His office corridor has turned into an ocean. Students watching the excitement gathered at the entrance of the corridor. Filch stood on the stairs and shouted angrily, but no one cared what he was shouting about.
The only dry place in the entire corridor was the door to Quirrell's office. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had obviously put some effort into protecting his office. Not a drop of water could seep in within a meter of the door.
"Professor Quirrell." Anthony greeted him with a smile, "I'm glad to see you're okay."
"Professor Anthony, you should take care of your office!" a student shouted from a distance. Quirrell was startled by his shout and almost fell into the water. He wished Anthony good luck with a pale face and returned to the office.
Anthony cast a waterproof and moisture-proof charm on his clothes and shoes, and carefully stepped into the river that originated from the girls' bathroom. The fat friar led him to the door of the bathroom, but he hesitated and refused to go in. Anthony was also a little embarrassed.
"Come in, professor!" the onlookers shouted.
A girl said kindly: "It's okay, Professor, this is Moaning Myrtle's territory. No one usually goes there."
"Haha, everyone hates you!" Peeves' voice came from the bathroom, "No one wants to see you! Ugly! Crying!"
With a loud sob, the water surged even more violently.
Anthony no longer hesitated, knocked on the door, and stepped into the bathroom.
As soon as he entered the door, a wave hit him all over his face. He quickly used magic to protect himself, so he didn't get soaked in the water.
Peeves was floating in the air, looking at him with a smile, a malicious light flashing in his eyes. Sitting on top of the toilet was a weeping ghost, sobbing and repeating Peeves' words: "Everyone - hates me -"
"Hello, Myrtle." Anthony cleared his throat.
Myrtle stopped crying briefly, looked up at him unexpectedly, and then burst into louder cries: "You're a boy!"
"Uh, I think so." Anthony said, "I'm... um, your neighbor, new to Hogwarts. I'm visiting friends who live around me, so I took the liberty of coming in."
Myrtle sobbed and asked, "Did you...did you knock on the door?"
"Knocked." He didn't mention how loud Myrtle's cries were, which completely drowned out the knocking sound.
But Peeves leaned into Myrtle's ear and said, "You cry too loudly."
Myrtle opened her eyes sadly and took a deep breath. Anthony immediately said: "No!"
At this moment, the almost headless Nick emerged from the wall: "Go away, Peeves, don't bother Myrtle anymore! I'm going to call Bloody Baron!"
Peeves thought for a while, then angrily threw a huge wave against the bathroom wall and rushed out. "Greetings, nasty professor!" he shouted to Anthony, splashing mud and water all over the onlookers and disappearing, giggling amidst the panicked shouts.
This farce seemed to interrupt Myrtle's mood for good. She buried her face in her arms and asked in a muffled voice: "We are neighbors? Where do you live?"
"Well, it's right under this floor. The second office on the right outside." He answered carefully.
"He's the new Muggle Studies professor," Headless Nick added.
Anthony tried to smile at her: "Henry Anthony, nice to see you."
"Lies!" cried Myrtle angrily. "No one - no one is happy to see me! Everyone hates me!"
"Professor Anthony is happy to see everyone." Headless Nick assured, "He is even happy to see Professor Filch and Snape."
This is indeed a lie. Anthony thought silently, without revealing it.
Myrtle, who was almost crying, raised her head and looked at him carefully. Only then did Anthony realize that she was a very young girl, dressed in uniform. Behind her thick glasses were eyes swollen from crying, and a face covered in pimples that looked about the same age as his own students.
Anthony couldn't imagine how she could become a ghost at such an age. She was supposed to be like his students, fretting over after-school papers, walking on the lawn outside the castle, or playing with an unfriendly cat in the sunshine.
He blurted out: "Little girl, why are you dead?"
Myrtle's eyes widened in shock.
"I mean, you look very young..." Anthony quickly explained, "Too young. I can't figure out why you would..." He couldn't go on.
Myrtle gasped. Her milky ghost face suddenly glowed and she proudly announced, "This is where I died."
She suddenly started talking about sex, describing to Anthony with great interest how a girl named Olive Humbe laughed at her glasses that day. Nick, who was almost headless, walked away bored after listening to half of the story. Before leaving, he quietly pointed to the water on the bathroom floor to Anthony. The water was flowing rapidly back into the toilet bowl where Myrtle sat.
Myrtle described to Anthony in detail how sad she was and how she walked into the girls' bathroom, knowing that no one would pay attention to her because no one cared about Myrtle. How she heard a boy's voice when she was sad, went out and angrily scolded him to go to the boys' toilet, and then she somehow died gloriously.
"Wait a minute." Anthony asked in disbelief, "So a boy broke into the girls' bathroom, and then he killed you because you tried to maintain order in the bathroom? Who was it?"
"I don't know, Professor," Myrtle said enthusiastically, "I didn't have time to see who he was. All I remember is seeing a pair of yellow eyes - just like this one, but much bigger, scary." She pointed to the cat in Anthony's arms, "And then I died."
Anthony frowned: "Did you see... a big cat? Someone brought the lion to the girls' bathroom?"
"No." Myrtle shook her head. She seemed to like talking about the details of her death very much. "My body is intact. I just waited here, waiting for them to find my body. It took them a long time to find me. Come to think of it, they weren't actually looking for a body. No one expected that I was dead. Olive Humbe came over and told me that Professor Dippet was looking for me - she knew that if she was looking for me, it was best to come here She looked in the bathroom to see if I was crying—and then she saw my dead body. Oh, that look on her face." She giggled. "She'll never forget it."
Headless Nick comes in and tells Anthony that the water has receded.
Anthony thanked him and walked out of the bathroom thoughtfully. Myrtle sat on the sink, reflecting on her own death with contentment.