As soon as Merlin saw Albus Dumbledore, Merlin had to hold in laughter. He reminded Merlin strongly of when he changes into Dragoon. Dumbledore is the best impersonator of him yet. Merlin swallowed his laughter, but he couldn't quite hide his grin. Dumbledore was wearing sky blue robes and his long silver beard seemed to sparkle in the light of the candles. Wise blue eyes gazed at him through half moon spectacles. They were twinkling, not unlike the way that Merlin's used to in Camelot. The twinkle disappeared when Arthur died.

"Albus, I have brought Myddrin Ambrosius to be tested." Snape said, stiffly.

"Thank you, Severus." Dumbledore said.

"Once he is done, send him down to me so I can assess him on his potion making." Snape said, before he promptly left the room, the door closing behind him. Merlin's eyes was dragged over to the phoenix sitting on its perch, who was also looking at him, with recognition in its eyes. It was Fawkes, Godric's old phoenix. Phoenix's, like him, are immortal, but when they die, are reborn in the flames. Fawkes look beautiful as always. 'Hello, Emrys.' Fawkes whispered in his mind. Merlin smiled softly, inclining his head ever so slightly in greeting to the magnificent creature. Fawkes bowed it's beautiful head and continued to gaze at him.

"How interesting..." Dumbledore whispered. Merlin turned towards him in confusion. "The only other person, besides myself, I know of that Fawkes likes, is Harry."

Merlin nodded. Hardly surprising. Phoenix's can sense whether the person is pure of heart, and Harry definitely is from what he has seen in the Crystal of Neahtid. Phoenix's, like the unicorns, are of the Old Religion so Merlin has a strong bond with them as opposed to the creatures of the New Magic.

"Please, take a seat." Dumbledore waves his wand, and produced a chair from thin air, though Merlin knew it was transported from somewhere else in the castle. Merlin sat in the arm chair Dumbledore had conjured in front of the desk. "First off, welcome to Hogwarts."

"Thank you professor. Hogwarts is beautiful." Merlin said, awe in his voice. It truly was, no matter how many times Merlin came here, it never ceased to amaze him.

"Indeed she is, my boy." Merlin barely had to stop himself from grimacing. He hatred being called a "boy" but he has to play the part. "If you don't mind, before were get to your testing, I would like to ask a few questions."

"That's fine, professor." Merlin said, nodding. He had an entire cover story that he had spent the last few weeks thinking about. Dumbledore was looking at him intently for a moment and Merlin shifted in his seat. Can Dumbledore see through the concealment charm?

Dumbledore nodded and laced his fingers on the desk, in front of him. "Your name is Myrddin Ambrosius, am I correct?" Merlin nodded. "You are thirteen years old?" Merlin nodded again. "May I ask, why did you decide to join Hogwarts now and not at the age of eleven?"

"I was going to join at eleven, but then my uncle got really ill and I couldn't just leave him, so I dropped out. My uncle taught me everything up to second year. My uncle was a physician so I helped him with potions and stuff, so when he became ill, I tried to help him as best I could, but, unfortunately, he passed a few weeks back." Merlin half lied. He could feel a tear roll down his cheek at the thought of Gaius. Avalon, he missed his old mentor. Even if it has been nearly two thousand years ago. Merlin wiped it away. "His last dying wish was for me to receive a proper education and go to Hogwarts."

Dumbledore had sympathy in his eyes. "I'm sorry." Merlin nodded. "What of your parents?"

"My mother died of a very rare disease when I was younger and my father..." Merlin had to swallow back tears. His father's death weighed heavily upon him, even after all this time. "My father worked with dragons." Merlin had an ironic smile on his face as he said this. "I went with him once, but I was careless and a ba-uh dragon, got loose and went to slash me, but my father pushed me out of the way and the dragon killed him." The had to literally force back his tears now. It was his fault. He should of seen that sword coming, should of stopped it...

"It isn't your fault, Myrddin" Dumbledore said, quietly. Merlin looked up at him. "Your father saved your life. Don't blame yourself for it." Merlin nodded, finally managing to get a hold of his emotions. Dumbledore reminded him of Gaius a bit. "Now let's get on with the testing." Dumbledore said, changing the subject, which Merlin is grateful for. "You will be tested in your Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts theory, Charms practical and theory, History of Magic, Transfiguration practical and theory, Astronomy and Potions. To make sure that you are capable to go into third year. Once you are done, we will talk about your electives and get you sorted."

Merlin nodded. "Okay." Merlin said. He knew that until third year, you didn't do much practical in DADA.

