Thursday, April 12

I can't believe I'll be 16 in just four days. I love growing up, but in all honesty, the end of high school sort of marks a bit of a dark abyss into the unknown for me. I'm comfortable where I'm at right now. What if my life will never be the same outside of Grimwood's?

Sybella let out a sigh denoting both hope and uncertainty. For now, those days were in the future, and not something she had to think about. What she did have to think about now was none other than…

"More driving practice!" Coach Micucci revealed, as he started the class.

Each student perked up a little bit in their seats when he said it. Even though they had been driving every single class day since that first day out in the parking lot, every day Sybella got to drive felt like a brand new experience that gave her a little more freedom.

Most of the students had gotten far better at driving now, and there was no more smashing into random vehicles, the curb, or a person. A few students were a bit shaky still, but nothing overly dangerous.

They had all ventured out onto the road finally. At first, they only traveled on desolate country roads to avoid any traffic accidents - one of which Tanis managed to cause by going into a ditch and smashing a fence, much to the displeasure of several grazing cows. Sybella supposed you could even say Tanis should have watched where she steered. Elsa's driving had significantly improved over the past few weeks, and she was now quite confident out on the road. The same with Winnie and Sarah. Phantasma, on the other hand, was quite the little daredevil, but always seemed to avoid accidents at the last possible moment. According to Coach Micucci, Sybella was one of the best drivers in the class, possibly because she was so cautious of everything. She didn't want to follow Phantasma's example of driving crazy, so the vampiress was the antithesis of that - perhaps a little too much so sometimes. The best driver, on the other hand, was Sidney. Sidney constantly used magic to make herself drive gracefully, much to the jealousy of the rest of the class. Coach Micucci said it was allowed though, since the witch could just choose to continue using her powers forever once she had her license, so it wasn't cheating.

One difference, which Sybella wasn't sure if she loved, was that each driving lesson was spent alone with Coach Micucci. No other student was in the car with them, and since they were too far away to watch, Coach Micucci simply recommended that everyone take the time to work on other homework, or work on studying for the written driver's permit test if they had failed that. Sybella had passed with flying colors though. She kind of wished that class time wasn't so shortened, as she really liked this class and seeing people every day. Some students still stayed in the room and worked on homework whilst Coach Micucci was out with another student, but most of her peers chose to venture off and work somewhere else. She was totally the type of student who wanted to make the most of every ounce of class time she had.

"Alright Sybella, you're up first today!" Coach Micucci said. "The rest of ya, go off and do homework and just be back here by the time it's your turn. Look up at that list if ya forgot the order I told ya on Tuesday."

He pointed to a handwritten list in black marker on the whiteboard at the front of the room.

"Today, all of ya are gonna work on parallel parking. Tanis, we also need to work on defensive driving from last time." the coach continued.

"I thought you told me I was a defensive driver?" Tanis innocently asked.

"No, I said ya were an OFFENSIVE driver. As in, everything ya do is offensive to the safety of any poor soul out on the road." Coach Micucci bluntly stated.

Tanis teared up a little. Sybella wanted to comfort the poor mummy, but she didn't have time now. She'd have to comfort her friend later.

Sybella got in the car with the coach, who was holding a video game in his hand.

"Let me guess, still haven't beat the dementors?" Sybella rolled her eyes.

"Nah, I beat them when Sidney and I were drivin'. Now I gotta reclaim the Sorcerer's Stone before Professor Quarrel gets it. Man, I wanna quarrel with him so damn bad!" Coach Micucci's tone raised.

"It's Quirrell. And you're not worried about me getting into an accident?" Sybella asked.

"Nah. Other than Sidney, you're the best driver here. Now Tanis on the other hand, I'm gonna lose my license just for helpin' that menace to the highway learn to drive!" Coach Micucci snarked. "I'm worried even the cows might sue us for wreckin' their fence! Wait, cows don't have insurance, right?"

"No. And you really shouldn't be so hard on her." Sybella defended. "She gets insecure really easily. You should know that by now."

"I know." the coach's tone softened to something almost sympathetic. This was a rare occurrence for him, as the coach always seemed gruff. "It's just that I wanna see all you students get your licenses. It makes me mad when I see a student's strugglin' so much."

"Aww." Sybella held her hand up to her heart. "You really care about your students, don't you?"

"Care?" Coach Micucci seemed suddenly defensive. "God no. I just don't wanna have to teach this class again next fall!"

