Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second instalment in the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. It was published in 1998 and won a string of awards.
The novel begins with Harry having a miserable summer at the Dursley’s home, where he has returned after his first year at Hogwarts. He is upset and angry that he has not heard from either of his best friends, Ron and Hermione. He is forced to stay in his room during an important dinner party held by his uncle Vernon, who is trying to seal a business deal with a client. During the dinner party, an house elf named Dobby appears in Harry’s bedroom and warns him that he must not return to Hogwarts as it is no longer safe.
Harry tries desperately to get Dobby to be quiet so that Uncle Vernon does not hear any noise, and is furious to discover that Dobby has been stealing his mail, which is why he has not heard from his friends. Harry refuses to listen to Dobby’s warning and as a result, Dobby uses magic to destroy the cake at the dinner party, ruining Vernon’s chances with his business client.
The Ministry of Magic sends Harry a letter, informing Harry that he is not to use magic outside of school, otherwise he will be expelled from Hogwarts. Vernon, who is furious that his deal has been ruined, places bars on Harry’s window to prevent him from going back to school and seeing his friends.
Harry is later rescued by Ron Weasley, his best friend, and Ron’s brothers, Fred and George in an enchanted flying Ford Anglia. They take him to their home, The Burrow, where he stays with them for the remainder of the school holidays. Whilst there he encounters Ron’s sister, Ginny, who likes him.
On the first day back for his second year at Hogwarts, Harry encounters a series of strange happenings. First, he and Ron are unable to get through Platform Nine and ¾, which they need to enter to be able to get on the train to Hogwarts. Ron suggests that they use the enchanted Ford Anglia, but the journey does not quite go to plan when the car breaks down and they end up crashing into the Whomping Willow, a particularly violent tree that attacks anyone that goes near it. The tree damages the car and snaps Ron’s wand and the two boys nearly end up being expelled from Hogwarts when their headmaster learns that they used the enchanted car in areas where they could have been seen by muggles (non-magical people).
Later, Ron receives a howler, which is a letter that is sent by someone who is angry with the recipient for a particular reason. The howler is from Ron’s mother, who is furious that he used the car in broad daylight, and embarrasses him by shouting at him through the letter during breakfast in the Great Hall.
Harry’s second year at Hogwarts begins to get even worse when a series of strange attacks take place, with students being petrified by a strange creature. Messages are daubed on walls, one of which informs that students and professors that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Harry also begins to hear a voice that no one else can hear. He later learns in a History of Magic lesson from Professor Binns that, according to legend, the Chamber of Secrets was built a thousand years ago by Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. The Chamber was built to rid the school of those who are unworthy to study magic, such as muggle-borns.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione begin to suspect that Draco Malfoy, Harry’s enemy and a Slytherin student, is behind the attacks, as he has often expressed a dislike for muggle-borns. Harry also becomes a suspect after speaking Parseltongue during a duel with Draco, where he attempted to save another student from a snake but others believed he was egging it on. Parseltongue, which is the ability to talk to snakes, was also spoken by Salazar Slytherin. Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, also becomes a suspect as a result of an incident that occurred when Hagrid was back at school and was expelled. Headmaster Dumbledore is suspended for not keeping the school safe.
Harry , Ron and Hermione eventually discover that Draco is not behind the attacks after Harry and Ron sneak into the Slytherin common room disguised as Draco’s friends. Harry and Ron become determined to find out what is causing the attacks on the students after Hermione is attacked. They later learn that the creature causing the attacks is a basilisk and that whoever looks it directly in the eye will die instantly. They work out that none of the victims looked the creature directly in the eye and that most of the students that it attacked were muggle-born, including Hermione. Harry also realises that the reason why he could hear a voice that no one else could is because of his ability to talk to and understand snakes.
