Moaning Myrtle's bathroom

Moaning Myrtle's bathroom is a disused, out-of-order girls' lavatory on the first floor of Hogwarts Castle, haunted by the ghost of Moaning Myrtle. It is the site of Myrtle's death fifty years ago, the location of the first message warning of the Chamber of Secrets, and the secret entrance to the Chamber itself, making it a central location in the mystery of the basilisk attacks.

Location and Appearance

The bathroom is described as the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Harry has ever seen. It features a large, cracked, and spotted mirror above a row of chipped sinks. The floor is perpetually damp, reflecting the dull light from a few guttering candle stubs. The wooden doors to the stalls are flaking and scratched, with one hanging off its hinges. A large "OUT OF ORDER" sign is posted on the door, a sign Harry, Ron, and Hermione routinely ignore. The bathroom is the haunt of Moaning Myrtle, a ghost who floats above the tank of the end toilet and is prone to dramatic sobbing and flooding the place with water when upset.

The Entrance to the Chamber of Secrets

The bathroom holds the secret entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. On one of the copper taps, a tiny snake is engraved. When Harry speaks Parseltongue to it, the tap glows with a brilliant white light and begins to spin, causing the entire sink to sink out of sight and reveal a large, dark pipe. This pipe is a long, slimy slide that descends deep beneath the school, eventually leading to a stone tunnel and the Chamber itself. It is through this pipe that Harry, Ron, and a reluctant Gilderoy Lockhart descend to rescue Ginny Weasley.

The Site of Myrtle's Death and the First Attack

Fifty years before the events of the book, Moaning Myrtle was killed in this very bathroom. She was hiding in a stall, crying, when she heard a boy speaking in a strange language. She opened the door to tell him to leave, and saw a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. Her body seized up, and she died. This was the first fatal attack by the basilisk. On Halloween night, the bathroom is the source of the flood of water that leads to the first attack of the current year, when Mrs. Norris is found Petrified beneath the message "THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE." The water from Myrtle's bathroom seeps under the door, creating the puddle on the corridor floor.

A Base for the Polyjuice Potion Plan

Hermione chooses Moaning Myrtle's bathroom as the location to brew the Polyjuice Potion, reasoning that it is the last place anyone in their right minds would go, guaranteeing privacy. She sets up a cauldron on the toilet in a locked stall, and she, Harry, and Ron use the bathroom to prepare and consume the potion. It is here that Hermione's transformation goes wrong, leaving her with a cat's face, and where Harry and Ron transform into Goyle and Crabbe before sneaking into the Slytherin common room.

The Discovery of Tom Riddle's Diary

The diary of Tom Riddle is found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Myrtle tells Harry and Ron that someone threw a book at her, which fell through the top of her head. They find the small, thin, black book lying under a sink. This diary, which contains a memory of the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle, is the instrument through which he possesses Ginny Weasley and controls the basilisk. Harry later uses the diary to enter Riddle's memory and witness the framing of Hagrid for the original opening of the Chamber.