By the Time Harry reached the second floor, he could sense he was not alone.

"Who is there?" Harry turned to look behind him, a wand in each hand.

The air shimmered as a hooded form appeared on the top step. "A Thestral told me that you had a gift for the Department."

"And asking you to identify yourself would be an attempt in futility." Harry tucked the wands away. Undoing the infant pouch from his chest, he passed the 'child' to the person in grey hooded robes. "But if this thing escapes without dying, I will have to declare publicly that Tom Riddle here has people in your Department. Rookwood was bad enough. If it dies while you are examining it, I will need an owl to tell me."

"And the Wand."

Harry passed over the chestnut wand.

"The Yew."

"No. It is mine." Harry sneered. "But I know of a source of Basilisk Venom that I can get you at cost."

"When was it killed?"

"Not killed. Milked."

"We will be in touch."

And Harry was alone.

Then he heard the sounds of heavy foot falls as Cedric came running up the stairs with a towel over his shoulders and a robe bundled under his right as he used his left to propel himself up the stairs faster.

"Damn. I was trying to beat you to the Bath."

"Only by cheating and not going to my dorm first do I have a chance of beating you. What do you say to us handling this like the cup?"

"Without the Portkey, this time." The Hufflepuff gruffed.

Harry smiled. "No promises."

The two climbed in silence.

As they turned into the hallway to the Prefect's Bath, Harry called for Dobby.

"What can Dobby do for Great Wizard Harry Potter Sir?" The exuberant elf exclaimed.

"Great Wizard Harry Potter Sir?" Cedric snickered.

"You tell the Twins and I will hunt you down and string you up." Harry hissed at the older lad. Turning to the Elf who was now hugging his right leg, "Hey Dobby. How are things?"

"Dobby good. Winky not so good."

Harry rubbed the small head, "I need my towel and a change of clothes. I will deal with Winky in the morning. See that she is sober when I come down for breaky."

Dobby popped away, as Diggory opened the Bath.

Ten minutes later the two wizards were soaking in the scented soapy soup that was the Bath.

"Okay. You promised to spill."

"There are things that I know that could be troublesome to reveal at this time." Harry waved his hands under the surface, creating swirls in the suds. "Ask any question and I will either answer truthfully or tell you why I can't answer."

Diggory hummed as he thought, before he turned to the Snake resting her head on a muggle life-belt. The rest of her was soaking in the warm water. "Why did you collect the Snake?"

Harry looked over at Nagini, the 'belt' around her neck. "The Slytherin answer. As a Speaker, I promised to protect those who can't protect themselves. Nagini here is a Meladictus, and as a snake this size, she needs to be cared for as the Wizard Sheeple will try to hurt her and she will have to hurt them. Her Venom is second only to the Basilisk. Between her intelligence due to her formerly being Human, and her Venom, care of her is of value to me."

Cedric snorted.

"My Gryffindor answer has to do with a cross of my Savior Complex, a test of Bravery, and a Trophy of my Conflict with Tommy Boy."

He reached out to scratch under her jaw. "Hufflepuff answer… She was abused and chained by those who promised her a better life."

"And the Ravenclaw?"

"Considering that she was close friends with a son of Dumbledore and a Follower of Grimwald, The Stories she can tell me."

The snake hissed.

The older wizard chuckled, before turning serious. "What was all that in the Graveyard?"

"I am going to have to ask you to be more specific."

Cedric glared at Harry. "Why were we sent there?"

"Back in October, when I was chosen, Moody said that it was a ploy to set me up to die. Because Alaster is so paranoid, he circles the block thrice before going home and never the same way twice, Albus trusted him implicitly. It turned out that Junior had gotten to him first, and kept him in a cell in his own trunk."

He sipped from the bottle of chilled butterbeer resting beside his head. "He shepherded me through the Tasks. He was the one who suggested I fly in the first task. He guided Neville to the Gillyweed, and he was the one who 'Imperioused' Krum to attack you and Fluer on the Maze. Had I done as Ron would have, it would have been just me in the Graveyard… and Tommy would have been reborn, and I would be dead."

"And because I went with you…"

"It would have been your last act." Harry sighed. "The venom from the spider bites would have slowed your reaction speed down. So I made it look like I cursed you in the back before they could kill you. You remember the black ooze on my face? When I landed near Tommy Boy, it exploded from my scar. It was how I knew that they were there."

