The next week after Calvin, Hobbes, Harry, and Ron's trip to the forest was possibly the most eventful and stressful of the year. They had found out that Hagrid was not the heir of Slytherin, but that didn't do much to help them figure out who the actual culprit was, especially since the spider had refused to say what Slytherin's monster is. Things didn't start looking up until a few days after their trip.

Calvin and Hobbes sat at the Gryffindor table on a Friday morning. Hobbes was wolfing down his food as usual, but Calvin couldn't do much more than pick at the sausage on his plate with his fork. He was already stressed out enough as it was, due to their trip to 'follow the spiders,' and the teachers had just informed the students earlier in the week that exams were still happening, and were three days from today. He already didn't think he could concentrate on taking a test while he knew something in the castle was actively hunting his kind, but on top of that he couldn't recall a thing he'd learned in history of magic, due to the fact that he usually used that class to catch up on missed sleep.

"Do you ever feel like everything in the world is trying to make you fail?" Calvin said sadly, turning to Hobbes.

"I felt that way once when I couldn't figure out where your mom kept the tuna," responded Hobbes, shoving eggs into his mouth. "You were at school so I couldn't ask. Saddest moment of my life."

Calvin just sighed and stared back down at his plate. Hobbes's comment hadn't helped at all.

His self pity was interrupted however, when he noticed Harry and Ron plop down in the seat across from him and Hobbes, both grinning.

"We've had a breakthrough," said Harry.

"Yeah?" Calvin asked, glancing up at them timidly. "What might that be?"

"Remember how that spider said there was a body of a girl found in a bathroom?" asked Ron, his grin faltering slightly at the mention of the monstrosity that was Aragog.

"Uh huh," said Calvin, looking back down at his plate now choosing to poke at his waffles. "What about her?"

"She was a victim of Slytherin's monster," began Harry. "Therefore she was also a victim of the Heir of Slytherin."

"She's dead though," said Hobbes, finally speaking as he put down his fork. "It's not like we can just ask a dead person a question. I mean you can, but they wouldn't answer. After all, they're dead!"

"Heyyyy…" muttered Calvin, and at that moment, realization dawned on him. "Hey wait a minute!"

He quickly glanced around the great Hall, seeing all the house ghosts, all except Nearly-Headless Nick, as he was still petrified.

"Are you saying…" Calvin began, turning back to Harry and Ron. "That the girl that was killed is a ghost?"

Harry and Ron nodded quickly, looking almost like bobbleheads, their grins growing wider.

"Moaning Myrtle," said Harry. "She haunts the second floor girl's bathroom!"

"I forgot we lived in a world where you actually can ask dead people questions and have them answer," Hobbes mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"That's that then!" Calvin exclaimed with a grin, clapping his hands together. "We've just got to go to this bathroom and ask this girl! Problem solved!"

"Easier said than done unfortunately," said Ron, his smile slowly sliding off his face. "Teachers are watching everyone like hawks, and if you don't recall, teachers have to escort students to the bathrooms. That would work if we were girls, but we're not."

"Yeah," added Harry. "It wouldn't exactly be smart to walk into a girl's bathroom right in front of a teacher if you're not actually a girl."

Calvin sat back in deep thought.

"You think we should get the cloak out agai-"

He was interrupted by Professor McGonagall's booming voice coming from the staff table.

"I have good news!" Her voice echoed through the great Hall.

"Dumbledore's coming back!" Someone shouted.

"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" Another exclaimed.

"Snape's been fired!" Calvin chimed in joyfully.

McGonagall raised her hand in a silencing motion and then continued.

"Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit."

The hall was suddenly filled with cheers so loud that if someone was standing outside of the doors to the hall, they would've thought something exploded.

Calvin let out a high pitched victory cry and he and Hobbes both jumped up and bumped chests.

"We won't need to ask Myrtle then!" Ron exclaimed happily. "Hermione'll probably have all the answers when they wake her up! Mind you, she'll go crazy when she finds out we've got exams in three days' time. She hasn't studied. It might be kinder to leave her where she is till they're over."

Calvin and Hobbes's dancing and Ron's joyful ranting were interrupted however, when Ginny Weasley approached them and sat down next to Calvin. She was the most stressed Calvin had ever seen her and seemed to be considerably sleep deprived. Her eyes were sunken and her hair was matted. Calvin also noticed she seemed to be fidgeting with her hands nervously.

Calvin, noticing her, quickly stopped dancing and sat back down, staring at her in shock.