"Admit it." Sybella replied. She'd never had such a chummy discussion with Coach Micucci to date, but she kind of liked how these drives allowed the coach to speak with her in a one-on-one fashion. Coach Micucci was always a very impersonal man, so it was sort of nice to see her teacher talk in a more relaxed, personal tone of acquaintanceship. "You care about your students."

"Yeah...I care about 'em." he admitted. "Almost as much as I care about beatin' Professor Quirrell. Oh my god, he's got a face in the back of his head!"

That was about as personal as Coach Micucci would ever get, which was fine by Sybella. She quite frankly didn't want to know anything about his personal life, but it was cool to see him open up a little and admit he did care about his students.

"Alright, this is the spot." Coach Micucci said, pointing to a road with parking spots on either side. "This was mainly for Tanis, but I put up two cones instead of cars. The insurance company said they won't cover all those scratches ya made in the parking lot. I resubmitted it under 'act of God' though, as in 'why in God's name did you deny this legitimate claim?' We'll see if they accept it."

Sybella tried to remember the demonstration they had done a few months ago. Sidney was in front, and Elsa had to pull forward alongside her.

The vampiress pulled the car forward alongside the far cone to mimic what Elsa had done. Then, she turned the wheel to the left, and very slowly creeped backwards until she had enough space to straighten out her front end. She turned the steering wheel until her front end was straight once again, and pulled into the spot.

"Not bad." Coach Micucci said.

"Really?" Sybella replied in surprise. "It seems a little crooked."

"Nah, I meant my score's not bad. I beat Professor Quirrell and got the Sorcerer's Stone, but HarmioneIsDaOneTrueShipDudes beat me out for my high score." Coach Micucci stated before looking up. "I guess it's a little crooked, but it'll do. No one'll hit ya. You did good, Sybella."

Sybella smiled big. She'd mastered the hardest part of driving...mostly!

Sybella's life at Grimwood's had been so uneventful as of late, she almost had nothing to daydream about in music class. Everything had been pretty normal since Elsa got over her bully situation. It also turned out that the "mummy" Kathryn had mentioned that Barry was also bullying was Tanis's friend Tom, who reported Barry to Miss Grimwood. Miss Grimwood suspended Barry for a week, after which he immediately stopped his bullying, and remained relatively quiet in class...at least, according to the secondhand information Sybella had received. She didn't have Barry in any classes.

What else to think about?

"Today, we shall learn about Bach!" Mrs. Frumkin excitedly announced.

Nope. She wasn't thinking about Bach. Snoozeville.

Sybella struggled to think of something else to think about so she didn't have to think about the actual thing she was supposed to think about, but alas, she couldn't bring any other thoughts to mind.

Bach it was, she supposed.

Friday, April 13

A Friday the 13th, a Sweet Sixteen party and my actual birthday all in four days? It's like a dream come true! Miss Grimwood has decked the halls out with plastic bats to celebrate Friday the 13th, which only makes me bask more in my happy mood. I love holidays!

I can't wait for my daddy and all my friends' parents to return for my party, even if it is only for a few hours.

What an exciting few days!

Feeling fancy today, the vampiress put on a black and red v-neck dress for the holiday. She kind of wished Friday the 13th was an official school holiday, but alas, they didn't really get many holidays off at Grimwood's.

Sybella saw Matches outside of her door.

"Hey, Matches!" Sybella chirped, petting him a few times. He made a happy noise in response.

"Happy Friday the 13th!" Elsa said, coming out of her bedroom.

"Happy Friday the 13th to you too!" Sybella reciprocated. "Ready for breakfast?"

"Yeah, just about." Elsa said. "I was just waiting for the others. You know Miss Grimwood always prepares a special breakfast for us on holidays!"

"They'll be down in a minute. No way they could forget such an amazing holiday like this." Sybella said, as she admired the several plastic bats and rats that Miss Grimwood must have hung up on the wall while she was asleep.

"Good morning, girls! I'm just finishing up some decorating, but I believe Olly is preparing a delicious omelette for you." Miss Grimwood said from the bottom of the staircase.

"Sounds great, Miss Grimwood!" Tanis replied as she came out of her room.

The girls made their way downstairs and enjoyed the delicious omelettes Olly had prepared. They were heavenly, especially with the side of bloody hollandaise sauce that the octopus butler had prepared specially for the vampiress.

"This is fangtastic, Olly!" Sybella complimented.

