A/N: Sunday update. Hope you all enjoy!
Warning: Merlin is stubborn, frustrating and irrational in this chapter, and the next few as well. Prior warning, since editing this chapter made even me want to slap him. Bit like the show itself, right? :)
Conflicting Emotions
"What's wrong, Merlin?" Luna asked him, after she performed a perfect Old Magic transfiguration spell on the first go. "That was pretty good, if I do say so myself."
"Yeah, it was," said Merlin, belatedly, trying to look more energetic. "It was perfect actually. Well done."
She tilted her head to one side and screwed up her eyes. "There are too many Wrackspurts around you for you to be thinking clearly at the moment, why don't we stop for a while?"
"Yeah, alright," he said, and he leaned back in the couch and sighed. "I'm sorry I'm not more focused. This is your lesson. I shouldn't be bringing my personal troubles into it."
"It's alright," she said, leaning back next to him. They were in the Ravenclaw Common Room, everyone else having long gone to bed. "How is Peter?"
"Percy."
"Yes, him," she said, playing with the cork necklace she always wore. "Is he alright?"
"Yes," Merlin said. It was now two days since the attack at the Ministry. "He should be getting home tomorrow."
"Then what is it that's worrying you?" she asked, turning her orb-like eyes on him in that disconcerting way of hers. "Is it Verax?"
He nodded, staring into the fire in front of him. "The protests are getting bigger," he explained. "It's getting out of hand. More and more people are joining him every day."
"And you want to join him too," she said matter-of-factly.
"I don't know," said Merlin honestly. "I agree with him. Everything he says makes sense. I want to believe in him, but …"
"You don't trust him."
"No," he admitted. "There's something … off, about him. I don't know what. Not to mention the fact that every time his name is even mentioned Fawkes goes insane, and since he's a creature of the Old Religion … that has to mean something. He won't even come places with me anymore, he just stays back at Grimmauld Place."
"So don't support Verax then," she said simply.
"But I have to," he said, feeling his frustration spilling out. "He's the first person to take proper action against the thing I have detested for so long. If he achieves this, then what will it matter if I don't like him? Some things are larger than personal dislike. When I first met Salazar Slytherin he hated me and didn't trust me, but he joined with me to work together to save the school when it was in danger. Verax might be a distasteful person, but if he gets the job done … I don't know what to do," he said finally, hiding his head in his hands.
Luna was quiet for a moment, before inching closer and taking one of his hands in her own, causing him to look up at her. She smiled at him.
"Yes, you do," she said. "You just won't let yourself see it. Trust in your instincts, Merlin. The Old Religion had guided you all this time, why don't you trust it now?"
His gut clenched.
"That's the problem," he admitted, telling her something he had told no one else. "I can't hear it any more. Before, I always could. Little urges, little hints here and there. I still get the feelings I used to get, to guide me away from danger, but I can't hear it any more. I can't listen to it. I don't know what it wants me to do."
"Maybe you can hear it," she said, still smiling. "You just don't know how to listen anymore."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked bitterly. "It's guided me constantly for thirteen centuries. Why should it change now?"
"Because you've changed," she said, squeezing his hand softly. "You're not the same man you were. The Old Religion is telling you what you want to know, you just need to learn to listen once again. You need to want to hear it."
"Well I'm sick of it," said Merlin. "This is what I want to do. This is what I need to do."
"Your destiny was fulfilled, Merlin," she said. "Don't go creating another."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "This is still my destiny. I have to restore what was. Old Magic and the peace that went along with it. My task is only half-completed."
Luna frowned, and looked away from him, shaking her head softly.
"Why can't you see it, Merlin?" she asked, sighing. "It's so simple."
"Well, maybe it's because I don't have Nargles or something else guiding me," he snapped, and stood up to pace around the room.
She blinked, but didn't look upset, just concerned.
"This isn't you, Merlin," she said softly. "I know it."
"And how do you?" he asked, though immediately having regretted his snappy comment. "I don't even know who I myself am anymore."
"Then you need to find yourself again," she said. "The world will never be at peace unless you're at peace with yourself. You don't need to create new problems, Merlin. Just enjoy the peace of your mortality."
