Chapter 87: Moaning Myrtle
“Hoshiko? Are you up here?” Padma called softly from the doorway to the observation deck.
“Over here, miss,” Ailiena, the gray mare who’d become a friend called softly. “She’s still asleep.”
“I don’t understand. What’s she doing up here… and why’s she in pony mode?” She said as she went over to the pair.
“I think there’s something in the school. I can’t say what, but it had us all on edge. Transforming herself and coming to me must have seemed the right thing to do.”
“Well, I hope you don’t mind me waking her up.”
“Miss Patil, there you are…” Miss Clearwater the girl’s prefect called as she emerged from the door. Her eyes widened on seeing Padma gently shaking a foal. “Miss Patil, maybe you shouldn't be doing that?”
“I’m awake…” Hoshiko protested.
“Good, people are worried about you. We can talk about what had you so worked up to abandon your friends later.”
“I’m sorry,” Hoshiko transformed and then sat up. She was still in her night clothes.
“Miss Tsuki?” Penelope Clearwater’s jaw hung slack.
“Good morning Miss Clearwater.”
“What in Merlin’s beard?”
“She’s Akkadian,” Padma offered. “Something frightened her and she came up here to cuddle with the ponies.”
“We’d all had a feeling, as though something sinister was prowling down below,” Ailiena explained.
“You can talk?” Penelope asked in astonishment.
“We are not dumb. Some of us can even transform.” And to prove herself she transformed into a mature witch, her clothing a bit out of fashion but still had the appearance of being new.
“But, I don’t understand?”
“Trust me, living as ponies is a lot easier. It’s a simple life.”
“I see...”
“Come on downstairs, let’s get you cleaned up,” Padma offered.
“One moment…” Offered a Night Mare from the veranda entryway. She transformed into the likeness of a young Selena, walked over to Hoshiko, pulled out a moon pendant, and hung it about Hoshiko’s neck. “We heard. My mistress, Mrs Silverwood wanted me to keep an eye on you.”
“It wasn’t just me having a bad dream then.”
“No, we are afraid not.”
“Any chance you can turn into a fox?”
“You’d like Miss Kitsu by your side I’m assuming. Afraid she’s attending the Equis school in the Caribbean.”
“Sorry, no offense. I just kind of grew accustomed to having her around. She made me feel safe.”
“Trust me. You will be safe in my care.”
“Yes, I’ve no doubt. Thank you. Um… any chance you can shrink yourself down while we are inside? No offense. Aerie’s Moonie seems to like being a cat.”
“Perhaps you’d like filly fun size or plush Luna?”
“I think either would be in danger of getting the stuffing hugged out of them by my roommates.”
“Ah, yes, I’d forgotten about that issue. Alright then…” And then to Hoshiko’s delight, Selena transformed into a little black fox. “Will this do? You did want a fox. Make it easier to tell me apart from Aerie’s Moonie.”
“Would you mind being called Aki?”
“Aki?”
“It means shadow.”
“It’s acceptable, given I’ll be your shadow.”
“Any chance you can tell me what’s going on?” Penelope asked as the four made their way to the door.
“About all I can tell you is that someone evoked some powerful dark magic last night,” Aki the fox offered. “We felt it all the way to Silverwood.”
Hoshiko was headed down to breakfast a short time later, cleaned up and dressed.
“Hoshiko,” Aerie called seeing her approach. The little black fox was a bit of a surprise. “Ah, a new friend? How are you?”
“I’m good listen, did something happen last night?”
“Her room was filled with ponies,” Hermione cut in. “Why no one got bit is beyond me.”
“Some of us are just good with ponies,” Hoshiko countered figuring she’d have some idea what had happened.
“We’re all good,” Aerie offered. “Midnight?”
“Midnight. Any idea what it was?”
“I’ve an idea. Mind joining us after breakfast? Aurora and I are going to go talk with Professor Dumbledore.”
