Myrtle Warren

Myrtle Elizabeth Warren, more commonly known as Moaning Myrtle, was the ghost of a witch who haunted the first-floor girls' toilet at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A former Ravenclaw student, she was murdered in 1943 by the Basilisk of Salazar Slytherin, under the command of Tom Riddle. Despite her morose and sulky demeanour, Myrtle proved to be a key, if unwitting, ally to Harry Potter on several occasions, providing crucial information that helped him navigate the Chamber of Secrets and the Triwizard Tournament.

Myrtle was a student at Hogwarts during the 1940s. She was frequently miserable during her time at school, largely due to being bullied by other students, such as Olive Hornby, who teased her about her thick glasses. On 13 June 1943, Myrtle was hiding in a stall in the first-floor girls' toilet, crying after being teased by Olive. While there, she heard a boy come into the bathroom speaking a strange language, which was Tom Riddle speaking Parseltongue. She opened her stall door to tell him to get out of the girls' bathroom and was met with the sight of the Basilisk's large yellow eyes. As looking directly into the eyes of a Basilisk causes instant death, Myrtle was killed immediately. Her body was found by Olive Hornby. Tom Riddle used her murder to create his first Horcrux, his diary. After her death, Armando Dippet, the Headmaster at the time, was on the verge of closing the school until Riddle, framing Rubeus Hagrid, claimed the culprit had been caught.

As a ghost, Myrtle chose to return to the world of the living and proceeded to haunt her bully, Olive Hornby, following her everywhere to make her life miserable. This continued until Hornby sought help from the Ministry of Magic, which forced Myrtle to return to the site of her death: the girls' toilet at Hogwarts. Myrtle became infamous among the student body as “Moaning Myrtle” for her constant wailing and her tendency to flood the bathroom by manipulating the plumbing when she was upset. In Harry Potter's second year, Myrtle was instrumental in helping him, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger uncover the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. She provided the trio with the story of her death, which allowed Hermione to identify the creature as a Basilisk. Later, she showed Harry and Ron the tap where she saw the snake's eyes, which was in fact the disguised entrance to the Chamber. During Harry's fourth year, Myrtle assisted him with the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Having spied on Cedric Diggory in the prefects' bathroom, she advised Harry to take his golden egg into the bath and open it underwater. This allowed him to hear the clue about rescuing his “hostage” from the merpeople in the Great Lake. In Harry's sixth year, Myrtle became a confidante to a distressed Draco Malfoy, who used a nearby boys' bathroom to express his anguish over his task from Lord Voldemort. She offered him comfort and listened to his troubles. She was also a witness to the duel between Harry and Draco in that same bathroom, where Harry used the spell Sectumsempra on Malfoy. Myrtle's screams alerted Severus Snape to the incident.

Myrtle is described as a squat ghost with a glum face, lank, long hair, and thick, pearly-white glasses. As a spirit, she is a translucent, pearly-white colour. Her personality is defined by being perpetually miserable, sulky, and morose. She is extremely sensitive and easily offended, often bursting into tears and retreating into her toilet, causing the pipes to gurgle and the whole bathroom to flood. Myrtle enjoys wallowing in her own misery and delights in talking about the gruesome details of her death. She is also notably nosy and prone to spying on students, particularly in the various bathrooms around the castle. Despite her gloomy disposition, she can be helpful and even develops a schoolgirl crush on Harry Potter.

As a ghost, Myrtle possessed the standard abilities of a spirit.

• Intangibility: She could pass through solid objects like walls and doors.
• Flight: She could float and fly through the air.
• Invisibility: She could turn invisible at will.
• Water Manipulation: Uniquely, Myrtle could interact with and manipulate water to a significant degree, allowing her to cause toilets to erupt and flood her entire bathroom. She could also travel throughout the castle via its extensive plumbing system.

• Glasses: Myrtle continues to wear the thick, round glasses in death that she wore in life.

• Harry Potter: Myrtle had a significant crush on Harry. She helped him on multiple occasions and seemed to enjoy his company, even offering to share her toilet with him if he died in the Chamber of Secrets.
• Draco Malfoy: In their sixth year, Myrtle became an unlikely confidante for Draco, who confided his fears and unhappiness to her. She expressed sympathy for him, seeing a fellow unhappy soul.
• Olive Hornby: Olive was Myrtle's school-era bully. Myrtle took great pleasure in haunting Olive after her death until the Ministry of Magic intervened.
• Tom Riddle: As Lord Voldemort in his youth, Tom was Myrtle's murderer. She did not know his name but remembered a boy speaking a strange language being present just before her death.

• Myrtle: The name of an evergreen shrub. In classical mythology, the myrtle plant was sacred to the goddess Aphrodite (Venus) and was a symbol of love. It was also sometimes associated with death and the underworld, reflecting Myrtle's dual nature as a ghost who develops an unrequited love for Harry.
• Warren: A “warren” is a network of interconnected burrows where rabbits live. This name is fitting for a ghost who haunts the labyrinthine plumbing system of Hogwarts Castle.

• J.K. Rowling revealed Myrtle's full name to be Myrtle Elizabeth Warren (Pottermore).
• Myrtle's Hogwarts House was Ravenclaw (Pottermore).
• In the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Myrtle was portrayed by Scottish actress Shirley Henderson, who was in her late thirties at the time of the first portrayal, a notable age difference from the character who died as a teenager (film).