Summary: Harry Potter. The-Man-Who-Defeated. The greatest wizard since Merlin. When he says "Ooops", people tend to be afraid. Very afraid… Harry accidentally transports not only himself, but his fiancé Ginny, his best friend Ron and Ron's wife Hermione back to the Camelot of Uther Pendragon.
Rating: FR13, because I'm paranoid.
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin and Harry Potter.
Spoilers: No real spoilers, but just to be sure: all 7 books for Harry Potter (is that still a spoiler?), and the first couple of seasons of Merlin.
Setting: After the Harry Potter books, but disregards book 6 and 7, and set somewhere during the first or second season of Merlin
Pairings: Established Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione
Dedication: To my wonderful littlest sister, she's the most amazing person in the whole world! And she also totally didn't write this herself. I swear...
AN: Hi! I'm hacking my sister Callista's account because it's been, what... 5 years since she updated? Something like that? Anyway, she's had this chapter finished for a while, but she's a bit of a perfectionist, and she doesn't actually think her writing is good enough, so do me a favour and give her lots of good reviews to tell her just how good she is, okay? I'm Anne-Lilian btw, I'm on too.
Chapter 2: Meeting Merlin
The four Gryffindors spent the rest of the day preparing, conjuring, transfiguring and getting their stories right. As always, Hermione's eidetic memory was indispensable. It helped of course that she had a book on genealogy and heredity with her, to investigate a claim a distant cousin of Sirius had made to some of the properties Harry had inherited.
So it was with great acclaim that they were welcomed at the court of Camelot.
"Sire, may I present you: Lord Harold Black and his fiancé, the Lady Genevra Granger, and Lord Ronald and Lady Hermione Granger," the servant announced.
They had chosen these names for safety. The Blacks were a respected and noble family living in Mercia (they hoped Mercia and Camelot weren't at war with each other), while Hermione had decided 'Granger' sounded nobler than 'Weasley'. It helped that Harry always wore the Black family ring, in memory of Sirius. Harry pretended to be the youngest son of Phineas, Lord of Black. Ginny was his fiancé, Ron her brother and Harry's close friend, and Hermione Ron's wife. Phineas had had 14 children, 6 of them sons, so Harry felt confident he could pull it off. And Granger could be the name of one of Mercia's smaller noble families. Mercia was far enough from Camelot city to ensure that there was little chance of meeting another Mercian noble in the castle.
When they heard the announcement, Harry and Ron led their ladies in the throne room and bowed before the King.
"Lord Black, Lord Granger, Ladies Granger, welcome to Camelot," Uther declared.
"My Lord, it is truly an honour to be here and finally behold Camelot, after all the stories we heard of its greatness," Harry said.
"Thank you. You're welcome to stay as long as you like, of course. A servant shall lead you to your quarters, and I'd gladly invite you for dinner tonight, so you might meet Prince Arthur and my ward, the Lady Morgana."
"We'd be honoured to accept your invitation, my Lord," Ron stated.
"Very well, I'll leave you to it then. Bring them to the guest rooms," Uther commanded.
They were led to their rooms. There was one chamber for Ron and Hermione, but Ginny was a bit dismayed to discover that she didn't get to share a room with Harry. Feathers had to remind her that they were in the Middle Ages, and that they weren't married, before she calmed down.
The four friends spent the rest of the afternoon in their rooms, warding them against eavesdropping. They also put a charm on the doors so that they (and only they) would hear an alarm if somebody entered. And they talked, explored the rooms and the corridor and, in Ron's case, ate. They were picked up by a servant when it was time to join the King for dinner.
When they entered the dining room, King Uther was already seated. On his left side sat a young man, on his right a young woman. Harry and Ginny exchanged a quick look, and went for the places next to Prince Arthur. Hermione sat next to Morgana, with Ron on her other side. It was evidently a small diner party, for except for the King, the Prince and Uther's ward, only servants were in attendance.
"May I introduce you to my son, Prince Arthur, and my ward, the Lady Morgana," Uther said after he had welcomed them to the table.
The four quickly introduced themselves, answering the questions about the trip, the health of the King of Mercia, and how Phineas Black was doing. It was a pleasant enough meal, with Arthur telling some of his hunting stories, and Harry telling some heavily edited stories of his own.
It was towards the end of the meal that Ron asked the question: "My Lord Uther, if I may ask for a favour?"
"That depends on what you mean to ask?"
"My wife Hermione loves to read, and she would love to explore Camelot's famous library," Ron said.
"With your permission, of course," Hermione quickly added.
"Permission granted. One of the servants will show you the way after dinner."
"Oh, thank you, your highness," Hermione said.
Dinner quickly drew to an end, and while the plates were being removed from the table, Arthur turned around to his manservant. "Merlin, why don't you take our guests to the library? I'm sure you will manage to find the way?"
Upon hearing the name of the servant, the four friends had to use every skill they had to hide their reaction. Ginny and Harry, the best actors of the group, showed no reaction except for the slight widening of their eyes. Ron on the other hand masked his surprise with a cough. Hermione, the worst actor in the group, started to say "But-" when she was interrupted by Harry. "That would be wonderful," he said, hoping that no one would pick up on her little slip of the tongue. Ginny however saw Merlin frown at Hermione. She hoped he wasn't too suspicious, but she figured that if this was The Merlin, they might need to ask him to help them get home anyway. 'Better see if we can trust him,' she thought, and smiled at the prospect of interrogating the greatest wizard ever.
