A/n: here we are again. I made a slight change to Hufflepuff's Cup, it's more drinking cup and less trophy like... if that makes sense.

Kurt couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes when Gregory Goyle slipped into the seat beside him, interrupting his conversation with Lisa. Kurt knew that he would have to pay for Neville's choices but he didn't think the larger boy would be around to collect so soon after the fact. Kurt knew that he couldn't hold it against Neville, given that his choices often imposed on others.

Gregory leaned in so close that Kurt could feel his breath on his ear, "Hi Kurt, Lisa."

The strawberry blond girl narrowed her gaze, she looked as if she was going to hiss at the larger boy, "That's Tracey Davis' seat."

"I'm sure she won't mind sitting one seat over," he shrugged, "if only for one day."

"We are not thinking of the same Tracey Davis," Lisa scoffed.

Kurt lifted a silencing finger to stop their back and forth, this was worse than the Kurt and Ron show, "We'll see when she arrives." Kurt looked up from his notes and dead into Gregory's soft brown eyes, "until then, care to tell me what brings you to the front of the classroom Gregory?"

The boy smirked, "well-"

"Just a moment," Kurt raised a silencing finger, "Is this related to our last conversation."

"In a sense," he nodded slowly and deliberately.

"You have more to tell me about Draco?"

"No."

"Then how is this related to our last conversation?"

"Well," Gregory smirked, "I was wondering if-"

"No," Kurt shook his head.

Gregory gaped at him, "I beg your pardon."

"I spoke to you in the shower because I knew you would be alone and more likely to tell me the complete truth," Kurt crossed his arms, "You and I have irreconcilable differences."

Gregory furrowed his brow, "I don't know what that means."

"It means that you are unable to move past whatever your last fight or disagreement was about," Lisa interject condescendingly.

"Thank you Lisa," Kurt spoke reproachfully, he wanted Goyle to know that they weren't getting back together, not to isolate on of his only sources into Draco's life, "but she is right."

"Don't say that-"

"What?" Kurt quirked a curious brow, "you made yourself perfectly clear about where you stood on the matter."

"I-" Goyle took a dep breath, "we can work through that."

"My stance on the matter isn't changing," Kurt crossed his arms.

"We can work on this," he insisted.

Kurt shook his head, "I don't know if you haven't heard but I'm seeing someone."

"The last time you were seeing Terry," the larger boy shrugged.

"Yes," Kurt nodded, "but we've declared relationship status."

"Oh," Gregory nodded.

"Yes," Kurt matched his expression.

He let out a defeated sigh, "I thought you came to ask me about Draco as a segue into…" he gestured to the space between them, "I don't know why I thought you would ever forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive," Kurt shook his head, "somethings just don't work out. I asked about Draco because he's my cousin and he hasn't been acting quite like himself; I was concerned"

"Why are you like this?" he shook his head, "you are so thoughtful, and you care about everyone, I don't think I know anyone as kind as you."

"Kurt?" Lisa quirked a curious brow, Gregory nodded, "Kurt Elizabeth Hummel?" Gregory nodded once more, "Kind?"

"Yes," Gregory exclaimed, drawing the attention of all their classmates. He crossed his arms indignantly, "I haven't heard you asking about anyone's wellbeing."

"Well, that's because I don't care," Lisa tilted her head condescendingly.

Gregory matched her facial expression and tone, "Thank you for proving my point."

Tracey cleared her throat, standing only little taller than Gregory's seated height, "What's going on here?"

"You are in for it now," Lisa smirked.

"I wanted to speak to Kurt," Gregory tried to come across as confident and show Tracey how desperately he needed her seat, he failed to realise that she was immune to emotion.

"I smell desperation," She smirked, "Lisa, move over one seat."

"What?"

"Move over a seat."

"Kurt," she looked to him to be the voice of reason, "are you hearing this?"

Kurt smiled at his friend's girlfriend, "She said move over a seat."

"Well," she gaped at him, "I never."

"Now you have," Tracey smirked, gesturing for Lisa to move over, she took the seat without any further protestation on Lisa's part. She leaned forward in her seat and smiled like a predator when she spots her pray, "Hello Gregory."

"Tracey," he gave her a quick nod of his head.

Her smile grew hungrier, "How have you been holing up?"

"Holding up?" the boy creased his brow and chewed his lip.

"Since Kurt and Weasley declared relationship status," she reached out a comforting hand and Kurt smacked it away.

"WEASLEY?" Gregory's face twisted from confusion to anger, "You chose Weasley?"

