---
Over the next few days, a peculiar excitement hung in the air throughout the castle.
In the corridors, students gathered in twos and threes, whispering about the most sensational rumour in the school: Professor Albus Dumbledore had recently developed an extraordinary interest in the girls' lavatory on the second floor.
Those in the know were all determined to spread this "secret" far and wide, a revelation that had shattered their understanding.
"I'm telling you, it's absolutely true!" a young witch whispered, her eyes gleaming. Five or six students from different houses were gathered around her, each craning their necks, afraid to miss a single detail. "I saw it with my own eyes, just yesterday afternoon at ten past three, he walked straight in and stayed for at least twenty minutes!"
"Impossible, there must be some misunderstanding."
"Then go and see for yourself!" the young girl vowed. "Every day around three in the afternoon, he goes. I'd bet all my Chocolate Frog cards on it —"
And so, these days, the corridor outside Moaning Myrtle's former "sad old home" became the busiest place at Hogwarts. Spurred on by busybodies, students even skipped lessons just to stake out the second-floor corridor. Some pretended...