Ron’s sister, Ginny, is then taken directly into the Chamber by the creature. Ron is devastated and he and Harry manange to seek out the entrance to the Chamber. Harry travels to the Chamber alone and manages to find Ginny. He encounters Tom Riddle, an ex-student at Hogwarts who owns a diary that Harry found earlier. Riddle reveals himself to be Lord Voldemort and tells Harry that he has been using Ginny to make himself stronger by giving her the diary, which Voldemort has used to preserve his sixteen year old self, so that she can pour her thoughts into it. Whilst possessed by Riddle, Ginny wrote the threatening messages on the walls and opened the Chamber.
Riddle then tells Harry that, when the Chamber was opened fifty years earlier, he had framed Hagrid so that people believed Hagrid was responsible, which led to Hagrid being expelled and was the reason why he was a suspect when the Chamber was opened again.
Riddle then sets the Basilisk onto Harry. Harry receives help from the Sorting Hat, from which he pulls a sword that belonged to Godric Gryffindor , another founder of Hogwarts. Fawkes, Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, also comes to rescue Harry and helps him by blinding the basilisk so that it can no longer petrify its victims. This enables Harry to kill the basilisk and also destroy the diary, defeating the part of Voldemort’s soul that was placed in it.
Ginny survives, the victims of the attacks are cured and Dumbledore is reinstated. Harry discovers that his ability to speak Parseltongue was accidentally passed onto him the night that Voldemort tried to kill him. Voldemort, after killing Harry’s parents, had attempted to kill Harry and in the process had unintentionally passed on his powers. It is also discovered that it was Lucious Malfoy, Draco’s father, that planted the diary on Ginny and had bullied a number of people to sign a petition to get Dumbledore removed from the school. As a result, he loses his job as a school governor and his house elf, who turns out to be Dobby, is freed by Harry after Harry witnesses how cruelly Malfoy treats him.
Hagrid is freed from Azkaban, where he was sent after it was suspected that he was behind the attacks. Harry heads back to the Dursley’s for the summer, once again parting from Ron and Hermione until his next year at Hogwarts.
The novel begins with Harry having a miserable summer at the Dursley’s home, where he has returned after his first year at Hogwarts. He is upset and angry that he has not heard from either of his best friends, Ron and Hermione. He is forced to stay in his room during an important dinner party held by his uncle Vernon, who is trying to seal a business deal with a client. During the dinner party, an house elf named Dobby appears in Harry’s bedroom and warns him that he must not return to Hogwarts as it is no longer safe.
Harry tries desperately to get Dobby to be quiet so that Uncle Vernon does not hear any noise, and is furious to discover that Dobby has been stealing his mail, which is why he has not heard from his friends. Harry refuses to listen to Dobby’s warning and as a result, Dobby uses magic to destroy the cake at the dinner party, ruining Vernon’s chances with his business client.
The Ministry of Magic sends Harry a letter, informing Harry that he is not to use magic outside of school, otherwise he will be expelled from Hogwarts. Vernon, who is furious that his deal has been ruined, places bars on Harry’s window to prevent him from going back to school and seeing his friends.
Harry is later rescued by Ron Weasley, his best friend, and Ron’s brothers, Fred and George in an enchanted flying Ford Anglia. They take him to their home, The Burrow, where he stays with them for the remainder of the school holidays. Whilst there he encounters Ron’s sister, Ginny, who likes him.
On the first day back for his second year at Hogwarts, Harry encounters a series of strange happenings. First, he and Ron are unable to get through Platform Nine and ¾, which they need to enter to be able to get on the train to Hogwarts. Ron suggests that they use the enchanted Ford Anglia, but the journey does not quite go to plan when the car breaks down and they end up crashing into the Whomping Willow, a particularly violent tree that attacks anyone that goes near it. The tree damages the car and snaps Ron’s wand and the two boys nearly end up being expelled from Hogwarts when their headmaster learns that they used the enchanted car in areas where they could have been seen by muggles (non-magical people).
