Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.
Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Author: J. K. Rowling.
Genre: Literature, Bildungsroman, fiction, adventure, fantasy.
Country: U.K.
Language: English.
Publication Date: June 2nd, 1998.
Summary: Harry can't wait for his holidays with the dire Dursleys to end so he can go back to Hogwarts for his second year. But a small, self-punishing house-elf warns Harry of mortal danger awaiting him there and tries to prevent him from going. Returning to the castle nevertheless, Harry hears a rumour about a Chamber of Secrets, holding unknown horrors for wizards with Muggle parentage, which can only be opened by the heir of Salazaar Slytherin himself. Now someone is casting spells that paralyse people, making them seem dead, and a terrible warning is found painted in blood on the wall. The chief suspect is Harry. But the answer is much darker than that, and the it lies in a mysterious diary of a young man who also studied at Hogwarts many years ago.
My rating: 9/10
♥ "Percy's been acting very oddly this summer," said George, frowning. "And he has been sending a lot of letters and spending a load of time shut up in his room... I mean, there's only so many times you can polish a prefect badge..."
♥ "Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their keys keeps shrinking - they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face..."
♥ Warlock D.J. Didsbury says:
'My wife used to sneer at my feeble charms but one month into your fabulous Kwikspell course I succeeded in turning her into a yak! Thank you, Kwikspell!'
♥ "Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic, doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather."
♥ "We'll get you another autograph. Lockhart'll sign anything if it stands still long enough."
♥ "It'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have somethign more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to."
"So no pressure, Harry," said Fred, winking at him.
♥ "So Dobby stopped us getting on the train and broke your arm..." He shook his head. "You know what, Harry? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life he's going to kill you."
♥ Ginny Weasley, who sat next to Colin Creevey in Charms, was distraught, but Harry felt Fred and George were going the wrong way about cheering her up. They were taking it in turns to cover themselves with fur or boils and jump out at her from behind statues. They only stopped when Percy, apoplectic with rage, told them he was going to write to Mrs Weasley and tell her Ginny was having nightmares.
♥ Lockhart cuffed Harry merrily on the shoulder. "Just do what I did, Harry!"
"What, drop my wand?"
♥ He wasn't alone after all. Standing on a golden perch behind the door was a decrepit-looking bird which resembled a half-plucked turkey. Harry stared at it and the bird looked balefully back, making its gagging noise again. Harry thought it looked very ill. Its eyes were dull and, even as Harry watched, a couple more feathers fell out if its tail.
Harry was just thinking that all he needed was for Dumbeldore's pet bird to die while he was alone in the office with it, when the bird burst into flames.
♥ Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through..."
♥ Azkaban - The wizard prison, Goyle," said Malfoy, looking at him with disbelief. "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backwards."
♥ "And the fun doesn't stop there! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"
Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.
♥ Losing his head, harry tried to make a run for it, but the dwarf seized him around the knees and brought him crashing to the floor.
"Right," he said, sitting on Harry's ankles, "here is your singing Valentine:
'His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard,
I wish he was mine, he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.'"
♥ "But why's she got to go to the library?"
"Because that's what Hermione does," said Ron, shrugging. "When in doubt, go to the library."
♥ "However," said Dumbledore, speaking very slowly and clearly, so that none of them could miss a word, "you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."
♥ "Ginny!" said Mr Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you cannot see where it keeps its brain."
♥ "I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore.
Ron opened his mouth in horror.
"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling.
♥ "So I should be in Slytherin," Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it-"
"Put you in Gryffindor," said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue... resourcefulness... determination... a certain disregard for rules," he added, his moustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."
"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin..."
"Exactly," said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
♥ "Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said Hermione, as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging towards the enchanted barrier. "When they hear what you did this year?"
"Proud?" said Harry. "Are you mad? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious..."