Kurt Hummel sat behind his desk, eagle-feather quill scratching away on a piece of parchment.

Tomorrow was he and his mentors anniversary, it would be exactly four years since the day they met, the day he discovered magic. As tradition, they had celebrated September 18 for the past two years, usually with cake or a field trip to Bree.

This year however, they wouldnt be seeing each other. Tony had contracted a case of the flu and been out the past week. The previous Tuesday she had written him to let him know she wouldnt be able to make it, insisting that it was Wizard flu to Kurts amusement. Kurt sent an enchanted get well card and a care kit when he sent off her owl, Eleanor, not having his own to use. Now he was writing a Happy Anniversary letter, knowing that Tony would do the same, and he could send it with Eleanor.

In four years Kurt Hummel had come far, both as a person and with magic.

Although he got a late start, he put his heart and soul into becoming a self-sufficient wizard, working diligently year-round under his mentors supervision. At seventeen Kurt was studying level eight magic and had taken his O.W.Ls and passed with flying colors - these were the Wizard equivalent of the S.A.T and decided what D.W.I (Done with Wizarding Instruction) examinations he would take. His best subject had been Charms, with Transfiguration coming in close second, and his worst was Defense. No matter how many extra lessons Tony gave him in Defense Against the Dark Arts, he never got the hang of the actual wandwork.

Kurt was wrapping up the last paragraph when the ink flow faltered. He shook his quill, trying to coax the last bit of ink out, but along with his ink pot, it was empty. He groaned in annoyance and stood up to search for a spare pot.

A pen or pencil would have easily done the same job, probably even better than a quill, but mixing the beautiful calligraphy he saved for letters and his everyday scrawl would look odd. And hed be damned if he had to rewrite the letter. It was also a matter of tradition. He really didnt understand why the Magical World insisted on wearing special clothes or using muggle tools from centuries ago, yet the symbolism behind it was exciting.

Kurt walked into the closet and pulled a box of miscellaneous items hed collected over the years down from the top shelf. He sat it down on the floor and began rummaging through, figuring it must have spare supplies.

At the bottom he found many odds and ends hed previously forgotten about. There were books, Chocolate Frog cards, some old candy, and what have you.

Kurt laughed upon seeing the mangled remains of a once dear scarf. Its mint green material was now covered in large holes, each having a thin ring of burnt material around them. He ran his fingers over the tag in the corner that hadnt melted all the way off. This had happened in the early days of his journey into potioneering. The thing had slipped from his neck and caused a chemical imbalance in what should have been a simple cold draught, that instead turned into a small explosion.

Kurt was older now and had passed most of his big exams, so he studied magic more independently. Now Tony came by for a practical lesson twice a week and assigned him essays and papers. Back then every weekday around eleven a.m. Tony would arrive at the Hummels to begin their lessons. Then shed secretly had him practicing Transfiguration, Potions, and a lot of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Since she couldnt legally bring him am actual unicorn and magical plants were too dangerous, studying Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures had to be done from a book.

As he got me comfortable, Kurt had steadily gained confidence with magic, or at least didnt squeal in terror every time he produced magic. In fact, by the six month mark he had become quite the transfiguration prodigy; it had been his best and favorite subject back then. After six months of hard work he had gotten himself to a level three. That lead to another trip to Bree (they had had so much fun messing around they nearly forgot to pick up his new books).

It was easy to laugh at the incident fondly now that it was well into the past, but when it had first happened, for a very long time it was a dark, shameful memory. The Scarf Debacle of 2007, as Tony called it, had occurred a few months after Kurts lesson with Tony began.

. . .

Kurt woke up, got dressed, made breakfast - the usual. Burt had already left for the shop by then, so he was by himself. After breakfast, Kurt got to work on his normal assignments and was completely done by ten-thirty. That gave him an extra half hour to do whatever before Tony arrived. However, she never did arrive. He waited by the door until twelve, but no one came.

He had then decided to take matter into his own hands.

