The favorite character poll on my profile that I opened a long time ago is now closed. If anyone wants to take a look at the results, they're up!

"So it's you," Merlin called, eyes wide, as the ghost circled him. "It's always been you. Oh, gods...I'm so sorry."

The milky-pale face of Godric Gryffindor peered back at him curiously, as if he had never seen anything quite as fascinating as Merlin before. Merlin stared back, and swallowed heavily.

"Strange," Godric told him, pausing to hover before the entrance of the Great Hall. Merlin could see now that his friend had changed -he still had the familiar features, the same tilt of the eyebrow and the lopsided grin, but there was a psychotic undertone to the ghost's expression. A thousand years of solitude had driven Godric mad; Moaning Myrtle couldn't possibly compare. "You haven't aged a day."

Merlin didn't reply. Godric Gryffindor was making him nervous -even in life, he was unpredictable, and Merlin was unsure if the poltergeist was willing to talk or simply attack.

This is not Godric Gryffindor, Merlin reminded himself. If he attacks you, attack back. This is no time for long-lost nostalgic friendships.

"What happened?" Merlin asked finally, worried that one wrong word would set Godric off. "I understand some things...but I don't understand at all. How are you here? What happened?"

"I'm the last one you would expect to see here," Godric grinned, eye twitching. "I can see it in your eyes. You're surprised. You're scared."

Merlin nodded shortly, then repeated the question. "What happened?"

He was perfectly aware that George was listening in on the conversation. He was aware that Lee was lying on the floor several feet away, unconscious, and that Fred was likely going to die in less than a dozen minutes if he didn't get proper medical care. But he couldn't just...he had to know.

"They said that I had snapped." Godric's eyes danced. "That I was mad, that I lost it after Salazar left. They were right. That's exactly what happened."

"But what did you do?"

"I killed myself, obviously." Gryffindor rolled his eyes. "I couldn't live with Salazar's betrayal. But the gods had a very special torture for me...did you know, Merlin, that ghosts can become poltergeists? Did you know that poltergeists can become ghosts if the wrong that has been done to them is fixed?"

Merlin nodded once. "I did know."

"And did you know of my hell?"

Merlin blinked. "Sorry?"

"My hell. I'm in hell, Merlin. You see, hell comes after death...and it's torture. It's excruciating. It burns. It's the burden of being a poltergeist, you see. That's where I am now, and I need to get out. I need to right my wrong. I need to become a ghost."

Merlin took a step away from the poltergeist. Godric's gestures seemed to be getting more animated, and his skin more opaque with each angry word. "How?" Merlin asked carefully. "How do you plan to right your wrong?"

The expression on Godric's face following the question was eerie. An eyebrow raised knowingly, a small smirk graced his lips. "With your help, of course. You will help me to bring Salazar Slytherin back from the dead. You can do it, I know you can -you are the most powerful being to live, after all."

Merlin swallowed, and shook his head once, imperceptibly. "I can't...I've tried. Nothing can bring back the dead. Maybe images, or memories, but not the dead themselves. I'm sorry."

"You will."

"I can't."

"No, but you will!" Godric moved forward vehemently. "You must! This is your reason, Merlin -this is what you are meant to do! Why else would I have woken you up?"

Merlin blinked. "You woke me up?"

Gryffindor snorted. "You're falling behind again. Really, Merlin. Isn't it obvious? Don't you remember what Helena said, just before you slept? 'You'll wake up. Should we fail trying to protect the students of this school.'"

Oh.

"So up until now," Merlin's eyes grew in understanding, "you've been trying to protect the students of this school. And then you let the diary possess Ginny...so you weren't trying anymore. And so I woke up. But..." It still doesn't make sense. "After that. Why the killings? Why target Dumbledore, why Filch? What happened with the mirror of Erised?"

A grin came in reply. Just a grin -not a single answer.

From somewhere in the castle, a BANG echoed across the halls. Merlin had only heard the sound a few times before, but he recognized it immediately as several more BANGs followed quickly.

The Aurors. Moody's backup.

Godric seemed to realize this, too, and with another Cheshire smile, swung back into the Great Hall.

"They want a fight, Merlin!" Gryffindor called. "Shall we give them one?"

Merlin knew that he couldn't win this battle. Not only did Godric have centuries more magical experience than Merlin did, but he couldn't die.

Though to be fair, Merlin couldn't either, but he could still feel pain. Pain -of any sort -was enough to lose.

The first spell came flying towards the old warlock and he twisted away, throwing up a rippling shield. A second spell slammed into his shield and Merlin staggered back several feet from the sheet power of the magic.

"Godric, don't do this!" Merlin peered into the dimly-lit room, trying to catch a glimpse of the translucent spectre sulking in the corners. "We were friends once, you and I! Do you remember? I don't want to hurt you!"

