A/n: I felt like I wanted to fill their days and disrupt canon so here's a bit I made up... hope you like it, I did a bit of research before I wrote this but it is open to interpretation.
Disclaimer: I don't own glee, Harry Potter or any of the characters.
"Finnocence!" Kurt smiled at his brother, "I'm going to use Scuttle to send home a letter; I have a long list of demands for the upcoming winter; would you like me to put anything on the list for you?"
"You can't use Scuttle, I don't know where he is." Finn's forehead was creased in profound contemplation, "I haven't seen him since yesterday and I'm really worried about him."
"You lost your owl?" Kurt rubbed circles into his temples, he let out a deep breath, "When exactly was the last time you saw him?"
"Yesterday at lunch time."
"Have you checked the owlery?" Finn looked confused, "Have you heard of the owlery?"
"I want to say yes…"
"Where was he sleeping all this time?"
"I don't know, I'm at school when he sleeps," Finn smiled, "I always assumed he came back from owl parties and slept in his cage, I even fluffed his pillow daily."
"So, he's in the owlery." Kurt was frustrated by the waste of his time, he took his seat: behind Hermione and Ron, between Dean and Neville.
"Attention, today we finish off on the mending charm." Professor Flitwick spoke firmly, "Wrist movement is key in the perfect execution of all spells; a rigid spiral movement. Annunciate your words; 'Reparo'."
The man urged them to practice but Kurt just didn't have the heart for school today; he was bloated and felt lethargic, the last thing he wanted to do was put on a circus of helping people master remedial magic. He watched as Neville struggled to get it right and knew then that he couldn't let him suffer any longer.
"Neville, it's a triangular spiral," the boy imitated him, "now say it clearly, reh-PAH-roh."
"Okay, I'll try." Neville concentrated on what he was doing which made a small crease appear over his left brow and his mouth to twitch. The boy tried the spell as instructed.
"Look everybody; we have two people who've managed to successfully execute the spell," Professor Flitwick clapped his hands enthusiastically, "Well done to Ms Granger and Mr Hummel, five points each."
"Actually Professor," Kurt said disrupting the man, "it was Neville who executed the spell."
"Oh, apologies and congratulations to Mr Longbottom," He smiled broadly, "ten points for showing great improvement."
Neville smiled at Kurt, "thanks for that, I couldn't have done it without you."
"I don't know," Kurt shrugged, "I feel like you're not realising your full potential because you let your insecurities cripple you."
Neville looked down to his lap, "Sure, you might have bad luck but come on," Kurt gestured to the way he was dressed, "If I let everyone's opinions of me get me down, how far do you think I'd get in life?"
"Well," Neville twiddled his thumbs for a moment, "despite the way you dress, you have so many other great qualities; you're smart and kind and so pretty."
Kurt smiled uneasily at being called 'pretty', "And I own every part of me, from my oddities to my prettiness." Kurt reached out for the other boy's hand, he tilted and gave him a comforting smile, "Neville, you need to learn to love every part of you, despite what the world thinks."
"But I'm not like you."
"No one is like me!" Kurt screamed causing Neville to recoil in fear as though he'd been bitten, Kurt realised how crazy he sounded.
"What was that Mr Hummel?" Professor Flitwick asked, the concern was evident on his aged face.
"Nothing," He smiled falsely, "just frustrated by this spell but Neville's helping me through it."
Professor Flitwick didn't buy the poorly thought out lie, "Okay, keep your outbursts to a minimum and come see me after this lesson."
"Sorry about flipping my top. I just took a while to work through my set of circumstances and they incomparable to anyone else's because we're all unique." Kurt let out nostalgic sigh.
Neville looked confused, "What exactly do I get over my insecurities?"
"Oh yes," Kurt said as he snapped back to reality, "You need to stand more firmly by yourself."
"I don't understand what you mean?"
"Well," Kurt pursed his lips for a moment, "You need to stop letting people walk all over you and intimidate you; except for me, that is." Neville was baffled by what Kurt was saying but Kurt refused to let that deter him from what he was saying, "You let other people undermine your magical and scholastic ability. Look at Cedric Diggory, he's a model of self-confidence; speaks softly, carries a big stick."
