Chapter 11

Past and Present Unite

Merlin's POV

"Harry is truly Arthur's Heir." I think as I look at the happy smile on the young boy's face as he looks around at the cheering crowd that I know will follow him wherever he leads them – even if he will still have a long way to go to be the king Arthur had been – especially if the Muggle and Magical World are still as divided as before.
Then suddenly a very familiar meow sound is heard and I look to my right where a ginger coloured cat with very flat face and bright orange eyes walks down the small staircase leading to the Grand Staircase, his eyes on me very sharply and a familiar green gleam shown in them that shines stronger the longer I look at him.
Shocked at seeing this cat after at least a thousand years have passed, I quickly page through the book I had found again until I reach the final part and reading there about the last actions of my good friend, I turn back to the cat and whisper: "You clever little devil." And the cat almost grins at me before passing me into the Great Hall.

Hermione's POV

Ever since our adventure in the Department of Mysteries ended so calmly and with such stupendous results, have I been waiting for something awful to happen and that thing does indeed happen, just after Harry's mates arrive at the Great Hall. But still, looking at Harry now, I can barely believe how much pain he was in earlier.
Like always, Harry doesn't show it one bit, even if I have the strong belief that that Light beam that tall red-haired man shot off really helped in that, and my best friend proves his amazing talent in articulation yet again, explaining me things and making me see my mistakes without pushing me down or making me feel worthless.
Hating that, as that is something Ron sometimes does and that the kids of Primary school always loved to do when I was younger, can I only imagine the amazing things Harry will still do in his learning to be the new King of Magical England. Then suddenly a familiar meow that I love beyond all is heard behind me.

Turning around, I see Crookshanks enter the Great Hall, something he usually only does when it's time for dinner or if I forgot his milk in the morning because I wanted to hurry to class. Wondering why he would be doing it this time, as I had put the milk down before going downstairs, do I notice something strange.
The ancient man that had travelled with Harry's mates, that has a long blue robe and blue wizard's hat on and that wears circular glasses with a very small frame looks at my cat very attentively, as if seeing something in my pet that I cannot and it makes me remember how Sirius was able to see that my cat was Part-Kneazle.
Hating how I hadn't known that until the last minute as it caused for Ron and me to constantly fight all year, I wonder what the ancient man could see in my pet, seeing I never met him before, even if I can't help but feel as if I do indeed know him from somewhere. Then the man says something I can't hear and Crookshanks walks past him.

Crookshanks' POV (just wait for it)

It's been over 1000 years since I cursed myself after the death of Helga and Rowena as I knew that Merlin had somehow – finally – mastered Dimension Travel and had gone to either another version of our world or somewhere even further away than that and I feel ever so relieved that my time as a pet will soon be at an end.
To have seen all the things that I have and to be incapable of doing anything about the growing hatred towards my brother had I allowed myself to be moved to pet shops and had I stayed there, trying my hardest, again and again, not to be sold as I wished to be where I was until I saw a sign of my mentor's return to this world.
This plan had been altered when I had seen the man behind the rat that had shown himself to the Diagon Alley Pet shop almost three years ago now and I had known, instantly, that his survival and appearance to me had to be the sign I had been looking for. Having toyed with the young girl until she bought me, I had waited.
Waited as a faithful pet, even if the young red-head she is befriended with couldn't appreciate this, helping her keep far away of this magic hater, who has apparently learned how to use magic to destroy magic, something that makes me very scared of him as it makes him even more dangerous than when he killed my brother, Sal.

And now I am proven worthy of my patience and resilience as my mentor has arrived and I know he will have the magical ability to change me back to my human form, something I find a high requirement now that Arthur's Heir has finally shown himself, instead of all the Maiden Heirs I have seen over the centuries.
Walking to my owner and making sure my mentor Merlin has seen me, I walk past the simple, yet intelligent girl, who has yet to learn how to stimulate her man's intelligence as his love for chess and his analyzing ability can easily be changed and inspired to a challenging need to – as she calls it – finish his homework.
Then, I walk to the young man, who has over the years earned my trust, especially when I heard that he has drawn my sword out of its hiding place, my good friend the Sorting Hat. Locking eye-contact with the young wild-haired king, do I make sure to have his undivided attention before bowing down to him on my hind legs.

