AN: This chapter is a doozy. But I had an idea for it to fit with the title and then it just kept getting longer and longer.

Disclaimer: I hereby do declare that I know nothing of medicine or of law. Do not attempt any cures that may be mentioned.

Chapter 20: Trial and Error

The founders had wanted to be the ones to bring her to justice but Merlin pulled rank, as was his right as Emrys, and so it was he that was riding to Camelot with a bound Celestia next to him, leaving the founders to find an excuse for his absence. He briefly wonders what they will say, but almost anything is better than Arthur thinking he was spending more time in the tavern.

Late in the second day of traveling, he arrives at the gates of Camelot. After dismounting, Merlin re-ties Celestia's wrists and hands the rope off to the guard to take her to the dungeon.

"The trial will be held tomorrow," the guard informs Merlin. "The Queen also bid me to escort you to her chambers for dinner when you arrived." Merlin gave a thin smile.

"Thank you, but I do not need an escort. I will tell her you offered though." With a nod of thanks, he led the horses to the royal stable and patted them down before giving a few coins to the stable hand to finish caring for them. Then he raced up the stairs to the royal chambers, managing not to trip after two days in his properly sized body. He just remembered to knock briefly before swinging the door open to Gwen's smiling face.

She stood gracefully behind the table and ran lightly to embrace her old friend.

"It's good to see you again, Merlin. And as your proper age too." He laughed as he shut the door to give them more privacy.

"It's good to look my proper age again." They sat together at the table where there was food laid out for both of them. "One of your guards offered to escort me to your chambers. I see you didn't mention to them who it was that was coming."

"Your letter was vague," she said defensively. "All you said was that you would be returning and would have need of our dungeons until a proper trial could be held. And you have used many disguises in the past, I didn't want to ruin it if you didn't want to be known by name."

"Too smart Gwen. I didn't even think of that. So did you tell anyone else I would be returning?"

"No one. So you get to make one of your dramatic entrances I know you love," she teased. Merlin felt his cheeks turn red as he scowled at her. But he couldn't deny it. Gwen laughed at his indignant face. "You know I had some nicer clothes made up for you when I had considered offering you the position of Court Sorcerer; would you like to wear those tomorrow?"

"That would be great. I do have a cloak though of my own."

"What color?"

"Midnight blue."

"It will still match. After we eat I'll show you to your room, the clothes are in there."

"You have a room for me Gwen?"

"Well, after Gaius passed, a new Court Physician was needed and so your room had to be cleared out. I could feel that you would be coming back, maybe not permanently, but I thought there ought to be a place of your own that you could store things in and stay in when you come back home." She paused and looked down at her lap. "And it reminds me that you aren't really gone even though I don't see you anymore."

"Oh Gwen." He laid his hand on her arm. "I am always with you in spirit. You know that. And I still check in on you. I'm never so far gone that I can't be by your side in an instant if you truly have need of me."

"I know," she replied softly. They sat like that and talked about little things well into the night before Gwen finally lead Merlin to his new room and said she would send someone with breakfast and the time of the trial. He gave her a kiss on her hand and snuggled gratefully into his big, soft bed.

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Due to Merlin's advance notice, Gwen had declared today to be an open court day. Anyone could bring a case before her. From sibling rivalries to stealing to attempted murder. While it would be a long day for her, Gwen enjoyed helping her people settle their disputes. It was just another way she felt like she was serving the people and not just pouring over paperwork in her chambers.

Merlin was hiding in the shadows in the back of the room, leaning against a pillar, watching the proceedings with pride. In the years he had been gone, she had become comfortable in her role as Queen. The room was lined with knights shining with pride and commoners who had come to watch their Queen in action. It was a testament to her charisma that this many people would show up just to watch her pass judgments.

When the common people had finished, Gwen motioned for the guards to bring up the two prisoners who had spend the night in the dungeons.

"These two last cases are both cases dealing with sorcery," Gwen announced to the gathered crowd before she began. "I have sworn to judge those with magic just as I do those without, but in my ignorance of magic, I would like to call upon an advisor for these two cases. I would call upon Merlin Emrys, last dragonlord and king of the druids."