"Speak softly, carry a big stick?" Neville looked even more confused by this point, "Is that some kind of metaphor?"
"It was the way in which former American president Theodore Roosevelt strived to carry himself," Kurt smiled sweetly at other boy, "You just have to be able to cash the checks your mouth is writing, be morally sound and be just in all you do and say."
Kurt got up dramatically and strut over to Professor Flitwick's desk, he was nervous about having upset his biggest fan. He approached the man cautiously, "Professor Flitwick, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, do you know that you are amongst the most promising students in your year group?" Kurt blushed at the professor's remarks but knew they were not far from the truth.
"Yes professor," Kurt was very cautious not to seem arrogant in case he was in trouble.
"As such I would like to invite you to form a team of first year students to represent Hogwarts in the B.A.T, are you familiar with the B.A.T?"
"No."
"The B.A.T is the Basic Academic Tournament," Professor Flitwick seemed exceptionally pleased with himself as he went on to explain; "They are a tournament hosted at a different school each year, teams of five participate in a series of academic challenges that adapted to challenge them outside the standard school curricular. I know that your house master will tell you more about them but as a world champion duellist, I see a lot of raw talent in you and think you could win gold."
"Oh professor," Kurt was shocked; he hadn't been expecting that, he wasn't sure what he was expecting but not that, "I don't think I'm even remotely good enough, Hermione Granger is the brightest witch of our age- maybe you should speak to her."
"You are a truly gifted young wizard," Professor Flitwick smiled with the utmost sincerity, "You may be the most naturally gifted student I've taught in my tenure at Hogwarts."
"You are being much too kind."
"Your modesty is also refreshing," the man seemed to allow his mind for a moment, "The last student to show half as much promise as you considered herself a god amongst men."
"Oh," Kurt blushed guiltily because he knew that he wasn't as innocent as the man had portrayed him to be, "I really believe there must others who would be equally suited and just as deserving of this opportunity."
"If you mean Miss Granger, I think Professor McGonagall might have already mentioned it to her," the short man paused, "please give it some thought though."
"I'll be sure to do that." Kurt left the classroom still slightly confused by the Charms Master's proposition; he didn't see himself as anything more that an ordinary student with a good memory and knack for hard work, nothing more.
He hurried and caught up with his closest friend in the corridor, "You little whore!" he said with a laugh, "Why didn't you tell me about your invitation to participate in the B.A.T?"
"The invitation is not to participate, it's to audition." Hermione stopped suddenly with a confused look on her face, "How did you know- Shut up! They asked you to audition too?"
"Wait a minute, we have to audition?" Kurt was under the impression that he'd already made the team. "When? How? Why do I get the feeling you know more about this than me?"
"I don't know that any more than that and I mostly drew conclusions based on what McGonagall told me,"
"So you're ruffling my feathers based on speculation?" he gave Hermione a disappointed stare and a shake of his head before rushing off to the owlery to post his letter.
"Kurt!" she suddenly shouted down the hallway, "Wait!" Kurt stopped; everyone had turned their attention to the pair of them. The bushy haired girl stopped right in front of him, in wheezy messy pile; she pulled herself together and handed Kurt a small envelope. "Professor Snape said to give this to you; it's of the utmost importance."
"Thanks Hermione, nobody like you." He read the parchment enclosed in the envelope twice over before realizing that it was an invitation rather than a summons to tea with the Head of House, "What time is it?"
"It's ten past three," Hermione looked quite confused by the question, "Why?"
"Because I'm late for tea with Professor Snape!" Kurt took off down the hall in a gallant sprint, swiftly evading the students in an effort to get to the dungeon before Professor Snape lost his cool.
"What's your hurry Kurt?" A voice said with a chuckle.
"Afraid you'll be late for detention?" a second almost identical voice said.
"Worse," He said trying to get around the Weasley twins, "I'm late for tea with Professor Snape, can I take a rain check on mindless banter?"
"Banter?" George asked.
"Mindless?" Fred countered.
"And there we were thinking we were friends." They said in unison, it made Kurt wonder if that's what he and Hermione sounded like when they spoke.