She might have gotten caught up or be sick, so what was the use of waiting, he figured.

Though advised, it wasnt required to have Tony present. They did give him a curfew of times between which he could practice magic. Why would they go to the trouble if he could only do it with his instructor?

Today they were supposed to practice Defense and then Potions. He would actually need some help with the former, so he skipped straight to the latter. At least that way he would get something done.

He left the living room to gather his potion supplies. All of them were gathered in a large box, hidden in plain sight on a shelf in the basement.

He aimed his wand at the heavy box. "Wingardium Leviosa." With a swish and flick of the wrist, the box levitated and began to fly up the steps. Kurt trailed behind it, and once they were in the kitchen, he guided it onto the countertop.

Kurt grinned broadly at this simple feat. That was the first time he used magic by himself, I t was exciting.

Humming, Kurt began pulling out the boxs contents: A pewter cauldron, a special ladle, a set of scales, a box with many compartments that held the potions ingredients.

The previous week Tony had mentioned a drought for the common cold, so thats what he looked for in his potions book. It was easy to find, right between Bezoars and Draught of the Living Death. The potion itself looked simple enough. Kurt had full faith that he could do it.

Soon he was stirring his half done potion, which was boiling on the hotplate in the center of the island.

Everything was going perfectly, then the recipe called for six spider legs to be added while the potion was stirred counterclockwise. The box of spider legs were on the counter across the kitchen.

He switched the ladle to his left hand and continued his even clockwise stirring. His right hand picked his wand up off of the table. He carefully pointed it at the box of severed arachnid parts. The cauldron bubbled making him startle. His pulse picked up speed and a sweat broke out over his brow. Kurt lowered his wand and peaked at the potions book.

Okay, so it was supposed to do that.

See? I have this. Kurt thought.

"I got this." He said aloud as though that would make it so.

Kurt loosened his scarf. It was getting ridiculously stuffy in there. He turned his torso and pointed his wand again.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

The box wiggled its way from between the other ingredients, flying straight up. He willed it toward himself, but the thing just continued to float up.

Hold a second. Is Wingardium Leviosa a summoning spell? Cause its doing a hell of a job summoning. Kurt thought sardonically.

A noise behind him made him jump and stop stirring. His loss of concentration also resulted in the box of spider legs go crashing down.

In that moment, time seemed to go in slow motion and many things happened at once.

Kurt spun around. First he saw his father standing in the doorway, with an unreadable expression. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, his scarf slipped from his neck and landed in the cauldron.

He had just enough time to throw himself on the floor and fling his arms above his head, before a small explosion rocked the kitchen.

Within seconds Tony was bursting through the front door and running through the house. As soon as she saw Kurt cowering on the floor and a shocked Burt standing there. Her training immediately kicked in. She pointed her wand, which she had whipped out the moment she heard the explosion, at Burt before he could even register her presence. Red sparks shot at him, instantly taking effect and causing Burt to go down. Before he hit the floor Tony flicked her wand and he was held up by an invisible force.

Fortunately the mess wasnt too bad and Tony was able to put everything in order herself in no time. After she was done with the proper protocol, she checked on Kurt and told him that it was an accident and everything was fine. Kurt pretended to agree so that she would leave. That night he locked his bedroom door, then curled up in his bed, and cried until he couldnt anymore.

. . .

Kurt folded the scarf and placed it back in the box.

That hadnt been the last incident. After that first time he had certainly been even more cautious with magic. Heck, for a good two weeks afterwords hed refused to do anything more than study theories out of a book. It took another month until he tried potioneering at all. But no matter how cautious he was, accidents were bound to happen. The next one had happened about eight months later. Burt walked in during a transfiguration lesson. It wasnt nearly as scary because Tony was there this time, but it still left him very shaken.

The older he got, these incidents occurred far less often. On the occasion they did, ministry officials or his supervisor would have to clean up a mess or modify his fathers memory. Anytime the latter happened, once the ministry people or his mentor left, Kurt had always cried.