"Oh," Tracey feigned shock, "You hadn't heard."

"No," he shook his head, "I didn't know that Kurt chose Weasley as the next great love of his life." He got to his feet and everyone looked at him, "why would you choose him? I'm… I'm better than him."

"Sit down," Kurt tried his hardest not to laugh, "you're causing a scene."

Gregory spoke in a whispered and straining voice, "Just tell me what he has that I don't."

"You do realise that she phrased it that way to goad you into reacting the way you did," Kurt shook his head, "I'm not running off into the sunset with Ron Weasley."

Kurt saw the boy's spirit come down from the rafters, "it's not Weasley."

Gregory's spirit began rise into the rafters once more, "it's not."

"It's one of his brothers," Kurt smirked, "Charles, to be specific."

"He's still a ginger," Gregory scoffed, "I'm better than a ginger, no offence Lisa."

"I'm literally so offended," Lisa flipped her hair, "and besides, I'm strawberry blonde."

"From a bottle," Gregory scoffed.

Lisa glared at Kurt, "at least we've clarified that it's the hair colour that comes from a bottle, not the actual hair."

"Yes," Tracey nodded condescendingly, "That's what's important here."

Gregory grumbled under his breath, Kurt flashed him a severe glare and the large boy cleared his throat, "I said, Draco's going to the room of requirement next period."

"What does he do in there?" Kurt quirked a curious brow.

Gregory shrugged, "He won't tell us, apparently we can't be trusted with 'important' things."

"Well, you are literally betraying the little trust he afforded you as we speak."

"Tracey," Kurt reprimanded her, "Gregory knows that he's acting in Draco's best interest." He took the larger hand in both of his, "Thank you for coming to me with this."

Kurt quickly scribbled a note, showed it to Tracey, then tapped it with his wand and watched it fly away.

~0~

Neville:

Neville had been sitting in the Library beside Mandy when an origami butterfly landed in the middle of his potions book and unfolded itself, the page remained blank as expected. He tapped it with his wand and whispered "Contaminated." Ink poured from within the finely weaved fibres of the parchment and slowly formed into the delicate yet elaborate penmanship of one Kurt Elizabeth Hummel. The note had vague yet deliberate instructions, "Follow Draco after Magical Theory, observe, report back. Do not engage."

Neville nodded to himself as he internalised what he had to do, then he walked over to the nearest sconce and set one corner of the parchment alight. This earned him a reproachful glare from Madam Pince and his girlfriend's attention, Mandy shut her own book and started to pack their stuff.

"What does he want?"

"Reconnaissance work," Neville was deliberately glib with his chosen answer, Kurt had partitioned their factions for more reason than covering more work; limiting how much each individual knew would reduce chances that they would be selected to be kidnapped and tortured for information, and it reduced the chances that they would find anything out if worse came to worst. He loved Mandy and knew that she was a formidable witch, perfectly capable of taking care of herself but he was protecting himself- keeping himself from losing her.

"Is that so? She nodded to herself, "well, you are overdue for a DA session."

"Can I get a private session?" he attempted a suggestive smirk.

Mandy leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, "I wish we could but we'll be having a 'cute boys' session, so you'll have to try a little harder to keep my attention."

"I'm a cute boy?"

"Second cutest Gryffindor," she entwined her fingers with his.

Neville gently guided her to the wall and kissed her deeply, his hand sneaking un her shirt just like Finn had taught him. He pulled back and spoke in a whisper, "bet Dean Thomas can't do that."

"Not even in his wildest dreams," she purred, her voice quivering as she pulled him closer by his waistband.

"Ms Brocklehurst, Mr Longbottom," Professor McGonagall scolded, appearing out of nowhere, "This is a public corridor, that kind of behaviour in not acceptable."

Neville could have sworn he saw her smirking as she walked away, Mandy had a hungry smirk on her pretty face, "How much time do you have before your reconnaissance mission?"

"Not nearly enough," Neville chewed his lips, "I still have to find Harry and get into position before the period ends."

"Well," she lazily walked her fingers up his torso, "Lisa has Magical Theory, so Harry won't be too hard to find, we'll just follow the smell of teenage angst to the Gryffindor common room and…"

Neville shook his head, "no ellipses," he took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles, "not just yet."