"Got to go," Kurt said squeezing between them, "I'll make it up to you."
He carried on running till he came to the corridor in front of Professor Snape's office, he primped and knocked gently on the door.
"Come in," Professor Snape did not sound pleased in the least bit. Kurt entered the office cautiously, "Mr Hummel, how lovely of you to grace us with your presence. We are not worthy."
Kurt chose to ignore the malice in the older man's voice, "Sorry professor," Kurt swept his eyes across the room, he recognized everyone at once: Draco was sitting smugly next to Gregory, who didn't look the least bit comfortable, sitting next to the ever aggressive Millicent Bulstrode who was staring dagger into the ever beautiful Daphne Greengrass, who couldn't meet anyone's gaze due to crippling shyness. Kurt took his seat between the Millicent and Gregory; Millicent now had to turn her head back and forth in order to alternate between staring at Daphne and Kurt.
Professor Snape stood next to small table in the corner, "How do you like your tea Mr Hummel?"
"Chai," He paused at the looks he received form his peers, "Black, no sugar with a slice of lemon. Thank you."
The atmosphere was thick with animosity; he could feel Draco's eyes on his right side and Millicent's on his left, "Where've you been Hummel?" Draco finally asked breaking the silence, "Where with your boyfriend Potter?"
"No," Kurt said with an air of indifference, "Was in a meeting with Professor Flitwick."
"Was it about your incompetence in charms?" Draco remained completely smug.
Kurt smiled shyly whilst the others held their breath, "No, it was about your mom's back hair, we're working on a cure."
The room was filled with laughter, "Do you know why I called you here?" Professor Snape asked cutting through the laughter.
"We're in trouble." Gregory said first.
"No," the man stood over them, "You're actually here because you each display great potential in a respective subject and as such have been selected to represent Slytherin in the try-outs for the Hogwarts B.A.T team in a week. Make no mistake, Slytherin usually makes up the majority of the team and I expect nothing less of you five."
"B.A.T?" Millicent demanded.
This prompted Professor Snape to run through the general information on the tournament, "The tournament is primarily a quiz on magical knowledge assessing spell, potion and herb use. Two of the members on the team will participate in a duelling tournament."
Kurt cleared his throat of the bitter tea- so not chai- when Draco got in ahead of him, "And I'll be our duelling champion."
"No," Professor Snape snapped, "Mr Hummel will be the duellist and for the try-outs he will captain this team."
"Me?" Kurt said choking on droplets of tea that had gone down the wrong pipe, he was patted gently yet firmly by Gregory until he had fully recovered; Kurt smiled a quick thank you before continuing, "I'm not sure I'm fit to lead."
"He isn't!" Draco whined, "What does this mudblood know about anything?"
"That language is unacceptable," Professor Snape said firmly, "Detention. Kurt Hummel is the top first year student in your house and as such possesses the required knowledge to guide all of you. Kurt is also a reader which means he will be able to refer you to texts that can help you."
Professor Snape gestured to him, as if to pass the baton, "Firstly; hi, I'm not sure if you all know me but I'm Kurt Elizabeth Hummel. Secondly; the first three bits of reading are for general knowledge- Hogwarts: A History, Great Wizarding Events of the Twenty First Century and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Kurt paused to smile at his constituents, "Any questions?"
"Are these books available in the library?" Daphne asked softly in a slightly nasal voice.
"Yes they are and I have a copy of all three with additional notes."
"How was this team picked?" Gregory asked in a low raspy voice.
"Well…" Kurt suddenly stopped, "I actually don't know, how exactly was this team assembled?"
"I selected you based on the advisement of Draco Malfoy," the man paused, "All except for Mr Hummel whom I personally selected."
"Is that why you asked me about the best first years? Why isn't Crabbe here instead of this muggle-born?" Draco gestured to Kurt, "At least Crabbe's a pure-blood."
Kurt felt that he could take no more, "Because my try-out is merely a formality," Kurt smirked, "Every member of staff knows that my knowledge retention is superior to that of any first year student. I know more spells and more strategies than any of you or any of your pure-blood friends, that's why I'm on this team."