Olly simply looked at Sybella and nodded. He was an octopus of few words.

"I'm glad, Sybella. And I have some more fangtastic...I mean fantastic news for you all. I've finally gotten it approved with the Ghoul Board for us to offer extracurricular activities here at Grimwood's." Miss Grimwood revealed.

"Wow! That sounds like a howl!" Winnie responded.

"In addition to volleyball, there will also be Music Club, Science Club, Creative Writing Club, and Yearbook." Miss Grimwood shared.

"Cool! When can we sign up?" Elsa asked. It was no mystery to Sybella which one her friend wanted to sign up for.

"Right now, in fact. There should be plenty of spots for everyone, even though the other students won't sign up until lunch today." Miss Grimwood assured. "Here are the sign-up sheets."

The headmistress set down four sheets of paper on the table.

Elsa signed up for Science Club. Phantasma chose Music Club.

"I think I'll do Creative Writing Club. I loved it last semester." Tanis said out loud as she wrote her name down on the respective sign-up sheet.

"Eh, I think I'll just stick with volleyball." Winnie said. Clearly none of the options appealed to her.

The Creative Writing Club was tempting, but Sybella chose to do something completely different: Yearbook. She was quite sentimental and loved people, so she thought perhaps helping create the school's yearbook might be fun. If she didn't enjoy it, she could always choose to not sign up again for her last year at Grimwood's.

"Excellent. But I want you all to know, your studies are still the priority. Volleyball and extracurriculars come second." Miss Grimwood cautioned.

Even though they were getting older, clearly the headmistress still wanted to look out for her girl ghouls to make sure they were successful in every aspect of life.

Sybella walked into Woodshop as if she were walking on a cloud. She was quite excited about the opportunity to be a part of Yearbook next year, on top of all the added excitement of it being a holiday and her birthday weekend.

Even the fact that she was going to one of her least favorite classes ever, Woodshop, didn't damper Sybella's mood.

"Happy Friday the 13th, boys and...girl." Mr. Ward paused remembering Sybella was the only girl in the class. "Today, I'd like you to finish making your foot stools. Just be careful, since we don't need any accidents on the unluckiest day of the year!"

"Too late." Tyler blurted, as he revealed he glued his hand to the table with a hot glue gun.

"I'll get it off for you!" Johnny exclaimed, as he yanked Tyler's arm off the table until he heard the snap of a joint. "Oh God. Sorry, dude, I think I broke your hand."

"You mean unbroke it!" Tyler exclaimed. "That one's been broken for weeks, and you just fixed it. Thanks, man!"

Sybella scoffed at the other students' ridiculous behavior and began making her foot stool. However, she was continually distracted by Isaiah and Nick playing with Tom's tools.

"Hey guys, stop messing around with my stuff!" Tom exclaimed.

"We're not messing around. We're fooling around, and your name's Tom, so technically it's tomfoolery." Isaiah asserted.

Sybella simply sighed at the irritating distraction. It would likely take most of the class period to finish attaching the last leg of the foot stool at this rate.

Despite the many distractions, or tomfoolery as Isaiah so cringingly called it, Sybella's happy mood was not altered. She was super happy she was able to finish the foot stool by the end of the class period, and was now on her way to Mass Media with a full stomach due to the large lunch she had.

"Hi Alexis! Happy Friday the 13th!" Sybella chirped as her eyes met Alexis's, whilst walking to her seat.

"Happy Friday the 13th!" Alexis replied. "Boy, you're really in a good mood today, aren't you?

"Mm-hmm!" Sybella cheerfully followed. The vampiress's eyes diverted for a minute when she saw Sarah putting on her heavy makeup again. Sarah looked stunning. Sybella wished she could be that beautiful, and moreover, just so casually wear makeup everyday. To Sybella's embarrassment, Sarah managed to notice her staring.

"Aww. You want to borrow some of my makeup again?" Sarah responded. Sybella couldn't really tell if Sarah was talking down to her or being friendly, as Sarah's personality was always quite guarded so you could never figure out her real emotions. The vampiress kinda did want to borrow some of it again though.

"Sure." Sybella smiled, as she let the witch put some eyeliner on her.

"Oh no, not again with the makeup!" Winnie said as she arrived to sit in her seat.

"You know, if you like makeup this much, you should buy your own." Sarah replied.

"Maybe I should." Sybella thought. "Maybe I'll get some for my birthday this weekend."

