Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Facts and Statistics
- First U.S. Printing, June, 1999
- First British Printing, July, 1998
- ISBN 0-439-06486-4
Book Two Awards:
- Nestlé Smarties Book Prize - Gold Medal 9-11years, 1998
- Scottish Arts Council Children's Book Award 1999
- British Book Awards - Children's Book of the Year 1998
- North East Book Award 1999
- North East Scotland Book Award 1998
- The Booksellers Association / The Bookseller Author of the Year 1998
- FCBG (Federation of Children's Books Group) Children's Book Award - Overall winner and for Longer Novel Category, 1998
SUMMARY OF BOOK 2
Dobby's Distress
Harry is still sleeping in Dudley's spare bedroom, but all his wizarding belongings have been locked up in his closet under the stairs and Hedwig has been locked in her cage, therefore, he has not communicated with his friends all summer.
On Harry's 12th birthday, the Dursleys are entertaining a prospective client of Uncle Vernon's and Harry has been sent to his room and told to keep quiet. When he gets to his room, he discovers that he also has a guest - a small creature with bat-like ears and big green eyes, wearing a pillowcase, saying he is honored to meet the great Harry Potter. He is a house-elf named Dobby and his master is not aware that he has come to warn Harry of a grave danger that someone is plotting when he returns to Hogwarts this year. The trouble is, Dobby clearly wants to tell Harry the precise danger, but punishes himself for disloyalty by loudly hitting his head on things every time he begins to give Harry the details.
Dobby is determined to prevent Harry from going back to Hogwarts, so he runs down to the kitchen and crashes Aunt Petunia's dinner pudding to the floor with a spell. An owl suddenly arrives at their residence with a letter warning Harry that no magic is allowed outside of school and if any more occurs, he will be expelled. Uncle Vernon's client runs off, but he now knows that Harry is not allowed to use magic, so he locks Harry in his room and installs bars on his window knowing that Harry cannot use magic to escape - even to go back to school.
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The Breakout
One night Harry awakes to find Ron, Fred, and George Weasley parked outside his second-floor window in a flying automobile. Using a rope tied to the car, they yank the bars off the window, then load all of Harry's stuff into the car and take him back to the Burrow.
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Books, Braggarts, and Brawls
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley take Harry to Diagon Alley using Floo Powder, which transports them via fireplace, although Harry does not like traveling that way very much. They meet Hermione Granger and her parents, everyone goes to get their school books from Flourish and Blotts, where they find the internationally famous wizard, Gilderoy Lockhart, promoting his new autobiography, "Magical Me." Lockhart, who is very pompous, announces that he will be Hogwart's new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and spotting Harry, forces him to stand for a photo shoot for the Daily Prophet newspaper.
Mr. Malfoy is there, and picks up one of Ginny's used books, commenting on her family's poverty and insults the Grangers. Mr. Weasley reacts by causing a scene, yet even after calming down, Malfoy utters a final insult as he hands Ginny back her book.
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A Whomping Willow
For some reason, the magical barrier to the Hogwarts Express is sealed just as Harry and Ron attempt to enter Platform 9 3/4. Panicking that they will not get to school on time, they "borrow" the flying car and fly above the train to Hogwarts. Just as they reach the school, the car sputters and dies, hitting a tree called the Whomping Willow - that hits back. They just manage to escape being pulverized by its branches, but Ron's wand is broken, they miss Ginny's sorting into Gryffindor, and they are into trouble with Professor McGonagall who gives them detention (although most of the kids think it was very cool).
At breakfast the next day, Ron receives a "howler" (a letter that literally yells at the recipient) from his mother, scolding him because Mr. Weasley is now facing an inquisition from the Ministry for having enchanted a Muggle object.
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Classes and Clashes
In their first Herbology class, the second years learn about Mandrakes which are used to restore anything that has been enchanted. During Gryffindor's Quidditch practice, the Slytherins trespass on the field, carrying brand new Nimbus 2001 brooms that Draco Malfoy's father had donated to the team. When Draco calls Hermione a "Mudblood" (meaning "dirty blood"), Ron attempts to zap him with a spell, but his broken wand backfires on himself - causing Ron to barf up slugs.
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Chamber of Secrets
While doing his detention with Lockhart, Harry suddenly hears a distant, dark, venomous voice saying "...let me rip you...let me kill you...," but Lockhart does not hear it.
For Halloween, Harry, Ron, and Hermione attend a "Deathday Party" to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Nearly Headless Nick. On their way back upstairs, Harry again hears the cold voice saying "...time to kill...." Although they cannot see anything, Harry chases the source upstairs to a passage on the second floor, where they see a big puddle of water on the ground and a message written on the wall: "THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE."
Under the words, Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, hangs stiffly from a torch. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall inspect Mrs. Norris carefully, determining that she is not dead, but has been petrified by very advanced Dark magic that the second-years could not have performed. Professor Dumbledore informs them all that Mrs. Sprout will cure the cat when the Mandrakes have grown to full size, but Ginny is still especially distraught over the whole incident.
The students ask Professor Binns to explain about the "Chamber of Secrets." He tells them that there is a legend that Salazar Slytherin had built a hidden chamber that none of the other founders knew about, and then left the school after an argument with Goderic Gryffindor concerning admitting half-bloods. Slytherin supposedly had sealed this Chamber until his "true heir," would arrive to re-open it, but none of the faculty have found it in 1000 years.
