Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Harry's Bucket List:

1. Get Sirius to officially give the motorbike to Poppy

2. Convince Poppy to go on a long vacation with Amelia

3. Buy a rubber duck to give Mr. Weasley

4. Prank the twins (get Luna's help?)

5. Convince Dobby and Kreacher to be friends

6. Make Snape laugh

7. Get Sirius a date (definitely not Lupin)

8. Sneak Cedric into the prefect's bathroom

9. Play a seeker's game with Krum

10. Get Ron and Hermione together finally!

11. Help Dumbledore die well and pass on peacefully

12. Get Malfoy out of his own ridiculous mess

13. Sneak into all four house common rooms (even Gryffindor – find weakness in defenses)

14. Connect Sammy's tunnels to Hagrid's hut so he doesn't have to go outside in winter

15. Fly without a broom

"Er…Harry, mate…what is this?" Ron frowned in concern at the paper that had fallen out of his friend's notebook while the medium repacked his trunk after having had to dig to the bottom to pull out his exploding snap cards to play with on the train.

"It's a bucket list…it is titled if you cared to read it…" Harry gave the redhead an incredulous look while he threw a couple socks back into the trunk, not caring one bit if Ron read the list. He should bloody well know that he needed to get it together and just snog Hermione silly. Really, this was just getting ridiculous. "Surely you've heard of one before."

Ron scrunched up his forehead in thought before looking at Hermione. "Is it a muggle thing? What's he going to do with the bucket?"

Hermione just rolled her eyes, used to Harry by this point and seeing nothing strange at all in this interaction. "A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die…it's from the muggle colloquialism of death as 'kicking the bucket.'"

"That's a ridiculous phrase!" Ron snorted and looked at the list again. "Aren't you already dead anyway? This is a bit redundant."

"Well…yeah, but I mean before I pass on completely," Harry chuckled and dealt the cards to Hermione, Ron, and Luna. Neville was going to join them later, but he'd had to chase Trevor down the train and wasn't back yet.

"Hmm…of course I'm helping you with number 4," Luna snorted in indignation at the fact that there was a question mark by her name as she read over Ron's shoulder.

"Cheers, Luna!" Harry grinned at her broadly. "I'm still coming up with plans. I'll have to get back to you about it."

"Ergh! Good luck with number 6!" Ron laughed outright at the thought of actually making Snape laugh before choking mid-laugh when he got to number 10. "Hey! No messing around in my life!"

"What's he want to do?" Hermione tried to lean across Harry to look at the list.

"Nothing! And scratch that off the list!" Ron leaned away from her, his face pale.

"And that's why I meddle in your life," the medium just answered offhandedly. "You clearly need all the help you can get."

"He does have a point, dear," Luna patted Ron on the arm sympathetically, a dreamy smile on her face.

"Wait…huh?...are you planning to kill off Dumbledore? I thought we liked him?" Ron frowned again at the list, temporarily forgetting he was indignant.

"Give me that list!" Hermione made a snatch for the list, but Ron tossed it to Luna who held it just out of the girl's reach.

"Chill out guys, of course we like Dumbledore. He cursed my relatives…or well, he at least poisoned them and set them up to go to jail for their crimes. He's on the friend-list now," Harry explained to Luna's confusion but Ron and Hermione's complete understanding and approval.

"What I meant by helping Dumbledore to die well is that he's already dying from something...probably a curse, and I wanted to help him crossover and get settled with his family and friends…you know…meet the end well and all that…"

There seemed to be a collective breath of relief from the other three in the train compartment. "Great! We aren't going to kill him then…"

"Well, only as a last resort," Harry just shrugged before the card in front of him exploded and everyone jumped.

"Harry James Potter…!" Hermione started with a scandalized expression just as the door opened and a pinched blond face glared in.

"Potter and his gang of little idiots…" Draco Malfoy lounged in the doorframe and sneered at the lot of them.

"Actually, it's Lovegood and her gang of idiots," Harry responded with a smug smile at the blond, having a feeling the prat was probably looking for Dobby…good luck with that.

"He's not wrong," Ron shrugged, having spent the entire summer with Luna ordering around his older brothers and him as they helped get the new store set up. The Ravenclaw might not be quite as scary as his mum, but he wouldn't put it past her to fill his bed with cursed spiders to test out a new prank item, whereas Mrs. Weasley would never do that. In Ron's mind, that made her the one in charge.