Whether I like it or not, he thought to himself as he swept forward and instantly any druid present bowed to him. Please rise, he spoke to them in their minds. He stood to the right of Gwen's throne with his hands clasped behind him. He easily had picked out Leon and Percival among the knights and watched their stunned expressions. Although they knew of his many adventures keeping Arthur from harm, he realised he hadn't told them about him being Emrys. Whoops. And Percival looked like he might know exactly what that meant. Leon was just astounded that people were bowing to Merlin.

He nodded to Gwen and she motioned for the charges to be read out. The guard lead the man forward and forced him to kneel.

"Antony of Pickering has been charged with killing his village weaver's daughter. Antony had given Miss Elanor a poultice and two days later she died in the night. The villagers arrested him and handed him to the Camelot patrol that passed through the next day."

"Is this true, Antony?" Gwen asked.

"No, your majesty," he replied, still keeping his eyes on the floor in front of him. "I knew Elanor was ill and our village is small so we do not have a healer. We had done what we could and sent for help from the neighboring village. I offered to Elanor's father to try to use my magic to keep her strong until a proper healer could come. But I fear my magic was not strong enough and she died. Please, my lady, it was not my fault." His voice had started to get choked up by the end of his tale. Gwen knew that he was either honestly sorry or a terrific actor.

"Could you tell us how you prepared this poultice, Antony?"

"Yes, my lady. I used lilacs, crushed milkweed, and a spell for strength. Just some herbs that can try to fight off disease, your highness." Gwen nodded and turned to Merlin.

"Does that sound true?" He nodded immediately and then asked a question of his own.

"And what spell did you use?"

"Da virtutem, my lord."

"Not particularly strong, but a good choice." He nodded once more and turned back to Gwen.

"We are in agreement then?" she asked.

"I believe we are."

"Then, Antony of Pickering." He dared to raise his eyes slightly from the floor. "You are hereby declared innocent of your charges. You are free to go."

"Thank you your highness, my lord." He bowed once again before standing with a wide grin on his face. "You are truly as wise as they say. Thank you." He turned and began walking toward the door but Merlin called out his name and he stopped. He turned in confusion. "My lord?"

"Try adding crushed onions next time. It smells awful but does wonders for fighting infections."

"Thank you, sir, I will." Gwen turned with a smile on her face.

"Had to suffer through that often, Merlin?" He rolled his eyes.

"Too often," he responded softly as Celestia was lead to the front of the hall. "After the second time I enchanted my door to block the smell of onion so that I could breathe. Gaius of course scolded me when he found out." Gwen gave a small laugh before returning her attention to the court. Celestia had been forced to her knees but was defiantly keeping her eyes flicking between Gwen and Merlin.

"Lady Celestia, High Priestess of the Old Religion, has been brought to the Court of Camelot after leading an army against a school of magic declaring that the school is an abomination and that the professors were not the proper teachers of magic. She had warned the leaders of the school to disband but her orders were ignored. She then took it upon herself to gather supporters and subsequently lead an unsuccessful attack on the school."

"Is this true?" Gwen asked.

"Yes," she spat. "Those ignorant fools are not meant to be teaching magic! That is a sacred duty reserved solely for priests and priestesses of the Old Religion, not any fancy sorcerer who thinks he wants to start up a school. Teaching magic is a serious duty that has been entrusted to the chosen ones by the Goddess herself."

"Do not some with magic simply learn from their family or study it from books?" Gwen asked.

"It is not uncommon for young children with potential to be taught simple spells by their families or for them to be gifted a book of magic to look through, but this school goes far beyond that. They are training the children to be as powerful as the priests and priestesses. They are raising an uncontrollable force and it is my duty to put a stop to that."

"Merlin, you have been to this school, have you not?" Gwen asked with a slight smile, knowing he had more than just visited this school in question.

"I have. Often to speak with a friend who attends the school, and then again to offer my help to defeat Celestia and her forces."

"And did your friend speak with you of his classes?" He nodded. "Would you please tell the court what exactly is being taught at this school?"

"Certainly. There are six main courses. There is Herbology and Healing, Charms and Enchantments, Astronomy and Woodcraft, Counterspells and Potions, History of Magic, and Runes. As the students advance in years, the material becomes more difficult. There is one elective course that began after the winter holidays that is a course in battle magic, however, this only came because the school was warned that there would be a battle at the gates this Spring. It was precautionary."

