The next few weeks passed incredibly slowly for Merlin. Tension and fear laced the air in the hallway that he walked down. After Samhain, he and Arthur went back to Hogwarts. Even though they revealed their true identity to Harry and the others, not all of the Order knew and certainly no one outside the Order knew. Therefore, they returned to keep up appearances. Although Kingsley was unhappy about the their deception, he strongly suggested to not let anyone else know about them. That way, when they did confront Voldemort, they would have surprise on their side.

Merlin was unsure of his plan, though. With the crystal and Nimueh in his control, he would know all about them before they ever got a chance to get close enough to him to do any harm. It appeared that he didn't know about them yet which gave him some hope. He and Arthur were trying to keep their heads down even more to ensure that it stayed that way.

Right now, Voldemort was using the fear tactic. There were attacks almost every other day. Thankfully, there wasn't as much death as there was destruction. To Merlin, the attacks were all designed to strike fear into the masses, and it was working. The Warlock looked around at the various faces that occupied the hallway, each one with signs of distress and uneasiness. Some were better at hiding it than others, but it even showed on the professors.

Merlin was appalled at this. They were children. Children shouldn't have to fear for their lives. They should be happy and carefree. Merlin himself knew what it was like to grow up in constant fear. No matter how happy he was, there was always that tiny sliver of fear deep inside him. For him, it was fear of being exposed for having magic. He did not wish that feeling of fear on anyone, let alone innocent kids.

He knew that they couldn't help it, though. Just like it was when he was a kid, it was beyond their control. Something big would have to happen to make the world an environment where they wouldn't have to be fearful, and that was exactly what he, Arthur, and the Order were trying to do. It wasn't an easy task by any means.

As soon as an attack was reported to be happening, the Order and some trustworthy Aurors rushed to combat the Death Eaters, but the other side almost always had the upper hand. Merlin didn't know if it was due to Nimueh looking into the future beforehand or using it to spy on the Order when they prepare to counter attack and informing the Death Eaters of their plans. Whatever she was doing, it made them nearly untouchable.

Merlin sighed, and he slipped into a seat in the potions classroom. He really wasn't in the mood to be sitting in class at the moment, but he knew that he had to. He briefly looked up when Harry took the seat next to him. The boy gave him a small smile. After his initial explosion on Samhain, Harry calmed down considerably and turned out to be quite understanding. Merlin knew that he still wasn't happy, but he also knew that Harry no longer blamed him. They actually got along pretty well. They could relate to one another on the whole having their lives controlled by destinies and prophecies thing.

Throughout the class, Merlin's brain was on autopilot. The potion that was assigned, though very difficult to the other students, was nothing to him. He had made the potion so many times before that he was fairly certain that he could make it in his sleep.

It was because Merlin wasn't really focused on anything, that the sudden voice in his head took his completely off guard.

'Merlin,' the voice said, causing him to jump.

'Yes, Kilgharrah?'

'Aithusa and I think that we have a lead on Tom Riddle.'

'How good of a lead is it?'

'Very.'

Merlin absent-mindedly nodded his head and he thought. He was very curious about the lead and wanted to know more, but he had promised to keep Kingsley in the loop about everything. He and the others might as well be present to hear whatever Kilgharrah and Aithusa found. It would also probably be a good time to actually tell Kingsley and the others about the two dragons. Neither Merlin nor Arthur had yet to mention the dragons who were aiding in the search of Voldemort's hiding place.

'Then we better wait and get the Order together. Tomorrow is Saturday. Do you think that we could set up a meeting?' the Warlock asked.

'Gladly.'

Harry immediacy noticed when Merlin jumped beside him. He had appeared distracted all throughout class, but now he was attentively focused on something. What it was, Harry didn't know. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Merlin began to nod, a thoughtful expression on his face. Now Harry was really curious.

When class was coming to an end, Merlin turned to Harry.

"I want you to get the others and go to McGonagall's office in half an hour," he said.

