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How was the Philosopher's Stone destroyed? Was it ever stated in the first book how the Stone was destroyed? Was the Stone destroyed when Harry dropped it?

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  • 18
    Since it is not The One Ring(tm), I suppose you can simply smash it with an axe.
    – Erik
    Commented Nov 9, 2021 at 9:39
  • 13
    Or indeed a hammer. Bear in mind that very few real gems are immune to being smashed to powder by a hammer wielded by hand. Gems are usually hard, but brittle. Commented Nov 9, 2021 at 13:04
  • 2
    It probably involved Edward Elric using it for... something
    – Machavity
    Commented Nov 9, 2021 at 13:46

1 Answer 1

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There is no in-universe answer. In addition, the Stone was not destroyed when Harry dropped it.

In the first book of the Harry Potter series, Dumbledore tells Harry that he will destroy the Stone. This prompts a discussion about how Nicolas Flamel will die as a result. But in the conversation, Dumbledore never tells Harry how it will be done. The narrator never explains either. Unfortunately, there's no answer to your question.

‘Not the Stone, boy, you — the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed.’

‘Destroyed?’ said Harry blankly. ‘But your friend — Nicolas Flamel —’

‘Oh, you know about Nicolas?’ said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. ‘You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat and agreed it's all for the best.’

‘But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?’

‘They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die.’

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) - Chapter Seventeen: "The Man with Two Faces"

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  • Can you cite the passage where Dumbledore says this? The version I read has it differently.
    – Alex
    Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 1:34
  • Let me find it. Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 2:17
  • @Alex If the copy you read was in English, that could be due to differences between the original version written by Rowling and the US localized version. They changed a lot more than just idiomatics and spelling for the American release... Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 2:48
  • @AustinHemmelgarn For example, they changed the formatting; double-quotes instead of single-quotes for text, and double-spaced paragraphs instead of single-spaced with first line of paragraph indented. Commented Nov 10, 2021 at 16:21

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