Comprehension Questions – #2 Harry Potter and the

Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
by J.K. Rowling

Grades 5-8; Genre - Fantasy;

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

1. Find the simile on page five that the author used to describe how the
Dursleys treated Harry now that he’s back home with them again.  “back
to being treated like a dog that had rolled in something smelly”
2. How was Harry spending his birthday? Doing chores and in his room,
making no noise and pretending he doesn’t exist p.6
3. How did Dudley get Harry in trouble? He taunted him about not getting
any cards on his birthday and asked if he had any friends at his school p.9

Chapter 2

1. Describe Dobby and the message he gave to Harry. Small creature with

bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls, a house elf;
he warned Harry not to go back to Hogwarts because he’ll be in mortal
danger p.12
2. Why did Dobby come to warn him? Because Harry escaped Lord
Voldemort twice, Dobby thinks Harry’s too great and too good to lose p.16
3. What did Uncle Vernon do to punish Harry for ruining his deal and for not
telling them that he couldn’t use magic outside of school? Put bars on his
windows, locked him in his room, put food through a cat door, only let him
out in the morning and evening for the bathroom, and told Harry he was
never going back to school p.21

Chapter 3

1. How did Harry become free from his room and the Durleys? Ron and his
older twin brothers came to find out why Harry hadn’t written him all
summer and broke him out of his room, ripping the bars from his window
with their flying car p.25
2. Why did they think Draco Malfoy could have sent the house elf to Harry? It
wouldn’t surprise them if Draco wanted to stop Harry from going to school
p.28
 3. What softened Mrs. Weasley’s anger when the boys arrived home with
Harry? George told her the Dursleys were starving Harry p.34
4. How did the boys get rid of the gnomes? They twirled them in the air to
make them dizzy, then threw them over the wall p.37

Chapter 4

1. Who was the author of the majority of the books Harry needed to purchase
for his school year? Gilderoy Lockhart p.44
2. Where did Harry land when using the Floo powder and who did he see? In
a wizard’s shop on Knockturn Alley; Draco Malfoy and his father selling
illegal items p.49
3. Who did Harry see in Knockturn Alley? Hagrid p.54
4. Who’s the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at
Hogwarts? Gilderoy Lockhart p.60

Chapter 5

1. When Ron and Harry missed the train, how did they get to Hagwarts? Mr.
Weasley’s flying car p.69
2. What attacked the car after the boys crashed? The tree they hit into p.75
3. What is Ron’s and Harry’s consequence for being seen in the flying car and
crashing into the Whomping Willow? They had to miss the feast and
detention p.81
4. How did the other boys treat Ron and Harry after learning about the flying
car? They cheered them on like they’d just won a marathon p.84

Chapter 6

1. Explain what type of letter Ron received. It’s called a Howler and is a

punishment letter; when you open it, the messenger is yelling at you and
after the message is given, it burns up p.87
2. What did Colin and Harry have in common? They both came from muggle
homes and didn’t know how they could do the odd things they did.
Hogwarts sent a letter to them both inviting them to wizardry school p.96
3. What does Professor Lockhart think Harry’s doing when he arrives in a
flying car and learns Colin wants a photo with him? Thinks he’s trying to
publicize himself p.98
4. What did Ron and Harry think about Professor Lockhart as he ran out of
the room and left the three friends to take care of the pixies? That he
doesn’t know what he’s doing p.103

Chapter 7
 1. Why was Wood so determined to win the Quidditch Cup this
year? Because they lost it last year since Harry was in the hospital and
they were short a player p.109
2. Why did the kids go to Hagrid’s home? They needed help; because of
Ron’s broken wand, he accidentally cast a slug spell on himself p.113
3. Why were Hagrid’s pumpkins so large? He’d been putting an engorgement
spell on them p.118
4. What did Harry hear while in detention with Professor Lockhart and who
do you think said it? “Come…come to me…Let me rip you…Let me tear
you…Let me kill you…; listen to your child’s answers p.120

Chapter 8

1. Why was Harry in Mr. Filch’s office and what did he read while waiting for
Mr. Filch? He was in trouble for wearing his muddy and dripping wet robes
into the building; a letter on Kwikspell to learn magic p.126
2. Why does Hermione avoid the girls’ bathroom on the first floor? A ghost
named Moaning Myrtle haunts one of the toilets, throws tantrums and
causes the bathroom to flood p.132
3. What did the kids find as Harry listened to the voice and climbed the
stairs? Writing on the wall that said, “the Chamber of Secrets has been
opened, enemies of the heir, beware,” and Mrs. Norris, the cat, looking
dead, hanging by its tail p.138

Chapter 9

1. After analyzing the cat, what conclusion did Dumbledore come to? It’s not
dead, but is petrified p.142
2. Explain what a Squib is. It’s a person born into a wizarding family, but
they themselves don’t have any magic powers p.145
3. How did Professor Binns feel about the Chamber of Secrets? That it’s a
myth and that there’s no truth to it p.152
4. What’s Hermione’s idea of getting into Slytherin to question Draco
Malfoy? Use the Polyjuice Potion to change their appearance to look like
Draco’s friends p.159