"Ginny wha-" he sputtered. "Are you okay?"

She didn't answer, and instead glanced around the room, seeming paranoid.

"What's up?" Harry asked, giving her a concerned look.

Ginny didn't respond and instead looked increasingly more uncomfortable.

"Spit it out!" Ron exclaimed, looking dumbfounded at his sister and the state she was in.

"I've got to tell you guys something," she mumbled, staring at her feet.

"What is it?" asked Calvin, trying to sound as soothing as possible.

Ginny opened her mouth but no words came out.

"What?" Ron said, annoyed.

Ginny pursed her lips.

"Ginny," Hobbes began. "Is it something about the chamber of secrets?"

Ginny finally looked like she was ready to say what she was thinking, but was interrupted by Percy Weasley.

"If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty." He said, walking up to where Ginny and Calvin were sitting.

Seeing Percy, Ginny let out a tiny yelp and jumped up from her seat, bolting down the aisle and out the great hall doors.

"Well that was odd," Percy said, watching her leave, then turning back and looking surprised to see four very ticked off faces staring at him.

"Um," he began nervously, sitting down slowly. "What did I say?"

"You chowderhead!" Calvin growled, glaring at the tall boy.

"She was just about to tell us something important!" Ron exclaimed angrily.

Percy made a choking noise and turned pink.

"What sort of thing?" He asked nervously.

"She seemed kind of flustered and we think she was going to tell us something about the chamber-" Hobbes began.

"Oh uh, that has nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets," Percy interrupted quickly.

"How do you know?" asked Ron, raising an eyebrow.

"Well er- if you must know, Ginny walked in on me while I was um… Never mind. The point is she spotted me doing something and I uh, I asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must say, I did think she'd keep her word. It's nothing really, I'd just rather-"

He coughed, his face turning even more red somehow.

"What were you doing, Percy?" Ron asked with a grin. "We promise we won't laugh."

"Yeah, what were you doing that made her so distressed?" added Calvin, holding back laughter. "Must've been some pretty shocking stuff!"

"I don't have to take this!" Percy muttered angrily, standing up and beginning to storm off before stopping, turning around, and glaring at Calvin.

"My nose is still crooked by the way!" He exclaimed angrily, pointing aggressively at his nose, which Calvin saw was now bent slightly at an odd angle.

"It's an improvement!" Calvin shouted back, chuckling.

Percy just swiftly turned back around and stomped off, moving his hands like he was pretending to strangle something.

"I," began Ron, giving Calvin a suspicious look. "Am not even going to ask what that was about."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"...Now add your sliced caterpillars to your cauldrons," said Professor Snape gruffly as Calvin was in potions later that day. "Do it carefully, as I will not be willing to help if you make an unfortunate mistake."

Calvin stared down at the caterpillars he was supposed to cut, then looked up at Snape and raised his hand.

Snape blew air out of his nose loudly and clenched his eyes shut.

"Yes, Watterson?" he said sullenly.

"You can present the material but you can't make me care," said Calvin, crossing his arms.

Snape simply pinched the bridge of his nose and gritted his teeth.

"10 points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable brat!" He snapped before sitting back down at his desk.

I wonder if it's wise that he mixes all those potions, Calvin thought as he observed Snape pour about four different vials into one goblet before forcing it down with one big gulp.

After adding all the ingredients, his shrinking solution which he was working on with Ginny, who was in the bathroom (though she seemed to be there for an unusually long time), turned a shade of barf brown. This was concerning as it was supposed to turn bright green when finished. The barf brown color was an indication that the potion he had made was in fact, poisonous.

He was debating with himself on whether he should try to sneak out a bit of the stuff and pour it into Draco Malfoy's pumpkin juice when an announcement from Professor McGonagall echoed through the room.

"All students return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."

All students in the class turned to look up at Snape, who narrowed his eyes.

"Go on," he said. "Off to your dormitories, now!"

Calvin shrugged and went to join his fellow Gryffindors, who were now walking in a group out of the classroom.

As he entered the common room with his fellow first year Gryffindors he saw Harry, Ron, Fred, and George in the corner, and he went over to sit with them. Harry looked exceptionally anxious and Ron and the twins looked deeply disturbed. Come to think of it, he didn't actually see Ginny anywhere, and this made him nervous. He tried to press Harry, Ron, and the twins, but they just remained silent.

Hobbes, who was sleeping in the dormitories and had woken up due to all the commotion, came down the dormitory stairs and sat with Calvin and the others.

