Ch. 10 Moaning Myrtle

I re-read the letter Fleur sent me in the mail. The sound of a dog barking behind a fence making my eye twitch.

Dear Reigis

I have done as you asked and looked in the second year girls bathroom. There is indeed a carving of a snake upon one of the faucets.

As for Hagrid I asked him for any information he knew of what happened to your uncle fifty years ago. They were acquaintances and he knew that your uncle was trying to court a Miss Myrtle Warren at the time. He also knew about Hagrids "spindly friend." Whatever that means.

As for the ring he wore he said he remembers Tom wearing it all the time, but didn't know what happened to it.

With Love,

Fleur Delacour

P.S. I added a picture of my swimsuit from my vacation as an apology for not seeing you this summer.

Summer had come and passed, and I was now finally able to track down Miss Myrtle Warren, otherwise known as Moaning Myrtle. After Hogwarts she had decided to go back to the muggle world, not uncommon for a lot of muggleborns.

From what little I could scavenge she had gotten married to a muggle man and had a child, that child now attended Hogwarts as a sixth year.

I stopped in front of a rather plain house, grey-blue paint, shingled roof, a hatchback car, white picket fence with the paint peeling.

"Welp, lets hope she grew up compared to her ghost counterpart."

I knocked on the door, and in only a few seconds it opened to reveal a beautiful woman who looked to be around thirty. She had long straight black hair and round glasses.

"Uhm, hello?"

"My apologies ma'am. Is this the house of Myrtle Warren?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Jones."

"Oh, my bad."

She shook her head.

"My last name is Jones now. I am Myrtle Jones."

"Of course."

Duh, she got married, of course her name would change.

I held out my hand and she took it tentatively, shaking it.

"My name is Reigis Gaunt-"

The door slammed in my face, only a quick yank of my hand stopped my fingers from getting crushed.

After staring at the unmoving closed door for several seconds I sighed and knocked again.

"Go away!" a muffled voice said.

"I just have some questions about my uncle! I'm not here to cause trouble."

"Your uncle is trouble! Go away!"

I heard a mutter about damned purebloods that I was sure I wasn't supposed to hear.

"I'm not some bigot like other purebloods. I even like to wear muggle clothing. Hell, I went to a theater the other day to watch a re-run of Edward ScissorHands."

A lie, but I knew that the movie came out a few years ago.

The door opened a crack and a squinty eyed glare looked me up and down. My clothing was all muggle. Something I made sure to hide from my grandfather.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm even planning on watching that Casper movie that a muggle friend told me about."

Another lie, I had seen a poster for it while out with Tracey on her birthday. But a normal pureblood bigot would never even mention it. Or know what a movie was.

The door opened wider, but she still sent me a quick once over glare.

"You're young."

"Fifteen, I start Hogwarts next year."

Her lips thinned.

"You'll be there with my daughter."

"Uh, I guess."

"Well come on in."

I entered the quaint home. Mostly it seemed rather mundane, if not for a few books on spellcasting and the dishes magically washing themselves it would have seemed muggle.

"Tea?"

"Yes please, thank you."

She gave me a soft smile before taking out her wand and flicking it.

"I've never been exceptionally talented, but my household Charms are something I take pride in."

"That's awesome. I've read a book about how there are more household Charms than all the other types put together due to all the slight variants witches and wizards have made over the years."

"Hmm, I think I remember my Charms professor saying something like that once," she said, taking a seat on a loveseat and gesturing for me to sit on the couch.

I did so, smiling as a tea set flew from the kitchen and onto the table.

"So, Mister Gaunt."

"Reigis please, I am in your home, no need for conservative formalities."

She smiled sweetly at me. Damn, to think this is the same girl that used to get bullied. She looked like, well, a milf. The one that all the neigborhood boys jack off to.

"Reigis then, what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, I was talking to my grandfather a few months ago about an old family heirloom. A ring with a black stone on top. It caught my interest, but I was informed that my uncle, Tom Riddle, had stolen and lost it during his time in Hogwarts."

She snorted, sipping her tea.

"Not surprising. I remember the ring, he shoved it in front of my face a dozen times."

"Could you elaborate please?"

"Well, he was always handsome, more soft looking than you are, but handsome. He had quite the magic power apparently, and was set to have one of the largest Covens in recorded history. During our third year he became quite insistent that I should join his Coven. Told me all about his heritage and the honor and the power, blah blah blah. During that time he would show me the ring and tell me it had been passed down for centuries."

She set her tea down. Giving me a contemplative look.

"I might have gone for him, but I" her face heated before she schooled her features. "Had a crush on someone else."

"I am guessing he didn't take it well?"

"No, he just ranted about his bloodline and how the other was a lumbering oaf."

This Tom Riddle apparently never became the suave, calm and collected version from the books.

"Do you mean Hagrid?"

Her face heated again and a strained smile appeared on her face.

"Uh, yes."

I gave her a soothing grin.

"I've heard great things about him. Really cares for magical creatures. I can understand why you would be interested. For one I apologize for his behavior. Apparently my uncle had many talents, but taking rejection well wasn't one."

"Yes, uhm, magical creatures. So, well…"

I could see the calculation in her gaze, wondering if I was a safe person, if I would hold anything against her.

"I would like to apologize on behalf of my family. I know that sounds somewhat ironic as it was my family's bloodline that caused some of your distress. As Heir I am hoping to change some of my family's ways so that we care more about character and merit rather than just who our ancestor was. Nothing that has happened will ever be held against you."

Not even if you killed him yourself. No one needs a Dark Lord hanging over their head.

"T-thank you Reigis. So, I don't want you to freak out or call me a liar, but one day Riddle took me to the second floor girls bathroom. I was hesitant, as I'm sure you could think, but its much more common for boys to bring girls to the boys bathrooms, as there is a much smaller chance of getting caught."

I nodded along.

"So we got there, and he said he will prove that he has the power of Slytherin running through his veins."

She looked back and forth as though someone was listening in, despite this being her own house.

"I told the aurors that he tripped and hit his head while threatening me, but thats not all. He, well he started hissing, at the time I didn't know what it was, but now I know its Parseltongue. T-the sink opened up and a giant snake came out. It was massive, the pipes must be magical in some way because it shouldn't have been able to fit. Tom looked to me and preened like some cat, talking about how he would ascend and he could take me with him. When I refused he yelled at me, asking me what he would need to do for me to fall for him. I was too scared to reply and just screamed. He took it the wrong way I guess because he started to hiss at the snake, basalisk now I know, and gestured at me. I don't know what he said but I am sure he told it to attack me, or at least scare me, but I think the snake refused. It actually shook its head while hissing. I don't know what your uncle said, but eventually the snake covered me with its body, next thing I know Riddle slammed to the ground, his eyes wide and him dead. I-I remember Riddle wearing the ring that day, he shoved it in my face per usual, but I'm not sure about afterwards."

"... So you're saying there is a chance this very intelligent, highly deadly basalisk, a class XXXXX magical creature killed Riddle and took the ring? How would it even do that?"

"Uh, carefully?"

"Got it."

Fuck, I was gonna die.