Neville led her down the corridor by the hand, an amorous silence surrounding them. They went down stair, walked through abandoned corridors and through the maze of the Hogwarts castle; Kurt called it the jewel in Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, a feat of architecture and magic. Neville, had asked what a diadem was and gotten a grateful smile from Ronald when Kurt had explained that it was somewhere between a tiara and a circlet. Kurt had gone about how the lost piece of jewellery had been a gift from Salazar Slytherin to the great witch, initially a token of his affection and later a reminder of his descent into madness; Neville had been captivated as he listened to his friend recount with fascination the intellectual prowess of his dream companion.

"Good day Helga," Neville beamed.

The portrait snorted derisively, "I see you're with her."

"She is my girlfriend," Neville nodded.

"And she can hear you," Mandy snapped, pulling her hand from Neville's in order to fix both on her hips, "I will not pretend to be in competition for my boyfriend."

"I supposed your not so pretty girlfriend is correct," the women in the painting rolled her eyes, "Password."

"Lionheart," Neville responded.

Mandy shook her head, "you deserve better than this."

"Hey," Neville exclaimed, "my parents were in Gryffindor."

"And you never got to know your parents," Mandy pointed out, "maybe, like Harry Potter, they deserved exactly this much."

He shrugged, "true, they did name me Admetus." They walked in and found Harry, Hermione and Ron studying in the Gryffindor common room, Neville kept his emotions muted when he spoke, "Harry, may I have a word."

"Sure," the boy nodded as Mandy took the spot beside Hermione, "Upstairs?"

"That would be best," he walked away, slipping into the persona he had prepared for espionage missions like this one.

When Harry reached their dorm he waited impatiently before speaking first, "What did Ku-"

"The least you could do is close the door," Neville rolled his eyes as he flicked his wand with a short incantation, "Pettigrew was in Gryffindor, nowhere is safe."

"Right," Harry nodded, "I forgot."

"I'm here to borrow you invisibility cloak," Neville spoke frankly, "Some of our work extends beyond fixing our own mistakes."

"That last part was totally uncalled for," Harry grumbled as he handed him the cloak.

"Well," Neville shrugged, "I'm a big dog for a change, I want to bask in it."

"Neville," Harry smiled gently. "You've always been a big dog to Kurt, or at the very least his favourite dog."

"Whatever." Neville grabbed the cloak and walked down the stairs, he grabbed Mandy by the hand and whispered in her ear, "Be my alibi."

"You never have to ask me twice," she curled her lips into a seductive smirk, "I need you, so… let's go."

"After all is-" she put her finger on his lips.

"Let's go."

They made their way out of the common room and down the stairs, as soon as they were completely alone Neville kissed Mandy deeply, "You are the most amazing woman in the world."

"I know," she smirked.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Neville wrapped the cloak around himself and watched his body disappear, he kissed Mandy once more before disappearing completely. He made his way briskly to Kurt's Magical Theory class and positioned himself for his mission.

He nervously paced in front of Professor Flitwick's Magical Theory classroom, Harry's invisibility cloak draped over him and keeping him hidden from his fellow members of the student body. Neville had done many things in service of Kurt Elizabeth Hummel but today took the cake, he was going to be tailing a Death Eater! He was rational enough to know that Draco posed no real threat towards him, unless he was grossly careless and knew that Kurt had selected him over his colleagues in management because he had just the right amount of fear to act in his own best interest.

The classroom door opened and his peers started to stream out into the corridor, Neville stood absolutely still and waited for his mark. He watched student from far beyond the NOut and the most boring of his peers, waiting for Draco. Kurt looked directly at him and Neville adjusted the invisibility cloak to make sure he was completely hidden, it must have been their connection that had allowed Kurt to fix dead onto him because Neville was completely covered, and he wasn't so much as casting a shadow. His friend moved on without acknowledging him, leading Tracey Davis and Lisa Turpin down the hall toward the library, Neville stayed planted in place despite his instinct to follow him as well.

Then Draco walked out of the classroom, only looking up from the floor to check over his shoulder. Neville watched him walking down the hall for a moment before following the brooding teen, Draco skulked down the hall with great speed and Neville had to power walk in order to keep up with him. The waifish teen climbed stairs with a vengeance, Draco assessed his surroundings as he went and made sure he wasn't followed but he couldn't see Neville hot on his heels.

Defying expectations, Draco made his way to the third floor girls bathroom; the very same one that had housed the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. He looked at his ashen reflection and began to weep.

"Oh, please," Draco begged, "Let it work today."

Neville didn't understand, despite knowing that the boy was desperate because the real Death Eaters were threatening his mother, what did he need to work. While Neville was watching Draco sob into the sink, he saw a spectre he knew as Moaning Myrtle approach his former bully.

