Eduardo wandered into the living area to see Kylie relaxing on the couch with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

'Enjoying it?' he asked.

'Yeah,' said Kylie. 'I don't think I like Dobby, though. What even is the point of him?'

'You'll find out later,' Eduardo grinned. 'You haven't been skipping ahead to see how to fight the basilisk, have you?'

'Well, maybe a little,' Kylie admitted. 'I don't think the basilisk in the book is much like our basilisk, though. It just kind of freezes people rather than turning them to stone, doesn't it?'

'Yeah, so J.K. shouldn't really call that petrifying, seeing as petrify actually means turn to stone.'

'We have to allow her a bit of dramatic licence, don't we? How do they unfreeze the basilisk's victims in the end? I couldn't find the part where they explained how to do it.'

'Oh, they have to make a potion out of these Mandrake things,' said Eduardo. 'They're plants.'

'Made-up plants,' Kylie added, 'so I guess that's not gonna help us much.'

'Oh yeah, I was meant to tell you, Egon wants to talk to us about our basilisk,' Eduardo suddenly remembered. 'I'm supposed to be telling everyone to go to his lab.'

'Okay,' said Kylie, 'I'll just read the last three pages of this chapter.'


Kylie sloped into Egon's lab looking rather sheepish.

'Thank you for joining us,' Egon said heavily.

'Sorry,' said Kylie, 'I just had to read another chapter of Harry Potter.'

'Well, never mind – we're all here now,' said Egon. 'All documented references to the basilisk I could find mentioned some kind of Norse connection, so it seems entirely probable that this creature was indeed trapped in Arctic ice for quite some time before the supply vessel disturbed it, but that's not really important now – the fact is that the creature is here in the firehouse, and we need to work out what to do with it and how to change its victims back to normal.'

'Did you find out why it doesn't have an ecto signature and wouldn't go in the trap?' asked Roland.

'Yes, I did, and the reason is the simplest one possible,' said Egon. 'It's not an ectoplasmic entity – it's a real animal. A very ancient and unfamiliar animal, certainly – but an animal nonetheless.'

'But how can a normal animal turn people to stone?' asked Garrett.

'Petrifaction is a purely scientific process,' said Egon. 'It involves the removal of carbon and calcium from the body – or being turned to stone, in layman's terms. It just means fossilisation, really.'

'So somehow this animal is able to cause this process by natural, scientific means,' said Kylie. 'And I guess that means we're gonna have to reverse the process in the same way!'

'Sounds difficult,' Eduardo remarked.

'It sounds impossible,' said Egon. 'Leastways, it's completely unprecedented and I have no idea how to go about doing it.'

'Are you saying those people are gonna be stone statues forever?' asked Roland.

'Not necessarily,' said Egon. 'If we can understand exactly how the basilisk causes the fossilisation process to activate, we might be able to reverse it in the same way.'

'That sounds more like science fiction than science,' Garrett remarked.

'The basilisk is science fiction,' said Egon, 'or at least it was until today – we're now making up science-fact as we go along!'

'Can we really do that?' asked Eduardo.

'We can certainly try,' said Egon. 'Now, if you'll all turn your attention to the specimen tank to my right... Slimer, remove the cover, please.'

Slimer saluted Egon and removed the red cloth from the large cubic structure that Egon had indicated. The others drew back in alarm and closed their eyes as they caught sight of the basilisk in all its glory, its snake's body curled up like a spring and its cockerel's head wearing a distinctly peeved expression.

'Hey Egon, are you trying to turn us all to stone?' Eduardo squeaked.

'Don't worry; it's quite safe,' said Egon. 'That tank is made of one-way glass – all the basilisk can see is itself.'

'Shouldn't it have turned itself into stone, then?' asked Garrett.

'That is what happened to Medusa,' Kylie added.

'Clearly the science-fact in this case is that the creature's power does not work on itself, or that it does not reflect off a mirror, or both,' said Egon. 'My best guess is that it emits some form of radiation from its eyes – either voluntarily or involuntarily – when it sees another living thing.'

'Does that help us?' asked Roland.

