Chapter 45

Harry and Merlin listened as Andre continued his story, trying to discern the truth from the lies and embellishments of his story.

"The magic of all the men and women of the order wasn't enough for the dark wizard though," Andre continued solemnly. "It was just a stepping stone for him. He wanted to use the magic he stole to open a portal to another world. A place full of dark and powerful magic. He planned to absorb that magic, transforming himself into a living god."

"Believing there was no one left to stop him, he opened the portal and began to absorb the otherworldly magic," Andre continued. "But there was someone left alive, watching him, a person he thought he killed, another apprentice. Celestia. She lay on the floor, pretending to be dead, and waited for her moment to act. As the dark wizard absorbed the magic of the other world, so did she, knowing that it was the only way to stop him."

The dark wizard quickly realized what she was doing and attacked her. Celestia fought him as best she could, their power growing with each passing second as they continued to draw more and more of the dark magic into themselves.

After a while it became clear the dark wizard was too strong, and Celestia had to accept the inevitable. If she continued to fight him, she was going to lose. In a last desperate attempt to stop him, she cast her magic on the portal itself, trying to destabilize it. The magical backlash it caused killed the dark wizard instantly, but created a new, and far worse problem.

The dark wizard was no longer there to control the growth of the portal, and it began to expand rapidly, sending out waves of powerful and destructive magic in all directions. Celestia knew that if she didn't do something soon, it would continue to grow, destroying everything in its path until there was nothing left.

She cast her own magic upon the portal, hoping to take control of it and end the ritual, but she couldn't. Only the one that opened the portal could control it, and it was only a matter of time before the beings of that other world discovered it and made their way here.

She could feel the dark and malevolent intent of the beings on the side of the portal and knew that if even one of them crossed over, it would destroy us all, but the only way to close the portal was from the other side.

Left with no other choice, Celestia stepped through and the portal and closed it." Andre said, finishing his story.

Harry sat back, absorbing everything Andre said, trying to understand what really happened, trying to discern fact from fiction.

"It's all lies," Merlin insisted. "Nothing like that happened. There was no Celestia in the order, no dark wizard. None of this makes any sense."

"…Alright, let's say I believe you," Harry said, silently acknowledging what Merlin said, but wanting to find out more about their plans. "How are we supposed to get her out?"

"We have the tome the dark wizard used," Andre explained. "And we've been studying it for centuries. We've deciphered the spell he used, and know how to free her."

"By casting the spell again?" Harry asked incredulously. "How many people did the dark wizard have to kill to cast the spell in the first place? And you want to do the same thing? Sacrifice your life for someone that may not even be real?" He asked, hoping to get through to them.

"No, Harry, nothing like that," Ismelda said, shaking her head patiently. "The dark wizard didn't care how he got the magic to open the portal. We do," she said, stressing the last two words. "That's why we had to wait so long to do this the right way."

"How?" Harry asked, pressing her. "How are you going to do this?"

"It's complicated," Andre admitted, "but we have a way to do this without killing or hurting anyone."

"That's not an answer," Harry pressed, needed to know more about their plans, in hopes of finding a way to stop them.

"We've been collecting magic for hundreds of years," Ismelda explained, seeing they were losing Harry, and knowing how important it was to get him on board.

"Collecting magic?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing. "You mean you've been stealing it?" He asked, seeing if they would admit to the rituals they performed.

"No, Harry," Andre jumped in, trying to get things back on track. "There's a lot about this you don't understand. There are two types of magic," he explained. "The magic inside us, and the free flowing magic that exists in the world. It's what's left over from the spells we cast, and emitted by various magical objects, animals, and plants. We only collected the free magic. We don't have to harm anyone to do that," he said, skirting around the multiple times they used the ritual themselves to prepare, and what they had to do to protect their secret.

"Ok…" Harry said, pretending not to understand. "Why do you need me then, or anyone else for that matter? You can use the magic you've collected to free her, can't you?"

"We wish it was that simple," Lucian spoke up. "But the ritual to open the portal is complex. We need to be connected directly to the ritual to guide the magic, acting as a conduit for the free magic to flow through."

"This ritual of theirs seems plausible," Merlin said. "If they've collected enough magic, they could open this portal, but there's no telling who or what is on the other side. Whatever it is, though, I doubt very much it's what they think it is," he warned.

"This is a lot to take in," Harry said, listening to Merlin's thoughts on their story. "How do you know this story is even real?" He asked. "What if it's something on the other side that's trying to get out, and Celestia is already long gone?"

