History Literature / HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets

* WhamLine: Tom Riddle's [[TheReveal reveal]]. He uses Harry's wand to write his full name ("Tom Marvolo Riddle"), then [[SignificantAnagram rearranges the letters]] to spell...

** In retrospect, Ron trying to comfort Ginny after the attack on Mrs. Norris by telling her that "they'll catch the nutter who did it and have him out of here in no time." Assuming Ginny had begun to suspect herself at that point, this might also count as ObliviousGuiltSlinging. After all, at the end of the book, she ''was'' [[FridgeBrilliance convinced that she was going to be expelled]]. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Way to go, Ron.]]

** Invoked with [[WordOfGod Ginny's]] valentine to Harry. Fred and George continually tease him with it and Peeves [[StupidStatementDanceMix adds a dance routine]].

* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:Lucius avoids prison time but suffers several blows to his ego. A twelve-year-old both stops his plan and tricks him into freeing Dobby, who takes the first opportunity to pay Lucius back for years of abuse by ''effortlessly'' blasting him down a flight of stairs.]] And Lucius also loses his position on Hogwarts' board of governors, which he could have avoided had he not [[invoked]][[WhatAnIdiot threatened the other governors' families]].

** Ron and Percy get into an argument and Percy uses his prefect authority to deduct five points from Gryffindor. This kind of thing never happens again and it's later established that prefects ''can't'' give or take house points.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The true identity of the monster lurking in the Chamber of Secrets is supposed to be a mystery until the latter part of the book -- which did not stop multiple editions from spoiling it by heavily featuring snakes and snake imagery on their covers. The cover featured on this very page has the FinalBattle between Harry and Basilisk in plain view, thereby leaving nothing at all to the imagination.

* IdiotBall: Hermione mistaking a cat hair for human hair leading to her unfortunate Polyjuice Potion accident which is something she shouldn't have failed to do with how smart she is which is what progresses the plot.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Gilderoy Lockhart.
* SneezeOfDoom: Inverted. When Harry and Ron sneak out of bed, Ron stubs his toe near Professor Snape. Snape happens to sneeze just as Ron swears in pain, so they avoid detection.

** [[spoiler: Tom Riddle, fifty years prior to the events of the story. He used the Basilisk to murder a student, then framed Hagrid, took credit for catching him, and received a Special Award for Services to the School.]]

* DeadlyGaze: The Basilisk has one but doesn't kill anybody with it, either because they didn't technically look it in the eye or because it was blinded.

** Harry and Ron when they steal Mr. Weasley's FlyingCar. [[JustifiedTrope Granted]], they're twelve years old at the time. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by [=McGonagall=] when she points out other, more reasonable, things they could have done to get to Hogwarts, and Harry reluctantly admits to himself that stealing a car was pretty stupid.
** Also, over the month they spent brewing the Polyjuice Potion to sneak into the Slytherin dorms, not one of the trio realized they have no idea where those dorms ''are''.

** This book implies (through Lockhart stealing real people's accomplishments and not just making them up) that there is a charm that can cure lycanthropy. This is definitely not the case in latter books.

* MissedTheBus:
** [[spoiler:Dobby]] blocks Harry's access to Platform 9¾, causing him and Ron to miss the Hogwarts Express and take alternative transport. HilarityEnsues.
** Lampshaded when [=McGonagall=] asks why Harry didn't just [[BoringButPractical send a message to ask for help]].

** Ron again on the first day of term when he receives a Howler from Mrs Weasley.

* BizarreBelching: Ron finds himself exhibiting this after his wand backfires on him during a confrontation with Malfoy; until the curse wears off, Ron is left repeatedly burping loudly and puking up slugs.

* AlliterativeTitle:[[invoked]] Most of Lockhart's books have them. Assigned to Hogwarts' students this year are ''Break with a Banshee'', ''Gadding with Ghouls'', ''Holidays with Hags'', ''Travels with Trolls'', ''Voyages with Vampires'', ''Wanderings with Werewolves'', and ''Year with the Yeti''. He also wrote the [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie "autobiography"]] ''Magical Me''.

