Chapter 30 - 30. A Serious Talk
Magnus arrived at the large and ugly stone gargoyle. It was supposed to be the entrance to the Headmaster's office. He had no idea what the password was. But, not to his surprise, the statue moved and let him through. The old beardy must be expecting him.
He went up the stairs and crossed a fairly big door. The headmaster's office itself was a large circular room with many windows and many portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses. The portrait of the immediate predecessor of the current headmaster hung behind the head's desk.
Then there was Dumbledore, sitting on his big chair, behind the big table.
"Have a seat, Magnus," Dumbledore said. He was trying to be intimate by calling him by his first name but he didn't really care about it, he'd prefer to be called and be allowed to call people by the first name anyway.
He took a seat and looked at the old man. He knew that looking into the other party's eyes was the way to invade privacy. He wanted to see if he had the audacity to look inside his head. But, he felt nothing, to be honest, he had no idea how it even felt. Then there was also a pretty looking Phoenix on the side and for some reason, it was bowing to him.
"Are you angry that I did not inform you of this earlier?" Dumbledore asked.
Magnus shook his head, "No, I'm not angry. But just a bit frustrated. I could have prepared myself better that way, instead of being shocked like everyone else."
"Forgive me, Magnus, but I kept it from you because I didn't know if you wanted your parents to know," Dumbledore said.
"And I thank you for that. I don't want them to know all this, at least not yet." Magnus replied.
"How old are you, Magnus?" Dumbledore suddenly asked. Because the way Magnus talked seemed not very childish, what it should've been.
"11 years and 8 months old. I'm just smarter than your average 11-year-old." He clarified, sensing why the old man asked this.
"You being smart was already expected from you, Magnus. Do you understand the situation completely?" Dumbledore inquired.
"I seem to have inherited the will of Merlin and King Arthur. I don't know how but I have, though I have no way of proving it to anyone." Magnus said.
Dumbledore stroked his beard, "You are right, Magnus. You are indeed related to them. But, things are not as simple as they seem to be. Let me explain it to you.
"See, the magical society, at least the British magical society and also of many other European countries are basically run by old ancient powerful families, who have abundant money and power. Britain is the same, the Ministry of Magic is mostly impartial and just, but it is still under the clutches of these powerful families. Take Wizengamot as an example, only a selected few are neutral, others are all believers of blood supremacy.
"But, what is stopping them from their agenda is a lack of public support. Even these families have to agree that the number of half-blood and muggle-born wizards is much larger than their numbers. So, they need a figure who can sway the public, a figure all these wizards would believe and who better than the descendant of Merlin, whom many wizards see as a magic god?
"So, expect them to come after you, Magnus. They will act sweet at first, but if you ignore them, they will not spare a moment to go against you or take any harsher steps, no matter what the cost. Do you understand me?"
Magnus took a long breath and looked Dumbledore dead in the eyes, "Are you implying that they would do something to my family?"
"Magnus, you must understand, these people have done worse things in the past. They didn't mind killing babies in the Global wizarding war, so what is stopping them now?" Dumbledore calmly said. He was actually surprised by how calm Magnus was, although he knew he was angry inside.
"And the Ministry is going to let them do it?" Magnus asked back.
"Yes, because my influence is limited there. It is basically run by a few families. There are no elections like in the muggle world either. It's an aristocratic system." Dumbledore explained.
Magnus nodded, "I understand now, so you want to use me to increase your own standing. So it is the classic good side and bad side. I admire your wishes, professor. But, I will make up my own mind first. It hasn't even been 1 day since I came here.
"Also, don't get me wrong, I am a peaceful person, but if they go after my parents, I will go after their whole bloodlines, and make the sacred 28 a simple text on the history books. And I will do it if I have to, even if I have to bring back Merlin from the dead. You must understand my sentiments, Professor. I read about your past. If you had the chance, would you not jump and take the hit that was meant for your sister?"
Dumbledore was very much taken aback. He was starting to form a bad opinion of Magnus when he heard him talking about ending the sacred 28. But now, all those thoughts vanished as the memories resurfaced. This was a drawback of Occlumency, you don't forget a thing.
He whispered, "Yes, I would... jump... to save Ariana."
"See, so we aren't so different," Magnus said.
Dumbledore nodded and spoke, "I can understand that the thought of someone attacking your family must be very unsettling. I will try to help you in any way I can. But, you need to do some things first. You need to take an inheritance test at Gringotts. I went there to check. They did not tell me any specifics except that they had everything safe. Also, I will have to invite some people to see your test, to prove your legitimacy.
