Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the second novel in the Harry Potter series. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls of the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened and that the "heir of Slytherin" would kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are found after attacks that leave residents of the school petrified. Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione investigate the attacks.

The book was published in the United Kingdom on 2 July 1998 by Bloomsbury and later in the United States on 2 June 1999 by Scholastic Inc. Although Rowling says she found it difficult to finish the book, it won high praise and awards from critics, young readers, and the book industry, although some critics thought the story was perhaps too frightening for younger children. Much like with other novels in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets triggered religious debates; some religious authorities have condemned its use of magical themes, whereas others have praised its emphasis on self-sacrifice and the way one's character is the result of one's choices.

Several commentators have noted that personal identity is a strong theme in the book and that it addresses issues of racism through the treatment of non-human, non-magical, and non-living people. Some commentators regard the story's diary that writes back as a warning against uncritical acceptance of information from sources whose motives and reliability cannot be checked. Institutional authority is portrayed as self-serving and incompetent.

The film adaptation of the novel, released in 2002, became (at the time) the fifth highest-grossing film ever and received generally favourable reviews. Video games loosely based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were also released for several platforms, and most obtained favourable reviews.

Plot

On Harry Potter's twelfth birthday, the Dursleys—Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley—hold a dinner party. Uninvited, Harry is visited by the house-elf Dobby, who warns him not to return to Hogwarts. Harry refuses, so Dobby uses magic to ruin the dinner, nearly getting Harry expelled from Hogwarts. Vernon locks Harry in his room in retaliation.

Ron Weasley rescues him with his brothers Fred and George in their father Arthur's enchanted Ford Anglia. They bring Harry to their home, the Burrow. Harry and the other Weasleys—Molly, Percy, and Ginny (who has a crush on Harry)—travel to Diagon Alley. They meet Hermione Granger, Lucius Malfoy, father of Harry's nemesis Draco, and Gilderoy Lockhart, a conceited autobiographer appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. At King Cross station, Harry and Ron can't enter Platform 9 3⁄4 and miss the Hogwarts Express, so they fly Arthur's car to the school, crashing into the Whomping Willow on the grounds, and damaging Ron's wand.

Throughout the year, Harry learns that prejudiced wizards discriminate against those of non-magical parentage. He also notices a voice only he can hear, coming from the walls. Eventually, Harry, Ron, and Hermione find the school caretaker Argus Filch's petrified cat, Mrs Norris, and a scrawled warning: "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware". The Chamber of Secrets is rumoured to have been created by Salazar Slytherin, one of the school's founders, after a disagreement with fellow founders on admitting Muggle-born students. Supposedly, it houses a monster, which the Heir of Slytherin would be able to control.

During a Quidditch game, a Bludger chases Harry and breaks his arm. Lockhart blunders while attempting to fix it, and Harry is forced to heal in the hospital overnight. There, Dobby visits Harry, confessing that he charmed the Bludger and sealed the gateway at King's Cross. He also reveals that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened before. Another attack occurs, and a duelling class is set up for the students, during which it is revealed that Harry is a 'Parselmouth', having the ability to speak to snakes.

Another attack occurs, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione suspect Draco is the Heir, given his hostility toward Muggle-borns. To confirm this, Hermione concocts Polyjuice Potion, which allows Harry and Ron to impersonate Draco's lackeys Crabbe and Goyle. They discover that Draco is uninvolved. Moaning Myrtle, a ghost that haunts a girls' bathroom, shows them a diary left in her stall. The diary belonged to Tom Riddle, a student who witnessed a fellow student's death during the previous opening. Riddle's consciousness in the diary claims to Harry that Rubeus Hagrid was to blame. Hermione is petrified in the next attack, and the school is put on lockdown, with headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Hagrid forced to leave.

Following instructions left by Hagrid, Harry and Ron follow spiders into the Forbidden Forest. They find an Acromantula named Aragog, which denies its involvement, claiming spiders fear the real monster. Aragog attempts to feed Harry and Ron to its progeny, but Arthur's car rescues them. They visit Hermione, and discover that she had deduced the monster is a basilisk - a gigantic snake that kills with a stare and petrifies when seen indirectly. Harry concludes that the basilisk is the voice he has been hearing, it's been using the plumbing through the school, and that Myrtle was killed in the initial attack. Ginny, who had been acting strangely, is taken into the Chamber. Harry and Ron discover the entrance to it in Myrtle's bathroom, and force Lockhart to enter the Chamber with them. Lockhart confesses he is a fraud and attempts to erase the boys' memories with Ron's damaged wand, but instead erases his own and causes a rockfall, separating Ron and Harry.

Harry proceeds and finds an unconscious Ginny and Tom Riddle. Riddle reveals he is Lord Voldemort and the Heir of Slytherin. He had opened the Chamber before and framed Hagrid. By possessing Ginny through his diary, Riddle continued what he started, and unleashes the basilisk. Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes arrives to assist Harry with the Sorting Hat. Fawkes blinds the basilisk, allowing Harry to pull the Sword of Godric Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat and slay it, although he is poisoned in the process. As Riddle taunts the dying Harry, Fawkes' tears heal him, and he uses a basilisk fang to stab Riddle's diary, destroying it and Riddle, and restoring Ginny.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart return to the castle. Ginny is reprieved by Dumbledore, who shows interest in the diary. Lucius Malfoy bursts in, furious about Dumbledore's return, accompanied by Dobby, who is the Malfoys' servant. Harry realizes that the diary had been in the Malfoys' possession. To reopen the Chamber, Lucius had slipped the diary into Ginny's cauldron in Diagon Alley. Harry tricks Lucius into freeing Dobby from his service; Lucius attacks Harry in revenge, but Dobby fends him off.

The petrified students are cured, Gryffindor wins the house cup again, Hagrid returns, Lockhart is discharged, and Harry returns to Privet Drive in high spirits.