A/n This is where shit gets complicated, I said as if this story hasn't been a mess of hidden clues and interwoven universes.
Disclaimer: I still don't own any of this.
Duchy of Saxony, Carolingian Empire.
24 June 979
08:14 PM
Anais nursed the babe at her teat, she held him close to her with the hope that her warmth would permeate into the cold, sickly boy she had borne not more than a fortnight before. Her efforts were futile, the babe suckled but her breast failed to provide him with the nourishment he so desperately needed.
She had consulted a dozen healers and more, each had told her that he would not survive the night; that her son would be dead before the next sunrise. She held him in her arms, not wanting to miss a single moment with her ailing new born; she feared that if she turned from him for even a moment, closed her eyes for the semblance of sleep, he would die.
If the babe died, would she still be a mother? Could she use that title to call herself when she had never mothered anyone? The child had yet to open his eyes, he might die never knowing the sight of a mother, let alone his own mother. Could he hear the lullaby she hummed as she hoped beyond hope, and prayed beyond prayer that he would live to see another day? Any day. That he might open his eyes and cry as other babies do?
She felt helpless, the curse of her own ancestral mother taking from her the one thing she had wanted most. Her fore-mother was baron but proficient in the magical arts and had beckoned the Sun and Moon into baring her children. Each agreed to quicken her womb and parent her child.
To the Moon she promised to keep the whelp from the Sun. The Moon agreed to her terms and the child was named Langa, she would be so beautiful as to provoke the Sun's jealousy. The Moon knew the Sun to be vain and had been victim to the Sun's jealousy once before, losing part of its light and magic in the process. In an effort to protect the child, the Moon gifted Langa with a word to speak only when faced with the Sun but offered the warning that anyone else who heard the word would be struck down.
The Sun bore her second child, a son, who would be the foil to the beautiful daughter; he would not be much to look at but his power would be immense, he was told by the vain Sun to pay homage only to him and never to be seen by the Moon. To ensure that the woman and son obeyed, the Sun cursed his son to keep him hidden from the Moon. When in the presence of the Moon, the boy would lose control and succumb to a madness not known to wizardkind. The stronger Lycan and his brood grew, the weaker Langa and her lineage would grow.
The fore mother, angered by the pain the Sun and the Moon had inflicted upon Lycan, swore to treat her children as equals; teaching Lycan during the day and allowing him to play while Langa slept, doing the same with Langa in the night. But the Moon could not let Lycan rest, though spite was not in the Moon's nature, his light was different from that of the sun and would seek Lycan wherever he hid, twisting his body such that it resembled a wolf.
Lycan would unwittingly spread his curse- that would bear his name- when he bit his partner while turned, and so it would go for the endless stretch of history. Langa would marry a man she met on a river bank one night, bare his daughters who were not as beautiful as she- free to walk in the sun. Her daughters married and had daughters, but every male child they bore was cold and frail; forsaken to die within the first cycle of the moon during his lifetime.
Anais held her dying son in her arms, knowing that if she could summon the Sun and hope to reason with him, that he might hear ailing soul and grant her deepest wish. She would convince him to hear sense, plead with him to put warmth in the boy child's bones, and if he would not listen she would speak the word. The Deplorable Word.
~0~
Kurt dropped into the seat beside Ron and grinned broadly, "I got a great night's sleep."
"Good for you," Hermione smiled, "you're positively glowing."
"You deserved the rest," Harry nodded, echoing the sentiment.
"I have news," Kurt was grinning harder than he had in the longest time, "Which do you want to hear first; the good news, the better news, the best news or the great news?"
"I'll take the good news," Ron spoke around a mouthful of bacon sandwich.
"I finished writing my Divination assignment and it is amazing."
"Let's do the best news," Ron furrowed his brow, "I think we might have different definitions of what constitutes good news."
"I figured out how to defeat Voldemort."
Hermione dropped the book she was reading into her cereal and gaped at him, "How?"
"It came to me in a dream," Kurt smirked.
"Someone had a productive night of dreaming," Ron's eyes bulged as he gawked at Kurt.
"I mean how do we kill Voldemort?" Hermione specified as she cleaned up the spilled milk and attempted to dry her book.
"There is a spell that instantly strikes down anyone whom it is cast upon," Kurt explained.
"We're familiar with the killing curse," Hermione furrowed her brow, "I don't think it will work."
"That definitely won't work if both Harry and Voldemort survived it in one way or another the last time," Kurt shook his head, "the curse we're looking for is a single word, not two like the Avada Kadavra."