Luna was thoroughly engrossed in her Quibbler again and seemed to not be paying attention, besides a little smile in the corner of her mouth. Malfoy was very easily riled up when he thought he was being ignored and they all knew that after five years.

Malfoy just sneered at them more deeply. "All you need is your oaf of a Longbottom and your stolen elf…wonder where your missing misfits wandered off to. They find friends with more working brain cells amongst them?"

"Hmm…what's number 12 on the list mean?" Luna asked in her dreamy way, not even looking up from the magazine.

"It means expelled, definitely expelled," Ron studied the bucket list again to see what she was referring to and how it was connected to Malfoy.

"Nah…Malfoy is trying to kill Dobby this year," Harry shrugged, unconcerned, with a smirk over at the now very pale Slytherin. "He has a better shot at trying to bring Merlin back to life and then convincing him to do the job for him though. Really, Voldy is definitely one quaffle short of a quidditch team if he thinks a teenager is going to have any shot at killing off a house elf who can brew poisons, works in the infirmary, and has the Hogwarts' army of elves behind him…an army that cooks said teenager's food…see earlier poison comment…" Harry gave their compartment's invader a significant look.

Draco looked about ready to pass out at this point. "But…how?...what?"

Harry pointed to his head. "Dark Lord radio," he smirked broadly. "Your overlord really should work on controlling his temper and not broadcasting everything to his enemy, but crazy people probably don't have the best critical thinking skills…Hey, you did remember to put some essence of murtlap on your arm, didn't you? It'd be a shame for that new tattoo to get infected."

"My cousin had to go to hospital and get shots when his poor attempt at a tribal tattoo got infected," Hermione was now imitating Luna and seemingly ignoring them while flipping through her new Transfiguration textbook. Harry was so proud! His friends had finally embraced his strategy of ignoring annoying people.

"Ooo, I need to go find a Hufflepuff!" Ron stood up and shoved past a shocked Malfoy. "We have got to get a new betting pool started for how long it will take before Dobby poisons his old master!"

"Put me in for a month from now!" Harry yelled after him. "He just killed Pettigrew, so it'll take a little while to brew something equally nasty."

"Scabbers had it coming!" Ron yelled back with venom. "Couldn't have happened to a better rat!"

"What else did you see, Potter?" The teen hissed in poorly disguised fear.

Harry actually had a plan though, helped out by some advice from Sal, and just grinned. "I think I'll keep both my eyes and ears open this year…you and a certain head snake might need extra supervision." He wanted Malfoy to think he was suspicious of Snape. By the time Dumbledore died, Harry and Sal had it planned for Snape to be Voldy's righthand-man…and perfectly positioned for future plans of the murderous type.

Malfoy scurried away, either to report what Harry said to Voldemort or to pass out from fear in his own compartment, Harry really didn't care. He did however hope the Slytherin would finally see just how ridiculous the maniac he was following was…one could only hope. He couldn't help the prat until he realized that he actually needed help though.

"Did Dobby really kill Pettigrew? I mean…I know he's evil, but still…" Hermione put her book down and picked up her hand of cards again, not needing to anger a short-tempered pureblood prat anymore.

Harry shrugged and winced when his card exploded, he really was bad at this game. "There was a poison lying around that we suddenly had no use for…Pettigrew turned up dead in a gutter outside the Ministry of Magic…I don't ask questions beyond that. However, Sirius has been keeping Dobby supplied with his favorite biscuits every day since then…so…take that as you will."

"Hey, Harry…could you bring Merlin back to life and convince him to kill someone?" Luna asked in academic interest.

Harry thought about that. "Not really back to life, but corporeal anyway…and Merlin definitely wouldn't want to kill anyone. He's a pacifist…he'd probably help Dobby brew something though if he asked and it was a good cause."

"Remember when we didn't discuss death like it was a vacation and murdering people like it was just another part of our to-do lists," Hermione looked over her cards at her grinning, dead friend. "Let's go back to then, shall we?"

"Life is the vacation," Harry just countered with a laugh. "And, I've never killed anyone and don't plan to unless it's old Voldy…I just happen to have some dangerous friends who don't like people who try to kill those we care about. Personally, I don't see the problem with that."

"Didn't you throw a basilisk at a Death Eater?" Luna asked with a suppressed snort of laughter just as Ron pushed back into the compartment, having put the word out for the new betting pool with the nearest Hufflepuff (Susan Bones, of course).

"My point exactly…Sammy could have just given him a nice hug and let him cast the killing curse at George like he was attempting to do…I didn't actually do anything," Harry just grinned back at her. "Personally, I think Sammy deserves a medal though."

