"Oculus Reparo," Hermione watched as Myrtle fixed her own glasses while she walked down the hall alone to head toward her next class.
Hermione had entered Myrtle's third memory a little more gracefully than she had the past two. At least this time, she had landed on her feet without hitting the floor, or scraping her cheek on a student's desk.
Following Myrtle down the hall at Hogwarts was not exactly an easy task. Myrtle liked to sing to herself and she constantly turned directions in the hallway as if she were trying to change her mind about where she was headed.
Myrtle's voice had a surprisingly pretty quality to it and Hermione found herself listening avidly to the words, "Double, double, toil and trouble. Something wicked this way comes…Something wicked this way comes…"
Hermione felt the thin hairs on the back of her neck stand on end when she looked forward and spotted Olive heading down the hallway from the opposite direction.
Hearing Moaning Myrtle's gasp of fear, Hermione realized she'd spotted Olive as well. Turning hastily in order to avoid Olive, Moaning Myrtle made a quick escape into the girl's Lavatory on the second floor.
The meaning of the last part of the eerie song that Myrtle had just been singing hit home for Hermione. When she watched Moaning Myrtle enter the girl's bathroom, she suddenly knew the reason why she'd felt such fear. Moaning Myrtle had escaped the clutches of her enemy Olive Hornby, but Olive wasn't exactly the wicked nemesis Hermione was worried about.
She felt the nausea in her stomach rise up in her throat at the terrible thought as she realized that Moaning Myrtle was about to die and Hermione was going to be there to see it.
After Myrtle had eluded Olive Hornby and disappeared into the girl's Lavatory, Hermione had grudgingly followed her. Then something unexpected happened.
When Myrtle went into one of the old stalls to cry, Hermione felt an invisible pull that controlled her movements and urged her to stand next to her friend in the stall. When Hermione tried to take a couple of steps away from her sobbing friend, a magical force stopped her from completing the task. She suspected that Dumbledore might have cast a magical spell which kept Hermione from moving away from Moaning Myrtle. Protection from harm was the only reason why Hermione thought Dumbledore would place any kind of barrier around her. Hermione wasn't certain, but maybe he who must not be named could actually hurt an innocent witness in someone else's memory. Either way, Hermione was grateful for the supportive spell.
Myrtle reached over and locked the stall door and sat down on the closed lid of the toilet and began to cry again. Hermione looked with sympathy at the poor girl and wondered why no one had thought to befriend her? Maybe if someone had ventured to do so, then Myrtle could have been spared such a terrible fate?
Raspy words were spoken not a few moments later, on the other side of the bathroom stall and Hermione thought their words might be in Parslemouth, Snake language. It was unusual for Hermione not to be able to interpret something, but the words of the snake language she could not understand.
The voices continued to speak in raspy undertones and Hermione heard Myrtle gasp when she realized that she was not alone. Moaning Myrtle reached over to unlock the door and started to speak when the Basilisk stopped her. A pair of yellow eyes stared at Moaning Myrtle and Moaning Myrtle stared back with fright.
Standing behind the magical barrier which prevented Hermione from being consumed by the creature's wicked power. She watched with horror as Moaning Myrtle shivered uncontrollably. Myrtle stared at the creature and her body seized, suddenly frozen solid.
Then Moaning Myrtle's body floated in mid-air as if she was being controlled by someone, and she landed just outside the door of the open stall.
Hermione was only afforded a few steps and she took them hesitantly. Moving toward Moaning Myrtle, Hermione felt Dumbledore's protective magic surround her as she gazed upon the one who was feared by all in the magical realm.
Tom Riddle gazed down at Moaning Myrtle with unfeeling eyes and muttered darkly, "Filthy Mudblood."
Hermione watched the scene and she cringed inwardly as Tom Riddle prepared to take from Moaning Myrtle, what would be the first of his seven horcruxes to come.