“I think I should. My new friend is Mrs Silverwood’s, and she’s going to be my Aki for the time being.”
“Ah… no Kitsu then?”
“She’s in school. Though to be honest I wouldn't mind having her and her little shadow as well. You, um, don’t have any idea what’s going on do you?”
“You already asked if I know.”
“Sorry, what I experienced last night has me shaken.”
“I understand. It’s just that if I were to openly speculate it could cause more harm than good. All I can say is someone used some really dark magic last night and it upset all the ponies.”
“Alright, I understand,” Hoshiko replied realizing that that moment was probably a bad time to discuss anything. After all, Aerie only let slip certain secrets as was necessary to distract people from things she didn’t want them to know.
When Hoshiko saw Professor McGonagall collect Aerie and Aurora she broke away from her friends and went to join.
“Miss Tsuki, can I help you with… where did that animal come from?” Professor McGonagall said on seeing her and her new friend.
“That’s Mrs Silverwood’s Night Mare,” Aerie informed her.
“She’s on loan,” Hoshiko informed the professor. “Because of what happened last night. I’d taken a fright and spent the night with the ponies on the observation deck. I’ll be addressing her as Aki. Aerie…”
“I thought Hoshiko should join us,” Aerie cut in. “Even more so considering her guard.”
“Very well then, come along.”
So the three girls followed Professor McGonagall as she led them to the Head Master’s tower.
“Miss Tsuki?” Dumbledore said as they filed in. “A new pet? Ah…”
“I’m terribly sorry. Just call me Silvermoon. Aki while I’m a fox as Hoshiko seems fond of the name,” Mrs Silverwood’s Moonie offered moments after taking on human form. “I’m afraid that your present state of affairs is my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” Aerie countered.
“My mistress wanted to go down into the depths to find that thing when it got away but I wouldn't let her. After that, we destroyed its eggs and did our best to seal up all the entrances. Even so, if we’d gone after it... well, we had rescued one pegasus egg it had been saving. We simply couldn't go after it.”
“Fair enough,” Aerie countered. “But... that creature would have stayed down there if not for someone using dark magic to summon it, and likely breaking your seal in the process.”
“Am I to assume the item you were looking for is here?” Professor Dumbledore asked as Professor McGonagall closed the door behind them.
“It’s a fair bet,” Aerie offered as her Moonie took on human form and then addressed the professors.
“I think that between my counterpart and myself, we can keep Slytherin’s monster at bay.”
“There is one issue,” Aurora interjected. “It doesn’t show in the wards.”
“I woke her up last night,” Aerie offered. “Part of the reason we brought Hoshiko along. She had a similar reaction to me, and our four girls from Akkadia also reacted. And I’d no idea they could transform yet. That’s how we ended up with the pony pile.”
“Hagrid let me know that many of the animals in the barns and pens had a fright last night as well,” Dumbledore added with a nod of his head. “Curious how you all seem to have such an acute fifth sense.”
“I didn’t react to the dark magic. Aerie thinks that my connection to the Wards gave me a false sense of safety.” Aurora thought for a moment and turned to Hoshiko. “Hoshiko, you don’t have a connection to the wards?”
“If I do I’m unaware of it.”
“She counts as a princess too, I gather?” Professor McGonagall asked.
“It works on a seniority basis,” Dumbledore explained. “When I go somewhere I have to do a handoff.”
“Makes sense to me,” Aerie offered. “Might help if we can figure out why it doesn’t show.”
“My guess is that Salazar Slytherin added an exception that would mask the creature. Show it as harmless,” Dumbledore suggested. “Fixing it would require locating the ancient device the wards are dependent on, and that is somewhere under the castle. And it’s extremely dangerous down there. I haven't been down there myself, but others have. And trust me, based on what I know, it’s not a good idea to go down there. Not even for you, Miss Potter.”
“What exactly are we talking about?” Aerie asked.
“Statues that come to life protecting special areas that will do their best to kill anyone who wanders down there along with giant spiders.”
