Protecting the Stone(wasRe:Elixir of Life)

[KathyK]

No: HPFGUIDX 74837

> > KathyK
> > 
> > Or Voldemort had no way to get to him because Flamel knows that 
many 
> > people, not just evil wizards, will want what he has (a means to 
> > achieve immortality and great wealth).  
> >
> 
> bboy_Mmn:
> I think you are on to something here. Flamel is almost 700 years 
old,
> and in all that time, I'm sure every evil witch and wizard, and many
> not so evil witches and wizards have lusted after the Philospher's
> Stone. Certainly, Flamel will have had to have taken extraordinary
> precautions to guard it and himself. 

<Snip>
 
> >KathyK continues:
> >
> > ...having all sorts of protections against attempts to steal the 
> > stone or the elixir.  
> 
> As I said above, Flamel has had 700 years of practice at guarding 
the
> stone, and generally speaking, keeping the Stone and it secrets away
> from unenlightened people is one of the primary objectives of a
> successful alchemist. So, I'm sure Flamel had every conceivable and
> perhaps a few as yet unconceive by common wizards, protection around
> himself, his family, his house, the elixer, and the stone.
> 
> > Maybe they moved it to Gringott's after Quirrel/Voldemort 
> > tried to get at it.  Since Gringott's has never been successfully 
> > broken into, it would be an obvious solution until they could get
> > the stone to Dumbledore.
> > 
> > KathyK 
> 
> bboy_mn:
> Not only is the stone in Gringotts, it is deep deep deep within the
> underground storage, and is in a high security vault. A vault that
> isn't opened with a key, so it would be difficult and dangerous for
> anyone to try and open. It would seem to be a very safe place,
> especially against common theives, but when Flamel and Dumbledore
> somehow gained information that there was an active plot to steal 
the
> Stone, they thought it would be better protected if it were a little
> closer by so they could keep a personal eye on it. Then, of course,
> they moved it to Hogwarts. Despite people's statements that the
> enchantments, beast, and charm were pretty pathetic if a few first
> years could get past them, I think the stone was very well 
protected,
> and the first years that got past the protection, were not your
> typical first years.
> 
> Just a few thoughts.
> 
> bboy_mn

KathyK again:

The more I think about all this, the more interesting it gets.  And I 
get more confused and have more questions.  So I'm going to ramble 
for a moment as I try to give my thoughts on the matter (again).

How does Dumbledore know the Philosopher's Stone is in danger?

Okay, perhaps Quirrel/Voldemort tries to get at Flamel.  As bboy_mn 
points out above, Flamel has had about 700 years to come up with all 
sorts of protections against any attempts to steal the Philosopher's 
Stone.  Quirrel/Voldemort was obviously unsuccessful because of all 
the wonderful protections.  Now, attempts to get at the stone are 
probably common to Flamel, so why would this particular attempt draw 
attention?  Maybe Voldemort was able to get closer to the stone than 
anyone else, alarming Flamel into contacting Dumbledore on the 
matter.  Or maybe something about the manner in which the attempt was 
made caused little alarm bells to go off in his head, like maybe some 
thought was actually put into the plan to steal it rather than just 
some hopeful hack who hadn't thought through a plan.  

Now here is where I really need help:  Was the Philosopher's Stone at 
Gringott's to begin with?  Did Flamel move it there after an attempt 
was made on it?  
If the Stone was already at Gringott's, why was it there?  Clearly 
Gringott's is quite safe (see discussion above), but wouldn't Flamel 
need the stone to make the Elixir of Life every so often?  Plus, if 
Flamel had so many means of guarding everything to do with the stone, 
wouldn't it be safest with him?  But then again, there's always the 
off chance that some fool is going to get lucky and manage to get 
through the safeguards, or someone exceptionally brilliant will find 
a means to get at it.
Still assuming the stone was at Gringott's when Flamel and Dumbledore 
learned that someone was trying to steal it, then yes, they correctly 
felt it would be safer in Dumbledore's care.  Hagrid picks up the 
stone when Harry goes to Diagon Alley.  

So now, what if the stone was not removed to Gringott's until after a 
particularly clever attempt is made to get at Flamel?  Why would it 
go there rather than directly to Dumbledore?  Did they initially 
believe that the Stone would be perfectly safe in Gringott's as they 
had no reason to believe otherwise?  Were they tipped off that 
someone may try to rob the vault?  
Perhaps Gringott's was just a short resting place for the Stone while 
they worked out the details of safely transporting it from Nicholas 
Flamel to Dumbledore.  Maybe they thought someone was tracking Flamel 
and the Stone and therefore would know it had been removed to the 
bank.  Flamel and Dumbledore would then want the stone out of there 
as soon as possible no matter how safe Gringott's was.  It would be 
safer with Dumbledore at Hogwarts (so they think as they've no idea 
that the DADA teacher is infested with Voldeomort).  Actually, 
(countering my own statement here) they were right because 
Quirrel/Voldemort never got the stone and if Dumbledore had left it 
in the bank, Q/V would definitely have gotten it.  

At first I entertained the notion that maybe no one knew that someone 
was after the PS until after the attempted robbery at Gringott's, 
that maybe Dumbledore's moving the stone was coincidence, something 
he and Flamel had been planning.  Then I rolled my eyes at myself (a 
difficult thing to do without a mirror in front of me) because that's 
just ludicrous.  There's no way that Dumbledore set up all those 
defenses at Hogwarts for the stone without some reason.  Plus, moving 
the stone right before someone tries to steal it is WAY too big a 
coincidence to swallow, even for gullible me.  
I just threw that last bit in there to show you all that my mind is 
going every which way with this topic.

KathyK (getting dizzy thinking in circles)