"And what is wizarding royalty doing at Hogwarts?" -SS
"Come now Severus... Princesses love castles" -AD
Severus Snape was like an abandoned castle; cold and secluded. That was the way he liked it. He'd long since accepted the fact that he would be...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It was commonly known that the Merlins lived in relative seclusion, it was not however known, where that was. The Merlin fortress was one of great grandeur, and what less could be expected from the descendants of the greatest wizard to ever walk the earth? Their family was more of a colony, daughters married off to the purest of the pure and sons brave and true, set in their medieval ways.
Very few true Merlins remained, true to their ancestors nature, very few remained as muggle sympathisers and that was only to be expected, married and birthed from sacred twenty eight members. It was a rare occurrence that they would come across someone that had been unapproved for visitation. But on a particularly windy day in late August, a snap resonated around the grounds as a man in magnificent magenta robes swished into the courtyard.
From an east wing window, brown eyes glinting, Caledonia Merlin watched the peculiar gentleman stride purposefully across the courtyard in six simple strides to her father. Angus Merlin stood tall, removing the natural contortion performed by his spine to stand tall, head high. From the way her father stood, full of self-pride and strength despite his usually dwindled health; One would expect that this visitor was a trespasser, an enemy. However, when within arms reach, the two aged gentlemen threw their arms around one another in a brotherly way. Angus showed more love and respect for this man in a single moment than he had ever shown for Caledonia.
"He's here for you." A voice hummed and it was pointless to waste the energy in turning to see who it was. Caledonia would recognise that voice in a crowd of a hundred.
"And pray to tell brother... Why would he be here for me?" she questioned, piercing doe eyes never removing from the interacting men in the shadow of the building below. Her hair tumbled elegantly down her back in thick curls and Tobias Merlin stood at her side, slightly behind her, chomping aggressively on an apple- successfully disturbing her inner peace.
"Because sweet sister, us Merlins marry for protection and you, well you're almost thirty! And unmarried, the horror of it." he chuckled. "You need protection, he's here to collect."
"Yes well, our parents can think again if they want me to marry him." she scoffed, the man was charming and entertaining to watch but she would never marry such an aged gentleman. He seemed ready to keel over on the spot.
"No chance of that Donia, Albus Dumbledore isn't the marrying type, as it happens." he scoffed, chewing angrily and her eyes shut once in annoyance, breathing out through her nose in an attempt to expel the anger slowly rising in her chest. "No, he's here to take you to Hogwarts." he scoffed. "Lucky you."
"I believe I am a little bit old to go to Hogwarts school, Tobias." she rose an eyebrow at him, turning to face him for the first time and the slightly younger of the two smirked at her. Tobias had been married since he was eighteen, happily accepting his wife... Caledonia was much more reserved about being wed, arguing profusely about it until eventually, they had gotten to this point. The point where they were sending her away to Hogwarts School to get rid of her.
"Well?" he prompted and she turned to him with a frown, stepping back when she saw how uncomfortably close he was to her.
"Well, what?"
"Well, are you going to go down there? Have a chat to your new friend before you get whisked away to live with him?" he gestured with his apple through the window and Caledonia tsked in disgust at the motion. Her skirts billowed around her as she turned and vanished down the corridor, acutely aware of the fact that he kept stride with her effortlessly. Tobias was tall, Caledonia being irritatingly short so as she powered her legs into a half sprint, he strode along pleasantly. It was uncertain when their simple walk down the stairwell became a race but inevitably, they barrelled through the front door, the cold air biting their throats as they breathed in deeply, catching their breath.
"Caledonia, my sweet" Angus extended an arm, brown eyes switching between his daughter and the haggard professor opposite him. Albus Dumbledore stood tall, eyes twinkling as he assessed the girl. That was what she seemed to be, a girl. Caledonia Merlin had aged well, beautifully in fact and it was common knowledge across the pureblood community that she was a prize to be won. Caledonia had never taken eagerly to men throwing themselves at her feet, she wanted adventure... The girl cherished a challenge above all else and something about Dumbledore's shimmering blue eyes indicated that he knew.
"Thank you Tobias." the father nodded, eyes switching to his son and the man just stood there, chomping on his apple despite the way his parent stared intently at him. "That will be all."
"Right" he finally got the point. "Well then, see you, sister. Don't get into too much trouble." he winked and was gone in a whirl of a cloak.
"My Dear" he rounded on his daughter once more who just stood pleasently, staring at Dumbledore intently. One would find her staring rude, but Albus merely smiled. "I assume your brother has filled you in on what is occuring here this evening."
"Yes, and it begs the question, why was I not informed sooner?" she demanded like a child, turning to stare at her father with a stern gaze. Albus Dumbledore smirked in intrigue because he knew for certain that the Merlin girl would surely bring
