Book review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2 done!)

“Are you a ghost?”
“A memory.”

(Beware – spoilers!)

My thoughts on rereading Book 2 of the Harry Potter series.

What happened to the pudding…
I don't know how J. K. Rowling manages to do it, but the Dursleys are even funnier than last time – Mr. Dursley is preparing his family for dinner with a potential client while they deliberately ignore the fact that it’s Harry’s twelfth birthday. I loved it when he almost has a seizure when Harry mentions the 'M' word (which turned out to be 'please'). Then, Harry is visited by an ugly little house elf, Dobby, who tries to prevent him returning back to Hogwarts; this results in destruction of Aunt Petunia’s precious pudding. Harry is immediately locked away like a prisoner in a prison cell. Who comes to save him? The Weasleys – in an enchanted flying Ford Anglia.

Mrs. Norris petrified
I used to have a Harry Potter computer game a long time ago (key word: used to :P), and in one of the levels you had to navigate the Hogwarts library without being seen by either Argus Filch or Mrs. Norris, his cat. It was one of the most annoying and difficult levels to get through, so it’s easy enough for me to dislike the pair of them. But, when she was petrified by the Basilisk, I actually felt kind of sorry for her. Sorry for her and Filch, because after all, as it was revealed, he was what was considered an outcast in the wizarding world.

Letters and subtlety
One thing that makes rereading the series so rewarding is the things you pick up that are placed so carefully by the author. She’s a planner, and it’s evident that she knew, from the beginning, exactly how things would unravel at the end, as opposed to a spontaneous writer. For example, consider this sentence, from page 239 of Chapter 13 (The Very Secret Diary):

“Ginny was staring from the diary to Harry, looking terrified.”

The sentence is so well-placed and casual in the paragraph, that on the first read, you would have no idea about the significance of Ginny looking ‘terrified’. And this is only one example of the many, many subtle clues Rowling leaves behind in books in the entire series.

And let’s not forget J. K. Rowling’s, fascinating ability to play with letters. Tom Marvolo Riddle rearranged is I am Lord Voldemort. How did she come up with that?!? It’s pure genius, because Voldemort is not simply a made-up name, it actually has a possible relevant meaning in French: “flight from death”.

The new characters
In Chamber of Secrets, there is an interesting variety of new characters introduced by J. K. Rowling:
Dobby – Dobby is such a sad little creature, he makes me feel pretty depressed. :( His admiration for Harry makes him cute, but his self-loathing is a bit disturbing. I’m glad he got free at last.

Gilderoy Lockhart – Oh, Lockhart, you are such a superficial mess – I’m happy you ended up the way you did!

Moaning Myrtle – Myrtle is another piece of evidence for J. K. Rowling’s excellent characterization. She’s almost a caricature, but not quite. You feel sorry for her, but you’re happy she’s dead. Her pleasure at other people’s misery is what makes you dislike her. But when she invites Harry to join her in her toilet – if he had died – I burst out laughing. The poor thing!

Favorite line

“Snape looked as though Christmas had been canceled.”

Yes, the best line in this book, in my opinion, is this. It’s when Harry and Ron are in trouble after arriving at Hogwarts in a flying car and talking to Dumbledore, with Snape attempting desperately to get them expelled. Then Dumbledore declares that he wasn’t going to. You can just imagine the souring of Snape’s face when he says that! Hahaha. :)

Ginny Weasley’s crush
I wonder whether Rowling knew this early on that Ginny and Harry were going to end up together. If she did, she doesn’t leave any hints behind, because Ginny’s crush on Harry, in this book at least, is left at the notion that it’s just puppy love on her behalf.

To sum up
Book 2 was another fabulous reread. Onto Prisoner of Azkaban today! :)