9 Huge Mistakes In The Harry Potter Books You Didn't Even Notice
6. Moaning Myrtle Is Apparently Blind
When it comes to Moaning Myrtle the ghost who aids Harry in his attempt to discover the truth about the Chamber of Secrets (as well as helping him with part of the Triwizard Tournament ) there are actually several inconsistencies, one of which can possibly be explained, the other which definitely can't.
At one point in Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, Hermione claims that Moaning Myrtle haunts the bathroom on the first floor. Of course, this being Hermione, her information is basically never wrong, so we've got a pretty good reason to believe what she's saying. On top of that, she's a girl, so she's definitely going to know which of her bathrooms are essentially out of bounds.
However, when Harry sees the writing on the wall outside her bathroom, he's not on the first floor at all, but the second. It's possible this is because in the UK the labelling system for floors goes ground and then first, rather than first then second, but nevertheless it was altered in subsequent editions of the book.
Less explicable, however, is this: how on earth does Moaning Myrtle not notice the basilisk exiting the chamber multiple times? Spending all of her time in the bathroom, she must surely have seen the snake leaving through the secret entrance in order to wreak havoc on many of the school's students. Yet Myrtle has genuinely no knowledge of what's going on when confronted by Harry, nor does she have any reason to lie.