A/n: I'd like to apologise in advance for my disgusting sense of direction, even with a map of the Hogwarts castle I'm sure the layout would still seem as confusing because of how bad I am at both actual and describing navigation; hopefully you can over look and forgive.

A bit of kurt's pre-hogwarts backstory is revealed.

The disclaimer applies for the entire fic as usual, I don't own anything.

Kurt still felt rested from Christmas break even weeks afterwards, going home had been just what he needed; he'd gotten a haircut, a large pile of Christmas gifts, his standard eighty pounds from his many sets of grandparents and he'd spent time with his dad. True, the term had gotten off to a slow start but the attacks seemed to have stopped for a while as they had made it to February without incident, the three victims from the last two weeks of last term must have been enough to satisfy the heir for now. Unfortunately for Kurt a very many rules had been put into place to inhabit his freedom; they had to be escorted from class to class by a member of staff, they couldn't leave their common rooms after six o'clock and the implementation of a buddy system for going to the bathroom, Kurt had the misfortune of being paired with Blaise Zabini who was almost as self-centred as Draco Malfoy. Kurt was glad that even for just this moment, there was a semblance of normality and he could read his books in peace.

"Reading at breakfast?" Kurt nearly spilled his cereal as he was brought back to reality quite abruptly.

"Gosh Finn, what happened to you warning me in my head when you were going to sneak up on me?" Kurt placed the book flat on the longtable.

"What are you reading anyway?" Finn tried to lift the book to see the cover but Kurt simply pinned the book to the desk, "Don't make me use my superior strength."

"Why don't you spend the beginning of valentine's weekend with a girl or Neville instead of bothering me," Kurt tried to body check his brother away from his book, "maybe you could send a singing dwarf telegram."

"Neville and I decided to just be friends," Finn was persistent in his pushing, "he just wanted me for my body."

"Hermione's body you mean," Kurt corrected as he jabbed his brother in the stomach, "I think they may like each other actually."

"No way," Finn was standing off to the side as he spoke in a sarcastic tone, "Did you figure that out all by yourself?"

"Actually it was Luna who told me," Kurt pursed his lips angrily as he straightened himself up.

Quicker than lightning Finn snatched the book from in front of him, "Got it, what are you reading little brother?"

"It doesn't mean anything," Kurt tried to reach for the book but Finn held it out of his reach.

"Dark Arts for All," Finn chuckled nervously, "What is this?"

"I got it in Japan last year," Kurt knew he had no reason to be on the defensive but he couldn't help himself, "it's magic that is considered dark but that has everyday applications, that's a poor translation of the title."

"You don't know Japanease," Finn held the book over his head so Kurt couldn't snatch it away, "How do you know what the title said."

"It was in Arabic," Kurt corrected as he analysed the situation to see how he might get the book back without making a spectacle of himself, "I don't know exactly what it means but I get the gist of the book."

"Tell me," Finn opened to the page his bookmark was in, "How do you use the… oh, a whole chapter on how to use blood in magic, how does that come up in everyday life?"

"It's for when you cut yourself," Kurt knew he was lying but he felt such guilt for dabbling in the dark arts, "you use your blood to heal the cut."

"This seems rather suspect bro," Finn shook his head as he gave Kurt back his book.

"Your face seems suspect," Kurt put the book safely in his Burkin, "And don't call me bro when I'm mad at you."

"Why you mad boo?" Finn pinched at his cheeks.

"I'm so over you," Kurt grabbed his bag to storm off but there was a dwarf in his way, it was dressed as cupid and holding a harp.

"Tale as old as time, True as it can be. Barely even friends," the dwarf sang in an off key falsetto at an off tempo, "Then somebody bends, Unexpectedly."

Kurt turned to get away from the dwarf and there was a second dwarf behind him, rendering him trapped; the second dwarf sang in an gravely baratone, "Just a little change, Small, to say the least. Both a little scared, Neither one prepared, Beauty and the Beast."

"No," Kurt's eyes grew wide as realisation dawned on him, "For the love of Celine Dion, No!"

The Dwarves in cased him between their arms as they attempted to harmonise, "Ever just the same, Ever a surprise. Ever as before, Ever just as sure, As the sun will rise."

"Somebody save me from this musical blood bath," Kurt called out but everybody just watched in amusement as he slowly bubbled. He tried to step over their arms but they spread out and stood blocking his way, he resigned to his fate, sat down and endured the singing as his anger grew. As the dwarf with the harp played the final chords of the song Kurt rose to his feet and strode around the front of the sparsely populated great hall to the Slytherin table, when he broke his silence his voice was unexpectedly calm and level, "Gregory, I think it would be best for both parties concerned if you left me alone, I find you repugnant."

Kurt turned on his heels and walked away before the larger boy could say anything more. As he was leaving the dining hall he was grabbed by two sets of hands.

"So?" Fred asked enthusiastically.

"What did you think of our Valentine's Day prank?" George smiled broadly.

"Hermione told us you liked that song," Fred looked mighty pleased with himself.

"The rest just fell into place," they chorused as they high-fived at Kurt's horrified look.

"But know this," George boke their celebration.

"We only think of you as a friend," Fred added but Kurt didn't move nor say anything in reply.

