Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

"What are you still doing up?" Fabian Prewett asked as Harry sleepily walked past him and Gideon on his way down to the dungeons.

Harry looked at the twins questioningly. He didn't know what they were doing, but they looked guilty. What in Merlin's name two spirits who couldn't interact with the living world were getting up to, he had no idea. He was also too tired to actually care at the moment. "Would you two stop whatever mischief you're up to and track down Professors Slytherin and Hufflepuff for me? Tell them to meet me in Sammy's lair."

Gideon gave a dramatic sigh like they were being put upon. "Fine…but you owe us…"

"Shut it Gideon," Fabian rolled his eyes at his twin. "Is everything all right, Harry? You aren't in trouble, are you?"

"I'm fine, just some business that needs to be taken care of before I can go to sleep. It's something they've been helping me with," Harry gave the two a distracted wave before continuing on his way. He figured he could probably put off dealing with the diadem until the next day, but he didn't like having such a dark artifact around, especially when the diary could possess a person.

"Godric's hair looks like a dead rat," he told the suit of armor guarding Salazar's rooms. He really did need to find a way to change the password for the founders' rooms. He hadn't been in Professor Ravenclaw's yet, but he assumed she probably had just as ridiculous of a password…actually, hers was probably reasonable from what he knew of her from their limited interactions. He hoped she and Helena were having a good reunion.

Harry slowly wondered down into Sammy's lair, trusting the wards would notify the snake that he was waiting. Sammy's venom had worked for the diary, so he assumed that would be the best way to handle the diadem after Slytherin and Hufflepuff got a look at it.

::How was the human mating event?:: Sammy asked, already curled up in the lair when Harry entered.

He stopped and snorted in amusement at Sammy's interpretation of the ball. ::I definitely wouldn't have called it a mating event:: He laughed outright. ::It went well though. Helena and I had a good time, and I even got to dance with Cedric once::

The gigantic snake gave a little twitch of his head that Harry had come to interpret as his version of a shrug. ::Sounds like a mating event to me…are you here to chat? Is the deer-bringer man with you?:: Sammy seemed to be looking hopefully back down the corridor from where Harry had come.

::Hagrid isn't with me…he was making starry-eyes at Madam Maxime last I saw him:: Harry informed the snake, sharing the gossip of the night. ::I'll bring him next time I come. I have another of those dark artifacts with me like when we first met. I need to show Professor Slytherin, but we might need you to take a bite out of it after, if that's ok with you::

::Sure, we can't have artifacts like that evil book around the students. I will not fail at my job again:: Sammy nodded his large head and curled around Harry to give him a place to sit and something to lean against while they waited.

"It's past midnight; shouldn't you be asleep young man?" Professor Hufflepuff appeared and immediately scolded the medium.

"Helga, let's hear Harry out. I'm sure there's a good reason he sent those idiotic twins after us," Slytherin appeared and fondly rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Thank you both for coming," Harry smiled at them from his cocoon of snake. "Er…Helena gave me this crown-thingy before crossing over that feels exactly like the diary from my second year. I thought you'd like to take a look at it before Sammy here stabs it with a fang."

"See, very reasonable," Slytherin looked at Hufflepuff with a smug grin.

The woman glared at him but turned back to Harry. "Right, dear, let's take a look. Do try not to touch it with your skin if at all possible."

Harry took a corner of his robe like before and used that to pull the diadem from his pocket and hold it out. "It feels exactly the same. I can sense the death and the darkness…also my scar twinges just a bit being around it," he explained while both spirits leaned over and looked at it.

"Rowena is going to be livid about what was done to her diadem," Helga sighed.

"Is it…?" Slytherin asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

Helga nodded tiredly. "Unfortunately, I believe so…this may also explain the parasite in Harry. I need to go get the others to take a look though. I'll be right back," she disappeared from the room.

"Is she talking about that horcrux thing you all mentioned?" Harry asked the man who looked years older at the disappointment that crossed his face.

"Yes…the problem was that we couldn't figure out how my imbecilic heir could have made an accidental horcrux," Slytherin said slowly, gauging Harry's reaction. "If he made multiple though, then his soul would have been unstable. Your mother finally confessed to us that she performed a protection spell that was what reflected the killing curse that was cast at you. It unfortunately wasn't strong enough to save your life, but it was enough to reflect the curse and sever a piece of the dark lord's already unstable soul."