"We had the same doubts as you, Harry, all of us," Beatrice stressed, looking around the room. "We even asked all the same questions you've asked today, but the evidence is overwhelming. Celestia is real. This is no trick."

"How can you be so sure?" Harry asked, hoping to cast some doubt on their beliefs and get them to see sense.

"For almost a thousand years, she's taught us. So many of the healing spells, wards, and potions we use to this very day came from her," Beatrice replied. "The wizarding world as we know it couldn't exist without her contributions."

"That could be part of the deception," Harry pointed out, trying to get them to doubt what they'd been told. "If there is something terrible on the other side of the portal, isn't this exactly what they would do to convince you they're on your side?"

"You're right," Andre admitted, "but it isn't just from Celestia that we're getting this from. There was another survivor. They kept a journal of what happened, and what she did after the sanctuary was destroyed."

"What?" Harry asked in surprise, feeling Merlin's shock at the same time.

"Her name was Winifryth. She was new to the order," Andre continued the story. "She heard the fighting and hid. When it finally stopped, she searched the sanctuary for survivors, eventually finding the sight of the battle. With the dark wizard, and the rest of the order killed, she took the book and left. The protections on the sanctuary were destroyed during the fighting and it was no longer safe to remain there."

"I searched for the tome… but I could never find it," Merlin said, realizing that this part of the story might hold some truth to it. "All this time, I thought it was either destroyed or sucked through the portal."

'Was Winifryth real?' Harry thought, trying to make sense if it.

"…Yes," Merlin answered. "I remember her. She also wasn't there during the battle."

"Winifryth was a new recruit with only a few weeks of training," Andre continued. "But in the end, she was the last remaining member of an order that had existed for hundreds of years."

"Winifryth took the Darkhold and left, remembering what little she could from her lessons. She left Egypt, looking for a new safe haven. She was too afraid to open the Darkhold after seeing what it was capable of, but she kept it with her, knowing she couldn't leave it behind for others to find and misuse. She passed on both the tome and the lessons she learned from the order to her son."

"The book changed hands through Winifryth's family line over the next few hundred years, each of them being warned to never open it. They slowly re-learned a fraction of what the order had known through experimentation and practice over the centuries, getting stronger with each generation."

"Who was the leader of the order?" Harry asked. "The one that was killed by the dark wizard?" He asked, trying to see how close to the truth their story was.

"He was a man named Thulsa," Andre answered. "We know very little about him beyond that. He didn't train the new recruits, so she never met him, but from what she was told, he was a great man."

"One of the most prominent descendants of Winifryth's family was Eadric Huffeldun. He was born some 500 years later," Andre continued. "He remembered the stories he was told growing up, about the destruction of the Order of Set and he wondered if there was more to the story, so after 500 years, he opened the Darkhold, attempting to decipher its pages."

Harry raised an eyebrow in surprise. "He opened the book? After what happened to the order, and all the warnings?"

"He did," Andre confirmed. "But it wasn't just filled with dark spells like he thought. There were many light spells and rituals as well. He spent years deciphering the pages, learning what he could from it."

"Just like Thulsa," Merlin said, understanding how the study group had grown so powerful. "The book must have called out to him, sensing someone powerful enough to use it."

Harry silently agreed with Merlin. 'It probably influenced Winifryth and all her descendants to keep the tome close, knowing that eventually someone strong enough to use it would be born to her family,' he thought.

"Using the book, he learned how to find more of our kind, and began to recruit them, starting the second age of the Order of Set. He learned from the mistakes of the past, and was much more careful with who he recruited, setting up several layers of protection between himself and the other order members, and most importantly ensured that all the order members never met at the same time, ensuring they wouldn't meet the same fate as the first iteration of the order."

"During his last days he discovered the spell the dark wizard used, piecing together how he killed the members of the order to open a portal. Remembering what he was told about the fight, and how the dark wizard died, he realized that someone else had to have closed the portal, and that it could only have been a member of the order."

"When he died, his son found his research, Aldwyn Huffeldun. He took up the cause, delving not only into the details of the ritual but also where the portal would lead. He was the one that learned it was a place of powerful magic, and figured out the dark wizard's goal was to absorb that magic, but more than that, it was a place of extremely dangerous and powerful beings, a place where there was no concept of time. That was when he realized Celestia, though he didn't know her name at the time, may still be alive."