"It's your birthday?" Sarah asked. "Here, this makeup kit's almost empty anyway. You can have the rest of it if you want."

"Really?" Sybella responded with surprise.

"Sure. Consider it a birthday present from me." Sarah answered.

"Wow. Thanks!" Sybella smiled. She felt so grown up and adult.

"Makeup again?" Phantasma teased, as Sybella finished applying her eyeliner. "Oh boy, she just never quits.

"You guys should try it!" Sybella suggested. "You'd like it."

"Nah. I prefer the natural look." Winnie declined.

"Besides, any makeup wouldn't stay on my face. It'd just float right off." Phanty joked.

"Okay class, let's talk about beauty norms in the media." Mrs. Lange started class. "The media constantly bombards people by saying that they need to look or dress a certain way to look normal. Beauty trends push people to wear what's considered 'in' and 'hip,' rather than what they want. What are some examples of beauty norms?"

"That girls should own dresses. I frickin' hate dresses." Sarah sneered.

"Good one. There's nothing that says women need to own or wear dresses. That's just a beauty norm." Mrs. Lange replied. "What else?"

No one else said anything for a moment.

"Sybella, what you're putting on right now is a beauty norm." Mrs. Lange said, noticing the makeup in Sybella's hand.

"Oh yeah. Makeup is a beauty norm." Sybella replied. She guessed it was a beauty norm, but it made her feel cool and mature. A woman of her age should start wearing makeup, right?

"Indeed it is. Makeup is great for if you want to look a little fancy, but you should certainly never feel pressured to wear it or use it to hide yourself from the world." Mrs. Lange continued.

Sybella didn't bother to take it too much to heart. She was too excited she'd gotten makeup for her birthday!

Sunday, April 15

It was a relaxing day yesterday. As per usual, everyone had just relaxed and did their own thing. I caught up on my favorite show at the moment, Red Planet Diaries, while everyone else read or did homework.

Today would not be a relaxing day at all...it was going to be an amazing, exciting Sweet Sixteen celebration!

The festivities were to last the whole day. The morning would begin with a special breakfast buffet, followed by some board games, lunch, and then the arrival of the girls' parents. Sybella had also invited a few of her friends, Kathryn and Sidney, to her party, which would start immediately once everyone arrived. The party would just be a casual social gathering with soft drinks, snacks, and a hearty helping of conversation. Post-party, Miss Grimwood would be serving supper and a birthday cake, concluded by Sybella opening all her presents.

Sybella wanted to make sure she looked super pretty for the party today, so she took out Sarah's makeup kit and put on foundation, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and blush. She made sure to put it on heavy so it was noticeable. She got dressed in a chic-looking brown crocheted sweater and purple skirt and was about ready to go downstairs, until she had a thought that maybe the amount of makeup she put on wasn't quite noticeable enough. She applied a little more of everything: foundation, blush, eyeliner and eyeshadow. They were going to be wowed at how mature she looked. No more young looking Sybella. Only the hot, stylish 16-year-old Sybella.

Sybella came down the stairs to embrace the day and eat a hearty breakfast. Everyone was in the living area, including Miss Grimwood and Matches.

"Happy birthday Syb-" Elsa started, before she paused due to the shock of Sybella's look. "Oh my god, Sybella, you're drowning in makeup!"

"WOAH!" Winnie exclaimed. "I know you like makeup Sybella, but don't you think that's a bit much?"

All of a sudden, a knock could be heard at the door. Miss Grimwood went to open the front door, to reveal a tall clown with a completely white face and a party hat on.

"Heeheeheehoo!" the clown laughed pointing at Sybella. "You're wearing more makeup than I do!"

"Sir, I believe there must be some sort of mistake. I didn't invite any clown to this party!" Miss Grimwood informed.

"This isn't the Howard University of Comedy?" the clown asked. "I received an order there from someone named Shreako for one serving of HILARITY!"

"Oh no, you're looking for fool school. It's a few blocks down the road. This is ghoul school." Miss Grimwood clarified.

"Oopsies! My mistake!" the clown giggled. "Sorry to bother you. Have a hilarious morning!"

And with that, the clown left and shut the door behind him.

"The clown has a point, Sybella." Miss Grimwood said. "Do you really want your father to see you slathered in makeup like that?"

Oh. Sybella hadn't really thought that far. She was just so excited to wear the makeup she had gotten.

