"A certain disregard for rules" (was Re: Harry's importance and...)

[mongo62aa]

No: HPFGUIDX 57232

Karmakaze:

However, the administrator and teachers at the school were aware of 
the threat and had taken steps to protect the stone.  And, as it 
turned out, those steps had been adequate to the job.  Quirrell was 
completely unable to retrive the stone from the mirror.  It was only 
through Harry's intervention that it was retrived at all.  If Harry 
had stayed in his dorm, as ordered, Quirrel would have been stymied 
at that point, and the stone would have remained safe.

Bill:

I must respectfully disagree.  If Harry had not confronted Quirrel, 
then Quirrel possibly could have removed the Mirror from Hogwarts, 
and taken it elsewhere, where Voldemort could have taken all the time 
he needed to break the puzzle.

For example, Harry ended up with the stone because he wanted the 
Stone, but not to use it.  How hard would it be to find some 
impressionable young child to retrieve the Stone in the same manner, 
but who does not have the same protection as Harry had?  End result: 
one dead child and one Stone.

That particular approach might not work, but remember that Tom Riddle 
was the brightest student to attend Hogwarts in a long, long time.  
He would have eventually come up with *something*, and then returned 
to power three years earlier.  Harry's actions gave the Wizarding 
World three extra years of peace, just as his actions during his 
second year also kept Riddle from returning, and also allowed 
Hogwarts to remain open, not to mention saving Ginny's life and 
vindicating Hagrid.

Bill