Chapter 10: The Department of Mysteries

Until recently, Morgana's world had been constructed of several absolute truths:

The first was that she had magic.

The second was that her father and brother had to pay for what they'd done to her and her kind.

The third was that Merlin was the most annoying serving girl on the planet, but that was all she was. A serving girl.

The first two truths had remained relatively constant. It was that last one that had taken a bit of a beating. Because- and she still wasn't sure that he wasn't just pulling her leg- if what the Dark Lord said was true, than Merlin had magic, too.

Powerful magic.

And unlike Morgana, who had devoted her magic to the downfall of her brother, Merlin had devoted hers to his protection.

And that, well.

It represented a conflict of interest and Morgana couldn't have that.

It was difficult to decide how Morgana felt about this information. On one hand, she felt slightly better about herself, knowing that she hadn't been constantly outwitted by a clumsy serving girl. On the other hand, her fury at Merlin was indescribable. Merlin had lied to her, hadn't helped her, despite knowing how lost she was. Instead, Merlin had worked against her all this time to protect the Pendragon family.

As far as Morgana was concerned, Merlin had betrayed her people.

The upside to this was that it meant Merlin had also been lying to Arthur for all these years, so if she were lucky, she could reveal Merlin's secret to him and enjoy that nasty little fall-out.

Before Morgana killed Merlin, of course.

Which she would be doing.

Soon.

The Dark Lord (as he had insisted on her calling him, much to her annoyance- she was a lady, but she had no doubt in her mind that he was no lord) had promised her information on her for future in exchange for her help, and he had most certainly lived up to the bargain.

He had told her about Merlin, about their destinies. And he had given her plenty of information to help her kill Merlin as soon as she got back to Camelot.

After she had helped him. If anybody else had demanded such a thing from her, she would've laughed and ignored them. Generally speaking, she could instill enough fear in most people to ensure that she never had to do anybody any favors ever again.

Of course, Morgana was no fool. As confident as she was in her own abilities, there was something about the Dark Lord that made her shiver, as though an important part of him were missing.

And she didn't mean his nose.

So, she helped him.

She helped him break some of his followers out of Azkaban.

She helped him discover the location of the Prophecy.

She helped him devise and execute a plan to get it back.

The plan- which involved breaking into the Ministry and luring Potter there- was flawless. Morgana had done her research (meticulous, as always) and had accounted for everything: the security measures, the floor plan, all of it.

Except.

Merlin.

Morgana didn't even understand how Merlin was here, standing in the room with the Veil (and only Morgana would recognize it as a door to the spirit realm, regardless of what these wizards called it), but it was definitely her, standing with Potter and an older man with shiny, dark hair that had showed up with the others who had come to the rescue of Potter and several of his friends.

There was a battle going on, but at the moment, it was only the three of them, staring at each other, waiting for somebody to make the first move.

Morgana had expected that Merlin would look different when she saw her for the first time, now that she knew her secret. Merlin, however, looked exactly the same: like a frightened horse on a frozen lake, her eyes far too wide and far too bright to be normal, staring at her determinedly, her chin set regardless of her apprehension.

"You can stop this, Morgana," Merlin told her resolutely. Morgana had to admit that she was impressed. Merlin's voice hadn't shook at all.

"It's far too late for that, Merlin," Morgana sneered. "Tell me, how does it feel to know that this is all your fault? That when I came to you for help, you denied me, and made me this?"

Merlin's face softened. "I blame myself for what you've become everyday. And I'm sorry."

For just a moment, Morgana almost believed her. Then she remembered who she was talking to. She snorted.

"But you wouldn't do it differently."

Merlin hesitated for a heartbeat. Then said, "I did my duty. I did what I thought was best to protect Arthur."

"Ah yes," Morgana said, raising an eyebrow. "Where is my dear brother? Back, lost in the Department of Mysteries, is he? A wonderful job you're doing of protecting him from over here."

"Gwaine is with him," Merlin defended, but Morgana could tell that she had struck a nerve, so she continued.