"And how can I?" he asked. "I need to see peace restored. What use will it be if it happens a hundred years from now? How can I help then?"
"Maybe you won't need to help," she said. "You're doing this because you want to see it all again, Merlin. Perhaps you're just not seeing that the world just isn't ready."
Merlin turned away from her, unnerved by her wide innocent eyes. He couldn't believe that. He had to complete this task; he couldn't leave the job half-done. It wasn't for his own benefit, it was for everyone's.
He found himself standing in front of the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. His eyes drifted upwards to her face, and lingered there for the longest time. It wasn't the greatest likeness in the world. True, it caught the shape of her face perfectly, the often haughty looking expression she usually wore, but the eyes were expressionless. They didn't have that intelligent glint they would have every time Rowena would discover something new, or give some sort of witty retort to one of Godric's idiotic statements, or flash the way they did every time she teased him. They weren't as sad and full of hidden emotion as Rowena's had been.
This statue and this Common Room had always been difficult for him to see, hence why he had only been in Ravenclaw twice over the years. Being here, in the room that used to be Rowena's personal quarters, with her face looking down at him, it had always brought up too many memories. She and the other Founders had been the only people he had ever grown close to since Camelot, she perhaps more than the others, and then, he had had to leave them, leave her. It had been one of the most difficult days of his life walking out of the castle that morning, only eclipsed by the day that Arthur had died.
The Founders had always wanted peace between Muggles and wizards. It had been their dream, all four of them equally united in this. They had known it would take a long time, and Merlin himself had told them that their school wasn't for nothing even if it didn't yield immediate results, because someone had to start the process. He had known then that a time of peace would come, no matter how far in the future. Well, it had been a thousand years since then, surely the time was nigh? He had been so confident back then, why was he now so determined that it should happen in his lifetime and not in another hundred or thousand years?
Luna came and stood beside him, looking up at the statue as well.
"What was she like?" she asked.
Merlin gulped, flooded with memories, some extremely painful. "A very determined young woman," he said softly. "Nothing was beyond her reach, except her own capacity to recognise her weaknesses."
"And she wanted peace between Muggles and wizards?"
"Yes," he said. "She even entered an arranged marriage with a Muggle to try and create peace between their warring clans."
"Did it work?"
"No," he said. "He died in battle and the Muggles turned against her. She barely escaped with her life. They would have killed her and her unborn child for what they were."
"The Muggle was the Grey Lady's father?" she asked, frowning. "I thought you were."
Merlin laughed softly, though not amused at the recollection of that ancient (and untrue) rumour that still seemed to persist one thousand years later. "That was a silly rumour that got passed around the castle back then. You know what the students here are like. Helena's always teasing me about it. I don't think she really believes me when I say it's not true."
"But the rumours weren't unfounded were they?" Luna asked, fixing him with that stare of hers. "You and Ravenclaw were close."
"Yes," he said, uncomfortable now with her standing so close and staring at him like that. "I was close to them all."
"They built the castle so people would have a better future," said Luna, not believing his ruse for a moment. "It didn't matter that it would take time for it to happen, they knew it would eventually. They laid the groundwork for the peace that'll come. That's what you've done. You've laid the foundations. Other people can build on that. It doesn't have to be you."
Merlin shook his head. "That's where you're wrong," he said softly, still looking up at Rowena's face. "It does. It always does."
"There were five hundred people at the Ministry today," said Remus, looking across the table at Merlin. "They were demanding to see you."
"It's best I stay here," Merlin said. "My presence might … antagonise things."
"I doubt anything you could do would rile them up any more," said Tonks, who was currently trying to force-feed Teddy, who kept spitting everything back out, back in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place "They're getting pretty insane."
"Verax is nuts," said Fred. "It's like he's some sort of saint or something, the way they fawn over him."
Merlin looked down at the newspaper before him, seeing the usual headlines. The paper for the last week had been filled with nothing but the protests, with several pages dedicated to long editorials arguing about the matter.
"Is Kingsley doing anything about it," Merlin asked, trying to sound casual, but knowing he was failing miserably. Remus noticed.