"Okay," Harry replied, knowing exactly who he was referring to.

As soon as class was over, Merlin seemed to disappear. Harry wasn't surprised to see that Arthur was nowhere to be found as well. Harry quickly packed up his things and went to work, finding the people that Merlin wanted. Ron, Hermione, and Neville were the easiest to find since they all attended the same potions class. He also found Ginny and Luna together which made things easier on him. They all made it to McGonagall's office with five minutes to spare.

Harry was the first to walk in and saw that Merlin and Arthur were already there. Snape was also present.

"Now that we are all here," McGonagall said, "what is the urgent information that you need to share?"

"I've got a lead on Voldemort," Merlin said.

"How?" Hermione asked shocked.

"Well, technically, I don't have it. Some friends of mine found it. I don't know what it is yet, but I was wondering if we could set up a meeting tomorrow with some of the other Order members. That way they can come and tell us all at the same time."

"You have friends?" Ron asked, receiving an elbow in the ribs from Hermione. "I didn't mean that you shouldn't. I just didn't know that you really knew anyone outside of us that well," he quickly amended.

"Sure," Arthur said sarcastically.

"Who are these friends of yours?" McGonagall asked.

"Their names are Kilgharrah and Aithusa, and I trust them with my life. They've actually been helping for some time now. Right Snape?"

"I recall you saying that they were helping you on Halloween by watching some places that were possibilities on where the Dark Lord may have gone. I have never actually meet either of them, though," Snape said.

Harry began to wonder who these mysterious friends were. He was a little put off by their different names, but shrugged it off. He had meet people with weirder ones. Harry found it interesting that Snape didn't know who these people were. He had assumed that the professor knew almost all that was important with Merlin and Arthur. Apparently, he had assumed wrong.

"I don't know why we wouldn't be able to set up a meeting tomorrow, I suppose. I will contact Kingsley and tell him to set it up at the Grimmauld Place for tomorrow."

"No," said Merlin. "We, err... need somewhere that has a large outside space where no one can easily spy on."

"Why?"

"Trust us," Arthur said, trying to hold back a smile. "You'll understand tomorrow."

McGonagall looked hesitant at first but eventually relented.

"Do you think that your parents would mind using your house Mister and Miss Weasley," she said to Ron and Ginny.

"I think that they would be fine with it," Ron said confused.

Harry was confused as well. He kept trying to come up with a plausible reason as to why a large outdoor space was needed but couldn't come up with one.

"Okay," McGonagall said. "I'll contact Kingsley and let all of you know later what time to come back here tomorrow."

Everyone but Snape and McGonagall left the office and Merlin and Arthur disappeared again.

"What do you reckon they need the space for?" Neville asked.

"Maybe they have large friends," Luna replied in her usual dreamy voice.

"What? Like Giants?" Ron said, obviously not buying it.

Harry looked around at everyone, studying their faces. His eyes landed on Hermione who was frowning.

"What is it Hermione?"

"It's just that they both made it seem like there was no one else out there that knew who they truly are. Now, all of a sudden they have two friends that are at least close enough to help them by looking for information on Voldemort. I don't understand."

"Maybe they don't really know who they are," Ginny suggested.

"I don't think so," Harry said. "I think that they know exactly who they are friends with. There is something we're missing, though. Did anyone of you see how Arthur was trying not to laugh?"

There was a collective nod of the heads.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see tomorrow," Hermione said.

"Do you think that we should have told them what Kilgharrah and Aithusa are?" Merlin asked Arthur. They had quickly made themselves scarce after talking with McGonagall. They didn't really want to stick around from the inevitable large number of questions that would surely come from all of the teenagers.

Arthur let the smile that he was holding back in the office show fully.

"Nah, it will be fine. I'm actually looking forward to seeing their faces when everyone finally sees them," he said with a laugh.

Right after lunch, Hermione and the others found themselves back in McGonagall's office, and they took turns flooing to the Burrow.