"There, there Draco," she spoke soothingly, her more abrasive demeanour left far behind. She looked to be stroking his back soothingly but Neville knew ghosts couldn't actually interact with anything in this plain of existence, they were merely observers.

"You don't understand," Draco sobbed.

"Only I can understand," Myrtle assured him, "only I will ever know."

Draco nodded to himself and Neville knew that he had intruded on a private moment, "Only you know."

Guilt riddled Neville as he watched Draco pull himself toward himself, slicking his hair back into place before they were on the move again. They went to their planned destination this time and found two first year girls standing on either side of where the main entrance to the Room of Requirement should have been, one of them holding a set of brass scales.

Draco nodded to the girls and the door appeared, Neville followed him into the room and was surprised by what he saw. The room he had come to associate with minimalism, necessity and efficiency was at this moment filled with broken, lost and unwanted things. Neville's skin crawled on Kurt's behalf due to the mess but he followed Draco through the maze of desks, chairs and other discarded Hogwarts furniture till they came to an are of more personal items.

There was a vanity, a broken bed and two wardrobes; Draco seemed preoccupied with only one of these, stroking it before opening it. He conjured an apple and placed it inside, he whispered an incantation when he closed the wardrobe and reversed the incantation after ten minutes. The wardrobe was empty, Neville took the seat at the vanity to observe more fully for longer.

Draco tried the incantation in reverse once more, to no result. Over and over again for hours until he opened it and let out a sigh of relief.

~0~

Kurt had watched Neville avoid him for long enough by the time Pansy, Tracey and he cornered him, confronting him about his mission.

"There's not much to say," Neville shrugged them off without looking up from his school work.

Tracey shook her head, "If I'm being made to care about people's feelings then I'm going to need more than there isn't much to tell."

"What can I say?"

"Start with what happened in the room of requirement," Tracey snapped.

"It wasn't anything."

"Draco just hung around? And what? Did his homework?" Kurt furrowed a confused brow, "Why would Gregory mislead me?"

"Because he wants to turn your insides into soup," Pansy scoffed, "it was evidently an invitation."

"Was he there?" Kurt felt anger building up inside him, "Tell me now, so I may forever end his peace."

"No," Neville shook his head, "Draco was there."

"And he wasn't doing anything?"

Pansy smirked, "Are you sure you followed the right Draco?" Tracey eyed her suspiciously, "Crabbe was asking about brewing Polyjuice, maybe they're distracting us with multiple Dracos."

"No," the Gryffindor boy shook his head, "I was with him from when he left the Magical Theory classroom up until dinner, not even a perfect brew lasts that long."

"So…" Pansy shrugged.

Tracey rolled her eyes, "we're going to need a blow by blow of your adventures."

"Look," Neville rolled his eyes, "We went from the classroom to a ten minute cry with Moaning Myrtle, then to the room of requirement to whisper to the weird wardrobe and pull his hair out when it didn't whisper back."

"Describe the wardrobe," Pansy snapped.

"It was not pretty," Neville shook his head, "you would not want one in your house."

"Just describe it," she rolled her eyes.

"It was mahogany, or ebony," Neville gave it a moment's thought, "definitely mahogany. It had a metal trimming, silver or steel- one of the shiny white metals."

"Was it very tall, almost standard ceiling height?"

"Hard to say," Neville shrugged, "the room had very high ceilings and a lot of stuff thrown away there…" he tried to recall the wardrobe as he'd seen it, "it was about three tables tall."

"The shape?"

"It was triangular," Neville glared at Pansy, "Why? What do you know? You can't have it!"

"I don't want it," she rolled her eyes, "I have my suspicions as to what the wardrobe is."

"And?" Kurt nudged her to say more.

"A vanishing cabinet," Pansy spoke in a small voice.

"None of us know what that is," Kurt shook his head.

"My family had one in out attic," Pansy explained, "My grandmother was a blood traitor, she used it to help her friends during the last wizarding war."

"How?" Kurt furrowed his brow, "what does it do."

"they are built in pairs, from the same tree which has to be specially grown," Pansy explained, "the pair form a passage between each other, but you have to keep them happy by polishing them and such. If they aren't happy, they can kill whomever enters."

"And there's one here at Hogwarts?" Kurt gaped at her, "Will it even work with all of the wards and enchantments placed over Hogwarts?"

"That's what made them so popular despite their extreme expense," Pansy choked back a chuckled, "they circumvent almost all kinds of magic."

"We should destroy it," Tracey stated, her tone matter of fact.

