Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (novel)/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

 * There is a the part in "Chamber of Secrets" in which the Weasleys continuously come back to the Burrow because some of the them forget their items. One of these times is when Ginny goes back to the house to get her diary. Sneaky little detail there, JK Rowling. -turtlewizard
 * I thought the Deathday Party in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was basically a Wacky Wayside Tribe to get Harry relatively isolated while he's looking completely off his rocker. Then I read it again after the fifth book, and realized holy shit, this is their shallow imitation of the afterlife. (And then, of course, there's that bit where the entire fandom considered the entire book a filler arc. Moo ha ha.)
 * Sorry, but what bit was that again? With the exception of the epilogue, I can't think of a single moment I thought Damn, that's some bad filler, much less considered an entire book a filler arc.
 * Chamber of Secrets was kind of considered an off episode. It seemed to have less to do with the overall plot until the sixth book. Then you realize that a lot happened in book 2.
 * When the security at the school is stepped up, one of the first rules to be introduced is that students must be accompanied in the bathrooms. The teachers don't know about the Chamber, but they know where Myrtle died.
 * Harry is revealed to be a Horcrux in the seventh book. All other Horcruxes were destroyed by basilisk venom in some way. Harry nearly died from being bitten by the basilisk... ever wonder how Harry manages to survive all sorts of horrible ordeals, including getting knocked out at least twice a book? He was a Horcrux, and normal maiming wouldn't work on him! The scene in Chamber of Secrets was the only time in the entire series where Harry really was in danger of dying... but Fawkes saved him, and Harry stabbed Riddlemort's diary with the basilisk fang, destroying it and the bit of soul inside. -pankitty
 * Possibly, although I'm not sure Harry ever survives anything that would have killed another wizard. The best candidates are the fall from the broom in Prisoner of Azkaban and the Priori Incatatem of Goblet of Fire'', both of which have other explanations (Dumbledore slowed his fall, dual wand cores). Unless
 * Not quite. Horcruxes aren't actually indestructible. They have to be beyond magical repair altogether. Basilisk venom is one of the methods by which it's done (you'll recall that the Diadem was actually destroyed by Fiendfyre). It's also established that magic cannot bring someone back from the dead, *meaning* death is officially "beyond magical repair." So if Harry had died by any other means than Voldemort killing him in the Forest, which had so very many factors contributing to Harry coming back, he would have been stone dead anyway.
 * Ravenclaw's Diadem wasn't destroyed by Basilisk venom in any stretch of the imagination. It was destroyed by Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement. Only in the movie was is destroyed by the Basilisk fang.
 * At the beginning, why did Vernon try to stop Harry from "escaping"? He wants nothing more than Harry gone...
 * He doesn't want Harry around,true, but he also wants him to be miserable. When he found out that Harry wasn't allowed to use magic, he probably saw that as a chance to get rid of the problem Harry represented. If he couldn't go back to school, he wouldn't learn magic, which he hates even more than Harry.
 * It's also possible that, being the kind of man Vernon is and having been very abusive to Harry all throughout childhood, it would only make sense that Vernon wouldn't want Harry learning more magic in the event that Harry would ever choose to use that magic to get back at his family (something that, although accidental, is not entirely untrue).
 * The amazingly casual mentions of the Vanishing Cabinets throughout this book just astound me after reading Half Blood Prince. First, Harry hides in the one in Borgin and Burkes - leaving the door open a crack, thank heavens, because at this point they were both still working. Later, Nearly-Headless Nick convinces Peeves to drop the Hogwarts one above Filch's office - breaking it and thus setting up Draco's entire plotline in Book 6. Stunning! --
 * Harry can hear the Basalisk whispering through the pipes. Why does nobody else hear this? What sound does a snake make in it's natural habitat? That's right, a hiss. What sound does a pipe make in it's natural habitat?
 * Sort of extends to Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows, but much of why Myrtle fancies Harry has often been because he was the only one that asked how she died. But her crush really became permanent, because he killed the Basilisk that killed her. He avenged her death which seems to earn double praise in the ghost world.