"What?" Ron's confusion was growing more evident, "What's more powerful than the killing curse? Is this what Sirius was talking about during the Order of the Phoenix meeting?"
"This curse is the most powerful magic in existence," Kurt beamed as he spoke, "But I doubt Sirius knows anything about it, this magic is known only to women."
"What does that mean?" Hermione furrowed her brow, "how is it known only to women?"
"I have no idea," Kurt shrugged.
"What is it?" Harry probed.
"Not sure," Kurt shrugged, "But I do have an inclination as to where to begin my search, that's the better news."
"You need to readjust your standards of what constitutes news," Ron shook his head in derision, "Because you are seriously over selling, for news that isn't complete."
"Firstly," Kurt narrowed his gaze, "Finishing my research project means that I only have to write my OWL to be rid of that wretched subject."
"I wish I was done with my research paper," Hermione groaned, "If I have to read one more book on tarot cards I will burst into flames."
"That's why I chose Tyromancy," Kurt smirked, "It's such an obscure art that it is mostly speculation and I never get tired of reading about cheese."
"And you get to write off you trips to see Oma as tax deductible business trips," Finn leaned down from nowhere and kissed Kurt on the cheek, "You are glowing."
"I'm having a good day," Kurt shrugged, offering his brother some of his breakfast, "How are you?"
"I'm stoked," Finn grinned, "Hufflepuff is going to win the Quidditch Cup; Gryffindor is cancelled, their only player of note is Angelina and she can't carry the team on her own. Goyle has got to let me win because I might decide to play the older brother, and Ravenclaw… forget about it."
"Ginny is a fair second string seeker," Hermione tried to defend her house's team, "and Ron's…"
"Let's just say Weasley is our King," Ron smirked.
"Still cancelled," Kurt and Finn smirked in unison.
"Don't discount Ravenclaw," Padma smirked, leaning down to kiss Finn smack on the lips. She wagged a finger toward herself invitingly, "we have more than booksmarts."
"You're all dead to me," Finn announced as he allowed himself to be led away.
"Can you believe them?" Ron grumbled.
Kurt watched them go and nodded, "If it were Harry and Lisa they'd be heading for the library."
"I can hear you," Harry gawked.
"You're the one who let her open your fly in the library," Kurt shrugged, "don't be shocked when people bring it up."
"I personally don't think it's an issue that we freely discuss you getting a handy in the library," Hermione shrugged, "It's like how Kurt was probably deflowered on the Astronomy Tower."
"I was not deflowered on the Astronomy Tower, I want everyone to know that," Kurt gaped at her, "You want to do this now? In front of the children."
"We are not children," Harry and Ron countered in unison, they glared at each other and shuddered.
"You act like children," Hermione retorted in his defence, "And it is too late for you to try and convince us that you aren't children."
"I still want to hear about Kurt's deflowering," Harry sat up straight, puffing out his chest.
"You're only working to prove my point," Hermione chuckled at the boy's false bravado, "And nobody has confirmed whether or not there was a deflowering, what we are certain of is that Kurt made out with Goyle."
Ron's eyes grew wide, "You snogged Goyle?"
"Oh my gosh," Kurt rolled his eyes, "that was one time."
"Goyle? Really?"
"His arms are amazing," Kurt smirked salaciously, "and he's built like a rugby player in all the right ways."
"Amen to that," Hermione nodded her agreement, "Those thighs, that ass!" She caught herself, "not that I think you should be making out with him."
"He's looking over here," Harry groaned.
Ron turned to see behind them, "He looks like he wants to eat you."
"I feel like he's looking at me like he's seen me in my underwear," Harry fidgeted.
"Stop looking at him before he realises that you're looking," Kurt used his compact to look behind him, there Gregory was. Kurt smirked, "I think my day just filled up."
Hermione stealthily flicked a glance, "he looks like he wants to be knuckles deep in you."
"A look you're obviously familiar with," Kurt countered.
"Some of us are trying to eat," Ron groaned, "The closest I've gotten to a girl is some fourth year making small talk in the library."
"Which one?" Kurt quirked a curious brow.
"That one next to Luna," Ron grinned, nodding behind them "brown hair."
"With the side parting?" Hermione asked, her brow knitted.
"Yeah," Ron was smug as he nodded. Kurt used his mirror to check behind himself, he wished he was sitting where Hermione was sitting- with her back to the wall, it made people watching so much easier.