"Agreed! And on the note of stupid, dangerous stunts, by law I must inform you that while your trunk was open earlier I cast a tracking charm on something you own and carry on your person," Ron informed his friend offhandedly as he plopped back down into his seat. "It will inform me the minute you leave the Hogwarts wards, and no, I'm not going to tell you what it's on. It's your own fault for running off to the ministry and jumping into the Veil of Death without taking me too."

"Where did you learn a tracking charm?" Hermione frowned at him, wondering why she hadn't thought of that herself to keep tabs on their loose cannon of a friend. She was certain they hadn't learned any tracking charms in class yet though.

"Parenting book," Ron spoke over Harry's protests with an unapologetic expression. "Mum has a whole bookcase full of them. I'm pretty sure she still has one on Charlie to make sure he doesn't get eaten. The twins probably took theirs off if they had one...I'm fairly certain I'm clean..."

"That's not fair!" Harry dramatically whined.

"It kind of is," Luna disagreed, not liking having been left behind last term either.

"Then…to make up for it, you're going to give me the password to the prefect's bathroom so I can cross number 8 off the list," Harry looked at his friend smugly. He was absolutely certain he could find the charm and dispel it. It was a tracking charm for a small child; how hard could it be?

"Aren't you the quidditch captain…you should know the password; it's a perk of the position," Ron frowned back. He was counting on Harry being in charge of the team that year and being a bit easy on him in try-outs.

It was a sore subject that he'd spent a lot of time debating over during the summer. What he'd finally determined, after weighing everything with Cedric, was that he probably wasn't going to last the year, or at least not much longer than the year, and he had a list of things he wanted to do. He also wanted to spend some quality time with his friends. That didn't leave too much extra time for quidditch, as much as he really hated that.

"Er…look, don't make a big deal out of it…"

"Harry…" Ron looked at him threateningly, not liking where this was going.

"I just don't have time…"

"There's always time for quidditch!"

"Harry," Luna cut in, a frown of concern on her face. "Is there a reason why you have less time than usual and are putting together a bucket list this year in particular?"

At this, Ron and Hermione both looked at him with similar looks of suspicion and concern. Harry just threw an arm around Ron's shoulders though and smiled at them all. "Oh Luna, I have a list every year, and this year Snape's teaching DADA, so none of us are safe."

"Merlin, kill me now," Ron groaned. "Why couldn't Bill have stayed another year?!"

"Gringotts pays better," Harry shrugged with his guess. "Now, why is Hermione so much better at this game than me? I get Ron and chess, but Hermione and exploding snap…?"

"So, how was your summer? Do anything fun? Meet any new friends? Any progress in killing off our headmaster? You sure I shouldn't go talk to him? He's got to be worried," Harry asked all his pent-up questions as soon as he plopped into the chair he now thought of as his own (no matter what the man said to the contrary) in Snape's office right after the welcome feast.

The tall man glared at him from where he was sitting at his desk and not expecting a student to find him on the literal first night back. "Why aren't you in your common room instead of annoying me? I do have a life outside of you, you know."

Harry pouted violently at him. "But I missed you…and you're my friend. You always have time for friends. Plus, you never tell me anything about your life."

"I saw you Sunday night…"

"But you were talking to Dobby."

"Merlin, Potter, I'm not your friend…"

"Also, you must be lonely since Krum doesn't get back to the castle until next week," Harry ignored him. "Mum said she's stopping by for a visit tomorrow, what time is good? I'm free to bring her by any time after dinner."

Snape sighed deeply like he was losing a piece of his sanity. "After dinner is fine…and under no circumstances should you speak to the headmaster about the plans for his death. He was very clear in his desire to keep you out of all this, and I won't have him knowing just how in the middle of everything you've made yourself."

"More like Voldy made me," the Gryffindor wryly grumbled. "Well, him and all the dead people around me. I do hate that Dumbledore is going it alone in all this though…he really should have some support. As much as I love you, you aren't the most supportive." Snape snorted in agreement at that assessment.

"Maybe Dad or Grandfather will know something I could do to help him."

"Do NOT bring your father tomorrow night," Snape added on, still hating the elder Potter with a passion.

"Clearly," Harry just rolled his eyes. The so-called adults all really needed to work out their issues in his sage opinion. "By the way, any idea what Dumbledore's extra lessons he wants to give me is about? It's not Occlumency since that doesn't work on the dead, and I don't think dueling will help much against Voldy while he still has Henry and Professor Hufflepuff's cup…ideas?"

