Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Prince of Gotham
"Bruce!"
He stopped abruptly and twisted around a few people to see his parents. "Mom! Dad!"
They sprinted towards him, pushing through a throng of teenagers. Bruce immediately jogged ahead, having to avoid an elderly couple passing him before they finally reached each other.
"I'm so glad you're all right," his mother said, bending down on her knees to hug him.
His father did the same before looking up at their surroudings. His stance still guarded amongst the crowd of strangers. "Bruce, I can't see Adrian, where is he?"
He bit his lower lip, his frustration returning like a dead weight. "We - we got separated, and I've been looking everywhere, but I still can't find him," Bruce voiced out, ashamed that he'd lost his brother.
Both his parents' face paled in hearing that. He hung his head down, unable to watch their expressions as the knot in his stomach grew.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, fist clenching anxiously. "It's my fault - I shouldn't have let go of his hand." If only he had been stronger.
"Sweetheart, it's not your fault," mother reassured quickly, tilting his chin up. Her eyes were soft as they search his. "Do you understand? This was out of your control, and we should have been there for the both of you."
He nodded his head slowly, wanting to believe in that but having trouble accepting it at the moment. This was something he just couldn't forgive himself so easily.
"Don't worry, Bruce," his father said, gripping his shoulder steadily, "we'll find Adrian soon. He can't have been too far from the reptile exhibit."
o-O-o
Harry grumbled in annoyance as a group of penguins shuffled in his way as he tried to get past. He didn't know how long it had been, but so far, his encounters with the animal kingdom was not of the friendly kind.
Between a herd of stampeding zebras and almost being physically assaulted by a peacock, it was turning out to be one of those days that even McGonagall would run away from. Yet worst of all was dodging the brown projectiles that were thrown at him by a bunch of monkeys... yes, monkeys. One would think that those animals could be reasoned with, but they cared only for mayhem. They were tiny devils in disguised that had nothing better to do than harassed innocent, little boys.
He would forever be scarred by those wretched monkeys.
And despite all of this, he had yet to run into a single person. Harry had yet to find his family because traces of their aura were too faint for him to clearly pinpoint, and for some reason, the locating spell wasn't able to find them either. Now, if he was a less paranoid person, this would all be chopped up to bad luck. But he possessed a very healthy dose of paranoia, and 'Constant Vigilance' was too deeply drilled into him. Thus, Harry was now a few galleons short of blasting the next thing that surprised him.
Suddenly, one of the penguins waddled up to him, and he warily stared at the bird. It just blinked harmlessly for a few seconds, acting suspiciously cute until it bounced forward and cuddled into him. Harry gawked at it in disbelief. The nerve of the bird! He was about to push it back, but then it squawked and hurriedly ran away with the other penguins, almost disappearing from sight. Before he could begin to question the weird behaviour, a cold sensation seemed to crawl down his spine, filling him with dread.
Swallowing nervously, he slowly turned around... of course, out of all the animals that could have scared the penguins away, it had to be a bloody lion. A very big and obviously hungry lion. Its dark mane rustled menacingly as it gazed at him. Though the animal was yards away, Harry was still able to feel the hostility it emitted.
'I wonder what my chances are of convincing it that I'm not food?' he thought grimly. The lion then roared angrily while it stalked closer to him. 'Hmm, not much.' Having no other choice, Harry quickly looked into the feline's eyes.
He entered the lion's mind and immediately knew something was not right. There was some kind of silver veil that was covering the feline's mind. It prevented him from communicating with the animal, and he was unable to see anything further. The veil had a heavy presence to it as he hovered near the edge of the mind, observing for any clues. A short moment later, he finally identified what it was: some other being was occupying the lion's head and controlling it.
Without warning, the being shifted its attention towards him, and before he had any more time to process the anomaly, it swiftly rammed itself against his occlumency shields. The first contact left him struggling to remain standing, and the subsequent attacks were weakening his shields at a dangerous rate. He tried to reinforce them, but that only bought him a little bit of time until the inevitable occurred; his shields soon collapsed.
