We’re getting less of Harry’s inner narrative than we did before the troll, so it’s entirely possible that he’s fully aware that Quirrell is almost definitely the big bad, but still wants him to live in spite of this.
After these latest chapters, though, I’m starting to think Harry’s mind is being blocked specifically from anything that would harm Quirrell directly. Quirrell’s perspective in chapter 89 says that he can’t influence Harry directly through their connection, but Harry’s “Dark Side” might be another matter. (How did Quirrell think talking to an Inferius like he was modifying its memories would help? He knows exactly how smart Harry is!)
Good point about getting less of Harry’s inner narrative—I’d been thinking I was feeling less connected to the story and wondering why because the prose seemed to be at least as good as it’s been, and probably better.
“Less inner narrative” gives me hope for a plot payoff, and it’s much more subtle than a character explaining a plan to other characters without the details being given to the reader until the plan is acted on.
We’re getting less of Harry’s inner narrative than we did before the troll, so it’s entirely possible that he’s fully aware that Quirrell is almost definitely the big bad, but still wants him to live in spite of this.
After these latest chapters, though, I’m starting to think Harry’s mind is being blocked specifically from anything that would harm Quirrell directly. Quirrell’s perspective in chapter 89 says that he can’t influence Harry directly through their connection, but Harry’s “Dark Side” might be another matter. (How did Quirrell think talking to an Inferius like he was modifying its memories would help? He knows exactly how smart Harry is!)
Good point about getting less of Harry’s inner narrative—I’d been thinking I was feeling less connected to the story and wondering why because the prose seemed to be at least as good as it’s been, and probably better.
“Less inner narrative” gives me hope for a plot payoff, and it’s much more subtle than a character explaining a plan to other characters without the details being given to the reader until the plan is acted on.
… Huh. I didn’t even consider the possibility that it might be an Inferius before now—I just assumed it was Imperius.
But when you think of it, if you assume the centaur Firenze wasn’t dead, Imperius is probably not the best option anyway
a magically murdered and revived centaur is a big political problem, though, between Hogwarts and the centaurs of the forest.
Unless this kind of thing is routine, why would he expect to get away with this?
EDIT: There’s also another explanation for why he took so long, which is he was in the Firenze’s mind, learning exactly what the centaurs had divined.