Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)

"Something Evil Has Returned to Hogwarts!"

- Official tagline

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a British-American fantasy film based on the second novel by J.K. Rowling, released on 15 November, 2002. It was directed by Chris Columbus, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. In addition, the film itself starred Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh, John Cleese, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Richard Griffiths, Richard Harris, Jason Isaacs, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Bonnie Wright, David Bradley, Tom Felton, Sean Biggerstaff, Robert Hardy, Shirley Henderson, Gemma Jones, Miriam Margolyes and Mark Williams.

Plot
In 1992, shortly after the end of his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during the first film, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) spends a dreadful summer with the Dursleys' house without receiving any letters from his new friends, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). He finds out the reason why on the evening his twelfth birthday (July 31), when he is visited in his room and warned that he will be in mortal danger if he returns to Hogwarts by a house-elf named Dobby, who reveals that he intercepted all of the letters to make it seem as though his friends had forgotten him, hoping that it will then dissuade Harry from returning. But Harry ignores the warning and is determined to seize the letters, so Dobby, seeing that he will have to use force, heads downstairs and destroys a large cake that Aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw) has baked for an important dinner party which Uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths) is holding downstairs for the family of his client Mr. Mason by the use of a Hover Charm, dropping it on Mrs. Mason's head. Robbed of this one chance that will be the turning point of his career as an employee at the drill company Grunnings, Vernon imprisons Harry by fitting bars onto his bedroom window restrict from returning to Hogwarts for his second year as punishment.

Three nights later, Ron and his older brothers Fred and George (James and Oliver Phelps), come to Harry's rescue in an enchanted Ford Anglia belonging to their father, Head of the Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office Arthur Weasley (Mark Williams). After a pleasant stay together in the Weasley home, the Burrow, Harry accompanies the family on a trip through the Floo Network to buy some first year school supplies for Ron's younger sister Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) in Diagon Alley, where they encounter Hermione and Hogwarts half-giant gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) while attending a book signing at Flourish and Blott's for flamboyant celebrity author Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh), who is recently appointed to teach at Hogwarts as the school's new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. After the signing, the trio run into their school rival Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) and his father, chief Hogwarts governor Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), who manages to slip a diary into Ginny's belongings while arguing with Mr. Weasley about the latter's recent Muggle Protection Act for the Ministry. The trio and Weasley children head to Platform 9¾ at King's Cross to take the Hogwarts Express back to school, but when Dobby seals the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 on Harry and Ron, the two boys instead fly to Hogwarts in the Ford Angela, which runs out of fuel for its Invisibility mode when it catches up to the train (allowing the "flying car" to bee seen by numerous Muggles) and crashes into the Whomping Willow on the school grounds. Ron's wand is damaged and the semi-sentient car ejects them with their belongings before disappearing into the Forbidden Forest. School caretaker Argus Filch (David Bradley) brings them before Potions Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), who shows them them the sightings of the car on the Evening Prophet and threatens to have them expelled. However, famed Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris) and his Deputy Headmisstress, Transfiguration Professor Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith) intervene by deciding that they will instead be sanctioned with detention.

Harry soon finds he is the unwanted center of attention of three people due to being admirer Colin Creevey (Hugh Mitchell), and, who fancies Harry. However, while serving detention with Lockhart on Halloween, events take a turn for the worse when Harry hears strange voices and later finds the petrified body of Filch's cat, Mrs Norris hanging on a torch clamp. On the wall near it is a message written in blood announcing that the "Chamber of Secrets has been opened" and that enemies of the heir should take extreme caution. Unknown to everyone, a monster/monstrous creature stalks the castle, with the power literally to petrify several students. During a transfiguration class, McGonagall explains that according to legend, one of the school's founders, Salazar Slytherin built a secret Chamber and sheltered a monster in it before leaving the school for good. Only his heir can open the chamber and use the monster to purge impure-blooded wizards and witches whom Salazar deemed unworthy to study magic.

More attacks occur over the course of the year. Harry and Ron suspect Malloy is the Heir, so Hermione suggests they question him while disguised using polyjuice potion. Their makeshift laboratory is in a disused bathroom haunted the spirit of a former Hogwarts student named Myrtle Warren (Shirley Henderson), whom the school community addresses as "Moaning Myrtle".

During the duelling lesson hosted by Snape and Lockhart, Malfoy conjures a cobra which menaces at a Hufflepuff student named Justin Finch Fletchley. Harry manages to control the snake by inadvertently revealing his ability to speak a serpent language known as Parseltongue before Snape vanishes the carnivorous reptile. This causes the school to suspect that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin. Unknowingly, Harry managed to gain the rare ability on the night Voldemort failed to kill him when the former was still an infant.

On Christmas, the trio use Polyjuice Potion brewed by Hermione to disguise themselves as Slytherin students, Crabbe (Jamie Waylett) and Goyle (Josh Herman) and Millicent Bulstrode, hoping to learn from Malfoy the identity of the Heir. Unfortunately, the hair that Hermione took from Millicent Bulstrode's uniform was from a cat, and as the Polyjuice Potion is only intended for human transformations, she assumes a feline appearance, leaving Harry and Ron to ask information by themselves. At the Slytherin common room, they they learn that Malfoy does not know who the Heir of Slytherin is, but he inadvertently provides Harry and Ron with an important clue about the Chamber of Secrets that his father told him; a girl died when the Chamber was last opened fifty years ago. As the potion begins to wear off, the duo discover Hermione's feline appearance and that it would take a little more than a month to restore her to normal human form.

Before Hermione is released from the hospital wing in early February with her normal appearance restored, Harry finds an enchanted diary, owned by a former student named Tom Marvolo Riddle, which shows him a flashback to the year 1943, exactly fifty years before. In the flashback, Harry witnesses four wizard authorities carry away Myrtle Warren's corpse from Hogwarts and Riddle, trying to find the problem, accused Hagrid, then a student, of opening the Chamber and freeing the alleged resident monster, a giant spider named Aragog. Riddle's actions caused Hagrid's expulsion later on.

The attacks increase throughout the year, petrifying more students, including Hermione. When the diary disappears and Harry and Ron are shown by McGonagall the petrified body of Hermione, Harry and Ron go to Hagrid to question him. But before they can do, Professor Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and Lucius Malfoy come to take Hagrid to Azkaban, but he discreetly tells the boys to "follow the spiders" and take care of his pet dog Fang. Lucius then has Dumbledore suspended. In the Forbidden Forest, Harry and Ron, accompanied by Fang meet Aragog, a giant spider who reveals Hagrid's innocence and informs them that the dead girl was found in a bathroom. After revealing to them that he and his species know the resident monster but never speak of it, Aragog then sets his colony of Acromantula on the boys, but the now-wild Ford Anglia saves them.

A torn book page in Hermione's hand identifies the resident monster as a basilisk, a giant serpent that instantly kills those who make direct eye contact with it and only petrifies those who see it indirectly. After the teachers discover a new message written on a wall declaring that Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber, where "her skeleton will lie forever", they convince Lockhart to save her. Harry and Ron find Lockhart, exposed as a fraud who wipes clean other wizards' memories and claims their achievements, planning to flee. Knowing Myrtle was the girl the Basilisk killed, they drag him to her bathroom where they discover the Chamber's entrance behind a circular column of sinks, a pipe big enough for a man to crawl through.

The trio jump through the hole and land in a series of cavernous maze-like crypts and dungeons. Following the tunnels, they find a shed basilisk skin wherein Lockhart feigns a collapse to seize Ron's broken wand and use it to erase Harry and Ron's memories. But as Lockhart casts the memory-erasing spell, it backfires on to himself, wiping his memory. The force of the spell also causes a portion of the ceiling to cave-in, separating Harry from Ron and Lockhart.

