Myrtle Elizabeth Warren

Myrtle Elizabeth Warren.@HotmHayles @lankytwat Moaning Myrtle's full name was Myrtle Elizabeth Warren. by J.K. Rowling on Twitter (1928/1929– June 1943), more commonly known after her death as Moaning Myrtle, was a Muggle-born witch who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1940 to 1943 and was sorted into Ravenclaw house.She was killed in 1943 by the Serpent of Slytherin, under Tom Riddle's orders. After the incident, she became a ghost who haunted the second-floor girls' bathroom (and occasionally other bathroom facilities) at Hogwarts.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Myrtle was a witch born circa late 1928 to early 1929 to a Muggle mother and father, making her a Muggle-born.
===Hogwarts years===
She started her education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1939 or 1940 When she arrived at Hogwarts she was Sorted into the house of Ravenclaw. While at Hogwarts she was unable to make any friends and was constantly teased and bullied because of this and her physical appearance, which included glasses and acne.
====Opening of the Chamber of Secrets====
In 1943, sometime into Myrtle's education, the Chamber of Secrets was opened for the first time, which was a legendary chamber built by Salazar Slytherin and inside was a beast that only his heir could control. 
It was believed that Gryffindor student, Rubeus Hagrid had opened the Chamber because he was caught raising Aragog (an Acromantula), but it was actually Tom Marvolo Riddle, a Slytherin student. Hogwarts was soon facing closure as Muggle-born students were being mysteriously attacked by the mythical beast thought to be down inside the Chamber.
====Death====
On her final day of her life in early June 1943, Myrtle was teased by student Olive Hornby, who made fun of Myrtle's glasses and left Myrtle alone sobbing. Myrtle then ran into one of the bathroom's stalls and started crying. Shortly after Myrtle had entered the bathroom, Riddle entered and started speaking in Parseltongue in order to open the Chamber of Secrets, the entrance of which was hidden behind the sink in front of the very stall occupied by Myrtle at the time. The Serpent of Slytherin (a Basilisk) then emerged from the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. The monster had been using the pipes as a means of transportation, as to not be seen and therefore never being caught.
Myrtle, still in one of the stalls, recognised the voice as being that of a boy. Opening the stall's door, she was about to yell at Riddle to go away. On Riddle's command, the Basilisk stared at Myrtle and her eyes met with the monster's. Since looking into a Basilisk's eyes is a fatal act, Myrtle was killed instantly and her body fell to the bathroom floor, becoming Tom's first victim. Tom (later known as Lord Voldemort) used her murder to make his first Horcrux: the Diary. Myrtle's body was later found by Hornby, something that Hornby would not soon forget.
===Post-mortem===
====1940s====
Myrtle's body was removed from the school after its discovery. After her death, Myrtle returned as a ghost so she could haunt student Olive Hornby in revenge for her bullying. Myrtle attended the wedding of Olive's brother uninvited. She apparently caused a massive scene to remind Olive of how she bullied her, causing a huge mess. Olive went to the Ministry of Magic to restrain Myrtle, who was thereafter obliged to remain at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 
Ever since, Myrtle haunted the bathroom where she had died, although she was sometimes seen in other bathrooms, and was even flushed into the lake occasionally. As a result of her haunting, her lavatory grave was rarely used, and was thus available for clandestine activities, such as forbidden potion-brewing, as long as one did not mind the company.
====1985–1986 school year====
Before 31 October in 1985, Jacob's sibling and Penny Haywood came to Myrtle's bathroom to invite her to Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington's 493rd Deathday Party on behalf of Sir Nicholas himself. Before Jacob's sibling could finish their sentence, however, Myrtle, thinking they were just another one of the bullies that would tease her around this time of the year, asked them to leave. After they cleared it up, Myrtle became delighted, having been told that Deathday Parties were fun. She admitted she had never been invited to one before since she thought none of the other ghosts wanted her there, but Jacob's sibling pointed out that Sir Nicholas genuinely wanted her to attend this time. She listened to the students explaining the details of the party and was convinced that she wanted to attend, but thought she needed accompany because of her shyness. Jacob's sibling said she was allowed to bring a guest, and Myrtle immediately chose themself as a thank you for making the effort to invite her.
Shortly before the party would start, Jacob's sibling came to pick Myrtle up, but they were informed by Myrtle that she changed her mind and was not going. Nevertheless, after Jacob's sibling gave some encouragement, she was ready to go. They headed towards the Deathday Party Hall and met Sir Nicholas outside in the corridor, who was surprised to see Myrtle. He asked to speak with Jacob's sibling alone, so Myrtle departed.
