Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Corrected entry: In the girls bathroom, Mourning Myrtle tells Harry how she died by seeing the snake's eyes by the sink. How would she have died if she was wearing glasses? She would've only been "petrified".

Correction: Not true. All people who only were "petrified" saw the basilisk in a reflection, not only through glass (Hermione in the mirror, the cat in the water on the floor, Colin through his reflex camera). Glasses alone don't seem to be enough as a protection.] [Actually, Justin didn't see a reflection, he saw the basalisk through Nearly Headless Nick. The difference is that looking through a ghost will distort the image, but glasses are specifically designed to make the image more clearly.

nightline

This was also confirmed by JK Rowling when she was asked. She said glasses do not protect you as she also pointed out glasses are designed to make an image more clear to someone who cannot see which would show Myrtle directly was she was looking at. If anything, I actually would wonder if someone with bad eyesight might be saved if they were *not* wearing their glasses and couldn't properly see it.

I'd say it's simply she didn't have her glasses on, just with her. She went into the stall to cry after being bullied. They could have very well been off when she walked out of the stall.

Corrected entry: Harry learns the owner of the diary from the writing on the back and it 'introducing itself'. It's plausible that the name doesn't alarm him; he grew up in the Muggle world. It does imply however, that since learning of Voldemort in his first year, he has not attempted to find out Voldemort's real name/identity. Similarly, Ginny engaged with it, even though she grew up in the Wizarding world and presumably would know the name. Or she never looked at the back or 'introduced herself' to the book.

Correction: Voldemort's real name is not common knowledge in the wizarding world. Even saying the name "Voldemort" is taboo among wizardkind so it is hardly surprising that they didn't spend much time looking for his identity. As Dumbledore explains in chapter eighteen of the novel: "Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. 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. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

Kylantha

Corrected entry: If Voldemort can possess a person who is writing or having his old diary, as he did it with Ginny, I'm asking myself why didn't he just possess Harry the same way, as Harry is also writing in it. I mean, if he could control actions of Harry Potter, his biggest enemy, it would be a perfect goal for Voldemort. Voldemort is very smart and he wouldn't miss that, so it's unexplainable how Harry didn't fall into the possession of Tom Riddle.

Feather

Correction: It took Voldemort months to possess Ginny, she had been writing in that diary for months and over the time Voldemort got more and more control over her. Secondly, this is a very young version of Voldemort, one who doesn't know about Harry and his connection with him so there is no reason for him to forget about Ginny and possess Harry instead (or as well). Ginny was all he needed.

lionhead

Corrected entry: During the Herbology lesson with the mandrakes, Professor Sprout issues the class earmuffs, obviously to block out the screams that would follow. In order to do so, the earmuffs must block out all sound entirely, lest they all pass out, assuming the slightest sound from the mandrake causes ill effects. The plot hole is with the earmuffs. When the first mandrake is pulled, the rest of the class quickly press their earmuffs tightly over their ears. This action (and their faces) show they can hear the screams to an uncomfortable level. A moment later, Neville faints but more or less out of fright. Sprout states afterward that he's neglected his earmuffs, Seamus then replies that he's just fainted. Seamus heard what Sprout had said, given he had the earmuffs on and the distance between he and the teacher. They all should have fainted after Sprout pulled the first mandrake (this can also be said for after they all pulled up some 10 or so afterwards) as they could all hear the cry through their earmuffs.

Correction: These are only juvenile mandrakes (in the book they suffer from acne and misbehave), and their screams are much less powerful than fully-grown plants, which the students probably would not be allowed to get near. (It is mentioned that these plants have to be mature before they can be used for the petrified antidote, and it's never stated that their screams must be completely blocked out, only that ear protection is needed.) Therefore, the students only need to wear the ear muffs to deaden the sound, not entirely eliminate it, allowing them to hear Professor Sprout speak. As you pointed out, Neville did not faint from the sound.

raywest

Corrected entry: In the scene when Harry first comes to the burrow, there is a shot where Harry is examining the clock. It has Mr. Weasley at quittich, but later on he comes home from work. Also, it says Mrs. Weasley and Ginny are in the garden, but later on Ginny comes down from upstairs. Persy is said to be in the garden. (00:11:15)

Correction: In the close-up of the Burrow's clock, the hands show Ginny, Percy and Molly in the garden, and Arthur's hand points to Quidditch. BUT, it isn't until "later on", when the boys have been seated for breakfast, that we see Ginny come downstairs and Arthur come home. We don't have to see every action on screen, to draw logical conclusions. Just as Harry walks away towards the knitting needles, the clock hands would simply change showing Molly AND Ginny 'home' - but we just don't see it. Four shots later Molly appears, so we know it happened. Coming in from the garden, Ginny would have used the back steps to go straight upstairs (therefore not know Harry is in their house), before her mother confronts the boys about their overnight excursion, so later on, when the boys are seated at the kitchen table, Ginny comes down to ask about her jumper. Now regarding Arthur, when he walks in he states that there were nine raids at work that day, so obviously yes, he was at work. But, the hand pointed to Quidditch EARLIER because he could have been at/near a Quidditch practice/match for the last of those raids for "misuse of Muggle artifacts" and stayed a bit to watch a game, or after work he simply apparated to some Quidditch practice/match going on, just before heading home. There is no mistake.

