Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Apologies for the lateness of this post! Hooray for Leap Day, we made it in under the wire.
The Sorcerer’s Stone was a thorough introduction to the magical world Harry Potter discovers on his 11th birthday, and in Chamber of Secrets, he (and we) begin to see a bit deeper into the history and culture of the Wizarding world. We were welcomed into the Weasley’s home. We spent time with ghosts. We learned about magical dueling. And, we begin to see the role of prejudice and bigotry within Hogwarts and Wizard society. All of these things, and other themes in Chamber, are explored over the course of the series.
We hope you had a great time reading the second book in this exciting series, and will join us in reading the next installment, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban! Discussions for book #3 will be up in the middle of March. But for now, please enjoy discussing the events of this book in the comments!
- Did you like this book? Hate it? Did it remind you of something you’ve read or seen before?
- Hermione breaks the rules in this book. Why did she feel that this was necessary? When is breaking the rules the right thing to do?
- If you could hear this same story from another person’s point of view, who would you choose?
- How are fear and hatred represented in The Chamber of Secrets?
“[The Sorting Hat] only put me in Gryffindor,” said Harry in a defeated voice, “because I asked not to go in Slytherin….”
“Exactly,” said Dumbledore, beaming once more. “Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.*” Harry sat motionless in his chair stunned.
*emphasis added
- How do Harry’s choices show who he truly is?
- Do you agree with Dumbledore?
What did we miss? Is there anything you would like to discuss or any questions you and your family had? Did you have a favorite quote or a favorite scene?
Please introduce them in the comments.
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We ask library patrons under 13 to participate in these discussions with adult supervision. We would like to encourage families to incorporate discussion questions into their at-home book chats. Discussions are open to first time readers, and super-fans, so please limit spoilers to the book currently being discussed and previous ones only. There will be a second post, later in the month for overarching theories and ideas, and for connecting what happens in this book to events in future installments.
Please be respectful.