I admit I’m kind of surprised. You thought you could have Quirrell give Harry a spelled-indestructible diary for no apparent reason and that wouldn’t be a red herring?
As I’ve said recently I think Eliezer severely overestimates the readiness of people to let go of perceived patterns.
The indestructible diary was meant by Eliezer to be a red herring for the duration of a couple paragraphs, until the readers were told it was the diary of Roger Bacon, not Tom Riddle. At which point, I suppose readers were supposed to smile at themselves for being deceived.
But of course readers just pattern-matched “indestructible diary” to “super-significant plot-point and Horcrux” and wouldn’t let go.
Similar to this is Quirrel’s mannerisms at the very start of his first class, meant to get you to think he’ll be the typical Quirrel before he bursts into a confident diatribe, but people have speculated on that one, too.
As for myself, I quite liked the inclusion of Roger Bacon’s diary as part of the background. Though it did lead me to expect a bit more information on ‘leakage’ between the magical and mundane worlds.
For the record, it never occurred to me it could be Riddle’s diary, and yet I assumed it was a horcrux because it was indestructible. I was probably pattern-matching with the Pioneer probe, which Quirrelmort also said he had spelled to be indestructible and this was, indeed, a Clue that it was a horcrux.
Also, in canon, a horcrux can possess you if you become emotionally attached to it. The diary seemed calculated to become a prized possession of Harry’s, and that when Harry learned Latin he could well be in for a nasty shock...
Perhaps I should have updated when it was never mentioned again. Hmm.
The indestructible diary was meant by Eliezer to be a red herring for the duration of a couple paragraphs, until the readers were told it was the diary of Roger Bacon, not Tom Riddle.
Even that’s strange though. I didn’t seriously entertain the thought that it was Tom Riddle’s diary or a horcrux. And then it being Roger Bacon’s attempts to apply science to magic was super-awesome—it was sort of a Chekhov’s Gun and I kept expecting Harry to gain some sort of insight or initial boost or secret knowledge from reading it.
I was thinking the same thing. The things he thinks should be obvious by now (such as the quirrel/voldemort connection) ought to be made explicit in an appropriate point-of-view so we can puzzle over the things that he wants the reader to be puzzling over.
That would’ve taken too much time, actually, I’ve got new plans now. But by reader demand, it will reappear.
I admit I’m kind of surprised. You thought you could have Quirrell give Harry a spelled-indestructible diary for no apparent reason and that wouldn’t be a red herring?
As I’ve said recently I think Eliezer severely overestimates the readiness of people to let go of perceived patterns.
The indestructible diary was meant by Eliezer to be a red herring for the duration of a couple paragraphs, until the readers were told it was the diary of Roger Bacon, not Tom Riddle. At which point, I suppose readers were supposed to smile at themselves for being deceived.
But of course readers just pattern-matched “indestructible diary” to “super-significant plot-point and Horcrux” and wouldn’t let go.
Similar to this is Quirrel’s mannerisms at the very start of his first class, meant to get you to think he’ll be the typical Quirrel before he bursts into a confident diatribe, but people have speculated on that one, too.
As for myself, I quite liked the inclusion of Roger Bacon’s diary as part of the background. Though it did lead me to expect a bit more information on ‘leakage’ between the magical and mundane worlds.
For the record, it never occurred to me it could be Riddle’s diary, and yet I assumed it was a horcrux because it was indestructible. I was probably pattern-matching with the Pioneer probe, which Quirrelmort also said he had spelled to be indestructible and this was, indeed, a Clue that it was a horcrux.
Also, in canon, a horcrux can possess you if you become emotionally attached to it. The diary seemed calculated to become a prized possession of Harry’s, and that when Harry learned Latin he could well be in for a nasty shock...
Perhaps I should have updated when it was never mentioned again. Hmm.
Even that’s strange though. I didn’t seriously entertain the thought that it was Tom Riddle’s diary or a horcrux. And then it being Roger Bacon’s attempts to apply science to magic was super-awesome—it was sort of a Chekhov’s Gun and I kept expecting Harry to gain some sort of insight or initial boost or secret knowledge from reading it.
That’s probably a fair analysis.
I was thinking the same thing. The things he thinks should be obvious by now (such as the quirrel/voldemort connection) ought to be made explicit in an appropriate point-of-view so we can puzzle over the things that he wants the reader to be puzzling over.