I was still flat on my back. A purple barrier had knocked me over; it was like sprinting into a brick wall.

"What the hell?" I uttered.

"I've sharpened my dark arts abilities over the years," Hawthorne said. "I amaze myself with all that I've accomplished. Thanks to my genius, all of you are going to remain confined, so you might want to get comfortable while you can."

Agatha and Daphne both ran around the circle of the barrier, knocking on its walls to find an opening.

"We're trapped!" Daphne hollered.

"Indeed. I just need you all to be contained so my baby can devour a meal without the trouble of chasing any of you.” Hawthorne clapped his hands like a little child and rubbed them together. "I'm ecstatic that someone other than Houston gets to meet my magnum opus of dark magic. I think you'll all appreciate my crowning achievement. Especially since all of you are some of the brightest minds Hogwarts has to offer. Except for Rollie, of course. He's a bit of a meathead jock, no?" Hawthorne snickered. "Well, shall we release my beautiful creation? Houston?"

"Huh?" Houston snapped out of his daydream.

"Pay attention, dammit!" Hawthorne lashed out. "Shall we release Gigas Figura?"

"Uh, su-sure."

"Houston, please!" Daphne shouted. "I'm quite the skilled potioneer! Please, let us go, and I promise you I'll find a way to make a Skele-Gro potion that doesn't use the pufferfish ingredient!

Houston’s eyes widened.

"I know about that because Rollie truly feels horrible about what happened and wants to make up for it!” Daphne said.

Houston blinked. He dropped his gaze to the ground and took a deep breath.

"Well, it's not his choice, Poisonwood. I control Gigas Figura," Hawthorne said. He held his palm up in the air and twirled his fingers together. His wide grin filled me with rage.

A deep roar vibrated my bones.

I looked up and saw a massive purple figure morphing through the ceiling. It collected into a giant sphere of sludge before plummeting below onto Leon and Agatha.

"Run to the barrier!" I yelled.

Leon and Agatha sprinted to my side, and the sphere crashed to the ground of the chamber. It shifted in jerky movements to form a colossal humanoid shape. The creature's skin radiated bright purple and had the consistency of muck. Its mouth was a hollow opening with thin strings of sludge connecting the top lip to the bottom lip. The eyes were like purple beacons of light. It stared at each of us, spinning from person to person. Its long wiry arms dangled. The slender sharp claws gave me goosebumps.

"Go ahead, baby, it's an all-you-can-eat buffet!" Hawthorne yelled and cackled. Once he caught his breath he said, "Where are my manners? Meet Gigas Figura!"

"Houston! It's not too late! You can tell us how to stop it, and I promise you, I'll find an alternative cure for you to get your arm back!" Daphne shouted.

Gigas Figura roared until the walls rumbled. It swiped at me with its left claw, but I somersaulted to the side, dodging the attack. My heart was beating a million miles a second, and sweat streamed down my forehead.

The monster swiped at Leon and caught him. Leon tried to shout through the muck but couldn’t. Gigas Figura was about to throw Leon in its mouth like a snack

I froze up. I had no idea what to do.

“Expelliarmus!” Daphne roared. A red spell shot from her wand and struck Gigas Figura’s hand. It tossed Leon up and moaned. I sprinted over to where Leon was about to land and broke his fall. We both hit the ground but I saved him from breaking a rib.

“I owe you one!” Leon said to me as I helped him off the ground.

“Houston! Please, do something! Tell us how to stop it!” Daphne said.

Houston erupted with an ear-splitting shout with his hands held at his temple. Even Gigas Figura stopped to look at him.

"The Patronus! Use the Patronus charm. The more, the better!" Houston cried out.

"You bastard!" Hawthorne furrowed his brow and marched towards Houston. "Avada Kedavra!" Hawthorne shouted, whipping out his wand and aiming it at Houston. A bright green projectile shot in his direction, but I had to look away. Gigas Figura aimed its bright eye lights at me, drowning me in a pool of purple. It swiped at me again, and I had to leap forward and sprint away.

"Avada Kedavra!" Hawthorne screamed.

Leon had his wand pointed in the air and said, "Expecto Patronum!"

A silver raven took shape from his wand and flew towards the abomination. Gigas Figura shrieked and cowered away from Leon, allowing Magdalene, Daphne, Agatha, and I to run to Leon’s side to create more distance between us and the monster.

Daphne took a deep breath and held her wand alongside Leon's, and yelled, "Expecto Patronum!"

I was impressed beyond words.

Daphne had produced a silver swan that floated alongside Leon's raven. Hawthorne's monstrosity cowered and shrieked. It shrank in size. It was now Hagrid's height.

"Bloody hell, there's no way I can do that! We’re royally screwed!” Agatha moaned.

"Expecto Patronum." Magdalene tried, but nothing came out.

"Avada Kedavra!" Hawthorne kept shooting the unforgivable curse at Houston, but he kept sprinting away.

Houston spun around and said, "You just need one more! Expelliarmus!" Houston bulleted a red spell at Hawthorne and it struck his hand. Hawthorne's wand flew away. "Petrificus Totalus!" Houston cried out. He shot a bright blue spell that struck Hawthorne.

I had to produce my Patronus next. I needed to. The lives of people I cared about were on the line. Think, Rollie, think deeply about the most beautiful, joyous moment that's happened in your life. When did you feel spiritually free of turmoil? What gave you pure happiness?

It came to me like a bolt of lightning.

"Expecto Patronum!" I shouted.