The intrusion sent blinding pain to his head, almost paralyzing him as his knees buckled to the ground. But just as fast as it occurred, Harry knew he had to react just as quick to defend against the foreign presence. Using sheer will to overcome the pain, something he developed from handling Voldemort's own mental attacks, Harry concentrated all the mental skills he possessed to push the intruder out of his mind.
It was very much like sand. It was the only thing he could equate it to - like trying to stop sand from flowing through the crevices and cracks of a wall. Very difficult to achieve and harder to expel once its inside... but not impossible with magic. Gathering his magic, he focused with all his might and gave one final shove. The push resonated with strength, and it worked in driving the intruder out.
His body eventually slumped in relief as he felt the presence fleeing. Though successful, the ordeal left him breathless as he clutched his throbbing head. If that wasn't fun enough, there were also the annoying white spots behind his eyes, preventing him from seeing anything else as he knelt there in a disoriented stupor.
That was when a low growl sounded right in front of him, so close that he could almost feel the warm breath upon his skin. 'Shit, the lion.'
Looking up, he was introduced to the hazy image of the feline. Before he could react, a giant black blur passed him and crashed into the lion, sending the large cat sprawling away. Very slowly, as if to aggravate him further, the headache finally receded to a dull ache. And once his vision began clearing, Harry was able to recognise what the blur was.
A gorilla.
It was a gorilla. Apparently, it was the same one he met a while ago. His eyes widened in confusion, not believeing in the sight before him yet. 'Okay, this is getting too weird.'
The gorilla now stood between him and the lion, pounding its chest in a show of intimidation and baring its teeth in warning at the other predator. He didn't have a moment to even question the absurdity of the act before two other lions had arrived to assist their male counterpart.
Oddly enough though, Harry still had time to see the irony of the situation. It really would have been a slap in the face to the former Gryffindor if he was killed by his old house symbol. If that was his fate, then he just knewDraco Malfoy would be getting a grand laugh out of it from beyond the grave.
'Wait, what!' Harry abruptly felt himself being lifted up by the collar of his shirt and being placed on the gorilla's back as the trio of lions began to circle them. 'Well, this is new.'
Now that was quite an understatement. Climbing on top a troll? No problem. Being carried by a centaur? A humble experience. Riding a dragon? Nothing he couldn't handle. Clutching onto a gorilla's back as it defends him from a pride of lions? Well, he always did aim to break records, didn't he?
Based on their behaviour, Harry could tell the other two lions were also being mind controlled; that just meant more bad news for him. Since it seemed like there were more security cameras in this area, he had to figure out how to stop the lions without revealing his involvement or the involvement of magic in any way.
A simple stunning spell would have solved everything if it didn't look so suspicious with the animals falling unconscious for no good reason. Any other charms or spells that could capture them would be too conspicuous. He could probably cast some kind of feline repelling ward around himself (a trick he actually learned from Ron), but that would allow the lions to roam free and possibly hurt other people.
As he thought more about it, a plan gradually started to form and not a second sooner because the lions chose that moment to rush forward. Harry clung on tighter as the gorilla leapt away from a swiping paw, but was not fast enough to avoid another lion coming to the side.
The large cat latched on to the gorilla's arm, fangs trying to sink in. 'Relashio,' he quickly casted. The spell forced the lion to release its hold, giving the gorilla the opportunity to dash away from the other two lions as they pounced in.
Now that they were temporarily out of immediate danger, Harry entered the gorilla's mind, showing it images of the plan and his intent on defeating the lions. The gorilla blinked twice before turning its head to look at him. He stared back with determination, and the gorilla let out a breathy grunt in response. If his primate friend was human, Harry would have counted that as a reluctant sigh.
With firm resolve, the gorilla then charged towards the male lion. As they drew closer, the large cat prepared itself to meet them head on.
'Confundo.'
Suddenly, the lion staggered in its movements, head shaking in confusion as it stared around blankly. Taking this chance, the gorilla's fist landed a blow to the feline's head at the same time Harry mentally casted, 'Stupefy.'
The result of that was instant. The lion laid unconscious near their feet, appearing to have been knocked out by the hit if anyone was to watch the recording of this fight.
