The four Heads of Houses, Hagrid and Quirrell were gathered in Dumbledore's office. Each of them had received a note inviting them to Headmaster's office saying there was an extremely urgent matter, but no one knew what the matter was. About half an hour after all of them had gathered and been waiting silently, Dumbledore rose from his chair and began to speak.
"I have invited all of you because there has arisen something urgent."
"How urgent can it be, Headmaster, if it takes thirty minutes for you to start the discussion after all of us have arrived ?" Snape said in an irritated tone.
"My apologies, for making you wait. Before we discuss the matter, would anyone like a lemon drop ?"
When no one spoke and Dumbledore looked disappointed, Sprout felt sorry for him and came forward. "One for me please, Professor Dumbledore."
Dumbledore handed a lemon drop to Pomona, took one himself, and began to speak.
"As I was saying before, an urgent and important matter has arisen. My friend Nicolas Flamel told me earlier that someone was threatening him and he was afraid they were after the Philosopher's Stone. He asked me to help keep it secure. You all must have heard of the recent beak-in attempt on Gringotts. So I have decided it will be kept at Hogwarts."
"What ? At Hogwarts ? If someone is after the stone, won't it be dangerous for the students if we keep it at Hogwarts ?" Flitwick protested.
"And the term starts in a few weeks." Sprout added.
"Where exactly at Hogwarts do you think we can keep it ? Your office ?" McGonagall asked.
"No, that will be too obvious." Dumbledore calmly said. " I'm thinking of the third-floor corridor on the right hand side"
"But children keep going there. If we have to guard it, we will need something dangerous. How can we keep something dangerous where children keep going ?" Sprout was very concerned.
"We will tell every students not to go there. I think I will include it in my speech at Welcome Feast." Dumbledore said.
"And you think they will listen ?" McGonagall was still not convinced.
"Well, I suppose I could make the warning sound more dangerous. I'll add something like 'a very painful death'. That should do." Dumbledore said in a tone that indicated it was the end of discussion on that matter. "Now coming back to the reason why I invited you, I want each of you to add your protection to the Stone. We shall begin from the innermost and move outwards."
The group of teachers stared at the Headmaster and then looked at each other's face. Everyone was confused. Dumbledore continued to speak. "Now I want each of you to do your work secretly such that no one knows what the other has added as a protection and how to get past it. Not that I mistrust any of you, but in times like this, it is better to not take risks."
"Of course. As if putting such a valuable item which is threatened to be stolen by someone who could break into Gringotts in the middle of the school filled with stupid and nosy children is not risky enough." Snape sneered.
"I agree with Severus on that." Minerva said. "And you say you don't want us to know what the others have put for protection, which I don't object to although I believe it could have been stronger if we worked as a team. If you really wanted to keep it that much of a secret, wouldn't it have been better if we didn't even know who else was giving the protection ?"
"Now that you said it Minerva, yes, I should have done so. I didn't think it through." Dumbledore confessed.
"Obviously." Snape stood up and began to leave. "Call me when it is my turn."
"If you're so hurried, let's start with you." Dumbledore said. Snape stood up and did his job.
Dumbledore then asked Quirrell, McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout to add their protection to the stone in turn. When all of them were done, he put a trapdoor and asked Hagrid to provide a monstrous creature to guard the trapdoor.
Well, it seems good. I am pretty sure it is Voldemort who is after the stone, but the protection is impenetrable. A three-headed dog that sleeps only when it hears music - who's gonna think of it ? Devil's snare which Tom probably learned about during his Hogwarts years, but who pays attention in Herbology anyway ? A charmed flying key – even with the brooms I insisted to be kept, I don't think he can get it, I'm fairly certain he didn't play Quidditch while at Hogwarts. A game of chess – Hmm.. He has a sharp mind but chess is a two person game and I don't think he has practice. He didn't use to engage in any recreational activities that required another person who would be unhurt at the end of the activity. Picking the correct bottle of potion out of seven – It must be impossible, even after the clearly explained clues in form of riddle that Severus put after I insisted. And troll - I'm sure he will be taken away by surprise, that's if he even makes it this far. Well, that's enough. If I feel like anything needs to be done further, I will do later.