"He's been forced to," said Remus, "or he risks losing his job. He's sent an owl to the International Confederation of Wizards, and they're going to bring up the subject at their next Convention."
"That isn't for another six months," said Merlin. "And even then, I doubt they'll do anything."
"True," said Tonks, abandoning her attempt s to get Teddy to eat his food rather than play with it. "International governments are still asking questions about you. They're accusing you of withholding Old Magic deliberately."
Merlin groaned. "It's not my fault I live here!" he said. "How can I teach several dozen countries at once? This is where the Old Religion is strongest, always has been. Most of the countries sending Kingsley owls never had the ability to use Old Magic. Yes, the Old Religion was present there, and still is, but they were never actually able to use it, until now. There are people here in this country hating me for not teaching them fast enough and landing them in comas, how am I supposed to compete internationally?"
"Not to mention the fact that people are questioning your identity again," said Remus, nodding to another, though smaller article in the paper: Merlin: Emrys, or elaborate hoax? Some people now believed that if Merlin wouldn't teach them, it meant he wasn't the real Merlin, and was just taking advantage of the return of the Old Religion to paint himself in the guise of a great historical figure. It seemed there was no winning with these people.
"You're in a pickle, mate," said Fred, looking through some order-forms. "We can't even go into our own shop without being mobbed by people asking questions about you."
"Likewise," said Tonks, trying once more to get Teddy to open his mouth. "It's kind of hard for me to go undercover with my face on a Chocolate Frog card, even if I am a Metamorphagus. Oh, I give up!" she cried, throwing down the little spoon and glaring at her infant son. "You don't want to eat? Then starve!"
"Dora," said Remus. "What did we say about threatening the baby?"
"He's too stubborn!" complained Tonks, staring him down. "He's got a mind of his own."
"Like his mother then."
"Watch it." She turned around and threw the spoon towards Draco. "Right, your turn. And please, teach me how you do it."
Draco managed a small smile, and moved towards Teddy. He dipped the spoon into the baby food and held it out to Teddy, who immediately opened his mouth to take it. Tonk's jaw dropped in mixed shock and frustration.
"How do you do that?" she asked, for what seemed like the fiftieth time. "I'm his mother, you're just his second cousin. Why does he do it for you and not me?"
"Maybe because Draco doesn't threaten him with starvation?" Remus said idly, flicking through the newspaper. "He's perfectly okay whenever I feed him."
Tonks glared once at her husband, and then watched with intense concentration as Draco fed Teddy the last of his meal before sitting himself down at the table again. Draco and Teddy's relationship was certainly a bit of an odd one. Draco seemed to like being around him, and Teddy was the same, for whatever reason. At first, Draco had been awkward around him, not knowing what to do, but that stage had long since passed, and Merlin sometimes thought Draco preferred being with Teddy than he did with anyone else. It was beyond anything Merlin could understand. Usually, seeing Teddy smiling like that would bring a smile to Draco's face as well, but today, nothing. He was far too preoccupied with something else. Merlin got the feeling Draco spent so much time with Teddy because he was deliberately trying to avoid his old family by replacing it with its newest member. It was like the fresh start he'd wanted with everyone in the Order; Teddy had no idea what Draco had done in the past, and he didn't care. That was a rarity in itself.
"Concentrating?" Merlin asked him, seeing Draco staring into space. "It's your move."
Draco jumped and focused back on the chess game he and George were playing on opposite ends of the table. He searched the board for a moment.
"Fleogan," he said finally, and his eyes flashed. A bishop rose into the air (screaming and protesting profusely) and was moved three diagonal squares to the right to capture one of George's knights. Draco levitated the two of them off the board, then offered a satisfied smirk to George. "Beat that, Weasley."
"Certainly," said George, and a second later, his own eyes had flashed golden. A rook lifted into the air and went straight along a horizontal route to take Draco's queen which had been left unguarded by the movement of his bishop. The rook now had a direct route to Draco's king, which was hemmed in by several of George's other pieces. "Checkmate, Malfoy."
Draco scowled, and leaned back, folding his arms. George just chuckled. "Sore loser, Draco? What's gotten into you? Normally you would've noticed something like that a long time ago."
