Myrtle Elizabeth Warren

> No one wants to upset me! That's a good one! My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!
>
> Myrtle's outlook on her life and death at Hogwarts, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

**Myrtle Elizabeth Warren** (***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.

## Physical description

### Gender

Female

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

> Ooooh, it was dreadful. It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I’d hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then — I died.
>
> Myrtle telling Harry Potter about her death, Harry Potter and 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

> Nobody missed me even when I was alive. Took them hours to find my body — I know, I was sitting there waiting for them. Olive Hornby came into the bathroom — 'Are you in here again, sulking, Myrtle?' she said, 'because Professor Dippet asked me to look for you —' And then she saw my body...
>
> Myrtle regarding the finding of her body, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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

> And then she saw my body... ooooh, she didn't forget it until her dying day, I made sure of that... followed her around and reminded her, I did. I remember at her brother's wedding — and then, of course, she went to the Ministry of Magic to stop me stalking her, so I had to come back here and live in my toilet.
>
> The British Ministry stopped Myrtle Warren from stalking her old classmate, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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

Template:Dialogue a-b-c
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

Template:Dialogue a-b
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

> She's a little sensitive.
>
> Hermione Granger regarding Myrtle's over-emotional nature, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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.

> I wish people would stop talking behind my back! I do have feelings, you know, even if I am dead —
>
> Myrtle's self-conscious personality, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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

Template:Dialogue a-b-a-b

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

> I never went in there anyway if I could avoid it; it’s awful trying to go to the loo with her wailing at you —
>
> Hermione's discomfort with Myrtle, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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

> Maybe Tom Riddle got thirty Ordinary Wizarding Level or saved a teacher from the Giant Squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle; that would've done everyone a favour...
>
> Ronald Weasley unknowingly correctly guesses that Tom Riddle murdered Myrtle, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

 File:Ron Weasley Half Blood Prince.jpg
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

Template:Dialogue a-b

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. 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***

> I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she’d ever laughed at my glasses.
>
> Myrtle's revenge on Olive, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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***

Template:Dialogue a-b
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.

> You'll be teased something dreadful. Wait till everyone finds out you've got a tail!
>
> Myrtle mocking a transformed Hermione, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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. 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 Template:W Template:W 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 Template:W. It is immoderately dark, slightly more so than the colour ***spinach***.

## Behind the scenes

> The inspiration for Moaning Myrtle was the frequent presence of a crying girl in communal bathrooms, especially at the parties and discos of my youth. This does not seem to happen in male bathrooms, so I enjoyed placing Harry and Ron in such uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory in *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* and *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*.
>
> J. K. Rowling on her inspiration for Moaning Myrtle, Pottermore

* 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***.
	+ Myrtle is omitted from the film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*.
* According to ***J. K. Rowling***'s early drafts for Template:COS, 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.
* 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 Template:W, 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 *Template:W*.

## Appearances

Template:Imagecat

* Template:COS Template:1st Template:Ghost
* *Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire* (film) Template:Ghost

## Notes and references

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ .@HotmHayles @lankytwat Moaning Myrtle's full name was Myrtle Elizabeth Warren. by J.K. Rowling on Twitter
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 *Shirley Henderson Coming Back for GoF* from The Leaky Cauldron - Myrtle is said to be 14 years old, so her birthday falls between these dates in order to reach that age by her death in June 1943.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:COS - The pages of the diary began to blow as though caught in a high wind, stopping halfway through the month of June. Mouth hanging open, Harry saw that the little square for June thirteenth seemed to have turned into a minuscule television screen.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Template:COS
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Template:COS
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 Template:COS
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 F.A.Q. question on J. K. Rowling's Official Site
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Template:COS
9. ↑ Template:HBP
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Template:GOF
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Template:COS
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Template:HM
13. ↑ Template:COS
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Template:COS
15. ↑ Template:COS
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Template:HBP
17. ↑ Template:GOF
18. ↑ Template:COS
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Template:HBP
20. ↑ Template:HBP
21. ↑ Template:MA - 2022 Draco Malfoy birthday special event
22. ↑ Template:MA - Hallowe'en 2021 special event
23. ↑ Template:Wikilink
24. ↑ Template:Wikilink
25. ↑ 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.
26. ↑ Template:WW
27. ↑ See this video