Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 2 Aunt Marge's Big Mistake

Vernon's sister, Marge, is to visit for the week. If Harry behaves well, Vernon will sign his permission form to visit Hogsmeade. Harry has a difficult time keeping his temper in check. One night at dinner Harry snaps in anger causing Aunt Marge to expand like a balloon. Harry grabs his things and leaves Privet Drive of his own accord.

Uncle Vernon was pulling on his car coat. "I'm not taking you, " he snarled as he turned to see Harry watching him. "Like I wanted to come, " said Harry coldly. "I want to ask you something."

Oh boy, Harry's starting to sound like a teenager. ;)


"It's damn good of Vernon and Petunia to keep you. Wouldn't have done it myself. You'd have gone straight to an orphanage if you'd been dumped on my doorstep."
Harry was bursting to say he'd rather live in an orphanage than with the Dursleys...

Imagine how different the books would be if Harry went to an orphanage. It would be interesting and make his life even more similar to Tom's.


Her great red face started to expand, her tiny eyes bulged, and her mouth stretched too tightly for speech -- next second, several buttons had just burst from her tweed jacket and pinged off the walls -- she was inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her tweed waistband, each or her fingers blowing up like a salami --

Harry! Control your temper, please. :(

And in the next moment, he was out in the dark, quiet street, heaving his heavy trunk behind him, Hedwig's age under his arm.

:(

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 1 Owl Post

We find Harry back at Privet Drive, slightly miserable. He has to do his school in secret and hans't heard from his friends in weeks. On his birthday, though, he receives presents for the first time ever from Ron, Hermione and Hagrid.

 

He replaced the top of the ink bottle; pulled an old pillowcase from under his bed; put the flashlight, A History of Magic, his essay, quill, and ink inside it; got out of bed; and hid the lot under a loose floorboard under his bed.

Ah, the loose floorboard trick, you're a slick one, Harry Potter.

They landed with a soft flump on Harry's bed, and the middle owl, which was large and gray, keeled right over and lay motionless. There was a large package tied to its legs. Harry recognized the unconscious owl at once--his name was Errol, and he belonged to the Weasley family.

I want to buy the Weasleys many things, including a new owl. :(

I couldn't believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet Draw. Seven hundred galleons!
700 galleons is equal to $3,366.83, in case you were curious as I was. (Gringotts helped me out with that, by the way.)


Harry now turned to his present and unwrapped it. Inside was what looked like a miniature glass spinning top. There was another note from Ron beneath it. Harry -- this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's supposed to light up and spin.

Quick, Harry! Throw it out! Snatchers will catch you because of the noise it made. :( :( :(


Well, this chapter recapped a bit but it was much less annoying than the last book.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Chapter 18 Dobby's Reward

Harry explains all of the Trio's adventure with the Chamber of Secrets to Dumbledore, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Professor McGonagall. After everyone leaves the office, Dumbledore has a talk with Harry about being a true Gryffindor. Lucius Malfoy appears and we discover his is Dobby's master. When Dumbledore and Harry have each said things to Mr. Malfoy, Harry tricks Mr. Malfoy into freeing Dobby. The end of the year feast takes place and soon everyone heads home for the summer.

What if they expelled her? Harry thought in panic. Riddle's diary didn't work anymore...How could they prove it had been he who'd made her do it all? Instinctively, Harry looked at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moonspectacles. "What interests me most, " said Dumbledore gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania. 

I wouldn't be surprised that Dumbledore is actually reading Harry's mind right now (or Dumbledore is just very clever which is not surprising either). I think it's interesting how Rowling puts these possible mind reading situations in the books before we're told that such a thing exists in this universe. There has been an instance in both Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets where it directly states that Harry wonders if Snape could read his mind. I forgot to mention them both times but I did find them extremely interesting.

He strode over to the door and opened it. "Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up, " he added, twinkling kindly down at her.

Dumbledore is just so kind and lovely. I give him three points for being the incredible person he is. 

"You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice -- I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment. "
"So Hermione's okay!" said Ron brightly.

D'aww Ron. :]

"Very strange tales they told me, too...Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place. "
Mr. Malfoy went even paler than usual, but his eyes were still slits of fury. 

Harry didn't know whether the best bit was Hermione running toward him, screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring. His hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting him, or Hagrid turning up at half past three, cuffing Harry and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or hi sand Ron's four hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year running, or Professor McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat ("Oh, no!" said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back.