"What's going on?" he whispered in Calvin's ear.

"No idea," Calvin whispered back. "These guys aren't being much help."

He gestured to Ron specifically, who's eyes were glazed while staring at the ground with a wide open mouth.

As if on cue, the sound of the portrait hole creaking open cut through the silence of the room, and in walked a disheveled looking Professor McGonagall.

"Tragedy has struck," she said in a shaky voice. "A student has been taken by the monster into the chamber itself."

Calvin gaped, and Hobbes put a paw over his mouth.

"I suggest that you all start packing," added McGonagall. "You are all getting sent home tomorrow, and Hogwarts will be closed indefinitely."

Calvin gaped. His first year at this amazing place and beautiful secret world was not even finished, and it was already getting taken away from him. Little did he know that this still wasn't the worst thing McGonagall would say.

"Professor," asked a voice from the crowd of Gryffindors that Calvin didn't recognize. "Who was the student that was taken?"

McGonagall let out a heavy sigh.

"I suppose you all have the right to know," she said sadly. "The student that was taken by the monster… was Ginny Weasley."

That was when Calvin's world truly began to crumble before his eyes.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

He, Hobbes, Harry, Ron, and the twins sat in the corner for a few more hours. They attempted to make small talk, but failed. As night fell, most of the Gryffindors, including Fred and George, went up to their dormitories. Calvin and Hobbes decided that it would be best if they did the same, and they left Harry and Ron, who were still sitting there looking incredulous.

As the boy and the tiger made it to the bed they shared, Calvin pulled his wand out of his back pocket and examined it sadly.

"It was a good year," he said. "Too bad it couldn't last."

Hobbes just sat down on the bed with a sigh.

"I knew something was up with Ginny," he mumbled. "Just didn't know it would come to this."

"Yeah," Calvin said somberly, sitting down next to his friend. "And now she's probably dead."

He began to tear up, and he leaned against Hobbes, who put his arm around him.

The sad moment was interrupted however, when the loud shuffle of footsteps was heard from the common room below. This didn't seem to faze the other students in the dormitory, but Hobbes's ears perked up at the sound.

"What is it?" Calvin asked, looking up at his Hobbes, who was now beginning to stand up and walk towards the exit of the dormitory.

"Follow me," Hobbes said matter of factly.

"Why?"

"I have a hunch."

"You have a hunch? About what?"

"If you'll shut up and follow me, we'll be able to find out."

Calvin grunted in annoyance but relented, and he and Hobbes made their ways out of the dormitory door and down to the common room, where they just caught a glimpse of the backs of Harry and Ron as they left through the portrait hole.

"Come on!" Hobbes exclaimed as he began to descend the stairs, but stopped as he noticed that Calvin wasn't with him.

"What's the point?" Calvin asked hopelessly, still at the top of the stairs. "No one knows where the chamber is, and Ginny's already probably dead. Plus due to the monster, it would probably be a suicide mission!"

Hobbes stared at him in bewilderment.

"You're giving up?" He asked incredulously.

"I guess so," Calvin grumbled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his robes. "We went through hell when we went to follow the spiders and we didn't even find out what the monster is! What chance do we have against it?"

Hobbes's jaw dropped and he stared at Calvin, dumbfounded.

"Calvin," he began, taking a deep breath. "If there's any chance that we can save Ginny, we have to take it."

"There is no chance!" Calvin said frustratedly, rubbing his eyes. "What do you want to do? We don't even know where to start!"

"Follow Harry and Ron, first off!" Hobbes said, his temper rising. "They always seem to know more about everything than everyone else, who's to say that isn't the case now? They wouldn't sneak out if they didn't know something!"

"We talked to them this morning!" Calvin exclaimed, glaring at the tiger. "What more could they know now?"

"Calvin!" Hobbes snarled, looking more angry than Calvin had ever seen him. "What is wrong with you? You're willing to give up on a friend because you think there's no chance to save them? That's never stopped you before! What about that time you searched the whole neighborhood for me after that big dog took me?"

Calvin stared at his feet in shame, knowing that Hobbes had a point.

"Now are you going to roll over and die…" Hobbes began, placing his paws on both of Calvin's shoulders. "Or are you going to do what the Calvin I know would do?"

Calvin raised his head to look up at Hobbes, a new fire burning behind his eyes.

