Chapter 1 The One Where Merlin Just Shows Up
Merlin bent down to pick up the staff but as he did he yelled out in pain and stumbled down to the ground again. It was his ankle; it was broken.
"Just fantastic!" He exclaimed. He had to try to heal it if he were going to be able to get back to Hogwarts.
He tried to summon up his power but it was hard. His head kept spinning; 'Probably a concussion.' He thought, and his ankle really hurt. He had also lost quite a bit of blood when he was unconscious.
His old man spell was still up but he didn't really notice it. He used it so often it was second nature to him. He rarely thought about it, except for the fact that it made him slower and his body ached all over when he used it.
"Gestepe hole! Þurhhæle." Merlin could feel the glow in his eyes but it didn't work. He tried another spell. "Ahlúttre þá séocnes. Þurhhæle bræd." But it didn't work this time either. He tried one last time; "Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ!" But it still didn't work, he was too weak.
He heaved himself up with the staff; he had to make it back to Hogwarts. Maybe there was still something he could do, but he feared that he was too late. So before he made his way back to Hogwarts he took up the crystal that he had in his bag; which he never left behind when he left.
All his most precious belongings were in that bag. The spell book he had gotten from Gaius, the wooden dragon his father had given him, and his old neckerchiefs to name a few things. He had collected a few items during the centuries but the things from his time in Camelot were the things he cared most about.
He also had some spare clothes in the bag, but other than that he didn't have much else. He was a natural in travelling light, and all other things could be bought or summoned from his house when he needed it.
He looked deep into the crystal, hoping that it was not yet too late, but he was. Cursing under his breath he tucked the crystal back in his bag and began his slow and painful way back to Hogwarts.
He finally reached the school grounds after one hour; he could see the castle in the distance between the trees. He stumbled out from the woods with the help of his staff. He had come out just beside the half-giant gamekeeper's cottage. He saw Harry and the half-giant just rounding the corner when he passed out.
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Harry made his way down to Hagrid's cottage. Ron and Hermione was up in the hospital wing, he had just left from there. He felt a deep sorrow in his chest. His head started spinning around every time he thought about the prophecy and at the same time he felt hurt and angry when he thought about Sirius. 'He hadn't needed to die. It wasn't right.' Harry thought.
He had told Ron and Hermione that he was going to visit Hagrid, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be alone or not. Instead of making a real choice he just let his legs decide, and in no time he was outside of Hagrid's door. He knocked but there were no answer. Harry was just about to leave when Fang came running towards him from the other side of the cottage.
"Harry" Hagrid called. Harry went around the cottage to see Hagrid working in his garden. Together they went back to the door but before Hagrid could open the door, an old man came limping out from the forest.
His forehead had a deep cut on it and there was dry blood all over his face, while new blood slowly dripped down from the wound. He was held up by a staff when he walked, never fully supporting his right foot. When he saw Harry and Hagrid he stopped and slowly fell down on the ground unconscious, but Harry had noticed a small smile on his face before he had passed out.
Merlin could hear Hagrid call for help and he could feel himself being lifted up and carried to the castle on a stretcher. He wasn't completely out yet, but he could tell that he was drifting more and more into unconsciousness.
He heard a woman's voice; strong and confident. She was talking to someone as they carried him up the stairs and to the hospital wing. He couldn't make out the words because of all the chatter going around when the students came down to eat breakfast, but he could hear that it was an older man she was talking to.
Suddenly the noises from the students stopped and Merlin guessed that they had arrived in the hospital wing. He was transferred to a comfortable bed and when the woman started talking again, he could make out some of the words.
"Who is he Albus?" she asked.
"I have never seen him before." The old man named Albus answered. "We have to wait until he regains consciousness before finding out."
"Poppy," The man said, "How severe are the injuries?"
"He has lost a lot of blood and his ankle is broken. He also seems to have a concussion." Another woman, apparently the nurse, answered.
"Harry, you said that he came tumbling out from the woods." The first woman asked.
"Yes, he was limping and supporting himself on this."
Merlin guessed Harry had meant the staff. He hoped that they wouldn't realise exactly what kind of staff it was.
"Then when he saw us, Hagrid and me that is, he smiled and passed out." Harry continued.
That was the last thing Merlin could hear before he was completely submerged in the darkness and he could feel his aging spell lifting.
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Harry sat between Ron and Hermione's bed while the old man was being checked over; still holding the staff that he had picked up while Hagrid had lifted the man up on the stretcher. He stood up and gave the staff to McGonagall, and at the same time he cast a glance to the mysterious old man.
