The next two months went by relatively smoothly. Calvin was doing well in all his classes besides potions, where Snape did everything he could to make him fail after the remark he made on the first day of class. His best class was transfiguration, followed by flying, which Calvin had taken a special interest in despite the fact of how much the broomsticks reminded him of his murderous bike back home. He imagined he would be good at defense against the dark arts, but Lockhart was incompetent and Calvin had learned absolutely nothing from him. Therefore, he had taken to teaching himself defensive spells from books he had checked out from the library in his free time.

"Hey Hobbes check this out!" Exclaimed Calvin, pointing at the book he was reading as he and Hobbes sat under a tree by the black lake on a particularly nice day. "I found this spell that's meant to disarm an opponent in a duel!"

"Cool," said Hobbes, yawning and stretching his arms.

Calvin picked up a stick from the ground next to him and presented it to Hobbes.

"Take this and stand over there," Calvin said, pointing about twenty feet away.

"You want me to be your guinea pig?" Hobbes asked, staring at Calvin with a shocked expression on his face.

"I wouldn't call it being a guinea pig, I'd call it being a tool of discovery!" Said Calvin with a smirk.

"That's what a guinea pig is bozo!"

"Please?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Come on Hobbes!" Said Calvin, still smirking. "The spell isn't going to hurt you! Like I said, its purpose is to disarm not maim!"

Hobbes sighed in exasperation.

"Fine!" He snapped, taking the stick out of Calvin's hand and beginning to stand up. "But you owe me one!"

Calvin's smirk didn't falter.

"Always do!" He called after Hobbes, who was making his way to the place Calvin had pointed to while grumbling under his breath.

"This better not backfire!" Hobbes shouted as he reached the designated location.

"Don't worry, it won't!" Calvin shouted back as he too left the tree and got into position, pointing his wand at Hobbes.

"Expelliarmus!" Calvin bellowed, and a jet of red light shot out the tip of his wand, hitting Hobbes squarely in the chest, causing the stick he was holding to go flying out of his hand.

Hobbes looked flabbergasted as he watched the stick flip through the air and fall back to the ground.

"Cool!" Calvin yelled with a massive grin.

His other classes he found mildly uninteresting at best and mind numbing at worse. Herbology had it's interesting moments, like when Professor Sprout told the class about Devil's Snare, a plant that had the ability to strangle people, which Calvin found both awesome and disturbing. However, he found that the class consisted mostly of scooping dirt and planting seeds.

History of Magic fell into the mind numbing category. Calvin could not for the life of him figure out how a class taught by Professor Binns, a ghost, could be so boring. The classes were nothing but hour and a half long lectures about subjects that should be interesting, like goblin wars and such, but were made intolerable to learn by the teacher, who simply droned on and on in a monotone voice about all the least interesting parts about the events he taught.

Astronomy fell somewhere between mildly uninteresting and mind numbing. He liked aspects of it, like stargazing and identifying planets, but he despised making star charts with all his heart. They had to be to scale and it was just too much math for Calvin to find anything enjoyable about it.

Before Calvin knew it, Halloween had come. There was a great feast in the great hall, and as he and Hobbes entered, he noticed it was decorated beautifully for the event. The floating candles had been replaced with jack o' lanterns and the magical ceiling now looked dark and stormy. The school ghosts were also roaming around the room looking remarkably cheerful for people who were dead.

They sat down next to Ron and Hermione, noticing that both Harry and Ginny were absent.

"Where's Harry?" Calvin asked Hermione as he began to scoop halloween themed dishes onto his plate.

"He's in detention for the stunt he and Ron pulled with the car," she said, shooting Ron an accusing look, but he was too busy eating a chicken wing to notice.

"They're still punishing him for that?" Asked Hobbes, astounded.

"Well it wasn't exactly a small offense," said Hermione, looking at Hobbes. "Six muggles saw that car, and it almost compromised the International Statute of Secrecy."