"Well, I didn't," mumbled Draco, looking away from the board.
Remus and Tonks left soon after to head home, and Fred and George, Merlin and Draco moved to the drawing room, where Merlin continued their lessons in Old Magic.
"When can I learn something useful?" Draco asked, after about an hour. "What use is levitating chess pieces going to do me?"
"It's good practice of control," said Merlin. "And you have to learn control before anything else unless you want to end up like those people in St. Mungo's." With all the latest anger at Merlin's concealment of Old Magic, even more people had resorted to trying it on their own, failing miserably.
Draco just sulked, which was unusual behaviour for him lately, and didn't say another word until the lesson was over and Fred and George had gone to bed. He sat across from Merlin in the drawing room. His eyes were deliberately avoiding the Black family tapestry.
"You can go and see him, Draco," said Merlin softly, starling the boy out of his thoughts. "You don't have to prove yourself like this to your father. Old Magic doesn't make you superior, you don't have to be so desperate to show off to him. He wants to see you. And reliving the glory of your Druid ancestors is entirely pointless; everyone in the Order knows that you've changed. Anyone else that doesn't understand that just isn't worth knowing."
"I can't go and see him," said Draco. "He ruined my life. He's a Death Eater. He joined because he wanted to, not because he had no other choice. And my mother, she supported him. She was a part of it too. I want a fresh start, Merlin. I don't want to go back to them."
"You can't cut off all ties to your previous life, Draco," said Merlin. "Some things will come back to haunt you."
"Like you and Camelot?" Draco asked, looking at him.
"Yes," said Merlin after a moment, looking down at the Daily Prophet once more. "Like me and Camelot."
The DA lesson was going well, Harry thought, as he wandered through the room, brilliantly in fact. The DA had now turned to Patronuses, and the room was filled with the silvery vapours of half-formed animals, like the room was glistening with snow and ice. Everywhere were faces of intense concentration, and even very youngest could produce something, a silvery mist, with the eldest creating entire creatures that cantered, hopped, glided or slithered around the room. Even the sight of a Patronus made everyone happy.
And Harry was no exception.
He had found new appreciation for the spell after Merlin had told him some of its history. It had evolved from the Old Religion, and was one of the few modern spells that contained a trace of the ancient magic, hence why it was so powerful, and why Harry had always been so proficient at it. It truly was an incredible spell, and Harry found himself inundated with countless requests to demonstrate it for the younger pupils who were still unable to manage a corporeal form.
"That's amazing!" one second year cried, as the silvery stag galloped past her, and Harry grinned to see it himself, finally rejoicing in the purity of the Old Religion in even this comparatively weak Modern spell. His grin grew even wider when he noticed a horse Patronus galloping alongside it. Ginny stood on the other side of the room and winked when he caught her eye. His Patronus grew even brighter.
He didn't even mind using a wand for this spell. Ever since the Old Religion had returned and Harry had found the ability to use magic without a wand, using one had seemed like such a restriction; like being a competitor in a three-legged race, it seemed to slow him down. He now understood what Merlin had meant all along by hating his wand. Old Magic was flowing and natural, Modern Magic had to be forced from a strip of wood. But the Patronus Charm required a wand, and the phoenix feather wand was more than happy to oblige him for this one spell.
"I'm sure there must be a way for you to use a Patronus Charm without a wand," said Hermione beside him, accurately guessing his thoughts. "I'm sure if I-"
"Merlin's been trying to do the same thing for a thousand years," Harry reminded her. "He hasn't found one. But it doesn't matter anyway. This is one Modern spell I can live with."
Lessons at Hogwarts had been difficult the last few months, as Harry was itching to just cast his wand away and learn solely Old Magic, but Hermione refused to let him ("You are not going to waste all those years learning wand magic by throwing it away just a few months before the end of your final year!") so he continued learning. He supposed she was right; it was probably good to be versed in both forms of magic.
The DA lesson continued with success, and everyone left very happy indeed. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna were just clearing up the mess of cushions and usual host of lost and forgotten objects when the door burst open once more. Harry turned, expecting to find the owner of the Decoy Detonator he had just found, and was astonished to find Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway, her face grim.
