Hogwarts' POV

The ghosts' wails and moans went on for hours, well past dinner and into the night. Dumbledore did his best to stop them as they were upsetting the students, but he made it worse with his jovial, and then demanding, attitude. The Grey Lady was in no mood to be sweet-talked. She screamed and ranted a thousand years of suppressed emotions. She drifted around the castle, chasing her murderer and told him over and over just what she thought of him. Her shrill voice carried into the night air.

The whole school now knew who she was and who killed her. The Slytherins, most of them, were very unimpressed with their House Ghost. They thought he had it right in killing the girl for denying him, but to take his own life after, made him weak in their eyes. The Hufflepuffs cried for the tragic tale, along with most of the Ravenclaws, the rest of the bookworms were itching to ask their ghost more. The Gryffindors wanted to kill the already dead man.

Finally around midnight, it stopped. Everyone wondered if she moved on. Except Harry and his gang, they all knew that there was one task that needed done before she could.

When the commotion was over, the students of school slept. Albeit fitfully. There were nightmares aplenty throughout the castle, while the teachers did their best to find out what happened to the two ghosts.

Harry's POV

The next morning was bright and cold. The ceiling in the Great Hall showed only the crisp sunlight and a bright blue sky, like the whole of space had been washed during the night and was now clean and clear. Our group of heroes sat at the Gryffindor table and ate. They discussed the emotional filled night, just like everyone else, but they also whispered about some plans.

Snape looked smug for some reason, which had Harry narrowing his eyes at the man. He had to wonder why the man looked like Christmas had come early, although faintly. He wondered if it had something to do with the ghosts. If the Grey Lady passed on, then he would be relieved of talking to her. On the other hand, if the Bloody Baron left then he no longer was bound to their agreement.

Would that be enough to make the man so... well, not happy, but complacent?

The teen gave up on it for now, and then turned back to his friends and talked about the long night they had. He wrinkled his nose when he overheard a few girls thinking the whole thing was a tragic love story. He shook his head at the flighty gossips and peered at Hermione. She was giving him thoughtful looks and then glaring at the Staff Table, like she had finally come to the conclusion that they weren't the epitome of goodness and authority. She even threw a few cutting glances at Ron.

Harry, who always listened with his eyes, could see that she was now completely on his side, so he copied Merlin's book and said, "Here, Hermione, this is for you to read." She took the book and noted its title and author. "After you're done, come to me and we'll talk. Don't fuss about it now and bring attention to us," he added when her face took on an angry look, like she had been denied knowledge and was going to chastise him for it. He made two more copies and gave them to the twins with a simple smile. "These are temporary copies, so read them fast." He was content that his entire group of friends would now know what he knows.

"We will be discussing this," the bushy-haired girl hissed as she carefully put the book away. One part of her was glad the boy was opening up to her, while another part wanted to hit him for keeping this treasure away.

"Of course," he conceded, he'd let her rant, but only so far. He had his reasons for doing things his way, and if she wanted to remain his friend she'd see that. It wasn't like he was malicious in any way, he was only protecting himself from the world he didn't know. "Anyway, it's Saturday so what shall we do?" Harry asked, hoping to fend off that argument for a while.

"I think we should explore the seventh floor," was the dreamy response from Luna.

"As in near the Gryffindor tower?" the dark-haired wizard asked, not sure if they'd find anything in such a well trafficked hall.

"No, silly, on the other side of the castle, where you found the Grey Lady yesterday," the little blonde stated, as if it were obvious.

"Right, how foolish of me," our hero chuckled as he bussed her cheek. He didn't even have to ask how he knew. "So, who's with us?" he looked at his friends.

"I'm going to read that book, so that counts me out," Hermione stated with a predatory gleam in her eyes. She had seen that the tome was written by Merlin and couldn't wait to sink her teeth into it.

Besides, who wanted to explore some dusty old classrooms, when there was learning to be done.

"You to that, write down any questions you have, so they aren't talked about out loud. Or we'll just find someplace private to go. You too, guys," he said, pointing to the twins, who were reading the book under the table and having whispered conversations about it. They looked up sheepishly and put it away. "I really don't want this to get out. At least not yet," he added when Hermione opened her mouth to argue. He knew she thought all knowledge should be shared, but he needed to keep this a secret for now.

George cleared his throat, "We're going to study," he said, with a wink and a secretive smile.

"Right, need to study to be able to do good pranks," Fred added, playing along.

