Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
I never quite put together it's in CoS where we see a few things that come to be very important in HBP. The first is the set of cabinets that Draco uses to transport Voldemort's followers into Hogwarts. When Harry messes up the floo powder and winds up in Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley, he hides in the Knockturn Alley portion of the cabinet so he can spy on the Malfoys: "Harry looked quickly around and spotted a large black cabinet to his left; he shot inside it and pulled the doors closed . . ." In a portion that wasn't in the movie, Filch gets on Harry's case for tracking mud into the castle and is about to write him detention when Nearly Headless Nick gets Peeves to cause a distraction: "Nearly Headless Nick came gliding out of a classroom. Behind him, Harry could see the wreckage of a large black-and-gold cabinet that appeared to have been dropped from a great height." Is this the other half of the set of cabinets? And is this how it got broken in the first place? Also of interest is that we see the poisonous necklace in Burgin and Borkes when Draco is wandering around looking at things: "Draco paused to examine a long coil of hangman's rope and to read, smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace of opals, Caution: Do Not Touch. Cursed-- Has Claimed the Lives of Nineteen Muggle Owners to Date." I've just got to continue loving what a genius JKR is.
I'd like to note that once again tragedy almost befalls the school not merely when Dumbledore is away but under McGonagall's watch.
One other thing of interest in the "Is Harry a horcrux?" debate. There's the bit at the end where Dumbledore and Harry discuss the fact that Harry is a parseltongue, and Dumbledore supposed it's because Voldemort was a parseltongue and unknowingly transferred some of his power to Harry when he gave him his lighting bolt scar. In the book, however, it goes more like this. Dumbledore explains, "Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure . . ." and Harry responds, "Voldemort put a bit of himself in
me?" I've got to say I'm not loving JKR's choice of words there because "put a BIT OF HIMSELF in me" certainly sounds a lot like the description of a horcrux.
