Reviews for Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
sean chapter 85 . 10/14
oh... harry is growing up.
MegaMementoMori chapter 85 . 3/21
I read some reviews and apparently a lot of you are sad, sometimes very much so, that Harry missed his chance of getting a phoenix, trusting Dumbledore that „a phoenix only comes once”. Fortunately, this version of Harry is the last person to care about such arbitrary BS rules. By next morning, he will likely not be coping by recalling the fact that Godric Griffindor did not have a phoenix, but rather add another item to his checklist „understand the deep magic behind phoenixes and tweak or abuse it in a way which would make my destined phoenix want to bond with me again”.
Microwaver chapter 85 . 8/16/2021
Incredibly well written chapter.
Guest chapter 85 . 3/30/2021
LOL!
Did Dumbledore just passive aggressive revenge on Harry?! Hahahaha! Considering their last conversation... I mean, superdick move, but LOL.
aGnamZer0 chapter 85 . 2/2/2021
This event with the phoenix was traumatizing. I almost cried, for this opportunity and the determination to storm Azkaban, I feel like Harry, nauseous, disappointed, sad and angry with Harry. I hope that this phoenix will come back, but I know. It's too late. Even if Harry does go to Azkaban and annihilates every single Dementor, the phoenix won't come back. It's too late.
David Levine chapter 85 . 8/26/2020
Though I also agree with mantimeforgot
David Levine chapter 85 . 8/26/2020
I agree with Montara, that was bullsh*t. Harry didn't go only because he thought the phoenix was fawkes, who he'd seen many times and talked with about this, and who'd accepted that it wasn't time. If Harry'd never seen a phoenix before, or didn't know one personally, he probably would have gone for it, a phoenix that had come just for him, just for now, because he knew the event was significant. Dumbledore f*cked him again, and I think it was intentional, maybe even some kind of revenge for what Harry'd said to him, or something to do with a dehumanized mental image of Harry because of the aforementioned resentment. What an a cynical ahole. Motherf****r.
PersephoneQOTU chapter 85 . 4/11/2020
WHAT THE SNICKITY SNACK JUST HAPPENED?HOW DO YOU REFUSE A PHOENIX? IF A PHOENIX APPEARS BEFORE YOU AND TELLS YOU TO COME THEN YOU COME. NO QUESTIONING THE PHOENIX. LIKE, YEAH, YOU'RE SCARED, BUT SERIOUSLY IT'S A PHOENIX
Wicked.A chapter 85 . 2/29/2020
Damn, this was heavy
Majerus chapter 85 . 7/17/2019
I'm freaking bawling here... oh Harry... your heart...
2ndLovelyAddition chapter 85 . 7/3/2019
you spelled significant wrong in the authors note bro but as this is my first review i must say that this work is an utter masterpiece
HeartbrokeReader chapter 85 . 1/2/2018
I am rereading this story for the third time, and I get incredibly sad every time I read the scene where Harry loses his chance for a Phoenix of his own...
ack1308 chapter 85 . 4/12/2017
Dang.
Effie36 chapter 85 . 3/1/2017
Just saying, but I think that Aguamenti conjures water from nothing. I mean, there is no certain way to test that. Maybe it just summons water from the ocean or draws water from groundwater. Maybe it gathers the vapour from the air. Since the magical community is quite small, I don't believe them using 'Aguamenti' would make a significant change in the global water level.
The Anguished One chapter 85 . 9/4/2016
Oh, bad night for Harry. He's right that he wasn't ready to go with the phoenix, but I imagine this decision will weigh on him for a long time.
Flamboyant Turtle chapter 85 . 7/24/2016
I just love inhuman dark psychopathic Hary
Guest chapter 85 . 6/3/2016
Well shit Harry. You done gone and messed up big time.
Midnight chapter 85 . 4/27/2016
I hate you.
So much.
I'm not crying; shut up.
Ronden Kiagre chapter 85 . 3/13/2016
While I don't disagree with the sentiment, I think two factors, one general and one specific, must be taken into account when discussing Aboriginal Australian technology. The general is that, to my knowledge, they lacked any plant life suitable for large scale agriculture. The specific, regarding the fact that they never developed bows, is that while it is not as accurate at range as a bow, a woomera is just about as effective at relatively short distances, and is less physically demanding to use than a 150lb draw war bow.
Montara chapter 85 . 1/26/2016
I think Dumbledore should have told Harry there's a possibility a phoenix will come to Harry and that's a one time occurrence.

Harry was raised by Muggles, how could he have known?! It wasn't fair to keep him in the dark about something this important! Yet, another of Dumbledore's failures...

Poor Harry :(
WatchingTheWatchman chapter 85 . 12/10/2015
I don't think I have words for this chapter. It's...amazing, and depressing, and just...wow
PA chapter 85 . 5/24/2015
Oh dear.
dksamuri chapter 85 . 5/12/2015
Moving, and absolutely haunting. Poor boy... Logic can fail, even for one such as him, it is not always infallible. Poor boy
DeNarr chapter 85 . 2/26/2015
Poor Harry. It seems sad that the phoenix would come to judge him so early, especially when that is something he would want to do anyways.
Will Write chapter 85 . 2/22/2015
There is an aditional, ultimate irony about Knut Haukelid and the nazi atomic project. Later, when allied scientists examined the nazi records and notes, it was
revealed that the nazi nuclear project was fundamentally, fatally flawed. It wouldn't have worked, even with free access to deuterium. In other words, Haukelid's efforts to stop the project, actually helped the nazi, by persuading them to divert available resouces from their atomic project and into more productive (for their side) war effort.
Ron Lambert chapter 85 . 1/29/2015
Three points:

(1) Just as a matter of information, the Andromeda galaxy is not the closest neighbor galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy-there are two small, loosely formed galaxies that orbit the Milky Way as satellite galaxies. These are known as the Greater and Lesser Magellanic Clouds.

(2) (a) It seems like an unavoidable logical deduction that in order for spoken incantations to work (such as Wingardium Leviosa), some sort of Artificial Intelligence (AI) must have been established on some level to interpret and implement these incantations. (b) This in turn implies that some Intelligence must have created magic itself, which then established the AI interface. (c) One possible way that this AI could determine if a person had the authority to wield magic, would be to recognize some specific, pre-designed genetic code, a marker in the genome. Those who had some of the required genetic marker, but not enough, would be squibbs-who could sense things magical, but not invoke it. Those with more complete genetic markers, could wield magical power on a level commensurate with the completeness of the genetic markers. High intelligence would also be required for a person to be an accomplished master at wielding magic.

(3) The moral conundrum of killing in war, or in any situation, and determining when it is warranted, cannot be resolved by a purely mechanistic rationale. Ultimately there must be a Judge of right and wrong, One Who has the right to make such final decisions because He is the Creator of the Universe, the Source of Life and Existence, and the Final Determiner of Reality. You will search in vain for any solution that tries to avoid or deny these things. No human philosophy devoid of these things is adequate.
NO chapter 85 . 1/2/2015
THAT'S TOO SAD! NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT, IT'S TOO DAMN SAD! OH my GOD why would you DO that? I don't UNDERSTAND how you could DO that... WHAT... WHY? WHY?!
Greg chapter 85 . 11/17/2014
Andromeda is a galaxy and a constellation. It cannot be mistaken for a star. The Andromeda galaxy is a small, fuzzy patch of light. It was known as a nebula before it was understood to be a galaxy.
Sue Clover chapter 85 . 11/16/2014
I've been thinking this for a while now, and I've got to say it. Harry shouldn't be so amazed by the wizarding ability to create things like water from thin air. They need not be actually creating matter at all. For water, all that is really required is to pull water vapor already present in the air and turn it into liquid. It would be interesting to test whether Aguamenti is significantly more or less difficult in an extremely dry environment than it is in, say, a rainforest. That's my hypothesis, anyway.
Ruby chapter 85 . 8/24/2014
I've recently discovered HPMOR and have been devouring this story for several days now, but there's a glaring anachronism in this chapter I can't ignore - while Harry mentions a visit to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, in 1991, the Museum itself did not open until 2001; the site was previously occupied by a hospital, which was publicly blown up in 1997. I know this only because I live in Canberra, and was far too excited to see my hometown mentioned by fanfiction royalty. If such a comment has been made previously, I admit I have not seen it. (I'm also mildly amused that Michael Verres-Evans did not see fit to take Harry to Questacon, the children's science museum - perhaps he considered it too elementary for Harry!)
thepkrmgc chapter 85 . 8/3/2014
and so the phoenix comes, and with it the ultimate test between chaotic and lawful good, Cannon!harry would have jumped at the chance for such obvious heroism but Rational!Harry has a different path to walk
fredre chapter 85 . 6/10/2014
An error: It's not true that heavy water was the only moderator the Nazis knew. Rather, it's the only moderator which can be used with natural uranium of which they knew. There are plenty of other effective moderators which were known even then, they just required the fuel to be enriched.

Also, the part about the supernova was out of character. Harry has been shown to be a very quick thinker. Are we really supposed to believe that he thinks it plausible that something the size of a star could explode on the time scale of seconds?
Guest chapter 85 . 6/4/2014
The boy's eyes flickered once to the stars above; and then he looked at the phoenix.

"Not yet," the boy said in a voice hardly audible. "Not yet. There's too much else I have to do. Please come back later, when I've found others who can cast the True Patronus - in six months, maybe -"

Without word, without sound, a sphere of fire surrounded the bird's form, crackling and blazing with white and crimson veins as though it meant to consume that which lay within; and when the fire dispersed into grey smoke, no phoenix remained.

There was silence on the top of the Ravenclaw tower. The boy gradually lowered his hands from his ears, pausing only to wipe at his wet cheeks.

Whoa. Made me cry.
julian.sloman chapter 85 . 2/7/2014
I would love for you to write an alternative ending where Harry Potter chooses to go to Askaban with the phoenix and kills all the dementors, but then dies along with his phoenix. That should be one epic mission/battle chapter. And then in a few paragraphs what happens with the rest of the universe. Dead people can't owe money, can they? Hermoine and Drako might team up or something when the next big threat arrives. Perhaps even the defence professor might return to being a hero. Maybe it wouldn't need all the "what actually happens" after Harry's death. Just him considering the consequences of his actions and thinking about whether what he did was worth it. Genocide of dementors as far as he knew. Hopefully irreversibly so. His one great accomplishment.
CMVreud chapter 85 . 1/6/2014
How was it?
"The one is coming who rips apart the very s-?" or something like that?
Artekha chapter 85 . 11/24/2013
... I'm sad now.
Benji-C chapter 85 . 8/22/2013
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?'
You write a Harry who is strong in all ways that matter and then in this chapter you strip almost all of it away. All the courage he had, the willingness to risk his life to do what he feels is right, and for what? A cheap moral platitude that actions have consequences? As if he did not already know that?
It is a real shame when I come across a story like this. Superbly written, filled with believable characters, and then comes the none compatible action or belief.
Sadly this will be the last chapter of this story that I read . I have read this chapter several times now and I still can not see why Harry did not go with the Phoenix. Please message me if you feel that I am missing something
Guest chapter 85 . 6/24/2013
Quirell/voldie has arranged the whole plot to get draco and hermione away from harry. That is why he tried to get hermione to beauxbatons, when he could not get her to azkaban . Why? To get harry to be more like friendless, truly cynical Voldie. In a way, voldie is trying to make harry :understand: Voldie.
mutecebu chapter 85 . 5/20/2013
Wow, i just noticed the change in chapter 85. Dang, moments like that remind me why i love this work. Also, the newspaper headings in ch 86 are great. This is definitely the best fanfic ive ever read, and i want to thank you for having the guts to revise older chapters.

You are a valuable member of the universe, even if you never write or accomplish anything more. Im glad youre alive.
Diavo chapter 85 . 5/2/2013
why did u change it? it was better when the pheonix wasnt there. then he could still get one of his own. so i beg you change it back or let him be the only one to have a pheonix come twice. and i beg you even more that if a pheonix comes again it is the same one that came now.
G01den Unicorn 11 chapter 85 . 4/21/2013
I wish to tell you how much this work means to me. It has made me cry - a feat matched only by the Lord of the Rings and the 9th Symphony of Beethoven. Long have I been plagued by the question of what I ought to do with my life. After seeing your Harry make decisions it was clear that I was merely stalling and not pursuing an answer at all. Now I find myself in the horrible situation where I too might rush off, do good, and feel clean if I were merely not a good person. I check and recheck my figures, but I know now that there comes a point when I am no longer checking, but looking for an excuse to ignore reality.

But enough of that. You are not interested in my life's story. Suffice it to say that though I may never be as strong a rationalist as yourself, you have armed me with powerful tools to protect that which I hold dear. I cannot begin to thank you enough.
RelevantlyPosits chapter 85 . 4/21/2013
Why?
Luna's Meow chapter 85 . 4/8/2013
That scene with the Phoenix, and just after with Dumbledore... You have a gift for writing that many lack. You make people care about your characters. Thanks for writing.
Vishwaksen Reddy chapter 85 . 2/22/2013
Polaris is in the little dipper or the Ursa Minor please change that.
Procrastinative chapter 85 . 2/14/2013
Note: This was written without reading the comments (for this and later chapters). I do that to give myself time to think without being influenced too much by other reviewers. Then I will go back and read the comments.
Pratchett in "Small Gods" took on the same subject - peaceful martyrdom vs. devoting a long life to your god (Harry's "god" is the ideals of Enlightenment). The character tried both paths and the clear winner was lifelong devotion. I think Harry is right - with some time he could come back and clear Azkaban without no significant chance of killing himself, and do other miracles also. His reaction on finding out what his decision cost him is perhaps partly based on the scarcity principle - people value rare things more, and Harry is watching an irreproducible opportunity become ultimately rare, i.e. nonexistent.
Four seers ... with major distress after Harry's decision. And no one to hear their prophecies. This does not fit with the model that prophecies get heard by people with the power to fulfill or stop them, but then again none of these were heard, so perhaps that isn't relevant. I do have one rather bitter possibility for what their visions were about: Harry has noted that magic is supersaturated with ways to cheat and kill. The ultimate solution to preventing such a system from being abused is not to patch it - the ultimate solution is to trash the system and build a better one. Imagine it - Voldemort reveals a plan that Harry feels he just cannot let happen and Harry thinks "As long as magic is the way it is currently, Voldemort and any other dark mage can do the same to anyone. I am the logical person to rebuild the system ... so I will use this trick I discovered to cause the magical equivalent of the blue screen of death and start over." Who knows what the trick is, but a time paradox sounds like the right scale of events. The prophetic system might try to warn people about the boy who might bring magic itself down. If this sounds unlikely, remember that Merlin was trying to prevent "the end of the world and its magic" (chapter 80). The end of the world part could be incorrect - a prophet seeing the end of magic might mistake it for the end of the world too.
Mane1 chapter 85 . 2/2/2013
Hmm, I think liked the original of this chapter better before you revamped it; it was more, I dunno, up in the air. Was everyone having bad dreams because Harry decided to not let anyone die, or because he would try and fail and then kill his enemies? The revamp makes it seem as if everyone was troubled because he rejected the Phoenix.
Bonus Nox chapter 85 . 1/23/2013
When I finished reading chapter 85, I was devastated. Harry threw away his one chance at a phoenix, and worse, weaseled out of a most necessary quest. I had identified with the intelligent character, but I could not harmonize my self-image with this limpid thing. I have not turned back from my terrifying crises. Like Lily, I could not have.
I dedicate this re-writing of chapter 85 of hpmor to everybody who did not say “But I, but I” when a choice between two terrors swooped down on them from a clear sky. Whether your soul-shaking crisis was destroying Azkaban, refusing to let yourself commit suicide when you were 16 and your entire southern religious community including your parents did not care to talk to their atheist son because there were still too many things in the world that you wanted to see for yourself, or finally removing those backward bigots from your life when they refused to consider even thinking about apologizing for permanently physically harming you, if you know what it is to be absolutely terrified of doing what you know that you absolutely must do, this is for you. You and me, we deserve some goddamn phoenixes!

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NOD chapter 85 . 1/22/2013
Excellent chapter, nice and story development. I particularly enjoyed "What were the ultimate possibilities of invention, if the underlying laws of the universe permitted an eleven-year-old with a stick to violate almost every constraint in the Muggle version of physics?"

Typo or awkward wording ? "...Reasoning Harry which he could take..."
Cobalt Shdw Phnx chapter 85 . 1/19/2013
Would the John Brown mentioned happen to be the one who tried to invade Harper's Ferry and give all of the gun's there to Black slaves at the time? Of course that doesn't really fit with the timeline...
illuminios chapter 85 . 1/10/2013
Well, all that stress and unstable moral position of last days had to get to him. Sad, truly, but it surely made sense.
Will it break him down completely? That is the question.
WildCard-Yes Man chapter 85 . 1/3/2013
Well sh*t, that didn't go well...
Feuer der Nacht chapter 85 . 12/30/2012
Woah, the scene with the phoenix was [i]powerful[/i]. I felt compelled to go with it myself and wanted to strangle Harry when he turned it down. A shame he didn't think to use his time-turner to go back, use his invisibility cloak where his past self couldn't see him, and then hitch a ride with the phoenix.

