A/n: See where I've written myself into a corner I was trying to avoid... have fun watching me get out of it.
Kurt sat at the very front of the alchemy classroom and stared intently at Professor Slughorn; his hands absently scribbled down notes on the history of transmutation but his mind was working a mile a minute. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in the Alchemy lesson, Alchemy was one of his favourite subjects right now, but he was captivated by the man who was presenting the lesson. What was Professor Slughorn's deal? Was the man secretly diabolical and Kurt's hubris was preventing him from seeing it?
This was the man who had given Voldemort the means by which he had evaded death for all this time, but all Kurt could see was a mild-mannered professor. Was this plump man so twisted that he had deceived all those around him for more than half a century? Why was it that Kurt saw a harmless old man, where Harry saw a master of evil and dark magic? Was Horace Slughorn capable of magic so dark that Kurt couldn't imagine it?
The questions were keeping him up at night, there wasn't much reason to sleep now that his dreams of Rowena Ravenclaw had ended but the inverse was also true- he wasn't very productive while he laid awake late into the night. Remus Lupin had seen the man just as he had; their mail correspondence made possible by the wax stamp he had given Kurt over Christmas. The man was the only member of the Order of the Phoenix that he could trust to present the facts in spite of how Professor Dumbledore had influenced their opinions- Kurt supposed that the same may apply to Kingsley Shacklebot but Kurt didn't know him well enough to send him probing letters, even under the veil of friendship. Remus's description matched up with Kurt's perception of the man perfectly, but one thing was certain: it didn't match up with the indignant and angry man from the doctored memory, it was more his style to share the information and caution against its use.
"You still trying to size him up?" He could hear the eyeroll in Hermione's voice.
"Is it that obvious?"
"You're brooding almost as much as Harry," Hermione chuckled, "You might want to turn it down a few levels."
"I'm just not seeing it," Kurt scowled, "nothing about this man says master of the dark arts."
"The 'they' that comes for us doesn't look different from the masses," Mandy shook her head, "trying to see it in them is like trying to tell the wood from the trees. Right Tracey?"
"Excuse me?" the Slytherin girl glared at her through hooded lids.
"People don't look any kind of way," Mandy explained, "racists look like everyone else."
"Why did you ask me?"
"Because you're black Tracey," Mandy rolled her eyes, "Don't act surprised that I've noticed, you've brought it up enough times for me to get the hint."
"Cool," Tracey nodded, "And yes, Mandy is correct. Evil people look like the rest of us, some of them have a look- in this case, dark marks- but most are more covert about it."
"He just doesn't seem diabolical to me," Kurt shook his head, "I'm not saying that him being evil is completely out of the question but-"
"But-"
"Good or evil, I don't think he knew what he was doing," Kurt nodded to himself, "if he was even a fraction as conniving as I am then he would have done a better job doctoring his memory."
"Maybe he got sloppy," Hermione shrugged.
"Not possible," Kurt, Mandy and Tracey chorused.
"If he has constructed a persona this convincing then he won't let it slip for a moment," Mandy shook her head, "He'll pour it into every facet of his being."
"Besides," Tracey picked up the thread, "he doctored the memory after extraction, he remembers what he said and that in itself was deliberate."
"He wants to be found out," Mandy agreed.
"He wants to tell the truth," Tracey nodded to herself.
"Then why doesn't he?" Hermione furrowed her brow, "it's the right thing to do, why not expose Voldemort?"
"Self-preservation," Kurt and Tracey chorused.
"Not everyone is a brave lion," Mandy shook her head, "he's afraid. Of what it will mean for his reputation and what the consequences of betraying the Dark Lord's trust might be."
"If he's not going to come out with it on his own," Hermione twirled a tuft of curly hair around her finger, "how do we get him to tell one of us?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Kurt looked down at his notes to check if they were at all legible and was pleasantly surprised to find that they lived up to his standard. He skimmed over them, thinking about the matter at hand the whole time, "what makes him tick?"
"Once you know what makes him tick," Mandy spoke, the question evident in her tone, "you can manipulate him to your liking?"
"Yes, exactly," Hermione agreed, "what do we know about him?"