Harry still had no idea was a horcrux actually was besides that it had to be a piece of Voldemort's soul in something else, so the only new information this gave him was that the founders were closer to figuring out the parasite in him. Even then, he wasn't sure what that actually meant. Could they remove it? Would that mean he'd officially die? He had too many questions that would have to wait since Professor Hufflepuff returned with two other spirits Harry hadn't met before.

The first man was very old, probably older than Dumbledore in appearance. He had a long, white beard and was wearing well-fitting, dark robes. He had a kind face and eyes that spoke to great knowledge like he'd seen all of life and actually understood it.

The second man, or really boy, was a child. He looked to be a little younger than Harry and had long, dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He had bright, blue eyes with a mischievous twinkle worthy of the Weasley twins. His clothes were muggle and almost timeless, though from a second look, they seemed to be dark jeans and a plain t-shirt. It was almost like they changed time period with the spirit's whim. Harry smiled at the child. For some reason, he was certain this boy was someone he wanted to be friends with.

"We think it's another horcrux," Hufflepuff continued, obviously in the middle of a conversation with the two. "How many would he need to have made to make his soul unstable enough to create an accidental one?" She asked her companions.

The boy walked up to Harry and gave him a kind smile before leaning over to study the diadem he was still holding out. "It would depend on his soul to begin with," the boy said musingly. "I doubt his soul was pure before he destroyed it."

"Even so, he would need to have made at least four," the old man added in, also stepping forward to look at the artifact. "Hello, Mr. Potter. Helga has told us much about you. My name is Ignotus Peverell, and I believe I'm an ancestor of yours."

"Wow, hello!" Harry smiled, happy to meet a family member. "I don't have a lot of family. It's so nice to meet more."

The ancient man nodded with a kind smile. "You may call me Ignotus then, or Grandfather if you would rather. I am that to you even if there are many greats in there between the two of us."

"Oh, yes, if that's ok," Harry sputtered in shock. He'd love to have a grandfather. He figured he probably did have some grandparents in the afterlife that he just hadn't met yet, but this man was that to him as well, if he was willing to take on that role. "I'd love that…Grandfather…"

The boy laughed. "I'm not an ancestor of yours, but I've been wanting to meet you for a while. We don't get very many mediums throughout time, and I have yet to meet one who was actually dead, and I've been around a while," he said with a grin and a wink.

"Don't let my chosen form fool you…I'm older than that decrepit prat," he motioned to Ignotus with a snicker.

"Merlin, I do not understand your insistence on using modern slang, but if anyone can be defined as a 'prat' it is definitely you," Slytherin crossed his arms and chuckled at the boy.

The child, Merlin apparently, actually pouted at the man. Harry was certain his mind stopped working somewhere in there…probably when the great Merlin himself pouted at one of Hogwart's founders. "Sal is very unkind to me," he told Harry conspiratorially. "Ever since I told the Prewett twins that Sal's wife has some excellent blackmail on him and they just needed to ask…"

"That is enough. Let's get back to the subject here so Harry can go to bed," Slytherin cut in before Merlin could tell just what the blackmail was that his wife was willing to share. He loved Anne dearly, but that woman was way too willing to mess with him.

"Right, well, it does seem that my grandson is holding a horcrux," Ignotus said in a business-like manner while Harry tried to collect himself.

"What does that mean for the piece in me?" Harry asked with a frown. "And can I have Sammy bite this already? My arm is getting tired," he said, shaking the cramp out of his extended arm.

"I've seen enough," Merlin informed the rest and motioned to the snake.

"Go ahead then, Harry," Helga nodded.

::Sammy…if you'd please do the honors for us:: Harry asked the snake who had only been following Harry's side of the conversation.

::My pleasure, Dead Master:: Sammy gently bent down and gave the crown a little crunch.

A wraith emerged screaming from the diadem, violently disappearing into a cloud of smoke. "Well…that was definitely a horcrux," Merlin snorted wryly at where the wraith had been.

"Harry," Ignotus addressed the teen who had slipped the destroyed diadem back into his robes. "We don't actually know what this means for you just yet. Horcruxes are vile objects that we have little knowledge of. Unfortunately, what they do or their purpose is to…"

"He doesn't need to know that, Ignotus," Slytherin cut in, moving to stand protectively in front of the teen.

Harry frowned at why the founder thought he needed to be protected from information on the objects. "I agree with Sal," Hufflepuff added. "We should wait until we have more information."

