Finally. Finally, Kurt was back to one of the few places he could define as his home. He’d been patiently waiting for September to approach, for the last days of Summer to sneak up on him, and for Autumn to take it’s place. Now here he was, in his second to last year of Hogwarts, and he couldn’t have been happier. Of course, he loved his family and usually went home on important holiday breaks, but Hogwarts was where he was growing, learning, and loving. Not to mention, Hogwarts was the home of the well known Harry Potter. Harry Potter had graduated nearly twenty-five years before Kurt was even admitted into Hogwarts, but Kurt felt a surge of pride whenever he remembered that he was in the school whose students came together to defeat Lord Voldemort.

Kurt remembered when he first got the acceptance letter. He always knew that he was different, that he wasn’t like his parents. Kurt was only ten or eleven at the time, but he remembered the moment vividly. When his parents first received the letter, they only laughed and thought it was merely a joke. However, letters from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry began to appear more and more frequently at their doorstep, worrying Mr. and Mrs. Hudson-Hummel. Things were sorted out in a matter of weeks when an elderly wizard approached their family and informed them that Kurt was, much to their disbelief and surprise, a wizard. It took convincing, but they came to terms with it. Kurt was absolutely ecstatic when he learned the strange and amazing truth. A wizard? Kurt could have only dreamed of such strange things.

Kurt’s first year of Hogwarts arrived and in his first hours into school, he was sorted into Ravenclaw by the magical sorting hat, (the same hat Harry Potter himself wore!) The hat sung a song about the admirable traits of each house. The ceiling of the large dining hall was enchanted so you could glance up at the sky in between bites, which was sometimes dark and billowing with lightning or clear, idyll and calm. Being raised by Muggles, everything was so much to take in.

Of course, there were people in other houses and sometimes even in his house who were raised, even now, to believe that witches and wizards who were born from non-magical humans, or as they taunted him, Mudbloods, were disgusting. Kurt admitted, it hurt him, but he had great friends who stood up for him and he was thankful.

In time, Kurt grew older and realized more things that defined him today. Luckily, in the wizarding world, sexuality was just a minor character trait, and when he declared himself to be gay, his friends only told him that they knew and to pass the cranberries down.

Now, Kurt couldn’t believe that his time here was almost up, so he savored the moment he woke up, cradling his pillow in his hands, and tried to save this memory to his head. The memory of waking up in the greatest place he could imagine.

“Kurt, breakfast has already started. I can smell the muffins.” Kurt’s Ravenclaw friend, Reed, nudged him on the shoulder. Kurt revealed his face from under the pillow and glanced at Reed.

“I’m trying to make a memory, Reed,” he said, as if it was obvious.

“Kurt, you’ve done this like every morning for the past few years. I think enough memories about how comfortable the beds are have been made,” Reed sighed, walking to the mirror and examining his freckled face and wild strawberry-blonde hair.

“You can never have enough memories about this place.”

A pointless argument and lots of hair product later, Kurt and Reed strolled into the dining hall. Kurt looked up at the candlelit ceiling. It looked like today was one of those beautiful sunny-with-a-breeze days. Perfect.

Kurt made his way to the packed seats of Ravenclaw, sitting down with Reed at the ancient tables. Food had already magically appeared on the table and Kurt dug right in, making sure to go easy on the delicious-smelling ham that just so happened to lay directly in front of him. “Have you talked to Cole recently?” Kurt teased Reed.

Reed’s eyes widened and he blushed bright red, ducking his face from anyone sitting in near him.

“No. No, I haven’t,” he said weakly, avoiding any eye contact with Kurt.

A few seconds later Kurt burst out into giggles. He loved teasing Reed, which was a bit cruel on his part, but could you blame him? Making Reed think about Cole, his crush, was hilarious.

“Stop laughing! You know he doesn’t actually like me back, this crush is pointless. It’s- It’s awkward.”

“If you say so.”

Kurt continued to munch on is food, which consisted of eggs, muffins and ham. Suddenly, Nathan Burke, Kurt’s boyfriend of seven months, wandered into the Dining Hall, his eyes lacking signs of sleep. He tapped Kurt on the shoulder.

“Hey, babe,” Nathan said nonchalantly. He yawned, leaned down next to Kurt and kissed him sloppily, making sure nearly everyone at the Ravenclaw house saw him. They did.

Kurt flushed a bit when they broke apart. “Hey. You look like shit, what happened?”

Nathan moaned in discomfort. “Some of the Gryffindors and I might have found a few drinks last night.” And with a mumble that sounded like ‘This fucking light,’ Nathan

shuffled over to the Gryffindor house, sat down, and shoved two pieces of ham in is mouth.

Charming.

