Author's Notes: I do not own Calvin and Hobbes nor Harry Potter, nor anything contained in them. Those belong to Bill Watterson and J.K. Rowling respectivly. I should also note that I have used "---------" as Calvin's last name, as it would feel wierd to give him an actual last name. The same goes for his address. Also, reviews are appreciated.

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Chapter 1 - Summer

It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining in all its glory, without a single cloud in the sky to block its rays. It was pleasantly warm, with only an occasional light breeze. The trees were fully green, some with nice, white blossoms, and a happy collection of flowers were growing all over. The birds were singing beautifully, filling the air with song. Squirrels and fluffly-tailed bunny rabbits were scampering all over, doing their business. Too bad Calvin couldn't enjoy it.

Calvin's mood was dark enough to ruin the day for anybody he came across. He stomped through the forest, crushing grass and flowers indiscriminantly, and chasing all the animals away. Hobbes stayed well away from him, not wanting to be on the receiving end of whatever his friend's anger would cause.

It's unfair, he thought. It wasn't entirely my fault! If Terence hadn't bumped my arm, I wouldn't have dropped that match! And it wasn't even bad enough to deserve this punishment! I only torched one measly desk! Should I be grounded for the whole summer because of that? Of course not!

Hobbes was worried about this recent turn of events. He wasn't sure what had caused it (although he had a feeling that it had something to do with Calvin's science project), but he had never heard Calvin's parents yell so loud, or so long. And it didn't stop there. When told he was grounded for the summer, he had kicked his father, and ran out of the house. That had been an hour ago, and Calvin showed no sign of stopping.

After another hour, Hobbes decided that if he didn't stop Calvin, he would never return home. He called out, "It's at least 5:30! Don't you think you should go back to the house?"

Calvin turned around, his eyes blazing. "I'm never going back, you hear me?" he yelled. "I'm never going back! Oppression and torture! That's all I get back there! I'm not taking it any more! I'm going straight to Canada! Or even farther if that's what it takes to get away! I don't need them!"

Hobbes groaned. The last time Calvin had tried to run away, he hadn't given up until night fell, and now he was older, and anything but afraid of the dark. It wouldn't be easy to change his mind, now, but he had to try. "You can't go all the way to Canada! It's too far! You'll never make it on foot? And what will you eat? Once you get there, where will you live!"

"I'll get there! Just you watch! And I bet I can find tons of food on the way! And I can live in a cave or something! So there!"

Hobbes tried another approach. "Your parents don't treat you as badly as you say. This punishment might be a bit harsh, but I doubt that it's too much so. What did you do, anyway?"

"All I did was drop a match on accident! It was all Terence's fault! When I was about to light my rocket, he nudged my elbow, I accidentally let go, and the desk I was using burnt! I shouldn't be punished! Terence should!"

Hobbes attempted to reason with him. " Well, you shouldn't have used a model rocket for your science fair project! It was being held indoors! Even if you hadn't dropped the match, the rocket itself would have started a fire. Heck, the fire would probably have been harder to reach if that happened, and more than just a desk would have been burnt down. You should feel lucky that Terence made you drop that match. At least this way, noone got hurt. For something like what you did, being grounded all summer is perfectly reasonable!"

"The school should have let me set up my project outdoors!" Calvin was still shouting, but not as loudly now. "Or maybe they should have said that rockets weren't allowed in the rules! It's the school's fault!"

"It's common sense to not launch a rocket indoors!" replied Hobbes. "You should have known that. And, you should have checked if you could have done your project outside beforehand! If you hadn't made your project at the last minute, none of this would have happened!"

"Yes, but... but... It's all the teacher's fault! She made me enter the fair!" Calvin was still arguing, but it was obvious that Hobbes had gotten through.

"Well, what do you expect a teacher to do? It's school. You need to work if you want to learn."

"Yeah, well... I'm hungry, lets go home."

"Finally..." Hobbes said to himself. "Say, which way is home, anyway?" he aksed Calvin.

"Err... It's this way... I think," replied Calvin uncertainly. It was going to be a long night.

It was a long night for Professor Minerva McGonagall, as well. It was her job to write out all the letters that went to the students attending Hogwarts next year, as well as the lists of required equipment. Though there were magical means of writing large numbers of letters quickly, she still had to make sure each one was correct, and then send them to the correct person.

She was about halfway down the list of next year's first years, at someone named "MacDougal, Morag." She quickly ran her eyes over his letter, and, after determining that nothing was wrong with it, she placed it into an envelope. Then, she pulled out a rubber stamp, spoke the recipient's name, and stamped the letter. This stamp wasn't a normal one. It was enchanted to write the address of whoever's name was spoken. It saved quite a bit of time and confusion.

McGonagall continued to do this with every name on the list. Malfoy... Moon... Nott... Finally, she reached the end of the list, with only two names left. She checked and sent "Zabini, Blaise's" letter, and then got to the last name: "---------, Calvin." She checked his letter, put it in an envelope, and stamped on his address. However, what she saw surprised her.

On the envelope on every other person on the list, the address was somewhere in the United Kingdom. On Calvin's, however, a United States address was given! "This must be a mistake!" she said to herself. "I must ask Dumbledore about this."

She left her office, and traveled through the empty school until she arrived in front of a pair of stone gargolyes. She spoke two words -- "Fizzing Whizbee." -- and the gargoyles moved aside as the wall between them opened, revealing a spiral staircase. She walked up the stairs, and walked through the door at the top.

The room McGonagall had just entered was quite strange. The room was filled with strange, silver instruments, all of which were in some sort of movement, and a few of which emitted steam. All around the top of the room were portraits with various people sleeping. And, in the center of the room, behind a desk, was an old man with long white hair, a long white beard, aviolet pointed hat, and aviolet robe.

The old man looked up. "You wish to see me, Minerva?" he asked.

"Yes, Headmaster," she answered. "There is a mistake on the list of first years, and I thought you should know, in case it will cause any problems. You see, there is one person on that list, "Calvin ---------," who is from the United States. He, of course, is going to the Franklin University of Magic, not here."

"Actually, Minerva," he said, "An exception has been made in his case. He has unusual control over his magic, for his age. I felt it was best that I keep watch over him."

"The ones in charge of the Franklin University are quite competent, I remind you. " McGonagall argued. "There is no reason to fear him having problems while he is with them."

"I know that," Dumbledore replied, "but, I admit, this decision is a result of guilt. There was another boy, quite like him... Ah, but that is not important right now. All you need to know, is that his attending Hogwarts is not a mistake."

"I see," said McGonagall. "Well, I should get back to writing those letters, or I will never finish. Goodnight, Albus."

"Goodnight, Minerva."