Ron's POV

"Eeh Hermione, did you forget to put Crookshanks' milk plate down again?" I ask my best friend, while looking at how the cat in question is bowing down to my best friend, something I can't blame the feline as Harry has just proven himself an intelligent, compassionate and very, very articulately talented king.
The girl shakes her head and says: "I didn't, Ron, I know I didn't. I didn't want to worry about Harry not finding his mates, so I tried distracting myself as much as I could and made sure I did all the things I usually do in the morning, including feeding Crookshanks his milk." I nod and ask the question I know she wonders about herself:
"Then why is he here?" And the old man that had travelled with Harry's mates, that had been looking at every aspect of Hogwarts as if retrying to take in all that he has seen long ago, walks forward and says: "I can give the explanation to that, young man." And we all look at him as he walks to Harry and asks: "May I, Your Highness?"

Harry turns red and nods as the man takes his place and he says: "I know all of you know of the little town situated just outside this castle and that it is a fully magical organization. What I also know that you don't, is that some of those buildings there have been situated there ever since the time of Godric, Helga, Salazar and Rowena."
This shocks us all and the man goes on as he says: "One of them – you call it the Three Broomsticks nowadays – is the former home of Godric himself and he made sure to keep his memory alive in that building." He then holds up an old and almost completely destroyed book and says: "Through means of this here journal."
This makes many students look at each other shocked, but I personally only have eyes for one person and that is my little sister, who has – as I already expected – whitened at hearing this and she asks – with fear more clear in her tone than she would have liked: "Is – is that – does that be-belong – is that the property of –?"
But while many students of Ginny's year and higher get shocked more and more as she keeps being incapable of asking the question, do I only wish that she had not sat with her friends at another part of the table as I really just want to hug my little sister and make her forget about the terrible things diary-Riddle made her do.

Then the old man, who seems to believe that this is Ginny's regular behavior and who speaks quite calmly, says: "Yes, my fine girl, it is indeed –." Now Ginny whitens even further, which I notice is picked upon by a few of Harry's friends, but then the man makes Ginny's day as he says: "Godric Gryffindor's journal."
This makes Ginny sigh in relief, which goes unnoticed by all but myself, Hermione, the twins and Harry's mates as everyone else now has their shocked eyes on the book in the old man's hand and he asks: "And what does this book have to do with this fine feline here appearing, you may ask yourselves? Very fine question."
He then looks back at Crookshanks, who still bows down to Harry, even if Harry had gone to sit with the cat and is now stroking its spine from the neck down to the tail and the old man shocks me, makes Hermione squeak in shock and makes Harry stop his petting as he says: "Godric is the 1st known wizard to become an Animal."

Everyone looks at the man in shock and he smiles widely and says: "Ah yes, yes. Yes indeed. Such a glorious day, that was indeed. Godric and I had spoken wide and far about the many concepts of it, whether or not it was possible, what arts of magic would be required and then suddenly, months later he actually goes and proves it."
He then laughs and says: "Although I do not believe either of us were expecting a cat to be his form, seeing how Sal always joked about Godric being more proud than a Lion King with a harem of 20 Lionesses and 70 newborn cubs." And finally do all hints the man has been giving hit home and I shout louder than necessary:

"YOU'RE MERLIN!"

And while many students look at me as if I've lost it, does the man's smile widening shock them even more than when we heard about Godric Gryffindor being an Animagus and Hermione asks: "Ron, how can that – even if his smile suggests it –." She shakes her head at this and asks: "How can that even be possible?"
But then the man asks: "Dear girl, where do my travel companions come from?" And while I wonder whether he's mocking Hermione or testing her intelligence, does Hermione answer: "Another world?" The man nods, looking the very epitome of serenity and asks: "And what was rumored to be my final experiment? Do you know that?"
The girl – the girl that I love dearly – nods and doubtfully says: "To study the boundaries –." And then she seems to prove to herself that this man is indeed Merlin and says: "The – the boundaries of Time and Dimensional Travel and whether or not certain decisions are the cause for paradoxes of worlds being created."
Everyone is shocked at hearing this and the man says: "You sure know a lot of my studies, dear girl." And then I just want to laugh as I had already been expecting this answer and Hermione says: "It – it's in Hogwarts a History, sir." But at hearing this title, does Crookshanks suddenly start spitting and Merlin actually nods at him.

