No words can describe how much I love this book, although this is not my favorite of the whole series, still, no one can deny the sensation it caused across fans all over the world when it was released. Be it the novel or the movie, both were just perfect!
I am not here to review the book, as better people have already rated it the best read series of all time, so I would rather just talk about it, as I am one of the biggest fans of Harry Potter ever and would never stop raving about it.
Let me walk you through Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which was yet again an adventurous one where he had another face-off with the evil wizard - Voldemort!
During his summer holidays, Harry was depressed because the cruel Dursleys were not allowing him to talk to his friends. And since he was not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, the poor thing couldn't do anything about it. Here is when an amazing character - Dobby, was introduced to put Harry out of his misery.
Well, not really!
Well, not really!
Dobby is a house-elf, who came to warn Harry about the dangers he will be in if he returns back to Hogwarts this year. However, instead of helping Harry, he made matters worse for him by getting Harry in trouble with the Dursleys, who locks him up permanently.
Harry was saved by Ron and his twin brothers as they fly him out of there to "the Burrow" (Ron's house) in a freaking flying car during the middle of the night. Mrs. Weasley was not pleased with the means of getting Harry out, even though the outcome was what she hoped for. She happily accommodates Harry in their house for the rest of the summer holidays, which turned out to be really fun for him. He especially enjoyed Mrs. Weasley's cooking, playing Quiddich with the Weasley brothers in the yard and a trip to Diagon Alley was what he would've hoped for. He was also pleasantly surprised at how much the Weasleys adore him, especially at how Ginny (Ron's little sister) seems to react, every time Harry enters the room.
"What Harry found most unusual about life at Ron's, however, wasn't the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul: It was the fact that everybody there seemed to like him."
Now when it was time to return back to Hogwarts, things again started to go downhill for Harry. He and Ron missed their train from platform nine and three quarters, so they had to again fly Ron's dad's flying Ford to Hogwarts, which they thought would be a super cool way to travel and it would make everyone jealous if they land it on the school grounds in style, instead, they crashed the car straight into the Whomping Willow, a hitting tree planted on the grounds of Hogwarts, which beat the shit out of them. They were lucky to get away with detention, too bad for Professor Snape, as he was definitely planning for their expulsion.
There was a new "Defense Against the Dark Arts" teacher in the school this year, Gildroy Lockhart. He was the most annoyingly pretentious yet colorful character and was famous in the wizarding world for constantly showcasing himself as a hero, claiming that he saved the wizarding community from dark creatures in his super-expensive, self-proclaiming books. However, as a person, he repeatedly makes a fool of himself in front of students and the staff while demonstrating his bravery.
As Dobby predicted, bad things had started taking place in the school. Someone, who claimed to be the "Heir of Slytherin" was trying to hurt the students whose parents were "Muggles" (non-magical folks). Threatening notes were written on the wall which made Harry very concerned about finding the culprit, as his best friend, Hermione was one of those students who could get hurt.
Another reason for Harry to find clues about the heir was because everyone suspected him to be the heir, as he could talk to snakes in parseltongue, an ability, which was infamously related to dark arts and known to be associated with Voldemort.
Situation took a worse turn when Hermione was petrified along with a couple of other muggle-borns and Hagrid was dismissed from the school, as everyone thought it was something to do with him because of his monster fixation and the fact that he was last expelled from school in his third year, which was fifty years ago when the chamber of secrets, which houses the Slytherin monster, was last opened.
The story becomes unbelievably interesting when Dumbledore was asked to leave the school, following more attacks on students and Harry and Ron take matters in their own hands and sets out to find the location of the chamber all by themselves.
What sets this book apart is the way J.K. Rowling has created the flow of the entire story connecting Harry's past with his future. She introduces lots of interesting magical creatures, like the gnomes, a giant talking spider, Pheonix, and a Basilisk. She also formulates a death-day party featuring ghosts who were funny and creepy at the same time. This story also takes Harry's and Draco Malfoy's enmity to the next level, which was extremely fun to read.
It surprises me by J.K. Rowling's ability in creating a fantasy world to die for. I always feel the adoration for the characters every time I read this glorious, bewitching novel. It still baffles me that many still haven't read it yet. I seriously don't know..what are they waiting for?!
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." - Albus Dumbledore
Happy Reading!!!