Harry ventures further to the tunnels and finds a circular door which is the entrance to the Chamber itself. He enters Chamber where he finds an unconscious Ginny. As Harry tries to examine the body, he is greeted by the ghostly memory of the sixteen-year old Tom Riddle. After Riddle reveals to Harry that he is the memory preserved in the diary, he adds that he manipulated Ginny to open the Chamber and write the bloody messages on the walls, and how the diary traumatised her in February wherein she disposed it.

Riddle then reveals his full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, and the anagram he fashions out of it which reveals "I am Lord Voldemort". At this point Harry learns that Voldemort's real name was that of Riddle himself and was the true heir of Slytherin. Riddle reveals more on how he imprinted his 16-year old self as memory in an enchanted diary, in order to one day continue the failed work of his ancestor which he began when he opened the Chamber fifty years ago, ridding Hogwarts of impure-blooded witches and wizards. He also adds on how he framed Hagrid for the attacks and how he would make his new pseudonym a feared name in the wizarding community and how he would replace Dumbledore as the greatest sorcerer. After Harry expresses support for both Dumbledore and Hagrid, Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, flies in with the Sorting Hat.

In an attempt to kill Harry, he unleashes the basilisk from the statue of Salazar Slytherin himself, but Fawkes, arrives and blinds the basilisk, destroying its fatal gaze. After a short chase and Harry's diversion, Harry returns to re-examine Ginny. Tom Riddle's memory grows more powerful as it steals life from Ginny's body.

The basilisk emerges from the pool of the chamber and while Harry tries to find other means of fighting, the sword of Godric Gryffindor materialises from the Sorting Hat. Climbing the statue of Salazar Slytherin, he duels with the basilisk and manages to kill the monstrous creature by impaling the roof of its mouth with the sword. However, one of the creature's fangs pierces Harry's sword arm as a result of the latter's killing move. Harry manages to remove the fang as he and Riddle watch the basilisk slam dead to the chamber's floor. As Harry is slowly being poisoned, he uses his remaining energy to stab the diary with the the basilisk's fang, and the memory of Tom Riddle is destroyed, while Ginny revives from her near-death state. As Harry advises Ginny to get out of the Chamber with Ron, Fawkes comes to heal Harry with his tears, which have healing powers. Ginny and Harry both recover fully, along with those who were petrified: Hermione, Mrs Norris, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Nearly Headless Nick (John Cleese), and Colin Creevey.

The next morning, Harry realises it was Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), Draco Malfoy's father, who slipped the diary into Ginny's cauldron when he encountered the Weasleys in a Diagon Alley bookshop, but he is unable to prove it. Dobby reveals he is the Malfoys' servant, and knowing their treachery, had been trying to protect Harry all year. In gratitude, Harry sticks one of his old socks into the diary and hands it to Lucius. Lucius gives the diary to Dobby, who finds the sock hidden in its pages. This constitutes, in Dobby's eyes, a gift of clothing the traditional manner in which a master frees a house-elf from servitude. The freed Dobby declares he is eternally grateful to Harry and protects him from an attempted reprisal from Lucius. The word "Avada" is used as the beginning of Lucius Malfoy's curse, suggesting that it is the Avada Kedavra curse (the killing curse).

Dumbledore dispels Harry's fears that he could have been put into Slytherin rather than into Gryffindor when he tells Harry that it is his choices that define him and not his abilities, and that Harry could not have wielded the sword of Gryffindor if he did not truly belong to that house. At the end of the year feast, everyone who was petrified is revived, including Hermione who is finally reunited with Harry and Ron, Dumbledore announces that all the exams have been cancelled and Hagrid is released from Azkaban and received loud cheers and applause from everyone, except a couple of Slytherins, (not all of them, though) and somehow Snape.

The trio

 * Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
 * Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
 * Emma Watson as Hermione Granger 

Hogwarts staff

 * Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore
 * Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall
 * Alan Rickman as Severus Snape
 * Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
 * Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart
 * Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick
 * Miriam Margoyles as Pomona Sprout
 * Lia Alu as Wizard teacher
 * Gemma Jones as Poppy Pomfrey
 * Sally Mortemore as Irma Pince
 * David Bradley as Argus Filch

Other Hogwarts denizens

 * Leslie Phillips as the voice of The Sorting Hat
 * Peter Taylor as Man in Portrait
 * Daisy Bates as Brunette Lady in Portrait
 * David Tysall as Count in Portrait
 * Violet Columbus as Girl With Flowers

Order of the Phoenix

 * Julie Walters as Molly Weasley
 * Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley

Lord Voldemort, His Death Eaters and Followers

 * Christian Coulson as Tom Marvolo Riddle (Lord Voldemort)
 * Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy

Gryffindor

 * Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley
 * Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
 * Hugh Mitchell as Colin Creevey
 * James Phelps as Fred Weasley
 * Oliver Phelps as George Weasley
 * Chris Rankin as Percy Weasley
 * Sean Biggerstaff as Oliver Wood
 * Rochelle Douglas as Alicia Spinnet
 * Danielle Tabor as Angelina Johnson
 * Alfred Enoch as Dean Thomas
 * Devon Murray as Seamus Finnigan
 * Emily Dale as Katie Bell
 * Kathleen Cauley as Lavender Brown
 * Luke Youngblood as Lee Jordan
 * Victoria Goddard as Gryffindor student
 * Jessica Foden as Gryffindor student / Prefect

Hufflepuff

 * Louis Doyle as Ernie Macmillan
 * Charlotte Skeoch as Hannah Abbott
 * Edward Randell as Justin Finch-Fletchley
 * Eleanor Columbus as Susan Bones

Ravenclaw

 * Gemma Padley as Penelope Clearwater

Slytherin

 * Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
 * Jamie Waylett as Vincent Crabbe
 * Josh Herdman as Gregory Goyle
 * Helen Stuart as Millicent Bulstrode
 * Jamie Yeates as Marcus Flint
 * Scot Fearn as Adrian Pucey
 * David Holmes as Slytherin Beater 1
 * David Massam as Slytherin Beater 2
 * Tony Christian as Slytherin Beater 3
 * David Churchyard as Slytherin Keeper
 * Samantha Brown as Slytherin student
 * Katherine Nicholson as Pansy Parkinson

Unknown house

 * Brendan Columbus as Boy in Study Hall 1
 * Robert Ayres as Boy in Study Hall 2
 * Amy Puglia as a student
 * Christina Petrou as First Year student
 * Emma Georgia Murphy as school girl
 * Amie Kirby as student

Ministry of Magic

 * Robert Hardy as Cornelius Fudge

Wizarding World related

 * Ben Borowiecki as Angus (Diagon Alley Boy)
 * Isabella Columbus as Book-store Girl
 * Peter O'Farrell as Bozo the Daily Prophet Photographer
 * Christopher O'Shea as Extra
 * Pamela Kempthorne as Knockturn Alley Witch
 * Jenny Tarren as Knockturn Alley Witch
 * Terence Mcauley as Knockturn Alley Wizard
 * Salo Gardner as Knockturn Alley Wizard
 * Edward Tudor-Pole as Mr Borgin
 * Les Bubb as Reader
 * Sean Cronin as Wizard
 * Antonia Frampton as Extra
 * Fenetta Agyemang-Norman as Extra
 * Jess Smith as Extra
 * Alice Bowmaker as Extra
 * Anthony Lee as Continuity Artist
 * Charlotte Willis as Extra
 * Jade Prince as Extra
 * Richenda Crookes as Diagon Alley Witch

