Severus gasped as he landed on something solid. He vaguely thought that he should be dead. He felt a warm heavy weight on top of him and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a beautiful pair of emerald eyes surrounded by rectangular frames, “Harry,” he said quietly.

His son smiled down at him, “Hello Dad,” he said happily.

The warm weight shifted as Harry rolled off of him. “Where are we?” a subdued voice asked.

“That is one question I cannot answer. We went through the ‘Veil’ we should be dead,” Severus responded quietly.

“I don’t feel dead,” the teen mused, “but I don’t really know how you’re supposed to feel when you’re dead.”

“You don’t feel dead because you aren’t,” said a male voice. Father and son sat up. Standing nearby was a man of around six feet tall. His smiling face was haloed in russet curls. He was dressed in a style that reminded Harry of pirates – tan breeches and an untucked billowing shirt, on his feet were brown sandals and a gold medallion adorned his neck.

“I am Levi.”

“Severus and this is my son Harry.”

“Welcome to Camelot,” Levi said bowing as he swept his arm around indicating the land and buildings.

Levi continued to smile as the newcomers took in their surroundings. Green grass, blue sky, fluffy clouds, even a warm, gentle breeze. A short distance away they saw a shimmering white building that was two storeys high and it was topped with a huge golden dome. A few smaller buildings to the left of it and what appeared to be a cemetery to the left of those. On the right of the main building were some farms and orchards. There were mountains on the horizon and they could hear water running somewhere.

“Why aren’t we dead?” Snape asked, “The ‘Veil’ has been used to execute witches and wizards for hundreds of years.”

“It was never supposed to be like that. The ‘Veil’ as you call it is a portal between this realm and yours. Somewhere along the way that piece of information was lost and your realm started sending soulless people through who died within hours of their arrival. It’s quite refreshing to have seemingly whole people come through for once.”

“They use the Dementors to remove the souls before sending the condemned through,” Severus said.

“Has everyone who came through died like that?” Harry asked quietly.

“Harry, Sirius was hit with a curse. I doubt he survived it,” Snape said softly.

“Ahh that would be Sirius Black, yes?” Levi asked sounding somewhat pleased.

“Yes,” Harry chirped.

“He was here. The curse did a lot of damage. He was taken to another realm for specialist healing.”

Levi could see that the young man was about to ask more questions and he quickly suggested that they move inside and talk some more. “Besides the portal has been very active of late and you don’t want to be here if anyone else is sent through.”

As  Harry helped his father to his feet Levi used his medallion to contact someone named Ezra and call a council meeting. “This way gentlemen,” Levi said as he walked towards the white building.

The two wizards followed. Severus hampered by the shackles stumbled muttering as he did so. Levi turned back towards them. “Forgive me Severus,” with a wave of his hand he vanished Snape’s metal restraints, “I got a bit caught up there.”

Levi turned and headed towards the building again. Off to the left they could see a small group gathering. “Healers and morticians,” he told the other two. “They will ease the suffering of those who pass through the portal and see to a proper burial.”

Severus and Harry followed behind taking in as much of the surrounds as they could in the short distance they had to walk. Even taking the time to look behind them at the stone archway they had come through, it was almost identical to the one at the Ministry but this one had no curtain.

Heavy wooden doors swung inwards as they approached them. Levi stepped aside so his guests could enter before him. He didn’t even try to suppress the snicker of amusement that passed his lips at Harry’s audible gasp. Whilst the room wasn’t overly large, possibly the same size as the Great Hall at Hogwarts, it did have one very impressive feature, a round table in the centre of it beneath the dome.

“Is that the round table?” Harry asked awestruck.

“Yes it is,” answered Levi, “Come, sit down and I will explain while we wait for the others to get here.” Snape and Harry sat next to each other as Levi bustled about ordering some refreshments before he joined them. “As I said before this is Camelot. Somewhat different from the Arthurian legends you are no doubt familiar with. Merlin is real and the table as you can see is real. Arthur and the others are just a story, fable, tale, legend. Whichever you prefer.”  