That's when he saw the changing; the air around the man began shimmering and he gasped out loud when the hair on the man was retreating up inside the man's head, until only a few centimetres remained.
They others had started watching when he gasped, and they all saw the hair turning black and all the wrinkles stretched out and the body got filled out. When the transition was finished the old man was no longer to be seen, instead in the bed, laid a young man, looked to be around 25, who was muscular but still slim looking; like a runner or a swimmer.
He had almost black hair, just like Harry's own. It stretched down to cover half his ears; ears that stuck out in a comical way. The beard he previously had had was only stubble now, just as black as his hair.
It was quiet for what felt like eternity before McGonagall broke the silence.
"H-how was he able to hold a powerful transformation spell like that for so long after being unconscious?" She asked with a slight tremor in her voice. "I have never seen anything like it."
"I don't know Minerva." Dumbledore answered, looking just as confused as the rest of them.
"Whoever this young man is, he must be powerful. Poppy, let me know the minute he wakes up." He said "I must go and pick up Professor Umbridge from the centaurs." And together with McGonagall, he turned to leave but he stopped and looked at Harry as if he had forgotten he was there.
"Harry, you should come too, and let your friends rest". Harry didn't protest, instead he said goodbye to Ron and Hermione and headed back to the common room.
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Once in the common room, Harry sat down on a chair in front of the fire. Not long after, Ginny and Neville came and sat in the other chairs beside him.
"I heard you found an old man in the woods." Ginny said and stared at him with a curious look in her eyes.
"Yes." He said with a new found enthusiasm, "I was at Hagrid's, and we were just about to go inside, when an old man came limping out from the woods. Face all bloody and he was leaning on a weird looking staff. It had weird marks carved in the wood and on top sat a blue stone. It didn't look like a regular walking stick." He said with enthusiasm in his eyes.
"That's weird." Ginny said puzzled. "I wonder what he was doing in the forbidding forest. Maybe he's working with You-know-who." She said and Neville swallowed nervously.
"Yeah, maybe." Harry said "But that's not the weirdest thing. He had been lying in the hospital bed for a while, Madame Pomfrey had even taken care of his injuries, when the air around him started shimmering and he was transformed to a young man. He looked to be around 25." He finished, with an intense stare at both Ginny and Neville in turn.
"How is that even possible?" Ginny asked flabbergasted "I thought transformation spells on yourself was really difficult?"
"That what was McGonagall asked to. She said that it was really difficult to hold on to an ageing spell for so long after being unconscious. And Dumbledore said that he must be really powerful. I'm going back to the hospital wing tomorrow to visit Ron and Hermione. Hopefully he is awake then." Harry said with determination in his voice.
"I'm coming with you." Ginny stated "I want to find out more about this man."
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But when Harry and Ginny came to the hospital wing the next morning, they were forced to go away. Madame Pomfrey claimed that Ron and Hermione needed to rest. They returned in the evening to visit, and when they walked in to the Hospital wing, they noticed that the mysterious man was still unconscious.
"It's really weird." Hermione said "Madame Pomfrey said to Dumbledore and McGonagall before that there isn't anything physical wrong with him anymore. All his injuries are healed. They don't know why he hasn't woken up yet."
They heard quiet murmurs from the man's bed just then. He was trying to say something but they couldn't make out the words. They called Madame Pomfrey over; who had been in her room on the other side of the wing. She immediately alerted Dumbledore and McGonagall, and they came together after only a few minutes.
As the minutes ticked by, the man's voice became higher and higher. Instead of the whispering in the beginning, you could now make out some of the words, but they didn't make much sense. Harry thought that it sounded like names; Gwaine, Gaius and Freya were a few that he could make out.
Madame Pomfrey had made it over to the man's bed and started examining him.
"Can you see any changes?" McGonagall asked.
"His pulse has increased." Madame Pomfrey answered. "Other than that, there doesn't seem to be any different. I don't know if he is going to wake up or if it is a side effect of his unconsciousness."
It went on for an hour. The murmurs increased in intensity until one word could be heard over and over among the other words 'Arthur', until suddenly the man yelled out the name from the top of his lungs and sat straight up in the bed, eyes glowing gold.
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A/N
The spells used are directly taken from the show, but I will probably in the future use my own spells as well that I have been translating from an Old English website.
Gestepe hole! Þurhhæle = Heal the injury! Heal thoroughly!
Ahlúttre þá séocnes. Þurhhæle bræd = Cleanse the sickness. Heal thoroughly the flesh.
Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ! = I heal you thoroughly from your mortal wound with those special powers that are ancient! Oh!