Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 14: Alone In A New World
Walking through London was a truly bizarre experience for him.
On one hand, he had all the knowledge of his childhood as Harry Potter, so this landscape wasn't completely alien, but on the other hand, most of his life had been spent living in the fifth century as Merlin.
Being now surrounded by cars, artificial lights, and buildings… it made him feel like he had arrived in a different world.
'To think that Londinium would one day become a place like this. Truly marvelous.' Back then, Merlin was sure that the ruins of old Londinium would one day be restored to its prime.
The Romans didn't choose this location by chance. The land where the city rose had something special about it.
Only those with abilities like Merlin could tell that this was because the magical density was more concentrated than usual here.
But even those with no magical capabilities could feel there was something peculiar in here.
Someone in the Roman Empire must have felt this 'something' and chose this land to erect their city.
However, by the time he sealed Morgan le Fay, the city of Londinium had been left abandoned after the fall of the Empire.
'Morgan…' This made him think of that woman again.
Now he felt truly sorry for having trapped her in those ruins. Merlin never intended to leave her there forever.
His untimely death had put a stop to his original plans, and now he wondered what had become of her.
For an instant, he even contemplated whether she could still be around, but immediately discarded the thought.
'Impossible… It's been over 1500 years. Even if she had managed to slow down her aging with some dark piece of magic, to live for that long would not be possible.'
Merlin decided that right now, he should focus on the present instead of dwelling on the past. There will be time for that later on.
After all, his current situation was not ideal.
He didn't need modern knowledge to realize that a child walking around at night through a metropolis such as this was bound to attract unwanted attention.
"Oi, kiddo!"
Something called for his attention, and he turned his head. Two young-looking women were standing in front of something that looked like a tavern.
"Can I help you?" Harry glanced at the two women. They were dressed in small attires that revealed a great deal of their skin, and by the smell emanating from them, they appeared to be slightly inebriated.
"You okay, child?" One of them asked. "Did you lose your mummy?"
"Aye, it's a bit late to be wandering around through this neighborhood." The other lady said.
Harry had no way to know what time it was, but it was indeed a bit late, as he had been walking for a very long time already.
He didn't feel any deceit coming from these two women, and they appeared to be genuinely concerned about him.
'Looks like there are still good people out there.' He felt better knowing this.
His main example of modern humans had been the Dursleys, and those were clearly rotten to the core.
He considered for a moment asking these two for directions. "I am indeed slightly lost. You see, I am looking fo—"
"Hey! What are you two doing there?!"
An angry middle-aged man was pointing his clenched fist at the two young women.
Harry noted that they became immediately scared at seeing this man.
"I'm not paying for standing there doing nothing. Go to your spots!" The man shouted.
"But Larry, we were just with some clients." One of the girls said.
"Yes, we just needed a short break, come on." The other one said.
"A rest?. Who the fuck do you think you are, the Queen?" The man called 'Larry' just noticed Harry when he was a few feet away. "And who is this brat? Don't tell me it's yours…"
The two women made a horrified expression.
"Of course not!"
"Eww! I don't have any children."
The man glared at him. "What are you staring at, eh?"
"I think he is lost."
"Yes, this is not a nice neighborhood for a kid." The two women said.
"And how is that your problem? You get to work right now!" The man grabbed one of their arms and twisted it. "Unless you want to piss me off."
"Ouch! Please stop!"
"Larry, come on. We are going, okay. Let her g—ahh!" The one who tried to help got slapped hard on the face.
"Excuse me. Could you stop that?" Harry got closer to the man. "That is no way to treat a lady."
"Ladies?" The man turned to glare at Harry. "A bloody brat like you wants to tell me how to treat my bitches?" He let go of the girl and got in front of Harry.
"Fuck you!" He lifted his hand and tried to slap him.
"Bitches?" Harry was not familiar with that terminology, but he was familiar with this type of person.
He used his hand to stop the man's attack while coursing some of his magic through it.
At this point, Harry had barely any physical strength, making it impossible for him to win a brawl.
But he was still a sorcerer, and should not be underestimated.
The moment that the man's hand made contact with Harry's, he recoiled instantly, as he had just been bitten by a snake.
His body started to tremble. "What did you d—..." His eyes turned blank, and he fell on his back with a loud 'thud' noise.
"Larry?"
"Oh my God! What happened to him? Did he have a heart attack?" The two women went to assist the downed man.
This left Harry a bit confused, because a moment ago, that man appeared to be attacking them, but now two women were worried about him.
'This makes no sense.'
He had been considering asking them if they knew of any sorcerer or warlock living in the city, but after seeing this, Harry decided to walk away from these strange people and continue his search.
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