Regulus Black the Potions Master

Capítulo 30

"And which teacher would do that?" the brunette went back to eating.

It's a good idea, but how do you trick one of the teachers into signing the authorization?

"Lockhart," Ron replied after swallowing what he was chewing, a chicken leg in one hand and a glass of juice in the other, "I bet he won't even notice what's written as long as he can sign it."

This sparked another discussion about what a bad teacher Lockhart was, with Mione defending the blonde as usual. Harry decided to concentrate on his food and stay out of it, again. Besides, the games will be back soon and he needs to get stronger to win the next game against Ravenclaw.

"He didn't even read it," Mione lamented as they walked to the library, signed permission slip in hand.

"I told you so," Ron laughed from Harry's right side.

"The important thing is that it worked, Mione."

She just grumbled.

Harry imagined that things would be discovered more quickly now, but there were no answers to what they were looking for, mainly because they had no idea what kind of creature they were looking for.

There was no clue as to what it was, either in the legend or anywhere else.

All they knew was that the chamber was opened decades ago and someone died, but nothing beyond that.

It was late at night when Madam Pince shooed them out of the library because it was closing time, curfew would be coming soon and they needed to get to Gryffindor tower on time or they'd be docked points and detention for being late.

They continued on their way until they heard a voice on the floor above them.

"It's Filch," Harry said.

"Do you think anyone else has been attacked?" Ron was already terrified and they didn't even know what was going on.

The three of them remained silent, their heads tilted in the direction of the sound to try and hear something else. They walked up to where they could hear the janitor and saw him muttering about his work and Dumbledore.

Filch walked away, still talking. The three of them peered around the corner in the distance when they heard the sound of a door slam. Filch's lookout post was in the same place where Madame Nor-r-ra had been petrified almost three months ago.

"One of the bathrooms flooded," Mione pointed.

There was water all over the floor, just like on Halloween. A flood from Myrtle's bathroom filled the corridor and wouldn't stop flowing.

When the sounds of Filch complaining stopped, they could hear Myrtle's wails echoing off the bathroom walls.

"What's wrong with her this time?" Ron asked.

They lifted their robes to cross the corridor to the bathroom. Despite having asked, Ron didn't seem curious to know what the problem was.

They went through the door, now with a FORBIDDEN sign, and found Moaning Myrtle crying louder and harder than ever if that's possible.

The bathroom was darker than usual because the candles had been extinguished by the water, Myrtle was hiding in her usual box, and everything from the floor to the walls was soaked.

"What is it, Myrtle?" Harry asked.

"Who is it?" she retorted unhappily, "come to throw something else at me?"

"Why would anyone do that?" Hermione asked.

"Ask your own," she shouted, appearing in the middle of the liquid wave "I'm here minding my own business and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me..."

"But it shouldn't hurt," Ron mused, "since you're..."

"Dead!"

"Well, it just goes through, doesn't it?"

This elicited a scream so loud that it made the three of them flinch. Harry feared that someone would hear and try to find out what was going on, and catch them; they'd be in trouble again if that happened.

"Let's all throw things at Myrtle because she doesn't feel it," the ghost approached the trio, stopping right in front of Ron, who took a step back.

Harry noticed at a glance that if Myrtle wasn't floating - well if her feet touched the ground - she'd only be a little taller than them.

"Ten points if it goes through the belly..."

She punched Ron in the stomach, her fist going through the middle of the redhead's body.

"... Twenty if it goes through the head."

Ron ducked this time, avoiding the phantom punch right in the middle of his face.

"Who threw the book at you anyway?" Harry tried to change her focus a little.

"I don't know... I was at the bend in the corridor thinking about death and the book went through my head," she whimpered again, "it's there."

She pointed.

Harry looked under the sink and saw the small black notebook floating in the water. He picked it up, the notebook looked old, the cover worn.

"You're crazy," Ron said, "it could be dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Harry laughed.

"How exactly could it be dangerous?" Hermione asked looking at the notebook"You'd be surprised," the redhead replied, crossing his arms.

"There are books that the Ministry has been confiscating, my father said there was one that burned people's eyes out."

"I don't think that's the case," Mione said, now looking a little suspicious.

"We won't find out unless we take a look."

Hermione retreated to Ron's side, away from the notebook.

"I don't think testing your luck is the best thing to do," she said.

Harry ignored them and took a closer look at the notebook. He quickly noticed that it was a diary, the date was a little faded but he could tell that it was about fifty years old. The dark-haired man opened it to the first page, and there was a name smudged across it.

"T.M. Riddle."

"Wait," Ron jumped closer to his friend, looking at the name in the diary, "I know that name... T. M. Riddle, there's an award he received in the trophy cabinet. Something about service to the school some fifty years ago."

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked.

"Filch. He made me polish the trophies about fifty times while I was in detention with him."

Harry flipped through several pages, separating them stuck together by the water, but it was completely blank except for the name.

"I just don't know why something so old is around here."

"The owner must be a muggle-born," Harry said, "to have bought it on Vauxhall Street."

"Well, it won't do anyone any good," Ron said, lowering his voice, "fifty points if you can get it through Myrtle's nose."

Ron cried out in pain and astonishment as Hermione slapped him hard on the arm.

"That's not funny."

Harry put the diary in his pocket, he wouldn't have thrown it at the ghost anyway.