Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

SPOILERS! Check out the journey blog for the reasons why!

I’m not sure how well this little trip to Hogwarts is going. I’m less than halfway in, so it’s too soon to tell, but this movie did little to encourage the continuation of the journey. I’m still hopeful, though. I’ve seen a few more scenes from the upcoming last flick and they look great! Also, Rupert Grint was on Live! with Regis & Kelly this morning. He spoke so highly about the faithfulness of the film adaptations to the novels that I decided to stay on board for at least one more movie.

The movie opens with Harry at his aunt & uncle’s house for summer. They’re unspeakably cruel to him, yet also determined to keep him in their home. I still don’t get that, but whatever. Uncle’s bosses come over for dinner and the family forces Harry to stay in his room, stay quiet, and “pretend he doesn’t exist.” Of course, that can’t happen. Instead, a “house elf” appears in Harry’s room, wreaking all kinds of havoc and trying to keep Harry from returning to Hogwart’s. The elf, Dobby, believes there’s an evil plot to kill Harry if he goes back to school. Trying to get Harry in trouble so his aunt and uncle will keep him home, Dobby drops a fluffy dessert on the boss’ wife’s head. That works like a charm. Harry’s uncle locks him in his upstairs bedroom and even installs bars over the window. But of course bars are useless against a wizard and his friends.

Ron Weasley and his brothers use their enchanted flying car to bust Harry out of the makeshift prison and he spends the rest of the summer at the Weasleys. The Weasleys are a huge family of wizards. Mom, Dad, and all seven children are red-headed wizard folk. The world of magic is their normalcy, which is something Harry has never had before. His aunt and uncle are not only muggles, but anti-wizardry muggles. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to experience more time in the Weasley home with Harry, but they did have a lot of ground to cover, as do I.

At back-to-school time, the Weasleys take Harry and their children out shopping for their school supplies. Coincidentally, they go to the wizard book shop on the same day as a pathetic wizard named Lockhart is doing a book signing. Lockhart is a self-obsessed, greedy celebrity along the lines of a Kevin Trudeau. His own obsession with the spotlight makes him immediately suspicious of Harry Potter, a natural celebrity in his own right. While Lockhart sets Harry up for an awkward photo op, Harry’s school nemesis, Draco Malfoy, looks on. And Draco isn’t alone. His father Lucius is along for the shopping trip and he is unnaturally eager to meet Harry. Malfoy tries to pick a fight with Mr. Weasley over his affection for and interest in muggles, but Weasley is above his goading.

Armed with all of their supplies, all the children head off to Hogwarts, including Ron’s little sister Ginny, who is going for the first time. Mysteriously, the magic portal to the train works for everyone except for Harry and Ron. Later we will learn that this is the work of Dobby, who is hell bent on protecting Harry from whatever mysterious danger may be lurking at Hogwarts. Eager to get back on time for the term to begin, Ron steals his father’s enchanted car and flies it all the way to Hogwarts. He’ll later receive a screamer from his mother for that stunt. Side note—the screamer is awesome. One of the first orders of business upon arrival at Hogwarts is Quidditch practice. Unfortunately both the houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin want the field at the same time. Perhaps more unfortunately, Harry learns that Draco Malfoy is the new seeker on the Slytherin team. Lucius bought all new state-of-the-art brooms for the entire team. When Hermione suggests that Draco bought his way in to the prestigious position, he calls her a “mudblood,” which is a very derogatory term for wizards who were born of muggles. Them’s fightin’ words. But come to find out, Draco’s not the only one disdainful of mixing the races. In fact, there had long been controversy as to the pedigree of students who should be allowed to attend Hogwarts. One of the original school founders—Slytherin himself—believed that only full-blood wizards should be allowed to attend. Though he was voted down at the school’s founding, he built a “Chamber of Secrets” somewhere inside the school to ensure that he would someday get his way. When the “heir of Slytherin” attends the school, one or more mixed race student mysteriously dies.

While no one technically dies during most of the school year, we do see a lot of people—Hermione included—who become petrified. Like literally. Petrified. Stone. When Professor Dumbledore is unseated as headmaster by Lucius Malfoy, Harry and Ron take it upon themselves to discover the Chamber, uncover its secrets, destroy the danger it holds, and restore their friends to health. This they accomplish with the help of a little girl’s ghost, some highly combative spiders, the diary of a former student (who turns out to be a young Voldemort), and Professor Dumbledore. Of course they succeed and another year at Hogwarts comes to a happy close, with Dumbledore back in charge. But one thing is clear—Voldemort no longer cares about the mudbloods. Harry Potter is the one he wants dead.