- I have an account of the same name if you wish to send a reply.
kellerjoshua6 chapter 85 . 12/26/2012
I apologize for this not being a review. I only wished to ask if there was a way to see the pre-revision copy of ch. 85. I know that it really isn't a part of the story any more, but I really did like the end of it, and I didn't get a chance to read it again before the update (which I absolutely love, by the way). If there's a way to find previous edits, I can't find it.

If it's not too difficult, I'd appreciate a way to see that version again. My email is

I'd also like to say that this is my favorite reading, although I have to assume from how good it is that you must get that a lot. Thanks for being awesome.
Ptronille chapter 85 . 12/21/2012
Your story made me laugh. Your story just made me cry. But above all your story makes me think, and for that I thank you. And I respect you, for they are not many, those who can move and stimulate all in one. I learn when I read MOR, and I've always thought there is no greater treasure; so thank you, truly.
Owl344 chapter 85 . 12/20/2012
Okay, I realize I may be wrong about this, though obviously I don't think I am, and if I'm right, then...

..."the power he knows not" is love? Really?

Oh, and this should really be a review for 86, it's just that I already reviewed that chapter.
Guest chapter 85 . 12/18/2012
I like this version much better. Harry's resolution didn't seem properly consequentialist. It's very sad that Harry doesn't get a chance with a phoenix, but it seems right.
Ephemerally Ethereal chapter 85 . 12/18/2012
I'm reading this over for the 4th time and thinking: "I want Harry to bond with the phoenix. I want Harry to bond with the phoenix. Can't you please please please grant my wish. :D
mantimeforgot chapter 85 . 12/17/2012
Very powerful revision to chapter 85; Harry's final scene is incredibly potent (gave me chills). I do think that ultimately Harry makes the right decision (perhaps even for the right reasons); if the presences of Death's Shadow on earth is allowed to persist (Harry doesn't get them all), then the secret of the true Patronus (and the ability to block the killing curse) would die with him. How many lives are saved by destroying Azkaban now versus later; How many lives are lost if Harry dies in the attempt now without passing on his knowledge? How many lives are gained if Harry gains a phoenix ally in the future? How many are lost if Harry's destruction of Azkaban right then starts a war?

Ultimately that is a terrible burdensome choice to place upon an 11 year old (prodigy and mental alterations withstanding)
W. H. Stoddard chapter 85 . 12/17/2012
Firenze folded his "many" legs? That seems an odd description. He's a centaur, not a centipede! I don't usually think of quadrupeds as having "many-legged" creatures. . . .

It's a small point of wording, but it distracted me.
Ace chapter 85 . 12/17/2012
Very interesting
Zhor chapter 85 . 12/17/2012
In the end, after all the talk of good and evil...people are still just people. Harry lost a chance in this chapter, but I think it will lead to some solid character development... Black and white is false, as all is grey. Things indeed look so very small when you look to the universe and the future, but I think they can help guide in the right direction as well.
Guest chapter 85 . 12/17/2012
This version of chapter 85 is up to your standards. The last one was not.

John Brown. That is sad. And a good reminder that Azkaban is all too real.

I think Harry actually did make the right choice. It is a dreadfully unfair choice, because it can only be made in ignorance. And certainly Harry could make good, creative use of his phoenix powers. But... this Quirrel, this Voldemort, can only be vanquished by "power he knows not", and though he may sneer at his old enemy Dumbledore, he certainly knows him.

Still, when this book is done, I do want to see the omake where Harry chooses differently. I'm pretty sure that with a phoenix, he would indeed have survived killing all the dementors in Azkaban... but he might not have been able to resist killing all the dementors in the galaxy, and clearly a phoenix is not enough for that.

But this is Harry; I think he could stop after Azkaban, though it would not be easy. So there he is, in Azkaban with no dementors. Moody comes in and kills the worst dark wizards before they can recover, and I'm sorry, even with a phoenix Harry's no match for Moody being serious. And then... well, I don't know, of course, because the true motives and plot of Quirrel are still hidden.

But wherever that goes, I think that it unbalances the world. Even without Quirrel, an all-out battle between the lesser good and bad guys here (including Lucius and Moody as well as the bigger characters like the faculty) has a high death count and even an existential risk factor. Certainly Draco would not come out well.

Ah, crap. I'm trying to sound wise here. This is what had to happen for the plot. But fucking destroying Azkaban was the right choice here. There's just no way you can get an Azkaban-worth of delta-evil in favor of the game tree where Harry doesn't have a phoenix.

AND THAT SUCKS! I can believe Harry would actually make the wrong choice here. And that is UNFAIR. Just because you as an author and we as readers want a better story, we push Harry, who is AWESOME and GOOD, into a situation where he makes the wrong choice BECAUSE he is awesome and good! I know that my life has no Author like you, but FUCK YOU and FUCK THE UNFAIR BLIND AUTHOR OF LIFE.

We have to be more than awesome to win at such an unfair game. Yudkowski, I think you are badly wrong about FAI and about beating death, for reasons that are not the point here, but you are very right with this chapter. We have to do better. Thank you.
Random number generator chapter 85 . 12/17/2012
I was quite disappointed in previous version of chapter 85 but this is absolutely amazing.
azin69 chapter 85 . 12/17/2012
I read the new, revised chapter. I liked it better than the old one. I don't want Harry to swear on killing Voldemort. :)
Mavarax chapter 85 . 12/16/2012
That was just depressing. Oh well, I'm sure that when Harry feels prepared he'll find an alternate form of transport. It would make for unsatisfying writing otherwise, given how awesome Harry destroying Azkaban would be and how symbolic.
Tirion chapter 85 . 12/16/2012
I find your lack of updates disturbing.
magicool chapter 85 . 12/11/2012
I'm not joking when I say this is better than the original Harry Potter. Now that I've finished I will go outside for the first time in weeks...And what an amazing few weeks they were.
mechna prime chapter 85 . 12/9/2012
I love this ! please write more!
Gomar chapter 85 . 12/5/2012
Hello,
I'm a french reader and have been searching quite hard for exceptionnally good fanfictions since I discovered the genre one month ago (I'm afraid I get easily bored), turned to english ones because in my mothertongue there are definitely not enough of them, and yours fits perfectly in this category. I'd like to add a dozen hyperbolical- is this english ? let's hope so after all I know "epanorthose" stays the same as do many obscure scientific words- compliments but I don't know where to begin. So I'll just comment on the pleasure I have taken to read a well-build, instructive story. I just loved the scientific explanations that I thought very understandable mixed with fun considerations brought by the characters. So thank you, and I hope that this is not the end and that I will be delighted to find another chapter added some day to come (an easy guess, as you make it quite clear at the end of this chapter). I would have hated to discover that this novel was to be left unfinished and think that you are just as relentless as your characters !
PS I hope you'll get this review, as I'm not a registered member on FFN..
readerboy7 chapter 85 . 11/27/2012
the next time Harry Potter destroys a Dementor, he should say " Now I am become [insert very scary name here], the destroyer of death." (adaptation of quote from 'Bhagavad Gita'.)
Greermahoney chapter 85 . 11/27/2012
Unless I've missed it, which is entirely possible, I don't think we've seen any proof that Voldemort is alive and doing anything. Would kind of love for him not to be the big bad. That would be different.

Anyway, the story is amazing. Keep it up! Wondering how long it will be. 85 chaps in year one alone!
Smozzick chapter 85 . 11/24/2012
Great story. Probably the most tricky plot to follow I've seen in a fanfiction.
Guest chapter 85 . 11/17/2012
And, wow.
Easily one of the best stories I've read. Intriguing plot, good characterizations (especially the departures from canon: different events, different world, different personalities, too few people realize that), lovely sense of humour, and frankly delightful knowledge.
The intellectual side is perhaps the most enjoyable. The moral questions, especially with Dumbledore and the previous war, are engaging, and the scientific facts included add so much. Fascinating.
Oh, and of course, the shout-outs. It's hard not to love those. Dune's gom jabbar, Thomas Covenant's Lord Foul, etc, and the other references...
Simply brilliant. A masterpiece in every way.
Monaki-cheung chapter 85 . 11/12/2012
Great story so far! please continue writing!
Humblefish chapter 85 . 11/11/2012
Awesome fan fic. Introduced me to rational thinking.
Galgalatz chapter 85 . 11/9/2012
Brilliant.
Guest chapter 85 . 11/5/2012
Hi! Can you please, please, please, continue this story? It's so well written and creative and I kinda wanna marry it. Ummmmm... You get the idea.
Ben L chapter 85 . 11/5/2012
Please update a little bit! If you have mostly reasonable work just put it out there! The waiting is terrible, and if you post 20,000 words at the end it is going to kill hours which may be inconvenient!
Otherwise, love the work .
Leah chapter 85 . 11/4/2012
I don't actually know this story by heart yet, but its not for a lack of number of times reading it. I'm addicted. Seriously. New chapters will be very refreshing because I'm running out of chapters to reread. (I have to wait a while in between so it's not too fresh in my memory. But that interval is growing too far and I keep reading anyway...) I should go and do other things. But thank you for writing such a good story and demonstrating the power of good writing.
Deo V chapter 85 . 11/1/2012
Well, what can I say.

Lets start this off as you would have Harry do in this story. I will state the facts.

Your grammar is impeccable, I am hard pressed to find any mistakes if any, most cannot accomplish such a feat.

You're story is wonderfully written, I was expecting a re-run of the Harry Potter canon except with a "rational" Harry leading the charge. I was pleased to find my self surprised at every turn. That even I, the reader, who held most of the important information and saw everything from an omnipotent point of view; could not figure out what was going to happen next. That is rare to see these days.

Your characters are well fleshed out, that I could see them change and develop as the situation called for. That even they could see when they were wrong. As for Harry you have done a great characterization for him. It is not the Harry we know, but this replacement is not un-welcomed. I can even attest to see Harry tragic-flaw, which writers seemed to go to great lengths to hide from us. This is not a bad thing but instead makes the story all the more interesting.

But like any great connoisseur of literature before me, I must give you feedback and critique your work.

The major flaw that I saw here was that the story moved too slowly, I'm not saying that you should rush the story and make it so that Harry is now ready to face the dark lord and has all the powers he needs. No, what I am saying is that I spent the last few weeks, staying up late, losing hours of sleep, and reading 85 chapters of considerable lengths, of a story that wasn't going anywhere. That is not to say that nothing happened, that would be a gross understatement, what I am saying that there has been 85 chapters of twists and turns, ups and downs, and despite all that had happened Harry is no closer to defeating the dark lord than he was when he first found out the existence of his greatest foe. There has been no progress of finishing the story.

Yes, I acknowledge that this has all been necessary in order to set up the end. But what I am saying is that in terms of the story, Harry is STILL a first-year Hogwarts student. That he STILL hasn't gained the knowledge, power, or skill that he will need in order to defeat the dark lord. I speculate that defeating ol' voldie isn't what your trying to achieve here but for me as the reader I feel that the story has stagnated. That it's just one continues monotonous event after another setting up for the action for the later part of the story. The problem is that not enough is HAPPENING to have Harry Potter defeat Voldemort, to tear down Azkaban, to figure out the underlying laws of magic. Instead, Harry Potter is still in his first year.

That is all the true grumbles I have about this story (except for the shipping part of my self that screams for Harry and Hermione to get together already!)

I would also like to note that your work seems to be in the likeness of the great science-fiction writer Orson Scott Card.

Everytime you have a battle between the army's of Chaos,Dragons, and Sunshine; I cannot help but be reminded of Enders Game and the battle Sims that he was made to go through. You have my respect...Sir? Ma'am? Funny how I never bothered to check.

I also encourage you to add some more light-hearted humor into the story. I find myself suffocating my laughter as I try to stop myself from waking everyone in my household with my insane giggles.

Well the hour grows late here, I will stop my review and give my wellest of wishes to you. I hope you will respond to this so we may have a proper discussion, and I also hope to be back soon for the newest chapters you will post and continue this journey of rationality(or perhaps its a journey of irrationality?)

Sincerely

MasterDV
W.Kathy chapter 85 . 10/31/2012
I knew it. I knew that Hermione would hurt Harry...just didn't guess that she would cause him to lose all his money and own a debt to Lucius. If she thought she was a murderer, she should have just hang herself and save everyone the trouble.

It's a pity that Draco was taken away before Harry could fully convert him. Such a waste. Again, if only Hermione wasn't there to ruin things. She's the weakness of Harry that he doesn't need. Of course, one could argue she is the reason why Harry hasn't been more ruthless in his dealings and turned to be a true Dark Lord. But how long would this reason last? Until she is once again caught in a plot, only this time Harry isn't in time to save her sorry arse?

I'm curious who actually tried to kill Draco...hope you'll update soon.
F3rn chapter 85 . 10/29/2012
...whoah. Seriously, this fic deserves the title of most reviewed Harry Potter fanfic on the site. I could not stop laughing at the funny bits, and at the serious bits I really felt the charatcter's pain. You have the perfect balance. Also, it's saying something that I was still utterly hooked even after 85 chapters. I don't quite know what to do with myself anymore.
Insanity Lord chapter 85 . 10/27/2012
85 chapters and we're still in the FIRST YEAR?

You, sir, are BRILLIANT. I applaude your ability to write epic fiction.

I love this!

- Insanity Lord.
CR chapter 85 . 10/26/2012
I've read all the chapters up to this point and I really love this book. Are all those theories real? I still feel sorry for Petunia though, two different stories and she still doesn't have a good husband. :P I think that Quirrel is in love with Bellatrix and he has some scheme in mind.
Austin Feller chapter 85 . 10/23/2012
A little bit over a year ago, I read your story up to whatever you had then completed. I loved it, and tried to get all of my friends to read it too; two of them listened. I've been periodically checking for updates and reading a lot of what you and Alicorn have written elsewhere on the internet since then.

I haven't posted a review yet because I didn't feel like I could come up with anything worth saying that hasn't already been said. In general, I express my agreement with things through silence and my disagreement with things out loud. Today I read your 2009 essay, "Why our kind can't cooperate" and, in the process of reading it, became convinced that this approach to expressing my views is not optimal.

I strongly agree with most your views and especially your general project of communicating rationality via insightful writing that is freely available and easily understood. I might be claiming to be a tier below the people you associate with by saying this (which is not something I'd typically willfully do), but, from your writing, you come across to me like a thousand year old vampire. In terms of how I've experienced the process of reading what you've written, the only people I can think of off hand whose work I'd compare yours to are Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking, Guido van Rossum and collaboratively Kernighan & Ritchie. (Haskell was my first programming language and C was my second. Haskell's a beautiful language once you know how to use it, but as a first introduction to programming, I'm pretty sure it's more confusing than most languages. Reading the first couple chapters of Kernighan & Ritchie's book felt like one long mild epiphany as all of the loosely aligned ideas that I'd accumulated studying Haskell suddenly fell into place in a way that was obviously more coherent than the way they had been before. Several of your posts to LW had that same effect on me, except with respect to the way I think about information or life in general instead of just with respect to how I think about programming computers. It's how, based on my intuitive anthropomorphic projections, what I imagine a nail experiencing as someone strokes a magnet across it thereby aligning the many small magnetic moments it naturally has into one coherent larger one. I had a similar experience the first time I encountered what Feynman and Hawking had to say - I think a lot of other people have too.)

All in all, what I intend to be saying in this review is that I think HPMOR is a excellent fanfic which a year ago, I appreciated primarily because I found it enjoyable to read. Today, I still enjoy reading this story, but my the biggest reason I'm glad that I encountered it is that it directed me to the non-fiction you've posted to LessWrong, the SI website, and . Thanks for the work that you've done in creating and sharing your ideas. I've definitely benefitted from reading them.
Anonymous chapter 85 . 10/22/2012
Wow.

This is quite possibly the most pretentious fan-work I've ever encountered, with the most effort put into it.
Lily Potter chapter 85 . 10/22/2012
I started commenting but forgot the name I put.

I can't wait for the next one to come out!
binney.eli chapter 85 . 10/16/2012
It seems to me that Harry is more of a deontologist than a utilitarian, so I don't know why you keep bringing up utilitarianism as Harry's system of ethics. He has his own set of duties that he follows, regardless of their actual consequences. Rather than taking the utilitarian approach on any of his problems, he tries to do what is right based on a set of duties that he has invented for himself. I think he'd do well to read some of Kant's work (Critique of Pure Reason and Metaphysics of Morals), since he was an Enlightenment era philosopher and the founder of deontological ethics.
Nadrek chapter 85 . 10/9/2012
First, thank you for writing this; it's been an enjoyable, if tiring, two nights reading through it.

Add one more known possibility to the Severus electron shell comment; he could have read the answer from Harry's thoughts at that point in time, I suspect, though he was very quick to give explanations of rockets.

Hmmm... while the completely political imposition of adult consequences on minors and the feudal nonsense is extremely canon, I do have to think that this Western Wizarding World's chances in a true war with Muggles would be even slimmer than in canon.

As far as Hermione and false-memory charms repeated Obliviates, A) Harry should be asking Mr. Bester about the best ways to detect and prevent both, B) providing those to Hermione, and C) he needs to sit down and re-think how much knowledge he's keeping to himself vs. how much he's sharing with his friends - he'll hand out a rare old 'invisibility cloak' without a thought... but he never once (apparently) told Hermione how to send signals to herself or detect Obliviation in herself.

D) Albus can, in canon, tell the difference between a badly charmed Pensive memory (Slughorn) and a real one - why would they not be using Pensives to see what can be observed.

