Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in the Harry Potter series. The book is written by British Joanne Kathleen Rowling born July 31 in 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, close to Bristol. When she was six year old, she wrote her first story called Rabbit. Later she wrote other stories, but none of them have been published. She married a Portuguese journalist in 1992 and one year after she became mother to Jessica. The marriage didn’t work so she separated three years later. When she was a poor alone mother to Jessica she began to write about Harry Potter. In June 1996 the first manuscript were sent to a publishing firm, but they weren’t interested in publishing the book. They said the book was too long, but she didn’t give up. The publisher Bloomsbury accepted to publish the first Harry Potter book. That was the start of the Harry Potter hysteria. Today she has written five books, and two are remaining.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 251 pages was published in 1998.

The story takes place in England. Harry Potter is living with his aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon Dursley together with his Dursleys’ son, Dudley. At the age of one, Harry had survived a curse from the greatest dark sorcerer, Lord Voldemort. Harry’s parents had died in Voldemort’s attack, but Harry escaped with his lightning scar, and Voldemort’s power had been destroyed when he failed to kill Harry. The Dursley’s had told him that he got his scar in a car crash which had killed his parents. Harry had been brought up by his mother’s sister and his husband and believed their story.

For a year ago he got a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the whole story came out. After the first year as a student, Harry came back to the Dursleys to spend the summer holydays there. His uncle and aunt treat him like a dog that had rolled in something smelly. They used to ignore him and they didn’t care.

Harry is missing his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. He doesn’t get any letters and he can’t understand why, sometimes he believes they have forgotten him. Something strange happen, a house-elf named Dobby comes unexpected. He comes with a warning to Harry, something very dangerous is at Hogwarts and he can’t go back. Dobby tells also that he has taken Harry’s letters from his friends, because he hoped Harry might not want to go back to school if he thought his friends had forgot him. Harry can’t stay to the Dursleys, he don’t belong there. The house-elf has to do magic so Harry get shut up in his room. One night an old car is parked in mid-air outside of his window, its Ron and his twin brothers. They rescue Harry from being to the Dursleys for quite a long time. Mysterious things happen at the wizard school, something very dangerous is hiding under the school.

This is an amazing book about Harry Potter. Rowling is very good to describe the magic world, the school and the persons. I can see Harry and the other persons in my mind's eye. This is a plot which keeps the tension taut from start to finish!

I can recommend this book for everyone who like magic stories and a book with an agony of suspense.