"He has a desire to be proximal to fame and greatness," Tracey explained, "Slughorn was an excellent student, quidditch player, prefect and Head Boy… but he peaked in high school." She didn't look up from her notes as she spoke, "he's a classic study in those who can, do and those who can't-"
"Teach," Mandy and Kurt chorused.
"That's a horrid saying," Hermione shook her head, "Teaching is a passion that very few possess-"
"Honey," Kurt raised a silencing finger, "save it for Oprah."
"But you're my Oprah," she countered, Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Magnitudo et auxiliator," Mandy mumbled under her breath.
"What?"
"He who helps make greatness," Mandy repeated, "You need to show him all that you can be in order to get his attention."
"That's how you get close to him," Tracey agreed.
Hermione shrugged, "That shouldn't be hard, right?"
"No, but once I have him hooked, how do I get him to trust that his image won't be disparaged if he tells the truth?" Kurt glared at the man, "How do I get him to tell us the truth without spooking him?"
"Mr Hummel," the man stood in front of him and looked down at Kurt, "do you care to share your thoughts on Transmutation?"
"That refers to an alchemist's effort to turn base metals into gold," Kurt explained, a smile spread across the man's walrus-like face, "most commonly, lead into gold."
"Thank you for regurgitating the textbook's definition of the process," his voice taunted Kurt for failing to live up to the standard he expected, "but I did ask for your thoughts." His jowls quivered as he spoke, "maybe you would have some thoughts on the topic, if you hadn't been so busy talking through my lesson."
Kurt glared at the man, shrinking him in his mind before opening his mouth to cut him down size, "my thoughts are that it is the magical effort to replicate the processes of nuclear fusion and fission as they occur in nature. Turning light elements into heavier ones, like happens when stars turn hydrogen and helium into lithium, carbon, oxygen and iron." Kurt smirked condescendingly, "the opposite, fission as is observed through radioactive decay."
"I see," the man nodded, "a very astute observation."
"The law of conservation of matter is integral to successful transmutation," Kurt bared all his teeth, "when turning lead into gold, you have to account for the remaining electrons, neutrons and protons. Hence, when turning lead into gold, you end up with lithium as a by-product."
"Very well," the man smiled, "I couldn't have said it better myself, ten points to Slytherin."
Tracey leaned in to whisper in his ear, "you know how you wanted to get him to open up to you? This isn't how you go about it."
"I was excluded from that narrative ages ago," Kurt shook his head, "like you, I'm too judgemental."
~0~
Kurt dropped into the seat beside Hermione at breakfast, "Good morning Baltimore."
"You're in a good mood," she eyed him suspiciously, "Did you see another first year fall down the stairs?"
"Unfortunately, not," Kurt shook his head, "I'm just really excited to spend today with my best friend."
"You're just too sweet," Hermione shook her head, "So, I know that's a lie." She scrutinized him, "did your boyfriend send you something nice for Valentine's day?"
"Nothing worth writing home about," Kurt shook his head, "I don't think he gets me and my desire to eat attention."
"No," Hermione cleared her throat, "I think he gets you just fine."
On Hermione's cue; a line of third year boys walked down the centre aisle, each carrying a bouquet of red tulips. Kurt gasped as each of the twelve boys handed him their bouquet of twelve perfectly cut and arranged flowers, they then formed a perfect semicircle around where Kurt was sitting.
A Hufflepuff boy Kurt didn't know too well stepped forward, "L - is for the way you look at me." The other boys began to harmonise, creating a jazzy tune acapella as they did so, "O - is for the only one I see."
"V - is very, very, extraordinary," a second boy, a Ravenclaw this time, chimed in, "E - is even more than anyone that you adore can."
"Love is all that I can give to you," half the group chorused.
"Love is more than just a game for two," the second half countered, a note lower.
"Two in LOVE can make it," the Ravenclaw boy belted out.
"Take my heart and please don't break it," the Hufflepuff answered him.
"Love," the group chorused, "was made for me and you!"
Denis stepped forward and handed him a crisp bottle of champagne, "with love, Charles Hector Weasley."
