"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."
Hello everyone!
I hope you're well during this chilly September.
And rainy. Never forget the rain.
That being said, it's all very September-y and nobody should honestly complain about it. It IS autumn, after all, and it's officially so as well since it's in the last part of the month.
Which means it's time for some warm socks, over-sized sweaters, and warm mugs of tea.
It's also time to return to Hogwarts.
Last week we took our first train to the ancient castle, and this week we're boarding it yet again.
But what happens when the magical barrier that leads to Platform 9 3/4 is suddenly closed?
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. That's what happens.
Briefly, however: Harry Potter is a wizard. As a baby, he thwarted Voldemort and survived where others had died, but the Dark Lord is desperately trying to return, using any and all means to do so. Making friends (and enemies) at school, Harry ends up opposing Voldemort while acquiring the Philosopher's Stone, and he's off to his Muggle family again for the summer.
Here, things get tricky.
See, Harry hasn't heard a word from his friends all summer long, and he's confused. Didn't they agree to write? The Dursleys also won't let him release Hedwig, so she's antsy, and they're getting an important visitor so he needs to pretend he doesn't exist.
All fine and dandy, only HARRY gets an unexpected visitor.
A house Elf named Dobby.
Eventually to become a fan favourite, Dobby is a pitiful creature when we meet him first, telling Harry earnestly that he must not return to Hogwarts that year. Dobby's also responsible for nicking Harry's mail while he's at it ... and no matter how annoyed Uncle Vernon is, he doesn't believe it isn't Harry who's making all the awkward noises above in his room.
Of course things end in disaster when Dobby REALLY makes an attempt to keep Harry at home, and it results in cake everywhere, and bars on Harry's window.
Thankfull, Harry has good friends, and Ron Weasley pops by with his twin older brothers in their family's flying car to rescue Harry from his own family, taking him to the Burrow where we get to see Molly Weasley in action. It's hilarious to watch her snarl at her kids but be so completely fine with Harry suddenly showing up.
Harry's adventures don't end there as he travels by floo powder for the first time, ending in Knockturn Alley, not Diagon Alley, only to be plucked to safety by Hagrid, and led back to the Weasleys who've met up with Hermione by then.
And that's also the part where we meet Kenneth Branagh.
Oh man, the role he has in this movie.
Portraying future DADA professor Lockhart, this guy is so full of hot air I'm rolling my eyes even now and I'm nowhere near to watching him. He loves the spotlight and drags Harry right there with him, much to the boy's chagrin, but it's a good introduction scene that leads to Lucius Malfoy making his appearance for the first time in these movies.
Jason Isaacs plays him to perfection, and I'm still amused with the haughty sneers he tosses about.
Time flies when you're having fun like that, however, and it's back to Hogwarts - only the magical barrier really won't let Ron and Harry through, and in their infinite wisdom they take the Weasley's car and fly over to the castle.
So smart, twelve-year-olds.
So smart, twelve-year-olds.
If it were up to Snape, they'd both be expelled, but McGonagall and Dumbledore think differently and the two are allowed to remain.
Thank goodness, too, since Hermione wouldn't have had anyone else to help her deal with Lockhart's incompetence otherwise.
But things aren't calm at Hogwarts no matter how much the kids would want them to be, because people, ghosts and animals start turning up petrified all over the castle grounds, right on the heels of Harry being revealed as a Parselmouth.
Let me explain: Lockhart comes up with a wizarding duel idea, Snape sends him flying, then pits Draco against Harry, and when a snake is conjured, Harry speaks to it instead of finite incantate-ing its snaky butt.
This is bad for a number of reasons, one being that Harry really doesn't need to be more of a loner than he already is, and another that Voldemort knew Parseltongue.
Oh and the Chamber of Secrets has been reopened. You know, as you do.
Our trio decide to try and figure things out on their own (as per usual) which lands them in trouble after brewing a Polyjuice Potion that causes Hermione to turn into a humanoid cat while Harry and Ron get some information out of Draco in the Slytherin common room.
Namely that the git ISN'T this Prince that supposedly opened the chamber.
Who IS though?
