Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in the Harry Potter series created by J.K Rowling. It was first published in 1998.

Buy Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter 2)

Warning: Plot spoilers ahead!

Plot Outline

In the beginning…

During the summer Harry Potter is not getting any mail from his friends, which is very unusual. Then on his 12th birthday he is visited by Dobby, a house elf, who warns Harry that he must not return to Hogwarts as he will be in mortal danger (it also turns out he has being hiding the mail to try and make Harry feel like not going back).

However, Harry is adamant that he must return to Hogwarts and Dobby realises he is going to have to use force to stop Harry Potter returning. Dobby uses a charm to destroy a cake Aunt Petunia has been making for an important meeting with a potential client of Harry’s uncle, Vernon Dusley. Harry is blamed by the Ministry of Magic for Dobby’s charm and told that if he performs magic in the human world again he will be expelled from Hogwarts.

When the Dusleys find out Harry Potter is not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts they confiscate his wand and lock him in his room. Fortunately a few days later Ron Weasley and his brothers (Fred and George) arrive in an enchanted car - a Ford Anglia - to rescue him and he spends the rest of the summer with the Weasleys.

When Ron Weasley and Harry Potter try to pass through the wall to platform 9 and three quarters they find they can’t pass through. Wondering how to get to Hogwarts they decide to fly in their father’s enchanted car. They crash into the Whomping Willow and the car disappears into the Forbidden Forest.

Hogwarts

Upon returning to Hogwarts, Harry finds he is the unwanted centre of attention of three people: the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, admirer Colin Creevy, and Ron’s sister, Ginny Weasley.

Things get worse at Hogwarts as the Chamber of Secrets is opened and a monster is unleashed around Hogwarts. Several students are petrified by the monster, and the legend says that only a heir of Salazar Slytherin can open the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to try and find out who the heir of Slytherin is. They use Polyjuice Potion to trick Draco Malfoy into giving them clues about the heir of Slytherin. Malfoy doesn’t know who the heir is but he does give them an important clue about the Chamber of Secrets.

Unfortunately the hair that Hermione took for the Polyjuice Potion was from a cat and Hermione transforms into a cat as well. She has to spend the next few weeks in the hospital wing hiding from students and recovering.

The Chamber of Secrets

The attacks increase throughout the year and more students are petrified, including Hermione. There is also a message saying that Ginny has been taken into the Chamber of Secrets and shall remain there. Ron and Harry manage to discover the entrance to the Chamber and force Gilderoy Lockhart to come with them into it - he is a fraudulent wizard who erases other wizard’s memories and takes their achievements as his own.

Lockhart tries to erase Ron and Harry’s memory but the spell backfires and the ceiling collapses, separating Harry from Ron and Lockhart. Harry makes it into the Chamber where he finds Ginny (unconscious) and Tom Riddle, the ‘memory’ of Lord Voldemort. Ginny, under the control of Lord Voldemort, was the one who opened the Chamber. Voldemort had imprinted his memory into the diary so one day he could continue his work of ridding Hogwarts of non-pure wizards.

Tom Riddle’s memory grows more powerful and it tries to kill Harry by setting the monster that was released from the Chamber (a basilisk) on Harry. Fortunately, Dumbledore’s phoenix, Fawkes, arrives with the sorting hat and Harry is able to draw out of the hat the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Fawkes blinds the basilisk and Harry is able to slay the monster. Harry is bitten by the monster and is dying from the poison but is saved by Fawke’s healing tears.

Harry then destroys the diary of Tom Riddle with one of the basilisk’s fangs and the memory of Tom Riddle is gone. All the petrified students, as well as Ginny, recover.

Buy Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter 2)

Related Content