Why wouldn't they want Harry to know what horcruxes were for? The medium considered it. Why would Voldemort make objects that house a part of his soul? A terrible thought wormed its way into Harry's mind. The parasite was keeping his soul from moving on…would the horcruxes do the same for Voldemort's soul?

"They're keeping him alive, aren't they?" He asked with a deep breath out before he sat and leaned up against Sammy again, seeking comfort from the solid snake scales.

Salazar turned regretful eyes on the teen he considered a friend. He reached out and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "That is their purpose," he said regretfully.

Harry nodded as it all sank in. "He can't die while the bit is still in me then, and it's what's holding my soul in?"

"Our theory is that they're acting like magnets," Merlin began to explain, putting his hands in his pockets and looking regretful as well. "When Riddle's soul slammed into yours, it connected and they've been stuck to each other, not letting either soul leave your body. Your magic has sustained you since your soul was unable to pass on, but it's only there because it is locked in the foreign piece."

"Every time you have been seriously injured or should have 'died' it has upset the connection between the souls and loosened their hold on each other," Ignotus continued the explanation.

"That part is pure theory though right now," Merlin nodded in agreement.

Harry was much less concerned than the spirits seemed to think he would be. "So, I have to pass on…we all knew this was coming," he shrugged. "Do we do this now or…"

"Circe, no!" Slytherin exclaimed in shock. "We aren't just going to kill you…"

"I'm already dead," Harry rolled his eyes to no one's amusement.

"Regardless, it's best to keep the piece in you until we learn just how many horcruxes are out there," Hufflepuff interrupted the argument that was about to start based on Salazar's expression. "It's not like we can destroy them ourselves, so we need someone who can hear us to find them and deliver them to Salazar's pet here."

"Sammy isn't a pet, he's family," Harry protested, but saw the truth in her argument.

::They bloody well know I'm not a pet:: Sammy sniffed from where he had his head right beside Harry's.

"They're just being ridiculous," Harry patted Sammy's head and glared at the spirits. "I get it though. We need more information about Voldemort or Riddle or whatever you want to call him. Is there anyone on your side you could ask?"

"Abraxas might have some information," Salazar offered as they all considered this.

"We'll look into it, Harry. You just live your life and try to stay safe for now," Merlin instructed him with a smile and a nod.

"Take care of yourself, little grandson," Ignotus added before they both disappeared.

It had been a very strange night. He'd gone to a ball with a ghost, danced with his maybe crush, been gifted a priceless artifact containing a horcrux, learned he had to cross over to get rid of the dark lord for good, and gotten a grandfather out of the deal. That wasn't even mentioning the fact he'd met Merlin who he was starting to believe was closer to the Marauders than some all-knowing, wise deity that the wizarding world made him out to be.

"Don't get caught going back to the tower," Slytherin smirked before he and Hufflepuff also disappeared. Harry sighed and weighed the pros of just sleeping on Slytherin's couch over the questions he'd have to answer from his dormmates in the morning. With a groan, he stood and decided it'd be better to just sneak back to the tower and not have to deal with an over-protective Ron who seemed to be turning more into his mother with each passing day.

"Let's just use their Yule Ball dates," Ludo Bagman huffed in irritation just as Dumbledore strode into the room where all the Triwizard Tournament officials were meeting.

"We can't do that. The Potter boy attended with a ghost," Karkaroff reminded him with a sneer.

"Also, Ms. Delacour's date didn't seem to end very well," Dumbledore offered having seen the argument where the French student told off the Ravenclaw who'd tried to kiss her. "What have I missed? I thought we were using the cup to sort out who we were taking."

"Well, it's nice of you to finally join us," Madam Maxime raised an accusing eyebrow at their late member.

"I had a meeting with the ICW healer's committee," Dumbledore winced. They'd raked him over the coals for everything in the report Poppy had sent them. He'd only escaped after he explained just how much the ministry had been a part of everything. When he'd left, they'd been discussing sanctions against the British ministry, and Dumbledore was starting to be completely supportive of them.

"We had some issues with the cup's selections," Barty Crouch explained from where he was standing by a very stressed out Percy Weasley. Taking champions' friends and family as hostages was used many times in the past, and the cup was set up to be able to provide information on who would be missed the most for each champion.

