History Literature / HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets

* NotIllegalJustification: When Harry and Ron find that they have missed the Hogwarts Express, they decide to fly the car to Hogwarts, and Ron clumsily tries to justify this, in spite of underage wizards not being allowed to use magic. This gets them into terrible trouble.

* AloneWithThePsycho: Harry sees an unconscious Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets, and tries to rouse her. He then sees Tom Riddle, looking semi-solid. Harry stands and says they need to run, ''now'', before the basilisk comes. Tom reassures him that the basilisk won't come until it is called. Slowly, [[spoiler:it dawns on Harry that Tom is way too calm considering the circumstances; sure enough, Tom reveals that ''he'' is the Heir of Slytherin. Also known as Lord Voldemort. Oh, and he has Harry's wand]].

* BasiliskAndCockatrice: The Basilisk is a snake the size of several buses that uses the school plumbing system to get around. It attacks several times, but the instant-death gaze apparently needs to be direct: the victims escape death by seeing it through a ghost (the ghost was already dead), camera, mirror or reflected in a puddle. They get petrified instead.

* BringingBackProof: Professor Lockhart finds a shed piece of skin from the Basilisk, and announces that he's going to take part of it back to the school to corroborate his story about heroically slaying the beast -- after [[LaserGuidedAmnesia wiping the memories of the witnesses]], of course.

* BugsHeraldEvil: When looking for clues as to who attacked Mrs. Norris, one of the first things noticed by the Trio is that spiders are fleeing the scene en masse. This is later used to fuel speculation that an [[spoiler:Acromantula named Aragog]] is Slytherin's Monster, but it's actually [[spoiler:because the spiders can see all around and don't have eyelids, so they have no means of protecting themselves from the Basilisk's glare]].

** 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. According to Tom Riddle it was the same way when the Chamber was opened in the 1940s, [[spoiler:save Moaning Myrtle, that is]].
** Dobby's plan to seal the entrance to Platform 9¾ to keep Harry and Ron out and miss the train would have failed if (1) Harry and the Weasleys didn't arrive super-late, after all other students had already gone through, and (2) Molly didn't pick that one particular year to go through the barrier before Harry and Ron. If either of those rather unlikely events didn't happen, some other witch or wizard would have been on the main station floor to help them through, or stop the train.
** Ron only knows who Tom Riddle is because (1) he had to clean the trophy room as punishment for the flying car incident, (2) his wand was broken in said incident and resulted in the slug vomiting charm he attempted on Malfoy backfiring on him, and (3) the charm caused him to keep vomiting slugs on Riddle's award while he was cleaning it.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: An unintentional case. As punishment for flying the car to school, Ron has to clean the trophy room without magic, while Harry ... has to help [[SmallNameBigEgo Lockhart]] answer his fan mail. Cue roughly four hours of Harry being bored senseless by Lockhart's "advice" on being a celebrity.

* DeadlyGaze: The Basilisk can kill people who see its eyes. However, it doesn't kill anybody with it over the course of the novel, either because they didn't technically look it in the eye or because it was blinded.

** [[spoiler:Back in 1943, Tom Riddle sets the Basilisk upon several Muggle-born students, eventually causing Myrtle's death -- and only during his interview with Dippet does he realise that the school will close if the culprit isn't found (let alone if there are ''more'' deaths) and he'll have to go back to the Muggle orphanage he hates.]]

** Cornelius Fudge usually is easily swayed by Lucius Malfoy, however he quite vocally argues against him when he learns that Dumbledore is being dismissed from Hogwarts at the worst possible time.
** Gilderoy Lockhart thinks and acts as though he's magically superior than everyone else, but he never once claims or pretends to be more powerful than Dumbledore. He also shamelessly refuses to say Voldemort's name, even though it would make him appear even more impressive, implying that he fears the dark wizard and is unwilling to even pretend otherwise.
** Hermione realizes the threat of the monster of the Chamber of Secrets is so great that [[spoiler:the second she finds out what it is]], she ''rips a page'' out of a ''library book'' [[spoiler:just to make sure the information gets passed on to somebody should something happen to her before she can tell anyone. [[CrazyPrepared And that was a good call]], because that was exactly what happened.]]

* ExpositionParty: The night Harry rescues [[spoiler:Ginny]] from the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore arranges an impromptu feast in celebration, which everyone attends in their pyjamas. In what Harry describes as the most unusual Hogwarts feast he has been to, we learn that the petrified victims have been cured, Gryffindor wins the house cup, Hagrid is released from Azkaban, Lockhart is not returning as a professor the following year, and that the end of term exams are cancelled. Perhaps we should blame late-night exhaustion on why he couldn't decide whether [[SkewedPriorities one of his best friends being alive and well was better than exams being cancelled]].

** Salazar Slytherin could be seen as this given that he was the one who [[spoiler:bred and raised the basilisk in order to purge Hogwarts of muggle-borns.]] Ron also suggests that he dreamed up the idea of pureblood supremacy.

* IHaveThisFriend: Filch claims that the Kwikspell letter on his desk is for a friend so Harry doesn't guess that he has no magic.
* IJustWantToBeFree: Dobby, the House-Elf of the Malfoy family. His situation is so pitiful that even when the Malfoys ''aren't'' around, he inflicts punishments upon himself when he "misbehaves." [[spoiler:He's understandably ecstatic when Harry frees him at the end.]]

-->'''Ron:''' Let me at him... I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands!

* MotiveMisidentification: [[spoiler:While Tom certainly didn't ''mind'' using the Basilisk on Muggle-borns, he was more interested in trying to bait Harry so he could take revenge for what the latter did to his future self than in "purging the school."]]
* MuggleBornOfMages: This book introduces the concept of Squibs, people born into wizarding families but are unable to use magic. Filch is revealed to be one.
* MyNewGiftIsLame: Harry's Christmas presents from the Dursleys: a single toothpick and a a note "telling him to find out whether he'd be able to stay at Hogwarts for the summer vacation, too." He gets much better presents from his friends though.

* NearVillainVictory: Harry Potter is fatally wounded while stabbing the Basilisk, and due to effects of its venom has mere minutes to live. It seems as if Lord Voldemort has finally won, as he waits for Harry to die. The only thing the saves him is Fawkes, who heals Harry with phoenix tears.

** Ron says "Uh-oh..." very calmly when the Ford Anglia's engine gives in midair, shortly followed by a BigNo as they plummet towards the ground.

%%* The Only Volunteer: When discussing new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Gilderoy Lockhart and his displays of incompetence with Hagrid, Hermione defends him by saying Dumbledore wouldn't have hired Lockhart out of all the applicants if he felt Lockhart was unqualified. Hagrid informs her that Lockhart was the only applicant. - Unlaunched Trope

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Basilisk. Also the decoration of the Chamber of Secrets. Salazar must have been swapping design tips with [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} Jafar]].

-->'''Ron:''' Oh come on, no teacher is going to fall for that, they'd have to be really thick...

* WhamLine: Tom Riddle's [[TheReveal reveal]]. Turns out his full name ("Tom Marvolo Riddle"), [[SignificantAnagram can be rearranged]] to spell...
-->''[[spoiler: I AM [[ActuallyIAmHim LORD VOLDEMORT.]]]]''

-->'''Last line of chapter nine:''' "Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that," said Ron. "They'd have to be really thick..."\\