Thoughts on the Mirror of Erised

[jodel at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 48548

Andrew asks;

<< Yet, for the majority of the book, the Mirror of Erised, which holds the 
Sorcerer's Stone within, is kept in an empty spare classroom where a first 
year student is able to stumble upon it one night.  I always found this a 
little strange.  If anyone else has any thoughts on the subject I would be 
glad to hear them. >>

Well, here's one view (I'm not the only one who believes this), namely, that 
for the majority of the year the Mirror was in the heart of the labrynth. It 
was only moved up to the Library floor during the winter break, expressly for 
the pourpose that Harry should find it. Dumbledore also made a point of 
giving Harry his father's cloak and clearly had staked the room out waiting 
for Harry to show up. (There is disagreement as to whether Filtch and Snape 
deliberately herded Harry in the direction of the room it was is -- with the 
door conveniently ajar.) 

Exactly what Dumbledore's overall intentions in this regard may have been is 
a subject of considerable disagreement. But it is abundantly clear that the 
Mirror was moved out of the labrynth so that Harry could be briefed on its 
mode of operation, after which it was returned to the labrynth, before the 
rest of the students returned to the school.

-JOdel