looking at him in such a way. First he'd called Draco by such a familiar name, and then he'd spoken badly about him (but it's not like he could think of any kind words for the irritating Malfoy). "Um," he tried to correct, looking between the questioning faces of his two eating companions, "I mean―"

Then Merlin laughed. "Yeah," he agreed, "I feel the same way about Arthur. Royal prat that he is…"

"Merlin," Gaius' voice warned.

"Well," said Harry, relieved to be off the hook, "Draco isn't royalty, but he sure acts like it." The two boys laughed and Gaius merely rolled his eyes, knowing there wasn't much he could do to change the situation. After a few moments of bemused quiet, Harry spoke again. "So what's it like, living here in Camelot?"

"It's great for the most part," Merlin enthused. "How long are you staying?"

"Uh… I'm not sure exactly," Harry said honestly. This Merlin didn't seem like someone who would be able to send them home to their own time. Harry frowned into his soup.

"Well, I'm sure you'll like it while you're here," the oblivious sorcerer reassured him. "I mean, you got a great first impression of the place. I didn't exactly have that luxury, and I like it all the same."

Gaius fixed a stern gaze towards an abashed-looking Merlin now, leading Harry to believe the other boy had said something that he shouldn't have.

"Why?" the young wizard asked, his brows wrinkling together, "What happened when you first came here?"

Gaius stepped in to answer instead. "Uther," he began, "Is not fond of magic―"

"Well, that's the understatement of the century," Merlin added in an undertone.

"―And, on the day that Merlin arrived," the physician plowed on, ignoring his assistant, "A man was executed for practicing sorcery."

"It was a pretty gruesome thing to be the first thing I saw," Merlin finished, summing it up.

"All magic is forbidden in Camelot," Gaius stated. Harry nodded, thinking.

"Yeah, I seemed to get that impression earlier…" Harry mentioned. "But," he tried to cover, "Something like that won't affect me." Damn Gaius and his suspicious looks…

The soup― or, perhaps, the awkwardness― had warmed him, and so Harry stood to remove the cloak that he and Draco had transfigured from his school robes. He walked the few steps it took to reach a hook on the wall to hang it, but as he did so, the Invisibility Cloak came tumbling out. That wasn't a problem for the moment― when not wrapped around a person, the cloak appeared to be an exceptionally silky, water-like fabric. However, it took Harry a few seconds to snap out of the paralyzing panic he'd felt when it had first fallen, and by the time he had begun to bend down to pick it up, Merlin was already there, beating him to it.

"Here, let me help you with… that…" His voice trailed off and his eyes grew wide at the way his hands disappeared when covered in the flowing fabric and reappeared when he pulled them out. He took a few steps back in amazement as he carried the cloak, coming to a stop near Gaius, who looked at the effect in amazement as well.

Harry watched in horror, having just heard what happens to anyone who practices magic or possesses a magical object in Camelot. The panic was back ten-fold.

"Um," he floundered, "I can explain that…" And he really, really wished that were true.

Ah, a cliffhanger… at least from Harry's perspective.

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