Chamber of Secrets: Chapters 13 & 14

Wizard rock of the week: "Dear Tom" by Creevey Crisis

And we’re back! I hope you had a great week. Despite a raging blizzard and a foot of snow last Wednesday I managed to continue re-reading and blogging with reckless abandon.

Just a fun note: By chance a few months ago I stumbled upon this blog, a delightful site called Muggle Meets Wizard. Its author, Jess, is reading the series for the very first time. Yipes! It’s been great to read her entries, but also maddening at times, because I love discussing Harry Potter but I really have bite my tongue because I’m determined not to spoil her first read through. But ooh! Especially now that’s she in the meat of Half-Blood Prince… and I can’t say a word! So instead I sit there and gleefully rub my hands together, eager for her to experience the awesomeness to come. And some of her predictions have been sooooo close! Oh, the agony and the ecstasy!

This week’s episode will covers Chamber of Secrets chapters thirteen and fourteen. We’ll see early glimmers of adolescent hormones, our first ride on the Flashback Express, slick treachery and falsely accusations, and our first glimpse of a certain Minister for Magic. Ignore Myrtle’s moaning and come along!

Chapter Thirteen: The Very Secret Diary

What Happens:

Hermione is slowly recovering from her Polyjuice disaster as Ron and Harry stay flummoxed about the Heir of Slytherin. After visiting her one afternoon, Harry and Ron pass by Myrtle’s bathroom on the way back to the common room. Myrtle is even more upset than usual and flooded her bathroom in frustration. Someone came into her bathroom and threw a book at her… and a very strange book it is, too. Ron warns Harry not to pick up; he’s heard all sorts of stories about haunted books from his dad. Harry ignores him and picks it up. It’s a faded fifty-year-old diary with “T.M. Riddle” stamped on the cover and nothing written inside. Ron remembers polishing a trophy with Riddle’s name, and Harry notices that the diary is from a London shop, meaning its owner must have been Muggle-born.

Once Hermione is released from the hospital wing, she’s as intrigued by the diary as Harry is. Exploring the Trophy Room the discover Riddle was also a Head Boy and Prefect. Despite her best efforts it doesn’t reveal anything special, and she and Ron are ready to write it off. Harry can’t stop thinking about the diary, however, and keeps it.

On Valentine’s Day, Lockhart tries to cheer everyone up by sending Valentines via cupid and decorating the Great Hall with a ridiculous amount of pink. In the hallway, one of the cupids corners Harry to recite a Valentine, ripping Harry’s schoolbag and spilling his books and ink all over the place. Harry is mortified by the Valentine, much to Draco’s delight and Ginny’s distress. Harry notices that the diary, unlike all his other books, isn’t soaked in ink. Alone in the dorm, he writes in the diary and to his surprise it writes back! The writer introduces himself as Tom Riddle, a Hogwarts student fifty years ago who helped catch the Heir of Slytherin. He offers to show Harry the night he caught the culprit and Harry agrees.

Once in the diary’s memory, Harry finds himself in the Headmaster’s office- only it’s not Dumbledore sitting there. Tom enters and asks Professor Dippet if he can stay at school. Dippet refuses on the grounds that it’s not safe with all the recent attacks. Once out of the office, Tom looks like he’s decided something and hurries off. He’s briefly stopped by Dumbledore but continues on. Harry follows him to a corridor where he confronts Hagrid and some sort of creature. There’s a minor scuffle and Harry is ejected from the memory, certain that it was Hagrid who opened the Chamber fifty years ago.

Commentary:

This chapter is also known as, “The Part Where Harry is Sort of Dumb and Ron Isn’t Nearly As Stupid as They Make Him Look in the Movies.”

Let’s add up the points for our red-headed buddy. Ron is the one who thinks the diary might be dangerous. Ron is the one who knows who Tom Riddle is. Ron is the one who first thinks that Tom Riddle might have been kind of an annoying guy.

If I ever get around to doing a re-watch of the films (maybe someday?) one thing I’m sure to rant about it how silly Ron is portrayed. This isn’t Rupert Grint’s fault --I think he does a great job with what they give him – but Ron has been relegated to comic relief in the movies to make way for Harry, the Hero, and Hermione the Pretty Smart One. It’s sort of like Gimli syndrome from the Lord of the Rings movies. But that’s another rant for another time.