Ghosts, spectres, photos or flashback performance

 * Adrian Rawlins as James Potter
 * Geraldine Somerville as Lily Potter
 * Martin Bayfield as Young Rubeus Hagrid
 * Alfred Burke as Armando Dippet
 * John Cleese as Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington
 * Shirley Henderson as Myrtle Warren
 * Nina Young as The Grey Lady

Muggles

 * Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley
 * Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley
 * Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley
 * Jim Norton as Mr Mason
 * Veronica Clifford as Mrs Mason
 * Tom Knight as Mr Granger
 * Heather Bleasdale as Mrs Granger
 * Harry Taylor as King's Cross Station Guard

Magic creatures

 * Toby Jones as the voice of Dobby the House Elf
 * Julian Glover as the voice of Aragog

Animals

 * Hugo, Bully, Bella, Luigi and Vito as Fang
 * Gizmo, Ook, Kasper, Oops, Oh Oh, Swoops, Elmo, Bandit and Sprout as Hedwig
 * Maximus, Alanis and Cornilus as Mrs Norris
 * Dex and 11 Unknown rats as Scabbers
 * Zeus and Unknown owls as Errol

1. The Worst Birthday

 * The book begins in the morning of Harry's birthday. The film begins in the evening of the day the Masons' visit, omitting Dobby in the hedges and additional quarrels between Harry and the Dursleys. However Vernon does say that Harry is not thankful; Vernon says they cared for Harry since he was a baby, gave him their good food, and giving him Dudley's extra bedroom because they were so merciful.
 * On a related note, the film implies that the Dursleys' giving Harry Dudley's old bedroom occurred after his first year of Hogwarts, when he actually was given the bedroom right before Harry's new schoolyear in the previous book, in an attempt to dissuade the acceptance letters to Hogwarts addressed to Harry.
 * The scene where Harry is banned by the Dursleys from saying the word 'magic' is not in the film.

2. Dobby's Warning

 * In the book, when Harry enters his room, Dobby sits on his bed quietly. In the film, Dobby is jumping on his bed and laughing.
 * Dobby does not mention that Voldemort, or a possible brother could be a suspect, as in the book version.
 * In the books, whenever Dobby disapparates, the usual loud crack is heard. But in the films, Dobby appears and disappears quietly, however it differs from film to film how he does it. In this film he fades, like if the wind took him.
 * The film shows Dobby levitating the cake into the sitting room and dropping it on top of Mrs Mason. In the book, however, the pudding dropped by Dobby in the kitchen, causing it to explode all over Harry, not Mrs Mason. Also in the film. Mr Mason tastes the cake, using a finger.
 * While the reason in the film for the Masons' departure was due to the cake dropping on Mrs Mason, in the book it was due to Mrs Mason's fear of birds when an owl sent by the Ministry of Magic arrived at the Dursleys in regards to the illegal use of the Hover Charm that was performed.
 * A scene is cut where the Ministry sends a letter to reprimand Harry for violating the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, which informed the Dursleys of this rule. This explains in the following film how Vernon Dursley already knew that Harry is not allowed to perform magic outside of school. Since this scene was not included in this film, it caused a continuity error with the future films.
 * In the book, Uncle Vernon tells a man to fit the bars on Harry's window, but in the film, Uncle Vernon fits the bars on Harry's window himself.
 * Harry's nightmare of himself being in a zoo cage is omitted.

3. The Burrow

 * In the film, Ron wishes Harry a happy birthday when they fly away from 4 Privet Drive. Ron doesn't say this in the book as Harry's birthday was the same day the Masons visited. It should be mentioned that in the film the Weasleys gets Harry out the same evening, while in the book they saved him from the Dursleys early in the morning, next day.
 * In the book, the Dursleys were woken up by Hedwig's screech. In the film, they're woken up by the noise of the bars falling into the grass.
 * In the book, Harry's trunk is locked in the cupboard under the stairs and Fred and George sneak in the house and pick the lock of both Harry's room and the cupboard. In the film, Harry's trunk is in his room and Fred and George don't sneak in the house.
 * In the book, Harry forgets Hedwig, but he gets to her just in time. In the film, Harry doesn't forget anything.
 * When Harry was escaping from the Dursleys, the book states that all of the Dursleys tried to prevent him from escaping, only to end up hanging from the window. The film depicts only Uncle Vernon trying to prevent him from escaping, which results in him falling out of the window and landing into a bush. The fall of Vernon from the window was a comic effect created to make the scene more comedic.
 * In the Flying Ford Anglia the Weasley brothers suggest that Dobby could be an untrustworthy servant of the Malfoys. This is omitted from the film.
 * In the book, when Harry arrives at the Weasleys' home, Mrs Weasley makes her sons "de-gnome" the garden. This scene is omitted from the film.

4. Flourish and Blotts

 * The scene where Harry listens to Lucius and Draco Malfoy's business with Borgin is cut. It is included in the deleted scenes section of the DVD. (An alternate version of the same scene, where Harry is caught by Borgin was also filmed and included on the DVD.) In this scene Lucius almost hits Draco two times with his walking stick when telling him not to touch anything. This could be meant in reference to the cursed necklace.
 * In the book, Mr Weasley repairs Harry's glasses in Diagon Alley, but in the film, Hermione repairs them and the knowledge of her using under-age magic is unnoticed. Though it is revealed in one of the following books that the Ministry of Magic only knows where there is used magic and not who it is that is using magic. (This explains why Harry is believed to be the one to perform the levitating spell on the pudding though it is Dobby. Also this could explain why Hermione didn't get a letter on the Hogwarts Express in the previous film; too many students and pre-students, plus two adults.)
 * The part where Arthur Weasley fights with Lucius Malfoy in Flourish and Blotts is omitted. Instead, they only exchange tense words. Lucius also mentions that he will "see you [Arthur] at work", implying that he works at the Ministry of Magic in the film. On a related note, Lucius only subtly puts the diary into Ginny's cauldron after looking at and mocking her hand-me-down textbook in the film. In the original, he gives the book back to her after fighting her father, the diary stealthily included in it, after the fight.
 * When they meet in Diagon Alley, Hermione chides Lucius Malfoy for not using Voldemort's name. (In the first two films, Hermione shows no fear of the name Voldemort, speaking it without difficulty in the first film) In the books, Hermione never uses the name Voldemort until the fifth novel, and even then it requires courage. The films have a bit of a continuity issue on this point as the fifth film shows her getting the courage to say "Voldemort".
 * Arthur Weasley asks Harry about escalators in the book, but in the film, he asks about rubber duckies.

5. The Whomping Willow

 * Harry and Ron get to Hogwarts with almost no problem in the book, whereas in the film they nearly get hit by the Hogwarts Express, and Harry nearly falls out of the car.
 * In the film, Argus Filch finds Harry and Ron and takes them to Professor Snape's office, but in the book, Snape himself finds Harry and Ron and takes them to his office.
 * In a deleted scene that follows this scene Harry finds a letter about a Kwikspell course addressed to Filch and hands it over. In the book Harry finds this letter in Filch's office.
 * In the book, Ron and Harry eat sandwiches in Snape's office after being caught by Snape. Ron wants to know which house Ginny was placed in and Professor McGonagall tells him she's a Gryffindor. This scene is not in the film, but Ron does find out about Ginny being in Gryffindor from his mother's howler.