“And one Hollywood-sized Basilisk it would seem,” Moonie stated sarcastically.
“I tried exploring as far as I could go when Nova was attending school here,” Silvermoon informed everyone. “Professor Dumbledore’s not wrong. It’s why I wouldn't let her go down there.”
“Why would they have something like that under the school?” Hoshiko asked in astonishment. Rumors about the Library in her home school withstanding she found it rather odd that such things might be true.
“Think of it as an obstacle course for advanced students who want to push the limits of their abilities,” Professor Dumbledore replied. “A rather bad idea considering how Riddle turned out.”
“Why would there be giant spiders down there? I thought Mrs Silverwood killed Hagrid’s beasts?” Aerie asked. “And what stops them from coming up into the school?”
“Well, someone would have to let them out I’d imagine. Anyway, that’s the rumor, and they’d predate Hagrid. There are said to be trolls down there too. At least that’s the rumor.”
“Lovely. Why don’t we just send Lockhart down there,” Professor McGonagall suggested sarcastically. “He seems to know his way around the dark arts.”
“Professor, have you read his books?” Hoshiko asked not having caught the sarcastic tone.
“Whatever do you mean?”
“His books are oddly lacking in detail when it comes to the actual Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
“Afraid he’s all I could get,” Dumbledore admitted. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. His books give a good overview of creatures and where they are likely to be found.”
“So what you are saying is that we aren’t likely to be able to count on him if things should spiral out of control,” Professor McGonagall quipped.
“It’s entirely possible. Minerva, let’s be realistic, if he was as confident as he claims why would he be selling books for a living instead of working as an Auror?”
The good thing is we know the item is here,” Aerie offered.
“Mind telling me what it is?” McGonagall asked. “This mysterious source of dark magic.”
“A diary,” Dumbledore informed her. “We find it, and we destroy it. Simple as that. I suspect that you will know it when you encounter it.”
“We also need to be cautious not to tip off whoever has it,” Aerie cautioned. “Sooner or later they’ll sneak out again. We just have to find out who they are.”
When the meeting had finished, Aerie wanted to run down to the second-floor girl’s toilet.
“Myrtle, are you here?” Aerie called as she entered the bathroom.
“Well, it’s not flooded, Aurora reported quietly as the two made their way further into the expansive lavatory.
“Myrtle?”
“What do you want?!” Myrtle shot back tersely. A moment later she passed through the door of one of the toilet stalls.
“To see you.”
“To see me? To see me?! See right through me perhaps? Or were you going to pretend to actually care about poor Moaning Myrtle by asking you how I am? Well, I’m dead!”
“And yet you can’t pass on.”
“Pass on? Pass on?”
“Boop.” Aerie had reached out and touched the end of Myrtle’s nose, and Myrtle having actually felt it froze in place and was now staring cross-eyed at her nose.
“Professor Bins finally passed on last year,” Aurora pointed out.
“Myrtle, being stuck as a ghost isn’t natural. And I do visit you from time to time.”
“Off enjoying your life, is it?” Myrtle asked derisively. She seemed to have recovered… mostly.
“Well, you can’t expect me to hang out with you all the time, and we’d summer break. Even if I wanted to hang out, I’m pretty sure the adults wouldn't let me.”
“I suppose that’s fair enough. What do you want.”
“To help you.”
“Help me?”
“To be honest, I have a project, and I’ve got a hunch that by completing my task, I might be able to help you in the process.”
“And why would you want to help poor Moaning Myrtle?”
“I want to put an end to the person who killed you. I suspect that your being stuck here may have something to do with that.”
“Do you remember how you died?” Aurora asked.
“No, not really, per se… no one’s ever asked before.”
“We kind of already know, and it wasn’t Hagrid’s spider.”
“Hagrid would never. Neither would Aragog. They were my friends.” She paused a moment, Aerie and Aurora giving her time even though the revelation was not something they expected to hear. “Hagrid was the only one who was ever really nice to me.”
