Chapter 8

The assembled third-years from all four faculties took turns entering the auditorium. Hela, who was under the spell of her make-up, watched carefully as the third-year students took their seats. Soon the bell sounded, heralding the start of class.

- So, today we will continue our study of Merlin's biography. Last lesson we only touched on this topic in passing, but today we will begin to look more closely at the personality of the most famous wizard of them all. So, take out your sheets of parchment," Hela said as she looked around at all the students. After making sure the class was quiet, the History of Magic teacher began her lecture.

- We all know that it was Merlin who helped King Arthur, his father Uther and even his grandfather during their reign. But the most attentive of you will be able to find a discrepancy between the years of Arthur's life (which is supposedly the 5th-6th century AD) and the fact that Merlin is credited with studying at Hogwarts in the Slytherin faculty (and Hogwarts was founded, as we know, around the 10th-11th centuries). This can be explained in several ways:

1. Merlin did not study at Hogwarts, and the references to him are fiction.

2. Merlin studied at Hogwarts but did not help Arthur - the least likely option, but legends are not built on mere conjecture, and the legend of Arthur and Merlin is one of the most famous in England.

3- Merlin studied at Hogwarts, but Hogwarts itself was founded much earlier than the time generally accepted in magical science.

I am more inclined to the third option, but since the history of magic cannot always be objectively accurate, I suggest you decide for yourself which option seems more logically sound to you.

Merlin's origins, like his life, are shrouded in myth. According to one source, his mother was one of the purest and kindest girls in the history of mankind, and evil was never born in her soul. The devil looked for ways to get to her but found none. One day her sister, a wicked woman and the complete opposite of her, came home drunk and started scolding and insulting her sister unjustly. The girl became angry, thus opening her soul to evil, and the devil took possession of her. Thus Merlin was conceived. During her pregnancy, the girl prayed to God to have mercy on her and the child and sought help and advice from her confessor Blaise. Blaise decided that Merlin should be "christened immediately after his birth" - by christening Merlin, Blaise destroyed "all of Merlin's dark legacy", but Merlin was left with the extraordinary "powers of a sage and seer".

According to another legend, Merlin was born in a city in Wales in the 500s, his mother was an ordinary girl and his father a wizard. From an early age, little Merlin aspired to witchcraft and prophecy. All the animals and birds obeyed him, and deer and owls often became companions of his games. Merlin was the kindest boy - he helped everyone and gave advice. He was quite content with his life until King Vortyrgen (Arthur's grandfather) summoned him to subdue two dragons. That's when everyone learnt that Merlin was a wizard.

According to some accounts, Merlin was an animagus or very accomplished in transfiguration, as there are mentions that he could transform into animals. It is not known what the nature of these transformations was, so I cannot elaborate on that. He was strong in divination and spells, as well as potions..." Hela slowly paced between the rows of desks, dictating the lecture. Everything had been going smoothly so far when suddenly there was a small pop and a purple-coloured powder began to spread around the classroom.

- You Weasleys have lost your conscience," the blonde-clawed girl wheezed, choking on the stinking powder. The Weasleys smiled wickedly and tried to throw the vial of their invention again.

However, they failed. With a wave of her hand, Hela dispelled the smoke and instantly bound the two red-haired Gryffindors. Raised a few centimetres into the air and unable to move, the two bullies flew towards the History of Magic teacher.

- 'I'll personally talk to those red-haired bastards,' Hela said, letting most of the third-year students go. As soon as the door closed behind the last student, the History of Magic teacher lowered the two redheaded fools to the floor.

- 'Your behaviour is the result of impunity and poor upbringing. I'm not Dumbledore to turn a blind eye to your foolishness," Hela said with a deceptively warm smile.

- We're not afraid of you," the Weasley twins said high-pitchedly.

- 'You should be, boys,' Hela said and with a wave of her hand, opened a portal and levitated the two redheads into it.

*********

However, despite their best efforts, the Weasleys never got their revenge on Potter. The sixth was too stupid to think of any trickery. All the redhead could do was try to challenge Potter to a duel, but Harry did not fall for such a primitive move and the redhead was left with nothing. As a consequence, the Sixth returned to his old tactics, simply attacking Potter after lessons or when the Slytherin went to the library. Each time, however, it ended monotonously. Harry would win, and Weasel would hang, spellbound, either from the door or the wall and yell loudly, swearing in a way that would make the professors' ears pop. No one could stand, the profanity that the Weasleys carried.

Right now, after another argument with Potter, Sixth was hanging glued to the wall in one of the corridors, screaming and cursing at Harry:

- Scarface freak; stinking bastard; Potter's bastard; Potter's underachiever; you fucking snake shit; you fucking Potter; you fucking bastard; you Slytherin prick - Sixth was yelling to the entire floor, and Weasley's screams could be heard even in the classrooms.

