SS/PS Passing through the guarding spells

[ginny343]

No: HPFGUIDX 129509


> Linda: 
> > But what about the chessboard?  Did Quirrell have to 
> > play his way across it too? And then did it clean
> > itself up to be ready for HRH?  
> 
Julie:
> In SS (283) it states that "there was a huddle of limp
> black players slumped along the wall."  <snip> I assume at 
> the end they did clean themselves up for another round.

Okay, I agree maybe after the door was opened they got up and 
moved back into place.  

> Linda:
> > And then how about the potions.  The one Harry finally 
> > drank from was so small only one person could drink from it.  
> > I don't think is looked as if someone else had already taken
> > a drink because then it would have been obvious which one
> > was the right one.  So, how was Quirrell able to pass?
> 
Julie: 
> Hermione "took a long drink" from her bottle.  Harry
> "drained the little bottle in one gulp."  There was
> obviously less potion in Harry's bottle.  However,
> even if they had noticed it, I don't think they would
> have wanted to bet on that being the case.  The
> bottles were all different sizes and shapes.  No
> telling if only a little was put in there to make it
> seem like that was the right bottle.  They still had
> to logic it out.

Okay, here is the quote from the book that still makes me doubt:

Harry looked at the tiny bottle.
"There's only enough there for one of us," he said.  "That's 
hardly one swallow."

I don't doubt they would logic it out - they aren't taking 
chances here - but I still think that if the bottle was so "tiny" 
that there was just a swallow's worth in there, that any missing 
liquid would have been noticed more readily.  I mean, considering 
the bottles are all sizes, I would assume (which probably I shouldn't) that they are all filled about the same.  Anyway, we 
will never know.  JKR only says the bottles were different sizes, 
not if some were more full than others.  I just picture a very 
small bottle, filled with just enough for a swallow in it.

Julie:
> Don't forget that there was a troll that Hermione and Harry
> didn't have to fight since it was already unconscious from 
> Quirrell.  Quirrell had a way with trolls.
 
Okay, yes there was the troll, but that makes me wonder too.  
Hermione said, after the chessboard, that only Quirrell's and 
Snape's spells were left.  If this is true, then Quirrell brought 
the troll in (which is what I figured the first time, since he was good at dealing with them, he knew that would not be a problem for him).  However, Dumbledore set up this whole "guarding the stone" thing, so he must have known what each teacher contributed.  So if 
he knows Quirrell doesn't have a problem with trolls, wouldn't he have been suspicious of Quirrell's "sprinting into the hall" with 
a look of "terror" on his face on Halloween, and then sinking to 
the floor in a "dead faint"?  Surely if you personally brought in 
a troll to guard something, you don't freak out like that because 
of one.

Julie:
> Everyone had to pass the tests.  Although I do think
> that Dumbledore had a way to get there quicker than
> most.  Can you see him on a broomstick?

I think since Dumbledore was in charge of guarding the stone, he 
knew how to bypass all these spells.

I think I am missing something here that is important, but maybe 
not.  I am also curious about the conversation with Snape and 
Quirrell in the forest.  I am still reading back through posts on 
this one.  It just seems to me that if Snape knew Quirrell was 
after the stone, he should have gone to Dumbledore and suggested 
better/different protection be given to the stone.  And maybe he 
did, we just don't see that.  I just have a feeling that something 
that happened in SS/PS, that we haven't paid much attention to, is 
going to become important later. 

Linda