John Yowan
Mr. Painter
English 10
18 December 2003
Tom Riddle Defeated again by Harry Potter
Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling is about a young wizard named Harry Potter who is in his second year at Hogwarts School. Starting around October an unknown creature is attacking the students at the school. All the students start to think Harry is responsible for the attacks because he is always near the scene of the crime when the attacks occur. Then the headmaster of the school, Professor Dumbledore, tells the students the school will be shut down if they don’t find the attacker soon. If the school is shut down Harry will have to live with his aunt and uncle who he hates. Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione soon decide to find the attacker themselves to save the school. They work hard for months and they finally find out it is the memory of Tom Riddle a former student at Hogwarts fifty years ago. Tom Riddle grows up to kill Harry’s parents and Harry is a year old at the time of the killing. Harry destroys Tom and Harry goes to his aunt and uncle’s house for summer vacation. Harry Potter changes during this time by learning the real cause of the attacks at Hogwarts. He changes by becoming more knowledgeable in learning how to work through problems and using recognition.
Toward the beginning of the school year no one knows who is causing all of the attacks in the school. “I know it’s weird,’ said Harry. ‘The whole thing’s weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber has been opened… What’s that supposed to mean?’”(145). In order to find out who is causing the attacks Harry, Ron and Hermione start to investigate.
Months into the investigation Harry, Ron and Hermione start to think the person causing the attacks is Hagrid. The reason they think this is because Harry goes into Tom Riddle’s diary and sees Tom catch Hagrid fifty years earlier when the chamber was last opened. “It was Hagrid, Ron. Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago.” (248). Harry tells Hermione about what he sees and they decide to try to learn more because they cannot imagine Hagrid killing someone.
Harry and Ron find the Chamber of Secrets after much more investigating. While in the chamber, Harry meets the memory of Tom Riddle. Tom tells him it is not Hagrid but himself that made the attacks both fifty years ago and in the present. “And that’s where you came in Harry. You found it. It was my word against Hagrid’s Harry. Well you can imagine how it looked to old Armando . . .”(311) Because of this Harry fights Tom and the attacker, a snake known as the basilisk. Harry defeats Tom and the basilisk. Harry goes to Professor Dumbledore and tells him the whole story and Hagrid is let out of prison.
In conclusion Harry Potter changes during this time by learning the real cause of the attacks at Hogwarts. He changes by becoming more knowledgeable in learning how to work through problems and using recognition. Harry does this by investigating the attacks and learning for himself that it is not Hagrid who is responsible for the attacks.
Bibliography
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. New York, 1999.