Harry grinned in triumph. 'One down and two more to go.'
The last two lions were easily dealt with in the same manner. Once finished, the gorilla released a heavy breath, and they both turned to look at the large cats. All the lions were now blissfully sleeping, and they won't be waking up for a few more hours... or perhaps longer than that. He might had been a little over zealous on the stunning spell.
Carefully, the gorilla then lifted him off its back and took a few steps away from him. Green met black as they gaze into each other's eyes. Now that it was all over, a rush of emotions flooded into him, but the feeling that surfaced first was gratitude. Harry mentally sent a feeling of appreciation and gratefulness towards the other primate, hoping it would understand. Unsurprisingly, the gorilla's head nodded slightly in acknowledgement before walking away on its four limbs to perhaps explore more of the zoo.
As he numbly stood there, it was in that instance when Harry finally noticed something else. There was a gathered crowd surrounding the chaos of their fight. He immediately froze like a niffler caught stealing silver ware, trying very hard not to move as he saw their slack jawed expressions along with a few looks of amazement.
'Ruddy hell, how long have they been standing there?' Harry wondered in horror. How was it even possible for him to not notice any of them until now?
The crowd persisted to gaze at him in awe and disbelief, which was starting to disturb him more than he wanted to admit. It was too eerily similar to the way people first saw him when he was the Boy-Who-Lived. Not a very enjoyable experience truth be told.
"Adrian!"
His head swiveled in the direction of the shout to see his brother running towards him with their parents not too far behind. Bruce looked relieved, though another emotion crossed his face that Harry couldn't identify. As if that was the signal, an explosion of loud voices ignited from the silent crowd as his family raced to where he was standing.
His brother was the first one to reach him, tightly enveloping him in a hug. "Are you okay, Adrian?" Bruce whispered near his ear, concern pouring out of his voice.
At once, Harry felt the guilt rising for worrying his brother to such a degree that he would sound like that. He patted his brother's back, trying to reassure him. "I'm all right, Bruce," he said gently, hoping his tone would assuage any lingering fears.
Their parents soon joined them, with his mother's arms wrapped around him as Bruce moved away slightly. "Adrian, are you hurt?" she asked desperately.
"No, Mom - I'm okay," he managed to breathe out before she released him.
His father's expert eyes were checking him over for any injuries, scanning every inch of him in detail. "Are you sure, son?"
"Dad, I'm fine, really," Harry replied in embarrassment as they continued to fuss over him. "And Bruce, you can let go now."
His brother had moved on to grasp his hand, but Bruce had chosen to ignore his request with a stubborn expression. Realising how the contact was a measure of comfort for his brother, Harry decided not to mention it any further.
The Wayne patriarch reached down and brushed his hair back smoothly. "Adrian, what exactly happened?"
Harry blinked nervously at that. "I-I don't know," he said, the lie almost stuck in his throat. Harry didn't want to deceive his family, but he couldn't possibly tell them the truth. Instead, he went on to tell them how he was lost in the crowd and his encounter with the animals before finishing softly, "But the gorilla... it saved me." At least with that, he could be honest about.
Father stared at him indecipherably for a moment, but soon nodded in acceptance of his explanation. A warm smile graced his father's face afterwards in relief.
"Oh, Adrian," his mother sighed, the stress finally easing out of her shoulders. "When you said you wanted to get closer to the animals, I never would have imagined you ending up right in the middle of their scuffle."
Harry grinned sheepishly at her. "But I still didn't get the chance to feed the goats yet."
Both his parents laughed in exasperation at his question while Bruce fondly rolled his eyes, the grip on his hand remaining firm. Despite how everything had turned out, Harry honestly thought this trip was eminently more exciting and entertaining than Dudley's eleventh birthday trip to the zoo ever was.
'Yup, way better than Dudley's birthday,' he thought with contented delight.
o-O-o
The golden mask concealed her entire face, only reflecting the light from the hearth as she pondered this enigma. "How peculiar," she murmured in the quiet of their chambers.
"What is it, Mother?" Mordred demanded softly, curious at her comment.
