Source plot synopsis — includes the ending
While spending the summer of 1992 with the Dursleys, the twelve-year-old Harry Potter is visited by Dobby, a house-elf. Dobby says Harry is in danger and must promise not to return to Hogwarts. When Harry refuses, Dobby uses magic to destroy a pudding made by Aunt Petunia. Believing that Harry created the mess, Uncle Vernon locks him in his room. The Ministry of Magic sends a notice accusing Harry of performing underage magic and threatening to expel him from Hogwarts if it happens again.
The Weasley brothers Ron, Fred, and George arrive in their father's flying car and take Harry to their home. When Harry and the Weasleys go to Diagon Alley for school supplies, they meet Gilderoy Lockhart, a celebrity author who is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. At King's Cross station, Harry and Ron cannot enter Platform 9¾ to board the Hogwarts Express, so they fly to Hogwarts in the enchanted car.
During the 1992-1993 school year, Harry hears a strange voice emanating from the castle walls. Argus Filch's cat is found magically immobilised, along with a warning scrawled on the wall: "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware". Harry learns that the Chamber supposedly houses a monster that attacks Muggle-born students, and which only the Heir of Slytherin can control. During a Quidditch match, a rogue Bludger strikes Harry, breaking his arm. Professor Lockhart botches an attempt to mend the injury, which sends Harry to the hospital wing. Dobby visits Harry and reveals that he jinxed the Bludger and sealed the portal at King's Cross. He also tells Harry that house-elves are bound to serve a master, and cannot be freed unless their master gives them clothing.
After another attack from the monster, students attend a defensive duelling class. During the class, Harry displays the rare ability to speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes. Moaning Myrtle, a ghost who haunts a bathroom, shows Harry and his friends a diary that was left in her stall. It belonged to Tom Riddle, a student who witnessed another student's death when the Chamber was last opened. During the next attack by the monster, Hermione Granger is immobilised.
Harry and Ron learn that the monster is a Basilisk, a gigantic snake that can kill victims with a direct gaze and immobilise them with an indirect gaze. Harry realizes the Basilisk is producing the voice that he hears in the walls. After Ron's sister Ginny is abducted and taken into the Chamber, Harry and Ron discover the Chamber entrance in Myrtle's bathroom. When they force Lockhart to enter with them, he confesses that the stories he told of his heroic adventures are fabrications. He attempts to erase the boys's memories, but his spell backfires and obliterates his own memory.
Harry finds Ginny unconscious in the Chamber. A manifestation of Tom Riddle appears and reveals that Riddle is Lord Voldemort and the Heir of Slytherin. After explaining that he opened the Chamber, Riddle summons the Basilisk to kill Harry. Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes arrives, bringing Harry the Sorting Hat. While Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, Harry pulls the Sword of Gryffindor from the Hat. He slays the serpent, then stabs the diary with a Basilisk fang, destroying it and the manifestation of Riddle. Later, Harry liberates Dobby by tricking his master, Lucius Malfoy, into giving him clothing. At the end of the novel, the immobilised students are cured and Gryffindor wins the House Cup.
The Weasley brothers Ron, Fred, and George arrive in their father's flying car and take Harry to their home. When Harry and the Weasleys go to Diagon Alley for school supplies, they meet Gilderoy Lockhart, a celebrity author who is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. At King's Cross station, Harry and Ron cannot enter Platform 9¾ to board the Hogwarts Express, so they fly to Hogwarts in the enchanted car.
During the 1992-1993 school year, Harry hears a strange voice emanating from the castle walls. Argus Filch's cat is found magically immobilised, along with a warning scrawled on the wall: "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware". Harry learns that the Chamber supposedly houses a monster that attacks Muggle-born students, and which only the Heir of Slytherin can control. During a Quidditch match, a rogue Bludger strikes Harry, breaking his arm. Professor Lockhart botches an attempt to mend the injury, which sends Harry to the hospital wing. Dobby visits Harry and reveals that he jinxed the Bludger and sealed the portal at King's Cross. He also tells Harry that house-elves are bound to serve a master, and cannot be freed unless their master gives them clothing.
After another attack from the monster, students attend a defensive duelling class. During the class, Harry displays the rare ability to speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes. Moaning Myrtle, a ghost who haunts a bathroom, shows Harry and his friends a diary that was left in her stall. It belonged to Tom Riddle, a student who witnessed another student's death when the Chamber was last opened. During the next attack by the monster, Hermione Granger is immobilised.
Harry and Ron learn that the monster is a Basilisk, a gigantic snake that can kill victims with a direct gaze and immobilise them with an indirect gaze. Harry realizes the Basilisk is producing the voice that he hears in the walls. After Ron's sister Ginny is abducted and taken into the Chamber, Harry and Ron discover the Chamber entrance in Myrtle's bathroom. When they force Lockhart to enter with them, he confesses that the stories he told of his heroic adventures are fabrications. He attempts to erase the boys's memories, but his spell backfires and obliterates his own memory.
Harry finds Ginny unconscious in the Chamber. A manifestation of Tom Riddle appears and reveals that Riddle is Lord Voldemort and the Heir of Slytherin. After explaining that he opened the Chamber, Riddle summons the Basilisk to kill Harry. Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes arrives, bringing Harry the Sorting Hat. While Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, Harry pulls the Sword of Gryffindor from the Hat. He slays the serpent, then stabs the diary with a Basilisk fang, destroying it and the manifestation of Riddle. Later, Harry liberates Dobby by tricking his master, Lucius Malfoy, into giving him clothing. At the end of the novel, the immobilised students are cured and Gryffindor wins the House Cup.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license