"Any other questions?" the aggression had crept its way into his voice, he was met by silence and blank stares, "Good. Dismissed."
~0~
Kurt had grown tired of helping those miscreants figure out knowledge that, according to Draco Malfoy, they possessed naturally due to their pure-blood status. The team had met eight times in the last four weeks; Kurt would go over remedial spells, revise the past six weeks' worth of school work and assign them additional reading materials. After the first few meetings Kurt realised that he was mostly being ignored by his peers in favour of Draco's more practical suggestions; all except for Daphne Greengrass who chose to listen with precise intent, it made Kurt feel like his efforts weren't completely wasted.
Today would be the day of ultimate satisfaction or unrivalled failure; had he been successful in training and educating the team compiled by his polar opposite? They may have fared reasonably in the theoretical but that mostly because he answered almost all of the questions apart from Gregory who seemed to have caught a thing or two in herbology, maybe there was a future for him as a glorified magical gardener. On the other hand, the other houses had done well for themselves; though Kurt had been pleasantly surprised by his brother's presence, Finn had shown a superior knowledge of potions. They had lost Millicent, who was eliminated due to having poor participation and no correct answers, and Daphne, who was eliminated because she was too shy to answer any questions. The only other team to suffer such losses was the Gryffindor team, who lost Seamus Finnegan and Ron; Kurt had been exceedingly pleased to see Ron eliminated although he would have fancied a chance to humiliate him in a duel. Kurt stood before professor McGonagall and drew a number for his duelling audition, he drew eleven which meant he'd be facing Wayne Hopkins from Hufflepuff in the first round; the boy in question didn't seem the least bit intimidating but rather seemed to be cowering from Kurt as he approached him.
"Hi," He smiled sweetly, "I'm Kurt, and I'll be your opposition in the first round."
"I know who you are," Kurt raised an arched brow, "You always answer questions in Charms and you're Professor Flitwick's favourite student."
Kurt felt slightly uncomfortable, he knew that for him anonymity would always be out of reach but he didn't see himself as a teacher's pet, "I just wanted to wish you all the best for our duel."
"Are you trying to psych me out?" the taller boy asked with slight aggression, "Because everyone knows that you're the better student."
With hands held high in surrender, Kurt spoke in a calming voice, "I'm just genuinely being nice." Wayne's face softened, "I wish you all the best and I hope you make the team."
"Thanks brah," he smiled at Kurt; it wasn't much of a smile, more like gas pains, before punching him on the shoulder, "Same."
Kurt gave the boy forced smile before walking away in distaste of his horrid manner. Heroine as always was talking to herself whilst Ron tried to stuff useless knowledge into Harry's mind in a failed attempt to be helpful and stay relevant. Kurt was raised to always be competitive and to give all competitions his all but not if it flies in the face of friendship, his father had instilled in both Finn and him the importance of competing graciously, so it was with that grace that he approached his friends.
"Neville, Harry, Hermione; congratulations on making it this far," Kurt smiled with false sweetness, he was gracious but the bitch within just couldn't let Ron be, "Ron, I can't say I'm surprised you didn't qualify for the duelling try-out but we all know it's for your own good."
Neville smiled broadly, "Thanks Kurt."
"Bloody hell, why can't you just leave us alone?" Ron spoke as though he represented the interests of the trio but Kurt knew he didn't have that kind of power.
Kurt chose to ignore him and disregard all he'd said as though he didn't exist, "Are you guys ready for your duels?"
"Yes."
"No," Hermione cried in a panicked frenzy, "I'm not ready, I don't know enough spells."
"Calm down," Harry said soothingly, "who are you up against?"
"Gregory Goyle," she took a deep breath, "Don't tell me I'm set because he appears to be a big oaf, I've seen him in the library when he's alone plus trained by Kurt."
"So," Ron said, "Kurt isn't all that."
"He's the best in our year," Harry said frankly.
"And he knows more advanced spells than any other first year," Hermione said with the panic returning to her voice.
"Listen," Kurt finally interjected, "Hermione, you are the brightest young witch of our age; you will go out there and do yourself proud. Now go out there and make a fool of Gregory."
