Fiction Spotlight: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

It's September 1st! All aboard the Hogwarts Express!

Following his 1st Year adventure, Harry returns for another exciting year at school. Rowling was anxious about how successful her sequel book would fare following the monumental success of her first novel. 

The book follows Harry on his second year at school. A secret plot is revealed by Dobby the House Elf, who warns Harry not to return to school. Dobby dodges Harry the whole way, trying to prevent him from returning and have him removed once there. And the plot is more dangerous than ever! A monster is on the loose, petrifying students! Harry just can't catch a break, can he?

We won't spoil any more of the plot beyond that, but readers received a treat of a book when Rowling published in 1998. It was always going to be difficult to outperform Sorcerer's Stone, but Chamber of Secrets still performed admirably in sales and it achieved another easy Best Seller status on both sides of the Atlantic.

Critically speaking, reviewers found the book noticeably darker themed, with a moody vibe surrounding the mystery. Harry, now a full fledged student, found himself in a new adventure so a lot more focus centered on the actual plot of the story, and less about all the fun of the magical school itself. 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

And of course a film was produced. Production of the film was approved right aside with the first film. In fact, production of the second film essentially began while the first film was still in theaters! Afficionados will note this was somewhat similar to how The Lord of the Rings was filmed, though that series was filmed in one go, before being split into its separate releases. In this case, production simply wrapped up one film and moved directly into the sequel.

Chris Columbus once again headed production, so the production and feel of the sets is very similar. Filming began in late 2001 and took place over much of 2002. John Williams returned as the official composer, though the celebrated artist was also working on Star Wars: Attack of the Clones at the same time. Chamber of Secrets eventually released in November 2002, releasing to nearly $880 million! The film proved to be the most successful film outside the United States, beating both Star Wars and Lord of the Rings at the box office.

Chamber of Secrets was the final film in the series for both Columbus and Richard Harris. After nearly a full year of back to back, frantic filming, Columbus was exhausted and eager to get back to his family. Understandable! Richard Harris unfortunately passed away shortly after release. Chamber of Secrets was his final film credit. Following, production recast the role of Albus Dumbledore with Michael Gambon.

And of course, there was a plethora of merchandise, including video games! Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was very last official release for the Nintendo Gameboy Color. A version of the game was also released on the superior Gameboy Advance, in addition to Nintendo Gamecube, Xbox, Play Station 2, and PC.

Happy reading, and stay tuned next year when we cover the sequel!