Ron followed Harry's awkward gaze and saw the silhouette of a girl floating above the toilet tank.
Her pale face was shrouded beneath damp, long hair, thick glasses sat misaligned on her nose bridge, and behind the lenses, her eyes were like two pools of stagnant water, filled with fifty years of unresolved sorrow.
"Harry, is she Myrtle?" Ron lowered his voice, his Adam's apple rolling nervously up and down.
Harry nodded slightly, the "mm" sound from his throat barely audible.
"Oh, so it's you."
After Myrtle recognized Harry, whom she had seen at the Deathday Party, her gaze immediately swept over the two boys like a searchlight.
"This is the girls' bathroom. You're not girls."
Harry cleared his throat, trying to force out a friendly smile, but only managed to twitch the muscles at the corner of his mouth.
"Myrtle, I think you've heard that our friend has been taken into the Chamber."
"Is that the little girl with messy hair, two big front teeth, who always likes to raise her chin when she speaks?"
Myrtle's voice suddenly became shrill, her eyes behind the glasses flickering with an odd light.
Harry's ears grew slightly warm, and he awkwardly pressed his lips together. "—Yes."
He had to admit, Myrtle was quite right.
"But what does this have to do with me? Are you going to suspect me too?"
Myrtle's voice suddenly rose sharply, the ghostly mist peculiar to spirits emanating from around her body. The temperature in the bathroom seemed to drop ten degrees instantly, and the damp chill made Ron shiver involuntarily.
Seeing that Myrtle was about to cry again, Harry quickly said. "No, we haven't!"
"We just want to ask you something," Ron nearly knocked over a nearby broom, quickly reaching out to elbow Harry, "Harry, ask her quickly!"
"We want to know where the Chamber is?" Harry's voice sounded particularly thin in the empty bathroom.
"Slytherin's Chamber? How would I know where it is?
Myrtle suddenly burst into a fit of hysterical laughter, the mist turning into countless tiny water droplets that pattered onto the washbasins.
"Why, why would you think I know? Do you think I hurt her?
Right, nobody cares about me anyway, so it doesn't matter if you blame this on me, does it?
Nobody would care about Myrtle's feelings!"
"You don't know?"
Harry and Ron looked at Myrtle in surprise.
"Why would you think I know?"
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, realizing they seemed to have forgotten something.
Hermione had only said the Chamber entrance was in this bathroom, but hadn't mentioned the specific details.
Now it seemed that Hermione had most likely deduced the Chamber's location through conversations with Myrtle, but hadn't told Myrtle about it.
"What do we do?" Ron asked quietly.
"We can only wait for Sherlock to arrive." Harry sighed, watching the candlelight's shadow twist and distort on the wall.
While waiting for Sherlock, Myrtle curiously inquired about their intentions.
Ron didn't want to deal with her at all.
As for Harry, he was the type who, even when thoroughly annoyed by Colin, would still patiently explain Quidditch rules to him, so he actually got along quite well with Myrtle.
The two discussed the monster attacks on students fifty years ago and fifty years later.
This process once again confirmed Sherlock's deductions.
"So how exactly did you die back then?"
When Harry asked this question, Myrtle's demeanor suddenly changed, as if discussing this topic was a very interesting matter.
This made Harry secretly complain, do all ghosts have this problem?
Nearly Headless Nick was like this, and so was Myrtle, they immediately became excited when talking about their own deaths.
"I only remember seeing a pair of terrifyingly large yellow eyes, my whole body seemed to be lifted up, and then I floated away."
She looked at Harry with a dazed expression. "But later I came back—you know, I was determined to settle scores with Olive Hornby who had mocked me.
When she saw me again, she screamed louder than an injured cat. She deeply regretted mocking me for wearing glasses back then. If the Ministry of Magic hadn't forbidden me from frightening her anymore—"
"Where exactly did you see those eyes?"
Hearing this, Harry suddenly thought of something and straightened up abruptly, interrupting her.
"More or less over there."
Myrtle vaguely pointed to the sink in front of her. Seeing Harry walk over, Ron also reacted and quickly followed.
The sink Myrtle pointed to looked quite ordinary.
However, Hermione had previously mentioned the Chamber entrance to them, and combined with Myrtle's testimony, the two examined it thoroughly, inside and out, up and down, not even sparing the pipes underneath.
Finally, Harry saw a small snake carved on the side of a copper tap.
This little snake was very well hidden, if he hadn't observed carefully enough, it would most likely have been overlooked.
Harry immediately reached out, trying to turn the tap.
However, this was completely useless.
"That tap has never produced water."