During the party, Myrtle found Jacob's sibling speaking with Professor Sprout. Eager to dance with them, she asked Sprout if she was finished with them, and upon realising that she had taken up enough of Jacob's sibling's evening, Sprout left them with Myrtle. They had a dance in the middle of the dancefloor.
====1992–1993 school year====
On 31 October 1992, Myrtle was again invited to Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington's Deathday Party, this time being his five-hundredth deathday. During the event, Myrtle was called by Peeves to meet Hermione Granger, who had previously talked about how awful it was to go to the bathroom that she resided in. She believed Hermione was making fun of her and started crying, and when she tried to say nice things about her, Myrtle's crying turned hysterical and she demanded Hermione not to lie to her. At this moment, however, Peeves also angered her with his comment of her being 'spotty', and she fled the room with Peeves pelting mouldy peanuts after her.
The true importance of Myrtle's bathroom was that it contained the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, the home of the Basilisk of Salazar Slytherin. In the 1992–1993 school year, the chamber was opened again, fifty years after its previous opening, by a Gryffindor first-year, Ginny Weasley, who was possessed by the diary of the earlier opener, Tom Riddle. After Mrs Norris was Petrified by the Basilisk just outside Myrtle's bathroom, Hermione came with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley to investigate. Myrtle said she wasn't paying attention at the time due to wanting to kill herself because of Peeves's snarky comment earlier. Myrtle later flooded her bathroom in a fit of pique when Ginny tried to dispose of the diary by flushing it down the toilet in Myrtle's stall.
Hermione used Myrtle's bathroom in 1992 to brew Polyjuice Potion, which Harry and Ron used to impersonate Slytherin students Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. Thus disguised, they entered the Slytherin common room to interrogate Draco Malfoy about the Chamber of Secrets. They learned only that, according to Draco's father Lucius Malfoy, the last time the chamber was open a Mudblood was killed (and that, contrary to their suspicions, Draco was not the Heir of Slytherin).
Harry and Ron later learned from Aragog the Acromantula that the murdered student had been killed in a bathroom, and Harry realised that the student must have been Myrtle. Myrtle was flattered by Harry's request that she tell the story of her death, the manner of which was one of the most important and interesting events of her short life.
Myrtle remembered only having seen a pair of enormous yellow eyes, but neither Harry nor Ron recognised this as a clue that the monster was a Basilisk. Hermione had already deduced the monster's nature by library research before she was Petrified, so Myrtle's clue was of no practical importance. However, her presence in the bathroom, combined with Hermione's clue about the Basilisk's use of pipes, did single the bathroom out as the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Not long after, Harry killed the Basilisk using Godric Gryffindor's sword, avenging Myrtle's death.
==Physical description==
Myrtle was a squat student with pimples and thick glasses. She died in 1943 and became a ghost, wearing her school uniform, as well as her glasses, for eternity.
==Personality and traits==
Myrtle was constantly bullied during her education at Hogwarts, for both her physical appearance and her personality. Myrtle's personality itself was being very sensitive; she hardly ever smiled and took great offence at the smallest slight. She usually cried when she got sad, and when she did, she cried very loudly, hence her nickname Moaning Myrtle. She was often upset so badly that she tried to kill herself until she realised that she was already dead. Myrtle did tend to be happy when something bad happened to other students, like when Hermione Granger accidentally gained cat fur, ears and a tail after taking a contaminated Polyjuice Potion. The only time she seemed to enjoy herself was when she recalled the moment of death, describing the event with relish.
She did, however, seem to warm to some male students, including Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. Myrtle also appeared to be a desperate flirt; she constantly flirted with Harry Potter, and showed her desperation to find love by spying on students such as Cedric Diggory whilst he bathed in the prefects' bathroom. Myrtle also was likely childish as well, as she liked to take bubble baths when she was alive, due to 'all those pretty bubbles'.
==Relationships==
===Harry Potter===
During his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry was nice to Myrtle, so she developed a crush on him. Harry wasn't exactly known to stay out of life-threatening trouble, so Myrtle offered to share her toilet with him if the event that he died. She also was more than happy to help Harry during his studies at Hogwarts, with any task; during his second year she helped him solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets by telling him how she died.
===Hermione Granger===
It was shown that Myrtle did not like Hermione in the least. At Nearly Headless Nick's death day party, Hermione told Harry and Ron how horrible and whiny Myrtle was. Peeves who overheard this called Myrtle over. Peeves told Myrtle that Hermione was talking about her. Myrtle knew she must be talking about her meanly like most students did, Hermione however who never wanted to hurt Myrtle's feelings tried to tell Myrtle how she was only saying how pretty Myrtle was looking tonight. However Myrtle did not buy this and yelled at Hermione for lying to her and left the party crying.
