The Rising of Merlin

The One That is the Prologue

He built himself a cottage a short distance from the lake; there he waited for Arthur's return. A few years after Gaius's death, he started going to the crystal cave, eventually it became a habit. After the battle of Camlann he had learnt to master the technique to use them and he could not only see the future, but also the past and present. There he saw Gwen's death and Camelot's fall that followed shortly after.

He also saw when the founders started building Hogwarts. He never intervened with them but he had stayed in the village nearby in case they would need help. On the final night before the schools opening, he had snuck in and made a few moderations. His proudest one was 'The Room of Requirement'. He also put up some wards of his own. They were stronger than the founder's and undetectable. After that he only watched from afar. During the muggle wars he had helped a little but there wasn't much he could do without getting noticed.

A few years after the building of Hogwarts, he left the cottage. The muggle world was becoming bigger and he decided that it would be easier to pass the time and at the same time hide himself from the growing wizard community if he lived as a muggle. So he built himself a two story house in a village that later became central London. He enrolled to many schools during his life which gave him several different degrees and also an easier way to start over from time to time, because he could chose very different jobs and that way blend in amongst the muggles.

Then on one of his trips to the cave, he saw a vision of an old man talking to a woman in a bar, a very odd woman. She wore shawls around her shoulders and big bug like glasses. He was interviewing her for a job at Hogwarts. The old man got up and started to leave when the woman started talking in a deep voice.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...".

Afterwards the woman didn't seem to have remembered anything but the old man was a bit startled. He quickly composed himself and decided to give her the job at Hogwarts.

Merlin didn't know what to do about this. He had noticed how the Dark Lord had become more and more powerful, but he had decided not to intervene until absolute necessary because of his supposed death. No one knew that he was still alive and that was how he wanted it to stay. Getting involved would only raise questions that he didn't want to answer. However, he couldn't help but see where the prophecy would lead.

He searched the crystals for answers for hours. He saw how a man with greasy black hair and long nose told the Dark Lord about the prophecy, but he hadn't heard the second half of it. The Dark Lord had decided to act regardless and went to the Potters house. Merlin cursed Peter Pettigrew under his breath when he found out that he had betrayed his friends. He saw how Voldemort killed Harry's parents and then decided to kill him. But his mother had evoked a spell from the Old Religion when she sacrificed herself for her son; it had saved Harry's life.

After that, Merlin decided to check up on Harry once in a while, but he always decided not to get involved. Instead he watched through the crystals. Everything seemed fine during the following ten years, if you didn't count the constant abuse Harry got from his aunt and uncle. It wasn't until he started Hogwarts that things started getting complicated.

Every year it got harder and harder for Merlin not to interfere, until the end of the forth year; Voldemort had returned. But he knew that he couldn't just burst in at the Order and demand to help. No, he had to come up with a plan. Maybe he could act as a student, but that would be too complicated. They would see through his disguise in no time, especially the fact that he didn't need a wand. No, instead Merlin decided to move to Hogsmead for the time being. There he lived under the disguise as an old man, or' Dragoon the great' as Arthur had known him as. He had used that disguise quit often during his 14th century old life. It was easier to go unnoticed that way.

During Harry's fifth year he moved into a room at the 'Three broomsticks', which meant that he could listen in on Harry and his friends every time they visited Hogsmead. They never noticed him of course; he had mastered the act of blending in during his time at Camelot. He even followed them to 'The Hogshead' where he found out about their secret 'Defence against the dark arts' club. But he never intervened. Not even when he heard about Dolores Umbridge. He was furious about it but it wasn't yet time to reveal himself to them.

But then at the end of the year he searched one of the crystals he had brought with him from the cave, and he saw Harry and his friend Hermione walk in to the forbidden forest with Umbridge, and he knew that something wasn't right. Shortly after, Harry's other friends had followed them. He saw what would happen at the Ministry, he saw the death of Sirius Black and the attack from Voldemort. He had to stop them. So Merlin decided that it was finally time to act.