Hermione was one of the last ones to go through and stumbled into a room filled with people. Sirius helped her steady herself. She gave him a quick thank you before walking further into the room. All of the Weasleys were in attendance. Ginny and Fleur were standing off to the side cooing over Teddy, who Tonks and Lupin brought with them. Hermione couldn't help but walk over and look at the cute little baby.

"I think that we are all here now," Kingsley said once McGonagall came through the fireplace. Hermione looked around. Everyone standing here were to only ones who knew the truth about Merlin and Arthur.

"When are we going to be meeting these friends of yours?" he said to Merlin and Arthur.

"I can call them as soon as we are all outside, if that if alright with you," Merlin replied.

Kingsley gestured for them to lead the way, and everyone filed outside behind him. Hermione noted the confused look on many of their faces. She even heard Ron mutter something about how they were supposed to 'call' these people.

A few minutes later Hermione and the others were all standing outside in a half arc around Merlin and Arthur.

"Okay, before I call them," Merlin said looking a bit sheepish," I know that this is going to be a big shock, but you're just going to have to remain calm. Know that neither of them will hurt you as long as I am here."

Hermione wasn't sure how to respond to this, so she just stood there, not saying anything. No one said anything. Merlin seemed to take that as a sign to continue. He turned around, tilted his head back, and yelled up to the skies.

"O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd 'hup' anankes!"

When he was finished, Merlin turned back around and clapped his hands together. "Alright, they should be here soon."

"What was that?" Sirius asked.

"Just something to get my friends to come here."

"No seriously, what was that?"

Arthur let out a laugh. "If you think that was something, just wait until they come."

Sirius opened up his mouth to speak again but closed it when the sound of giant flapping wings filled the air. The next thing Hermione saw was two very large dragon soar above the house and land beside Merlin. Everyone's reaction was immediate. Some swore and jumped to take cover while others took up defensive positions. Hermione was one of the latter.

"I said for you all to remain calm and that they wouldn't hurt you," Merlin said.

"These are you're friends?" Kingsley asked incredulously.

Arthur was now bent over laughing very hard.

"Everyone, this is Kilgharrah and Aithusa," he said, pointing to the large gray dragon and the smaller white dragon respectively.

"Greetings everyone," Kilgharrah said, shocking everyone even more.

"He talks!" Charlie said excitedly.

"Indeed I do."

"How is this possible? I have never known a dragon to talk before."

"I am a Great Dragon. All Great Dragons can talk. The dragons that you are familiar with are just mere mutts."

"I thought that Great Dragons were long extinct," Hermione said, remembering what she read from a book.

"We were almost entirely wiped out during the purge back in the days of Camelot. For a long time, I was the last of my kind. That was until Merlin here hatched Aithusa."

"But that means you are thousands of years old! No offence or anything, but how are you still alive. A dragon's life span is long but nowhere near that long."

"I shouldn't be alive. While a Great Dragon's life is much longer than dragons of today, I was nearing the end of my time when I met Merlin and Arthur. It makes sense for Aithusa to still be alive, but not me."

"We suspect that he was sort of roped into the immortality thing along with me and Arthur since he was there when I made the deal," Merlin explained. "Anyway, what lead did you find?"

"We believe we found the place that Tom Riddle and Nimueh are hiding," Aithusa said.

"Where?" Arthur asked.

"Just outside of a small town many miles south of here. There is some sort of anti-detection charm surrounding it, but we easily saw through it," she said with a huff. Hermione got the feeling that Aithusa felt like she was much better than those who cast the charm, and she felt compelled to agree with her.

"How are you certain that he is staying there?" Kingsley asked.

"We both detected old magic when passing by. There is definitely someone in the manor using old magic in there. Since it is not either Merlin or Arthur, then the only possible person it could be is Nimueh," Kilgharrah said.

"And Voldemort wouldn't want to stray too far from her," Merlin said, continuing the Great Dragon's reasoning.

"Precisely."

