Why Move the Sorcerer's Stone

[KathyK]

No: HPFGUIDX 114670


Angie wrote:

> I keep wondering why DD had the SS moved.  I realize the whole 
plot revolves around the capture of the thing, but I mean, why, all 
of a sudden, was Gringott's no longer the best place for it? (I also 
wonder how long the SS had been at Gringotts.)<

KathyK:

I've wondered about this, too.  Last summer there was a thread that 
begins at 74579 entitled the Elixir of Life.  While the initial 
poster asked why Quirrell didn't just go to Devon and steal some 
Elixir from Nicholas Flamel to tide Voldemort over until they could 
get at the stone, it quickly turned into a discussion about these 
very issues.  Why did the stone need moving?  Who knew someone was 
after it?  When did they know?  When was the stone moved?  How long 
was it at Gringotts?  How about that coincidence where someone broke 
into Gringotts the same day Hagrid retrieved the Stone?

Now if you go check out this thread, you might notice I posted to it 
quite a bit.  I would like to apologize for my shameful lack of 
snipping in some of those messages.  It's pretty atrocious.  
*blushes*  And if you don't go back and read it (But do, it's fun to 
read old posts!) I'll share my thoughts on the matter, which became 
a little more coherent and have mingled with some other folks ideas 
(which is why you should go back and read them) thanks to the other 
posters and particularly Steve/bboyminn, formerly bboy_mn in 
messages 74752 and 74997.  

(for a very concise version of what happened check out 74997 in 
particular as I've apparently gotten very verbose--chocolate frogs 
to anyone who actually makes it to the bottom of this post!)

Here's how I think it may have happened:

I think the Philosopher's Stone initially resided with Nicholas 
Flamel.  The Stone can be considered to be very valuable given it's 
capable of granting its wielder immortality and gold.  Flamel has 
had hundreds of years to develop all sorts of protections against 
theft of the Stone.  The safest place for it was with him even if 
others often attempted to steal it because of the protection he's 
created.  

I know Gringotts is, according to Hagrid, the safest place in the WW 
next to Hogwarts, but I don't believe Flamel kept the Stone there 
initially.  I've got no proof, it just seems to make sense.  Why 
would he keep it away from him when he's using it to make Elixir for 
him and his wife?  Yes, he could have the Elixir stored at home, but 
at some point wouldn't they run out and need to make more?  Then 
he'd have to go to Gringotts to retrieve the Stone or at least he 
would be carrying the Elixir from Gringotts to his home in Devon if 
he even took the precaution of making the Elixir there in the 
vault.  It's quite a security risk either way.  

So the Philosopher's Stone is sitting pretty in the care of Nicholas 
Flamel.  Why move it?  My thought was that perhaps someone made a 
particularly clever attempt at stealing the Stone and this raised 
concerns for Flamel that perhaps it is no longer safe.  However, 
Steve made a much stronger case for a different scenario for the 
move from Flamel's personal protection to Gringotts and then to 
Hogwarts.  

>From message 74997:

<snip>
"So, Dumbledore and Flamel's belief that it was in
danger could be completely independant of Voldemort; I'm sure in the
course of 600 years various people have tried to get access to the
stone by various means on several occassions.

"Flamel and/or Dumbledore and/or some other acquaintance hears rumors
that there is a renewed interest in the stone in the more unsavory
circles of the wizard world."

KathyK, back now:

With either scenario, the next step for Flamel and Dumbledore would 
be to move the Philisopher's Stone to a safer location.  So they 
give Gringotts a try.  They've got high security vaults that trap 
theives inside, and rumors of guard dragons.  

Let's go with Steve's scenario that there has been talk of a plot to 
steal the stone.  Not only that but it's been brewing for a while.  
Dumbledore and Flamel have been hearing whispers cosistently for 
some months (for instance-- the exact timing isn't necessary for my 
purposes).  Their first step was to move the stone to Gringotts, 
which has it's own special brand of protection against theives.  
This move could do one of two things:  1) Deter the thief from an 
attempt against Gringotts, well known for it's reputation for anti-
theft protection.  or  2) They've made the switch from Gringotts 
hopefully under the nose of the potential thief and set a trap for 
said thief at the home of Flamel.  It doesn't really matter the 
reason.