"See?" Celestia interrupted furiously. "They are training the next generation to kill!"

"That is not the aim of the course," Merlin retorted. "Yes, a resourceful student could use skill they are taught to kill, but so too can any child figure out where to stick a knife into the body in order to kill. And this is only a temporary class. It will be discontinued at the end of the semester."

"What guarantee do you have of that?"

"I know that the teacher will not be returning next fall."

"Do you know this teacher personally then?"

"Very."

"And what makes you so sure he is not lying to you?"

"Because it is awfully hard to lie to myself." Celestia fell silent at that. If she had known that Emrys was teaching at the school, she might have reconsidered her plan. A tendril of doubt crept into her mind. Maybe she had misunderstood the Goddess's plans for this school. She let her gaze drop to the floor. Gwen looked at Merlin but could not discern any hint of what his judgement was. She knew he felt her to be guilty, but she was uncertain on the terms of her punishment. Afterall, this was a powerful sorceress before her. No doubt Merlin was capable of subduing her now, but could she escape if he left?

"A moment to confer with my advisor," she announced to the hall and stood. Merlin followed her to the back wall, just far enough for their whispers to remain unheard.

"What are you thinking Gwen?"

"She is definitely guilty. I cannot believe that she would attack a school full of children. It sickens me to think on it and what what would've happened if you weren't there."

"They would've had some casualties, but they still would've been victorious." Gwen raised her eyebrows.

"You really must stop being so modest. I wasn't there but even I know it would've been far worse than that. If she is a high priestess like Morgana was then I know there would be hardly any school left to return to." Merlin said nothing. "What I don't know is what her punishment should be. Normally I would sentence her to death, but with her magic, I don't know if she will escape somehow or fight her way out as soon as you leave."

"She no longer has control of her magic. That won't be a problem."

"I won't even ask. Then a beheading tomorrow at dawn."

"Not the pyre?" he asked even softer. She shook her head.

"You and I both were nearly subjected to that fate. I would not wish that upon her."

"Nor would I." He rested his hand on her shoulder and they returned to the proceedings.

"Celestia," Gwen announced. "You have been found guilty of unlawful attempted slaughter of innocent children and dishonourable conduct with your fellow man by attempting to bring about your own form of justice. You are sentenced to be beheaded at dawn. Any last missives you would like to write will be delivered if you so choose. Guards, take her back to her cell." Celestia said nothing as she was lead out of the room. She said nothing the next morning as she was lead to the chopping block. She continued to wordlessly glare daggers at Merlin and Gwen standing on the balcony. Merlin closed his eyes as the axe swung down, but he felt as the life left her body. Wordlessly, he released his hold on her soul, now that her body was no longer alive. He didn't know what there was after death for her, but he could only judge in this life, not the next.

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"You told them what?" Merlin hissed. Rowena rolled her eyes at Salazar. They had met him on the road just outside of the closest town and were riding in with him. He had filled them in on what occurred in Camelot and thankfully thought to ask what they had told his friends to cover for his absence.

"It was an obvious excuse," Salazar said with a straight face. "They said they hadn't seen you since the battle and I told them that was because no one could see you. Just some strange spell that had hit you in all the chaos. You had found your way to my office and I took you to a friend's house to see if they knew of a cure. And as you can see, they did." Merlin sat with pursed lips for a moment before he burst out laughing. Salazar was confused and had to wait a minute for Merlin's hysteria to die away.

"I love magic!" was the first thing he finally managed to say. "Gaius always used to tell Arthur that I was in the tavern when I was saving his royal hide and he thought I was nearly always drinking. He never once thought to talk to Gwaine though, or any of the barmaids who would've known I hadn't been there in years. At least no one can blame me for getting hit with an errant spell." Rowena grinned while Salazar sulked.

"I guess you just can't play a prank on the prank master, eh Salazar?"

Someone must have spotted Merlin riding back with Rowena and Salazar because when he walked through the doorway to the common room his friends were all there with excited faces. Flora and Libæna were the first to run up and embrace him.

"Drugen! We've missed you this past week. We couldn't find you after the battle and we were worried you got hurt!"

"Of course I told her that you had probably smartly barricaded yourself into an empty classroom when you heard the bells and you were safe, but it took her some time to convince her of that."

"But then we didn't see you afterwards and we assumed the worst."

