Flitwick's broomsticks - "Flint"

[rja.carnegie at excite.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 19133

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., catherine at c... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., dfrankis at d... wrote:
> > --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:
> > > This is reminding me of my nomination for Silliest Plot Device:  
> > those 
> > > conveniently-placed broomsticks in the flying-keys chamber.  Does 
> > > anyone have an explanation for why they would be there?  Their 
> only 
> > > purpose seems to be to make it easier for someone to break in (or 
> > get 
> > > back out after having stolen the Stone).  I would love it if 
> > someone 
> > > could point out a good, non-plot-deviceish reason.
> >
> > It isn't just the broomsticks.  Snape could have just put in the 
> > flaming gates and not bothered with the puzzle and bottles; the 
> chess 
> > set could have been set at mate in one against visitors, etc.  
> > Presumably Dumbledore asked the professors to set their barriers so 
> > that it would be possible for the stone to be retrieved.  
> Dumbledore 
> > virtually admits as much in connection with the mirror.  The 
> > broomsticks are just the tools for that particular barrier.  The 
> > question is, was this just so as to get the stone back to the 
> Flamels 
> > after the danger was over (why not get the Flamels to agree to 
> > destroy it earlier?), or was it for Harry (and friends) to find 
> > because Dumbledore wants him to face Voldemort?  Was it a trap for 
> >V that failed because he evaporated back to Albania (or wherever)
> >when Quirrell died?
> 
> The other thing that concerns me about this whole episode is 
> Dumbledore's rationale behind getting the stone from the mirror.  It 
> doesn't make sense.  He says to Harry, "You see, only one who wanted 
> to find the stone - find it, but not use it - would be able to get 
> it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking 
> Elixir of Life."  
> But Quirrel doesn't see himself making gold or drinking Elixir of 
> Life - he sees himself finding the stone and presenting it to his 
> master.  So why didn't this work for him?
> 
> Catherine


It's a stretch for me too - although against Voldemort in particular,
being forced to play a series of silly games would _really_ tick him
off.  Perhaps put him off his chess game...Maybe he once did the same
to Dumbledore, in the bad times, and this is a revenge.  Maybe
Dumbledore likes all those other fantasy novels where this sort of
folderol takes place.

The broomsticks are convenient - but you also have to be a reasonably
good Seeker, with (apparently) allies, too - or perhaps just extremely
puissant in Dark Arts.

I rather think that getting past all of the safeguards is supposed
to be a team effort - except at the end - but that none of the
teachers is supposed to know in advance how to beat the others' traps,
except, perhaps, Dumbledore.  And yet the traps can all be got
through, with skill, intelligence - and time.  The great thing, I
imagine, is to delay Voldemort or any other thief while the castle's
defenders come to the rescue.  And, theoretically, no one of the
teachers can sneak in quickly by him or herself, tempted by the Stone. 
However, if one of the teachers is taken out of the game, the others
can still work out that part of the puzzle and get in, when they
need to.

I think Snape agrees to help Quirrell just to see what he'll do.

Btw, am I right in thinking that not enough information is given
for the reader to solve the potions puzzle?  (Or to play the chess
game, not that that matters.)

Did Quirrell have to play chess with Professor McGonagall and
find out the weaknesses of her game?

As for, for instance, simply hiding the Stone in a drawer and casting
a Fidelius Charm with Dumbledore as Secret-Keeper - Dumbledore isn't
invulnerable either, and maybe the Fidelius Charm doesn't work on
every secret - doesn't work, for instance, on a powerful Philosopher's
Stone.

As for not destroying the stone - we could say that this either
shouldn't or perhaps actually couldn't be done without Flamel's
consent.  But when Voldemort nearly got the stone, nearly killed
Harry, and had escaped to try again, Flamel agreed to let the stone
go.  Further, if Flamel has some particular power over the stone,
Voldemort, having got the stone, would probably kill him anyway.
If the stone existed, someone else - Peter Pettigrew, possibly -
would try, and possibly succeed, in getting it for Voldemort quite
soon.

It could also be that the stone is hard to destroy, like Tolkien's
Ruling Ring, and this couldn't be done safely while Voldemort
was actively pursuing it.

As for Quirrell, he  doesn't see himself finding the stone (stealing
it, actually), but giving it to Voldemort, using it to buy his
master's favour - using it.  He isn't allowed by V. to be
interested in possessing it himself without using it.  A robot or
a golem could be commanded to retrieve the stone without thinking
about what to do with it, but a robot or a golem wouldn't see
anything in the mirror at all - or, perhaps, only itself.

Robert Carnegie
Glasgow, Scotland

"I read them all when I was seven and I hated them" - unnamed American
office worker on the Harry Potter books (www.dilbert.com, List of
Stupid Things Overheard)