Harry Potter, #2
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
by J.K. Rowling
Contents
Chapter 16
Overview
Harry and Ron discover Hermione’s clue revealing the monster is a Basilisk traveling through the pipes, and that the entrance lies in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. When Ginny is taken, the staff press Lockhart to act, exposing him as a fraud. Harry, Ron, and Lockhart descend; Lockhart’s backfired Memory Charm causes a cave-in, separating Ron. Harry opens the Chamber and enters alone, raising the stakes toward a final confrontation.
Summary
Amid exam announcements and news that Mandrakes will soon revive the Petrified, Ginny Weasley nervously tries to confide in Harry and Ron but is interrupted by Percy. Seizing a chance to visit Hermione, Harry and Ron find a torn page in her clenched hand describing a Basilisk; Hermione has written “Pipes,” leading them to deduce the monster is a Basilisk traveling through Hogwarts’ plumbing and that Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom hides the entrance.
They head to the staffroom to inform teachers but overhear Professor McGonagall announce a new message: Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber. The staff corner Gilderoy Lockhart, forcing him to fulfill his boasts; instead, he panics. Later, Harry and Ron find Lockhart packing to flee. Confronted, Lockhart admits his books are based on Memory-Charmed victims and attempts to Obliviate them, but Harry disarms him.
Forcing Lockhart to Myrtle’s bathroom, Harry asks how Myrtle died. She recalls hearing a boy speak in an unknown language before seeing great yellow eyes. Harry finds a snake engraving on a tap and opens the sink in Parseltongue, revealing a large chute. Harry, Ron, and a coerced Lockhart slide down into a vast, bone-littered tunnel deep beneath the school.
They discover a giant shed snakeskin. Lockhart seizes Ron’s wand and tries a Memory Charm, but Ron’s broken wand explodes, collapsing the tunnel. Ron and Lockhart are trapped behind a rockfall; Lockhart is addled. With time running out for Ginny, Harry presses on alone, reaches a stone door carved with serpents, and opens it in Parseltongue, entering the Chamber.
Who Appears
- Harry PotterIdentifies the Basilisk via Hermione’s clue, opens the entrance with Parseltongue, and enters the Chamber alone to save Ginny.
- Ron WeasleySupports Harry, confronts Lockhart, descends into the tunnels, and is trapped behind a cave-in with the amnesic Lockhart.
- Gilderoy LockhartExposed as a fraud, tries to flee and Obliviate the boys; his backfired Memory Charm causes the tunnel collapse.
- Professor Minerva McGonagallAnnounces exams and Mandrakes’ readiness, later reports Ginny’s abduction and orchestrates pressuring Lockhart to act.
- Ginny WeasleyAnxiously tries to confess something; later abducted into the Chamber, escalating the crisis.
- Moaning MyrtleRecounts her death by seeing yellow eyes; her bathroom sink conceals the Chamber entrance.
- Hermione GrangerPetrified but provides the crucial Basilisk clue and ‘Pipes’ note that solves the mystery.
- Severus SnapeHelps corner Lockhart in the staffroom, highlighting his earlier boasts to force action.
- Percy WeasleyInterrupts Ginny’s attempted confession, citing a personal embarrassment unrelated to the Chamber.