Adopted by Legends

As Merlin was walking around, he couldn't help but wonder just what he had missed while he was away. Maybe there was another Dark wizard or something. Who cares? Not him. He had much more important things to worry about, such as waiting for his lov-I mean King!

Anyways, as he was walking along, he began to wonder what all he would find. He first disguised himself(not like he would be recognized) before heading to Diagon Alley. He was sure he could get plenty of information there.

On his way there(not wanting to teleport), Merlin suddenly felt something.

There was a magic user nearby. Clearly not experienced, but definitely had some potential.

Deciding there was nothing better to do at the moment, he walked over, using his magic to alter his physical age, making himself look about 20. When he arrived though, all he saw was a little boy getting tormented by a much larger boy.

With a sigh, Merlin walked over and raised his voice a bit. "What's going on over here?"

The larger boy looked over at him with annoyance flashing in his eyes. "Well, we were just playing around, right, Harry?"

Harry looked at the boy in fear before looking at Merlin. "Y-yeah, that's all…"

Merlin couldn't help but be a little disgusted with what he was seeing, knowing the difference between roughhousing and tormenting another person. He got on one knee, putting himself closer to Harry's level. "Come on, you don't have to lie for him."

Harry's eyes widened a bit, and he started to tear up. Before he could speak though, Dudley stomped forward. "And why should he listen to you?!"

Merlin rolled his eyes before using his magic to fling the boy back. "That's enough out of you. If you wanna roughhouse, go do so with someone more your size that actually wants to."

Dudley looked at the man, fear raging in his eyes. Instead of saying anything, he just ran back home. Harry watched this with a look of amazement on his face. "You okay, kid? I can't exactly heal you, but I can offer you a place to stay."

Harry genuinely didn't know how to respond to this. He'd been told not to go with strangers, but the man in front of him had just protected him, and had sent Dudley flying with ease, so he wouldn't exactly have trouble taking him.

Then, he thought about what would likely be waiting for him at the Dursley's if he went back after this. He shuddered at the thought before turning to Merlin. "Can we go and get some things first?"

Merlin smiled. "Of course. Just lead the way, and we can go to my place."

Harry led him to the Dursley's quickly, wanting to see his new home quickly, and on the way, they Introduced themselves.

"So, your name's Harry, right?" Merlin asked with a smile.

Harry nodded, both too scared and excited to verbalize a response.

Merlin smiled back in response. "Well, I'm Merlin."

Harry looked at Merlin in amazement. "You mean like in the stories of King Arthur?!"

Merlin gave a cheeky little grin. "Hehe, yep! But, I actually knew him before he became King."

Harry seemed so excited by that prospect. "Can you tell me about him?!"

Merlin shook his head. "Not right now, Harry. How about this, after we get back to my home, I can tell you all about him, and how many times I had to save his ass. I can even teach you magic, if you'd like." He said the last part in an almost conspiratorial voice.

Harry was practically bouncing in excitement. "Really?! That would be so cool!"

Merlin chuckled. "Yes, really. After all, I've been meaning to look for an apprentice."

They continued to talk for a while as they walked before Harry went quiet.

"What's up, Harry?" Merlin asked as gently as he could.

"We're here…" he said in a quiet voice as he pointed at the house in front of them. It was a simple, white building that seemed almost copy pasted throughout the neighborhood. It was almost uncanny, really.

Merlin gave Harry a gentle pat on the shoulder. "How about we go in, and then we can leave, okay?"

Harry nodded as they both stepped up and walked to the door, planning to just go in and get his few things quickly.

Harry and Merlin entered as quietly as possible, but apparently, Vernon had been standing at the doorway, waiting for Harry to come back. When the door opened, Vernon had swung his hand, having been ready to back hand Harry to the ground for what had happened. Seeing the hand coming for him, Harry instinctively flinched.

Instead of the feeling of pain as he fell to the floor though, he simply heard a muffled impact before Vernon started cursing like a sailor, and when Harry looked up, he saw the rotund older man holding his hand and wrist in pain while Merlin held out his hand, and there seemed to be a translucent barrier between them.

"Now now, is that any way to respond to a child entering your home?" Merlin said sarcastically.

Vernon growled, his words filled with hatred and malice. "That FREAK is barely welcome in our home as is! He's a waste of space and money!"

Merlin tilted his head to the side. "Then why not let me take him off your hands?"

Vernon pauses for a moment and smirks. "And what exactly would I get from this?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "You mean other than having the kid you apparently hate out of your hair? How about gold?"

Vernon's eyes lit up with greed. "Show me the gold, and then we can talk."

The ancient wizard stepped into the house without invitation. "Harry, how about you go get whatever it is you wanna take with you?"

Harry nodded and headed over to the cupboard. This concerned Merlin. "Shouldn't you be going to your room?"

Harry tilted his head to the side in genuine confusion as he gestures to the cupboard. "This is my room."

Merlin felt his blood go cold for a moment before his anger took hold of him, his magic lashing out and pinning Vernon to the wall painfully.

After a few seconds of this passed, Merlin threw Vernon into a chair, using his magic to summon a contract and a quill. "Sign at the bottom. Once you sign that, we leave, and you never see us again."

Vernon, out of fear, picked up the quill and signed his name at the bottom, wanting them gone as fast as possible. Once his signature was at the bottom, the quill turned and drew a few drops of blood from Vernon before writing something in an ancient language at the bottom, just below the signature, before both the quill and the contract burst into flames, being g accepted as valid by magic.

"You have everything you need Harry?"

Harry nodded, not quite scared of Merlin after that outburst. If anything, he thought it was really cool.

As they were leaving though, Vernon called out. "Wait, what about my gold?!"

Merlin whipped around and glared at the man, taking an immense amount of restraint to not light him on fire. "Why would I give anything to someone like you? That contract makes sure you can't accept any money from other magic users for Harry."

What he didn't state, just in case, was that it also gave him full custody of Harry in the eyes of magic, making him Harry's legal and magical guardian.

Vernon froze for a moment before the words clicked in his head, and he flung the chair he was in back in anger. "What?! But what about the money from that weird, old man?!"

Merlin narrowed his eyes at that, suddenly glad for his own precaution. "Well, that deal is off now, regardless. You signed the contract, and it was accepted by magic, so whoever it is can no longer pay you for such things."

Without another word(mostly so he didn't literally murder the man), Merlin turned to Harry. "You got everything?"

Harry nodded and smiled, holding out a single army man. "Yep! I have all my things!"

Merlin was very close to increasing his body count, but decided it wouldn't be worth it. Instead, he offered his arm to Harry. "Then let's go. We can get you more things after we get you back home."

Harry smiled and grabbed onto his arm before they both teleported away.