Speculation: What's being guarded on the third floor?

[zorb]

Hello, fellow alt_fen! Since I don't appear to be alone here (yay!), I thought I'd kick off a discussion on the mystery just starting to unfold.

Now, of course, we all know what was canonically on the third floor, and what it was guarding. But how much of that still holds in this universe, with corporeal Voldemort and the Ministry essentially in control of Hogwarts?

From Harry and Draco's conversation, it still sounds like it's Fluffy - perhaps not named as such ;-) - guarding the trap door. And I can certainly imagine that Voldemort would still be on his quest for immortality. It doesn't seem like Hogwarts would be the wisest place to hide the Stone, though, with DEs all around and within it, and lacking the teachers' protections.

What do you think?

Comments

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

In my focus on whether the Philosopher's Stone had been stored in the Lestrange's vault before it was removed from Gringotts (my memory needed a vigorous jogging, because I do now remember that the vault Hagrid emptied had only the one, very small package in it when he and Harry arrived), I neglected to consider the broader significance of alt_player's reminder of two elements of the Book 1 story that I've not forgotten, but which we also haven't mentioned here yet

:: that Hagrid retrieved the package legally and without difficulty (There were, in fact, two separate events: Hagrid's removal of the secret package and an attempted robbery of what Harry concludes was the same vault on the same day); AND
:: that Hagrid was Dumbledore's agent in retrieving the package containing the stone.

Given the differences of political situation in the game, one possibility is that there has been only one event at Gringotts -- a successful robbery (rather than an authorized removal and a separate, unsuccessful attempted robbery), during which something was removed that we have inferred is now being hidden at Hogwarts on (or accessible from) the third floor where certain students and one Mudblood have encountered a great big, dangerous something.

The biggest difference is that in the game we seem to have a successful robbery of Gringotts -- and we know how difficult that should have been. (Though, honestly, I was more accepting of its impossibility until I read Book 7 in which three gifted but amateurish children circumvent the curses and dragons.) Or is it no more a robbery than in canon? Are the press reports and Malfoy's fussing about a robbery a matter of disinformation at some level?

[Moment of Wild Speculation: Is the truth that the Protectorate knows that someone accessed a vault they thought couldn't be opened because its owner is wanted and in hiding (Dumbledore's, for instance)? They might not know what had been removed, but would plausibly suspect it a sign that Dumbledore plans to mount some challenge to the Lord Protector's rule. Telling the press there's been a robbery would be a way of telegraphing to Dumbledore and his allies that their movements are being tracked; press reports about a Gringotts robbery would also give a pretext for ratcheting up the State's already draconian surveillance laws; all raids, arrests, and interrogations could be excused as efforts to track down the alleged criminal masterminds who pulled off a Gringotts heist. /unfoundedspeculation]

All this brings us back to Zorb's question about which canonical details hold in this AU. Hagrid's involvement? Dumbledore's? Or are others involved who were not part of the canonical event -- might there be a conspiracy involving the goblins? (If there really HAS been a robbery at Gringotts, how was it managed?)

[zorb]

I like your wild speculation. It's possible that the robbery and what's hidden (presumably the Stone?) are unrelated, too, or that the reported robbery was a front for some other action.

Goblin involvement would be an interesting shift, and it might get us an introduction to Bill Weasley in this world. In general, I like the way characters are gradually joining us; it gives us time to catch up with where they stand.