"So," Merlin said, looking around at everyone. "Who's ready to take on Voldemort?"

Arthur crouched down in the bush, one hand checking to make sure his wand was secured up the sleeve of his shirt and the other resting on the hilt of the blade resting on his hip.

"Why do you have a sword?" Harry, who was crouching beside him, asked with one eyebrow raised.

"The sword was the first weapon that I have learned to use. It is what I am the best at using, and a knight never goes into battle without his best weapon," Arthur stated.

"Okay, I can understand that, but was exactly is a sword going to do against Voldemort. I don't think attacking him with a sword is going to defeat him."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Merlin said, suddenly appearing next to Harry, causing the boy to jump. "You've heard about Morgana, right?"

"Um, yeah. She was pretty powerful like you, only evil."

Arthur saw a brief grimace flash across Merlin's face before it quickly disappeared. He couldn't help but do the same.

"So you agree that she is pretty powerful then."

"Yes."

"Well, she wasn't taken down by some all powerful spell or anything like that. I defeated her with a blade. That one right there to be exact," Merlin said pointing at Arthur blade tucked in his belt.

Harry's face took on a look of disbelief, and Arthur forced a grin from appearing on his face.

"You're joking, right," he said.

"No, I am not. And remember, we may have magic, but that is not all that we can wield. Never underestimate the more mundane things in life. They too have enough power to save your life as well as aid in your downfall. That is one thing that Voldemort refuses to understand."

Harry seemed taken aback from Merlin's words. They were filled with the truth that many usually forget about, especially wizards who rely so heavily on magical objects that they pay no mind to the simpler things. It was one of the many downfalls that the magical community suffered when they withdrew from the rest of the world.

"It's about time to move, so you both should get ready," Merlin said before disappearing once more.

Arthur took out his wand and focused his attention on the house they were targeting. Nimueh was in there, and Voldemort should be there too. The plan was simple in theory, but carrying it out was going to be difficult. They had a relatively small group to attack with and no idea what the house was like on the inside or what sort of dangers it contained. The plan was for Merlin to first break all of its wards. The second that was done, everyone should apparate right next to the house. After that, Merlin would create an anti-apparation ward to prevent any of the Death Eaters or Voldemort from escaping easily. The ward wouldn't prevent Nimueh from leaving, though.

Arthur stopped himself from beginning to worry and instead began preparing for battle. He heard a sound prompting him to stick his head up over at the bush he was hiding behind and look up at the house. The wards were visible, a colorful dome encircling the brick house. A spiderweb of cracks quickly spread across the colors until the whole thing shattered into oblivion.

Seeing that the wards were gone, Arthur quickly apparated himself to be standing next to the brick wall, Harry apparating right next to him. Others soon appeared near him as well, and he knew that there were more all around the manor.

Wasting no time, Arthur charged through the front door. With a flick of his wand, the doors blasted open, allowing entrance to him and the others following close behind. It wasn't long before he came across the first Death Eater, and the battle commenced.

Arthur stuck to his wand and using only spells that would disarm and incapacitate. They weren't here to kill any of the Death Eaters. The followers could just rot in Azkaban. Voldemort was the only target here with a death warrant on him. Arthur felt bad that it had to be Harry to carry out that sentence, but he knew it was the only way. Nimueh was also another one to have that same penalty.

Arthur made his way from one room to the other, throwing spells at any enemy that he came across. He left unconscious and bound Death Eaters in his wake. He hit a snag when he rounded a corner only to be hit with an 'expelliarmus' spell. He was thrown backwards while his wand flew across the room. His head impacted with a wall hard, leaving his vision impaired. He started blinking fast and tried to rub his eyes in a desperate attempt to bring the blurred figure that was approaching him back into focus.

Just as soon as he could see again, the man was right in front of him pointing a wand at his head. Wasting no time, Arthur kicked the man's legs out from underneath him and knocked the wand out of his hand as he fell. Both of them scrambled to their feet and faced each other with no wand to fight with. Arthur got into his fighting stance, while the other man tried to make himself look menacing. Arthur almost laughed. The man clearly had no training in any sort of defense or fighting without his wand. That was another thing most magical people lacked: the ability to defend without the aid of a wand.