6. Gilderoy Lockhart

 * In the book, Mrs Weasley's howler to Ron is much lengthier and mentions Harry in it. In the film the howler message is much shorter and Harry is never mentioned, instead a part of the howler was directed to Ginny. Also in the book, there is no mention of howlers folding themselves into a pair of lips.
 * Howler bursts into flames in the book but rips itself into shreds in the film, with a grrr-sound.
 * Lockhart's scene with Professor Sprout before the first Herbology lesson of the year, in which he implied that he knew more about caring for Whomping Willows than she did, is not shown.
 * The scenes in which Lockhart lectures Harry for giving out autographs (due to Colin's actual request in the book) and makes him late for Herbology, are not seen in the film.
 * Defence Against the Dark Arts shows both Hufflepuffs (Justin Finch-Fletchley and Susan Bones, for example) and Slytherins (Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle) in the same class as the Gryffindors.
 * Second-year Gryffindors have Herbology only with the Hufflepuffs in the book, but also with the Slytherins in the film.
 * When the Pixies are loose in Lockhart's class, there are several differences that occur:
 * In the novel, several pixies shoot straight through the window, shower the back row with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging rhino, grab ink bottles and spray the class with them, shred books and papers, tear pictures from the walls, up end the waste basket, grab bags and books and throw them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks and Neville was swinging from the iron chandelier in the ceiling, half the students hide under desks, then the bell rings and everyone leaves. In the film, the chaos consists of book throwing, book page tearing and Neville hung onto the chandelier. Also, in the film, no one hides under the desks and everyone leaves on their own accord to save themselves from the Pixies.
 * The Pixies throw Lockhart's wand out the window in the book. In the film, this does not happen and instead, one of the Pixies snatches Lockhart's wand and breaks off the dragon skeleton hanging from the ceiling.
 * Also, in the film, there is an added moment when the Pixies steal a portrait of Lockhart and he tries to get it back, but fails.
 * In the novel, Lockhart hides under his desk, but in the film, he doesn't. Also Neville falls from the chandelier in the book and misses Lockhart. In the film, Neville remains hanging from the chandelier.
 * In the novel, Harry, Ron and Hermione are almost at the door but Lockhart stops them and asks them to try and nip the rest of them back into their cage, but in the film, the trio just remain a distance from the door and try to stop them until Hermione immobilises all the Pixies.
 * In the film, Lockhart runs into his office, while in the book, he ran through a door, but it is not specified which door it is.
 * In the novel Hermione freezes several pixies and then sends them back to their cage. In the film, she paralyses all the Pixies and sends none of them back into their cage.
 * Ernie Macmillan's role is diminished to a non-speaking part. The part where he and Hannah Abbott talk in the library about their theory of Harry wanting to attack Justin Finch-Fletchley was cut, but appears on the deleted scenes, however in the Study Hall. Also, Ernie is the one who blames Harry for attacking Justin when he is discovered, petrified, but in the film, Argus Filch finds Harry and wants to expel him. In the book, it was Peeves who found him, and sung his funny song.
 * As with the previous film and all of the following ones, the character of Peeves is omitted completely.
 * During the first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Lockhart refers to the Bandon Banshee as male rather than female.
 * The scene where Lockhart gives out a test is omitted in the film. It is included as a deleted scene on the DVD of the film.

7. Mudbloods and Murmurs

 * In the book, Hermione has never heard the term "Mudblood" before, and Ron later explained the definition to her and Harry. In the film, she is aware of the term and is deeply hurt, even seen trying not to cry, and explains what it means to Harry, though Hagrid defines its origin for Harry and says exactly what Ron says in the book. Ron only responds to it with only two words, as he is in the middle of throwing up slugs.

8. The Deathday Party

 * Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party does not appear in the movie, other than in concept art. Because of this, Harry encounters the petrified Mrs Norris on his way back from spending hours of detention with Gilderoy Lockhart instead. Harry also meets Ron and Hermione just before finding Mrs Norris in the film, while in the book they were with Harry the entire time.

9. The Writing on the Wall

 * In the book, Harry, Ron and Hermione are interrogated by the teachers in Gilderoy Lockhart's office. The film moves the interrogation to the corridor where the attack happened.
 * Mention of Filch being a Squib is omitted. However, very oddly, the term is mentioned in the Danish version of the subtitles; calling him Mr Squib, although with the Danish term.
 * Mention of Ron's detention and the fact that he recognised Tom Riddle's name from an award he received for special services to the school, was cut, but appears on the deleted scenes.
 * In the film, Hermione claims that the message on the wall is written in blood. The book, however, states that message is simply written in red paint.
 * Because of the scene with Harry first hearing the Basilisk being moved to during his detention session with Gilderoy Lockhart instead of while heading back from the Deathday Party for Nearly-Headless Nick, the teachers' interrogation of Harry, Ron and Hermione was altered:
 * Snape is not supporting Filch's claims just like in the book where he does in order to punish Harry. The film depicts him announcing to the teachers that the trio were simply present at the wrong place at the wrong time, implying that he may have been vouching for Harry's innocence.
 * Snape also views Harry in particular as a suspect due to the latter's absence during dinner before Lockhart admits causing Harry's absence; unintentionally having Harry stay beyond the intended time period for detention. Hermione explains to the teachers of both her and Ron's absence after they noticed that Harry was missing and they tried to search for him. Harry was about to mention about hearing the basilisk's voice before trailing off, but then feigns of replying that he wasn't hungry and adds that they found Mrs. Norris while on the way to the common room.

10. The Rogue Bludger

 * In the book, to borrow the Moste Potente Potions book from the library, which had the recipe for the Polyjuice Potion, Hermione had to get a note from Gilderoy Lockhart (which he signed without looking at) because it was in the restricted section. In the film, the scene was omitted, and the book was in the regular section of the library.
 * In the film, the match takes place in sunlight; in the book, the majority of it takes place in rainy weather.
 * In the book, Draco does not notice the Snitch at all, due to having been insulting Harry at the time and Harry quickly catches the Snitch before Malfoy could realise it, but in the film, he sees it just after Harry does, and just after ducking to prevent being hit by a Bludger, and it leads to both of them chasing after the snitch for a few seconds before Harry catches it first. Also in the film, they chase the Snitch in between the Quidditch Stands.
 * During the match in both book and film, Slytherin had taken the lead of Gryffindor of throwing the Quaffle through the hoops, but they had different scores: In the book, the final score was 60-0, but in the film, the score is 90-30, in which Gryffindor would then receive 150 points because Gryffindor won the match.
 * In the film, while Malfoy was dodging the Bludger, he tilted his broom too low, the tip of his broom hits a beam, causing him to catapult off his broom, and land on the grass, doing a full split. He was still moaning in agonising pain at the Hospital Wing when Madam Pomfrey tells him not to make such a fuss.
 * In a deleted scene from the film Harry tries to avoid being hit by a Bludger by flying in the Slytherin tribune. This does not happen in the book.
 * Lucius Malfoy is seen in the audience observing the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch Match in the film. This is not mentioned in the book.
 * In the book Fred and George attempt to protect Harry from the rogue bludger, and later place it back in its case while restraining it. In the film, Hermione destroys the rogue bludger with Finite Incantatem after the game, effectively damaging a piece of Hogwarts property.
 * In the book, Harry's arm is injured by the Rogue Bludger, before he charges at Malfoy, but after spotting the Snitch, due to a moment of hesitation. In the film it occurs after the added incident in which Malfoy has crashed off his broom. Additionally Hagrid is present when Lockhart removes the bones from Harry's injured arm when attempting to heal the broken bones, whereas he wasn't in the book.
 * In the film, Filch supports Slytherin, being seen standing in a crowd of Slytherin spectators just like the first film, whereas is the books, it is never specified if he takes sides.
 * In the book, when Harry is in the hospital wing following the Quidditch match, Ron, Hermione and Madam Pomfrey are the only people there when he takes the Skele-Gro, the rest of the team come in later and Madam Pomfrey shouts at them to leave. In the film however, the entire team plus Ron and Hermione come with him, and Madam Pomfrey tells them to clear her way.