"The next problem is your other inheritance. You are a descendant of King Arthur now. This makes you the rightful king of England. Now, I went to meet the queen, it seems, Arthur and Merlin had planned for everything. A curse has been cast by Merlin's ancient magic on the royal family that if they do not abdicate the throne to you they'd be punished." Dumbledore revealed.
This Magnus didn't know and came as a shocker to him. "WHAT? Then... how would I prove to the world that Arthur was real and I am his descendant? They think Arthur only existed in fairy tales."
"I know that, that is why you will have to come up with a way to do it. A way that makes people truly believe that you are worthy." Dumbledore advised.
*Sigh*
"You understand I am an 11-year-old kid? You just put so much pressure on me." Magnus grunted.
"We are here to support you, Magnus. Merlin is my role model too. His dream to unite the magical world still lives on, to me, now you are like the living personification of his dreams, I just want the best for you." Dumbledore emotionally talked.
"Well, thank you for this talk, Professor. I need some time to think. Do you have a good book to teach me about the complexities of the Ministry and its laws?" He inquired.
"Of course, I have one. It was discontinued because it told too much. But, it can be very helpful for you. I also have... another one." Dumbledore gave him another book, which looked very old.
"This one is Merlin's book. Written in runic language. It has not been deciphered even though many headmasters before me tried to do it. But we know one thing that the contents in it can be very dangerous. So, I hope you will take good care of it. It rightfully belongs to you and I have no right to keep it." Dumbledore said honestly.
~Take it...~ A voice whispered inside Magnus' head.
"Thank you, professor. I will keep your warning in mind." Magnus took it and left the office. There were thousands of things running in his mind. His whole plan had been hijacked by his crappy destiny.
~But could it be a blessing in disguise? I must plan ahead calmly.~ he decided and walked to the Slytherin Dungeon by asking for direction from various portraits. They were very nice to him.
He eventually arrived there. But, he found the thin blonde boy named Ragnar standing outside the door, in his underwear and a t-shirt. He was a new student too.
"Did they bully you?" Magnus asked tiredly.
Ragnar didn't reply. He just stared at his own feet, with a sad face. Unlike Magnus, this was a true 11-year-old kid, being bullied by a bunch of racists. He saw Bobby in Ragnar.
"Come with me. You know who I am, right? Nobody dares to bully me. From today, you stick by me and I assure you I will help you whenever you need me. We are both 1st years, so we gotta watch each other's backs." He offered him.
Hearing him, Ragnar looked up, "Really?"
"Yes, now, I don't know the password." He nudged him to the door. Ragnar said the password and the door opened and they entered the common room of Slytherin.
Many students had already gone to sleep by now. But, surprisingly, Lucius and his girlfriend were up.
Before they could say anything, Magnus spoke, "Ah, Mr Malfoy, I didn't know ragging was allowed in Slytherin. I thought we as a house would be united, so we can fight anything together."
Lucius frowned hearing that. He looked at the timid Ragnar and understood everything. "Who did this to you?"
But Magnus didn't let Ragnar answer, "What's the point now? The damage has been done. The culprits are probably sleeping. Ah, it was very tiring to talk to that old man. I'll go to sleep now. Good night, Mr Malfoy, Good night miss Black."
"Ragnar, come with me. Starting today, you will share my dorm. There are three beds in one, right? I hope the other person is not someone annoying." He muttered and left.
Lucius tightened his fist. He did not know what Magnus meant by 'the damage has been done.'. Was he talking about the bullying or his trust in him?
"Whoever did this, I want them by tomorrow morning standing right here and pleading for forgiveness from Mr Pendragon and his little plaything." He sternly ordered. Narcissa's face lost its smile and turned stone cold. She simply nodded.
Magnus arrived at his dorm room. There were three beds, with windows that were actually shafts, bringing moonlight from outside. He took the bed in the middle. On his left, the bed was occupied. The right one was empty so he let Ragnar take it.
"Sleep well, Ragnar, you don't need to worry about anything anymore," Magnus said and jumped onto his bed. He had too much to think about and study. His life had now taken a turn, from a simple fairy tale to a bloody epic.
"LET ME OOOOOOUT... I am claustrophobic..."
Magnus heard the sound coming from his luggage box. He kicked the box with his leg and spoke in whispers, "You're a painting, you can't be claustrophobic. Also, I thought you were a mighty brave king. I'll take you out tomorrow, now let me sleep."
"This is blatant racism against all paintings. NO... Let me oooout... are you colluding with that bastard to torment me, aren't you? MAGNUS..." Arthur's painting shouted but by now, Magnus had already closed his eyes.
[You can see Dumbledore's Office, Slytherin Common room and the dorms on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]
______________________________
You can read 20 advance chapters on -patreon.com/misterimmortal.
Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely*
Thank you for your support!