Tears of a Phoenix (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling)

Member Name: zOOm

Product:	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling
Date:	19/08/01 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great story, no gaps between this and and the first book, writing style

Disadvantages: none unless you are scared of monsters

The second book in the Harry Potter series by Joanne K. Rowling is nothing short of amazing! I have to admit that I only started reading the Harry Potter books because of all the hype around them. As I read the first book (see my op on Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone) I was amazed by the talents of the author. Where as the books do try and teach “good” to children, the stories are intriguing and complicated enough to keep any adult interested. I am amazed at the fact that in a 251page book, I could not guess the ending!

The background
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As this is the second book, I will keep this to a minimum, for a better background info I refer you to my (or someone else's for that matter) op for the first book. The series is set in the present day UK, but there are witches and wizards living amongst us. Some of those are half-blood (wizard dad / human mother or vice versa) and some are pureblood (witch for a mum and wizard for a dad). Harry Potter is a half-blood. Young witches & wizards attend a school called Hogwarts from the age of 11.

Witches & Wizards are not dirty old nutters but there are some that have turned into the Dark Arts. Lord Voldemort happens to be the worst one of these. He had tried to kill all non-purebloods but for some reason could not kill Harry Potter (he was 1 at the time). So, with his parents dead (killed by Voldemort) and a scar on his forehead to remind him of the attack, Harry is in his second year at Hogwarts.


This book (no spoilers – promise)
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Joanne Rowling has done a splendid job with this book. Starting off where “The Philosopher’s Stone” had left off, Harry Potter is on his summer holidays after completing his first year at Hogwarts. Living with his uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia & their son Dudley (the Dursleys). In this book we are introduced to the Weasleys (a pureblood family) and also G
ilderoy Lockhart who happens to be a great author of wizarding tales that are apparently true (and the winner of 5 best smile awards) that is only loved by witches and hated by wizards.

The time comes for school and our gang of favourite wizards (Harry & Ron) and witch (Hermione) are back in Hogwarts. All the usual suspects are there, Snape the Potions Professor, McGonnagal the head of Gryffindor House, Filch the caretaker, Hagrid the gamekeeper, Dumbledore the headmaster, etc.

We are introduced to many more weird and wonderful creatures (Mandrakes & Phoenix & house elfs for example) and our gang manage to get themselves into more trouble than they did in the first book.

The book is written in a way that you can actually read this one without having read the first one. If there are things that only happened in the first book, Rowling gives the information to the reader in one way or another without being too over-the-top about the whole thing. Hence if you have just finished reading the first book, you do not feel bored by this repeat of information.


The story (spoilers be down here)
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It turns out that the houses in Hogwarts are actually named after the original founders of the school (more than a thousand years ago), Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw & Salazar Slytherin. Slytherin was a pure blood and was against the idea of allowing anyone who wasn’t a pureblood into Hogwarts. There is a legend which says that Slytherin built a Chamber of Secrets that could only be opened by his heir.

Somehow the chamber is opened and Harry is suspected of being the heir to Slytherin because of a certain skill he has (not telling you that one). There are very bad things going on in Hogwarts and no one can explain why. Things are not helped by the Malfoys (a pureblood family) who hate anyone that is not pureblood. Of course Harry, Ron and Hermione try to find o
ut the true heir to Slytherin and help stop the mayhem that is engulfing Hogwarts.

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Rowling does a good job of giving an example of “never trust strangers”, “not everything is as simple as it seems” and also “always believe in yourself” type of stuff that everyone tries to teach their kids. The messages get across in a more subtle way in this book than in the first. The story is gripping and because the whole thing is magic, and magic is limitless, you can never guess what Rowling is going to come up with next. I am amazed at her limitless imagination.

There are scary monsters in the two Potter books I have read so far. So if your child (or you for that matter) get easily scared of things like elephant sized spiders you should not read the Harry Potter series.

Overall, a great book for adults and kids alike!

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