'Possibly,' said Egon. 'I've rigged a Geiger counter up to the tank. If we can get the basilisk to look at something and turn it to stone, the radiation will register on the counter as it passes through the glass. From the readings, I should be able to identify the radiation signature.'

'So we'll need a willing victim to become a statue,' said Garrett. 'You can count me out, for one!'

'I'll get hold of an animal of some kind for the experiment,' Egon proposed. 'It's not really animal cruelty – we'll be able to change it back afterward.'

'If you can work out how to do it,' Kylie pointed out.

'Yes, but I think taking a risk on a lab mouse is worth procuring the chance to revive those eight people,' Egon said. 'Does anyone disagree with me?'

Nobody did.

'I'll have one sent over in the morning,' said Egon.

'So, what're we gonna do with the basilisk when we've changed all its victims back?' asked Garrett. 'Seeing as it's so dangerous, shouldn't we – like – kill it?'

'That seems harsh,' said Kylie. 'It's just an animal, trying to survive like anyone else.'

'I don't see why it needs to turn people to stone to survive,' said Eduardo.

'It's obviously some kind of ancient defence mechanism,' said Kylie.

'One that stinks of overkill,' said Garrett. 'Turning every creature you see to stone just in case it wants to attack you – it's like cutting off your leg to cure an in-growing toenail!'

'That wouldn't make much difference to you, man,' Eduardo could not help but quip.

'Kinda the same difference you'd feel if we cut your head off to get rid of that goatee,' Garrett shot back. 'Y'know, as in you'd still have the same brain function as before.'

'To get back to the point, I wouldn't feel happy about killing it,' said Egon. 'It's an important scientific discovery – possibly the last of its kind – as well, of course, as being a living creature with as much right to life as anyone else. I have contacts – I think I could find a safe and secure home for it.'

'Be careful who you give it to, Egon,' Kylie advised. 'I just bet some people out there would like to turn its unique ability into some kind of weapon!'

'Agreed,' said Egon. 'I'll be very careful. Now, there's nothing else we can do tonight, so I suggest you all go home and get some sleep. Come back tomorrow morning and we'll see what we can do about saving those people.'


Eduardo was just about to leave the firehouse when he heard a loud crash coming from the floor above. He turned away from the front door and rushed upstairs to investigate.

'Hey, Egon, are you up here?' he called. 'What's going on? Is everything okay?'

He went into the lab and switched on the light. The basilisk tank was on the floor, a huge crack running up one side. As Eduardo looked on in alarm, the animal began to thrash around inside and hurl the various sinews of its body against the glass.

'What's happening in here?'

Eduardo jumped violently and turned to face the speaker in the doorway behind him. It was Roland.

'Jeez, man, you startled me,' said Eduardo. 'I thought you'd gone home.'

'No, not yet,' said Roland. 'Why is the tank on the floor?'

'The basilisk's trying to escape,' Eduardo explained. 'I heard the tank fall from downstairs.'

'It sure is trying to escape,' said Roland, watching the thrashing creature closely, 'and it'll do it in a couple of minutes!'

'We'll have to recapture it,' said Eduardo.

'Yes... but it'll destroy the tank, and the radiation from its eyes won't be able to pass through the glass, and we won't get the reading we need,' Roland mused.

'Egon can always get another tank,' Eduardo pointed out.

'Yes, I suppose so,' said Roland, obviously in the middle of some complicated thought process. 'But the wires are still attached to the Geiger-counter – they didn't come loose in the fall – and time could be precious for those people...'

'What're you planning, Roland?' Eduardo asked suspiciously.

'Um... no, nothing,' Roland said unconvincingly. 'Eduardo, could you find a blanket or a towel or something to throw over the basilisk when it escapes? I'll open the Alsatian carrier and you bundle it in there again, okay?'

'Er... yeah, sure, I guess so,' said Eduardo.

He wandered into the bathroom and found a large white towel, which he brought back to the lab. He found Roland crouching in front of the rapidly disintegrating tank, one finger hovering over a button at the bottom.

'What are you doing, man?' Eduardo demanded.

