Last week, I read the first Harry Potter book, and now it was time for the second one: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. When I was little, this was my favorite of the first four. I was still too young at that time to read the later Harry Potter books. After reading them in my later teens, I fully understand why my parents thought that wouldn't be a good idea. 

The book starts with Harry back at the Dursleys. He had to go back to them because of the summer holidays, but it didn’t feel like a holiday for him. The Dursleys worked around him like he was a bomb waiting to go off at any moment and he had not heard anything from his friends all summer. To make things worse, he gets visited by a house-elf and learns why he hasn’t heard anything from his friends, gets locked in his room with bars on his window, when the Dursleys find out he isn’t allowed to do magic outside the school and thinks he will never be able to get back to Hogwarts. 

“When in doubt, go to the library.”

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling

This school year, there is even more happening than the year before because the house-elf is trying everything he can to get Harry to go back to his uncle's home. This year, the Chamber of Secrets gets opened, and something is attacking the students from all the Hogwarts houses except Slytherin. While trying to solve this mystery, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine get themselves in a whole lot of trouble while doing everything to get to the answer to this mystery. 

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling

I read this book even more times than the last one, but I still loved every bit of it. It was extra special to read because I had bought the Minalima edition from this one. The Minalima edition is full of illustrations and pop-up scenes. It’s like watching the films, but with all the information, they couldn’t get into the Warner Bros films. 

It is possible to read this book without reading the first book of the series because the magic and the school system are again well explained, but it takes away from the experience. It’s more enjoyable if you know how the relationships come together. 

This book will also always be a 5-star read for me.