"Hurt me?"

Merlin's blood chilled as he recognized the voice of George Weasley -but it wasn't George Weasley. George Weasley's voice wasn't tinged with insanity. He turned towards the being that inhabited the body of his friend.

"George. Fight it." Merlin's voice was low, a monotone. The corners of George's mouth twitched up in a smirk.

"Fight me, Merlin."

There were footsteps behind him, and somewhere in the back of his mind he connected the dots between the footsteps and the BANGs from before and Moody's Auror team.

"You BASTARD!" George snarled at him suddenly, and it was as if his entire personality had shifted. "I should have known from the beginning, the clues all pointed to you..."

"Wait, hang on -"

"And Fred. And Lee...why did you have to go after them, too? I thought we had been friends. I suppose I was wrong...the Heir of Slytherin has no friends."

Merlin took a shaky step back, holding his arm out in warning. Something bright flashed, like the flashbulb of a camera. "Godric, leave George alone or I will make you."

George didn't flinch.

And, with his heart sinking, Merlin whispered a spell under his breath, watched it shoot towards George and catch him in the chest as his friend crumpled to the ground. With another whisper, ghostly ropes wound their way around the now-visible poltergeist's legs, and arms, until he was completely bound. Spells thrown by the Aurors were vibrating off of his shield and bouncing in every direction -if he didn't release the shield soon, a spell could seriously injure someone innocent.

Merlin released his hand, and the poltergeist vanished. The spell he had cast on Godric would hold for quite a while.

Okay, Aurors, Merlin thought, turning and dropping the shield. Take me.

A bolt of red caught Merlin in the shoulder, then another in the chest and the thigh, and he was hurled into darkness.

"Hey."

Merlin's insides were cold.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

Someone was talking to him. He felt strangely empty, in a horrible way...like someone had sucked something vital from his soul.

Merlin cracked open an eyelid, then another, and almost wished that he hadn't opened them in the first place. He was in a cell -a cell made of stone, huge black stone lining the walls and the ceiling. There were iron bars covering two walls. Through one of the walls peered a man.

"This is the first time you've moved in a week," the man informed him.

"Wha...?" Merlin was surprised to find his voice dry, though in retrospect he should have expected it.

"Oh, sorry, I'm rude. My name is Sirius Black, dunno if you've heard of me. I hear I'm pretty popular down in the world of mortals. And this..." Sirius Black gestured at the bare walls and the darkness. "Is Azkaban. Welcome."

END OF CHAMBER OF SECRETS

MIGHT POST PRISONER OF AZKABAN SOMETIME

POA WILL WRAP ENDS UP THAT I NEGLECTED TO WRAP UP IN BK 1

YEP

Major shoutout to Uniformal Sorrelle for managing to guess who Peeves is (Godric's Hollow was a foreshadow). Also to MugetsuPipefox for being super close...and a lot of you guessed that Peeves is the goblin from the Merlin series, which now that I think about it fits PERFECTLY from a reader's perspective. So kudos to all of you guys for thinking that up!

I got a PM from someone asking for a complete list of all of the clues that I've left in the series. Below you'll find a montage with the chapter numbers of most of the clues I've hidden in this story, just in case some of you are curious.

Chapter three: "They didn't meet anyone in the hallway except for Peeves" -Peeves sulking around the hallway during the first basilisk attack.

Chapter nine: "Disappeared yesterday, no one's seen the bloody Slytherin since" -the Bloody Baron disappears, being the only person who could possibly spill Peeves's secret (having known him for so long).

Chapter nine: "Seconds later, he heard mad cackling as something whooshed by their hiding place and was gone as quickly as it had come." -that would be Peeves, again, fleeing from Filch's death where he had likely possessed Mrs. Norris to attack her master.

Chapter nine: "Argus Filch, completely covered in thin scratches" -again with Mrs. Norris's possession.

Chapter ten: "Lee doesn't know how to make a Patronus" -this helps in chapter 24, when Merlin gets a Patronus from Lee. If Lee doesn't know how to make a Patronus, then how did he make it? (Peeves, obviously).

Chapter thirteen: "You'll wake up," Helena warned. "Should we fail trying to protect the students of this school..." I explained this in this chapter. Godric stopped trying to protect the students, so Merlin woke up.

Chapter seventeen: '"Eek!" The spectre let out a short, un-Peeves-like squeak as he caught sight of Merlin's face. Merlin frowned, starting forward, but Peeves turned so abruptly away that Merlin couldn't see his expression. Quicker than Merlin could process, Peeves vanished..."' -Godric didn't want Merlin to see his face or he'd recognize him.

Chapter twenty: "Peeves had been lurking around in the office when they all entered..." -Dumbledore's death.

I might've missed a few hints, but oh well. You get most of them. Until next time, guys :)

whenithitsthefan