"Not really, I guess." Sybella sighed. "I'll go wash it out. Sorry."

"No need to apologize, Sybella. You didn't offend me. It simply looks like you're trying to hide behind the makeup to look mature rather than wearing it for an extra touch." Miss Grimwood guessed.

It was a good guess though, because the headmistress was absolutely right. She didn't look like herself. She was just wearing it because she thought she had to, in order to be mature.

"This isn't you, Sybella." Tanis spoke up.

"I'm sorry you guys...I mean...sorry for saying sorry...ugh! I guess I'll just say yeah, you're right. This isn't me...I just thought..." Sybella started tearing up. "...it would make me look mature."

Tanis ran over to comfort the vampiress, by letting Sybella bury her head in the mummy's bandages.

"It's okay, Sybella." the mummy comforted her. That reminded Sybella that she had never gone back and comforted Tanis after Coach Micucci made the less-than-gentle comment about her driving skills.

After a few minutes of crying, Sybella realized her makeup was running everywhere.

"Uh...I better go wash this off." Sybella said, blushing under all the blush she had on. "Before I wreck your bandages, Tanis."

"Too late." Tanis laughed, revealing the front of her bandages were soiled by mascara. "I'll change too."

Sybella washed off her makeup, which was so thick that it was essentially a costume. Her pores could once again breathe! Moreover, she realized that Miss Grimwood (and the clown) actually taught her a valuable lesson in maturity. It was ironic that smearing all that makeup on herself to be mature was actually the immature thing to do.

The vampire princess's thoughts this morning were semi-correct. She did want to be a more mature version of herself after she turned 16. A version of herself who didn't need to slather herself in makeup to feel like she looked beautiful, because she now realized that she was most beautiful when she embraced her natural looks.

At first, Sybella worried that she would seem clownish to the rest of her friends for coming downstairs this morning looking like, well, a clown. But regardless, they accepted her. Miss Grimwood even told a story of her own about how she felt like she needed makeup to look beautiful when she was younger.

"Yes, Sybella, even I wore makeup when I was a young girl. I saw all the other girls doing it, and assumed I needed to wear it as well to fit in. But the reality, as I soon found out, is that wearing makeup is a choice, not a requirement. You have a beautiful face, Sybella, and there's no shame in showing it even if it is imperfect. That's not to say you should never wear makeup, but that's a choice every girl should make for themselves not based on what other people are doing. If you live your life trying to copy everyone else, you'll be exhausted and frustrated trying to keep up. It's much easier to march to your own beat."

"Thanks, Miss Grimwood." Sybella smiled. "You're right. My purple skin hides whatever acne I have for the most part, anyway. I don't need makeup to look beautiful."

And it was with that comment that Sybella decided she'd give Sarah's makeup back to her on Monday. She might want to use makeup, in much smaller amounts, someday, but she wasn't ready yet. She wanted to embrace showing off her youthful skin while she still had it.

Sybella's day greatly improved after this little incident. Her Sweet Sixteen party was amazing and so filled with love. Everyone's fathers showed up, as did Kathryn and Sidney. Even Mavis showed up to the party, much to her surprise. After some lively conversation, a scrumptious dinner, and delicious birthday cake, it was time to open presents before the guests had to leave.

"I can't believe my little girl is going to be 16!" Dracula smiled, showing both his fangs.

"It's crazy! I can still remember my 16th birthday." Mavis chimed in.

"I still remember my 16th birthday too. Because it was four months ago." Kathryn teased.

"Who's present are you going to open first?" Mavis asked. She had asked Sybella several times about when she was opening presents during the party, so clearly her sister was quite excited for Sybella to unwrap what she had gotten.

"I guess yours!" Sybella laughed.

"You mean ours." Dracula stepped in. "Mavis and I both bought you this."

Sybella picked up her family's present, which was incredibly small and light. It was almost paper-thin. Sybella opened the gift to reveal three tickets to Hawaii.

"It's tickets for us all to go to Haweewee this summer!" Mavis exclaimed. "You always said it was so cool that I got to go there, so I thought you'd love to go with daddy and I!"

Sybella had admittedly said that back when she was jealous of Mavis, which she couldn't believe was less than a year ago. However, she still was in awe of the amazingly generous gift. It would be amazing to travel to Hawaii for the first time!

"This is the most amazing present ever!" Sybella shouted in pure excitement, giving both vampire family members a hug. "I'm the luckiest girl ever."