The third years turned and filed out of the great hall, leaving Kurt up to his neck in flowers and cradling a bottle- floored and unable to speak. He took a few moments and a couple of deep, steadying breaths but he finally spoke, "this absolutely isn't his style."
"But it is yours," Hermione countered, producing a pair of fluted from nowhere.
"You-"
"Denis and I were commissioned to oversee the execution," Hermione popped the cork off the bottle of bubbles and started pouring them each a flute, "but it was all Hipster Weasley's idea, I was shocked to find out he could be so thoughtful."
"I knew," Kurt nodded to himself, "I was surprised that he took it this seriously, I expected something more playful."
"No," Hermione shook her head, "he did this especially for you, even scheduled it for the time and place where it would get the most eyes, at a time when you would think he'd forgotten."
"Is that my brother?" Ron asked as he sat down opposite the pair, "who has never remembered even one of my birthdays who is this attentive?"
"I really hope he doesn't feel the same about me as he does you," Kurt chuckled, "because that would mean I was either an idiot or… just gross."
"That's not what I meant," Ron shook his head, "I am not putting my brother to the test."
"What test?" Hermione furrowed her brow, her confusion evident.
Ron smirked, "Incest is best, put your brother to the test."
"Sick Ron," Hermione shuddered.
"I'm more concerned on how it reflects on me," Kurt shook his head, "I've been telling people I love that man and he's creeping on me with his brother?"
"And not even a good brother," Hermione echoed his tone of disgust.
"What would the people say about me then?"
"Let's change the subject," Ron grumbled, "Before someone's feelings get hurt. What are your Hogsmead plans?" Ron asked them as he organised his bacon sandwich assembly line.
"We don't have any," Kurt shook his head.
"Come on," Ron eyed the pair, "you two are the only people who don't have girlfriends or boyfriends to go into the village with, seeing as I don't date… let me hang with you guys."
"You could go into the village with Tracey," Kurt suggested, "she's not dating anyone right now either."
"Neither is the serpent of Slytherin," Ron scoffed.
"Is that a new nickname for Goyle?" Hermione smirked.
Ron gaped, "Do I get naming rights?"
"I will see if I can pull some strings," Hermione shrugged, "I technically linked the term to its item…"
"Hermione," he waved his finger in her face, "Don't fuck me on this."
"I'll see what I can do…"
"Bitches all over this school will be begging Goyle to slither his Serpent of Slytherin into their Chambers of Secrets," Ron exclaimed, "I'd like for it to be known that it was I, Ronald Billius Weasley, who came up with that idea."
"He's worked for it," Kurt shrugged.
"I even called Hermione a bitch," Ron preened, "Do I get to come with on your super secret trip?"
"We're going to a bookshop in London," Hermione admitted, "it specialises in tomes on dark magic."
Kurt shrugged, "we're trying to find dark magic too dark to imagine."
"That sounds frightening," Ron swallowed loudly, "I'm in."
"That wasn't an invitation," Kurt countered.
"Oh, come off it," Ron spoke with his mouth full, "I've got nothing to do, and someone should look out for you two."
"Excuse me?" Kurt quirked a severe brow.
"You two," Ron matched his expression, "in a bookshop, you'll be there till closing and miss the last cut off for Hogsmead returns." Hermione and he exchanged a look, trying to decide whether to bring Ron with them, "don't make me beg, I will do it."
"You'll have to dress more… grown up," Kurt let out a tired sigh.
Ron furrowed his brow, "Like slutty?"
"No," Kurt gaped at him, "Do I look slutty to you?"
"You always look slutty to me," Ron shrugged.
"Fuck you," Kurt shook his head, using all his self-control to not throw his drink in Ron's face.
"I thought that was what you were going for."
"It is what he's going for," Hermione assured Ron, "he just doesn't want to hear it."
"What I mean," Kurt emptied his flute and Hermione replenished his drink, "is that the bookshop is on the UCL campus and you shouldn't look like the sixteen-year-old virgin you are."
"You're a sixteen-year-old virgin," Ron countered.
"But do I look it?"
"You're both pretty," Hermione interjected, "but Kurt is right, go put on something other than a sweater with your initial on it."
