After Christmas, the rest of the year passed by quickly. All the decorations were taken down, and Calvin and Hobbes spent most of their time in the common room doing whatever they pleased, as there wasn't much else to do.
"Rook to F6," said Calvin, eyeing the chessboard that sat on the table in front of him, and watched as the little stone soldier made its way onto that part of the board.
"Knight to F6," Hobbes said with a smirk,
Calvin's jaw dropped and he buried his face in his hands as the knight charged to where Calvin had set his rook, and stabbed it with a sword.
"How did you know?" Calvin exclaimed angrily. "How did you know what I was planning?"
"Just lucky I guess," said Hobbes, grinning up at Calvin.
"No seriously!" Calvin shouted. "That's got to be a foul or something!"
"A foul in chess?"
"Yeah, since the characters move they should be held to the same-!"
Calvin's rant was cut off by something small and heavy hitting his back, and he quickly spun around and glared at everyone else in the common room, who all shot him confused looks.
"All right, which one of you bozos…" He trailed off as he saw who actually threw it.
Standing near the entrance to the common room was Ginny, a smirk spread across her face.
"Merry late Christmas dummy," she said with a chuckle.
Calvin looked down at the object that had been thrown at him and saw that it was a chocolate frog box.
"Oh…" muttered Calvin, turning red with embarrassment. "Thanks."
"Anytime," said Ginny, beginning to walk towards them, her smirk not leaving her face."
"When did you get here?" Asked Hobbes curiously.
"The Hogwarts Express," Ginny answered. "How else?"
Calvin's eyes widened at that.
"Wait, term starts tomorrow?" he asked with a gasp.
"Uh, yeah."
Calvin groaned.
"I forgot to do the potions assignment!" He exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "How am I going to procure a foot and a half of parchment on the effects of the 'Sleeping Draught' by tomorrow?"
"Calvin, I thought you'd made a deal with yourself to never procrastinate again after the incident with the diorama in first grade?"
"I know, Hobbes!" Calvin shouted, practically tearing his hair out and causing the entire common room to stare at him like he was some kind of freak, which, in many ways, he was.
He glanced back down at the chocolate frog at his feet, and bent over to pick it up.
"And I forgot to get you a Christmas present," Calvin muttered guiltily, giving Ginny an 'I'm very sorry' look.
"Don't worry about it," she said with a snicker. "You seem to have enough on your mind."
Calvin spent the rest of the day scrambling through the library, trying to find as much information as he could on the sleeping draught potion, with Ginny and Hobbes helping him any way they could. By 10pm, Hobbes and Ginny had gone to bed and Calvin was left alone in front of the common room fireplace to struggle with the notes he took in the library and somehow transform them into a cohesive essay. At midnight, he finally wrote down his last sentence, went up to his bed, and practically collapsed.
He turned in his essay to Professor Snape the next day, and was relieved when he got it back a few days later with an 'Acceptable' written on the top of the parchment.
"Watterson," said Snape with a sneer, looking down at the paper Calvin just handed him that happened to be covered in even more atrocious handwriting than usual. "This looks like an essay that was written at midnight last night after you put it off throughout break."
"Gee, you're very perceptive," Calvin yawned, walking out of the room before Snape had a chance to say anything.
He was also extra relieved to find that he had not forgotten about any assignments for his other classes, as he had fallen asleep before he cared to check.
"Where's Hermione?" Calvin asked as he, Hobbes, and Ginny sat down at the Gryffindor table for lunch.
"Long story," said Harry.
"Very long story," added Ron nervously.
"We've got all lunch." Responded Hobbes, shrugging.
"She'd rather us not tell…" Said Harry, eyeing Calvin uneasily.
"Oh come on!" Calvin exclaimed with a grin. "How bad could it be?"
"Look mate," Ron began sternly. "No offense, but I think the last person she'd want us to tell would be you. So let's just say she's in the hospital wing with a… a furry little problem!"
