Chapter Summaries

After Percy and Penelope were attacked, fear and parental protests spread through Hogwarts, and the school imposed strict security rules. Lucius Malfoy presented Dumbledore with the governors’ order dismissing him, and Dumbledore calmly agreed to leave.

• Professor Sprout posted strict restrictions after Percy and Penelope’s attack, while parents protested and began taking students home.
• Jon stayed overnight in the Hospital Wing with a fractured hand, and Astoria told him that her mother planned to take her and her sister home.
• Ministry officials took Hagrid to Azkaban, and Lockhart told his class that Hagrid was responsible for the attacks.
• Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy confronted Dumbledore in his office, where Malfoy presented the governors’ signed dismissal order.
• Dumbledore accepted that he would leave his post, while Lucius hoped his successor would stop the attacks.

With Dumbledore gone, Jon sought help from Helga Hufflepuff’s portrait and arranged for Zacharias to circulate a found diary. Meanwhile, the professors confirmed that a Basilisk was behind the attacks, and House-elves brought an intruder to them.

• Jon asked Helga Hufflepuff’s portrait for advice and felt a powerful force surge through him.
• Jon showed Zacharias a battered black diary and asked him to find its owner without drawing attention to Jon.
• Zacharias asked students in the Great Hall whether anyone had lost the diary while Jon watched the other tables.
• After returning to the Hufflepuff common room, Jon slipped away and entered the Kitchen.
• Professor Kettleburn identified blood from Mr. Weasley’s attack as snake blood and explained the Basilisk’s deadly gaze, while the professors deduced how the victims had survived.
• Logno brought a small, thin girl who had tried to enter the Hufflepuff common room to Professor Sprout and the other professors.

Ginny Weasley confessed that Tom Riddle’s diary had controlled her and that she believed she had opened the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore investigated the abandoned bathroom and prepared to have Harry open the Chamber, while Snape questioned how conveniently events had unfolded.

• Ginny told McGonagall and the other professors that she had lost memories and suspected she had attacked the people connected to the Chamber.
• Ginny explained that she had written in a diary belonging to Tom Riddle and had tried to retrieve it from the Hufflepuff common room.
• Dumbledore examined Ginny, sent her with Madam Pomfrey to the Hospital Wing, and said Tom had altered her memories.
• Dumbledore learned that Snape had examined the diary and judged it an ordinary Muggle item, then led the professors to an abandoned bathroom Ginny’s memories had repeatedly passed through.
• Flitwick found Ginny’s message beneath a sink identifying the Chamber’s entrance and saying it required Parseltongue to open.
• Dumbledore asked McGonagall to bring Harry to the bathroom, while Snape quietly questioned whether the clues were too coincidental.

Basilisk recalled its duty to protect Hogwarts and Salazar Slytherin’s students, despite being forced by Tom Riddle to attack them. Wounded and weakened, it heard a boy and several adult wizards approaching the Chamber of Secrets.

• Basilisk remembered that Salazar Slytherin had intended it to guard Hogwarts and its students, not harm them.
• Fifty years ago, Tom Riddle forced Basilisk to attack Muggle-born students, and one girl died after removing her glasses during an attack.
• Basilisk resisted Riddle’s commands after the girl’s death, but it remained bound to obey Parseltongue.
• Half a year ago, the Chamber of Secrets was opened again, and Basilisk was forced to attack Hogwarts students once more.
• A hulking wizard wounded Basilisk with a Strange Wand during an attack three days earlier.
• Basilisk heard a young boy and several adult wizards approaching the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry learned that the professors had discovered Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets, and Dumbledore asked him to help open it. After Hermione confessed to brewing Polyjuice Potion, Harry and the others entered the hidden passage and reached a dark tunnel beneath Hogwarts.

• McGonagall brought Harry to the abandoned bathroom, where Dumbledore and several professors were waiting to ask for his help.
• Hermione burst in and confessed that she had led the Polyjuice Potion plot and stolen ingredients from Snape, while Ron failed to stop her.
• Lockhart arrived, and Dumbledore revealed that they had discovered Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets; Snape set aside Hermione’s confession and asked Harry to speak Parseltongue to a carved snake.
• Harry spoke to the snake, causing the sink to move and reveal a large pipe leading underground.
• Dumbledore allowed Hermione and Ron to join the group, and Lockhart, Snape, Harry, and the others slid down the pipe into a dark stone tunnel beneath Hogwarts.