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Petrified Patients
For Gryffindor's first Quidditch match with Slytherin, a bludger breaks Harry's arm, but he still catches the Snitch, winning the game. However, when Lockhart attempts to mend the bone, he instead removes all bones from Harry's arm, making Harry despise Lockhart even more.
While in the hospital having his bones re-grown, Harry is visited again by Dobby who explains that the pillowcase he wears is the symbol of a house-elf's enslavement - that he cannot be set free unless given clothes, therefore, his master is careful not to pass him even a sock. Dobby admits to closing the barrier at Platform 9 3/4, and warns Harry again to leave Hogwarts.
Dumbledore and McGonagall suddenly enter the hospital carrying first-year Colin Creevey, who always has a camera with him - trying to get pictures of everything (including Harry). Colin has also been petrified - his camera and film melted by the attack - and Harry hears Dumbledore conclude that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened again.
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Finding Slytherin's Heir
Lockhart starts a "dueling club," where the students learn how to disarm their opponents. While practicing, Malfoy thinks it's funny to unleash a snake on Harry, who quickly tells it not to attack when he sees it headed toward Justin Finch-Fletchley, one of the Hufflepuffs. Unfortunately, no one understood what he did - only that he was able to talk to the snake, a rare trait, called a "parselmouth," that would most likely be inherited by a descendent of Salazar Slytherin.
Harry sees Hagrid on his way to Dumbledore with a dead rooster, and then turns the corner to discover both Justin and Nearly Headless Nick petrified. Before he can run and tell anyone, Peeves the poltergeist cries out that Harry did it. Dumbledore does not think Harry did it, but the other students are convinced he has, and Harry even doubts himself - as the sorting hat had suggested putting him in Slytherin.
During Christmas, Harry, Ron, and Hermione brew some Polyjuice Potion in Moaning Myrtle's Out-of-Order bathroom to change the three of them into look-alikes for three Slytherin students so they can get Malfoy to tell them what he knows. Harry and Ron find out only that Malfoy knows the Chamber was also opened 50 years ago and at that time, a Mudblood had died - otherwise he knows nothing else. Unfortunately, the hair that Hermione used in her Slytherin student potion turns out to have been a cat hair - turning her into part cat, so Madam Pomfrey has to cure her.
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Riddle's Diary
Moaning Myrtle floods her bathroom because someone threw a diary down her toilet. Harry retrieves the 50 year-old diary that belonged to a T.M. Riddle - a name Ron recognizes as a Hogwarts Head Boy who had received an award for Special Services to the school.
There is no visible writing in the diary, but when Harry's bookbag spills open and everything is soaked with ink but the diary, it allows Harry to figure out that if he writes in the diary, the words disappear, but then new words temporarily appear as the diary writes back. Tom Riddle, himself, is the writer from within the diary, and he brings Harry into his own memory to witness what happened when the Chamber was opened last time. Harry sees that Hagrid was a student at Hogwarts then, and had, as usual, found a pet monster. However, as a student had been killed, Tom had to report Hagrid's monster spider to the headmaster.
Harry sadly tells Ron and Hermione what he saw - that it was Hagrid who opened the Chamber 50 years ago - but they feel too awkward to ask Hagrid about it. They cannot find out anything more from the diary either - as someone steals the diary from Harry's room.
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Myrtle's Monster
Harry hears the deathly voice again, and Hermione thinks she has figured it all out - taking off for the library. Harry and Ron are devastated to find out that Hermione was attacked on her way back from the library, while Percy is in shock to hear that a Prefect, Penelope Clearwater, was petrified as well. A compact mirror was found near them.
Harry and Ron decide they have to visit Hagrid, so go down to see him under the Invisibility cloak. While there, they witness Lucius Malfoy (a school governor) suspending Dumbledore as Headmaster, and Cornelius Fudge escorting Hagrid off to Azkaban as Hagrid announces to "follow the spiders" if anyone wants answers.
Harry and Ron (whose phobia of spiders is almost overwhelming) follow the spiders into the Forbidden Forest where they meet an elderly Aragog, Hagrid's enormous pet spider from 50 years ago. Aragog can speak to Harry and tells him that he never hurt any human out of respect for Hagrid, and that Hagrid was wrongly accused, while the monster from the Chamber still prowls. He also mentions that the Muggle who died is a girl whose body was found in a bathroom, which they conclude must be Moaning Myrtle. Although Aragog will not hurt them, the other spiders start attacking, but they are saved by Ron's flying automobile that is now living wild in the Forbidden Forest.
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Kidnapped!
While Harry and Ron are on their way to talk to Moaning Myrtle, Professor McGonagall asks them why they are wandering around, and they claim they were on their way to try to visit their petrified friend, Hermione. As McGonagall buys their story, they end up sitting with Hermione where they discover a piece of paper clenched in her fist accurately describing the creature from the Chamber of Secrets, which she had referenced in the library.
Ginny is kidnapped and taken to the Chamber. Without Dumbledore around to do it right, Harry and Ron insist on helping an inept Lockhart find the Chamber and rescue Ginny....
--- PLOT ENDING NOT COVERED ---
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