This of course did not satisfy Calvin's curiosity whatsoever, and he made it his personal mission to figure out why Hermione is in the hospital wing. Now this would've been much easier if Madam Pomfrey was actually allowing her to have visitors that were not obviously her close friends, but Madam Pomfrey never seemed keen on making things easy.
Calvin sat on a bench outside the hospital wing, pretending to read a copy of the 'Daily Prophet,' waiting to hear the resounding slam of Madam Pomfrey's office door, signaling that she was not currently in the main hospital wing. As Calvin finally heard it ring out through the halls, he darted forward and pushed open the doors to the hospital wing slowly, wincing at the creaking the doors seemed to be inclined to make. As he finally got one of the doors open enough, he peeked inside, noticing one bed with curtains surrounding it. Assuming that this must be Hermione, he slowly snuck into the hospital wing.
Calvin tactically dove between beds for cover like some kind of super spy as he made his way to Hermione's bed.
"We join our hero, Spaceman Spiff on Zakbar-9, slowly approaching the enemy plans for the Zogbars to invade earth!" He hissed, pointing a finger gun out from the bed he was hiding behind. "It is crucial that spiff is slow and sneaky in his approach, as the slightest noise could alert the Zogbar queen to his location!"
He dashed out from behind his cover and behind another bed.
"Spiff is getting closer now, sweat beads on his forehead as he prepares to advance yet again. The fate of his planet may rest in the balance!" He whispered to himself, slowly peeking out from the bed he was hiding on, seeing that he had just one more bed to go before he reached the one that housed Hermione.
"Our hero prepares himself, and darts out of his cover!" Calvin hissed to himself as he dove out from behind the bed, doing a little roll as he landed, and beginning to make his way to the next one. "Spiff is almost there now, he-AUGHHHHH!"
Calvin had tripped over an empty bottle of what looked to be some kind of pain medication and was sent crashing into the bed he was aiming to hide behind, causing it to slide backwards and hit the wall with a loud smash.
"Ohhhh my head…" Calvin groaned, leaning up against the bed and clutching the top of his head. He heard footsteps and glanced up, silently swearing as he saw Madam Pomfrey charging toward him, a look of fury on her face.
"Woah- hey, lemme go! Ow- Careful with that-AUGH! Easy on the head! Seriously Madam Pomfrey, it was a simple misunderstanding you see I- Ouch! Okay fine, I'm leaving! I know when I'm not wanted! Wait, what are you-AHHHHHHHHH!"
Calvin let out a shriek as he was, quite literally, drop-kicked out of the hospital wing and sent flying into the opposite wall with a thud and a yelp.
Note to self, Calvin thought to himself, wincing as he pulled himself to his feet. Don't mess with doctors.
Calvin attempted this stunt a few more times in January, but they all ended in similar ways.
"I see you're back from your little excursion," said Hobbes, looking up from his magazine as he noticed Calvin limp through the portrait hole of the Gryffindor common room. "Any luck?"
"Nope," said Calvin with a grimace as he plopped down next to Hobbes on the big red sofa. "Think it's best if I stop to be honest."
"Who are you, and what have you done with Calvin?" Hobbes asked jokingly, setting his magazine beside him. "I've never known Calvin to back down from something when he has his mind set to it."
"Yeah, well," Calvin began, grumbling. "This time she almost kicked me out the window and sent me plummeting into the black lake."
Hobbes winced.
"Okay, yeah," Hobbes said. "That sounds like a pretty good reason to stop."
"What are you reading, anyway?" Calvin asked, glancing at the magazine Hobbes had set beside himself.
"Oh, this?" Hobbes asked, picking up the magazine next to him. "It's called The Quibbler. I'm reading an article about the supposed unknown existence of a creature called a 'Crumple Horned Snorcack.'"
"How can they write a whole article on a creature of which its existence is unknown?" Calvin asked, confused.
"Beats me, I just like reading all the nutty analogies."
Overall, January was a pretty average month, despite the gloomy mood of everyone in the school due to the attacks. Though this did not stop Calvin from getting up to some mischief.
