Summary
Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets is the second installment to J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter franchise. It continues with our beloved characters from the first book. We follow them through their second year at the magical school Hogwarts. This year Harry is very popular not only because he defeated the dark lord once, but a second time in his first year. Everything seems normal until halfway through the year the Chamber of Secrets mysteriously opens. Nobody knows where the chamber is or even who to open it. The only information on it is that Salazar Slytherin one of the muggle hating founders of Hogwarts was the one who created it, and he left a mysterious monster in the chamber. The chamber was opened once before, and a girl was killed so it is a bad deal.
Like predicted the beast begins to attack students, and each time there is an attack Harry hears strange voices from the walls. He keeps this to himself cause nobody seems to notice. After some time, Harry is at a dueling club and someone sends a snake at him he tells it to stop, and everyone realizes he is a parseltounge. Rumors run around that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin and that he opened the chamber and is making the monster attack people. muggle borns are getting attacked left and right, and Hermione is attacked. When the monster attacks it stuns people and makes them petrified. In Hermione's hand there is a mirror and a crumpled piece of paper. The paper reviles that the monster is a Basilisk. When you look it in the eyes you die, but if you see it in a reflection you only get petrified.
The beast takes a student into the chamber. The student is Ron's sister Ginny. The boys figure out how to open up the chamber and go in after her with the help of a teacher Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart is a scam and doesn't know how to defeat a Basilisk. He tries to erase the boys memories but the spell back fires and collapses the cave. Only Harry can continue. It turns out that some of Voldemort's memories are in a journal, and he has been possesing Ginny the entire year. Voldemort is the Heir of Slytherin. Harry kills the Basilisk with the help of Dumbledore's phenix, Fawkes, and with help of the Sword of Gryffindor. Unfortunatly Harry is bit and the poison is fast acting. With his final bit of strength he destroys the journal with the basilisk tooth, in turn destroying the memories of Voldemort. It looks like the end for Harry but phenix's have healing tears, and they are the only thing that can counteract Basilisk venom, So Harry is lucky there. In the end Harry saved the school from getting shut down, and protected everybody who was hurt.
Like predicted the beast begins to attack students, and each time there is an attack Harry hears strange voices from the walls. He keeps this to himself cause nobody seems to notice. After some time, Harry is at a dueling club and someone sends a snake at him he tells it to stop, and everyone realizes he is a parseltounge. Rumors run around that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin and that he opened the chamber and is making the monster attack people. muggle borns are getting attacked left and right, and Hermione is attacked. When the monster attacks it stuns people and makes them petrified. In Hermione's hand there is a mirror and a crumpled piece of paper. The paper reviles that the monster is a Basilisk. When you look it in the eyes you die, but if you see it in a reflection you only get petrified.
The beast takes a student into the chamber. The student is Ron's sister Ginny. The boys figure out how to open up the chamber and go in after her with the help of a teacher Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart is a scam and doesn't know how to defeat a Basilisk. He tries to erase the boys memories but the spell back fires and collapses the cave. Only Harry can continue. It turns out that some of Voldemort's memories are in a journal, and he has been possesing Ginny the entire year. Voldemort is the Heir of Slytherin. Harry kills the Basilisk with the help of Dumbledore's phenix, Fawkes, and with help of the Sword of Gryffindor. Unfortunatly Harry is bit and the poison is fast acting. With his final bit of strength he destroys the journal with the basilisk tooth, in turn destroying the memories of Voldemort. It looks like the end for Harry but phenix's have healing tears, and they are the only thing that can counteract Basilisk venom, So Harry is lucky there. In the end Harry saved the school from getting shut down, and protected everybody who was hurt.
Themes
The Right To Choose- Everyone has the right to choose. It is brought up a lot through the book that Harry would of been a great Slytherin, but he chose to be in Gryffindor. This choice has brought Harry along and helped him make more great choices that usually involve helping others.
Rumors Can Ruin Anyone- rumors are a nasty thing. In the book, a rumor spreads around that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin. It is very influential on Harry's character arch. Prejudice Vs. Respect- This is a key component to the book. Prejudice is why the basilisk was in the school in the first place. The prejudice of Muggles is still a thing in the book, and only Muggles are attacked by the basilisk. |
Favorite Quote
"Harry lay awake for hours that night through a gap in the curtains around his four-poster he watched snow starting to drift past the tower window and wondered . . Could he be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin? he didn't know anything about his father's family"(197).
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I really like this quote because everyone who reads this series knows Harry is the "good" guy, but this one quote not only makes the reader wonder but it makes Harry wonder if he is actually that. The rumor going around that he is the Heir of Slytherin, and he has no way to prove that he isn't. Harry questions hid character. This helps him to understand that even if he was the Heir to Slytherin his choices are all that really matters.
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Essay Argument
Suppression of Minorities
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