Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

With teachers escorting students from place to place, Harry and Ron struggle to find a chance to visit Myrtle. Meanwhile, they prepare for end-of-year exams. One day, McGonagall announces that the Mandrakes are now mature, which means they can be used to heal the Petrified victims. Right after the announcement, Ginny approaches Ron and says she has something to tell him. Before she can speak, Percy appears. Apparently frightened, Ginny leaves. Ron confronts Percy, who says that Ginny walked in on him doing something he asked her to keep a secret.

Later, between classes, Harry and Ron manage to slip away from Lockhart. They head for Myrtle’s bathroom but run into McGonagall. Thinking quickly, Harry explains that they are on their way to visit Hermione. Touched, McGonagall gives her permission. Harry and Ron proceed to the hospital wing, where Harry notices that Hermione has a piece of paper crumpled up in her hand. They pry it free and find a page torn from a library book containing a description of the basilisk, a gigantic, long-lived snake that kills by making eye contact. Hermione wrote a single word in the page's margin: “Pipes.”

Harry and Ron realize that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk, which Harry can hear due to his ability to talk to snakes. The basilisk’s victims were Petrified instead of dying because they only saw it indirectly: Mrs. Norris as a reflection in the puddle, Colin through his camera, Justin through Nick’s ghost, and Hermione and Penelope through the mirror. Hagrid’s roosters were killed because, according to the description, their crowing is fatal to basilisks. Judging by her note, Hermione realized the basilisk was traveling through pipes in the castle walls.

Harry and Ron look for McGonagall. Suddenly McGonagall’s amplified voice announces that all students are to return to their common rooms. Wondering what happened, Harry and Ron hide in a closet in the staffroom and listen as McGonagall announces that Ginny Weasley was taken by the Heir of Slytherin, who left a message: “Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever” (293). Lockhart arrives, and the other teachers sarcastically nominate him to deal with the situation.

Back in the common room, Harry and Ron decide to tell Lockhart what they know. They find him preparing to leave Hogwarts. Lockhart explains that he didn’t do any of the heroic things in his books. Instead, he interviewed those who did them and wiped their memories with a Memory Charm. He prepares to wipe Harry and Ron’s memories, but Harry casts a Disarming Charm; Ron takes Lockhart’s wand.

Harry and Ron lead Lockhart to Myrtle’s bathroom, where they ask her how she died. She explains that she was hiding in the bathroom when she heard a boy speaking a different language. When she left the stall to investigate, she saw a large pair of yellow eyes and died.

Examining the area where Myrtle saw the eyes, Harry notices a snake inscribed in one of the sinks. Speaking in Parseltongue, or snake language, Harry commands the sink to open. It descends, revealing a large pipe. Harry and Ron force Lockhart down the pipe, then follow. After a long slide, they arrive in a damp corridor deep underground.

They proceed forward cautiously, passing animal bones and an enormous snakeskin. Suddenly, Lockhart grabs Ron’s still-broken wand and casts a Memory Charm; the spell backfires, wiping Lockhart’s memory and causing the tunnel to collapse; Ron is trapped on one side with Lockhart. Harry continues down the tunnel while Ron clears rocks out of the way.

Further down the tunnel, Harry comes to a wall with two snakes carved into it. Harry again speaks Parseltongue, and the wall opens, revealing another chamber.

Harry enters the long, pillared chamber. At the end, he finds a statue of Slytherin. Near the statue, Ginny lies unconscious. Harry tries to wake her and hears a voice tell him that she will not wake up. Looking around, Harry spots Riddle leaning against one of the pillars, his body shimmering. His diary lies on the ground next to Ginny.

Harry asks Riddle for help, but Riddle remains unconcerned, playing with Harry’s wand, which he picked up while Harry tried to wake Ginny. When Harry asks what happened to Ginny, Riddle explains that she shared her insecurities in his diary throughout the year; he wrote back sympathetically. Over time, Riddle gained control of her, then used her to open the Chamber of Secrets, put messages on the walls, and unleash the basilisk.

Riddle explains that he learned how to open the Chamber of Secrets during his fifth year at Hogwarts, then stopped the attacks and framed Hagrid when the school was on the brink of closing. He preserved a version of himself in his journal in the hopes of helping someone else open the Chamber of Secrets in the future. When Ginny realized what was happening, she tried to dispose of the diary in Myrtle’s bathroom, where Harry found it. When Ginny saw Harry with the diary on Valentine’s Day, she stole it back as soon as possible. Wanting to lure Harry into the Chamber of Secrets, Riddle had Ginny leave a final message, then enter the Chamber, where Riddle began to drain Ginny’s life, allowing him to emerge from the diary.

