Disclaimer: I don't own anything save for my own ideas.

Bloody Kitsune: This chapter fought me quite a bit especially towards the end, but I hope you lot enjoy it.

Review:

TheMarphasChappers: She's my Draco Malfoy since Calla needs someone like her to butt heads with.

ThunderClaw03: Yeah. If Dumbledore had taken a more hands on approach or had someone show Tom some love, he might've ended up a whole diffrent person. Tom Riddle might've become the new Dumbledore or had really changed things in the wizarding world rather than let it turn stagnant, but that's a whole lot of ifs.

Research and events

It seemed like a majority of the students decided to look up everything to do with Salazar Slytherin and the chamber of secrets. Calla didn't quite see the point since the monster within the chamber was more important than the chamber itself at the current moment. Why look into the chamber when the monster was on the loose already? Once the monster was taken care of, she'd probably go looking for information. By then, everyone would have probably lost interest in the school or she'd ask around to see if one of the older Creeps knew about it. Hell, they could probably go look for it if Candy Pop and Jane decided that there wasn't much danger.

For all of the twenty some odd seconds it took Calla to explain her thought process, Hermione, Ron, and Draco looked at her like she had been replaced with Jeff dressed in a tutu. She inwardly shuddered at the mental reminder of one of LJ's more disliked pranks. It would've been funny on anyone other than Jeff. Someone as pale as Jeff didn't belong in a frilly tutu that did little to hide anything below the waist. Vivian looked at her in concern as she shivered violently, "What's wrong?"

"One of LJ's pranks that backfired," Calla struggled to keep herself from puking at the mental image, "Jeff in a frilly pink tutu without anything underneath it,"

Vivian paled considerably , "Fuck! I didn't need that kind of mental image."

"Blame LJ for making me see that," Calla found herself being handed a photograph containing Candy Pop and her father dressed in drag prompting her to giggle, "Ah sweet blackmail to the rescue,"

Calla ignored Draco whispering, "Should we be worried she's rubbing her cheek against a photograph?"

"I'm more curious as to what's inside the photograph and why Luna had it in her bag," Ron replied while eyeing the smiling blonde.

Calla stopped in her tracks before lowering the photo and looking at Luna, "Why exactly do you have one of Cane's blackmail photos of Papa and Poppy dressed in drag?"

"Insurance purposes," Luna answered earning a slow nod.

"Good reason," Calla looked back at the photo and giggled.

Vivian looked at the photo and commented, "You know, they actually pull it off pretty well."

"Papa has a feminine build," Calla reminded Vivian, "As for Poppy, he's pretty enough to pull it off,"

Vivian snickered evilly, "I have an idea of something we could do when we go home next."

"Have Cane and the other girls help us dress up the boys for a 'fashion' show?" Calla asked with an impish grin.

Vivian nodded with a devious smirk on her face, "Yup!"

"We'll need plenty of blackmail material," Luna commented with a light smile.

"Cane has plenty if the stuff I have won't work," Calla knew Candy Cane would definitely join them if it meant forcing her brother into drag again.

Sometimes, Calla wondered if Candy Cane had a thing for her brother which wouldn't surprise her to be honest. She didn't think the female jester was into that kind of thing, but there were odder things. Considering how old Candy Pop and Candy Cane were, they had probably gotten into a lot of diffrent shit just to see what the hubbub was. If she ever got around to asking either of them, she'd carry a camera to record their expressions.

Candy Cane paused in the middle of stabbing Pettigrew and shivered in delight, "Oh what a wonderful feeling."

"What feeling?" Laughing Jack asked as he entered the tent that had been housing Pettigrew since the animagus had found his way into the tender mercies of the Creepy Pastas.

"The wonderful feeling you get when your apprentice in all things blackmail starts to put your lessons to use," Candy Cane pressed a hand to her heart, "Oh, Calla,"

Pettigrew let out a whimper, "N-no! S-she can't take after Lily."

"Wormy, wormy, wormy~" Candy Cane's lips stretched into a seductive smirk as Laughing Jack began to grin, "She takes after me. After all, who do you think taught Lily all those wonderful ways of making you regret pissing her off,"

Pettigrew pissed himself and promptly passed out causing Candy Cane to burst out laughing. Laughing Jack looked at the scene curiously, "So you taught Calla's mom then you taught Calla?"

