Chamber of Secrets Chapters 8 - 9

The Squib

So now we know why Filch is so nasty to students. He's the exact opposite of a muggle-born wizard. He was born to a witch and wizard, but has no magical ability. I'm guessing that there are very few jobs available to squibs in the wizarding world, so for some reason, Filch chose to take a crummy job in the wizarding world as opposed to work in the muggle world.

One thing I noticed in Chapter 8 that I had never noticed before is something that is critical to Book 6. Ever wonder how the Vanishing Cabinet got damaged in the first placed that caused Draco so much trouble in repairing it? We found out in this chapter that Nearly-headless Nick put Peeves up to dropping it over Filch's office. I never noticed that before.



Time line

In this chapter, we again get an exact date of reference so we know in what time this story takes place. Since Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington died in 1492, and he is celebrating his 500th deathday, then that must mean that Harry's second year takes place in 1992. If this is true and Harry turned 12 on July 31, then that means he was born in 1980 and that if he really lived now, he would have just celebrated his 29th birthday.


The Chamber of Secrets


So this is what the story is about. Apparently, there's some secret chamber inside the castle built by Salazar Slytherin. Didn't we just learn about a secret chamber hiding the Sorcerer's Stone? How many secret chambers are there in Hogwarts? We learn in this chapter the reason behind the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry in school. Okay detectives, if you're sharp, you should be able to figure out what kind of monster is hidden inside the chamber by now. Think about it. First, Salazar Slytherin's house color is green. Second, his name is Slytherin. What kind of animal slithers? Third, the Slytherin house mascot is a snake. If that doesn't give it away right there...