The only thing I focused on was the feeling of the first Hufflepuff Quidditch win over Ravenclaw. Back in Hogwarts' hospital wing, when all of my friends and everyone else from the Hufflepuff house came in singing jubilantly. They celebrated what I had done. My days in the U.S. felt long gone. That victory one of the happiest moments of my life, and no one could ever take that away from me.

A silver form took shape from my wand and charged towards Gigas Figura.

It was a wolverine.

Gigas Figura bellowed so loud the floor rumbled. I wanted to cover my ears, but I couldn't. I could only wince.

Gigas Figura exploded with sludge. A bright beam shot out from the center of its core, and the chamber quaked as the light streamed to the ceiling. The remnants of sludge scattered through the air. Our Patronuses retreated.

"If I die, I’m blaming all of you!" Agatha hollered.

The surging light disappeared, the ground settled, and the monster was gone. I took a breath.

We put our wands away and checked if the barrier was up, but it was gone.

"Rollie! Look!" Daphne pointed at the center of the showdown.

Covered in sludge were Bran, Edna, and my grandpa. They lay on the ground, motionless. All of us ran up to them. Daphne checked Edna, Leon checked Bran, and I checked my grandpa.

My grandpa still had a pulse.

"They're alive!" Daphne shouted with tears in her eyes. "We need to get them to the hospital wing!"

I heard sniffling and weeping. I checked all of my friends, but their faces were filled with relief. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Houston with his head buried in his lap, sobbing.

"I'm sorry." Houston stood up and dusted himself off. "I failed."

"What're you talking about? You saved us, dude," Agatha said. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Now you need to show us out."

Houston sniffled and nodded. "I know the way to get us out of here. Your grandpa and your friends should be fine, but it's a good idea to take them to the hospital wing."

"Lead the way," I stated. As much as I didn’t want to see him, there was no other choice. "Before we leave, what should we do about Hawthorne?" I asked.

"First I'll guide you out," Houston said. "But once we get out of the catacombs here, I'll put up a mark in the air so you can return with a professor, and they can hand him over to the Ministry of Magic. Or they can question him in the castle. However they want to handle it is up to them."

"You can't take him straight to Azkaban?" I asked.

Houston shrugged. "I could. But I just assumed you'd want to see him taken care of personally."

"You're not wrong," I said. "Look, we should really get out of here. I want to make sure everyone is okay."

"Follow me," Houston said. He led us out through the labyrinth.

Leon and I carried my grandpa. Magdalene and Daphne were savvy enough to levitate Bran and Edna from the ground.

"What happened back there with the Gigas Figura-thing? How come Bran, Edna, and my grandpa were inside it?" I asked.

Houston sighed. "Gigas Figura was in the middle of digesting them. But don't worry, it would take months to fully digest anyone. A few medicinal potions will fix them all up, no problem."

"You were just going to let them get eaten?" I yelled.

“Rollie." Houston stopped. “When I said I failed a moment ago, I meant that I was under the imperius curse most of the time. Please try to understand. There wasn't much I could do to stop him. Hawthorne had an advantage because he knew me beforehand, he had a wide-open chance to curse me, and he did. But once my emotions rose from seeing you and hearing all that your friend had to say, I had the ability to conquer the curse," Houston said. His voice was quiet and defeated. A tone I never heard from him before.

"Ah," I said, feeling a little embarrassed for accosting him. "So, uh, how long is Hawthorne going to be out for?" I asked.

"At least an hour. I shot off one of my best curses at him. It'll probably take three hours before he can move again," Houston said.

We trudged along, and I had thoughts swirling in my head. I was confused. I wanted to rip off Houston's head a half-hour ago, and now I relied on him for help.

"I truly had a moment of clarity when your friend offered her help," Houston said.

"I'm not kidding. Potions truly are my favorite subject. Ever since Rollie told me about what happened, I've always thought about how I could maybe create something that could help you," Daphne said.

Houston stopped for a moment and said, "Thanks."

The rest of our trek through the labyrinth was silent. Houston flicked his wand at the entrance, and a staircase spiraled up from the ground, and we went outside.

Reaching the Forbidden Forest, I was amazed to see how different it looked. Blue skies and the sun greeted us. No purple smoke flowed from the ground. The grass was a faint green, but at least it wasn't purple. The birds cawed and chirped, but they took no notice of us.

"You can find the castle from here," Houston stopped. He pointed his wand in the air, and a dark blue light shot up above. A mark floated above us shaped like a diamond prism. "It's not a difficult path, and the forest should be much safer now. You're on your own."

I stared at him for a moment, still holding my grandpa up with Leon. "Thanks, Houston."

"We'll be in touch. I'll mail you about Hawthorne's sentencing."

"We'll help you out, Houston. I'm Daphne, by the way."

Houston waved. "I'll go back down to make sure Hawthorne doesn't escape."

"One last thing," I said. "Did you happen to see a rabbit with antlers that looked like a Patronus?"

Houston scrunched his brow, "No?"

"Never mind. Thank you again."

On our way back to the castle, we ran into Hagrid, Mr. Lancaster, and Professor Shacklebolt. We informed them about everything that happened. They were amazed that the Forbidden Forest returned to its normal state. Mr. Lancaster took everyone back to Hogwarts, except for me. I stayed behind, so I could show Hagrid and Professor Shacklebolt where Hawthorne was. Tracing back my steps, we came up to the entrance of the catacombs and descended the steps. The maze wasn't too tricky. I had no problem getting us back to the chamber where Hawthorne lay frozen. Houston sat next to him, waiting for us.