Chapter Summaries

Jon settled into Hogwarts, found flying class difficult, and endured Gilderoy Lockhart’s first-year Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, which consisted of a quiz about Lockhart himself. The chapter left Jon considering a plan while pretending to listen eagerly to Lockhart’s boasting.

• Jon reflected on Hogwarts’s history as both a school and a fortress, and regretted that he lacked the Marauder’s Map to explore its secrets.
• Jon attended his classes, including Astronomy and History of Magic, and found Professor Binns’s historical knowledge impressive despite his dull lectures.
• Jon struggled in Flying class, while Zacharias Smith bragged about his flying and Astoria performed poorly as well.
• Jon complained about Quidditch’s scoring system and the Seeker’s outsized role in winning matches.
• Lockhart gave the first-year students a quiz about his personal life, then awarded Hufflepuff points for correct answers as he graded their papers.
• Jon pretended to listen eagerly to Lockhart while privately considering a plan.

Jon Hart befriended Hermione Granger and persuaded Mrs. Pince to let him search the Restricted Section by presenting himself as a diligent student. He obtained Gilderoy Lockhart’s signature for a list of books and returned to the Library with Mrs. Pince ready to help him find them.

• Jon Hart met Hermione Granger in the Library, chatted with her, and watched her leave with a red-haired boy to attend Harry’s Quidditch training.
• Jon led Justin Finch-Fletchley toward the Restricted Section and praised Argus Filch, drawing Mrs. Pince over to stop them.
• Jon convinced Mrs. Pince to let him search the Restricted Section by claiming Professor Lockhart had asked him to find books there.
• Jon asked Lockhart questions about his books, then persuaded him to sign a permission slip without checking its contents.
• Jon returned to the Library with the signed slip, and Mrs. Pince agreed to lead him to the books.

Jon Hart studied books on Occlumency, the Eye Blight Curse, and potions, preparing to protect his secrets and face the Basilisk. When his South African Red Spiders became frightened, he realized Ginny Weasley had opened the Chamber of Secrets and the story’s danger was beginning.

• Jon wrapped the three Restricted Section books and read them in his dormitory, determined to learn Occlumency and the Eye Blight Curse.
• Jon studied Polyjuice Potion and Veritaserum in Powerful Potions but judged their brewing too complicated to attempt yet.
• Late Saturday night, Jon heard the South African Red Spiders rattling their cage in fear.
• Jon recognized the spiders’ reaction as a sign of the Basilisk and concluded that Ginny Weasley had opened the Chamber of Secrets.
• Jon covered the spider cage with old clothing and went to sleep.

Jon took his agitated South African Red Spiders to Professor Kettleburn for help, with Professor Sprout guiding him to the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Kettleburn suspected the spiders were frightened by an evil creature thought extinct in Britain and gave Jon Calming Draught to try, leaving the cause of their distress unresolved.

• Jon heard Draco Malfoy boast about cursing Ron Weasley, then collected his spiders and asked the Fat Friar for directions to Professor Sprout.
• Jon found Professor Sprout tending Mandrakes in Greenhouse Three and explained that his pets had been acting strangely.
• Professor Sprout took Jon to Professor Kettleburn's hut near the Forbidden Forest so he could examine the spiders.
• Professor Kettleburn found the spiders healthy but agreed that their agitation resembled fear.
• Professor Kettleburn said only one evil magical creature could frighten spiders, though he believed it could not be near Hogwarts, and prescribed Calming Draught for Jon to feed them.

As October drew to a close, Jon Hart kept to safer routines at Hogwarts while continuing his studies and potion practice. After brewing the Draught of Living Death successfully with Astoria Greengrass, he studied the Polyjuice Potion recipe and planned to obtain the ingredients he lacked before Christmas.

• Jon reduced his time alone around Hogwarts and practised spells less often while the Basilisk remained a threat.
• Jon continued his classes, doing well in Potions with Astoria while Professor Lockhart's Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons remained unproductive.
• On October's last day, Jon and Astoria completed their Draught of Living Death after Madeleine Yaxley's cauldron exploded.
• Jon went to the Room of Requirement and read the Polyjuice Potion recipe in the borrowed Advanced Potions book.
• Jon planned to order Bicorn horn and African tree snake skin from a Diagon Alley shop and hoped to finish brewing Polyjuice Potion before Christmas.