* CopycatMockery: Malfoy does a "cruel but accurate" impression of Hero-Worshipper Colin Creevey, a Gryffindor first-year who won't stop taking pictures of Harry and doesn't realize how annoying he is.

** Hermione has one when she realises what the monster of Slytherin is, but doesn't get to tell anyone else. Harry gets the moment secondhand when he reads her note later.

* INeedToGoIronMyDog:
** Ron uses this to get away from Malfoy when the Polyjuice Potion starts wearing off, citing he needs medicine for a stomach ache which he had cited earlier in the scene to explain away an angry look.

* IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat: Harry assumed that Parseltongue was just a thing wizards in general could do. It's not until after he scares everybody at the Duelling Club that he learns it's an uncommon ability associated with Slytherin and dark wizards.

* JokeAndReceive: Used as a BrickJoke. When Harry and Ron discover a trophy awarded to a Tom Riddle for undisclosed services to the school, Ron jokes that maybe Tom killed Moaning Myrtle (who is currently a ghost) because she's so annoying. [[spoiler:Much later in the book, Tom Riddle's own memory reveals that he did murder Myrtle, although that's not why he received the trophy -- more likely it was when [[FrameUp he "turned in" Hagrid for his misdeeds]].]]

* NotSoAboveItAll: Hermione, "The Brightest Witch of Her Age", who normally plays the OnlySaneMan of the main trio, is completely taken in by Lockhart's charms, while Harry and Ron see him for the narcissistic buffoon he really is immediately and are baffled by her falling for him.

** Snape has a couple moments. During the Dueling Club, he quickly intervenes when Draco and Harry jinx each other and dispels Draco's snake when it goes for Justin. He also seems just as distraught as the other teachers when they learn that[[spoiler: Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets]].

** Snape has a few moments. He defends Harry on Halloween when the kid is found with Ron and Hermione near Mrs. Norris's petrified body, saying that Mr. Potter was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time because only someone that excels in Dark Magic would be able to do such a thing. During the Dueling Club, he quickly intervenes when Draco and Harry jinx each other and dispels Draco's snake when it goes for Justin. He also seems just as distraught as the other teachers when they learn that[[spoiler: Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets]].

* SpinningOutOfHere: Travel by Floo sends the traveller spinning to his/her destination.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Harry and Ron fly Arthur Weasley's car to school when they can't get on the train, foreseeing a triumphant arrival ... and end up pulling a CaptainCrash and are ''very'' lucky to get away with a detention each for having violated the International Statute of Secrecy. Meanwhile, Arthur is facing an inquiry at work for enchanting a Muggle object, and ends up getting a hefty fine.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Harry actually enjoys Fred and George's mockery about the whole "Heir of Slytherin" business because it assures him that they don't actually believe any of it, feeling it's ridiculous and ''should'' be mocked.

** All the victims of the Basilisk happen to see it indirectly, except for the last two victims who knew what the monster was and were deliberately looking around corners with a mirror.

* ForgottenPhlebotinum: ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' [[http://www.cracked.com/article_21025_5-reasons-harry-potter-wizards-are-huge-threat.html wondered why innocent Hagrid had to go to jail]] in a world with truth potions and mind-reading spells.

* HandOfGlory: Draco Malfoy notices a Hand of Glory in Borgin and Burkes. [[spoiler:He [[ChekhovsGun eventually uses it]] in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'' for his plan to let Death Eaters into the school.]]

* HijackedByGanon: The book plays out like this. So a monster controlled by the Heir of Slytherin has been attacking students. At the end, we discover that [[spoiler:— surprise! — Voldemort]] was behind the entire thing. [[spoiler:Only it's not Voldemort himself, just a piece of his soul containing the memories of his sixteen-year-old self.]]

** [[spoiler:Lucius Malfoy planting the diary on Ginny Weasley. As we learn in the sixth book, this set off a chain of events that destroys one of Voldemort's Horcruxes and provides Dumbledore with the first real proof that Voldemort split his soul. Good going, Lucius.]]