Ron began with a sneer, "I wouldn't tru-"
"Shut up Ron!" Neville finally said in strong voice that startled Kurt for a moment, he calmed his voice before continuing, "Kurt is trying to help her and you're just bitter you didn't make the duelling tournament."
""Thank you Neville," Kurt couldn't help but blush because Neville had tried to be his knight in shining armour, "All the best Hermione."
She scurried onto stage and took her position; the rules were read out, they were to disarm not harm their opponent. As quickly as Professor Flitwick had signalled the start of the duel, Gregory lay face down across the duelling strip with Hermione left standing taller. The first real magical duel he witnessed and he'd blinked it away, all those that followed were rather monotonous in comparison; Draco had disarmed Susan Bones from Hufflepuff quite easily, Harry and Sue Li had a lengthy back and forth casting of menial spells till finally the Ravenclaw's stamina gave way, Ravenclaw's Anthony Goldstein had been defeated by Finn quite easily which pleased Kurt as he and Finn had never been in direct competition with each other and this would be a good chance to see the better brother. The final duel before his own was between Neville and Stephen Cornfoot; Kurt watched with nervous intent, he knew that Neville could do this but the question was, would he? Kurt watched as Neville anxiously faced the rake thin Ravenclaw before humiliating the boy in a similar manner to which Hermione had Gregory.
Kurt drew a deep breath as he faced the diminutive Hufflepuff boy; Wayne bowed and Kurt froze for a moment in panic, his mind had gone blank! Wayne stayed bowed waiting for Kurt to bow back, Kurt nodded his head in acknowledgement, Wayne stood with his wand at ready whilst Kurt stood in panic with arms by his side as Professor Fliwick counted them down to start of the duel.
Taking a fighting pose Wayne screamed his first incantation as though it were a war cry, "E
"Protego," Kurt said instinctively deflecting the spell, "Alarte Ascendare," Wayne was flung ten feet off the ground, as he plummeted to the ground Kurt flicked his wand and spoke his final incantation, "Depulso."
Wayne was flung about until it was ultimately obvious that Kurt was the victor; Kurt curtsied to the crowd of their peers whilst the other boy puked out his guts. Kurt was too adrenaline pumped to notice anything other than results; Padma Petil from Ravenclaw annihilated Hufflepuff's Hannah Abbot and young Ravenclaw, Isobel MacDougal, barely beat Roger Malone who was Hufflepuff's last standing competitor aside from Finn. The first round ended with one Hufflepuff, two Ravenclaws, two Slytherins and three Gryffindors left in the running.
The second round was opened by a fiery duel between Draco and Hermione, Kurt took note that the level of spells had increased; it seemed that both parties were out to seriously maim as opposed to the recommended disarming. Kurt could see a spell or two he'd taught to Hermione in the mix but her duelling style was too rigid and it was costing her. She did end the duel on her terms with a mild stunning spell, Kurt was proud of her even if she'd left him as the last standing Slytherin.
Harry seemed to have an air of arrogance about him as he approached Finn; Kurt admitted that his brother wasn't the brightest star in the night sky, he knew never to underestimate him and that seemed to be a mistake Harry was about to make. Two quick spells later, Harry was lying face down with his spectacles an arm's length away.
Kurt stood facing Neville, "No hard feelings."
"Bring it!" Neville quipped.
They bowed to each other, Kurt waited for their queue to begin before casting his shielding spell to counter Neville's disarming charm. Kurt knew that he respected Neville too much to humiliate him by defeating him with the exact same strategy or by going easy on him; "Stupify," he stunned Neville then decided to end it all with a non-verbal body binding curse but Neville deflected it which aggravated Kurt, he smiled wickedly, "Let's play."
Neville seemed unfazed by the threatening tone Kurt had adopted, "Reducto."
Kurt effortlessly blocked the curse by levitating furniture into its path, "Levicorpus. While Neville was hoisted in the air he repeated the stunning spell, knocking Neville across the Great Hall.
The last duel of the second round was between the last two Ravenclaws but apparently their strategy included Padma being the Ravenclaw champion to progress to the third round because Isobel didn't even try to counter or block Padma's disarming charm. At the end of the second round, as though by some dark force, there was a member of each house remaining.