"No!" Neville exclaimed.

"Why not?" Tracey stared blankly at him, "that would save us a lot of trouble."

"If you destroy one, then the partner is destroyed as well," Pansy explained.'

"And if Draco is working on this one, then he knows where its twin is," Kurt thought out loud, "the death eaters are probably working to restore that one."

"If we destroy this one they'll know that Draco has been found out," Neville extrapolated.

"And they'll kill his mother," Tracey rolled her eyes, "the very thing we're trying to avoid."

"So…" Pansy slumped in her seat, "we have nothing?"

"Not quite," Kurt shook his head, "Draco will only use that cabinet as a last resort." Kurt beamed, "it would mean admitting defeat, and the Dark Lord frowns on those who fail him."

"That doesn't help us now," Pansy countered.

"We also know who he's telling his darkest secrets to," Tracey smirked.

"Moaning Myrtle," Kurt and Neville Chorused.

Pansy nodded, "we need to convince her to tell us what he's planning."

"And that will help us help him," Kurt nodded.

"On a lighter note," Tracey turned to Neville, "You missed Transfiguration while you were playing Harriet the Spy, I covered for you with McGonagall but she is less than impressed."

"Shit," Neville exclaimed, "I lost track of time."

Tracey passed him her notes, "you should be more vigilant."

~0~

Harry:

Kurt glared at Harry, the aim was to make him uncomfortable and he regretted inviting him to this meeting. Why was it that the taller boy always invoke a sense of inadequacy in him? That was why Tracy Davis and Mandy Brocklehurst had been promoted to best friend before him despite having been Kurt's friend for longer. He tried smiling at his friend but he knew that Professor Dumbledore was digging their graves.

"You two brought me here to witness the majesty of your plan," Kurt remained impassive, "is there any majesty or are you going to show me things I learned in the Hall of Records."

"That's not fair," Harry shook his head, "who knows what you've discovered in the Hall of Records."

"Horace Slughorn is the teacher who taught Voldemort the magic that has kept him alive all these years," Professor Dumbledore explained.

"I know," Kurt rolled his eyes, "I figured as much after you told Harry to let the man collect him." Kurt buffed his nails, "Let's clear this once and for all, were you being Catholic about it?"

"I don't follow," the headmaster furrowed his brow in confusion, "Catholic about it."

"You know…"

"I really don't," the man shook his head.

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Which is exactly what someone who was being catholic about it would say."

"How do I make you aware that I'm not following your train of thought?" the elderly wizard looked to Harry.

Harry let out a tired sigh, "Kurt wants to know if that was code for child molestation."

"That's exactly what I wanted to know."

"I've denied being molested multiple times," Harry assured the headmaster.

Kurt rolled his eyes, "again, being catholic about it."

"I only wished for Harry to become a member of the Slug club," Professor Dumbledore assured him, "By my requests, he should be no more molested than you."

"Can we stop this very weird conversation?" Harry pleaded.

"I was looking out for your best interests," Kurt smiled soothingly, "If not me then who? What with your dead parents and all."

"Kurt," Harry let out a defeated sigh, "I hate being cared about by you."

"Hey," Kurt reprimanded him, "I let my boyfriend die for you."

"Do I bring up my dead parents as often as you do Cedric?"

"More," Professor Dumbledore and Kurt chorused.

"I must be so annoying."

"Yes," Kurt nodded, "yes, you are."

"Where were we?" Professor Dumbledore asked in an attempt to course correct.

"We were discussing either magic too dark to imagine or too boring to think of," Kurt pointed out.

Professor Dumbledore shot Harry a curious look, "Kurt thinks that Voldemort is either using really dark magic or really mundane magic in order to stay alive."

"And if he learned it here," Kurt rolled his eyes again, "it's the latter."

The headmaster nodded to himself, "do you stand by that judgement when I tell you that he learned of that magic from Horace Slughorn?"

"Yes," Kurt kept his face impassive.

"What if I told you that Professor Slughorn altered his own memories in order to cover up their conversation on the matter at hand?"

Kurt shrugged, "It's Professor Slughorn, not Professor Snape or Professor McGonagall…" Kurt shook his head, "I stand by my statement." Kurt yawned loudly, "If anything, that calms my imagination down."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The Dark Lord travelled all of Europe," Kurt spoke as if these facts were obvious to everyone, "I was thinking he learned something frightening in Germany or Russia."

Harry shook his head, "I'm pretty sure that's racist."

