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harry potter - Why didn't Flamel make more than one Philosopher's Stone?


In Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Harry Potter plans to use the Philosopher's Stone to guarantee immortality for everyone. (Yes, ambitious goal, dreams are free, etc etc...)


Obviously, things are a bit different from HPMOR to Harry Potter canon, where: Spoiler! If you are planning to read HPMOR (and you should), DO NOT read the spoiler.



Nicholas Flamel is not an immoral transgender liar who claimed that the ancient relic (the Philosopher's Stone) was actually made (not stolen from the previous owner), thus shutting out billions of people from immortality.




In the original Harry Potter universe, why didn't Flamel make more than one stone? He already knew how to do it and he had done it before, why didn't he make more stones so that everyone else could benefit?


Surely a 'good' wizard—companion of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin (first class), Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, re-discoverer of the fabled Twelve Uses of Dragon Blood—would be concerned about everyone?



Note: not a duplicate of Why was there only one Sorcerer's Stone?, as that question is asking:



'Why did only Flamel make a Philosopher's Stone' (eg why didn't someone else make one)



while this question is asking:




'Why did Flamel make only one Philosopher's Stone' (eg why didn't Flamel make more than one stone).




Answer



Most people don't think they want to live forever, and don't think that other people really want to live forever.


In most literature (and stories, prior to writing) those who seek immortality find only tragedy. Most people would look at someone seeking the Stone and say, "They're greedy, and not good people."


We don't know why or how Flamel created the Stone, nor do we know if it can heal (as opposed to simply producing an elixir which extends your life). Flamel was obviously (given his agreement to destroy the stone) of the opinion that eternal life was NOT necessarily a good thing.


I, personally, agree with Harry from HPMOR (and the creator of that story, Eliezer Yudkowsky) that eternal life for everyone would be a good thing. Flamel, however, didn't. He thought it was better for people to eventually die than to live.


Presumably, the process to create a stone was one that required great precision and/or expensive/rare materials. I would presume that, were it reasonable to do so, each government would produce at least one Stone for their own use. The fact that no government is known to have done so indicates that the creation process is so difficult that only a scant few people could do it successfully, or that the materials are so rare as to be nigh-impossible to obtain.


So there's a few possible reasons Flamel would have not created more:




  • He's evil. The power MUST be his and his alone.

  • He can't. The process requires ingredients or rare circumstances that can't be brought about again.

  • He doesn't think it's a good idea.

  • The idea never occurred to him.


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