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The final time that Harry went looking for the Mirror of Erised, Dumbledore informed him that it had been relocated. Eventually, it's revealed that it was used as the final protection for the Sorcerer's Stone.

How did Dumbledore get to the location where the mirror was stored? Did he have to conquer the traps, or did he have some other mechanism to get there?

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    Dumbledore is known to have been able to apparate in and out of Hogwarts...
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Jul 23, 2021 at 13:34
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    @ZeissIkon That's true. That's an interesting, more general question - how did Dumbledore give himself that kind of a "back door" without also creating a potential security hole for someone like Voldemort? Was this some kind of "security by obscurity," or did he actually have some way of legitimately giving himself (and only himself) an exception?
    – EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine
    Jul 23, 2021 at 13:35
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    @ZeissIkon - Not in the books
    – ibid
    Jul 23, 2021 at 18:08

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It's not mentioned explicitly in the book, but most probably neither there was a "back door" nor Dumbledore had to actually "conquer" the traps.

Firstly, the traps were created by Dumbledore's employees on his request. So, he could simply ask them to neutralize their obstacles while he was installing the Mirror.

Secondly, the book doesn't mention when exactly each of the obstacles was installed. We know for sure that:

  • the Stone itself was moved to Hogwarts on July 31st,
  • Fluffy was in place in September,
  • the Mirror of Erised was installed as security precaution around Christmas.

But we don't know about the others, so it's possible that they were added after the Mirror.

Lastly, the obstacles where not realy hard to overcome, as three first-year students could defeat them. Dumbledore (believed to be the most powerful Wizard in the country) would get through them easily, especially if he knew what to expect.

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  • It really isn't that obstacles weren't hard to overcome, they just required brainpower and reflexes. Hermione does state that some wizards don't have logic, and it is possible that other wizards are horrible at chess (to which I can relate, even though I don't have magic). Harry also had skills as a seeker, but the defeat of the troll wouldn't've been easy - if the troll hadn't already been knocked out.
    – Silvermidnight
    Dec 5, 2022 at 4:05

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