Morgaine le Fey turned to her son, who was lounging on the settee as he played with that electronic hand held game. A look of interest that rarely adorned his face was settled on his features.
"For the past year, I have begun to sense a new magical presence," she informed, rising from her meditated state.
"There's nothing special about that," scoffed Mordred. "Isn't there always some kind of magical energy popping up?"
Morgaine smiled behind her mask, but it was not a pleasant one. Her son may be immortal due to the spell she casted on him centuries ago, yet that same spell that stopped his ten year old body from aging also stopped his mind from maturing as well. Such was the price for immortality.
"Yes, but it is unlike any I have ever felt," she continued. "It is uniquely different."
Magic from the gods she had felt a glimmer of, magic from demons she more than dabbled with, and magic from the fae she possessed. The other magic of this world were of lesser concern to her, yet this was not any of those. Could it somehow involve the Homo Magi?
Her son huffed out in annoyance, still impatient with her answer. "Do you know who it is then?"
"I saw only a glimpse into their mind before I was pushed out," Morgaine added calmly.
He gasped in shock. "Impossible! No one has ever succeeded in doing that since..." her son trailed off, nervous to speak that name.
She nodded slowly. "Merlin."
That man was the only person who ever came close to destroying her - erasing her existence. Her enmity with the ancient sorcerer was legendary as it was merciless. This new being, however, was no where near Merlin in power, but she could not deny that there was potential dwelling deep within there.
"What will you do, Mother?" Mordred asked, a hint of worry seeping into his voice.
Morgaine thought about it for only a moment. "Nothing."
"What! But why?" her son cried out. "Doesn't he pose a threat?"
"I only seek to test him at first out of mere curiosity, and I am satisfied for now to wait and see how he progresses," Morgaine admitted before another thought arose. "But..."
"Is there something else about him?"
She shook her head sharply, the only sign she would show of her dissatisfaction. "His mind presents a conundrum of identities," Morgaine confessed, remembering the only thing she discovered that was confusing her. "He is born and referred by others as Adrian, yet he thinks of himself as Harry... just Harry."
A/N: Morgaine le Fey & Mordred are based off from the JL & JLU animated series.
He stopped abruptly and twisted around a few people to see his parents. "Mom! Dad!"
They sprinted towards him, pushing through a throng of teenagers. Bruce immediately jogged ahead, having to avoid an elderly couple passing him before they finally reached each other.
"I'm so glad you're all right," his mother said, bending down on her knees to hug him.
His father did the same before looking up at their surroudings. His stance still guarded amongst the crowd of strangers. "Bruce, I can't see Adrian, where is he?"
He bit his lower lip, his frustration returning like a dead weight. "We - we got separated, and I've been looking everywhere, but I still can't find him," Bruce voiced out, ashamed that he'd lost his brother.
Both his parents' face paled in hearing that. He hung his head down, unable to watch their expressions as the knot in his stomach grew.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, fist clenching anxiously. "It's my fault - I shouldn't have let go of his hand." If only he had been stronger.
"Sweetheart, it's not your fault," mother reassured quickly, tilting his chin up. Her eyes were soft as they search his. "Do you understand? This was out of your control, and we should have been there for the both of you."
He nodded his head slowly, wanting to believe in that but having trouble accepting it at the moment. This was something he just couldn't forgive himself so easily.
"Don't worry, Bruce," his father said, gripping his shoulder steadily, "we'll find Adrian soon. He can't have been too far from the reptile exhibit."
o-O-o
Harry grumbled in annoyance as a group of penguins shuffled in his way as he tried to get past. He didn't know how long it had been, but so far, his encounters with the animal kingdom was not of the friendly kind.
Between a herd of stampeding zebras and almost being physically assaulted by a peacock, it was turning out to be one of those days that even McGonagall would run away from. Yet worst of all was dodging the brown projectiles that were thrown at him by a bunch of monkeys... yes, monkeys. One would think that those animals could be reasoned with, but they cared only for mayhem. They were tiny devils in disguised that had nothing better to do than harassed innocent, little boys.
He would forever be scarred by those wretched monkeys.
