Snow settled lightly on the standing stones, coating the hilltop in a thin, ghostly veil. Merlin remained kneeling where the light had died, Excalibur's tip buried in the earth, breath shaking as he forced himself to remain upright.
The seal was complete.
The fragment of the fallen angel—invisible, hungry, seething—was now locked beneath the hill, frozen in a prison of magic and holy fire. The smooth circle of blackened glass in the earth pulsed faintly, like a buried heart.
Slowly, Merlin reached a trembling hand toward it—
Uriel seized his wrist.
"Do not touch it," the archangel warned.
Merlin swallowed."It's sealed. It shouldn't be able to reach me."
"Perhaps not. But it remembers you."Uriel's eyes glowed like twin suns."And your blood remembers it."
Merlin looked away.
He didn't want to admit how close the fragment had come to breaking him. How its whispers had clawed at the edges of his mind. How sealing it had felt like sealing away a part of himself he wanted to forget.
The ground suddenly trembled.
Not from the seal—but from someone approaching.
Three figures emerged from the mist:
A tall warrior draped in a lion-emblazoned cloak.A regal witch with sharp eyes and a mind like a blade.A cold, dark-robed man whose every step whispered caution.
Godric Gryffindor.Rowena Ravenclaw.Salazar Slytherin.
Godric's booming voice cut through the air."Merlin! You've gone and scarred an entire hill! Again!"
Rowena stepped forward, her calculating gaze snapping immediately to the black stone circle at Merlin's feet.
"What have you done?" she whispered. Not fearful—curious.
Salazar raised his wand, face tightening."Whatever it is radiates a presence I do not care for."
Merlin managed a tired smile."I've given you a foundation."
"Foundation?" Godric echoed. "Foundation for what, exactly? A prison?"
"A school," Merlin corrected quietly. "Build your school here. Around this place. Its magic will strengthen your wards… and your students."
Rowena's breath caught, eyes widening as the vision filled her mind:
A castle rising from this very hill, towers stretching toward the sky.A sanctuary for young witches and wizards.A place to protect, to teach, to grow.
Hogwarts.
Salazar, however, did not move closer.
"And if this prison breaks?" he asked, eyes narrowing.
Merlin looked down at the obsidian-like seal pulsing beneath the snow.
"It will," he said softly. "Not today. Not tomorrow. Centuries from now. And when it does…"
Uriel stepped forward, wings unfurling like sheets of blinding light.
"When the seal weakens," he said, voice echoing with power,"a child of both heaven and earth will hear its call."
The wind died.
Rowena stared at the archangel in awe.Godric's grin faded into solemn understanding.Salazar's grip on his wand tightened.
Merlin lowered his voice.
"One day… someone of my bloodline will be drawn here. And he will be forced to confront what I sealed away."
Uriel's wings dimmed.
"He will be powerful," the archangel continued."But power does not guarantee wisdom. Or survival."
The Founders exchanged glances.
A prophecy.A warning.A future tied to the birth of their school.
Godric exhaled."Well. If a child is destined to fight the darkness beneath our feet, then by Merlin's beard, we'd better build the greatest school in the world."
Rowena nodded firmly."This place… yes. It feels right."
Salazar remained unmoving, watching the seal with deep unease."You meddle with forces older than the world."
Merlin laughed once—tired, hollow."I always have."
He sheathed Excalibur, the blade dimming to iron once more.
"Take care of this place," he told them. "Guard it. Teach those who come after. And pray the child who inherits this burden is stronger than I ever was."
Snow drifted down again, settling over the standing stones and the fresh scar in the earth.
Four future Founders stood on the hill where Hogwarts would one day rise.
And far beneath the earth, the sealed fragment pulsed once—slow and hateful—waiting for the day when the blood of its captor would finally return.