"C'mon Hobbes, this'll be hilarious!" Calvin exclaimed with an evil grin.
"Absolutely not, last time you used this thing you got in loads of trouble!"
"Last time I used this thing I was six years old, I'm pretty sure I'll have more control over the situation this time!"
"What are you guys doing?" Asked a voice from the common room portrait hole.
Calvin and Hobbes glanced up to where the voice came from and saw Ginny standing there.
"Ah, Ginny!" Calvin declared with a smirk. "You're about to witness the rebirth of one of my finest inventions!"
Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"All I see is a cardboard box on it's side," she said, eyeing the box that stood between Calvin and Hobbes. "Where did you get that, anyway?"
"Classified," said Calvin. "And it's not just a cardboard box!"
Calvin grabbed the box and spun it so Ginny could see the side of it.
"Duplicator," Ginny read. "So what, it's supposed to duplicate things?"
"Precisely!" Calvin exclaimed. "You put something into the box, have someone press the button on the side, and viola! You now have two of whatever you put in the box!"
"I see…" said Ginny, intrigued. "And what exactly are you going to use it for?"
Hobbes let out a gulp as Calvin rubbed his hands together and grinned like a mad scientist.
"Ever heard of… Psychological torture?"
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Draco Malfoy trudged down the corridor, Crabbe and Goyle standing at his sides.
"The attacks are getting worse," Draco said enthusiastically. "The monster got two last time. Soon all the filth will be purged from the school, and personally, I'm hoping Granger is next.
Crabbe and Goyle just grunted in agreement.
"Another person I'd absolutely love to be attacked," Draco began, venom in his voice. "Is that especially filthy mudblood, Watterson. The nerve of that scum to insult my family on the very first day of school! Who does he think he is?"
Coincidentally, as the three turned a corner, Draco noticed Calvin leaning against the wall of the corridor, whistling.
"Look who it is, boys!" Draco hissed, a nasty grin forming on his face. "Let's go say hello!"
The three boys approached Calvin, who seemed to not notice them.
"Hello Watterson," exclaimed Draco with a sneer.
Calvin, noticing the three's presence, turned to Draco and smirked.
"Ferret boy!" He exclaimed. "How's your rodent family doing?"
Draco's face twisted into anger and narrowed his eyes at Calvin.
"You better watch yourself, Watterson," he growled. "When us purebloods run the wizarding world, irreverent mudbloods like you will be slaughtered like pigs!"
"Irreverent is a word I've never been called before!" Exclaimed a voice from behind the three boys. "I'll add it to my list!"
Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle spun around to see Calvin again, a cheeky grin on his face.
"What the…" Draco mumbled.
He turned around and saw that the Calvin he was first talking to was gone.
"Okay, I don't know how you did that," Draco growled, turning back around to the new Calvin. "But don't do it while I'm talking to you!"
"Whatever you say, weasel face!" Declared a voice to Draco's right.
Draco and his two sidekicks all turned to the right to see Calvin yet again.
"How-" Draco began, an incredulous expression on his face.
"Hamster head!" Shouted a voice from behind him.
The three spun around to see Calvin for a third time.
"All right that's it!" Draco exclaimed angrily. "Enough!"
"It's never enough, rat boy!" Came a voice from the left.
"There's always more!" Declared a voice from the right.
"Give it up!" Added a voice from behind.
The three slytherins glanced all around the corridor as quickly as they could. Every time they spotted Calvin, he would disappear as soon as they looked away, causing Draco's eyes to get wider and wider, until he finally snapped.
"ARGH!" Draco screamed, and he began to sprint down the hall, Crabbe and Goyle following, until they finally turned a corner and disappeared from sight.
Meanwhile, Calvin was standing at the other end of the corridor, using the corner for cover, and snickering.
"Great work, guys!" He exclaimed, turning around. Standing behind him were four duplicates of himself.