Later, Ron receives a howler, which is a letter that is sent by someone who is angry with the recipient for a particular reason. The howler is from Ron’s mother, who is furious that he used the car in broad daylight, and embarrasses him by shouting at him through the letter during breakfast in the Great Hall.
Harry’s second year at Hogwarts begins to get even worse when a series of strange attacks take place, with students being petrified by a strange creature. Messages are daubed on walls, one of which informs that students and professors that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Harry also begins to hear a voice that no one else can hear. He later learns in a History of Magic lesson from Professor Binns that, according to legend, the Chamber of Secrets was built a thousand years ago by Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. The Chamber was built to rid the school of those who are unworthy to study magic, such as muggle-borns.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione begin to suspect that Draco Malfoy, Harry’s enemy and a Slytherin student, is behind the attacks, as he has often expressed a dislike for muggle-borns. Harry also becomes a suspect after speaking Parseltongue during a duel with Draco, where he attempted to save another student from a snake but others believed he was egging it on. Parseltongue, which is the ability to talk to snakes, was also spoken by Salazar Slytherin. Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, also becomes a suspect as a result of an incident that occurred when Hagrid was back at school and was expelled. Headmaster Dumbledore is suspended for not keeping the school safe.
Harry , Ron and Hermione eventually discover that Draco is not behind the attacks after Harry and Ron sneak into the Slytherin common room disguised as Draco’s friends. Harry and Ron become determined to find out what is causing the attacks on the students after Hermione is attacked. They later learn that the creature causing the attacks is a basilisk and that whoever looks it directly in the eye will die instantly. They work out that none of the victims looked the creature directly in the eye and that most of the students that it attacked were muggle-born, including Hermione. Harry also realises that the reason why he could hear a voice that no one else could is because of his ability to talk to and understand snakes.
Ron’s sister, Ginny, is then taken directly into the Chamber by the creature. Ron is devastated and he and Harry manange to seek out the entrance to the Chamber. Harry travels to the Chamber alone and manages to find Ginny. He encounters Tom Riddle, an ex-student at Hogwarts who owns a diary that Harry found earlier. Riddle reveals himself to be Lord Voldemort and tells Harry that he has been using Ginny to make himself stronger by giving her the diary, which Voldemort has used to preserve his sixteen year old self, so that she can pour her thoughts into it. Whilst possessed by Riddle, Ginny wrote the threatening messages on the walls and opened the Chamber.
Riddle then tells Harry that, when the Chamber was opened fifty years earlier, he had framed Hagrid so that people believed Hagrid was responsible, which led to Hagrid being expelled and was the reason why he was a suspect when the Chamber was opened again.
Riddle then sets the Basilisk onto Harry. Harry receives help from the Sorting Hat, from which he pulls a sword that belonged to Godric Gryffindor , another founder of Hogwarts. Fawkes, Dumbledore’s pet phoenix, also comes to rescue Harry and helps him by blinding the basilisk so that it can no longer petrify its victims. This enables Harry to kill the basilisk and also destroy the diary, defeating the part of Voldemort’s soul that was placed in it.
Ginny survives, the victims of the attacks are cured and Dumbledore is reinstated. Harry discovers that his ability to speak Parseltongue was accidentally passed onto him the night that Voldemort tried to kill him. Voldemort, after killing Harry’s parents, had attempted to kill Harry and in the process had unintentionally passed on his powers. It is also discovered that it was Lucious Malfoy, Draco’s father, that planted the diary on Ginny and had bullied a number of people to sign a petition to get Dumbledore removed from the school. As a result, he loses his job as a school governor and his house elf, who turns out to be Dobby, is freed by Harry after Harry witnesses how cruelly Malfoy treats him.
Hagrid is freed from Azkaban, where he was sent after it was suspected that he was behind the attacks. Harry heads back to the Dursley’s for the summer, once again parting from Ron and Hermione until his next year at Hogwarts.