"Don't be disgusting," Kurt snapped, "you cannot finger-bang Ming Prewett!"
"Why not?"
"Ming Prewett, your mother is Molly Prewett."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "She's your first cousin."
"My mother's brothers didn't have kids," Ron shook his head.
"Her birthday is on the eleventh of November," Kurt pointed out, "your uncle died before she was born."
"How do you know so much about her," Harry tilted his head in curiosity, like a puppy does.
"I worked with her mother over the summer," Both Harry and Ron's faces remained blank, "Hau Xun, Head of the Auror Office's Investigation Department." Kurt tried to clarify but the lights did not come on, "Puck's boss."
"The lady who spoke at my trial?"
"Her," Kurt nodded, "You also spoke to her after the third task."
"Let's change the subject," Ron sulked, "I feel dirty. Where were we?"
"Criticizing Kurt's ability to deliver news," Hermione interjected quickly, saving Ron the trouble.
"It was my ability to discern the significance of news," Kurt corrected, "not my delivery. I'm a talented orator, I have great oral skills."
"Well, Cedric isn't around to dispute that," Harry mumbled.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I believe you were listing a defence for your less that noteworthy events and weather services," He said, making a smooth recovery, "I believe we had found some level of appreciation for you completing your research paper."
"Ah yes," Kurt nodded, taking the cue to keep the conversation going, "Secondly, my charm, curse, hex, jinx or spell is a definite way of killing Lord Voldemort."
"But you don't know what it is," Hermione countered.
"I do have an idea of which direction to go in, I'm sure I've said this already," Kurt explained, "it'll be very old, obscure and it will be written on a scrap of parchment."
"What will…" Hermione shook her head, "You're making very little sense right now. I think maybe you got too much sleep."
"There's no such thing as too much sleep," Ron grumbled, "trust me, one of my roommates speaks in parseltongue in his sleep."
Kurt pulled a book out of his bag- ignoring Ron's complaining, "It's a word." He flipped though the book till he came to the page that described the idea he was attempting to translate to his friends, "read here."
"CS Lewis?" Hermione's face grew worried, "Kurt, this is fiction."
"Not that extract," Kurt shook his head, "Clive Lewis was a childhood friend to one Jadis Rowle, he even named the White Witch after her."
"Are you telling me that she told him about magic?" Hermione shook her head, reading the passage over and over, "are you telling me that she catalysed one of the greatest fantasy epics of all time?"
"I don't think the Rowle's would let their kid be friends with a muggle," Ron shook his head, "They're one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight."
"That is true, he was a squib and that was the end of their friendship," Kurt shook his head, "while Jadis had some influence on him, I think he came by knowledge of this spell during his lifetime and left this extract as a clue."
"What does that have to do with your dreams?" Hermione shook her head, "what does this have to do with Rowena Ravenclaw?"
"She recalled a folktale from her childhood," Kurt explained, "a tale of the children of the Sun and the Moon; the child of the Sun is Lycan, mutated by the moon. The child of the Moon, Langa, is given a single word that will stike down any who hear it for protection." Kurt explained the tale more intricately, "the moon's secret word is our ticket."
"I'm so stupid," Hermione smacked her hand against her forehead repeatedly, "This is The Magician's Nephew!"
"I know," Kurt nodded, "it's my book."
"It's a prequel," Hermione explained, "after it's events the White Witch is defeated thanks to four kids, two females and two males."
"The founders," Kurt gasped, "one of them even flirts with the fringe of darkness. The dichotomy of the sun and the moon is echoed by the White Witch and Aslan! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"
"That means that the first five books have extracts that make a map to wherever Anais Haddad-Schmidt learned the Deplorable Word," Hermione squealed excitedly, "we just need to decrypt them to find it."
"Should we be looking for a spell known as the Deplorable Word?" Harry furrowed brow, "I think somethings are best left unfound, don't you think there's a reason that spell was lost to time.
"Harry," Kurt reached out for the boy's hand but he pulled it away, "Voldemort is going to hurt people, we need to stop him."
"This doesn't feel right," Harry shook his head, "I don't think this is right."
"It's effective," Kurt withdrew his hand, "it'll save so many people so much pain." Kurt crossed his arms and felt the ice in his chest grow, "or are you going wait until it is too late? How many more people need to die before you're ready to stop playing fair and start playing to win?"
