Shining Light

[Merlin Schopenhauer]

"Miss Juliette?"

Merlin knew that walking in circles was hardly the most logical course of action, but he had no idea where the nearest police station was, so his best hopes for becoming un-lost was to remain in a public place so as to be spotted by his foster carers. As far as he was aware he was still in the park, but what he hadn't realised was that Takarokaro had ended a few kilometers away and he was deep into the walking trails behind it. He'd wound his way into the bush hours ago as he puttered about with bugs, grasses and tree bark.

It's not so bad, really, thought Merlin as he shuffled some leaves out of the way so that he could sit down. It isn't very hot and the sun hasn't fully set, yet. He was being optimistic, really. Sundown was minutes away, not hours, and though he'd been in this situation a few times before, it never made the fear that he'd remain lost forever go away.

"Mister Ted!" Merlin cried out half-heartedly. He'd been shouting for the last thirty minutes. "Miss Juliette!" He tried not to give into panic, but something inside him recognised how dire the situation was, because the young wizard's skin began to glow faintly like a beacon. His natural distractability and mild distress caused him to miss it, for it was hardly a grand display, but it was certainly significant enough to be able to draw an adult to him in his moment of crisis.​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty didn't often venture out as far as Takarokaro park, the shops there containing very little of real interest to him, but every once in a blue moon the promise of splendid views and a relaxed atmosphere did suffice to tempt him to visit. The surrounding New Zealand countryside was both vast and beautiful, and provided a convenient place in which the Professor could lose himself for a while, if only to return to the castle an hour or two later for his nightly patrols. This evening, however, the park was not a scene of bliss and tranquility but one of upset and alarm; Monty had made it only as far as fifty yards from the centre fountain when he was approached by a distressed looking man, who held up a flyer and asked hopefully if Monty had seen the boy pictured on it. "No," Monty said, regretfully, "I haven't. Where did you last see him?" He learned quickly that a search party had already been assembled in hopes of finding the boy, called Merlin, but that so far their efforts had been fruitless. Monty, being a wizard, and perhaps having some advantage over the Muggle police, offered to help look, and in a few short moments the course of his evening had been thoroughly diverted.

Nobody yet had searched to the south of the park, where the bush was thick and difficult to navigate, so Monty set off in that direction, casting Hominem Revelio every few minutes and pausing to listen for snapping twigs or to look for signs that a boy might recently have passed through the area. The sun was setting quickly, and after walking some considerable distance Monty had found nothing but a few parted branches and trampled strips of grass, either of which could easily have been made by an animal. He was about to turn around and head back towards the park (perhaps the police had already found him) when he stopped suddenly in his tracks, peering into the undergrowth thirty or so yards away. Something was glowing. "Hello?" he called, feeling a little silly. "Merlin, is that you?"

 

[Merlin Schopenhauer]

'Merlin? Is that you?'

The boy who answered to Merlin jumped a mile at the sound of his name being called out into the bush, and he scrambled about to hide behind a rather spindly paperbark tree. It didn't take him long to think What am I doing?! and reemerge, albeit hesitantly as he did not recognise the voice.

"Yes?" Merlin squeaked out. His high, nervous voice was embarrassing him. "Yes, I'm Merlin." The person who seemed to know him was coming into view, and it was immediately apparent that the adult was neither police nor his foster carers. Merlin shrank back but his skin glowed brighter, beckoning the man forward to help.

"Who're you? Have you been looking for me 'cause Mister Ted and Miss Juliette asked you too?" Monty didn't look like regular folk to Merlin, either. He looked like a mad scientist. The ten year old couldn't stop staring. ​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty nodded, coming to a halt when the boy shrank away from him. It was difficult for him to express that he meant no harm, and he was incredibly mindful of the ease with which honest intentions could be misconstrued, so he said, "Yes, that's right; actually, there's a bit of a search party out looking for you." Prompted by this, the Profesor lifted his wand to the darkening sky and shot several bright sparks, hoping they might hail Mister Ted or Miss Juliette, or indeed any other member of the search party who was not a stranger to Merlin.

By now Monty was so familiar with being stared at that he scarcely noticed the boy's eyes were fixed on him. "Er - well, Merlin, either I can apparate back to the park by myself and fetch your parents, or I can apparate you back with me - whichever you'd prefer. What would you like me to do?"

 

[Merlin Schopenhauer]

Poor Monty had the benefit of not being stared at for long. Merlin stepped out from behind the tree and made to thank the kind man who had helped his carers find him, but those staring eyes shot to the sky and followed the trail of sparks the wizard had cast. The boy's facial expression mirrored that of a carnival clown with the balls that dropped through the tubes for prizes. In the back of his mind he briefly considered that he might be dreaming or dead, but the funny man was still speaking and he was forced to tear his attention away from the spectacle to listen.

Listening did not help his confusion. Merlin was certain he heard the word 'apparation', which was definitely not a word, unless he'd meant 'apparition', which still did not make sense. These things were less interesting than the source of the sparks- Mister Coat (Merlin had no name for the man, yet) was holding something that was unmistakably a wand, if the storybooks were anything to go by. Perhaps it was the Elder Wand from the tale of the three brothers. He'd only just read the stories recently from the book of Beedle, thanks to his new foster carers.