And despite all of this, he had yet to run into a single person. Harry had yet to find his family because traces of their aura were too faint for him to clearly pinpoint, and for some reason, the locating spell wasn't able to find them either. Now, if he was a less paranoid person, this would all be chopped up to bad luck. But he possessed a very healthy dose of paranoia, and 'Constant Vigilance' was too deeply drilled into him. Thus, Harry was now a few galleons short of blasting the next thing that surprised him.
Suddenly, one of the penguins waddled up to him, and he warily stared at the bird. It just blinked harmlessly for a few seconds, acting suspiciously cute until it bounced forward and cuddled into him. Harry gawked at it in disbelief. The nerve of the bird! He was about to push it back, but then it squawked and hurriedly ran away with the other penguins, almost disappearing from sight. Before he could begin to question the weird behaviour, a cold sensation seemed to crawl down his spine, filling him with dread.
Swallowing nervously, he slowly turned around... of course, out of all the animals that could have scared the penguins away, it had to be a bloody lion. A very big and obviously hungry lion. Its dark mane rustled menacingly as it gazed at him. Though the animal was yards away, Harry was still able to feel the hostility it emitted.
'I wonder what my chances are of convincing it that I'm not food?' he thought grimly. The lion then roared angrily while it stalked closer to him. 'Hmm, not much.' Having no other choice, Harry quickly looked into the feline's eyes.
He entered the lion's mind and immediately knew something was not right. There was some kind of silver veil that was covering the feline's mind. It prevented him from communicating with the animal, and he was unable to see anything further. The veil had a heavy presence to it as he hovered near the edge of the mind, observing for any clues. A short moment later, he finally identified what it was: some other being was occupying the lion's head and controlling it.
Without warning, the being shifted its attention towards him, and before he had any more time to process the anomaly, it swiftly rammed itself against his occlumency shields. The first contact left him struggling to remain standing, and the subsequent attacks were weakening his shields at a dangerous rate. He tried to reinforce them, but that only bought him a little bit of time until the inevitable occurred; his shields soon collapsed.
The intrusion sent blinding pain to his head, almost paralyzing him as his knees buckled to the ground. But just as fast as it occurred, Harry knew he had to react just as quick to defend against the foreign presence. Using sheer will to overcome the pain, something he developed from handling Voldemort's own mental attacks, Harry concentrated all the mental skills he possessed to push the intruder out of his mind.
It was very much like sand. It was the only thing he could equate it to - like trying to stop sand from flowing through the crevices and cracks of a wall. Very difficult to achieve and harder to expel once its inside... but not impossible with magic. Gathering his magic, he focused with all his might and gave one final shove. The push resonated with strength, and it worked in driving the intruder out.
His body eventually slumped in relief as he felt the presence fleeing. Though successful, the ordeal left him breathless as he clutched his throbbing head. If that wasn't fun enough, there were also the annoying white spots behind his eyes, preventing him from seeing anything else as he knelt there in a disoriented stupor.
That was when a low growl sounded right in front of him, so close that he could almost feel the warm breath upon his skin. 'Shit, the lion.'
Looking up, he was introduced to the hazy image of the feline. Before he could react, a giant black blur passed him and crashed into the lion, sending the large cat sprawling away. Very slowly, as if to aggravate him further, the headache finally receded to a dull ache. And once his vision began clearing, Harry was able to recognise what the blur was.
A gorilla.
It was a gorilla. Apparently, it was the same one he met a while ago. His eyes widened in confusion, not believeing in the sight before him yet. 'Okay, this is getting too weird.'
The gorilla now stood between him and the lion, pounding its chest in a show of intimidation and baring its teeth in warning at the other predator. He didn't have a moment to even question the absurdity of the act before two other lions had arrived to assist their male counterpart.
Oddly enough though, Harry still had time to see the irony of the situation. It really would have been a slap in the face to the former Gryffindor if he was killed by his old house symbol. If that was his fate, then he just knewDraco Malfoy would be getting a grand laugh out of it from beyond the grave.
'Wait, what!' Harry abruptly felt himself being lifted up by the collar of his shirt and being placed on the gorilla's back as the trio of lions began to circle them. 'Well, this is new.'