Super Grover

Correction: The correction is wrong because immediately after seeing the clock, Mrs. Weasley came was seen standing on the landing of the stairs, in her pyjamas. Nowhere near the garden.

lartaker1975

Corrected entry: In the scene where Harry arrives at the Weasley house, the Weasley boys (particularly Fred and George) are seen looking around the kitchen as though it's the first time they have ever been there. Um, boys - it's your HOME, remember?

Tim Haveron Jones

Correction: One twin looks toward the stairs, the other looks around nervously, both are quite anxious about their mother finding out what they've been up to, and rightly so. Ron's reason for looking around is obvious in the comment, "It's not much, but it's home." His best friend is in his home for the first time and Ron, who's a bit embarrassed by his home, smiles and looks at his brother when he hears Harry's nice reaction.

Super Grover

Corrected entry: In Transfiguration class when professor McGonagall is explaining the lesson you can see that the instructions are mirrored on the blackboard. (00:54:18)

Correction: There are two chalkboards in Professor McGonagall's classroom, both with the same chalk drawings and instructional writing, though the chalkboard on the right has everything backwards on the board. However, none of the actual shots during this scene are flipped, not the closeups, medium shots, or the long shots. Note the part in McGonagall's hair, etc., stays consistent throughout. For whatever their reasons, the filmmakers decided to have identical chalkboards at both sides of the desk, and one with the reverse writing and images as its twin.

Super Grover

And since it's a class about casting spells it's not unlikely McGonagall wrote it in mirror on purpose. Perhaps they need to learn to read mirror since a lot of spells and spellbooks are written like that, a common myth surrounding spells.

lionhead

Corrected entry: In the shot where Dobby is coming out of Harry's wardrobe, he has a sock on his ear. At Dobby's height, he was standing with Harry's shirt. His ear would not have come in contact with a sock. (00:06:15)

Correction: First it's pretty well demonstrated that Harry is messy. There's no telling where that sock was. Second, Dobby is enamored with Harry and was shut in his wardrobe. It's exceedingly likely Dobby was rummaging through it just to see the things that belong to the great Harry Potter.

Phixius

Corrected entry: When Harry and Ron go and see Lockhart, they get out their wands and point them at him to prevent him from doing anything to them. But seeing as they are in their 2nd year and Lockhart is a fully trained wizard, wouldn't Lockhart be able to cast a non-verbal spell on them - (non-verbal spells are taught in the 6th year).

Correction: Harry and Ron by now realise that Lockhart is not a very skilled wizard. He never uses non-verbal spells all throughout the movie, and it is possible that he may not be able to perform them.

Scrappy

Corrected entry: On the Extras DVD, in the Chamber of Secrets Challenge, once you actually get into the Chamber, there are lots of puddles on the floor. If you look closely at the puddles, you can see the reflection of the studio lights above the set.

Correction: DVD artwork, text and special features are not part of the movie itself, so mistakes made here are not valid as movie mistakes.

Twotall

Corrected entry: At the start, when Vernon is telling Harry about how much he has done for him, he says "out of the goodness of our hearts", yet he holds his hand over the wrong side of his chest (his right).

Piemanmoo

Correction: Where does it say he has to put his hand in a certain position? If you're inferring that his intention is to show where his heart muscle is, then that would simply be a character mistake. Needless to say, it is a deliberate irony for Vernon to claim that he actually has a heart where Harry is concerned.

Corrected entry: Why does Hogwarts have modern (muggle) toilets? I know that it is a main focal point for the plot, but if the school is really as old as they say, it surely wasn't built with them. They must have had some magical method of waste disposal (the 'scurgify' spell), and surely a way to create water, so why resort to installing plumbing and a (supposedly inefficient) muggle technology. They don't use electricity, Television, Internet, etc., so why plumbing?

Correction: Even if they don't use Muggle technology, not having indoor plumbing would be a hassle. They also use Muggle sinks. It's also a major plot point that the Basilisk travels through the school using the plumbing.

Not to mention wizards have been shown to use other muggle tech from triple decker buses to brooms to cameras to trains. Even the castle itself is an example (if you can have a massive room in a briefcase, why bother building a huge fortress unless it's because of the personal taste of the wizards involve). It's stated in the books that electricity doesn't work well around magic, hence no internet, but the wizarding community does use mechanical or chemical muggle tech that's often modified by magic.

Yep, I feel they are only a few steps behind on the muggle world in terms of technology, like early 20th century whilst it's the end of the 20th century. They obviously look at the muggle world and see what they can adapt to their world if it's useful. I'd say plumbing must have been introduced somewhere in the late 19th century for wizards. It's just that most aren't interested in the muggle world. It probably has to be a muggle-born wizard that tries to adapt muggle tech into the wizarding world. I mean Arthur is pretty interested in the muggle world so it's logical he owns a car.

lionhead

Corrected entry: When Harry and Tom Riddle are talking right after Fawkes claws out the basilisks eyes Tom says "Your Phoenix may have blinded the basilisk but it can still hear you." But in reality snakes can't hear, and the basilisk is just a big snake.

