While home with the Dursleys (who had taken away all his
school books, broom, and wand) for the summer, Harry Potter is upset
he has not yet gotten any mail from his friends, Ron and Hermione. On his twelfth birthday (July 31), Harry is visited by Dobby, a house-elf,
who warns Harry that he will be in mortal danger if he returns to
Hogwarts. Harry ignores Dobby''s dire warning and is determined to
return. Dobby reveals he has been collecting Harry''s letters to make it
seem as though his friends had forgotten him, hoping Harry might then
not want to return to Hogwarts. Seeing that he will have to use force
to change Harry''s mind, Dobby decides to use a charm to destroy a
pudding that Aunt Petunia has made for an important dinner party
attended by Uncle Vernon''s potential client and the client''s wife.
Harry is blamed by the Ministry of
Magic for Dobby''s charm and is told that if he does magic outside
school again, he will be expelled. On learning that Harry cannot perform magic
outside school, the Dursleys, previously fearful of his wizarding,
locks Harry in his room as a prisoner, even fitting bars onto the
bedroom window.
A few days later, Fred, George and Ron Weasley come to Harry''s rescue in their father''s enchanted Ford Anglia. After a pleasant month together in the the Weasley house, everyone heads to Platform 9¾ at King''s Cross Station to take the Hogwarts Express
back to school. To their shock, Harry and Ron are unable to enter the
barrier between platforms 9 and 10. In desperation, they fly to Hogwarts in the car, crashing into the Whomping Willow and damaging Ron''s wand. The semi-sentient car ejects them and their belongings and disappears into the Forbidden Forest.Harry Potter soon finds he is the unwanted center of attention of three people: the vain new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart (a wizard perpetuating his own legend), admirer Colin Creevey (a young first year Gryffindor who endlessly takes photos of Harry and begs for autographs), and Ron''s sister, Ginny Weasley, who fancies Harry. Events take a turn for the worse when the Chamber of Secrets
is opened and a monster stalks the castle, with the power to leave
people "petrified". To the horror of Hogwarts, the monster petrifies
several students. According to legend, the Chamber was built by Salazar Slytherin and can only be opened by his heir, in order to purge Hogwarts of "all those who were unworthy to study magic" - Muggle-born wizards. Many suspect Harry is the heir of Slytherin, especially after he inadvertently speaks Parseltongue
(the language of snakes), a rare ability that an infant Harry had
gained from Voldemort during the evil wizard''s failed murderous attack.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione attempt to discover the Heir of Slytherin''s true identity. Using Polyjuice Potion brewed by Hermione, Ron and Harry disguise themselves as Slytherin students, Crabbe and Goyle, hoping to learn whether Draco Malfoy
is the Heir. Malfoy, they learn, does not know who the Heir of
Slytherin is, but he inadvertently provides Harry and Ron with an
important clue about the Chamber of Secrets. Later, Harry finds a blank
diary belonging to Tom Riddle and decides to keep it.
Unfortunately, the hair that Hermione took from Millicent
Bullstrode''s uniform was from a cat, and as the Polyjuice Potion is
only intended for human transformations she assumes a feline
appearance; it takes several weeks to restore her normal human form.
During her time in the hospital wing, the shades are pulled around
Hermione''s bed so that she does not have to endure the shame and
humiliation of being stared at by other students, with rumours going
around about her disappearance, and Harry and Ron bring Hermione her
homework at her request. She is released from the hospital wing in
early February, her normal appearance restored, and looks over the
diary of Tom Riddle when Harry shows it to her, but s