Now that was quite an understatement. Climbing on top a troll? No problem. Being carried by a centaur? A humble experience. Riding a dragon? Nothing he couldn't handle. Clutching onto a gorilla's back as it defends him from a pride of lions? Well, he always did aim to break records, didn't he?
Based on their behaviour, Harry could tell the other two lions were also being mind controlled; that just meant more bad news for him. Since it seemed like there were more security cameras in this area, he had to figure out how to stop the lions without revealing his involvement or the involvement of magic in any way.
A simple stunning spell would have solved everything if it didn't look so suspicious with the animals falling unconscious for no good reason. Any other charms or spells that could capture them would be too conspicuous. He could probably cast some kind of feline repelling ward around himself (a trick he actually learned from Ron), but that would allow the lions to roam free and possibly hurt other people.
As he thought more about it, a plan gradually started to form and not a second sooner because the lions chose that moment to rush forward. Harry clung on tighter as the gorilla leapt away from a swiping paw, but was not fast enough to avoid another lion coming to the side.
The large cat latched on to the gorilla's arm, fangs trying to sink in. 'Relashio,' he quickly casted. The spell forced the lion to release its hold, giving the gorilla the opportunity to dash away from the other two lions as they pounced in.
Now that they were temporarily out of immediate danger, Harry entered the gorilla's mind, showing it images of the plan and his intent on defeating the lions. The gorilla blinked twice before turning its head to look at him. He stared back with determination, and the gorilla let out a breathy grunt in response. If his primate friend was human, Harry would have counted that as a reluctant sigh.
With firm resolve, the gorilla then charged towards the male lion. As they drew closer, the large cat prepared itself to meet them head on.
'Confundo.'
Suddenly, the lion staggered in its movements, head shaking in confusion as it stared around blankly. Taking this chance, the gorilla's fist landed a blow to the feline's head at the same time Harry mentally casted, 'Stupefy.'
The result of that was instant. The lion laid unconscious near their feet, appearing to have been knocked out by the hit if anyone was to watch the recording of this fight.
Harry grinned in triumph. 'One down and two more to go.'
The last two lions were easily dealt with in the same manner. Once finished, the gorilla released a heavy breath, and they both turned to look at the large cats. All the lions were now blissfully sleeping, and they won't be waking up for a few more hours... or perhaps longer than that. He might had been a little over zealous on the stunning spell.
Carefully, the gorilla then lifted him off its back and took a few steps away from him. Green met black as they gaze into each other's eyes. Now that it was all over, a rush of emotions flooded into him, but the feeling that surfaced first was gratitude. Harry mentally sent a feeling of appreciation and gratefulness towards the other primate, hoping it would understand. Unsurprisingly, the gorilla's head nodded slightly in acknowledgement before walking away on its four limbs to perhaps explore more of the zoo.
As he numbly stood there, it was in that instance when Harry finally noticed something else. There was a gathered crowd surrounding the chaos of their fight. He immediately froze like a niffler caught stealing silver ware, trying very hard not to move as he saw their slack jawed expressions along with a few looks of amazement.
'Ruddy hell, how long have they been standing there?' Harry wondered in horror. How was it even possible for him to not notice any of them until now?
The crowd persisted to gaze at him in awe and disbelief, which was starting to disturb him more than he wanted to admit. It was too eerily similar to the way people first saw him when he was the Boy-Who-Lived. Not a very enjoyable experience truth be told.
"Adrian!"
His head swiveled in the direction of the shout to see his brother running towards him with their parents not too far behind. Bruce looked relieved, though another emotion crossed his face that Harry couldn't identify. As if that was the signal, an explosion of loud voices ignited from the silent crowd as his family raced to where he was standing.
His brother was the first one to reach him, tightly enveloping him in a hug. "Are you okay, Adrian?" Bruce whispered near his ear, concern pouring out of his voice.
At once, Harry felt the guilt rising for worrying his brother to such a degree that he would sound like that. He patted his brother's back, trying to reassure him. "I'm all right, Bruce," he said gently, hoping his tone would assuage any lingering fears.