11. The Duelling Club

 * The scene in which Harry, Ron, and Hermione cause a disturbance in Potions class to steal ingredients from Professor Snape was omitted. This caused a continuity error for where Snape accused Harry of brewing Polyjuice Potion by stealing its ingredients "again." Possible explanations could be that it happened off-screen, or that Snape just came to the conclusion that Harry did it. Also, because Barty Crouch Jr was stealing Snape's ingredients to brew Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Alastor Moody in the fourth film, it is possible that Snape mistakenly thought Harry was stealing the ingredients earlier in his fourth year and was warning him not to do so in what Snape falsely perceived to be a second time.
 * In the Duelling Club scene, Harry and Draco are the only combatants participating, while in the novel, other classmates in their year are shown participating along with them, such as Hermione, Millicent Bulstrode, Ron, Seamus, Neville, and Justin Finch-Fletchley.
 * Also in the Duelling Club sequence, when Harry speaks Parseltongue, in the book, the reader knows what he says immediately, as is the case when Harry speaks with the snake at the zoo in the film version of Philosopher's Stone. In the film, it's only hissing sounds until Harry explains what he said to Ron and Hermione. Other uses of the language later in the film are left untranslated, but most likely are the same as the book's translations. Also the games explains what he says.
 * A line that Snape spoke in the book "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells", was changed to "Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest spells" after Professor Lockhart chose Ron and Harry to demonstrate the Disarming Charm (in the book, Snape spoke instead about Neville Longbottom). The film also changed the line "We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox" to "We'll be sending what's left of Potter up to the hospital wing in a matchbox" as Justin Finch-Fletchley did not duel during the scene, either.
 * Also in the Duelling Club scene, Rictusempra was used like a Stunning Spell which caused Malfoy to be thrown up in a back flip. In the book, Rictusempra was described to give its receiver an uncontrollable tickling sensation. Tarantallegra, a jinx used to force someone to dance wildly and involuntarily, was also not used in the film. In addition, attacking with a Serpensortia spell was Malfoy's own choice, whereas in the novel, Snape was the one who gave him that idea. Everte Statum was also not mentioned in the book but was used in the film.
 * In a deleted scene after the Duelling Club, Harry was talking to Hedwig in a mountainous area away from the castle saying "Who am I, Hedwig? What am I?".

12. The Polyjuice Potion

 * In the book, when Harry asks the Sorting Hat whether it put him in the right House, he does it with the hat on his head. In the film, he merely stands before it.
 * The Polyjuice Potion in the book changes colours as the hair is added. In the film, it does not change colours at all.
 * The scene in the Great Hall during the Christmas Feast, Hermione simply says that she got Millicent Bulstrode's hair off her robes. The novel, however, depicts her and Millicent in the Duelling club where Millicent is head-locking Hermione, and she happens to find black hair on her robes.
 * The scene where Harry and Ron hide Crabbe and Goyle in a broom cupboard is omitted (the scene was filmed and included in the deleted scenes section, though). Due to this omission Crabbe and Goyle are dazed and confused when Harry and Ron run past them after their transformation has worn off instead of pounding while still in the cupboard.
 * In the novel, the potion is in one of the stalls and when the trio prepares to drink from their separate glasses, they each go into a different stall and drink. In the film, the potion is in one of the sinks and the trio drink beside that same sink and only Ron and Hermione run into cubicles when they feel they're gonna be sick (not said in the book) while Harry remains at the sink and watches himself transform.
 * In the book, Harry feels his insides start writhing as though he’d just swallowed live snakes—doubled up, then a burning sensation spreads rapidly from his stomach to the very ends of his fingers and toes—next, bringing him gasping to all fours, then comes a horrible melting feeling, as the skin all over his body bubbles like hot wax—and before his eyes, his hands began to grow, the fingers thickened, the nails broadened, the knuckles were bulging like bolts—his shoulders stretched painfully and a prickling on his forehead told him that hair was creeping down toward his eyebrows—his robes ripped as his chest expanded like a barrel bursting its hoops—his feet were agony in shoes four sizes too small. In the film, Harry watches his hands bubbling and then looks into the sink's mirror and watches his face bubbling then turning into Goyle's face.
 * The effects of the Polyjuice Potion differ from book to film. In the film, Harry and Ron's voices don't change when they become Crabbe and Goyle, forcing them to imitate these voices. This was presumably done to avoid confusing the audience because of the change in appearance which would be the standard for the use of the potion in both of the Deathly Hollows films.
 * This causes a continuity error with Barty Crouch Jr's usage of the Polyjuice Potion in as his voice does change when he becomes Moody, though this can be considered as an exception as his identity was kept secret until the end of the film.
 * In the book, Harry's vision changes and he takes his glasses off after using the Polyjuice Potion, but in the film, his vision apparently does not change, and only takes the glasses off when Draco questions Harry (here disguised as Goyle) wearing them.
 * This could also create a continuity error in the film adaptation of the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when Hermione, Ron, and others take the potion to transform into Harry, and Hermione remarks that Harry's eyesight is really bad.
 * During the Slytherin Common Room scene, there are some parts of the book which are omitted from the film, like:
 * Draco showing Goyle/Harry and Crabbe/Ron the Daily Prophet article about Arthur Weasley's inquiry at the Ministry of Magic about having been fined for having an enchanted Muggle car is omitted.
 * Draco does not mention Dumbledore's love of Muggle-borns (but it's obvious that Dumbledore still loved them). Also, due to this omission, Draco does not make the rude mimicking act of Colin Creevey wanting Harry's autograph.
 * There is no mention of Azkaban prison in this scene because Harry did not ask Draco whether he knew if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught. Instead, it is first mentioned by Hagrid in the scene where Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge come to Hagrid's hut.
 * In the film, when Draco mentions that "you'd never know" the Weasleys were pure-bloods the way they behave along with an added line that was not mentioned in the book&mdash;"They're an embarrassment to the wizarding world. All of them."&mdash;Ron makes a fist and looks furious, but in the book, Ron's face is just contorted with fury and there is no fist.
 * In the book, Ron and Harry realise they're turning back to normal when Harry sees Ron's hair turning red and his nose lengthening and they run. In the film, they realise when Ron sees Harry's scar reappearing (which didn't happen in the book) and Harry seeing Ron's hair growing red again and whispering "Scar" (Ron) and "Hair" (Harry).
 * There is a scene added in which Draco finds a small package and after shaking it once, asks Goyle/Harry if it's his (Harry's), Harry shakes his head and Draco puts the package in his school robe pocket, then a few seconds before Harry and Ron realise that they're about to turn back to their normal selves, Draco unwraps the package and after Harry's scar reappears and Ron's hair starts turning back to red, Draco is seen to having a small silver object in his hand, but it does not fully appear since it was in Draco's hand. The package was not included in the book.

