100 Fun Facts About Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

What does Ron end up vomiting after trying to curse Draco for insulting Hermione?

Slugs. Draco had called Hermione a Mudblood, but Ron's snapped wand sent the curse back at him, and he was still coughing them up over the trophies in detention that night.

What does Dobby magically destroy at Privet Drive to get Harry into trouble?

A pudding. Dobby floats Aunt Petunia's dessert over a dinner for Uncle Vernon's business guests and lets it smash, and the Ministry sends Harry an official warning for the magic.

Which spell does Lockhart fire at Harry and Ron, only for Ron's broken wand to turn it on him?

A Memory Charm. Lockhart had just admitted building his fame by wiping the minds of the wizards whose feats he stole, and the backfire left him unable to recall his own name.

Why do Harry and Ron fly to Hogwarts in the enchanted car?

Platform 9¾ is sealed. Dobby had blocked the barrier to keep Harry away from school, so the boys took Mr Weasley's flying car and crashed it into the Whomping Willow on arrival.

Whose cat is found immobilised next to the first warning scrawled on the wall?

Argus Filch's. His cat Mrs Norris saw the Basilisk only as a reflection in the water flooding the corridor, so its stare Petrified her instead of killing her.

What rare ability does Harry reveal during the duelling class?

Parseltongue. Harry orders a conjured snake away from a classmate, but nobody watching can understand him, so they assume he is urging it to attack and suspect he is Slytherin's heir.

In which ghost's flooded bathroom do Harry and Ron find Tom Riddle's diary?

Moaning Myrtle. She floods the room in a fury after someone throws the book at her; it was Ginny Weasley, trying to get rid of the diary that had been controlling her.

How does the Basilisk move around Hogwarts without being seen?

Through the pipes. Hermione scribbled the word on a torn-out library page found in her Petrified hand, which told Harry why he alone kept hearing a voice inside the walls.

Who brings the Sorting Hat to Harry in the Chamber?

Fawkes. Dumbledore's phoenix then pecks out the Basilisk's eyes so that its stare can no longer kill, and later heals Harry's poisoned arm with its tears.

What does Harry pull from the Sorting Hat to fight the Basilisk?

The Sword of Gryffindor. Harry feared the Hat had nearly put him in Slytherin, so Dumbledore shows him the name on the blade: only a true Gryffindor could have pulled it out.

Who is revealed to be Dobby's master?

Lucius Malfoy. He had slipped Riddle's diary among Ginny Weasley's schoolbooks, hoping the blame for the attacks would discredit her father's Muggle Protection Act.

What must a master give a house-elf to set it free?

Clothing. That is why Dobby wears only an old pillowcase, and why Harry later hides the ruined diary in his own sock so that the elf's master tosses it to him.

Which British publisher released Chamber of Secrets in July 1998?

Bloomsbury. The sequel shot straight to the top of the UK hardback bestseller list, outselling even John Grisham and Terry Pratchett.

Which company published the US edition of Chamber of Secrets in June 1999?

Scholastic. Its Potter hardbacks then sat at the top of The New York Times fiction chart for so long that in 2000 the paper created a separate children's best-seller list.

Which ghost's self-composed song about his death was cut from early drafts of Chamber of Secrets?

Nearly Headless Nick. The ballad told how a spell meant to straighten a lady's teeth gave her a tusk and sent him to the block, but Rowling's editor disliked the song, so she cut it.

Which of Harry's dormitory mates had his family backstory cut from Chamber of Secrets?

Dean Thomas. Rowling planned for him to learn that his absent father was a wizard killed for refusing to join the Death Eaters, then gave the space to Neville's story instead.

What does Mrs Weasley send Ron at breakfast after he flies the family car to school?

A Howler. Neville warns that ignoring it only makes things worse, so Ron opens it and his mother's magnified voice scolds him in front of the whole Great Hall.

First editions mistakenly called Voldemort the last remaining what of Salazar Slytherin?