"Mhmm," Candy Cane hummed lightly as she pulled the knife she'd stabbed Pettigrew with out of his body, "Lily was such a good student and Calla's proving to be an even better one. I can't wait to see just how much Calla takes after Lily when her hormones finally kick in,"

"Jason's going to be drinking a lot, isn't he?" Laughing Jack asked with an amused smile.

Candy Cane nodded with a laugh, "Once we have Lily out of Calla, she'll be distracting him. Oh, I hope we can figure out a way to give her a fully functioning body. Calla was so adorable as a baby and I know she'd appreciate having some younger siblings wandering around."

"I wish I could see what she looked like as a baby," Laughing Jack had a soft spot for babies after all.

They were the only children he never actually tried to kill. Candy Cane smiled at Laughing Jack, "I do happen to have a few photo albums of the kitten when she was a baby."

Calla paused mid sentence as a shiver ran down her spine prompting Vivian to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Candy Cane's going to be revealing what are likely embarrass pictures to someone," Calla wondered if getting back at her for that would be a good idea before inwardly shrugging, "Oh well, it's not like she'd show them off to just anyone,"

"You honestly don't care?" Vivian asked her with a raised eyebrow.

Calla shrugged as she picked up the book on magical creatures she'd grabbed off the shelf, "Not really, I honestly like some of the pictures since they're the only way I'll ever actually get to see my mom," She glanced at Draco, Ron, and Hermione who hadn't been let in on the fact Lily was trapped in her scar, "I love seeing the ones with my mom in them since she's almost always smiling. Papa smiles a lot in them too."

Jason looked a lot less stressed in the pictures too, but Calla wasn't going to mention that. Vivian and Luna gave her looks of understanding since they knew the feeling even if she could use the mirror to talk to her mom. Ron cleared his throat looking a bit uncomfortable, "Anyway, do we have any idea what kind of creature this could be?"

"Something that can petrify things, live for at least a thousand years if not more, and can tolerate the regular temperatures usually found in Scotland," Calla answered as she flipped through the book, "It means nothing tropical or unable to survive for more than a couple of years,"

"Should we look up aquatic creatures or nix them?" Vivian asked earning a low hum.

Calla thought about it before shaking her head, "Nix them since there isn't a lot of water around her save for the lake which is filled with freshwater rather than sea water. While it does meet the sea, I doubt any sea faring creatures could survive in the lake unless they were mermaids or naiads. As far as I'm aware, they aren't able to petrify anyone or leave the water unless they were naiads who can't go more than twenty feet from the water without before drying out too much causing them to lose a majority of their power," She set down the book, "Of course, if we were in a warmer climate, we would have a lot more to worry about like Sirens and the like. Thankfully, they cannot tolerate colder climates."

"I think we can nix creatures able to fly," Draco said earning their attention, "The only flying creature that could petrify anyone is a cockatrice, but it would've eaten Mrs. Norris once she was petrified. Adding on, it can't live for more than 500 years. Even if that had been the creature locked in the chamber, it wouldn't have survived long enough though I honestly doubt Salazar Slytherin would have used a cockatrice,"

"There's also the fact that Mrs. Norris would've been bleeding from her ears," Hermione added on.

A thought occurred to Calla as she thought over what Draco had said, "I think I have an idea of what kind of creature it is."

"Seriously?" Vivian looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "But you didn't before,"

Calla nodded as she flipped through the book, "I know, but what Draco said got to me," She paused at the chapter on magical serpents, "Salazar Slytherin used a snake as his house symbol and was a parselmouth."

Hermione gasped as she said, "That means it has to be some kind of snake!"

"Yeah which really narrows things down," Calla began running through the information she knew about magical snakes, "With that in mind, we can further narrow it down as most magical serpents lack the ability to petrify anyone. Paralyze them with some kind of venom, yes, but not petrify them which is what we're looking for. Of course, we can narrow it down further by nixing the ones that require heat which actually gives us a good base to work with," She picked up one of her pens and began to list the magical snakes she knew that could possibly be the culprit which number ten serpents, "As a result, I can make a list of ten individual serpents that are the likely culprit,"

Vivian snapped her fingers, "That snake you heard, it must've been the creature we're looking for."

