A/N: I'll warn you now. This might seem a bit crack-ish and OOC, but it's all in the name of artistic license! This is set perhaps a year or two after the Battle of Hogwarts, with Merlin being immortal. Partially inspired by a particular conversation in HPMOR.
Despite my copious amounts of headcanon, I do not own Merlin or Harry Potter.
Just as he was reaching for the doorknob, Merlin heard a series of shouts behind him, making him turn around.
"You can't do this!" Ron and Harry sputtered indignantly.
Merlin gave them a quirked eyebrow, learned from none other than Gaius himself. "It was a historical misunderstanding, trust me. I was there when they drafted the first rules manual."
Hermione stepped forwards from around the corner, obviously not as hurried as the other two were. Looking at her friends, she said, "You have to admit. Merlin's explanation makes much more sense."
"But it's been this way for centuries! You can't just change tradition," Ron argued, growing more heated with every word.
Harry nodded furiously in agreement. "Have you even read Quidditch Through the Ages?" he accused. "There is a clear history of—"
"Yes, I know," Merlin interrupted. "But I've already told you. The '1' was actually a smudge of ink. The Snitch was never worth 150 points!"
Ignoring the glares being sent his way, Merlin took a deep breath, exhaled, and continued. "How is it that in nearly an entire millennium, nobody realized how unbalanced this game was?"
Before Ron and Harry could get another word out, Hermione spoke up again. "Oh, I'm sure there were those who noticed. But athletes are a particularly stubborn group of people, especially when it comes to defending their sports."
Merlin laughed, thinking back to Arthur and the knights of Camelot. "Isn't that the truth?" he said, a melancholic smile gracing his features.
He shook his head quickly to clear his thoughts before looking back at Ron and Harry. "When 98 percent of games end with the Snitch determining the winner of the match, undermining the efforts of everyone on the team besides the Seeker, it's obvious something is wrong," he explained. "And anyways, the Snitch was only meant to be worth 50 points. It was the Seekers who purposefully misread the rules to make themself seem more important."
Harry seemed to take personal offense at this last statement. "You don't even play Quidditch!" he exploded. "Why are you trying to fix something that isn't broken? Who do you think you are?"
"I'm Merlin," the medieval warlock replied with a wink. "I think my word will count for something."
With that, he walked into the room labeled Department of Magical Games and Sports–Quidditch Division, leaving Hermione with two gobsmacked Gryffindors in the middle of the Ministry hallway.