chamber of secrets any% guide by slayerkid13

note: this guide assumes you are familiar with the game and does not cover

movement.

some general tips:
-avoid all challenge stars, these trigger the bean room if enough are collected
-beans are useless, skip them all
-jumping into a ledge to climb it is faster than walking into it
-Moving Platform Boost (MPB) is a useful trick, learn it
-dieing sucks, dont be afraid to get safety frogs or potions. i work 2-4 extra

potions into this route as a safety strat.
-spongify tiles negate fall damage, use this to your advantage.

before starting a run, there is a few things you need to do.
-if running in windowed mode, you may need to use dxtory to stop your FPS from

spiking. Alchemagician on twitch or the #harrypotter irc channel knows how to do

this and you can ask him for help.
-set your controls to something comfortable
-turn autojump to off, this is important for a few skips
-autodrink potions is up to you, i recommend you leave it on.


-start your game, timing starts on the first cutscene skip
-make your way through the beginning of the game, using MPB on the 2 flipendo

platforms.
-after you escape the tree and are in the grounds, the end of the cutscene has

harry pointed to the left. dont accidentally fall down.
-ron has speedhacks and its hard to get in front of him. doesnt save time if you

do, just funny to note.

-you can preform MPB on the moving staircases by standing on the rails, it saves

a few seconds overall throughout the run.

-fail the arrow key minigame before rictusempra, it saves time if you get good

RNG in the bean room.

-proceed like normal in the rictusempra challenge (MPB on the rising platform to

save a little bit of time) until the room with the big pit that has platforms

around the edges. with a well-timed jump you can go across the pit and grab the

ledge. this saves about 30 seconds but is fairly risky. a slower strat is to go

for the one just below it on the right, but is about 5 seconds slower.

-ignore the turtle on the floor at the end, knock the ones on the tower down.

try to not hit the pillars with them, it has weird effects.

-with good rng, the bean room will be very quick.

-quidditch practice is fairly straightforward, just catch the snitch.

-potions class again is pretty easy, hit the chest then stand in the right

corner and both ingredients should land on you. be careful skipping the cutscene

too soon as it can softlock your game. wait 3-5 seconds before skipping it.

-skurge class is where stuff gets interesting, pass all 3 arrow key puzzles

-proceed like normal until the room with the lumos statue and the rotating

flipendo switch.
shoot the switch and enter the room, activate the lumos statue.

be very careful in this next part. stand on the 4th step from the bottom of the

stairs, shoot the switch at the bottom, then quickly run back up to the room

above you and try to get in before the switch blocks you.
if this confuses you, there is a video in the routing tips section of

http://harrypotterspeedruns.bravesites.com/ that will help you.

in the room with the big snail pits covered in skurge goo, you can activate them

by jumping on them.

in the room with the bridge, you can skip dropping the block down by making the

bridge flat, then jumping on the outside edge.

bicorn horn is really straightforward except for 2 small things. there is a room

right after you push the snails+turtles where you are supposed to activate

staircases all the way around. instead, just position yourself on the ledge, and

 walk backwards over it while holding up, and you will land on the lower ledge.

puzzle solution is purple then green.

its possible to get across the moving platforms without activating them, but is

hard+doesnt save very much time. not worth attempting in SS.
when you activate the platforms, jump across the first one then walk along the

edges for the rest. this also has a video covering it on the website.

rest of the challenge is straightforward

diffendo challenge has no huge tricks, except for when you cut the rope in the

circular room to open the door. you can cut the rope from the block when you

climb up it.

shredded boomslang skin has a huge skip, you can shoot the mushrooms to your

left after the start, stand on them, and jump to the ledge with the save book,

skipping the whole challenge. a video is on the website too. you can get 2

wiggentree barks if you want, as part of a safety strat just before aragog.

polyjuice potion 1 again has no huge skips, just proceed like normal.

polyjuice potion 2 has 1 small skip that saves ~15 seconds where you can cross

the skurge bridge before it closes, but is hard. a video of this skip is on the

website as well.

Spongify challenge, this is really broken. a video of this challenge is

available on the website, or if you prefer text:
-you dont need to push the big block at the very start, a precise jump to the

corner of the higher platform will let you grab it. in the big room with the

pixies, you can jump from the flipendo block on top of the fence, then with a

well timed jump you can grab the far ledge to exit the room.
activate the spongify tile, look to your left, and jump on it while holding UP

+LEFT, you should grab the highest ledge, then just spongify into the end.

Aragog: activate the lumos statue, then jump on the spongify tile on the grass

while holding up, and you should go all the way across the pit.
in the main room with the spiral staircase, spongify and land at the bottom

instead of using the stairs.

earlier i mentioned a safety strat involving an extra 2 potions. right before

aragogs chamber, there is 2 flubberworm mucus to your right and a cauldron to

your left. if you got the 2 bark pieces earlier, you can make 2 potions here.

aragog strat is to just keep moving in a circle while spamming spells, trying to

avoid being hit.

chamber of secrets: another precise jump at the corner skips needing to go

around. spongify to the bottom instead of taking the elevator.

the 3 crushers are on a cycle, and if timed right you dont need to slow down

while crossing them. proceed as normal until the pixie room. after crossing the

first section, fall down to the bottom and spongify off the tile while holding

left+up to grab the ledge with the crab on it. knock him off, then spongify up

while holding back, and cut the rope, then bounce in to the new opening. proceed

as normal until the boss.

right before the boss there is ingredients for another potion to your right if

you need it.

Final fight 1st phase:
-pretty simple, aim for his head while moving around.

Final fight 2nd phase:
-the hitboxes on the grates are huge, stand close to the boss and aim high. note

that being hit while drinking a potion will negate the potion, annoying glitch.

the basilisk should spawn at the grate you are nearest to, but wont spawn in the

same one twice in a row.

timing ends upon entering the great hall and triggering the final cutscene.