What Merlin did not know was that Ted and Juliette, the kind couple who had had a number of children come through their doors, were a wizard and witch, respectively. They lived amongst the muggle communities and fostered children of all ages, but also of magical and non-magical origins. For children like Merlin, Ted and Juliette waited to see if there were signs of magic from their ward, and if there was, when the time was right, they eased them gently into the wizarding world with the revelation of their magical status. Today was supposed to have been their third introduction, and so Merlin had arrived chipper and curious in a park with funny rings (for Quidditch) and curiously shaped play equipment. He'd had no idea what to make of the hippogryph and the unicorn on springs.

Alas, Merlin was the great foiler of plans, and so there'd been nothing to prepare him for Monty Pendleton, a man whom Merlin was becoming convinced of being a real, live sorcerer.
"Is that a wand?" he accused, pointing earnestly at the object in Monty's hand. "Are you a wizard? Are you the real Merlin? Who are you?" the boy demanded. He knew he was being terribly rude, but his questions required answers, and so did the increased wattage of his skin.​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

There was nothing peculiar to Monty about Merlin's fascination; each and every year he met dozens of young witches and wizards for whom magic was endlessly intriguing, even if they'd been raised around it. So when Merlin asked if Monty was holding a wand, the Professor looked down at it and said, "Yes, it is." Then he frowned. "Yes, of course I'm a wizar- sorry?" Had the boy just asked him if he were Merlin? A bolt of panic struck him as he briefly feared he might just have performed magic in front of a Muggle, but seeing as Merlin was glowing like a light bulb, that didn't seem very likely. Perhaps Merlin was Muggleborn - but no, he was in Takarokaro, a wizarding park, with his parents. None of it was adding up in Monty's mind, and it took him some seconds to find his tongue again. "My name's Monty," he explained, not entirely convinced this would make anything clearer in the boy's mind. "I teach at Hogwarts school. You are a wizard too, I presume..? Sorry, I... I don't quite understand." He gestured back in the direction he'd come, towards the park, as if Merlin might realise his obvious confusion and relieve it with an explanation. "This is a wizarding area?"

 

[Merlin Schopenhauer]

Credit where credit's due, Merlin was thinking fast despite his deep confusion. This man was Monty, not Merlin, and didn't that just make complete sense when he looked at him?
To his mind, wizards were singular creatures who aided knights, kept apprentices and studied for years to master the mystical arts. They didn't have schools (called Hogwarts?) or look like Monty. Although, thought Merlin fairly, If I were to imagine a modern wizard, he would look just like him.

"I didn't know that wizards had areas," said Merlin slowly, his expressive brows furrowed in thought. "Do you think Mister Ted and Miss Juliette knew? They took me here today for the first time. We'd never been to this park. There was a funny jungle gym ..." They most certainly had known, as they'd approached Monty with a flyer whose picture moved about. They were very conservatively dressed, for wizards, and the only thing about them that confirmed this was their wands and their presence in Takarokaro, but the flyer cinched it. Merlin was not to know this, however.

"Me?" the boy continued, shaking his head at Monty. "I'm not a wizard. I thought you'd have to learn magic or something, like an apprentice ... if magic existed." Merlin shrugged and gestured helplessly at Monty's wand. He didn't know anything for certain, anymore. A horrible thought occurred to him, then, which did not help matters. "You're not gonna put me in a cauldron, are you?" he asked in a very small voice. The quieter he got, the brighter he glowed, and he sparkled until the light was pulsing. Mayday, mayday. Merlin was only just starting to notice, glancing around in confusion as the trees dimmed then lit up, then dimmed again.​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Yes, Merlin's parents had most definitely known their son was a wizard. Suddenly, as Merlin continued to talk, Monty was struck by how odd it was that the boy should refer to his parents as Mister Ted and Miss Juliette. Could it have been..? Certainly it gave explanation to Merlin's confusion. Still, it did not answer the question as to why - foster parents, adoptive parents, or otherwise - Merlin had not yet been informed of his abilities. Why on earth had it been kept from him? Perhaps, Monty mused, his parents had thought him a squib; it wasn't entirely rare for children to show little magical ability until they were nearing school age. Sometimes, it was even difficult to tell whether or not something was magical or simply pure coincidence. Could that have been it?

Monty's eyes widened. "No! no, of course not." The boy was glowing more vividly now, his arms beacons for help. The professor hesitated, considering how best to explain - or whether he ought to at all. Clearly his parents had intended to, seeing as they'd brought him to Takarokaro Park, but apparently they had misplaced him before having the chance. Of course, Monty was theorising, but at present it seemed the likeliest explanation. "Er... to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure Ted and Juliette intended you to discover it this way-" meaning, by a complete stranger- "but I don't see I have much choice. You are a wizard, Merlin - perhaps you hadn't noticed, but most children don't glow in the dark..." He paused, seeing as Merlin only just appeared to have noticed he was glowing at all, and did his best to exude a sense of calm. "I really think I ought return you to your parents. Will you walk with me, perhaps? I'd rather not leave you here by yourself, if it can be helped." If Merlin declined, Monty would send his patronus to the park, but he didn't particularly want to perform any more magic in front of the already-confused and fearful child. He added, "I'll walk ahead, if you'd like. I'm sorry to put you in such a difficult position. I'm still quite happy to bring your parents here, if you'd rather."

