Why didn't Dumbledore hide everything in the Mirror of Erised? Surely it would have served as a better hiding place for the Bowl of Prophecy rather than the Department of Mysteries. Similarly Godric Gryffindor's sword could have been hidden in the mirror.
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The prophesy never belonged to him (or was in his care) to hide. The sword wasn't hidden. It was on display in his office (after it was first pulled from the hat. I don't think we see it before then).– BoBTFishCommented Apr 14, 2014 at 15:58
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But He tried to conceal the Prophecy in the Order of the Pheonix. He did try to deliver the sword safetly to Harry– Tom LyndCommented Apr 14, 2014 at 16:02
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@TomLynd - no he didn't. He just tried to prevent DEs from getting it– DVK-on-Ahch-ToCommented Apr 14, 2014 at 17:48
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@DVK then how come Harry was supposed to destroy the Hocruxes? Did he like the idea of Chamber of secrets?– Tom LyndCommented Apr 14, 2014 at 18:54
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The prophecy could only be retrieved by "those who the prophecy was about", so what would be achieved by hiding it in the Mirror instead of the Dept of Mysteries?– JohnPCommented Apr 18, 2014 at 18:57
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2 Answers
The Mirror of Erised has a major problem as far as a hiding place goes: it works well only once, and only against a foe that isn't prepared.
'Your greatest desire' is something that can change very simply. Harry, faced with a foe and needing to stop him from getting an object, saw himself getting it. If Quirrel had simply focused better and focused on getting the stone (not using it or giving it to Big V) he would have found it as well.
The mirror depends on your point of view, and that's one thing that a skilled opponent can change easily.
As Dumbledore says (from memory, not an exact quote):
What happened...is completely secret...so naturally everyone knows
The secret was out. Knowing the trick, the mirror becomes a much less secure hiding place. Certainly it wouldn't work against Big V a second time.
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3Forget "everyone". Voldemort was there (attached to Quirrell's head) Commented Apr 14, 2014 at 17:47
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Moreover, couldn't Dumbledore bewitch the mirror against a particular enemy?– Tom LyndCommented Apr 14, 2014 at 18:44
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@DVK: Hence why it wouldn't work against Voldemort a second time.– JeffCommented Apr 14, 2014 at 18:58
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Mmm...maybe. Dumbledore subverted the basic enchantment of seeing your hearts desire and added a caveat attached to that particular item. One could presume that a wizard could attach any different condition they wanted, such as "You could only retrieve it if you wanted to use it to stir a carrot cake". Knowing the condition would be extremely difficult. Harry, as per usual, got lucky.– JohnPCommented Apr 18, 2014 at 18:53
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1@JohnP: Yes. Because someone who wanted to use it would see themselves using it. Their fondest desire wasn't to find the stone, it was to be rich or immortal. That's entirely in keeping with the enchantment on the mirror, not changed at all. He simply hid the Stone within such that the Stone would discharge it when someone wanted the stone. He tied it to a very particular, very specific, and very rare desire, one which would have been utterly foreign to Voldemort and Quirrel.– JeffCommented Apr 18, 2014 at 21:08
Various reasons
First, there is no "Bowl of Prophecy." Perhaps the question refers to the basin that Dumbledore used to show Harry the prophecy? That bowl was the Pensieve, which stores a person's memories. It so happened that Dumbledore had heard the prophecy, which is how he was able to show it using the Pensieve. Or perhaps the question means the "Ball of Prophecy," i.e. the Orb that the prophecy was stored in.
Dumbledore could not have stored the prophecy record (i.e. the "Ball") in the Mirror, for the simple reason that it did not belong to him. The record was automatically created by the Ministry, and thus under their control. And of course, had Dumbledore sought to take the prophecy himself in order to hide it, he would have run into the same problem as Voldemort: only Harry or Voldemort could remove it from the shelf. Dumbledore was trying to conceal the prophecy's existence from the first, and certainly could not have relied on the aid of the second.
Dumbledore was not trying to conceal Gryffindor's Sword. Voldemort undoubtedly knew it was at Hogwarts, but had no interest in it. Why would he? He had already made his full complement of Horcruxes, so had no need of another relic of the Founders. If he was aware that the sword had absorbed basilisk venom, it would not have worried him, since he did not realize that someone was seeking out his Horcruxes.
The major problem with storing other valuable objects in the Mirror is one of time.
Quirrell ignored him. He was still talking to himself. "What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"
And to Harry's horror, a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself.
"Use the boy... Use the boy..."
—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Note that Voldemort immediately knew how to use the Mirror. Perhaps he already knew how it functioned, or perhaps he had employed Legilimancy to read Harry's thoughts about finding the Stone. Regardless, after the events of the first book Voldemort would have been wise to the idea of using people with different motivations to retrieve things from the Mirror. No object would have been safe for long, if Voldemort had actually had reason to look for it.
Could Dumbledore have made an object irretrievable by attaching it to an obscure motivation? Perhaps. We cannot say for sure whether there is no other way to retrieve an object from the Mirror. But had Dumbledore done so, Harry would not have been able to procure whatever was hidden there, thus entirely defeating the purpose.
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Another problem with hiding Gryffindor's sword: as soon as someone needed it the sword would teleport to them from its hiding place, so there's no telling how long it would actually stay hidden for Commented Jul 25, 2016 at 3:15