"Professor," he began, immediately on edge. Although she whole-heartedly supported the DA, she never came to the Room of Requirement. "We were just-"
"No time, Potter," she said, coming in hurriedly and closing the door behind her. She turned to face them all, her face serious in a way it hadn't been since Voldemort and Morgana's deaths. "I must speak to you all."
"What is it, professor?" Hermione asked.
McGonagall hesitated for a moment. "I've just received a message from Kingsley," she said. "I suppose you've all heard of Verax and his Liberators? Apparently, they've just exposed themselves and their magic in the middle of a crowded Muggle park."
"You're joking!" said Ron, mouth hanging open. "Have they lost it?"
"Perhaps they have, Mr Weasley," said McGonagall, her mouth thin. "Kingsley and the entire Ministry are working on damage control at the moment, but it's estimated perhaps two hundred people saw the magic. There hasn't been such a large breach of the Statute since its inception."
"What can we do?" asked Harry, feeling a clenching feeling in his gut.
"Nothing," said McGonagall. "Leave it to the Obliviators, they're best equipped to deal with this. But Kingsley's called an Order meeting at Grimmauld Place immediately. You'd best come."
And so Harry followed McGonagall through the corridors to her office, where, one by one, they stepped into the fireplace and were whisked off to Grimmauld Place. His mind was racing. What would happen if this couldn't be covered up?
They began to gather in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, where Merlin, Malfoy, Remus, Tonks and Fred and George were already waiting. The kitchen slowly began to fill up with Order members, all of them in a panic. Harry kept his eyes on Merlin. He sat there, face expressionless, arms folded over his chest, not speaking to anyone. What was he thinking? Was he pleased, or angry? Fawkes sat on his shoulder, head bowed as though in mourning.
After about an hour, Kingsley himself walked in, his face looking more haggard than Harry had yet seen it. He settled himself at the table, and was immediately barraged with questions. He held up a hand to stop them.
"Before you all deafen me, let me answer at least a few of your questions before you ask them. The Obliviators are still working, though their task has become more difficult owing to many of the Muggles who saw the magic already having called friends and family about the incident, and many others they cannot trace. It is a task of monumental proportions. We've never had a breach this serious, and worse, never one that was intentional."
"What was Verax thinking?" demanded Remus. "Surely he can't have thought this was a good idea?"
"I had him arrested," said Kingsley. "But he claims to have known nothing of the plan, that these witches and wizards acted independently. And until we find some evidence connecting him to these activists, we cannot hold him."
"Surely the fact that they were Liberators is enough?" asked Fred. "He probably told them all to do something like that in one of his speeches."
"Nevertheless, it is not enough to charge him for it," said Kingsley. "The culprits themselves have been caught, and they themselves claim to have acted independently."
Ron snorted. "Yeah right," he said. "Like they would have done anything without him riling them up."
"What exactly happened?" Hermione asked.
"There was a concert on in a park in London," Kingsley explained. "The Liberators Apparated on stage, made the performers vanish, turned all their instruments into pigs and then flew on their broomsticks around the whole crowd. Fortunately, there was a wizard there with his Muggle wife, and Stunned the four of them before they could do anything worse. We're hoping that the ones who don't manage to get Obliviated will just go away hoping it was all part of the act. But some of them caught the whole thing on their- what do you call them- video cameras. They could be submitting it to the Muggle media right now."
There was a collective groan at the table. Kingsley ran a hand over his head.
"I don't know why they did this," he said wearily. "I was negotiating with Verax. We'd sent the owl to the International Confederation of Wizards. What could they gain by doing this? It only makes the whole thing worse."
"They're probably impatient," said Charlie. "The next meeting isn't for six months. And even if they were to host an emergency meeting tomorrow, nothing would get done for ages, perhaps years. Every signatory country has to agree to repeal the Statute, and you can bet most of them won't agree. Especially the countries where people still believe in witchcraft and kill people for it. It might even take decades. They won't be willing to wait that long."
"Yeah," agreed Bill. "The Statute isn't just any old law. It's an international thing that's so deeply embedded into our culture that dismantling it is just not feasible in a short space of time. Not to mention the fact that Muggle leaders have to agree as well. I can't see that happening. They won't want to admit to their people that they've been allowing a whole secret population to live in their countries without telling anybody."