"The headmaster doesn't tell me all of his plans, Potter," Snape sneered, but obviously a bit irritated that he didn't know more of those plans.

"Fine…well, try to keep him out of trouble, and let Dobby know if you want some help brewing before Krum gets in. He's in the infirmary and trying to stay away from Malfoy to keep the temptation to curse him at a minimum," Harry stood and made to leave.

"Potter, wait…" the man stood with a sigh and took something out of his desk drawer. "I'm sure I will regret this with every fiber of my being," he commented before handing a well-worn book over to the teen.

Harry frowned at the shabby book before flipping through it. His frown grew into a shocked smile as he looked up at the man with wide, grateful eyes. "I love you too, sir…"

Harry couldn't help a tight hug. He was now also happy to notice that there was much less of a difference in their heights. He was still shorter than Snape and Sirius and Cedric and Ron…and maybe he should stop the comparisons, but he was taller than Neville and Seamus at least after a bit of a growth spurt over the summer.

"Unhand me, brat," Snape grumbled as he stiffened but made no move to shove Harry away. "You will treat my old Potions book like Merlin's own, and you will not share it with any of your insufferable friends."

"Except for Hermione…" Harry gave him a firm nod.

"Indeed," the man conceded to that inevitability with an eye roll. "You will however not attempt any of the spells in there that are highlighted in red without me being in attendance. The ones highlighted in yellow are fine to try as long as you are not alone, and only the green highlighted ones are completely safe."

"You even color-coded it for me!" Harry gushed. He was definitely going to get the man a nice Christmas gift. He'd have to consult his mother about the perfect gift, but it was going to be good.

"Only because Slughorn is idiot, and I will not have Dobby's hard work with your potions be in vain," Snape grumbled and pointed to the door. "Leave or I'll give you detention for being out after curfew."

"See you tomorrow!" The Gryffindor called back, clutching the book to his chest as he ran out to meet up with Cedric and tell him. This had to convince the Hufflepuff that Snape did in fact actually like him.

"Does this seem extra magical to you? Maybe like an aura of a charm or something?" Harry held his tie out to Seamus at dinner about a week into the new term. Frustratingly enough, he still hadn't figured out what Ron had put the tracking charm on.

"Don't help him," Ron narrowed his eyes at his friend and shot a warning look to their roommate.

"Frankly, I wouldn't know how to help him, mate," Seamus chuckled with an apologetic look over at the tie. "Plus, I'm still trying to make up for not believing him last year, so I'm with Harry if I did know how to help him find your tracker."

Harry sighed deeply. "I don't see why this is so difficult…and you still haven't told me the password to the prefects' bathroom…this just isn't fair!"

"Maybe you'll learn not to rush off into dangerous situations without talking to your friends first," Ron pointed his fork at Harry accusingly, causing Hermione to chuckle into her goblet of water.

Harry just rolled his eyes. They didn't even know what all he'd gotten up to his second year with the chamber, and he was not going to tell them if Ginny didn't first. In his third year, they were nowhere near him when everything went down with the dementors and Lupin, and Voldy didn't give them an option when he kidnapped Harry and Cedric via portkey in fourth year. Harry didn't intentionally try to leave Ron and Hermione out of things, but he also wouldn't even consider taking his friends somewhere dangerous either. He might have a fairly flippant view of life, but he truly believed everyone should have a chance to live and explore and grow-up before passing into the afterlife (well, everyone who wasn't a murderous Death Eater that is).

"Oh wow…she's back. Is she prettier? I definitely think she's prettier," Dean Thomas sighed deeply with a sappy look on his face from Seamus's other side.

Harry turned to see what he was talking about and smiled broadly when it was clear that Viktor had returned from the Bulgarian quidditch season, followed closely by Fleur Delacour. Both of the former Triwizard Tournament champions were making their way across the Great Hall towards the Gryffindor table. Krum spared a smile and a little wave to the head table and the potions master before the two reached Harry while all the teenage boys predictably drooled over Fleur as she walked by.

"'Arry!" Fleur gave her younger friend a quick hug. "I've missed you!"

"I saw you a few weeks ago for dinner…but yeah, I missed you too," Harry chuckled and hugged her back.

"I heard your team won over the Falcons," Harry smiled and squeezed Viktor's arm in welcome. "That was quite the catch by what I hear!"

Krum shrugged but smiled and gave Hermione a hug. "Hey 'Mione."

"Good to see you Viktor," she patted his back.