Professor Dumbledore and the Hogwarts teachers confronted the Basilisk in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets after Fawkes blinded it. Dumbledore took Harry to pursue the wounded creature, while Fawkes dropped the battered Sorting Hat into Harry's hands.

• Professor Dumbledore warned the group that Fawkes had sensed the approaching Basilisk, and Fawkes flew ahead to engage it.
• Harry saw that Fawkes had blinded the Basilisk, and Professor Dumbledore explained the creature's deadly gaze and venomous fangs.
• Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Professor McGonagall, and Snape attacked the Basilisk, but Snape's spell cut through its bindings and it crawled toward the Chamber's lowest level.
• Professor Dumbledore asked Professor Flitwick to search for the diary and led Harry after the wounded Basilisk.
• Fawkes dropped the battered Sorting Hat into Harry's hands.

After Dumbledore returned and the Basilisk was defeated, Hogwarts lifted its emergency restrictions and prepared to resume classes and Quidditch. Jon suspected Tom Riddle’s diary had not been destroyed, while Dumbledore confronted Lucius Malfoy over his attempt to have him suspended.

• Professor McGonagall announced Dumbledore’s return, the Basilisk’s defeat, Harry’s injury, and the resumption of Quidditch.
• Jon reasoned that Ginny had been captured but the diary was probably still at large, and wondered who now possessed it.
• Professor McGonagall announced that the curfew, club ban, and teacher escorts had ended, and asked students who had left to return.
• Dumbledore explained to Hagrid that the monster was a Basilisk and that Harry had killed it with a sword from the Sorting Hat.
• Dumbledore told Lucius Malfoy that Voldemort had used the diary to summon the Basilisk and confronted him about pressuring the school governors.
• Lucius scowled and strode away.

Jon borrowed two Restricted Section books about Werewolves and Dementors after persuading Professor Lockhart to approve his request. He decided to let the events of the next school year unfold rather than risk changing Voldemort’s return, then learned that Professor Snape had invited him for afternoon tea.

• Jon asked Professor Lockhart to authorize his borrowing of Under the Moon Shadow and Summon the Joy Within You, and Lockhart signed the note.
• Mrs. Pince examined Jon’s note before giving him the two books from the Restricted Section.
• Jon considered killing Peter before Voldemort could return but decided to let the original plot unfold instead.
• Miss Daphne Greengrass told Jon that Professor Snape expected him in his office for afternoon tea at a quarter past one.

Jon Hart met with Severus Snape, who tested his composure and questioned him about advanced potions ingredients he had purchased. Jon said he had successfully brewed both potions, and Gilderoy Lockhart arrived before Snape could verify his claim.

• Jon arrived early at Snape's office and calmly cut a portion of a Quintaped's heart for him.
• Snape asked Jon about the Unicorn horn powder and African Tree Snake skin he had bought from Zieg's Potions Ingredients Shop.
• Jon claimed he had successfully brewed Slowing Potion and Nightmare Draught and left them in the cabinet bearing his name in Potions class.
• Snape said he would verify Jon's claim, then admitted he believed Jon was telling the truth.
• Gilderoy Lockhart called out to Snape from outside, interrupting their conversation.

Jon learned that Professor Lockhart had covered for him when Snape questioned him about Restricted Section books. Lockhart admitted his fame came from stealing other wizards’ stories with Memory Charms and hinted that his Defence Against the Dark Arts post had a purpose, as he prepared to leave Hogwarts.

• Astoria Greengrass brought Professor Lockhart to intervene when Snape had summoned Jon to his office, and Lockhart escorted Jon away for tea.
• Lockhart told Jon that he had claimed to Snape that he borrowed three Restricted Section books, protecting Jon from suspicion.
• Lockhart admitted that his published adventures were stolen from other wizards, whom he had made forget their deeds with Memory Charms.
• Jon kept his hand on his PSM pistol as Lockhart explained that the Daily Prophet would soon expose him and the Ministry might send him to Azkaban.
• Lockhart asked Jon whether he thought he had accepted the Hogwarts job for no reason.

