Book review on Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets – by Areen Swarup, a grade 7 student

This extraordinarily exciting story is about a magical hero named Harry Potter. For novices, Harry Potter is the eponymous protagonist of author J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter sequence.

This particular book is the second edition in the series and talks about Harry – a heroic wizard studying at Hogwarts (school of witchcraft and wizardry) and yet again putting his life at stake.

 He has returned to the world of his kind (wizards and witches). Strange things are happening at Hogwarts…. children getting petrified, bizarre sounds which only Harry can hear. The dark lord returns, but in his sixteen-year-old self, and a spooky chamber is revealed which is said to be the home of the deadliest creature to walk the earth.

 This book is totally unputdownable because….

I really think you should give this amazing book a try because it is packed with mysteries, secrets and loads of excitement. You can watch the movie as well, but there is no such feeling as flipping through the pages of this enchanted world. The nail-biting anticipation about “what next” keeps you hooked till its last word.

This book revolves around…

The plot of the novel explores Salazar Slytherin’s (the founder of Slytherin house) intention to wipe out “mudbloods,” or wizards with non-magical ancestors, from Hogwarts.

My favourite part…

The duel between Harry and Draco Malfoy was totally mind-blowing as it

reveals Harry’s secret on being a Parselmouth (which means he can talk to snakes). Draco uses the Serpentsortia spell to throw a snake at his opponent, but he just talks to it in Parseltongue.

A little note about the main characters….

• Harry Potter: or more commonly referred to as the ‘boy who lived’ from Lord Voldemort’s attack, finds out that he can speak Parseltongue (snake language). For this reason, he is mistaken to be the Heir of Slytherin.

• Ron Weasley: who just so happens to be Harry’s best friend, becomes the thief of his father’s flying car which he rides with Harry to reach Hogwarts. Unfortunately, he also breaks his wand in this book.

• Hermione Granger: who’s the most intelligent student of the year and one of Harry’s best friends. She is also one of the mud-blood victims of the Basilisk (the serpent which is said to be the monster that lies within the chamber of secrets).

• Gilderoy Lockhart: their new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, who is nothing more than a self-obsessed teacher. He has done a lot of valiant deeds but there was no greater fan of Gilderoy Lockhart than himself. “Celebrity is as celebrity does” were his so called words of wisdom to Harry.

To conclude, this book was a thrilling joyride for me and you must read it too.