===Ronald Weasley===
Ronald Weasley and Myrtle seemed to not have a very good relationship. Ron was very blunt to her in which she would usually get upset and start to cry. Myrtle was initally unhappy to see Ron when Hermione brought him and Harry into her bathroom to ask her about the Chamber of Secrets after Hallowe'en. Whilst Myrtle was telling them of how she tried to kill herself on Hallowe'en, Ron intercepted by saying that she was already dead, which unintentionally upset her deeply, causing her to dive headfirst into a toilet.
Ron also bugged her about keeping a secret for a person (Draco Malfoy) claiming where would she take it to the grave or the sewers. Ron also made a comment saying Nymphadora Tonks was starting to look like Myrtle since her cousin Sirius Black died. This was probably not a compliment to Tonks, as Myrtle always looked sad and angry.
===Cedric Diggory===
In the year of the Triwizard Tournament Diggory was watched by Myrtle in the Prefects' bathroom on the 5th floor. When Harry took his golden egg into the bathroom to have a bath, Myrtle talked about Diggory and said that he was 'the handsome one'.
===Draco Malfoy===
Myrtle also got on well with Draco Malfoy, who was Harry Potter's enemy whilst at Hogwarts. Despite Draco being prejudiced against Muggle-borns and constantly bullying and threatening Hermione Granger for being Muggle-born, the two managed to become close as both needed company for comfort (although it is possible that he is unaware of her status as a muggle-born prior to her demise).
They became friends whilst she comforted him during his sixth year at Hogwarts; that year Draco had become a Death Eater and was feeling the strains of it as he was required to murder Albus Dumbledore. She described their friendship herself as an intimate one, as they used to confide in each other about everything. - 2022 Draco Malfoy birthday special event He shared his feelings and thoughts with Myrtle, who listened and comforted him. Also she seemed to have taken preference of Draco to Harry as Harry never visited Myrtle when she asked him to. When Harry saw their dots representing Draco and Myrtle together in the bathroom on the Marauder's Map, he ended crashing into something as he didn't pay too much attention due to the sight of the unlikely couple he was seeing on the map. 
In 2020, Myrtle is shown to still have a partial soft spot for Draco.
===Olive Hornby===
Olive Hornby and Myrtle were very much enemies. Olive teased Myrtle about her glasses during school and constantly bullied her. When Myrtle was crying in the bathroom and then got killed by the basilisk, it was Olive who first saw her dead body. Myrtle wanted revenge on Olive, so she stalked her wherever she went, reminding her that it was her fault she was dead and how horrible she was. Myrtle even went so far as to interrupt her brother's wedding, though that was enough for Olive, who went to the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry of Magic demanded that Myrtle stay at Hogwarts. Myrtle claimed she didn't let Olive forget her until her dying day.
===Peeves===
Both Peeves and Myrtle resided at the school and were known as bothersome. Myrtle did not like Peeves, who took enjoyment in bothering her as he did to everyone. At Nearly Headless Nick's Death Day party both Peeves and Myrtle attended, when Peeves heard Hermione Granger complaining about Myrtle he found it as the perfect time to cause trouble. Peeves called Myrtle over; Myrtle did not look happy to see him, but Peeves informed her that Hermione was talking about her. Myrtle, assuming she was talking behind her back ran off crying; Peeves seemed to enjoy her pain and began pelting her with peanuts. Myrtle later told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Peeves made her so upset she wanted to kill herself, but of course, this was not possible as she was already dead.
To brew the Polyjuice Potion Hermione was in Myrtle's bathroom quite a lot as she knew nobody would want to go there because of Myrtle's presence, Myrtle seemed cold to Hermione probably because of Hermione talking bad about her at the death day party. Myrtle did take great enjoyment in Hermione being upset though (also probably because of her talking behind her back at the party) when Hermione's potion turned her into a cat, Myrtle teased and laughed at Hermione only making Hermione feel worse about her cat like appearance. Harry had never seen Myrtle happier than when she was teasing Hermione.
===Nearly Headless Nick===
Myrtle's relationship with Nick is unknown, though he did invite her to his deathday party at least thrice. - Hallowe'en 2021 special event Nick probably invited her because either he liked her, felt bad for her or because she was also a ghost. Nick and Myrtle seemed not to have the same point of view on death. Nick, of course, celebrated it, while Myrtle was highly offended and touchy about it, although she sometimes liked to talk about it at length.