Gilderoy Lockhart revealed that Dumbledore had forced him to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts as part of a plan to make Harry Potter dislike him. After his fraud was exposed, Lockhart fled Hogwarts and left Jon a booklet about the magic he knew best.

• Lockhart told Jon that Dumbledore caught him trying to use a Memory Charm on Bathilda Bagshot and made him take the Hogwarts teaching post instead of sending him to Azkaban.
• Lockhart explained that Dumbledore wanted him to act like an incompetent fraud so Harry would dislike him and avoid becoming absorbed in his fame.
• Lockhart said angry parents had exposed his stolen accomplishments and that the Ministry would soon send Dementors to arrest him.
• Lockhart packed his belongings and told Jon he planned to flee to France, then travel farther south if the Dementors pursued him.
• Lockhart gave Jon a thin white booklet before leaving Hogwarts.

After Gilderoy Lockhart was exposed as a fraud and fled, Jon studied the Patronus Charm in the Room of Requirement but failed to cast it. He left for lunch with no progress, while Hannah Abbott hinted that her Defence Against the Dark Arts class had been exciting.

• The Daily Prophet reported that Gilderoy Lockhart had abused Memory Charms, lost his honors, and was being pursued by the Ministry of Magic.
• Students from all four houses celebrated Lockhart's departure, while Jon read the news and left the Great Hall without joining them.
• Jon studied books on Memory Charms, werewolves, and the Patronus Charm in the Room of Requirement.
• Jon repeatedly cast Expecto Patronum using memories he thought were happy, but no silver mist appeared.
• Jon went to the Great Hall at noon and heard Hannah Abbott tell Wayne Hopkins that her Defence Against the Dark Arts class had been brilliant, while she kept its details secret from Zacharias Smith.

Jon learned that Albus Dumbledore had taken over as the temporary Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, then joined his first practical lesson, where Dumbledore introduced a Boggart. The class prepared to practise the Riddikulus spell.

• Jon asked Hufflepuff students about the new teacher, while Ernie Macmillan refused to reveal the name.
• Students speculated about the teacher at lunch, and Jon unsuccessfully practised the Patronus Charm in the Room of Requirement.
• Jon arrived at Defence Against the Dark Arts and discovered that Albus Dumbledore was teaching the class.
• Dumbledore led the students to another classroom and conjured a wardrobe containing a Boggart.
• Selwyn explained that a Boggart transformed into whatever a person feared, and Dumbledore began the lesson by introducing the Riddikulus spell.

Dumbledore taught the class to repel a Boggart with laughter, but Astoria Greengrass was overcome when it became a mirror. Jon carried her to the Hospital Wing while Dumbledore sent for her sister Daphne.

• Dumbledore explained that students had to use Riddiculus to make the Boggart take a ridiculous form.
• Selwyn turned the Boggart into a lump of charcoal, and Zacharias Smith made it become a cream-covered version of his mother.
• The Boggart became a bloodstained mummy for Midgen and a Welsh Green Dragon for Avery before turning into an upside-down rat.
• The Boggart transformed into a mirror in front of Astoria, who trembled, dropped her wand, and collapsed into Jon's arms.
• Dumbledore changed the Boggart from an Obscurus and told Selwyn to summon Daphne while Jon carried Astoria to the Hospital Wing.

Jon helped Astoria Greengrass recover after a Boggart frightened her, then met Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger in the Hospital Wing. As Jon left, he overheard them arguing over whether Harry was healthy enough to play in the next day's Quidditch match.

• Madam Pomfrey treated Astoria after a Boggart left her trembling, while Jon helped calm and care for her.
• Astoria apologized to Dumbledore, and Daphne Greengrass arrived and asked Jon to leave her alone with her sister.
• Jon encountered Hermione, who had brought Harry Potter for a checkup, and met Harry and Ron Weasley.
• Jon greeted Harry and joked to himself that he had achieved meeting the Trio of Saviors.
• Ron urged Harry to persuade Madam Pomfrey to let him play Quidditch, but Hermione warned that Harry still needed to avoid strenuous exercise because of the Basilisk venom.