Unfortunately for the Gryffindor, at the same time, a wizarding class was going on for the Hufflepuff and Claw seventh years. The wizarding class was in the same corridor where the redhead was hanging. Professor Flitwick had been forced to interrupt the lesson upon hearing the swearing, as even the muffling spells cast on the room when some of the students heard the Gryffindor's screams didn't save the day. If at first, the professor had thought Weasley would calm down quickly, now he wasn't so sure. Stepping out into the corridor, Professor Flitwick saw the Sixth hanging on the wall. The freshman was expressing himself so profanely that the professor was shocked. How could an eleven-year-old boy know such words? Shaking his head, the professor briefly threw a Silenzio spell at Weasley, and the wild screaming immediately stopped. Invoking the Patronus, the little professor sent it to the Dean of Gryffindor.

Meanwhile, Minerva McGonagall was in the centre of the classroom of fifth-year Gryffindor and Slytherin students. Just as the professor was about to announce this term's term paper topics, a ghostly owl flew into the room and spoke in Professor Flitwick's voice.

- Minerva, would you please come to my office? There has been another emergency with your first-year class.

Silently, the Dean of Gryffindor quickly handed out lists of term papers to the students, ended the class, and strode briskly towards Char's office. However, as soon as the professor reached her destination, she saw Ron Weasley hanging on the wall across from her office. Taking her student off the wall and cancelling the mute spell cast on Weasley, the Dean immediately regretted her decision.

- Potter, you bitch, I'm going to kill you, you fucking bitch. Slytherin bastard...' Weasel started to shout, but was immediately silenced by Professor McGonagall. Grabbing the red-haired bully by the ear, the woman dragged him into her office. As she later found out, Sixth had tried to attack Harry Potter again and was kicked by the Slytherin again.

- 'Now, Mr Weasley, your behaviour is simply disgusting,' the Dean of Gryffindor began to say.

- I had nothing to do with it, it was Potter, you scarred bastard," Sixth began to resent the Dean, receiving a stinging curse on his arse.

- 'Mr Weasley shut up, your behaviour and performance are disgusting, as much as I hate to do it, you leave me no choice,' Professor McGonagall said, then pulled out her wand and pointed it at Weasley.

- Imperium - said the witch and a faint orange beam of the spell struck Sixth (Author's note - Imperium is a weak form of the Imperio spell. Unlike Imperium, Imperium does not subdue a person's will, but forbids them from doing anything dangerous or undesirable, but its duration is short - no more than a year, after which the person becomes the same).

- Mr Weasley, from now on you are forbidden to approach Mr Potter and harass him, you are free to go," the professor said and kicked the student out of the office.

 'Hopefully, in a year's time Mr Weasley will rethink his behaviour,' thought the Dean of Gryffindor.

Christmas was approaching.

In mid-December, everyone woke up in the morning to find the castle covered in a thick layer of snow and the huge lake frozen over. That same day, the Weasley twins got a few penalty points for enchanting the snowballs they had made, and they started flying after Professor Quirrell, hitting him in the back of the head.

Hela gave the two redheads a good spanking, but they weren't about to change their behaviour. The Weasley twins weren't pulling any more pranks in History of Magic class.

The few owls that had managed to sneak through the snowstorm that morning to deliver mail to the school were on the verge of death. And Hagrid had to do a lot of work on them before they could fly again. All the students were looking forward to the holidays and couldn't think about anything else. Maybe it was because it was so cold at school and everyone wanted to go home to warm cosy houses.

Harry had been texting Morgana for the last few days, asking her advice on what to get his friends for Christmas. Hedwig the Owl had made several flights over the days to get gifts for the Potter friends.

Harry decided to give Hermione a book on charms, Neville had a book on Herbology, and Tonks would receive from the boy a catalogue with clothes for metamorphs, from which the girl could easily order outfits for herself. Not knowing what to give Tonks' parents, Harry opted for a lady's perfume a box of chocolates for Andromeda and a set of repair tools for Ted.

And so on the day the holidays began, Harry, like most children who were also going home, boarded the Hogwarts Express. Sitting in the same compartment as Nymphadora, the boy chatted merrily with his friend. And so, when the train arrived at the station, Harry and Tonks waited until most of the students were out of the carriage and hurried to the exit as well.

- 'Mum, Dad,' Tonks shouted as she ran up and hugged the middle-aged man and woman. Finished hugging her parents, Nymphadora decided to introduce them to Harry.

- Harry, these are my parents, Andromeda and Ted Tonks," the girl introduced her parents.

- Nice to meet you, Mr Potter," Ted Tonks, a 45-year-old man with a small paunch and dark brown hair, said more formally.

- 'Likewise, sir,' Harry replied just as courteously.

Unlike her husband, Mrs Tonks greeted Harry more informally. Finished with their greetings, the Tonks family and Harry apparated off. A few minutes later, they found themselves outside a two-storey mansion on the outskirts of London. Once inside the house, Ted immediately took Harry and Nymphadora's belongings to the wardrobe. The girl decided to give Harry a tour of the house, being overly hyperactive, Tonks, without giving Potter a moment's respite, immediately dragged the boy to the first floor. The peculiar tour continued for an hour before Andromeda called everyone to the table.