 

[Merlin Schopenhauer]

"I'm not-" Merlin began, but he trailed off as he finally, finally looked at himself. The boy gave a funny, hiccuping gasp and clutched himself as though his skin was about to fly off. The expression he gave Monty was utterly lost, and he began to shiver a little in the growing twilight.
"I ... am. A wizard. I am a wizard"
Bizarre, terrifying and absolutely not good. Even though he had a tendency to wander, Merlin tried his best not to call attention to himself in his foster families since those who did were often 'problem children' who didn't last very long. The 'being a wizard' business was very bad for business. The more he thought about it, the more certain he was that returning to Mister Ted and Miss Juliette was a Very Bad Idea.

"No, you can't!" cried Merlin, his hands flying out and waving at Monty as though there was anything he could do to stop him. The light in his skin was beginning to die, shrinking into his chest like a ink droplet in reverse. Merlin was firmly into 'calling less attention to himself' mode, now.
"I'm sorry you've been caught in the middle of ... whatever this is, but I can't go back now. They won't know what to do with me. They're not my parents, Mister Monty, they just look after me. If you think they're wizards too then that's good, I guess, but it's not good for me, not at all. I'll definitely do more magic by accident and expose them, and then they won't be allowed to keep me and ... I don't think they were going to, anyway. Keep me, I mean." Oh, why was he telling a stranger all this? It was mortifying, but he had to explain how it had happened before.
Merlin took a deep breath and slowly sat down on the fallen tree again because his knees were feeling a bit shaky.
"Ted and Juliette haven't always looked after me; I've been other place, too. Whenever someone or a couple say that they can't keep you, they take you out for icecream or to the park and then they sit you down and tell you why you're not working out. Maybe, maybe they wanted to tell me about being a wizard, but they don't look after other kids like me, they look after normal people." Merlin winced. Normal. Not me, anymore. "If being a wizard is all a big secret, there's no way I can keep it."

Despite his faulty logic, Merlin was actually correct about his assessment this time. Ted and Juliette had been intending to explain the world to the young, newly blossomed wizard, but they couldn't continue to foster him with muggle children. It was their goal to 'rescue' muggleborns and other magical children from the foster care system and have them placed with good, kind wizarding families- but they couldn't continue to do so if a child's magic exposed their work. It didn't do to be constantly Obliviating muggle kids. Merlin was moving on, for good or for ill.
"I don't know where I'll go, now," mumbled the boy, his head sinking. "I can't go back into 'the system'." He'd heard lots and lots about this 'system'. "I don't want be witch-hunted. Maybe..." Merlin raised his head again and looked straight at Monty. "Maybe I can come with you! You're a wizard, right? Do you take apprentices?" The boy was all activity all of a sudden, leaping up and wringing his hands. Excellent idea, Merlin, very good. This is scary but it can absolutely work! "You haven't already got one, have you? I promise I'd be an excellent apprentice. I can fetch and carry, learn spells, chop ingredients, and I'll try my absolute best never to wander off!"​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

There was still much of this bizarre encounter that puzzled the professor; but as Merlin's light began to fade, and he sat back down on the fallen tree, he offered up something of an explanation for it all, and by degrees Monty began to understand. He couldn't have guessed Ted and Juliette's intentions, nor whether they would continue to foster the boy now that he had displayed magical ability, so even though he wished to say something comforting, he didn't. It was one thing to be let down, another for it to happen after being assured it would not.

When Merlin expressed uncertainty as to where he would go next, Monty was recalled of how he had felt the night he'd run away from home; he remembered the cold nausea and the uneasy dread as he'd boarded the train, beginning a journey toward a destination he had not made. Unlike Monty, Merlin could at least be certain that, wherever he went, he would keep a roof over his head, but the unknowing was similar all the same.

The professor had not long to dwell on this before the boy leapt up and began to propose all manner of ridiculous things, most of which sounded as if he'd read in a fantasy book. "No," said Monty, with regret; "I'm sorry, Merlin, but that isn't quite the way it works. Listen - I know you must be incredibly frightened (in fact, I can scarcely imagine), but regardless the outcome, Ted and Juliette really need to know you're safe. They're very worried about you. And it's exceedingly unlikely you'll be 'witch-hunted,' whatever might happen; many young witches and wizards such as yourself live in magical foster homes." Monty wondered whether to mention that Merlin would likely soon be living at Hogwarts, anyway, but then decided against it; the poor boy had suffered enough confusion today already. Besides, his foster parents would almost certainly like to tell him themselves. What he did say was, "You've many things to discover about the wizarding world, but I'm afraid it isn't me to teach you." The professor tilted his head in the direction whence he'd come and smiled.