He always hated the secrecy, but even though it was his decision he felt it necessary. After that first trip to the Ministry Kurt had decided not to tell his father about being a wizard, though Tony strongly suggested it. His argument was that, I want to wait awhile, until I can explain all of this better myself. His mentor was adverse to his decision, but respected it none the less. At the time he thought that it would be best to keep his abilities from his father, that and he was scared.

The next thing Kurt picked from the box was an outdated history book, Europes Most renowned Magical Institutions.

This was the first book he ever bought, it was during that first time in Bree. He saw it in a used book store they visited, sitting on a rack of on-sale books. Hed curiously picked it up and read a few pages. Tony argued that the book was outdated as it was written by Merlin nearly a thousand years before, but Kurt insisted he buy it. He only read the first two chapters, then it was put away and forgotten until he was fourteen. That was around the time that he really got interested in how magic schools worked. He went through countless books on the worlds most renowned magical institutions and even a few about schools that had long since closed. It was ironic that it was that particular summer when he started obsessing about school. Or perhaps it was Tony noticing how lonely he was and mentioning it to Burt.

. . .

For the best part of three years Kurt diligently studied magic under the supervision of Tony, and throughout Burt Hummel had been ignorant of his sons abilities. He had remained under the impression Kurt was studying music and high level math with some vague New England school, while homeschooling as well. Burt had been more than content with Kurts education, however he worried about Kurts lack of a social life, even his tutor had expressed concern in Kurts lack of companions his age. This led Burt to look into public schools again.

Kurt had been sitting in his bed, reading an outdated book on foreign magical schools after Tony left for the day, when his father unexpectedly walked in. Kurt hastened to hide the book, but his father already saw it. He settled for slapping his hand across the title as Burt took a seat in front of his feet. He looked at the book curiously. All Kurt could do was open and close his mouth when Burt slid the heavy book from beneath his hand.

He held it up to the light. "Europes Most renowned Magical Institutions by Merlin." He read aloud.

"Its a Tolkien book." The teen wizard quickly lied.

"Creative guy."

Kurt awkwardly chuckled.

Burt took a few seconds to compose his thoughts. "Kurt theres something Ive been needing to talk to you about."

Kurts eyes widened comically and he bolted up. "Dad! We are not having the talk-"

"Slow your roll. Its not that talk, though that one will be coming up. No, I wanna talk to you about public school."

"Public school?" Kurt said slowly. "What about it?"

"I want you to consider it."

No, no way! He couldnt go back.

Images of being called names, yelled at, being thrown around at recess, all the abuse hed been subjected to in school, came flooding back. Most of those were from elementary school. He was fast approaching fourteen, which meant ninth grade... High school. Surely high school would be even worse. Hed seen Neds Declassified, Degrassi, Law and Order - students killed other students in there. Hed be eaten alive.

"I stay home, complete my studies within a reasonable amount of time, feed myself, make dinner for when you come home, and when I can I help out in the garage. Our system works just fine."

"The thing is kid, I dont think it does. I know you gotta be lonely spending all day by yourself."

"Im not lonely." Kurt had insisted. "I have friends."

"The guys at the shop dont count,"

Kurt opened his mouth to protest.

"And neither does your teacher."

He was struck with sudden inspiration. "Exactly dad! Tony. My lessons are at the same time as school. I cant just drop those."

"But you could reschedule. I already asked her if you could get your hours changed. She told me she just has to take it up with that fancy school of yours."

"So what? You two have been plotting behind my back?" Kurt asked scandalized.

"Dont act so betrayed. I told her that I wanted to talk to you before we made anything official."

"Youre just doing the parent thing where you say that so I feel like I have a choice when I dont."

"Kurt, I really do want you to at least try it. But if you really dont want to go I wont force you."

"I really, really dont want to go dad." Kurt said honestly.

"I still want you to consider it. You never know, this could make a huge difference in your life." Burt looked so hopeful.

He sighed. "Ill think about it - thats not a yes."

