Through the Trapdoor
chapter sixteen of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Harry discovers that Hagrid divulged how to get past Fluffy, and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts to alert Dumbledore, he decides to go after the Philospher’s Stone himself. Harry, Hermione, and Ron then work past a number of enchantments, with Ron hurt in the process, and when Hermione goes back for help, Harry turns to face the final room alone.
“See you in a minute, I hope….”
(by Keith James)
“Oh, I’m so glad we know what it’s called, that’s a great help.”
(by NicoPony)
Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward….
(by reallycorking)
Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly – the towering white chessmen had no faces.
(by Tealin Raintree)
He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced.
(by glockgal)
“Brilliant,” said Hermione. “This isn’t magic – it’s logic – a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven’t got an ounce of logic, they’d be stuck in here forever.” “But so will we, won’t we?”
(by NicoPony)
“Got it. The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire – toward the Stone.”
(by gerre)
about the chapter
Before the final book came out, there was a legion of fans who were convinced that this chess game symbolized the wizarding war against Voldemort, and that looking at the order in which pieces were taken would give us clues as to which characters would die and when. It usually followed that Ron would have to sacrifice himself for Harry to defeat Voldemort. It was fun to try to match up, and there are certainly similarities, but there are also problems – including the obvious backwards symbolism that Harry is playing for the black chess team here and not the white.
Some Things You May Not Have Noticed
The reason Harry thinks to go ask Hagrid about Fluffy is because he sees an owl flying overhead with a letter. It’s too bad Harry didn’t figure things out a bit sooner, as this owl is very likely the one with the “urgent letter” asking Dumbledore to come to the Ministry. Not only that, but by watching where it flew, Harry could have tried to figure out where Dumbledore was!
After Harry drops down into the Devil’s Snare, he looks back up at the trap door with Ron and Hermione and describes it as being the size of a “postage stamp.” In other words, he fell a really long way. When you also consider that Fluffy was on the third floor and this elaborate series of rooms almost has to be in a basement or sub-basement, we’re looking at probably a fifty foot drop. Wizards are pretty hardy, and Devil’s Snare may be soft, but it seems to me an enchantment or two may also be in effect to slow the fall through this shaft.
The logic puzzle Hermione solves really does work, and actually isn’t that difficult to solve (though to be fair I did used to teach algebra). The only piece we’re missing is the relative sizes of the bottles, so we can’t quite get it done all the way, but it’s still clear Rowling thought it through. If you’re interested, there’s an explanation here.
Life at Hogwarts
After the first-years finish their exams, Ron exclaims that they have “a week before we find out how badly we’ve done.” Really? A week of just sitting around Hogwarts after the exams? But in subsequent years this will begin to make a bit more sense: students add more classes beginning in their third years (so would take longer for exams), and fifth year O.W.L.s and seventh-year N.E.W.T.s are far, far more involved than regular exams. So the youngest students are probably the only ones done. I wonder how obnoxious they get around the common rooms when older students are still trying to study?
I heard of this site on Pottercats and thought it sounded cool, and I am not disappointed! This is amazing, and I’m really impressed with how much work you’ve put into this. I also love your commentary, you bring up some really good points. For example, I never thought about the exam thing you’ve mentioned here. I eagerly await more!
hpboy13 said this on March 6, 2009 at 8:31 pm
“Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles.” Hm, I was under the impression that wizards used parchment instead of paper. Or are there other times when paper is mentioned? This is the first time I’ve noticed it.
Kim said this on March 23, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Kim, I’d never noticed this either, or thought to look it up. I’m looking at it now, though, and it looks like generally speaking, ‘paper’ is used to describe either a newspaper or a scrap of paper (like the one Hermione gets Lockhart’s signature on for the Restricted Section, or the one with the instructions for finding Grimmauld Place), while ‘parchment’ is usually used for the bigger stuff. There are a few instances where ‘paper’ is used, though, including this one, Lockhart’s first-day-of-class test in CS, the O.W.L. exam papers (both James/Sirius/Snape’s and Harry’s own are described as ‘papers’), and a few others. So I’d say the words are probably more or less interchangeable, though if you can find a sinister connection between those events I’d be happy to expound on the theory. ;)
John Kearns said this on March 26, 2009 at 8:48 pm
One thing I do find hard to reconcile is the paper is just left there in the first place. If the idea is to keep Quirrell/Voldemort out, why would the clues be there?