"It was Professor Slytherin who told us you had been hit by an invisibility spell and he knew a friend who could help."

They continued rambling on as his other friends hugged him, thereby preventing anyone from asking any pointed questions that would've been difficult to answer. He had never been more grateful to have the pair of them as friends.

"Okay that's enough," Merlin at last held up his hands to stop the tirade. "It was a long ride back here. I could use some rest. We can talk more tomorrow." He gave his closest friends a pointed look. "I hope you have all your notes on hand." They caught the double meaning and nodded.

"Everything we have learned and a couple side questions as well,"

Flora responded with a double meaning of her own.

"Goodnight then."

Saturday morning came too early. Merlin woke around dawn but promptly rolled back under his covers. But he couldn't sleep too late because curiosity makes early risers of his friends. Only twenty minutes later Flora and Libæna were shaking him awake. He blinked blearily at them.

"The one morning I want to sleep in, you two wake up just after dawn," he complained. "How is that fair?" They smiled sheepishly.

"You've been gone a week and before you left you told us you didn't need a staff to do magic," Flora whispered, trying not to wake the other boys in the dorm. "You can't expect us not to be curious."

"Alright. Please do grab your notes from class and I'll meet you down in the common room." Once assembled, he lead them to the secret room, enjoying their awestruck expressions, and locked the door behind them. "Before you ask, I didn't make the room. I just found it." They sat down in front of the fireplace as it roared to life.

"Did you do that?" Flora asked with a point of her finger at the flames.

"No."

"But you could have."

"Yes." There was a moment of silence as they tried to pick a starting place.

"So how powerful are you?" Libæna blurted. "I know you said you don't need a staff and you did something to the suit of armour that sounded complicated and then you didn't follow us to the Great Hall so where did you go?"

Merlin chuckled. "I should have known you wouldn't forget about that. I went to help the founders. The four of them know my magic is more powerful than I pretend it to be so I offered my help."

"I thought you didn't like fighting?" Flora questioned. "That was why you didn't mind missing Professor Dragoon's battle magics class."

"I don't like fighting," Merlin quickly put in before she starting questioning his time in the forest. "But I have picked up some things so I can help."

"So you made yourself invisible to help out without giving yourself away in case other students saw you," Libæna theorised.

"Not quite, but that's not important. I know you have other questions besides what spells I used in the battle." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. Libæna grabbed a piece of parchment from the pocket of her robe and unfolded it. "You actually made a list?" Merlin asked in disbelief.

"We did have a week and we didn't want to forget any," Flora explained with a grin. "First one: when we found you outside the kitchens, what spell did you use on the suit of armour?"

"Not a spell. I just instructed it to defend the kitchens and let no one in."

"And it did as you asked?"

"Er, yea. I kinda had previously enchanted all the suits to obey my command. They will also listen to the founders."

"You should have told them that earlier." Merlin looked puzzled. "After the battle it still wouldn't let anyone in. It kept standing in front of the door saying 'You shall not pass' until Godric finally came and told it to leave and let the kitchen staff in."

"Gishplack," Merlin swore. Although based on the raised eyebrows of his friends, they hadn't yet learned Old Religion swears. "I forgot to counteract that before I left. Hopefully it didn't take long for them to figure out."

"No," Libæna reassured him at the same time Flora asked "what do you mean 'before I left?' Where did you go?"

"I just had to leave. The invisibility, remember? We couldn't get it to reverse but Slytherin knew someone who could. He took me there."

"No... Professor Slytherin was here all week and you weren't. He only rode out to meet you on the way back." Flora leaned forward in her chair and pointed at him menacingly. "Where were you really?"

"The only person who left was the fifth man who fought with the founders and told the students to fight." Libæna added. "Drugen, what else aren't you telling us?" Merlin sighed and muttered something about intelligence being linked with magical blood. He ran his fingers through his hair.

"Camelot," he murmured.

"Sorry, what?"

"Camelot!" He spat out the word in frustration. "I fought alongside the founders and I was the one who took Celestia to Camelot to be judged. I was the one who appeared in the Great Hall to ask the students to fight when I saw Celestia's hand signals and really it was stupid she used the standard hand signs that every army uses. So no there was no invisibility; that was Slytherin trying to prank me back."