Ancestor. Dumbledore meant descendant, the opposite relationship; readers spotted the slip and Rowling had the line corrected in later printings.

Which creatures does Lockhart set loose in his first lesson and then fail to control?

Cornish pixies. Lockhart fled when the bell rang and left Harry, Ron and Hermione to round them up, which first made the boys doubt the feats in his books.

Which broomsticks does Draco's father buy for the whole Slytherin Quidditch team?

Nimbus 2001. The gift arrived as Draco became Slytherin's new Seeker, prompting Hermione's jibe that nobody on Harry's team had to buy his way in.

Where does Harry land by mistake on his first trip by Floo powder?

Knockturn Alley. He garbled "Diagon Alley" in the smoke and tumbled out in a Dark Arts shop, where he hid in a cabinet and watched Draco's father sell off suspicious goods.

Which plants are grown at Hogwarts to revive the Petrified victims?

Mandrakes. Their cry can kill once they are fully grown, so Professor Sprout's class repots the seedlings in earmuffs, and the cure has to wait until the plants mature.

Rowling once considered giving Chamber of Secrets the title of which later Potter book?

Half-Blood Prince. Rowling planned some "crucial pieces of information" for book two, realised during the first draft that they belonged in book six, and saved the title for it.

Which item on sale at Borgin and Burkes in Chamber of Secrets returns in the sixth novel?

An opal necklace. Its label warns that it is cursed, and in the sixth novel it strikes down Katie Bell while she is carrying it to its real target, Dumbledore.

Who damages the Vanishing Cabinet at Hogwarts in Chamber of Secrets?

Peeves the Poltergeist. He smashes it as a distraction that spares Harry a punishment, and four books later the broken cabinet lets Death Eaters into the castle.

Which Halloween event do Harry, Ron and Hermione attend in the dungeons?

Deathday party. The host's cake gives his date of death as 31 October 1492, which makes it his 500th and quietly sets the story in 1992.

What is the name of the Weasley family home, where Harry spends the end of his summer?

The Burrow. Ron and the twins fly Harry there after pulling the bars off his bedroom window with the car, and their punishment is throwing gnomes out of the garden.

What goes wrong when Lockhart tries to mend Harry's broken arm after the Quidditch match?

The bones disappear. Madam Pomfrey could have mended the break in a moment, but regrowing every bone in the arm cost Harry a painful night in the hospital wing.

As he is arrested, which creatures does Hagrid tell Harry and Ron to follow for answers?

Spiders. The trail leads into the Forbidden Forest to a giant one that Hagrid once kept in a castle cupboard, who says he was wrongly blamed for the first attacks.

Who directed the 2002 film adaptation of Chamber of Secrets?

Chris Columbus. Worn out after directing two Potter films back to back, he stayed on only as a producer for the third and handed the director's chair to Alfonso Cuarón.

Which London station's exterior stands in for King's Cross when the flying car takes off in Chamber of Secrets?

St Pancras. The scenes at the barrier were shot inside the real King's Cross, but the car soars off over the frontage of its next-door neighbour instead.

Who plays Gilderoy Lockhart in the Chamber of Secrets film?

Kenneth Branagh. Hugh Grant's agent said he had to turn the part down for a romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock, and Alan Cumming says he walked away in a row over pay.

For which actor was Chamber of Secrets the final live-action film?

Richard Harris. He died three weeks before the film opened, having first agreed to play Dumbledore, by his own account, because his granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again.

Jason Isaacs based Lucius's whiny voice on which character?

The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang villain had scared Isaacs as a child; he also provided the voice of the serpent.

Who voices Dobby in the Chamber of Secrets film?

Toby Jones. Dobby was built in computer graphics, not as a puppet, because the film's director wanted to direct the elf like any other actor in a scene.

Which creature in the Chamber of Secrets film was a nine-foot animatronic weighing three-quarters of a ton?

