It was 10 A.M. on the morning of Saturday, April 16th, 2022, and James and Lily were excited.
"So," exclaimed Lily eagerly as she started recording their latest video, "Welcome back to Lily Luna's World. Today my favorite brother James Sirius Potter and I are going to be reviewing the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."
"Our Sorcerer's Stone review was so well received and we enjoyed doing it so much that we've decided to review Chamber of Secrets as well, " explained James eagerly, holding up a paperback copy of the book.
The cover had the title Harry Potter in silver lettering with a lightning bolt coming out of the P in Potter and the subtitle AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS in all caps in blood writing on a wall.
The cover was mostly red towards the top. Fawkes was featured on the right hand side a little below the title Harry Potter. Harry was on the cover in the bottom left grabbing onto Fawkes and the basilisk was on the cover to the left of OF in the subtitle.
"So," began Lily, "We agree that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is primarily a struggle for self identity struggle. There is some of that in Chamber of Secrets, but we ultimately view Chamber of Secrets as a good vs evil struggle."
"Yes, " agreed James, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a classic good vs evil struggle. In some ways it's the most stock and the most cliche of the Harry Potter stories. It's still a great book though. "
"It is, " smiled Lily cheerfully, "But what's your favorite part of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets?"
"Dad's bravery," answered James a nanosecond later, "At the age of twelve, dad risked his life and went into the Chamber of Secrets and faced a basilisk and memory Riddle to save the life of a girl he barely knew. Yes, that girl ended up becoming his wife and our dad, but dad had no idea of that at the time. At the time, she was just a first year girl he barely knew."
"And I gotta defend mom here on the whole fangirl thing. Yes, mom had a crush on dad. However, mom respected dad's space and didn't infringe upon him. Sure, she might go red in the face or drop something when dad entered a room, but she never fangirled him. She respected his space, didn't bother him, and dealt with her crush on her own without crossing boundaries, " said Lily fiercely.
"I sympathize with mom here too, " added James, "I've seen some Potterheads incorrectly say that mom was spoiled. She never was. It explicitly says on page 309 of Chamber of Secrets that mom had to come to school with secondhand robes and books. Weirdly, some fans seem to think that mom got new robes when it's explcitly stated that she didn't. Grandma also says on page 44 of Chamber of Secrets that "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."
"Where on Earth did the false idea that mom got new robes even come from?" sighed Lily, shaking her head, "The text is very explicit that she didn't."
"So," said James thoughtfully, "My favorite quote from Chamber of Secrets is when Dumbledore tells Harry on page 333 that, "It is choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. "
"That might be Dumbledore's best line in the whole series, " nodded Lily approvingly, "We get a bit more insight into what made dad dad if you will."
"I agree, " added James, 'And I really liked how dad forgave Ernie the nanosecond Ernie apologized for suspecting him."
"Having a high forgiveness coefficient is a double edged sword, " said Lily warningly, "You've got to be a bit careful. All the same, dad was right to forgive Ernie in that situation. You shouldn't hold grudges over petty things."
"While Chamber of Secrets doesn't have a lot of big new stuff, " piped up James, "I did like learning who the founders of Hogwarts were and that the houses were named for them."
"See, what I like about that, " interjected Lily, "Is that it gives more meaning to the houses we are introduced to in Sorcerer's Stone. Similarly, the significance of Harry being a parselmouth and how rare it is give the zoo incident in Sorcerer's Stone a lot more significance."
"Speaking of significance, " said James thoughtfully, "There's a huge what if that I always think about in regard to Chamber of Secrets."
"Which is?" asked Lily curiously.
"What if, because of how late they were already running, grandma had refused to go back home to allow mom to get her diary. What if she had told mom a diary was not a necessity or that she and grandpa would send it to mom by owl later on."
A stunned look came across Lily's face at this.
"What do you think would have happened?" Lily asked James curiously.
"Ultimately, I think grandma or grandpa would have found the diary in mom's room. Grandpa would have examined it and realized it was full of Dark Magic and the Chamber of Secrets ordeal would have never happened."
Lily fell silent for a minute and a nanosecond and then gasped, "This is why I believe in rereading books. That reference to mom forgetting her diary feels like a throwaway line on a first reading."
"You get a lot of "OH!" moments from rereading, " said James crisply, "In the interest of accuracy, it should be pointed out that if the Chamber of Secrets thingy had never have happened, Dumbledore would never have gotten suspended and Hagrid would've never gone to Azkaban. In the long run, without the Chamber of Secrets being opened in dad's second year, Hagrid's name is never cleared. Worse, Lucius very likely stays on the Hogwarts Board of Governers. Hard to say what would have happened down the road, but, well, the Butterfly Effect."
"So," inquired Lily, "Who is scarier. Aragog or the basilisk?"
"Wow, that's a tough one," sighed James, "I'd go with the basilisk because it was able to harm people without them ever seeing it. To be honest, I always find it difficult to think of giant spiders as scary. My mind intuitively sees them as hysterically funny even when I know that's not meant to be the case."If anything, I find the diary the scariest thing in Chamber of Secrets."
"Hmm, that's interesting," cooed Lily, "Gramps was right to say not to trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. "
James nodded.
"So," continued Lily, "We can't talk about Chamber of Secrets without talking about Gilderoy Lockhart. "
"Annoying git, " said James scornfully, "And a phony to boot. Good on people like dad and Hagrid for seeing through him."
"I think we tend to see all that and almost forget how bad he actually was in the end, " said Lily bitterly, "He was going wipe dad's memory to save his own skin. "
"Why did so many girls have crushes on him?" wondered James allowed.
"Because most girls are stupid,' replied Lily promptly, "Can't see past the handsomeness."
"Speaking of handsomeness?" said James briskly, "Did you find Dobby cute, annoying, or both?"
Lily shook her head.
"I can't think of Dobby in any way like that either way, " said Lily sadly, "I can only of Dobby as a loyal friend who paid the ultimate price for protecting dad. My mind simply can't process the Dobby of Chamber of Secrets because of what happened later on.
"I understand, " accepted James quietly, deciding to move away from the topic of Dobby.
"Let's finish up, " said a now tearful Lily, "What score do you give Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets out of 10."
"8 out of 10," was James's verdict.
"The book does have some boring parts, like the Deathday Party, and it is the most stock and cliche book in the Harry Potter series. However, it does have an interesting storyline. it's a good read with plenty action, adventure, narrative misdirection, and heroism. I do like that Chamber of Secrets feels like it has more of a true start to finish structure than Sorcerer's Stone, " observed James.
"I agree there, " said Lily instantly, "Sorcerer's Stone was more like a series of short stories in novel format. Chamber of Secrets is more of a true novel. 8 of 10 from me as well. I'll add that although I'm sad when Hermione is petrified, I'm really proud of dad and how faced Aragog, the Chamber of Secrets itself, the basilisk, the memory Ruddle, all without Hermione's company, though her information in figuring out that the monster was a basilisk that was using the pipes was invaluable."
"Well, I think that's all for now, " said James seriously.
"We'll do Prisoner of Azkaban in the future, but, for now, Potters out!" finished Lily.