They took a short break between rounds, Kurt was approached by the rest of his original team, "Hey guys," he smirked smugly because for a change it was his turn, "Tough luck, if only you'd listened to me instead of some ignorant parasite that was defeated in close to no time."
"Shut up Hummel," Draco sniffled, "Granger obviously cheated."
"We just came to with you good luck," Gregory said with a shy smile, "Do well for Slytherin." The entire team smiled aside from Draco who was still sulking. Kurt personally wasn't particularly fond of his teammates and he knew that this gesture wasn't about him but rather their competitive nature driving their almost bearable behaviour; something deep in Kurt could help but be touched by their failed attempt at civil behaviour.
"Don't mess up Fancy Pants," Millicent said successfully killing what little faith Kurt still had in their humanity. He rolled his eyes and shooed them away as Hermione and Finn took the stand, they face each other and bowed before Professor Flitwick gave them the nod to begin.
Hermione still lacked fluidity in her moves so despite her superior knowledge, that she'd gained from Kurt, Finn managed to breakdown her duelling strategy into singular moves; this allowed him to easily counter and attack her. After a short duel, Hermione was defeated due to her lack of style and the under developed consciousness of battle.
Kurt took his position; Padma didn't seem intimidated by his obvious knowledge of spells and charms, he would enjoy changing that. He bowed in an overly elaborate manner and took starting pose, Croisé Devant.
"Flipendo," Kurt began, knocking the Ravenclaw over.
She landed with an elegance that angered Kurt, she was good, "Verdimillious." The sparks that shot out her wand stung Kurt and caused him to become disorientated, "Icendio."
As the flames shot toward Kurt he barely had time to react, he jumped out of the way and got angry, "Aguamenti!" A strong spout of water shot out of the tip of Kurt's wand, he quickly shaped it into a wall of entrapment for his opponent, "Glacius."
He stared at the girl trapped in ice with just her face free; she struggled for a moment before accepting defeat, "I give up."
"Finite incantatem." Kurt said releasing her.
Kurt was quite chuffed until he realised that it was him and Finn in the finale; he wasn't sure if this made defeating him harder or easier but he bowed none the less and took his preferred starting position.
"Stupify," Finn started as soon as they were signalled to begin, Kurt had grown tired of everyone else just using the same strategy when he went through the effort of coming up with different strategies for each of them.
He slid to the side and decided to take the lazy man's way out and repeat his strategies in a slightly altered way, "Carpe Retractum." Kurt flung Finn ten feet into the air and then slammed him on the ground before he threw him at the back wall.
Finn was back on his feet in no time, "Tarantallegra."
Kurt didn't feel any different or for that fact like anything was happening, "Dancing feet?"
"Uh-huh," Finn smiled proudly.
"My feet are already always dancing." Kurt danced form left to right in an effort to confuse Finn and work with the curse, "Glacius," he froze Finn's feet in place, "Incendio!"
"Aguamenti," Finn countered as expected.
The water evaporated and filled the room with thick steam; just the way Kurt wanted it, in case he failed. He pointed his wand at the ceiling and spoke the incantation, "fulgur percusserit." A bolt of blue lightning shot into his wand, the lightning flowed through his body like an irresistibly powerful energy before he directed it to just before Finn's feet, knocking his brother across the room.
"Hogwarts duelling champion for the Basic Academic Tournament," Professor McGonagall announced triumphantly, "Kurt Hummel!"
Professor Flitwick stood beside her, "The team will be; Padma Petil- Ravenclaw," There was large cheer from all her fellow Ravenclaws, "Hermione Granger- Gryffindor, Finn Hudson- Hufflepuff, and Neville Longbottom- Gryffindor."
A silence swept over the Great Hall, Neville looked horrified by the prospect. Kurt waited to see who would break the silence so he could jinx them into tomorrow but everybody held their composure, as if aware of the imminent danger.
A/n: I hope you liked it.
Fulgur Percusserit is a spell of my own creation, it is based on Azula's (of Avatar: The Last Airbender origin) lightning bending. It directly translates to 'strike lightning' in Latin, according to Google Translate.
Please let me know what you think.