Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

How it opens

Harry Potter is back at number four, Privet Drive for the summer, with his wand and broomstick locked in the cupboard under the stairs and no letters from his friends all summer. On his twelfth birthday, while the Dursleys host a dinner party for a rich builder and his wife, a house-elf called Dobby appears in his bedroom and begs him not to go back to Hogwarts. When Harry refuses, Dobby sends Aunt Petunia's pudding crashing to the floor, and a letter from the Ministry of Magic warns Harry that more magic outside school could get him expelled. Uncle Vernon has bars fitted to Harry's window and keeps him locked in his room.

Who you meet early

• Harry PotterHarry Potter is a wizard fresh from his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, back with the Dursleys for the summer. He has heard nothing from Ron or Hermione and turns twelve with no cards and no presents.
• DobbyDobby is a house-elf who says he is bound to serve one wizard family forever. He comes to Harry's bedroom in secret, saying there is a plot at Hogwarts and Harry must not go back. He has also been holding back the letters Harry's friends sent.
• Ronald WeasleyRon Weasley is one of Harry's best friends from Hogwarts, but his letters have not reached Harry all summer. By moonlight he turns up outside Harry's barred bedroom window.
• Vernon DursleyVernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, has locked Harry's school things away and padlocked his owl, Hedwig, in her cage. He is counting on a dinner with a rich builder, Mr. Mason, to win a huge order for drills.
• Petunia DursleyPetunia Dursley is the sister of Harry's dead mother, and she and her husband brought him up. On the day of the dinner for the Masons, she sets Harry to work and tells him he will not eat until he has finished.
• Dudley DursleyDudley Dursley is Harry's cousin, the Dursleys' massive son. He mocks Harry for having no birthday cards, then runs to his mother in a panic when Harry shouts nonsense words at him.