Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secret Summary -- A novel by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secret Summary

Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secret is the second of the seven books in the fantasy series written by J.K. Rowling. It was published in 1998 by Bloomsbury (in UK & Canada) and Scholastic (in the US).

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After a great year at Hogwarts, going back to the Dursleys was just the anticlimax Harry dreaded! But he could not stay at the school for the summer. Therefore he had no option but to endure the Dursleys and wait for summer to end for the day when he will board the train to Hogwarts again. However, things take a turn for the worse when, on Harry's Birthday, an elf named Dobby visits Harry and warns him about the dangers that await him if he ever returns to Hogwarts!

Harry, baffled over the thought of not returning to the only place that ever felt like home, refuses to stay back, which infuriates the elf. Dobby raises a hell of trouble with the Dursleys, as a result of which Harry finds himself locked in his room for the entire summer!! However, everything bodes well when Ron and his twin brothers, Fred and George Weasley come to Harry’s rescue. In a flying car, they whisk him away to their house and Harry’s otherwise lousy summer transforms into days filled with fun and excitement.

Harry’s second year at Hogwarts dawns uneventfully except for the fact that the amount of homework thrown their way is more than ever! But there is one thing out of the ordinary that concerns Harry, every now and then he hears a mysterious voice. Also, there is a vain professor, teaching second-year students Defense Against the Dark Arts, who thinks Harry is just like him, vain and all, but it is nothing major!

Amidst the normal hustle-bustle, only the voice seems to make Harry the creeps. As the year progresses, the voice gets more and more malicious, and then suddenly bad things start happening one after the other to the students.

During all these happenings Harry by accident finds that he can speak to snakes, and being a Parslemouth. He is seen by the students as the heir of Slytherin, which as per legend, is the person who will open the ‘Chambers of secret’, and will release the captive monster. Everyone thinks that Harry is responsible for all the attacks.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir... beware" —The Writing on the Wall

Amidst all the chaos, Harry, Ron, and Hermionie try to find the person who is doing all the attacks. They decide to disguise themselves as Slytherin students so that they can question Malfoy, who according to them is the culprit. The plan goes perfectly except for the fact that Hermionie could not join them, however, it comes of no use as they find that Draco is not the one they are looking for.

Things take a drastic turn when Hermione is petrified by the monster, Harry and Ron find themselves alone and helpless, but things start to clear up when Ron’s sister Ginny is kidnapped. Harry and Ron know that she has been taken to the Chambers of Secret. In their quest of finding the true identity of the culprit, they uncover a clue left by Hermione. With that knowledge, they head down to rescue Ginny from the monster in the Chambers of Secret.

As Harry and Ron enter the Chambers of Secret they are separated.

Though alone, Harry keeps looking for Ginny, and when he finds her, he comes face to face with Tom Riddle, actually a fragment OF Voldemort’s soul that possessed Ginny through a diary. With some help from Dumbledore and his pet Phoenix Fawkes, Harry destroys the monster & the heir of Slytherin.

With Ginny rescued and all the petrified kids healed (including Hermionie), Harry and Ron are crowned as the Heroes, an exceptional ending to a rather eventful year at Hogwarts. The fact that all this ends with loads of House points to Gryffindor proves to be the icing on the cake.