Dumbledore's Brilliant Idea (was: A detailed analysis of Snape's hatred of H

[Meira B]

No: HPFGUIDX 50246

SnapesSlytherin wrote:
> > I agree with Snape there.  I personally cannot stand people who break 
>the
> > rules and get ahead, while those of us who follow get nowhere.  No one 
>is
> > above the rules.  Period.  Now, I disagree with you on the "can
> > vs. must".  Harry doesn't *have* to do anything, he chooses to.  Hence, 
>can
> > wins to me.


Me:
Well, not always following the rules will do you much good. And sometimes, 
not following them won't get you into trouble.

Just a small, local example: Here it is illegal to smoke in the shopping 
mall, yet people still continue to do it, and no one does anything about it.
It's also illegal to talk on the cellular phone while driving (that is, 
holding the phone with one hand and driving with the other), yet people 
constantly do it and they never get a ticket, yet some time ago, when I just 
picked up the cellular phone from the passanger seat to check the time (in a 
red light...), I got told off by a police officer.
I agree with the fact that no one is above the rules, but life sometimes 
doesn't work like that.


suzchiles at pobox.com (Suzanne Chiles)    asked:
>I want to be sure about this. Does this mean that you would have preferred
>that Harry not have tried to find the Philosopher's Stone before the bad 
>guy
>(thought Snape, was Quirrell) and thus ensure that the stone went to
>

Audra wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that even though Quirrelmort 
made it through all the other obstacles, it would have been impossible for 
him to get his hands on the Stone due to "one of [Dumbledore's] more 
brilliant ideas" of using the Mirror of Erised.  Harry breaking the rules 
and following him actually enabled the possibility of Quirrelmort obtaining 
the Stone.
Harry got the Stone out of the Mirror.  Quirrelmort would have just seen 
himself drinking the Elixir of Life.


Now me: (I haven't read this thread, so I apologize beforehand if I re-say 
someone else's ideas)
In order to get to the stone, one had to pass through a series of riddles 
and obstacles: Fluffy, the Devil's Snare, the Winged Keys room, the giant 
chessboard, the troll which has been knocked out cold already (by 
QuirrelMort), the potions' riddle and the Mirror of Erised itself.

(btw, isn't it funny how there are enough broomsticks for all three of them? 
"They seized a broomstick each" ~PS "Through the Trapdoor"~).

Earlier in the book, (p. 142, chapter 11) Hagrid says: "You forget that dog, 
an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore and 
Nicolas Flamel -"
Harry is given his first clue.

In "The Mirror of Erised" (p. 157), Dumbledore explains exactly how the 
Mirror of Erised works "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, 
most desperate desire of our hearts." Dumbeldore just a few moments later 
says, "If you ever *do* run across it, you will now be prepared." (that's 
JKR's emphasis, not mine)
Harry has just been given another clue.

Hermione, with her brilliant researching skills (personally, I think she has 
some sort of photographic memory), finds out how Nicolas Flamel, Dumbledore 
and the Philosopher's Stone are all connected.

A bit later in the book (right after the detention in the Forbidden Forest, 
to be exact), Harry gets his Invisibility Cloak back with a note attached 
saying "Just in case" (p. 190).

In chapter 16 ("Through the Trapdoor", p.194), Hagrid explains to the Trio 
how to get past Fluffy - "jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight 
off ter sleep -". And don't forget the flute that Hagrid gave to Harry for 
Christmas.

So they are given enough information to be able to get past the riddles (not 
to mention the fact that Ron is excellent in Chess, Harry is good at 
catching small flying things and Hermione is an expert in fire and flame 
charms).

They were being shown how to get through the obstacles.

Can you really blame three 11 year olds who are in posession of an 
Invisibility Cloak, (one of them wants to prove he's as good as his older 
brothers, the other one who wants people to like him for something he 
actually remembers doing and the third one who'll leap at the chance of 
proving her intellect) of going to try and stop QuirrelMort from getting the 
stone? After all, as much as Harry knew how the Mirror of Erised works, he 
had no idea that it would be used to guard the Philosopher's Stone.

Here is something else that I find curious: Mazes and riddles.
The riddles that they had to get through before reaching the Stone, Lupin's 
obstacle course, the third task of the Triwizard Tournament.

IMO, there's no better way of teaching how to deal with the unexpected than 
that. Like Crouch!Moody said "Constant Vigilance!" Mazes are really an 
excellent way of improving one's vigilance.

If the Trio wouldn't have gone after Snape, when they thought he was the one 
trying to get his hands on the Stone (but in fact it turned out to be 
QuirrelMort who was after it), the stone would still have been safe. As 
Audra pointed out, Dumbledore's brilliant idea would have ensured that. As 
Hermione constantly reminds us, it's impossible to Apparate and Dissaparate 
on Hogwarts grounds, so that method of escaping is out of the question, and 
just as there were *visible* physical obstacles, it's probable that there 
was some sort of "shield" that pervented people from taking the Stone with 
them (I know this is somewhat Star Trek-y, sorry, can't think of a different 
term than "shield"), unless they have some sort of password that can 
neutralize it. I think that both the Stone and the kids were quite safe. 
None of the obstacles are *too* difficult if you have the right people with 
you (and if you know you can overcome a full-grown troll ;-).

Meira (who really hopes she hasn't stepped on anyone's toes and repeated 
things that have been said already)

"I believe in compulsory cannibalism. If people were forced to eat what they 
killed, there would be no more wars." ~Abbie Hoffman~

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