Chapter 34

Wow guys so apparently my story is the 6th most followed story in the Harry Potter x Merlin crossover category so thank you for that. Like I promised myself after the last update that I would update again within the next week...so here's the next update two months later. Sorry I'm such a hot mess but (life update time) I joined a sorority which has been pretty insane. Rush was literally the worst week of my life but I love my sisters and I'm really happy I did it. SO now that my completely unasked for storytime is over with, here's the next chapter.

I REALLY REALLY love how this chapter turned out. I think, creatively, it's my favorite so far.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The wind screamed and howled in Morgana's ears, like nature itself was begging her not to follow through with the mission she was here for. Pushing aside the nagging doubt eating at her mind, she took a deep breath and focused on the powerful barriers now only a handful of meters away from her position in the trees. Worming her way through them should be simple, her old religion power easily overpowering the newer magic wizards used. The issue was getting though without setting off any alarms. She would be surprised if Merlin himself hadn't already gone about updating the ancient wards that protected the massive castle that she once called home.

Knowing the warlock detection spells were most likely woven in with the ward magic, alerting Merlin himself if anyone disrupted the flow of their magic. But Morgana was smart, and she knew how to predict magical energies better than most. Pulling her hood up to conceal her face from any curious onlookers that could be lurking about she closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

Instantly she felt the familiar tug of power, her stomach dropped and her heartbeat increased at the rush of adrenaline. She could nearly see the shimmering threads that had woven themselves tightly around the castle. Some spots glowed brighter than others, signaling where Merlin had patched in his own magic. Morgana reached forward carefully and the wards responded immediately. Walking forward slowly she kept her palm out steadily before her and the threads loosened like those of a loom that was no longer being pulled taught. Carefully, she picked those which were not connected to her rival's magic and pulled as hard as she could. It was as if she had taken a seamstress's sharpest pair of shears to the magical weavings; the glimmering net before her opening like curtains, allowing her safe passage onto the grounds.

Releasing a breath she had not known she had been holding, Morgana stepped onto the grounds of what was once Camelot for the first time in a thousand years. A rush of nostalgia threatened to overwhelm her before she reminded herself of her true purpose once again. She had not come here to remember her youth, but to do a job.

Mumbling an incantation that had been lost to wizards a millennium ago, Morgana's cloaked form shimmered slightly before disappearing all together. Yet if one was to look closely and directly the outline of human origin was still visible. Taking another breath Morgana walked closer to the looming castle now shrouded in night, her long and purposeful strides distracting her from the deep seated fear pitted in her stomach.

Slipping gently through the massive doors at the forefront of the castle, she turned confidently to the right. Voldemort had told her the boy was housed in the highest wing of the castle, the entrance to which was now shielded by a painting of a fat lady. Morgana knew the area well; it was where her room had once been located so many years ago. She notices how more worn the bricks below her are compared to the image she had retained from her time in Camelot. This may have once been her home, but much of what made it so was long gone; lost to the cruel and ever moving push of time.

As she walked, not for the first time, Morgana wondered if it was a mistake for her to be returned to walk the earth one again. She had not chosen to come back, simply having woken up in a pile of scorched wood that fateful day. Yet every choice she had made since her return, every action and every alliance felt so fundamentally...wrong. Something inside her screamed to turn and run, never to return to the magical community she had once fought so hard to protect.

She was pulled from her existential musings with a jump when a quiet giggle reached her ears. Head whipping to her left she noticed two young girls sneaking down the hall, arms full of what appeared to be food.

"I told you I knew where the kitchens were!" one of them proclaimed proudly, giving the other girl a smile.

"Shh" the other one replied, glancing around, "it's past curfew, if anyone finds us we'll get detention for sure."

The first girl rolled her eyes at her companion, "oh lighten up Julia. Tom used to do this all the time and he never got caught. Are you his sister or what?" she teased lightly.

The second girl smiled at this, "you're right. I have a reputation to uphold."

The two girls giggled quietly together before taking off and turning so Morgana could no longer hear them.

