Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 33 Myrtle

Ginny, who had just left the History of Magic classroom, was completely bewildered when Harry and his friends inexplicably dragged her into the hallway. Imagine an 11-year-old girl being cornered against the wall by three classmates who were older and taller than her, asking her questions. Even if these three were her most admired senior, her most respected senior, and her own brother, she would still be trembling with fear.

"What are you trying to do...?"

Ginny's timid question immediately made Harry and Ron too embarrassed to speak. After exchanging a glance, the two of them actually took a step back and handed the "bad guy" role to Hermione.

Hermione, who had suddenly transformed into a "bad sister," glared at Harry, then spoke to Ginny as gently as possible:

“Ginny, do you remember telling me before that there was something very important that I didn’t tell you?”

Ginny replied, feeling wronged:

"But... I really can't say, and I didn't mean to, so please don't ask me anymore."

"No one will blame you, Ginny."

Hermione continued to persuade:

"No one could have done anything about this, not even older students."

Ginny's gaze swept over Harry and Ron again. She thought about her future studies and her family, then mustered her courage and said:

"Okay, then don't tell anyone about this, and don't mention to anyone that I said it..."

At this point, Ginny took a deep breath.

"...Last weekend I caught Percy kissing his girlfriend, Penelope Crivart, a prefect of Ravenclaw, in an empty classroom. Their robes were both on the floor, and I even saw Percy's hand inside... Ah! You all know what that means! Don't make me finish!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood there dumbfounded, letting Ginny run away with a blush. In some ways, this statement was even more shocking than "I used Tom Riddle's diary to unleash the Basilisk to attack my classmates." Even Mo Ran in the live stream couldn't help but comment:

"Has Percy always been this brave?"

……

On the way back to the common room, the Gryffindor trio, usually the most troublesome, were all unusually quiet. Harry wiped his glasses again and again; Ron kept stroking his old wand; and Hermione, whose face was the reddest, clutched her robes tightly, as if they might fall off at any moment.

Malfoy, who had just returned from Quidditch practice, bumped into Harry and his friends in the corridor. Being young and unaware of the situation, he had no idea what had happened and asked:

"What's wrong with you three? You look... weird?"

Harry, having finally cleaned the lenses, put on his glasses and coughed twice, saying:

"Ahem... You're still thinking about training Quidditch? Aren't you afraid of being attacked by the Basilisk?"

Malfoy raised his chin, and said to Harry in a provocative manner:

"I think you're scared, aren't you? You won by luck last time in the rain, but you're too afraid to come for a rematch?"

Harry stared at Malfoy's face for a moment, then finally decided to tell him the truth.

"The Ministry of Magic will soon appoint a temporary headmaster for the school, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, all competitions and club activities at Hogwarts will be suspended. I suggest you find a way to retrieve my diary as soon as possible, otherwise, the school may have to close down in a while."

Malfoy scoffed and said:

"It doesn't matter. I was going to Durmstrang anyway, so I can just switch schools."

His nonchalant attitude might fool others, but it certainly wouldn't fool Harry.

"All right!"

Harry said.

"Then I hope your Slytherin teammates can come with you to that Deutschland place, otherwise the money your family spent on six Nimbus 2001s will be wasted."

"you!"

Draco Malfoy's face turned red with anger, but after suffering a few minor setbacks, he had realized that going against Harry was unwise.

"Okay! Okay, okay..."

Malfoy forced a smile and said:

“My dad wrote back to me last night and told me some things about 50 years ago…”

Upon hearing this, Harry seemed to make a connection, but in order to obtain more useful information, he chose not to interrupt Malfoy.

"Although he wasn't even born when the secret chamber was last opened, he clearly told me that a Muggle-born girl died 50 years ago. So..."

Malfoy had intended to keep Harry in suspense so he would come begging to him. But to his surprise, Hermione had already guessed the answer when she heard this.

"I see!"

She shouted it out.

"A ghost who was a Hogwarts student in life and died about 50 years ago. There's only one in the castle! The ghost in the second-floor women's washroom—Moaning Myrtle!"

Malfoy was about to explode. His grey eyes were fixed on Hermione, who was tugging at Harry's sleeve and chattering incessantly. He praised her, word by word:

"You're really amazing!"

Harry had originally intended to confirm with Malfoy whether Dobby was his house-elf. But after learning such a crucial clue, he no longer cared about that.

"Can you lead us to her, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded in response to Harry's question, and then the trio, along with Malfoy, stirred up a gust of wind in the corridor without saying a word.

Draco, who had been inexplicably dragged into this, was actually quite excited, but in order to maintain his "persona," he still criticized Harry and the others:

"Are you Gryffindors brainless? Trying to...trying to break into the women's restroom in broad daylight?"