"Guess I shouldn't shave either," the boy smirked and Kurt glared at him, "just kidding."
"I just don't understand why you're still sitting here," Kurt spoke impassively, "go get changed."
Hermione watched Ron go before turning to Kurt, "What was that?"
"What did I do now?"
"You're letting him come with us?" Hermione gaped, "you know how judgemental Ron can be about matters of the dark arts, how do you justify bringing him into the thick of it?"
"Ron is an adult," Kurt shook his head, "or he will be in two weeks according to wizarding law, he claims that he has grown more mature and people are seeing that in him. Is now not the time to find out if we can trust him?"
"One should not test the loyalties of one's friends too far Kurt," Hermione shook her head, "Not only have you lied to him, but you've thrown him into the deep end."
"It's a sink or swim moment," Kurt shook his head, "he-" Kurt paused for a moment, "we need to know now whether we can rely on Ron, or if he's a throw away."
"A throw away?" Hermione gaped at him, "this is Ron were talking about, we've known him since first year! Since the troll!"
"In the dungeon," Kurt rolled his eyes.
Hermione nodded, "yes!"
"Ron is one of my closest friends and he's supposed to be brave or whatever you Gryffindors are good for but I think his personal boundaries may be a hinderance in our journey going forward," Kurt let out a defeated sigh, "I just wonder if, when it comes down to it, he'll be able to pick between the bigger picture and his family… his friends… his feelings."
"That is so not fair," Hermione shook her head, "You should trust him, he's our friend."
"But he hasn't trusted us very far all these years," Kurt let out a tired breath, "he and I are like brothers, he's one of my best friends, but that doesn't mean he's hard-knock." Kurt let out a defeated sigh, "I'm too soft for this shit…"
"You're the strongest of us all-"
"But I'm still too weak for all that is going on," Kurt drew in a deep breath, "I'm only sixteen, I didn't have any trauma growing up other than a death that was beyond my control… this is not my portion but I know how to turn it all off…"
"But?"
"Not Ron…"
"And you're concerned?"
"More so than for myself-" Kurt was silent for a moment, "For all of you."
"Kurt-"
Kurt nodded in defeat, "I didn't contaminate that prophecy to prove anything." He squared his shoulders and looked down his nose at his best friend, "I did it to save my best friends, my brother and the world from tyranny."
"Kurt-"
He nodded once more, "I know, I don't have to be strong for everyone." Kurt rolled his eyes, "I may be a stupid bitch for thinking it possible but… fuck that!"
"Kurt," Hermione laid her hand on his shoulder, "You can't save everyone."
"I can try…" Kurt countered, "I am in unique position where I can try harder than anyone else…"
Hermione shook her head, "I need to go get my bag… I don't like this on your shoulders but I cannot dissuade you-" she took a deep breath, "I'll be back in few moments, can we hold the conversation."
"Go," Kurt laid his head on the long table.
Kurt felt a hand on his shoulders, "You don't always have to so strong."
"Is Miranda watching?"
"I am," Mandy laid her hand next to Neville's.
"Did I cause a scene?"
"Not really," she spoke softly, "it's more of an echo of how devastated you were by the most romantic gesture in… I'm going to say Hogwarts history."
Kurt sat up straight, "Because I definitely wasn't going to cry, I'm just exhausted."
"Don't you get eleven hours of sleep?"
"Miranda," Kurt shook his head condescendingly, "that has never officially been the case." He put his hand on her shoulder, truly speaking down to her, "I slept as long as I needed to gather all the information a dream offered me."
"Don't talk down to my girlfriend," Neville levelled a challenging look at his friend.
Kurt squared his shoulders, "how the whisper of a love everlasting changes people."
"I don't me-"
"It's not a bad thing," Kurt shook his head, gathering his roses, "Hold onto her, she's one of the best."
"That's uncharacteristically sweet," Mandy blushed.
"I raised him," Kurt smirked, "Augusta and I made a man worth fighting for."
Kurt turned his chin up and strut out of the great hall. Down the steps and along the corridor until he came to the Slytherin Dungeon. He offered the password and sauntered to his room with full arms, he found Tracey Davis seated on his bed.