"Your brave knight," Morgana sneered. "He's handy with a sword, I'll grant you, but how much could he possible do against trained wizards?"

Merlin was speechless, but Potter, it seemed was not. "They're stronger than you give them credit for!" He cried.

"You always were annoying," came a voice from behind Morgana. Morgana recognized it as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the Dark Lord's fanatically loyal followers. "It's about time we shut you up once and for all."

"You won't touch my godson!" Sirius barked, stepping in front of Potter.

And with that, it began. Curses were flying between them so fast that it was difficult for Morgana to keep up. Soon, though, two tracks seemed to be born: Morgana versus Merlin, and Harry and Sirius versus Bellatrix.

Morgana wasn't really sure how it happened, and she never saw it coming.

It was Bellatrix who cast the shot.

A Killing Curse, it was aimed at Sirius.

But Merlin saw it coming.

Somehow, she deflected it.

To this day, nobody knows what spell it was she used. It might not've been a real spell at all.

Whatever it was, it sent the curse bouncing away from Sirius.

And hit Morgana.

Merlin never meant for it to happen. Killing wasn't in her blood. Not really. She lived to protect Arthur, a duty she did gladly, except when it meant taking the life of another- especially one like that of Morgana, a friend. Morgana might not have been the same girl Merlin had met when she first came to Camelot, but she was still Morgana, and Merlin had been putting off the inevitable for a very long time.

Just because it was inevitable didn't mean that it didn't hurt any less.

There was a moment- a very brief moment, when Morgana's eyes met Merlin's. Merlin could see in her eyes that she knew she was done for. And she was afraid. Very afraid.

And then, just like that, it was over.

Morgana toppled to the floor, dead, all life, all fire, gone from her as though it had never existed. Merlin allowed herself only a brief moment to mourn.

Actually, a moment was all she had, because it suddenly felt as though she was being trampled by a stampede of cattle. She lost her balance and fell backwards. Sirius lunged for her.

Why? she was only falling backwards- she'd hit the floor, nothing else.

Oh.

For a moment, there was nothing.

Then, Merlin blinked and opened her eyes to find herself in Camelot. She couldn't understand at first. It was all a dream, she was certain.

But, no. There, beside her, were Gwaine and Arthur, looking as disoriented as she was. They looked older, back to their normal age, and Merlin had no doubt that she had reverted to her normal age, as well.

Somehow, the entire curse (if that was the correct word for it) had been undone, and nobody was none the wiser. It seemed that no time at all had passed between their disappearance and reappearance. Gaius, the other Knights, and the soon-to-be Queen were all shocked when the story- although Gwaine, The future King, and Merlin kept most of the details to themselves- was relayed to them later that day, after the Trio had gathered their wits about them.

However, nothing could compare to the shock of the Kingdom in learning on the repeal on magic and the promotion of Arthur's maidservant upon King Uther's death.

King Arthur first informed the Queen and his closest advisors of the change.

Soon after, he made an announcement to the people of Camelot of the change, apologizing for his treatment of magic users and promising full compensation to those who had been wronged.

The day after, the King followed up with another announcement: that his maidservant, Merlin, would be promoted to Court Sorceress of Camelot, in order to help establish schools throughout the kingdom for magic users, to collect information about magic that had long since been lost, and, most importantly, to protect and uphold the interests of those with magic.

If there were any protests from the nobility, they were quickly dismissed by the King's promises that opening relations with magic loving kingdoms would increase profits for Camelot significantly.

The Court Sorceress Ceremony was one of the greatest Camelot had seen in years, with a week-long celebration preceded by the official ceremony.

Merlin arrived in the throne room wearing a pink dress with a black-lace overlay, a gift from Morgana Pendragon, and a testament to the woman Morgana had been before fear had corrupted her heart.

Also unbeknownst to the general public, she had a small stick made of English Oak tucked into her sleeve. Although she never again used it, this wand remained in her possession until her death.

As King Arthur read out the proclamation, the Queen picked up up a silver and gold circlet from the cushion held by Gaius, the Court Physician.