"I think you broke him," they chorused before looking to each other accusingly, "Me? You did it! Me? It was your idea! My idea? You app-"

"Be quiet," Kurt covered their mouths with his hands, "I don't care about whose idea it was, I called an innocent boy repugnant and it's all your fault." They tried to mumble something through his hands but Kurt wasn't hearing it, "You should have added that it was from you." Fred licked his palm, "that's disgusting!" Kurt pulled out a wet wiped from his hand bag and sanitized his hands, then he rubbed hand cream over them as the twins watched him with curiously, "What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"We're sorry you were a bitch to some innocent kid," George casually shrugged.

Fred raised an interjectory finger, "but it's not our fault you're a bitch."

"I can't deal with this, three weeks into the new term and this shit happens," Kurt rolled his eyes and grabbed each of the twins by the ears, "I want to make something very clear."

"Don't touch the merchandise!" Fred protested as Kurt pulled both boys down to eye level.

"You break it," George grunted between gritted teeth, "you buy it."

Kurt smiled as he looked from one boy to the next and twisted the rapidly reddening skin of their earlobes, he whispered ever so delicately, "you're on my list," before releasing both boys.

"Ooh," George twinkled his fingers patronisingly, "your list."

Fred smacked his hands down, "now, is this your list of people to petrify?"

"Or is it one of faces to burn?" George called after Kurt who was on his way to Charms.

"Is it the one Cedric Diggory's on?" Fred called as he went around the bend, he dared not allow himself to be bated by their taunts.

As Kurt went around the corner he was greeted by the second lot of Weasley kids and Harry huddled about suspiciously, "And why weren't any of you at breakfast this morning? Do you have any idea what I just went through? Beauty and the Beast will never be the same as a song or a movie."

"Well," rubbed the back of his neck rigorously, "We've kind of been avoiding Lockhart's dwarves like the plague."

"We overheard Fred and George saying they were sending one as a joke," Ron looked distressed as he spoke, "we couldn't risk the public embarrassment."

"I was the target, there I was with two dwarves cornering me in plain sight of everyone," Kurt adjusted his spectacles, as he now favoured them from time to time, "I've never been so embarrassed in my life, did you not for a moment think to inform me of this discovery?" The pair of boy's mumbled their apologies. "What's going on here?"

"Ginny was about to tell us a secret," Ron looked about for the young girl but in the time of Kurt's rant both the younger and older Weasleys had disappeared, "Oh, I guess not."

"That was strange," Harry pointed out, "Even for Percy's standards."

"Think nothing of it," Kurt waved his hand dismissively, "probably trivial teenage gossip."

"Isn't it all just," Ron rolled his eyes, "What do you think is going to be in today's charms test?"

Harry shrugged as they made their way to their Charms lesson, "Not a clue."

"What Hermione and I taught you should be sufficient," Kurt stopped dead in his tracks from the lack of acknowledgement, "Do you guys remember any of it? Skurge, engorgement, dancing-feet, arresto momentum, memory charms? Does any of this ring a bell?"

"We can't all be geniuses," Ron gave him a playful shove.

"Hermione's the genius," Kurt knew that his cheeks were a violent crimson, he adjusted his hair with great precision, "I just have great memory and a hungry mind."

"It's all the same," Ron dropped into the seat beside Kurt, he had relinquished his usual seat beside Neville so that Hermione might enjoy his company whilst her infatuation bloomed. Kurt had no qualms that his friend's dance about each other would go nowhere, if not for his guiding hand; for that he had resigned himself to getting to know Ron Weasley better. "Are you excited to see Gryffindor decimate Hufflepuff next Saturday?"

"I would sooner chew glass than draw any kind joy from the supposed decimation of my brother," Kurt tilted his head and smiled at the tactless ginger.

"If you had the siblings I have you'd feel differently," Kurt raised a curious brow so as to egg the boy on, "Bill was head boy, Charlie was Quidditch captain, Percy's a goody-two-shoes, Fred and George torture me mercilessly, and Ginny's just strange."

"At least I know now that I'm not missing much on the sibling front with just Finn and Harley," Kurt giggled, "I wonder what she'll be like when she's grown, I hope nothing like Ginny because no offense but your sister is strange."

"Hey," Ron swatted his shoulder playfully, "that's only okay when I say it."

"Silence," diminutive Professor Flitwick stood before the class with cheery disposition, "Standard test conditions apply; no talking or communicating any form, keep your eyes to yourself and good luck second years."

And with a flick of his wand test papers flew about the room.

~0~

"It was Hagrid," Kurt dropped the book he was reading as his attention was drawn away from his breakfast by Harry's whispered declaration.

"What was Hagrid?" Hermione looked nervously from Kurt to Harry.

"It was Hagrid who opened the Chamber of Secret in the nineteen-forties," Harry's voice was barely above a whisper.

Kurt let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god you finally figured it out, keeping you away from him has been so much hard work."

"It literally felt like you wanted to go down to his hut every damn day!" Hermione rolled her eyes with huff.

"Wait," Ron pointed from one to the other, "How did you guys know?"

"We figured it out a little after Halloween," Hermione shrugged nonchalantly.

Kurt gestured for them to lean in closer, "It's why he was expelled, it's why he can't do magic."

"I don't understand," Ron furrowed his brow.

"Do you remember when he showed us his pumpkin patch?"

Harry chortled, "Most anticlimactic moment of the year."

"I don't know," Ron shrugged, "I think the whole Quirrel instead of Snape thing might have been a tad more anticlimactic for me."

Kurt shrugged, "I'm with Ron on this one, that was truly the most disappointing revelation of ninety-one."

"Let's call it the academic year," Harry shook his head dismissively, "As you were."

