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𝐓he five surround a large brown book layered in dust. A chinese letter is engraved on the front, which Cassiopeia easily deciphers as the family surname.
"Should we open it?" Ron asks nervously. Sweat trickles down the sides of his head as he gulps loudly. Something about the book was eerily daunting. Like some ancient magic was at play.
"Here goes nothing," Cassiopeia mumbles. She blows off the dust and cautiously opens the cover. The handwritten paragraphs of her family's history are all written in korean.
"What does it say?" Hermione asks.
Cass reads the pages, flipping on by one. The deeper she gets through the book, the more urgent she becomes, and her eyes flit page to page.
She flips another and the page rips.
"Woah!" Harry puts his hand over Cassiopeia's, stopping her from damaging the book further.
"Cass?" Draco trails off in confusion.
"What's wrong?" Hermione presses. "What's in the book?"
"Why do they have this?" Sung mutters under her breath. "This shouldn't be possible..."
"What's not possible?" Ron speaks up.
"I always knew that our curse was possession and we would die by our 16 birthday. I thought- I thought the spirit possessing me was the same one possessing my ancestor," she whispers. Her hands tense, but Harry's touch eases her nerves. She pulls her hand away, but doesn't let go.
"And?"
"It turns out there was no spirit then, and he wasn't crazy," she says. "The son in the legend, he wasn't subdued because he went insane. There was nothing wrong with him at all, and book says he died of a disease, but that doesn't even make any sense."
"Why wouldn't it?" Harry wonders, oblivious to the physical contact.
"Not many know, but my family line is immune to sickness, so there's no way he could've passed away like that." Cassiopeia closes the book. Her thoughts wander among the various possibilities. Why lie? She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "I have to see my parents."
"Not on my watch," Draco rejects immediately. "I'll never let you go there again."
"I have to. There may be something they know that I don't," Cass persists. Her face softens. "I don't want to die."
Malfoy hesitates. "You know I don't want that either. But-"
"I don't plan on going alone, you know. We'll all go together."
"Wait," Ron interrupts, "I thought your families would be buddy-buddy like you two are."
"Let's just say that certain values don't align," Draco vaguely mentions. "Pureblood beliefs and all."
"Then I'm sure that meeting Cassiopeia's parents won't be that bad," Hermione says. "The five of us can surely handle two people."
"I hope so," Cassioeia mutters. "I really hope so."
