Book Description :-
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second instalment in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. During Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry a series of messages on the walls on the school's corridors warn that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened and that the "heir of Slytherin" will kill all pupils whose parents are not both magical. These threats are followed by attacks which leave residents of the school petrified. Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron, and Hermione investigate the attacks, and Harry is confronted by Lord Voldemort in an attempt to regain full power.
The book was published in the UK on 2 July 1998 by Bloomsbury and in the US on 2 June 1999 by Scholastic Inc. Although Rowling found it difficult to finish the book, it won high praise from critics and awards from critics, young readers and the book industry, although some critics thought the story was perhaps too frightening for younger children. Some religious authorities have condemned its use of magical themes, while others have praised its emphasis on self-sacrifice and on the way in which a person's character is the result of the person's choices.
Commentators noted that personal identity is a strong theme, highlighted in Harry's questions about himself and in the concealment of idenity by Tom Riddle and by the vain, dishonest and cowardly celebrity Gilderoy Lockhart. Opposition to racism is exemplified by Harry's considerate treatment of various non-magical, non-human and non-living characters. Some commentators regard the diary as a warning against uncritical acceptance of information from sources whose motives and reliability cannot be checked. Harry and Ron show little regard for rules, and Dumbledore endorses their actions because thay saved the school. Institutional authority is portrayed as self-serving and incompetent.