As Merlin swore to her King to do all she could to uphold the laws of Camelot, Queen Guinevere placed the circlet on Merlin's bowed head.

As Merlin stood and faced the citizens of Camelot and of the surrounding kingdom, the crowd began to cheer and chant, "Albion! Albion! Albion!"

Merlin beamed and looked over to her King, her friend, and she could tell that he saw it, too:

The time of Albion had begun.

Hermione finished reading and shut the book, looking at Ron and Harry expectantly. Neither one of them said anything and she huffed exasperatedly.

"Well?" she demanded.

Ron and Harry exchanged looks.

Ron shrugged and said, "'Well' what, 'mione? They made it home and lived happily ever after. End of story."

Hermione huffed. "You weren't at all curious about what happened when Bellatrix's curse knocked Merlin through the veil?"

"Of course we were," Harry protested. "But- you know- the world didn't explode, so I assumed they all got home alright."

"Dumbledore said that when Merlin went through the Veil, she got sent back to Camelot," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

Ron snorted. "Yeah, well, that was just him guessing, wasn't it? We don't know anything about that Veil."

"And," Hermione continued, "Somehow Gwaine and Arthur went with her."

"It's like they were all connected somehow," Harry mused.

"Don't be stupid, Harry," Ron said with an eye roll. "What sort of idea is that?"

"It was just a thought!" Harry argued.

Before an argument could break out, Sirius walked into the room. "What's all the arguing about?"

"Ron and Harry are arguing about a book," Hermione said smugly.

"Now I don't believe that," Sirius said with a laugh as he walked towards the cupboard where he had some cups stored. "Would anybody like tea?"

"You're making tea?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Remus is upstairs resting after the full moon," Sirius said with a shrug. "Tea always makes him feel better."

A mutter of understanding passed through the kids, before Hermione said, "Sirius, I'm sorry, but I borrowed some books out of your library to try and find out what happened to Merlin and the others. I should've have asked-"

"Don't apologize, Hermione," Sirius said with a wave of his hand. "Nobody ever gets any use of them, especially not now that Harry, Remus, and I are moving out to the country next week."

Harry grinned at his godfather, whose name had finally been cleared after the battle at the Department of Mysteries.

"Enjoying your freedom, then?" Ron asked.

"Of course," Sirius boasted. "Especially now that I've got all those idiots at the Ministry itching to try and make my wrongful imprisonment up to me. They've even offered me an Order of Merlin, First Class!"

Ron hooted with laughter.

Hermione once again brought the subject around to Merlin. "There's something else I found that you might find interesting."

"What could be more interesting than that?" Harry snickered.

Scowling, Hermione grabbed another book resting next to her on the countertop. She flipped several pages and pointed to what looked like a very detailed family tree. As it happened, it was labeled "Potter Family Tree."

"Okay," Harry said slowly. "You're stalking my family, now?"

"This is your family tree," Hermione explained. She pointed again. "Here's your father."

"Right," Harry agreed.

Now, Hermione flipped backwards about a dozen or so pages. "Look who he's directly related to."

Harry, Ron, and Sirius (who was incredibly curious at this point) all leaned over.

Merlin of Ealdor -married to- Sir Gwaine

"Well, I'll be," Sirius said.

"No wonder you two looked so much alike," Ron mused.

"Look how many other kids they had," Harry blurted out, pulling the book closer to him to get a better look. "Four total!"

All Ron could say to that was, "They better get to work."

Unbeknownst to them, back in Camelot, after the Court Sorceress Ceremony and the subsequent feast, Merlin and Gwaine were doing just that.

AN: When I said I thought this update would take longer than usual, I didn't mean this long. For that, I can only apologize and say that I hope you enjoy the update.

I can also add that I will be writing another story in this series. It will be called *drumroll please* Something is A-Miss With Merlin* and, although I don't have all the plot details worked out, should be up sometime over the summer. First, though, I need to make it through finals.

Enjoy!

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