E) Harry is performing, as usual, extremely muddy thinking - even Kimball Kinnison in early Second Stage would be appalled. Why is Harry not offering to take Hermione through a step-by-step, moment-by-moment search of her memory (preferably simultaneously using Veritaserum, Legilimancy from at least Harry and Mr. Bester at the same time, a Pensive, whatever memroy enhancing potions there are [wit-sharpening?] and a Remembrall), searching for the breaks and 'frame to frame' inconsistencies that all but from birth on mental surgery _might_ leave? That's a very basic technique in the Lensman... and in this case, would very likely work, as I'll wager the corridor scene left noticable physical state changes in her that would show in some way in a Pensive rendition as being different than what the 'duelling' if it happened would have.

F) Did anyone Priori Incantum the wands reputed to be involved? Certainly Hermione _could_ have cast the spells herself or under some sort of control, but whether they came through her wand at all would be a useful datum regardless.

G) It's clearly time for Draco to grow up - he has the best chance of discovering information unavailable to Harry... and of knowing he discovered it.

H) In canon, at least, is it presumed that Riddle was able to recover memories that had been Obliviated, though it 'destroyed' the witch's mind. She, of course, almost certainly received no competent treatment afterwards, and none during, and Riddle likely did not care about doing damage during the process. Hermione should be offered that process, with the best care still available to Harry.

I) I do have to wonder how Hermione will respond to Professor McGonnagal having _bound her in (perpetual?) servitude to Harry while she was mentally incapacitated, despite Hermione's clear and unambigous desire to be a hero herself, not a sidekick, while Hermione was to all appearances mentally capable. Marriage, and very likely betrothal, given the feudalistic wizarding mindset, to Harry may well have been less enslaving and much more easily broken.

I note that in the prior example of the WWII sinking of a ship with three innocents aboard vs. the idea that Albus burned a personally innocent Narcissa alive, I would have to propose that the latter is the far more heinous crime. The former was an action that directly and materially altered the physical state of a physical object... and was _intended_ to do that. All the human life involved was collateral - none were required to accomplish the task of removing nuclear project components from being readily available to anyone, and from Harry's recollection, none were particularly important. The goal was to remove the nuclear components from anyone's ready grasp, and the mission was to move the nuclear components to the bottom of a sea. Sinking the ship the components were on is a reasonable and very direct way of accomplishing the goal, to the point that accomplishing the mission successfully had an extremely high (near certain) chance of achieving the goal. Further, the mission was entirely in line with the standards and conventions of war at the time, and even now, in most parts of the world (civilized and otherwise, regardless of which is which). In the hypothetical Albus burning Narcissa alive case, the goal was to induce a change in the state of mind of enough of the enemy such that the desired result applied to all of the enemy, and the mission was to burn an innocent woman alive. I would say that the mission was _not_ directly related to the goal, nor was the mission particularly likely to succeed; were there only 50 families involved, all of them could easily uproot to secured locations, and the leader might very well not care in the slightest, or as Harry expected, levelled an escalation in his own tactics (though if the leader is hanging skins of entire families on the wall, then how much more escalation could there be)? If the 'enemy' leader was already hanging skins of families on walls, I can't say this was an escalation, though if the 'enemy' leader wasn't, then it may well have been.

I would say that torturing Albus's brother to death is likely fairly similar to hanging someone's skin on the wall; thus, depending on the chronology, Albus only did such an action when _he personally_ was related to the victim. This does not say anything good about Albus's thought processes as a rational police officer in time of terrorism.

So, why has no-one proposed publically destroying the evil wizard bait in Hogwarts? Secretly destroying it, of course, is likely to lead to some people looking harder. Publically destroying it may at least reduce the number of people looking.

As far as the entire S.P.H.E.W. vs. bullies arc, I have to conclude that despite eight first-year girls attempting to enforce common decent, the 'light', and school rules, having over forty (forty three or less, since one was Quirrel) presumably entirely older students attacking eight first year girls means that despite bullies being delivered incapacitated _over and over again_, _with multiple reliable witnesses to their behavior_, that nothing meaningful had been done to any of them.

Were I to advise Harry, it would be thus:
The Western Wizarding World, or at least Wizarding Britain, is a parasite on Muggle society - it steals vitality from Muggle society, and gives back nothing but damage. Eradicate Wizarding Britain entirely; all of Britain is under the Muggle government's control, and the Muggle government has (I believe) the tools to fully enforce that. Wizards, I do not believe, have the capability to face a modern military (or even military counter-terrorist) force... and I doubt they've been able to actually hide since the 60's or 70's (camera recordings, audio recordings, battlefield surveilland radar, active IR, passive IR/thermal vision [Nagini, likely], echolocation, sonar/ultrasonics, air pressure changes, ground waves, sensitive capacitance changes, etc. etc. The British Muggle government at least puts on a show of being a nation of laws; the British Wizarding government has laws that explicitly allow the rule of the 'noble' mob... and they should be tried as traitors to Britain.

Further and more practically, I suspect all purebloods owe a staggering amount of back taxes, including hundreds of years of property taxes.

I do have to ask - is Harry's account manager called Griphook? Yes, I enjoyed Honor Among Thieves as well :).

P.S. Are Vincent and Gregory gone with Draco as well? I don't recall explicit mention.
Guest chapter 85 . 10/7/2012
This is better than I thought any fanfiction could possibly be! Unfortunately, it's so good that I can no longer enjoy the original Harry Potter books because they now seem inferior and childish by comparison.

When you one day finish HP:MOR, I hope you'll try your hand at writing an original story. I'd love to see what kind of ideas you'd come up with.
formalist chapter 85 . 10/7/2012
This is brilliant. It keeps getting better and better. I can't wait to see what new things you come up with.
Kerguelen Heir chapter 85 . 10/6/2012
Long time reader, first time commenter. I'll skip over a summation of the plot to date and avoid posting my favorite lines; I want to focus on the essential goal of the author and his utilization of fanfiction to- effectively- create an entirely new genre of fiction. Mr. Wrong has taken a medium primarily used to expand or rewrite published works to send them careening wildly off the rails, and brilliantly twisted it into a teaching tool. By working from a massively famous series with a ravenous fan base, he puts everyone on the same page from word one; that gives him complete freedom to subvert and modify the world to make his point, knowing that the audience will see what's changed and how. The result is lots of great references towards the original story, but far more importantly it is used in HPMOR to show how different, more logical paths can be taken to get a more positive result. It also shows how the weight of un-deferable responsibility puts a much greater corresponding burden on the main characters. The story has a relentless engine of curiosity, tension, and action driving it, dragging the audience along through a ferociously readable tale.
And that's how the trap is sprung.
This is author tract taken to a transcendent level. I dare you to find another fan fiction that cites its views by name from widely respected books, has a central theme based on the latest in scientific research, and spends a majority of its word count building effectively a doorstopper-sized apologue. The whole thing is one giant Rhetorical argument, using the original books as the universally-known position that is being attacked.
That's where things turns slightly sour for me. The original books provide the position that is being attacked, but Less Wrong commits a grave fallacy. (SPOILER ALERT) From just a few chapters into the series, the positions set up within the source material are re-written into strawman arguments; the ghosts, fully functional and sentient, are turned into mindless automatons that rationalist!Harry points to as evidence of there being no afterlife. Dumbledore burns an innocent woman to death to make him less sympathetic and his views more questionable. The whole immortality tract damn near drives the hundreds of brilliantly written and totally valid critiques AND the overall storyline right off the rails.
Is that an unfair criticism? Less Wrong made the rules: Rationalism is everything throughout this story, and is held up as the ultimate, world saving ideal. So to commit such a blatant fallacy in writing the story itself- when the whole context of the fanfic is a comparison for the readers against the stupid mistakes made by the canon characters- grates on my nerves.
Still, it's not enough to derail the story, and everything else is damn near miraculous. This is either the best fanfic ever written or actually so good it broke out of fanfiction entirely. Would (and repeatedly have) recommend to anyone who has read the original HP series and even vaguely likes science.
Guest chapter 85 . 10/6/2012
Very well written. i've nothing but praise.
iShiney chapter 85 . 10/4/2012
Wow, "awesome" is not nearly awesome enough to describe this story!
somefish chapter 85 . 10/1/2012
Finally! I've never read fanfiction before, but I can tell this isn't ordinary. My friend recommended this to me, and I love it. Writing style is simple, and understandable. Tone suits each section, making me laugh out loud at certain points and shivering at others. I'm sad that Draco's mother died. When I originally began this fan fiction, I thought it would be a super long joke. Like a satire on how lame the wizarding world is. Eg"HP contemplated eating a Chocolate Frog. He loves chocolate, but is scared of frogs. But this candy isn't a really frog, even though it moves. HP overcomes fear and eats." or something like that. This is way better. The lessons are ingrained well into the plot. I'm sad Ron and Hagrid are not main characters. Sadly, I missed the minicamp by about two months.
eltanan chapter 85 . 9/30/2012
This is quite possibly one of the best fanfics I've ever read. I look forward to the next arc.
tenkiforecast chapter 85 . 9/29/2012
I found this story through a TVTropes crawl. As a result, I ended up reading through this when I should have been working on a literature review because this is really, really impressive. I just read through the end of the current arc, and I'm shaking twenty minutes afterward.

The directions taken add a new layer of complexity to the entire series-my biggest problem with the Harry Potter series is how the black and white morality dominates the story. If anything, the knowledge of social psychology helps make this story feel more real. The beginning probably faltered the most where extended periods of time were spent explaining psychological patterns of behavior or other aspects of rationality. This has not been lost as the story progressed, but instead became ingrained in events. The Azkaban arc becomes extremely impressive in how the Prisoner's Dilemma, the Stanford Prison trials, and even the authority tests became essential aspects of the story. If anything, it helps illustrate those aspects even more.

I am saying this in as close the classical sense as possible-the Taboo Tradeoffs arc is a pretty brutal tragedy. The three mains, Harry, Hermione, and Draco, are forced into brutal situations by outside influences. The results of this arc need to have impact because almost every moral accomplishment Harry, Hermione, and Draco achieved are now rendered null and void. All of Harry's positive influences on Draco are gone. Hermione is shaken and can barley stand as the conscience of the story. Harry has realized that many of his principles no longer function in the world outside academia. It is one of the more painful arcs I have read, and it works extremely well.

I am looking forward to the next chapter, whenever it is posted.
Autumnfell chapter 85 . 9/24/2012
This is a very intriguing story, as I'm sure you know by now. I really hope JK Rowling reads this sometime, because it's brilliant. Please continue to write!
SamusOlderBrother chapter 85 . 9/24/2012
Not a review, per se, as much as my own theory on the current arc. I really dig the whole thing though.

I think that Harry is correct due to the end of the previous arc where Hermione met a mysterious figure which gave her a bunch of information to fume over. There are exactly three characters within the story who could have pulled off a False Memory Charm/attempted murder of Draco Malfoy:

1. Dumbledore
2. Quirrell
3. Snape

My lead suspect is Snape. My leading theory is that he's gone off the deep end due to facing the reality that Lily Potter was a total c-nt. More on this later.

Dumbledore could have done it to try to clear Lucius Malfoy from the "board" thinking that it would keep Lucius away from the resurgent Dark Lord (who probably doesn't exist). However, there have been a few hints that Dumbledore wasn't the one who burned Narcissa and I don't think that he has it in him to be coldly calculating in a proactive way. He's been written here as calculating, but only in a reactive way.

Quirrell could have done it to isolate Harry and remove the influence of "girl-child" from Harry's normally brutal reasoning. Or possibly to show Harry that Hermione isn't as good as Harry thinks. But a frame-job isn't the best way to go about that and Quirrell is written more clever than that.

Of the three motivations, Snape has the least amount of fallout. Snape's motivation is just to hurt pretty much everyone. He could see everyone in his generation and their mentors not telling him about Lily as a betrayal. The now famous adage, "some men just want to watch the world burn," might apply to him, but he doesn't have the personal might that Voldemort had so he's doing it with cunning. Getting everyone to scorch their plans in order to hurt each other. Heck, he might even be plotting to bring back Voldemort under Dumbledore's nose. Snape knows all of the ways to bring him back and I think he's gone batty enough to try it.
Yumantimatter chapter 85 . 9/19/2012
I found this fanfiction a few days ago and I stayed up all night the day before yesterday because I couldn't tear myself away from it! This is amazing and in my opinion better than the original book.
Lleu chapter 85 . 9/18/2012
Why no mention of priori incantatem(sp) throughout the whole ordeal. Obviously the perpetrator would have cast a blood cooling charm using hermione's wand, but it's weird no one said anything about it.
Kulyok chapter 85 . 9/18/2012
Hello! I am a Russian reader who stumbled across a translation of your wonderful fic through a website flibusta dot net, then found the original HPMOR(naturally!), grew delighted at how easy and wonderful the original, English version was to read(the translation, by the way, was very good, too, I only found out it WAS a translation somewhere around Chapter 35, and only because there was a "translator's note"), and now I'm recovering from a severe withdrawal, having read all 85 chapters and terribly, horribly missing another 85. Or 850. Or a thousand. I'll take them all, really. :)

First, thank you very much. I'd add an extra review for each chapter, just to up the number of reviews, so that more people would come and enjoy this marvel, but I already recommended HPMOR to my friends, some LJ-friends and a Baldur's Gate-modding forum I'm moderating(hello, Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting!), so I guess one review should be enough. By the way, a dear friend who never read Harry Potter enjoyed your fic very much, and now is struggling through JKR's Book 1, his younger brother spent the night reading HPMOR(we finished chapter 85 at the same time, and now, I suspect, we're both suffering from withdrawal symptoms :)), and a lady I gave a link to through LJ immediately started reading, and, I fear, will be unable to do anything work-related for the next few days. So, I'd like you to imagine a valley of smiling Russian faces, and please, accept my huge thanks again and again. And thank you ever so continuing!

Second, I'd like to list all the wonderful things I enjoyed in HPMOR, but I'm afraid I'm going to miss at least half - there was a lot. So, the most memorable moments, in no particular order: Professor Quirrell; Harry's book trunk; Self-Aware Sorting Hat; Professor Quirrell; Draco's torture spelll; Harry's forgiveness and intention to forgive, from Draco to nearly everyone(and I think this is what keeps and will keep me drawn to this book); Rianne(and it's shocking that I enjoyed both the erasion of memories and Snape's first kiss, but I did); Professor Quirrell; Dumbledore's very rich personality - his kindness to Harry ; humor(Harry's inner voices in particular, in Azkaban, nearly killed me; I vote they become the next president of Russia, all of them); no Ron and no Hagrid(Thank you!); the whole Azkaban plot; the whole Hermione plot; Professor Quirrell, and... let's see... forgot lots of things, I'm sure - but these I remember best.

And third, I'd like to wish you the best of health and the best of luck in your writing and your other projects - and also I'd like to say this: I hope you know, but just in case nobody told you yet - the story is only getting better. And you've got one more reader who is immensely grateful for what is, and is looking forward to what will be. My brains are a bit rusty and lazy, I'm nearing thirty and long logical constructions/science passages are getting hard to read, but I'm happy and a little proud to say that your logical constructions and science passages were not only perfectly clear to me, but every bit as readable, interesting and to the point as was the proverbial Snape kiss. Ahem. Sorry. Fangirl. Love your Quirrell more. Will shut up now.

Again, best wishes, best of luck, and please write more. I do hope you live forever.
MondSemmel chapter 85 . 9/15/2012
Harry's struggles with reality are always entertaining. His "compromise" is one only a character in a story could make, but...I still kind of approve of it.
I'm looking forward to what his new resolution signifies for future story arcs. And whether/at which point he will have to give up on that resolution. It seems rather improbable that he could keep it.
Guest chapter 85 . 9/14/2012
Current hypothesis on MoR magic:
At first I wondered how the source of magic (presumably something resembling the Atlantian equivalent of a super computer of doom) would go about recognizing creatures and objects with access to magic.
The first idea was that it just scans the -I didn't get past the word "universe" without realizing that this would be insanely impractical.
The next idea, and ultimately the one I thought more powerful despite also requiring lots of computing power, is that it started out linked to one specific cell-probably one specific DNA sequence in that cell. Or heck, maybe it was a retrovirus inserted into the first magic-users. Point is, the magicomputer was linked to a molecular sequence with read/write capabilities. The molecular sequence itself has nothing to do with this; however, the magicomp detects when it replicates, and adjusts to monitor (or send "magic" to) the daughter molecules.
This would give the magicomp a detailed picture of magic-users, mapped by every cell in their body.
Another element of this comes down to processing power: the magicomp is clearly ridiculously powerful, but it would almost certainly require multiple processes running in parallel, otherwise people could experience magical lag, especially in situations like warfare when there are lots and lots of spells being fired off in a short span of time. Keeping in mind that time travel and divination are possible, which could easily make ideas of magical lag ridiculous.
This did make me think that the magicomp might detect when a new magic user is born (depending on its precision, it might do this at conception, or maybe only after birth, or somewhere in between), and create and dedicate a processing unit to that individual. That strikes me as more efficient, and something capable of making the laws of physics look shredded would probably be able to construct subprocessors.
Each individual processor would be connected to the magicomp, kinda like a network with a central server. This isn't the only way to explain how magic doesn't appear to be a collective pool (and it probably could be, given the data), but it seems like it would help explain a few things.
- A simple way of keeping processing power stable. More magic-users would put more strain on the system if it didn't allocate new processors to them, which would eventually have noticeable sideefects.
- Things related to individuals, such as magical energy limits, and the soul-like phenomena such as ghosts, horcruxes, telepathy, and memory extraction.
It doesn't seem incredibly unlikely that an individual's magic processor would be able to analyze and upload that person's mental state, memories, etc, effectively creating a magical backup. If this is handled quickly enough to appear as real-time, then legilimency would be one requesting this data rather than reading another's mind directly.
This could also explain Harry/Quirrelmort's destructive resonance; Harry is keyed to both Voldemort's processor and the one dedicated to him on birth, which could easily confuse the hufflepuff out of the Voldemort processor.
It would also explain the ritualistic motions and commands in spells-magic users don't have read/write permissions or any way of interacting with their processor or the server directly. The processor watches them and interprets their actions as commands. Basically, it's more like the kinect than a keyboard. (I'd say "or a mouse", but maybe a wand is mouse-like?).