Sitting down in the centre of the table, next to Nymphadora, Harry felt homesick for his family for the first time, the boy knew that he was unlikely to have a family as friendly and loving as Tonks' any time soon, but Potter didn't speak his thoughts out loud and hid his emotions well. When everyone had eaten, a conversation began at the table.

- So, Harry, what do you think of Hogwarts and what faculty are you in? -Andromeda asked.

- The castle is great, and the school isn't bad, I already have a few friends, one of them is Nymphadora," Harry started, but he was quickly interrupted by the girl sitting next to him.

- Hey, don't you dare call me that," she shouted angrily, her hair turning a dark red colour.

- Daughter, calm down. It's your name, so why are you making such a fuss?" - Her father Ted tried to calm the raging Nymphadora.

- It's a stupid name and I hate it," the girl replied angrily. It took a few minutes before Tonks calmed down and everything went back to normal.

- So, where was I? Ah, yes. I'm a student of Slytherin. Despite what people say about him, he's not that bad. Well, except for some personalities, because there are enough fools at Hogwarts in every faculty,' the boy said.

- 'That's a very wise thought Harry, I remember being in the same faculty as my sisters and there were plenty of fools in other faculties,' Andromeda said.

- I hope you haven't made any enemies, because knowing Slytherin's reputation, I can imagine what the Gryffindors think of you," Ted said.

- Well, not exactly like that. There's one part, though, and he's a nuisance not just to me, but to the whole first year. Sometimes when I see Weasel, I just want to go up to him and punch him in the face," Harry said.

- Weasel? -surprised Nymphadora's parents asked.

- Well, that's what the whole school calls Ron Weasley, and he has another nickname, Sixth, but most of the time they call him Weasley. This redhead is so stupid and disgusting that there are no words for him. On the very first day after his placement, Weasel tried to provoke a fight in the Great Hall and insulted the Head Girl. It only got worse from there. The Sixth constantly insulted not only Harry but even some of the girls. Apart from Mum, and Dad, you should have heard Weasel talking like a loader. I've never heard such foul language before! - Nymphadora declared.

- Molly and Arthur are disgusting parents, and it's hard to raise a son like that, but you'd expect it from a junk collector and a bitchy lady. You should see what he wears to work at the Ministry, Arthur, so I'm ashamed to be working with that 'man' in the same building," Ted said.

- 'And who do you work for, Mr Tonks? - Harry asked.

- I work for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and deal with various emergencies. - Ted answered with some pride.

- And you are Mrs Tonks? - Harry continued to ask.

- I work in the Department of Mysteries, dealing with spells and curses," Andromeda said.

- I'll probably work in that department after I graduate from Hogwarts, too. It's great to create new spells," Harry said enthusiastically. Tonks only smiled at that expressive statement.

- Well, I'm going to the Auror Academy in a year," Nymphadora replied.

The conversation was over and everyone went to bed, passing the living room Harry looked at the decorated Christmas tree that stood in the room, after standing for a while the boy went to his bedroom.

And so Christmas came. Harry woke up early in the morning and while Tonks was asleep he prepared their presents. Ted, Andromeda and Nymphadora were very happy with Harry's presents. In return, the boy received a book on the basics of combat magic from Ted, Mrs Tonks gave Harry a scrapbook for his magical photos, and Nymphadora gave Potter a self-renewing notebook.

Also under the tree, Harry found gifts from Hermione and Neville, as well as from Morgana and Hela. Granger gave the boy a book on Transfiguration and Longbottom gave him a book on Protective Magic. Morgana gave the boy a handmade amulet to protect him from Legilimensia. Hela, in turn, gave him a folio on the basics of necromagic combat. Harry would not open this book just yet, hiding it in his bag with the enchantments of expanded space.

However, in addition to these gifts, Potter found a mysterious roll, from which a note fell out. It read as follows:

This item once belonged to your father. It is time to return it. Use it wisely.

Harry opened the roll-up and discovered a silver cloth. Looking closely, Potter recognised it as an invisibility cloak. Standing next to the boy, Nymphadora called out to Andromeda.

- 'Mum, someone sent Harry an invisibility cloak,' the girl said. Walking quickly into the living room, Andromeda looked at not only the note but also the invisibility cloak.

- Okay, so the Headmaster is looting, Harry shouldn't wear the thing just yet. It remained to be seen what spells Dumbledore had put on the cloak.

- Darling, what makes you think the invisibility cloak was sent for Harry by the Headmaster," Ted asked in surprise.

- It's very simple. You can't mistake the Headmaster's handwriting for anything," Mrs Tonks said confidently.

Harry thought the Headmaster was trying to gain his trust for some purpose. 'What a pushy old man,' Potter thought.

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