Anyway, Harry has a connection with the diary early on- far before he ever begins writing in it. Is this because it’s a Horcrux like he is, and the connection creates some sort of resonance between them?

Also, oooh the diary is so sneaky! Appropriately, it’s just like the locket Horcrux in its methods. Here, it convinces Harry that one of his trusted friends is against him. Similarly, in DH, the locket will try to convince Ron that Harry is against him. I didn’t really think about it when I first learned the whole story of the Horcruxes, but they really are incredibly dark, powerful entities. Voldemort’s soul is also rather dark and twisted, even at age sixteen, to try (and succeed) to manipulate Harry like that. I am pretty sure -- but this could be wrong -- that the Diary is the first of the Horcruxes Riddle made, meaning Myrtle’s murder was his first. His father and grandparents will be next, probably the following summer, when he goes to the Gaunt shack and steals the Peverell ring…

Ginny’s adorable Valentine is also how she finds out Harry has the diary; she sees it fall out of his bag when the cupid delivers her message. My question is, if Ginny hadn’t stolen the diary back from Harry, she wouldn’t have kept opening the Chamber because she wouldn’t continue to be possessed by the Horcrux, right? But then, would Harry have gotten similarly close to the diary and then been culpable himself? I suppose we’ll never know…

Chapter Fourteen: Cornelius Fudge

What Happens:

The spring draws closer and fortunately, no further attacks are reported. Harry's classmates are starting to treat him kindly again and everyone is getting hopeful that the Petrified students will be revived soon. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide not to confront Hagrid about what the learned in the diary. Meanwhile, all the second years are choosing their elective courses for the next year. Harry has no idea what to take, so he just signs up for the same classes as Ron. Hermione signs up for every class offered.

The next Quidditch match is drawing closer. The evening before the match, Harry discovers that his dorm has been ransacked and Riddle's diary is gone. Hermione and Ron are alarmed; only another Gryffindor could have stolen something from within the Tower. Things get worse the next day. The morning of the match, Harry hears the mysterious disembodied voice again, even though Ron and Hermione can't. Hermione suddenly realizes something and sprints off to the library at top speed. This is typical Hermione-ish behavior, so Ron and Harry think nothing of it. Just before the match can begin, Professor McGonagall comes onto the pitch and announces its cancellation. Harry and Ron follow her to the hospital wing, where Hermione and a tall Ravenclaw girl are lying Petrified.

New rules are in place now; no evening activities, no one allowed out alone. Harry and Ron decide it's finally time to go and visit Hagrid and ask him some hard questions. They use the Invisibility Cloak to sneak out. Hagrid is acting very nervous when the boys arrive, and within a few minutes there's another knock at the door. Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge enter, looking serious. Fudge looks resigned; he explains that he has to act in order to appease angry parents. Over Dumbledore's strict objections, Hagrid will be temporarily taken to Azkaban until a culprit is caught. Lucius Malfoy joins the unhappy gathering to declare that Dumbledore has been suspended as well; the school's governors have all voted.

Just as Hagrid and Dumbledore leave, both of them say things that seem strange to Fudge and Malfoy; Dumbledore advises the "empty" room that his presence at the school will remain if people are loyal to him. Hagrid announces that anyone looking for answers ought to "follow the spiders" to learn the truth.

Commentary:

Enter: Cornelius Fudge, Idiot-in-Chief. DUN.

Egads, I hate this guy. Notice that his motives for locking Hagrid up aren't really pure; he feels he has to act to appease public opinion and keep up appearances. Malfoy, of course, is just as bad, manipulating things and exploiting horrific events for his own gain. Somehow, though, I have more contempt for Fudge. At least Malfoy knows he's evil. Fudge is just a fool. Oy.

Hermione's insights will end up saving her life; Madam Pomfrey notes that the girls were found with a mirror beside them. Retrospectively, we know why, but it's not a very helpful clue for Harry and Ron.

This is also the chapter that lays groundwork for PoA; after all, class selections will drastically affect the course of the students' next three years. For Hermione, especially, her decision to sign up for everything will have huge consequences very soon.

Now we're off to the races; all the pieces for the climax of this book are set. It's up to Harry and Ron now; without Hermione's intelligence it's going to take them a lot longer to figure things out. Next week we'll venture into the Forbidden Forest and follow the spiders, even though all Ron wanted to do was follow the butterflies...

Have a lovely week!