Of course, the magicomp still needs to explain how it can turn people into cats, or where in the world it is getting the power to do all this stuff. Oh, and time travel. That's important, too.
landofmyth chapter 85 . 9/13/2012
Holy wow. The quality of writing in this fic is unbelievably high compared to some published works. If you aren't a published author, something's wrong with the world. Your command of the English language is just astonishing; every chapter was a delight to read. I can't believe we're still only in first year, I'm so excited for what's to come! Thank you so, so much for putting your time and effort into this amazing piece of literature, it's truly a gift.
CAEJones chapter 85 . 9/7/2012
I'm surprised that I seem to be the only one who considers the possibility that Hermione actually cast the blood-cooling charm (confunded, imperiussed or otherwise). This does, however, beg the question of why Hat-and-cloak tried to convince her through words (even using heavy-handed tactics like obliviation to reset the conversation is not the same as straight-up mind control). Hmm...

Wait, I mean... HPMoR awesome. Pizza awesome. Therefore, Pizza HPMoR.
So in order to get more HPMoR, I must order pizza!
This did not turn out the way I wanted. I always imagined my first attempt at submitting anything in a place Eliezer Yukowsky might read to be... more... rational-yet-whiny. But I guess it's no surprise that I failed at even that.
Seriously, though, HPMoR seems to have single-handedly kept me from declaring everything that's happened this year to be devoid of sanity or value (beyond the value that unpleasantbuilding resilliance, or some such thing).

... Ok, I give up. I have no idea how to spell risiliance. :(
Guest chapter 85 . 9/4/2012
wow...took me a week to read until here, what a plot, what fine drawn characters. I stunned. thnx
Guest chapter 85 . 9/4/2012
This is an excellent story, and I enjoy the science.

Given the state of his country, Harry is clearly wrong about what the country is like and what he must do.

Harry's assumption is that the country is governed as a democracy, and that this democracy limits the government from doing evil things. This governance should be maintained or opposed. ""The point of elections isn't to produce the one best leader, it's to keep politicians scared enough of the voters that they don't go completely evil like dictators do -"

As we learn later, the country is governed legally by the Wizengamot which is influenced by Dumbledore as the heir of Merlin and Lucius Malfoy, as the rich powerful nobleman. It is described as ""The oldest Noble Houses, and certain other wizards of influence."" so essentially the government is a mix of an oligarchy and a technocracy. The rich and powerful rule.

We have repeated seen their corruption- their lack of evidence in trials, their use of dementors, their erratic whims, the sheer ease by which they are swayed by Potter's whims and bargains. Their continued existence is not an option so logically a solution must be found.

Quirrelmort suggests that by uniting behind a strong leader, Harry Potter, they will have the advantage of unity and thus be superior and able to handle threats. Harry Potter will then be able to fix any injustices with the force of his power.

Harry Potter hopes to improve the world with science and thus make everything better. This is a reasonable desire.

He suggests (incorrectly) that the wizarding community would then die to the muggle community. The wizard world has mind magics and can easily impose control on the muggle's leaders. As Potter notes people blindly follow their leaders.

There is another danger that he has ignored, one very close to his heart.

Democracies are strong. Very strong. Democracies conquered the world, enslaved Africa, Asia, and America, made modern science. Democracies are also very divisive. So why do they have this strength?

Several reasons spring immediately to mind. Lack of justice, improper use of money, suppression of science poor rallying motivation, and a lack of individuality and group identity.

They have a strong justice system, which is fair and impartial and based on juries. This means that property is not randomly confiscated, nor people imprisoned on political motives. This means people feel free to invest their money in worthwhile technological improvements and scientific pursuits, something that is clearly untrue of the wizarding world. Money is hoarded in goblin guarded banks to protect it from thievery.

Improper sciences, like blood genetics, are condemned and ignored by the majority for political reasons. This strikes fear into the heart of any natural scientists and encourages.

A democracy serves as a rallying cause. As Harry Potter regularly does, some minor incident or offense is cause for a massive over response where a huge force (which believes in their cause) is mobilized to destroy the enemy.

This force, unified by their anger, is both more willing to unite to overwhelm threats (see the greek phalanxes or Roman legions of the past with interlocked shields) and more willing to use its individuality to overcome strong individuals. They also have excellent morale and will fight to the last man or woman.

So with a democracy you get a ready cash flow, science, and a massively effective army. With a dictatorship you get wealth in Gringotts, technological stasis, and a broken afraid army that is only held together by fear.

Harry and Draco should conspire together to seek the offices of Merlin and chief politician, gaining ultimate power. They should then impose a true democracy on the country, and encourage the free spread of science and justice. This will delegate many of the unimportant aspects of governance to the people and still leave them with massive influence to fix injustices.

They should then guide a new age of science, unifying muggle and wizard together to make the world a better place. They should then laugh in Voldemort's face when their democracy proved much stronger than a dictatorship of fear when their democracy reached Mars, created a deadly army, and fixed most major injustices. Some sacrifice is necessary, but less.

See Carnage and Culture for why democracies win wars. They beat bundles of sticks with ease.
Guest chapter 85 . 9/3/2012
2 years 7 months 28 months / 84 chapters.

84/24 3.5 chapters per month.

Current time to write chapter 86 four months. You're going from 3.5 chapters to at most .25 chapters a month. That's a reduction of 1400%. Your stated causes are working on the rationality camps, which took up two months, of half the time, bringing you up to at most .5 chapters a month. Proofreading can maybe make that half again, making it 1 chapter a month. That's still ridiculously slow, even allowing for it being progressively harder to write as you keep going, as you have to remember all the past continuity.

If you were working on multiple chapters than you had to release at the same time, I'd get it. But one chapter? Seriously? Stop trying to mislead us by pointing out how long other people take. You clearly are either slacking or a poor judge of how much Scrivener is helping you.
adad641 chapter 85 . 9/2/2012
I somehow read this a total of four times in the last week o.0 My life has suffered, but my mind is still going WUT HOW CAN THIS EVEN EXIST?! You, sir, are a genius. Now to try to stop myself from reading it again...

I also keep thinking of alternate ways this could have gone, from Harry time-turning and stopping the aurors while getting Hermoine the heck out of there, living on the run for a bit or telling Malfoy that if Hermoine dies Draco and himself will suffer similar fates, teaching Hermoine the True Patronus Charm so the dementors would run away instead of scare her, etc.
Guest chapter 85 . 9/1/2012
The wait for 10p.m. is agonizing...
Skylar231 chapter 85 . 9/1/2012
This is amazing! From the references, to the science, to every other scene, is impossibly brilliant! Keep up the excellent work!
DrewSmileyWP chapter 85 . 8/31/2012
sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooo gooooooooooooooooooooooooood
hedelex chapter 85 . 8/29/2012
Sadly, I've reached the in-progress mark.
Happily on September 1st I get to read the Monthly Progress Update!
Curiosity is killing me! ...or might try once it comes back from Mars XD

Thank you for writing this fanfiction even when you clearly have a lot of things in your agenda!
saphren chapter 85 . 8/29/2012
Harry has rather deep thoughts for an eleven year old. His character has developed a lot since the first chapter. And all this is just his first year in Hogwarts
FlawedVictori chapter 85 . 8/27/2012
I honestly prefer this over the normal series.
oOA Cry In The NightOo chapter 85 . 8/24/2012
Wonderful story. I can't wait to read more!
EveBB chapter 85 . 8/24/2012
This is a fantastic fic. I'm sorry I came across it while it's still in progress since I really can't wait to find out what happens next. It has been preoccupying my days as I have had to read it every spare minute I have had.

You have done a fabulous job of weaving in your teachable moments while telling a great story. Not only have I learned a lot about scientific theories and psychological experiments, I love stories that explore moral dilemmas and have many of shades of gray. I love how you have a good wizard, such as Dumbledore, making hard (maybe wrong, maybe not) choices.

I have a question for you: why would Lucius have sent Draco to a school where his wife's killer was headmaster?

There's one topic you touched on that I hope you'll revisit in future chapters. I think a Harry who thinks as your Harry does would inevitably choose to stop eating meat. I was thrilled when you had Harry questioning whether he should stop eating sentient beings but I was disappointed that he didn't follow through with his moral exploration. Instead, he became distracted with worrying about eating plants. While this was probably meant to be humorous, it avoided a serious and important issue.

The best thing about fictional characters is that it's a lot easier to have them make the right moral choices than it is for real-life characters, so it's easy enough to have him become a vegetarian. (As I'm sure you suspect, I am vegetarian myself, having given up meat when I was already an adult. It was an extremely hard thing to do and I still miss eating meat many years later. But, I won't eat it because the food comes from a sentient being. If I could do it, so can your Harry.)

I really can't predict where you'll take this story. I see you've been writing this for 2 years now and Harry's not even through his first year! I thank you for a great reading experience. This is definitely a stand-out story.
FractiousDay chapter 85 . 8/16/2012
I thought that hhis was an excellent story, with good characters and plot and some very amusing details, the only things that were bad were that the long in depth scientific theory explanations sometimes proved tiresome, but I'm willing to waive that as they were necessary to the plot, and I also think that some of the plot element were superfluous, like the 'heroines unite' bit, but they two eventually proved necessary to the plot, so I commend your insight and planning, Bravo
Rde chapter 85 . 8/16/2012
It is certainly a story that is hard to understand but nonethless pretty awesome.

Only thing i don't like in the story is that you made the magical world really small. I hope Harry and Hermonie's estimations aren't accurate. At least add another million or two.

Speaking of Hermonie, you built her charecter really well but she seriously pisses me of. Especially with the hero business. I liked how you made girl charecters important but she still pisses me of.

Btw the end of chapter was really good. It left me with chills. I am sure you'll come up with something amazing for the new arc.
mybu chapter 85 . 8/15/2012
The story is great. Forth time
Reading it, I think. I wish it still held the comedic quality of the first ten chapters (or so). Oh well...
EverfreeSparkle chapter 85 . 8/13/2012
I love the ideas and views in this story! It's so perfect, update soon!
Guest chapter 85 . 8/13/2012
When are we gonna get another chapter? :-(
Poetheather1 chapter 85 . 8/11/2012
That is excellent. Really deep thoughts for 11-12 year olds but wow. Good stuff.
OCQueen chapter 85 . 8/7/2012
I absolutely love your story. I actually read it on a mirror since I find the font on absolutely terrible, but wanted to tell you just in case you still read and get encouraged by reviews though you have thousands of them already (since I know I would). I hope you keep up the great work, and are happy with what you write!
ContentionDragon chapter 85 . 8/5/2012
Thank you for writing this.

Not only is it one of the most entertaining things I've read lately (both in its own right and in trying to work out what's going on - my current thoughts are up at .uk/MOR% if anyone wants them, and I'd be happy to hear others' theories) but the confirmation that someone else has thought about things like how time travel might work in a single consistent reality, or that the concept of a soul is illogical in light of what we know about ourselves, is priceless to me.
voodooqueen126 chapter 85 . 8/3/2012
Even his dark side, if it had a different opinion, remained silent. His dark side hadn't asked anything of him in exchange for saving Hermione, either. Maybe because his dark side wasn't an imaginary voice like Hufflepuff; Harry might imagine his Hufflepuff part as wanting different things from himself, but his dark side wasn't like that. His "dark side", so far as Harry could tell, was a different way that Harry sometimes was.
-
isn't it said that the yetzer hara speaks in the first person and the yetzer ha-tov speaks in the 2nd person?
-
Finally thank you for writing this brilliant and intelligent fic. I feel more rational merely by having read it. Whilst I think immortality is not desirable and human nature much more flawed and horrid than you give it credit for, I have thoroughly enjoyed your optimistic out look. I look forward to the next chapter.
Also you appear to have visited a very fine university and seen the Irrational Museum...
codifiedmadness chapter 85 . 7/28/2012
Fun story
marblesmay chapter 85 . 7/23/2012
This is like the BEST STORY EVER i mean there are no words to describe the sheer awesomeness, i mean wow, waiting for the next chapters like crazy now. Could not stop laughing and smiling just love it, you are a very talented writer, kudos man.
Guest chapter 85 . 7/20/2012
hi i have found myself addicted to this story as i find one of the top storys on the sight .i would like to see some of the humor making a resurgance as it seems to have been lost also i would like to see some of those dawning realizions everyone gets where a whole course of action seems ironic like with quiddich
faithful muse chapter 85 . 7/20/2012
I can't-there just aren't words. If it wasn't creepy and stalkerish and didn't require quite a bit of traveling, I would find you and hug you and probably babble some gibberish that would make no sense at all but hopefully you'd understand that I meant whatever it was with the utmost respect and praise and reverence and gratitude.

Thank you. I can't say it enough. Thank you.
Guest chapter 85 . 7/19/2012
Hey. I've got to say I absolutely love this story, by far my favourite fanfiction ever and I generally don't read Harry Potter fanfics. I was just thinking today about this story and I came up for an idea for immortality which would be aplicable for the universe of this story. The first thing I thought about was the necessity of murder to create a Horcrux but that is only necessary to split the soul into more than one part so a part can be in the Horcrux while the other can control the body so I thought what if a Horcrux was surgically implanted into the body and set to activate when the body died so that when the body died the soul would go into the Horcrux rather than go off and pass on or whatever. Then the Horcrux could be implanted into a waiting clone body which was kept in suspended animation at whichever age the dead person specified and then the soul inside the Horcrux could enter the new body and live on with the Horcrux inside the body waiting for the next "death". A Portkey function with a remote activation feature could be added to the Horcrux in case the death occurs in a place where the retrieval of the Horcrux is impossible or impractical, although obviously this Portkey function could only be activated if the Horcrux is filled with a soul. If these steps were taken then the only way to kill someone would be to remove the Horcrux before they die so the soul can't get to it and then kill them, in this case the Portkey function could also be activated along with a variant of Avada Kedavra which would instantly kill the body so the soul could be absorbed by the Horcrux and then the Horcrux could be transported to a safe location, possibly inside of the next clone if the charm on the Portkey is accurate enough. I just thought that this would be a viable method to immortality in the Harry Potter universe so if you do decide that Harry should discover a method to immortality then I welcome you to use mine. Anyway, big fan (refer to beginning for details) and I look forward to your next chapter.
Guest chapter 85 . 7/17/2012
The story is totally awesome, and it's worth to renew and improve my English just to read this (I'm from Russia).
When I start reading I expect only humor, but suddenly it turns to real drama (for me - in the middle of Prison Experiment arc).
I'm waiting for future updates!
Guest chapter 85 . 7/16/2012
So many Fate/Stay Night references in this fanfic... I love you so much for it. 3 xD
taiyonokaze chapter 85 . 7/15/2012
Aha! I had to stay up five hours past my bedtime for four days straight to finish this, but I did it. Did you know that, including author's notes, titles, omake, and everything, this is 47% the length of the entire Harry Potter series? That is... slightly mindblowing. Though not as mindblowing as this story's actual content.

This has completely changed the way I think. I may never be able to go back to thinking normally at all. And that's sort of a good thing, except that I can't be as good at it as Harry because he's drawing from vast stores of knowledge that I don't have. He makes me feel like I'm not good enough; he is the ultimate academic competitor, and I will never ever ever surpass him. If anyone knows, what exactly constitutes "mathematically talented youths?" I know applications for SPARC are long-since closed for this year, but I was just wondering what their standards were.

I don't agree with everything Harry says, but I don't know if I'm supposed to. Am I supposed to? Are those your views on humanity, thoughts, and death? Do you express your viewpoints through a specific character or do you leave issues open to interpretation by having the characters fight about them. If it's the latter, I'm still puzzled because it seems like Harry always wins the arguments, which would mean that this random eleven-year-old understands life more completely than anyone else. Or maybe that's the point. I am confused. But after having read this entire story, I simply expect that feeling.
gecoma chapter 85 . 7/12/2012
aaaaaand 3 months later...
PinkMusicalCherry chapter 85 . 7/12/2012
AHHHHHHHHHHH! AMAZING, PLEASE JUST KNOW THAT YOU HAVE CREATED THE MOST EXTRAORDINARILY BRILLIANT FANFICTION OF ALL TIME!

I really hope your Quirrell doesn't die - and I hope he doesn't turn out to be some lame character disguised as Quirrell. I hope there is more Snape to come and more action and excitement and suspense!

