The boys are on their own

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 14

Too bad Hermione didn't take time to tell Harry and Ron what she had just figured out before running off to the library and getting herself petrified. It's not like her to not share her knowledge.

The mirror that was found must mean something, but what about a voice that only Harry can hear. We already know Harry hears snakes, and as far as we know no one else in Hogwarts has that ability. Maybe a snake has something to do with this. It would make sense, so I'm probably wrong.

The invisibility cloak sure is getting a workout. Harry and Ron are like the proverbial fly on the wall every place they go. Too bad for Hagrid and Dumbledore that they wouldn't fit under the cloak when magic-school politics erupted in Hagrid's house.

There are two kinds of politicians: those who react and make poor decisions, and those who act decisively to gain control of the ones who react. Cornelius Fudge is the former, Lucius Malfoy is the latter. It can't be good for any of the good-guy characters that Malfoy has shown himself to be most powerful.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 15

As big and creepy-crawly as Aragog and family are, I could handle that a lot better than a room full of you-know-what. That was quite an adventure Harry and Ron took into the forest even if Ron feels the same way about spiders as Indiana Jones does about snakes.

Now they know where the car is in case they need it again, they know Hagrid didn't open the Chamber (but they still don't know who did) and now they have a witness - good old Moaning Myrtle.

I wonder how soon Hermione will be able to rejoin the case. Maybe Professor Gilderoy Lockhart and his award-winning smile could help. Then again he'd be about as much help as Dobby.