Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 2 Summary.
Dobby’s Arrival
Chapter 2 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, titled “Dobby’s Arrival”, deals with Harry’s discussion with Dobby the House Elf, a magical creature who is trying to protect him from a looming threat at Hogwarts.
Dobby the House Elf
Sitting on his bed, Harry Potter meets Dobby, a house elf with distinctive large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes. Harry is immensely startled at the sight but somehow manages not to scream. He recognizes that it had been Dobby’s eyes he had seen at the hedge, staring at him.
Dobby seems to revere Harry and expresses his long-held desire to meet the young wizard, whom he admires so deeply. Dobby’s worn and tattered appearance, clad in what resembles an old pillowcase, starkly contrasts with his vibrant personality and the seriousness of his mission.
As Harry greets Dobby nervously, he can hear the distinct voices of the Dursleys welcoming the Masons downstairs.
Dobby’s Warning
Harry asks Dobby the reason for his visit. As Dobby struggles to find words, Harry offers him a seat at his bed, which results in Dobby getting overly emotional. As Dobby wails uncontrollably, Harry asks if he somehow offended Dobby, which only results in more tears.
Being asked to sit and being treated like an equal is a gesture of kindness that the house elf is unaccustomed to receiving. Sobbing hard, Dobby tells Harry the same.
As Dobby continues crying, Harry tries to calm him down, terrified that the Dursleys might hear him and punish Harry. He suggests that perhaps Dobby has not met enough decent wizards, to which Dobby agrees.
Almost instantly, however, the elf springs up and starts banging his head at the window as punishment for speaking ill about the family he serves.
Dobby’s Explanation
Dobby reveals that as a house elf, he is destined to serve his family for life; until they release him. Whenever he does something that he is not supposed to do, he is required to physically punish himself. Saddened to hear his fate, Harry asks if he can offer any help. To this, Dobby starts wailing again and sings of Harry’s goodness.
After calming down for a second time, Dobby tells Harry that he must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He hints at a sinister plot taking shape within the walls of Hogwarts, but is constrained by his loyalty to his masters from divulging too much. Harry tries to get more information, and in response Dobby starts banging his head against the wall.
Harry suggests that as long as there is Hogwarts has Dumbledore, no evil can harm him. However, Dobby seems to doubt this. He almost speaks ill of his family again, and starts beating himself up again.
The loud noises resulting from Dobby’s emotional outburst and subsequent self-punishments draw the ire of Uncle Vernon, who storms up to Harry’s room to investigate the commotion. In a frantic attempt to conceal Dobby’s presence, Harry quickly hides the elf inside his wardrobe. Vernon yells at Harry for ruining his favourite golfer joke with all the rukus, and threatens him with dire consequences if he cannot keep it down.
After Vernon leaves, Dobby reveals that he has been intercepting letters from Harry’s friends, hoping that feeling isolated would discourage Harry from wanting to return to Hogwarts. Dobby’s actions are driven by his desperate attempt to protect Harry from impending dangers at school, though his methods are misguided.
The Pudding Incident
Dobby asks Harry to promise that he will not return to Hogwarts, to which the latter refuses. In response, Dobby causes Aunt Petunia’s masterpiece of a pudding to levitate and crash. With this, Dobby disappears, leaving behind the loud sound of a cracking whip.
The ensuing chaos is blamed on Harry, who is promised a deadly beating by Uncle Vernon and handed a mop to clean up. Uncle Vernon still has hopes for bagging the deal, when a large barn owl swoops in inside the house with a letter from the Ministry of Magic.
It drops the letter on Mrs Mason’s head, who is scared to death of birds. She runs away screaming, and an offended Mr Mason follows her, considering it to be some kind of a prank by the Dursleys.
The Aftermath
Uncle Vernon reads the letter, and with a scary glint in his eye hands it to Harry. The letter reveals that the Ministry has mistaken Dobby’s magic to be Harry’s. It reads that it is illegal for Harry to be using magic, and if found guilty once more, it would lead to his expulsion from Hogwarts.
Now that he knows Harry cannot use magic against him, Uncle Vernon confines him to his room and forbids him to ever return to Hogwarts. A cat-flap is attached to his door for food and steel bars are welded into his windows. He is given a minimal quantity of cold food, barely enough to survive, three times a day which he shares with Hedwig. Harry is not allowed to leave his room apart from using the toilet, and the Dursleys don’t seem to be showing any mercy.
Three days later, Harry has lost all hope. He tries to sleep, struggling with his thoughts and nightmares, when he hears a rattling. He opens his eyes to see Ron Weasley outside his window.
The chapter ends on a cliffhanger, with Harry going through a multitude of emotions at once. He is struggling with his mental health, having recurring nightmares and trouble living with his thoughts, but there is a ray of hope now, in the form of his best friend who has perhaps come to check on him.
