Tale of Four Houses: A Tiktok Story

Part 12 - Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice

Cassandra exited her room after getting dressed. Tom shadowed her as she walked - he wasn't noticeable to her or anyone else, but she could feel his presence. She slipped into her normal breakfast table with her friends.

"Hey Cass!" Lexie said through a mouth full of food.

Myrta looked up from her book and gave her a nod.

"What's the news, Weasley?" Kara asked, who was sitting across from Cass. "Get anything from Riddle?"

Cass thought of the journal - something they didn't know of yet. A tickle on the nape of her neck told Cass that Riddle was feeling uneasy about them knowing about it, but he didn't object to it either. "We found something in the library."

Myrta perked up at the mention of the library. "What?"

"A... a notebook."

That got all the girls' attention. Kara seemed suspicious. "What kind of notebook?" she asked, who had immediately stopped eating.

"It was a journal he kept while researching about the dark force he's been warning me about. Problem is, he doesn't remember writing all these symbols down so I have to translate it all for us starting from scratch." Cass answered, drinking some of her OJ. 

"And what have you gotten so far?" asked Kara.

"Not much," Cass answered, a little uneasily. "I'm still getting there. Just bits and pieces."

Kara looked around suspiciously. "Where is Riddle now?" she asked.

Cass scratched her head. "Right here." She said, in a low voice. "He's shadowing me today - said he's bored sticking back in my room without anyone to talk to." Cass looked up to see her friends staring at her. "What?" she said, throwing her hands up.

"He's... right here? As in right here?" Kara repeated, looking around anxiously.

"Yeah..." Cass said, confused. "So? I can keep an eye on him this way."

Lexie swallowed her food and looked away, sensing the tension rising within their little group.

"How, Cass," Kara asked, frustratedly. "How can you keep an eye on him if he's not even visible? Do you just chant three times like 'Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice' and poof! He'll magically appear? Or does he just show up willy-nilly?"

Cass' mouth dropped open. "Are you serious right now, Malfoy? No, of course it doesn't just work like that - it's complicated!"

"Complicated?" Kara repeated, trying to keep her voice to avoid drawing attention from other students. "Cass, if we can't see or hear him, I'm concerned about you and him working together without a person there to act as a filter!"

Cass rolled her eyes. "I'm not a child, Kara. I know how to take care of myself!"

"Guys..." Lexie whispered, shrinking back in her seat.

Myrta was just eating her biscuit and watching intently as the spat was going down.

"I promise Kara, that whatever I find I'll bring it to you guys!" Cass was insisting. "I don't see why this is such a big deal for you! What's your problem?"

"Because incidents that start like this didn't end well for your family, now do they?" Kara sassed back. "That's the problem, Weasley! You could be digging yourself a little grave that Riddle will stuff you into when he's done using you!"

"He's not using me, Kara!"

Lexie stood up, drawing their attention. "Guys," she said, looking steamed. "We can't start fighting. That's what the darkness wants, right? Ruin and discord? We're giving right into it by fighting!"

Cass and Kara looked at each other.

"She's right," Cass sighed, rubbing her face. "We're giving in to the tension. We can't let that happen again," she said, looking at Kara.

Kara nodded, embarrassed. "Hogwarts needs us to stay level-headed." She glanced at Cass. "Sorry about that, Weasley."

Cass smiled wanly. "Yeah, me too," she replied. She took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay...okay. We got this."

"What's the plan?" Myrta asked, still eating her food.

Cass thought a moment. "I need extra time to study the notebook," she said finally.

"A sick day, perhaps?" Lexie suggested, looking at Kara knowingly.

Cass caught that look. "Yeah... um, did I miss a memo or something?"

"Lexie helped me fake being sick one time to get out of a field trip," Kara said, smiling at the Hufflepuff. "Maybe we could use that same tactic on you?"

"We can try!" Cass said, nodding. "It better work cause I need all the time I can get."

You can say that again, Tom whispered in her ear.

I need all the time I can get, Cass repeated in her thoughts. Boy do I need it.

Amen, agreed Riddle.