UNDENIABLY THE MOST PERFECT STORY I HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE OF COMING ACROSS HERE. I've learnt so much! Found so much inspiration for things I'd never think I'd enjoy!
DivineRedFire chapter 85 . 7/9/2012
I just read all eighty-five chapters in four days and I'm still reeling at how good and amazing this is.
Oh my LORD I just...how will I ever be able to survive until August? I honestly have no idea.

I mean, I guess I'll just lurk around the TV tropes page, like all the things I love, and wait for an update.

But my loss of direction is entirely beside the point- this story is AMAZING.
AMAZING
AMAZING
DID I MENTION THAT IT WAS AMAZING OH LOOK I TOTALLY DID BECAUSE IT'S TRUE
IT'S SO AMAZING THAT CAPS LOCK DOES NOT PROPERLY CONVEY HOW EMOTIONAL I AM AT THIS POINT REGARDING ALL THE EVERYTHING OF EVERYWHERE IN THIS STORY.
I haven't been this emotionally exhausted since I re-read A Game of Thrones and cried every time anyone did something that I knew would bring them closer to their and their loved ones' destruction.
But this is worse because I haven't seen the HBO series to spoil the larger plot points for me so not only am I sobbing for these poor characters, I also don't even know what's gong to happen to them, so...yeah.
Congrats on making sob.

I will be eagerly waiting for the update!

(If I'm right, just ignore the distant sobbing sounds when you update- that'll just be me dying of happiness across the entirety of the internet.)

Your Friendly Neighborhood Pyromaniac,
Fire
Cytavani chapter 85 . 7/9/2012
Thank you for writing this intelligent and engaging story. I consider myself a writer, but often find myself writing for the lowest common denominator in fear of being “too elite” or “too analytical” for people to read. However, I now see that this kind of writing can be accomplished in a fun and engaging way that does not turn people off. Thus far, the only thing that has struck me as less than satisfactory is the treatment given to McGonagall: a courageous, intelligent, sharp-witted woman reduced to Harry Potter’s mouthpiece and spokesperson to Dumbledore. Also, I am looking forward to seeing all of these loose ends tied up. They will be tied up, yes? You aren’t going for too much realism with the cop out that “life has no linear plot,” right? I know several intelligent authors who use just this excuse, but if readers needed that, we would just pay attention to our own lives and never bother with books. ;-) In any case, I look forward to the next installment. Many regards, and good luck with the many projects you seem to be working on!
Yyunesprith chapter 85 . 7/7/2012
Not that you'll answer this, as it would be Spoilers, but is Voldemort alive?
Proper the Incredible chapter 85 . 7/6/2012
You are the most amazing author I HAVE ever encountered! It's simply genius, this story. I hope you update soon XD!
AlmightyHann chapter 85 . 7/6/2012
I really love this story. There are so many different views and questions and plots that I couldn't stop reading and thinking about it. This is the ONLY story (that I've seen so far) that actually points out the problem of the Snitch in Quidditch. I just finished reading the entire thing (only took me two days) and I hope you update soon. Sad to say, I still haven't solved many of the mysteries...:D Keep on writing!
Guest chapter 85 . 7/6/2012
practicing leaving things behind when apparating.
Guest chapter 85 . 7/4/2012
This fanfic. It's just. I don't even. Wow. I have no words. They should have sent a poet.
YlvaThorgalsdottir chapter 85 . 7/3/2012
The "cover" reminds me of a certain painting by Raphael. Intentional?

Sometimes, I think men are about as bad at writing girls as women are at writing boy characters. But only sometimes. I still love Hermione. Envious of her reading speed, and somewhat of her eidetic memory.

Snape still looks like Alan Rickman in my head. Sorry, I just can't see him as ugly.

Also, I'm looking forward to more chapters. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my summer.
Guest chapter 85 . 7/3/2012
Took me 2.5 days to finish, but it was time went spent...
baturinsky chapter 85 . 6/29/2012
Too many action and politics, too little science, for my taste.
Guest chapter 85 . 6/29/2012
...Wow
Guest chapter 85 . 6/26/2012
I've observed this for a while now - the world may not run on stories, but people and societies definitely do, at least partly. It's a very powerful insight in move prediction. :)
Genosaurus chapter 85 . 6/25/2012
This is one of the most interesting stories I have read. I only came across it when Iooked at the reviews of another fic I liked and saw someone say that they the moves had only reviewed that one because the author of this one had. Naturally intrigued, I followed you here... Saw the huge number of reviews and had to read it, because it was either going to be really really good, or really really bad. And upon reading up to chapter 85, my conclusion is... That I have absolutely no idea. I enjoyed reading it, laughed out loud on many occasions, was incredibly amused by Harry and Quirrel's characters, intend to continue reading it until it is finished, don't understand half of what is going on and simply wish the real world had half as many plots and instances of cunning. Everyone seems to have a secret agenda, and I have no idea who intends what, but watching them stumble around trying to work it out is far from boring. I am not sure if their manner of thinking is very realistic; I don't know of anyone who thinks or deduces things anything like these characters do, but I'm utterly intrigued, and no matter how unrealistic it is, I absolutely love the way Harry's character is so random and chaotic. I want to see how he deals with Voldemort in this way. I want to see Draco again, I want to know who was behind everything. I want Draco to overcome his father with rationality. I really do enjoy the way the science melds with magic in a physical sense - the genes for inheriting magic and the conservation of mass etc. And the psychological analyses that Harry surrounds himself with in order to understand the people around him make him almost sub human at times, as if he is somewhat robotic, but there is emotion in him too to overcome this: the anger and righteousness, the difficult he had in losing. It is no less intriguing than seeing a swimming cat in mid-air. That is to say, I don't really get it, but I know what I'm seeing, and I really, really can't stop looking.
Anonymous chapter 85 . 6/24/2012
Great story so far, much better than original HP and way above many fics and fantasy books.

However I find utterly unrealistic that Harry would have such moral dilemma over killing other human. It IS rational thing to do.

If he is as critical as depicted, he would not be able to read these comics/sf/stories about heroes without noticing the pattern, that whenever "hero" spares his enemy, it always backfires, with more dead on "good"/neutral side.

Police rules of engagement ARE rational thing - if suspect even dares to move his hand in the pocket, you just shoot him down, you do not risk yourself or your mates or nearby civilians.

Capital punishment for some of crimes including crimes against humanity (which is the case for all death eaters) is rational thing as well. Harry references WWII several times, but somehow ignores Nuerenberg and the fact that all high-ranked officials were executed.

Besides, Harry would definitely read Machiavelli by his age, and that is one of most rational books on politics as it could be, and in most cases Harry is quite machiavellian in his plots.

"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared"

"Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot."
Jaystar chapter 85 . 6/20/2012
Fascinating take on a story close to my heart. I eagerly await the next chapters
CazPeak chapter 85 . 6/19/2012
Very engaging story and well crafted. Parts are just chilling... parts are also frustrating, but not enough to distract (me at least) from the story. Glad to see that the next installment goes up in a bloc, on July 1... part of me is holding out hope that it is an arc that spans 100 chapters. :)
HarmanSmith64 chapter 85 . 6/19/2012
This isn't a very interesting story. It doesn't really have any sort of passion behind it. Harry is always right. Everyone else is wrong. The story will end when Harry converts everyone on the planet to do nothing but apply rationality to every aspect of their lives.

And that is not necessarily a good thing, if this story is any indication.

...

In essence, I feel that this is not really a story so much as an attempt to raise interest in Maths.
Kaylen Cooper chapter 85 . 6/17/2012
Whoa.
axlemn chapter 85 . 6/17/2012
I love your writing, especially Quirrell. And your analysis and incorporation of psych is interesting, even when it isn't news. It's been very nice to see that people do think this clearly, even if imperfectly (enough to write and hypothesize something like this).

There's a slight hole in Harry's reasoning. I'm fairly certain you're aware of it (as is, apparently, his subconscious), but it bears stating for that silly little just-in-case.

Sometimes there will a decision that saves 10 people, but brings the world much closer to losing a thousand. But then, can you save them all too? If you wait for a crash to signal a fall, are you setting yourself up for a much more painful impact?

Causing and understanding Death Must Happen might be a strong enough event to cause a shift of approach, but it isn't strong enough.
summerful21 chapter 85 . 6/14/2012
I would like to say that this is an abosolutely amazing story; one of the best I've ever read. It's delightful in the irony and humour, extremely complex and genius in plot, and while certain liberties have been made with the characterization, it still has the main, important values of all the characters, but just made some people deeper and smarter, whole offering whole new perspectives on some other characters. In addition to this, I love the passages of science and rationality, while some can seem dry and make me impatient, they're all incredibly thoughtful and interesting. There's some moments with the plot where you just go oh-my-GOD-that-is-so-agggh, and I love those as well. Please update soon; my heart is bleeding for Hermione, and Harry as well, and I am extremely excited to find out what happens next.
The Flying Fish chapter 85 . 6/14/2012
Awesome fic
Ninospina chapter 85 . 6/13/2012
Your work is amazing and truly inspiring. When I finished the Harry Potter books I knew that J.K Rowling's beautiful world was now precluded to me. I had already depleted it. I was wrong. You have been able to grant me new access to a place to which i linked some of my best memories. And you have even improved on it. Moreover, the brilliant humanism, the founding value of curiosity (so often disregarded as an annoyance) and the power of science to better humanity all invigorated my passions and my motivation to study harder in my quest for knowledge.

"[...]

Humana ante oculos foede cum vita iaceret

in terris oppressa gravi sub religione,

quae caput a caeli regionibus ostendebat

horribili super aspectu mortalibus instans,

primum Graius homo mortalis tollere contra

est oculos ausus primusque obsistere contra;

quem neque fama deum nec fulmina nec minitanti

murmure compressit caelum, sed eo magis acrem

inritat animi virtutem, effringere ut arta

naturae primus portarum claustra cupiret.

Ergo vivida vis animi pervicit et extra

processit longe flammantia moenia mundi

atque omne immensum peragravit mente animoque

[...]"

Thank you
Abor Sapienti chapter 85 . 6/10/2012
This story justifies the existence of fanfiction.

It takes many holes in Rowling’s ideas and fills them in with hilarious logical outcomes. It’s original while fitting within original canon. It justifies its existence not just with the good writing and characters, but also turns the biggest pop-culture story of magic into a parable of human rationality and science.

Harry Evans Verres can get away with the all-too common fanfiction trope of being a god-mode character- because the way he does it is so clever and mind-bendingly cool. After the first few pages, I realized- this was the one fanfiction I have read, aside from WICKED by Gregory Macguire, where I actually felt smarter after reading it. Of course, looking up the various ideas on the Less Wrong wiki really helped with the “smarter” part.

Sure, there’s problems with it-

My main gripe is the fact that students could organize into competing armies – The first stage of the Rattlers and the Eagles experiment by Muzafer Sherif et al aside- and engage in such sustained, coordinated battles against one another. Their behavior just seems a little un-believable. The fact that they’re in a magical universe with a ten-year old genius who quotes bayes theorum is not an excuse for less-than-believable human behavior in large groups of children. (still, nice shout-out to Ender’s Game).

Most of this fanfiction story is a good coherent story-so it’s odd when you suddenly break off and make pop-culture references like the omake references in chapter . Would it be better to put the references in conversations between characters?

I love infodumps, but it still helps (sometimes) to let your characters bring out the ideas through dialogue rather than though the author’s descriptions.

All these problems aside, there’s a good reason it’s the #1 fanfiction on the internet.

Quite simply, the best way I could possibly summarize the brilliance of Harry-Potter-Evans Verres and his exploits is this: Using the Orion’s Arm universe’s concept of Bayesjutsu

eg-article/4d5bed5d75e21

Harry potter Evans-Verres and his author, Eliezer Yudowsky, have exacted a spin-kick with rationality upon the world of harry potter fanfiction.

Thank you, Mr. Yudowsky, for bringing this (and the rest of your work) to the world.
alex789 chapter 85 . 6/7/2012
Hi, can anybody give me a url where all chapters stored in single html page?

thanks for any answers in advance
stained steele chapter 85 . 6/3/2012
Excellent arc, as always. A bit confused though, it's been a while since I read the previous chapters and it seems quite a few things were changed a bit? My memory isn't the best but usually I don't stumble so much when rereading something I already reread recently.

Other than a few minor things I'd maybe reword differently, so far it's still the great story I've been enjoying all along. I'm starting to get pissed with wizarding Britain here though. Harry needs to hurry up and get some allies. Although I never was anywhere that booksmart I was still plenty smart enough to enjoy the social ostracization that comes with it; (un?)fortunately reading was a good enough escape so I couldn't really act out on my fantasies: something Harry can actually do (magic, duh). I know people annoy him but cultivating a few second-tier allies is still a good thing. More bodies and all that.

While I'm sure you've got things planned out I'd really enjoy Harry have the last word, curbstomping everyone and going "see, you idiots, this is what I was talking about, but does anyone listen, nooo" - and have him totally rub their noses in it. Voldemort's beatdown should be short and brutal, save the epicness for his beatdown of wizarding Britain. Do it, man!

Side note: screw the detractors, you can't please everyone, and the random internet ranter is the lowest form of muck racker ever.
Iluivatar chapter 85 . 6/3/2012
I just printed out the first 1000 pages and I want to get it bound somehow at Kinkos. I think they will have to split it up in to more than one booklet. Is there a list somewhere of where all the story arcs start and end so I could refer there for a good stopping point to split it up as opposed to say in the middle of TSPE story arc. If anyone wants to email they can at
David Benedict chapter 85 . 6/1/2012
This fanfic has thoroughly impressed me. I admit that I was quite skeptical at first when a close friend told me about a Harry Potter fanfic online that he thought was better than the original series. This quite frankly does not happen often, especially with such a well received line of books as HP. Yet my curiosity has heightened as my friend continued to explain the premise of this new story. Now, not three weeks later, here I stand a changed man at the latest installment of hpmor. And I must concur with my friend. This is better than the original. Not because the original Harry Potter is on an inferior level of literature, but because you have take the the world of Harry Potter and have simultaneously logically torn it to shreds while heightening the prexisting elements of the wizarding world to an unimaginable level continuity and wit. Genius. You deserve a pizza.
sdfasfff chapter 85 . 6/1/2012
Brilliant Fic.

I couldn't stop reading.
DarthParallax chapter 85 . 5/31/2012
After watching the update of the YouTube channel, I went back and re-read the corresponding Chapters.

-Ch 33, The Xanatos Train Wreck, leads to Professor Quirrel promising 3 Wishes with 1 Plot

1. That Slytherin Wins the House Cup

2. That Ravenclaw Wins the House Cup

3. That Quidditch Stop using a Snitch

It seems obvious that the only way to make all three wishes come true,

is to have Ravenclaw and Slytherin tie for the Cup after a Snitchless

Quidditch Cup Championship. It also seems that the Generals will have

to join their House Quidditch Teams.

Unless, this subplot is unfortunately abandoned? I like it when you go

all super serious and epic scale (Harry in the Ministry of Magic

actually being told to 'stop terrifying that poor Dementor')

but if you stop using Hogwarts and Quidditch and House Points, you're

going to ruin your world :/ OK, Quidditch is CURRENTLY stupid, but

REFORMED Quidditch would be really really cool to see you write!
alienchangeling chapter 85 . 5/29/2012
I have to admit, I've been concerned about the treatment of gender in Methods of Rationality since early in the story, starting with the introduction of MoR's PowerTrio, Harry, Draco, and Hermione. The problem I saw was that Hermione, while smarter and more magically-talented than anyone else in the first-year class at Hogwarts, isn't precocious in the same way that Harry and Draco are. The plot of MoR revolves around crazy scheming, the wheels-within-wheels-within-wheels questions of what the goals of the various characters are, what to believe about Voldemort, the truth about what happened in the last Wizarding War, and so on. Draco participates in this from almost his first appearance in the story, but Hermione doesn't, and that means that as a character she's sidelined. The measure of a character's importance in a piece of fiction is not tightly tied to in-setting elements like their status or powers, but rather to their role in the narrative: their agency (do their choices matter to the narrative?), the amount of time spent in their PoV, and how the story treats them. While I'd estimate that Hermione gets as much PoV time as anyone except Harry, sharing probably about equal time with Draco, she falls badly short on agency, as few of her decisions matter to the larger plot and even when they do they don't have much impact. In this respect, Hermione's talent at magic is an InformedAbility: we know she's better than Harry and Draco, but it just doesn't matter. This is a common trap in writing female characters.

Moving away from Hermione, I'd like to look at the cast of secondary female characters. The central problem here is that there's really only one, Minerva McGonaghal. The list of secondary male characters is a lot longer: Quirinus Quirrell, Albus Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom, and Severus Snape, at least. There are signs that Amelia Bones might become another secondary female character, but she's not there yet. Minerva is hilarious as the straight man to the insanity going on in the rest of MoR and gets an entirely reasonable amount of PoV time, but once again, she lacks agency. Her other role in the narrative is to act as Dumbledore's right hand, and she only deviates from his decisions on a few occasions, and like Hermione, she isn't involved in the scheming and central plot.

I omitted above the members of SPHEW, because none of them stand out enough to be more than tertiary characters. They have little impact on the main plot and only a handful of PoVs, acting more or less as adjuncts to Hermione. That said, the Self-Actualization arc *does* improve the situation with respect to female tertiary characters, giving them some development, and has Hermione and the others do something that matters. If some of the SPHEW members get more PoV time and some development, they may become genuine secondary characters in their own right, akin to Neville Longbottom. On the other hand, Harry and Quirrell still have to bail Hermione out at the climax of the arc, which undercuts its whole point; and it's heavy-handed, because it reads like Yudkowsky noticed the gender imbalance in the narrative and set out to correct it.

