Harry Potter Lessons Learned, Book 2, Chapter 11: "The Dueling Club"

Welcome back to the chapter-by-chapter reading of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This chapter is one of great tension, but "The Dueling Club" is the origin of what let Harry defeat the Dark Lord and it's thanks to his least-favorite teacher. Let's get into it.

Whispers and worries

Everything starts to ramp up in tis chapter, as the Heir of Slytherin's attacks target the living and the dead. With speculation about who is the Heir and how they attacked, people look for things that can help them cope with their anxieties. It's no wonder that a Dueling Club starts up and frankly, it's not a bad idea for students to have more practical lessons than Defense Against the Dark Arts, no matter who or what is terrorizing the populaation of Hogwarts.

Of course, this being led by Lockhart, chaos ensues. I'm not normally a fan of Severus Snape's teaching style - the man has never met a person he couldn't imagine tormenting - but he demonstrates Expelliarmus. Harry is going to come to rely on this spell and it is associated with unexpected protection on multiple occasions. It's not clear if he really remembers by the end of the war that it was taught to him by Snape.

The rest of the learning experiences in the chapter are anything but helpful. Harry is the one of the trio who doesn't directly participate in brewing the Polyjuice Potion at the beginning of the chapter, he misses out on properly learning a Swelling Solution in order to cause a ruckus and he is tutored in defense by a man who drops his wand when blocking a spell.

What does happen multiple times is that students take new knowledge with a grain of salt. Harry questions Lockhart's advice and tries to talk back when McGonagall makes assumptions about his culpability. My favorite moment is when Hannah Abbot hears Ernie's rationale for suspecting Harry and remembers that she has good reasons to like Harry. Like everyone, she is looking for answers, but she's not letting fear factor into her judgment.

Lesson Learned: Don't let popular opinion conquer your good instincts

The students in this chapter show a good habit. They work together to deal with problems. Whether it's the Golden Trio brewing a potion or the Hufflepuffs banding together for protection, they look for ways to understand things better.

Every time there's an election, I'm sent a letter that reminds me to vote after learning what I can about the issues and thinking carefully about what that means for my choice. I think Hannah, of all the characters in this chapter, has the best track record where this advice is concerned. Let's all try to channel our inner Hannah.