This story starts at the Deathday party in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  The first two sentences come straight from the book.  This is only for you as the reader to get a hold of when this is taking place.  The first two sentences are ©J.K. Rowling.

 

~*~

 

Moaning Myrtle burst into anguished sobs and fled from the dungeon.  Peeves shot after her, pelting her with moldy peanuts, yelling, “Pimply! Pimply!”

 

“Go away Peeves!  Let me be!” cried Myrtle as she raced back to her toilet.  Peeves was still chasing her, trying as hard as he could to make the peanuts he was throwing go directly through her head.

 

“Oh, come on Myrtle, it’s all just in fun!” he replied.

 

“Not for me!” yelled Myrtle.  She came to halt and Peeves nearly went straight through her.  “This is the last straw, Peeves!” she retorted, still slightly tearing.  “I’m, I’m standing up to you.”  Peeves was very surprised to hear Myrtle, fat, ugly, miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle, actually say she was going to stand up to him.

 

“You, stand up to me?” he asked.  “That still-alive-after-all-of-these-years Filch can’t even catch me and you want to stand up to me?  Ha!”  Myrtle was drying her tear-infested glasses on her old, see-through Hogwarts uniform.  With her head down, Peeves decided to throw just one last peanut through her head.  He slowly took aim, and fired.  But it did not go through her head.  Instead, she quickly moved out of the way, and the moldy peanut landed on the floor.  She slowly drifted down, picked up the peanut and simply said, “Run.”

 

Peeves was wide-eyed.  Never had he seen a ghost pick something up before. He, as a poltergeist--not really  a ghost, but not really alive-- could pick things up, but ghosts weren’t supposed to be able to.   “How did you do that?”

 

Myrtle merely repeated, “Run.”

 

“I don't run, I fly!  And so do you!” he yelled.

 

“Then fly!  I’m giving you a head start.  I’d take it if I were you.  All I have to do is pick up a few of those peanuts you were throwing and, and you’re going to get it!”

 

Peeves decided to take her advice.  He flew like the dickens, but Myrtle was gaining speed.  He raced through the corridors, the dungeons, even through the Great Hall, where everyone watched Myrtle chase him around and about.  A few got moldy peanuts on their plates, but no one really noticed.  Filch was outraged!  He started to chase the two, followed by his cat, Mrs. Norris.  She wasn’t as fast as they were, and slowly got left behind.

 

Peeves darted and dashed; he maneuvered and crashed.  He also thought he saw a tail of some sort, by the Girl’s Bathroom on the first floor, but he had no time to find out.  He glanced back to see how much distance there was between him and Myrtle.  He noticed Filch was nowhere in sight and thought up a great song for it, but he would need to get out of this mess first.

 

Myrtle was getting closer and closer and Peeves was starting to get tired.  He lost speed little by little, and Myrtle got closer and closer.  Finally, she took aim and threw all of the peanuts she picked up.  They all hit Peeves - in his head, his back, his arms, everywhere.  She had finally won.

 

“I told you not to pick on me.  It isn’t very nice!” yelled Myrtle as she came to a halt.  Peeves was still moving briskly, really embarrassed about what just happened.  He decided to head toward the trophy room and hide.

 

Myrtle, on the other hand, couldn’t have been happier!  She had finally stood up for herself, and all of the ghosts would know it.  Being the night of Halloween, all of the ghosts would be out and about, no doubt some of them had witnessed the chase.

 

On her way back to her toilet, she noticed that the Great Hall had emptied, but there was no way the feast could be over.   There was no one in sight, not even Filch.  She started to sadden; no one was around.  How would she tell people about her victory?  If she waited until tomorrow, no one would believe her.  She had to find someone, anyone! 

 

When she reached the first floor corridor, she saw all of the students!  What were they doing here?  Maybe they all came to congratulate her!  Suddenly, Myrtle’s spirit was higher than high!  People, living, breathing people finally noticed her, little old, dead her!  She went through the crowd, thanking whomever she came across, but they all looked at her in anguish and told her to go away.

 

Had she been wrong?  Had these students come to see something else, and not her?  She started to tear again and then she saw a familiar face.  “Hermione, what’s going on here?”

 

“Oh, Myrtle, um, well, a cat was attacked and someone dabbed that awful message on the wall.  Did you happen to see who it was?”

 

“No, I was chasing Peeves around,” said Myrtle as epiphany came upon her.

 

“Chasing Peeves?  What nonsense!” laughed Hermione.  “Hey Ron, Myrtle says she was chasing PEEVES around!”

 

“HA!” yelled Ron, not exactly helping with the current situation.  Most of the unoccupied teachers gave him vacuous expressions.  Harry just stared at him.

 

“Ron, shh,” said Harry in a whisper.  “What’s so funny?”

 

“Hermione said that Myrtle said she was, ha, chasing PEEVES!” whispered Ron back.  Harry looked as if he was trying his best to keep a straight face.  

 

Myrtle had been too late.  Now no one would believe her.  If Hermione, the smartest girl at Hogwarts, didn’t, who would?  “In the morning, Peeves is going to tell everyone he was chasing me!” she thought to herself.  “I better go find him.”

 

Peeves was still hiding in the trophy room when Myrtle finally found him. 

 

“Peeves, you’re going to tell everyone the truth about that chase we just had, aren’t you?”

 

“I, I’ll NEVER TELL!”

 

“But why?” she yelled.

 

“I HAVE REPUTATION TO PRESERVE!  If I tell anyone you were chasing me, well, I’d be laughed out of here by morning!”

 

“But people think I’m lying!  They think I’m nuts!”

 

“I think they’ve thought you were nuts, before tonight.”

 

“WHAT?  WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE CHASED AROUND AGAIN?”

 

“I’LL NEVER TELL!” he screamed and raced out of the trophy room.