She smiled broadly, "Goyle or Weasley?"
"These are from Charles," Kurt blushed slightly, "they came with a little song."
"A welcome change, I'm sure." She leaned in to smell the flowers, "tulips?"
"They are my favourite."
"Oh," she nodded, "I see."
"How can I help you?" Kurt asked as he elegantly draped a scarf over his shoulders.
"I wanted to give to this," she handed him the moleskin journal he had given her for Nancy Drew work, "In case you guys need my work today."
"Thank you, Tracey."
"Thank you for not calling me 'Tracey Anne'," she shuddered, "all the Slytherin girls are doing it all of a sudden."
"Pansy has a future in marketing and brand management," Kurt nodded to himself.
"I would love to sit here and talk about futures that may never come," Tracey smirked, "But I have a three-way with Longbottom and Mandy."
"Lucky you," Kurt chuckled.
She rolled her eyes, "wishful thinking…" Tracey was silent for a moment, "I actually have my first date with Theodore Any advice?"
Kurt dug in his draw and handed her one of his 'starter packs', "always use lube, always use protection."
"That's not exactly first date advice-"
"If it works out," Kurt smirked, "you'd rather have this information and all the supplies, and not use them than wish you had them."
"Anything non-sexual to say?"
"You don't have to have movie chemistry or agree on everything," Kurt shrugged, "if it's right, then you'll know."
"How will I know?" she chuckled.
"It's different for everyone," Kurt tilted his head in a moment of contemplation, "for me it was a deep fear, for Neville it has been strength. Harry and Lisa make each other feel seen-"
"Basically, they are the missing piece," Tracey rolled her eyes, "and that is how I'll know?"
"You could always consult Dr Rhodes if you aren't sure-"
"She went to Oxford," Tracey nodded.
"Help yourself to anything," he gestured to his room, "just remember to sign it out or Bella will attack."
Kurt made the journey back to the main foyer, the reverse of his earlier trip. He found Hermione and Ron waiting for him, the linked arms and walked toward the transfiguration quad. They came to the gilded eagle and Hermione recounted the password that he had shared with her.
The headmaster rose from his seat when they entered his office, "Ah! Ms Granger, Mr Hummel." His robes bellowed behind him like the rivers of Egypt when they'd turned to blood, "I wasn't aware Mr Weasley would be joining us."
"Last minute addition," Hermione shook her head, "Kurt agreed to it on a whim."
"We needed to be chaperoned," Kurt assured the headmaster.
"Very well," he nodded. Then he leaned in closer, "I must caution you to return before dinner, and tell all but those who need to know that you were in a private lesson with me."
"Of course, Headmaster," Kurt and Hermione chorus.
Ron nodded and muttered "For sure."
Hermione and Kurt exchanged a look but didn't faulter, they threw some floo powder into the headmaster's fireplace, "Thirteen Grimmauld Place, Islington."
"Before you go," Professor Dumbledore spoke once more, "I hope all your pursuits succeed."
Kurt stepped into the green flames and out into the waiting arms of his beloved, "Hello."
"Salutations Mr Hummel," Charlie pulled him into a deep kiss. They held each other tightly and their hands roamed the other's body, Kurt finding hard muscles under the unfortunate layers that Hipster Weasley chose to wear.
Hermione cleared her throat, "what if I'd come through first?"
"Then you would be a very lucky lady," Charlie grinned.
Kurt spoke from his lover's arms, "Charles is quite tempted by my presence." He wagged a suggestive brow, "very tempted."
"That's not a measure of how turned on I am," he blew a raspberry in the crook of Kurt's neck, "though, I don't deny Kurt's claims."
"That's enough," Ron proclaimed, announcing his arrival.
"I don't take my instructions from you little brother." Hipster Weasley grinned broadly, almost manically as he held Kurt in his arms still.
Kurt backed away slightly, without disconnecting, "Ron is quite correct." The older boy stared at him, "we've had enough raspberries for a life time."
"Luckily," Charlie blew another raspberry on Kurt's collarbone, "I don't take instruction from you either."