"Anytime!" The duplicates said synchronously.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
The gloomy mood that encased Hogwarts began to lessen with the beginning of February, and on top of that, Hermione was released from the hospital wing.
"Look who's back!" Calvin exclaimed from the armchair where he sat as he saw her walk through the portrait hole into the common room on the evening on February first. "What's up?"
Hermione didn't answer and instead turned white, immediately dashing towards the girls dormitory making sounds that sounded remarkably like the noises Hobbes would make when coughing up a hairball.
Calvin just stared at where she had disappeared into the girls dormitory, choking sounds still echoing through the common room, and rolled his eyes.
"Girls are so weird," he mumbled.
The students of Hogwarts were beginning to act cheerful again, and even Ginny seemed happier, like she'd had a massive weight lifted off her shoulders. Calvin was starting to feel right at home once again. That was, until Valentine's day.
"Oh man, I am starved!" Calvin exclaimed as he and Hobbes made their way down the grand staircase from the portrait hole. "I could eat a horse!"
"You said it buddy," said Hobbes with a chuckle, rubbing his belly. "Heyyyy… It's February 14th!"
"Congrats, you can read a calendar."
"No you idiot, it's Valentine's Day!"
Calvin let out a groan as they turned a corner into a hallway at the bottom of the grand staircase, Hobbes continuously winking at him.
"This is the perfect time to increase your relationship with Ginny!" Said Hobbes with a mischievous smirk, poking Calvin playfully.
"Oh knock it off," Calvin grumbled, pushing Hobbes's paws away and glaring at the grinning tiger.
"You know you want to!" Said Hobbes with a snicker, still winking at him.
"You have no idea what I want," mumbled Calvin as the two arrived at the door to the great hall and began to push it open. "Besides, what are the chances that wizards actually celebrate Valentine's d-."
Calvin's jaw dropped as he entered the great hall. The walls of the large room were covered with large pink flowers, and heart shaped confetti was falling from the ceiling.
"Good lord," Calvin mumbled to himself as he took in the sight before him, a look of horror on his face.
Hobbes's grin just grew wider.
Calvin and Hobbes made their way to the Gryffindor table, where Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were already seated.
"Who did this?" Calvin asked, gesturing to the room around him as he and Hobbes sat down between Ron and Ginny.
A disturbed looking Ron simply pointed up to the staff table. At Lockhart to be specific.
Lockhart was standing behind the staff table, his usual sickening smile spread across his face, wearing bright pink robes that matched the awful decorations.
"Happy Valentine's day!" Lockhart bellowed, his grin not faltering. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all… and it doesn't end here!"
Calvin had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and he watched as Lockhart clapped his hands.
At the sound of Lockhart's clap, the great hall doors burst open, and a dozen grumpy looking dwarves marched in. This was weird enough as it was, but Calvin was disgusted when he saw that the dwarves were all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.
"My friendly card carrying cupids!" Lockhart shouted, his smile somehow growing wider. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a love potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"
Professor Flitwick sighed and buried his face in his hands, and Snape was using his expression to send a silent message that, if anyone were to ask him for a love potion, he would chop them up and use them as an ingredient in a future lesson.
Calvin glanced around at the table around him. Harry looked confused, Ron looked disgusted, and Hermione and Ginny were pink in the cheeks.
"Please, Hermione, tell me you weren't one of the forty-six," Ron said, gazing pleadingly at Hermione, who now looked very interested in the food she was eating.
Calvin was startled as he felt Hobbes lightly elbow him in the ribs. He looked up at the tiger, who was raising his eyebrows, a cheeky grin on his face, and lightly gesturing to Ginny. Calvin just glared at him and went back to his food.
It's going to be a very bad day, Calvin thought to himself as he poked at his pancakes.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
The ugly cupid dwarves interrupted class time all day, barging through the doors of classrooms delivering valentines, and the teachers found this to be incredibly frustrating. Snape expressed this the most, as every time a dwarf entered his classroom, he seemed to have to physically hold himself back from beating the little creature over the head with his cauldron. Secretly, Calvin hoped that Snape would give in to his temptations and knock one of the suckers out, but unfortunately for him, Snape was able to keep his composure.