"Mr. Krum and Ms. Delacour will be easy," Crouch continued. "Ms. Granger was selected for the Durmstrang champion…"

"Ah, their date must have gone well," Dumbledore twinkled at them all with a smile.

"And Ms. Delacour's sister was selected for her," Crouch finished.

"Then what of Mr. Diggory and Mr. Potter?" He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Cedric's," Percy Weasley held out the slip of paper that had been spit out of the cup for the Hufflepuff champion.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, that would pose a problem," he said after reading Harry Potter written on the slip of paper. "I was unaware they were that close. I suppose Harry's has a similar response?"

"The cup is defective," Madam Maxime sniffed as Percy handed Dumbledore the slip that had come out first for Harry.

Dumbledore coughed in surprise at the slip of paper that read: Lily Potter. "I thought it was set to choose who the champion would miss the most? That would mean their hostage would need to regularly interact with them?" He asked the assembled group.

"That is how is it supposed to work," Madam Maxime snorted.

"Then, what about a second option for the two boys?" Dumbledore prodded.

"Diggory is good then," Crouch explained. "Ms. Cho Chang was selected for him. Potter is still an issue."

"Oh really," Dumbledore couldn't help a loud laugh at the second slip of paper for the reluctant champion that was handed to him. "Well, this won't do at all…there's no way she will go along with being a hostage."

"I vote we just stun her and dose her like the others then," Karkaroff snorted, wanting this to be over with. The rest of the group all turned shocked and disbelieving eyes on him though.

"What about a third option for Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked, knowing Karkaroff would regret his words if the woman in question ever even heard of his suggestion.

"We tried that," Percy commented in frustration and handed a slip of paper that read Dobby over to the headmaster.

"That's a house elf name, isn't it?" Bagman asked. "House elves aren't human. We don't know how the magic will affect them. It could do him harm or fail part-way in."

"It's just a house elf…" Karkaroff began.

"Dobby is Madam Pomfrey's house elf and obviously a friend of Harry's," Dumbledore protested with a dark look towards the man. "No harm will come to the elf while he is in this school."

"Right, so fourth option," Percy handed another slip of paper over that read: Sirius Black.

"Isn't that your escaped mass murderer?" The French headmistress crossed her arms and smirked at the now shocked elderly man.

"How does he even know about Sirius, let alone care about him?" Dumbledore scoffed. "The cup must be defective. It clearly chose Harry when it was only supposed to pick three champions, so there must be something wrong with it."

"Our thoughts exactly," Crouch nodded before passing four more slips of paper from Percy to Dumbledore. They read: James Potter, Salazar Slytherin, Cedric Diggory, and Ronald Weasley.

"Look, we need to choose the only living, human, and non-champion option the cup spit out," Karkaraff rolled his eyes. "Convince her, or just make her do it. What other option do we have?"

"What about my brother?" Percy offered. "He's Harry's best friend and was actually one of the options from the cup."

"He was the eighth option," Madam Maxime protested. "We should choose the second option over the eighth, like we did for Mr. Diggory. It's only fair."

"This is not going to go over well," Dumbledore groaned, seeing another report to the ICW in his future as he left to go convince his school's medi-witch to allow herself to be kidnapped. If he were honest, that woman scared him. He fully believed that if Gellert had the flu, then he'd be afraid of the woman as well while she made him stay on bedrest instead of trying to take over the world.

Harry nervously waited in the entrance hall for Cedric. He was nervous for their non-date, but also because he hadn't quite learned to swim over the summer. Poppy had tried to teach him, but their vacation had ended before he really felt comfortable in the water. He actually had quite a bit of fear surrounding water from past trauma with his aunt and baths growing up, but that was very staunchly repressed in his mind and he was trying to not think about being held under scalding water…nope, not thinking about that at all.

"You ready?" Cedric smiled broadly as he walked up to the nervous Gryffindor, holding two towels and the golden egg in his arms.

"Er…yeah…I guess," Harry followed along beside his friend. "Where are we going?"

"Prefects' bathroom," Cedric grinned broadly. "If anyone asks, I did not take you here, and I definitely didn't tell you that the password is 'lemon fresh' if you ever want to come back."

Harry laughed as they made their way through the castle. "Erm, don't tell the rest of the Gryffindors, but I'm a bit afraid of water," he nervously admitted when his friend opened the portrait hole to show a swimming pool sized tub. "How much swimming do you think this task is going to have in it?"

