Awesome / Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Book

• Ginny is a Shrinking Violet who barely speaks up in Harry's presence. Then Malfoy tries to taunt Harry at Flourish and Blotts. Ginny confronts him and tells him to leave Harry alone.
• Harry and Ron driving a flying car to Hogwarts.
• In the dueling club. Lockhart's been talking non-stop with his usual self-importance and highly-inflated opinion of himself... and then he asks Snape to help him demonstrate a duel. Snape (who at this point has just been standing back and letting Lockhart make a fool of himself) casts Expelliarmus and not only disarms him but smashes him into a wall — and what's even better, he actually impresses Harry "I hate them both. Malfoy and Snape" Potter. And, of course, gives Harry his signature spell.
  • Not to mention that this short-lived group, as incompetent as Lockhart was, might have served somewhat as the inspiration for Dumbledore's Army.
• Harry in the Chamber of Secrets.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech Harry gives Riddle is pretty damn awesome, especially when it cuts through Riddle's "greater than thou" attitude and makes him gnash his teeth in fury:
    Harry: Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over at Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days... I've seen the real you, I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul -
  • Tom Riddle sneered that all Dumbledore could give Harry was "a songbird and an old hat". However, it was those two things that guaranteed Harry's victory against the Basilisk.
    • Phoenix vs. Basilisk. And the crown goes not to the 60-foot snake with the killing stare, it goes to the "songbird".
  • Harry telling off Tom Riddle about how his "filthy Mudblood mother" saved him, then killing off the basilisk and stabbing Riddle's diary.
• Mrs. Weasley's Howler definitely counts.
• Dobby pwning Lucius Malfoy: "You shall not harm Harry Potter!"
  There was a loud bang, and Mr. Malfoy was thrown backward. He crashed down the stairs, three at a time, landing in a crumpled heap on the landing below. He got up, his face livid, and pulled out his wand, but Dobby raised a long, threatening finger.
  “You shall go now,” he said fiercely, pointing down at Mr. Malfoy. “You shall not touch Harry Potter. You shall go now.”
  Lucius Malfoy had no choice. With a last, incensed stare at the pair of them, he swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight.
• All of Mrs. Weasley's sons were taller than her, but they cowered as her rage broke over them. It's a sign of things to come.
• When the basilisk emerges out of the statue's mouth, ready for battle.
  • We are introduced to the "songbird" first as Dumbledore's dying pet, then a feeble newborn. Months later, it reminds us that it is in fact, an immortal legend and one of the main reasons why Harry survives for so long. Giving two of his tail feathers rather than one protects Harry from Voldemort once he overcomes the shield on Harry, saving him from a Basilisk by intercepting its attack, blinding it and healing its venom, helping Dumbledore look after Harry...
• Arthur Weasley's and Lucius Malfoy's brawl in Flourish and Blotts. For context: Lucius Malfoy says something nasty and racist about Hermione's parents in Arthur's presence. Arthur, who had so far spent the whole time weathering Lucius's insults about himself with steady dignity, responds to this by dropping everything he's doing and leaping on Malfoy, fist-first. Hagrid ultimately has to separate them. This distraction turns out to have been part of Malfoy's plan, but he does leave with quite a few more bruises than he had when he arrived. And, for his part, Lucius does pretty well in fisticuffs as well.
  • Also this exchange:
    Lucius: What is the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't pay you well for it?
    Arthur: We have different ideas on what disgraces the name of wizard.
• "Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer that ever lived!" Also doubles as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
• Mr. Weasley's car saving Harry, Ron, and Fang from Aragog and his children, even though it abandoned them after getting beat up by the Whomping Willow.
• Any time anyone takes Lockhart down a peg (which is often). Lockhart's annoying, idiotic, and egotistical antics all throughout the story make the moments in which he is struck down very satisfying. To be more specific:
  • Hagrid's rant about Lockhart after he pays his hut a visit to offer his condescending "help"; Hagrid has survived a herd of Acromantulas, some wolves in the forest, an incredibly uncooperative herd of Centaurs and is half-giant - your help is not required Lockhart! Even though this attitude does bite Hagrid in the ass later, it's still great to know that someone can see through Lockhart's BS.
  • Second is Snape cutting Lockhart down when he claims he "could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in [his] sleep".
    Snape: Excuse me, but I believe I'm the Potions master in this school.
  • The third and best example would be how pretty much every teacher in the school (minus Dumbledore) reduces Lockhart to a quivering wreck when all of his Blatant Lies are thrown back at him and he can't dig himself out. The film adapts this sequence well, but in the book, you can feel both the Professors' satisfaction and Lockhart's realization about just how badly he screwed himself over.
  • Professor Sprout is less than pleased at the fact that Lockhart is giving her tips on caring for the Whomping Willow. She's managed successfully for twenty-one years at this point and has lost no limbs to it. She knows what she's doing, Lockhart!
• Ron going with Harry to 'find the spiders'. Ron's deathly terrified of spiders due to a hilarious yet terrifying incident in his past. Even going near what you fear takes a lot of courage, but tracking down what you fear the most on purpose just to save a friend? Kid has balls.
  • Oh, no. He didn't just track down what he fears the most. A thirteen-year-old boy, with a broken wand, walks into the Forbidden Forest, at night, with his only company a kid his age and a cowardly dog, to track down what he fears the most. All to save his friend.
• Hermione figuring out (with only a few clues) what Slytherin's monster is (a basilisk) and how it's moving around the castle (in the plumbing). This highlights her intelligence, particularly when you realize that nobody else, not even Dumbledore, was able to figure that out and Hermione is only 12 years old.
• Ron's immediate reaction to Hermione being called "Mudblood" by Malfoy is to hex him. Fred and George forgo magic altogether and just try to throttle him. Pity Flint stops them.
  • Similarly, when Malfoy says he bets the next attack is fatal and comments, "Pity it wasn't Granger." Cue Ron trying to beat the crap out of him, sans wand, with Snape right there. Harry and Dean Thomas have to drag him away.
    Ron: [being held back by Harry and Dean] Let me at him, let me at him! I don't care, I don't need my wand! I'm gonna kill him with my bare hands...!
• Harry with few clues from Dobby figuring out that Lucius planted the diary into Ginny's books and then tricking him into freeing Dobby with a plan he admits was Crazy Enough to Work.
• Admit it, Harry from Ginny's POV after taking out Riddle and Basilisk is one of the finest moments of Knight In Shining Armour in literature. Ginny had been a wreck for months due to Riddle possessing her and barely escaped death. When she comes to, her crush is standing over her after destroying her objects of torment.