Jon attended Hogwarts’ Halloween feast, where a Skeleton Band’s music affected many students before Dumbledore ended the performance. On the way back to the Dungeon, Jon and the other students discovered a warning about the Chamber of Secrets and Mrs. Norris hanging petrified; Dumbledore took Filch, Harry, Ron, and Hermione away to investigate.

• Jon returned to Hogwarts and joined Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan at the Halloween feast.
• The Skeleton Band performed the Hogwarts school song and other music that stirred the students, until Dumbledore brought them back to their senses.
• After the feast, Astoria Greengrass asked Jon what he had said after hearing the song, but the crowd stopped at an alarming message on the wall.
• Gabriel Truman read the warning that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, and the students saw Mrs. Norris hanging beneath it.
• Filch accused Harry of attacking his cat, but Dumbledore arrived and took Filch, Harry, Ron, and Hermione away.

Hufflepuff students questioned Professor Sprout about the Chamber of Secrets and heard its legend, while Jon Hart’s escaped spiders briefly frightened the common room. After buying rare potion ingredients, Jon passed the threatening message near Mrs. Norris’s attack and left with his rooster alarm clock concealed beneath his robes.

• Hufflepuff students crowded around Professor Sprout, who assured them that Mrs. Norris had been petrified and could be cured with Mandrakes.
• Professor Sprout explained that Salazar Slytherin supposedly built the Chamber of Secrets to release a monster against Muggle-born students and Squibs, and that it had opened once fifty years earlier, killing a Ravenclaw student.
• Susan Bones and other girls panicked when Jon Hart’s two South African Red Spiders escaped, and Professor Sprout caught them with a Full Body-Bind Curse.
• Jon explained that the spiders had become restless despite receiving calming potion, and Professor Sprout grew grave.
• Jon bought powdered Unicorn horn and African tree snake skin, then passed the Chamber of Secrets message with his Rooster Alarm Clock hidden beneath his robes.

Jon attended Hufflepuff’s Quidditch match, then took advantage of the school’s distracted staff and students to enter Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. He left a hidden message beneath a sink warning that Ginny Weasley was being controlled and identifying the Chamber of Secrets entrance.

• Jon heard that Snape’s potion ingredients had been stolen and suspected Hermione Granger was brewing Polyjuice Potion.
• Jon watched Cedric Diggory catch the Golden Snitch, giving Hufflepuff a 170–130 victory over Ravenclaw.
• Jon noticed that Dumbledore, Ginny Weasley, and the Trio of Saviors were outside the castle, then returned to the Hufflepuff common room for a robe and a Marker Pen.
• Jon entered Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, drove Myrtle away with insults, and found the tiny snake engraved on a copper tap.
• Jon wrote a concealed message beneath a nearby sink in Ginny Weasley’s voice, warning that she was controlled and explaining where and how to open the Chamber of Secrets entrance.
• Jon wiped the bathroom door handle and left.

As fear spread through Hogwarts after Colin Cleever was petrified, Jon kept calm and prepared to leave for Christmas. Before departing, he finished and tested Polyjuice Potion, transforming into Gabriel Truman and discovering that it increased his physical strength but did not grant him Gabriel’s magical ability.

• Hufflepuff students debated the Chamber of Secrets attacks, and Ernie Macmillan accused Harry Potter of attacking Mrs. Norris and Colin Cleever.
• Jon left the rumours alone, stayed close to other students, and signed up to leave Hogwarts for the Christmas holiday.
• Jon gave Christmas ornaments to the Kitchen House-elves, who thanked him and filled his pockets with snacks.
• Jon completed the Polyjuice Potion and added Gabriel Truman’s hair to a vial to test it.
• Jon drank the potion and transformed into Gabriel Truman, then found that he could not cast Gabriel’s Viper-রেস্ট (Reducto) spell.
• Jon discovered that his transformed body could lift a stone slab weighing nearly 30 kilograms with ease.

Jon learned the wizarding origins of Christmas, returned home from Hogwarts for the holidays, and received gifts from his family and friends. He ended the chapter asking Eric for thirty thousand pounds to buy something.