"The international what of what?" Calvin said incredulously.

Hermione sighed.

"The International Statute Of Secrecy," Hermione said exasperatedly. "It's a law that was passed back in the 1600's that keeps the wizarding world secret from muggles."

"Why do we keep it secret from them anyway?" Asked Calvin, shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth. "I wish we could show it off."

Hermione massaged her temples, frustrated.

"If you remember correctly," she said, gritting her teeth. "The Salem Witch Trials took place in the 1600's. And since you're American, I'm assuming you learned that in school."

Hobbes snorted.

"If Calvin actually remembers anything he learned about in school, I'll shave my tail," he said, smirking.

"Shut it fuzz face," Calvin grumbled. "What about Ginny, where is she?"

Ron mumbled something that Calvin assumed was "No idea," but his mouth was so full of food it was hard to say

Calvin snickered and Ron glared at him.

Hermione, clearly ready to get away from Calvin, turned to Ron and spoke.

"Let's go find Harry. His detention has to be over by now," she said.

"Ooh, we'll come with!" Calvin exclaimed. "I need to explore this castle more anyway."

Hermione closed her eyes and a vein on her forehead started to bulge.

"Fine!" She snapped, glaring at Calvin. "But no funny business!"

Calvin smirked mischievously.

"No promises!" He said cheerfully.

Hermione just ignored him and began to get up, pulling Ron with her.

"Oi, I'm still hungry!" Ron exclaimed, annoyed.

Hermione just continued to pull him until he relented, and they began to walk down the aisle out of the great hall.

"Come on Hobbes!" Calvin said with a grin, beginning to follow Ron and Hermione out of the hall.

Hobbes rolled his eyes, but grudgingly stood up and walked after the three kids.

"So where are we going?" Asked Calvin as he and Hobbes caught up with Ron and Hermione.

"Lockhart's office," Hermione responded. "That's where Harry's doing his detention."

Calvin began to laugh.

"Lockhart's such a joke!" He exclaimed. "He let loose a pack of nifflers in the class on my first day! The dope ran into his office and hid while the class went crazy, and Ginny and I had to lure them all back into the cage with my watch!"

Ron snorted and Hermione turned red with anger.

"Lockhart is not a joke!" She snapped. "He's a fantastic wizard!"

"Don't listen to her mate," said Ron, glancing at Calvin. "She fancies him."

"I do not!" Hermione shrieked.

Ron gave Calvin a knowing smirk and then turned back away.

The three kids and the tiger walked in silence for another 5 minutes or so before turning a corner and running face first into Harry.

"Harry!" the four said in unison, surprised.

"Did you hear it?" Harry asked seriously, glancing between all four of them.

"Hear what?" Asked Ron, confused.

"That voice!" Harry exclaimed.

"What voice?" Hermione asked, concerned.

Harry furrowed his brow.

"I heard it first in Lockhart's office," he said. "And then again just…"

He trailed off, looking around the hall.

"It's moving," he said nervously. "I think it's going to kill!"

And with that, Harry darted down the hallway, leaving Calvin and Hobbes dumbfounded, as the four began to follow Harry through the winding corridors of the castle.

"Kill?" Exclaimed Ron incredulously.

"Should we be worried?" Asked Hobbes nervously.

They chased after Harry, almost running into him as he stopped abruptly at a fork in the halls, looking down.

Calvin glanced to where Harry was looking and saw that the hall floor was completely covered with water.

Harry then started walking down the right corridor, stopping at a window.

As Calvin got to the window he noticed a trail of spiders along the ground, forming a single file line up the wall and out of a crack in the window.

"That's odd, I've never seen spiders act like that," Harry said.

"I don't like spiders," said Ron nervously.

"What the…'' Hobbes muttered, looking at the wall opposite the window.

Calvin turned to where Hobbes was looking and jumped. There was a message on the wall written in what Calvin hoped was red ink.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware," Hermione read aloud. "It's written in blood."