It’s not that Kurt didn’t really like Nathan. I mean he did, he liked him enough to date him; to fool around with him, even. However, the disoriented Gryffindor lacked that ‘let-me-hold-the-door-open-for-you’ sort of appeal, the attractive gentleman quality. Perhaps one day Nathan would finally hold that characteristic, but for now Kurt would just have to wait and hope.

A loud laugh erupted from the Gryffindor table, breaking Kurt (who was subconsciously picking at his raspberry muffin) out of his thoughts. The boy whom was looking at Kurt last night had spilled his pumpkin juice everywhere, onto his robes, even. The boy looked horrified and embarrassed. “Good going, newbie,” Nathan snickered, his friends following suit. Kurt didn’t even see the big deal, it was just a spill.

“Shut up, Nathan,” Taylor muttered as he searched the table for napkins.

“Make me, Clark.”

Kurt felt bad for the boy, and he didn’t exactly know what caused him to be this kind to a stranger, but he got out of his seat next to the murmuring Ravenclaws and walked over to the Gryffindors, until he was across the table from the flustered kid.

“Hi, Kurt!” Taylor’s tone brightened as he saw the beautiful boy.

Kurt acknowledged Taylor with a quick wave.

“I really don’t see the need to overreact,” Kurt said as he pulled his wand from his robe. “Scourgify.” Kurt mumbled, flicking his wand over the spilled juice. In the blink of an eye, the mess was gone, and the boys robes were good as new.

The curly haired boy blinked stupidly. “Th-thanks,” he said quietly.