"So you mention that Hagrid can't do magic," Hermione continued undeterred by their tangential spat, "Which peaked Kurt's curiosity."

"I wanted to know why a wizard might not be permitted to practice magic," Kurt shrugged, "Turns out there are only two reasons; expulsion before completing your OWLs and imprisonment in Azkaban for a second level crime."

"Second level crime?" Harry's eyes were as wide as saucers behind his spectacles.

"Kurt wasn't very interested in that," Hermione shot him a look of disapproval, "I, on the other hand, was curios, so I went to the library."

"And?" Ron egged her on.

"Criminal Offenses are sorted into a three tier system by the Ministry of Magic," Hermione tucked a tuft of hair behind her ear as she spoke, "the first level is petty and civil crimes; anything with a jail time of under five years. The second level are the use of restricted magic, violent crimes and organized crime; this is jail time of five to fifteen years and you can never do magic again. The third level is the darkest of magic, the unforgivable curses, murder, rape and conspiracy against the ministry; these have a life sentence on them."

"Whilst Hermione received a lesson in civics," Kurt was goading her because her reactions were so much fun, "I checked the Hall of Records for Hagrid's tenure at Hogwarts and learned that it was cut short in his third year, the year the Chamber of Secrets was last opened; then we put one and one together."

"You guys knew this and you didn't tell us?" Ron looked wounded.

Hermione tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, "Would you have believed us? If a month ago Kurt and I had come to you, and told you that Hagrid was responsible for the attacks on muggle born students in the nineteen-forties; would you have accepted it?"

"We wouldn't have," Harry's voice was unsettlingly steady, "we would have thought you had lost your mind."

"Exactly," Kurt picked up his book and carried on reading, "we were in a Catch-22 situation."

"Nobody knows what that means," Ron shook his head.

Kurt dropped his book once again, "No, actually, almost everyone knows what it means because it's common logic."

"Don't you two start," Hermione slammed her hand on the longtable with a disciplinary tone that startled both Kurt and Ron, "We'll have none of your squabbling, you two honestly argue like an old married couple."

Kurt looked scandalised by Hermione's words, "I would never marry Ron!"

"I'm not exactly crazy about you either," Ron retaliated defensively.

"Well," Kurt scoffed, "that's lucky for you because I'm so out of your league."

"Really?" Ron shouted back, "Well… well… well-"

"Enough," Harry cut through their arguing, "We'll go see Hagrid in the evening."

"I'm not doing that," Kurt pursed his lips and wagged his finger dismissively, "Best case scenario, he was crazy and he'll be angry we know. Worst case scenario, he's still crazy and kills us as well."

"As well?" Ron's voice squeaked loudly.

"Somebody died the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened," Hermione spoke before Kurt could in an obvious attempt to curb any bickering.

"If somebody died," Harry raised a brow, "How did he get away with it?"

"They probably didn't have enough evidence for a proper conviction," Kurt suggested as he took to reading his book again.

Hermione, in an obvious effort to close the conversation, spoke dismissively, "We'll have to ask him."

"You've lost your mi-" Kurt dropped his book for the third time as he was silenced by a towel clad Neville coming toward them, "Does anyone else see it?"

"See wha-" Hermione turned casually but turned back halfway, "that is definitely happening but why?"

"Neville," Ron wheezed out between raucous fits of laughter, "Why are you naked?"

"I, unlike someone we know," crossed his arms indignantly, "value good hygiene."

"Yes sweetheart," Kurt knew better than to laugh, "but why are you here?"

Ron turned to Kurt with wide eyes, "Why does he get 'sweetheart' and I get 'Ronald'?"

Kurt raised a dismissive hand, "be quiet Ronald, as you were."

"Well," Neville who had squeezed between Ron and Kurt, "I simply came to tell Harry that his room had been ransacked."

The round faced boy got up and strolled lazily away, not long after the three Gryffindors hastily followed him out the Great Hall.

~0~

Kurt was cautiously tried to keep in step with his friends as they tried to make their way to Hagrid's hut under Harry's large and tent-like cloak, they had fallen at least once due to their combined clumsiness.

"That's my foot," Hermione hissed at Harry who shrugged a whispered apology.

Getting down to Hagrid's hut had been an arduous task and Kurt was pleased to know that first part of their journey was over. Harry reached out knocked on the hut door. Hagrid violently swung the door open with a crossbow in hand, he lowered it when he didn't see anybody at the door.

Harry pulled the cloak away to make their presence known; Hagrid stared at them in amazement, not moving. Harry was first to speak in a tone that he might have borrowed from Kurt himself, "Aren't you going to let us in? Or shall we just have this conversation out in the open?"

"Sorry," Hagrid shrank away from the door he had successfully barricaded with his sheer size, "Do come in, I'll put on a pot of tea."

"None for me," Kurt raised a dismissive hand as they entered what Kurt would have defined as the great room of the modest cabin, "I'm cutting down and I had a cup at lunch."

The quartet made themselves comfortable around the crowded kitchen table; Kurt was grateful for his advantageous height as it minimalized his struggle with the enlarged furniture, Hermione had a bit of difficulty retaining her grace as she mounted the homemade chair.

"Haven't had you guys around here in a bit," Hagrid chortled nervously as he riffled about the piles of stuff that filled every surface of the hut.

"We've been avoiding you," Hermione didn't seem the least bit apologetic for her biting honesty.

Ron cleared his throat to cut off Hermione as she moved to continue with her brutal honesty, "Harry and I didn't know we were avoiding you, we were just following Kurt and Hermione's instructions."

