Moaning Myrtle
Moaning Myrtle is the ghost of a Hogwarts student who was killed fifty years before the events of the novel, and her death is the key to the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. She haunts the girls' bathroom on the first floor, where her murder by the Basilisk's stare made her the last known victim of the Chamber's opening. Her testimony about the pair of great yellow eyes she saw before dying, combined with Hermione Granger's research, ultimately reveals the monster's identity and the location of the Chamber's entrance.
Identity and Background
Moaning Myrtle is a squat ghost of a girl with the glummest face Harry Potter has ever seen, half-hidden behind lank hair and thick, pearly spectacles. She is known for her constant wailing and her tendency to flood the girls' bathroom on the first floor with her tantrums, which is why the bathroom has been out-of-order all year. Hermione Granger describes her as haunting one of the toilets, and notes that it is "awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you." Myrtle is deeply sensitive about her appearance and the way others treat her, as revealed when she accuses people of calling her "Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!" behind her back. Her death occurred in this very bathroom, where she had hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing her about her glasses. She remembers locking the door and crying, then hearing somebody come in and say something in a different language. When she unlocked the door to tell the boy to use his own toilet, she saw "a pair of great, big, yellow eyes" and her whole body seized up before she floated away. She was determined to haunt Olive Hornby after her death, and she returned to the bathroom where she died.
Life and Plot Trajectory
Myrtle's presence is first noted when Hermione warns Harry and Ron to turn back to avoid talking to her at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party. She is later encountered in her bathroom when Harry, Ron, and Hermione investigate the scene of Mrs. Norris's attack, which occurred right outside her door. When they ask if she saw anything on Halloween night, Myrtle reveals that Peeves upset her so much that she came into the bathroom and tried to kill herself, only to remember she was already dead. She then dives headfirst into the toilet, splashing water over them. Her role becomes crucial when Harry and Ron, following Hagrid's hint about following the spiders, learn from Aragog that the girl who died was found in a bathroom. This leads Harry to realize that Myrtle was the victim, and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom. When Harry, Ron, and Gilderoy Lockhart later descend into the Chamber, they first question Myrtle about how she died, and she points vaguely toward the sink in front of her toilet, where Harry discovers a tiny snake scratched on the side of one of the copper taps. This engraving, when addressed in Parseltongue, opens the entrance to the Chamber.
Key Actions and Objectives
Myrtle's primary action in the narrative is her testimony about her own death, which provides the crucial clue that the monster's lair is connected to her bathroom. She describes hearing a boy speaking in a different language, unlocking the door, and seeing the yellow eyes that killed her. This account, combined with Hermione's discovery of the Basilisk's nature and her note about "pipes," allows Harry to deduce that the monster is a giant serpent that moves through the plumbing. Myrtle also serves as an unwilling witness to the Polyjuice Potion plan, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione use her out-of-order bathroom as their secret headquarters for brewing the potion. She is present when they drink the potion and transform into Crabbe, Goyle, and Millicent Bulstrode, and she later gloats when Hermione's transformation goes wrong, leaving her with a furry face and a tail. Myrtle's reaction to Harry's survival is characteristically morose; she tells him, "You're alive," with a note of disappointment, and adds that if he had died, he would have been welcome to share her toilet.
Relationships and Conflict
Myrtle's relationships are marked by isolation and a sense of grievance. She is teased by Peeves, who calls her "Pimply!" and pelts her with moldy peanuts, and she is generally avoided by other students. Her interaction with Hermione is strained, as Hermione tries to be polite but Myrtle is suspicious and quick to take offense. When Hermione compliments her appearance, Myrtle accuses her of making fun, and she bursts into tears. Myrtle's only moment of connection comes when she offers Harry the use of her toilet after his ordeal in the Chamber, a gesture that Ron finds both amusing and unsettling. Her death is also tied to the larger conflict of the novel, as she was the victim of the Basilisk, the monster controlled by the Heir of Slytherin. Her murder was covered up by the school, with a story given out that she died in a freak accident, and the person who opened the Chamber was expelled.
Change and Ending
Myrtle undergoes little personal change over the course of the novel, remaining consistently mournful and self-pitying. However, her role in the story transforms from a minor nuisance to a pivotal figure in the resolution of the mystery. Her death, which had been dismissed as an accident, is revealed to be the last attack of the Chamber of Secrets, and her bathroom becomes the site of the Chamber's entrance. After the Basilisk is killed and the diary destroyed, Myrtle is not mentioned again in the narrative, but her contribution to the solution is implicit in the chain of deductions that led Harry to the Chamber. Her final appearance in the story is when she watches Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart emerge from the pipe, expressing her disappointment that Harry survived.
Narrative Role and Evaluation
Moaning Myrtle serves as a tragic figure whose death is both a historical mystery and a present-day clue. Her ghostly existence is a reminder of the Chamber of Secrets' deadly past, and her testimony provides the essential link between the legend and the reality of the Basilisk. She also functions as a source of comic relief, with her melodramatic wailing and her morbid offer to share her toilet with Harry. Her character highlights the theme of isolation and the cruelty of others, as she was teased in life and continues to be mocked in death. Myrtle's death is also a key element in the novel's exploration of the Chamber of Secrets' history, as it was the event that led to Hagrid's expulsion and the cover-up of the truth. Her presence in the bathroom, where the entrance to the Chamber is hidden, underscores the idea that the past is never truly buried, and that the secrets of Hogwarts are always lurking beneath the surface.
