Chapter 647 The Secret Of The Golden Egg
"Ah!" Ron hurried towards the golden egg, his foot slipped, lost his balance, and fell heavily.
Harry also fell, and Ron fell on top of him. Both accidentally ingesting a considerable amount of bubbles.
They quickly separated, stood up panting and spitting water.
"It's you!" Ron looked up and saw the spirit of a very melancholic girl sitting cross-legged on one of the taps.
It was Moaning Myrtle!
She was a troublesome ghost. She was the first victim when Tom Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets of Slytherin over 50 years ago to release the basilisk snake.
Since then, she was often heard sobbing in the S-bend of a toilet in the out-of-order girls' bathroom.
"It's me!" she said, with a rare mocking smile on her face.
Following her gaze, Harry looked down and saw himself completely naked.
"Myrtle!" he exclaimed indignantly, "How can you be here?! ... We're not wearing anything!"
Under Myrtle's watch, Harry had a very uncomfortable feeling.
The foam was so thick that it covered everything, but he suspected Myrtle had been spying on them from one of the taps since they had arrived and undressed.
"I closed my eyes and saw nothing!" she said, blinking at Harry and Ron through her thick glasses, her eyes fixed on Harry longer. "Speaking of which, it's been a while since you visited me. And where's Evan?"
When they searched for the Chamber of Secrets of Slytherin in the castle the previous year, Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had contact with Myrtle.
Ron, in particular, had to apologize to Myrtle for inappropriate remarks at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party.
It was a nightmare-like memory. When he recalled it, every hair on his body stood on end.
"Only Evan can deal with her!" Ron whispered, approaching Harry. "What are we going to do?"
Harry shook his head, slightly bent his knees, just to make sure Myrtle couldn't see anything but his head.
"Why don't you come to see me, do you hate me?" Myrtle asked, visibly saddened.
"Well..." said Harry. "We're not supposed to go into your bathroom, right? It's a girls' bathroom, and boys aren't allowed in."
"You didn't mind before," Myrtle said sadly. "You used to be there all the time."
"We got in trouble for going in!" said Harry, nudging Ron. What he said was half true. Percy had caught them once coming out of Myrtle's bathroom.
"Yeah... so we thought we better not go back after that," Ron continued. He wrinkled his nose and tried to stay away from Myrtle.
This night was truly terrible. They bathed with the Golden Egg recklessly and encountered Myrtle spying on them.
So perhaps it would be best to admit defeat and go directly to Evan and Hermione for help.
"Oh... I see," said Myrtle, touching a spot on her chin somberly. "But you can still come later. I allow you to come. Yes, you can also call Evan and come see me together!"
Harry and Ron nodded hurriedly and said they would definitely come later. Anyway, Evan would be there, and he was very good at dealing with Moaning Myrtle.
"Anyway... you should try the egg in the water. That's what Cedric Diggory did," said Myrtle.
"Have you been spying on him too?" Harry asked. "What are you doing, lurking here at night to watch the prefects bathe?"
"Sometimes," Myrtle said cunningly. "After all, it's boring being in the bathroom all the time. I need a change, but I've never gone out to talk to anyone before."
"We're honored," Harry said grimly. He and Ron glanced at each other. No one wanted to go out and fetch the golden egg rolling away under Myrtle's watchful eyes.
Finally, Ron had to get up. Who told him to be a Champion, anyway?
"Keep your eyes closed, Myrtle!" he said loudly.
Ron made sure Myrtle's glasses were well covered before leaving the bathroom, wrapping a towel securely around his waist.
Harry blinked and saw Myrtle staring at Ron through her fingers, and she could see everything clearly.
That was terrible. He vowed he would never come back here to bathe again.
Ron ran back with the golden egg, breathing heavily.
Harry pondered it and didn't tell him what Myrtle had just done, especially when he had the egg, the towel slipped off him.
"What should we do now?"
"Open it underwater!"
Ron submerged the egg beneath the foamy surface and opened it.
This time, there were no whimpers. From it emanated a bubbling song, a song whose words they couldn't distinguish through the water.
Harry and Ron looked at each other. So, that was it!
"You need to put your head underwater too," said Myrtle, who seemed to greatly enjoy bossing them around. "Let's go!"
Harry and Ron took a deep breath and slid beneath the surface. They sat on the marble bottom of the bubble-filled tub and heard a chorus of mysterious voices singing to them from the open egg:
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing on the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this,
We have taken what you will bitterly miss,
One hour you will have to seek,
But after an hour... the perspective is bleak,
Too late, it's gone, it won't return."
―What does that mean? –asked Ron, emerging from the bubble-filled bathtub.
―You have to seek out those who cannot use their voices upon the earth! –said Harry, and he followed. ―But, who could it be? Who cannot sing upon the earth?
He shook his hair from his eyes and suddenly had a flash in his mind.
―Ron, do you remember Hermione's speculation this morning? –said Harry quickly. ―What she said when we saw Krum jump into the lake, and Gabrielle said his sister was also going to swim in the lake!
―You mean the lake in front of the castle. ―Ron's face turned pale in disbelief. ―This is impossible!
―Yes, the second task is definitely at the lake, leading you to find what you will bitterly miss.
―Well, that's what Diggory thought –said Myrtle, looking at Harry appreciatively. ―He was there talking to himself for quite some time. Hours and hours... almost all the bubbles had disappeared.
