The Rising of Merlin

The One Where Merlin Leaves the Hospital Wing

Chapter 3 The One Where Merlin Leaves the Hospital Wing

Merlin had trouble sleeping that night, his mind kept drifting to his vision of Arthur. He had never experienced anything like it before. He wasn't a seer; he shouldn't be able to have dream visions. But there was something in the back of his head that told him it hadn't been a vision, it had been something else. Like a message, telling him something important. Maybe it was telling him that 'The Once and Future King' was coming back he thought with a smile.

Whatever it was, he was sure he would figure it out eventually. But coming to that conclusion didn't help him sleep, instead he spent the night in a restless sleep and he woke early the next morning; not feeling rested at all.

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Harry and Hermione sat alone in the Gryffindor common room; Ginny had gone to sleep a while ago. The fire was almost burned out but they were still no closer to figuring out who the mysterious man was. Hermione had suggested that he might be a deatheater, but they both felt that he wasn't evil.

"I still think he's hiding something. I could tell he was lying when he explained the ageing spell." Hermione said.

"But what?" Harry answered with a tired sigh. "He said he wasn't powerful but I could feel that there was something he wasn't telling us. Have you ever heard about a scrying crystal Hermione?"

"I think I've read about it once in our first year, when I tried to find out more about the Philosophers stone, but I can't remember what exactly. I will go to the library tomorrow and do some research." She answered.

"But what do you know about the druids? The only thing I've heard about them is that they existed hundreds of years ago during King Arthur's time. And that was during Muggle School. I have never heard them being mentioned here." Harry stated.

"You're right, Professor Binns have never mentioned them and I've also only heard about them from Muggle books." Hermione said confused. "I have to look that up to." She said quietly to herself. "We should probably go to bed now." She said and before Harry could answer she got up and headed towards the stairs and Harry followed shortly after.

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Merlin woke early the next day; the sun had just gone up over the horizon. Early mornings were something he was used to from his days in Camelot. No matter what Arthur had said, Merlin had been a good manservant and he was almost never late to wake the King up in the mornings. The early morning habit had stuck even after Arthur's death but Merlin didn't mind. He was glad that at least some part of him remained the way Arthur had known him.

He had tried to fulfil his promise to him and never change, but it was hard. Years of loneliness and misery had worn him out and he had become reserved. He didn't trust people easily and almost never confided in anyone. There were few people during the centuries that he had open up to and actually shown the real him to; the happy, goofy and carefree him, not the powerful warlock side of course. But they were few and far between, and mostly muggles.

During the centuries, Merlin had lived more in the muggle world then in the magical world. He had found out that it was easier to hide his true magic from muggles then from wizards and witches. Muggles would just shrug and think it was just their imagination, but witches and wizards weren't so easily fooled. They knew magic and they knew when something was different.

But nobody had yet to guess his true identity, mostly because he had moved on as soon as they had been too suspicious. He never stayed longer than a few years at the same workplace. Mostly because he didn't want to get too attach and it was tiresome to use the ageing spell. He could go a few years without it but eventually people would notice that he didn't age and he had to use a spell that aged him a little at the time, and after a few years he got tired and worn down from using it.