Tale of Four Houses: A Tiktok Story

Part 7 - Petty Paranoia

Weeks went by without incident. The strange voice of Riddle was rarely heard in Cassandra's mind, and he never showed his face - neither in person or in her dreams. So life went on as normal - except for one thing.

But no one could place a finger on it. It was like everyone was feeling antsy, like they were expecting something bad to happen at any moment. But there was nothing going on at Hogwarts to feed into that - everyday was as normal as the next. So students and professors alike ignored it and went about their day. Lexie and most of the other Hufflepuffs seemed to be oblivious to the tension, because they were still baking and playing pranks per usual, but the other three girls were getting nervous.

"This is ridiculous," Kara groaned, pushing away her books and rubbing her face. Cass and Myrta looked up from their own books to look at her. They were supposed to be studying in Myrta's room for upcoming tests, but the attempted study session  was failing miserably. "Why does everything feel like crap?"

"I concur," Myrta sighed. "This isn't working, is it?"

Cass leaned back on her chair and looked up at the ceiling. "Ever since Riddle showed up in my bedroom, this has all been happening. Maybe Lexie was right..."

Kara shook her head, "we can't tell anyone! This is all probably happening because everyone has to get used to being in this castle again for an entire semester. Everyone's probably itching for winter break already."

Cass looked doubtful. "Maybe," was all she said.

Idiots, a voice chuckled in Cass' ear.

Cassandra flinched. "Go away, Riddle," she muttered under her breath.

Kara and Myrta glanced at each other. "It's him, isn't it?" asked Myrta quietly.

Cass nodded mutely.

Kara thought fast. "While he's still here, talk to him. We'll put together the conversation on our end - ask him questions!"

"I don't know-" Cass began.

"Just do it!" Kara interrupted, and she and Myrta got to their feet and moved to sit on Myrta's bed. 

"Fine," Cass muttered under her breath. "What do you want, Riddle?"

It's so boring watching these twits mope about school and take those stupid tests, Tom complained. Why isn't there anyone ever stirring up trouble anymore like the good ole days?

"Mostly because the Professors are quick to stop it before it gets to a Voldemort-mischief-level of chaos," Cassandra retorted, looking at her friends. "You showed up in person before, why don't you show yourself?"

And let your friends see and hear me? Riddle chuckled. No thanks. I like it just as the two of us.

"Fine, then," Cass sighed, rolling her eyes. "What do you want? Are you the one causing the tension?"

Haha, you think that was me? Tom laughed. Cass could've sworn she heard some nervousness in his voice. No, it wasn't.

Cass cocked her head. "Then who was it?"

There was a pause of silence, and Cass had a feeling he was uneasy. I won't talk about it here.

"No, wait-"

I said later, Weasley. When we're alone.

And with that, he was gone.

"He's gone, I'm assuming?" Kara asked after seeing the confused look on Cass' face.

Cassandra nodded and sighed. "When I asked he got all nervous. But he definitely knows something."

Myrta glanced at her new friends. "This feels fishy - what if he's toying with you?"

Cass shook her head. "I don't think so - he sounded really skittish about it."

Silence washed over the girls, and after a while, Myrta broke the silence. "So now what?"

Cass sighed. "I dunno. He said he'd talk about it later - so I'm assuming he'll be back tonight. Maybe I can get something out of him tonight."

"Well, let's hope so," Kara snorted, crossing her arms. "Cuz we'll be in deep pendejadas if we're found out."

"Right," nodded Myrta. "And make sure you get as much information out of him as possible - if there's a threat... we need to know about it before it happens."

Cass rubbed her face. "We're all getting paranoid here. Maybe it's nothing."

Kara chuckled. "Voldemort is nervous, right? I'd say that's cause for at least a little bit of concern."

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**Authors note: Hope you guys enjoyed the next installment! I'll be introducing Riddle on TikTok soon - I just need the right audio/sound to come along and he'll be all ready to cause some mischief! ;)