"Come on, let's go save Ginny or something."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"We should've made sure we knew where we were going before we marched out of the common room like that," Calvin groaned as he and Hobbes trudged through the dark castle, the bright light of the lumos spell lingering on the tip of his wand, which he held out in front of him. "Now we're lost in a dark castle at night, and are sitting ducks for the monster to come take us to the chamber as well, or worse…"

He shuddered at the thought.

"At least then we'd find the chamber," Hobbes said dryly.

Calvin chuckled.

"You think we'll find another-"

"Shh!" Hobbes interrupted, his ears perking up "Listen!"

Calvin stopped walking and listened intently, finally hearing muffled voices from a door to his left that was slightly ajar.

"That's the defense against the dark arts classroom!" He whispered, slowly approaching it and pushing it open. He leaned his head in and noticed the voices were coming from Lockhart's office door, light pouring out from under it.

Calvin motioned for Hobbes to follow him and they crept to the front of the classroom and up the stairs to the office door. Calvin pressed his ear against the door and the voices became much clearer.

"You mean you're running away?" Came Harry's voice from inside the room. "After all that stuff you did in your books-"

"Books can be misleading!" Came Lockhart's voice.

"You wrote them!" Harry exclaimed.

"My dear boy," Lockhart began. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a harelip. I mean, come on-"

"So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" Came Harry's angry voice.

"Explains a lot," Calvin muttered to himself as he shifted his ear on the door.

"Harry, Harry," Lockhart continued. "It's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track those people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work, Harry. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."

A slam resounded from the room, sounding like a trunk getting shut.

"Let's see," Lockhart continued. "I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left."

There was a small shuffle of robes and then Lockhart spoke again.

"Awfully sorry, boys, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book."

Calvin didn't know what made him do it, but before he knew it he had kicked open the door and was pointing his wand at a shocked looking Lockhart.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" He shouted.

A red bolt of light shot out of the tip of his wand and hit Lockhart squarely in the chest, sending him flying backwards over his desk. His wand flew out of his hands and was caught by a dumbfounded looking Ron Weasley, who quickly tossed the wand out of an open window.

Harry was staring at Lockhart, who was lying against the wall of his office and groaning, his wand pointing at nothing as if he intended to fire off a spell as well, but was beaten to it by Calvin.

"Huh," Calvin exclaimed, spinning his wand with his fingers and looking down at it. "I knew that spell would come in handy!"

"Blimey mate," said a white faced Ron. "We owe you one!"

Calvin did a flamboyant little bow and went to join Harry, who was slowly approaching Lockhart, his wand pointed at the professor.

"Not so special now, are we Professor?" Calvin said with a smirk, emphasizing the word 'professor' in a mocking tone.

"What d'you want me to do?" Lockhart asked meekly. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck," Harry growled, grabbing Lockhart's arm and forcing him to his feet. "We think we know where it is. And what's inside it."

Calvin turned to Harry, an incredulous look on his face.

"We do?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll explain on the way," Harry muttered, not taking his eyes off Lockhart. "Who wants to escort our friend here?"

"I'll handle that," said Hobbes with a mischievous grin. "If he makes any attempt to escape, I'll eat him."

Lockhart looked like he was about to faint.

The four led Lockhart down the stairs from his office and out of the classroom.

"So uh," began Calvin, breaking the silence as He, Hobbes, and Lockhart followed Harry through the dark halls. "Where is the chamber and what exactly is inside of it?"

"The chamber entrance is in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," said Ron matter of factly.

"And the monster is a basilisk," added Harry. "We found out when we were at the hospital wing visiting Hermione. She had a crumpled bit of parchment in her hand detailing what a basilisk is and how it had been traveling throughout the school."

"And what exactly is a basilisk?" Calvin asked nervously, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Basically a giant snake," said Ron.

"Its venom is extremely dangerous," Harry continued. "And looking it directly in its eyes causes instant death."

Lockhart let out a whimper at this, causing Hobbes to grip his wrist even tighter and growl at him, shutting him up instantly.

"If that's the case," began Calvin nervously. "Why are all of the victims petrified and not dead?"

"None of them looked directly into its eyes," said Harry. "Mrs. Norris saw its reflection in the water on the floor."

"Colin saw it through his camera," Ron added.

"Justin saw it through Nearly-Headless Nick."

"And Nick saw it directly, but he can't die again."

"Hermione and Penelope were found with a mirror," Harry continued. "They must've seen it through that."

Calvin thought about it. On the surface, the theory sounded preposterous. But the more you thought about it, the more it seemed to click. Calvin didn't have time to fully ponder this however, as he was interrupted by Harry speaking.

