Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing the first episode of the Harry Potter story- the one that hooked us-
The Philosopher’s OR Sorcerer’s Stone. Now, as an introduction to a new series, it
doesn’t get much better than the Philosopher’s Stone. By the time you’re just a few short
chapters in- you’re introduced to a magical world with endless possibilities- a world
full of magic, wands, witches, wizards and flying broomsticks. As a child it was the
best thing I had ever witnessed.
The premise of the Philosopher’s Stone surrounds well- the Philosopher’s Stone- a stone created
by French alchemist Nicholas Flamel with a breadth of powerful capabilities:
"The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary
substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It
also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal."
Okay okay- so it’s a powerful stone- but HOW exactly does it fit in to the plot of
Harry Potter? Here’s the thing- Lord Voldemort AKA Tom
Riddle- the primary antagonist of the Harry Potter story, always sought one thing - immortality.
He wanted to live forever, and that’s part of the reason that he went to such great lengths
to create his horcruxes- risking everything so that he wouldn’t have to suffer as a
consequence of his own mortality. Voldemort wanted to evade death at any cost- as he felt
that it was a fate unbefitting of a man of his level of power. He despised his mother
for dying and abandoning him- it was a fate reserved for the weak and unambitious. Needless
to say- Voldemort knew about the stone and wanted it desperately.
Flamel, the stone’s creator, eventually entrusted its ownership to Hogwarts headmaster
Albus Dumbledore- as he knew that Dumbledore would be able to protect it much better than
Flamel himself. Dumbledore took the task of protecting the stone very seriously- putting
numerous safety measures in place to ensure that the Stone was properly protected. However,
I want to explore a few things in this video. #1 is- were the obstacles ENOUGH? If the stone
was reached by a trio of first years- then how could it have been considered even remotely
enough to hold off Voldemort? #2 is- did Dumbledore in fact WANT Harry to reach the stone? Did
he WANT him to reach Voldemort? Let’s look further.
In total, there were 8 obstacles in the way of the stone with varying difficulties. Some
were almost pointless, and others had some degree of difficulty.
Obstacle #1 was hardly an obstacle at all- a locked door. However, I’m pretty sure
this one was just put in place to stop an unfortunate student from wandering in to the
next obstacle..Fluffy. Fluffy was obstacle #2- a giant three-headed dog that guarded
a trapdoor that would serve as an entryway to the remaining challenges protecting the
stone. Despite Fluffy’s immense size and unquestionable ability to KILL- I don’t
think that anyone thought that he would truly hold Voldemort off. What they may have thought,
however, is that the inevitable clash between Fluffy and Voldemort would have at least attracted
some attention- enough attention to alert Dumbledore and the other professors.
Obstacle #3 was Devil’s Snare- a magical plant that constricts and strangles anything
that happens to fall in to it. The Devil’s Snare was waiting at the bottom of the trap
door next to Fluffy, which meant that as soon as they had passed Fluffy- they were hit with
another challenge. Here’s the thing, Devil’s Snare would be a GREAT protective measure-
if only it wasn’t countered with a spell taught in first year Herbology. Probably not
a great defence against, oh, one of the most powerful dark wizards of all time.
Obstacle #4 was a room filled with flying keys, one of which was the correct key to
open the door to obstacle #5. However, not only were there tons of flying keys, there
was also a broom available for the taking. The moment that contact was made with the
broom, the keys began flying around erratically, making it supremely difficult to try and capture
the correct key. This obstacle is good..In theory, however I do wonder why a broom would
be provided at all. Surely if the goal is protecting the stone by any means, then it
doesn’t make any kind of sense to make the goal of reaching the stone any more achievable.
Also, I can’t help but think that there could have simply been an alternate spell
used on the door, avoiding the hassle of capturing a key altogether.
Obstacle #5 was the giant chess set, a magical obstacle put in place that required checkmating
the enemy king to advance further. This obstacle is not bad- particularly as if you weren’t
a chess pro you’d run in to a considerable level of difficulty. The trio advanced through
this challenge because of Ron, but it did divide the group- which was perhaps the intention
of this challenge, separating people from any aid that they may have had thus far. As
far as we can tell Voldemort / Tom Riddle was basically a prodigy- so I’m fairly certain
that winning this game of chess would have been a breeze for him.
Obstacle #6 was the troll room- a room with a big old troll. However, fortunately for
the trio the troll was already unconscious.
