A Thought about Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Last week I was in a reading slump so I decided to reread Harry Potter after a long time. When I started the second book in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a thought came to me - and to J.K. Rowling, as I just read :) - regarding Tom Riddle's diary and how it "trapped" Ginny Weasley.

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Even though the book was written in 2002, when cyber attacks weren't that much of a thing, the diary has many similarities to social media. Many teenagers have started conversations with strangers, opened up to them and at the end they were assaulted, exactly like Ginny Weasley with Tom Riddle's Diary. Those kind of incidents happen usually in girls with low self-esteem or girls who are uncomfortable with opening-up in reality so they find shelter in the unknown person behind their screen or - in Ginny's case - a diary which replies instantly. 

It is very difficult to spot cyber attacks, as the victims are, in their majority, already very introverted and they don't usually talk to anyone about their daily life. In Ginny's case, both Harry and her brother, Ron, had noticed a change in her behaviour but they thought it was normal as it was her first year at Hogwarts and she actually had a crush on Harry! At the end, Ginny - as many girls who have done something like that on the internet - realised the awful impact her acts had and how what she was doing was really dangerous, both for her and for her loved ones. 

Finally, when cyber attacks happen, it is usually impossible or extremely hard and dangerous for the victim to escape the attacker all alone. It usually relies on someone close to them to help them get out of the situation, as for example, Harry saved Ginny. 

To conclude,  as Arthur Weasley said in the book, "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain." 

Stay safe 🧡

D.