Arthur dodged the poorly executed punch with ease and quickly delivered his own to the man's stomach, causing the man to bend over, clutching his midsection. He then quickly kneed the bent over man's face, making him rise back up, only to receive a strong right-hook, knocking him out.

Arthur though it was shameful how easily he took that man down with just his fists. Sighing, he bent down and picked up his wand. He cast a quick spell to tie the man up, lest he re-awoke, and continued on.

Pretty soon the whole house was cleared of all threats, but Voldemort was a no show.

"I thought he was supposed to be here!" Harry said angrily as he paced back and forth.

"No, it Nimueh, who we knew that had to be here. He just figured that Voldemort would be here as well," Hermione said. "Obliviously, we thought wrong."

"Speaking of which, where is Nimueh?" Ron asked.

Arthur cast a glance around at all of the confused faces when something struck him.

"A better question would be 'were is Merlin?'" he said.

As soon as he finished creating the ward, Merlin ran as fast as he could towards the house and into the first doorway that he saw.

Upon entering, he soon heard the sounds of fighting. He quickly closed his eyes and blocked out the noise. He focused on trying to find both Nimueh and the crystal. He let his magic out to search the house for other old magic. After a moment, he felt a tug. His eyes snapped open, and he raced away, following its direction. He found a staircase and ran up to the second floor. He followed it down many hallways until he stopped in front of a door. Taking a deep breath, he opened it and cautiously stepped through.

Merlin sensed the spell before it came. He quickly ducked and rolled further into the room as the ball of fire zoomed through where he was previously standing.

"Hello, Merlin."

Merlin could practically hear the smirk in her voice as he stood back up.

"I thought that you would have tried to do something a bit more creative the second time around," he said. "I'm disappointed really."

Nimueh's smirk only grew larger with his words.

Merlin suppressed a flinch when her eyes turned gold and the door slammed shut and audibly locked. His eyes quickly darted around to scan the room before settling back on her face.

The room was empty except for the small table in the middle in which the crystal laid atop. There was only one door, the one he came in, but he had no plans of retreat.

"I've been wondering how much longer it was going to be before you showed up," she said, slowly began walking to her right. "It took you so long to find me."

"You knew we were coming?" he asked, mirroring her motions and started to walk too.

"With the crystal, I knew about everything you've been doing," she replied.

Merlin thought about this for a moment as they continued to circle one another, always keeping the table in-between them.

"If you knew we were coming, then why are you still here?"

"Where would the fun be if I left?"

"You warned Voldemort though. He isn't here."

"Voldemort not being here isn't of my doing. He left weeks ago on his own choice without any recommendation from me."

Merlin didn't see that coming. Voldemort was a controlling sort of person. He was also didn't trust easily. To leave his most valuable asset like that didn't make any sense for him.

"He left without you?"

"The fool believed this place to be more secure than where he was headed."

"And where is that?" Merlin asked not expecting an answer. He was incredibly surprised when she did give an answer.

"He went to some village next to the school. He going to try to conquer it again. The place is called Hogs something, I believe."

"Hogsmeade?"

"Yes, that is the place."

"Why are you telling me all this?" he asked, stopping. She stopped as well..

"Why shouldn't I? I have no loyalty to Tom Riddle. I am nothing but a slave to him, forced to so as he wishes. I did not ask to be yanked back into the world of the living only to be bound to him."

Merlin frowned. He didn't really think about Nimueh not wanting to be back.

"So you're going to join our side?" he asked. He knew that just because Nimueh didn't like Riddle it didn't mean that she was going to fight against him. He didn't let himself be hopeful about that. He needed to ask anyway, though.

