13:57
A/N: Sorry that this has been just about the longest break in the history of the world. I head back home in two weeks, so updates should be more normal by then. Though. . .there's only about three chapters left. Thanks for all those who kept leaving reviews. . .you kicked my butt and reminded me not to leave this dangling!
The hallway was as dark and musty as Kurt remembered, and coated in spiderwebs. He was going to have to deep clean his vest for certain, and he sincerely wished that Sam and Finn had given him a chance to change into something more appropriate. . .like a pair of Hugo's robes or something. As it was, he just tried to step carefully and avoid absolutely destroying his new pair of boots.
Finn and Sam, meanwhile, had clearly never understood the concept of stealth. Finn was lumbering along, running into walls every third step and whacking his head on the low roof. Sam chortled with every gasped utterance from his best friend's mouth. While there was a certain humor in their antics, mostly Kurt just wanted to return to the castle. He wanted to run to the infirmary, and kiss Blaine's lips, and make sure that the other boy was all right.
Just as he was deciding that this was all just a bit too much, and he couldn't stand another minute of the dirtiness, and the utter silliness of three half-grown boys wearing fedoras and skulking around beneath the castle, he saw the light from the opening at the end of the tunnel. Finn rushed toward it anxiously, tripping over his feet in the process, and eliciting more giggles from Sam. Kurt just rolled his eyes. Those two were the absolutely worst spies ever.
He was getting ready to chide them when he heard it. Voices, from above, pitched low to keep secrets. He moved to hush his half-brother and friend, but they had heard it as well. All three boys crowded close together as they neared the end of the tunnel, their shoulders brushing as they walked. Kurt tried not to breathe. His heart was beating so loudly that he was certain that whoever was above them could hear it, certain that Sam and Finn had to be flinching from the pounding next to them.
"A little morbid, isn't it fancy?"
That was Coach Sylvester's voice. Kurt sucked in a hasty breath as he heard it. Finn gestured at him hurriedly, pointing toward the ground. He and Sam lowered themselves carefully to the ground, lying on their stomachs. Kurt hesitated a moment longer. These weren't his best robes, but they were still school robes, and he really didn't want to have to deal with the dirtiness later and. . .Finn was still gesturing, and he heard a voice clearing, freakishly close to his ear. He dropped like a rock, squirming between Sam and Finn's bodies, feeling somehow safer there.
Blais voice echoed slightly. It sounded like it was coming from the twigs, right next to his ear, and Kurt realized that they had to be hiding just feet from where the two adults were talking.
"It makes sense," Blais said, his voice as slithery and silky as ever. "No wizard would dare to disturb the great Dumbledore's tomb."
"Except for us," Coach Sylvester smirked.
Kurt stared at Finn, who was wearing a dumbfounded expression. Were they talking about grave robbery? What could possibly be gained from opening the famed wizard's tomb?
"Except for us," Blais agreed. "You'll make sure that the Portkey takes him here?"
"I control everything at Hogwarts," Sue sneered. "Are you sure that your boy has the talent to get it out?"
"Jesse st. James is the most talented Musical Lyricist alive," Blais said. "If he can't get the wand out, then no one can."
"And he'll hand it over?" Sue asked. "And you'll give me what I want?"
"Hogwarts will be yours," Blais assured her. "the fashion industry will be mine. And uttery stardom will be Jesse's. We'll all come out ahead."
"If this is a fable, I'll rip out your nuts, hang them on a Christmas tree, and give it to the houseelves to eat," Sue said. "That wand had better be there."
There was a pause, then, and the sound of scuffling again. Kurt tried to breathe in thorugh his nose, but the dust was unsettling. He could feel a sneeze coming on, and desperately shoved a fist in his mouth to try and keep from making a noise.
"What about the other students?" Sue asked. Blais sniffed disdainfully.
"Talented," he admitted. "But there's no guarantee that they'll work for us. Send their Portkeys to the castle. Let them win their silly little Tournament. You and I know what the real prize is."
Kurt screwed his face up, his eyes closed as tightly as possible to keep from sneezing. He wasn't entirely certain what the teacher and fashion icon were talking about, but it sounded somewhat dangerous. And it was happening in the Forbidden Forest, which instantly called to mind illicit, illegal activities. Sam pinched him.
There was another shuffling above. Kurt refused to take a breath. The dirt was tickling his nose and he knew, just knew, that another breath would cause him to sneeze. So he didn't breathe. He could feel his face growing red. He could feel darkness encroaching, even behind his closed eyelids. Still, he thought passing out might be preferable to sneezing and being heard.
"Dude," Finn whistled. "Kurt's face is crazy red. Can you get sunburned under ground?"
"What do you mean it's. . ." Their voices were thick and distorted, as though he were hearing them from underwater. Kurt wondered why they were talking, when Blais and Coach Sylvester were just above them.
"Crap! Finn, he's not breathing!"
This proclamation was followed by a riot of pain, as Kurt was pinched, prodded, and slapped all over his body. He refused to breathe. If he breathed, he'd sneeze, and if he'd sneeze. . .but then a thick, meaty hand touched his hair and oh Hell no, nobody touched his hair!
Kurt's eyes flew open and he took a deep breath. Even as he did so, a sneeze exploded from his nose, ricocheting across the room.
Kurt turned around, trying to decide whether it was Sam or Finn who had touched his hair. They both had their hands raised, guilty expressions on their faces. He slapped them both, before gingerly touching his head and trying to smooth back his hair.
"Don't. Touch. The do." He said ominously.
