harry_potter_and_the_chamber_of_secrets_book

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Book Information

Synopsis

The second installment in the series follows Harry Potter's tumultuous second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The story begins with a warning from a mysterious house-elf named Dobby, who implores Harry not to return to school. Undeterred, Harry arrives at Hogwarts to find a new, sinister legend coming to life: the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. As students are found petrified, a message written in blood on a castle wall declares that the “Heir of Slytherin” has returned to purge the school of those with non-magical heritage. Harry finds himself at the center of the suspicion when he is revealed to be a Parselmouth, a rare ability he shares with Salazar Slytherin himself. With his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry must uncover the secrets of the Chamber, identify the monster within, and confront a dark piece of Lord Voldemort's past.

Plot Summary

The story opens with Harry Potter enduring a miserable summer with the Dursleys. His isolation is broken by the sudden appearance of Dobby, a house-elf who warns him of a terrible plot against him at Hogwarts and attempts to prevent his return. After Dobby's magical interference ruins a dinner party and earns Harry a warning from the Ministry of Magic, the Dursleys lock him in his room. He is soon rescued by Ron Weasley and his brothers, Fred and George Weasley, in a flying Ford Anglia, and he spends the rest of the summer at The Burrow. During a trip to Diagon Alley via Floo Powder, Harry accidentally lands in Knockturn Alley and observes Draco Malfoy and his father, Lucius Malfoy, at the dark arts shop Borgin and Burkes. Later, at Flourish and Blotts, they meet the vain and famous author Gilderoy Lockhart, who is revealed to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. When Harry and Ron are mysteriously blocked from entering Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, they fly the Ford Anglia to Hogwarts, crashing into the Whomping Willow upon arrival and damaging Ron's wand. Soon after the term begins, the Chamber of Secrets is opened. Harry begins to hear a disembodied voice that no one else can, and soon after, caretaker Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, is found petrified. A message on the wall proclaims, “The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.” The legend, as explained by Professor McGonagall, tells of a hidden chamber built by Salazar Slytherin that houses a monster only his heir can control, meant to cleanse the school of Muggle-borns. Suspicion falls on Harry when, during a chaotic Duelling Club run by Gilderoy Lockhart, he is revealed to be a Parselmouth—one who can speak to snakes—a trait famously associated with Slytherin and Lord Voldemort. Convinced that Draco Malfoy is the heir, Harry, Ron, and Hermione begin brewing Polyjuice Potion in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to disguise themselves and interrogate him. While the mission proves Malfoy's innocence, Harry discovers an enchanted diary in the same bathroom, which belonged to a former student named Tom Marvolo Riddle. The diary shows Harry a memory from fifty years prior, where Rubeus Hagrid was accused of opening the Chamber and expelled. As more students are petrified, including Hermione Granger, the school faces closure. Albus Dumbledore is suspended as Headmaster and Rubeus Hagrid is taken to Azkaban. Before being arrested, Hagrid leaves a cryptic clue: “follow the spiders.” Harry and Ron venture into the Forbidden Forest, where they encounter Aragog, a giant Acromantula whom Hagrid had raised. Aragog denies being the monster from the Chamber and reveals that the true beast is something spiders fear above all else, and that the last victim died in a bathroom. Piecing together the clues, including a note clutched in Hermione's petrified hand, Harry deduces the monster is a Basilisk that travels through the school's plumbing, and that its first victim was Moaning Myrtle. They realize Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber and force the cowardly Gilderoy Lockhart to accompany them. Lockhart's attempt to erase their memories backfires due to Ron's broken wand, causing a cave-in that separates Harry from the others. Harry proceeds alone into the Chamber of Secrets, where he finds an unconscious Ginny and the spectral memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle, preserved by his diary. Riddle reveals that he is the young Lord Voldemort and the true Heir of Slytherin. He used the diary to possess Ginny, forcing her to open the Chamber and unleash the Basilisk. Riddle then summons the Basilisk to kill Harry. Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix, arrives with the Sorting Hat. Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, and Harry pulls the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat. Harry slays the Basilisk but is poisoned by one of its fangs. Near death, he is saved by Fawkes's healing tears. Harry then stabs the diary with the Basilisk fang, destroying Riddle's memory and the piece of his soul within it. Ginny awakens, and they all return to the surface. In the aftermath, Albus Dumbledore is reinstated, Hagrid is released, and all petrified victims are cured by a Mandrake Restorative Draught. Dumbledore explains that Harry's ability to speak Parseltongue comes from Lord Voldemort, and reassures Harry of his place in Gryffindor by stating, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” Finally, Harry discovers that Lucius Malfoy was responsible for planting the diary on Ginny Weasley and tricks him into freeing his house-elf, Dobby.

Major Themes

  • Prejudice and Blood Purity: The book introduces the derogatory term “Mudblood” and explores the prejudice of Pure-blood families like the Malfoys against Muggle-born witches and wizards. This theme is central to the conflict of Slytherin's legacy.
  • Choices Versus Abilities: A key moral of the story, articulated by Albus Dumbledore, is that a person's character is defined not by their inherent traits (like Harry's Parseltongue) but by the choices they make.
  • Confronting the Past: The narrative delves into the history of both Hogwarts and Lord Voldemort. Tom Riddle's Diary serves as a physical link to the past, showing how past events and unresolved conflicts continue to affect the present.
  • The Nature of Fame: The contrast between Harry, who is burdened by his fame, and Gilderoy Lockhart, who fraudulently manufactures his, serves as a commentary on celebrity and integrity.

Introductions to the Harry Potter Universe

Behind the Scenes

  • Book-to-Film Differences:
    • The film adaptation omits Nearly Headless Nick's 500th Deathday Party, a chapter that provides background on his character and the castle's ghosts.
    • In the book, after Harry frees Dobby, Lucius Malfoy attempts to attack Harry with an unspecified curse before Dobby intervenes. In the film adaptation, Lucius begins to cast the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra, a significant escalation of his intent. (film)
    • The book provides more detail on how Tom Riddle's Diary influenced Ginny Weasley, explaining that she was responsible for killing the school roosters (as a crowing rooster is fatal to a Basilisk) and writing the messages on the wall, details which are less explicit in the film.
    • The book establishes that Percy Weasley had a secret girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, who was petrified alongside Hermione Granger. This subplot is absent from the film.