"Yes," Kurt shot Ron a disapproving look, "alright we're the bad guys."

Harry nervously rubbed the nape of his neck before beginning to speak, "Hagrid, I'm afraid this isn't a social call."

"What can I do you for?" Hagrid giggled nervously as he tried to fill the kettle with shaking hands, "I'm an open book."

"Why were you expelled?" Kurt looked at him through hooded eyes.

Hagrid dropped the pitcher of water that he was using to fill the kettle with loud clang, "That book is closed."

"Were you expelled for opening the Chamber of Secrets?" Hermione didn't miss a beat as she and Harry helped him clean up the mess he'd made.

"You see the thing about that is-"

"Spare us," Kurt raised a dismissive hand, "Is it why you were expelled?"

"Yes," Hagrid started to sniff loudly, "but-"

There came three loud raps on the front door and the quartet were startled as nobody besides them ever came down here this late, "Hagrid! I decree that you open this door by order of Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, Order of Merlin First Class, etcetera etcetera."

"I think you four best make yourselves scarce," Hagrid whispered ushering them into a corner, "Just a moment."

They huddled into the corner and Kurt mouthed a 'We are not finished' as Hagrid threw the cloak of invisibility over them. Hagrid opened the door and an aged wizard in a lime green bowler hat and a pinstriped suit that made his portly stature more apparent, this man was flanked by a tall chocolate skinned man in pale blue robes that had a vaguely Middle Eastern feel and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

"Minister!" Hagrid exclaimed with wide eyes but they soon narrowed as they flicked suspiciously toward the tall man.

"Bad business Hagrid," the elderly man spoke in a weary tone, "with all of these attacks, parents have asked me to step in before another student is killed."

"Hagrid," Professor Dumbledore seemed to look directly at them as he spoke, "Accompanying the Minister for Magic is Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, and I have assured both men that I have the utmost confidence in your innocence."

"Confidence?" Hagrid's head moved at lightning speed over all of the men, "why is he having confidence in me?"

"Yes headmaster but I've come to take you Hagrid," the man held his neon coloured hat to his chest as he spoke, "my hand has been forced."

"Take me?" Hagrid looked afraid, his eyes were wide as dinner plates and he looked to be shaking violently, "Not Azkaban!"

"Let's not make a big deal of this," the Auror had his wand at hand as he spoke, "You'll have to come with us either way, let's not make this hard."

"I'll come peacefully," Hagrid hung his head but it appeared to be a situation with no two ways about it, "I just want you two know that somebody needs to feed Fang and that if anybody should want some answers they should follow the spiders."

"Strange last words," Kingsley Shacklebolt raised a quizzical unibrow.

As they moved toward the front door it swung open, in the doorway stood an elegantly snooty man with long luxurious blond hair that was worn with a side parting and stone grey eyes; Kurt knew in an instance who the man was due to the striking resemblance he bore to his son, Draco Malfoy. The air that he had about him reminded Kurt distinctly of somebody else he'd known in his lengthy lifetime but he simply couldn't place a name or face to the familiarity.

"You," Hagrid drawled the words from between gritted teeth, "Get out of my house."

The man let out a deep, cold, empty laugh as he waved the nose that dominated his face about in the air, "You call this hovel a house? I wouldn't wish this squalor on my worst enemy, least of all myself for longer than necessary." Kurt could feel Harry and Ron tense up a the man turned to Professor Dumbledore and handed him an envelope, "I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to deliver this message myself, the Board of Governors feels that in lieu of recent events the time has come for you to step aside; these is a suspension order."

"You take Dumbledore away and the muggleborns will be defenceless," Hagrid proclaimed, "there'll be an attack a day and there'll be killings next; there won't be any muggleborns left by the close of the year."

The devilishly regal man's retort was delivered so smugly that Ron was bubbling behind him as Kurt used himself as a barrier, "And that'll be a bad thing?"

Dumbledore lazily raised a dismissive hand, "it's alright Hagrid," He turned as though to speak to the four of them, "I want it to be known that I will only truly be gone from Hogwarts when those who remain are no longer loyal to me, and help will always be given at Hogwarts to this who ask for it."

"Now those are last words worth remembering," Kingsley shrugged for assurance but none came. Mr Malfoy flourished his walking stick as he turned and left, closely followed by the Minister for Magic, Auror, Headmaster and Keeper of Grounds.

"That…" Ron was bubbling when they were left alone in the dark hut, "those Malfoys know how to rub me the wrong way!"

"It doesn't take much to rub you the wrong way," Kurt rolled his eyes as he flicked his wand, "Lumos."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron nudged him.

Kurt held the light over Harry's head as the boy filled Fang's bowl with dog biscuits, "this morning you got upset because I called you 'Ronald' instead of 'Sweetheart'."

"Did not," Ron's voice came out higher than he expected.

"I witnessed the mentioned exchange," Hermione giggled as Harry swung the cloak of invisibility over their small group.

"I'm more interested in finding out what Hagrid meant by 'follow the spiders'," Harry put an end to their jovial exchange.

"I'm also curious," Hermione fiddled with her Alice band as she spoke, "I think I'll go to the library."

~0~

"Mr Hummel," Professor McGonagall smiled at him, it was the first time he'd seen her smile since he came to Hogwarts, "Please come in and close the door."