"What happened to Cedric-"
"I loved Cedric Diggory but he is not my world," Kurt smirked malevolently, "I have a muggle father, Carole, three muggleborn siblings and myself to look out for; and that's just counting the residents of number thirteen Grimmauld Place."
Kurt uncrossed his arms, leaned forward and narrowed his gaze, "I don't know about you but I haven't been waiting for the first battle of this war to start trying to end it, I've been working hard since before you even knew we were at war."
Kurt flashed his forearm, where there should have been a scar to map out where Peter Pettigrew had sliced it open that spring night. A reminder none the less that Kurt had taken Harry's place as the chosen one once, a threat that he might do so again in the future.
"Now boys," Hermione glared at each of them, "let's play nice."
"I'm going to explore this further," Kurt spoke in a calm and measured tone, "next weekend I've accepted an invitation to Le Château d'Hiver de la Famille Noire."
"You're going to talk to Jadis?" Harry's tone was a little less measured, more challenging- as if to say 'despite my express wishes that you don't'.
"Kurt had one more piece of news," Ron interjected as Kurt and Harry were glaring at each other, "let's hear it then."
"Hagrid's back."
~0~
"Kurt," Hermione quirked a curious brow as she stood before Dumbledore's Army, she leaned in to whisper, "I didn't think you were coming, considering how things have been between you and Harry this week."
"Nonsense," Kurt shook his head, waving the idea away for the drivel that it was, "without me this group would dissolve into a puddle of emotional, ill prepared wimps." Kurt produced a bag as the Room of Requirement reconfigured itself to his specifications, changing to resemble a gladiator's arena.
He went around the room and handed out small stones, giving one to each member at random, "Today we're putting what we've learned into practice! If you have Topaz, you're a Death Eater. If you have Amethyst, you're the resistance." Kurt looked around the room with his eyes storm grey in place of their usual silver, "if your stone changes colour during the exercise, that means you've betrayed your cause."
There was a resounding gasp that echoed through the group, and Kurt knew that this would happen. He looked Harry in the eyes and held out his hand for the boy to take the last amethyst but as soon as the boy touched it, the stone turned from violet to orange, "there is nobody who is exempt, don't trust anyone implicitly. The fact that I'm your brother, best friend or the sweetest person you've ever met, doesn't mean I won't betray you."
Kurt broke the stone they were holing in half, Harry's half turned violet once more and the boy gaped at Kurt whose stone remained topaz. A fourth year Hufflepuff student voiced his concern, "That's not fair, the death eaters have you, Padma Petil and Hermione Granger! We're mostly juniors."
"Thanks for that," Ron grumbled, "You're just chucked full of team spirit, aren't you?"
"He's only being logical," Luna countered, in her classmates defence, "the odds are against us, but that makes the exercise more realistic; most Death Eaters will be older and better learned in the magical arts."
"Which is why previous lessons haven't been in just spell casting," Hermione explained, "we've made style a key element of our curriculum for this exact reason; use your agility, apparating and whatever else you have in your arsenal to ensure that you stay alive- beating your opponent is secondary; live to fight another day."
Kurt, Finn, Harry, Hermione, Lisa, Mandy, Neville and Padma made their way through the group; they tapped everyone's robe with their wand as they went, reciting a whispered incantation that Kurt had developed with the help of Tracey Davis. The enchantment imbued their robes with the ability to change colour based on whether the wearer was still alive in the exercise, offer some protection from the effects of their spells, and keep record of how many were dead on each team, the level of spell casting and effectiveness of any single spell on each robe.
The pair had developed it as an extra credit assignment for Charms, Professor Flitwick had been thrilled beyond all reason and called the enchantment a revolution in the academic practice of spell creation- granting users the ability to test their spells on non-living creatures but receive the same feedback they would from a living subject. Their charms Professor had gone so far as to show their work to Professor McGonagall; she'd instantly recognized Tracey's transfiguration at work, awarded them each extra credit in Transfiguration and fifty points to Slytherin.
Kurt had this exercise in mind when he planted the idea in Tracey's mind, using her as a resource to solve an issue he didn't have the time to personally address. She had taken to the issue like a fish to water, and had a theoretical solution for him in the space of a few weeks. She wanted his research acumen and charms know-how to help her make the transition from the theoretical transfiguration model she had created to a practical layered enchantment.
They had worked side by side as they decided which enchantments would best deliver the results they wanted for their final product, this included endless testing of obscure spells they read about between the school library and Kurt's ever growing collection of obscure books- most of them gifts from the people he knew all over the planet from his many travels. They had then begun the arduous task of layer the spells into a single charm, a task never undertaken by any in the wizarding world.