Their parents soon joined them, with his mother's arms wrapped around him as Bruce moved away slightly. "Adrian, are you hurt?" she asked desperately.
"No, Mom - I'm okay," he managed to breathe out before she released him.
His father's expert eyes were checking him over for any injuries, scanning every inch of him in detail. "Are you sure, son?"
"Dad, I'm fine, really," Harry replied in embarrassment as they continued to fuss over him. "And Bruce, you can let go now."
His brother had moved on to grasp his hand, but Bruce had chosen to ignore his request with a stubborn expression. Realising how the contact was a measure of comfort for his brother, Harry decided not to mention it any further.
The Wayne patriarch reached down and brushed his hair back smoothly. "Adrian, what exactly happened?"
Harry blinked nervously at that. "I-I don't know," he said, the lie almost stuck in his throat. Harry didn't want to deceive his family, but he couldn't possibly tell them the truth. Instead, he went on to tell them how he was lost in the crowd and his encounter with the animals before finishing softly, "But the gorilla... it saved me." At least with that, he could be honest about.
Father stared at him indecipherably for a moment, but soon nodded in acceptance of his explanation. A warm smile graced his father's face afterwards in relief.
"Oh, Adrian," his mother sighed, the stress finally easing out of her shoulders. "When you said you wanted to get closer to the animals, I never would have imagined you ending up right in the middle of their scuffle."
Harry grinned sheepishly at her. "But I still didn't get the chance to feed the goats yet."
Both his parents laughed in exasperation at his question while Bruce fondly rolled his eyes, the grip on his hand remaining firm. Despite how everything had turned out, Harry honestly thought this trip was eminently more exciting and entertaining than Dudley's eleventh birthday trip to the zoo ever was.
'Yup, way better than Dudley's birthday,' he thought with contented delight.
o-O-o
The golden mask concealed her entire face, only reflecting the light from the hearth as she pondered this enigma. "How peculiar," she murmured in the quiet of their chambers.
"What is it, Mother?" Mordred demanded softly, curious at her comment.
Morgaine le Fey turned to her son, who was lounging on the settee as he played with that electronic hand held game. A look of interest that rarely adorned his face was settled on his features.
"For the past year, I have begun to sense a new magical presence," she informed, rising from her meditated state.
"There's nothing special about that," scoffed Mordred. "Isn't there always some kind of magical energy popping up?"
Morgaine smiled behind her mask, but it was not a pleasant one. Her son may be immortal due to the spell she casted on him centuries ago, yet that same spell that stopped his ten year old body from aging also stopped his mind from maturing as well. Such was the price for immortality.
"Yes, but it is unlike any I have ever felt," she continued. "It is uniquely different."
Magic from the gods she had felt a glimmer of, magic from demons she more than dabbled with, and magic from the fae she possessed. The other magic of this world were of lesser concern to her, yet this was not any of those. Could it somehow involve the Homo Magi?
Her son huffed out in annoyance, still impatient with her answer. "Do you know who it is then?"
"I saw only a glimpse into their mind before I was pushed out," Morgaine added calmly.
He gasped in shock. "Impossible! No one has ever succeeded in doing that since..." her son trailed off, nervous to speak that name.
She nodded slowly. "Merlin."
That man was the only person who ever came close to destroying her - erasing her existence. Her enmity with the ancient sorcerer was legendary as it was merciless. This new being, however, was no where near Merlin in power, but she could not deny that there was potential dwelling deep within there.
"What will you do, Mother?" Mordred asked, a hint of worry seeping into his voice.
Morgaine thought about it for only a moment. "Nothing."
"What! But why?" her son cried out. "Doesn't he pose a threat?"
"I only seek to test him at first out of mere curiosity, and I am satisfied for now to wait and see how he progresses," Morgaine admitted before another thought arose. "But..."
"Is there something else about him?"
She shook her head sharply, the only sign she would show of her dissatisfaction. "His mind presents a conundrum of identities," Morgaine confessed, remembering the only thing she discovered that was confusing her. "He is born and referred by others as Adrian, yet he thinks of himself as Harry... just Harry."
A/N: Morgaine le Fey & Mordred are based off from the JL & JLU animated series.
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