'We need to get that reading,' said Roland. 'Put it in the carrier like we planned, Eduardo. Don't let it get you too or it'll escape and we'll never find it again.'

'Roland, what are you talking about?' Eduardo failed to comprehend. 'You can't...'

Roland flicked the switch and the one-way glass was deactivated. The basilisk snarled and roared and hissed, and Roland turned to stone. A fraction of a second later, the glass of the tank exploded in all directions and the basilisk was free.

'Oh, man...' Eduardo muttered. 'I should've just gone home when I had the chance.'

Before the animal could get its bearings, Eduardo ran up behind it and covered it with the towel. Fighting to control the writhing creature, he ran across the room and bundled it back into the dog carrier, which Roland had opened as promised while Eduardo was out of the room.

'What on earth is going on in here?'

Eduardo finished securing the carrier and turned back towards the doorway, where Egon was standing with a puzzled expression on his face.

'The basilisk broke out of the tank,' Eduardo explained breathlessly. 'Roland let it look at him through the glass before it escaped so you could get your radiation reading.'

Egon looked from Eduardo to Roland to the shattered tank to the Geiger-counter, and dashed across the room to inspect the readings.

'It's beta radiation,' Egon announced. 'By sacrificing himself, Roland achieved his goal.'

'But why did he do it?' said Eduardo. 'This isn't the first time he's put himself in danger during this case. Do you think he wanted to prove he was still up to the job after all that possessed book stuff last week?'

'Quite possibly,' said Egon. 'Perhaps we can ask him later.'

'So... you'll be able to save him, right?' asked Eduardo. 'And all the other victims too?'

'I've now got all the information I need to start working on a possible solution to the problem,' said Egon. 'But there are no guarantees, Eduardo – as I said earlier, I'm making up the science of this case as I go along, and we can only hope that my methods and conclusions match up with the facts of the matter.'

'Aw, man,' said Eduardo, 'why couldn't he just wait for a new tank and a lab mouse?'

'Well, he's done it now,' Egon sighed, 'so we might as well just get on with the next stage of the plan. I'll do my best, of course, but I have to confess that I'm far from certain that it'll be good enough.'

'Well, I'm certain,' said Eduardo. 'You're Egon Spengler – you can do this.'

'Thanks,' said Egon.

'Do you think I should go to Roland's place on my way home and tell his family what happened to him?' asked Eduardo.

'It's significantly out of your way, isn't it?'

'Yeah... but I don't mind.'

'You just get yourself home, Eduardo,' Egon instructed. 'I'll call Roland's family and explain the situation.'

'What'll you tell them about bringing him back?' asked Eduardo.

'The truth,' said Egon. 'That there is a chance.'

'Can't you lie and say that everything's definitely gonna be fine?'

'I could, but I'm not going to. Go home now, Eduardo, and try to get some sleep – there's nothing else we can do tonight.'


The next morning, Eduardo, Kylie and Garrett arrived at the firehouse to find Janine waving to an armoured truck as it came through the double doors and roared off down the street.

'Hi, Janine,' said Garrett. 'What's going on?'

'The basilisk has just been collected,' Janine replied.

'Who by?' asked Garrett, peering after the receding form of the truck.

'Egon didn't say exactly,' said Janine. 'But I have every trust in his judgement.'

'We all do,' said Kylie.

'All the same, can Egon really be sure he doesn't need to keep the creature around to find a cure?' Garrett wondered.

'He got his radiation reading last night, like I told you,' said Eduardo. 'There's nothing else he can do with the basilisk... except dissect it.'

'And that wouldn't help anyone,' said Janine, 'least of all the basilisk. But Egon's been working all night on a cure to turn everyone back to normal. I don't think he's had any sleep.'

'When he said there was nothing else we could do last night,' said Eduardo, 'I guess he was just talking about me.'

Janine led the way up to Egon's lab. He was on the phone when they entered.

'Yes, I promise I'll have it back by the end of the day,' Egon said into the mouthpiece. 'Yes, I understand the long-term effects of exposure. No, it won't leave the firehouse. Yes, only I will operate it. Yes, I appreciate that. I know, and I'm very grateful. Okay, I'll meet you at the back entrance in half an hour. Yes, I know. Thanks, Doug. Bye.'