Xxx
By the time that the boys made it back to the castle and Kurt had a chance to clean up (and shower, than Dumbledore, because not only was the dirt highly unattractive, but it also itched), the infirmary was closed. Kurt had tried every trick in the book to get in: he'd told Madame Pomfrey that Blaine was his boyfriend, his brother, and his uncle. . .he'd tried to fake sick himself, claimed that he was feeling faint. Unfortunately the nuse was clearly used to people trying to sneak their way in, and she wasn't paying any attention to him. Dejected, he made his way back to the Gryffindor Common room.
There was nobody in the common room. Nobody. Mercedes should have been waiting up for him, anxiously awaiting any news of progress between himself and Blaine. Kurt frowned.
"Mercedes?" he called. "Mercedes, are you here?"
No girl popped out to see him, although a moment later the door to the boys' dormitory cracked open. Jame popped his head out, his curly hair more unruly than usual.
"Hey, Kurt," he yelled. "Don't. . .uh. . .don't come up right now. Hugo was lighting his farts on fire again."
Kurt just rolled his eyes and walked straight out the door again.
He hated going down to the Slytherin common room. It was dark and danky and in the dungeon. But he absolutely had to talk to someone. Finn and Sam had been hopeless, of course, just speculating about what Coach Sylvester could have couldn't seem to convince them that it didn't matter what she wanted. . .what mattered was what wand they were talking about.
So he knocked on the door, and waited impatiently for the door to open.
It took a few moments, but then a short, blond head poked out.
"Hey, Scorpius," Kurt said, clearing his throat a little awkwardly. He always hated talking to the young Slytherin. Even though Mr. Potter insisted that his father was one of the good guys, everyone knew that the Malfoys had been working with the Dark Lords. Still, he seemed nice enough, and just shrugged, letting Kurt in.
"Hi, Kurt!" Rachel yelled, flouncing in. "Did you return from your expedition with Finn? Did you talk about me? What did he say?"
"Uh. . .no. . ." Kurt said slowly. "We didn't. . .why on earth would we have talked about you? No, listen, Rachel, this is important."
Rachel huffed and crossed her arms. "And you're implying that my relationship with your step-brother isn't important?"
"You don't have a relationship with Finn!" Kurt said, exasperated.
"I have as much of a relationship with Finn as you do with Blaine."
"At least I've kissed Blaine!"
"So have I."
Kurt felt like pulling his hair out. "Why are we even arguing about this?" he asked. "Look, this is about the Triwizard Tournament."
With that, of course, Rachel was all ears. She listened intensely as he explained what they'd heard in the Forbidden Forest. She frowned slightly when he mentioned the tomb, nodded her head at the appropriate moments, and seemed appropriately somber by the end.
"So what do you think?"
Rachel tapped her mouth thoughtfully. "Well. . ." she said slowly, "I think there's some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Blaine and I have a really good chance at winning, if Jesse is off doing something else."
Kurt was beginning to wonder if his eyes would get permanently stuck in a weird way if he kept rolling them.
"The bad news is. . .well. . .I think they were talking about the Elder Wand."
"Come again?"
"The Elder Wand is. . .wait, hold on, Rose can explain it better."
But of course, rather than just heading to Ravenclaw, they had to pick up Scorpius. Kurt shuddered a little as they walked through the hallways. It turned out to be good that the small Slytherin was with them, however, as he was the only one able to answer the riddle to enter the Ravenclaw room.
"Hey, Kurt, Rachel," a lazy Artie said from where he was sprawled next to the fire. "Wassup?"
"We're hear to talk to Rose about the Elder wand," Rachel said. "Do you know where she is?"
"Right here." Kurt jumped a little as the voice came from behind him. He turned around, seeing the bushy-haired girl standing beside her boyfriend. "How may I help you?"
"Tell us about the Elder wand," Rachel said imperiously.
Rose frowned, her freckled face looking incredibly concerned. "I'm not. . .my mother says I'm not really to talk about it."
Kurt tried shooting her a "bitch, please" look. Rachel just sighed.
"Look," she said. "We know where it is. Coach Sylvester is going to take it out. We just want to know a little more about it."
Rose bit her lip, and frowned at Scorpius. "Well. . .she said slowly, "it's an old wives' tale, really. It's supposedly the most powerful wand in all the world. In order to be the master of the elder wand, you have to defeat it's prior owner, so it has a dreadfully bloody history."
"My father said that Lord Voldemort had the elder wand," Scorpius drawled, his voice slightly haughty. "He had the wand, but because it was my father who disarmed its prior owner, he was never its master."
"So the Elder wand is the most powerful wand in the world," Rachel mused slowly. "And that would make its owner the most powerful wizard alive, correct?"
"Correct," Rose said. "Uncle Harry said that he hid it away, to make sure that no power-hungry wizard ever stole it again. He never told anyone where he put it. . ."
"Her father was pissed," Scorpius said. Rose scowled a little.
"Wait. . ." Something wasn't adding up here, at least not to Kurt. "It's not like the Sword of Gryffindor. . .anybody can use this wand, right?"
"Right," Rose said. "Though it will only be powerful if you"
"Defeat the prior wizard, right, right. . ."
Kurt frowned and glanced at Rachel. If it didn't take anything special to wield the wand, then why did Blais and Coach Sylvester need Jesse st. James? What did Musical Lyricism have to do with anything? At least they now understood why Blais had been rigging the Tournament. Unfortunately, it was beginning to seem like a way bigger deal than they'd initially thought. This wasn't just about winning a tournament. . .this was about gaining control of a wand that could destroy the world.
A/N: Sorry for the lack of Klaine, but the next three chapters are pretty Klaine heavy, so, get excited!
COMING SOON: Kurt either sneaks into the infirmary, or gets caught and gets detention: haven't decided which. The Champions banquet approaches, Professor Schuester teaches them the dumbest spell ever, Mercedes gets a boyfriend, Blaine has a plan, and Finn finally grows a pair.