Merlon Manor

"David?" Arthur gasped, instantly shooting out of his bed and pushed it up so that they could talk.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He questioned his best friend before he finally realised how David was by the window. He was leaning out of the back window of an old turquoise Ford Angelia, which was literally parked in mid air. Arthur then saw the grinning faces of Jack and Kevin Merlon, David's elder twin brothers.

"Hey, Arthur." They greeted him casually.

"What's been going on with you? Why didn't you answer any of my twelve letters? And dad came home, telling us all that you've gotten an official warning for using magic outside of school-"

"That wasn't me! And how the hell does your dad know?" Arthur exasperated, his arms spread out.

"He works for the Ministry. Are you sure you didn't use magic?" David asked him.

"I swear it wasn't me. And that's rich, coming from you and your brothers." Arthur retorted, gesturing to the car.

"This doesn't count. Gideon Weasley, a family friend lent it to our family to use. He's the one who enchanted it." David explained.

"Look, just what are you doing here?" Arthur said, getting back on subject.

"We've actually come to take you home with us." David replied, making Arthur raise an eyebrow.

"Well, if this is a rescue, it isn't that strong as I'm not in trouble with the Dentleys." Arthur stated.

"Well either way, we're here to pick you up, may as well come with us." Jack finally joined the conversation. Arthur rolled his eyes before he started packing up and changing out of his pyjamas. The brothers turned the car so that the trunk was facing the window.

Arthur also wrote a note for the Dentleys so that they know where he had gone to and to not leave them panicked about where he disappeared to.

When he finally put Athea in the car, placed in among the backseats, after packing everything else, he got in the car and Jack, who was behind the wheel, took off and drove them all through the night sky.

"Okay, now can you please explain what has been going on?" Kevin asked, turning to face Arthur, who told the three everything. About Dobby, that he tried to 'warn' Arthur and that he used magic, which garnered him a warning from the Ministry and his suspicions of what's really going on, partly thanks to Deacon. By the end, all three brothers were in a shocked silence.

"Okay, now that is fishy." Jack said, sounding grim.

"Very. The house elf wouldn't tell you who's behind this plot?" Kevin asked Arthur.

"No, it's as though whenever he's close to letting something slip, he'd beat himself up." Arthur replied, which made the twins look at each other.

"What is it?" He then asked.

"It's just that… house elves have powerful magic themselves, they don't use it without their masters' permission. I'd guess that Dobby was sent to stop you from going back to Hogwarts. As some joke like you suggested." Jack replied, explaining more of house elves.

"Well, like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if Draco Malfoy's the one behind it." Arthur frowned.

"As if trying to set us up with a duel was bad enough." David added.

"Well that's the Malfoys for you. Look at his father, Lucius." Kevin noted.

"What's up with him?" Arthur asked, curious to know more, as he remembered David mentioning him when they first met on the Hogwarts Express.

"Dad has been enemies with him for years. Lucius was a big supporter of Voldemort. Around the time he disappeared, Lucius Malfoy said he wasn't in control of himself, that was under the Dark Lord's control. While many others believe his lies, dad doesn't. He believes he was in Voldemort's inner circle." Kevin would then explain, which made Arthur frown, thinking of what would happen if Voldemort actually rose once more to power.

"Do you think that Dobby is owned by the Malfoys?" He asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Old and rich wizarding families usually own them." Jack shrugged as he continued flying the car.

"Of course, we don't. Mum is more than capable of taking care of many children on her own. And house elves normally come with big old manors and castles. Despite living in a manor ourselves, our family apparently freed one from us a few centuries ago." Jack added.

Arthur was now thinking of how the Malfoy family lived. He could easily see them strutting around in a large manor with piles of wizard gold. And the idea that they'd have a servant/slave serving them also wasn't all that far fetched. If anything, it disgusted him, knowing that they'd mistreat anyone that doesn't fit their perfect ideals of being a wizard.

"Anyway, I'm actually glad we came to get you. I started getting worried when didn't answer any of my letters. I at first thought it was Errol's fault-"

"Who?"

"The family owl. He's really ancient. He tends to collapse when delivering letters or packages. I then tried to borrow Apollo-"

"And who's Apollo?"

"Sam's owl that mum and dad bought him when he was made a prefect." Jack said, eyes still focused to his front.

"Yet Same wouldn't lend him to me, even for trying to send a letter to you. He said that he needed him." David replied, forming a frown.

