I think we finally have a good explanation for Harry’s Father’s rock: Dumbledore’s mysterious divination power. He somehow knows the rock will be important, but perhaps not exactly how or why.
solipsist
Karma: 3,073
Scientists of LessWrong, I have Important Questions for you:
What would happen if Harry donned his invisibility cloak and stepped through the mirror?
(Physics)
Assuming CPT symmetry, Would the mirror universe be composed entirely of antimatter? Would the anti-nitrogen molecule annihilate with dust particles on Harry’s cloak, emitting vast quantities of gamma rays?
If so, would the cloak shield Harry from the gamma rays, or would they be “duplicated” the way visible light photons are? If the gamma rays are duplicated, the temperature of Harry would increase very rapidly. Does the invisibility cloak emit black body radiation? At what point would Harry be visible due to black body radiation alone?
If Harry is not annihilate, what is the simplest experiment he could perform to take advantage of reverse-chiral weak interactions?
Assuming the mirror permits electric fields to travel through it, what would the effects be near the surface of the mirror? Would electron on air molecules near the surface of the mirror be torn off and stick with their reflected positrons? Would the mirror become a giant capacitor? If so, how many coulombs of charge would it hold?
(Chemistry)
Assuming the mirror universe is not composed of antimatter, what sorts of fun activities could Harry do with stereoisomers? For example, what schedule 1 drugs could Harry obtain on the cheap?
(Biology)
Assume Harry starts eating in the mirror universe. What sorts of nutritional difficulties will he encounter? For example, would he be able to metabolize proteins? Carbohydrates? Fats? Nucleic acids? Are there any essential amino acids Harry will be missing?
Would the mirror bacteria and fungi be able to metabolize Harry? Who would win in a fight: mirror bacteria or Harry’s immune system?
“I cannot count how many times I have thought of that night, rehearsing my mistake, thinking of wiser things I should have done,” said Professor Quirrell. “I later decided that I should have thrown my wand from my hand and changed into my Animagus form...
Though Harry was careful not to touch Quirrell’s snake form in Azkaban, this quote implies to me that Animagus forms might be more resistant to the Riddles Doom effect. This might apply to Harry as well, should he ever be in his Animagus form.
So I [...] devised a new ritual based on new principles. I kept that ritual burning in my mind for years, perfecting it in imagination, pondering its meaning and making fine adjustments, waiting for the intention to stabilise. At last I dared to invoke my ritual, an invented sacrificial ritual, based on a principle untested by all known magic. And I lived, and yet live.” The Defense Professor spoke with quiet triumph, as though the act itself was so great that no words could ever do it justice. “I still use the word ‘horcrux’, but only from sentiment. It is a new thing entirely, the greatest of all my creations.”
Rituals require sacrifice. Conceivably, Riddle sacrificed his ability to love, or to care about others.
Oh dear. Harry’s in there, Hermione’s body is in there, Quirrell has the Philosopher’s stone, and he can hum! I hope the protagonists are good gatekeepers...
Harry had applied the Charm he’d learned for battles that made his eyeglasses stick to his face, regardless of how his head moved.
(Chapter 104)
The first thing Harry had to do was strip off all his clothes, and his shoes, and everything else he was wearing except his glasses; without his wand, Harry couldn’t unstick his glasses from his own forehead, and neither could Professor Quirrell because of the magical resonance.
(Chapter 109)
Just pointing out: Hermione’s body is probably Harry’s glasses.
I bet on option 1. I think Quirrell has been expecting Dumbledore to be hiding in the mirror. He said:
[...]I saw the Headmaster missing… but for all my magic can tell me… he could be in another… realm of existence..
Quirrell could be lying, but Dumbledore being hidden near the stone seems reasonable too. Also Quirrell said (in parseltongue):
I have plan to sstop even sschoolmasster, if he appearss before uss.
Appears before us. To me the verb appear evokes images, like in a mirror, more than running into people.
One has to wonder about the “masters” of the Horcruxes Are the two Tom Riddles masters of their individual Horcruxes, or are they joint masters to both? In HPMOR, time turners are locked to a single individual. Then can Voldemort use Harry’s time turner? My guess will be “no” for literary reasons.
Voldemort mastered the resurrection stone by defeating death. For Harry to master it, he would have to defeat death, either through Patronus or by dying and getting resurrected.
...and if you want a counter-hypothesis, the only line quoted in which Quirrell seems to have an emotional reaction is:
And then one year Baba Yaga agreed to teach Battle Magic at Hogwarts, under an old and respected truce.” Professor Quirrell looked… angry, a look such as Harry had rarely seen on him. “But she was not trusted, and so there was invoked a curse.
Dumbledore did not allow Tom Riddle to teach Battle Magic.
If you want text to run with this idea, that text would be:
“Here of course we have the Sorting Hat, I believe the two of you have met. It told me that it was never again to be placed on your head under any circumstances. You’re only the fourteenth student in history it’s said that about, Baba Yaga was another one and I’ll tell you about the other twelve when you’re older”
(Chapter 17)
and
You decided that in the beginning, all the way back in the beginning of this year, when the Sorting Hat offered you Hufflepuff. Which I know about, because I received a similar offer and warning all those years ago, and I refused it just as you did. Beyond this there is little more to say, between Tom Riddles.
(Chapter 108)
It is not uncommon for jews to invite goyim to Seders. And if a child is at a seder, it is their role to ask this question.
