Comparison Of Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

The main protagonist in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets is, obviously Harry Potter. Harry is no ordinary boy; he is a wizard living in the real world full of muggles, or people who have no magical abilities whatsoever. Only a small, single family knew of his magic skills, the Durselys. The Durselys were the only relatives Harry had left in the world and housed Harry during his summer break from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Hate isn’t a strong enough word for how Harry felt about living with the Durselys. Harry however handles his relatives carefully by picking his battles, defending himself at times laughing at them when they are absurd, and trying not to offend them. He messes up big time when he accidentally mentions
Dursley gave a small scream and clapped her hands to her mouth; Mr. Dursley jumped to his feet, veins throbbing in his temples.” (2). The Durselys treated Harry with upmost disgust, but all out of fear. “All Harry’s spellbooks, his wand, robes, cauldron, and top-of-the-line Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick had been locked in a cupboard underneath the stairs by Uncle Vernon the second Harry had come home.” (3). Due to Harry being a wizard, The Durselys treated Harry like a prisoner. All this hate generated toward Harry shows how much he missed Hogwarts. To Harry, it was heaven; his escape. “He missed Hogwarts so much it was giving him a constant stomachache. He missed the castle, with its secret passageways and ghosts, his classes, the mail arriving by owl, sleeping in his four-poster bed in the tower dormitory, visiting the gamekeeper Hagrid, in his cabin next to the Forbidden Forest in the grounds, and especially, Quidditch, the
Harry decides that he and Ron must speak to Hagrid about the Chamber of Secrets and the events that unfolded 50 years ago even though he “can’t believe it’s him this time” (259). Harry is willing to break the school rules because his number one priority is protecting Hogwarts and making everybody and everything safe from harm. This is an important scene in the novel because Harry does not generally do bad things. Harry never really has a problem realizing what’s right from what’s wrong. However, there are rare occurrences when he must break rules in order to achieve the greater good, which is yet another trait which Harry is building upon. Its obvious that Harry does not accept status quo and will do whatever it takes to always do the right thing. There are examples of this when Harry and ron venture out into the Forbidden Forest. Even though he encountered Voldemort the last time he went in the forbidden forest, Harry seems unphased about the decision to go and even when he stands in front of Aragog he keeps his cool. Harry’s bravery is also enhanced by the fact that he has to rely on his own instincts and himself for help; Hermione has been petrified and Ron’s wand is snapped in two, making him unable to make an impact. Another example of how Harry’s character develops is shown in how he handles being blamed for petrifying Hermione. Even when so many terrible events are taking place