"I don't know if I can take much more of this," Calvin mumbled as he and Ginny walked upstairs with a group of first and second year Gryffindors, a disgruntled look on his face. "If I hear another one of those things speak, I'm going to drop kick the little cretin into orbit!"
Ginny didn't answer and simply nodded along, blushing.
As if on cue, Calvin felt something small and bony shove him aside, knocking him into a round second year boy who had a toad on his shoulder, causing them both to fall to the ground.
"Trevor!" The round boy wailed, getting on his hands and knees and crawling around the staircase, seemingly looking for something. Ginny looked down at Calvin, who was sitting against the wall, stunned, and smirked at him.
"Oh that's it!" Calvin growled as he regained his senses, standing up and rolling up his sleeves, glaring around at the crowd, trying to find the dwarf that had knocked him down, ready to beat the creature senseless. Before he could however, the dwarf spoke.
"Oy, you! 'Arry Potter!" It shouted, and Calvin watched as the crowd opened up, leaving a clearing with a very uncomfortable looking Harry standing in the middle of it.
"Oh no," Calvin heard Ginny mutter quietly beside him, a look of fear on her face. "Not here, not now…"
Calvin watched as Harry attempted to escape through the crowd, but the dwarf followed, kicking peoples shins to clear the way until he finally caught up to Harry.
"I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," the dwarf snarled, twanging his harp and glaring at Harry.
Calvin noticed that Ginny was now as red as a tomato.
Harry stared daggers at the dwarf and whispered something to it.
"Stay still!" The dwarf grunted, grabbing Harry's bag and yanking him back into the clearing.
Calvin couldn't help but let out a laugh. Despite the fact that Harry was his friend, the absurdity of the situation made it so that he couldn't help himself. Slowly, the crowd began to laugh as well.
Suddenly, due to Harry and the dwarf pulling his bag in opposite directions, the bag split down the middle, and Calvin watched as many things tumbled out of it. A container of ink smashed onto the floor, making a mess and causing a few unfortunate students to yelp in shock as their robes were splattered with it. Among other things Calvin saw a small black book fall out of the bag and splash into the puddle of ink. The book looked familiar but Calvin couldn't put his finger on it.
Harry struggled to shove his things back into his ruined bag, and as he was doing so, Calvin heard a cold voice from inside the crowd,
"What's going on here?" Asked Draco Malfoy as he shoved students to the side and stepped into the clearing.
"And I thought I was having a bad day," Calvin murmured to himself as he glanced sympathetically at Harry, who was now frantically trying to collect his things into his torn bag as fast as he could.
"What's all the commotion?" Spoke another voice, and Percy Weasley stepped into the clearing as well.
Well this should be interesting, Calvin thought to himself.
Harry seemed to be beginning to panic and attempted to make a run for it, but the dwarf tackled him around his knees and the two crashed to the floor, causing another ripple of laughter to make its way through the crowd.
"Right," the dwarf said as he sat down on Harry's ankles. "Here is your singing valentine."
And with a croaky gruff voice, the dwarf began to sing.
His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard,
I wish he was mine, he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.
The laughter of the crowd started back up again and this time it didn't stop. Percy Weasley was attempting to disperse the crowd, but there wasn't much he could do.
"Off you go, off you go," Percy said, trying to shoo the students away. "The bell rang five minutes ago, off to class, now, and you Malfoy!"
Calvin watched as Draco bent down and picked up the familiar black book, and showed it to Crabbe and Goyle, an evil smile on his face.
"Give that back," said Harry, glaring at Draco.
"Wonder what Potter's written in this?" said Malfoy evilly.
Calvin noticed that upon seeing the small book, Ginny turned white as snow, looking more terrified than he'd ever seen her. Calvin couldn't understand why this was, as he still couldn't see the title of the book.
"Hand it over, Malfoy," said Percy sternly.