"Speaking of pranks, it's time to change Snape's," Harry said wickedly as he looked at the dress wearing man. It wasn't funny anymore, because he wasn't reacting, neither were the students. So the teen blinked and snickered, "Watch," was all he said.

Suddenly a large pink bubble came out of Snape's mouth and when it popped it said, "I love lilies."

Harry sat in shock as the Hall burst with laughter. He knew that the greasy git meant he loved his mother, even after all these years. It made him feel sick in the stomach. The bubbles told the truth after all, but still... The amnesiac waved his hand and quickly dispelled the jinx. He'd have to think of something else to do.

Snape got up and left the Hall. He would hide again, in case he gave out other information that would get him arrested. Later he would thank Merlin that it was only once. Now that he was free and clear, he had to keep his head about him, to make sure it stayed that way. He was still making plans on running. He figured that it would be soon since that brat, Potter, was showing signs that he was either putting the pieces together or remembering.

"Did that work like it was supposed to?" Luna asked, patting her friend's arm. She didn't like the look

on his face.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Harry replied, giving her an 'it's alright' smile.

"I don't see what's wrong. I mean, I guess you didn't expect him to spout his favorite flower, which was a bit out of character," Hermione said, with a tilt of her head.

"No, I wanted him to say something else, but magic doesn't always do what you want. Read the book and you'll see what I mean," the dark-haired teen stated. While the jinx worked, the fact that that man still.... He couldn't even finish that thought. It was just too vile.

"Alright," she said, gathering up her books and giving Harry a kiss on the cheek. With that she left.

"We're going too," the twins stated as they too picked up the book and left the room.

"Let's just explore. I want to see if I can find the Grey Lady and apologize about yesterday," the boy-wonder said, getting up as well and leading them out of the Hall. He still felt a bit bad, not overly so.

He felt that the two spirits did need to have that talk, if only to vent. Still, her wails had given the whole castle nightmares.

So, the three teens moved through the castle and went to the seventh floor. They wandered aimlessly, or at least the boys did. Luna knew exactly where she was going.

"Are you sure there's something here, Luna?" Neville asked as they turned another corner, where there was nothing but armor and portraits. They had searched every hall along the way, in hopes of finding a secret room or passage; so far all they found were a few old classrooms.

"Soon," she said mysteriously as she pointed to the end of the hall they were walking in.

When they turned where she had indicated there was Lady Ravenclaw, who actually looked much better. She was no longer grey and was now more of a washed-out white. There was a wistful smile playing on her lips as she drifted back and forth in front of the wall. "Well met, young students," she said when they came up to her.

"Well met," they answered back.

"I wanted to say I was sorry for bringing the Baron here. I really did think that he'd move on," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, he did," the shy ghost replied with a wave of her hand. "I am not sure how it happened, but one minute he was there, just taking my vitriol, and the next he was gone in a great flash of light. I really hope that he is paving for his crime." Her smile turned bitter. Her mind played at all the torture the absent ghost must be going through.

"I wonder who will be the House Ghost for Slytherin now," Luna said with vacant eyes.

"It is being discussed by the Ghost Council. They want to make sure it is someone who can control

Peeves," the Grey Lady said with a tilt of her head. "You're a seer," she stated as if it were fact.

"I am," the little blonde replied with a nod.

"My mother was a seer. It can be a terrible curse. Use it well, but hide it when you can," was the vague advice.

"Did she ever see the nargles?" the little Ravenclaw asked excitedly, bouncing in place, making Harry and Neville very glad she was dressed casually.

The lady ghost just smiled approvingly, and said that her mother had not. That was a good disguise.

She turned to Harry and said, "Where you seek is behind this wall. Pace back and forth three times and think that you need to hide something. When the room appears you will find my mother's diadem, please grant my wish." She then drifted away, hiding in the walls to see it the boy would grant her boon. She wanted to finally put to rest the curse on her mother's greatest treasure.

Our hero did as told and a door appeared in the wall, which he opened and inside was the greatest hoard of junk he had ever seen, well that he could remember. The other two teens' eyes popped nearly out of their heads. Harry got a wicked smile on his face and entered the room. "This could be fun, but first we have to find the diadem," he said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them.

He called his map to enlarge so it showed a foot in front of him, making it so Luna and Neville could see it. He then had Data scan the room for Dark magic. Hundreds of things appeared on that map and they were all deep within piles of junk or further in the room. So he had the android calibrate it to the Darkest of spelled items. There were then ten spots to find. "Let's start with the shelves first," he said, pointing to the line of bookcases on the right. He explained the map and his headspace along the way.

