13 KiB
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Chapter 115: Shut Up and Do The Impossible, Pt 2
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Author: u/Nepene *
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URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/115/Harry-Potter-and-the-Methods-of-Rationality
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Score: 39
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Created: 2015-03-03T19:07:10
Post:
Comments:
u/alexanderwales [+14] Time flies like an arrow (32 minutes later)
I'm not sure what Harry is playing at, setting up a story here. Or really, why he's setting up a story. Voldemort is dead. The Death Eaters are dead. Dumbledore is stuck in time. Hermione has been returned to life. Harry has the Philosopher's Stone.
So what's the purpose of putting on this big, elaborate lie? To hide the Philosopher's Stone from those who would want to take it from him? To hide the fact that he's a murderer (even if it's justifiable)? To hide the fact that he's at least partly Tom Riddle?
He does all of this without really having an internal monologue of why he's doing it. And if this weren't so close to the end of the story, this is the sort of thing that I would expect to backfire horribly.
u/Darth_Hobbes [+24] Ankh-Morpork Guild of Assassins (51 minutes later)
To hide the Philosopher's Stone from those who would want to take it from him? To hide the fact that he's a murderer (even if it's justifiable)?
Yes, and yes. The authorities would definitely want to take the philosopher's stone from him, and the dead death-eaters had friends and family that will want vengeance. Taking credit would hurt more than it would help.
u/Escapement [+9] Ankh-Morpork City Watch (an hour later)
Yes. If it's Tom Riddle's fault, that's better than it being Harry's. Would possibly be a good political move to set up the Muggleborn immortal witch as the next Saviour of the Wizarding World, too.
u/Nepene [+15] (an hour later)
It fits the narrative.
"Voldemort, whilst experimenting with dark and terrible magics with Hermione, forgot to consider one important thing- love. She exploded him and his death eaters, ending his terrible threat. Thanks Hermione for saving the wizard world as Harry did once. Now, on p3 see what the Weird Sisters have been getting up to in Bulgaria."
u/Escapement [+5] Ankh-Morpork City Watch (an hour later)
I think the idea will be "She exploded Voldemort, and he obviously had some incredibly dark magic that linked his follower's lives to his own so that they couldn't betray him." Or something similar - after all, the wounds to the DEs won't mass explosions, like at all.
u/kaukamieli [+2] (2 hours later)
But they didn't explode when "Harry killed Voldie few years ago."
u/PeridexisErrant [+19] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (3 hours later)
Because he wasn't truly dead that time, duh. /wizardingpublic
u/tacticaltunic [+9] (9 hours later)
I was under the impression that he was setting up Quirrel, the one everybody believes is David Monroe, as the one who killed all of the death eaters and Voldie. No idea what he was going for with the hands around Hermione's neck.
u/Iconochasm [+7] (19 hours later)
Voldemort was in the process of choking out the mysteriously resurrected Ms. Granger when the awesomely badass David Monroe took off his hands with a Cutting Charm. Plan fails utterly if anyone thinks to Priori Incantatem.
u/Jace_MacLeod [+3] (6 hours later)
*cough*Draco*cough*
u/2-4601 [+3] (an hour later)
So what's the purpose of putting on this big, elaborate lie? To hide the Philosopher's Stone from those who would want to take it from him? To hide the fact that he's a murderer (even if it's justifiable)? To hide the fact that he's at least partly Tom Riddle?
Also, to give Tom a chance to grow up normal. If the Wizarding World knew that V wasn't really dead and this other guy is a mindwiped V, they'd try for vengeance, kill him themselves or otherwise treat him in such a way that he'd go Dark due to a lack of other options.
EDIT: And what would Harry be without a Dar- an apprentice?
u/None [+2] (16 hours later)
He does all of this without really having an internal monologue of why he's doing it. And if this weren't so close to the end of the story, this is the sort of thing that I would expect to backfire horribly.
