Chapter 15: Myrtle's Misery
The new term started with rumors spreading abound about Hermione. It got to the point that people were trying to sneak into the hospital wing to see her. For her privacy, Madam Pomfrey kept a curtain around Hermione's bed, only allowing Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hagrid to visit her. She still had fur on her face, but she was improving daily.
"Hermione, why do you insist on doing your homework when you're in the hospital wing?" Neville asked as Harry gave her a stack of homework for the classes she was missing.
"Yeah, if I'd sprouted a tail, I'd refuse to do any homework." Ron replied, reaching for a Chocolate Frog on Hermione's bedside table. "Do you mind if I have one of those?"
Hermione smacked his hand away. "Ron, those are from Lockhart, you don't get any. After all, you didn't send me anything."
Ron gave Harry and Neville a bewildered look as Hermione continued. "Besides, if I didn't do my homework when I was in the hospital wing, I would be dreadfully behind the rest of the class, and I would never catch up. By the way, Harry. Did your mum send you a picture of Autumn?"
"Er, yeah." Harry answered, startled by the abrupt change in the conversation. He reached into his robe pocket and extracted the photograph, passing it to her.
"He's adorable, Harry! I wish I had a baby brother. I only have a little sister, now." Hermione replied, shrugging.
"Wait, what? When did your mum have a baby?!" Ron asked, shocked.
"Oh right, I haven't told you yet!" Hermione's eyes shone with fervor the boys associated with schoolwork. "Mum and Dad met this ten-year-old that was brought into the dental office for a cleaning. She's been bounced around the system because, well, she's a witch, and of course the Muggle foster parents didn't understand her. I asked Dumbledore and he says that magical abilities start appearing about the time she started having trouble finding a placement."
"What in the bloody hell is a foster system?" Ron asked, bewildered. "Never heard of such rubbish."
"If a Muggle child doesn't have parents for some reason, they are put in the system that helps them find a family." Hermione explained. "I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't found someone that understood her."
"What's her name?" Harry asked, sitting down beside her bed. "Is she going to start Hogwarts next year?"
"Her name is Callie and she will get her letter next year. It'll be amazing to have a protégé who actually will listen to me." Hermione gave the two boys a look, which made them exchange guilty looks. "Anyway, onto the Chamber of Secrets. Do you have any new leads?"
"Nothing really, all we found out was Malfoy isn't the Heir of Slytherin and the chamber was open fifty years ago."
"Fifty years ago? That must mean that his dad opened it!" Hermione said, excitedly. "Keep looking into it, we need to make sure that it doesn't open again."
Madam Pomfrey entered the hospital wing from her office just then, looking irritated. "Miss Granger needs her rest. Move along, boys."
Harry, Neville, and Ron left the hospital wing in a hurry, slowing down as a noise came from the floor above. "Is that Filch?" Harry asked, looking at the other two.
"He sounds furious, should we look into what's going on?" Neville asked, anxiously.
"If something happened, we should go see what it is." Harry pointed out.
"We don't want to cause any more problems though. People are already saying you're the Heir of Slytherin." Ron pointed out, casting Neville a nervous look.
"Don't remind me," Neville muttered, leading the way up the stairs.
As they reached the corridor with Myrtle's bathroom on it, they heard Filch's muttering fade away. They caught snatches of what he was complaining about. "Someone flooded the corridor?" Harry asked, exchanging glances with the other two. "We better go check it out."
The three boys hurried to the bathroom and found the corridor floor covered with at least an inch of water. "Ugh, Myrtle must have flooded the corridor again." Ron groaned, making a disgusted face.
"We should go find out what's bothering her," Neville suggested, moving toward the door to the girls' bathroom. The other two boys followed.
Myrtle was floating several inches off the water-soaked floor, sobbing transparent tears. "Have you come to throw something at me, too?" She asked, miserably.
"No, of course not. Who threw something at you?" Harry asked, frowning.