“Myrtle, would you like a hug?” Aerie asked kindly enough.
Myrtle looked at her suspiciously, but then she moved in close enough for Aerie to reach out.
“I… I don’t… how?” Myrtle asked softly as she felt Aerie’s arms wrap around her.
“We’re going to fix this,” Aerie offered softly.
“I don’t understand,” Myrtle choked out.
“Have you heard any rumors about me being some kind of goddess?”
“Maybe…”
“They’re not far off the mark. Except…”
“Except what?”
“Being able to interact with ghosts is pegasus magic,” Aurora offered.
“Pegasus?”
“Pegasus,” Aurora replied with a big smile and then transformed. To prove her point she nuzzled Myrtle, who in turn looked at Aurora in utter disbelief. Aerie let go as Myrtle dropped down to give the pony a hug.
A gentle rain began to fall inside the bathroom as tears flowed from Myrtle's eyes.
“Myrtle, we need to verify how you died,” Aerie said softly.
“I…” Myrtle took a minute or two before continuing. “I don’t really remember much. I was here, crying. Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I’d hidden here to get away from her. I heard someone. A boy.”
“Did you recognize the voice?” Aerie asked.
“It wasn’t normal speech. He was making hissing sounds… I did recognize the boy, it was the Slytherin Prefect Tom Riddle. A horrid Skilamalink he was.”
“A what?” Aurora asked.
“A right twit,” Aerie suggested.
“That too. Just about every bad word you can imagine to describe a horrible person. He delighted in tormenting me. He’d torment just about anyone he thought was beneath him. And he’d no business being in the girl’s bathroom.” Myrtle rose up to her feet. Well, if she had feet. “I was going to tell him off and tell one of the professors that he was lurking in girl’s bathrooms.” Her moment of anger flashed and vanished just as quickly. “I opened the door to the stall I was in, stepped out…” Her voice grew quiet. “Suddenly I’m looking at a pair of gold eyes with slotted pupils like a cat’s eye in the sun. I couldn't look away. I couldn't breathe… The next thing I knew I was floating up to the ceiling looking down at them, him and that... and some poor girl who’d fainted. Only later did I realize it was my body.
“Was it a large serpent?” Aerie asked.
“He kissed her… me, he kissed me,” Myrtle stated angrily now caught up in the memory.
“Kissed you?” Aurora asked as she transformed back to her human self.
“The first time he split off a piece of his soul,” Aerie offered. “And I suspect that there may be a little of Myrtle tucked away in that diary.”
“Diary?” Myrtle asked astonished. “Yes, he had a book. It was a diary? Tom Riddle, Slytherin's finest kept a diary?”
“We need that book. We have to destroy it. There’s something he did, something even more horrible than killing you, and getting that book will help,” Aerie informed her.
“Myrtle,” Aurora began. “There’s someone in the school who is continuing Riddle’s work. If we can get the book we will be one step closer to ending him once and for all.”
“But what can I do? The fountain for washing hands, that’s the entrance and the beast… it was some kind of serpent. It barely fits through the opening and it’s a big opening. If someone is controlling that they have to be stopped.”
“He, or she, will undoubtedly come here to gawk at you,” Aerie offered.
“Great, that describes half the school. The other half act like I’m not even there.”
“The school is full of ghosts. Witches and wizards kind of tune you out. Just like how they tune out pictures.”
“Oh, I know, I can ask the painted people if they’ve seen anyone acting suspicious,” Myrtle offered. “I like hanging out in paintings… I get to be… me, in the paintings.”
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In the books nobody ever really paid attention to the ghost more than they had to. Myrtle was only asked because Hermione had figured out most of it to begin with.
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To Aerie, ghosts are just a different kind of people. And yes, in the books the ghost were little more than plot monkeys.
11839911
Well she read the books and she not as dumb as most people
i agree she would have seen the hole thing.
a interesting chapter.. someone is going to need to get to the wards keystone and do a master reset on it soon.