The Warblers, But In Hogwarts [Discontinued]

Chapter Nine

They'd discovered the Bludger had in fact been enchanted, but nobody knew who had done it and none of the Slytherin players' or Gryffindor players' wands showed the spell in their spell history.

Since it was only practice, the Gryffindor backup Beater took Kurt's place for the next day's matches. Slytherin and Gryffindor played against each other again, Slytherin winning easily.

Kurt sat with Blaine and Tina, watching the matches with them. Blaine felt warm inside being so close to the boy.

The morning was going great until they headed back to the building. The Headmistress was outside, seemingly arguing with another wizard.

"Who's that?" Blaine asked Kurt as they approached them.

"Um, representative from the Ministry," Kurt said, looking pale.

Blaine didn't see it. "What's his badge say?"

Kurt swallowed, stopping Blaine. "Wait. Maybe we should go around."

He turned to him. "What? Why?"

Kurt was keeping a close eye on the closed carriage behind the man. "I think it'd be better. I'll tell you why inside. We just really, really need to get over here."

"Kurt, what the hell is going on?" They both turned to see Sebastian.

"I don't know," Kurt said. "I just saw him."

"Don't they remember the dementors going rogue last time they were here? They almost killed someone?" he hissed.

It was that word that made the hair on Blaine's arms stand up, though he didn't know why. Dementors. "The prison guards," he said. "Why are they here?"

"For you, I assume," Sebastian said, not even looking at him. "I hope McGonagall can get them to leave."

"For me? What did I do?"

Sebastian shook his head. "Sorry, they're here for an obscurial. They don't know it's you."

"You know?" Blaine asked, stunned.

"Based on your reaction when I explained it and you waiting hours after even Elliot left to talk to Kurt when he woke up, I took an educated guess."

"Oh, god."

As Kurt spoke, they both looked at the carriage, which the man was opening.

But faster than the dementors could get out, McGonagall had cast a patronus: three cats covering the exits, keeping the dementors inside the carriage.

A few more words were exchanged and he shut the carriage, taking the reigns and leaving.

Blaine heard an audible exhale of relief, turning and realizing it was Sebastian's. "Are prison guards really that scary?"

"They aren't human," Sebastian said, watching the man leave. "They are horrible, dying things that suck your soul out of your mouth and leave you in a state worse than dead. There's a reason they only guard Azkaban, not all prisons."

He was horrified. "Why would they send those after me?"

"Because the Ministry is old-fashioned and cruel." Kurt wrapped an arm around him in comfort. "But McGongall is reasonable and modern."

"Modern?" Sebastian scoffed.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "She has modern views, is that better?"

"I just find calling an ancient person 'modern' funny."

"I heard that, Mr. Smythe." They looked over, seeing her. A surge of fear ran through Blaine, and he battled his urge to run. "But rest assured, they won't be bringing those dementors back."

"Headmistress McGonagall, this is Blaine," Kurt introduced. "I'm going to help him out with his magic."

She saw Kurt's arm around him. "More than that, it seems." Kurt turned pink. "As always, tell me if you need anything."

"We will," he assured her.

She left, and Blaine turned to Sebastian. "Didn't she do something to keep them controlled?"

He nodded. "She cast a patronus. You'll be learning it this year. Probably sooner than usual, after that."

Blaine cocked his head to the side. "That means you've already learned it. Why are you still so afraid of them?"

His cheeks flushed, and he didn't look at Blaine. "Because I can't cast a patronus. The one thing needed is a happy memory, because they feed off negative emotions, but I've never had a happy enough memory. My parents are in Azkaban, so they don't like me much."

"Huh. What does a patronus look like? Are they always cats?"

"They're different for each person," Kurt told him. "For example, mine's a leopard, Elliot's is a bat, and Ryan's is a cobra. Oh, Aaron's is a skunk, which is perfect for them. Nick's their brother, they've got the white streaks in their hair?"

Blaine laughed. "That is perfect. Is Aaron... I take it Aaron goes by 'them?'"

"Yeah, they're nonbinary, so they go by gender neutral terms."

"What happens with the dorms, in that case?"

"They can go in either; I don't know which they stay in, though. Probably the boys' so they're closer to their brothers. They're all really close."