Some of this character imbalance may be inherited from canon, though the relative importance of the characters is not. There were other smaller things that bothered me, too, like Narcissa being StuffedInTheFridge to provide motivation for Lucius and Draco. However, I didn't view these issues as serious problems until the latest installment.

Unfortunately, the Taboo Tradeoffs arc crystallized all my earlier worries. At the start of the arc, both Draco and Hermione (probably) have their memories violated, but the violation of Hermione is much worse because the effect is to make her feel guilty for an attempted murder she (probably) didn't commit. It gets worse because throughout the rest of the arc, Hermione doesn't make a single decision that matters until the denouement, and then they're small things. Hermione's only role is helpless victim, damsel in distress, and not only does she do nothing but there's nothing she can do. Harry has to save her, and worse, to allow Harry to save her she has to take an unlimited oath to obey him. At the end of the arc, Hermione is left a psychological wreck, crippled with guilt because of a (probably) false memory, a pariah at Hogwarts, and oath-bound to do whatever Harry tells her. No male character has received anything like this treatment in the story so far.

I don't think Yudkowsky is a sexist author, but after the Taboo Tradeoffs arc, I'd call MoR a sexist story. It's not finished yet so it's possible that female characters will get more agency and more female characters will become significant, but Hermione's treatment in Taboo Tradeoffs will always be problematic.

On another topic, can there be some more LGBT characters? MoR is not yet at the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters limit where it becomes statistically improbable that everyone is heterosexual, but so far only Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew have been mentioned. Given the size of Hogwarts, it's likely there are at least a couple of gay or bi students and probably a trans student.
FOR KAZAKHSTAN chapter 85 . 5/27/2012
I am starting to think that Quirrelmort has decided not to be a Dark Lord any more but is rather trying to train Harry to be the next Dark Lord, which is why he tried to get Harry to embrace his dark side by taking away his friends-partially foiled.

Fantastic series by the way and please bring back Draco.
Sarshi chapter 85 . 5/27/2012
It's been awhile since I last read MOR, always waiting to have more time to enjoy it properly. And now is the time.

I love it more and more as time goes by, I think. You can definitely feel the difference in mood and depth and so on between the first chapters and the last chapters - and I'm reading it as improving and becoming more and more complex and complicated and mind-blowing every single installment. Being the one writing this, you probably know it. I'm just confirming you're doing it really, really right :P

I've actually laughed out loud a few times, quoted Harry on sounding Deeply Wise (which does not require actual intelligence because all you need is to turn on the pattern-matching software of your brain to fill in the gaps with previously-stored Deep Wisdom) at somebody who was trying to tell me that instead of pointing out that there were Things Going Wrong, I should Read This Article on Finding Your True Love, Because It's Wiser to Let Wrong Things Go Rather Than Allow Them To Clutter Up Your Life. (I quoted Harry in between some other, less benevolent, things I said)

I had 'you set one chicken on fire and they never let you forget it' as my messenger status. Which, apparently, is a good status message to have if you want old friends to contact you.

I'm trying to convince a geek who is anti-fanfiction to give it a try by throwing little bits and pieces at him, but he won't let himself be convinced. I am tempted to do the thing somebody else did - print it, bind it and leave it in the middle of the room, looking tempting. And possibly add a 'Do Not Read If You Value Your Sanity!' note on it, just to make sure they're curious about it.

And I will mention it in my MA dissertation, which is going to be on fanfiction (that's going to be fun, seeing that I'll have to explain everything about it from scratch in front of people who have never heard of it before. This Master's has been such a joke, anyway, that I'm half-tempted to explain why humanistic studies in general are gravely compromised by biases instead of actually presenting my dissertation. Either way, you'll be mentioned in whatever it is I'm going to be saying).

By the way. Even though I have read over and over that you personally said in a note that Quirrell is Voldemort, I am starting to doubt that. Which means that this may be the one case in which, despite knowing something, I might never see it coming. Which would make you one of the greatest mind-screwers out there.

That was meant as a compliment.

Also... Hermione?... Wow. I never saw the murder charge coming.

Harry is just hilarious. Even during tragic scenes.

I love this story.
Robbie chapter 85 . 5/27/2012
Hi. I don't read fanfiction, but I found a bound paper copy of the first ten chapters of HPMOR lying abandoned in my university's approximation of a student union. Maybe coming home from college for the summer has something to do with it, but that was two weeks ago, and here I am, reviewing the most recent chapter. What a ride.

I love this/keep writing/bye I'm going to go read all the Sequences/this makes my mind spark, as if reading were like eating mental Pop Rocks/thanks.
Tears of Mercury chapter 85 . 5/25/2012
As a general note, I'd like to say that I appreciate how much your characters are growing. Yes, there are roaring starts and sputtering halts in that growth, but that makes the process much more organic and believable. I also appreciate that the trip to Azkaban, besides solidifying Harry's view on death and his opposition against the greater wizarding society, directly connected with his main weakness: his friendships with Hermione and Draco (or, to put a finer point on it, the limitless lengths he will go to for his *best* friends). I remember checking the review page after Bellatrix's rescue from Azkaban and seeing someone complaining about how the story had lost the plot thread, the whole exercise was self-indulgent, etc. At the time I merely recalled your classification of MoR as an episodic story and thought that, as long as there was character and plot continuity, the occasional "random" forays into side plots was justified and not at all eyebrow-raising. To have it become so important to the plot shows that you were underestimated by that reviewer *and* by me. (Go ahead; be smug! ;])

A few thoughts:

* My first reaction to hearing that Draco had been

withdrawn was denial - he can't really be written out of

the story, can he? - and then sadness - "well, LW was

kind indeed by letting him win the final battle and his

midnight duel with Hermione; at least that gives us hope

that he'll break out of the coming reindoctrination by

Lucius et al - but it then occurred to me that, as

whoever influenced/possessed Hermione had obviously been

planning to kill Draco all along, they must have had her

purposely throw the duel. Draco's new critical thinking

skills won't let that fact escape him, regardless of

whatever else befalls him, and there's NO way that he

won't be back to avenge the Malfoy name (or, perhaps, to

consider it and then have his mind walk him through more

critical trains of thoughts re: the whole murder

attempt.) He will be back. :D

* Dumbledore's fear-fueled interpretation of the prophecy

makes me wonder if perhaps it isn't Voldie at all that

was referred to therein, but the "real" Quirrel/other

consciousness in Quirrel's body. This has made me wonder

if 1) Voldemort is still a threat at all, or if he has

instead been disposed of by Quirrel, who sent his own

horcrux out into space or 2) Quirrel simply reached his

breaking point and joined forces with Voldemort (with or

without eventual plans to overthrow/suppress him) and

they share some twisted shared consciousness or

personality that now possesses that body. How exactly

would that work - more or less like Harry and his scar

horcrux?

* Who is the Ravenclaw Ghost/Creepy Suit Dude? Is it

Dumbledore, attempting to somehow move Hermione's chess

piece around the board? Is it Snape, genuinely trying to

help her somehow or other (this seems less likely after

its misleading admission about his DE ties, but still

possible)? What about Quirrel - is this a particularly

handy spell/deception that he's utilizing for his own

ends? Or is Hermione really a distant descendent of

Rowena Ravenclaw? I'm not sure which I think is the most

sensible answer, and I'm also unsure which answer my

inner reader wants to have confirmed.

* It seems that even as Quirrel is planning to emotionally

and psychologically destroy Hermione, he has also been

planning to leave her "alive" enough to be carefully

plucked up and manipulated and at a later date. After

all, he hardly strikes me as the type to waste any

potential resource, whether that would be a witch of

Hermione's power, the best friend of Harry, or (what

would have been and could still be viewed as) Harry's

greatest failure as of yet. He wants her out of the way

right now, true, but I can't help but wonder - what is

his end game for Hermione?
beesismurder chapter 85 . 5/24/2012
absolutely enthralling! I cannot wait for the rest of it. I especially dig the subtle motif of how the characters all still have to do their homework, while they are deciding the fate of humanity :) love it! Did start to miss the JK Rowling bits about halfway through. So unless Quirrell was lying about his intent to kill the auror in Azkaban, why/how did the curse break Harry's patronus?

I am also a little saddened or maybe confused at Harry's refusal to accept death as the natural order. He seems to have come to that conclusion comparatively quickly and emotionally, but I think I have more trouble with the assumption that one can predict the pespective of humanity in the far flung future, but cannot apply that same creative forethought to his own perspective if given the hypothetical new information in an equally far-flung afterlife in which there could really be some youjustturnedintoacat moments completely undreamt of in Harry's philosophy.

I also refuse to accept that magical power is governed by mendelian genetics. Book seven includes a specific umbridge moment where muggle borns must find at least one magical relative, point being they can't because it just happens.

the world is a few clicks more feudal than seems strictly canon.

that said, this is fabulous! exactly what i have been looking for! dear author, i sincereliestly hope you write more words and publish them more widely.

ps, according to pottermore, quirrell was a ravenclaw.
234568 chapter 85 . 5/24/2012
Ahh! Waiting excitedly for the next update! Don't get rid of Draco!

This is verrrryy well written and everything flows so well. I now have two parallel Harry Potter worlds running through my head. Thanks :)
Dreamstar offline chapter 85 . 5/24/2012
This story. Is for smart people. This story. Is my science/math class.

This story. Is too awesome to be bad than other Harry potter stories.
Reader-anonymous-writer chapter 85 . 5/24/2012
What we are seeing here is not Mr. Malfoy's best idea, I fear, but rather his only idea.

No. He has another idea.

The common consensus had been that, with odds that bad, it was practically impossible for them to lose.

After all, General Chaos was bound to come up with something really spectacular, facing odds like that.

Hilarious.

Potions-Making didn't create magic, it preserved magic, that was why every potion needed at least one magical ingredient. And by following instructions like 'stir four times counterclockwise and once clockwise' - Harry had hypothesized - you were doing something like casting a small spell that reshaped the magic in the ingredients.

Hilariously brilliant.

But wizards didn't think that way: from their perspective, if you'd put some amount of work into making a Knut, it stood to reason that you could get exactly the same work back out.

Brilliant.

I will not like this if Lucius attacks Draco. Let it be a discussion of Draco's mistakes and cleverness, both. Let Lucius teach Draco to have greater magical and physical endurance.

"Hermione Granger," Auror Komodo said in a toneless voice, "you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Draco Malfoy."

Lucius's idiocy showing? Because I hope that Draco hasn't chickened out. Or has Professor Snape restrained him from taking part in this duel? Wouldn't Veritaserum testimony of Hermione clear her?

"HERMIONE YOU DIDN'T DO IT YOU'VE BEEN FALSE-MEMORY-CHARMED!"

Then Draco has been, too! Thus, it's likely neither Lucius nor Snape; the former wouldn't attack his own son, not by using a muggleborn student, and the latter wouldn't attack students, I believe.

Professor Snape seems to be ally of Harry by now; when did it happen?

Albus left the 'Santa' notes under Harry's pillow; let me remember what was written in them... Invisibility Cloak, Occlumency book, and false portkey.

Albus can see through the cloak, so only Occlumency was for Harry's benefit - to protect him from all the threats, including Albus, Malfoy, Snape, Quirrell, Voldemort.

Cloak could only cause more mischief, and escape route was a complex lie-misdirection.

The man listened to this with a frown, then looked back down, then up again. "I also see that you visited Fuyuki City in 1983."

So 'Quirrell' didn't even bother to remember his own visas?

A brief burst of fire later, the papers were gone, and the Potions Master left to report the failure of his mission.

So notes to Hermione were left by him...

Professor Snape had said that the portkey led to an empty house in London, with no sign of anyone or anything else.

Then this portkey is considered irrelevant.

Professor Snape hadn't found any notes in Hermione's dorm.

Then they were left by him, and he wouldn't harm both Hermione and Draco, he wouldn't harm either of them.

Headmaster Dumbledore had said that Voldemort's spirit was probably hiding out in the Chamber of Secrets

Then Dumbledore knows where Voldemort is?

Harry Potter sat back down again as Professor McGonagall pulled down with her grip on his wrist.

But by then he'd already declared war on the country of magical Britain, and the idea of other people calling him a Dark Lord no longer seemed important one way or another.

Agree.

It doesn't particularly help when the boy yells "BOO!" at a Dementor and the decaying corpse presses itself flat against the opposite wall and its horrible ear-hurting voice rasps, "Make him go away."

Hilarious.

"Nothing less would have convinced them that I was done with hesitation."

Why couldn't you strike at Lucius instead of Narcissa? Coward! Find what is dear to Voldemort, and destroy it, or hold ransom.

"Only now I understand, I know what Mother must have felt. She couldn't step aside from the crib. She couldn't! Love doesn't walk away!"

Agree. It's the best answer you could give.

"Evil done in the name of good. Evil done in the name of evil. Which is worse?"

The former is worse, twisting the truth and unable to see workings of the world. For the latter person at least sees world clearly, and has wrong goals, which can be argued logically, back and forth. An egoistic person can be convinced that helping others is more profitable than attacking them. An insane person cannot be convinced that his 'help' brings more harm than good.

Quirrell entertains himself. Is he a songster, is there magic in his tune?

Draw your own conclusions, Madam.

I hope Quirrell will be alive, still, for years, decades, centuries... Vampire, or magically ill, or some kind of magical creature, who periodically goes into death-like hibernation, but alive.

"And if that fails to move you, Miss Granger, consider also that Mr. Potter has, just today at lunchtime, threatened Lucius Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore, and the entire Wizengamot because he cannot think sensibly when something threatens to take you from him. Are you not frightened of what he will do next?"

He would do the same for Draco. And he will. Especially if he understands that Lucius is probably going to attack Draco for associating with muggleborn. But the culprit should be found, too.

I have less time left than you may think.

He speaks of his own illness. Of his own coming death. Stop making mistakes, Hermione! It's Sirius's business!

In the middle of a horrible bloody war, Dumbledore set one enemy civilian on fire?

And sacrificed many other people because he wouldn't create the wards necessary to protect them, wouldn't teach them all to fight for their lives.

Killing him, if you didn't have to do it, would be just one more death for future sentient beings to be sad about.

Agree.

I'll try as hard as I can to save everyone, but if I fail, I'll admit it didn't work, and change policies. Does that satisfy us?

Agree. With Anansi the Spider.

Has Sybil Seen the horrors of Harry failing? For it's impossible not to fail at all, unless Harry allows himself to die or somehow break his promise before he fails.

I still respect Severus Snape, and don't consider him the one behind the attack. And I still wonder about the triangle of Quirrell - Bellatrix - Voldemort. So who is the attacker? Who has attacked Harry through Draco and Hermione?

Good luck. Thank you. Quirrell probably arrived here as DADA professor not because he dies (whether this assumption is true or not), but because he wants to meet the rising star, and see what way is chosen by Harry.
Leppy chapter 85 . 5/23/2012
gina don't sweat, Gins! I get it, and I'm 12. I think. Maybe 11. That isn't something I pay attention to.

Anyways, there's a podcast version, if you want, they have pretty good acting. No, I'm not just saying that because I play Tracy (though perhaps that's a factor-?).
gina chapter 85 . 5/23/2012
should a 14 year old understand this or is that creepy? because the whole thing made sense to me. i must just be weird, i guess.
00Agent7 chapter 85 . 5/22/2012
Over the past couple of days I've been chipping away at your writing. I appreciated the unique situations you have your characters in, and I love the overall plot which is original form anything I've seen.

I went to the University of Michigan to be a Computer Science major, so it made me literally laugh to see topics like PNP involved in what I originally took as a child's story. I was studying many of your concepts only 3 weeks ago, and you made it entirely enjoyable. I've also never seen something with humor where the plot was actually relevant, but you have managed it.

I also appreciate how much time it takes to write something approaching the complexity of reality, where nothing is really cut and dry; where, Like in reality, people can keep their individual opinions, and their intelligence. I love when your characters do things that I hadn't thought of, and it still makes sense. Characters should all be made like yours, with more than a cursory glance in mind. It is obvious that you are applying your own rationality to your writing, and that is something I appreciate. So, I'll understand if it takes awhile to generate chapters, but please update! I've enjoyed your story a lot so far. Thanks.
Juta Rainyt chapter 85 . 5/22/2012
Greetings.

I do wonder whether you bother yourself through reading all the 17k reviews yet it does not deter me from creating a miniature dot in your day with these few words.

Thank You. As it stands, this fic is probably your entertainment in trying to rationalise the many minds in a simple way. Not a real avenue of your work as I had in a serious whim investigated who is the author of such a wonderous story.

I was in a sense very sad when I realised that this fic could never be published as a real book. It does deserve so much more than these 17k of astonishment, it really does. Of course, I shan't not even mention, the millions you would receive in the case of such publishing.

I am but a mere 12 grader in the passing point of her life. I do not understand much of the world around me even if I do wish to study medicine/biology. This fic made me realise just how little I DO know. For that I inquire you if you could spare me a few moments to recommend books or maybe stear me towards avenues in life I should look up to be more like Harry (this may come out wrong). I plan to read all the books you mentioned in this story yet I already know I will want to study more. Your way of writing hooked me up in a way I cannot explain.