"We're here," said Harry, stopping in front of a big wooden door with a dusty metal sign that read "Girls."

"Send him in first," said Ron disgustedly, gesturing at Lockhart.

Hobbes glanced down at the terrified looking professor, who looked back up at him, shaking his head frantically.

"Come on," Hobbes growled, yanking Lockhart forward, pushing open the bathroom door and shoving him in.

The three boys and the tiger entered the bathroom after this, and Calvin was startled to see a ghostly young girl floating above one of the bathroom stalls.

"Oh, it's you," the girl said in a sad dreamy voice as she saw Harry. "What do you want this time?"

"To ask how you died," Harry said, looking uncomfortably at the ghost girl.

The girl seemed to perk up and she floated down to where they were all standing.

"Ooooh it was dreadful," she said, sounding almost prideful. "It happened right over there."

She pointed to a bathroom stall at the end of the row.

"I died in that stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then…" She smiled wide. "I died."

Calvin and Hobbes exchanged an incredulous look, wondering how someone could be so proud of the way they kicked the bucket.

"How?" Harry asked.

"No idea," whispered the girl. "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away…"

Calvin now felt immensely uncomfortable at this statement.

"And then I came back again," continued the girl. "I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" asked Harry.

"Somewhere there," the girl said, gesturing to their left. The three boys and the tiger looked to where she was gesturing, where there was a big round pillar surrounded by sinks. This was very different from the row of sinks on the wall that was commonplace in the boy's bathrooms.

"I have a question…" Calvin asked nervously, glancing up at the ghost girl, who eyed him suspiciously. "Why do they call you Moaning Myrtle?"

Upon hearing this, Myrtle's bottom lip began to quiver and she let out an ear splitting wail, causing Calvin to cover his ears.

"That foul nickname!" she cried ghostly tears rolling down her face. "You're just like the rest of them!"

She let out another wail before flying up into the air and diving into one of the toilets in the stalls, splattering the group with water.

"There's your answer," Ron grumbled as he tried to wring some of the water out of his robe.

Hobbes, who was a cat, and despised water, looked as if he wanted to commit homicide.

"Sheesh," Calvin muttered as he shook water off his hands. "How sensitive can you get?"

With that, the group made their way to the sinks, Hobbes having to practically drag Lockhart.

"Look at this," said Ron, pointing to one of the taps, which had a tiny snake etched onto the side. "Harry, say something in parseltongue!"

Harry glanced nervously at the tap.

"Open up," he said, glancing expectantly between Calvin and Ron.

"Sounded like English to me, bro," said Calvin with a shrug.

Harry sighed and stared intently back at the faucet before opening his mouth to speak again. This time, however, instead of english escaping his lips, there was a peculiar hissing noise. To Calvin's shock, after Harry had made that noise, the pillar of sinks seemed to begin to break apart, each sink breaking away from the main pillar and sliding away. Calvin had to jump out of the way as one nearly hit him. When the movement finally stopped, where the sinks used to be, there was instead a large dark hole.

There was a pause before Harry spoke again.

"I'm going down there," he said courageously.

"Me too," added Ron.

"Uhhh… same," said Calvin nervously.

Hobbes just shrugged and nodded.

"Well you hardly seem to need me," Lockhart said, attempting to put on his signature smile, though it looked more like a grimace. "I'll just-"

"Not so fast, smiley," Calvin exclaimed with an evil grin as he, Harry, and Ron pointed their wands at him.

"You can go first," Ron growled.

Lockhart gulped and went even whiter, if that was possible, and Hobbes shoved him toward the hole.

"Boys," Lockhart said shakily from the edge of the hole. "What good will it-"

"For the love of god, shut up!" Calvin exclaimed, kicking Lockhart's legs out from under him and causing him to fall on his butt and tumble into the hole, letting out a shriek that rivaled Moaning Myrtle's.

"That worked, I suppose," said Harry, staring incredulously down the hole, Lockhart's screaming slowly growing fainter.

"What a crybaby," Calvin muttered.

"Shall we?" Hobbes asked, glancing at Harry, who nodded and jumped down the hole after Lockhart.

Ron followed, then Calvin, and then Hobbes.

"Woah!" Calvin exclaimed as he slid down the hole, which had turned into a dark, dank slide, twisting and turning every which way. He probably would've found it fun if it weren't for the circumstances.