• Jon asked Professor Binns why wizards celebrated Christmas, and Binns explained its origins in the wizarding celebration of Mithras and ancient magical pacts.
• Jon rode the Hogwarts Express to London and reunited with Eric and Judy at King's Cross Station.
• Jon celebrated Christmas at 86 Eastleigh Road with Eric and Judy, then found presents from them, Zacharias, Astoria, Professor Sprout, and the Hogwarts house-elves.
• Jon asked Eric for thirty thousand Pound Sterling, saying he wanted to buy something.

Jon used Polyjuice Potion to take the form of a burly security guard and bought two handguns from Mr. Robert Wilson, seeking protection while he struggled to cast damaging spells. After paying for the guns and ammunition, Jon asked Wilson to help him find someone.

• Mr. Robert Wilson sold firearms from his Southampton hardware store through loopholes in gun laws.
• Jon adapted to his new body after secretly taking a security guard’s hair.
• Jon visited Wilson’s store in disguise and claimed he was from Northern Ireland.
• Jon bought a PSM pistol, a Desert Eagle, and ammunition from Wilson.
• Jon paid Wilson and asked him to help find someone.

Warian Urien sought out Sergei Ivanovich Pavlov, a former KGB agent living in poverty in London's Newham district, and tested his ability to use a powerful pistol. He offered Pavlov more than three thousand pounds for a little of his hair, leaving Pavlov to consider the strange request.

• Warian Urien found Sergei Ivanovich Pavlov in a rundown Newham apartment and gave him vodka.
• Urien recited Pavlov's KGB and Afghan War record, and Pavlov confirmed his combat skills and keen hearing.
• Urien gave Pavlov a Desert Eagle Mark I to assess, and Pavlov said he could fire it one-handed.
• Sarah, Pavlov's wife, entered the apartment and withdrew to the inner room after seeing Urien.
• Urien offered Pavlov more than three thousand pounds in exchange for a little of his hair.

On the Hogwarts Express, Jon recorded what he knew about Polyjuice Potion in a diary and reunited with Astoria. She told him that Sir Nicholas and Justin Finch-Fletchley had been petrified in another Hogwarts attack, leaving her worried for his safety.

• Jon wrote detailed notes about Polyjuice Potion in his diary, tore out the page, and hid it among notes in his suitcase.
• Astoria joined Jon in their train compartment and praised the Three-sided Vanity Mirror he had given her for Christmas.
• Astoria asked whether Jon had found the secret she had hidden in the Chocolate Frogs, and Jon admitted he had not noticed it.
• Astoria told Jon that Sir Nicholas and Justin Finch-Fletchley had been petrified in another attack at Hogwarts.
• Jon said Professor Sprout's Mandrakes should eventually restore the petrified victims, and Astoria urged him to be careful because Hogwarts was dangerous.

Jon returned to Hogwarts after the Christmas holiday, where students learned that Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick had been attacked. Professor Sprout questioned Jon about his dead spiders, then went looking for Professor Kettleburn and learned that Hagrid had brought a cage of roosters to replace the school’s dead chickens.

• Professor McGonagall told the returning students that Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nicholas-Porpington had been attacked.
• Ernie Macmillan accused Harry Potter of being behind the attacks, but Professor Sprout told him not to judge his classmate and said Dumbledore believed Potter was innocent.
• Professor Sprout asked Jon when his spiders had died, and Jon said it was the day after Hufflepuff’s Quidditch match against Ravenclaw.
• Professor Sprout went to find Professor Kettleburn, but Hagrid told her he was in London having his prosthetic limbs replaced and would be away for a month.
• Hagrid told Professor Sprout that all twelve school chickens had been killed and showed her the cage of little roosters he had brought.

With Hogwarts temporarily safe from further Basilisk attacks, Jon resumed practicing magic and devised a risky way to improve his Occlumency. He planned to use Polyjuice Potion to transform into Severus Snape and learn from his instincts as a skilled Occlumens.

• Hogwarts settled into a calmer period, and Professor Sprout told Filch that the Mandrakes would soon be ready to restore the petrified victims.
• Jon spent his free time in the Room of Requirement, where he practiced fighting in Sergei Pavlov's form and improved his aim with a pistol.
• Jon returned to his own form and practiced the Eye Blight Curse, which he had nearly mastered.
• Jon considered how to measure his Occlumency progress and realized Polyjuice Potion might let him experience another person's instincts.
• Jon decided to try transforming into Snape, despite the danger of obtaining one of his hairs.