Egon put down the receiver, removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes.

'Who were you talking to, Egon?' asked Garrett.

'An old friend of mine who works in the radiology department at the hospital,' said Egon, replacing his glasses. 'He's going to lend me a radiation machine for the day.'

'By lend you mean steal, right?' asked Eduardo.

'No, I mean lend,' said Egon. 'It will be back in its proper place by five o'clock this afternoon; the fact that no one knows about its little sojourn is completely irrelevant.'

'What are you going to do with it, Egon?' asked Kylie. 'You're going to save the basilisk's victims, aren't you?'

'I'm going to try,' Egon sighed. 'Come into the bathroom, everyone.'

They all followed Egon and crowded into the bathroom. They saw at once that the bathtub was full of a strange, quite thick, off-white solution of some kind.

'What the heck is that?' asked Garrett.

'It's a concentrated mix of calcium and carbon,' said Egon. 'My plan is to put one of the basilisk's victims into the bathtub, expose him to as much beta radiation as I dare, and hope that the process will be reversed.'

They all looked at him with obvious uncertainty.

'Do you really think that'll work?' asked Eduardo.

'I think it might work,' said Egon. 'As I've said twice before, I'm making up science-fact as I go along here – there are no guarantees!'

'You don't make it sound like the victims have much of a chance,' said Garrett.

'I don't know how much of a chance they have, but this is the only possible solution I can think of!' said Egon. 'Does anyone else have a better idea?'

Unsurprisingly, nobody volunteered an alternative suggestion.

'Now, Egon, don't get yourself all worked up,' Janine said soothingly. 'We all have faith in you, don't we, everyone?'

'Of course,' said Kylie.

'Sure,' said Eduardo.

'Well... I suppose it might work,' said Garrett.

'Right, so let's get ready to do this thing!' said Janine. 'Egon, is your friend bringing the machine here or are you going to collect it?'

'I'm collecting it from the back entrance of the radiology building in half an hour,' said Egon.

'Okay, well one of us is going to drive you down there,' said Janine. 'You've been up all night and you're not in a fit state to drive yourself. In the meantime, I suggest the rest of us get to work carrying all the statues up from the basement. Eduardo, you definitely need to stay and do that.'

'Yeah,' said Eduardo. 'Too bad Roland can't help me this time.'

'I'll drive Egon to the hospital,' said Kylie. 'I wouldn't be much help with the statues.'

'Okay,' said Janine, 'so I'll help Eduardo with the heavy lifting.'

'Janine, I can't let you do that,' said Egon. 'Maybe you should go to the hospital with Kylie, and I'll help with the statues.'

'No, Egon – your friend won't give the machine to anyone but you,' Janine pointed out. 'I'll help with the statues – it'll be fine.'

'Hey, and I can help too,' said Garrett. 'I know I can't carry them up the stairs, but I can shunt them around up here.'

'Okay, then that's what we'll do,' said Egon. 'You might as well put one of the statues in the bathtub straightaway – we'll need a test subject, as it were.'

'A test subject?' Garrett asked uncertainly. 'You mean, if it doesn't work, whoever we try it out on could be worse off than he is now?'

'Who can say?' said Egon. 'Radiation exposure always carries risks with it – potentially, anything could happen.'

'So who do we put in the bathtub, then?' asked Janine.

'Roland,' Eduardo said quietly.

'What?' said Garrett.

'Seriously, we need to try it out on Roland,' said Eduardo. 'He's been trying to prove himself all through this basilisk case – that's why got himself turned to stone. He sacrificed himself to help the other victims – he gave himself to us as a test subject. If he could talk right now, he'd volunteer to go in the bathtub first. Who here thinks I'm wrong, huh?'

Nobody thought Eduardo was wrong.

'All right,' said Egon, 'then bring Roland up first and put him in the bathtub. Kylie, let's go.'


Later, everyone except Egon was sitting in the lounge, sipping from mugs of coffee.

'What if it doesn't work?' Garrett piped up suddenly.

'Garrett, hush!' Janine admonished him.