Hermione, Tracey and Kurt had been working on their silent spell casting for some time since they had first discussed the layering of spells, knowing that one day it would be a useful skill to have in their arsenal. They had first tried combining the verbal with the non-verbal enchantments, then combined those into a single enchantment- it had taken some trial and error to get the result perfect, this included asking their academic peers to volunteer as test subjects.
The only incidence that had required them to visit the hospital wing was when Lisa had struck an unexpecting Kurt with lightning, missing the cloak and the point of the exercise in the process. Kurt suspected that it had something to do with him starting the rumour that she was bald or the growing ice between him and Harry. The group of girls had also shown them how easy their enchantment was to teach, something that Kurt had been afraid of; the enchantment was a tool, not for the creation of protective gear but for limiting danger in the academic process of Spell Creation and Analysis.
"When your robes turn white, you're dead," Harry explained as his group gathered one end of the arena, "Whomever is still alive at the end of the hour should consider themselves a victor. One more thing to remember about the rules of duelling is-"
"That they don't apply in this game," Kurt cut him off, "we're simulating a battle with people who would be willing to use the darkest magic, I don't think they'll have the honour to fight you one by one- don't mistake of thinking they'll go easy on you because your children."
"When the light flashes red, the game begins," Hermione explained throwing a ball of white light in the air, "Get to strategizing."
"The law still applies," Kurt giggled, "We may have a vagrant disregard for the school rules but you cannot actually kill each other or use any of the unforgivable curses."
"What's the plan team?" Terry grinned at him.
"We go for the older students first," Hermione spoke, taking point, "we try to eliminate as many of the NEWT and Senior students and the juniors will be easy prey."
"Make them take the defensive role," Kurt smiled, "It's part of the exercise, they should defend themselves so we can see how well they can do that."
His team nodded their agreement, "Alright, break."
As soon as Hermione spoke the words, the ball of white light flashed red and caught the other side unawares as they were still strategizing. Kurt and Hermione had intended it this way, they would panic and this would better simulate the reality of battling the Death Eaters. They would not coordinate their times with Lord Voldemort, they knew that for any given battle either side could be ambushed, as such they must be ready to fight with little preparation.
Kurt flicked his wand and his robes turned to shadow, and he was gone. Kurt had woven the shadow thread into soft, light pashmina-esque fabric and had that tailored into elegant robes that the untrained eye could not discern from standard robes. When one paid attention to the robes, they would notice the way they bent light away and shadows toward them, Kurt could manipulate light to render himself invisible or to travel from one shadow to another.
Kurt was still learning how to use the art, he had done endless research on the origin of shadow thread before he could find any use for it- having bought it in Japan because he liked the shade of black. It was only after discovering the primary input that he was able to begin his work; the thread is spun from the wool of a magical variety of Australian cashmere goats, the wool normally has no magical value but the very rare black lamb is known to disappear very soon after birth. To the common wizard, this is believed to be the result of selective breeding but Kurt's source had observed his herd carefully and seen the young lamb reappear seemingly from thin air to suckle from his mother's teat.
Once the robes were made, it was not easy to harness their abilities but with work Kurt had begun to bend light with the application of his understanding of physical science. Kurt was yet to completely disappear in a room that was well lit but when he had altered this room, he had dimmed the lights such that he would be able to both disappear and shadow travel.
He appeared behind Angelina Johnson, she didn't have a chance to turn in his direction before he raised his wand, "Expelliarmus." Her wand flew out of her hand, "I'm confident of your abilities, go be seen outside out and about in the castle."
"But this was going to be so much fun," she grumbled.
"This isn't a game," Kurt shook his head, tapping her chest with his wand and turning her robes white, "Away with you."
"Fine," she trudged away, her irritation evident.
Kurt looked about the arena for a senior to dismiss but found that Hermione and Padma had made quick work of dismissing the able-bodied members of the defensive team, giving the younger members more opportunity to encounter the teaching group. Kurt nodded to Hermione and Padma's stone turned from amethyst to topaz, a knowing look crossed her face and she dismissed the last of the NEWT students.
The younger students noticed the change in dynamic as their stones started changing colour, everyone but the best fifth year students held a topaz in their hand. Neville looked down at his amethyst in shock, a wicked smile flashed across his face, "let's dance."
"Aculeus," Kurt purred, slashing his wand violently in Seamus Finnegan's direction. The boy scrambled sideways and Kurt slashed violently once more, "flagellum."
