Dumbledore "wrote" Book 1

[dicentra_spectabilis_alba]

No: HPFGUIDX 33289

In 33131, I asked the group what had been said about the ease with
which Harry and company made it through the gauntlet of spells to get
to the Sorcerer's Stone. Thanks to Angela AKA Sweet Usagi (33144),
Eloise (33145), and blenberry (33148) for giving me some good synopses
of the theories posted here.

I'd like to propose a theory that builds on all that's been said and
then goes one step further: The spells were breakable by first-year
students because Dumbledore MEANT for Harry to face Voldemort. And in
fact, most of the events of SS were engineered by Dumbledore for
Harry's benefit. (Sincere apologies if this very argument has been
made before, but parsing 33,000 posts to find out was a bit daunting.)

This is why, I believe:

1. It cannot be a coincidence that Harry was with Hagrid when he
recovered the stone. Dumbledore sent Hagrid to collect Harry and get
the stone at the same time.

2. It is also no coincidence that the stone was retrieved the day
Quirrell broke into Gringotts. Dumbledore must have known what had
happened to Quirrell in Albania and what Voldemort was up to.  He
brought the stone to Hogwarts to protect it, yes, but he also knew
Voldemort would follow it. Perfect opportunity to let Harry confront him.

3. As has been mentioned, the Mirror of Erised was the only real
protection the stone had. Quirrell and Voldemort would have no problem
getting through the other kinds of "protection" surrounding the stone
(though it did slow them down some). The mirror was kind of a monkey
trap--you can't pull your hand out until you let go of the fruit--that
Voldemort could never foil.

4. Dumbledore gave Harry the Cloak of Invisibility for Christmas,
telling him to "use it wisely." What could that mean except "go
roaming about the school after hours to figure out this mystery"? 

5. It's therefore no coincidence that Harry found the Mirror of
Erised. After Dumbledore tells Harry how the mirror works, he says
"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you
not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will
now be prepared."  At the time, Harry probably thought the last
sentence meant that he wouldn't waste away in front of it, but I think
he was referring to the confrontation with Voldemort.  (And, by the
way, the stone was probably in the mirror the whole time (even before
Christmas?), "unprotected" by the other spells.)

6. Some have suggested, with reason, that the tests required the
cooperation of all three to pass and were deliberately set up this
way. The only test that didn't have this quality was the troll, which
Dumbledore knew would have been defeated by Quirrell before Harry met
up with it.

7. That the test was ultimately meant for Harry alone is shown in
Snape's potions test. Only one person can make it through to the
mirror. Dumbledore counted on that one person being Harry. (If no one
was meant to get to the stone, ALL the vials would contain poison.)

8. Dumbledore was counting on Harry to figure out where the stone was
and who was after it. When Harry asks him later about the fate of
Nicolas Flamel, he brightens up: "Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said
Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You *did* do the thing
properly, didn't you?"  The "thing" was the mystery Dumbledore had set
up for Harry.

9. It's possible that Dumbledore was not fooled in the least by the
fake MoM message, instead understanding that Quirrell was making his
move. He "leaves" Hogwarts, but he probably doesn't go far. (He tells
Harry that he makes it as far as London, but I wonder...) As Hermione
later recounts "we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore
when we met him in the entrance hall--he already knew--he just said,
'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

10. Ron then asks, "D'you think he meant you to do it? Sending you
your father's cloak and everything?"  Harry responds (after Hermione's
obligatory horrified reaction), "I think he sort of wanted to give me
a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here,
you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and
instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't
think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked.
It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I
could...." I don't think this is Harry?s personal interpretation. I
think this is JKR's message to the reader.

I wondered what would possess Dumbledore to not only allow, but to
arrange for, a first-year student to confront Voldemort (weak, yes,
but Quirrell wasn't). He must have known that Quirrell wouldn't be
able to touch Harry because the spell that protected him against AK in
the first place was still working.  But as he says, "I feared I might
be too late....For one terrible moment there, I was afraid [the effort
to keep Quirrell off you had killed you]."  Ah well, I guess that
there is no reward without risk.  But what a risk!

So, that makes Dumbledore the "author" of SS/PS in the sense that he
was the ultimate cause of the action. In Book 2, it was Lucius Malfoy,
believe it or not, because he set it all in motion by giving Ginny the
diary. In Book 3 it was Sirius Black, whose dead sexy escape set off
the chain of events. (Or was it Cornelius Fudge, who gives Sirius the
newspaper, or the Weasleys for getting their picture taken, or the
editor of The Daily Prophet for publishing the picture, etc.?) And in
Book 4, it was the fake Mad-Eye Moody. Wonder who will make Book 5 rock?

--Dicentra, who would like an acronym for her theory, if it's not too
much to ask