Pam said this on August 10, 2009 at 8:27 am
Great site, really enjoying it!
I’ve never really understood why it was so easy for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to get to the Stone, though. Dumbledore and the other teachers did their best in protecting the Stone, and then three 11-year olds managed to get through? I agree with Pam, why leave the clues? Why even leave the right potion? The whole protection seems more like an interesting challenge than something that would actually stop a grown-up witch or wizard, not to mention Voldemort…
Alex said this on August 29, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Hey Alex, thanks for your comment! I actually wrote an essay on this site that addresses your question: http://hpcompanion.com/ps/psessay/
John Kearns said this on August 29, 2009 at 6:49 pm
When I read the book, I tried to solve the puzzle, then was disappointed to realize that you needed the sizes of the bottles. I wish JKR would have let the readers solve the puzzle.
I do question the security of the Philosopher’s Stone. Why not just make a spell that repels all but Dumbledore? It couldn’t be that hard.
I love NicoPony’s Devil’s Snare drawing, by the way. :)
Mickey said this on September 24, 2009 at 7:50 pm
love the way Keith James’ invisibility cloak drapes over Hermione. And Glockgal’s Ron really captures his bravery as he stands there bracing himself for what he knows will be a brutal blow. (WB really disappoints in their depiction of Ron, though Rupert Grint does a great job)
woadisme said this on October 23, 2009 at 4:16 pm
You’re right, woadisme! The ‘real’ Ron is more loudmouthed and funny, in my opinion. Whereas they make Rupert Grint seem bumbling and overall just a sidekick.
Lindsay Lovegood said this on January 3, 2010 at 11:34 pm
“Why not just make a spell that repels all but Dumbledore? It couldn’t be that hard.” – Mickey
I shouldn’t think that’s possible. Jo has talked about how important it is to decide what magic can’t do. Like there are rules as to why you can’t conjure money and food and anything else you might desire. Likewise I should think there are rules as to why you can’t make a place impenetrable to all but any one person. I shouldn’t think the Ministry would allow it for a start – the Aurors would never be able to find any Dark Wizard’s hiding place… ever. It’s one of those things that, in terms of storytelling, has to be impossible otherwise the wizarding world wouldn’t work.
“I’ve never really understood why it was so easy for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to get to the Stone, though. Dumbledore and the other teachers did their best in protecting the Stone, and then three 11-year olds managed to get through? I agree with Pam, why leave the clues? Why even leave the right potion? The whole protection seems more like an interesting challenge than something that would actually stop a grown-up witch or wizard, not to mention Voldemort…” – Alex
It was so easy because there were three of them. Jo’s talked before, and it might even have been in HBP, about the difference between the way Harry operates and the way Voldemort opperates. Voldemort works alone, has to because he can’t really trust the people he recruits. If Harry had gone alone like he originally intended he would have been instantly overpowered by the Devil’s Snare and that would have been it. The trio used Hermione’s academic knowledge and logic, Harry’s seeker skills and Ron’s chess skills. How many individual wizards are going to have all those skills themselves? Voldemort and Quirrell had to find out how to do it all before they even attempted it. And I should think the reason why the puzzle had to be solvable is in case Dumbledore or Flamel wanted to remove it.
One odd thing I noticed though – Gryffindor tower is on the seventh floor, and yet the trio climbed UPstairs to get to the third floor corridor. Whoops!
elizabethauthor said this on June 21, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Actually, I’ve just re-thought it and realised that there is a spell to stop anyone except Dumbledore entering – the Fideleus Charm. But maybe you can’t do that on one chamber, maybe it has to be an entire building.
elizabethauthor said this on June 21, 2010 at 12:08 pm
There is one thing which has always bugged me about this chapter. If Hagrid told the man who sold him the dragon egg about how to get past Fluffy, why wasn’t the information used right away? Why did Quirrell/Voldemort wait until the end of term to use send DD on a fake journey? Or did DD just use a call from the ministry as a cover story to give Harry time to try to stop the stone from being stolen?
Pam said this on July 27, 2010 at 8:45 pm