'It's a fair question,' said Eduardo. 'We're totally out of our depth here – even Egon doesn't really know what he's doing.'

'None of the great scientific discoveries in history happened when the scientists knew what they were doing,' said Kylie. 'If this method doesn't work, Egon will try something else... and he'll keep on trying until he turns all those people back to normal.'

'What happens if he can't?' said Garrett.

'There's no point living in a world of ifs,' said Janine.

'Maybe we could see if that Mandrake potion of J.K.'s really exists,' Eduardo suggested. 'Maybe we could get in touch with her and ask her where she gets her ideas from.'

'The answer to that is myths, legends, real life, her own imagination and another UK children's book series called The Worst Witch,' said Kylie.

'So the Mandrake plants could come from real life, couldn't they?' Eduardo reasoned. 'It's got to be worth asking her – I'm sure she'd help us.'

'You think she's heard of us?' asked Garrett.

'Sure,' said Eduardo, 'everyone's heard of the Ghostbusters!'

'What I don't get is,' said Janine, 'if Harry Potter's supposed to be so famous and important in the wizarding world, why does Dumbledore make him live with his awful family instead of finding a nice childless wizard couple who'd like to adopt him?'

'Well,' said Eduardo, 'I got a theory about that. You see...'

But he stopped speaking at once as the unmistakable sound of the bathroom door opening reverberated around the upper level. Everyone rushed towards the source of the sound to find a figure wrapped in a white towel emerging from the bathroom.

'Roland!' everyone cried in delight.

'Oh, hey guys,' said Roland. 'What's going on?'

He was then almost flung off his feet as everyone hugged him at once. Egon – wearing a radiation suit – emerged from the bathroom.

'Oh Egon, you did it!' Janine celebrated, hugging Egon in his turn. 'You're a genius.'

'Yes, I do seem to be, don't I?' said Egon, allowing himself a small smile.

'Why did you take his clothes off?' asked Garrett.

'I didn't,' Egon replied. 'The reversal doesn't seem to work on clothes – they disintegrated during the process.'

'That's a small price to pay for what you've achieved here, Egon,' said Kylie.

'Yes, I thought so,' said Egon. 'It does mean we're going to need more towels, though.'

'I'll find some,' said Garrett.

'And Eduardo and I will bring in the next statue,' said Janine.

'Oh no, Janine – I'll help Eduardo with that,' said Roland.

'No you won't!' Kylie said firmly. 'You're coming to the kitchen with me for a cup of coffee!'

'Make it tea,' said Egon. 'Strong and sweet. And give him one of those energy bars too – he needs to build his protein levels back up.'

'Okay, Egon,' said Kylie.


Roland, wearing a fresh jumpsuit, sipped his tea and took a bite of his energy bar. Kylie stared at him across the tabletop.

'Do I have a zit or something?' Roland asked.

'Huh? Oh, no, it's nothing like that,' said Kylie, snapping out of her reverie. 'It's just that I can't believe you're here – back to normal, I mean.'

'Neither can I,' said Roland. 'Egon really is a genius.'

'He sure is,' said Kylie. 'You must've had enormous faith in him to sacrifice yourself like that.'

'Yes, I had faith in him,' said Roland, 'but I knew there were no guarantees.'

'It was very brave of you,' said Kylie. 'Did you realise that we brought you back first because Egon couldn't be sure if the process would work? Or even that it wouldn't do more damage to you?'

'Yes, I realise that,' said Roland.

'Eduardo said it was what you wanted when you sacrificed yourself.'

'Eduardo was right.'

'You know, you... you don't have to worry that anyone's still holding anything against you after that haunted book stuff,' said Kylie. 'You don't need to prove yourself to us, Roland.'

'I didn't do it to prove myself... well, not exactly,' said Roland. 'I did it because... because... because it was the right thing to do.'

Kylie smiled, and patted his hand across the table.

'You're one of the good ones, Roland,' she said. 'That T'Keysha or T'Meyah or K'Deysha or whatever she's called is a very lucky girl. If you're still seeing her, that is.'

Roland smiled enigmatically, and returned to his tea.