Just where was that silly little rock, anyway?

[firekat482 <firekat482@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50930

I was just reading a post about Harry and the Mirror of Erised, and 
it got me thinking. In the book Harry doesn't encounter the Mirror 
(for the first time) until sometime during the Christmas holidays. 
And, as we can deduce from the book, Hagrid took the Stone from 
Gringotts before the start of term. Now, my question is, where was 
the stone being kept for the four months between the start of term 
and when it is moved (presumably to help protect the Stone) around 
Christmas? 

Now, one could argue that it had been in the mirror the whole time, 
and Fluffy and co. were around to distract QuirrelMort from finding 
out where it really was. But if that was the case, then why was the 
mirror moved down there after Harry had seen it? If the plan was to 
distract the aforementioned villain, then wouldn't it have made sense 
to just move the mirror to another seldom used room?

Most likely, though the Stone wasn't in the mirror. (Indecently, just 
what kind of charm would accomplish that anyway? The wizarding world 
sure has spells for the strangest stuff...) So where was it? Surely 
they just didn't stick it on a pedestal at the end of the 'obstacle 
course.' With lots of big, shiny pointing arrows and flashing signs 
saying "Here! Take me!"

It seems strange to me how the security surrounding that silly rock 
fluctuates so much. First Gringotts, then somewhere in Hogwarts, then 
in a mirror. And then in the hands of an eleven year old. Ahem...but 
I digress.

This leads me to ask other interesting (or just annoying) questions 
like, Why didn't Dumbledore just carry it around in his pocket all 
the time? *That* would have kept it safe, as we all know how much 
Voldie fears Dumbledore. Or, if Dumbledore had some big objection to 
sleeping with a rock (and who wouldn't?) why not just destroy the 
thing in the first place? That's what they ended up doing anyway...

Hmmm...I hope I haven't rambled too much. I also hope this is an 
original question. I looked around the archives a bit, and didn't 
find anything. 

Oh - and before I forget. This is a question I've been dying to ask 
for some time, but didn't think it was worthy of its own separate 
post: Why can paintings talk, but pictures can't?

Ideas, anyone?

~Jean

Although I can accept talking scarecrows, lions, and great wizards of 
emerald cities, I find it hard to believe there is no paperwork 
involved when your house lands on a witch.  ~Dave James