"I don't know who it was. I was in my usual U-bend, thinking about death, and a book sailed through my head." Myrtle answered, sniffling.
"A book? Where did it land?" Neville asked, looking around.
"I think it landed over there." Myrtle pointed to a corner of the bathroom.
Neville approached the small black book lying on the flooded floor, but before he touched it, Ron called out in alarm, "Don't touch it, it could be dangerous! My dad told me about the Dark artifacts that are awful. They're disguised as ordinary objects."
"It looks like an ordinary book to me." Harry reasoned. "What harm could it do?"
Neville picked up the book and opened it. He found an address and date fifty years prior, along with the name "Tom M. Riddle". "Tom Riddle, who is that?" he asked, looking at the other two.
"I've heard that name before. He got a Special Services to the School Award like fifty years ago. I remember because it's the one I kept belching slugs on during detention. If you have to clean something a dozen times, you'll remember what it looks like, trust me."
"I still say it's a bad idea." Ron said, nervously.
Neville ignored him, pocketing the book.
Hermione returned from the hospital wing at the beginning of February. At the first chance, Neville showed her the book to get her opinon. "You found this in Myrtle's bathroom?" She asked, skeptically, as she turned the pages.
"Yeah, someone threw it away and it sailed through Myrtle. What do you reckon?"
"This Tom Riddle was a Muggle-born, I bet," Hermione answered, spotting the address. "He would have only visited Vauxhall Road if he was."
"But it's completely blank." Harry pointed out.
"Maybe not." Hermione said at once, reaching into her bag. She pulled out her wand and an item that looked like an eraser. After several attempts to wrench a response out of the book, she sighed, handing the book back. "It might just be blank."
"Guess we'll never know." Neville sighed, pocketing the book again.
Neville couldn't find a reason to throw the book away, despite it being blank. He found himself perusing it when he had a chance, but the book remained a secret. Valentine's day arrived with everyone's mood lightening considerably, until they saw the nauseatingly pink decorations Lockhart had set up for the occasion. "I have a special surprise, everyone. I am sending around cupids to give your Valentine to that special someone! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!" Lockhart cried, beaming at everyone.
"Fat chance." Fred and George muttered together, making Harry, Neville, and Ron snigger in response.
As Neville, Ron, Harry, and Hermione headed upstairs to their first class of the day, a cupid blocked them on the stairs. "I have a singing valentine for you, Potter." He growled.
"I have to get to class." Harry moved to get passed him, but the cupid tripped him, sending him sprawling. Unfortunately, he tried to catch himself on Neville, who was nearby and ripped Neville's bulging school bag. Books, ink bottles, and quills scattered all over the stairs, splattering everything with ink.
Burning with humiliation, Harry was forced to hear the valentine and got to his feet afterward, avoiding looking at anyone. He helped Neville pick up the contents of the book and headed off to class. It was only after he had taken the chance to look at the Riddle book that he realized that despite being soaked in ink, there was not a drop on the pages. "What the-?" Neville wondered, confused. He shook his head, having no time to look into it further.
That night, Neville sat in bed after everyone was asleep, flipping through the pages of the book. Curious, he took out a quill and a bottle of ink and wrote "My name is Neville Longbottom" on the first page.
The words disappeared quickly, replaced by the words "Hello, Neville. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come across my diary?"
Neville hastily wrote back "Someone tossed it in the girls' bathroom at Hogwarts. Some weird things are happening here and I am afraid it's the same as it was fifty years ago. People are being attacked and the Heir of Slytherin is being accused. Do you know about the Chamber of Secrets."
The reply was quick and hastily written "Of course I know about the Chamber of Secrets. It was opened in my fifth year, and a girl died. I caught the person who did it and he was expelled. But knew that it was only a matter of time before it happened again. The monster still lives. I can show you what happened if you wish."
Neville hastily wrote back "Show me."
The pages blew suddenly as if they were caught in a gust of wind until it reached halfway through June. A little black box appeared on the page, widening until Neville was sucked in. All went black.