"Helena, don't shout like that. I'm not your father."
Dana sighed as Helena pouted at him, her big eyes filled with indignation.
"But I saw it myself! You held Mommy's hand that day! She let you touch her — that means she's going to marry you, doesn't it?"
Dana rubbed his temples, trying to stay patient. "I was lifting a curse from your mother that day, Helena. That's all. Don't make wild guesses."
"Really?" she asked, suspiciously tilting her head.
"Really."
At that, Helena suddenly brightened, springing to her feet. "That's great!" she declared cheerfully. "That means when I grow up, Brother Merlin can marry me instead!"
Dana froze, speechless.
He stared at the little girl in front of him, utterly defeated by her innocent boldness. He couldn't scold her — she was far too young — so he asked gently, "And why would Helena want to marry me?"
"Because Brother Merlin is even more amazing than Godric!" she said matter-of-factly.
Dana smiled wryly. "You can't just marry someone because they're amazing, can you?"
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Then…" she paused, thinking deeply, "it's because Brother Merlin is the most handsome boy I've ever seen!"
Dana scratched his head. Being praised by a seven-year-old was flattering, sure, but the idea of making promises to a child — that was far beyond what even he could entertain.
"Helena, you're still too young. Let's talk about this when you grow up."
He couldn't think of a better excuse, so he resorted to the timeless "when you're older" line. Secretly, he resolved to tell Rowena to keep her daughter's imagination in check the next time he saw her.
"Only when I grow up?" Helena asked softly.
"Yes. You can only fall in love when you're grown up, and you can only marry when both people agree."
"But Mommy had me without even knowing who my daddy was!"
Dana went silent.
…Right. Expecting Rowena Ravenclaw to properly educate her daughter was clearly hopeless.
"Well," he said, forcing a smile, "that may be how your mother is, but with me, there are rules."
Helena puffed her cheeks. "Alright… but you have to promise! Before I grow up, Brother Merlin isn't allowed to find a bride behind Helena's back!"
What a headache.
Dana decided that once Hogwarts was finished, he'd keep a good distance from this little troublemaker.
His real focus now was finding Morgan le Fay — and killing her. After that, all he wanted was to coast quietly through the centuries until 1994, reconnecting with the point in time he'd originally come from.
Marriage and children? Not a chance. Considering Helena's tragic fate in history — not to mention that disastrous love triangle that would one day lead to her death — Dana had no intention of creating any new lives in the past.
After sending Helena off, he returned to his workshop and began fine-tuning the magic array.
He structured the entire formation with layered permissions:
Primary access for professors,
Intermediate access for deans,
Advanced access for the principal,
and supreme access reserved for himself.
After all, he'd helped build Hogwarts. It was only fair that once the Four Founders were gone, the castle would belong to him.
The Birth of Hogwarts
A full year passed before the castle was complete.
If it had been mere stone and mortar, the construction wouldn't have taken long. But Hogwarts wasn't just a fortress — it was a labyrinth of interwoven magical circuits, the most complex magical structure ever conceived.
Even for Dana, a master of runes and magic arrays, completing it took countless experiments and failures.
Later generations would boast that "Hogwarts is the safest place in the world," attributing it to the powerful magic of Albus Dumbledore. But Dana knew the truth better than anyone — because he had built it.
Hogwarts wasn't just a school. It was a weapon — a colossal magical war machine forged from the combined wisdom of Merlin and the Four Founders.
As the sole holder of the highest permissions, Dana understood the terrifying potential of the castle.
If Hogwarts ever unleashed its full power, it would surpass even Merlin City, his own previous masterpiece.
The castle could harness and amplify the emotional energy of wizards, multiplying their magic severalfold. It wasn't merely a sanctuary — it was a living fortress.
After long discussion, the Founders chose Salazar Slytherin as the first Headmaster. The system of four Houses didn't yet exist, though Dana had already laid the framework for the future Deans' permissions.
When invited to serve as Vice Principal, Dana declined. His knowledge exchange with the Founders was mutual — no debts between them. He had gained Slytherin's personal magical notes, and in return, he had trained Slytherin's apprentices and protected the castle.
When the work was done, Dana prepared to leave in pursuit of Morgan le Fay.
Before his departure, the Founders held a grand feast in his honor. Everyone was reluctant to see him go — Helena Ravenclaw cried so hard she nearly fainted.
Curiously, another person also wept uncontrollably that night: the former Father Lockhart, now Professor Lockhart.
But every farewell must come, and Dana was never meant to stay. He was only a traveler drifting through the river of time.
The Author's Note
(Originally, I intended to depict more of the medieval wizarding world in detail. However, many readers were right — too much focus here would dilute the main revenge plot. Even though finding the Avar Coven ties into that revenge, I'll be speeding up the pace from this point on. Some side stories will be explored later in a "Parallel Worlds" volume. Please forgive any rougher transitions in the meantime.)
Four Years in the Shadows
In the first year after leaving Hogwarts, Dana secluded himself at Merlin's resting place, waiting.
He wanted to see if Morgan le Fay would return, perhaps to confirm whether Merlin was truly dead.
No one came.
He eventually realized that the enchanted oak tree that had once imprisoned Merlin was likely connected to Morgan — she could probably sense its condition from afar. If the oak had perished, she would have known.
In the second year, Dana wandered among church monasteries throughout Britain, searching the armories that produced weapons for witch hunters.
Without the Avar Coven's alchemy, the Church shouldn't have been able to manufacture anti-magic equipment — yet its supply persisted.
Dana found nothing. The Church still had large reserves, but no new production sites. It seemed that after the Avar Coven's core members had vanished, no major operations remained anywhere in Britain.
In the third year, he became a silent wanderer, drifting across the country, rescuing persecuted witches and wizards wherever he could.
He saved dozens of young magic-born children, sending each one secretly to Hogwarts for safety.
By the fourth year, Dana had come of age. His body matured into that of a tall, striking young man. From that day on, his appearance would remain eternally eighteen — unless, like Merlin, he chose to remove his Eternal Heart.
One morning, he found himself standing before York Minster, drawn by rumors that a witch was to be burned alive there.
The square outside the cathedral was crowded beyond belief. In tenth-century England, half the city would turn out for such a spectacle.
Witch hunters and their armored knights encircled a raised stone platform at the center, while soldiers of the Duke of York struggled to keep the mob in order.
Dana blended into the onlookers, his hood drawn low.
A young girl was dragged onto the platform, her wrists bound in iron, a heavy chain fastened around her neck. She looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, her eyes dazed, her face streaked with soot and tears.
"Evil witch Jennifer Greengrass," a herald proclaimed, "has been captured by the valiant Hunter Knight Order and shall now be publicly executed by fire, to cleanse the land of her corruption!"
Dana froze.
Greengrass?
The name struck him like a spark in dry tinder. The image of Astoria Greengrass — the girl he had once seen entering Hogwarts in another era — flickered through his mind.
And as he studied the terrified young witch on the pyre, he could see it: five, maybe six parts resemblance.
(End of Chapter 146 – Tracking Morgan Le Fay)
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