Aragog. The creature team called the build a significant challenge: each leg of its 18-foot span needed its own operator, more than 15 people in all.

Which actress in her mid-thirties plays Chamber of Secrets' teenage ghost?

Shirley Henderson. The casting director told her to go for it and not mention her age, and she played the same schoolgirl ghost again three years later in Goblet of Fire.

Which future Fantastic Beasts actor auditioned to play Tom Riddle?

Eddie Redmayne. He lost out to Christian Coulson, who was 23 when he was cast as the schoolboy Riddle and said he got into character by listening to thrash metal.

The Weasleys' flying car in the films was built from which real British model?

Ford Anglia. One of the turquoise cars used on screen was stolen from a film studio in Cornwall in 2005, even though police said it could not be driven.

Which cathedral's cloisters served as the Hogwarts corridors in the Chamber of Secrets film?

Gloucester. Its cloisters had already served the first film, and when the crew came back in early 2002 children flocked to the cathedral hoping to glimpse the cast.

What breaks Harry's arm during the Quidditch match against Slytherin?

A rogue Bludger. Dobby later admits he bewitched it, hoping Harry would be hurt badly enough to be sent home, away from the danger at school.

How many days after the first Potter film's release did main shooting begin on Chamber of Secrets?

3. Cameras rolled on Monday 19 November 2001, as the first film's record opening weekend ended, and a second unit had already spent three weeks on the flying-car scenes.

What did sound designer Randy Thom use for the Whomping Willow's growl?

His own slowed-down voice. Thom wanted the tree to have a voice of its own, so he recorded a growl himself, then slowed it right down and boosted the bass.

Which first-year is Petrified after seeing the Basilisk through his camera?

Colin Creevey. The lens saved his life, since he never met the stare directly, and when the staff open his camera they find it melted inside.

Which composer had a colleague adapt and conduct his Chamber of Secrets score?

John Williams. He wrote the new themes whenever his other film work allowed, so William Ross wove them together with music from the first film and conducted the recording sessions.

Which film beat Chamber of Secrets to become the highest-grossing film of 2002 worldwide?

The Two Towers. Chamber of Secrets was the year's biggest film outside North America, but the Tolkien sequel pulled far enough ahead in US and Canadian cinemas to take the world title.

In the Chamber, the letters of "Tom Marvolo Riddle" rearrange to spell which sentence?

I am Lord Voldemort. Riddle writes his name in the air with Harry's wand and reorders it, explaining that he built the new one to be rid of his Muggle father's name.

Where did Chamber of Secrets hold its world premiere on 3 November 2002?

Odeon Leicester Square. Screaming fans in Hogwarts uniforms filled the square, where a grandstand had been built opposite the cinema with the flying car perched on top.

Which Minister for Magic takes Hagrid to Azkaban in Chamber of Secrets?

Cornelius Fudge. He sends Hagrid to the wizard prison as a precaution over Dumbledore's protests, then objects himself when the governors' order removing Dumbledore arrives.

Who do Harry and Ron impersonate using Polyjuice Potion?

Crabbe and Goyle. The boys knock them out with cakes laced with sleeping potion to take their hair, while Hermione's own dose goes wrong because her hair came from a cat.

In Chamber of Secrets, what does Ron Weasley belch up for hours after his broken wand backfires mid-curse?

Slugs kept coming after Ron aimed a jinx at Draco Malfoy and his damaged wand turned it on him instead. Harry and Hermione had to carry him to Hagrid's hut to recover.

What does Mrs Weasley send Ron at breakfast in Chamber of Secrets to scold him for flying the family car?

A Howler is a letter that bellows its message in the sender's voice at deafening volume. Ron's goes off in the Great Hall, where his mother tells the whole school that his father now faces an inquiry at work.

In Chamber of Secrets, which shrieking plants are harvested to brew the cure for Hogwarts' petrified victims?

Mandrakes have restorative properties once mature, but their cry is fatal to anyone without ear protection. The victims have to lie frozen for months while the seedlings grow up.