"What's our Muggle Prime Minister like?" Tonks asked. "How does he see all this?"
"I told him about all of this as soon as it happened," Kingsley said. "He sent out policemen to cordon off the park and not let anyone leave until one of our Obliviators had seen them. Gave the excuse of a terrorist threat or something. Of course, many made it out before they could be mobilised, and all the policemen will have to be Obliviated as well, along with all the journalists and reporters that turned up to see what all the fuss was about. He was angry about that, blaming me for not controlling them properly. He doesn't want the Statute to end. There's an election in a few days time. He won't want to jeapordise his position. And if he's ousted, which he probably will be judging by the opinion polls, who's to say the next PM will be any more understanding? He may be even worse. The Liberators have chosen the wrong time for all of this."
"Or maybe they chose the right time," said McGonagall. "They want an aura of uncertainty. Maybe they think they'll be able to sway whoever gets elected next?"
There was an ominous silence after this, broken only by Teddy, who was gurgling in his high chair in the corner.
"Maybe we shouldn't try and cover this up," said Merlin suddenly, causing everyone to jump and stare at him. Harry stared, he didn't seriously think they could salvage this, did he?
"I know you want this to happen," said Kingsley, looking wary, "but surely you see that this is not the right way to go about it?"
"No, I don't," said Merlin. "Maybe deliberately exposing themselves in this way was a bad idea, but why not take advantage of the opportunity it gives us?"
"Opportunity?" asked Ron incredulously. "You think this is a good thing?"
"Obviously, exposing themselves in public was hardly the right thing to do," said Merlin. "But instead of trying to cover it up, take this opportunity to explain to the Muggles the truth of the situation. Whoever becomes the next Prime Minister, instead of visiting him or her and telling them to keep our secret, work with them to find a way to tell the Muggles the truth."
"You think they'll want to spend their first few days in office telling people about witches and wizards?" Hermione asked. "They'll be far more concerned with getting into their new role, selecting their Cabinet members and things like that. Starting their first term with telling the public the truth wouldn't appeal to them."
"We should try," insisted Merlin, and Harry saw a familiar gleam in his eye that signaled passion, though his face and body were still carefully controlled. "They might like the idea of telling them from the beginning, so the people don't turn around and accuse them of lying to them in several years time. It should at least be up for discussion."
"I am not going to give in to these people," said Kingsley. "They won't be taught that they can do whatever they like and get away with it. I won't endorse this. If the Statute is to be repealed, which I am still doubtful about, it should be done through the proper channels, not through terrorism, which is more or less what this is."
Everyone was now staring at Merlin, seeing how he would react to this. He still looked fairly calm, though his fists were clenched.
"Are you comparing the Liberators to Death Eaters now?" Merlin asked.
"Of course not," said Kingsley. "But actions such as this can benefit nobody. They're trying to gain publicity, and I'm not sure whether it is good publicity or bad. They've proven themselves to be willing to be martyrs, and I shall be proving myself to be a stubborn old tyrant for not listening to them. Is that the sort of people you'd ally with?"
"I don't agree with their tactics," said Merlin, his voice rising slightly. "And of course I don't believe you should give in. But just consider-"
"I will not," said Kingsley, his voice firm. "This shall be done through the proper channels or not at all. We have years of debate ahead of us yet, plenty of time to make our opinions heard. We should make no rash decisions because of a few extremists. We must keep our wits about us."
For the first time, Merlin looked angry, but he soon controlled himself again. He looked down at the table in front of him, breathing heavily.
"Tell me," he said, voice carefully restrained. "Have any of you, aside from the Muggle-Borns, have any of you actually spoken to a Muggle? Had a conversation with one? Had a Muggle friend?"
"That's not the issue here-" said Kingsley, but Merlin cut across him.
"Yes, it is," said Merlin. "We have been separate for too long. We no longer see Muggles as friends, we no longer see them as fellow human beings with minds of their own. They're just sheep to us now, sheep that have to be controlled and fenced in. We're patronising to them, even you sometimes Mr Weasley. Admiring the way they get by without magic as though they're dogs who've learned how to fetch a newspaper."