Kurt entered her office cautiously but was pleasantly surprised by what he saw, there was exquisite artwork all on every wall; Kurt was a lover of all things beautiful and though Hogwarts had many paintings, none of them were normal artworks. Kurt approached the aging woman's desk with caution, since coming to Hogwarts he had been called to the principal's office many time but that had been Professor Dumbledore who treated their, often scheduled, meetings as a joke.

"Good afternoon Professor McGonagall," Kurt tried to match her smile but knew it didn't suit him as well, "I was surprised to receive your memo about this meeting, I had assumed it to be cancelled due to Professor Dumbledore's suspension."

"This appointment was in his diary on an orange post it," Professor McGonagall explained, "When he handed me his meetings, he told me not to cancel anything with a higher importance rating than yellow."

"I taught him how to organise his meetings that way," Kurt preened as he praised himself, "it makes gaging the importance of things easier."

"Professor Dumbledore holds you to very high esteem," she tilted her head in endearment, "I'd like to get to know you just a little bit better so I can understand… all of this. I'm going to humble myself and admit that I was wrong in my belief that you are the heir and responsible for these attacks, I realised that I barely know you and that is a great injustice considering that it was I who introduced you to the wizarding world."

"What would you like to know?" Kurt was curious of the circumstances of this meeting but he knew that he had nothing to hide.

"Tell me some of your childhood," she reclined in her seat and pursed her lips curiously.

"Well you know I was adopted by the Hummels," Kurt bowed his head for acknowledgement, "my mum grew up in Sheffield and came to London to work as an investment banker, after graduating from Oxford, and she met my dad who was a French born German mechanic; they fell in love, got married and swore to never have children.

"Enter me from stage left; I was found on the doorstep as a new born and I was named for the wolf but it conveniently also accounted for my new German heritage," Kurt's voice was clinical as he told the story, he had to detach himself or he might not be able to finish, "As a family of three we were quite happy, I was growing well and strong, and I'd taken to the arts with a running start; I was taking ballet, gymnastics and piano. I considered myself such an artistic prodigy that I had convinced myself that I was the lovechild of Elton John and Freddie Mercury, I didn't understand science then.

"When I was five I was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia; we tried chemotherapy, radiation and finally we started looking for a bone marrow donor," Kurt had trained his voice to remain level when he got to this part of the story, "my mum, who had tested and not been a match, tested again and it turned out she was a match. They performed the surgery and it was a success but as I got better, my mother succumbed to an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic; she suffered cardiovascular collapse and the damage was irreparable, she died."

"I'm so very sorry for your loss," her face had softened and her eyes glistened as she tried to offer a sympathetic face.

"In the months to follow we lived on welfare," Kurt had a certain fondness of that time in his life, a certain simplicity that he'd never had ever again, "my father had quit his job to care for me and all that they had saved was used to pay off the mortgage of the house so that we wouldn't become homeless; whilst my father cared for me we covered the school work I'd missed out on in the two years I'd been ill. The summer before I returned to school my mother's life insurance and the malpractice suit paid out, and we became excessively rich; we'd been living the middle class version of hand to mouth till this point and suddenly we had more money than we could ever spend.

"I started second grade with a work ethic I'd adopted when my mother died," Kurt knew that the hardest part of the story was behind him, he took a deep breath and carried on, "I had figured that I owed my survival and new wealth to her sacrifice, she would want me to do whatever I liked so long as I did it well; I liked to read and grow my expertise, that's what I did. When I started school I wasn't nervous because I had convinced my father to send me to the same school as Finn, whom I met during my stay in hospital; he'd come in with appendicitis and stayed for about a week but he kept visiting me even after he was discharged."

"What about the ballet and the piano and gymnastics," Kurt raised his vision from a paperweight he'd been staring at longer than he cared to admit and saw professor McGonagall push aside a tear, "did you ever return to a semblance of the life you'd had before?"

"As soon as the doctor gave me the green light," Kurt smiled, "Finn even got me into hockey even though I was dreadful."

"Were you happy again?" she leaned forward intently, "Was sadness behind you?"

"I was never happy again," Kurt mirrored her body language, "the heartache had made me realise that my emotional response to the events in my life reached beyond happiness and sadness; I was euphoric, satisfied, hungry for life and pleasured to the point of ecstasy. My father found love again and Finn became my brother, legally that is because he's been my brother so much longer; my life has been perfect since then, at least it was…"

"What do you mean?"

"I came to this place and everything started to come apart," Kurt had never admitted that much to himself but knew the words to be truth he had been denying himself, "I'm supposed to be more satisfied by life than ever before but all I have are doubts and questions; for the first time in my life, since the Elton John/Freddie Mercury bubble was burst, the identity of my birth parents became a factor in my life again and I have no way of solving it."

"How so?"

"If I knew who my parents are, then I'd know if I was the heir of Slytherin," Kurt let out a heavy sigh, "I hadn't even considered it as a possibility because I wasn't doing it, I'm usually busy when the attacks happen, but Ronald had this theory that the Chamber of Secrets might be automated to sense the heir's presence and start it's engine; there hasn't been an attack since then but I've been dedicating a certain portion of my brain power to trying to prevent it just in case, I didn't like any of the people who were attacked so I thought it might be tapping into my subconscious."

"Ronald?" Professor McGonagall pursed her lips inquisitively, "You're listening to Ron Weasley?"

"He has his moments of brilliance," Kurt let out small laugh and a large smile spread across his face, "I can't even say that and keep a straight face." Kurt straightened up in his seat, "you do know that this isn't how these meetings work, right?"