After what seemed like forever, he shot out of the dark, wet slide into an equally dark, wet room. He slid across the ground and smacked into another person, who groaned in pain. Soon after this, Hobbes slid out of the tube and tumbled into the three boys, causing them to tangle up in a sort of unintentional wrestling match.

"Ow stop kicking!"

"I'm not kicking, you are!"

"Who's on my legs?"

"Mhghmph!"

"Will whoever just said that please remove my tail from their mouth?"

There was a spitting sound and a gasp as Harry cried "Lumos," and the room was lit up.

Harry, Calvin, and Hobbes stared at each other, sitting on the floor and breathing heavily, while Ron was standing up, doubled over, and coughing up tiger hair.

Lockhart was sitting against the wall off the room, his skin bone white and his knees pressed up against his chest in a fetal position.

"We must be miles under the school," said Harry as he examined his surroundings.

"Under the lake, probably," added Ron as a water droplet dripped from the ceiling.

Harry glanced at one of the walls, which opened up to what looked like a large sewer pipe.

"Come on," he said as he began to walk into the tunnel, his feet splashing through the many puddles scattered around the room.

Calvin and Ron followed behind Harry as Hobbes forced Lockhart to his feet and brought up the rear.

"Any sign of movement," Harry began quietly. "Close your eyes right away…"

They walked for a few more minutes when a loud crunch was heard, and Ron looked down at his feet, letting out a groan.

Harry pointed his wand at Ron's feet and saw that he had stepped on a rat's skull.

"That's a good sign," Calvin said sarcastically.

"Shut up," Ron grumbled.

Looking up, Calvin's eyes widened. In the distance, there was what looked to be a large snake resting in the corridor.

"Uh, guys?" He squeaked. "What is that?"

Harry froze as he noticed what Calvin was seeing.

"Maybe it's asleep," he whispered.

Calvin watched as Harry slowly began to creep forward, his wand at the ready, and pointed it at what Calvin thought was a snake, and let out a slight sigh of relief when he saw what it actually was.

On the ground in front of them was a 20 foot long snake skin.

There was a thud, and the three boys turned around to see that Lockhart had fallen to his knees.

"Get up," Ron growled, and Hobbes attempted to pull Lockhart back up, but before he could, Lockhart jumped from his grip and tackled Ron, wrestling his wand from his hand and dashing as far as possible away from Hobbes.

"The adventure ends here, boys!" He exclaimed. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you four tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body."

He turned to Calvin and glared viciously at him. Hobbes made a move, but Lockhart pointed Ron's wand at him and he backed down.

"This whole year, no student has been as much of a pain as you!" Lockhart growled, causing Calvin to gulp. "I'll do you first. Say goodbye to your memories!"

He raised the broken wand at Calvin.

"Obliviate!" He cried.

There was a bang and Lockhart was sent backwards into the wall. The corridor began to shake and the four scattered to try and avoid the inevitable collapse of the tunnel. Calvin dove away just as a loud crash echoed behind him. When he opened his eyes, there was a large wall of collapsed rock in front of him. He looked around and saw that Harry was on the ground next to him, adjusting his glasses.

"Ron!" Harry cried. "Are you okay?"

Calvin, realizing that someone else was also missing, began to panic.

"Hobbes!" He shouted. "Buddy, where are you?"

"We're both fine!" came Ron's voice from the other side of the wall. "Lockhart's not though, it seems that wand actually did something useful for once!"

"Annoyingegotisticalmoronsayswhat?" came Hobbes's voice.

"Wha…?" responded the confused voice of Lockhart, followed by a chuckle from Hobbes.

Calvin grinned, happy his friend was okay, before remembering the situation they were in, and causing his smile to fall from his face. He exchanged a look with Harry who, judging from his expression, seemed to be feeling the same way.

"Wait there," said Harry. "We'll go on… if we're not back in an hour…"

There was a pause.

"You'll be okay, right?" Hobbes said to Calvin specifically, breaking the silence.

"Y-yeah," Calvin said nervously. "I'll be fine."

"You better be, or I swear I'll find my way to the afterlife and kick your butt."

Calvin chuckled sadly, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

"See you in an hour ol' buddy."

A/N: So here we are, nearing the end of Calvin's first year at Hogwarts. This is officially the longest thing I've ever written, at about 107 pages on the google doc I'm writing it all on. Let me know what you think of the chapter, and if you have any suggestions for what should happen in the basilisk fight or anything that could happen in future Hogwarts years, please let me know in a review. I love reading suggestions and ideas for my readers!