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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Children's BooksClassics
Pages
360
Published
1998
Language
English

Synopsis

Before Harry Potter can even return to Hogwarts for his second year, a house-elf named Dobby appears in his bedroom with a frantic warning: do not go back to school. Harry ignores him — and arrives to find the castle under a shadow of genuine terror. Someone, or something, has begun attacking students, leaving them petrified and frozen with fear, and cryptic messages scrawled on the walls: the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware.

As suspicion spreads and the attacks continue, Harry discovers he has an unsettling ability: he can hear a voice in the walls that no one else can detect, and he can speak to snakes in a language called Parseltongue — a gift that, in the Wizarding World, carries a disturbing reputation. Working with Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, Harry follows the evidence into Hogwarts' hidden history, uncovering the story of a student who opened the Chamber fifty years earlier and the nature of the monster that has been sealed inside ever since.

Darker in tone than its predecessor, the second Harry Potter novel deepens the mythology of the Wizarding World and introduces the concept of magical memory as a vessel for evil — a plot thread that will echo through all seven books.

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Collected in

Book cover of Harry Potter Box Set
Harry Potter Box Set

Genres

Children's Books Classics High Fantasy Middle Grade Short Stories Fantasy Adventure Humor Young Adult Mystery

About the author

J
J. K. Rowling

Born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, near Bristol, England, Joanne Rowling published her first novel under the initials J.K. at her publisher's suggestion — the K borrowed from her grandmother Kathleen to create a gender-neutral pen name. Before her writing career, she worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International in London and later as an English teacher in Oporto, Portugal. She conceived the idea for Harry Potter on a delayed train journey from Manchester to London in 1990...

Characters

Harry PotterProtagonist

A young wizard who discovers he can speak Parseltongue as attacks begin at Hogwarts.

Hermione GrangerSupporting

A brilliant witch who is petrified during the attacks.

Ron WeasleySupporting

Harry's best friend.

DobbySupporting

A house-elf who tries to warn Harry to stay away from Hogwarts.

Albus DumbledoreSupporting

The headmaster whose faith in Harry, even under pressure from the school governors to act otherwise, proves decisive to the outcome.

All characters in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Frequently asked questions

  • What does 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' spell out as an anagram?

    The letters of Tom Marvolo Riddle rearrange exactly into 'I am Lord Voldemort' — a reveal Rowling had planned from the beginning of the series. The UK edition uses this specific name to make the anagram work; some translated editions required changes to the character's name so the anagram could function in other languages.

  • When was the book first published in the UK and US?

    The UK edition was published by Bloomsbury on 2 July 1998. The American edition, published by Scholastic, followed almost a year later on 2 June 1999 — a delay that led to significant spoiler management challenges before the internet made such gaps untenable for later books in the series.

  • Who opened the Chamber of Secrets the first time, and when?

    The Chamber was first opened by the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle during his fifth year at Hogwarts, in 1942–43. Riddle used the basilisk within to attack Muggle-born students, framed another student for the attacks, and successfully had Hagrid expelled — a miscarriage of justice that haunts the present-day plot.

  • What is a Horcrux, and is there one in this book?
  • Why can Harry speak Parseltongue, and what does it mean?
  • Is the Chamber of Secrets a real place at Hogwarts or a metaphor?

    Within the story it is a literal hidden chamber deep beneath Hogwarts, constructed by Salazar Slytherin when he left the school following a dispute with the other founders. It can only be opened by a Parselmouth — someone who can speak to snakes — and houses a basilisk Slytherin intended to be used to 'purge' the school of Muggle-born students.

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