"The only way to end all the hate and fear of Muggles that exists in our world, is for them to join us," he said, slowly. "We need to end the separation. It only leads to feelings of superiority over them."
"Then what we need to do is change our perceptions of them," said Mr Weasley, who looked a little put out at what Merlin had said. "Put more effort into Muggle Studies for children and adults. We can't join them if we see them like children, you're right. I don't think our society is ready for it any more than theirs is. There are plenty of people who'd love to join the Muggles just so they could control them."
"We're not ready," said Remus. "Imagine the chaos it would create!"
"It was done in Camelot, and it worked, despite the initial 'chaos'."
"Don't compare the two," said Kingsley. "This isn't Camelot. You can't recreate it, it won't work. Camelot's sorcerers had not been in hiding as long as we have. People then still believed in magic, it wasn't such a shock to them. And the only reason it worked back then was because you were friends with the Muggle King. I have no such relationship with the Muggle Prime Minister, nor any of the other party leaders. They won't trust me the way Arthur did you."
"I thought you'd resolved all this, Merlin," said Luna, speaking for the first time. "I thought you'd realised that you couldn't live in the past any more?"
Merlin ignored her, and instead kept looking at the table.
"When the International Statute of Secrecy was signed," he began. "The original signatories all gathered around the table and swore to forever conceal their people from their Muggle counterparts. But, before they put pen to paper, they all said this: "May peace come one day to Muggles and wizardkind both, that this Statute may be nullified. Let not this day be known as a day of oppression. In time, let our two races combine as one once more. May we never forget our Muggle kin.' The Statue was never intended to be permanent."
Everyone was silent for a moment. "I've never read that before," said Hermione, frowning slightly. "It isn't written anywhere."
"I don't suppose it would be," said Merlin. "People like to forget that part. The part where they all hoped that the future need not be so bleak."
"How do you know they said that?" Malfoy asked, and he too was frowning. "One of my mother's ancestors signed the Statute, and I've certainly never heard that part of the story."
"I was there," Merlin said, and his voice was so quiet everyone was silent. "I sneaked in. The conference was held in London, in the Atrium of the old Ministry headquarters. I disguised myself as a servant and sneaked in so that I could watch. I had to be there, no matter how much pain I felt. The moment it happened was like a solid punch to my gut, but I couldn't leave. I had to be there to witness the death of everything that I believed in."
Everyone was silent once more.
"I had no idea," said Kingsley, and he looked slightly troubled. "But it cannot change the present, Merlin. No matter the original intentions, the world is different now. It's larger, Muggles and wizards are different. It isn't as simple as you wish to believe."
Merlin stared at Kingsley for several moments. "Nor is it as difficult as you wish it to be," he said, and stood up and left the room without another word.
Kingsley sighed, and buried his head in his hands, as everyone else broke out in hurried whispers. Harry couldn't help but stare at the door Merlin had just left through.
Was he doing this for the right reasons? Harry was still conflicted himself as to what to believe. Merlin was right, witches and wizards were far too ignorant of Muggles, and far too condescending, but at the same time, such a radical step so quickly was surely madness. Was Merlin just so focused on restoring the past that he was unable to see the consequences?
"Do you think he'll be alright?" Ginny asked from his side.
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think anyone can understand just what this means to him."
Ginny nodded and looked concerned. "After all that trouble last year getting him to stop blaming himself for everything that went wrong in Camelot, it looks like it might all have been for nothing. He might have gotten over Arthur's death, but he still blames himself for the hostility between Muggles and wizards. I don't think he'll ever forget that."
"No," said Harry. "I don't think he will."
Merlin felt himself shaking with suppressed anger and frustration as he headed up the stairs to his room. Why had they done that? Why? Just when he'd become involved in their cause.
He sank down in his bed and closed his eyes, images of screaming Muggles, burning pyres and scared wizards running through his mind in a continuous cycle. This was the right thing. It had to be.
He had been the one to restore peace thirteen hundred years ago, and he knew he was the only one who could do it again.
A/N: Update same time next week!