13. The Very Secret Diary

 * The part where Hermione gets a get well soon card from Gilderoy Lockhart is omitted, but included in the original script.
 * In the book, Professor Binns explains to the class about the Chamber of Secrets during a History of Magic class. The film and game versions make a different depiction; the former has Minerva McGonagall explaining it during a Transfiguration class while the latter has Professor Flitwick explaining it during a Charms lesson. Professor Binns is omitted in both the film and game adoptions.
 * The Valentine's Day breakfast in the Great Hall which was arranged by Professor Lockhart is omitted.
 * The scene when Harry gets his Valentine and Draco Malfoy tries to steal Tom Riddle's diary in which Harry disarms him and Percy scolds Harry for using magic in the corridors is omitted.
 * In the book, the ink is scarlet. In the film, the ink is black.
 * In the book, Tom Riddle's diary displays his first and middle names as initials. In the film, Tom Riddle's full first and last names are shown on the diary.
 * In the book, when Harry gets sucked into the diary to 50 years before, he enters through the Headmaster's office where Professor Dippet was reading a letter from Tom Riddle. In the film, he enters below the Grand Staircase where Tom Riddle was standing, shortly before a younger Dumbledore appears to talk to him.
 * In the film, a scene is added in which Harry and Tom Riddle see Myrtle's dead body (unknown to Harry) wrapped up in a sheet with her right arm sticking out and being carried away by several unidentified wizards. This event did not occur in the novel.
 * In the book, Armando Dippet is the one to talks to Tom Riddle about Hogwarts closing. In the film, Dumbledore talks to Tom while Dippet appears only a brief second then turns his back and does not speak to Tom. Although, in the book, after Tom's meeting with Dippet, he finds Dumbledore who asks Tom why he's wandering around late and then tells him to hurry off to bed because it's not safe to roam the corridors these days.
 * In the book, while Harry is in the memory inside the diary and he sees Tom Riddle with Rubeus Hagrid, Tom calls him "Rubeus", but in the film, he calls him Hagrid instead, like everybody else.

14. Cornelius Fudge

 * In the book when McGonagall is cancelling the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch match, she is doing this with a large megaphone while out on the field to send the message much to the dismay of Oliver Wood and the audience. In the film however, she simply informs the Gryffindor team just as they were heading out to the field, and Wood is much less aggressive about it than in the book.
 * Ginny's attempt to confide her secret to Ron and Harry is omitted, although a scene where Ginny sees Harry with the diary was initially featured in the script.
 * Almost all foreshadowing hints about Ginny acting strangely or emotionally are omitted. However, in the film, the scene in which McGonagall informs the Gryffindors of the possible closing of the school reveals a close-up of Ginny appearing uneasy as if it's her fault.
 * Possible Explanation: Though Ginny did seem uneasy as if it is her fault, in the book she is "bullied" into taking a dose of Pepperup Potion by Percy. In the film this is omitted, along with the fact that she didn't even notice Harry in the book, while in the film she had said "Mummy, have you seen my jumper?", and Mrs Weasley responded with "Yes dear, it was on the cat." Then, when Ginny sees Harry, he says "Hello" and she turns and hurries off.
 * Penelope Clearwater's role as a Basilisk victim is omitted from the film.
 * The book mentioned that "the crowing of the rooster is fatal to the Basilisk" which led Hagrid's roosters to be killed since the Heir of Slytherin didn't want one near the castle. This was not mentioned in the film, although Hagrid was seen holding one of his dead roosters when bursting into Dumbledore's office in an attempt to defend Harry from being expelled before realising Dumbledore doesn't even think Harry's at fault for what had happened with Mrs Norris, Colin Creevey, and Nearly-Headless Nick. A deleted scene shows Harry finding Hagrid holding the rooster. Hagrid explains his thought about a Blood-Sucking Bugbear, and that he is going to ask Dumbledore for permission to cast a protecting charm.

15. Aragog

 * In the book, after Hagrid mentions that if they were looking for answers, all they'd have to do was follow the spiders, Harry and Ron didn't see any spiders until one day in Herbology when Harry points them out to Ron. They noticed the path the spiders were taking, which was right into the Forbidden Forest, and didn't follow them until everyone had gone to sleep in their dormitory. In the film, right after Hagrid is taken away by the Minister, Harry and Ron see spiders crawling along Hagrid's window and follow them into the Forbidden Forest.
 * In the book, Ron (reluctantly) and Harry looked around for spiders and then when entering the forest, Ron is brave. In the film, Ron is completely scared and reluctant to go into the forest and follow spiders.
 * In the film, Ron asks why they have to follow spiders and why it could not be "Follow the butterflies". This dialogue did not appear in the book.
 * In the book, Harry, Ron and Fang are taken by the spiders to Aragog's lair but in the film they make their own way there. Also, they never see the Ford Anglia before arriving at Aragog's lair; hence their looks of surprise in the film when it crashes through the spiders to rescue them, although a deleted scene shows them finding the car before they meet Aragog.
 * Also, in the deleted scene where Harry and Ron find the Ford Anglia, Harry tells Ron they don't want to lose the trail of spiders, but in the book, they lose the trail and try to find them before being dragged to Aragog's lair.
 * In the film, Mosag, Aragog's mate, is not mentioned.

16. The Chamber of Secrets

 * In the book, when McGonagall and the other teachers volunteer Lockhart to fight the Basilisk, the teachers are collected in the Staffroom with Harry and Ron hiding in the wardrobe. In the film, the teachers are gathered in front of the daubed message on the wall stating Ginny's capture with Harry and Ron hiding behind a corner. Also, in the book the teachers' comments after Lockhart has left them make it clear that they know he is incapable and were simply getting him out of the way. These comments are left out from the film, but it's still highly unlikely the plan was ever genuine and unlike in the book, the second message is seen on-screen in the film.
 * In the book, when Harry and Ron realise that Lockhart is a fraud, they subdue him by performing a Disarming Charm and throwing his wand out of the window. In the film, Lockhart drops his wand in a manner of defeat, when Harry and Ron point theirs at his face.
 * Also, the book has Gilderoy Lockhart citing some specific examples of individuals that he not only stole credit for their deeds from, but also wiped memories from as insurance. The film does not actually list any specific examples of his victims.
 * In the film, just before Harry and Ron jump into the giant pipe leading to the Chamber of Secrets upon opening it, Moaning Myrtle offers to let Harry share the toilet she lives in should he die in the chamber. She only alludes to this offer in the book after Harry, Ron, Ginny, and a recently-amnesiac Gilderoy Lockhart leave the chamber, where she expressed some implied disappointment in the fact that Harry survived.
 * In the book, it says that the snake who had shed the skin must have been at least twenty feet long. In the movie, Ron remarks that the creature must have been at least sixty feet long.
 * In the book, Harry walks for a longer period through the tunnel to find the Chamber after being separated from Ron and Lockhart, but in the film, the tunnel was only one small room and had the entrance to the Chamber right before Harry, Ron and Lockhart. Although, before they enter the room, there is another passage seen on the opposite side.
 * In the book, the entrance to the Chamber where Ginny was consisted of a solid wall on which two entwined serpents are carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds and when Harry speaks Parseltongue to open the entrance, the serpents part as the wall cracks open and the halves slide smoothly out of sight. In the film, the entrance consisted of a circular door with 7 snakes on it that were on the edge of the door and when Harry speaks Parseltongue to open the entrance, an eighth snake appears from the cylinder bit where the snakes are held and goes all around the door and whenever it approaches each snake's head, the snake's head backs away and allowing the door to be opened.