What a joyous celebration, so many great things happening. I'd like to give Justin one point for apologizing. I would also like to give Harry four points, I've been forgetting to give him points and he certainly deserves them.


Harry remembered something. "Ginny -- what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"
"Oh, that, " said Ginny, giggling. "Well -- Percy's got a girlfriend."

"You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.
"Wouldn't dream of it, " said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.
"Definitely not, " said George, sniggering.

 Oh, Ginny, haven't you learned by now? Of course they're going to tease Percy!


Memorable Lines:
"Dear me," said Dumbledore, shaking his head, his long silver mustache quivering. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"
"Sword?" said Lockhart dimly. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though." He pointed at Harry. "He'll lend you one."

The Chamber of Secrets had a good plot that lured me in throughout the reading. However it had three of the characters I cannot bear to tolerate, especially with them all being in one book. Because of that it made the book a bit difficult to read. I do think the Chamber of Secrets is a very important book, it provides solutions for the future books. There are so many things in the Chamber of Secrets that will crop up throughout the series. So while I may not find this book to be my favorite, I acknowledge it's importance in this series.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Chapter 17 The Heir of Slytherin

Harry reaches the Chamber to find Ginny unconscious and Riddle there, looking strangely blurry. Tom Riddle reveals that he is the Heir of Slytherin, that he made Ginny do his bidding through the diary and that he is Voldemort as a young man. Fawkes helps Harry by plucking the basilisk's eye as it tries to attack Harry. Harry pulls a sword out of the Sorting Hat and defeats the basilisk with it. He also destroys the diary with a basilisk fang. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Lockhart are carried by Fawkes out of Chamber of Secrets.

"Ginny!" Harry muttered, sprinting to her and dropping to his knees. "Ginny -- don't be dead -- please don't be dead --" He flung his wand aside, grabbed Ginny's shoulders, and turned her over.

OH NO HARRY POTTER. Keep that wand with you!

Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him.

If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed.
Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student...

Yes! This is exactly how I pictured Tom Riddle. He was sly and sneaky on the inside but on the outside he seemed innocent and wonderfully charming. I think the actor for Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets movie did a fantastic job but I greatly disliked the actor's performance in Half-Blood Prince.

Instead, the hat contracted, as though an invisible hand was squeezing it very tightly. Something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top of Harry's head, almost knocking him out. Stars winking in front of his eyes, he grabbed the top of the hat to pull it off and felt something long and hard beneath it. A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the hat, its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs.

Imagine if the sword fell the other way. We would no longer have Harry Potter, hmhm.

How come you've got a sword?" said Ron, gaping at the glittering weapon in Harry's hand. 

I can just imagine Ron's great confusion and awe at this moment.

While this chapter had a lot of dialogue I still found myself feeling tense as I read it. I was surprised since it's such an info-dump but it was kind of interesting to read these little snippets of information spoken by Riddle that will become important later on.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Chapter 16 The Chamber of Secrets

Things grow more suspenseful in this chapter. Ginny teeters on the edge of revealing secret information but is interrupted before she gets a chance. Soon enough, Ginny is taken into the Chamber of Secrets to die. Lockhart, the horrible fraud, is given a chance to take on the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. While he prepares to flee, Harry and Ron force him to come with them. After talking with Myrtle the discover the entrance to the Chamber. In the Chamber Lockhart uses Ron's broken wand and ends up having his powerful spell rebound.

"Can you imagine me taking exams with this?" he asked Harry, holding up his wand, which had just started whistling loudly.

:(



Ginny jumped up as though her chair had just been electrified, gave Percy a fleeting, frightened look, and scampered away.

Ginny acted rather oddly that whole time. Obviously very afraid to reveal something. We assume she was going to tell of the Chamber of Secrets not of catching Percy and Penelope snogging. But what was it that made her eventually jump up and leave. Was it Ron's badgering that made her nervous? The fact that Harry talked to her and about exactly what she was going to tell of? Her fear of Percy finding out? Or even everyoe in general finding out?

"Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms."

Well then, Lockhart. Why didn't you work for the Ministry of Magic! They could've put your excellent memory charms to great use. One point from you!

There was a very pregnant pause.
"I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Ron, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can -- can get back through. And, Harry --"
"See you in a bit," said Harry, trying to inject some confidence in his shaking voice.

What was Ron going to say? I want to know. :/