Morgana blinked and was surprised to find moisture having accumulated in her eyes. It had been so long since the witch had seen such raw innocence. So long since she had seen pure, untainted friendship; the glowing bonds of youth. Gritting her teeth she continued toward her destination, frustrated at the feelings that had been threatening to overwhelm her since she had stepped foot in the forest hours ago. She had hated her time in Camelot. Granted, not all of it had been bad, but her last year in this hellish castle had been the worst of her life. Though her time with that snake of a man was a close second. She had not come for him, she had come for the good of magic. She had come to stop Merlin from...being Merlin.

At least that's what she told herself to keep her legs moving forward.

After countless twists and turns, Morgana found herself facing a large painting of a fat lady who seemed to be snoozing peacefully. Placing her palms against the wall next the painting she concentrated on the faint magical hum that resonated from the stone. With a quiet grunt and a push her body melted through the rock and into a short passageway that led to a very large, very red room. As she looked into the crackling fire to her left, Morgana realized it was the first time she had felt well and truly warm since her arrival in the tree. How she longed to lay down on the plush couch next to the hearth and close her eyes, forgetting everything that had happened in the last few weeks. Yet, a quiet but firm voice in the back of her mind reminded her, she had a mission to accomplish.

As she walked up the flight of stairs to the boys dormitories, Morgana could almost feel the hum of magic around her. So many magical people in once place was something she had yet to experience and their energies wrapped around her like a blanket, yet once seemed profoundly different in a way Morgana could not describe. She walked towards it, finding herself in front of a door with four names inscribed on it.

Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, Dean Thomas, Ronald Weasley.

'Harry Potter' that was the boy's name, the one Voldemort ranted on and on about; the one she had been sent here for. She had arrived at her final destination.

The door unlocked with a simple wave of her hand and Morgana felt her brows furrow in surprise. It seemed Merlin had grown a bit overconfident in his wards if the only protection he had given the boy was a simple lock. With a push, the door opened, and Morgana slipped in. Shutting it behind her, she glances over the contents of the room she had just broken in to.

Five beds were positioned around the room, but the one she was interested in was closest to the window. Loose scrolls of paper were scattered across the desk beside it and open books rested precariously at the boy's feet as he slept soundly. Upon closer inspection, Morgana noticed most the books were open to pages about Occlumency. Maybe the boy's ability to block any intruders in his thoughts wasn't as easy for him as she had assumed.

Finally, her eyes found his face and a jolt of surprise gripped her heart; though she wasn't sure why. A young boy lie sleeping before her, face wearing the mask of calm only sleep could provide. The person that had caused them so much trouble, so much grief, was just...a boy. The only thing remotely special about him was the lightning scar that resided on his forehead.

Overcoming her shock Morgana placed a hand on the boy's head and other on his gently rising chest and closed her eyes, careful not to wake him.

First, she peers into his mind. Surprisingly, the boy's mental barriers were not as strong as she expected them to be. Though they were not weak they also held flaws, cracks that would have been easy for an experienced legilimus to take advantage of. And that she did, squeezing her way through one of the pronounced gaps. Immediately she was flooded with a rush of images and sensations. She saw brilliant memories of two other children, one male and one female, who were of obvious importance to the boy. She saw greyer images of three muggles, though the memories of them were copious they all held the same sense of dread. Finally, she landed on an earlier memory, one of the earliest his mind had managed to retain. She was sucked into it without warning, the boy's connection to the events was obviously so extreme not even she could resist their pull.

Morgana found herself standing in a living room of sorts, two people yelling at one and other though she wasn't sure their relation to the boy.

"Lily he's here!" a man yelled, his voice rather faint and distorted, "take Harry upstairs, I'll protect you!"

Morgana turned to the woman he was addressing who was holding a toddler in her arms and crying. As she turned to run, a blinding flash of green erupted from where the man stood and when Morgana turned to investigate he was lying on the floor, eyes glassy and face slack.

Suddenly she was upstairs, in a room that seemed to be a nursery. The woman she had seen run up the stairs was talking to the baby in the crib, tears running down her face.