Kurt shoved his wand back in his pockets and walked back into his seat, finishing up his scrumptious breakfast, while talking to Reed about new robe designs. When the plate magically disappeared into who-knows-where, he looked back at the Gryffindor table. The boy- with his deep hazel eyes- was staring at Kurt. Not creepily, not in a flirtatious way, either. He was just studying Kurt’s features. He seemed to notice that Kurt was beginning to stare back, and he cheeks brightened. Kurt gave a tender smile and headed up to his first class, thinking about the stranger.

~~~

Transfiguration had always been one of Kurt’s strong suits, next to Charms. He always had a knack for it, and always performed well on tests, which he was thankful for. Today, Professor McGonagall had decided to polish their old skills up.

“Welcome back, students. I trust you all have brought ‘Guide To Advanced Transfiguration’?” McGonagall began.

The class murmured back a tired, “Yes, Professor.”

“Today, we are starting small. But as the year proceeds, larger tasks will be at hand. Sixth year is when we learn Human Transfiguration, a skill that requires all of your focus and concentration...” Professor McGonagall lectured the class about the previous lessons they’ve had, and about the importance of safety in her classes.

The two-person desks filled the center of the room in organized columns. Kurt was paired up with an excitable Hufflepuff, who spent her time doodling in the margins of her textbook. He glanced behind him and saw Reed, whose cheeks were burning bright, sitting next to Cole, and smirked. Reed shot him dagger-eyes.

Kurt’s attention to the front of the class was soon gone, and he studied the space around him. Large cylinder-like cages hung to the sides of the room, which sometimes contained the animals that were to be transfigured. The walls were oval-shaped had a pillar-like pattern that ran across the entirety of the room. In the front, a large desk overlooked the class, interesting and mysterious objects laying out in the open. On either side of the large wooden desk, clean chalkboards stood untouched.

“Mr. Hummel, I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Professor McGonagall said dryly, snapping Kurt out of observations.

“N-No, Professor...” Kurt stammered

“Swell. Now can you please tell me the spell that is used to create a duplicate of something or someone?” McGonagall said, staring him down.

Kurt racked his brain for any sources of information, but no such luck came to him. Great way to start off the year, not paying attention, Kurt thought. “I forget...” he mumbled.

“Geminio, Hummel. However- This spell only lasts for a few hours. If you were to cast this spell upon an object with magical properties, what would happen?”

Professor McGonagall targeted another bored student who decided that making a feather levitate on his desk was much more interesting than listening to the lecture.

Twenty minutes later, the sixth years were up on their feet, transfiguring buttons into sturdy mugs. Kurt was the first to succeed.

From where he was standing, Kurt could see Cole chatting about delicious Butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks, and Reed attempting to reply without showing his reddened cheeks. Ah, young love, Kurt thought.

Kurt had forgotten how energy consuming his classes at Hogwarts could be. By his fourth period, Kurt was dragging his feet up the stairs to get to Defence Against the Dark Arts.

He entered the crowded classroom with books in hand and sat down hurriedly in the only open seat, next to curly haired boy from breakfast. Professor Teddy Lupin rose from his seat at the corner of the room and cleared his throat. His styled green hair was a sharp contrast to his fair skin, and today, he had chosen to have piercing, ice blue blue eyes. He gave a small smile to all of his students, who were now paying close attention to the Professor. With of flick of his wand, the chalk from behind him scrolled on the chalkboard. In perfect penmanship, the word Boggart was formed.

“Welcome back, students. I am Professor Lupin, however, most of you already knew that. For the first few weeks, we’ll be learning again about boggarts, as they have to do with future subjects.” The lanky twenty-something teacher strode elegantly to the front of his class, his hands clasped behind his back. Lupin turned to face his students. “As we did in fourth year, we are each going to face a boggart. This one was caught in the kitchens!” Lupin said happily. “Is there anyone who needs a bit of help refreshing their memory about the spell?”

There were no responses at first. But slowly, the boy next to Kurt put up his hand. “Professor? I’m new here, a-and I’ve never faced a boggart before.”

A few Gryffindor boys in the back snickered.

“Ah, of course. Blaine, isn’t it? Blaine, you can work with Kurt, next to you. He’ll catch you up.”

A few minutes later and they were all standing in a line, facing a beat-up wooden wardrobe. Kurt, back in his Fourth Year, had thought this funny. It was almost a metaphor; each student’s distinct apprehension coming out from the armoire, making each person face the fear they tucked away the most. The nightmare they each kept hidden from sight in the closet. Kurt turned the boy, Blaine.

The boys exchanged a quick handshake. “Hi, I’m Kurt. Kurt Hummel.” He smiled.

“Blaine Anderson,” he said back. “So, what are these things?”

“So, boggarts are basically shape-shifters, and when they come across you, they change into your biggest fear. When you face it, you have to think of something funny, say ‘Riddikulus’ and it turns into the funny thing. The process is a bit hard to explain, but you’ll get it after you see a few people do it. It’s... not exactly pleasant, especially facing one in the middle of class, but you get through it,” Kurt explained.

“H-Have you done it before?” Blaine asked quietly, looking up at Kurt.

“Yeah. The image was- it was nothing too scary. It just brought up bad memories.”

There was a long pause before Blaine finally spoke up. “Hey, thanks for helping me out this morning.”

Kurt glanced over at Blaine with a half-smile. “It’s no problem, Blaine.”

Things like ghosts, chimpanzees, spiders and zombies all crawled out of the wardrobe, and as the line got shorter, Kurt began to feel more anxious.

“Hummel! You’re up,” Professor Lupin said as Kurt walked to the front the class, facing the door. He gulped and exhaled.

What was going to come crawling out of the chest this time?

“Ready?” Lupin asked.

Kurt nodded and braced himself as Lupin threw open the doors.

In a flash, the Boggart took shape of his father laying on a hospital bed, a heart monitor steadily beating next to him. His father was pale, arms to his side. He wore the generic hospital gown and looked rather uncomfortable on the bed. The color drained from Kurt’s face. No. No. This had happened last time, too. Kurt’s breathing sped up, but he managed to pull his wand out in front of him. Suddenly, the heart monitor began to beat rapidly, quicker and quicker, faster and faster until...

A long, strident note erupted from the machine.

Just in time, Kurt had pointed his wand out at his fathers body and yelled, “Riddikulus!” The boggart morphed into a clown.

Kurt was breathing hard, stepping to the side of the classroom to let Blaine have his turn. Everyone was staring at him. Kurt only looked at his feet. Others had such childish fears compared to his own.

Lupin looked to Kurt as well, his (now fuchsia) eyes asking if he was okay. Kurt only nodded, wrapping his arms around his torso.

Attention turned on to Blaine as he prepared his wand for his boggart. Lupin swung the doors of the closet open.

In little seconds, ropes flew out of the cabinet and wrapped around Blaine’s wrists. Blaine’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, fear radiating out of every pore. Chains slithered across the floor and tangled up his legs, causing him to fall to the ground. They started wrapping up his arms, and Blaine’s wand clattered helplessly to his side. The bindings curled around his chest and swaddled his entire body, and abruptly, they winded around his neck. Blaine trembled, eyes watering. The chains and ropes lurched forward, beginning to pull Blaine to the closet.

“Riddikulus!”

Kurt pointed his wand at the shifted boggart surrounding Blaine. With a pop, a large teddy bear engulfed Blaine.

Kurt was still breathing heavily. What the hell was that all about? Ropes? Chains?

Moments later, Blaine appeared, head between knees. He was sniffling. Crying, it sounded like.

“Mr. Anderson?” A stunned Professor Lupin cautiously approached the sixteen year old. “Blaine.”

He lifted his head slightly, just enough to see his teary eyes.

“Why don’t you go back to your dormitory?”

Within five seconds, Blaine nodded, picked himself off of the ground and dashed out of the room.

It was dead silent. Looks of ‘What the fuck just happened?’ and ‘I feel so bad for him...’ were circulating around the classroom.

Kurt stared at the doorway. There was something about that Blaine Anderson, something he liked. Something pitied and something he wanted to know more about. And it was because of those three reasons that he quickly picked up his things and followed Blaine right out of the classroom without an explanation, with two disturbing memories on his mind.