Chamber of Secrets Chapters 6-7

He must have porcelain veneers

Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart, in my opinion, is one of the most exaggerated characters in the series. He has his place, but is not really of importance to the series as a whole. He is one of those characters with very little depth and only really serves a purpose in this book. I know I'm being a bit negative here, but when you're dealing with a writer of such talent, the characters come under closer scrutiny. I would certainly expect this caliber of character from Stephanie Meyer, but not from Rowling. Lockhart does have some great moments in this book, but mostly, I find him annoying. Hey, it can't be all sunshine and daisies.



What were they thinking?

So Harry and the gang learn about mandrakes. Professor Sprout tells them that the cry of a mandrake is fatal. If that's the case, then why are they letting 12-year-olds handle them? I wouldn't trust a 12-year-old with a hamster. Apparently, there really are plants called mandrakes.


Pre-teen swear words

I like that even in the wizarding world there are swear words. Just as our swear words here in America are different from those in England, wizard swear words differ from muggle swear words. Apparently Mudblood is a pretty bad word to wizards, but we'll see that later in the series, that word gets thrown around pretty librally. I also like that Rowling comes up with her own sayings that are unique to wizards. For example: the exclamation, "Merlin's Beard!" to connote surprise or incredulity, or "Hungry as a Hippogriff," using a magical creature in a hyperbole to compare a state of hunger.

There's really not much else of significance in these chapters. I suspect there will be more in the next couple of chapters as the plot thickens.


Quiz help:

In my previous post, I wrote a quiz question about a spell Lockhart uses on the cornish pixies. Here's a hint that should give the answer away:

pesky + pixie + pester + no + me

Got it?