"He brought that news to the order, showing them what he had learned, and they were skeptical, just like you are now Harry," Andre explained. "None of them wanted to give up their lives for the possibility that one of the original members of the order survived, but Aldwyn didn't give up. He spent the next twenty years researching, trying to out if she was alive."

"It took fifty spell casters to do it, and it left them magically exhausted for weeks afterwards, but they created a micro portal to the other world. It was too small for anything to fit through, but it was just enough for someone to communicate through. They opened it in the same place the first portal was opened, hoping the one they were looking for would still be there."

"They waited for almost a hundred years, monitoring the portal for any response from Celestia, until she finally made contact."

"How did you know it was her?" Harry interrupted. "It could have just as easily been someone pretending to be her."

"They were suspicious then, too," Andre acknowledged. "Aldwyn's grandson Cedric was on hand to greet her. At the time, he could only hear her voice, but she answered all his questions. She knew all about Winifryth, answering questions that only a member of the Order could have known."

"Did she say who the dark wizard was?" Harry asked.

"She did," Andre confirmed. "His name was Aelfric."

'Merlin, do you recognize the name?' Harry thought.

"I do," Merlin replied. "He was another one of the new recruits. He joined the order at the same time as Winifryth, but he died before the portal was even opened."

"Over the next fifty years, Celestia taught us what she knew. Potions, spells, how to cultivate and harvest magical plants, and much more. The order grew in number rapidly from that point, and they went from perhaps two hundred members to more than a thousand. It was at that time Celestia learned to project her astral form through the portal and see us with her own eyes, and for us to see her for the first time as well."

"It was at this point that order was at its most powerful. We had members in positions of power all over the world. Learning from the first age of the order, we even instituted the statute of secrecy, to hide us from the muggles forever, but it also set the stage for the order's second fall," Andre explained.

"They grew too large, operating openly, and struck down the rules that kept them safe all that time. The order eventually gave rise to another, far less altruistic group from within its own ranks. They wanted to rule, and lord their power over the rest of our kind. It started slow at first, key members of the order started dying. At first it was written off as old age, then accidents, but overtime they became more brazen, and it became clear the leadership of the order were being targeted. The two factions went to war, any many of them died."

"By the end, there was only one Huffeldun remaining, Elswith. She was only fifteen at the time. With the aid of Celestia and the few remaining order members she could trust, they fled, eventually settling here," Andre said.

"What happened to the other faction?" Harry asked, wondering if they were still out there.

"It was a long time ago," Andre answered. "They had no interest in freeing Celestia, only amassing power and influence. Some remnants of them may still remain, but it's impossible to say for sure."

"And Elswith? What happened to her?" Harry asked.

"Elswith changed her name, fearing the other faction would find her one day. She took on the name Helga Hufflepuff," Andre paused, knowing Harry would have more questions, just like he did when he found out the truth.

Harry's eyes widened at the name. "She was a founder of Hogwarts. What about the other founders?" He demanded. "Were they part of this as well?"

"No," Andre answered, shaking his head. "At least not at first. She met the other founders when she got older. They had no connection to the order at the time."

"That explains a lot," Merlin said, thinking about how easily the study group were able to hide their activities. "The castle was purpose built to achieve their goals."

"So none of the other founders knew about her past?" Harry asked.

"No, not then." Andre replied. "She wasn't sure she could trust them after what happened to the order. After arriving in Britain, and the second fall of the order, she knew she couldn't repeat past mistakes. The order grew two big, too powerful, and collapsed from the inside. They stopped referring to themselves as the Order of Set, recognizing that a name like that invited nothing but questions, curiosity, and suspicion. That's why we refer to ourselves now as the study group and the Alumni, and we never allow our membership to grow to more than 100 members."

Harry and Merlin mentally breathed a sigh of relief at that. A hundred members was no small number, but it was far lower than the numbers they were expecting.

"After all the good Celestia had done over the centuries, she more than proved herself. Elswith knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Celestia was who she said she was and asked her how to free her from that horrible place."

"Celestia was reluctant at first, not wanting anyone to die so that she could escape, but Elswith persisted, and through their research into the Darkhold, they found a way to open the portal without harming anyone."

"When Elswith joined with the other founders, they eventually became her new family. After some time and encouragement from Celestia she told them the truth, and all the incredible things Celestia had done over the last few hundred years, and how important it was to free her and turn the magical community into what it should have been from the very beginning."

"They eventually built the school, a place for them to teach our kind, and harvest the free magic. With all the children learning magic and casting spells, it was the ideal place to start, and very slowly, they collected and stored the magic required to open the portal and one day free Celestia."

