Welcome. The first thing I'd like to say is that this is NOT a sequel to my other HP x Merlin. Despite the good reception to that story it was written as a oneshot and I know I'll only screw it up if I try and write more in that vein. However this story is based very loosely (and I mean very loosely) on the same idea that spawned 'Ghosts', that being Hogwarts is built where Camelot once stood. Mostly this idea was spawned when I watched the series finale of Merlin, just that last little bit.

Also Spoiler alert: this story will reference things which happened in all seasons of Merlin, so be prepared.

Finally before I start there is only one requirement for reading this story. You must be familiar with at least the first four Harry Potter books, I'm not rewriting canon for those even though the first few chapters occur within those books. So if you have no idea what the real canon for Harry Potter is then you're going to be terribly confused about all the jumping around in the first few chapters.

Righty-o then, onwards friends.

Chapter 1: 11 years ago

Albus Dumbledore sat quietly in the corner of the Hog's Head pub and looked uncertainly over at the shawl wrapped woman oppose him. Sybill Trelawney was applying for the position of Divination teacher at Hogwarts and despite her impressive heritage Albus found himself somewhat underwhelmed.

To put it quite simply the woman was a charlatan, however Albus was far from impolite so he had reluctantly continued the interview. He really had more important things to be dealing with than replacing a teacher at the school, Voldemort was on the move again and people were dying.

The thought bolstered Albus into action. "I thank you for your application Madame, but I feel that perhaps you are not best suited to this position." Albus told her gently. Trelawney turned her glass around in her fingers and didn't look up. Albus sighed and got to his feet, it was certainly time this interview was terminated.

Suddenly Trelawney gave a curious gasp. Albus looked over at her sharply, hoping that this wasn't another of her 'predictions' most of which involved his untimely death.

His suspicions died quickly, Trelawney was sitting slumped in her chair, her eyes glazed and vacant. She swayed and began to speak, her voice suddenly deep and harsh.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies?" She gave another rasping gasp and sat up straight again blinking owlishly.

Albus realized that his shock must have stood out on his face when Trelawney asked him carefully. "Headmaster are you feeling quite alright?"

"I am...fine however I find myself having to make something of a difficult decision." He admitted. Albus didn't want to continue Divination at Hogwarts as the subject was quite the waste of time. However this event was changing his mind. He had seen Aberforth throwing out Severus Snape, which meant that Voldemort would know at least part of this prophecy.

Albus made a rapid decision. Sybill was in danger so long as Voldemort knew there was a prophecy that he didn't know the full extent of, she would need protection and the best place to receive that protection was at Hogwarts under Albus's watchful eye. He smiled warmly at his new Professor. "Congratulations Professor Trelawney, you are now the new Divination teacher, you start immediately." He told her as cheerfully as possible.

A few hundred miles away an old man leant back from a shimmering crystal his face as pale as moonlight. He threw a nervous and slightly hopeful glance at the image still playing in the crystal.

The old man looked around the massive cave. When he had made his biannual pilgrimage here he had never expected the crystals to spark to life of their own accord. That hadn't happened since...well longer than most memories lasted.

But a new prophecy and one which predicted the fall of the darkness that plagued the land was big. The old man twisted his fingers indecisively. He had tried to help where he could, but he didn't like to get involved. It wasn't his place anymore, not his place to get involved in the affairs of those of magic kindred. It was his place to watch and wait, even if watching and waiting really started to grind on his nerves.

He paced back towards the crystal which still displayed the witch and the wizard Dumbledore. The old man nodded, he would wait and watch as he had always done. The crystals had been right to show him the vision of the prophecy it already helped sooth his desire to get involved. The self styled Lord Voldemort needed to be defeated and if this child could do it then all the better.

The old man nodded firmly and settled down for a nap. It was late and he was tired, walking to the caves was a big effort. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered anymore.

With a sudden motion that set the bones of his spine creaking the old man sat up. "Wait a minute." He muttered and hoisted himself to his feet. "Neither can live while the other survives? What kind of prophecy has a loophole?" He hurried over to the nearest crystal and focused on it.

Time and chance and futures spun in front of his eyes until he managed to focus in on the person he was looking for. "Damn it." He muttered, time passed strangely in the Crystal Cave and it was obvious that several days had passed since he'd had his half second nap. The image in the crystal flicked slightly, morphed by the presence of the protective spells on the house Lord Voldemort approached.

The Dark Lord paced silently up to the house and unlocked the door. A dark haired man the magic whispered was James Potter dashed across the hallway shouting for someone called Lily to run. The magic flared and James Potter was no more. The old man who watched clenched his jaw. "Watch and Wait." He told himself. "Watch and Wait."

Voldemort ascended the stairs and found the woman, Lily Potter, hiding her son in his cot. She spun as Voldemort approached spreading her arms to shield her son from the intruder. The magic flared again and she fell silently.

Enough was enough. As the lethal wand turned towards the innocent child in the crib there was a single shimmering flash of gold within the Crystal Cave. Far away the magic coiled, called by a power greater than the wand wielder in its presence. "Protect the child, no harm shall come by this hand, by blood he is protected. Begone!"

"Avada Kedavra" A cold voice cried moments before the world around him dissolved.

The old man nodded decisively. That would do just nicely it wasn't interfering too much. He watched the crystal to see the spirit of the defeated wizard flee moments before others arrived. They would find the boy and he would be safe. Merlin's words would ensure that.

So just a short chapter to start us off. So as you can see, this is assuming that everything from all five seasons of Merlin happened exactly as in the show. So Merlin is just cruising around the modern world waiting for Arthur to 'rise again'.

The 'spell' Merlin used, assume it's in the usual Ye Olde English, I'm not sure if I'm going to find the old fashioned wording for any spells he uses or if I'll just give you the new English translations. It sort of depends on how lazy I'm feeling.

Updates are going to be a bit irregular, which is odd for me. However I'm trying to maintain a buffer chapter so that if I have no time for writing when uni goes back then I've got something to fall back on. I've got the whole story planned out and the next chapter written, but I won't be updating until I've finished chapter 3. If that takes too long poke me. I'm serious send me a PM that just says 'poke', I'll get the message and kick myself into gear.