Calla nodded as she finished the list and pushed it into the middle of the table. Everyone crowded around it and Ron pointed out, "Hey, most of these are basilisks."

"Mhmm," Calla turned to the page on basilisks in her book, "There are a lot of diffrent breeds of basilisk out there though you rarely find them due to their breeding being restricted unless you're in certain parts of the world, I was able to narrow down the list of culprits by using the facts we already know. At the current moment, I think it's either going to be a Northern Mountain Basilisk or a Northern Jewel Basilisk though the second is unlikely due to the fact they're kept within the fae realms due to the beauty of their scales and the fact anyone they turn to stone ends up turning into some form of jewel. It's one of the most severe punishments since the jewels are taken apart and turned into jewelry,"

Everyone grimaced at that bit of information as Vivian voiced their thoughts, "Damn that kind of sucks."

"They usually deserve it," Calla didn't really see a problem with it, "Anyway, our culprit is likely a Northern Mountain Basilisk as they usually live for around 2000 years. They often go into hibernation when they have limited access to food for a period of a year. As Hogwarts rests upon a nexus created by multiple ley lines meeting, it has likely survived on magic if it has managed to live within the chamber of secrets for as long as it had," She frowned while leaning back against her chair, "However, somethings bugging me. Even if Slytherin was really against muggleborns, why would he risk the pureblood and half-blood students by placing a basilisk within the school? Even if he used magic on it or created a familiar bond, it wouldn't have cared about the purity of your blood since it would see everyone save for Slytherin as an intruder in its territory. Basilisks are defensive over their claimed territories which is what the school would be considered. It would attack anyone that entered it no matter what even a parselmouth,"

Everyone was quiet for a few moments as they absorbed the information she'd given them. Calla didn't mention that Northern Jewel Basilisks have had such instincts bred out of them by the fae since it was highly doubtful that Salazar Slytherin had managed to get a hold of one since they were strictly regulated by the fae they breed them. Ron broke the silence looking a bit pale, "So does that mean we're all in danger?"

"Pretty much, but Candy Pop and Jane can take a basilisk," Calla didn't feel much fear since she knew that those two could take a lot and still come out just fine, "I'm going to give them the list. Do you guys want to research information about basilisks and stuff while I do?"

"Sure though let us copy the list," Vivian said, "Do you want one of us to go with you?"

"No," Calla shook her head.

Calla caught sight of Jane and rushed towards where she was only to stop and moved to hide behind a corner when she caught sight of Lockhart exiting one of the rooms. Normally, she wouldn't hide from him, but his energy was off and the scents within the hallway were confusing. Once he was gone, she took off towards here she felt Jane. Jane looked surprised to see her, "Kid, what are you doing? I thought you'd be in the library with those other brats."

"We made some serious headway and I decided to take the list we made to you or Poppy," Calla tried to push back the feeling of anxiety that welled up inside of her.

"Why do you look so pale?" Jane looked at her in concern.

Calla didn't know she looked pale, "I saw Lockhart on the way here, but something about his energy freaked me out so I hid."

"What do you mean by 'freaked you out'?" Jane was frowning at her.

"His energy was giving off the same feelings as Jeff's does when he comes back from killing a bunch of sorority girls," Calla shivered as she thought of Lockhart's energy, "I also felt someone else's energy, but it was really muddled. I didn't recognize it,"

Jane's frown deepened and she looked more than a little angry, "Anything else, Kid?"

Calla nodded as she worked to calm herself down, "The scents in the hallway after Lockhart opened the door to the room he'd been in were odd. Kind of like your and Clock's room after a really difficult job only with some blood and something that smelt like Jeff's room after he gets those weird magazines."

"Kid, I'm going to go check it out. Go to your common room and do your homework," Jane told her.

Calla knew better than to protest, "Be careful."

"I will," Jane smiled at her, "Now go. If you see Candy Pop or Lupin, tell them to come find me,"

Calla nodded and headed off to her common room. It would only be later once the shock of everything went away that she would realize that she'd almost stumbled across Lockhart rapeing one of her fellow students. At that point, she'd be very glad that Jane had sent her away rather than have her follow the female Creep as the end result of that kind of thing isn't something she wanted to see especially at her current age.