As a passing note, this is a heartfelt Thank You from Lithuania. Maybe this will cheer you up to know that your story is read everywhere or maybe you already know that. Nonetheless, I express my admiration towards You, you have one exquisite mind.

Thank You.

Juta Rainytė
Elim Garak chapter 85 . 5/22/2012
Fantastic - simply fantastic. I just discovered this fanfic, and then spent the weekend reading through it. Lost a ton of sleep, but it was worth it. If this was published as a book I would buy it just on principle.

I would love it if Harry would do more scientific research. In the last couple of chapters he seems to have slowed down - after discovering partial transmutation very little else has been done. Since then the majority of time has been spent on politics. It seems like there are several avenues that he has not considered:

- Harry discovered that he can extract energy that went into creation of an object - e.g. heat that went into forging of a coin. Does that mean that it is possible to extract energy that went into creation of matter directly? Like can he take a rock and get the energy of a nova that predated the solar system? Or the pressure that was underground on the rock during its formation? That could result in essentially an extremely powerful explosive. If properly channeled and modulated, it could be transformed into a plasma beam of incredible power. So basically it could allow for direct matter-energy conversion with incredible potential for all sorts of things.

- In the beginning Harry wondered where the language parser was located - what specifically was detecting words like "Wingardium Leviosa", why it was in basically a bastardized version of English, etc. Why has he never considered the wand itself? Perhaps the wand "cores" containing parts of various magical creatures (phoenixes, unicorns, Veela) are what detects and parses the language?

- Why hasn't Harry investigated the interference between technology and magic? For example, how is magic affected by magnetic fields? Why does technology stop working around magic? How does that work?

- Procedural magic - is it possible to chain multiple spells together? Have one trigger another which triggers another, etc., resulting in various logic gates? And thereby construct smart, adaptive, and very powerful spells that do different things depending on the circumstances and various reactions?

- Is skin contact necessary with wands? What about words? If Harry records the words of a spell on a tape recorder (or something equivalent) - can that be substituted for his voice? What if Harry constructs a device that manipulates a wand in certain ways - can that device be then used to trigger the magic, coupled with the voice recording? Perhaps at the same time being powered by a pebble, extracting energy from the origin of the universe?

- Is total number of atoms/subatomic particles the limiting factor in transmutations or is it about the volume? Can Harry create some neutronium for example - or a micro singularity?

Once again, an awesome fanfic - can't wait for more.
Guest chapter 85 . 5/19/2012
It seems strange that neither Dumbledore nor Harry himself did raise a question of the previous Harry's statements and actions about every battle to be won, no evil to be tolerated, and those who don't live to these principles being weak in cheating.

Dumbledore predicted an attempt from the "Dark" party to harm Hermione, and that is what happened.

Harry wanted to "let the Light win again" and failed in letting this happen, primarily due to the lack of resources, knowledge and time, compared to the scale of the threat and the power of the foes and their more or less neutral supporters. That is what Dumbledore warned him against some time before: risking too much will expose him and his to the enemy's attack.

Previously, Harry thought of Dumbledore as the one who can do anything and lose anything if it meant that you didn't have to fight (and take additional risk of losses) another time - because "some part of Dumbledore always stays in that room (room of the phoenix's fate)". As for now, events proved Harry as the one eager to lose anything (like the life, legal freedom and rights in the magical Britain, all the fortune - and even more to the debt...) just to avoid placing his first pedestal.

Why don't he think along these lines? He seems not to think about that at all. Perhaps Dumbledore haven't learn well enough how to cheat around phoenix's price. But for now Harry must have realized that he himself is even less prepared to cheat in the matter. And so, he must learn from somebody with at least enough experience to warn him in advance that his course of actions keeps endangering Hermione more and more.

Radhruin.
Guest chapter 85 . 5/19/2012
Polygamy is a sin anonymous. No but seriously the virgin comment was meant as a jab to the fact that spouting big words and shoving intellectualness is someone's face is not very likeable.
anonymous chapter 85 . 5/19/2012
anon: Umm... Lesswrong has three girls atm. Hardly a virgin.
Guest chapter 85 . 5/19/2012
I enjoy reading this story. It makes me feel smart. I mean seriously? Half the stuff you talk about doesn't require big words. And me being smart enough to notice someone trying to sound smarter is like a warm bath of superiority and ego inflation. Though there are other contributing factors. Such as you're insistence on telling/screaming the message of the story/essay/parable at the reader. I mean what is the point in a story which does this? Is this the friendly ai bible or something? And what's with the characters anyway? Why don't they act consistently within the universe? (oh and btw I checked out dlp just because of you mentioning them. And for someone who loves rationality what you have said both there and here on the topic of silens cursor is hardly rational. Go get some help for that raging ego. Maybe just maybe you won't die a virgin.)
Guest chapter 85 . 5/18/2012
Yes voldemort will be pitied by future people because his story is Soooo sad. In the same way that the people of today pity genghis fucking khan you idiot. The fact is that voldemort is a mass murdering magical terrorist. Why the fuck would the people of the future be such naive idiots to not understand the point that he's blatantly evil? Why the fuck is Harry changing his views from "the dark should fear the light"? Why the fuck is everyone apart from a few select individuals idiots? Why the fuck do I get the feeling this is some sort of allegory for someone elses life? Why the fuck is Harry such a dick to dumbledore repeatedly? This isn't rationalist!Harry this is !Harry
TwistedJabberjays chapter 85 . 5/17/2012
Wow, I'm impressed! Your scientific accuracy and in-characterness of all of the characters is really great. Your writing style is so funny and creative, it felt like I was reading a real, separate book, instead of a fanfic. Rock on!

-TwistedJabberjays
Link Man chapter 85 . 5/17/2012
More a general thought than a review of the current chapter:

I shudder to think of Harry's reaction to finding out about the Philosopher's Stone.
zipfe chapter 85 . 5/13/2012
great story, this is better than most books.

awesome, cant wait for more!
ijpowers92 chapter 85 . 5/10/2012
well I finally caught up with this story and it is really awesome. You've done a great job.
Shadow of the kyuubi chapter 85 . 5/8/2012
First, (insert general praise here). I think that this may be the best fanfic I have ever read. The only one that comes close would be Chunin Exam Day, but that got stale after about chapter 6. Most fanfics cannot keep any semblance of originality after chapter 20, let alone on chapter 85.

Second, if this story ends with Harry ordering a Dementor to eat Voldemort's soul, I want a cookie.

...no, really. That seems like a gaping plot point in the HP universe. "My enemy is immortal because the core of his soul is tied to the earth by hidden magical antiques. There are monsters that eat souls. Hey, let's go camping!"

Your Harry can even give vague orders to Dementors; it seems like a pretty clear-cut victory plan given that Quirrel can't cast the Patronus.
xan avalon chapter 85 . 5/8/2012
apropos of approximately nothing, but you should figure out a way to include Snape and a a watch?vAwVf8b2Skgsteabag/a. (this is the speeded-up version, there is a slower one which is even more inexplicably mesmerizing.)
aldeka chapter 85 . 5/3/2012
Hypothesis: It occurs to me now that Harry has easy access to enough information to deduce that Snape is off his chain.

After Hermione returns to school, perhaps the next morning, it seems likely that she would notice that someone searched her stuff. (There's no mention of Snape being careful to put things back the way they were, and Hermione has a good memory.) She might explain it to herself as someone in her dorm trying to prank her; when trying to figure out what they took, she'd find the only things missing were the notes from 'S'.

How odd.

It seems reasonably likely that she would mention the disruption of her stuff to Harry. Harry would then tell her that Snape searched her stuff for the notes telling her where to find bullies, in thinking that it might result in a clue to exonerate her.

Herm: "Did they help at all?"

Harry: "No, he never found them."

Herm: "But...they're gone..."

Harry ought to be able to connect the dots. He knows that Snape (the real Snape) hates bullying and thus has a motive to support SPHEW. His persona as the evil potions master means that it's understandable that he couldn't support SPHEW openly. Yet why would he need to deny his involvement and destroy evidence in front of McGonagall, Harry, and Dumbledore-all of them already know his persona is just a front...

...unless SPHEW was a plot *not* approved by Dumbledore, done without his knowledge (which we already know is true, based on Harry and Dumbledore's conversation about Quirrell's intervention).

Harry already has some sense that Dumbledore's hold over Snape was broken when he and Snape talked about his genetic parents. That (presumably) was why he asked McGonagall and Dumbledore to look out for any unusual behavior. Now he has clear evidence that Snape is acting independently.

...But is Snape working for Snape now, or for some persona of Voldemort/Quirrell? Or both? And how might his free agency affect Harry and his plans? It's not clear that Snape's motives are counter to Harry's (given their shared opposition to bullying). It might be even advantageous to be able to work with Snape independently. But being wholly ignorant of the motives and plots of the other pieces on the board is dangerous...
Nerdfish chapter 85 . 5/2/2012
I just realized something.

Has it occurred to Harry to seek help from smuggle sources ? Some SAS soldiers or a Challenger tank would be really handy in a fight against Voldemort or Azkaban.

And completely hilarious.
kitsuneluvuh chapter 85 . 5/2/2012
This is by far one of the most amazing stories I have ever read. I am in awe of your skill and knowledge, and I intend to check out all the resources on your site (after finals). Truly a brilliant work.
pureangel86 chapter 85 . 4/29/2012
I'm fascinated by this story, but other than that I don't know how I feel about it. I almost have to finish this fic just to know what happens.
a fine mess098 chapter 85 . 4/29/2012
This is really fun to read. But also very slow to develop; it's not even second year!
fermontie chapter 85 . 4/29/2012
Well, I confess to have skipped some paragraphs. Nonetheless, all of it is truly impressive. I love the crytograph bit and the human patronus. Um I know that it's an HP&HG fic but I was really hoping to see more of Draco and how the Slytherin House is to be salvaged. There was too much Hermione for me...

A question I cannot wait to be answered: Who is Santa Claus?
Astariel chapter 85 . 4/28/2012
I was writing a big review, with praise, critism and what not, then my laptop decided to overheat, so I say - "Nice fic"
name chapter 85 . 4/28/2012
I've been noticing something of late: Harry has relatively little follow through. He decided Azkaban needed to go and in the last 20 odd chapters since we've not seem him progress on that cause.

Admittedly we're dealing with quite a fine-grained passage of time here. So maybe that's less extreme than apparent just by reading it. Yet, you'd expect Harry to have learned more about the political process he's expected to interact with; if he wants the influence to eliminate it.

Be interesting to see whether he goes on to work on it this time. Now that he consequences of being politically naive have been pointed out to him.

#

He should, perhaps, be considering getting his allies legilimency training too. The ploy's worked once and almost took him for everything he had. I wouldn't put it past someone to try it a second time.

#

As for the outs in taking Dumble as an enemy. Well, it's not clear what is meant by enemy - most of the people in Harry's enemy column get mostly left alone...
reader chapter 85 . 4/27/2012
I'd like to know what's your ethic position on abortions? You value human lives so much and you share liberal humanism ethics at the same time.
rabid.gopher chapter 85 . 4/26/2012
"The next progress update will appear in the Author's Notes on June 1st at 10PM Pacific Time."

Denial: I checked again. Twice.

Anger: And there was RAGE.

Bargaining: Maybe he's just kidding?

Depression: This story stinks anyway.

Acceptance: Maybe if I write a review he'll write the next chapter sooner?
GBTtown chapter 85 . 4/26/2012
Good chapter update.
RichardRahl chapter 85 . 4/26/2012
I just spent the last 2 weeks frantically reading through your fanfic. I must say that during the reading of each chapter and up until now, I am and will continue to be awed by your masterful creation of a parallel universe without a Dudley Dursley of whom I was never a fan in the first place and thought that Rowling should not have created him. I must confess that until I started reading your story that I had no idea of the true science behind rationality. I have always just named it in my head as "being logical" or "using common sense" and etc. I also would like to say that I hope that you, Mr. Wrong, do not stop after you finish this book and that you continue on to re-write the rest of Rowling's endearing series to your more exacting standards. I do hope that at some point in the future that Rowling will read your fanfic and be delighted at what she reads. I will subscribe to the RSS and wait on hand and knees, begging you for more.
Lendary chapter 85 . 4/26/2012
Well, since you will apparantly take a break before posting any more chapters I will take this opportunity to leave a review for the whole story so far, instead of the chapter.

The internet is filled with fanfiction for Harry Potter, some of it good, but most mediocre or outright awfull. So when a link on a TVTropes page brought me to your story my expectations were low,

but the story had a lot of comments and the title seemed interesting and unconventional, so I decided to give it a chance.

You left a note at the beginning of chapter 1 outright stating that the story supposedly doesn't hit it's stright until chapter 5, so I purposefully lowered my expectations even more.

This turned out to be unnecessary.

Within the first chapter you managed to bring me to the floor with laughter, and had me identifying with, and cheering for your main character in a way I never did with cannon Harry through all

seven books.

When I read the passage: "If he was going to descend into this madness, he was going to do it with style.", I realized that this was going to be good.

Throughout the next chapters I constantly varied between lying on the floor with laughter, cheering for Harry and his atypical take on how to be a hero, overheating my brain trying to predict the

next plot-twist, and marvelling at the mindbending accomplishment of rewriting the plot-hole filled, rule of funny dependent world of Harry Potter as a logically sound, internally consistend universe.

After chapter 3-4 I started paying more attention to the scientific facts you mention throughout the series, and after a bit of google research I discovered Less Wrong. I didn't have time to read it

then though, because I had already been addicted to HPMOR.

During his trainride, the introduction of Hogwarts and the first few days Harry pretty much runs everyone over like a steamroller, so I figured this whole thing would be a kind of comedy series with

clever solutions to problems, some bashing of the plot holes in Rowling's work and some really interesting scientific facts and philosophical musings thrown in for good measure.

Naiv as I was, I thought Harry had been the only character to be significantly rewritten by you, and he was such a genius that Voldemort, the death eaters or indeed ANY of the cannon originall

villains simply weren't a credible threat to him. I didn't even see that as such a bad thing, since Harry would accomplish his goals through outsmarting his enemies by using creative solutions

rather than beeing a better fighter than everyone else so the story would stay interesting because the reader would still be constantly speculating IN WHICH WAY Harry was going to win.

So I figured Harry was going to trounce Dumbledore and all of Hogwarts flat in the first week, defeat Voldemort at the end of autumn and destroy all Horcruxes before Christmas through the application

of the Methods of Rationality and some creative thinking.

Boy was I wrong.

You changed more than one character.

You changed the whole main story line.

You made EVERYONE from Harry's classmates to the ministry and Lucius Malfoy more intelligent.

Within the first twenty chapters Harry finds himself engaged in a battle of wits featuring multiple intelligent, creative and extremly powerful players, without even knowing who most of them are or

what they want.

And, as I found out in chapter 19, to provide a credible main antagonist for a child prodigy you created HIM.

The one.

The Anthropomorphic personfication of magnificent bastardy.

The most cunning chessmaster to ever live.

He who makes Light Yagami and L look like preschool children playing hide and seek.

He who makes lelouch vi britannia look on in pure jealousy.

He who has Havelock Vetinari stunned with amazement.

He who makes David Xanatos kneel down in religous awe.

He who tortures by humming.

The best Villain to be created in the world of fiction to date.

QUIRRELMORT!(picture the exclamation marks continuing to infinity)

From that chapter on, the central question of the story shifted from "In what entertaining way is Harry going to win" to "HOW THE HELL IS HARRY GOING TO SURVIVE THIS?".

The story also shifted a little more towards the dark and serious territory, but on the whole it stayed comical.

Harry's experiments on the rules of magic were as fascinating as they were funny, Draco's slow turn towards the light side was reallistically written, Harry stayed awesome while still losing A LOT

and the armies battles were just like Enders game, except more complex, funnier and better.

After the winter holidays the story went into straight up drama territory, and proved to be extremely good at it.

Normally, I don't like it when fiction writters feature their own opinions on ethics, religion or politics strongly in their work, because I tend to disagree with them rather strongly.

You are it seems, the exception to the rule.

It was great to FINALLY find ONE writter in this world who shares my view of death, and the moral dilemmas you put your protagonists through are fascinating.

This was also the point where I decided that while the original books were masterworks of child literature and you had a whole world already built for you to set your story in, HPMOR is better than

the cannon by quite a margin.

You had gathered experience from writing the early chapters, and it shows. The writing gets better, the story is more complex, the characters have more depth and the Gambit Pileup gets larger than

Mount Everest. Part of me misses the jokes of the earlier chapters, but there's still humor in the story (The end justifies the meats indeed).

The Ascaban chapters were AWESOME, I'm going to say "THIS IS MY BROOMSTICK" every time I clean my room from now on.

So on the whole:

Critic of this story goes to :

a) the Self Actualization chapters, which don't advance the plot a lot, and have SPHEW winning by higher fighting skill, luck and the protection of others, instead of well thought out plans and

Xanatos gambits.

b) Hermione's Characterization in the newer chapters. In contrast to everyone else she doesn't get a lot of Character Development and stays the rather one-dimensional "good girl".

She hasn't really DONE anything since becoming Sunshine General, and the one time she did (Self Actualization) she had to be saved by Harry like a distressed damsel in a 50s monster movie. A main

character that doesn't advance the plot and doesn't help the good guys in some way quickly becomes annoying, when Hermione stood trial in recent chapters while surrounded by Dementors I found myself

not caring that much because she spent a lot of time beeing a burden rather than an ally.