Finding a blank diary, Harry figures out it's a magical item after writing into it, and Tom Riddle writes back at him, showing him some of his memories of the time the Chamber was opened that first round, when a Muggle-born witch ended up dead and Hogwarts was close to closing. At the time, they accused Hagrid of the whole affair, and the Ministry comes for him again, not that anyone believes even remotely that it's actually him.
Not even Draco, and he generally believes the worst in people, so you see he has some shred of intelligence in him after all.
But with Hermione petrified as well, to the shock of every and all movie viewers, it's time the boys took matters into their own hands because Hogwarts is likely to be closed AGAIN with Muggle-borns being attacked left, right and center. As the teachers delegate the task to Lockhart - probably to get rid of hims since he's generally useless - Harry and Ron go to try and help him.
After all, Hermione cracked most of the puzzle for them.
The creature that's been causing havoc around Hogwarts is a basilisk, whose looks can kill. The reason nobody's actually died is because nobody's looked directly at it. And the reason why only Harry could hear voices all around the castle through the year is also obvious: he speaks with snakes. The basilisk is a snake that even spiders fear (which we learn during a side-quest into the Forbidden Forest where Ron has to face his arachnophobia and Harry almost gets eaten; they're rescued by the Weasley flying car which has been running wild ever since coming to Hogwarts).
Of course Lockhart isn't doing anything remotely dangerous, but they drag him along at wand-point to the entrance of the Chamber, conveniently hidden in the girl's bathroom, and on a backfiring from Ron's broken wand Lockhart loses his memory.
Thankfully, since he's REALLY completely useless.
Harry forges on alone to rescue Ginny, Ron's sister who's been taken into the Chamber, and the reason why the boys are so desperate to end this, and he runs into a flesh-and-blood Tom Riddle, or at least the memory of him which was preserved in the diary that Ginny used to begin with through the year. She was also the one who opened the Chamber and wrote all the bloody messages and stuff, under the diary's influence, and viewers start clueing in that Tom Riddle is bad juju.
Just how bad this juju is becomes very apparent when he spells out that his name later became Voldemort - and he was the one who initially unleashed the basilisk on unsuspecting Muggle-borns, attempting to purify the school and its magical lines.
Is nobody going to ask how Salazar Slytherin, the original Chamber creator, ended up sticking a basilisk under the castle and teaching it to slither around pipes when there was no plumbing at the time to begin with? Just me? Alright.
Harry is, of course, overwhelmed, but help comes from an unexpected source when Fawkes, Dumbledor's phoenix, flies into the Chamber with the Sorting Hat, which presents Harry with the Sword of Gryffindor to fight the snake off with.
Also, Fawkes claws out the snake's eyes. Go, bird!
Harry does kill the snake, only to be mortally wounded in the process, but he's figured out that he needs to get rid of the diary as well to defeat Riddle, which he does - and Fawkes cries over his venomous wound to heal it. Phoenix tears have healing properties, after all.
Then everyone hitches a ride on the phoenix express to get the hell out of there and back into the light.
With everyone who was petrified finally awake again after joint efforts from the staff, our trio is reunited and Hagrid is loudly welcomed back to Hogwarts amid cheers and after the students are told there will be no end-of-year examinations because ... well, everyone needs a break.
You don't bloody well deal with gigantic snakes all the time, do you?!
The movie continues what Philosopher's Stone began, now clear in the knowledge there will, in fact, be sequels (the first one was fairly straightforward without too many different characters introduced into the mix, but the second one expands on the lore we already know and starts setting up shop for what's to come later), and gives us another fun-filled year at Hogwarts.
I mean, the kids would probably disagree, but it IS fun to watch anyway.
It also goes to show wizards are no different than Muggles. If there's something they don't understand, then they won't like it, and they're going to bully whatever or whoever it is, which happens when nobody can figure out why Harry speaks Parseltongue. For a hot minute, everyone thinks HE might have opened the Chamber!
Thankfully Harry's our resident hero, as he also ends up freeing Dobby from his cruel master, Malfoy, after arranging for the house Elf to be given a piece of clothing. Dumbledore and he have both figured out it was Malfoy who gave the diary to Ginny Weasley originally, sneaking it into her book bag, and his family used to support Voldemort, so there.
Better be on your best behaviour, Malfoy.
After all - you shall not harm Harry Potter.
But you just might make further appearances in the story, which continues in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in November!
xx
*poster image and video not mine, screencaps by me
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