Calvin looked down the corridor and saw something that shocked him.

"Uh guys," he said nervously. "I'm assuming this isn't another halloween decoration."

He pointed towards one of the torches on the wall, hanging from which by its tail, was a cat, a look of pure terror etched upon its frozen face.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hobbes turned to look at where he was pointing. The three kids looked horrified and Hobbes began to growl and hiss.

"That's Filch's cat," said Harry somberly.

Calvin gulped at this. Filch was the caretaker of Hogwarts and was far from a nice man.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard from all around them. All five of them turned around to see what looked like the whole school walking through the halls towards them.

"This looks bad, this looks really really bad." Calvin whispered to Hobbes nervously.

Hobbes just nodded slightly in agreement, looking scared.

"Enemies of the heir beware?" Said a voice that Calvin recognized.

Calvin saw that Draco Malfoy had pushed his way to the front of the group of students.

"You'll be next, mudbloods!" Draco said with an evil smirk, looking specifically at Hermione and Calvin.

It took Calvin all his willpower to not lunge at Malfoy and tear him limb from limb.

"What's going on here?" Shouted a rough grumpy voice from inside the group of students.

Calvin watched in horror as Filch of all people was shoving his way through the students up to him and the other four.

"Come on, make way," Filch grumbled as he finally made it into the clearing where Calvin and Hobbes were standing with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Well we're dead," Calvin whispered to Hobbes, terrified.

"Super dead," Hobbes whispered back, looking like a deer in headlights.

"Potter," Filch growled as he noticed Harry, hatred in his voice. "What are you-."

He stopped, staring behind Harry at the cat hanging from the torch.

"M-Mrs. Norris?" He stuttered, a look of both sadness and disbelief on his face, which soon turned to anger as he looked back at Harry.

"You've murdered my cat," Filch said unsteadily, his voice rising.

Harry looked frightened.

"No…" he said quietly, fear in his voice.

"I'll kill you," said Filch, gritting his teeth, looking like a predator who had caught its prey. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

He grabbed Harry's shirt collar and looked ready to bite his head off.

"Argus!" Said an approaching voice.

Calvin turned back to the group of students and what he saw almost made him laugh out loud at the terrible streak of luck they seemed to be having. Dumbledore, McGonnagal, Snape, and Lockhart had made their way to the clearing.

Noticing the message on the wall, the four teachers stopped and stared. McGonnagal put a hand over her mouth.

"All students will proceed to their dormitories immediately," said Dumbledore seriously. "Everyone except you five."

He gestured to the group Calvin was in.

As the students finished filtering out of the corridors, Dumbledore finally spoke.

"She's not dead Argus," said Dumbledore calmly, examining Mrs. Norris.

"What do you mean she's not dead?" Filch snapped, who had finally released Harry and seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Look at her!"

"She has been petrified," said Dumbledore.

"Just as I thought!" Lockhart exclaimed quickly. "Such a shame I wasn't there. I know exactly the countercurse that would've saved her!"

Calvin groaned.

"The day you save anything is the day that unicorns fly out my-"

"That will do, Mr Watterson!" Interrupted McGonnagal, giving him a disapproving look, though Calvin noticed a slight tone of amusement in her voice.

Lockhart looked taken aback and Ron snickered.

Dumbledore glanced curiously between Calvin and Lockhart.

"How she has been petrified, I cannot say," he said.

"Ask him!" Filch shouted, gesturing angrily at Harry. "He's the one that did it!"

"That's not true I swear!" Harry exclaimed, looking at Dumbledore pleadingly.

"Rubbish!" Filch bellowed.

That was when Snape began to speak and Calvin looked down in shame. Knowing how much the professor hated him, he was certain Snape was going to suggest some horrible punishment.