In Chamber of Secrets, a botched dose of Polyjuice Potion leaves Hermione Granger looking like which animal?

A cat was the unlucky result: the hair Hermione plucked from a Slytherin girl's robes turned out to belong to the girl's pet. The furry mistake landed her in the hospital wing.

As he is led away to prison in Chamber of Secrets, what does Hagrid tell Harry and Ron to follow?

The spiders were fleeing the castle in fear of the monster, and their trail into the Forbidden Forest led Harry and Ron to proof that Hagrid was innocent.

Tom Riddle's diary, destroyed in Chamber of Secrets, turns out later in the series to be which kind of object?

A Horcrux holds a fragment of its maker's soul, which is how the diary could possess whoever wrote in it. Finding it convinced Dumbledore that Voldemort had split his soul and hidden other pieces.

In Chamber of Secrets, what does Dumbledore say shows what we truly are, far more than our abilities?

Our choices was Dumbledore's reply when Harry worried that the Sorting Hat had seen Slytherin's power in him and wanted him in that house. Harry's decisions, he said, made him very different from Tom Riddle.

Which two of Ron Weasley's brothers help him spring Harry from Privet Drive in a flying car in Chamber of Secrets?

Fred and George joined the rescue after Ron grew worried that none of his letters to Harry were being answered. They found him locked in a bedroom with bars across the window.

In Chamber of Secrets, which creatures does a boastful new teacher release in class and then fail to control?

Cornish pixies wrecked the classroom while the teacher's spell did nothing, and he fled at the bell. Harry, Ron and Hermione were left to herd the rest back into their cage.

What is the name of the Weasley family's crooked home, where Harry spends the end of summer in Chamber of Secrets?

The Burrow strikes Harry as wonderful, however much the Weasleys apologise for its untidiness. In the final book it becomes the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

Which student is carried off into the Chamber of Secrets after months under the spell of Tom Riddle's diary?

Ginny Weasley had confided in the diary all year, and the memory of Riddle inside it forced her into the Chamber to drain her life and lure Harry after her.

In Chamber of Secrets, what does a house-elf jinx to chase Harry at Quidditch until it breaks his arm?

A Bludger gone rogue ignores every other player and hounds Harry until it smashes into his arm. The elf behind the jinx later admits he hoped an injury would get Harry sent home.

Which Hogwarts matron has to regrow every bone in Harry's arm overnight in Chamber of Secrets?

Madam Pomfrey is furious about it: she could have fixed a break with ease, but a teacher's bungled mending spell removed the bones altogether, and growing new ones is a painful night's work.

Which insult from Draco Malfoy nearly starts a brawl between two Quidditch teams in Chamber of Secrets?

Mudblood is the most insulting term there is for a witch or wizard born to Muggles, and hearing that it was used shocks Hagrid. In the novel Hermione, its target, is not even sure what it means.

Which Quidditch position does Draco Malfoy take up in Chamber of Secrets, pitting him against Harry?

Seeker became Draco's job only after his father donated high-quality new broomsticks to the whole Slytherin side. Hermione points out that Gryffindor's players got in on talent, not bribery.

Which spell does Snape use to throw a fellow teacher across the room at the Chamber of Secrets Duelling Club?

Expelliarmus makes its first appearance in the series in this demonstration. Harry goes on to treat it as his signature spell, and it is the one he casts in his last duel with Voldemort.

In Chamber of Secrets, where does Harry land after choking on ash and garbling his fireplace destination?

Knockturn Alley, a street frequented by Dark wizards, was one grate too far when Harry mispronounced "Diagon Alley". Hagrid turned up and steered him back to the Weasleys.

Which pet of Hagrid's goes with Harry and Ron into the Forbidden Forest in Chamber of Secrets?

Fang, Hagrid's dog, was collected from the empty hut before the boys set off into the trees by wand light. The Weasleys' runaway car later carried all three back out again.