Film

Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort against the famous Harry Potter!

• Ron and the Twins helping Harry escape from the Dursleys is even more awesome in the film. As Harry is climbing out the window, Vernon unlocks the door and manages to grab Harry's ankle. Ron and George grab Harry by the shoulders as Fred hits the gas, causing Vernon to get pulled out the window and fall into the bushes below.
• Snape is generally awesome, but especially when he sends Lockhart flying across the room in the dueling scene. But Snape tops himself in the "Bloody hell, that's awesome!" department just a few minutes later... just by SMIRKING at Lockhart. (The Smirk of Awesome happens at 3:26).
  • Watch the background closely as Lockhart lands, and Snape's body language says even he was surprised at how far he went. A nonverbal "Ooh, that hurt. I'm good".
  • Snape also verbally bitch-slapping Lockhart with this exchange:
    Lockhart: If I had wanted to stop you, it would have been too easy.
    Snape: (dryly) Then perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students to block unfriendly spells, Professor.
  • Credit must also be given to Harry, who shows exactly what he thinks of Malfoy with one short line. Many of his fellow housemates can visibly be seen smirking in approval afterward.
    Lockhart: Wands at the ready!
    (The two boys do so)
    Malfoy: Scared, Potter?
    Harry: You wish.
• When Lockhart releases the pixies in class, Hermione shoves books aside and leaps from her chair; judging by the stomp of her foot a few seconds later, she has apparently stamped on one of the pixies!
• Harry dodging the bludger long enough at the Quidditch match to catch the snitch.....with a broken arm, no less!
• 12-year-old boy vs. fifty-foot-long Basilisk. Harry wins.
  • Right after that, Harry realises that the basilisk's venom will kill him. His last act is to destroy the diary, then tell Ginny how to escape and that everything will be alright, even when he believes he'll die. Of course, Fawkes ensures that he doesn't, but that is some impressive composure and dignity for a twelve-year-old.
  • Also the way Harry completely wipes the smug smile off Tom Riddle's face before destroying the diary.
    Riddle: (as Harry takes the diary from a near-dead Ginny) Funny, the damage a silly little book can do, especially in the hands of a silly little girl! (Harry opens the diary in the middle. Riddle looks at him in confusion) What are you doing? (Harry picks up a discarded basilisk fang with a look of pure contempt and Riddle's eyes go wide in horror) Stop! NOOO! (Harry stabs the diary in the centre, causing Riddle to begin to disintegrate)
  • This is more awesome in the film, as unlike in the book, Harry is still dying from the basilisk venom when he stabs the diary. He's certain that he's going to die, but he's determined to die stopping Voldemort and saving Ginny.
• Dobby kicking Lucius's ass at the end.
• Near the end of the movie, after Lucius Malfoy's plot was foiled:
  Lucius: Well... let us hope that Mr. Potter will always be around to save the day.
  Harry: Don't worry. I will be.
  • Even cooler? Only Jason Isaacs and Chris Columbus knew he (Jason) was going to say anything at all. He'd said to Columbus in an aside "Don't you think there should be a line?" and Columbus had encouraged him to improvise one, which he did. Nobody had said anything to Daniel Radcliffe. And then Daniel came back with his sharp riposte right out of nowhere and it became possibly the most iconic exchange in the entire film.
    Jason Isaacs: A chill went down my spine. And as he did it, I thought, "Christ, this kid is good."
    • To wit, this is widely seen as possibly the best verbal exchange in the entire franchise, all because a twelve-year-old boy responded to an adlib.
• Fawkes takes a pot shot at Riddle as he swoops down; notice that Fawkes swoops exactly where Riddle's head is.
• Harry wielding the Sword of Gryffindor against the Basilisk. As any fencer knows, swords are a lot harder to use than most people think.
• Quick one but Harry and Ron's response when they realise they're surrounded by spiders planning to eat them? Pull out their wands and stand back-to-back even though they're both aware they have almost zero chance of winning.
• The Slow Clap sequence at the end, featuring a tremendous score composed by John Williams. It was also the final shot to be filmed during the production of this film.
  • For the bonus points the music ends with a final dun, duuun, Duuuuun! DUUUUUUUUUUUHHH!! DUUUUUUUH'', 'DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!' *cymbal crash*. That's the fanfare of victory.

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