"Charles," Kurt giggled politely, "that is most inappropriate." He shook his head, "not in front of Ron and Hermione."
Hermione turned to Ron, "is it me? Or has Kurt gotten more proper?"
"I think it may be contrast," Ron shook his head, "Hipster Weasley isn't quite himself either."
"Not you too," Ron's brother rolled his eyes, letting go of Kurt for the first time to retrieve a cigarette.
"Yes," Ron smirked, "me too."
Hermione sniffed loudly, "What's that smell?"
"What? Which is it now?" Charlie lit his cigarette, "Copper? An old boot?"
"Christmas," Hermione sniffed once more, "like…"
Kurt glared at his best friend, "really?"
"I think I'm getting it," she smirked at him, "is your Christmas tree still up?"
"You are not the least bit sneaky," Kurt shook his head, "not the least bit clever."
"What's going on?" Ron darted between the pair.
"She's talking about his shampoo," Kurt rolled his eyes, "she's making reference to what I smelled in the amortontia because she's petty and worthy of a demotion from first best friend."
"Why are you bringing this up now?" Ron directed the question to Hermione, his brow furrowed.
"I want Kurt to admit what the final scent was," she smirked.
"Copper," Kurt rolled his eyes, "Are you happy?"
Hermione shrugged, "where is it?"
"On his shoulder," Kurt threw floo powder in the fire place, "Booked." The flames turned green and Kurt saw his best friend planted in place, "in the flames of his dragon tattoo, it says 'Kurt is always right'."
"I love watching you squirm," she grinned.
"Well," Kurt glared at her, "I'm going to get a taste."
Kurt took one step forward and Charlie grabbed by the waist, "Ron beat you both to it while you were best friend feuding."
"Damn it," Hermione rolled her eyes, "I like to put Kurt on blast but then someone else is always the winner."
"You deserve!" Kurt exclaimed.
"Let's just go before my brother is unbearable," Charlie gestured for them to enter the fire place, "Also, we're due at Andromeda's soon."
"Wait a minute," Hermione walked and talked, "I'm not dressed to meet Andromeda."
"That's how meeting Andromeda works," Charlie countered, "You sort of stumble into it."
"And turn into Tonks?" Hermione scoffed as she and Viktor Krum embraced.
He mispronounced her name for old times sake as he hugged Kurt, something they had never actually done before. Kurt kissed his cheek to threaten Hipster Weasley's security.
"Welcome all to Booked," Viktor gestured to the bookshop around him.
"This is so not you," Ron shook his head.
Viktor shook his head, "this is not the 'me' people know."
Kurt turned to Charlie, "Why aren't you layered?"
"Because," he shrugged, "you love me."
Hermione glanced at Kurt, "Did you just squirt from the Celine Dion reference?"
"I'm first in our year," Kurt chuckled, "and Professor Dumbledore's most trusted advisor-"
"Where are you going with this?" Viktor intervened, "You sound like Bird seed man."
"He means Percy," the Weasleys Chorused, before exchanging a look and shuddering.
"What I mean," Kurt fixed an imaginary stray hair, "is that I will not be distracted by the majesty of Celine Dion." Kurt scoffed, "especially in a world where Immortality exists."
"I do not mean to be discouraging," Viktor did that thing boys do, scratching the back of this neck, "this scroll is untranslatable."
"What do you mean?" Kurt groaned.
"It cannot be rendered into English" Viktor clarified.
Hermione rubbed his arm, "I think he's being facetious."
"This is not the time Kurt," the young man shook his head.
Kurt turned to Charlie, "You're going to let him speak to me like that?"
"I've heard nothing wrong," he shrugged.
"He talked down to me like…" Kurt gave it a moment's thought as he stammered over his words, "Like I'm Harry Potter!"
"Were you not behaving facitiously at a serious moment?"
"No," Kurt shook his head, "I was being dead serious," Kurt shook his head, "is it an unknown dialect? Is it nonsensical in English? Or is it enchanted so that it will be untranslatable?"
"Very well," Charlie nodded with a groan, "Viktor, please do not speak to my boyfriend that way. It is unwarranted."