Chapter 10

1. What was the problem with the Bludger during the Quidditch
match? Instead of going toward all players, it only went after Harry p.168
2. How did Harry win the game for Gryffindor? He got the snitch p.171
3. Who made the Bludger focus on Harry during the match and why? Dobby;
so Harry would get hurt and be sent home p.177
4. What happened to Colin Creevey? He was petrified on his way to visit
Harry p.179
Chapter 11

1. Why did the students trade talismans, amulets, and other protective
devices? To protect themselves from the creature in the Chamber of
Secrets p.185
2. What distraction did Harry cause to help Hermione sneak into Snape’s
office? Lit a firework to land in a cauldron; Snape had to help those that
got hurt p.187
3. What did Harry do to stop the snake from attacking Justin? Told the
snake to “leave him alone” p.194
4. What did Harry trip over in the dark passage? Justin and Nearly Headless
Nick who were both petrified p.202

Chapter 12

1. Why was Harry happy most people were leaving for the Christmas
holiday? He was tired of people skirting around him in the corridors and
from hearing their hissing, pointing, and muttering p.209
2. How were Ron and Harry supposed to get a bit of Crabbe and Goyle, as
well as keep them out of the way while they talked Malfoy? Hermione
filled two chocolate cakes with a sleeping potion p.213
3. What did the boys learn when they interrogated Malfoy? That Malfoy
didn’t do it and where his father’s hidden chamber was p.222
4. What happened to Hermione and why couldn’t she go with the boys to the
Slytherin common room? Her potion turned her into a cat p.225

Chapter 13

1. Why was Moaning Myrtle so upset when Harry and Ron came into talk to
her? Someone had thrown a book at her p.230
2. What was the book and who did it belong to? A journal; Tom M. Riddle
p.231
3. What was odd about the journal? There wasn’t any writing in it. When
Harry wrote in it, the ink disappeared, but reappeared onto the pages as
Tom wrote back to him p.239
4. What did Harry learn after following Tom Riddle in the book? That Tom
turned in Hagrid for opening the Chamber of Secrets 50 years before p.245

Chapter 14

1. Why doesn’t Harry want to report the stolen journal? He didn’t want to
expose Hagrid being expelled as a youth p.254
2. Why was Harry more worried about what the voice said this time? He was
worried someone would die p.255
3. Why was the Quidditch cup match cancelled? Two students had been
petrified, one of them being Hermione p.257
 4. What message did Dumbledore and Hagrid give the boys before they were
accompanied off the school property? That Hogwarts will help anyone
who comes asking for it; to follow the spiders and to feed Fang p.264

Chapter 15

1. What made Ernie apologize to Harry? He realized Harry would never hurt
Hermione p.268
2. Where did the spiders lead Harry and Ron? Into the Forbidden Forest,
p,272
3. What did Harry and Ron find in the forest that had been lost? Ron’s
family’s car p.274
4. What saved Harry, Ron and Fang after Aragog was finished talking to
them? Ron’s car p.279

Chapter 16

1. Why did Harry want to speak with Moaning Myrtle?  She might be the child
that was killed the first time the Chamber of Secrets was opened p.287
2. What did Harry see in Hermione’s hand? A paper torn out of an old book
about a basilisk p.290
3. Why do you think it was good that Harry and Ron found the paper before
going to talk to Moaning Myrtle? They now knew what the monster was
and how to get to it p.292
4. How did Harry get the sink to open? By saying “open up” in Parseltongue
p.300

Chapter 17

1. Who did Harry see in the Chamber of Secrets? Ginny and Tom Riddle who
is Lord Voldemort p.307
2. Who opened the Chamber of Secrets and how? Ginny Weasley; Tom Riddle
had her in his power p.310
3. How did Fawkes and the Sorting Hat help Harry defeat the basilisk and
Tom? The phoenix poked out the basilisk’s eyes, the Sorting Hat gave
Harry a sword to pierce the basilisk, the phoenix healed Harry with his
tears, Fawkes dropped the diary in Harry’s lap and healed Harry p.319
4. How did the children and Lockhart get back up to the bathroom? They all
held onto each other and Fawkes flew/lifted them p.325

Chapter 18

1. Why did the phoenix come to help Harry? He showed loyalty to

Dumbledore p.332
2. Why can Harry speak Parseltongue? Voldemort transferred some of his
own power into Harry the night he gave him the scar p.333
3. What did Harry do to show he belongs in the Gryffindor House? He chose
to be there and wielded the sword from Godric Gryffindor p.333
4. How did Harry free Dobby? Harry put the diary in his sock and gave it to
Lucius Malfoy, Malfoy threw the sock and Dobby caught it p.338