Neville was impressed and had plans to do something a bit more magical for his headspace. He was really glad that his gran had taught him Occlumency, so it would be easy to adjust. He figured that he too could incorporate some magical people to make his mind clearer and stronger. Like Merlin, Rowena, and Godric.

Luna, while fascinated, already had her mind set up so that it would boggle the greatest Legilimens. It was a mass of twirling colors and lights. Finding anything in her mind was impossible, except for her, of course.

The first item they came too was an ornate silver spoon with a vile curse that would kill the person who used it for potatoes, according to Spock's readout that is. It was harmless any other time, but the second any form of potato touched it the curse activated, and the person would die a horrible

death. it had been brought to the school over duo years ago to kill a rival ramily member or a then prestigious family. It had worked, and the spoon was then brought here to cover the crime.

"Don't touch that," Harry said, when he got the report, making his two friends step back. "Spock says it's safe right now, but I don't want to take the chance," he explained, getting closer to the object.

Luna shivered at the blackness coming off the piece. "Harry, please cleanse that," she all but begged.

"Try and use as much magic as you can." Then she smiled at him in a dreamy way to show she wasn't trying to boss him around.

He shrugged and waved his hand. "Deep cleanse," he said, putting a large bit of magic into the spell.

He called up his golden dome to protect his friends.

The spoon shivered in place and then floated and spun as the curse fought to stay attached. Finally with an explosion of black smoke it dissipated. The tableware then dropped back on to the shelf, clean and shiny. He scanned it and now it was just a piece of silverware.

"That took a bit more out of me than I thought it would, so let's save anymore until we find the diadem, yeah?" he said, slumping his shoulders and then stretching them with a roll. He casually waved his hand and dropped the shield.

"That is probably for the best," Neville said, clapping him on the back, very awestruck with how much control his friend had over his magic. He couldn't wait until he was where Harry was. He had already done a great number of wandless spells, in the privacy of his bed. They were little things, like levitation or cleaning Trevor's habitat. He even found all his socks, which seemed to always disappear. His confidence was growing by the day and his showed in his schoolwork. McGonagall even praised him once or twice, but he still needed to do something with his wand. He looked around the room, 'Maybe there's one in here, he thought wistfully.

After Harry rested for a minute, they followed the map and found the headpiece. The dark-haired teen took a deep breath and concentrated on what he needed to do. He pulled out his tricorder and pointed it at the diadem, "Deep cleanse." A narrow beam of light hit the piece and it shook hard, like it was break apart at any moment. Once more the golden dome sprang up.

This time the curse fought ferociously, soon there came a hideous scream coming from the relic. The kids all stepped back, while Harry kept adding power to the spell. A flash of bright light blinded our explorers momentarily, when they could see again, the diadem was shining as new. Harry scanned it and saw that it still was spelled, but it was all good magic. He then dropped the shield and sank to the floor, almost completely wiped out. He took out some muffins, which he had put in his TARDIS pocket for just such occasions, and wolfed them down. He could already feel that his magic was replenishing.

The Lady Ravenclaw came out of hiding with a radiant smile on her face. "You have set me free," she said in awe.

"I promised that I would try. I'm just glad I could keep that promise," Harry said with a weak smile from his place on the floor.

"Thank you," she said as she slowly faded out. There was no flash of light, she was there one moment and then gone.

"Well, poo," Luna huffed with a stomp of her foot, "I wanted to ask her some questions."

"Cheer up, Lovely Luna," the tired wizard said, getting up and slinging his arm over her shoulders.

"She's probably in a better place now."

"You're probably right," she conceded.

"How about we explore some more? Who know what we'll find," he said, looking around the room with a devious grin.

"Wait, what do we do with the this?" Neville asked, gesturing to the diadem, not wanting to leave such a treasure.

"I'm not sure, I guess we can take it with us," Harry said with a shrug.

"There is supposed to be a spell on it that will grant the wearer great knowledge," Luna added longingly, like she wanted to run and grab it and put it on.

"Let me take it and do a deeper scan on it first. If it is as you say, perhaps you can test it. But, I want to make sure it's safe first," the dark-haired wizard said, floating the headpiece into his TARDIS pocket.

"It belonged to Ravenclaw. If anyone should try it first it should be Professor Flitwick. However, if we give it to him, he is sure to give it to Dumbledore," was her reply. She truly wanted to give it to the diminutive professor, but keep it out of the hands of the headmaster.

"Let's wait until we talk to the whole gang. For now we have a room to explore," our hero said as he guided her away.