Merlin's POV

"Yes, my dear friend. You are indeed right." I say gently, not wanting to startle one of my four finest protégés as I go to sit on its other side, Harry looking more shocked at me sitting here than at me being a man who supposedly died a thousand years ago and I then start to slightly focus small samples of my magic into my hand.
Moving my hand to my old friend, I see Godric looking at me and just by the look in his eyes do I know that he is trying – after all these years – to let our two cores unite for one strong form of magic and when I feel waves of magic come from the small furred body, does Harry gasp and pull his hand away while I smile.
I then push a small bit of the samples of magic in my hand out and focus tightly on my outer magic senses – senses I developed mostly while training with Cloud and Leon – and smile widely as this makes uniting my magic with Godric's much easier, something that actually makes the feline purr as I move my hand closer.
"Undo the curse, return to the body of long before." I whisper softly as my hand lies and then moves itself away from Godric's head and I feel Godric's magic respond to this single chant, the fur disappearing under my hand, the body growing and shifting, new limps forming, old ones vanishing and new materials forming along.

Slowly but surely the body changes and I make sure to move my hand all the way from Godric's brow down to his tail, my outer magic senses making sure to focus my magic on his lower regions as well as I pass them, before repeating the progress, repeating the chant and feeling my magic activate more of Godric's in return.
Finally, wearing a long dark blue robe with red trim, stands a man with long brown hair, of which the half that reaches past his shoulders is tied down with a black band with a single ruby in the band and under this band is a braid, of which the downside is again tied down with the same kind of band, but then with a pearl in it.
The man has muscles from his lower arms up to his shoulders, which are positioned slightly to the back due to years of standing before our students as a hero and a leader, and down all the way to his hips, while his body is still tall enough for his shape to be just between lean and an hourglass figure, but still look very handsome.

I smile at him as I see this, which to me is prove that the man has been keeping himself in shape even with the form he had resided in for the last millennium. I then look at his face and see the evidence that Godric has been fighting since my departure as his nose is broken flat, looking almost like a dish pressed against his face.
Yet, this in itself does nothing to keep the man from looking as attractive as he did when I was still here last time and it actually makes his dark forest green eyes look even deeper, making them almost represent the Forbidden Forest I have taken notice of while walking here and it also makes the angry turned lips looking even more serious.
The man's glare is also aimed at his own house and I cannot blame the poor man as he must have been an actual witness of the mutual anger growing between the students of those two houses, while Sal and he himself were closer than Sora is with Riku or Ventus is with Terra and Aqua or that Axel and Roxas were with each other.

All the students look shocked, both at the angry glare and at the fact that my fourth star pupil is back in a human body and then Godric opens his mouth and to the shock of all those around, does a booming voice escape his throat as he says: "Let me make one thing very clear. Salazar and I are brothers, never rivals.
We were friends before we met Merlin, we were best friend when we – together – thought of building Hogwarts, we performed a Blood Ritual when Hogwarts was finished to tie ourselves to this school – thus creating the Chamber of Secrets – and we had Merlin as our witness when I adopted Salazar as my little brother by Blood and Magic."
Everyone is now shocked beyond words and the young girl that had been so doubtful of me being who I am asks: "But – but – but the – the legendary fight!" And while I wonder what fight she could be talking of, does Godric say: "Was me wanting Salazar to take Helga with him during his summer quest as he would scurry the whole country.
Sal had been hit a terrible curse that caused for constant aches, stiffness and pain to hit his knee and with that weaken both his leg as well as his defenses and his mobility and that was something I knew would hinder him in his search for the structure we needed for our plans, so I insisted he take Helga with him, but he is as stubborn as myself.

He refused and –." But then the man shivers and I look back at the small book in my hand, the letters of that one memory again flashing through my memory, together with my imagination helping me see just what my proud pupil saw and what my poor, poor ambitious pupil had to actually endure that terrible day.
I then stand up from where I am still seated and whisper: "I read it, Godric. I read your memory." And the man closes his eyes and moves his head away from where my hand lies on his shoulder and he whispers: "Stupid stubborn fool." And while I know it is more a statement of hurt, do I whisper: "It was not just his fault."
And this makes a growl escape Godric's throat that makes the girls sitting at the Lion's table beside us yelp in feared shock and that, again, makes me wonder how my pupil is a cat as an Animal and not a lion or something as he says: "Tell me something I don't know. The filthy bastard actually reproduced."
"Wait. Who exactly are you talking about?" Harry suddenly asks us and while I hate to admit that being back in the presence of one of my pupils has made me forget about the young king, does Godric ignore the way my hand tightens on his shoulder in shock as he turns to Harry says: "Salazar's murderer, Peter Pettigrew."