"Don't be daft, Merlin. Just because I despise Riddle, doesn't mean that I am going to make this easy on you. Besides, I have no choice in the matter. I have to serve him whether I wish to or not. It's the price of him being the one to raise me."

Merlin frown deepened. Whatever ritual Riddle did forced Nimueh to do as he wishes, but she isn't completely obeying. Somehow she is able to indirectly disobey him.

"See you around, Merlin," she said before repeating the spell to transport herself away.

Merlin didn't even try to stop her. It would be useless to, and he knew where she was going anyway. His eyes cast towards the table, and a smile ghosted across his lips. She left the crystal. He walked over a gingery picked up the crystal, surveying it. He doubted that Nimueh was playing any tricks, but he wanted to be sure. Just as he concluded that nothing was amiss, the door burst open, Arthur, Harry, and the others stumbling in.

"I'm glad that you could make it, but I hate to inform you that the party is over," Merlin said.

Harry ran through the threshold of the now unlocked door with Arthur in front of him and the others on his heel. Everyone including him had their wands drawn, expecting danger, but there was none.

Merlin was standing alone in the room holding a crystal and was displaying no signs of distress. Harry moved around the room making sure that there were no threats while Ron and Hermione did the same, and Arthur moved to Merlin.

"That wouldn't be the crystal that Voldemort stole would it?" Harry heard Arthur ask.

"The very one," Merlin replied, holding it up.

Satisfied that the room was safe, Harry lowered his wand and walked over to the pair.

"How do you have it?" he asked.

"Nimueh left it behind after our little chat," the Warlock said simply.

"She was here and you let her get away?!"

"Yes, and you should know that Voldemort has control over her against her will. Her leaving the crystal behind proves just how much she is against the man."

"Why would she be against him?" Hermione asked. "From what I read about her, I would think that she would fight with him."

"Nimueh isn't one to really follow any one person. The fact that Voldemort is forcing her puts him higher up one the hate list than say me or Arthur."

"I still don't understand why you let her go," Harry said, slightly angered.

"I know where she is going, and I highly doubt that she will tip off Voldemort."

Harry had trouble believe this, but he nodded his head anyway. Merlin knew Nimueh better than he did, and Harry trusted him. If Merlin thought that she would keep quiet, then Harry wouldn't doubt him. He wasn't particularly happy about it, though.

"Where is he going?" Ron asked.

"Voldemort has plans to attempt to take over Hogwarts again. Whether it's for pride, or to display the amount of power he has to instill more fear in the magical community, I don't know. He will attack though, and soon. I say we attack him first and catch him off guard before his forces are ready. Who's up for a trip to Hogsmeade?"

Nimueh strode into the room unannounced and uncaring that she didn't ask for permission before coming in. Actually, she smirked a little knowing that it would irritate the man. She came to a halt in front of the seated Dark Lord.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed.

"The house that you had me in was found and ambushed," she said in a bored voice as she elegantly sat down in the chair opposite of him.

"How could it have been ambushed without you knowing prior with the crystal?" he asked, glaring at her.

"I can't see everything with the crystal," she replied, meeting his eyes easily.

"And where is the crystal and the others that I had staying there?"

"Captured. You should really employ better fighters," she said, setting him off.

"You left the crystal behind!"

"It wasn't by choice. You should just be happy that I myself made it out"

"Without out the crystal, what use do I have of you?" he snapped.

"Oh, don't be like that, you know very well that I am a skilled sorceress and more powerful than you or any of you pathetic followers."

"I am your master! I have control over you and your magic."

Nimueh smirked again, but this time it was more forced. She loathed the truth in his words.

"The loss of the crystal will not change my plans," he continued. "They have no way of using the crystal and the rest of my followers will be here soon. We will attack in three days. You are dismissed."

Nimueh gladly got up and walked out of the room, the door shutting behind her with a flash of her eyes. Riddle believed that he would attack the castle in three days time and be victorious, but Nimueh knew that the battle would be sooner than he thought, and he wouldn't be the one doing the attacking.