"If you would follow me Mr Ambrosius." Dumbledore said. Merlin rose from his chair and followed Dumbledore up a flight if stairs, through an oak door and into a small room with a desk and a small stack of organised exam papers. A quill and an ink pot reside next to the exam papers. "Come down when you're done and we'll do your Transfiguration and Charms practical." Merlin have a brief smile to the Headmaster. "Good luck." He said before leaving through the door and closing it behind him.

Merlin sat in the chair and picked up the first exam paper. Herbology. This was one of the subjects that he's strongest in. Merlin knows he has to hold back if he wants to seem like an ordinary student. Also, he doesn't know how long he is supposed to spend on each paper. Merlin looked at them. There was six papers there, so Merlin estimated about half an hour on each paper. Merlin dipped his quill in the ink pot and got to work.

An hour and a half later, Merlin had finished all of the papers. Merlin tried to slow down, but when he got started, he could barely stop. He finished the Herbology one in about fifteen minutes. He made sure he made a few obvious mistakes but not too many so he would have to go in the year below. It was important that he's put into third year, because of Harry Potter and see if he can try to protect the boy from Peter Pettigrew. If Merlin is right and Sirius did escape because of Pettigrew, then Harry is going to be needing protecting.

Merlin left it a few minutes, before he opened the door and weren't down the steps. Dumbledore was say at his desk, writing something. He looked up when Merlin cleared his throat. Due to all of the sneaking around Merlin had had to do in Camelot, he is surprisingly light and agile on his feet, so when he approaches people, they can't hear him.

Dumbledore looked slightly surprised, before he composed himself. He smiled warmly at Merlin. "Do you need something, my boy?" Dumbledore asked, kindly.

"Um... I, uh, I've finished, professor." Merlin said, nervously. Dumbledore's eyes widened behind his spectacles, which made Merlin mentally berate himself. Damn. He finished them too fast. Oops.

Dumbledore, obviously seeing Merlin's distress, smiled. "Not to worry, my boy. I'm sure you did fine, though you finished them faster than I was expecting..." Dumbledore trailed off, as if lost his thoughts. "Anyway. Now it's time for your Charms and Transfiguration practical." Merlin sat down in the chair Dumbledore had conjured, and took out his wand. "Let's start with Transfiguration."

An hour later, and Merlin had finished with his Charms and Transfiguration practicals. They were pretty basic, considering it was first and second year, so it wasn't too difficult. Merlin deliberately said a couple of spells wrong, so he's pretty sure that he didn't surpass anything. He's here to be under the radar, appear to be an average student, so he can protect Harry. There is only one reason Sirius has escaped, now of all times. Pettigrew. Though, how Sirius knows about Pettigrew, he doesn't know. But, Merlin almost certain that Sirius knows. Merlin doesn't even know where Pettigrew resides. But, he would be dammed if he doesn't find out.

"You have one final test left." Dumbledore said, snapping Merlin out of his reverie. "Potions. Let me send for Severus so you can do your final test." Dumbledore wordlessly waved his wand and a silver Phoenix Patronus shot out of it and it flew through the walls. Merlin was impressed. Having a magical creature as a Patronus is extremely rare and only the most powerful of wizards have them. And doing it wordlessly, no less. Dumbledore, it seems, is one of those few. Though, it hardly surprises Merlin. There is a reason Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard of this age.

"You have a Phoenix Patronus." Merlin stated, impressed.

Dumbledore looked slightly surprised, but quickly masked it. "Indeed." Dumbledore said, blue eyes filled with curiousity. "You know about Patronus'?"

Merlin almost snorted. Of course he does. He invented the Patronus Charm. "Yes, I read about them in one of my father's old books." Merlin lied. "After he..." Merlin trailed off. Dumbledore nodded in understanding.

"Severus, should be here soon." Dumbledore spoke. Merlin had no doubt.

Twenty minutes* later, Snape came through the door to the office, black cloak swishing behind him. Merlin almost rolled his eyes. Almost as dramatic as Gwaine. "Ah, Severus. Please take Myddrin here for his Potions test, while I mark his other exams."

Eyebrows rose on Snape's face, but he didn't comment. "Come, Ambrosius." Snape said, before turning around, leaving the office. Merlin followed him, closing the doors to the office behind him.

A/N: I hope you like the chapter.

I have four conditional offers for university. I can't believe it. I'm almost up to date with my coursework now, which I'll be doing over the weekend to get all of it done and dusted before I start the next unit. I had already nearly finished this chapter, so I might as well finish and post it.

I hope you like it. Next chapter will be Merlin's test with Snape.

Triquetra123