Flamel and Dumbledore sit back and wait.  More time (months, again) 
passes.  No one attempts to break into Flamel's house to get at the 
Philosopher's Stone and the quiet interest remains.  New inquiries 
are made, new whispers reach Dumbledore's ears.**  Rather than wait 
and see if the shadowy criminals make a suicidal attempt at 
Gringotts, Flamel chooses for Dumbledore to take control of the PS.  
Dumbledore begins to make preparations at Hogwarts, getting his 
teachers to begin creating their individual pieces of the Stone's 
protection.  He charges Hagrid with the task of retrieving the 
Stone.  

Hagrid brings the Stone to Hogwarts with no problems.  Everybody 
seems to think all is well as they don't know anything about 
Quirrell's connection to Lord Voldemort or that LV is after the PS.  
So what about that connection?  And how about that oddly-timed break 
in at Gringotts that piques our young Harry's curiosity?

I know it's widely assumed (by me, too) that Quirrell took the year 
before Harry arrived at Hogwarts to go do some fieldwork.  And in 
this year LV bent him to his will.  According to Erin's (erinellii) 
excellent analysis, there is strong evidence Quirrell took his year 
away from Hogwarts two years before Harry's arrival.  Sadly I cannot 
find the message number of her essay so I'll just provide the link 
where you can find it on the Lexicon:

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/quirrell.html#Leave

Quirrell spent his year in the forest.  He comes back with a new 
friend and begins making some quiet inquiries into the whereabouts 
of and the protections guarding the Stone.  He spends the next year 
at Hogwarts developing his new personality as a fearful, stuttering, 
useless DADA teacher.  He also continues his search for a way to get 
at the stone.  Somewhere in here the Stone moves from Devon to 
Gringotts.  By the end of term, Dumbledore and Flamel have made the 
decision to move it from Gringotts to Hogwarts.  

Dumbledore asks Quirrell if he can help out with a special project.  
I doubt he was forthcoming with a reason but Quirrell didn't need 
one.  Quirrell, perhaps by discussing with other teachers, realizes 
what must be heading his way.  He feels panicky.  This will not go 
over well with his master if he cannot get at the PS before it falls 
under Dumbledore's care.  But what can he do?  He's been working on 
this for *ages* and has only gotten so far as a tip the Stone is now 
at Gringotts (yeah, yeah, I don't know where that came from).  And 
then one fine day in late July Hagrid lets slip that he's going on 
important business for Hogwarts.  Hagrid could be meaning both the 
Stone and Harry but Quirrell senses his last opportunity is here.

The next day he heads to London to make his grab.  He runs into 
Hagrid and Harry in The Leaky Cauldron and *knows* he is out of 
time.  He has to try and get the Stone NOW.  As Harry and Hagrid are 
zooming around Gringotts, Quirrell is executing his plan 
using "Voldemort's Guide to Successful Gringotts Break Ins--Be The 
First Thief to Get It Right!"

Sadly our poor Dark Lord is outta luck.  Quirrell hasn't memorized 
the text by heart and it takes him just a little bit too long to 
reach the vault.  Hagrid, Harry, and LV's lovely prize Quirrell's 
worked so hard for are zooming away as Quirrell breaks in.  

Lord Voldemort is er, unhappy with this turn of events.  "Now we 
have Dumbledore to contend with.  Nice work, nitwit!  If I had a 
body and a wand I'd give new meaning to the word Crucio!"  

Okay, it's late and I'm beginning to get punchy ;-)

KathyK, up two hours later than she'd meant to be composing this fun 
post and really needs to get to sleep now as she's got to be bright-
eyed for tomorrow's job interview