In Chamber of Secrets, Uncle Vernon's dinner party is meant to win a deal for his company, which makes what?

Drills are Vernon Dursley's trade: he is a director of a company that makes them. The deal dies when a frightened guest runs out of the house, and Harry gets the blame.

Which actor plays Hagrid in the Chamber of Secrets film and also dubs the voice of the gamekeeper's teenage self?

Robbie Coltrane supplied only the voice in the flashback scenes: the young Hagrid seen on screen is another performer, Martin Bayfield, dubbed over afterwards.

Which first-year, forever photographing Harry, becomes the first student petrified in Chamber of Secrets?

Colin Creevey survived because he saw the monster only through the lens of his camera, never directly. An indirect glimpse likewise saved each student petrified after him.

What is Hermione Granger found clutching when she is petrified near the library in Chamber of Secrets?

A mirror saved Hermione's life: she saw only the monster's reflection, and an indirect glimpse petrifies where a direct look would kill. A girl found beside her was frozen the same way.

In Chamber of Secrets, how does the monster move around Hogwarts unseen, as a note in Hermione's fist reveals?

Through the pipes was Hermione's deduction: she had written the single word "Pipes" in the margin of the page in her hand. The plumbing lets the creature slide through walls and ceilings.

Which pests do Harry and the Weasley brothers whirl dizzy and fling out of the garden in Chamber of Secrets?

Gnomes are twirled until they are too dizzy to find their way back, yet Harry soon spots them sneaking home through the hedge one by one. The chore was the boys' punishment for taking the car.

Which broomstick model does a player's wealthy father buy for the whole Slytherin team in Chamber of Secrets?

Nimbus 2001 brooms were even faster than the model Harry flew, so the gift put Gryffindor at a disadvantage. It also came with a place in the side for the donor's son.

In Chamber of Secrets, a Kwikspell course on a desk reveals that the Hogwarts caretaker is secretly a what?

A Squib is born into a wizarding family but has no magical ability, which is why the caretaker had sent off for a beginner's home-study course in magic.

Which kind of spell let Chamber of Secrets' celebrity author steal credit for other wizards' heroic deeds?

Memory Charms were the only magic he was any good at: he erased the recollections of the witches and wizards who had really done the deeds, then claimed them in his own books.

In Chamber of Secrets, which middle name lets Tom Riddle rearrange his full name into "I am Lord Voldemort"?

Marvolo supplies the missing letters of the anagram. Translators often had to change his middle name, or his entire birth name, so that the trick would still work in other languages.

Which Gryffindor Quidditch captain drags Harry out of bed for an early practice in Chamber of Secrets?

Oliver Wood, also the team's Keeper, wanted a head start on the other houses. Slytherin spoiled the plan by turning up with a note of permission from Snape.

In Chamber of Secrets, which book does Hermione hunt for in vain to read up on the Chamber legend?

Hogwarts: A History had no copies left on the library shelves, which upset Hermione. She persuaded a teacher to recount the legend in the middle of a lesson instead.

Which actor plays Draco Malfoy in the Chamber of Secrets film after first auditioning for two other roles?

Tom Felton tried out for both Harry and Ron before he landed the part of their sneering rival, which he went on to play in all eight films.

Which Educating Rita star plays Ron's mother, Molly Weasley, in the Chamber of Secrets film?

Julie Walters plays the Weasley matriarch in every Harry Potter film except Goblet of Fire. She and Rupert Grint, her screen son, were paired again in the 2006 film Driving Lessons.

Which studio released the Chamber of Secrets film, the second of its eight Harry Potter blockbusters?

Warner Bros. opened the film in more cinemas than any release before it in the United States and Canada, a mark that stood until X2 arrived the following year.

Which British publisher first released the Chamber of Secrets novel, months ahead of its American edition?

Bloomsbury received the manuscript on schedule, but J. K. Rowling took it back for six weeks of revision, afraid the sequel would not live up to the first book.