"If I may, headmaster," said Snape calmly. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Calvin blinked, surprised. He glanced over at Harry, Ron, and Hermione and saw that they looked just as shocked as he did.

"However," said Snape, narrowing his eyes at all five of them. "The circumstances are suspicious. I for one, don't remember seeing Potter at dinner."

"I'm afraid that was my doing, Severus." Chimed in Lockhart with his signature smile. "You see, Harry here was helping me answer my fan mail."

Calvin grimaced at the thought of that and gave Harry a sympathetic look.

"That's when Ron, Calvin, and Hobbes and I went looking for him," said Hermione. "We had just found him when he said…" she trailed off and glanced at Harry.

"Yes?" Asked Snape intently.

"When I said that I wasn't hungry," said Harry quickly. "We were heading back to the common room when we found Mrs. Norris."

Snape didn't look entirely convinced.

"Innocent until proven guilty Severus," said Dumbledore.

"So you're just going to let them go?" Filch shouted, dumbfounded. "I want to see some punishment!"

Calvin made a mental note to harass Filch any chance he got in the future.

"We will be able to cure her Argus," Dumbledore said calmly. "In the meantime, I strongly suggest caution to all. You five are free to go."

At that, Calvin, Hobbes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly left the scene.

"Do threatening messages get written onto the halls of this castle often?" Asked Calvin as the five made their way through the twisting corridors of the castle.

Hermione just glared at him.

"I'll take that as a no," Calvin muttered. "What's the chamber of secrets anyway?"

"No Idea," responded Harry as they stepped onto the grand staircase. "First time I've heard of it."

"Can't imagine it's something good," added Ron.

"I think we guessed that," said Hobbes, shuddering.

"Strange," mumbled Hermione.

"What's strange?" Asked Harry.

"How you hear a voice, a voice only you can hear, and then Mrs. Norris turns up petrified," Hermione said.

"Should I have told them?" Harry asked nervously. "Dumbledore and the others?"

"Definitely not," said Calvin. "They'd try to exorcise you or something."

Hermione sighed.

"For once, Calvin is right. Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign."

"Gee that makes me feel loads better," Harry grumbled.

"It's just the truth Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as the five arrived at the fat lady portrait. "Phoenix tail!"

"Hmph," grumbled the fat lady, swinging open. "Next time you're late you'll be sleeping in the corridors!"

"Shove off," Ron muttered as the five walked through the portrait hole.

The common room was deserted, except for one person sitting in one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace.

"Ginny!" Calvin exclaimed as he and Hobbes ran over to her. "Where were you? Some crazy stuff happened tonight!"

"Understatement of the decade," Hobbes muttered.

Ginny didn't respond. She just stared blankly at the fire, looking sort of disturbed.

"Don't bother, mates!" Ron hollered from across the common room. "She's been acting strange all day!"

Calvin gave Ginny a concerned look but then shrugged and he and Hobbes followed Harry and Ron up to the boys dormitory.

Calvin spent all his free time over the next week searching through the library for info on the "chamber of secrets." Ginny remained solemn for a few days after Halloween but began to lighten up a bit more as the week progressed, and she began to tag along with Calvin and Hobbes to their little research sessions.

"I don't understand it," muttered Calvin, flipping through Hogwarts, a History as he, Hobbes, and Ginny sat in the middle of an aisle in the library with piles of books surrounding them. "There's nothing at all about the chamber of secrets in most of these books. The only thing I've got is a tiny blurb on this page!"

He pointed frustratedly at the page he was reading and Hobbes looked up from the book he was reading to glance over Calvin's shoulder at said page.

"The chamber of secrets is a legend regarding Hogwarts stating that there is a secret chamber buried deep beneath the school that was built soon after it was founded," Hobbes read aloud. "Well that's better than nothing isn't it?"

"It might as well be nothing!" Calvin shouted, causing Madam Pince, the librarian, to shoot him a nasty glare. "We're no closer to figuring out what that message on the wall meant than I am to sprouting wings and flying out the window!"