"Yeah, I want to see if there are any wands here that I can use," the sandy-haired boy said as he

moved wirh them.

So the teens looked through the junk for a while, with Harry making plans on coming back and fixing what he could, which he believed would be all of it. He just needed to make sure he ate plenty of protein and starches before he came. He wondered if he could pull it off, this was much bigger than fixing the Shack. If his theory was right and magic burned calories, then yeah he would just make sure that he could replenish his core with meat and rolls. Maybe he'd bring sandwiches, big meat filled ones. He looked at Neville and noted the boy was much thinner in the face and body. He smirked.

They did find a few of wands, which Neville tried, but only one came closer to his magical signature.

It wasn't a perfect match, but it was better than his dads, so he took it. He'd put his dad's in a safe place. After they gathered some ancient tomes and a few other items that would help with schoolwork, they then left the room and went to lunch. The jewels were left for another time. They would talk to the rest of their friends and discuss what to do with the trove.

As they entered the Great Hall, Harry was glad to note that he was no longer the topic of conversation. It was now going around that the Grey Lady was also gone. There were a few girls that were saying she forgave the Baron and now they were a peace together. Our hero just shook his head at that, but didn't say a word.

They went to their usual spot, and started to fill their plates. Hermione and the twins were missing, but the trio figured they were still reading. About halfway through the meal, a late edition of the Daily Prophet came. Harry wondered why it was so late, until he read the headline over Neville's shoulder.

Harry Potter Tells All

Below was an article that pretty much said what he had told Rita. He was sure she tried to defame him; little did she know she couldn't. The curse he placed would make her think she was succeeding.

She would only see written the stuff that was in her conniving little mind. But really she was writing only the truth. Her editor would see the same that Skeeter did, and he would print the paper thinking that it would boost the ratings, which it would, but not for the reasons they thought. It would only be after the paper got out and was sold that they would realize just what happened.

It was the reason the Howler had taken so much out of him. When it exploded it cursed the whole building. Now that rag would be a genuine newspaper. Who knows it might even sell better.

Harry laughed his arse off, getting strange looks from people around him. They thought he'd be happy that his story finally got out, but not this happy. He sobered up and looked around when his proximity alert went off. He glanced at his map, which was now just on his lens, and groaned.

"Mr. Potter, we need to talk," the Headmaster stated very firmly. He thought the boy was coming around and now with his story out there, he could see that there was still a lot of animosity between

them.

"I'm not talking to you without my lawyer," Harry stated just a firmly. He had no intention of going anywhere alone with this man. He was still very upset about the whole mind-rape incident. And since that was now in the paper, it was probably what the man wanted to talk about. He looked at the old man and saw there was great disappointment in his eyes. "Look, I don't want to fight with you. I only told the truth. I'm tired of being vilified in the press. You didn't seem to care about me being called a liar and a cheat. So why are you upset now?"

"What goes on in Hogwarts should stay in Hogwarts," was the vague answer.

"Right, like kids don't write home to their parents," our hero scoffed, though he did have to wonder how the last few years were suppressed. Or was it? He really didn't know. Maybe he should get ahold of some back copies of the paper and see. If word had gotten out and the whole of this Wizarding World just sat back and read his exploits like it was a good novel, well he didn't know what to think on that.

According to Hermione, these people wanted him to be a hero, but why would he fight for those that never lifted a finger to help him. Disappearing in to the non-magical world sounded better and better. He now knew who cause his memory loss and as soon as he got the guy arrested he'd book it. Probably taking his godfather with him. The poor man wouldn't need to hide anymore. And Harry could make them look any way he wanted them too. Young, old, fat or skinny, none of it would be a problem. They would never be on the run and could just live their lives. They were both loaded so they could live anywhere. His friends would understand and there is no reason the couldn't visit.

"Mr. Potter, you talked to a reporter that slipped unnoticed onto the grounds. I need to know how she did that. It is for the safety of the school," Albus tried to reason with the boy.

"Oh, well, if that's all, I can tell you that she flew in," Harry said with a smile.

"How do you mean?" the old man asked.

"That's all I can tell you," was the curt answer from the boy, who was lying through his teeth. "She flew in and cornered me. I didn't' see anything wrong with talking to her."

"Very well," Dumbledore stated, pinching the bridge of his nose, knowing that that was all the answer he would get. At least the boy was telling the truth. He would have to see about strengthening the wards this summer when the school was empty.

Harry was pretty much thinking the same, only sooner. Perhaps, after the first task.