"Mummy loves you Harry. Mummy loves you" she sobbed, and the door behind her burst open. Morgana could not help the sense of dread that overwhelmed her as she turned to face the man who was responsible. He laughed his high pitched cackle as he raised his arm and pointed his wand towards the woman who had placed herself in between him and her child.

"Not Harry, please, not Harry" she cried. Morgana tried to reach out, to do something, but she was simply an observer to events that had happened long ago. Another flash of green came from the door and the woman fell to the floor, dead.

Morgana watched in horror as he pointed his wand at the child the baby who was now wailing in his crib. Yet this time when that sickly flash of green came from his wand, it was he who screamed. Morgana stood as the memory flashed white and then suddenly she was back in her own body, hands shaking and both tears and sweat pouring down her face. The boy who lie beneath her hands was still sleeping soundly, but his brow was now creased; the traumatic memory having disturbed even his unconscious rest.

Morgana had to hold back a sob as she once again looked at the scar on the boy's forehead. He had done that. He had tried to murder an innocent child. He had killed this boy's family. A spike of rage threatened to overwhelm her for a moment before she steadied herself with a shaky breath. Nothing good would come from an outburst now. She would save her rage for later, when its target was within her range.

Turning her attention back to the boy she focused on the magic beneath her other hand, the one that resided on his magical core. Closing her eyes once again she probed her magic into his chest, strangely familiar with the strange waves of power that emanated from his own magic.

Morgana's brow furrowed in confusion. No normal magic user should be releasing as much power as the boy below her. Even the most powerful of wizards and witches could contain their own power. Probing deeper she found the source of the boy's strange magical readings. His magical core, the sac that contained his life energy was horribly deformed. Instead of the glowing orb that was supposed to reside within a normal magic user, the boy's sac had caved in in some places and protruded in others. The mangled thing within him was glowing brightly as well, so brightly that Morgana nearly had to withdraw as it threatened to overwhelm her. Yet, one piece of the boy's core glowed even brighter than the rest and seemed to nearly pulse with power like it had its own heartbeat. Morgana drew up more of her own magic, now focused on that shard of his core. It seemed...out of place; almost like like a splinter one would find in their hand. She reached out slowly, trying to touch the light.

Closer.

Closer.

WHAM.

The sound of the door being flung open behind her shattered Morgana's concentration and suddenly she was back in the bedroom. She quickly withdrew her hands from the boy and whirled around to face whomever had discovered her, hands raised in preparation for a fight.

Her guarded position faltered as soon as she saw the face of the man who stood in the doorway.

Merlin stood, chest heaving, eyes wide as the two locked gazes. The wave of shock seemed to render him incapable of reacting, yet Morgana also found herself rooted to the floor below. She distantly registered the boy shifting in his bed, groaning as he was pulled back into consciousness.

This also seemed to ground Merlin in reality as he removed his hands from the door frame and stepped towards his old foe.

"Morgana!" he croaked, face distorting in confusion and rage.

Morgana did not react to this, nor to the boy sitting up next to her. Time seemed to slow as Merlin gathered his energy, ready to attack her with all he had. Sparing one last glance to the child beside her she felt a bizarre wave of maternal protection towards his small form. Turning back to Merlin, she closed her eyes and stepped back into the stone blocks. Just as when she entered the dorm only minutes ago, she grasped at the magic within the rock and pushed her body into it and through the wall. The chill of night bit at her skin as she felt her body fall backwards then down, down towards the grassy field hundreds of meters below.

But then, Morgana vanished; leaving only a black cloak fluttering in the wind as it slowly drifted towards the ground, landing with a soft whump in the frosty grass below.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Wow I literally wrote four pages of Morgana walking into Hogwarts. I hope it didn't seem too drawn out, my writing style normally consists of a lot of dialogue so this was different. I absolutely love how this chapter turned out though. I literally don't think I've ever written something with so little dialogue before but I love the idea of Morgana experiencing the trauma Voldemort put Harry through second hand and wanting to protect him because of it. She lost her family too and I think she can relate to how hard that can be on a kid. Okay rant over, I love y'all and I hope this chapter is as fun to read as it was to write.

Please leave any thoughts or constructive criticism as a review because they definitely motivate me to get the next chapter out faster!