CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 9, THE MIDNIGHT DUEL

[Geoff]

No: HPFGUIDX 188297

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jelly92784" <jelly92784 at ...> wrote:

>My own Questions:
 
> 7.  Why was the door to the forbidden corridor set up so that a simple "alohomora" could open it?  Did Dumbledore simply trust that the students would follow his orders?

Geoff:
I might assume the the Second Year upwards are familiar with 
Dumbledore's instructions and how they are enforced.

However, the question comes to mind as to how "simple" an 
Alohomora spell is to an inquisitive First Year.

An interesting piece of canon is the following:
'Ducking under Peeves they ran for their lives, right to the end 
of the corridor, where they slammed into a door - and it was locked.

"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door. "We're
done for! This is the end!"

They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards 
Peeves' shouts.

"Oh. move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand tapped 
the lock and whispered. "Alohomora!"'
(PS "The Midnight Duel" p.118/19 UK edition)

Reading between the lines, this seems to suggest to me that Hermione 
has been reading her books as avidly as usual and hence she's one jump 
ahead; thisspell hasn't yet been met by the average student.