chapter six of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

On the first day of classes, Ron gets a Howler, Harry has some awkward run-ins with Lockhart and Colin Creevey, and second years study Mandrakes in Herbology. Then, in Lockhart’s first class, he unleashes a cage full of pixies, and leaves Harry, Ron, and Hermione to deal with them.
 

“You’d better open it, Ron,” said Neville in a timid whisper. “It’ll be worse if you don’t. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and” – he gulped – “it was horrible.”

(by Alicey)

 

Professor Sprout was a squat little witch who wore a patched hat over her flyaway hair; there was usually a large amount of earth on her clothes and her fingernails would have made Aunt Petunia faint.

(by Laurence Peguy)

 

Professor Sprout had made it look extremely easy, but it wasn’t. The Mandrakes didn’t like coming out of the earth, but didn’t seem to want to go back into it either.

(by Amanda Grazini)

 

Harry spent ten whole minutes trying to squash a particularly fat one into a pot.

(by Sheena Kristen Sy)

 

“D’you think – would it be all right if – can I have a picture? … So I can prove I’ve met you. I know all about you. Everyone’s told me….”

(by Laura Freeman)

 

“Yes,” he said dramatically. “Freshly caught Cornish pixies.”

(by NicoPony)

 

It was pandemonium.

(by Sheena Kristen Sy)

 

“Rubbish,” said Hermione. “You’ve read his books – look at all those amazing things he’s done -”

(by Laura Freeman)

 

about the chapter

Somet Things You May Not Have Noticed

We almost never see wizards use keys to unlock doors in everyday situations. It will come up from time to time – Harry and Ron lock a troll in the girl’s bathroom with a key; Moody’s trunk opens with keys, and a key is needed to gain access to a Gringotts vault – but in terms of an everyday unlocking of a door, the only instance we’ll ever see is Sprout using one to unlock Greenhouse Three in this chapter. When you think about it though, it kind of makes sense – none of the classrooms have the type of dangerous (or practical-joke worthy) things in them that this advanced greenhouse has, so maybe this is the one room in Hogwarts that has to be made completely spell-proof to keep students out. Come to think of it, how does Snape lock the door to his office, where he keeps all his most powerful potions?
 

I love that Hermione sits and reads Voyages With Vampires right before Lockhart’s class, even though she’s certainly read the book already. She’ll do a lot of little things like this that Harry and Ron totally miss, but that indicate just how much she’s thinking of her obsession with Lockhart.
 

The Wizarding World

Pixies are famous in the wizarding world for wreaking havoc, and for playing jokes on people (like Neville) by picking them up and dropping them in high places. That, however, is pretty much the extent of their danger, and they are certainly not “Dark” creatures. It really says a lot more about Lockhart than it does about pixies that he brings them to class, especially when he proves unable to handle them. One class in it’s very, very clear that this guy is completely inept.
 

The Power of Magic

By the way, just how inept is Lockhart? Well, take a close look at the spell he tries on the pixies, and say it out loud to get the meaning: Peskipiksi Pesternomi! In other words, it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Latin-rooted words that are the foundation of every spell in the wizarding world. He probably invented the spell himself, and it’s no better than something a very young child would easily be able to concoct. Goodness.
 

Something to Remember

So as it’s becoming clear very quickly that Lockhart hasn’t got a clue, it’s worth asking: where did the stories in his books come from, exactly?
 

The Final Word

“I have only once set out to depict somebody I have met and, unlikely though it might seem, the result was Gilderoy Lockhart. I assure you that the person on whom Gilderoy was modelled was even more objectionable than his fictional counterpart…. 

You might think it was mean of me to depict him as Gilderoy, but you can rest assured he will never, ever guess.”–J.K. Rowling, www.jkrowling.com