==Etymology==
*The myrtle (Myrtus) is a type of that is often overlooked because of its plainness, native to southern Europe and north Africa. In Greek mythology, it was sacred to Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, and to Demeter, goddess of grain and fertility; Pausanias relates it to the tragedy of Adonis. The Roman poet Virgil relates the myrtle to Venus and used them in wedding rituals, something that Jewish liturgy, which deemed it sacred, also used. Myrtle has also uses in Wiccan rituals, and was considered medicinal by the ancients, including Hippocrates, Pliny, Galen and Arabian writers.
*Myrtle is a variety of the colour . It is immoderately dark, slightly more so than the colour spinach.
==Behind the scenes==
*Myrtle was the first person to be killed by Lord Voldemort.
*Apparently she never informed anyone about her death until she told Harry, Ron and Lockhart. It's unknown why she never told Armando Dippet or Albus Dumbledore about the cause of her death. It is possible that shortly after her death she was too distraught or traumatised to talk about it and was not asked for fear of upsetting her.
*Depending on the month she was born in, she may have been in the same year as Gryffindor Rubeus Hagrid, who was accused of killing her with his Acromantula Aragog.
*Hermione and Myrtle, both Muggle-born, shared similar experiences: both Hermione and Myrtle run to the girls' lavatory upon being teased by classmates, a move that puts both in mortal danger (from a troll and basilisk, respectively.)
**However, while Hermione is saved by a repentant Ron and Harry, Myrtle is killed by the unfeeling Riddle.
*Moaning Myrtle was portrayed by Shirley Henderson in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
**Being 5' 0½" (1.54 m) and 37 years old when she first played Moaning Myrtle, she is the oldest actress to play a teenage Hogwarts student in the Harry Potter films.Technically, graduate students such as Albus Dumbledore are still Hogwarts students, and played by actors older than Henderson. Myrtle, being dead and not actively studying, is neither an active student. Although she died in 1943 and must have been 60 to 68 years old when she first appeared in the novels, she stopped ageing when she became a ghost, and thus she can arguably be considered a teenager.
**Myrtle is omitted from the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
*According to J. K. Rowling's early drafts for , this character was supposed to have been called "Wailing Wanda".
*Though never seen or mentioned, Ron and Hermione may have seen Myrtle when they went back down the Chamber of Secrets to destroy Hufflepuff's Cup in Deathly Hallows.
*In one scene of Chamber of Secrets, Ron jokingly suggests that Tom Riddle earned his Special Award for Services to the School for killing Myrtle; this foreshadows the fact that Riddle did indeed kill her.
*Myrtle is shown to have a crush on Harry throughout the series.
**In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the bathroom scene shows her acting sexually towards Harry.
*In The Film Adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film), Myrtle mentioned to Harry that she briefly spotted some Polyjuice Potion in the drains and asked him if he had been doing any more illicit brewing, which he denied. Had Harry investigated Myrtle's suspicions, it might have been discovered much earlier that Barty Crouch Jnr was impersonating Alastor Moody. This did not happen in the book.
*Harry and Ron battle Myrtle in the fourth level of the Chamber of Secrets, as she throws numerous objects from the toilets at them in an angry temper, before they can get their hands on Tom Riddle's Diary. In the fourth level of the Goblet of Fire, Myrtle is able to use a wand in order to perform the basic Levitation Charm with Harry, so they can use the charm together when needed, despite the series not showing ghosts to be able to cast spells or use wands.
*Her character is only available wearing her swimsuit.
*At on Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Moaning Myrtle haunts the restrooms, though only her voice is heard.See this video
*Possible origins of her name and nickname include:
**It is possible she was named 'Myrtle' to continue J.K. Rowling's tradition of naming characters after flowers.
**It is possible she was given the middle name Elizabeth and surname Warren as a reference to two characters from Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Elizabeth Proctor and her young servant Mary Warren, both of which are accused of being witches at some point.
**The myrtle tree is a close relative of the willow tree. 'Moaning Myrtle' is a similar phrase to 'weeping willow.'
**Possibly related to the 'Moaning Minnie,' the British name for a German WWII artillery shell that made a distinctive moaning whine before it hit.
*Myrtle is similar to , a Japanese legend talking about a girl who haunts school bathrooms.
*Shirley Henderson's first scene in the film Bridget Jones's Diary involves her character, Jude, crying in a women's toilets.
*Shirley Henderson and Kelly Macdonald, who played another Hogwarts ghost, The Grey Lady, played sisters in the film .
==Appearances==
* 
*Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire (film) 
==Notes and references==
Category:1943 Entire Deaths
Category:Basilisk Entire Victims
Category:Deceased By Creature
Category:Ghosts
Category:Horcrux Entire Victims
Category:Killed by An Lord Voldemort
Category:Ravenclaws
Category:Wizards