Riddle questions Harry about his defeat of Voldemort. When Harry asks why Riddle cares so much about Voldemort, Riddle writes “TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE” in the air; the letters rearrange themselves into the phrase “I AM LORD VOLDEMORT” (314). Riddle explains that he took on the name Voldemort to distance himself from his Muggle father, after whom his mother, a witch descended from Salazar Slytherin, named him. When Riddle asserts that he is the “greatest sorcerer in the world,” Harry suggests that Dumbledore is the greater wizard. Suddenly, he hears mysterious music. With a burst of flame, Fawkes appears, dropping the Sorting Hat near Harry. Riddle laughs and asks Harry how he survived Voldemort’s attacks. Harry responds that he survived because his “mother died to save me. My common Muggle-born mother” (316).

Riddle calls the basilisk, which emerges from the mouth of the statue of Slytherin, then instructs it to kill Harry. Closing his eyes, Harry runs, then trips. Hearing a struggle, he squints and sees Fawkes wound both of the basilisk’s eyes, allowing Harry to look at it safely. The basilisk closes in on Harry, navigating by smell and following Riddle’s instructions. As a last resort, Harry puts on the Sorting Hat and thinks, “Please help me” (319). A ruby-encrusted sword falls out of the hat. As the snake lunges at Harry, Harry stabs it with the sword. The basilisk falls to the ground, leaving one fang embedded in Harry’s arm. Poison spreads through Harry’s body. Fawkes appears, shedding tears on Harry’s wound. As Harry regains strength, Riddle remembers that phoenix tears have healing powers. He shoos the bird away, then prepares to cast a spell. Fawkes returns, dropping the diary next to Harry. Without thinking, Harry stabs the basilisk fang into the diary. With a scream and an explosion of ink, Riddle vanishes.

Ginny awakens and begins to cry. Harry helps her back through the tunnel to Ron, who cleared a gap in the rocks. His memory and identity gone, Lockhart asks lots of questions as the four of them return to the castle, holding onto each other as Harry holds onto Fawkes, who flies back up the pipes. Harry leads them to the headmaster’s office.

Inside, they find McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who are relieved to see Ginny. Harry explains how he, Ron, and Hermione unraveled the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets and what happened inside. He hesitates to explain Ginny’s role until Dumbledore assures him that Voldemort alone is responsible for what happened. Dumbledore gives Awards for Special Services to the School to Harry and Ron and 200 points each toward the annual competition between Hogwarts’s four houses.

After Lockhart and the Weasleys leave, Dumbledore thanks Harry for his loyalty, explaining that was why Fawkes helped him. Harry asks Dumbledore about Riddle's comment that he and Harry are strangely similar and the Sorting Hat’s inclination to place him in Slytherin. Dumbledore theorizes that Voldemort unintentionally transferred some part of himself into Harry when he tried to kill him. He assures Harry that he is different from Riddle because he makes different choices, including the choice to join Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. As proof, Dumbledore points out Godric Gryffindor’s name inscribed on the sword Harry pulled out of the Sorting Hat.

Mr. Malfoy appears, followed by Dobby. Mr. Malfoy confronts Dumbledore about returning to the school during his suspension. Dumbledore explains that the school’s other 12 governors demanded his return following Ginny's disappearance. Dumbledore also shows Mr. Malfoy the diary; Harry realizes that Mr. Malfoy planted the diary in Ginny’s belongings during the scuffle at Flourish and Blotts. As Mr. Malfoy leaves, following Dobby’s cue, Harry stuffs the diary in his dirty sock, then gives it to Mr. Malfoy. When Mr. Malfoy tosses the sock aside, Dobby catches it, freeing him: According to custom, house-elves, who normally wear rags, are set free when their masters give them clothes. Furious, Mr. Malfoy moves toward Harry, but Dobby magically casts him backward down a set of stairs. Harry asks Dobby why he told him that the plot at Hogwarts had nothing to do with You-Know-Who; Dobby explains that it was a clue pointing to Tom Riddle before he became Voldemort.

The term ends peacefully: Hagrid returns, Gryffindor wins the House Championship, exams are canceled, and Mr. Malfoy is removed from Hogwarts’s governing board. On the train back to London, Harry asks Ginny what she saw Percy doing. She explains that she saw him kissing Penelope Clearwater, whom he was secretly dating all year. Arriving at the station, Harry gives the Dursleys’ phone number to Ron and Hermione.