"You're talking about hundreds of years," Harry pointed out. "It really requires that much magic to get her out? Why? It didn't take nearly as much to open the portal the first time."

"The amount of magic used to sustain the portal is directly correlated with the magical being coming through the portal," Merlin agreed. "All the magic they've stored, it's far more than they would need for a single witch."

"The situation is different," Andre explained. "We aren't using the same ritual as the dark wizard. His required two components, the magic of those witches and wizards, and their souls. We need more magic because we won't make that sacrifice, but thanks to you, it will take less time than we thought it would."

"Thanks to me?" Harry asked, already knowing what they were going to say, and still feeling a twinge of guilt over it. "What do you mean?"

"When you opened Merlin's vault," Andre explained. "It released a potent wave of magic in all directions. That shaved several years off the time it would take to open the portal. That's why we need your help now. We weren't prepared to open the portal so soon."

"Why the rush?" Harry asked. "Celestia waited more than a thousand years already. What's another year or two to give you time to prepare?"

"Something's changed recently," Andre began. "It might be better if you hear it from her directly," he added, realizing he wasn't getting through to Harry the way he thought he would, and another approach was needed.

"Hear it from who?" Harry asked before a white light appeared in front of him, immediately setting off alarm bells in his head. He felt this magic before. It was how he found out what the study group was really up to, but it was nothing compared to the shock both he and Merlin felt when the light coalesced into someone they both recognized immediately, Morgan.

It took every ounce of Harry's occlumency training to not jump out of his seat, made all the more difficult by the mixed bag of powerful emotions he felt from Merlin.

"Harry, may I introduce to you Celestia," Andre said, gesturing to her, unperturbed by Harry's reaction, having had the same one himself when he met her earlier in the year.

"Hello Harry, it is a pleasure to meet you," Morgan said, a serene smile plastered on her face.

"…Hello… Celestia," Harry replied, trying his best to get over his shock before he gave himself away.

Morgan regarded the boy carefully, deeply impressed by him. She remembered him from Halloween. Somehow he had found her in the hallway, even chasing after her, all without even being able to see her. He was a rare talent, one that she would have to cultivate.

"Andre has told me a lot about you," Morgan said. "You are very talented, especially for someone your age. I was told you solved Merlin's Cypher," she said, burying her hatred for her former lover so she wouldn't scare off the boy.

"…Thank you," Harry replied stiffly, not sure what else to say.

"…I never told her about my previous incarnations," Merlin said, finally finding his voice. "She doesn't know any of it," he promised.

'You also told me she was dead!' Harry thought, practically screaming into his mind. 'How can she be here!?'

"I don't know," Merlin replied, just as confused as Harry was. "But we can talk about that later. You need to focus on what's going on now. Don't give anything away," he warned.

"You asked a very important question, Harry," Morgan continued. "Where I am now, it's a dangerous place. There's a being called Chthon that rules this world. He's an elder god, and extremely powerful. He was banished here by the other gods a very long time ago, and has been searching for a way back ever since. It was him that created the Darkhold, leaving it behind before he was banished, hoping others would find it, and open its pages. When they deciphered the ritual to open the portal, they would be tempted, and eventually find their way to his world."

"Why would he want them to come to his world in the first place?" Harry asked. "I thought you said he wanted to escape."

"He does," Morgan said. "But magic is not enough for him to escape. If it was, he would have done so long ago. What he needs are souls."

Harry felt a chill go down his spine as he heard what Morgan said. Somehow, he knew she wasn't lying about that part. "Souls?"

"Yes," Morgan nodded, and he's tempted hundreds of our kind over the millennia. "He has been plotting his escape for a very long time, and if we don't stop him, he will eventually collect all the souls he needs to escape."

"That explains how Thulsa found it," Merlin realized. "The book can't be destroyed, only hidden away in the hopes that no one else finds it."

"I've been hiding from him and his abominations for so long," Morgan continued. "If he finds me, he'll turn me into one of them, too. When that happens, he'll find out everything I know, and he'll turn his full attention to all of you."

"Doesn't he already know about us?" Harry asked in confusion. "He left his book behind for us to find."

"He does," Morgan continued. "But there have been only a rare few with the intelligence and the magical power required to open a portal to his realm that have even found the Darkhold. Now there are thousands that could do it. If he finds me, he'll know everything I do, and it will be far too tempting a target for him to ignore."