Burt smiled broadly. "Im sure youll love it. We could get you into some sports."

"Dad." He said flatly.

Burt raised his hands defensively. "You never know."

Kurt put up a fake smile as Burt patted his legs then stood up and left. As soon as he was gone the smile fell into a miserable line.

The following day Kurt had informed his father that he was willing to try public school again, making his dad very happy. When Tony arrived later on, Burt had immediately dragged her into the kitchen to discuss their options. Kurt listened in the next room throughout much of the conversation. He was admittedly impressed when his mentor took Burts questions in stride without once having to pull out her wand. That quickly morphed into annoyance when she genuinely expressed how happy she was for this new arrangement. She told Burt that she would inform the board - The ministry - and get permission to change Kurts hours - curfew - and that would be that. Not surprisingly formal lessons were cancelled for the day. Kurt was left to independently study while Tony apparated to the Ministry immediately.

Later that night Kurt was in his room again, this time reading the latest edition of Vogue when he heard a light knocking. Seconds later his mentors head appeared in the doorway. "Hey Kurt!"

Kurt sat up and carefully placed the magazine in the bedside table. "Hi Tony."

The rest of the woman swung into view. "I had the meeting with the board this morning and got your curfew changed beginning in August. Your slot will be from five to nine. Ill be here between five and seven-thirty. I expect you to do the required reading when you can."

"Thanks. Did they give you any trouble?"

"Nah," She waved a hand. "I told them your circumstances. They inquired about your studies and I told them you were doing well, and that was that."

"And?" Kurt questioned.

Tony walked further into the room, taking a seat at the end of the bed.

"They did ask about the situation concerning your father."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I told them that you still preferred to keep it a secret. Of course I disagree, but I respect your choice."

"And yet you try to convince me otherwise."

"Exactly." Tony grinned.

Kurt fell against the headboard with a huff of annoyance. "Other countries would side with me."

"Other countries have different laws on the matter. Kids on those countries would cut off their fingers to be able to tell the muggles in their life. Families have been split apart by secrets smaller than this."

Kurt groaned, "Dont start the wizards in China speech."

Tony stuck her tongue out immaturely. "You started it."

. . .

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly at the memory. He placed the book on the shelf with his other magical books, no longer needing to hide it. He suddenly remembered the state pot of ink hed thrown in his desk drawer the other day. He went back to the desk and continued writing his letter. His mind continued to wander over the past two years.

He had begun public school that fall at William McKinley High School.

In the beginning, it was a constant pain balancing magic all the while keeping up with his muggle schoolwork, but Kurt was a diligent student so once he found a way to handle both it wasnt so bad.

The real struggle had been adapting to being around other teenagers constantly. He was a closeted gay wizard in a muggles town. It took all of his self-control not to just whip his wand out and curse the football team on a daily basis, and that was during his first weeks when he was a wallflower. It took awhile until he came out of his shell enough to bring out the extravagant wardrobe, after that he didnt hold back in the fashion department. Thats when the dumpster tosses, slushies, and the insults became a regular thing, then life really got difficult. Kurt got to the point that he was leaving his wand at home secretly stowed in his sock drawer, because the temptation to use it against his bullies was too great.

Needless to say freshman year had been a living nightmare. It wasnt until a few months into sophomore year when the glee club truly became a wacky family that McKinley became a little more bearable.

Throughout all of this Tony was not only his mentor but his rock as well. She helped him through the crazy mess the New Directions came to be, the taunts, the insecurity. He went to her for things that he just couldnt explain to his father. The week Burt found him performing the Single Ladies dance and he joined the football team, it was Tony that noticed what was happening and came to him. Her advice did help him see things differently, but it wasnt until after winning that football game that he finally came out to Burt.

Unfortunately after that Kurt constantly had her on his back about telling Burt that he was a wizard. In the beginning it was brought up every so often and dropped easily, then it became a daily argument. The worst it ever got was the week he pretended to be straight, then picked up a shift at the garage during lessons. All of this was done in an attempt to be the son he thought his dad wanted. Tony nearly wrung his neck. The argument was only dropped a few weeks into his junior year, the fateful week Burt ended up in a coma after his heart attack.