Kurt's wand stretched into a whip and cracked upon contact with the other boy's chest, the point of contact turned white for the moment of impact but returned to its usually faded black. Seamus's expression turned from fearful to jovial, "Gonna take more than that to kill me."
Kurt scoffed and raised a challenging brow, the boy's body went rigid for a moment before he started convulsing with his teeth gritted so hard they looked like they would crack. His robes slowly turned from black to white, "no place for banter in battle."
Kurt shook his head and pulled back the whip from where the tip had rested on the boy's shoe, Kurt had merely sent the lightning through the whip- an extension of his wand- and thwarted the boy's smugness.
"Expelliarmus," A fearful voice called from behind him, Kurt turned to see a petrified looking Ming Prewett, "verdimillous."
"Protego," Kurt raised his hand, stopping the spell before it could hit its mark.
"Reducto," Ming persisted. Kurt flicked his hand nonchelantly, with a single stroke he managed to deflect the curse and knock Ming across the arena. She tumbled out of the fall, making a swift recovery but Kurt had bent the shadows such that he appeared beside her with his wand in hand, "How did you do that?"
Kurt breathed fire at her and her robes turned white, "Omnia ope doctrina."
"Et bene, laudabiliter studuisse," a confident voice came from his right, "patrificus totalus."
Kurt held up his hand and the jinx bounced back, "Denis." He shook his head, he continued to speak in Latin, "you may have studied me well, you may be one of the foremost scholars in Kurt Elizabeth Hummel." Kurt melted into the shadow behind him and appeared right in front of where the second-year Gryffindor was standing, "but you'll never know everything."
Denis's eyes grew wide as Kurt punched him in the gut with a fist full of fire, "Awesome."
Kurt looked around to see that he had just taken out the last of team topaz aside from Harry Potter, the pair exchanged a charged look. Harry bowed to him and Kurt, raising a curious brow, did the same in return. They both counted to three, Kurt knew that this duel would settle their argument of whose path would they follow- Kurt's or Harry's?
"Expelliarmus," Harry flourisher his wand.
Kurt responded with the same extravagance, his voice just as large, "Protego." He brought his hands to clap and sent a wave of thunder across the arena that knocked Harry back and stunned him.
The Boy Who Lived was resilient and was on his feet not a moment later, Kurt had to give his friend credit for his perseverance but he knew better than to let him win that easily; on his side he had knowledge and logic, that made him obstinate- a trait more powerful than any man's perseverance. Kurt knew that his refusal to change course was a trait that he shared with Lord Voldemort, if the Dark Lord had given up on his single-minded pursuit of Harry Potter he might have achieved so much more by. The man's insistence on waiting for Harry Potter for his rebirthing had lost his cause a full year, his discrediting of Harry at present was losing him time. Kurt knew that in the future, this fixation would once more work to their advantage.
Kurt flashed a malevolent grin, swishing and flicking his wand, "oh babe."
Harry was lifted into the air by his shoe, Kurt holding the tightly laced sneaker suspended in mid-air with the levitation spell. Kurt disappeared and appeared infront of a falling Harry, "Flipendo."
The boy was flipped over and knocked further back, Kurt touched gently on the ground and was pleased Harry had made a swift recovery. Kurt only wished Harry loved magic and learning even half as much as he did, then he would understand why Kurt was trying to facilitate the Dark Lord's fall in the way in which he intended. Hermione had listened to reason, nodded along to what he was saying. She had raised the classic objections he'd come to expect of the Gryffindors in his life but had ultimately agreed that his way may be the best way forward, then she'd asked him a question that stung, "What does Professor Dumbledore think?"
She had regretted it as soon as she asked the question, remembering too late that the aged Headmaster and Kurt were no longer simpatico. Kurt and Professor Dumbledore had opposing views on how to proceed in the wake of last year's events, Kurt had not canonised the man as others had and was able to see that inaction on anybody's part was a fool's errand; that's why he had mobilised the students, why he had engaged every one of his suitors across the globe on the matter and encouraged them to engage their peers, and that's why he felt that Fleur, Viktor, Santana and Charles were key assets on the continent.
Kurt had used Hermione to encourage Viktor to probe the matter, use his celebrity to bring the matter to people's attention and that was still something they were working on. Kurt had manipulated both former champions by using Barty Crouch Jr's intervention during the Triwizard Tournament as the reason for their respective failures to emerge victorious, pride was a powerful weapon and had inspired both schools to buy into the fact that the only way they're schools best could be defeated by Harry Potter was through the intervention of sinister forces. Kurt used the people he knew to ensure people that Harry was not the sinister force itself but yet another victim.