Therefore, it will backfire horribly.
u/TheThorgram [+14] (3 hours later)
That philosopher's stone is a really convenient way of disposing of anything you don't want hanging around... corpses, toxic waste, really any incriminating evidence. Transfigure something into a pebble, make the transfiguration permanent with the stone, throw the pebble away.
u/vastlyoutplayed [+1] (22 hours later)
He's out of magic.
u/None [+1] (23 hours later)
I don't think that the story was implying he's out of magic permanently though.
u/TheThorgram [+1] (a day later)
I wasn't suggesting he transfigure everything, sorry I wasn't so clear. I mostly meant if he wanted to be rid of voldemort for good he could use the stone on the jewel he transfigured him into, though it seems clear he has plans for the transfigured villain yet.
u/2-4601 [+8] (21 minutes later)
I wonder who Harry will allow to know the truth - certainly he can't let it be public knowledge for fear of biasing Riddle again, but it would do the next generation a disservice to deny them the truth. Maybe he'll tell Dumbledore as a backup (in case the immortality-for-everyone plan doesn't work out), and ask him to let visitors know it after Riddle has either died or grown into an ethical person.
u/Kishoto [+1] (32 minutes later)
Isn't Dumbledore trapped in the mirror though? Based on the dialogue, it seemed pretty permanent. Or, if not, much too dramatic for a defeat that wasn't real
u/Escapement [+10] Ankh-Morpork City Watch (an hour later)
Prophecy suggested Harry might free people trapped in a mirror. I think it is not impossible he will free D. before story's end - we still have significant wrapup chapters. Possibly he will send the now-current time's D. to stand in the mirror, and then appear with Quirrellmort, then release him from the mirror all in a subjective 2-3 minutes from Dumbledore's perspective.
u/loonyphoenix [+2] (an hour later)
Prophecy suggested Harry might free people trapped in a mirror
Wait, what? Which one? Where?
u/Escapement [+6] Ankh-Morpork City Watch (2 hours later)
Ch. 110, Dumbledore to Tom Riddles:
"So I am sending you outside Time, to a frozen instant from which neither I nor any other can return you. Perhaps Harry Potter will be able to retrieve you someday, if prophecy speaks true. He may wish to discuss with you just who is at fault for the deaths of his parents. For you it will only be an instant - if you ever return at all. Either way, Tom, I wish you the best of it."
u/loonyphoenix [+7] (2 hours later)
I assumed that to mean that since Dumbledore wasn't prophecied to destroy Voldemort, it means that Harry and V are destined to meet yet.
u/Salaris [+1] Dominion Sorcerer (10 hours later)
It's also possible that a Phoenix can give access to the mirror. Phoenix teleportation was implied to potentially be capable of all sorts of crazy stuff.
u/pokepotter4 [+1] (22 hours later)
Maybe there's a prophecy saying that Harry will free Voldemort from imprisonment.
u/2-4601 [+3] (35 minutes later)
Harry can still talk to him though, I figured he's like one of the portraits now.
u/Kishoto [+1] (2 hours later)
Has EY gone into detail about how portraits work in HPMOR? I feel like he has, but I can't remember where, for the life of me. Can anyone direct me?
u/sir_pirriplin [+2] (19 hours later)
Harry wisely avoided going into details about how portraits work, for fear of repeating the incident with the Sorting Hat.
u/Kishoto [+1] (20 hours later)
He thinks he's going to endow them with sentience due to the complexity of his mind? Does that mean we're now assuming that portraits feed off of their viewer?
u/sir_pirriplin [+1] (21 hours later)
He didn't actually test that.
I think a portrait contains the memories of a deceased person but they can't acquire new long-term memories. Harry once said ghosts are "like accidental portraits".