"What do you mean?" Professor McGonagall's eye opened wide and her brows reached for her hairline, "The post it said 'Story time with Kurt'."

"You were supposed to tell me a story," Kurt smiled at her.

The colour drained from her face, "this is embarrassing."

"Don't stress it," Kurt waved a dismissive hand, "I love hearing the sound of my own voice."

"The mark of a true Slytherin," Professor McGonagall evidently caught sight of something surprising as her eyes grew wide again, Kurt turned to follow her line of vision and wasn't surprised to see her looking at a clock.

"Yes, that's really the time."

"But where did the time go?" she smiled at him, "Off you go, it's almost dinner time."

Kurt smiled, "this was surprisingly pleasant, I'm sure if you'd gone to Oxford like Dr Rhodes it would have been even more enjoyable."

Kurt turned with small wave and exited the beautifully decorated office, descended the spiral staircase out into the adjacent quadrangle where he was treated to a sight that he couldn't help but smile at; there on a bench during this chilli February afternoon were Neville and Hermione, they didn't appear to be doing much aside from reading but Kurt could see Hermione's hand held in Neville's.

~0~

Kurt was standing in the corridor outside of the astronomy tower and was particularly irritated, Hermione was late for class and he had the sneaking suspicion she was avoiding him; they were yet to have a moment alone since he'd seen her holding hands with Neville the previous day, he hadn't said anything but Hermione was sufficiently intuitive to have figure out that he knew that she and Neville were kind of a thing.

Kurt pulled out the silver pocket watch he'd gotten from 'Pa for Christmas, the man had once again gotten Finn and him matching gifts no ordinary preteen would appreciate; Kurt couldn't have been more pleased. Hermione was ten minutes late, he hadn't seen her during lunch after she'd walked out of Transfiguration with a blasphemous proclamation of 'Oh my god', she hadn't even spared a moment to explain it as she usually did. Kurt caught sight of Professor McGonagall scurrying down the corridor with intent, he made the flash decision to rendezvous with Hermione later instead of risking a detention for cutting class and loitering in the corridor. As Kurt moved to climb the spiral staircase into the tower he heard his name being called by the elder woman.

"Mr Hummel," she called after him and he knew there was no point pretending not to hear her, she must have seen him hesitate at her first call, "Where are Mr Weasley and Potter?"

"Upstairs," Kurt didn't meet her gaze because he'd been caught red handed loitering in the courtyard during class time, "I was on my way I was just delayed-"

"Wait here," she didn't seem interested in his tardiness as she ascended the stairs faster than anyone he knew at her age would manage. Kurt nervously twiddled his thumbs as he tried to figure out what was happening and suddenly a worst case scenario dawned on him, Professor McGonagall walked by him, "Follow me."

"She's been attacked," Professor McGonagall twitched ever so slightly but didn't offer him any confirmation, "the Heir of Slytherin went after my best friend."

Kurt didn't need her to confirm his suspicions, the twitch had been all he'd needed to know that that which he had never considered possible had become his terrible truth. For a moment he couldn't breathe but his body kept going, in step with Ron, Harry and Professor McGonagall; he took a deep breath but couldn't shake the emptiness that had overcome him.

"This is where she was found," Kurt followed her extended index finger to the corridor that he knew led to the library, why she had been in the library without him was beyond even his knowing; was her interest in Neville creating a rift between them? Kurt couldn't help but consider the worst possible reason. Professor McGonagall opened the door to the infirmary, "she was found with Ravenclaw Prefect Penelope Clearwater; she was holding this in her hands, does it mean anything to any of you?"

Kurt snatched the silver hand mirror from Professor McGonagall and an overwhelming sadness washed over him, he fell to his knees and could feel the tears trailing down his cheeks, "I broke her. I made her feel insecure about the way she looked and she got petrified as a result." Kurt curled into foetal position on the stone floor, "I just wanted to treat it because it looked so damaged, I didn't care about how she looked, not really and now I've lost her."

"Actually," Professor McGonagall didn't sound the least bit impressed by his antics, "Professor Sprout's Mandrake are fully matured and will be harvested by her tomorrow morning, we should have a restorative draft by tomorrow night."

Harry, who'd been soothingly stroking Kurt's hair, had his hand smacked away; Kurt got to his feet and wiped away his tears, "I'm okay."

"We'll do you a favour and never mention that to anyone," Ron placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Kurt moved to Hermione's side and clasped her hand, there was a crumpled piece of parchment in her hand, Kurt took it and slipped it in the pockets of his robes, "I'll throw this away for you."

"Kurt," Harry moved closer, "Don't panic but there's a spider in your hair."

Kurt took a deep breath and let out a long high shriek, Ron matched his shriek in both pitch and intensity, "it's going to eat me!"

At that moment Ron noticed the trail of spiders leading across the infirmary and out into the corridor, as his scream became louder and more frantic. Harry pulled the spider from a now vibrating Kurt's hair, "What was it Hagrid said about spiders?"

"Kill them," Ron was now to out of breath to scream, "Kill them all!"

"I'm pretty sure we were supposed to feed them," Kurt nodded.

Harry blinked rapidly, "It was Fang we were supposed to feed, glad I took that upon myself or we'd have to explain to Hagrid what killed his dog. We were supposed to follow the spiders."

"No," Ron stomped his feet in protest, "you're not making me do this."

"Of course we are," Harry gave Ron a small smile, Kurt went straight for the door, "wait, we have to get my father's cloak."