"When I've had a look," said Draco, waving the book in front of Harry's face and smirking at him.
"As a school prefect-," Percy began, but was cut off by Harry.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, pointing his wand at Draco, and the book shot out of his hand and Ron caught it with a grin.
"Harry!" Percy exclaimed angrily. "No magic in the corridors. I'll have to report this, you know!"
Harry didn't answer and Calvin watched as he and Ron dashed up the stairs and around the corner.
Draco Malfoy was red as a beet and looked as though he wanted to break something.
Calvin watched as Ginny began to run off to their next class, and so he followed her closely. But before they could get out of sight, Draco noticed Ginny's presence and spoke.
"I don't think Potter liked your valentine much!" He shouted after them, glaring daggers at them both.
Calvin glanced at Ginny, who now had her hands covering her face, and felt a twinge of jealousy. He shook it off however and they made it to their next class.
Despite Calvin's questioning, Ginny wouldn't tell him anything about why that book made her so terrified. In fact, she didn't speak much at all for the rest of the day, only speaking to answer teacher's questions. After they were finally released from their last class, she booked it up to the common room, and Calvin thought it would be best if he didn't follow as he got the feeling she wanted to be left alone. Therefore, he decided to find Hobbes, and he explained to him exactly what happened that day.
"One of these days I'm going to eat Malfoy," Hobbes grumbled as he and Calvin sat against the castle walls in the courtyard outside of the great hall.
"He's such an elitist jerk!" Calvin exclaimed angrily, glaring at the ground in front of him. "He's worse than Moe!"
"Yeah," added Hobbes. "At least Moe was dumb."
"And then there's the matter of that book," Calvin continued. "I can't figure out what's so familiar about it!"
Hobbes's ears suddenly perked up as if a lightbulb turned on above his head.
"Hey…" Hobbes began, looking down at Calvin. "You don't think it was that diary she was writing in, do you?"
Calvin scratched his head.
"It's possible…" he began. "But why would Harry have it?"
"Maybe she was trying to get rid of it because it was doing something bad, and the reason she looked so terrified when she saw that Harry had it was because she was worried it would do bad things to him?"
"Why are you so convinced that the book is evil?" Calvin asked, looking up at Hobbes and giving him a bewildered look. "She probably just misplaced it and Harry found it, and since she's been writing personal stuff to the person in there she's probably just worried that the diary could tell Harry about them."
Hobbes looked at the sky.
"There's just a pattern I'm noticing that I'm not sure I like…"
"Whatever man," said Calvin, glancing back down at the ground and spinning his wand around through his fingers.
"Hello Calvin!" Two voices chorused from beside him.
Calvin let out a yelp of surprise and glanced up at where the voices were coming from, and saw the identical grinning faces of Fred and George.
"Oh it's just you guys," Calvin said with a sigh of relief. "You've got to stop sneaking up on me like that!"
"Maybe we will…" said Fred.
"And maybe we won't!" Added George.
Calvin just rolled his eyes and smirked.
"Can you believe what Lockhart's done to the place?" Asked George.
"It's hideous!" Added Fred.
"Actually I thought the decorations were rather nice," said Hobbes, looking slightly offended.
"Not the decorations," said Fred.
"Though those were pretty bad," Added George.
"We were referring to the dwarves."
"Annoying little prats."
"Heard what they did to Harry."
"Poor bloke."
"Oh yeah," said Calvin with a chuckle. "Lockhart has somehow gone more mad than he already was."
"What's even funnier is what he was calling it," exclaimed George with a smirk.
"He was calling it a morale booster!" Added Fred with a snicker.
"Now I don't know about you…"
"But after that I'd say that morale is at an all time low!"
Calvin laughed.
"You said it!" He exclaimed with a grin. "I can think of way better ways to increase morale…"
He paused.
"Actually, I have one we can do right now!" He exclaimed, his grin growing wider. "Fred, George, gather as many people as you can and meet me at the training grounds in a half hour!"