Kurt shook his head, "I should have stayed with Terry Boot."
"I did exactly as asked," Charlie shrugged, "I don't know why you can't do this without me."
"I can do this without you," Kurt rolled his eyes, "I was going to do it without you, but you insisted on joining us." Kurt put his hands on his hips, "now, you have to fulfil your boyfriend duties."
A mischievous grin spread across the older boy's ruggedly handsome face, "You mean like this?" he grabbed Kurt in his arms and swung him into a dip, "or this."
He moved in closer but Kurt stopped him just short, "if you blow a raspberry then I'm breaking up with you." Charlie planted soft, passionate kisses from Kurt's collarbone to his lips, "Perfect."
"Did he 'blow a raspberry'?" Viktor asked, his thick brow furrowed, "I do not this term."
"No," Kurt grinned as he was pulled up right. Ron blew a raspberry in the crook of his elbow, "That's what it means to blow a raspberry." He let go of Charlie's hand and straightened his dragon brooch, "Show me this untranslatable scroll."
"You've never seen it?" Ron gaped.
"Hermione collected it from Carthage and Viktor has had it since," Kurt explained.
Viktor gestured for Kurt to come to the counter, "Here it is." He explained as he unfurled the scroll, "Whether it is Phoenician or not, I cannot be sure. What I do know that the text is Afro-Asiatic."
Kurt eyed the scroll, "Find it in the place where he is buried."
"What?" Hermione looked from him to the scroll.
"That's what it says," Kurt shrugged, "then there are co-ordinates."
Viktor gazed at Kurt in awe, "How can you read it?"
"He's Kurt Elizabeth Hummel," Ron rolled his eyes, "it's funny how you always rib Harry for being the chosen one when clearly you're just as chosen."
"No," Kurt shook his head, "I think this has something to do with Rigel Cygnus LeStrange."
"Who is that?" Viktor whispered to Hermione.
"That's his birth name," she explained in a whisper. She looked Kurt in the eye, "why do you say that?"
"The Dark Lord is the heir of Slytherin," Kurt thought out a loud, "and he has no children."
"That we know of," Ron added.
Kurt shook his head, "I don't think there's a cursed child out there."
"Okay," Hermione nodded, "so what?"
"That makes him the last of Slytherin," Kurt explained, he paused, "whatever remains of you will be crushed by whatever remains of me."
"What is that?" Viktor's eyes grew wide, "that sounds like a curse."
"That's exactly what it was," Kurt nodded, "cast by Rowena Ravenclaw upon Salazar Slytherin."
"And you never thought to mention this?" Ron gaped.
Kurt shrugged, "I thought they were just words."
"So," Ron quirked a curious brow, "what's your thought process?"
"If the curse holds up," Kurt nodded to himself, deciphering his thoughts as he went along, "then so long as something, like an heir, of Slytherin still exists-"
"Then something similar of Ravenclaw must still exist to fulfil the curse," Viktor completed the thought.
Hermione shook her head, "Ravenclaw's daughter Helena never had children."
"She disappeared for a year and was found dead in a pool of blood," Charlie countered.
Hermione shook her head once more, "she was killed by the Bloody Baron."
"Keep in mind that most pregnancies of the tenth century ended in pools of blood and dead mothers," Charlie argued, "and a hidden pregnancy might have remained hidden for the deceased's dignity."
"Fine," Hermione rolled her eyes, "let's pretend there was a pregnancy and a baby."
"Keeping in mind what she said," Kurt furrowed his brow, "and the fact that I can read a scroll that is 'untranslatable'…"
"You're a direct descendent of Rowena Ravenclaw," Ron gaped.
Hermione continued to shake her head, "but Voldemort is left alone, he is the last but you have Draco and could have kids someday."
"I don't have any LeStrange Cousins," Kurt corrected, "And I had cancer, in all likelihood I'm sterile from the treatments-"
"Why else can he read a scroll no one else can?" Charlie grinned, "my baby is special."
"Lord Voldemort is what remains of Slytherin and-" Viktor grinned.
Kurt took a deep breath, "I'm what remains of Ravenclaw."
Hope you like it, reviews are love.