Correction: The Basilisk is not "just a big snake" - far from it. This King of Serpents may live many hundreds of years, was born from a chicken's egg, and hatched beneath a toad. Anyone who looks into its eyes suffer instant death. I should think that if a Basilisk has the ability to hear, however it does, that should be the least of its believability factors.

Super Grover

Corrected entry: After Lucius Malfoy leaves Dumbledore's office, Harry asks Dumbledore for the diary, takes off his shoe, puts the sock in the diary, put his shoe back on, ties it, and comes out of Dumbledore's office. Malfoy should have already left the building, but is only part way down the corridor. (02:24:10)

sdgirl98

Correction: It is quite possible that Harry did these actions quickly and he could have simply slipped his foot out and back into his shoe without untying the lace. The winding stairwell is just outside Dumbledore's study and since Lucius Malfoy is not walking quickly, it is perfectly feasible for Harry to have caught up with him.

Corrected entry: In the beginning of the movie, Harry and Dobby are fighting over the lamp when Harry hears Vernon knock at his door. Do you really think that Vernon, really mad and annoyed at Harry, would patiently wait at the door while Harry got the lamp from Dobby and pushed him into the closet, to come in and threaten Harry?

Correction: Vernon is storming up the stairs, not knocking.

Corrected entry: When Ron's dad enters the house, the top of his pointed hat clips right through the bottom of the window frame.

Correction: The hat's pointed tip does not clip right through the window frame. Arthur's hat has soft yet firm material, and it's bendable, so the tip bends backward as it hits the window frame, then it springs right back up. Perhaps rewatch this scene and play it in slow motion. Here's a link to a scene clip, with the relevant shot at 00:01:54 - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUl4amon00E.

Super Grover

Corrected entry: Harry and Ron are in the corridor reading the wad of paper they found on Hermione, but instead of reading a huge advantage point, 'The crow of the rooster can kill the basilisk' they only focus on the part about spiders running away from it, which they already knew, and enter the chamber rooster-less.

Correction: It is explained in the book that all the school roosters are killed by someone (Ginny) in an attempt to prevent the Basilisk from dying.

kristenlouise3

Corrected entry: In the shot where uncle Vernon falls out of Harry's window one outside shot shows his legs are almost out of the window while in the next shot they are completely in the window.

Swagrid.

Correction: He was still trying to grab Harry when Fred stepped on the gas and he got pulled a bit more out the window. By the time he let go, it was too late. Just re-watched the scene, nothing inconsistent.

Captain Defenestrator

Corrected entry: Ginny found Riddle's diary and she started writing in it, and slowly became possessed by him as the memory in the diary, and started writing messages on the wall, opened the chamber, etc. But at some point, she realized that she was doing wrong things and threw the diary in the bathroom, and Harry found it a few days later. But if she didn't possess the diary anymore, she wouldn't be possessed by Voldemort anymore, so it's a big mistake that she smashed the Gryffindor dorm room to find the diary. Why would she try to find something that she was trying to get rid of? Riddle couldn't order her to do it because he possessed her through the diary, and she didn't write in it or even have it any more.

Feather

Correction: As described in more detail in the book, Ginny smashed up Harry's dormitory searching for the diary because after learning Harry had it, she was afraid Riddle would repeat the secrets she had confided in him to Harry, and expose her as the one who opened the Chamber.

Cubs Fan

Corrected entry: When Harry and Ron finish talking with Aragog, you see all the spiders coming down. You can plainly tell that they're just puppets being lowered by strings, especially the one near Ron's left shoulder.

Correction: The spiders' legs move and the walk after making it to the ground. Seems more CGI to me, but they move in a way that a string cannot do.

brassmaster

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets mistake picture

Revealing mistake: At the beginning of the scene near the end of the movie with Lucius Malfoy fuming at Dumbledore in his office, Malfoy's hair is fanned back behind his shoulders. The lighting in the room illuminates the back of his neck, where you can see his real, short brown hair. (02:22:05)

More mistakes in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Uncle Vernon: And Dudley, you will be?
Dudley Dursley: I'll be waiting to open the door.
Uncle Vernon: Excellent. And you?
Harry: I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending that I don't exist.

More quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Trivia: When Harry, Ron and Fang begin to walk through the Dark Forest there is a close-up of Fang walking towards the camera. At the start of the next shot, at the bottom right of the screen the Ford Anglia is visible. Although the scene of them seeing the car before it rescues them is deleted, this one shot remains of the car 'watching' them. (01:43:40)

Super Grover

More trivia for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Question: Is this true that line "I didn't know you could read" was improvised by Tom Felton, who forgot his original line?

Answer: Yes. It's a common occurrence in a lot of movies for actors to forget their original lines so they improvise something to help move the scene along and not break character. Tom did this because he forgot what his original line was.

Answer: Yes in the same way Daniel Radcliffe improvised his line about always being around when talking to Lucius at the end.

Ssiscool

Actually, Jason Isaacs said that, and he and Daniel didn't forget their lines but did it intentionally.

lionhead

More questions & answers from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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