Kurt had to halt his writing and take a moment to collect himself. The day Mrs. Pillsbury pulled him out of French and told him his dad was in a coma had been the worst of his entire life. He reached up and pulled the pages of his calendar back, his fathers hospital discharge papers were pinned to the wall there. Kurt lightly brushed his fingers across the papers. A few weeks ago when his father had come back home, he had hung it there as a reminder of what he almost lost.

The week that Burt had been in the hospital Kurts lessons were put on hold, but Tony went to the hospital with him everyday. Together they sat by Burt Hummels bedside hoping for him to get better. It wasnt until Kurt sang to Burt that he finally gave a sign of life when his hand moved. It had taken another week for him to fully awake and get well enough to return home, but there was no lasting damage that the doctors could see. The day before Burt was set to return home from the hospital, Antonia and Kurt had got into a fight.

. . .

"Kurt?" Tony had asked.

"Mmmm?" Kurt replied absentminedly. He wasnt really paying much attention to her, instead looking around the living room for any places hed missed in his thorough cleaning of their living room. Hed spent that entire day preparing the house for his fathers return. The whole time hed seemingly forgot that he could have cleaned the entire house in three seconds flat had he used magic.

"I think you need to tell your father." Tony saw him visibly stiffen the moment the words left her mouth.

Kurt slowly stood back up from where he was bent over, picking up a lone shoe. He paused very briefly before continuing on.

"About what?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Kurt," Tony admonished. "Its been what? Nearly five years. He needs to-"

"No!" Kurt spun around. "No." He repeated a little more calmly. "He doesnt need to know, not with his bad heart."

Kurt briskly walked into the kitchen and began loading the dishwasher. Tony pressed her lips into a thin line and strode after him.

"What happened to the kid I met? Huh?" She asked harshly. "The one that was adamant about not keeping secrets from his dad?"

"He grew up." He answered shortly. "He stopped being naïve and realized that blunt honesty gets you hurt!"

"And there it is. Honesty was your first instinct, which is usually right. Now youre scared."

"This isnt about me." Kurt deflected.

"Of course it is. Its okay to be afraid." Tony said softly. "Kurt do you remember that week before you came out to him? You were terrified. At the same time you knew it needed to be done. He accepted you and you were both better men because of it."

"I dont think Im going to be so lucky twice."

Tony grabbed Kurts wrist and pulled hard. "Kurt hes your father. Hes proved time and time again that he loves you."

"He grew up on the Bible and church. Do you know what they teach you there? That its just wrong to fall in love if its not with the right person. That witchcraft is demonic! What will he think of me when he finds out that Im every part abomination? God forbid he was somehow able to accept me for all of that, whos to say he wont have another heart attack. Next time he could die! Im not putting that weight on his shoulders."

She pointed a finger at him threateningly. "First off, I dont want to ever hear you say those words about our kind ever again."

"I didnt-"

"I know. While you have to give the words people throw at you the power to affect you. It still doesnt make it okay to use them on yourself. Its demeaning to everyone like you.

"Secondly, you are amazing. I know you say youre confident in who you are, but I also know youre still insecure. You. Are. Perfect. Its your fathers job to love you unconditionally, which he does, and to take care of you."

"I dont want to lose him." Kurt slumped into a chair, rubbing his eyes.

"I understand that youre worried, but I think he knows that your hiding something and that is stressing him out so much more. By not telling him youre carrying around a huge weight on your shoulders and it isnt healthy. It may be a bit shocking at first, but I dont think youll be burdening him. If anything youll be freeing both of you."

For the first time in ages Kurt didnt fight back. His face crumpled as he walked into his mentors open arms, letting himself relax for once.

"I know. Youre right." He mumbled. "I need to tell him."

"Thank you." Tony sighed.