Also, when Harry was asking for directions, the portraits could remember the instructions of "the gamemaster", but one of the portraits said that it was nice knowing Harry but it was pity that she wouldn't remember him for long.
u/Kishoto [+2] (22 hours later)
That makes sense, of a sorts. So they're memory imprints, with an implanted ability to utilize short term memory. I suppose that would leave DD's cognizant functions intact, for the most part, although he would probably only be good for initial assessments, as he can't build upon them, since he'll just forget them.
u/2-4601 [+1] (2 hours later)
I don't have the chapter with me (during the Dumbledore argument scene, though), but I know they're only impressions of a person, not a true copy. In this case, I mean in the sense of acting as an advisor who can't interact physically with the world, only speak to visitors.
u/Mr_Smartypants [+3] (16 hours later)
but I know they're only impressions of a person, not a true copy.
Actually, that's only true if it's an impressionist painting!
u/Transfuturist [+1] Carthago delenda est. (9 hours later)
If he was trapped less than an hour before his performance, then he might still be saved. Lucius, too.
u/linkhyrule5 [+9] (2 hours later)
... Is it bad that, on a reread, I'm now sad about losing out on Quirrell's loot?
There was a big bunch of Volde-bits in Quirrell's pockets, and who knows how useful or rare they may be.
u/Rhamni [+12] Aspiring author (2 hours later)
And besides, figuring out what's cursed and what's not would be fun.
u/PeridexisErrant [+9] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (3 hours later)
I think you mean !!Fun!!, as in /r/DwarfFortress
u/Esparno [+4] (8 hours later)
Welp I've been triggered.
I've been able to keep away from the Matrix code for awhile but its back down the
rabbitdwarf hole I go. Strike the earth!
u/Salaris [+6] Dominion Sorcerer (10 hours later)
Someone still needs to go back and loot the Elder Wand.
u/sephlington [+3] (21 hours later)
Also, the line of Merlin, which is currently sat there too!
u/Salaris [+2] Dominion Sorcerer (a day later)
Good call.
u/ajuc [+6] (2 hours later)
If you have immortal unkillable superpowerful evil wizard I'm not sure making him insane is the best solution.
u/JackStargazer [+11] Primordial Apologist (3 hours later)
I'm pretty sure they mean 'insane' in the sense of 'no conscious mind, catatonic, no control of bowels' and not in the sense of 'utterly and completely irrational and hallucinatory'.
u/None [+4] (4 hours later)
I know it wouldn't fit the narrative, but I was hoping for a certain kind of outcome. When the chair was created I was seriously hoping for a moment when Harry would hide Quirrel, sit in it and call people to him. Voldemort is apparently dead, the death eaters are dead, Hermione is alive. His most potent enemies are destroyed and his friend has been resurrected
By this axe I rule. Kiss the ring of the new dark lord, which ironically would be the old dark lord. Bluff your way into supremacy.
u/Mr_Smartypants [+2] (16 hours later)
What I want to know is why he had to go back an hour in time.
He's already doctored the crime scene, and set off the explosion to get everyone's attention. Why go back?
u/Farmerbob1 [+5] Level 1 author (16 hours later)
My best guess is that he went back to warn Dumbledore that he was going to lose in the mirror, and keep him from investing his entire being into the defense. Dumbledore's loss in the mirror wasn't clearly obvious. It could have been faked.
u/Nepene [+3] (16 hours later)
He implied he would be out of magic for an hour. Presumably he needed more time to do magic.
u/Mr_Smartypants [+3] (16 hours later)
Possibly, but EY did say this in the /r/hpmor thread:
I think the one that impressed me most was precommitting to cause an antimatter explosion unless Time-Turned help appeared - since the explosion would be visible from the Quidditch stands, and thus that would make the simplest timeline no longer be one in which Harry never reached the Time-Turner.
Suggesting it's not just recharge time.
u/Nepene [+1] (17 hours later)
So, perhaps he's recharging and then supporting his past self somehow.
u/Mr_Smartypants [+2] (16 hours later)
Ah, out of mana.