Philosopher's Stone


 * This article is about the magical object. For the book of the same name, see Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.



The Philosopher's Stone was a man-made, blood-red stone with magical properties. It could be used to create the Elixir of Life, which extended the drinker's lifespan, as well as transform any metal into pure gold.

The famed alchemist Nicolas Flamel created the only known Philosopher's Stone in existence. Flamel used the Elixir of Life made from the stone to extend his and his wife Perenelle's lifespan for centuries.

In 1991 the Philosopher's Stone became the target of the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort in his quest for immortality. Voldemort used a human host, Quirinus Quirrell, to seek it out at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where it was being held. The stone was originally stored at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in vault 713. However, possibly suspecting a threat, Albus Dumbledore had Rubeus Hagrid retreive the stone the very morning of an attempted robbery.

After that, the stone was placed in a special chamber and guarded by various enchantments and creatures: A massive Three-headed dog named Fluffy; a web of Devil's Snare; charmed, flying keys; a life-size board of Wizard Chess; a mountain troll; a potion riddle; and The Mirror of Erised.

Harry Potter and his schoolmates Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger suspected that the stone would be stolen. In overhearing out-of-context conversations, they believed the theif would be Hogwarts Professor Severus Snape. However, the intended theif was in fact Professor Quirinus Quirrell.

Harry felt compelled to protect the stone and he and his friends, using intellectual power and heroism far exceeding their years, fought past the obstacles, until finally Harry was forced to face Quirrell and Lord Voldemort himself. In the final showdown, Quirrell lost his life, and Lord Voldemort lost his hold on the physical world.

After securing the stone, Dumbledore and Flamel discussed its future, and agreed that it was best to destroy it. Flamel ensured he had enough remaining elixir to set his affairs in order before he would ultimately die.

Severus Snape's Potion Riddle
The Potion riddle was an obstacle created by Severus Snape to help guard the Philosopher's Stone. As Hermione Granger noted, to get past this obstacle required logic and intelligence; it wasn't a matter of magic power.

The obstacle involved seven potions aligned on a surface. This poem was also present:

"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind, Two of us will help you, whichever you would find, One among us seven will let you move ahead, Another will transport the drinker back instead, Two among our number hold only nettle wine, Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line. Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore, To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four: First, however slyly the poison tries to hide You will always find some on nettle wine's left side; Second, different are those who stand at either end, But if you would move onward, neither is your friend; Third, as you see clearly, all are different size, Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides; Fourth, the second left and the second on the right Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."

Based on Hermione's deductions, one may understand the potion lineup to be as follows:

1- Poison

2- Nettle Wine

3- Potion to move the drinker forward through black flames

4- Poison

5- Poison

6- Nettle Wine

7- Potion to move the drinker backwards through purple flames

The riddle would pose difficulty to some, but it was solved by both Quirell and Hermione Granger.

Trivia

 * In non-British versions, it is called the Sorceror's Stone.
 * The potion obstacle does not appear in the film, but does appear in the PC game.