Harry potter experts needed:p?

Question

I know Ihave three questions but for now, I can only recall two.

Number one is if Harry hadn't followed Quirrell in order to rescue the Philosephers stone, how would Quirrell have got it out of the mirror? So did he actually save the stone?


Number two, is Dumbledore a Parslemouth? Because he is able to understand whats going on in the memory of the Gaunts....
Number three is coming when I can remember it....
xx

That was my point, if Harry hadn't gone down there, wouldn't the stone have stayed in the mirror?

If you havn't read the book, please don't answer, I know why Harry got the stone, I'm just saying is there something I've missed, because Harry is rewarded for saving the stone, but wasn't he just endangering it.
BUT I supose that could be for alerting everyone to the face that Quirrel was working for V.

Answer 1

Without Harry there to pocket the stone, Quirrel and Voldemort might have possibly been in front of that mirror for over an hour. Quirrel desperately wants to find the stone and, doesn't want to use if for himself but, rather to please who he considers to be his master. Voldemort is a genius, not to far off as far as brains go to Dumbledore's level. It would have only been a matter of time before Voldemort figures it out. For all we know the solution might have been as simple as Voldemort temporarily vacating Quirrel's body. Even if it wasn't that simple Harry's not being there to touch Quirrels face would have bought them more time.

I don't think Dumbledore is a Parslemouth in the same sense as Voldemort or Harry were they can understand it without effort. I believe Dumbledore just, learned to speak parseltoungue in the same way one would learn a foreign language by memorizing the words' (or in this case the hisses) meaning. Wouldn't be surprising seeing as he knows Merish and various other languages pertaining to the magical world.

Answer 2

1. It would have stayed in the mirrior, yes. So Harry didn't actually save the stone but he is the reason why Quirrel is no longer a problem (Dead) and Voldemort was off on the run again as when Quirrel died the piece of Voldemort's soul that was in Quirrel had to find a new parasite.
2. Yes, Dumbledore is a parselmouth. JKR said so in an interview but I'm not sure which.

Answer 3

Number 1: Answer is yes. Because as long as Voldemort remained connected with Quirrell, then the stone was in danger. By following and confronting Quirrell, Harry placed himself in a position to use his unknown power to drive Voldemort away and thus, destroy his current body and keep the stone safe for good.

Number 2: That's a good question. I do not believe he is. Just because some of the Gaunt memories involved speaking in Parseltongue, doesn't mean they think in the language of the snakes. Also, when Dumbledore was in the memory of the Ministry "cop," I don't think he understood when Marvolo and the son were talking to one another. Harry could, though.

Answer 4

Question one is a conundrum. Quirrell sees the stone in the mirror as he sees himself presenting it to Voldemort. If Voldemort looked in the mirror, he would presumably have seen himself using it to return to a normal (and eternal) life. Harry simply sees himself looking after it. According to Dumbledore, only someone in Harry's position with Harry's desires could have retrieved the stone. Dumbledore is rarely wrong, so we must assume Harry's hero complex led him to the wrong place at the wrong time and risked giving Voldemort the stone. It's classic fiction that, in trying to prevent something, we can actually bring it about (or in this case nearly do so).

I, too, have wondered about the second question. It's said that Harry and Voldemort were the only two parselmouths at Hogwarts for a century, which precludes Dumbledore from being one - or at least a natural one. However, Dumbledore's mastery of languages is formidable. If Ron was able to speak Parseltongue in the last book, simply by listening to Harry do it one time, Dumbledore would surely have been able to learn it more fully, at least to the extent of understanding the conversations in the penseive.

Answer 5

First of all, the stone wasn't in the mirror. The mirror had one function only, to show people what they most desire. Dumbledore didn't place it in the dungeon so much as J. K. Rowling did so that Harry would know how to get the stone.

You see, this is what's called a "plot hole". She wanted Harry to get the stone, so she "showed" him how. I don't think it ever occured to her that it made no sense for Harry to be there, because in reality, the stone was practically irrelevant. The whole point of putting Harry in the dungeon was to put him next to Voldemort.

As for Dumbledore being a parselmouth, I suspect that's just another plot hole. But the other poster may be right. He may have just learned the language on his own, though he doesn't need to be a descendant of Slytherin to be a parselmouth.

Answer 6

The mirror may not have shown Quirrel where to find the stone, but he would likely still have found it some other way. But the point wasn't really that Harry saved the stone, it was that he was willing to risk his life to save it.

Dumbledore was not a parselmouth, but considering how brilliant he was I wouldn't be surprised if he had either learned how to understand it himself, or had developed a magic item to translate.

Answer 7

Didn't Quirrel/Voldemort think that the Philsophers Stone was under the door behind Fluffy... it just happened that it wasnt there and Harry came along

Yes Dumbledore is Parseltongue, as Wikipedia says (Albus Dumbledore can speak Parseltongue. [5] In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince he repeats Morfin Gaunt's words "the big house over the way", which were spoken in Parseltongue.) Its a bit like Ron speaking Parseltongue in HP7

Answer 8

1. voldemort would probably have figured out some way to get to the stone some other way, so harry wasn't really endangering the stone, he actually saved it.

2. Dumbledore is a smart man so I think it's possible he could have learned it... he never said that he couldn't speak it.. or maybe he just understands it??

Answer 9

those are really good points. I never thought about the one about Quirrell, but I was wondering the same exact thing about Dumbledore being a Parselmouth. He just has so many secrets

Answer 10

number 1: quirrell would never be able to get the stone so really harry didnt save the day all that much lol

and number two dumbledore is i believe but i could be wrong