Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapters 14–18

by J.K. Rowling
Harry can't wait to return for his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, until a house elf named Dobby warns him of terrible danger ahead. When students start turning to stone — and Harry is a prime suspect — the boy wizard must figure out what's really going on at Hogwarts.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–13, Chapters 14–18

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. raucous
    disturbing the public peace; loud and rough
    Peeves had finally got bored of his “Oh, Potter, you rotter” song, Ernie Macmillan asked Harry quite politely to pass a bucket of leaping toadstools in Herbology one day, and in March several of the Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three.
  2. strew
    spread by scattering
    The bedclothes had been pulled off his four-poster and the drawer had been pulled out of his bedside cabinet, the contents strewn over the mattress.
  3. irresolute
    uncertain how to act or proceed
    Harry stood, irresolute, trying to catch the voice again, but people were now emerging from the Great Hall behind him, talking loudly, exiting through the front doors on their way to the Quidditch pitch.
  4. tumultuous
    characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination
    The teams walked onto the field to tumultuous applause.
  5. swathe
    wrap in or as if in strips of cloth
    Mr. Lucius Malfoy strode into Hagrid’s hut, swathed in a long black traveling cloak, smiling a cold and satisfied smile.
  6. sentiment
    a personal belief or judgment
    “Admirable sentiments,” said Malfoy, bowing.
  7. successor
    a person who follows next in order
    “We shall all miss your—er—highly individual way of running things, Albus, and only hope that your successor will manage to prevent any—ah—killins.”
  8. hamper
    prevent the progress or free movement of
    Harry looked everywhere he went, helped (rather reluctantly) by Ron. They were hampered, of course, by the fact that they weren’t allowed to wander off on their own but had to move around the castle in a pack with the other Gryffindors.
  9. buoyant
    characterized by liveliness and lightheartedness
    Every other teacher in the place was looking grimmer than usual, but Lockhart appeared nothing short of buoyant.
  10. yearn
    desire strongly or persistently
    But Lockhart’s disgusting cheeriness, his hints that he had always thought Hagrid was no good, his confidence that the whole business was now at an end, irritated Harry so much that he yearned to throw Gadding with Ghouls right in Lockhart’s stupid face.
  11. bramble
    any of various rough thorny shrubs or vines
    They walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, their robes snagging on low-slung branches and brambles.
  12. sentry
    a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
    They walked carefully back across the entrance hall and up the marble staircase, holding their breath as they passed corridors where watchful sentries were walking.
  13. mutinous
    characterized by a rebellion against authority
    It had never occurred to Harry that there would be exams with the castle in this state. There was a great deal of mutinous muttering around the room, which made Professor McGonagall scowl even more darkly.
  14. hubbub
    loud confused noise from many sources
    When the hubbub had subsided, Professor McGonagall said, “Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit.”
  15. wan
    lacking vitality as from weariness or illness or unhappiness
    Ginny drew a deep breath and, at that precise moment, Percy Weasley appeared, looking tired and wan.
  16. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    Ginny jumped up as though her chair had just been electrified, gave Percy a fleeting, frightened look, and scampered away.
  17. inkling
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    It was plain that Hermione didn’t have the faintest inkling that she had visitors, and that they might just as well tell her bedside cabinet not to worry for all the good it would do.
  18. bungle
    make a mess of, destroy, or ruin
    “Didn’t you say that the whole affair had been bungled, and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?”
  19. delicate
    difficult to handle; requiring great tact
    “After all that stuff you did in your books—”
    “Books can be misleading,” said Lockhart delicately.
  20. entwine
    wind or twist together
    And then, at last, as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.
  21. idly
    in a lazy, casual, or aimless way
    He continued to stare at Harry, twirling the wand idly.
  22. intimate
    marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity
    It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course.
  23. eerie
    inspiring a feeling of fear; strange and frightening
    It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly; it lifted the hair on Harry’s scalp and made his heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its normal size.
  24. dwindle
    become smaller or lose substance
    It looked bad, all right...but the longer Riddle stood there, the more life was dwindling out of Ginny...and in the meantime, Harry noticed suddenly, Riddle’s outline was becoming clearer, more solid.
  25. contract
    squeeze or push together
    Instead, the hat contracted, as though an invisible hand was squeezing it very tightly.
  26. forsake
    leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
    Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged.
  27. sizable
    fairly large
    He heard Ron give a strangled cheer, and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the sizable gap he had managed to make in the rockfall.
  28. placidly
    in a good-natured manner
    Gilderoy Lockhart was sitting there, humming placidly to himself.
  29. perplexed
    full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
    “He looks like he wants you to grab hold...” said Ron, looking perplexed. “But you’re much too heavy for a bird to pull up there—”
  30. timely
    done or happening at the appropriate moment
    So Harry, his voice now growing hoarse from all this talking, told them about Fawkes’s timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving him the sword.
  31. consort
    keep company with
    He disappeared after leaving the school...traveled far and wide...sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable.
  32. flabbergasted
    as if struck dumb with astonishment and surprise
    “Ginny!” said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted.
  33. ordeal
    a severe or trying experience
    This has been a terrible ordeal for her.
  34. hoodwink
    influence by slyness
    Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort.
  35. unaccountable
    not to be explained
    “Sit down, Harry,” he said, and Harry sat, feeling unaccountably nervous.
  36. resourceful
    adroit or imaginative
    “Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue—resourcefulness—determination—a certain disregard for rules,” he added, his mustache quivering again.
  37. abject
    showing humiliation or submissiveness
    Dobby went scurrying in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on his face.
  38. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    Apparently Mr. Malfoy had set out in a great hurry, for not only were his shoes half-polished, but his usually sleek hair was disheveled.
  39. prominent
    conspicuous in position or importance
    The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pure-blood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and killing Muggle-borns.
  40. incensed
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    With a last, incensed stare at the pair of them, he swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight.
Created on Thu Sep 10 19:29:34 EDT 2015 (updated Thu Jul 28 13:00:06 EDT 2022)

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