Chapter 128: Let Me Check If You Are Developing Normally  

"You said we'd raise it together, but you just let it go to school by itself?!" 

Lynn knew she was in the wrong and didn't argue back.

After returning to Hogwarts castle, Lynn started her alchemy experiments in the dorm room, while Irina went to find Harry and Ron to learn what had happened at Hogwarts in the three or four days she was gone.

From Harry, Irina learned that on Christmas Day, they had used the Polyjuice Potion brewed by Hermione to sneak into the Slytherin common room and try to get information from Malfoy.

However, Hermione had accidentally taken a Polyjuice Potion containing cat hair, transforming her into a cat-girl and landing her in the hospital wing.

Upon hearing this, Irina immediately ran to the hospital wing to visit her best friend, though her wide grin made Harry and Ron feel slightly unsettled.

Arriving at the hospital wing, Irina took the opportunity when Madam Pomfrey was away to slip behind the curtain around Hermione's bed.

"Ah...Irina, you're back?" 

Spotting the curtain being drawn back, Hermione instinctively shrieked and hid under the covers. After seeing it was Irina, she peeked out, looking puzzled as she asked.

Irina giggled mischievously. "I came back early to keep you company. Aren't you happy? Ooh, how cute, let me touch them!"

Irina crawled onto Hermione's bed, fondling the cat ears protruding from Hermione's head while nuzzling her furry face.

After Irina's antics, Hermione's face was completely flushed as she struggled to push the girl off.

"Hey, what are you doing, Irina?!"

Finding herself unable to break free, Hermione could only glare angrily at her friend.

Irina grinned cheekily. "Oh come on, Hermione. Let me check if you're developing normally..."

Just as Irina was about to escalate further, the curtain parted again to reveal a stern-faced Madam Pomfrey.

"Out, Ms. Lowell. The patient needs rest!"

Madam Pomfrey shouted, shooing Irina out of the hospital wing.

Originally intending to snuggle the cat-eared Hermione, Irina had to slink away dejectedly. Though a bit resentful, she understood Madam Pomfrey was right - she needed to let Hermione rest for a full recovery.

Over a week later, the Christmas holidays ended and the students who had gone home gradually returned to Hogwarts.

One day after the new term started, Irina, Harry and Ron visited Hermione again in the hospital wing. 

As they were leaving, they heard the furious shouts of Filch from upstairs.

"It's Filch!" Harry whispered, taking the lead and dashing up the stairs in two or three strides before hiding around the corner to listen.

Ron nervously said, "You don't think there's been another attack by the Basilisk, do you?!"

Beside them, Irina shook her head. "Impossible. If there really was another attack, Filch wouldn't sound angry, he'd sound afraid."

Soon, the voice came again.

"Blasted beast, making more mess for me! Scrubbing floors all night and still not done. Intolerable, I'm going to Dumbledore..."

Filch's footsteps faded away, followed by the distant sound of a door slamming shut.

Irina and the others peeked around the corner to the spot where Mrs. Norris had been attacked previously. A large puddle covered half the corridor, water still seeping out from under the door to the bathroom where Moaning Myrtle resided.

With Filch no longer shouting, Irina could hear Myrtle's wails echoing through the bathroom walls.

"What's up with her this time?" Ron said, puzzled.

Harry pondered for a moment. "Let's go see."

So the three hiked up their robes and waded through the spreading flood to enter Moaning Myrtle's haunt.

Myrtle's sobbing cries were louder and shriller than ever, as if she was hiding in her usual toilet stall.

Seeing Moaning Myrtle, Harry asked, "What's wrong, Myrtle?"

"Who's that?" Myrtle asked miserably, her voice gurgling. "Come to throw something else at me?"

Harry looked confused. "Why would I throw something at you?"

"Don't ask me," Myrtle shouted, emerging with a fresh torrent that splashed onto the already soaked floor. "I'm just sitting here, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me..."

Upon hearing Myrtle's words, the previously silent Irina seemed to realize something, her expression sharpening with interest as she looked at the ghost.

"But it can't hurt if somebody throws something at you," Harry reasoned. "I mean, it would just bounce right off, wouldn't it?"

Myrtle inflated angrily at Harry's words. "Let's all throw books at Myrtle because she can't feel it! Ten points if you get her in the stomach! Fifty if you hit her head! What a lovely game, I don't think!"

Irina pulled Harry behind her and asked Myrtle seriously, "Myrtle, did you happen to see the name of the little wizard who threw that book at you? Maybe I can punish them for you!"

Irina recalled that in the original story, Harry found Voldemort's Horcrux diary right here. Could the book thrown at Moaning Myrtle be that very diary? Though over a decade had passed, Irina could only vaguely remember the plot points, not the exact timeline.

"I don't know...I was just sitting on the toilet, thinking about death, when the book fell through my head," Myrtle wailed mournfully.

Irina pressed on, "So where is that book now?"

Myrtle pointed toward the sinks. "Over there, soaked through."

Irina looked to see a small, thin book lying on the floor beneath the sink. The tattered black cover was as waterlogged as everything else in the bathroom.

Seeing Harry move to pick it up, Irina stopped him and retrieved the book herself. She carefully smoothed the pages and opened to the first one.

Sure enough, written in faded ink on the first page were the words: T.M. Riddle.

[end of chapter]