Another sip. "I have been downplaying my mental abilities, because my mind is an open book. But if I learned anything these past four years, Always watch the DADA professor, Albus will try to sweep everything under the rug, and Fudge is bought and paid for." Another sip. "Considering everything he has swept under, I would expect the Castle to have wall to wall carpeting everywhere but the Kitchen, Great Hall, and the Potion Lab."

"Wall to Wall what?" The purebred wizard asked.

"Ask Granger." Harry drained the bottle and tossed it at the wall. It vanished before it hit. "Next question."

"Why did you award me the money?"

"You will need a nest egg while you field Quidditch offers. I expect you are going to play for about ten, twenty years before retiring and using your fame and connections to land a cushy spot in the Ministry. Of course as my Quidditch rival, you will have my Favour in any way you need it."

Cedric hummed as he sipped his butterbeer.

$How often will One be allowed to soak like this?$ Nagini flickered her tongue.

$Once a week during the school year.$ Harry hissed back. $One needs to be a Prefect to be granted access. So I will need to plan ahead during the week.$

The massive serpent hissed in acceptance.

"It's creepy watching you do that." Cedric had sat up. "What were you talking about?"

"She just wanted to be able to do this again."

Cedric nodded. "The one thing I am going to miss when I leave here is this bath."

"I think that wherever I end up, I am going to have something like this put in."

The Door opened and Hermione and Poppy entered the room. Hermione was tucking a folded parchment into her robe pocket.

"And there they are." The Lass huffed. Something caught her eye… "Ah… Harry. Why do you have a snake that size in the tub? Why do you have a snake in the first place? And why is it wearing a Life Belt?"

"Because she was cold and dirty from crawling through the grass in the Graveyard." Harry was straight faced, answering the questions like it was obvious. "Why shouldn't I have a snake? They make great conversationalists. As for the Life-belt, it is so she can keep her head out of the water." He gave her the 'Duh' look as he stood, the water and suds covering him from the waist down.

"Ah… Granger." Cedric smiled at the Lass. "You do know that we are in a bath, correct?"

"Yes…" the lass snorted. Then it hit her and, wide eyed, she turned and ran from the room.

The Spell Harry cast before they took the Cup having worn off, Cedric eased himself to his feet and hobbled out of the Bath, and balancing on his good leg, he toweled off before allowing Poppy to scan him.

Harry followed his lead and after wiping down, he wrapped the towel around his hips.

"Nagini. When she is finished scanning us, she is going to herd us down to her Domain." He trusted the snake's intelligence to understand English. "You will be accompanying me. Do you want to travel on your own or…"

$I will remain in the water until you start leaving.$ She hissed, $But I will like to stretch 'legs'. Can not get too loose.$

Harry nodded and allowed the Mediwitch to do her job.

"Really." Poppy huffed. "First one of you is so full of Acrumila venom that I don't understand how you can be standing. The other one is in even worse shape with his Core in flux and the dark residue around your scar."

"Dobby. My Bathrobe and slippers, please." As the Elf appeared to offer the requested to the lad, Harry placed his hand on the little guy's head. "Thee, I bond."

Let's just say it was a good idea that Poppy was there.

POMP

Albus was sitting at the front of the Great Hall as most of the Students from the three Schools were having a nightcap of Hot Chocolate and Biscuits.

A flash of magic rolled through the Castle.

Only because he was tied into the Wards did he feel the flux. It was localized around the Prefect's Bath.

He frowned. He then noticed five witches flench. His frown deepened.

Before he could do or say anything, Minerva stood and called for all students to return to their dorms for the Night.

Oh well he would handle it in the morning.

POMP

Harry awoke to the red sky was visible through the window over his bed. As he sat up and stretched, he noticed five sets of female eyes glaring at him.

#About damn time! Stupid Chick! [Reckless Storm] owes [Snowfall Death] extra [crispy pig]#

$You left me with no way to (speak) to these monkeys.$

"Mr. Potter." The Scottish Brogue drew his eye to his Head of House. "You have some explaining to do."

"And I will." Harry reached over and drew the owl into his arms. "I first need a minute to get my bearings?" his fingers finding Hedwig's itchy spots causing her to 'purr' in his mind.

While he was scratching and crooning over the white owl in his lap, the three witches pulled up chairs.

Once everyone was settled. The three witches around him, Hedwig nesting in the pocket of blankets formed by him sitting in a loose lotus pose. Nagini curled around his back to absorb his body heat.

Harry sighed. "Okay Ladies, Ask your questions."

TBC