Troll in the Dungeon (Was: Why did Hermione Lie)

[James Lawlor]

No: HPFGUIDX 126835

Moonda
> Reading SS/PS again, I was again struck by the question of why Hermione
> decided to lie about the troll in the bathroom.  Prior to this
> incident, Ron had hurt her feelings so much, she was hiding out in the
> bathroom crying. <snip>

This thread brought to mind a question I'd had when re-reading PS (or
perhaps just thinking about it one day).

Why the fuss over a troll in the dungeon? Obviously this is going to
be dangerous, but it can't possibly have been necessary that all of
the teachers follow Dumbledore into the dungeon to deal with the
troll. Certainly, from his fight with Voldemort in the Ministry, we
know that Dumbledore is powerful enough to take care of a troll by
himself. And it's not that hard to believe that any of the other major
teachers (McGonnagol, Snape, Flitwick etc) would have been able to
handle it as well.

It would have been safer to say "Students, remain calm, Teachers guard
the doors while I (or professor McGonnagol or whomever) take(s) care
of the troll"

But then I thought about it some more, and I think this rather makes sense:

It was a drill. A perfect time to "drill" the students and prefects
and give them some sort of experience with a situation where the
teachers are unavailable and the Head Boy and Prefects are responsible
for getting the younger students to safety. (Obviously getting the
troll locked in the girl's bathroom wasn't part of either plan -
Dumbledore's nor Harry's).

It also has the benefit of keeping the students on their toes -
reminding them that the WW is a dangerous place and that Dumbledore
and their teachers won't always be able to protect them from it.

I wonder what the Puppetmaster!DD people will have to say about this. :D

- James Lawlor
jlawlor at gmail.com