 “That’s not what they teach in school,” Harry spluttered.

“Yes I know. That was Merlin’s idea and a good one. Many religions and societies have what are commonly known as ‘creation myths’. They came about as people tried to understand the world around them. It was the same for magic and magical beings. Those without magic have always outnumbered those with. It was easier and more believable to spin a story of magic rather than show them real magic.

So as you can see Camelot and the table really do exist. Merlin made them a part of the stories he wove. Those stories were accepted as fact and Merlin never bothered to correct them. Though if you dig deep enough the truth is there. You can ask him about it when you meet him.”

“Meet who?” Severus asked warily.

“Merlin.” This time Levi couldn’t help himself he laughed outright at the looks upon the faces of the two wizards. “Oh I am sorry,” he gasped out, “I just couldn’t resist. I know that in your world Merlin no longer lives but he is very much alive here. You must remember that although born of a woman Merlin was not mortal. He was a creation of Maab from magic and that magic ran through him. He was able to work among men because they believed him to be one of them. He even married and had children. None of them lived as long as he though. When he could no longer bear to watch his loved ones die he decided to use the portal one last time to come back here. No one knows how long he will live. Perhaps until the end of time.”

Levi gave them time to process what he had just told them. Then called their attention to the table they sat at. He didn’t think they could take too many more surprises.

“If you looked closely you can see that the table is made of twelve segments. Each segment has a carving depicting other magical beings as well as one representing wizardkind and their name beneath, since at times it can be difficult to distinguish human from humanoid.”

They looked and sure enough there was a carving of a Wizard, a Goblin, an Elf, a Merperson, a Centaur, a Vampire, a Veela, a Leprechaun, a Werewolf, the Greenman surrounded by pictures of nymphs, dryads, faeries, brownies; Gaia - Mother Earth depicted by a picture the earth and Chronos - Father Time represented by an hourglass.

“Why are there other creatures surrounding the Greenman?” Harry asked.

“He represents all of them. The same as one elf represents all the different kinds of elves. The centaur represents fauns and unicorns amongst others. The twelve representatives make up the magic council. Also the table is charmed after every full council meeting it rearranges itself so that we are not always sitting next to the same member. It can also expand itself to accommodate guests if need be.”

As Levi finished speaking voices could be heard, “Ah the others have arrived.”

“Not all of us,’ a voice they recognised as Ezra’s said.

Harry and Severus watched as the room began to fill. A centaur, an elf, a goblin, a leprechaun and two others joined them. “I will introduce you to everyone once we are all settled though you may know one or two,” Levi said indicating the centaur and elf.

“Master Potions Master Snape, Master Harry Potter what are yous doing here?” a squeaky voice asked. Harry and Severus both looked there. Standing between them with her hands on her hips and her left foot tapping impatiently was Winky the house elf.

“Hello Winky,” said Harry.

“Answer me,” she demanded glaring at Harry.

“I… that is… well Dobby helped me get to the Ministry so I could see Dad before… before they...”

 Severus rolled his eyes and spoke to the elf “I was supposed to be executed this afternoon under the new law. Harry turned up as I was lead into the chamber. He came running and me too fast and when we collided the momentum knocked us through the ‘Veil’.”

“Oh yous poor things. Everything will be alright. You’lls see.”

Winky moved off to find her place and the centaur approached. “We meet again Harry Potter.”

“Firenze!” squawked the teen.

“Winky is right you know,” the centaur said moving off.

The others took their seats and Levi introduced them. There was Ragnash, a goblin; Olinda, a mermaid though she looked human; Patches, a leprechaun; Ezra turned out to be a male Veela and Levi was a vampire. Gaia, Chronos, the Greenman and, one last surprise for the two guests, Remus Lupin could not make it. Merlin was running late.