After a few minutes Kurt let go and stepped away, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Kurt walked into the living room and the himself on threw couch, taking his first break all day. Tony smiled as she walked past him on her way to the front door.

"Besides, this way we wouldnt have to keep messing up his brain with obliviate." She called and then disappeared through the door.

Kurt jumped up. "You said that didnt hurt him!"

A few days after that, once Burt had gotten settled back into their home, Kurt was pacing around the living room. Burt sat on the couch covered in a mountain of blankets, and Tony hung back by the stairs.

"Ill leave you two to it."

"No!" Kurt exclaimed, taking a few hasty steps toward her. "Stay. Please?"

Tony raised her eyebrows questioningly. Kurt slowly nodded.

"Okay, Ill stay."

. . .

Now Kurt was out about his sexuality and magical abilities, and things were a little easier. Although public school still sucked, the experiences he had and the people he met there helped him to be brave. Without that them he never would have had the courage to come clean to his father about himself. It was nice not having to hide anymore...

Finn burst through the door making Kurt start and almost topple out of his chair. He quickly righted himself, then closed the spellbook laying open on the desk and flipped it over. The book had been ironically opened to the chapter on Muggle Repelling Charms.

It was nice not having to hide his sexuality from everyone, or magic from his father, but due to something called the Magical Statute of Secrecy his extended family, including Finn and Carole, still couldnt know about magic. Its not that he didnt trust them, he just couldnt exactly go spouting the Magical Worlds secrets to whomever he pleased.

"Hey Kurt." Finn said, taking a seat on his bed. "Are you writing with a feather?"

"Yes Finn, its called a quill." Kurt answered, still writing.

"Oh, like cartography stuff."

"Calligraphy."

"Right..."

Kurt was about to tell Finn off for being in his room for no reason, when the boy finally spoke his mind.

"Anyway, I wanted to know if I could ride with you to school. Your dad took my car to the shop to get the radiator fixed."

"Yeah. I leave at seven twenty."

"Cool, thanks." Finn made for the door, then turned around. "Is that a stick?" He asked curiously, indicating Kurts wand resting on the table.

Without looking up from his letter, Kurt picked his wand off of the table top and slid it into his messenger bag out of sight.

"Thats a wand, Finn." Kurt automatically corrected him, then froze. "Uh, didnt you hear? Wizards are all the rage on the runway these days." He tried to do damage control.

"You dont have to lie." Finn said, making his stomach drop unpleasantly.

How obvious was he if Finn noticed? Now he would have to obliviate him or threaten him, neither of which would bring about pleasant consequences.

"I know youre secretly into all that nerdy stuff. I think its actually pretty cool. Dont worry, I wont tell anyone."

Kurt breathed in relief.

"Thanks Finn."

Finn smiled and walked out.

Kurt signed heavily and got up to put the box back away, in case Finn decided to go through his things.

Not so surprisingly, this was a common occurrence. Finn wasnt the brightest bulb in the box and had a knack for walking into rooms without knocking first. It really was a miracle Finn hadnt witnessed Kurt doing magic in the short time they lived together.

When Finn and Carole first moved in Kurt had to hide most of his magical things. For awhile Finn thought he was in the occult after he met Tony and saw one of Kurts spellbooks. On a stroke of genius Kurt convinced Finn that he was secretly a nerd and was obsessed with World of Warcraft and magic. Finn thought it was cool and got excited. Burt and Tony had found it hilarious when Finn brought home Dungeons and Dragons and made Kurt play with him.

Recently, Kurt had gotten annoyed at constantly having to take everything out of his closet and from under the bed, so he charmed many of his possessions to appear differently to muggles. However, he wasnt entirely positive the spells were working, and he was so used to making up lies and hide things, it was second nature.

Kurt locked the door, to stop future interruptions, and returned to his desk. He folded the letter and sealed it in an envelope that was placed beside the window, to be mailed in whenever Eleanor appeared next.

Having already done his moisturizing routine and gotten ready for bed, he plopped down on the bed and was out in seconds.