Harry Potter Re-Read Book 2

The second book in the series is, of course

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

It takes up the story in the summer before Year 2 in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All of the main characters were introduced in the Philosopher’s Stone so there is a refreshing lack of time spent in reintroducing characters at length. The basic storyline of the previous year is revisited, but as with the original, plot wise it is full steam ahead.

The Opening Chapters

Harry is back at the Dursley’s for the summer, and they are behaving just as vindictively as they were in the first book, to the extent that Uncle Vernon has locked away all of Harry’s magic equipment and forbidden Harry from flying Hedwig in case the owl delivers messages to his friends. These friends have been very quiet during the summer and Harry is very unhappy because he feels that they have just forgotten him. The first set piece revolves around a very important business meeting where Vernon hopes to make a huge sale to some rich builders. When Harry is told to keep out of the way, he gladly returns to his bedroom, but there he is met by an elf called Dobby. OK, let’s get this out of the way. I can’t stand the character in either the books or the films! I know that puts me in the minority, but there you go. The slapstick nature of Dobby’s behaviour and the way he talks about and to Harry just get on my nerves, but I promise I won’t go on about it. Anyway, Dobby manages to wreck Vernon’s meeting and gets Harry into trouble with the Ministry of Magic when he performs a hover charm. Vernon locks him in his room and threatens to stop him going back to Hogwarts ever again. Things look hopeless until the younger Weasley brothers, Ron, Fred and George arrive in a Ford Anglia which just happens to be able to fly!

The danger at Hogwarts

In the Chamber of Secrets, a series of events leave staff and students fearing for their safety. Harry becomes the object of suspicion after it transpires that he is able to speak to snakes. Parseltongue is the province of dark wizardry and was an ability famously possessed by He Who Must Not Be Named. It is part of the plotting of the series that something that seems relatively unimportant becomes significant later. In the first book Harry speaks to a snake in London Zoo, which seems like a short scene designed to make the reader smile. When it happens again, the reader is unsurprised, but the other students are horrified. The first time it was funny, subsequent times in the series it is anything but. Something similar happens with Ginny Weasley’s role in the story. Her character, such as it is, was set up very early on as a very shy Harry Potter groupie! This becomes very significant, although the reader only finds this out later, in bringing Harry Potter and Tom Riddle together. The final set piece makes the connection clear as a certain amount of ‘monologuing’ takes place!

Defence against the Dark Arts – the impossible post

In the first book Professor Quirrell was the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. When it turned out that his turban was hiding more than a bad haircut his days were numbered. This book sees the flamboyant and fraudulent Gilderoy Lockhart taking over the post. Far from the brave vanquisher of dark magic he portrays in his books, he is a vain coward who is skilled at memory charms. He is desperate for fame and assumes that Harry wants the same thing. I won’t spoil things for anyone who hasn’t read it, but his lack of expertise soon makes him the object of derision amongst the staff and students, a situation that bodes ill for his job prospects.

Overall

The second book in the series moves at a cracking pace. You are plunged into the adventure and, rather cleverly, the world building is integral to the plot. I never felt that the pace slackened for the purposes of an information dump, and I raced through the book. There are a number of differences between the book and the film, but the most glaring was that in the book, Hermione has to be told what a ‘Mudblood’ is, which is much more logical for someone who only entered the Wizarding World a year earlier. The characterisation remains functional rather than rounded, but the story is so good that it’s easy to ignore that. Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed it and was reminded of bedtime reading for my children with them hanging on my every word.