17. The Heir of Slytherin

 * In the film, Harry, shortly after Riddle rearranged his name to unveil his true identity as Lord Voldemort, explicitly states the latter's the Heir of Slytherin. Harry does not do so in the book, though it was nonetheless made very clear what Riddle/Voldemort's connection to the Heir of Slytherin was.
 * In the film, the Basilisk is seen chasing Harry all around the Chamber of Secrets whereas in the book, Harry's fight against the Basilisk occurs quickly and neatly. In the book, Harry never climbs up the statue nor does he go into the statue.
 * In addition, Tom Riddle's reaction throughout the fight in the film was significantly calmer compared to the book. In the film, outside of yelling "No!" in shock and stating that the Basilisk can still use its other senses (see below), he does not react in any way to the Basilisk missing Harry. In the book, Tom Riddle is repeatedly yelling at the Basilisk to smell Harry when it is repeatedly missing Harry in their fight.
 * The film also has Riddle claiming that Harry Potter's parseltongue abilities are of no use against the Basilisk, as it was specifically trained to only obey him, something that was not in the book (and which conflicted with the revelation later on that Harry Potter was one of Voldemort's horcruxes).
 * The Chamber has a different depiction
 * The statue at the end of the Chamber of Secrets is a full body statue of Salazar Slytherin, while in the film it is only a large statue of Slytherin's head and shoulders. Rowling later reveals in Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey, that the Chamber is flooded centuries after its creation and the rest of the statue below his head is submerged beneath the water. This also explains why the Basilisk was seen emerging from the water near the statue when Harry attempts to wake the nearly-dead Ginny.
 * In the book, pillars hold up the ceiling of the Chamber of Secrets. In the film, there is nothing to hold the ceiling up (although two pairs of pillars do appear in the game version; and in the film, there were two lines of giant statues of snakes' heads where the pillars were in the book). It is also possible that the original Chamber hall is submerged along with the pillars and that the snake head statues are the remainders of the pillars.
 * In the book, after Fawkes had punctured the Basilisk's eyes, Riddle stated that it can still smell Harry. In the film, Riddle stated that it can hear him.
 * In the book, Fawkes uses his tears to heal Harry while Riddle is still alive, but in the film Fawkes does not use his tears to heal Harry until after Riddle's destruction, as such Ginny wakes up and sees the dying Harry.
 * In the book, in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry puts on the Sorting Hat and shouts at it for help. The sword then comes out and hits him on the head, nearly knocking him out. In the film, the sword just all of a sudden materialises in the hat when it's just lying on the ground, and Harry takes it.
 * In the book, Harry Potter only destroyed the diary with the basilisk fang after he was healed by Fawkes. In the film adaptation, Harry destroyed the diary with the fang before he was healed.
 * In addition, the book only mentioned that Riddle's memory writhed and then faded away after the diary was destroyed, while in the film, it was shown that Riddle's memory's chest cavity ripped open with light, then destroying his eyes and causing damage to his face, before eventually causing gaping holes throughout his body upon exploding.
 * Lastly, Harry Potter only stabbed the diary once in the book, while in the film, he stabbed the diary three times, two being in two different sections of the book, and the last from the outside.
 * A Star Wars reference is included in the scene where the diary is destroyed. During the first and second stabs, as light bursts out from Riddle, the sound of an igniting lightsaber is heard.
 * The film has Ginny reacting in a significantly calmer manner when awakening shortly after Tom Riddle's memory was destroyed than in the book. In the latter, in addition to admitting her unwilling role in the disaster, Ginny clearly was breaking down from the entire ordeal. Similarly, because of the switching around of Fawkes healing Harry and the destruction of the diary (see above), Ginny also notices that Harry was injured, something that was not the case in the book.
 * In the novel, when Harry and Ginny find Ron and Lockhart, Lockhart (having lost his memory) says 'Hello', that the chamber is an odd sort of place and asks if the three live there to which Ron answers 'No'. In the film, this occurs before Harry enters the Chamber and finds Ginny and Lockhart having just caused the tunnel to collapse; He says 'Hello', asks Ron who he is to which he replies "Um... Ron Weasley." and Lockhart responds "Really? And who am I?" then Ron says to Harry through the gap hole of the rocks that Lockhart's Memory Charm backfired and that he hasn't got a clue who he is. Then Lockhart picks up a stone, gives it a short throw then asks Ron if he lives in the Chamber (and also gives the stone to Ron) to which Ron replies "No." and Lockhart replies "Really?" and then Ron does something he never did in the book: He hits the stone on the top of the left side of Lockhart's head and he falls back down (presumably unconscious).
 * The departure from the Chamber is depicted differently in the film and the book by the end of the characters' journey with Fawkes. The books states that the journey ends in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom in the morning, where the entrance seals shut again, and they head to McGonagall's office. The film shows that the characters are carried by Fawkes to a cave entrance in a cliff wherein a full moon gleams and they land onto the grounds of Hogwarts, then head to Dumbledore's office. The landing at the Hogwarts grounds and heading to the headmaster's office is done offscreen.

18. Dobby's Reward

 * In the film, when Lucius arrives at Dumbledore's office and Harry notices Dobby, he is shown realising that Dobby's masters were the Malfoys and thus explained why he was hesitant to reveal anything directly or his self-inflicted punishments, with Lucius then giving a veiled threat to the house elf in response. This did not happen in the book (largely because Dobby had already been speculated to be part of the Malfoy family much earlier in the book).
 * In the book, Harry's conversation with Dumbledore after the defeat of the basilisk is set in McGonagall's office, and Arthur, Molly, and McGonagall are present at the start of the scene. In the film, the scene is set in Dumbledore's office instead, and Arthur, Molly, and McGonagall do not appear.
 * In the book, Harry accused Lucius of deliberately supplying the diary to Ginny Weasley at Diagon Alley while they were still in Dumbledore's office and Lucius is meeting with Dumbledore, with Dumbledore also giving a veiled threat to Lucius in response to this as well as his forcing the board of directors to fire Dumbledore. In the film, Harry's accusation occurs after Lucius leaves, and Dumbledore, while still implicitly warning Lucius about his actions with the diary, is not notified by Harry about Lucius's action with the diary.
 * In the film, Lucius Malfoy's sarcastic statement about Harry and Harry's response was improv from the actors.
 * In the book, to free Dobby, Harry puts the diary in his sock and had Lucius Malfoy throw it so Dobby would catch it after he removed the diary, but in the film Harry puts his sock in the diary and had Lucius give the diary with the sock to Dobby unknowingly instead.
 * In the book, just after Dobby was freed, Malfoy raises his wand threateningly at Harry, before Dobby tells him to leave. In the film, it sounds like Lucius Malfoy starts saying "Avada Kedavra" before Dobby blasts him backwards across the hall (the spell was the result of an ad-lib by Jason Issacs).
 * In the book, Lucius Malfoy says to Harry, "Someday you'll meet the same sticky end as your parents. They were meddlesome fools too." In the film, he said, "Your parents were meddlesome fools, too. Mark my words, Potter - one day soon, you're going to meet the same, sticky end."
 * During the dinner scene, the scene where Gryffindor wins the House cup again is cut, though it is nonetheless implied.
 * Hermione originally hugged both Harry and Ron in the book upon revealing that she had been cured. In the film, she only hugs Harry, and just gives a hesitant handshake to Ron (note, this was the result of Emma Watson being hesitant to hug both Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint in public view, with her hugging Radcliffe during filming having to be frozen for a few seconds to get the desired effect due to Watson breaking the hug too quickly). This also unintentionally foreshadowed her and Ron's hesitant blossoming feelings for each other in the succeeding films.
 * In addition, Hagrid's arrival has him apologising for his lateness, explaining his release from Azkaban was delayed due to the letter requesting his release getting lost, and proceeding to blame a bird named Errol for it getting lost, causing Ron to give a slightly embarrassed look. This was not present in the book.