"Yes sir!" The twins chorused, giving Calvin a salute and running off into the great hall.
"Hobbes," Calvin said, turning to the tiger and rubbing his hands together. "I think we need to take a quick trip to the room of requirement!"
"Uh oh," Hobbes mumbled to himself as he and Calvin ran into the castle.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Calvin and Hobbes made their way onto the training grounds carrying a large trunk. Awaiting them on the grounds were Fred, George, and a group of second years. This group consisted of a confused looking Harry, an intrigued looking Ron, Hermione, who looked as if she'd rather be anywhere else, the round boy with the toad that Calvin had gotten knocked into by the dwarf, a tall black boy, and a short sandy haired boy with freckles.
"Woah," said Calvin as he and Hobbes set down the trunk in front of the group of students. "I didn't expect all of you to be older than me."
The group of second years just stared at him blankly.
"You three," Calvin said, gesturing to the round boy, the black boy, and the sandy haired boy, "What are your names?"
"I… I'm Neville Longbottom…" the round boy muttered nervously.
"Huh," said Calvin, eyeing the boy up and down. "Your bottom isn't that long."
Neville gave him a weird look.
"Now you," said Calvin, pointing at the black boy. "What's your name?"
"Dean Thomas," the boy responded. "Pleased to meet you."
Calvin nodded and then looked at the sandy haired boy.
"Seamus Finnigan," the boy said in a thick irish accent.
"Okay…" Calvin began, "A pleasure to meet you three, now let's begin. Hobbes, if you will?"
Hobbes rolled his eyes, bent over, and unlocked the trunk, pulling it open.
Calvin stepped in front of the trunk and stood as tall as he could.
"I'm about to introduce you to a new sport," He said in a mysterious voice. "Possibly better than quidditch!"
"Rubbish," Calvin heard Ron mumble.
"Better than soccer?" Asked Dean.
"Much," said Calvin matter of factly, causing Dean to cross his arms and grumble something under his breath. "Now this game only has two rules."
He pulled a roll of parchment out from the trunk, unrolled it, and began to read.
"Rule one," He began, squinting at the parchment. "You cannot play the game the same way twice. Any questions? Yes Hermione?"
Hermione, who had her hand raised, put it down and began to speak.
"How can you not play the game the same way twice?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Surely there are some repeating factors in order for the game to remain consistent!"
"Ah," said Calvin, stroking an imaginary beard. "You see, the entire point of the game is to be inconsistent. I suggest that you not think about it too much."
Ignoring the dumbfounded look on Hermione's face, Calvin continued reading the rules.
"Rule two," he said, looking back down at his parchment. "Every player must wear a mask."
He pulled eight masks out of the trunk and tossed them to all eight players.
"What are these f-"
"DO NOT QUESTION THE MASKS!"
Fred and George snickered and the group of second years looked startled at Calvin's sudden outburst.
"What's this game called anyway?" Asked Harry as he tied on his mask.
"Ah of course," began Calvin. "It's called…" He paused for dramatic effect. "Calvinball."
"You named the sport after yourself?" Seamus asked, confused. "Isn't that a tad egotistical?"
"Yes it is." Responded Calvin. "Now help me set up these wickets."
After setting up the field the nine students and the tiger met up back by the trunk.
"This is the Calvinball," Calvin said as he dug a dirty volleyball out of the trunk.
"The most important part of the game," added Hobbes.
And before anyone could say anything, Calvin threw the Calvinball at Ron who caught it reflexively with a grunt.
"Until you find the orange flag you must hop on one foot!" Calvin shouted as he ran down the field.
"The orange… what?" Ron asked, glancing between Calvin and the volleyball, a bewildered look on his face.
"You are also currently in the slow-mo zone and must talk and move in slow motion until the zone wears off!"
"You're m-"
"Slo-mo, Ron!"
"Yyyoooouuuurrrreee mmmeeeennnnttttaaaalll"
And with that, Ron hopped off very slowly to find the orange flag.
