The dress Olive wore to her brother's wedding was hideous. Hermione grinned at the thought of Olive having to wear the ugly puce colored, extremely outdated evening gown. Hermione heard a chuckle filled with mirth from close by and she glanced over to see Moaning Myrtle sliding into the dressing room. At the look of delight on Myrtle's face when she saw Olive in the ugly dress Hermione knew she obviously wasn't the only one who thought the dress was dreadful.
The day after Olive burnt down Myrtle's possessions the conniving girl packed her bags and went to stay with her brother in London. Everyone attending the ceremony had located to a sprawling mansion located on the edge of the city for the indoor event.
The estate belonged to Olive Hornby's older brother and after listening to a conversation between two older Muggles a couple of hours earlier, Hermione felt uneasy over what she had heard.
One lady wore a black wide brimmed hat and an orange flowery dress while the woman's friend wore a puff tented dress which was anything but flattering. The friend also had a wide brimmed hat but this one was edged with lace and yellow in color. The two elderly women looked as if they were in the mood to gossip and normally Hermione wouldn't care to listen. But since she heard the Hornby's name mentioned she thought she might get some viable information from the conversation so she clued in.
"You know I found out that Mrs. Hornby has certain ties with the Wizarding world," the friend was saying.
The chubby lady with the black wide brimmed hat made an expression of surprise as she said to her friend, "I thought they might be into all of that magical nonsense but I wasn't certain. How did you find out about Mrs. Hornby?"
"Well a friend of mine knows Mrs. Hornby and I am actually attending this wedding today to support my dear friend. This friend of mine used to come and visit me and kept me company when we were neighbors a several years ago. But she said that Mrs. Hornby has some inner connections in the Wizarding world and I should befriend the woman so I could share the benefits of these connections just in case of-"
"In case of what, exactly?" The chubby lady with the black wide brimmed hat was still wide eyed and listening to her friends every word; at this point, Hermione was doing the same.
"Well," the friend shrugged and brushed off the dramatics of the conversation with a disregarding sniff as she said, "never mind. I'm sure I won't need to get mixed up with any of that magical stuff anyway."
"Oh, not at all," the lady nodded agreeably. She added on a second note, "However you might want to take your friends advice and get to know this Mrs. Hornby since you never know if you need to get bailed out of a messy magical situation."
"True," acknowledged the lady with another nod and a grim smile. She added somewhat disheartened at the thought, "Though I despise making new friends, I'm not certain I'll need to find a way to get to know this particular woman in order to get the connections in the Wizarding world I am looking for."
"Why won't you need to make friends with Mrs. Hornby, Lucinda?"
"Why?" the lady with the black wide brimmed hat named Lucinda tossed a knowing look to her friend, "Because I already know the daughter, Olive Hornby, that's why. She is the friend I am showing my support for, today."
Hermione did not need to listen to the rest of the conversation since she'd heard enough. She looked over her shoulder to see that Moaning Myrtle had vacated the dressing room and she'd abandoned an oblivious Olive as well. It seemed that Olive could only see Myrtle's ghostly form whenever Myrtle wanted Olive to see her, and not until then.
Moaning Myrtle had made herself appear invisible to Olive Hornby and all others. Hermione asked the curious question out loud even though she knew nobody could possibly hear her, "Why would Myrtle want to appear invisible?" And then a second thought came to Hermione and she added, "What could she possibly gain from not being seen by anyone?" Hermione sighed and felt like she was about to find out the reason for Myrtle's mysterious actions very soon.