"Adding on to that, Sam's been acting odd lately. He's been sending a lot of letters and staying almost entirely in his room. Hey, you're driving too far east, Jack." Kevin pointed at a compass on the dashboard and Jack made the appropriate turn.

"Do either of your parents know you're using the car?" Arthur then asked, hoping they wouldn't get into trouble.

"Mum does, we've left a note for her. Dad doesn't though because he's been busy at work lately." David replied.

"So what does your dad do at the Ministry?" Arthur asked, being curious as usual.

"He's an Auror, a dark wizard catcher. Pretty much like the Muggle police." David said. Now that sounded cool. Just as cool as Quidditch to Arthur.

"And what about Gideon Weasley?"

"He works in what is considered a boring department. The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. He's just obsessed with Muggles." Jack replied this time.

"And what does that department do, exactly?"

"It deals with bewitching Muggle made items, in case they end up in a Muggle home or shop. For example, last year, an old witch died and her tea set got sold to an antique shop. A Muggle woman bought it, took it back to her home and tried serving friends tea with it. It became a nightmare, apparently. Arthur worked overtime for weeks."

"Well, what happened?"

"The teapot was berserk and squirted boiling hot tea all over, with one man ending up in a hospital with sugar tongs clamped onto his nose. Arthur was just frantic to say the least, it was just him and an old warlock called Perkins in the office. They had to use Memory Charms and such to cover it all up."

"And yet he enchanted this car and gave it to your family." Arthur pointed out, having that feeling that this isn't exactly legal. What he said made the twins laugh.

"As mentioned, Gideon is obsessed with Muggles. We went to his home and he had a shed full of Muggle items. He'd take them apart and put spells on them before putting them back together. If his home was raided, he'd probably be under arrest. He decided to give us this car, saying we'd have better use for it than him." Jack explained.

"Hey, I see the main road. We'll be home in ten minutes and it seems like the sun's gonna rise soon." Kevin said, peering down through the windscreen.

Along the horizon to the east was a faint pinkish glow. Jack then made the car go lower in the sky and Arthur looked out the window to see a dark patchwork of fields and forests. They were heading towards what looked like the largest forest in the area.

"We're a little far off from the village Ottery St Catchpole." Kevin told Arthur.

The flying car went lower and lower as the edge of the currently red sun was gleaming through the trees.

"Brace yourselves!" Jack shouted right before they hit the ground at the edge of the large forest. After the somewhat rough landing (so rough that Athena howled in annoyance), Jack drove the rest of the way through the forest. It was unlike the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, looking truly magical and had an air of safety and protection. It all made Arthur feel at ease.

"We're here." David tapped his shoulder after a few minutes of driving. He looked through the front windscreen and his jaw dropped, which elicited a chuckle from his best friend. His eyes laid on a large manor in the middle of the forest. It looked like it was also a castle. There were a couple of towers and a courtyard to the side next to a garden. There were also many windows on all five floors of the manor and Arthur also noticed further back from the manor was a Quidditch pitch, which made his eyes widen. There were also other pathways and roads leading elsewhere. And there was a small lake to the right.

"Welcome to Merlon Manor." David said.

"You are so lucky." Arthur said back, dazed in awe.

All four then got out of the car.

"Do you think mum's awake?" Jack asked Kevin.

"Probably. If she is, let's get ready for punishment." Kevin replied right before the front door slammed open and Martha Merlon marched out with a stern expression and a note in her hand.

Arthur remembered her. She was still strikingly beautiful with her silver hair tied up into a tight bun, her warm brown eyes and a curvy figure. She was wearing her pyjamas with a purple apron over them and a wand out of one of her pockets.

"Morning, mum." The Merlon boys greeted her, sounding guilty. Arthur didn't blame them, their mother looked scary with that stern look.

"You three could've been hurt, even killed. Gideon didn't give us that car so that you could do something as reckless as this." She told them all off, pacing back and forth like she's a military commander.

"But how else were we to get Arthur?" David questioned her.

"You could've waited til your father came back home and had him pick him up." Martha told him, making his and his brothers' eyes widen and they all bowed their heads in embarrassment.

"We're sorry, mum. We were just worried something happened and we had to act." Jack said, apologising to her. She stared at all three of them with a frown before she sighed, shook her head and looked at them affectionately.

"Look at you three, helping out our current Arthur, just our ancestor." She said before she finally laid her eyes on said boy.

"Hello, dear. I'm glad to see that you're alright. Come on, I'll cook some breakfast." She said with the softest voice possible, such a jarring change in tone.