Cedric frowned in concern. "Hmm, that could be a problem," he turned on one of the taps and started to fill the tub. "You have to listen to the egg under water. I accidentally dropped mine in the tub here, and that's how I figured it out. I think it's going to be quite a bit of swimming by what I heard. You'll need to be underwater for an hour."

"Well…that's not possible," Harry snorted as he stripped off his shirt, leaving just the swim trunks Poppy had bought him for the beach. He was not getting into that tub with the boy he kind-of liked with any less clothes than that.

"I was planning on a bubble-head charm," Cedric informed him. "I don't see why you couldn't do the same. It's a fairly common charm, but you probably haven't learned it yet being a fourth year."

Harry thought about what the name of the charm implied. "Does the charm produce a bubble of air around your head?" He frowned.

"Yes, they weren't very inventive with the name," Cedric laughed and added some kind of good smelling something to the water, and Harry recognized the sandalwood smell his friend normally had to him.

Harry smiled at learning where Cedric's scent stemmed from. He felt a little insecure if the other teen just naturally smelled amazing when he knew that he, himself had a strange smell, even if only animals seemed to notice. He was a little concerned about the spell though. "So…the only purpose behind the bubble-head charm would be to sustain life since it's trapping air in with the caster?"

"Er…yeah, I guess," Cedric responded while he also stripped down to swim trunks. Harry was both very thankful for the trunks and a little sad, but he'd never admit that to anyone.

Now, it was a slow process, but Harry was starting to learn how his magic worked. Most of it went to making his body work, so he'd never be as powerful as he could be if his magic wasn't directed mostly to bodily functions. The rest of his magic seemed to be everything else that wasn't connected to life at all. The patronus charm wouldn't work for him, but also the spell they used in Herbology to get plants to grow faster, or transfigurations when they turned an inanimate object into something living. His animals were never alive when he used the spells, and he would always just take the A or even P for those classes. It's not like he could change who he was.

"I won't be able to cast that charm," he concluded. "I'll have to find something else. Magic connected to life just doesn't work for me."

"Oh…" Cedric frowned as he slipped into the water. "Well…that's…we'll find something else," he eventually concluded, not realizing just how much being dead affected his friend's life. Sometimes, most of the time, he forgot Harry was dead.

"Erm…I might not even need to breathe," Harry looked at the water questioningly. It's not like he'd ever tried to hold his breath long enough to see if he actually needed to breathe or not. Breathing was just a reflex that he always did with no thought.

Cedric slowly shook his head. "Maybe, but you can't just jump in the water and not breathe or people will ask questions."

"Yeah, right," Harry slid into the water beside his friend and took a deep, calming breath. It wasn't quite as bad with Cedric there, but he still wasn't sure about having to swim for a full hour.

"Will you be ok to stick your head under the water and listen?" Cedric picked up the egg and asked kindly and with no hint of judgement, which Harry was infinitely grateful for.

He nodded and focused on Cedric and they both went under the water and his friend opened the egg. They sat there, listening to the merpeople sing while Harry steadily focused on his friend, making sure he was always there, that he wouldn't leave him under the water. His lungs weren't hurting at all when the song about something that he'd sorely miss being taken from him ended. Cedric stood up quickly to take a deep breath in, but Harry smiled and slowly joined him.

"Well…I'm pretty sure I don't need to breathe," he informed his friend with a smirk. "Maybe we make that plan the last resort?"

"Very last," Cedric chuckled. "What do you think they're going to take?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't really have a lot of things I'd really miss. My broom maybe…or my dad's invisibility cloak…"

"You don't think they would take people, do you?" The Hufflepuff asked. "That would not go over well with Fleur!"

Harry grimaced at that. The half-Veela was very driven, but he'd learned quickly that those she cared about she was obsessively protective over. Somehow, he'd fallen under that category, and he still wasn't sure how. He blamed Cedric though. "I hope they don't. That sounds like even more unnecessary danger."

"Who would they take for you?"

Harry had to think about that. He had to disregard all the spirits and ghosts. "Erm, Ron, Hermione, you…yeah, it'd have to be one of you."

Cedric grinned broadly and swam out a little farther. "You'd be on my list too…"

"Yeah?" Harry smiled. "So…you going to try to teach me to swim or what?"

"Right…floating first," Cedric swam back over to him and outstretched his arms. "Lay back, and I'll hold you up until you get used to it."

Up Next: The second task...and the person Harry will sorely miss...