Krum looked around the hall with a happy smile on his face. "I missed the team, but it's good to be back here. I'm glad we worked it out so I can do both."

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked Fleur, a little too forcefully as his face turned bright red. He was doing much better around the part-Veela, but he still had a long way to go.

"Ah, I need a quick word with 'Arry…a champions meeting if possible," she gave Harry a meaningful look.

He nodded and looked around for a spirit he could ask to go find Cedric for him. Pandora was over by the Ravenclaw table as usual, so he gave his friend a smile and a nod. "I'll meet you both in Viktor's rooms in thirty minutes?"

"See you soon!" Fleur patted Ron on the head with a smirk before she and Krum left to make their way up to Gryffindor's chambers.

Cedric was already waiting in Ric's rooms when Harry made his way into the tower, and gave he gave boyfriend a hug before passing through him. "Hey guys!" Cedric smiled at the other two champions. "Does Viktor need another intervention? I thought he was doing better."

"I'm doing great, you git!" Krum indignantly sputtered from where he was pouring the tea that Kreacher had delivered for them. The Black family elf had suddenly shown up at the castle when the new term started, claiming an inability to handle the Order members for a second longer at Grimmauld place. Sirius and Dobby had vehemently protested, but Harry had welcomed the misanthropic elf since it worked nicely into his bucket list plan to set up Kreacher and Dobby as friends. He had yet to find any common ground they could bond over though, but he wasn't discouraged. There had to be something they both enjoyed doing.

"Right well…how're things then?" Cedric chuckled and gave Fleur a hug who gasped in shock that he was corporeal.

"You're the dead one…how are things with you?" The Bulgarian seeker asked since Fleur was a bit distracted by the very tangible spirit.

"Harry is too," the spirit smirked over at the Gryffindor who laughed and lounged in an armchair. "I'm doing really good though. Harry's grandfather is continuing my education, and I'm keeping busy."

"I really do love seeing you all, but I can only keep Cedric visible for about an hour, so let's get this moving along. What is this meeting about?" Harry cut in, brimming with curiosity.

"It's Fleur's news," Viktor smiled over to their friend.

The French woman held out a hand with a new shiny ring on it to Cedric. "I'm getting married!" She exclaimed excitedly. "Bill finally asked!"

"Congratulations!" Cedric gave her another hug which Harry rushed to join in, all three of them crushed together.

"This is the best news ever!" The medium exclaimed. "When is the wedding?!"

"I suppose we approve of the Weasley," Viktor dryly remarked but with a smirk on his face before he gave Fleur a kiss on her cheek.

"The wedding is this next summer, and Gabrielle will be my maid of honor," Fleur began explaining to them all in a very business-like way. "Viktor and Harry will be the rest of my bridesmaids while Cedric will be one too, even if he is not visible."

The three men looked at each other questioningly before Viktor cleared his throat to voice the question. "Fleur…er…we're flattered, but you do know we're not women, right?"

Fleur just snorted and rolled her eyes, not caring about that in the slightest. "That means nothing. Now, you all need matching robes. I'll have to tell you the colors once Gabrielle and I decide…Cedric, is there a tailor in the afterlife or something because you will be in the pictures of my wedding party before the ceremony even if it's just the four of us."

"Er…I guess…" Cedric still looked really confused.

Harry was over the moon. He didn't care if he had to off Voldemort and later chase down a spirit form of the man to buy him some more time, but he was going to live until that wedding if it was literally the last thing he did. It was going on the bucket list with a star beside it!

"I've never been to a wedding before!" He exclaimed in excitement. "I'm in! Just tell us what to do? Do we plan a party for you or anything? Pick up the flowers? I know how to make and decorate cake!"

Fleur hugged him tightly while Viktor and Cedric shared a look before giving in with a collective shrug. "I knew I could count on my champions! Gabrielle and I will handle most of it, though Molly and Maman will want some say…"

"Probably Bill too, right?" Cedric asked with a chuckle.

Fleur just disregarded that. "Of course…now, my hen party…"

"Oooo, yes, let's plan that!" Harry clapped his hands and summoned a piece of parchment to start jotting down notes on.

"Thanks for coming with me," Harry smiled at his grandfather while they made their way through the castle towards the headmaster's office. He didn't have much experience with people who were dying and not already dead yet (besides Quirrell who really didn't count since he was evil), and Snape had really limited what he could say to the headmaster. His grandfather was really good with this type of stuff though, according to Cedric, since he and Harry's dad had been the Hufflepuff's biggest supporters when he'd died.

