Read All the Things: The Chamber of Secrets

Poor Lucia has been trying to help me back into the swing of things recently, and I've failed her miserably with the Chamber of Secrets. However, JKR has just released all the HP books on iBooks through Pottermore - including new animations, notes and the books themselves. I'm going to use the Blogger app on my phone and read the book on iBooks, and hopefully everyone will be much happier!

My new Harry Potter book, hehe.

The reason I say that is because I miss Harry too. My audio books no longer work on my phone (let's not go there!) and I always have craft in my bag which wins out over a physical book. No more!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter One - The Worst Birthday

I love how the book starts out with a recap of everything we already know about Harry, while adding more fuel to the fire that is the Dursleys. The first chapter is mainly a summary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with two major points of interest - the Dursley's being absolutely Dursleyish, and the introduction of Dobby.

(My iBooks version of HP has an animation of this! We see a picture of Harry in the garden with tennis ball eyes blinking in the shed. I won't post a screenshot as I'm sure there are copyright issues - buy the books on iBooks if you can!)

Fan Art from FanPop (source)

JKR seems to have quite the sense of humour when it comes to describing the Dursleys in their various emotions. Here's a selection of my faves from Chapter One:

"'Do I look stupid?' snarled Uncle Vernon, a bit of fried egg dangling from his bushy moustache."
"Uncle Vernon sat back down, breathing like a winded rhinoceros..."
"'Well done,' said Harry. 'So you've finally learned the days of the week.'"

Teehee, these just make me giggle. My favourite Dursley description won't come till Book 7 - we have quite some time!

Chapter Two - Dobby's Warning

What can I say about Chapter Two? Dobby. Oh, Dobby. I cry everytime I read or hear the words that are his fate in Book Seven - he's one of the most genuinely amazing characters in the book, who just wants to Do Good.

I will admit it, though. I found Dobby intensely annoying in this book. I'm sure this is probably partly how the character has been written, and maybe something to do with my imagination playing out the story in my head.

"'No, no, no,' squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped."
"On top of a cupboard in the corner crouched Dobby."

There's a picture of Dobby in the iBooks version, which is fairly fantastic - although it does show Harry's floor with a carpet, which we know can't be true because later in the books he has a loose floorboard under which he keeps his spell books...not that I'm pedantic, or anything.

Fan art by Mudblood428 (source)

Proof of the cruelty of the Dursley's is once again shown, with locking Harry in his room, putting bars on his windows etc. I love the dream scene - Harry is in a cage with people staring at him, and the chapter ends on a brilliant note.