Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

core novel 1998 Harry Potter

Record

First published	1998
Original language	EN
Work type	novel
Canon status	core
Reader rating	4.43 (4,667,292 ratings, collected 2026-09-11)
Page count	352
First-edition ISBN	9780747538493
First-edition publisher	Bloomsbury
First-edition country	UK

Synopsis

In the second Harry Potter novel, Harry receives a warning from a house-elf named Dobby not to go back to Hogwarts. He returns for his second year anyway, and after missing the train he and Ron Weasley reach the school in an enchanted flying car. Once at school, messages appear on the castle walls announcing that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened, and students begin to be mysteriously petrified. Rumors spread that the legendary Chamber, said to hold a monster only the heir of Salazar Slytherin can command, has been reopened, and suspicion falls on Harry when he is found to understand the language of snakes. Harry and his friends investigate its ancient legend.

Where it sits

• Universe: Harry Potter
• Series: Harry Potter core; position 2 of 7 in the series' recorded order
• Author: J.K. Rowling

Awards (verified)

• British Book Awards (Children's Book of the Year), 1999: won

Notes

• From the series record (Harry Potter): Seven novels, 1997-2007 (Bloomsbury UK).

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.

• Publication order, within the series Harry Potter: position 2 of 7: previous Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) · next Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Chamber_of_Secrets
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Book_Awards_Children%27s_Book_of_the_Year

← Harry Potter dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.