Seeing this scene, Myrtle couldn't help but comment, her voice carrying a hint of schadenfreude.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, both seeing the joy in each other's eyes. "This should be it."
"Quite right, this is it."
Hearing this voice, both Harry and Ron were startled.
The two jumped, turning around together.
Ron even drew his wand with a whoosh, but after seeing who it was, he awkwardly scratched his head and put his wand away again.
"Sherlock!"
"When did you arrive?"
Sherlock looked at the excited Harry and Ron, smiling slightly, "Just when you were examining this sink."
The hem of his gray coat still bore dust from the stairwell, his sharp eyes looking toward Myrtle like an eagle.
"You are Myrtle Elizabeth Warren?"
"Yes, yes."
Being stared at by Sherlock's gray eyes, Myrtle, who had been chatting happily with Harry, couldn't help but shudder and step back half a pace, shrinking behind Harry.
'Are you serious about stepping back half a pace?'
Seeing this scene, Ron couldn't help but complain internally.
'And why hide behind Harry!'
Harry was also somewhat speechless about Myrtle's behavior.
But he knew this wasn't the time to discuss such things, "Sherlock, what should we do now?"
"Open the Chamber and go directly in. I think you know what to do."
Under Sherlock's encouraging gaze, Harry nodded, then gathered his courage to look at the sink. "Open."
Sherlock shook his head. "You can't speak human language, you need to use Parseltongue."
Harry: "..."
He took a deep breath and spoke again. "Open!"
The sink still showed no change.
"No good, you're still speaking human language," Ron said.
Harry showed a frustrated expression. "Sherlock, I seem to only be able to speak Parseltongue when facing a real snake."
"Very simple."
Sherlock drew his wand. "Serpensortia!"
Just like Malfoy had done at the Dueling Club, Sherlock's wand tip exploded, and a long black snake suddenly emerged from within, landing in the sink.
Seeing the black snake flicking its tongue, looking as if it might attack at any moment, Myrtle immediately let out a scream and tightly hugged Harry's arm.
As a ghost, Myrtle essentially couldn't successfully perform this action, but it still made Harry feel a chill because her body passed through his.
Ron had originally wanted to scream too, but hearing Myrtle's voice, he desperately held back.
No matter what, he couldn't be outdone by a girl, even if this girl was a ghost.
With a physical reference, the rest became much simpler for Harry.
He looked somewhat helplessly at Myrtle hugging his arm, but ultimately didn't have the heart to make her let go.
Recalling his actions at the Dueling Club last time, Harry first calmed the snake.
"~Don't move, stop—"
This time, Sherlock, Ron, and Myrtle all heard Harry make strange hissing sounds similar to a snake's tongue-flicking.
The black snake immediately stopped obediently, which also made Harry breathe a sigh of relief.
He took a deep breath, turned his gaze to the sink, and spoke again. "~Open."
"Finally, not speaking human language."
Ron let out a long breath, but the next moment the sink's transformation made his eyes widen.
The entire bathroom was suddenly enveloped in a blinding white light. The tap that had never produced water began to shake violently, making harsh metal friction sounds. The verdigris on its surface peeled off in the white light, revealing the pristine metallic luster beneath.
It spun rapidly like an out-of-control spinning top, driving the surrounding air to make whirring sounds.
Then, the entire sink began to make tooth-aching gear-turning sounds.
The moss on the pool walls fell off, and dirty water flowed out along the cracks.
With a low rumbling sound, the sink slowly descended like a piston pressed down by an invisible giant hand.
Damp water vapor rose, bringing an indescribable smell.
Harry, Ron, and Sherlock held their breath, staring unblinkingly at the changes before them.
Myrtle also stopped complaining, continuing to hug Harry's arm and hide behind him, only revealing a pair of curious eyes.
When the sink had completely sunk into the ground, a thick, black pipe appeared before everyone, just wide enough for one person to pass through.
A glint of wariness flashed in Sherlock's gray eyes.
With a slight flick of his wrist, his wand traced an elegant arc through the air, and the black snake that had been baring its fangs instantly disappeared as a black line.
Sherlock bent his knees slightly, leaning forward. His fingers lightly brushed the pipe wall, his brow unconsciously furrowing.
After a moment, he straightened his spine, turned around decisively, his eyes carrying unquestionable certainty. "I'll go down first, you follow as quickly as possible."
Having said this, without waiting for their response, he unhesitatingly entered the pipe.
When he released the arms supporting his body, he immediately slid rapidly down the wet pipe walls, disappearing into the dark passage in the blink of an eye, leaving only slight friction sounds echoing in the bathroom.
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