"I'm so glad you like it!" Dracula replied.

"Open mine next, Sybella!" Winnie requested.

"Okay!" Sybella agreed. Everyone seemed super excited for her to see what they bought. Sybella opened the gift to reveal a Hex Girls t-shirt. It had a picture of Thorn singing, with the words "Who Do Voodoo?" at the top. At the very bottom of the t-shirt, the question was answered with the phrase "We Do!"

"It's not a trip to Hawaii, but I hope you still like it." Winnie said hopefully.

"Aww Winnie, how could I not like it?" Sybella hugged the werewolf.

"It's a wonderful gift, Winnie!" Papa Werewolf complimented. "Something being expensive doesn't mean it has more sentimental value."

"Me next!" Sidney exclaimed.

"Hold on, it's my birthday!" Sybella laughed. She picked up a present at random.

"That's my present." Tanis informed.

Sybella noticed something odd about the bottom half of this present...it was wrapped in bandages!

"Sorry for the wrap job. I ran out of wrapping paper so I had to improvise with what I had." Tanis blushed. "To be fair, my mummy daddy does it all the time!"

"It's true!" Tanis's father admitted.

Sybella tore open the mixture of bandages and wrapping paper to reveal a fancy black notebook with a cobweb pattern on the front.

"It's a new journal." Tanis smiled. "I hope you like it."

"Oh my gosh! I was nearly out of pages in my old one, actually. I love this! Thanks, Tanis." Sybella smiled.

Sybella picked up another present from the pile. She opened to it to find some surprising contents: an AP Style book?

"Thanks?" Sybella appreciated, in the form of a question.

"That one was from me." Miss Grimwood revealed. "It was kind of a last-minute gift, but you said you were interested in joining Yearbook, so I figured that'd be helpful. The AP Stylebook will teach you how to write good articles that are consistent with formal journalistic style. I hope this isn't too boring, but I think you'll find it quite useful."

It was a little boring, the vampiress supposed, but she wasn't going to say that aloud.

"I was on Yearbook when I was in school!" Phanty's phantom father said. "We used the AP Stylebook all the time!"

"Thanks Miss Grimwood! It's not boring at all. I'm sure it will be super useful in the fall." Sybella simply replied, before moving onto the next present. And the contents of the mystery box were...a skirt with bat-prints on it!

"That one's from me." Elsa said. "I know you like bat-print stuff."

"I love it, Elsa! You all are so sweet." Sybella cooed.

"Ooh, this is my present! I'm so excited!" Sidney said as Sybella picked up the next present from the dwindling pile.

"A Hot Topic gift card? This is awesome!" Sybella complimented.

"I know you loved Hot Topic when we went there last spring, so I figured you'd enjoy a gift card." Sidney smiled.

"Oh dang!" Phanty cursed. "I got you the same thing!"

Sybella quickly realized that when she opened the phantom's gift, which was the same size as the one she'd just opened. "It's okay, Phanty! I love Hot Topic, so that just means I'll have to use both of your gift cards and go on a shopping spree. Thank you both!"

By process of elimination, Kathryn's gift was the only one left. Sybella unwrapped the wrapping paper, which was stylishly decorated with hand-drawn hearts from the fellow vampiress. The present was quite an odd shape though.

It was a tiara with plastic bat wings jutting out from either side.

"Aww, this is so cute!" Sybella smiled. "Thank you, Kathryn!"

"Every girl should feel like a princess on their Sweet Sixteen." Kathryn said. "That's why I wanted to give you your very own tiara!"

And Sybella did indeed feel like a princess. This day, which had started off so crappy, had turned into one of the best birthdays of Sybella's life.

Author's note:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will be the conclusion to this semester, and will include the girls finally taking their driving test.

Once again, it's reference time!

- Coach Micucci attempting to beat Professor Quirrell and reclaim the Sorcerer's Stone is a reference to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

- Sybella's favorite TV show, Red Planet Diaries, is a reference to Riley and Maya's favorite television show from Girl Meets World.

- The Howard University of Comedy and the mention of Shreako is a callback to a reference from chapter 19, in which the Boo Brothers attend a school named after the several Three Stooges with the last name of Howard.

- The Hex Girls t-shirt that Sybella gets as a present from Winnie references lyrics to the Hex Girls song "Who Do Voodoo?" which they sang in Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire.

- Of course, Mavis from Hotel Transylvania also appears again.