I’ve finally uncovered the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. I enjoyed the second book in the Harry Potter series. I’ve felt that the first two books, though, seemed like standalone stories. I know they’re related with the same characters and setting, but they just feel episodic. Alycia has assured me that the books will take on a much more interwoven storyline soon.
Here are some reflections I had from chapters 14-18 of The Chamber of Secrets.
The 12 Governors
I dislike Lucius Malfoy as much as I dislike his son. I didn’t like him any better when he strong-armed Hagrid and Dumbledore out of Hogwarts. The 12 governors (I guess of magic) decided that Hogwarts would be better off if Hagrid was locked away and Dumbledore was removed from his position. When the 12 governors conspired against Dumbledore, I couldn’t help but think about the 12 tribes of Israel conspiring against Moses. Moses had proven himself time and time again but it was never enough. God had clearly chosen him but, at seemingly every turn, they were complaining and conspiring against him. Like Moses, though, in the end Dumbledore was vindicated and his naysayers were left looking like fools.
Tom Riddle
I felt like a fool when everything came to light. I wrote about how much I liked Tom Riddle and his time traveling diary. After seeing what Riddle did, though, and how he negatively influenced Ginny Weasley, I was happy to see Harry destroy the diary. Ginny spent a lot of time with Riddle through the diary and Riddle started “pouring a little of [his] soul back into [Ginny].” Riddle’s black soul influenced Ginny’s good heart and she took a turn for the worst. Through Riddle and Ginny, we can see the clear truth that the people with whom we spend time have an influence on us. Psalms and Proverbs are full of wisdom about the people in our lives and how to surround ourselves with the wise instead of the foolish. We need to find the wise who will lead us to God and avoid the foolish who will pull us away.
Dobby
I started my time with The Chamber of Secrets hating Dobby. When he showed up again I still didn’t like him that much. When he showed up in the final chapter I liked him a little better. Thanks to some quick thinking on Harry’s part, Dobby was able to gain his freedom from Lucius Malfoy. I probably liked Dobby better in the last chapter because I felt compassion when I saw how Malfoy treated him. God’s heart beats for justice and ours should as well. Even when we see injustice in a fictional book about wizards and house elves, it should stir up some anger within us. And, when we see injustice in the real world, we shouldn’t just get angry but we should also do something about it.
I’m 2/7 of the way through my Harry Potter journey and I’ve enjoyed it this far. I’m looking forward to the next book and hopefully getting into the meat of the story. I’ll take a little Potter break but get back to it soon enough.
What thoughts do you have from chapters 14-18 of The Chamber of Secrets?
The first two book seem much more like stand alone stories BUT there will be important things from these two books that will come up in the final novel.