Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets...Review

About the book:
Ever since Harry Potter had come home for the summer, the Dursleys were so mean and hideous that all Harry wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls' bathroom. But then
the real trouble begins--someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself!

I think this is my least favorite of all the Harry books, and I still love it! It's full of little clues and treasures of information that only make sense when you finally get to book 7.

Harry has another adventure. We visit the Burrow, where the Weasley's live and we learn about Polyjuice Potion. Professor Lockhart is hysterical. We also see some foreshadowing for Ron and Hermione's future relationship. We also see Borgin and Burkes, where Harry sees the cursed locket and hides in the vanishing cabinet, both which will figure prominently in later books.

Most importantly, we see the diary, the item we will eventually learn is the first Horcrux. We also learn that while he doesn't realize it yet, Harry is the 7th Horcrux. Dumbledore tells him that Lord Voldemort transferred some of his powers to Harry the night he tried to kill him. This makes so much more sense in book 7.

The climax in the chamber at the end of the story is exciting each time I read the book.

The main drawback for me in The Chamber of Secrets is Dobby. But, since he figures prominently in book 7, I know he's necessary to the story.

Delightful.

The film version of The Chamber of Secrets has a special place in my heart. Before my dad died, we talked about going to see The Chamber of Secrets in the theater. The film was due out in November of 2002. Dad was concerned about needing a wheelchair and having oxygen with him, but we talked about it and decided to go to a matinee and had it all planned out. Sadly, he passed away in October of 2002. Alan and I went to see the film when it came out and I'm probably the only person who cried during the opening sequence and all the way home after it was finished. My dad loved Harry Potter. (In fact, the morning that he died, my sister was reading to him from The Goblet of Fire.)


I read my personal copy, but you can purchase your own copy here.

Last read 6/08

* * * *
4/5 Stars

Comments

  1. My friend was reading her mother HP #1 the last month of her life. She made comments in the margins of the funny things her mom and her talked about while reading it. She could never part with her copy of that book.

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