"I feel like the likelihood of that happening is a lot larger than you might think," Hobbes muttered, eyeing Calvin's wand nervously.

"Do you think that maybe people are trying to prevent us from learning about it?" Ginny asked, closing the book she was reading and setting it down beside her.

"Why would anyone do that?" Calvin asked, closing his eyes and massaging his temples.

"Well maybe the subject is taboo." Ginny said. "Maybe it's like people are with you know who. Maybe people aren't supposed to mention it."

Hobbes scratched his chin.

"That's entirely possible," he said, furrowing his brow. "But that also implies that the chamber of secrets is as bad as you know who."

He gulped.

"Yeah…" said Calvin, hugging his knees to his chest. "That means that if the writing on the wall is for real, not some sick prank, then we could be in some kind of danger."

"How could it be a prank?" Asked Ginny uneasily. "Filch's cat was petrified."

The group spent the rest of their free period looking through a few more books before Calvin and Ginny had to go to their last class for the day, transfiguration. They bid farewell to Hobbes who went to explore the castle on his own and the two kids made their way to the classroom.

"You think McGonagall would be willing to tell us anything about the chamber?" Calvin whispered to Ginny as they sat down at the double desk they shared.

Ginny shrugged.

"It's worth a shot," she whispered back. "But I doubt it."

Calvin sat back in his seat and waited for the perfect moment to ask.

"Could I have your attention please?" Called Professor McGonagall from the front of the room. "Today we will be turning mice into matchboxes."

She then demonstrated this by placing a mouse on her desk and pointing her wand at it, causing it to change shape into a small cardboard box. After this, she proceeded to explain to the class how to cast said spell, and then left them to attempt it for themselves.

Calvin got it on his first try yet again, causing Ginny to give him a flabbergasted look, as even on her tenth try she had only managed to transfigure her mouse into what looked like a furry cube with whiskers.

"Excellent work Watterson!" Exclaimed McGonagall as she walked past their desk with a smile. "10 points to Gryffindor!"

Calvin grinned and pumped his fist, but stopped when he remembered what he needed to do.

"Professor?" He asked nervously.

"Yes?" Asked McGonagall, stopping in front of the desk and looking at him inquisitively.

"I was wondering if you could give me any information on this so-called 'chamber of secrets.'" Calvin said carefully.

The noises and chatter of the classroom slowly died out as every student looked in his direction uneasily.

McGonagall sighed.

"I had another student ask a similar question earlier today, therefore it's only fair that I give you the same answer I gave her," she said somberly, slowly walking to the center of the room. "I'm assuming you all know that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the time. Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Three of the founders coexisted quite harmoniously. One however, did not.

Calvin had a feeling he knew which founder she was talking about.

"Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about what kind of students should be accepted at Hogwarts," said McGonagall as she began to pace the middle aisle that cut through the desks. "He believed magical learning should be kept within all magical families. In other words, purebloods."

Calvin glanced at Ginny nervously, and she gave him a sympathetic look.

"Unable to sway the others, he departed the school." McGonagall continued. "According to legend, Slytherin built a hidden chamber in this castle known as the chamber of secrets. Shortly before leaving, he sealed it until his true heir returned to the school. Only the heir would be able to reopen the chamber and release the horrors that are held within. And by doing so, purge the school of all those Slytherin deemed unworthy to practice magic."

Calvin shuddered and the class erupted into whispers.

"Of course the school has been searched many times," McGonagall's voice cut through the murmurs. "No secret chamber has been found."

"Professor, what is said to be held in the chamber of secrets?" Calvin asked nervously, unsure of whether he truly wanted to know the answer.

McGonagall somehow looked even more somber.

"It is said to be the home of something only the heir of Slytherin can control," she said. "It is said to be the home of a monster."

At that, even more whispers broke out and people began to look nervous.