"A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making both of them pull their robes up over
their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even
larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head."
Again- this kind of challenge may have been difficult for a regular witch or wizard- and
certainly for a regular group of 1st years, but Voldemort? Come on.
Obstacle #6 was the potion room- one of the better obstacles protecting the stone. The
room contained seven unlabelled potions and tested the intruders logic.
Along with the seven unlabelled potions was a riddle written on a piece of paper.
The potions themselves also trapped the intruder between black and purple flames. In order
to correctly pass the flames- the intruder would have to solve the riddle. This obstacle
was particularly efficient at it’s ability to divide groups, as there was only enough
potion to allow one individual through. The complexity of this particular obstacle made
it, in my opinion, the only real OBSTACLE so far. Harry was able to get through with
the intellect of Hermione, however, as I mentioned earlier, Voldemort was prodigious himself.
Obstacle #8 was the Mirror of Erised. With the exception of the potions obstacle, the
mirror of erised was, in my opinion, the only real protection of the stone. In case you’ve
forgotten how the mirror of erised works, it’s a magical mirror that shows us the
‘deepest, most desperate desires’ of our hearts. The mirror was Dumbledore’s primary
contribution to the stones protection.
I’ll let Dumbledore explain his thinking here:
“Only a person who wanted to find the Stone - find it, but not use it - would be able
to get it. That is one of my more brilliant ideas. And between you and me, that is saying
something.”
As Dumbledore mentioned above, when you arrived at the mirror obstacle the only way to get
the stone would be to see yourself possessing it in the mirror. This is where things would
get tricky for Voldemort, anyone that wanted to use the stone for their own purposes simply
couldn't have it.
However- here’s why I still don’t think it was well protected: Dumbledore knew that
Harry would reach the stone. Dumbledore wasn’t an oblivious man- he knew all about Harry,
the prophecy and Voldemort. He knew that Harry would be the one to defeat him, and he knew
that the pair were destined to meet at some point or another. From the very beginning
of the first book, Harry is given clues regarding the stones existence. While in Diagon Alley
with Hagrid, Hagrid decides to bring Harry with him to Gringotts and collect the stone-
when he very well could have just done that by himself ANY other time. Why would he have
combined shopping with Harry with such an important task, if not to somehow, subtly,
alert Harry to the stone’s existence. Was it Hagrid’s ignorance? Or was it perhaps..PERHAPS..
instruction from Dumbledore.
With the existence of the stone planted in Harry’s mind- he was bound to be curious.
What was this mysterious object they picked up from the vault? And why- just after retrieving
the stone with Hagrid- was the vault targeted by thieves? Dumbledore was no fool- he knew
that Harry’s curiosity was going to get the better of him, and that is why I think
that he PLANNED for Voldemort and Harry’s encounter- to test the bounds of the prophecy
and just how linked the pair really were. The obstacles put in place to prevent ‘Voldemort’
from retrieving the stone were really just obstacles for Harry- tests that would determine
whether or not Harry really was ‘the boy who lived’ and the boy that was destined
to defeat Voldemort. They were formalities- a way of giving the outward appearance of
protecting the stone, while planning on having Harry reach the stone all along. Knowing that
Hagrid would always look after Harry’s best interest, Dumbledore kept Hagrid in the dark..mostly,
but instructed him to subtly mention the existence of the stone without ever explaining why.
Dumbledore’s intentions weren’t bad, but they weren’t good either. He essentially
put all of the parameters in place for Harry to face the dark lord himself, and watched
on eagerly (and in secret) as Harry progressed through each trial with his friends. When
Harry finally reached the chamber and was faced with Voldemort, Dumbledore’s attention
peaked- as this was the moment that would determine whether or not Harry was the real
deal. The events that transpired in that chamber were what would shape Harry’s life for the
remainder of his time at Hogwarts, as once Dumbledore realized what and who Harry was-
he subtly influenced the course of his life so that the prophecy could be fulfilled, and
Voldemort could be defeated.
And that’s it for this video! In closing, I just want to mention that all of the above
mentioned above Dumbledore’s behaviour is purely a theory. I love Dumbledore’s character,
and I’m more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I thought it was
at least some food for thought. What do YOU guys think? Was Dumbledore planning for Harry
and Voldemort to meet all along? Let me know in the comment section below.
Until next time
Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you