Hipster Weasley was technically an adult, Kurt knew that he could influence an entirely different demographic from himself and other teens. If Bill hadn't made the ill-advised decision to transfer to Gringotts, he too would have been with tasked with letting people out there know the truth of Lord Voldemort's return. Kurt had tasked Hipster Weasley with spreading the word through 'Pub Politics', meeting a group of people at their local watering hole and appealing to them to take their cause seriously. It had taken some convincing to get the older Weasley to go against Professor Dumbledore's wishes but Kurt had managed to ensure things worked out in his favour.
Kurt had been trying to put himself in the mind of Lord Voldemort but was failing, he couldn't understand why the Dark Lord wasn't making moves on the rest of Europe? Was Kurt wasting resources on trying to prepare Continental Europe for a threat that would never come? Lord Voldemort wasn't interested in building an empire, if he was he wouldn't be so focussed on Harry Potter. If Kurt was in Lord Voldemort's position he would have taken half of Europe by the sword by now, using muggles as pawns to gain ground. But then again Kurt would never have made the house call to Godric's Hollow that Halloween night, he would have deligated the task to… well, the LeStranges; they were his most effective followers after all.
Kurt was beginning to see that Harry Potter was a more important piece of this puzzle than he had previously thought. Kurt stopped in his tracks, what was it about Harry Potter that made the man so desperate to kill him? James Potter wasn't the only member of a prominent pure blood family to marry 'below' his station at the time, what made the Potters so special that they deserved a house call? That they would go into hiding while the Weasleys, known blood traitors, would not when they had more children to protect?
Kurt was knocked over as his mind raced, what was it about Harry Potter? He had delegated the Longbottoms who fit a similar profile, he had delegated Argyris Mopsus, he had used his lieutenants so wisely up until that point; what was it about Harry Potter? What about the Potters made the Dark Lord act as he did?
Kurt felt the stunning spell hit him dead centre in the chest but his mind did not stop, as his wand fell from his hands and he raised them in surrender. Kurt had tired of trying to put himself in the Dark Lord's mind but he knew somebody who understood that mind better than he ever would.
"Get up and fight," Harry whispered, "pick up your wand."
"No."
"It doesn't count if you don't fight," Harry growled in his flowing parseltongue, "You have to fight."
"You win," Kurt shrugged getting to his feet, "I know when I'm beat, my defeat of you in this duel doesn't change that."
"Fight! You coward."
"I'm not in Gryffindor, that doesn't work on me," Kurt chuckled, "take it in stride, you beat Kurt Hummel."
"Wasn't that quite the show?" Hermione clapped her hands and the juniors cheered for Harry. Denis helped Kurt to his feet, moving to dust sand of his robe but seing that not a single grain had stuck to the onyx robes, "This is our last meeting for the year, we'll reconvene after Christmas."
There was a chorus of groans, "Before we disperse." Kurt smiled, "Venir." A basket of chocolate bars appeared in his hands, "Who wants some chocolate?"
Hermione continued to speak as the juniors, and more covertly the seniors, charged Kurt for chocolate bars, "Continue to practice whenever possible." She turned to the pair of dark haired, bespectacled boys, "a word."
The Room of Requirement had shifted back into a small plain room that resembled a classroom and the members of Dumbledore's Army had cleared out quickly, Kurt put away the empty basket, "I have to set up a very important meeting."
"No," Hermione shook her head, "You two chose to have it out in front of the children?"
"That's my line," Kurt smirked.
"Inconsequential," Hermione reprimanded him, "that was careless."
"Kurt has a point, caring about the children is kind of his thing."
"We didn't use any dangerous magic and we didn't let our personal disagreements rise to the surface," Kurt assured her.
"Speak for yourself," Hermione snapped, "When you disappeared into yourself, Harry was an emotional mess." She straightened up, "Luckily, it only lasted for the sliver of a moment, nobody but me noticed."
"Can I go now?" Kurt raised an impatient brow, "I still have letters to send out."
"I thought Hermione banned you from the owlery," Harry knitted his brow.
"I did," Hermione glared at him, "I'll be sure to audit those letters."
"None of these are to my desire of suitors, which you completely destroyed," Kurt rolled his eyes, "I do more than think of boys!"