"Any time, child. I will always be here for you," the elderly spirit laid a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder when they reached the gargoyle that guarded the office.

"Acid pops," Harry told it and waited for the stairs to take him up to his first extracurricular lesson with Dumbledore.

"Harry, my boy! Welcome!" Dumbledore twinkled welcomingly from his desk when Harry walked in. Fawkes gave a similar chirp of welcome. Thankfully, the phoenix never seemed to care at all about Harry's less-than-alive status, unlike other animals, probably because of the phoenix's own close association with death.

"Hello, Headmaster. How are you feeling?" He asked, trying not to sound like he knew more than he should. Harry couldn't help his eyes darting to the ring the man still wore on his injured hand though.

"Hmm, yes, Sal was correct. That ring was the horcrux and what caused your headmaster's curse," Ignotus Peverell informed his grandson from where he was leaning over the man and studying his shriveled hand. "This ring is also one of the deathly hallows…like your invisibility cloak that you inherited from me."

Harry frowned at that information. He'd never heard of any hallows before. Frankly, he didn't even know what that word meant. He pushed that aside for the moment since Dumbledore was talking. "I'm doing very well, Harry. Nothing you should worry about," he said, causing Harry to repress a snort of disbelief.

"I'm glad, sir. Now, what did you want to do in these lessons? Professor Snape told you that I'm covered with Occlumency, right?"

"Yes, I'm very impressed with your quick progress there," Dumbledore pulled out his wand with a bright smile. "I'll admit, I didn't think you would pick up the mind arts so well."

"Dear Hecate! He has the elder wand too! What is this man playing at?!" Ignotus growled at Dumbledore's wand. Harry was fairly certain it was the wand the man had always used in his experience with him though. Most wands were fairly unremarkable in appearance, but Dumbledore's had always been a bit more distinctive.

"I'd like to show you a few memories, Harry, ones about Tom so we can maybe understand him a bit better," Dumbledore explained as he used his wand to pull a silvery memory from his head and place it in the large pensieve in the corner of his office. "I think we will start from the beginning, the first time I met young Tom Riddle."

Harry looked at both his grandfather and Dumbledore questioningly. Ignotus seemed to be freaking out about something, and the headmaster was being purposefully vague. Harry really didn't think he needed to know anything more about Voldemort than what he already knew from the spirits and being in the man's head. He figured he was going to have to humor the headmaster for now though until he was in a place where his grandfather could explain whatever the hell was going on for real.

"All right, lead the way, sir," Harry sighed and followed his headmaster into a memory of Wool's Orphanage.

"Right, so what has your bloomers in a bunch?" Harry asked his grandfather once they were away from the office and listening ears. "What's a deathly hallow, and why is it important?"

Ignotus looked thoughtful and stared into space for a minute. "There are three deathly hallows. Your cloak, the ring that used to be a horcrux, and your headmaster's wand. They originally belonged to me and my brothers and have been mostly lost for centuries. As far as I know, no one has ever had all three in their possession, and I frankly have no clue what it would mean if someone were to gain the allegiance of all three items."

"You think Dumbledore wants my cloak?" Harry frowned. He liked his cloak and didn't want to give it up if he could avoid it. "Are they somehow associated with death since that's in the name?"

"They are…" Ignotus smiled at him fondly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I need to go visit an old friend of mine, Harry. They will have the information we need. For now, go to the library and find an old children's book called 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard.' Read the story of the three brothers in it. It's a fictional account, but it'll give you a basis for why I'm concerned while I try to understand this significance myself."

"Should I be more worried about Dumbledore? Is he getting himself into some kind of trouble?" Harry sighed. It seemed that someone was always getting themselves into trouble and Harry already had Snape and Draco on his list that year to look after.

"I'm not sure…for now, just don't give him your cloak for any reason, and do not touch his ring or wand," the man warned.

Harry laughed. "I can assure you, I was not planning on going around and randomly touching the headmaster's things."

"Excellent!" Ignotus Peverell ruffled his hair. "Before I go, your boyfriend said to pass along to you the words 'squeaky clean.' He said you'd know what they mean."

Harry gave the man a broad smile and turned to hurry away. "Thanks, Grandad! You're awesome!" He called back as he skidded down the hallway in a rush to grab a towel and his bath shoes.

Ignotus shook his head and laughed at his grandson before he got a worried expression back on his face. He disappeared with a final glance back towards the headmaster's office and a deep sigh.

Up Next: A visit with an old friend...