If Dumbledore had kept the Map himself—if the Weasleys had ever spoken of it to Dumbledore—but they did not, thankfully.
Calling out explicitly why this is confusing:
The trapdoor had hardly slammed shut above them before all nearby sounds muted and the old wizard spun on them and held out a hand and commanded, “Give me the map!”
“M-map?” said Fred or George in total shock. They’d never even suspected that Dumbledore suspected. “Why, w-we don’t know what you’re—”
“Hermione Granger is in trouble,” said the old wizard.
“The Map is in our dorm,” George or Fred said immediately. “Just give us a few minutes to get it and we’ll—”
The wizard’s arms swept them up as if they were hugging-pillows, there was a piercing cry and a flash of fire and then the three of them were in the third-year Gryffindor’s boys’ dorm.
The Weasleys quite definitely told the location of the map to a Phoenix wielding, sorting hat summoning, line of Merlin holding person who looks like Dumbledore. So either Quirrell is lying, or someone Obliviated the Weasleys before Quirrell stole the map from them. Further, Harry knows this.
If the enemy can notice you running off to consult the Weasley twins during class after Hermione was arrested, and find out about that magic map you said was stolen, then the enemy can wonder why I was guarding Hermione Granger’s body.
By the way, that line was edited. It originally read:
If the enemy can notice you running off to consult the Weasley twins during class after Hermione was arrested, and find out about their magic map and steal it, then they can wonder why I was guarding Hermione Granger’s body.
From discussion context, I believe the line was edited because it wasn’t clear how Harry could have learned about the map on his own and people were theorizing that Harry stole it himself.
Dumbeldore wouldn’t like Hermione coming back from the dead. It’s unnatural. He previously worried that the only reason Voldemort would steal Hermione’s body is to make an inferius.
I agree—this is central to figuring out the next few chapters. My best guess is that Harry said “Hello, Voldemort” so that an invisible Cedric Diggory could overhear. Diggory could time-turn one hour back to tell Dumbledore at 5:55 or so, or, alternatively, could inform Dumbledore after 6:55. Dumbledore himself has a time-turner, so as long as Diggory gave no information from after 7:00 Dumbldore could travel back 6 hours from then. Dumbledore knows that Harry is Riddle, so he probably has some aces up his sleeve.
Or through different means. You might be able to brew a Harry resurrection potion with forcibly drawn Thestral blood, Hermione’s body, and unknowingly bequeathed bones of a Potter, Slytherin heir, or Peverell.
If Mr. Hat and Cloak turns out not to be Flamel, then Flamel is..… Hagrid? Filtch? Dumbledore? Ron? Unseen? If Hagrid had appeared in any scene not required by canon symmetry or Quirell’s fake Parseltongue explanation then I would suspect him more. Dumbledore’s fear of being a dark wizard would make sense, but he seems too young and had a family.
Ooooh, I like it!
But Harry was out watching the Quidditch game breathing non-doomy breaths.
Interesting. I have a proposition for you: I’ll take a bet on the “false” side of any of the following:
Magic’s full power allows the user to rewrite reality. 99% (Look at Harry’s reaction to McGonagall’s Animagus transformation: “Magic isn’t enough to do that! You’d have to be a god!” (Chapter 2))
Quirrell intentionally gave Harry a paper cut (Chapter 26) in order to forcibly obtain his blood. 90%
The customer whom Harry asked about Lucius during the Incident at the Potions Shop (Chapter 7) is Snape. 90%
In the prophecy in Chapter 28, at least one instance of “the Dark Lord” refers to Death. 80%
Snape’s statement that he “can teach you how to … stopper death” (Chapter 18) will become important. 75%
Hermione’s and Draco’s Christmas wishes will be fulfilled by the House Cup being awarded to Harry, with some acknowledgement of both his Houses. 60%
Bacon’s diary will teach Harry something about how magic works. 50%
Harry will learn how to “cast a Confundus Charm on the entire universe” (Chapter 5). 50%
The snippet at the start of Chapter 1 is from somewhere in the final chapter. 40%
Harry will become capable of traveling more than six hours back in time, then return to the train to Hogwarts, making it true that “there are three of [Harry] on this train” (Chapter 8). 20%
I’ll bet on the true side for any of the following:
The note accompanying Harry’s Cloak was written by Dumbledore. 80%
Wanna do a mass bet? I’d buy $10 prediction future contracts off you (e.g. I pay you $6, and if “The snippet at the start of Chapter 1 is from somewhere in the final chapter” false, you pay me $10, otherwise you pay nothing). We could do it for charity, if you prefer.
Nope. Quirrell on the possibility of Lucius framing Hermione:
“From a dark alley the black-clad form of Malfoy steps forth—he would go in person, for this—and speaks to her a single word.”
“Imperio.”
“Legilimens, rather,” said Professor Quirrell. “I do not know if the Hogwarts wards would trigger for a returning Professor under the Imperius Curse. And if I do not know, Malfoy probably does not know either. But Malfoy is a perfect Occlumens at least; he might be able to use Legilimency. And for the target...perhaps Aurora Sinistra; none would question the Astronomy Professor moving about at night.”
“Or even more obviously, Professor Sprout,” said Harry. “Since she’s the last person anyone would suspect.”
The Defense Professor hesitated minutely. “Perhaps.”
But how did Dumbledore know that it would be a good idea to carry a rock? It’s not a good weapon against humans; it’s not a good weapon against things you can stun; it’s not a standard precaution. (Also, Harry’s still carrying it)