Summary of harry potter and the chamber of secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secretsis the second novel in theHarry Potterseries written byJ. K. Rowling. The plot followsHarry's second year atHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls on the school's corridors warn that the "Chamber of Secrets" has been opened and that the "heir ofSlytherin" would kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are followed by attacks which leave residents of the school "petrified" (that is, frozen). Throughout the year, Harry and his friendsRon WeasleyandHermione Grangerinvestigate the attacks.

The book was published in the United Kingdom on 2 July 1998 byBloomsburyand in the United States on 2 June 1999 byScholastic Inc. Although Rowling found it difficult to finish the book, it won high praise and awards from critics, young readers and the book industry, although some critics thought the story was perhaps too frightening for younger children. Althoughmuch like the rest of the series, some religious authorities have condemned its use of magical themes, while others have praised its emphasis on self-sacrifice and on the way in which a person's character is the result of the person's choices.

Several commentators have noted that personal identity is a strong theme in the book, and that it addresses issues of racism through the treatment of non-magical, non-human and non-living characters. Some commentators regard the diary as a warning against uncritical acceptance of information from sources whose motives and reliability cannot be checked. Institutional authority is portrayed as self-serving and incompetent. The book is also known to have some connections to the sixth novel of the series,Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The film version ofHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, released in 2002, became the third film to exceed £600million in international box office sales and received generally favourable reviews. Video games loosely based onHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secretswere also released for several platforms, and most obtained favourable reviews.