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The journey to Diagon Alley took more than one hour, more precisely, it had taken about two weeks as right after Merlin had received his letter and nurtured the poor owl back to full health, he hadn't realized he had no transportation until a day or two later when he found yet another owl half dead on the watery rock steps. It took another day or two for Merlin to find a boat that was still intact on shore and it took another day for him to find a compass and map only to find out that the place he had been inhabiting was nowhere on the map and so, he had almost no clue how to get to his destination. Distraught over such events, Merlin had opted to send a letter towards whoever controlled Hogwarts which he presumed was the head master so that maybe, he could have some form on leaving the island. It took a full week for a boat to come by but at that time, Merlin had already packed what he assumed he would need for the trip. Of course, Arthur was right by his side, eyeing the large giant and its boat warily before Merlin climbed inside and not wanting to be left behind, Arthur jumped right into his lap.

The giant had eyed the boy confused about the animal in his lap but before he could give a direct question as to why Arthur was on the boat in the first place, Merlin had already begun to clear his throat, intent on speaking on behalf of his pet bear. He hadn't seen anyone else in so long, hadn't talked to people in forever, Arthur was his only friend on the island after his parents had been washed up on the rocks, dead.

It had taken another week to get to the destination as the giant also had to pick up another boy who went by the name of Harry Potter although Merlin swore he knew the name before and had no doubt heard of his parents speaking about the rumor, he didn't quite enjoy the fact that the savior of the world was so clueless about everything though he supposed that he could let the childish anger go, after all, he was raised in a muggle home. When they finally arrived on dry land, Merlin held Arthur close to him, looking around at all the people who walked past them with not a care in the world.

"Is that a real bear?"

Merlin let his eyes go towards Harry, who was staring at Arthur in awe. Said bear was chewing on Merlin's sleeve, rocking to and fro in his arms as he tried to climb up them. For a moment, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, what kind of question was that? Was it a real bear? Did Harry think he carried around a stuffed toy for nothing? Merlin pressed his lips into a frown before walking forward and nudging Arthur with his arms, watching the cub squeak before locking its dark eyes with emerald green ones. Harry seemed to jump back, eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide before Merlin giggled and held out Arthur's brown paw.

"Hold our your hand so he can sniff you, we both smell of salt water although Arthur can smell other things on us."

It seemed as if Harry was hesitating, almost as if he was confused and afraid before slowly offering his hand. Arthur's wet muzzle pressed against his palm, moving around as he pushed himself higher so that he was leaning across Merlin's arm to take a good whiff of Harry's scent, without further warning, the cub gave a high pitched noise of approval and gave Harry's hand a quick lick. The boy jumped back in alarm before letting a small smile slip on his face as he stared at the two. Harry had never really been a social person as Aunt Petunia and his uncle would threaten him to stay inside unless he wanted a beating, so, having met a boy his age who seemed more than willing to be his friend, Harry was going to take it wether it was bad or good.

Walking inside the alley, Harry was in awe of everything he could get his eyes on and whenever Merlin caught his green eyes, the small boy would give a sheepish smile as Arthur squeaked and slapped him with his head each time he whipped it around to stare at anything that was edible. Once the trio had stopped, Merlin let Arthur jump down though the cub stayed close to his master in case of danger while Harry looked around curiously. It wasn't until they noticed they were suppose to enter the wand shop that Harry's face went red not that Merlin gave any indication that he saw as he stepped inside, Arthur waddling in right after him.

It took a while before the two had found their wands, Merlin's being especially long as each wand he was given was either not a match or Arthur could sense that it would only end in his downfall. It took two hours to finally get a proper wand, a wand that was smooth to the touch and seemed to bend crookedly at the tip as if it was a snake. With his fingers wrapped around the stick, Merlin's eyes seemed to be glued to the object, images flying past his mind like a Blue hedgehog.

He could see bits and pieces. Some had blood, others had death, and most had darkness. It took another hour to get himself under control only to find out that he was on a bench, Harry leaning over him with furrowed eyebrows. He could feel Arthur nuzzling his neck, pawing at his chest and pressing his ear to his wrist to make sure he was still alive. Merlin noticed that the boy had a full cart of supplies and another one was right beside them. He doubted that the Robes that were neatly folded on top of the textbooks would fit him but Merlin could hardly care as he stumbled to his feet, following sluggishly after Harry and Hagrid. It was then that he had realized, he never told the boy his name.

So, reaching his hand forward, Merlin tugged on Harry's sleeve. The boy was taller than him as Harry seemed to cast a shadow over his small and skinny frame to the point where Merlin was beginning to get embarrassed, nonetheless, he hugged Arthur to his chest once more and opened his mouth.

"My name's Merlin by the way, Merlin Agnus."