Chamber of Secrets

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Chamber of Secrets
Location information
Location	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Permanent Resident(s)	Slytherin's Basilisk (Middle Ages-1993)
Affiliation	Heir of Slytherin
Behind the scenes
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Latest appearance	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)

The Chamber of Secrets was allegedly created under the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle during Medieval times by Salazar Slytherin, who disagreed with the other Hogwarts Founders on the merits of blood purity. The Chamber of Secrets was home to an ancient Basilisk, which, according to legend, was intended to be used to purge the school of Muggle-born students. The Chamber is lined with statues of snakes, and a large statue of Salazar Slytherin is at the centre.

Contents 1 Entrance 2 History 2.1 Creation 2.2 1942-1943 Openings 2.3 1992-1993 Openings 2.4 1998 Opening 3 Behind the scenes 4 Appearances

[edit] Entrance

The entrance to the Chamber is at a snake-engraved sink tap in the second floor girls' bathroom, where a ghost of a girl named Myrtle, more commonly known as Moaning Myrtle can often be found. The Chamber may be entered by giving the command of "Open" or "Open up" in Parseltongue. A passage will open from the sink that leads to the Chamber.

[edit] History

[edit] Creation

Salazar Slytherin disagreed with the other Hogwarts Founders about the importance of blood purity and the acceptance of Muggle-borns at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As the other Founders were against him in this matter, he left the school. But before leaving, according to legend, he created a secret chamber in Hogwarts Castle's deep underground - known as the Chamber of Secrets. This Chamber was home to a beast - a Basilisk - who was allegedly supposed to purge the school of all Muggle-born students. Over the centuries after Salazar Slytherin's death, many searches of the school were conducted to find the Chamber. None, however, were successful, and the Chamber was dismissed as a mere legend by many. When the chamber was opened in 1942 and 1992, it was revealed to be real; however, it is unknown whether the killing of Muggle-borns was Slytherin's true intention.

[edit] 1942-1943 Openings

The Chamber was opened during the 1942 - 1943 school year by a young Tom Marvolo Riddle, later known as Lord Voldemort, a descendant of Salazar Slytherin through his mother who desired to see Muggle-borns driven from Hogwarts. In his fifth year, Riddle located the secret entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and was able to control the Basilisk because he was a Parselmouth. Riddle turned the beast loose on the school, injuring many. The last victim was a student named Myrtle, who was killed in the girls' bathroom. Hogwarts was slated to be closed, which upset Riddle, who did not want to return to the Muggle orphanage in which he was raised. He framed fellow student Rubeus Hagrid, who conveniently had concealed a pet Acromantula named Aragog. Riddle convinced the Headmaster at the time, Armando Dippet, that Aragog was the monster that had terrorized the school. Hagrid was expelled, and Riddle received an engraved trophy for Special Services to the School.

Albus Dumbledore, then-Deputy Headmaster, distrusted Riddle and kept a close watch on him after that. Because it was no longer safe to open the Chamber of Secrets, Riddle created a diary to preserve a part of his soul, hoping it would one day lead someone to finish Salazar Slytherin's "noble work." This diary was one of his seven Horcruxes.

[edit] 1992-1993 Openings

The Chamber was re-opened in 1992 when the bewitched diary of Tom Riddle manipulated and controlled Ginny Weasley, a first-year student who had been slipped the diary by Lucius Malfoy and fell under its influence. Ginny was compelled to vandalise the school by painting terrifying messages on the corridor walls in blood. She was made to open the Chamber, releasing the Basilisk. It petrified many students, including Colin Creevey, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Penelope Clearwater, and Hermione Granger, as well as the ghost of Nearly Headless Nick and the guardian cat, Mrs. Norris. They were later restored to their proper states through the use of Mandrake Restorative Draught. Fortunately, during this time, no one was killed.

On May 29, 1993, Ginny was taken down to the Chamber to die, while Riddle intended to feed off her life force to become fully alive again. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and then-Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart went to the Chamber to rescue Ginny, as a message had been left that she was being held prisoner there. With the help of Fawkes and the use of Godric Gryffindor's Sword, Harry defeated the Basilisk and destroyed the diary with one of its fangs. This action also effectively destroyed the Horcrux within it.

[edit] 1998 Opening

On May 2, 1998, during the Battle of Hogwarts, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger went back to the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve more fangs, since they needed Basilisk venom to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes. Ron was able to open the Chamber by mimicking the Parseltongue he heard previously Harry use to open Salazar Slytherin's Locket. Once inside, Hermione stabbed Helga Hufflepuff's Cup with a Basilisk fang, destroying the Horcrux.

[edit] Behind the scenes

• It is unknown how the entrance to the Chamber came to be through relatively modern plumbing when it was supposedly built around one thousand years earlier. However, Hogwarts' magically self-altering architecture could include updating things such as lavatory systems on its own. If this is the case, what the original entrance to the Chamber was remains unknown.
• Ginny Weasley maybe opened the chamber under Tom Riddle's control, however, she only could open it because of Tom Riddle's ability to speak Parseltongue
• It is thought that the kiss between Ron and Hermione will take place here in the last movie.

[edit] Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Entrance only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)