"Class dismissed!" Said McGonagall as she returned to her desk.

"Asking McGonagall was clearly the right decision," Ginny said to Calvin as they walked out of the transfiguration classroom.

"No kidding," said Calvin, astonished at the amount of information he had been presented with. "I expected her to tell me to not bring it up again or something!"

"What do you think we should do now?" Ginny asked as they shuffled through the hallway through the crowd of other students who were also done for the day.

"Well obviously we need to figure out what that monster is!" Calvin exclaimed confidently. "Because it's totally real. She was trying to tell us it wasn't, but she was doing a pretty terrible job of hiding her fear."

Ginny shuddered.

"I don't understand the point in trying to convince us it's not real anyway," she said. "Everyone saw that cat."

"Correct!" Calvin said enthusiastically. "Anyway, I want to think about something else for a bit. Let's go find Hobbes!"

They found Hobbes outside of the castle, napping in the sun near the black lake.

"Wake up you fuzzy doormat!" Calvin shouted with a grin, causing Hobbes to jump five feet in the air out of shock.

Calvin and Ginny burst out laughing, causing Hobbes to glare at them as he regained his composure.

"Very funny," he grumbled, sitting up.

"That's the idea!" Said Calvin cheerfully, still snickering.

"How was transfiguration?" Hobbes asked as he stretched his arms and gazed out at the lake.

"Surprisingly worthwhile!" Calvin exclaimed as he and Ginny sat down next to Hobbes. "McGonagall actually gave us some information on the chamber of secrets!"

Hobbes turned his head to Calvin, intrigued.

Calvin and Ginny then told Hobbes everything McGonagall had told them.

Hobbes glanced back at the lake, looking concerned.

"A monster?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"Apparently," said Calvin as he laid down.

"What kind of monster?" Asked Hobbes, turning back to Calvin.

"No idea," Calvin responded, picking at the grass. "She didn't tell us what it was."

Hobbes laid back down onto the grass next to Calvin and crossed his arms, pondering what he had just been told.

"That's kind of concerning," Hobbes remarked. "Supposedly there's some sort of monster lurking beneath this school that is determined to kill all muggle borns, and McGonagall won't even tell you what it is?"

Calvin shrugged.

"Let's talk about something else," he said. "My brain is fried."

Hobbes shook his head.

"Suit yourself," He said, rolling his eyes.

"What's up with that diary?" Calvin asked, glancing at Ginny. "You haven't given us an update on that."

Ginny blushed.

"Oh yeah," she said sheepishly. "Well uh, I've sort of been venting my problems to it."

Hobbes raised an eyebrow at her.

"You've been venting your problems to an inanimate object?" He asked.

"Hey, judging from what you've both told me, to everyone non magical Calvin's been having full on conversations with a stuffed animal for years," said Ginny with a grin. "Don't judge me."

"I resent that statement," Hobbes grumbled, crossing his arms.

"But seriously, it's nice to have it," Ginny said, laying down next to Calvin. "I feel like this Tom Riddle person gets me, you know?"

"Not really," Calvin said with a lopsided grin. "But I'll take your word for it."

"I still think something about it is fishy," said Hobbes with a worried look on his face. "This book just randomly appears in your cauldron, it talks to you, and you decide to vent your problems to it because it gets you?"

"Hobbes this is the wizarding world," said Calvin, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure stuff like this happens all the time."

Hobbes ignored him.

"Ginny, I want you to think very hard," said Hobbes, sitting up and looking sternly at her. "Does anything about that book seem off to you?"

Ginny sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her head on them.

"There is one thing…" she mumbled, a look of concentration on her face.

Calvin sat up, looking at Ginny with an interested expression.

"Nah there's no way," said Ginny, relaxing. "I must be imagining things."

Calvin shrugged and laid back down. Hobbes didn't look convinced but he didn't press the issue further. And with that, the trio stayed there, talking and joking up until the sun began to set.