"Slow-mo zone off!" Calvin exclaimed, grabbing a purple flag and taking off around the field.
Hearing this, Ron tossed the ball to Harry and continued to look for the flag.
"Got it!" Ron shouted as he picked up an orange flag that was hidden under a rock, dropping his aloft foot to the ground.
"I declare a maul zone!" Yelled Hobbes. "Anyone who has the Calvinball for more than five seconds after the maul zone is declared gets pounced on by me!"
"Uh oh," Harry muttered. "Seamus, here!"
Harry tossed the ball to Seamus, who caught it and just looked at it, seemingly pondering what he was supposed to do with it. Before he could make his decision however, a flying tiger going at the speed of a heat seeking missile slammed into him, knocking him over and causing him to lose his grip on the Calvinball, which Calvin quickly scooped up and launched against the castle wall, where it bounced off with a loud thud.
"Goal!" Calvin exclaimed.
"Goal?" Hermione asked, flabbergasted. "What do you mean goal? There's no teams! Who are we playing against? How do we keep score?"
"I declare a bossy shield around Hermione!" Calvin shouted. "The bossy shield prevents a bossy person's bossy remarks from being heard!"
"Oh now that's just preposterous!" Hermione exclaimed, glaring at Calvin.
"Did you hear something, Fred?" Asked George with a grin as he and his twin jogged down the field.
"Nope! Must've been the wind!" Responded Fred, returning George's grin.
Hermione just crossed her arms and scowled.
It took awhile but eventually everyone got into the game. Even Hermione ended up shedding her perfectionist attitude for a bit and had some fun.
"GOALLLL!" Dean bellowed as he smacked the Calvinball at the castle wall with a croquet mallet.
"No goal!" Shouted Fred as he and George jogged over to Dean.
"You weren't within the invisible goalposts!" Added George.
"How can there be goalposts if I can't see them?" Asked Dean.
"Because they're invisible!" Said Fred.
"Now drop and give us twenty!" George bellowed.
"Sir yes sir!" Dean yelled with a salute, and he dropped to the ground and began to do push ups.
"What's the score?" Fred asked Calvin as he passed by to grab the ball.
"Oogy to boogy!" Calvin responded as he lifted up the Calvinball and prepared to throw it. "NEVILLE, GO LONG!"
Neville glanced meekly at where Calvin's voice had come from and saw the Calvinball hurtling towards him at full speed. He barely had time to think before it hit him in the forehead and knocked him down. The ball hitting Neville had caused it to bounce back upward, and it was caught by Hermione and she began to charge down the field.
"You just ran into a vortex spot!" Shouted Harry as he began to chase after her. You have to spin around until you fall down!"
"Jokes on you!" Hermione yelled with a mischievous grin. "This vortex spot is in the boomerang zone so the vortex returns to whoever called it!"
Harry swore, stopped running, and began to spin around.
"I HAVE THE FLAG OF RETRIBUTION!" Seamus yelled, smirking as he raised a green flag up above his head. "ANYONE WHO HAS-"
A loud boom echoed throughout the field and Seamus's face was now stained black and his hair was smoking. The flag he was holding crumbled to dust in his hands.
And so they played Calvinball until the sun began to set and Professor McGonagall had come out to yell at them at least five times. It wasn't until she threatened to take away house points that they took her seriously and finally went in for dinner. From this moment forward, Calvin was friends with Neville, Dean, and Seamus, and Hermione began to become friendly to him. Overall, despite the Valentine's Day situation, it had been a good day.
A/N: I want to apologize for not updating this story in almost three weeks. I actually had almost the whole chapter written earlier this month, but I somehow rushed it into May in one chapter and really didn't like the way it was going. So I restarted the chapter and then went through a bit of writers block, and then it was spring break and I went on vacation. But I want to thank you all for your support and I want to especially thank Gabenator5 for writing the first review of the story and giving me the idea to use the duplicator! Reviews are super helpful and keep my interest in the story going, and I love to hear other people's suggestions on where the story should go!
