Chamber of secrets

One of my strongest memories from seeing The Chamber of Secrets was the scene near the end in the chamber itself. This dark chamber, partly flooded and Harry walking between the towering pillars and walls with carved figures towards the statue of Salazar Slytherin at the far end. Here’s a discussion on how it has been represented in LEGO.

The history of the Chamber of Secrets

As Harry reached the statue of Slytherin, we learned a basilisk resided within its mouth.

But where did it come from? Who is better to explain the chamber than the History of Magic teacher Professor Bimms himself:

“The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic.”

– Professor Binns

I really hope he’ll be made as minifigure one day along with a bunch of sleeping students.

The Chamber of Secrets in official Lego sets

Being the center of the second book/movie, it is natural that it has featured in some of the LEGO Harry Potter sets released over time.

Most prominently, it was the featured in one of the larger 2002 sets: Chamber of Secrets (set 4730). This was an amazing set in many ways, covering the entry from the toilet, a huge chamber of secret, and moulded models of the basilisk and the phoenix Fawkes.

The set also had a great minifig selection including the only minifig of Tom Riddle ever released (before he became Voldemort), and the rather rare Ginny Weasley (till 2010, this was the only version available of Ginny) and Professor Lockhart (the only other version came the the Dueling Club set also from 2002). Harry Potter and Ron Weasley complete the selection.

Being from the yellow face era, the figures could use a refresh with flesh coloured faces, and the more detailed printing we have become used to in more recent years.

After the 2002 set, the Chamber of secrets didn’t feature in any sets for many, many years. But with the rebirth of the Harry Potter sets in 2018, we saw a comeback of the Chamber of Secret in two different sets.

Most underwhelming was the inclusion of a brick-built basilisk and the phoenix Fawkes in the 2018 Hogwarts Great Hall (set 75954). Compared to the moulded counterparts from 16 years earlier, they didn’t seem like any progress at all.

Much more impressive was the full chamber of secrets in the microscale Hogwarts (set 71043) showing (the scale considered) in great detail the basilisk crawling out of the mouth of the statue of Salazar Slytherin, with big stone sculptures of snakes along the walls.

And the Chamber itself was not the only reference. It also included the round door with the snake head locks.

And lastly, it had the message written on the wall with blood after Mrs Norris (the cat) as the first became petrified.

With the 2019 Harry Potter sets covering years 3-4, it’s unlikely we’ll see more sets covering the Chamber of Secrets in the near term (though I have a hope a new CMF series or a figure pack at some point will be released and give us flesh coloured characters of Lockhart and Tom Riddle).

So we’ll have to build our own.

The Chamber of Secrets in Blockwarts

The prominence in my memory shows in the number of scenes included in the large Hogwarts castle I built last year (which was name Blockwarts).

It has the petrified Mrs Norris hanging from a torch holder on the wall, in front of the door to the 2nd floor bathroom blocked due to broken plumbing.

From the bathroom, under the sink, is a slide down to the underground level where the Chamber of Secret is.

While Ron is stuck with Professor Lockhart, Harry is trying to rescue Ginny from Tom Riddle. Luckily Fawkes has arrived with the Sorting hat.

But wait, there is more…

Recently I built a smaller MOC featuring Harry on his way through the tunnels coming to the door with the snake head locking mechanism.

It’s a bit dark down there, so Harry cast the lumos spell. The effect is through use of a micro LED at the tip of the wand. I still need to perfect the photography with all the contrast that light gives.

The door is the main star here though and has been inspired by this MOC. I hope to be able to integrate it into the large Hogwarts display at some point.

Now, I better get back to reviewing some of the new Harry Potter sets.

Till then, build the magic!