The Notebook

With an idea in mind, Mia decided to see if she could find any other clues or evidence.

The castle was quiet now, and the students had all returned to their common rooms.

Mia wandered through the castle and unexpectedly came upon an abandoned girls' bathroom on the second floor. Water covered the floor, and she could faintly hear crying.

"?"

"Moaning Myrtle?"

A ghost suddenly passed through a toilet door and appeared in front of Mia.

"!" Mia clutched her chest, at a loss for words. Why did she keep getting startled every day?

"Are you here to throw things at me too?!" A girl with glasses and braided hair looked at her and cried.

"Throw things at you?" Who would have nothing better to do at a time like this than throw things at a ghost?

Mia turned her head and saw a black notebook soaking in the water. She opened it and found that only the cover was a little wet. Not only were the pages completely unharmed, but traces of Ancient Magic also lingered on it—the same traces as those on Harry's head.

"Revelio." The notebook didn't react, but Mia sensed her magic quietly slipping away. The loss was so slight that, if she hadn't had complete control over her body and magic, she probably wouldn't have noticed.

"Do you remember who threw it?"

Moaning Myrtle sniffled. "I don't know. They all want to bully me."

Listening to her gave Mia a headache. "Stop crying for a moment and think carefully. This is important."

This was why Mia knew the bathroom had been abandoned but didn't like coming here. Moaning Myrtle really loved crying, and she was always complaining to students who came in about her miserable experiences. She was so noisy.

Seeing Mia's serious expression, Moaning Myrtle stopped crying and thought back. "I don't know. I didn't see. I was sitting on the toilet thinking about death when this notebook suddenly hit me."

Mia leafed through the notebook again and found a name on the cover: Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Slytherin who had received the Special Award for Services. Mia had seen the name while serving detention in the Trophy Room.

Judging by the time, Moaning Myrtle might know the name.

"Do you know Tom Marvolo Riddle?"

Moaning Myrtle suddenly blushed.

"?" What in the bubbling teapots are you blushing for?

"I do. He was in Slytherin, and he was very handsome, got good marks, and was polite. The professors and students all liked him." Moaning Myrtle seemed to have remembered something and shyly covered her face.

"Then do you know why he received the Special Award for Services?"

"I don't know. Maybe he got it after I...?" Moaning Myrtle shook her head in confusion.

"Then do you know how you...?" Mia thought there might be a connection.

"I remember Olive Hornby making fun of me, so I hid here and cried. Then I heard a boy's voice, and when I was about to tell him to go away, I..." Moaning Myrtle trembled a little, as though recalling what it had felt like to die.

"Just like that? Then do you remember what you saw last?" Moaning Myrtle's cause of death had to be important.

"I remember seeing nothing but a pair of terrifyingly large yellow eyes."

Yellow eyes, death from looking directly at them—it was a Basilisk, and the Chamber of Secrets holding the Basilisk was right here!

"You've been a huge help. Thank you," Mia said politely.

"Really?" Moaning Myrtle hadn't expected that she could actually help.

"If it's true, I'll report it to the headmaster. Maybe you could even get a Special Award for Services?" Mia had an idea now and was in such a good mood that she even joked with Moaning Myrtle.

Moaning Myrtle was delighted.

After saying goodbye to Moaning Myrtle, Mia took the notebook back to the common room. Harry and the others' potion was nearly due to wear off.

After helping Harry leave, Mia hurried back as well.

The notebook was probably a Dark Magic object, perhaps even a Horcrux, which meant it was connected to Voldemort.

Mia picked up a pen and tried writing a sentence in the notebook.

The words soon vanished, and a sentence appeared on the page: "Hello, I'm Tom Riddle."

"Do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?" Mia thought that if this might be Voldemort's Horcrux, it surely knew about the Chamber of Secrets.

"I do."

Just as she thought. Mia decided to see what the notebook was up to.

"Can you tell me?"

"No."

"?"

"I can show you."

"."

That worked too.

"Let me take you back fifty years."

The notebook's pages suddenly flipped and stopped at one page. Written on it was June thirteenth.

A light appeared from the notebook's binding. When Mia opened her eyes, she found herself in a corridor in Hogwarts castle.

The people passing by around her seemed unable to see her. Mia immediately understood that she was inside a memory.

Mia walked forward and saw a handsome young man staring fixedly at something. Following his gaze, she saw four people carrying a stretcher. A person lay on it, covered by a white sheet.

"Riddle! Come here." Hearing the voice, Mia turned her head along with the young man. It was Headmaster Dumbledore.

This was Tom Riddle?

"It's not a good idea to be wandering around so late."

"Yes, Professor. I wanted... I had to see for myself whether the rumors were true."

"I'm afraid they are."

"Are the rumors about the school true too? I have no home. They aren't really going to close Hogwarts, are they?"

"I understand, Tom, but I'm afraid Headmaster Dippet has no choice."

"If the matter were settled and the culprit caught..." Tom suddenly grew agitated, and Mia and Dumbledore both looked at him suspiciously.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

"No, sir. Nothing."

Riddle was obviously hiding something. Mia followed him and continued watching. She saw Riddle accuse Hagrid because Hagrid's spider had killed Moaning Myrtle, resulting in Hagrid's expulsion. No wonder Hagrid couldn't use a wand.

Then Mia was thrown out. Looking at the notebook, she lowered her eyes. If she hadn't guessed the truth early on and known Hagrid, she probably would have been fooled too.

Sure enough, the notebook was definitely a Horcrux. The Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk probably had a great deal to do with him. Let's see what you're trying to do.

Mia left the notebook in the bedroom and cast a tracking and locating spell and a confinement spell on it.

Afterward, Mia went to find Harry and learned from him what Draco knew. Now everything was clear.