"No one will come to this place, don't worry."

Hermione said:

"Because Myrtle is always throwing tantrums at the toilet all year round, no one uses the washroom here. And if any new student happens to come here and disturb her, she'll hide in the toilet and scream at that person, then splash water everywhere!"

"Oh my god..."

……

Soon, the four of them arrived at the "abandoned" girls' restroom on the second floor. Before they officially entered, Harry expressed his heartfelt gratitude for Malfoy's contribution, which earned him a "tsk" and an eye roll in return.

Mo Ran never imagined that the Harry Potter story would take such a turn after his arrival. Perhaps it was because Malfoy was lucky enough to survive to the end, which he, who preferred Sirius, Lupin, and Fred, felt was somewhat unfair. Or perhaps it was because, as a boy, he wasn't as captivated by the "blonde prince's" "good looks" as female Harry Potter fans. Mo Ran had never really liked Malfoy.

However, throughout the eight films, even though this character did some awful things, he never committed any heinous or outrageous crimes. To borrow his earlier words to Harry, Malfoy is more like a twilight that never truly darkens and a dawn that never truly breaks.

The door to the women's restroom was pushed open. Contrary to everyone's expectations, besides Myrtle, another uninvited guest was floating around the toilet.

Cluck cl ...

The bright orange clown hat and the irregularly twisted bow tie—without a doubt, the source of that laughter was Peeves.

"Oh? That's really strange, really strange! Students actually come to this place?"

Last summer, Harry and Morgen had figured out Peeves' true identity. Unlike pale, translucent ghosts, Peeves not only possessed a more vibrant appearance, but he could even physically interact with objects and living things. Combined with the professors' failed attempts to banish Peeves in *A History of Hogwarts*, Harry and Morgen confirmed that this creature was actually a poltergeist born from centuries of academic pressure on students. (Some scholars believe that poltergeists, or mischievous spirits, are spirits induced by subconscious behaviors, especially those that are suppressed.)

"We're here looking for the Gold Miner, have you seen her?"

Harry asked quite politely, but this attitude did not win over Peeves, who laughed loudly:

"Look? You're kidding! What's so interesting about that? Don't think I don't know what you all say about her behind her back! Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Poor, sullen, dejected, pimple-covered crying Myrtle!"

With the sound of a toilet flushing, Myrtle flew out of a toilet stall as if she were being humiliated. She covered her ears and screamed like a pig being slaughtered, flying back and forth on the ceiling of the bathroom.

Mischievous Ghost was not about to let this opportunity slip by. He followed behind Myrtle, loudly repeating the adjectives he had just used.

"So pitiful! Sullen and unhappy! Head down and dejected! Face covered in acne!"

Just as Myrtle was about to be chased into the wall by Peeves, Harry quickly and cleverly shouted:

"Blood Man Baro! Pee-Pee is right here! Come quick!"

Peeves, who was usually fearless, suddenly trembled and, without caring whether Harry was lying, hurriedly burrowed underground.

"Wonderful……"

"That's it?"

Ron and Malfoy gave completely different evaluations with contrasting expressions, completely unaware that Myrtle had already circled around behind them.

Are you all here to make fun of me too?

"what!"

The voice of "Hanako-san" from Hogwarts was incredibly powerful; just one sentence was enough to turn Malfoy's face, which he had painstakingly reddened from running, pale with fright. As Malfoy yelled out, Ron immediately mimicked his tone:

"That's it?"

Malfoy:

"Go to hell, Weasley!"

Harry wanted to join in criticizing Malfoy, but his reason told him that now was not the right time.

"Myrtle, hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. May I ask you something about your... um... death?"

"Harry asked."

Myrtle, who was in a resentful state just a second ago, suddenly seemed to change. She coughed twice, making her already sharp voice even sharper.

"Cough cough! This is a terrible problem, oh my, it's terrible."

Myrtle said this, but she looked like an award recipient giving an acceptance speech.

“I died in this very bathroom, I remember it so clearly. A guy named Oliver Humbell mocked me, saying I looked like a four-eyed dog with my glasses, so I hid here. I locked the door, hid inside and cried, when suddenly I heard someone come in. The guy was speaking some really funny language, I thought it was another language, but what annoyed me the most was that he was a boy. I quickly opened the door, wanting to tell him to get lost and go back to the boys' bathroom, and then…”

At this point, Myrtle puffed out her chest even more, and her expression changed from one of "winning an award" to one of honor and pride. She then continued:

"I'm going to die."

Harry, still confused by Myrtle's changing emotions, felt even more bewildered and had no choice but to continue asking:

"Okay, do you remember how you died?"