"There is not a chance in hell that I am waiting a second longer than I have to," Kurt gestured for the boys to follow as he swung the hospital doors open, "it's gotten Hermione and that means Finn could be next, I pity the person who tries to stop me from getting to the bottom of this."

Kurt walked past the window the spiders were using to exit the castle; he was on a b-line down the stairs and out the castle. Kurt circled around the west wing of the castle with Ron and Harry hot on his heels so he could get a view of the window he'd walked past.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked.

"I'm trying to find the trail," Kurt turned his head and realised that in an attempt to see what he was seeing, Ron had stepped deep into his personal space, "that's the window I saw the spiders leaving the castle through."

Kurt pointed down from the second floor window, he then started looking on the ground but he couldn't see in the darkness of dusk; his struggle was alleviated when Harry held his lit wand out for him to see, Kurt found the trail and gestured for the two boys to follow with a whisper, "Thanks, lumos."

"Kurt," Ron whispered so just he could hear, "You're afraid of everything, are you afraid right now?"

"Too much anger and adrenaline to feel anything," Kurt spoke as they scaled the slope.

"I'm afraid," Ron whimpered, "When I was younger Fred and George transfigured my teddy into a giant spider and locked me in my room with it."

Kurt stopped suddenly and turned to Ron who collided with him, "Honey, save for Oprah."

"Who?"

"That's the spirit," Kurt turned back to see they had fallen behind, Harry was approaching the tree line of the Forbidden Forrest; he picked up his pace to cover the distance.

"The trail leads into the Forbidden Forest," Harry reported as they stood at the edge of the dark density of tall trees, "Should we keep following them?"

Kurt shrugged, "Worst case scenario, we die."

He walked beyond the tree line with his wand held out so that he could see the spiders he was meant following, within moments Harry and Ron were at his flanks and they were heading deeper into the great unknown- shoulder to shoulder. Kurt nearly dropped his wand when he was startled by a low rumbling sound; as soon as they had all regained their composure, they began to search the peripheral area for the beast that would be their undoing.

"Guys," Kurt turned to follow Ron's line of vision, "It's our car."

"Why would your car be in the Forbidden Forest?" Kurt flicked his wand, "lumos maxima."

A small ball of light flew from the tip of his wand toward the source of the rumbling, there between the trees was a dirty old blue car; the car revved its engine and turned on its headlights in retaliation to Kurt illuminating the darkness it had come to call its home.

"Seems almost sentient," Harry observed as their tense standoff with the car went on.

"Seems wild to me," Ron countered.

A semblance of silence washed over the tense situation as neither stood down, "Do you think it'll attack us if we try to walk away?"

"I'll go, you two wait and gauge it's reaction, don't follow until we're sure it's safe," Harry started walking in the same direction as the trail of spiders, "Come on, seems harmless."

They began to follow the unending trail of spiders once more, deeper into the forest and closer to its heart. The pathway they had initially been walking along had ended and they were now navigating through a thicket of exposed roots, occasionally losing the spiders as the trail became sparse and the arachnids weaved their way in between the cluster of intertwined roots. The spiders led them so deep into the forest that Kurt couldn't make heads or tails of where they were, the trees had grown so thick in this part of the forest that one could not see the night sky, the only source of light were the wands belonging to Kurt and Harry's; Kurt knew they had reached their destination when they came to a large white dome.

"Is that the Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked with a small squeak.

"I guess I know why it was never found during the many searches of the castle," Kurt tossed a ball of light toward the dome, it was clearly where the spiders were leading them.

"Here goes nothing," Harry approached and the enormity of the dome dwarfed him to no bigger than the spiders they were following in comparison, "Are you two coming?"

"The adrenaline and anger wore off," Kurt smiled nervously, "I don't choose to go there."

The dark haired boy turned to Ron with pleading bottle green eyes, "Ron?"

"I'm with Kurt on this one," Ron shook his head and rung his arms, "I don't want to."

Harry went around the pair and started pushing them, "Well, we have to."

"Hello," Ron called into the silent dome.

A voice that distinct sounding educated voice called out to them, "Hagrid is that you?"

"No," Harry replied to the seemingly disembodied, "not Hagrid."

"Then who dares disturb my rest and intrude on my space?" the voice called out with new rage as they approached.

For the first time the light of their wands reached the source of the seemingly disembodied voice and Kurt took a step back as the extraordinarily large spider was looking at them with his many eyes, Harry spoke once more, "We're friends of Hagrid's."

"Friends of Hagrid?" the voice asked, "And do you per chance have names?"

"What is that thing?" Ron whimpered.

"An acromantuala, fascinating creatures to study in theory very dangerous to encounter," Kurt hissed back at him before turning to the acromantula and pointing to each of them as he spoke, "We're known as Kurt, Ron and Harry, might I ask who you are?"

"I am Aragog," the furry monster proclaimed, "I too am a friend of Hagrid."

"You're the monster," Harry pointed at Aragog, "I recognise that voice, you killed that girl."

"I most certainly did not," Aragog counter, "I have never harmed a human life; Hagrid forbade it and so out of respect I dared not."

"Wait a minute," Harry raised a silencing hand as Kurt moved, "You're not Slytherin's monster?"

"No, the monster was born in the castle," Kurt couldn't help being impressed by the spider's grasp of the English language, "I came to Hagrid in the pocket of a traveller."

