A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Word count: 620
Ginny wanted to run away, to disappear. She wanted the ground to swallow her up whole, to vanish without a trace. It was bad enough she was a Weasley, bad enough she'd shown up with second hand books and robes, now, now they all knew about her, about how she'd been the one killing the chickens, the one opening the chamber. How could she even begin to face the world?
"I'm not evil," she stated, looking at her reflection in the mirror. "I'm not! I didn't want to do those things."
"We all things we don't want to. I mean, I didn't want to die, I didn't want to be tormented," a voice replied. Ginny turned and sighed in relief. For a moment she'd thought someone had sneaked in, someone had seen her talking to herself. She was already starting to doubt her sanity.
"Myrtle. I didn't realize you were here."
"Where else would I be? I mean, this is my toilet, the place I'm stuck spending eternity."
"You could have been down watching the squid, and don't tell me you can't get into the lake. I know I've seen you there," Ginny countered before the ghost girl even had a chance to open her mouth.
"Fine, I do like watching the squid, like thinking about its long tentacles and where it could be putting them."
"You're leading me on, trying to make me blush, not going to work," Ginny laughed. "You really think I'm that innocent?"
"No, but it is fun to tease, maybe that's why Olive did it so much, only she crossed the line," Myrtle growled.
"They're all talking about me, about what I did. I mean, it was supposed to be kept quiet, but-"
"Things that never happen at Hogwarts, yes. You know what you should do?"
"What?"
"Give them what they want, be the evil little witch they think you are, threaten to turn someone into a newt. You could even actually turn someone into a newt?"
"Not yet, you don't learn that until later, I'm only a first year, we're still learning the basics of transfiguration."
"The boring parts then. You know what you need?"
"What?" Ginny asked, blinking in confusion.
"A signature move, something that you can do perfectly, something they're all scared of. Maybe...something with snakes?"
"Because of the stupid chamber?" Ginny asked, rolling her eyes. She was so done with snakes at this point. There had to be something else, something just as scary as the legless reptiles.
"Exactly! I mean, you don't have to be evil, just let them think you are, show them that you mean business, that you don't care what they think. After you hex the first one or two, they'll stop talking," Myrtle said, giving Ginny a shrug.
"I don't know if you're giving good advice or if I am evil, but I like it, maybe, there was a hex I saw in one of my books, turns your boogers into bats," Ginny said, a slightly crooked smile forming on her pale face. Myrtle was right, she couldn't let them get to her.
"Terrifying! You should learn it, use it to show them that you don't care about them. You're going to be something impressive, you know that? After everything you did, been through, you're going to be impressive, just don't forget who gave the advice when you are," Myrtle stated, giving Ginny a look before sinking back into her toilet. Ginny looked at her reflection in the mirror, no longer seeing a scared little girl, a person haunted by what they'd done, no, she saw someone else, someone who was about to take the world into her own little hands and turn it upside down.