[2] Diverging Paths: Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and the Chamber of Secrets

12: misrepresented love

Hermione was admitted to the Hospital Wing the very next morning. When the three boys had dropped her off, they scrambled to tell some lie about a hex causing her to turn into a cat person - anything but the truth. They all visited her regularly, bringing her homework and occasionally sweets leftover from dinner. They were on their way back to Gryffindor Tower from the Hospital Wing when they overheard Filch in the next hall over.

"Can't believe they've done it again, the stupid kids! Flooding the hallways and making me clean it all up - I've just about had it with this school..."

As quietly as they could, they peaked around the corner to find Filch disappearing around the bend at the other end of the hall. They were near the first-floor girls' bathroom - the water looked like it was coming from there again. Quickly, so as to be out of sight before Filch came back, they opened the door to the bathroom and slipped inside.

It was, in fact, Moaning Myrtle who had flooded the halls. All of the sinks were running and their drains were all clogged, making the water overflow onto the floor and drain out the door. Many of the toilets were also overflowing, much to Percy's disgust. Myrtle herself was sitting in a window, crying loud and obnoxious ghostly tears. She looked up at the sound of their splashing footsteps approaching.

"Come to throw another book at me, have you?" They stopped.

"Why would we throw books at you, Myrtle?" Harry asked. Percy could tell he was doing his best to actually sound genuinely concerned.

Myrtle floated up from where she was perched in the window, still above their heads. "Oh, I don't know. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, when all of a sudden a book fell through the top of my head," she whimpered. She pointed down at the floor.

The book that had fallen through Myrtle's head wasn't anything special, really. It was made of black leather and it was sopping wet. The year was stamped on the top right corner of the cover, telling them that the book was fifty years old. When Harry flipped through the pages, Percy and Ron leaning over his shoulders, they saw that they were all blank. Except for the very first page. Written in smudged ink was the name "T.M. Riddle".

"A diary?" Percy said, raising his eyebrows at it.

"Who's 'T.M. Riddle'?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I know him!" Ron said. "I polished his trophy during detention about fifty times - he won an award for doing special services to the school, or something." Then he turned to Myrtle, who was about to disappear back down her toilet. "Hold on, Myrtle. How come you're so upset that a book was thrown at you? I mean, it's not as if it hurt, did it? It would have just gone straight through."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say. Suddenly angry, Myrtle swooped down to hover directly in front of Ron. "Let's all throw books at Myrtle, shall we? Ten points if you get one through her stomach!" She punched Ron's stomach, her fist going straight through. Ron winced; the feeling of passing through a ghost was not a pleasant one. "And fifty points if it goes through her head!" With a final punch at Ron's head, she flew back over to her toilet and disappeared with a splash.

****

Hermione got out of the Hospital Wing several weeks later, completely fur-free thanks to Madam Pomfrey. As soon as she arrived in the Gryffindor common room, Harry pulled her aside over to Percy and Ron to show her the diary. Ron was adamant that she check it over for dark magic, because "you never know with things like this. You could write in it and then turn into a fish because it's hexed you or something."

It didn't take Hermione that long to completely look over it. "I can't find anything necessarily evil about it, but I still wouldn't write in it, just to be safe." Either Harry didn't hear her or he chose not to listen.