Character Omissions

 * Peeves
 * Patrick Delaney-Podmore
 * Fat Friar
 * Grey Lady
 * Bloody Baron
 * Wailing Widow
 * Portly ghost
 * Headless Hunt
 * Deathday Party ghost attendees
 * Cuthbert Binns
 * Mr Borgin
 * Rolanda Hooch
 * Valentine's Dwarves
 * Pansy Parkinson

Mistakes

 * When Dobby first sees Harry, there is a red flag and an orange flag behind him (Dobby). You can see that the orange flag is missing a thumb tack. When Harry tells Dobby that he's not supposed to be there, the thumb tack is there.
 * In Borgin & Burkes, the Hand of Glory is wrapped around Harry's hand. In the next shot, it is wrapped around his wrist.
 * In Borgin & Burkes, while Harry is looking at the jar of skulls, there is nothing next to the jar, In the next shot, an iron stand appears out of nowhere.
 * When Lockhart is saying "it's 27th week atop the Daily Prophet Bestseller List..." the camera scrolls up to Malfoy. You can clearly see Tom Felton's tape mark marking where he is supposed to place his feet.
 * While Harry and Ron are crashing into Platform 9 3/4, Hedwig is obviously just a stuffed owl.
 * Right after Harry and Ron crash into the platform, Ron's suitcase has three brown lines. Five shots later, it has two lines.
 * After they get beaten up by the Whomping Willow, you can see a hole in Ron's suitcase and it is a perfect circular.
 * When Ron takes the Howler out of Errol's beak, the envelope is open. He is then seen opening it.
 * The pixies are green-screen so they had to use binder clips to stretch out Neville's ears to make the scene where the pixies drag Neville up and hang him on the chandelier. After the pixies let go, Neville's ears stay stretched.
 * When Madam Pomfrey sets the bottle of Skele-Gro down, it is facing the camera but when Harry rubs his mouth after spitting it out, the bottle is facing the other way.
 * During the Duelling Club scene when Snape is about to pick Malfoy up, Tom and Alan's tape marks are visible.
 * While the car is being attacked by the Whomping Willow, a hand can be seen tipping over Hedwig's cage.
 * In the scene where Harry and Ron are about to be attacked by Aragog's family in the dark forest, the (formerly) flying car comes to save them. Harry, Ron, and Fang scramble to get in the car, and Fang gets in first, on the driver's side. A spider runs up to attack Harry, but Harry repels it with a spell. As it is running up to Harry, Fang can be seen entering the car a second time.
 * When Hermione presents her plan of using Polyjuice Potion to Harry and Ron, the text of the book she is reading from redundantly reads 'Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of an another.'
 * In the Duelling Club scene, after Harry hits Draco with "Rictusempra" and Draco hits the ground, when Snape pulls him up a crew member holding a camera is fully visible in the left corner. Also, a tape marker can be seen under Snape's feet (not seen in the picture).
 * When Harry gets bitten by the basilisk, his arm is seen next to the snake tooth. This is to avoid injury. His arm is seen at least 3 inches away from the tooth.
 * As Dobby's Bludger pursues Harry, he circles a stand decorated with the Slytherin Banner. It makes sense that Harry stops in the front of the stand, according to the last angle of the camera. The Bludger crashes and makes a hole in the front of the stand, but during the next shot, it shows the hole on the right side of the stand.
 * During one of the last scenes of the movie when Harry, Dumbledore and Lucius Malfoy are in Dumbledore's office, the original hair of Jason Issacs, who plays Lucius Malfoy, is visible at the back behind his wig.
 * When Hermione and Harry first arrive at Flourish and Blotts, Ginny is facing them, but in the very next shot Ginny is facing the other way.

Behind the scenes

 * An additional scene appears after the end credits, depicting Lockhart's newest book, Who Am I?. This is the only film to have a scene occur after the end credits, if you do not count the next instalment's small Nox spell by Harry that turns out the light.
 * This is the first film in the series to begin directly with the title. The second is The Order of the Phoenix.
 * This is the first film that has no lightning during the title. The second is The Prisoner of Azkaban, the third is The Goblet of Fire, and the last is The Order of the Phoenix.
 * This film is the second time a Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match is seen.
 * This film is the only time Draco Malfoy is seen playing Quidditch in the films due to Slytherin's matches against Gryffindor being omitted from the third and fifth films. Draco is shown playing Quidditch again in the attraction at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
 * If you listen closely, when Lucius attempts to curse Harry for freeing Dobby, he starts the "Avada-" portion of the Killing Curse, before being thrown back by Dobby's spell. According to Jason Issacs, he ad-libbed the line as the script never mentioned a specific curse he was supposed to use, so he had to use the first spell that came to his mind.
 * Similarly, Lucius kicking Dobby and then briefly shoving him down with his cane when about to leave had been improvised by Issacs, which initially caused Director Chris Columbus to think he tripped until Issacs explained his actions had been deliberate.
 * When Harry and Ron were hiding under the invisibility cloak in Hagrid's hut, Dumbledore appears to have seen them or at least suspected their presence as he was staring at them directly and he even stayed behind and looked at them and he told them indirectly that "help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it".
 * Before shooting the Basilisk scenes, Director Chris Columbus asked the advice of Steven Spielberg who had directed the Jurassic Park movies. Columbus wondered how best to film the scenes with the Basilisk (using CGI or a real mechanical beast). Spielberg said that the best result comes from combining the two, resulting into shots with a CGI Basilisk (the wide shots) and a mechanical one (for close ups) which Daniel Radcliffe could work with.
 * Chris Columbus also shot the scene with Harry climbing onto Salazar Slytherin's head as an homage to North by Northwest, a film by Alfred Hitchcock, in which the main characters climb onto one the heads of the famous Mount Rushmore.
 * This film and The Order of the Phoenix are the only two movies in the series to not be nominated for an Academy (Oscar) Award.
 * Last film appearance of Richard Harris, who played Professor Dumbledore in the first two Potter films before his death.
 * In the scene where Ron was vomiting slugs, Rupert Grint was actually using chocolate slugs.
 * In the scene where the rest of Gryffindor is applauding Harry and Hagrid, Crabbe is seen getting up to clap only for Malfoy to drag him down without looking up. This was in fact a gaffe made by Crabbe's actor, Jamie Waylett, forgetting he was supposed to avoid clapping when doing it, with Tom Felton subtly reminding him that he isn't supposed to do that without breaking character.
 * In the scene where Harry, while disguised as Goyle, had to cover his wearing glasses by claiming he was reading, Tom Felton ad-libbed the line "I didn't know you could read", as originally, he was supposed to stare at Harry suspiciously.

Home Video Release Dates

 * 03 February, 2003: United Kingdom (VHS/DVD)
 * 11 April 2003: United States, Canada (VHS/DVD)
 * 11 December 2007: United States (HD DVD/Blu-ray)
 * 8 December 2009: United States (DVD/Blu-ray Ultimate Edition)
 * 1 June 2011: United States (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy Combo Pack)
 * 7 September 2012: Wizard's Collection (Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet + "Creating the World of Harry Potter")

Videos


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Notes and references
Harry Potter und die Kammer des Schreckens (Film) Harry Potter y la Cámara de los Secretos (película) Harry Potter ja Saladuste kamber (film) Harry Potter et la Chambre des Secrets (film) Harry Potter e la Camera dei Segreti (film) ハリー・ポッターと秘密の部屋 (映画) Harry Potter og Mysteriekammeret (film) Harry Potter i Komnata Tajemnic (film) Гарри Поттер и Тайная комната (фильм)