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Bloomsbury edition (children) Scholastics edition

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling, is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It is the second book in a series of seven Harry Potter books. The book was published in 1998. A film was theatrically released in November 2002.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story continues with Harry's second year at Hogwarts. Several new characters are introduced, such as Moaning Myrtle, Gilderoy Lockhart, Colin Creevy, Ginny Weasley and Dobby.

Harry is warned not to return to Hogwarts by Dobby, who informs him that if he goes back to Hogwarts he will be in mortal danger. Despite the house-elf's advice, pleas, and subsequent attempts to stop him, Harry decides to return. Unfortunately, the Dursleys have locked his books and wand up, so Harry is a prisoner. The Weasleys come to the rescue with their flying car. After spending a pleasant summer with his best friend Ron and Ron's family, the lot of them are shipped off to platform 9 and three quarters, but Harry and Ron are trapped outside. In desperation, Harry and Ron fly the flying car up to Hogwarts. Once at school, Harry finds himself at the centre of attention of three people: the vain new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, admirer Colin Creevy and Ron's sister Ginny Weasley, who has a crush on him.

However, Harry's second year at Hogwarts takes a really bad turn when the Chamber of Secrets is opened again and someone or something goes on a rampage, petrifying students. According to legend, the Chamber was built by Salazar Slytherin and can be opened only by his true heir to purge Hogwarts of students whose lineage is not purely magical. Many suspect Harry of being the Heir, especially after he inadvertently displays the ability of Parseltongue (the ability to communicate with snakes), a distinctive trait of Dark wizards which Harry obtained from Voldemort. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spend the majority of the novel trying to discover the true identity of the Heir of Slytherin.

The attacks increase in frequency, leaving more pertified characters in the hospital wing, including Hermione. To top it all, a message is written on a wall declaring that a student - Ginny Weasley - has been taken into the Chamber, where "her bones will lie forever".

With Ron's help, Harry discovers the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, where he discovers that it was Ginny who opened the Chamber, but that she wasn't acting of her own free will - she was possessed by Tom Riddle, a.k.a. Lord Voldemort in his youth. Riddle had imprinted a memory of himself in an enchanted diary, hoping to one day continue the work he had begun when he first opened the Chamber fifty years ago and framed Hagrid for it.

The memory of Tom Riddle then tries to kill Harry with a basilisk (the monster responsible for petrifying the students) but fails when Dumbledore sends Fawkes, his phoenix, and the sorting hat, through which Harry draws the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Fawkes blinds the basilisk so that it cannot use its fatal gaze, and Harry slays it with the sword. Riddle is vanquished when the diary is destroyed. Ginny is saved from Riddle's clutches, and despite her fears is not punished for her actions. The petrified students are restored to normal. It transpires that Lucius Malfoy, father of Draco and owner of Dobby, is responsible for the diary coming into Ginny's possession in a complex plot to discredit Dumbledore and the muggle-supporting Mr. Weasley, but he suffers no consequence due to insufficient evidence.

Meanwhile, Gilderoy Lockhart has been exposed by Harry and Ron as a fraud who wipes the memories of others and claims their achievements. When Lockhart tries to wipe their memories with Ron's malfunctioning wand, the spell backfires and wipes his memory, leaving him confused and harmless.

Important Notes

Dumbledore's speech "It is our choices that make us what we are" lie at the heart of the series.
This book seemed the most irrelevant to the overall plot of the series until the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when the diary's destruction suddenly became more important.

Rumours

Many fans noted that Dumbledore said that Voldemort was the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin, instead of descendant. J. K. Rowling said this was a "deliberate mistake". This could support the theory that time travel will recur in the series (see "Rumour" note for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). This mistake was fixed on further printings, though, so it's more likely to be a mistake that slipped past the editors than an actual hint. Some versions have put it back after Rowling's comment, perhaps overlooking the tongue-in-cheek nature of the term "deliberate mistake". This line was left out of the film.

It was implied in the book that Ginny had sent Harry his singing valentine. Some members of the online fandom have questioned this conclusion, suggesting it being a prank by the Weasley Twins or a genuine overture from Moaning Myrtle as other possibilities. However, during an interview around the time of the launch of Half-Blood Prince, Rowling confirmed that it had indeed been Ginny who had sent Harry the valentine.

Book Chapters

Chapter 01: The Worst Birthday Chapter 02: Dobby's Warning Chapter 03: The Burrow Chapter 04: At Flourish and Blotts Chapter 05: The Whomping Willow Chapter 06: Gilderoy Lockhart Chapter 07: Mudbloods and Murmurs Chapter 08: The Deathday Party Chapter 09: The Writing of the Wall Chapter 10: The Rogue Bludger Chapter 11: The Dueling Club Chapter 12: The Polyjuice Potion Chapter 13: The Very Secret Diary Chapter 14: Cornelius Fudge Chapter 15: Aragog Chapter 16: The Chamber of Secrets Chapter 17: The Heir of Slytherin Chapter 18: Dobby's Reward

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