** Also subverted. [[spoiler:The book tries to convince you that Lord Voldemort is not behind the mystery this time, with Dobby even telling Harry that "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" is not involved. Of course, it turns out the perpetrator is a manifestation of the young Voldemort, then known as Tom Riddle. At the end, Dobby explains that his earlier comment was a subtle clue: [[MetaphoricallyTrue "The Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely named, you see?"]] Though it would have been lost on Harry at the time, not finding out until it was almost too late that Riddle and Voldemort were the same person.]]
* NotSoAboveItAll: Hermione, "The Brightest Witch of Her Age", who normally plays the OnlySaneMan of the main trio, is completely taken in by Lockhart's charms, while Harry and Ron see him for the narcissistic buffoon he really is immediately and are baffled by her falling for him.

** Malfoy, Percy, Hagrid, and even Harry are set up as possible Heirs of Slytherin, with Malfoy being the choice that's so obvious it's stupid, and Percy and Hagrid both having Really Big Secrets that make them act suspiciously. Naturally, our heroes suspect Malfoy immediately and spend several chapters investigating him, only to find out he's not the culprit.

** Hermione took what she thought was Millicent Bulstrode's hair to use in the Polyjuice Potion. As she found out when she took it (and after Harry and Ron's doses had worn off), it wasn't Millicent's hair. It was cat hair. [[BalefulPolymorph Oops.]]

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The true identity of the monster lurking in the Chamber of Secrets is supposed to be a mystery until the latter part of the book -- which did not stop multiple editions from spoiling it by heavily featuring snakes and snake imagery on their covers. The cover featured on this very page abandons all pretense and just has Harry fighting the Basilisk, thereby spoiling the end of the book.

* SeriesContinuityError: Two mentions of werewolves in this book make absolutely no sense come the very next instalment: Lockhart claims he used a spell to turn a werewolf back into a man, and Riddle claims that Hagrid raised "werewolf cubs" during their school days. The former could be InUniverse CriticalResearchFailure, though it would require the wizarding public to be ignorant enough about werewolves that Lockhart's claim ''doesn't'' immediately reveal him as a charlatan. The "werewolf cubs" error was straightened out much later by WordOfGod: apparently if a male and female werewolf meet in their wolf forms, they can breed and produce a litter of "beautiful and unusually intelligent" wolves, incapable of spreading the condition. The brood raised by Hagrid is apparently still running around the Forbidden Forest.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: It is very apparent that none of the other teachers likes Lockhart. Even the usually cheery Professor Sprout quickly tires of his rampant narcissism. When the Chamber of Secrets is opened, they all eagerly nominate him for the task of [[spoiler:rescuing Ginny]], seeing a chance to get rid of him.

* TheWoobie:
** The reader is often reminded how poor the Weasley family are; Mrs Weasley cleans out their bank vault in order to afford Hogwarts supplies for five children, and even those are often second-hand; Harry, meanwhile, tries to hide his riches. Ron laments that they probably couldn't afford a replacement wand and thus is forced to use ChekhovsGun all year, and Harry is both sickened to learn that Mr Weasley has received a 50 galleon fine for enchanting a Ford Anglia, and guilty they have bought him Christmas presents.
** InUniverse: Harry feels sorry for Tom Riddle upon learning that Riddle grew up in a Muggle orphanage, and returned there every summer. That is, until [[spoiler:Riddle reveals that he is Voldemort]].

** The reader is often reminded how poor the Weasley family are; Mrs Weasley cleans out their bank vault in order to afford Hogwarts supplies for five children, and even those are often second-hand; Harry, meanwhile, tries to hide his riches. Ron laments that they probably couldn't afford a replacement wand and thus is forced to use ChekovsGun all year, and Harry is both sickened to learn that Mr Weasley has received a 50 galleon fine for enchanting a Ford Anglia, and guilty they have bought him Christmas presents.