"Well," Kurt frowned, "I grew up in an era where all tv villains were poor covers for Russians and…"

"And?" Professor quirked a curious brow.

"The Germans know what they did."

"Okay," Harry tried his hardest not to laugh at his friend's distasteful humour, "we know that he was a descendent of the Gaunt family.

"I know that," Kurt interrupted him and Harry wanted to punch the boy in the mouth.

"You do?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Kurt rolled his eyes, "Marvolo isn't a common name, the fact that he didn't say it with disgust in the Chamber of Secrets is an indicator that it ties him to his magical side." He buffed his nails on his robes and smirked, "that, and the fact that the Gaunt family was the last extant line of legitimate direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin, the rest having bred into it."

"You got all of that from the Hall of Records?"

"My boyfriend is very good at research," Kurt shrugged, blush creeping into his cheeks. Harry couldn't help but smile as the boy tried to stay stoic despite his body willing him to gush, "we met in the middle."

"Okay," Harry rose to the challenge, "Did you know that his mother used magic to seduce his muggle father, he left her when she was pregnant with You-Know-Who and he was raised in an orphanage?"

"Relevance?" Kurt rolled his eyes, "but yes, that's why he closed the Chamber of Secrets; they were going to shut the school down and send him back to his orphanage." Kurt leaned forward and placed a concerned hand on his forearm, "you told me that, that's why he framed Hagrid and Aragog."

Harry gaped at his friend, Dumbledore only smirked, "he does that."

"Also, Morfin Gaunt's criminal record reveals that his sister's bewitching of the muggle Riddle son, as his motive for murdering them," Kurt shrugged.

"Ha," his ego inflated just a little, "that was a false memory planted in his head by Voldemort, they real killer of the Riddle family."

"Voldemort is a killer?" Kurt feigned surprise, "shocking!"

"He's been killing since he was a teenager," Harry countered, "did you know that?"

"Yes," Kurt furrowed his brow, "he literally killed Myrtle as a teenager."

"Right," Harry nodded, his ego deflating slightly.

"What have you learned other than that it was Professor Slughorn who told him about the magic?"

Harry looked to Dumbledore, the man shrugged, "he likes to collect trophies from the people he kills."

"Really?" Kurt furrowed his brow, the cogs moving behind his glass eyes, "that isn't uncommon amongst serial killers, but I never imagined he would fit that profile so rigidly."

"He stole his uncle's ring, Hepzibah Smith's chalice," Harry explained.

Kurt stopped, "Who is Hepzibah?"

"A wealth heiress he killed," Harry shrugged.

Kurt turned to the Headmaster, "did he take a trophy from all his victims?"

"It is difficult to tell," the elderly man spoke monotonously.

"No," Kurt frowned, "a chalice, that doesn't sound like it was out of a set, the trophies would be important to their owners." Kurt spoke decisively, "he isn't a kleptomaniac stealing a candelabra on their way out the door. If he's taking trophies, it'll be something like a ring or… like my brooch, you'll notice if it's gone."

"What do you mean?"

"Madame Bones," Kurt spoke to Dumbledore, "was her monocle gone?"

"No," the headmaster responded, "nothing appeared to be missing, she was simply killed."

Kurt shook his head, "he also didn't kill his uncle, just robbed him of his ring." His friend nodded to himself as he spoke, "he was robbing her, he killed Hepzibah for her chalice. But why?"

"She claimed it was priceless," Harry responded, "said it belonged to Helga Hufflepuff."

"Why would he want that cup?" Kurt furrowed his brow, "Helga literally just drank out of it, it was said to be imbued with the properties of a wit sharpening potion and to refill itself but that isn't special.

"Maybe it was because it belonged to her," Harry shrugged, "he was also a bit of a thief at the orphanage."

"Why steal something of Helga Hufflepuff's?" Kurt shook his head, "why not something of his ancestor's?"

"I can't know the mind of a mad man," Harry shook his head.

"Your entire plan is literally riding on that," Kurt gaped at him, "what else do we know?"

"That he wanted to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts-"

"To recruit followers," Kurt shook his head.

"He didn't have his hair then," Harry added, earning himself a curious stare from Dumbledore, "we're trying to figure out when he stopped looking like a normal human and started to look like what humans would look like if we'd evolved from reptiles."

"Did he have his nose?"

"Yes," he nodded, "also cursed the post, which is why nobody holds the position for more than a year."

"Cool story," Kurt nodded to himself. He straightened his perfectly coiffed hair, "let's find out what's stopping him from dying… other than you."

Hope you like it, reviews are love.