"Prank you back?" Flora asked incredulously. It was okay that Drugen was way more powerful than she thought, but no one dared prank the head of their house. "What did you- wait, more importantly what do you mean you were that fifth person? He looked twice your age!"

"Ageing spell."

"Prove it." She sat back in her chair. Not wanting to hint at how easy this was for him, he said the words aloud to revert back to his real age. A few shoulder rolls and he resumed relaxing in the chair and flipping through their class notes. He knew most of it, but it was good to know what they had covered while he was gone. However seeing as they were still processing what that meant, Merlin stood and walked to a cupboard. Opening the doors he pulled out some bread and jam to eat.

"Hungry?" They only nodded. He pulled out plates as well and served them up some breakfast. He flopped back down in his chair and began to eat while they came to their senses.

"That is your true age then," Libæna said gently. Flora looked at her sharply but Merlin only nodded. "It seemed too comfortable," she explained to her friend. "If Drugen was really ageing his body to be older than he actually is, I would expect it to be a discomfort. I am certainly not looking forward to being that old."

"Hey! I'm not old," Merlin protested with a mouth full of food. Flora rolled her eyes.

"Clearly."

"Besides," Libæna continued. "Even if he's not that old, I would've aged myself to show you I could and then reversed it back to my true age. And since he still looks like a young man, I'll assume that's his most comfortable form."

"Right in one." Merlin grinned. "I have had some time on my own the past few years and then Hogwarts was brought to my attention. I have never had any formal teaching so I wanted to go but I felt it would be strange at my age. Fourteen was a fine age because I do not want to be eleven again. That was an awkward year." They laughed at the look of mock horror on his face. Once more Merlin had used his charm to deflect them from continuing down the trail of ageing spells. He knew it would come up again, but he would rather avoid it as long as he could. "What else is on your list of questions?"

"Well you have answered many of our questions," Libæna noted as she looked down at the list and made checkmarks. "Oh, here's one. Do you know who was doing the pranks that our club didn't do?"

"May I ask why you want to know?" he queried. "I must say I was not expecting that."

"You didn't seem especially surprised by any of them," Flora accused. "Especially the smoke snakes."

"Alright. I do know who pulled those pranks, but I will not tell you who." They scowled but conceded that it wasn't his secret to tell.

"So how powerful are you actually? I mean could you show us some stuff you can do?" His whispered a word and opened his hand to show them a flame burning bright. This did not get the reaction it normally did. "Come on, most second-years can do that. What's something really cool that you have done?" Merlin could think of plenty of impressive magic he had done in the past, but none of that would make for good example. Then he thought of something suitably impressive. With a long string of words, Merlin weaved a fully immersive illusion for them.

"Woah," they gasped in unison. For as they sat on their chairs, it suddenly felt like they were soaring over the grounds of Hogwarts. Though it was only a trick of the mind, they felt like they could nearly touch the treetops with their feet as the forest swept by underneath them. They could hear the wind rushing past them and smell the sweet scent of the flowering plants. They gasped again as their viewpoint wheeled around to reveal the castle itself. Then they shot straight towards the clock tower at high speeds. Just when they looked like they might crash, everything flashed white and Merlin cut off the illusion.

"That was awesome!" Flora exclaimed.

"It really felt like I was flying!" Libæna was also grinning. They had so far failed to notice that Merlin had also vanished their breakfast at the same time. Merlin was glad that it got the reception he had hoped for this time. It was pretty hard not to appreciate a bird's eye view of such a lovely castle.

"Hang on..." Flora stopped grinning and screwed up her face in thought. "That seems somehow familiar," she muttered and Libæna glanced curiously at her. Her mind raced to figure out where she had seen something like that before. She looked wide-eyed at Libæna. Though that special connection that close friends have, she understood where they had both seen it before.

"No," Libæna breathed. Flora nodded.

"Runes. The illusions in Runes that one day! That was you. The flower and everything. It makes sense. It was you," she accused. "All this time."

"Oops." Understatement to say the least.

"You have some explaining to do mister." Merlin looked panicked before a mischievous grin spread across his face.

"You'll have to catch me first." And with that, he grabbed up the notes and ran towards the door, changing back to his younger self mid stride and, remarkably, not stumbling this once.

This has been an exercise in spot the Disney ride. Ten points to whoever correctly identifies the ride. Thank you for playing.