Chapter 141 — Enemies Against the Heir

Chapter 141: Chapter 141 — Enemies Against the Heir

Chapter 141 — Enemies Against the Heir

Hermione laughed awkwardly.

Although she wanted to say that Myrtle really wasn’t very popular, Hermione, who was always considerate of other people’s feelings, couldn’t bring herself to say it.

She struggled to come up with a response.

"How could that be? We weren’t avoiding you. We all like you, really!"

As she spoke, she gave Harry’s arm a hard poke, signaling him to say something quickly.

Harry could only nod vigorously, indicating that Hermione was telling the truth.

But Myrtle still didn’t believe them.

She began sobbing, tears rolling down her cheeks one after another.

"Don’t lie to me! Everyone hates me!"

Then Peeves appeared.

He laughed loudly and said:

"How could anyone possibly like you?"

Myrtle cried even harder.

She shouted:

"Don’t think I don’t know what you all call me behind my back! Fat Myrtle, Moaning Myrtle, Poor Moaning Myrtle..."

Hermione hurriedly tried to comfort her, but there was no need.

Peeves had already shouted:

"You’ve forgotten so many things! You’re Myrtle with all those pimples on your face! You’re jealous of the other students! You’re jealous of the pretty girls..."

Peeves laughed wildly as he grabbed a piece of chalk and rubbed it all over Myrtle’s head.

Myrtle sobbed loudly before fleeing sadly from the dungeon, with Peeves chasing after her.

For a while, they could still hear Peeves laughing.

"Jealous of students... Is Myrtle actually jealous of a student?"

After Myrtle and Peeves had left, Ron asked with lingering fear.

Hermione nodded helplessly.

"Myrtle doesn’t let that student use her bathroom. She’s jealous of the girl’s beauty and hates that so many boys consider her their dream girl."

Harry and Ron suddenly became curious.

"Who is it? Which beautiful student is she talking about? Are there really girls that beautiful at our school?"

Hermione looked at them.

The two boys went from curiosity to stunned realization, and then to anger.

"It couldn’t be Vesey, could it?"

Hermione looked helpless.

"It is Vesey. Myrtle dislikes Vesey the most. She thinks Vesey is too beautiful and always feels inferior whenever she stands next to her, so she refuses to let Vesey use her bathroom.

"Not that many people actually use Myrtle’s bathroom anyway. It’s always out of order, and she deliberately screams at people when they use it and splashes water everywhere.

"So anyone with common sense avoids it.

"But Vesey is the only person Myrtle actually forbids from using it."

Hermione sighed.

Harry and Ron were furious.

"Then why were you comforting her? If you’d told us earlier, we would have given her a good scolding!"

Hermione felt helpless.

She simply felt that Myrtle was pitiful.

When she had first learned that Myrtle had refused to let Vesey use the bathroom, she had felt especially sorry for Vesey.

But Vesey had told her that Myrtle was the only person who deserved her sympathy.

Myrtle was looked down upon by all the ghosts at school, constantly bullied by students and Peeves, and after Hermione had seen her several times, she simply couldn’t bring herself to remain hostile toward her.

The most she could do was avoid her.

What else could she do?

It wasn’t as though she could seal off Myrtle’s bathroom.

Harry and Ron were still angry.

They even decided that from now on, they would scold Myrtle every day.

But at that moment, Nearly Headless Nick came over.

"Did you enjoy yourselves?"

Harry and the others looked at each other.

How could anyone enjoy themselves in a place like this?

But seeing Nick’s expectant expression, they still nodded despite their consciences.

"The turnout isn’t bad. Everyone who was supposed to come has come. That’s quite an honor. Thank you for coming this time..."

Nick was speaking when suddenly there was a tremendous noise.

A hunting horn sounded.

All the ghosts stopped what they were doing and looked around attentively.

Twelve ghostly horses burst through the wall, each carrying a headless horseman.

When they got closer, Harry realized that these ghosts weren’t actually headless.

They had heads.

Their heads were simply tucked beneath their arms.

When they reached their destination, they raised their heads.

Nick made a slightly jealous noise.

"Nick, are you all right? Is your head still attached to your neck?"

the leading knight shouted loudly.

Harry and the others thought that if Nick were still alive, his entire face would probably be filled with rage.

"Welcome, Patrick!"

Nick said stiffly.

Then he quietly nudged Harry.

Harry understood immediately and hurried over to Nick’s side.

When the Headless Hunt saw Harry, he immediately shouted:

"Oh my God! It’s Harry Potter!"

Then, apparently to mock Nick, he placed his own head on top of his neck and performed a headless landing.

Everyone thought it was hilarious and burst out laughing.

Nick, who was the only person who couldn’t actually remove his head completely, didn’t find it funny at all.

His face nearly twisted with anger.

Then he gave Harry a meaningful look.

Harry quickly said:

"Well, I think Nearly Headless Nick is very, very scary..."

Patrick interrupted him with a laugh.

"All right, I know Nick told you to say that. He’s still angry because I wouldn’t let him join the Headless Hunt. He’s just..."

Patrick hadn’t even finished speaking when Nick glared fiercely at him.

"Shut up!"

He walked into the middle of the Deathday Party and announced loudly:

"Everyone, I have a heavy heart..."

He began delivering his opening speech.

Harry and the others waited another ten minutes for him to finish all his formalities.

They finally couldn’t take it anymore.

Taking advantage of the moment when Nick was arguing with the Headless Hunt, they quietly slipped away from the Deathday Party.

"The desserts probably haven’t all been eaten yet. We can still have something to eat when we get upstairs..."

Ron said happily as they left the dungeon.

But before he could finish, Harry covered his mouth.

"I heard it... I heard it again. It was that voice..."

Harry shouted in horror.

"That voice is saying, ’Kill... it’s time...’"

Ron and Hermione stared blankly at him.

They hadn’t heard anything.

Could Harry really be hearing things?

"Then let’s..."

Hermione asked hesitantly.

Harry shook his head firmly.

"Let’s go. I’m going to stop it. I can’t let it kill anyone!"

Harry shouted before running up the marble staircase.

They passed through the bustling entrance hall, then through the Great Hall, and finally reached the second floor.

Hermione and Ron stumbled along behind him.

"Harry..."

Hermione looked at Harry nervously, as though she suspected he had gone mad.

Ron looked even more worried.

By now, both of them agreed that Harry should probably go to the hospital wing.

Harry ignored them.

He searched the second floor before continuing toward the third floor.

After nearly making another circuit of the third floor, they finally reached an empty corridor.

Written clearly on the wall were the words:

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

And what was hanging beneath the message was even more frightening.

When Harry and the others approached, they finally saw what it was.

A cat hanging upside down.

Mrs. Norris.