Jon Hart devised a cautious way to obtain Snape’s cells and secretly gathered equipment and reagents to culture them in the Room of Requirement. He left the cells in an improvised incubator, hoping they would grow.

• Jon rejected risky plans to steal part of Snape’s body and wrote to Robert Wilson for laboratory supplies.
• Owls delivered boxes of equipment and reagents to Jon, which he secretly installed in the Room of Requirement.
• During Potions class, Jon brushed a scraper across the back of Snape’s hand and collected epithelial cells.
• Jon carried the cells and supplies to the Room of Requirement, transforming it into a rudimentary microbiology laboratory.
• Jon processed Snape’s cells and placed them in an incubator before leaving the room.

Jon cultured Snape’s cells and used them to transform into Snape, rapidly improving his Occlumency through firsthand experience. After spending too long practicing in the Room of Requirement, he transformed into Sergei Pavlov to avoid trouble while returning to the Hufflepuff common room after curfew.

• Jon cultured Snape’s cells for a week, multiplying the sample into more than ten flasks.
• Jon added the cells to Polyjuice Potion, transformed into Snape, and practiced Occlumency by sensing Snape’s instincts.
• Jon discovered that practicing as Snape helped him conceal memories and remain calm amid distractions.
• Jon spent more than six hours practicing and realized that Hogwarts was under curfew.
• Jon drank Polyjuice Potion made with Sergei Pavlov’s cells and left the Room of Requirement disguised as Pavlov.

Jon Hart, disguised as Sergei Pavlov, encountered the Basilisk in the Hogwarts corridors while trying to return to the Hufflepuff common room. He prepared to face it with a crowing alarm clock, his wand, and a pistol as the creature drew near.

• Jon followed Percy Weasley from the Gryffindor common room and waited in a corridor while Percy stopped to comb his hair.
• Jon heard a scraping sound and suspected the Basilisk was approaching, so he wound up his Rooster Alarm Clock.
• Percy saw the Basilisk's yellowish-green light reflected in his mirror and was turned to stone.
• The Basilisk halted at the alarm clock's crow but circled toward Jon rather than retreating.
• Jon set the alarm clock down, backed away to a position suited for firing his pistol, and waited prone with his wand and gun ready as the clock fell silent.

Jon Hart wounded the Basilisk with an Eye Blight Curse and gunfire, then escaped to the Room of Requirement before his Polyjuice Potion wore off. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley arrived to find Percy dead, while Professor Flitwick screamed from Ravenclaw Tower.

• Jon Hart used the Rooster Alarm Clock to draw the Basilisk close, then blinded one of its eyes with a curse and shot it seven times.
• The injured Basilisk retreated, and Jon fled toward the Room of Requirement as teachers and students approached.
• Jon reached the Room of Requirement and collapsed as his transformation ended and violent convulsions overtook him.
• Harry Potter and Ron Weasley found Percy lying dead in the corridor.
• Professor Flitwick screamed from Ravenclaw Tower, his cry carrying shock and fury.

After Jon Hart escaped the Basilisk, he realized the attack had changed the story and searched for a way to return to the Hufflepuff common room without arousing suspicion. At the scene, the teachers learned that Percy Weasley and Penelope Crivat had been attacked, while Snape realized that the Hufflepuff Prefect he had just met was not acting like Gabriel Truman.

• Jon Hart weighed how to get back to the Hufflepuff common room without being spotted or becoming a suspect.
• Snape arrived at the corridor and questioned Harry Potter and the other Gryffindor students about the attack on Percy Weasley.
• Flitwick reported that Penelope Crivat and Ravenclaw's eagle door knocker had also been turned to stone.
• Snape suggested that the attacker had targeted Crivat, fought Percy Weasley, and been wounded; Dumbledore sent Snape to fetch Hagrid and Sylvanus.
• Snape ordered Gabriel Truman to warn Hufflepuff students, then realized the Prefect had addressed him as “Professor” instead of “Sir.”