After saying their 'Good evenings' to the royal family, the Gryffindors were led to the library by Merlin. "So, you are Arthur's manservant, right?" Ginny asked, walking next to him. Harry smiled when he heard the question, knowing what she was doing.
"Yes, that's right," Merlin answered.
"Must be interesting, working for the Prince," she continued.
"Oh, believe me, it is certainly interesting. If only he wasn't such a prat," Merlin said, before realising to whom he was speaking. "I-I mean…" he trailed off after seeing Ginny's grin.
"So, Arthur is a prat, huh? He and my brother have a lot in common, then," she smiled.
Merlin laughed, ignoring the "OY!" coming from Sir Ronald. He sneaked a look at the lord and saw Lady Hermione batter her eyelashes at him, saying: "But Ron, you know it's true, just ask Fred and George."
"Who are you, and what have you done with my wife, because Hermione would never believe a word that came out of the twin's mouths." Ron replied, causing the group to laugh.
"Arthur's nice enough, but he can be a bit arrogant from time to time," Merlin explained his previous statement.
"How long have you been working for him?" Ginny asked.
"Er, for two years now, I think," Merlin said. He liked Lady Genevra, she seemed genuinely nice, compared to most noble women he had met over the years. She also didn't seem to be just pretending to be friendly to gain information on Arthur. He still made a mental note to keep an eye on the guests; after all, looks could be deceiving…
"And what about Lady Morgana?" Harry inquired. "She was rather quiet at dinner."
"Lady Morgana is very friendly, as long as your name isn't Arthur." Merlin laughed. "She is nice, once you get to know her. We're here." Merlin pointed to the entrance of the library. "The librarian, Geoffrey of Monmouth, will be able help you if you need anything."
"Thank you," Ron said, as Hermione was already dashing through the door.
"No problem," Merlin smiled. "Your rooms are through there, up the stairs, second corridor to the right. If you're having problems finding it, just ask somebody. I have to go, before Arthur comes looking for me."
"I like him," Ginny murmured to Harry while she looked at Merlin's retreating back. Harry just smiled in response, before following Ron and 'Mione through the door.
The library was dark and dusty. And, of course, filled to the brim with books, scrolls and everything in between. The librarian looked a bit suspicious at them (reminding Harry of Madam Pince at Hogwarts), but nodded and waved them on. They exchanged glances, before breaking up to scan the titles of the dusty tomes, hoping to find some decent magic books that could provide a clue about how they would get home.
With a huff of frustration, Hermione slammed her book shut. After not only researching until late last night, but also spending an entire morning in the library, she was well and truly sick of it.
Hearing the noise, Harry raised an eyebrow at her, while Ginny grimaced in sympathy, and Ron just looked relieved at not having to focus on the big tome in front of him anymore.
"This is pointless!" Hermione hissed, careful not to draw the attention of the nosy librarian. "There are hundreds of references to magic, but it's all…" she waved a hand, unable to think of a suitably insulting word to describe the utter lack of information in these books.
Harry closed his book a tad more sedately, as Ginny frowned thoughtfully.
"I agree. For a place like Camelot, there is an awful lot of 'magic evil, tradition good' in these books. And I came across a reference to something called 'the Purge'…" Ginny said, leafing through her tome to find it.
"Yes, I did too. Apparently, Uther banned all magic a little over 20 years ago," Harry said, leaning back in his chair. "There was a big hunt for all things magical, and everyone caught practicing magic is summarily executed when caught."
"That's a lot worse than what I was able to infer from history books," Hermione said.
"So where does that leave us?" Ron asked.
"Crudely put, fucked," Ginny said. "If magic is forbidden, we won't be able to approach anyone about our situation without running the risk that they'd turn us in."
"I'm sure we could handle some muggle soldiers if we're turned in," Ron said.
"Maybe. Don't forget that those muggle soldiers have been killing magic-users for the past 20 years," Harry said. "And even if we escaped, our cover would be blown and we'd be hunted in a country we don't know. We need to find a way home without attracting that kind of attention."
"What about Merlin?" Hermione asked. "According to legend he was born with magic, so he must be a practitioner. If we can approach him without raising suspicions, he might be able to help us."
"We don't even know for sure he's The Merlin. Who knows, maybe that name is common in this time. And wasn't Merlin supposed to be old?" Ron said.
"Not that much is really known about Arthur and Merlin," Hermione said. "There is only one incomplete contemporary source, the rest are all stories handed down over the generations, and written down decades, sometimes even hundreds of years later. Who knows how Arthur and Merlin met?"
"Do we have much choice?" Ginny asked. "We either take the leap and trust him, or we're stuck here. Besides, I like him."
Harry frowned and shook his head. "There is always a choice. Maybe not an attractive one, but there is one: we could keep our secrets and travel to the other kingdoms. I can't believe magic would be banned everywhere. And there's always the mainland…"
"So the choice is between staying and risking our cover by talking to Merlin the servant boy, or possibly being stuck here for months? I vote Merlin," Ron said.
"Seconded," Hermione agreed.
"And thirded. Motion passed, any against it should shut up," Ginny said with a wide grin at Harry.
Harry sighed "Very well. Let's confess our sins to the greatest wizard to ever live, I guess…"
A/N: Warning, Callista is (as you've noticed), pretty bad about writing regularly and especially at updating more often than once every 5 years. I promise I won't let her abandon this fic, though, I'll continue it myself if I have to. But reviews do help, though, so keep leaving them!
She does write one-shots occasionally, which she then posts on tthfanfic and AO3 (there are links on her profilepage), but they're mostly BtvS crossovers.
Please review!