A few months after the end of Philosopher’s Stone, we again find ourselves at 4 Privet Drive dreading another birthday with the Dursleys. Indeed, the overall structure of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets shows great similarities with its predecessor - both books begin and end in the same place, both build up to an ultimate confrontation between Harry and his nemesis Voldemort. Along with this primary arc of good vs evil in conflict with its (at this stage) predictable conclusion, we explore at least two other aspects of Harry’s world that reflect on our own.

First, and more superficially, we get a few hints of the stages of development to come in the series by its youthful characters through the analogue of the mandragora, or mandrake roots. When we first meet them in Greenhouse Three, they are “still very young” and appear as “a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby…bawling at the top of his lungs.” These creatures are primal, petulant, bundles of fury and emotion. Later after the attack on Justin Finch-Fletchly and Nearly Headless Nick, Madam Pomfrey is overhead to say that they were becoming “moody and secretive, meaning that they were fast leaving childhood.” Finally they “threw a loud and raucous party” in the greenhouse; “the moment they start trying to move into each other’s pots, we’ll know they’re fully mature,” she told Harry. These are all important cues because they represent the progress towards an immediate solution to the Petrification of the basilisk’s victims, but also show some of the changing behavior to watch in the characters as they mature over the next five books. Will we see a moody Harry? Will Gryffindor Tower play host to a loud party? When will this pot-swapping occur? This is also a curious parallel because the original mandrake root is also called the “love plant” in Hebrew, has been used in Asian culture as a fertility aid, and was considered possible of creating independent life (a homunculus, courtesy of Paracelsus) in alchemical circles.

Second, we learn that the wizarding world is not plagued solely by the occasional assaults by Dark Wizards. They also share our prejudices of race and class. Class is represented in the relative purity of blood in all-magical families vs those interbred with Muggles. Despite the absence of a truly intact all-magical ancestry (Hagrid points out that without intermarriage with Muggles, wizards would have died out, and that no family is better than half-wizard at this point), some “pureblood” families - namely the Malfoys and (later in the series) the Blacks - maintain a fervent view that magic should be kept within their lines. The epithet for someone of mixed ancestry in “mudblood,” literally one possessing dirty blood (cf. miscegenation, which has to rank among the clumsiest neologisms ever). The ultimate expression of this purity view is Salazar Slytherin, one of Hogwart’s founders, leaving his three counterparts in spite…but not before establishing the Chamber of Secrets and its basilisk to await his heir’s return, when Muggle descendents would be purged.

Historical examples in our own world abound, but two parallels spring immediately to mind. The first is between the implied census of magical ancestry and something like the Dawes Rolls or the possibility of “letter patents” or “patents of nobility” and their inherent unreliability, e.g. A Knight’s Tale. When the ability to do magic is no longer tied to heredity (Hermione coming from two Muggle parents yet being frequently cited as the most capable witch of her age, plus Squibs like Filch and Figg, both serve as counterexamples), how does one truly prove membership in this implied nobility? The other is between the foremost adherents being both excluded members of the prescribed ’superior’ race. Like a certain dark-haired Austrian painter with possibly Jewish ancestry (left unnamed to skirt Godwin’s Law) who promoted a predominantly blonde German ideal, Tom Marvolo Riddle also despised his father and sought to advance a pogrom against Muggle-born students via the Chamber of Secrets…despite himself being among their number.

Racism is also characterized in the house-elves and their mistreatment by some pureblood families. Despite somewhat disturbing descriptions later in the series that indicate that many do not consider their enslavement anything unsavory, but indeed worthy of honorable service, the punishments of Dobby are clearly meant to be seen as severe and unjust. The related issue of mixed-blood prejudice among species is further explored in later books, particularly Hermione’s ill-fated S.P.E.W. and Umbridge’s reaction to Hagrid, centaurs, and others. These divisions along race and class lines also follow already established Good and Evil groups: bad characters like Lucius Malfoy and Voldemort emphasize blood purity as having preeminent importance, while the mixed membership of groups like the Order of the Phoenix is practically a recruiting poster for the multicultural progressive. Notably, the Weasleys’ pureblood status - despite their social stigma of poverty - plus supporters like the Longbottoms show that this prejudice is not universal.

A few other possible clues of future events:

Shortly before leaving Hogwarts at the behest of the coerced school governors, Dumbledore states, “You will find that I have only truly left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be givn at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.” Harry later ponders these words as events worsen, but cannot discern their import. We are given an immediate relevance during the showdown with Riddle’s memory within the Chamber, when Harry’s unswerving dedication to Dumbledore results in Fawkes’ appearance along with the Sorting Hat, and within it, the sword of Godric Gryffindor. But does this have greater resonance, given what we will encounter in book 6?

Likewise, in comforting Harry that despite his similarities to the young Riddle, Dumbledore emphasizes his differences by insisting, “only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat, Harry.” Is this meant to suggest that Harry is truly a Gryffindor in spirit, or more…as Riddle was the last heir of Slytherin, might Harry also be an heir of Godric Gryffindor?

Finally, and most critically, Dumbledore explains the source of some of Harry’s similarities as well as abilities like the rare Parseltongue.

“Unless I’m much mistaken, [Voldemort] transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar…” “Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?” Harry said, thunderstruck. “It certainly seems so.”

This revelation, along with the connection demonstrated in book 5 and what we learn of horcruxes in book 6, forms the central basis for my expectation of what will happen to both Harry and Voldemort in book 7.

strong>Vital Stats
Pages: 341 (Scholastic Hardback)
Chapters: 18
Starts: 4 Privet Drive
Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher: Total Amnesia
Dumbledore Explains Everything In: Professor McGonagall’s Office
House Cup: Gryffindor
Exams: No
Ends: Platform 9-3/4

Final Score: Harry - 3, Voldemort - 0