"Other than that," Kurt interjected before Harry could ask another silly question, "he's an acromantula, you are a he?" the spider grunted an affirmation, "they aren't known to have the ability to petrify their victims, their venom might have paralysing properties but it has a single effect and that is to kill it's victim, no two ways about it as there is no known anti-venom that doesn't contain the very rare venom."

Ron let out choking and heavy breath but no words formed, Harry took the queue, "How do you know all that?"

"I read," Kurt pointed out the obvious, "I'm fascinated by nature in theory, but I hate the outdoors."

"Wait," Harry turned back to Aragog, "If you're not the monster than what is?"

"We do not speak its name!" the disgust in Aragog's tone was evident.

"Might you possibly make an exception?" Kurt tried his luck.

Aragog looked affronted by the request, "Hagrid too asked me for years after the girl was killed, he begged me to name the monster but I could not. I can tell you as much as I told Hagrid; it is that which we spiders fear above all."

"That sounds like a bit of a dick move," Ron spoke with a moment of clarity, his fears temporarily forgotten, "Hagrid was expelled to protect you and you can't even bend the rules to tell him what the monster he took the fall for was?"

"It's complicated," Aragog would have turned up his nose had he had one, "I wouldn't expect somebody as simple as yourself to understand."

"That's rude, you don't know my story, I might be smart," Ron countered, "Also, I doubt even I'm dumber than a talking spider."

To which Aragog simply grunted.

"If you won't name the monster," Kurt pursed his lips inquisitively, "how can we know you aren't lying to us? The attacks stopped after you were banished from the Castle, isn't that a little convenient?"

"The dead girl was found in a bathroom," the spider spoke dismissively, "I never saw anything of the castle outside of the box in which Hagrid kept me in an unused dungeon."

Ron and Harry seemed to be pulling him toward the exit, "I think we'll be going now."

"No Harry," Kurt tried to shrug the boy's grip, "I'm pumped, and I want him to tell us what the monster is. I don't know about you but I am tired of everything being so cryptic at this school, do you not just for once want someone to tell you everything all at once?"

"But Kurt," Harry directed his gaze to the many large spiders that had them surrounded.

"I left my iron on," Kurt smiled politely as he started backing away, "I'm going to have to take a rain check on the remainder of this meeting."

"My children do not harm Hagrid on my command," there was an edge to Aragog's tone, "But I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wonders into our midst so willingly."

"You call them off or I swear I will set this dome on fire," Kurt warned as they stood back to back.

"You cannot scare me with empty threats," Aragog gave a small but menacing laugh, "enjoy, my children."

Kurt gestured for Ron and Harry to stay behind him, "incendio." Flames shot from Kurt's extended right hand and his wand, as he slowly bent his fingers and adjusted the angle of his wand the flames began to spiral around them, "I'm not sure how long I can keep them at bay, do you think we can run?"

"There are too many of them," Harry replied in a shaky voice.

"What are we going to do?" Ron whimpered in a panic, "I knew coming here was a bad idea!"

"Maybe if you had a working wand we might be able to strategize but I can't think of any way of getting away that doesn't have a weak spot," Kurt mumbled as he was crunching numbers in his mind.

The low rumbling they had heard once before that night roared closer and closer at such a rapid pace that before they could put one and one together, the dirty old blue car was upon them. The car drove through the dome wall and b-line straight for them, swerving to a stop beside them and throwing its doors open; leaving a trail of crushed and disoriented spiders in its wake.

"I think it wants us to get in," Harry voice went high with elation.

"Best option we have," Kurt said as he slid into the front seat first, "Worst case scenario, it tries to kill us as well."

They piled into the flying car and it took off at great speed, but the acromantulae were relentless in their pursuit; Kurt and Harry fired curse after hex after jinx but their infinite horde just kept strong in its pursuit. The car used speed and agility that proved both Ron and Harry correct in their initial suspicions, there was a definite element of sentience but with an edge of animal instincts; Kurt would be most ingratiated to meet the person who'd enchanted such a master piece.

The castle came into view and the car began to fly toward the main entrance but suddenly, from the great height that they had managed in their short flight, the enchanted car seemed to spot something that made it uneasy as it suddenly dropped straight down half way up the slope between the forbidden forest and the castle. As soon as it hit the ground, it opened its doors and flung them out before hightailing it back into the Forbidden Forest.

"There my dad's Ford Anglia goes again," Ron whimpered as they ran to the main entrance into the castle, soon as they were in the castle the flame haired boy asked the question that was burning fresh on their minds, "What's Hagrid playing at?"

"I've been asking myself what the point of that excursion was since we got away with our lives," Kurt added as he dusted the forest from himself, "I want a long hot shower."

"Don't you guys see?" Harry asked them with wide eyes but Kurt was busy dusting himself mercilessly.

"I don't see anything," Kurt spoke with a shortness of breath, "I think I dropped my spectacles."

"You weren't wearing your spectacles," Ron helped him out.

"We know one thing now," Harry didn't pay Kurt's loss of vision much mind, "Hagrid was innocent."

"If that was the point of that excursion then we now know who Aragog learned to be a dick from," Ron countered as the room started spinning and he fell to his knees, "Kurt are you alright?"

"I think I'm having another panic attack," he spoke softly between gritted teeth as tightness came over his chest.

"What I want to know is why Tom Riddle would tell me it was Hagrid, if Hagrid was innocent?" Harry was too busy pacing to notice Kurt's panic attack.

"Tom Riddle?" Darkness consumed Kurt with those final words.

Hope you liked it.