'Is she telling the truth?' Harry thought, but only received silence from Merlin. 'Merlin!' He shouted into his mind, trying to get his attention.

"… I don't know," Merlin finally answered, "but it's possible."

"Chthon will use the Darkhold as a conduit to tempt others to use it, playing on their fears and desires to get what he wants. The only way to stop him is to return the Darkhold back to his realm, where we can no longer be influenced by it. You have to open the portal, and throw it in," Morgan said.

"Why the sudden rush to leave?" Harry asked. "You've been there a long time already. Why not give the order another year or so to prepare?"

"Because I was careless," Morgan admitted. "I was far away from where the abominations normally congregated, so I didn't think to hide my tracks. One of them found me. I fought it off, but they've been looking for me ever since, and they're getting closer every day," she finished gravely.

Harry looked around the room, seeing the fanatical devotion of the study group at Morgan's words, and knew convincing them otherwise would be next to impossible. Their loyalty ran too deep.

"…I need to think about this," Harry said, standing up from the table, pretending to be lost in thought and confused. "It's… it's a lot more that I expected."

"I understand Harry," Andre said patiently. "We all felt this way when we learned the truth as well. Take some to think about it. We can talk again later," he added, glad that they had finally got through to him.

Harry nodded, taking one last look at Morgan as her form dissolved before he left the library, and returned to the common room.

***

Harry brushed past Hermione and Ron, ignoring their questioning glances as he made his way to his dorm room. He had promised to tell them what happened, but he was having trouble making sense of everything that happened.

He closed the curtains around his bed and descended into his mind to talk to Merlin face to face. He needed answers, and Merlin was the only one that could provide them.

"You said she was dead," Harry said, pointing a finger accusingly. "You need to show me what really happened. Was any of what they said true?"

"… I know," Merlin agreed with a tired sigh.

"The dark wizard they talked about in their story," Harry said. "That were talking about you."

"Morgan's twisted everything," Merlin said, shaking his head in disbelief. "There were so many lies and truths mixed together, it's no wonder they believe her. She's been planning this for so long."

"She's also been teaching them. Spells, magic, potions," Harry added. "Why would she do that if all she wants is to escape?"

"That's the only way she can escape," Merlin explained. "She's been absorbing the magic of that place for a thousand years. If she ever comes back, there's no stopping her from doing whatever she wants. She'll be the most powerful being on earth."

"That's why she made up this story," Harry said, following Merlin's reasoning. "If she told them the truth, they would never help her escape, and any dark wizards or witches she found would just take the magic for themselves, rather than help her."

"Yes," Merlin agreed. "And after all this time, hundreds of years of helping and guiding them, they won't hear a word against her."

"And the founders," Harry remembered, shaking his head in disbelief. "They built Hogwarts to help her escape. They must be storing the magic here, somewhere on the school grounds. Do you have any idea what we should be looking for?"

"It will be heavily warded," Merlin explained. "Well enough that none of your professors would ever find it, even if they knew what they were looking for. It would also have to be large, at least the size of the quidditch pitch."

"All this time, everything we thought Hogwarts was… it was all a lie," Harry said, having difficulty reconciling the truth with what he had just learned.

"Not entirely." Merlin shook his head. "They didn't know what they were doing. Morgan wouldn't have told them the truth, only enough to get what she wanted from them. I doubt any of them know the full truth of her plans."

Harry nodded, not sure what he should tell his friends. Would they ever look at the school the same way again if they found out the truth?

"Where do you think the Darkhold is now?" Harry asked.

"Far away from here," Merlin replied. "They wouldn't risk leaving it unguarded. It's the only way Morgan can return."

"Then they'll have to bring it here to open the portal," Harry realized.

"Yes," Merlin agreed. "It's the only chance we'll get to take the tome."

"What if they made a copy?" Harry asked.

"They can copy certain rituals," Merlin agreed, "like the one they used to steal the magic of the animals they sacrificed, but not the entire book, only the rituals they've deciphered. Even with how long Thulsa had the book, he could only scratch the surface of what it was truly capable of."

"That's not the case for Morgan, is it?" Harry asked.

"No," Merlin shook his head. "There's no telling what she's learned after all these years. The amount of damage she could do here with the book is unfathomable."

"…I need to know what happened, Merlin, all of it," Harry said. "They're not going to stop convincing me to join them, and I need to know everything you do before I have to talk to Morgan again."

"Alright," Merlin agreed. He had hoped to put off telling Harry about this part of his past a little longer, but there was no choice now, not with everything that was at stake.