Which actor auditioned for Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets film, years before another Wizarding World role?

Eddie Redmayne lost out on the teenage Riddle, as did James McAvoy, but he reached the wizarding world in the end as Newt Scamander, hero of the Fantastic Beasts films.

Which railway station's frontage stands in for King's Cross in exterior shots in the Chamber of Secrets film?

St Pancras, with its ornate Gothic red-brick design, stands right beside King's Cross, where the film's platform scenes were shot.

Which American critic awarded the Chamber of Secrets film a full four stars, singling out its set design?

Roger Ebert gave it top marks, but other American reviewers were cooler: Rolling Stone's Peter Travers complained that the film dragged on for nearly three hours.

Who performed the score for the Chamber of Secrets film, at sessions its composer did not conduct himself?

London Symphony Orchestra players recorded the music at a hectic time for its composer, who had just finished Attack of the Clones and Minority Report and was due to start Catch Me If You Can.

Which star of the BBC sketch series The Fast Show first plays Arthur Weasley in the Chamber of Secrets film?

Mark Williams went on to play Ron's Muggle-loving father in seven of the films, then took the title role in the BBC's long-running series Father Brown.

Which elderly owl do the Weasleys depend on for post in Chamber of Secrets, because Percy will not lend his own?

Errol is so old and worn out that Hermione questions whether he should be used as a messenger at all. Ron's excuse is that Percy had refused to lend him a healthier bird.

What does Hogwarts cancel as a treat at the end of Chamber of Secrets, cheering everyone except Hermione?

The exams were called off, in the novel, during an all-night feast that the whole school attended in pyjamas. Hermione was the only one not cheered by the news.

In the Chamber of Secrets novel, which creatures are dressed as cupids to deliver valentines around Hogwarts?

Dwarfs in costume were a teacher's idea of a Valentine's Day morale-booster for a frightened school. One of them cornered an unwilling Harry to deliver his message in person.

In the Chamber of Secrets novel, which History of Magic teacher is talked into telling the legend in class?

Professor Binns, a ghost who still teaches, insisted the Chamber was a myth: there was no evidence, he said, that Slytherin had built so much as a secret broom cupboard.

In Chamber of Secrets, which Polyjuice ingredient does Hermione steal from Snape's office with Bicorn horn?

Boomslang skin vanished while Harry set off a firework in Potions as a distraction. In a later book Snape finds more of it missing from his private stores and suspects Harry of taking it.

Which of Hagrid's birds are killed off in Chamber of Secrets because their call is fatal to the monster?

Roosters were dying because a rooster's crow is fatal to the monster, so whoever controlled it was quietly getting rid of them. Hagrid was off to report the killings when Harry ran into him.

Which Ravenclaw prefect, secretly dating Percy Weasley, is petrified alongside Hermione in Chamber of Secrets?

Penelope Clearwater's petrification left Percy in a state of shock that seemed extreme until his sister revealed that she had caught the pair kissing.

Which Restricted Section book does Hermione borrow in Chamber of Secrets for its Polyjuice Potion recipe?

Moste Potente Potions could be borrowed only with a signed note, which Hermione got by telling a vain teacher that it would help her understand one of his own books. He signed readily.

Which Ministry of Magic office employs Arthur Weasley in Chamber of Secrets, even though he owns an enchanted car?

Misuse of Muggle Artefacts is an awkward posting for a man who keeps a flying car at home. After Ron flew it to school, his father faced an inquiry at his own workplace.

In Chamber of Secrets, what do the Weasleys throw into the flames before stepping into a fireplace to travel?

Floo powder links fireplaces across the wizarding world: the traveller steps into the flames and states a destination. Harry's first attempt goes wrong because he swallows ash as he speaks.

Which actress plays Ron Weasley's younger sister in the Chamber of Secrets film, a part she kept for all eight movies?

Bonnie Wright has said that her brother encouraged her to audition because she reminded him of the character. She stayed in the role until the series ended.