A Sad Realization Reddit Had About Myrtle Makes Her Story Even More Tragic
As if her spending years unable to speak to anyone wasn't depressing enough.
Moaning Myrtle is one of the most iconic ghosts at Hogwarts. We first meet her in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, only to find out almost immediately that she was the victim of the Slytherin Heir.
Muggle-born, Myrtle was attacked by Tom Riddle's pet Basilisk and turned into a ghost, living in the toilets of Hogwarts until Harry Potter entered the school.
In Chamber of Secrets, when Riddle took Harry back in time and showed him some of the circumstances of Myrtle's death, we heard Dumbledore say that Myrtle's parents would be coming to Hogwarts to claim her body.
And that's where the real tragedy begins.
As noted by Reddit user captainjohn_redbeard, it might be very possible that Myrtle, after turning into a ghost, could have tried talking to her parents.
What's really heart-wrenching is the fact that Muggles can't see or hear ghosts... which is why Myrtle most likely found herself wasting her breath.
Some fans desperately tried to come up with some sort of spell that would allow Myrtle to have at least a small exchange with her parents. Others suggested that Dumbledore, who was obviously there to see her efforts, could have helped her.
But even this fan theory does not offer enough hope.
"I honestly feel like, Dumbledore would instead tell Myrtle not to try and talk with her parents, and rather she should let them mourn without knowing their daughter is trapped forever in a high school bathroom," another Redditor noted.
Turns out there is just no way to make it less heartbreaking. Fortunately, Harry's defeat of the Basilisk (and his killing of its owner years later) means that Myrtle can at least remain the only victim of the Chamber of Secrets.