Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (2002)

Being different can make you a target, even among friends, until courage proves where you truly belong. Chris Columbus' "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," written by Steve Kloves from J.K. Rowling's second novel, finds Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) warned by a nervous house-elf named Dobby not to return to Hogwarts, since terrible things are about to happen there. Dobby's clumsy efforts to protect Harry only get him into trouble, until Ron (Rupert Grint) and his brothers rescue him from his miserable relatives in a flying car. Later, when they miss the train to school, Harry and Ron fly the car to Hogwarts and crash-land into a violent, whomping willow tree. When students are mysteriously turned to stone and a message scrawled on a wall announces that the legendary Chamber of Secrets has been opened, suspicion falls on Harry, who discovers he can speak to snakes. With Ron and Hermione (Emma Watson), he investigates, sneaking into a hidden bathroom haunted by a weepy ghost and following a trail of spiders into the Forbidden Forest to meet a monstrous spider. When Ron's little sister, Ginny, vanishes into the chamber, Harry must face the monster within and a dark secret tied to a mysterious old diary and a young Tom Riddle. Kenneth Branagh co-stars as a vain, fame-hungry new teacher, Jason Isaacs plays the scheming Lucius Malfoy, and it was Richard Harris' final film as Dumbledore.