Genre: Fantasy
Series: Harry Potter #2
Page Count: 341
Publication Year: 1999
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Summary: A boy goes back to magic school.
Before rereading I had no memory of the book’s contents. I only knew this is my least favorite HP movie and I imagined I would not enjoy it as much as the first book.
I am so close to just binging the whole series and postponing the other books I’d planned on reading. It’s like a cookie. You eat one and you think, “That’s not much of a dessert. I can eat another one.” And before you know it, half the box is gone and YOU REGRET NOTHING. Okay. I need to calm down.
(What is this series doing to me?)
I normally don’t read kids’ books but these are so refreshingly easy to read. There’s no fancy writing style or complicated vocabulary and it’s fast-paced. One stark difference between this book and adult books is that the characters aren’t pretending to be someone they’re not. I don’t have to wonder what they’re hiding or if they’re a good person, which makes it an even more enjoyable story. I had to force myself to stop reading to do other things. It sucks me in and drowns me in the cookie jar.
So, we return to Harry and his miserable life with the Dursleys. All his school stuff is locked in his old “room” and he’s heard nothing from his friends. Things are grim and it’s not helped by Aunt Petunia trying to wallop Harry with a frying pan. (I’ve discussed the Dursleys already; I am done with them.) Harry is visited by Dobby, a suicidal house-elf, and is instructed to not return to Hogwarts on pain of mortal danger. Oooooooo. When Harry refuses to avoid Hogwarts, Dobby causes a ruckus, Uncle Vernon locks Harry in his room, and Ron and the twins come to rescue him. After finishing the summer with the Weasleys, it’s back to school. Harry and Ron are denied access to the train to Hogwarts and have to make a dramatic return to school which almost results in getting expelled. Classes resume and all seems safe. But after a cat (that only one person likes) gets petrified and a sinister warning appears, mystery and mayhem slither up from the depths.
This book isn’t as delightful as the first one. It’s lost the original wonder and become almost common. The main villain is settling in for the long haul and he drags the mood down the toilet. And can we get some helpful adults? I don’t understand why it’s so hard for the kids and adults to see eye-to-eye. Now that Harry has a reputation for being in the thick of it, the adults should realize that if they don’t help, Harry will do it anyway and possibly die.
As a kid, I only noticed the broad strokes of a plot and ignored the omitted but basic practicalities. Now I’m less concerned with Harry’s issues and instead wonder what Hogwarts’ tuition fees are, why wouldn’t the Weasleys homeschool their seven kids if their funds are tight, is someone withdrawing Harry’s money to cover his schooling costs, and why is Filch seemingly the only janitor? On top of that, why are non-magical parents okay with their kids suddenly being magical? If I were one of those parents I’d think the acceptance letter was a scam, or perhaps a diabolical scheme for child trafficking. I’ll gladly suspend my belief on many things, but brushing over the groundwork of fictional societies bothers me.
Moving on…
Harry continues to surprise me. Aside from his wanton habit of landing in every hot soup because of his reckless bravery, he’s a good kid. It’s his humor that I really like. When he asks Dobby if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is the reason he shouldn’t return to Hogwarts and Dobby shakes his head, Harry says, “He hasn’t got a brother, has he?” He keeps making me smile.
I don’t get why Hermione has no competition in the smarts category. How did all the students with magical parents fail to have a leg-up in general knowledge? Or is she just much faster at raising her hand? I don’t know if this ever happens, but I’d like to see some healthy competition between her and another student.
I’m really liking Fred and George; they are the other good source of humor.
Dobby is a menace to himself and to Harry, and if I were a Malfoy, I’d’ve kicked him to the curb years ago. If he were removed from the book, not much would change and it’d be a lot better.
So. Lockhart. What an egotistical…you know what? He’s not an idiot. To get to where he got took cunning, determination and incredible charisma. Say what you will about him (I’d probably agree with you), but the guy has skills. Being a teacher is not one of them.
I have found either the wildest coincidence or the greatest Easter egg regarding Snape. In 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves movie, Alan Rickman played the Sheriff of Nottingham. After hearing more vexing news of the hooded crusader, he says to “call off Christmas.” In this book, after learning Harry and Ron won’t be expelled for the car incident, Snape looked as though Christmas had been canceled. Coincidence?! I mean, yeah, probably. But it sounds like a good hint for Rickman’s future involvement, especially since Snape doesn’t seem the Christmas-loving type.
The description is still its simplistic self. These are kids’ books and what flies here will not for an older target audience. Sometimes in other books there’s too much description or it’s badly written, so having the bare minimum here is a nice change, especially paired with the movie images. But it’s silly how easily everyone’s face turns violent shades of red, crimson, pink, and magenta.
The dialogue is still enjoyable. The villain’s monologue (and the climax) is convenient and quickly dealt with, which is even more of an anticlimax since I know the bigger implication of the victory. I want future conflicts to take more than twenty pages.
In the end, it’s not as good as the first one but it’s still better than a bunch of other books I could name.
Check out my rating here.
SOME SPOILER THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS
Their choice to take the car is precisely the action of a child. Their panic led to desperation, which clogged their mental state until only stupidity was available. As McGonagall said, they should’ve sent an owl.
One of Lockhart’s many fraudulent books is Voyages with Vampires, so once again, where’s my Marauder vampire hunting book?
On the topic of Lockhart, surely Dumbledore knew he was a fake, and the other teachers at least thought he was a ninny, so why would they hire him? In his books he took credit for the feats of others, so presumably someone could use them as reference guides. But I cannot believe that Hogwarts was in such dire straits regarding Dark Arts teachers that they had to hire a fraud. Are there no graduated students who could do the job? I heard one theory that Dumbledore hired him as a laugh, but in the classroom Lockhart’s incompetence was dangerous and he almost wiped Harry and Ron’s memories. It seems pretty irresponsible.
Was it always Lucius’ intention to give the diary to Ginny? Was that his grand plan? Get the diary to Hogwarts and hope someone uses it? Not a great plan.
How did none of the teachers guess it was a basilisk? Did they all think it was just some Dark Magic spell that caused the petrification? The dead roosters should’ve also been a clue. This place needs some smarter teachers.
Will Colin have to redo his first-year classes? He was petrified before Christmas and only came to just before they had to go home for summer. Hermione will be fine with the missed lessons but this kid barely had any time for learning. Not the greatest impression of Hogwarts for his dad.
Harry should’ve kept the basilisk fang; it would’ve made destroying the other horcruxes an easier job. I guess Voldemort didn’t know Harry was a horcrux until later or he wouldn’t have been so eager to kill him.
So…Dobby knew about Tom Riddle and his diary and he thought Lucius would give it to Harry? Or just that Riddle/Voldemort would want to cause Harry harm if he knew he was there? Was there no way Dobby could’ve given him better clues? Something like, “Dom Answer wants to use his newspaper to lure someone into opening the Closet of Fame and releasing the small slug that will enliven people.” That’s better than, “The Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely named, you see?” C’mon Dobby, get better at working around your communicative limitations.