"Fine, but what of Harry?"
"I'll deal with his brooding tomorrow," Kurt waved a dismissive hand, "Or maybe ask his girlfriend to help you."
"She says he's all sunshine and roses with her," Hermione groaned, "Ron doesn't know anything either."
"Did you think to ask Luna?" Kurt quirked a brow, as if it were the most obvious solution ever.
"Did you think to ask me?"
"Tomorrow," Kurt smiled, "auf wiedersehen."
~0~
"Mr Hummel," Professor Dumbledore furrowed his brow, "What brings you here?"
"I was in a meeting with Professor Snape when he received your summons," Kurt's words were laced with malice, "he thought it best I join him."
"You were with Professor Snape at this hour?" Professor McGonagall looked between the pair.
"It was the first mutual opening in our schedules," Kurt explained, "I had to do my homework and independent study after I dismiss evening detention."
"Mr Hummel insisted on boring me with his questions today," Professor Snape elaborated, "technically he had failed but I acquiesced to his childish and foolish thoughts."
Kurt could hear what the man wasn't saying, 'dangerous.' That confirmed that he was on the right track, "so he has been trying to snub my genius on the way, instead of making me wait till he got back from whatever this is."
"I see," Professor McGonagall's gaze didn't soften.
Kurt averted his gaze and came to land on Harry, sweating and looking dishevelled, "Harry you look awful, whatever is the matter?"
"The snake," Harry shook as he spoke, "it's got Mr Weasley."
"The snake?"
"Nagini," Professor Dumbledore explained, "it seems that Harry and Voldemort share some kind of connection, that's why he's been able to see him in dreams and visions in the past."
"Should have had that talk today, shouldn't we?" Kurt nodded his understanding.
"I beg your pardon," Professor Dumbledore quirked a curious brow.
"The connection is working both ways," Kurt explained without understanding, "Lord Voldemort's less than savoury personality traits have been pouring out into Harry, he's been impatient and obstinate and… I hear that's what the Dark Lord was like."
"How long?"
"I beg your pardon?" Kurt turned to Professor Snape with a start.
"How long has this connection been evident to you?" the man pressed him.
"I'm not sure," Kurt shook his head, "it's only clear in retrospect, but I'd suspect that it's been growing since the Dark Mark appeared at the Quidditch World Cup and it plateaued after the Dark Lord's return."
"When he used Potter's blood to return," Professor McGonagall shook her head, "and you didn't think to bring this to my attention?"
"I've been preoccupied with my OWL preparations," Kurt turned up his nose at the accusation, "And Harry Potter's wellbeing seemed a task more befitting the attention of a Gryffindor prefect." Kurt turned to Harry, "the traits also only manifested at moments where a reaction of that nature wouldn't be out of the question."
"Very well," Professor McGonagall nodded, "I'll go prepare the Weasley's for their trip home. I'll leave the matter of Mr Potter in your hands Albus."
"Good Evening Professor McGonagall," Kurt and Professor Snape chorused.
"You see what needs to be Severus," Professor Dumbledore spoke with new found urgency.
"I understand Headmaster," Professor Snape nodded and turned to leave.
"Follow Professor Snape," the elderly wizard spoke to Harry, who agreed without question.
Kurt stayed rooted in place, as everybody left the Headmaster's office but him and Professor Dumbledore, "Professor Umbridge must be made aware that students have been removed from school grounds due to a family emergency." Kurt heard himself speak, his voice felt so comfortable offering advice to the man with whom he'd not spoken in months, "making her feel involved will stop her looking too hard at the situation."
"The boy is correct Albus," the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black spoke with pride.
Professor Dumbledore nodded but did not move, "is there anything else Mr Hummel?"
"While the mental link might be a new development, I'm beginning to believe that Harry and Lord Voldemort have shared a different connection for much longer," Kurt rolled his shoulders and stared squarely at the man, "it's all connected, why the LeStranges attacked the Longbottoms, how Pettigrew came to betray the Potters, why the Potters were in hiding, why the Dark Lord sought to kill them himself, why Harry survived the Killing Curse."
"Is that so?"
"It's the reason you've been so keen to let things play out without intervention," Kurt explained, "almost as if you believe our path to be a self-" he let out a small laugh, "Oh, Professor Dumbledore. What are you not telling me?"
I hope you like it! Reviews are love!
the latin:
Omnia ope doctrina = All things are possible through learning.
Et bene, laudabiliter studuisse = I have studied you well