The inside of the manor was just as impressive as the outside. The entrance hall had a large portrait of Merlin himself and a few others showing the first of the Merlon family.

They all then made their way to the right doorway and walked past what looked like the living and then through a doorway at the back of the room where a large kitchen was located. It had a long table with chairs in the middle with various cupboards, stoves and such surrounding it all. Arthur sat at the end of the table closest to the stove, which was at the other end of the kitchen when they entered.

There was a clock on the wall between two windows opposite him and behind Jack. It had just one hand and no numbers on it at all. Around the edges were runes, which Arthur didn't understand but clearly someone in the Merlon family did if this was here.

Arthur also saw a mantlepiece where there were books stacked, all of which looked like cookbooks based on some of the titles: Charm Your Own Cheese and Enchantment in Baking.

And there was a radio by the sink that announced 'Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck'. Martha clattered around, cooking breakfast with such efficiency that Arthur was amazed, though he remembered that she raised seven children so she had to be like that.

Once she was finished cooking, Martha tipped four sausages, three strips of bacon and two fried eggs, wanting to make him full.

"You should know that Ben and I would've come to get you ourselves if you didn't write back to David by Friday, but of course we were beaten to that task." She said as she filled up the plates for her sons and they all dug into their breakfast.

"Don't worry, no one saw the car as everyone was fast asleep." Jack assured his mother. She nodded as though she was saying 'alright'.

"Are we punished, by the way?" Kevin asked, making his twin and David look at her. Arthur hoped she didn't punish them too much, they were just trying to help him out.

"After having breakfast, you three will have to de-gnome the garden. Just so you know that actions have consequences." Martha told the three, all of whom groaned.

"I don't mind helping out." Arthur added as he was wide awake, knowing that the three brothers were probably tired from being awake longer than normal.

"Oh, thanks, dear. I'm sure they'll appreciate the help." Martha said as the three looked at Arthur gratefully. As they continued with their breakfast, a girl appeared in the kitchen. She had long silver hair and wore a long nightdress.

"Morning, mum." She said tiredly after a yawn.

"Good morning, Mary. Guess who's here." Her mother greeted back, pointing at Arthur, who waved at her with a smile. Mary gasped and rubbed her eyes to see if they were playing tricks on her but they weren't.

"Hello." Arthur greeted her.

"Hello…." She repeated before sitting next to him and having her breakfast served by Martha.

Martha then grabbed a heavy looking book from the stack, making the four siblings groan.

"Mum, we don't need to learn how to de-gnome from that phoney." David spat just as he finished his plate of breakfast.

"He may be a phoney but he's entertaining because he is a phoney." His mother retorted. Arthur looked at the cover of the book which had its title written in fancy gold letters that formed the title: Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests. There was also a big photograph on the front that had a wizard with wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes winking cheekily. Arthur had to admit to himself that he was handsome, though he felt like the wizard in the moving photo was trying too hard to be charming and handsome.

Once Arthur and the twins finished their breakfasts, they and David all went through the manor, leading Arthur through the room where broomsticks and Quidditch supplies were housed and then through a large library that went up three storeys until they walked through a door that led right to the garden.

It was large and full of various flowers while also having weeds and grass that looked like it needed cutting. And there were a couple of small trees that offered plenty of shade from the sun that was now up in the sky, making the sky blue.

"How different are these gnomes compared to how Muggles depict them?" Arthur asked, knowing for sure that they wouldn't resemble what he knew, having grown up among Muggles.

None of the brothers replied as David dived into a bush. A few seconds passed until violent scuffing was heard David then straightened up.

"Here's your answer." He said, amused by Arthur's scrunched up face.

"Gerroff me! Gerroff me!" The gnome squealed. It did not resemble the Father Christmas looking figures in the Muggle world. It was small and leathery with a large and knobbly bald head, looking a lot like a potato.

David had held it at arm's length when it started to make kicks at him with its horny feet. He grabbed its ankles and turned it upside down.

"Here's what you have to do." He said, raising the gnome above his head and started spinning on the spot, swinging it in circles like a lasso. He then let go of the gnome's ankles and watched it fly twenty feet in the air and land with a great thud over the hedge, deep into the forest.

Arthur found himself laughing so hard that he fell to the ground. He just found it so hilarious.

"Not bad, David. I'll see if I can make one go beyond that stump." Jack said as Arthur finally stopped laughing and joined in.

He didn't feel sorry for the gnomes as he ended up throwing some. He even threw one so far that it truly disappeared into the forest.