Jon told Cedric Diggory that Harry Potter would probably miss the Gryffindor match, then spent the morning practicing the Patronus Charm instead of watching. Hufflepuff defeated Gryffindor 510–40, and Jon returned to a jubilant Great Hall.

• Zacharias Smith rallied Hufflepuff students for the match, and Cedric Diggory reviewed the team's tactics.
• Jon told Cedric that Harry Potter probably could not play, so Cedric shifted the team's focus to Gryffindor Chaser Angelina Johnson.
• Jon visited the kitchens, where Klyne thanked him for helping expose the girl who had tried to break into the Hufflepuff common room.
• Jon practiced the Patronus Charm in the Room of Requirement, but his attempts produced no effect.
• Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan told Jon that Hufflepuff had beaten Gryffindor 510–40.

After Hufflepuff celebrated its Quidditch victory, Hogwarts remained peaceful while students recovered and prepared for Easter and final exams. With the Mandrakes nearing maturity and the petrified students expected to return, Jon decided to search for Tom Riddle's missing diary.

• Jon stopped Zacharias from claiming that Hufflepuff had already secured the Quidditch Cup, and Cedric urged the team to take its final match against Slytherin seriously.
• Astoria returned from the Hospital Wing, while Ginny Weasley came back to school withdrawn and with her grades in decline.
• Hogwarts staff searched the school for Tom Riddle's diary but failed to find it, as Dumbledore's Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons drew eager students and Jon performed only averagely.
• Professor Sprout announced that the Easter holiday was beginning and that the Mandrakes would mature by its end, allowing the petrified students to return.
• After seeing students revise for their exams, Jon decided to look for Tom Riddle's diary.

Jon deduced that Tom Riddle's diary was hidden in the Room of Requirement alongside Ravenclaw's diadem. After House-elf Klyne confirmed both Horcruxes were there, Jon decided to leave them undisturbed and destroy them later with a plan involving extreme heat and cold.

• Jon reasoned that Voldemort's diary had likely been hidden in the Room of Requirement with Ravenclaw's diadem.
• Jon asked Klyne to investigate the room, warning the House-elf not to touch either object.
• Klyne reported finding an old black diary and a golden diadem carved with an eagle, hidden together.
• Jon decided to leave the Horcruxes in place until a suitable opportunity arose.
• Jon planned to destroy the diary and diadem later using aqua regia and liquid nitrogen.

After the Basilisk victims recovered, Jon and the other first-years spent weeks revising before taking their final exams. Jon performed well in most subjects, though he failed the Quidditch practical, and his Defence Against the Dark Arts exam remained unfinished when three wooden crates appeared.

• Professor Sprout and Professor Snape brewed the restorative potion, and the petrified students recovered; Justin apologized to Harry, while Colin became his devoted follower.
• The students learned that final exams would begin on June 1st and spent the remaining weeks reviewing their lessons.
• Jon completed the written exams and most practical exams successfully, while Astoria worried about a Potions question and Jon fell from his broom during the Quidditch exam.
• Astoria completed her Defence Against the Dark Arts practical exam, then Jon passed the Petrifying Spell and Disarming Charm tests for Professor Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore made three wooden crates appear before Jon as the final part of his Defence Against the Dark Arts exam began.

Jon took his Defence Against the Dark Arts examination and faced a Boggart that transformed into Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore awarded him full marks, then asked to visit Jon during the summer holiday, leaving Jon gloomy as he rejoined Astoria.

• Jon chose the middle box for his examination and learned it contained a Boggart.
• The Boggart emerged looking exactly like Professor Dumbledore, shocking both Jon and the real Dumbledore.
• Jon cast Riddikulus, turning the Boggart's appearance into an absurdly outfitted version of Dumbledore.
• Dumbledore gave Jon full marks and asked to visit him during the summer holiday; Jon reluctantly agreed.
• Jon left the examination room and told the puzzled Astoria that he could not believe what had happened.