Fridge Horror

 * Ron tries and fails to perform "Ferreverto" on Scabbers (turning him into a fuzzy goblet with a twitching tail instead of a crystal goblet). Funny at the time, right? Now... remember that little tidbit about Scabbers?
 * Throughout his time at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle was sent back to the orphanage during the summer holidays, and this notably upset him. According to Word of God, The Chamber of Secrets takes place during the 1992-93 school year, and the Chamber was originally opened fifty years before that, meaning circa 1942. Given that Riddle was a fifth year in 1942, that means he was repeatedly sent back to an orphanage in London during the Blitz.
 * Actually, according to The Other Wiki, the Blitz only lasted from 7 Sept 1940 to 10 May 1941, while the Hogwarts school year starts 1 Sept and ends approximately in the beginning of June (I don't remember precisely). Assuming Riddle could stay at Hogwarts over Christmas like Harry could, he wouldn't have been in London during the Blitz at all.
 * Although it'd be pretty safe to assume that London wouldn't have been in good shape when he went back. That might explain his reluctance to go back for the summer.
 * He probably knew all about World War Two and the horrors of World War One as well. While he probably didn't know about the Holocaust until later, just looking at what Muggles did to the cities of other Muggles probably affected his view of them. It wasn't just the Germans, the Allies did the same thing to many German and Japanese cities, including Dresden and Tokyo, and of course by 1946 Voldemort would probably have known about the a-bomb and the Holocaust. It's clear that his goal of establishing wizarding dominion over Muggles was motivated by a desire for power and control and not a wish to "save the Muggles from themselves." Nevertheless, his knowledge of the horrors of World War Two probably helped shape his view of Muggles and led him to believe that it's ok for wizards to treat us the way we sometimes treat each other.
 * As the original post stated, he was in his fifth year. So really, it still would have been during the Blitz.
 * Can Muggles see ghosts? I've read those books backwards and forwards, and I can't remember a single instance confirming one way or the other if Muggles can see ghosts. If they can't -- then imagine what it would have been like for Myrtle's parents, visiting the school, being told their little girl died in a horrific accident that they can't understand—and with Myrtle floating behind them, unable to communicate with them in any way.
 * She could talk to one of the wizards and relay it.
 * It's mentioned in Deathly Hallows that the cemetery in Godric's Hollow has a reputation for being haunted, because of the number of wizarding-folk graves there. Presumably those rumors got started somehow, so at least some Muggles probably do see ghosts ... not that seeing Myrtle's, and learning that she's stuck that way forever, would necessarily be much comfort to her parents.
 * I only realized this after reading the books after age 20. Fridge Horror 1 is that the Dursleys are not just petty jerks, they're child abusers. Including, in the first two books, actively trying to prevent Harry from escaping so that they can continue to abuse him. Fridge Horror 2? Dumbledore knows that Harry lives in the cupboard under the stairs, Dudley's second bedroom, and in book 2 even knows on the same night that Harry has been rescued by the Weasleys. He can't be unaware of the Dursleys' treatment, but apparently sees no need to intervene at any point during Harry's childhood. It would only have taken ten minutes a year for Dumbledore to pop over there and intimidate them into being decent, but he doesn't do that until Harry is sixteen (and they'd given up at the end of book 3). Basically Dumbledore seems okay with child abuse so long as it's not deadly—oh, and Harry doesn't come into Hogwarts with a big head. His guardians didn't have to encourage their son to beat Harry up every day in order to not grow up an egotistical prat, Albus.
 * I see your point...but the Dursley's didn't really encourage Dudley to beat Harry up.
 * Fridge Logic: Dumbledore did check on them and Obliviate Harry afterwards. We see the Dursleys being nice.
 * A rather minor one, but consider Voldemort's preferred means of disposing of dead bodies  Now imagine what was in store for
 * Do we know whether or not the Basilisk can choose who it kills with its gaze? Because if it just kills ANYONE who stares it in the eye, what would happen if Draco happened upon it? Could it have killed him too? Lucius's level of evil or at least arrogance that he knows what he's doing is even more disturbing when you realize he let a monster loose in the school that could have killed HIS OWN SON, and he never showed any sign that he thought that Draco might be in danger. Not only was it capable of killing muggleborns, the basilisk could have killed ANYONE who looked into its eyes, including teachers as well as students! The ones who were petrified were extremely lucky, considering that their condition was able to be cured.
 * Lucius didn't know what the diary was, so how could he have known it would set a Basilisk on the school? If he knew it was going to do something horrible, then he probably just thought it would kill Ginny.
 * Anyone else notice that the developmental process for the Mandrakes included them throwing a party? Yes, it was a joke about teenage behavior, but it also suggests an unsettling degree of cognitive ability and emotion on the part of organisms that Professor Sprout was raising for the express purpose of cutting them into pieces and stewing them.
 * Anyone else notice that the developmental process for the Mandrakes included them throwing a party? Yes, it was a joke about teenage behavior, but it also suggests an unsettling degree of cognitive ability and emotion on the part of organisms that Professor Sprout was raising for the express purpose of cutting them into pieces and stewing them.