"Wow… that must've been fifty feet, at least." David said in awe.

"These buggers aren't too bright. Whenever they see de-gnoming is gonna happen, they all try to take a look. One would think they'd learn to stay put." Kevin said when he seized six gnomes at once.

Eventually, the gnomes all started walking away into the forest, shoulders hunched.

"They'll come back. They just love it here. Of course, all of us, especially dad, find them funny." David said.

Just then, they all heard the front door slam shut.

"That's dad! He always slams doors shut!" Kevin said as they all hurried back inside the manor and rushed into the kitchen.

There, Arthur finally met Benjamin Merlon for the first time. He sat at the table, eyes closed as Martha prepared his breakfast. Like every other Merlon Arthur met, he had silver hair, which was cut real short with a few fringes hanging over his forehead. He also had a thick silver beard and moustache. There was also a prominent scar over his left eyebrow. He wore a black leather blazer over a white button up shirt, which all looked worn, as though he had been travelling a lot.

"Last night was so tiring. I swear the next time I see Mundungus Fletcher, I'm going to hex him instantly." Ben sighed in his deep and baritone voice, taking a sip of tea as Martha placed a plate of breakfast in front of him.

"What did he do this time, dad?" Jack asked him. Ben's eyes opened, showing that he had the electric blue eyes that David and Kevin inherited.

"I caught him trying to sell some cauldrons that belonged to one of the shops in Diagon Alley. He stole them and right as I was about to finally arrest him, he attempted to hex me, which gave him time to Disapperate to who knows where. He always manages to slip through our fingers." Ben explained as he took a bite of bacon.

"Why would he sell cauldrons?" Arthur finally made his presence known to him. Ben instantly looked at him, alarmed by the visitor in his home. But then he narrowed his eyes, examining him before they widened in realisation.

"Merlin's beard. Arthur Pendergast!" He said, getting to his feet and shook his hand, now energised.

"David's told us all about you. It's so good to finally meet you." He said.

"Nice to meet you, too." Arthur greeted back.

"When did you get here, by the way?" Ben then said, frowning in confusion.

"You can thank our sons for that. They used that enchanted car Gideon gave us to go to Surrey and picked him up last night." Martha told him.

"Boys…." Ben sighed, sounding like he was about to give them a talk.

"Don't bother, I already talked to them and they de-gnomed the garden to make up for it." She assured him.

"And besides…." Arthur then explained to Ben what he told David and the twins on the way to the manor.

"Huh… that's interesting…. I'll think this over. In the meantime, welcome to our home." Ben said, placing a hand on Arthur's shoulder with a smile before going back to his breakfast.

"Come on, about time I show you to my bedroom." David elbow bumped him.

He led Arthur out of the kitchen and to the entrance hall to the door facing the front door to the manor and underneath the Merlin portrait. It led them up a staircase and they walked all the way up to the fourth floor. When they reached the landing, they saw a door ajar and through the gap, they could see Mary sitting in her room.

"She's a bit starstruck seeing you, but once she gets used to you, you'll see what she's normally like." David explained as they walked down the hallway until they reached the door at the end to the right. On it was a plaque that read 'David Merlon' with a book emblem on it.

"Each of our rooms have emblems on them to signify our interests. Mine is reading and writing." David explained before opening the door. It was a large rectangular bedroom. The bed itself was on the wall that was on the other side of the room next to it and over it was an orange banner with a moving image of seven witches and wizards wearing orange robes, carrying broomsticks and waving energetically.

"Chudley Cannons, huh?" Arthur gestured to it, knowing that they were David's favourite Quidditch team.

Facing the bed on the opposite side, closest to the door was a bookshelf, full of various spell books and novels. On the bottom shelf was a collection of comics called: The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle.

On the wall facing the pair was a window that peered out to the forest. On the window sill was David's wand and Scabbers also slept next to it in a patch of sunlight.

"The rooms opposite are guest bedrooms. Fair warning, there's a ghoul who haunts the attic above us and he always bangs on the pipes, groaning…." David said.

"No joke, your home has to be the coolest I've ever known." Arthur said, making David's ears go pink.

Well, we know why the Merlons have the Ford Angelia, and it's thanks to Gideon Weasley, who's name is in honour to Gideon Prewett, one of Molly Weasley's older brothers who died in the First Wizarding War.

And we've finally met Benjamin Merlon, who I've based off of Richard Armitage. (He just looks and sounds like he'd be in a Wizarding World movie or show)

And I hope you like what their home is like compared to the Burrow.