We found out that Matilda had indeed been moved up to second year in January, as promised. She approached us in the Great Hall one morning to tell us so, and said she was very excited to finally get to grips with work more to her level. She thanked us for the help in proving her superblood status and making the promotion possible.

Harry decided that it was finally time to see if Cedric's advice had any merit, and we agreed that it would also be one of our occasional night time excursions, just to make up for any potential disappointment that may occur in regards to the egg clue. We planned our excursion carefully, because Harry had been caught out of bed and out-of-bounds by Filch the caretaker in the middle of the night once before, and had no desire to repeat the experience. The Invisibility Cloak would, of course, be essential, and as an added precaution, Harry thought we should take the Marauder's Map, which, next to the cloak, was the most useful aid to rule-breaking Harry owned. The map showed the whole of Hogwarts, including its many shortcuts and secret passageways and, most important of all, it revealed the people inside the castle as minuscule, labelled dots, moving around the corridors, so that we would be forewarned if somebody was approaching the bathroom.

On Thursday night, at around 10pm, Harry and I left the common room, with Ron opening the portrait hole, giving us the password "banana fritters" and wishing us good luck as he passed. It was awkward moving under the cloak tonight, because Harry had the heavy egg under one arm and the map held in front of his nose with the other. However, the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, and by checking the map at strategic intervals, we were able to ensure that we wouldn't run into anyone we wanted to avoid. When we reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, Harry located the right door, leaned close to it, and muttered the password, "Pine fresh," just as Cedric had told us.

The door creaked open. We slipped inside, bolted the door behind us, and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around. Our immediate reaction was that it would be worth becoming a prefect just to be able to use this bathroom. It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pool's edges, each with a differently coloured jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board.

"I'm gonna try that out!" I said, and before Harry could stop me, I'd stripped off my clothes, revealing my swimming bra and pants, and ran to the board. I was just about to run and jump when I realised Harry was laughing.

"What?" I asked him, bewildered.

"Ginny, we're supposed to fill the bath up first"

I stared at him, then at the bath, and saw that he was quite right, it was empty, and I was stood there on the diving board in a ridiculous pose. I blushed and chewed my lip, highly embarrassed at my stupidity.

"Ohhhkkkkk that's not one of my better moments" I said slowly, closing my eyes and tilting my head downwards. I sighed and made my way back to Harry who was standing by the taps. "Can you at least agree not to share that with anyone?"

"I wouldn't dream of it"

I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. All I knew was that if Demelza and Amy found out, they'd never let me hear the end of it. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. It fluttered every time she snored.

"I mean, I'm very keen to try out those taps, and this place looks magnificent and all, but I can't see how it's supposed to help with the egg" said Harry.

"Let's just get in to the water and then we'll try and make sense of it" I replied

We knelt down and turned on some of the taps. We could tell at once that they carried different sorts of bubble bath mixed with the water, though it wasn't bubble bath as we had ever experienced it. One tap gushed pink and blue bubbles the size of footballs; another poured ice-white foam so thick that we thought it would have supported our weight if we'd cared to test it; a third sent heavily perfumed purple clouds hovering over the surface of the water. We amused ourselves for a while turning the taps on and off, particularly enjoying the effect of one whose jet bounced off the surface of the water in large arcs. Then, when the deep pool was full of hot water, foam, and bubbles, which took a very short time considering its size, Harry got in, and now I was able to do my proper dive. I did the same thing I had in Egypt, a long run up followed by a flip in mid air, and I landed about three quarters of the way across.

The water was so deep that my feet didn't even touch the bottom, and it came right up to my chin! It was very warm and comfortable though. After I blinked several times to see properly, I saw Harry staring at me, his mouth open.

"Ginny, that was incredible! You'd be able to compete at the Muggle Olympics as an adult if you put your mind to it!"

"Thanks" I said "but I think I'd prefer pro Quidditch"

We did a few lengths, and then I asked Harry "so, any more understanding?"

He shook his head. "I'll try opening the egg"

Harry stretched out his arms, lifted the egg in his wet hands, and opened it. The wailing, screeching sound filled the bathroom, echoing and reverberating off the marble walls, but it sounded just as incomprehensible as ever, if not more so with all the echoes. He snapped it shut again.

"Right, that's it" he said to me "Cedric was defo having me on" Then, making us jump so badly that he dropped the egg, which clattered away across the bathroom floor, someone spoke from behind us.

"I'd try putting it in the water, if I were you."