Praise goes to:

a) The characters largly unchanged from cannon. You managed to write them consistend with Rowling's original characterization.

b) The writing itself. While you could use some more experience the story is a fluent read, and you are very good at making the reader feel the atmosphere of a situation.

c) The characters from cannon you changed a lot. Nearly all of your changed characters are either more interesting than their cannon versions: ( Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy) WAY more interesting than

their cannon versions: ( Draco Malfoy) or MIND BOGGLING AWESOME: (Harry Potter, Quirrelmort), some reviewers seem to think that Harry's intelligence is unrealistic for a eleven year old but I

disagree. I could have come up with some of the things he did when I was eleven, and I'm no child prodigy. Also, Harry is SUPPOSED to be abnormal even for a child prodigy, it is mentioned quite often

that there's something wrong with him. There are also alligations that he's a Mary Sue. That's just wrong: Harry fails A LOT of the time and his opponents are way more powerfull than he is.

d) The discussions of ethics and philosophy. I think I once read a statment you made, saying you don't like it when characters just talk for a chapter instead of doing something and that you are

trying to reduce it. If that's true, PLEASE DON'T! The talks Harry has with his imaginary personalities and people like Dumbledore are one of the best things in this fic and it would be sad to see

them go.

e) The main plot line. I still have no clue at all what Quirrelmort's real motivation might be, and the events of the backstory are buried in a morast of Gambit Pileups that has me futely guessing at

the next Plot twist. In the original books I managed to deduce that Harry was a Horcrux and that Snape was in love with Lily way before Deathy Hallows came out, but this is to much for me.

f) The consistend magical rules and the world building. The Rowling universe runs on rule of funny and New powers as the Plot Demands, putting all that into a internally consistend and interesting

magical System is quite a feat. You changed the Potterverse rules of magic from one of the worst in fantasy literature into one of the best.

g) The clever solutions your characters use to overcome obstacles. Oh my god. Rocket-assisted broomstick? Time-Turner to break into the Headmasters offfice? Debt for "freeing Lucius Malfoy from the

burden of the Imperius"? THAT'S how you writte a child prodigy.

h) The numerous references to other works of fiction. ("I find your lack of skepticism disturbing.")

I) I'd go on longer, but I'm nearing the maximal permitted length of this review.

So on the whole, thank you SO MUCH for writting this. It is better than the original books, better than Lois Mcmaster Bujold, Timothy Zahn, Connie Willis, David Brin, Orson Scott Card, Douglas Adams,

J. R. R. Tolkien, Isaac Asimov, Naomi Novic and sometimes even Terry Pratchet.

it is one of the best works of fiction I have read to date.

When you finish with HPMOR
great chapter 85 . 4/25/2012
getting boaring
DrummerBoy chapter 85 . 4/25/2012
Where do I sign up for the camp? I am 15, I'm good at math (90-100%) and I would love to go in august, especially since it's free.
anon chapter 85 . 4/25/2012
To Sisyphus:

But the world is a better place for Hawking having written "A Brief History of Time" - exposition (to a general audience) is an incredibly valuable part of any academic's work. Given that so many people are being exposed to rationality for the first time via HP:MoR, this novel may end up being one of the most important things Yudkowsky will do.
oO-Artemis-Oo chapter 85 . 4/24/2012
...this

is the best Fanfiction

ever

I literally cannot think of any criticism, even though I'm trying.

Maybe I'll leave another review later if I think of some...

It's unlikely.

YouAwesome
Guest chapter 85 . 4/24/2012
Eh the batman argument is kinda useless when you take it for what it is: a comic book. The joker is an iconic character: DC wouldn't kill him off. Harry should probably apply real life situations when determining real life ideals
Sisyphus chapter 85 . 4/24/2012
This is likely the best fan-fiction ever written. I'm very widely read and it's one of the most entertaining and thought provoking stories I've ever come across.

My chief criticism is that I've been lurking on OB and LW for years and I was kindof counting on the author to crack FAI. To be blunt, as wonderful as this story is, it seems like a monumental waste of Eliezer's time. How different would the world look if Turing took up knitting or Hawking wrote for Cosmo. They would have produced spectacular sweaters and tantalizing top ten lists I'm sure, but in the end it would just be tragic.
Maelwaedd chapter 85 . 4/24/2012
This fic is awesome. I'm really enjoying the depths you've gone to with all of these characters. I'm really, really curious about Quirrel, now. Regulus, perhaps? I honestly have no idea, but it's very interesting to contemplate. I very much like the moral ambiguity that he's been saddled with, not only by his own appearance but also by the other characters in the fic.

Fabulous work, and thank you very much for sharing.
Anon chapter 85 . 4/23/2012
fuck: There is subtlety in spades, but it is apparently lost on you. Those of us who possess reading comprehension seem to have picked up on it, at least.
Mystical Magical Me chapter 85 . 4/23/2012
This story made me think far more than a fanfiction has any right to. Well done!
Cynder713 chapter 85 . 4/23/2012
This story is so amazing! I cannot get enough of it!
Brian chapter 85 . 4/22/2012
One of my students just called me Professor Quirrell in an e-mail. I wish I could blame you, but I blame myself for infecting him with this fiction instead.

Also, in related news, thank you for giving me the reference to Meier (1970) in the finding solutions chapter. It gave me an excellent topic to riff about in class when talking about requirements gathering and testable requirements.
0011101001100110 chapter 85 . 4/22/2012
nice work :)
madbrad chapter 85 . 4/21/2012
I've always felt uneasy over the years coming across all of those superheroes who stuck to their guns about not taking lives ... and who always prevailed against the bad guys. Likewise I've squirmed when that old "if we descend to their level we are no better than they" goody-two-shoes moralising always pops up. So I particularly enjoyed this chapter and Harry's devising his doctrine for the war to follow.

I wish magic DID exist, so all of those unimaginable millions of light years might seem that much closer, that much more surmountable. I fear that we live in a universe where distance and c are physical limits that we will never overcome. I always thought Arthur C. Clarke's stories of setting tiny regions of the universe, civilisation bounded by time and distance and the speed of light, were always rather sad in that regard. And that's how the real world is. :-(
Talon chapter 85 . 4/21/2012
I liked this aftermath (3) more than the previous two. You've made you (or Harry's) dilemma very clear and insolvable. Harry's choice at the end seemed a bit of a disappointment (being more of a compromise than actual decision) but I guess there really isn't a good way out.

The final aftermath was a bit odd. I don't know what to make of it...
Guest chapter 85 . 4/21/2012
I could try to say something intelligent but the truth I didn't fully understand a number of parts of this story. However what I did understand was fascinating. I would like to thank you for both providing an intersting story and opening my mind up to a series of new consepts which I had never before considered.
Guest chapter 85 . 4/21/2012
I could try to say something intelligent but the truth I didn't fully understand a number of parts of this story. However what I did understand was fascinating. I would like to thank you for both providing an intersting story and opening my mind up to a series of new consepts which I had never before considered.
Azuth chapter 85 . 4/21/2012
Well, that afforementioned "pressure" of an impending prophecy you wrote about in earlier chapters seems to be close at hand.

And by all the baryons of the Universe, it looks to be a magnificent one. Chapter 63 showed us one side of that pressure, then you went on to show us several other "vents" of the prophecy.

I, fellow scholar, eagerly await the chapter dealing with that, and what it would mean for young Harry.
KGB chapter 85 . 4/21/2012
I love the part where Harry thinks about the greatness of the universe and the future. While it might initially make me feel small in comparison, there is another side to that. At the same time it shows that there is so much to do and reach for. And when imagining it all in my minds eye, my mind feels all the bigger for it.

Harry seems to have a very positive view of the future. He thinks that in the future the people will be an enlightened version of himself. However I am afraid that with the growth of technology and enlightenment, there will also be a growth in the evil in man's heart. While Lord Voldemort might not seem all that much different from "all the other bewildered children of ancient earth". That might be caused by the fact that the difference between 'good' and 'evil' has just increase so much that the people of ancient earth all look alike.

I look forward to seeing how his point of view evolves. :)
m-f42 chapter 85 . 4/21/2012
I am going to be so happy when the confusion surrounding Quirrel is resolved and this story gets to second year. This story is one of the few with a Hermione I love to hate, I can't wait to see what you do with her.
Alexandus chapter 85 . 4/20/2012
Interesting take on superhero vs reality philosophies of nonviolance - personally I find myself agreeing with the Slytherin view of the matter.

All in all, great chapter, thanks for all your hard work!
Adam chapter 85 . 4/20/2012
Hey just got done reading your story and wanted to say thank you for sharing it with us. Can't wait for the next chapter. Take Care.
avazgaziz chapter 85 . 4/20/2012
to my mind, this intelligent and ethical variant of Harry is gotta die this Hogwarts year.

1) because one could not imagine the evolution of this kind of mind. most common methods of rationality are limited in quantity (but we still have a lot of philosophical and mystycal principles, methods of analysis).

2) the plot requires HP to test the phoenix's fate. he may survive and somehow transform like in original. in mystical and philosophical terms death is not the end.

rationally thinking person sees that mind and thoughts have their own reality. Harries meditations about magic as a phenomenon may follow somewhere with that "MIND and THOUGHTs" way.

3) author could imagine evolutions of Harry through 7 years as a real citizen of Unoverse, capapble to live there without technosphere, and may be within different kind of body. Who knows...
Aubrette chapter 85 . 4/20/2012
I am constantly struck by the tragedy of reading this beautiful story. I want it in bound, paper form. I want it with the sound of pages and the dry rub of ink. I want it to sit on my shelf, something I can recommend to others or take with me to the tub. I hope that day will come, even if you are not allowed to make any money from it. I hope that a system can be worked where, by donating money to your Rationality Work, the "gift" of bound copies might one day be obtained.

Until then, I will gladly read and re-read on my devices.

Thank you for using language for communication rather than obfuscation, especially since you are dealing with immediate and necessary human complexities. You are making our world more accessible to us through magic.

Thank you.
Aishata chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
I see some foreshadowiong. Good chapter.
Higashiyama Sayuri's Devout chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
OMINOUS.
elusivetruth chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
Thank you so much for your continuing work on this wonderful story. I'm currently in the process of rereading the story, and I loved the perfect timing between this chapter and the one I'm currently on in my review of the story - Quirrell and Harry arriving at Azkaban.

This second reading of the story thus far has definitely solidified how much I enjoy it, and I'm picking up many more nuances. I doubt I will ever catch all of them, but that honestly seems to make it a better read! I also appreciate the scientific and cultural references - especially those that refer to something I didn't previously know, since they give me the opportunity to research previously unknown (to me, at least) ideas.

I briefly glanced at some of the recent reviews before writing this one, and I saw someone mention that they find Harry to be the most evil character in the story. I certainly have to agree that Harry is doing a stupendous job of bungling up his efforts to learn the secrets of the universe and save humanity from Death... But on that same thought, I have to say that I can't help but cheer for him because I likewise can't help but hope mankind *does* overcome death. I hold mixed spiritual views that I will refrain from including here, but I feel that regardless of spiritual influence, humans cannot help but fear death and hope to save themselves from it. Harry may be having mixed results with his efforts, but as far as I can see, he is doing the best he can (remember, he's still very young!) to solve troubles which no one else in history has ever solved (real world or the world of this fanfic) and which few are willing to bear. As long as you are trying to do right, can you be accused of doing wrong? I'm not sure I can answer that question, but I'd certainly say you at least get brownie points for *trying* to do good. And so, I'm rooting for Harry, hoping that "people won't have to say goodbye any more."
Unsigned chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
Isn't Fate/Stay Night meant for much older audiences?

Harry's parents really shouldn't be letting him read eroges.
Jonuts chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
Obscurica, you have a point. If you're talking about warfare between nations. The Wizarding War wasn't between nations. Or even between large groups, at least in this fan fic. It was between voldemort with his small number of followers, and the rest of the Magical Britain. Your point is completely lost on such a conflict. The group is small enough that extermination is a very viable solution. Barring that, the goals of Voldemort and his followers aren't congruent. The threat posed by Voldemort and the threat posed by his followers WITHOUT voldemort are seperate. Voldemort is a military threat. Lack of Voldemort is a political threat. Should Voldemorts follows succeed after Voldemort falls, the outcome is far different than if Voldemort succeeds.

As the Death Eaters are held together not by no common factor other than Voldemort, they are not a strategic issue. Any victory that breaks Voldemort will break his followers. They will then go their separate ways and pursue their separate agendas. Voldemort won't be martyred. The defeat won't be used a generation later to start a revolution. The politics of the entire situation aren't congruent with normal wars.
Leah chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
me again.

I glanced at the reviews that have gone up since I posted. and I was sad, because they were so critical! Of a really really excellent chapter. And I realized I hadn't actually said that myself (perhaps because my computer was about to shut off the window seconds after I clicked submit...ahhh my stayfocusd app, ultimate gift for all procrastinators).

So to reiterate- it was excellent! Harry is not at all going out of character as a rationalist. He is being realistic and realizing he can't live in a theoretical bubble. And the compromise between his Gryff/Slyth sides was perfect, I wouldn't have thought that was the conclusion the two of them would have reached but it worked, leaving both unhappy but accepting- and I like how there is a Harry outside of all the arguments who has the power to choose. (bit Jewish, there?)

And any chapter that mentions both the history of the atom bomb and the Idea of Progress* has my vote of approval.

*(not the JB Bury version, that one put me to sleep. Stephen Kern is kind of good on it- culture of time and space)

PS- I am still having difficulty with holding intellectual conversations without referencing HPMOR in some way. I may be forced to give up :-)
w chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
Good ethics, though I think that the stars/future disrupt the flow of this chapter. Also, forgot to mention, but with the previous chapter I think Q killing RS should be retconned to become much much more subtle - that way you could continue uncertainty about him longer, even believing he's actually good. Same applies to Malfoy, in a way - for the first part of the Wizengamot chapter, he seems reasonable (under the circumstances), and you've got a nice possibility that he in fact was under Imperius, but the second part makes it impossible to believe it anymore, while it'd be nice if it was possible to keep ambiguity about him longer, I think. Anyhow, thank you and until the next updates.
Obscurica chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
Isn't the rational option always to sacrifice the barest minimum needed to accomplish a goal? Dark lords don't work alone - minions need paying - and killing dark lords makes it harder to rehabilitate their followers later. Or, indeed, to minimize the risk of retaliatory actions. Even in warfare, you either need to win it in such a way that the defeated are willing to cooperate a generation later (re: Germany, Japan), or win utterly and crush all hope of retaliation (re: Indian tribes).

Historically, the latter has been deceptively hard to pull off and usually require a overwhelming advantage - of which Harry doesn't have. And the halfway point is a strategically irresponsible resource-draining quagmire.

In effect, Harry doesn't really have a choice here. Making the Emiya attempt has less long-term risk than going Guy Fawkes on the Wizengamot - at the very least, the former is less likely to entrench the Wizarding world against Enlightenment-aligned philosophies and actions.
Jonuts chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
This chapter drives home just how ill-suited Harry is for fighting. He just decided his opening move in a WAR is to not kill anyone? Harry needs to realize that he's not a God. And if he was a God, the first thing he'd do would probably be to remove free will. After all, if people can't make their own choices, then no one will ever kill. Right? I'm still convinced that in the end, Harry is the most evil person in the story. I think the only thing worse that Voldemort winning, would be Harry winning.
jdboss1 chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
I WAS A BIG BAT MAN Fan

in till i read a good storys on FF

"The Woodsman's Axe by Rorschach's Blot"

where it shood HE up for not killing

Yes you need to kill

Yes the USA has Gon to far in it wars

No you shood nver kill bestander and he you do u shood try try Hard to fix the mess

I want to see Hermione and harry to have a lond chats (Date?)

talk over Him being hur master and what it means

this is be far the best storys i have read and i think i read a lots
tenchifew chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
Powerful chapter.

The quote from Corwin I read a long time ago, and it left a vast impression on me. It is not possible to take the high road all the time, more than that taking this road and being satisfied in a "holier than you" attitude leaves more dead innocents than taking bloody action. Exactly why I never felt that Batman was right. De facto Harry's decision is made.

Death Eaters will kill innocents. Harry will begin killing Death Eaters. Harry will declare war on Wizengamot who fell so low as to condemn an eleven year old child to Azkaban and Dementors. The prophecy of long ago, that if Lily were to be nice to her sister the world would end is about to begin becoming true. The British wizarding world as it is now will not survive this Harry Potter. Not a bad thing in my opinion.

...but I admit to being curious just what prophecy, unobserved and unrecorded, was uttered by all the seers. Just how the end of wizarding world will come about.

Thank you for writing.
badkidoh chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
Another great chapter.
OishiK chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
As I read it, this chapter is to prepare the reader for the transition from the good vs evil morality of the canon stories to a more questionable sort of morality. Many evil characters killed in the Rowling novels, but we were rarely shown good characters killing the evil ones, and I think it was only in battle. (And of course Snape killed Dumbledore.)

Now we're led to expect that Harry will find it necessary to send some students on a suicide mission. Or maybe he'll predator drone some shop in Diagon Alley to kill a death eater, also killing some poor clerks. Or something. That sort of thing is happening in the world. I don't like it, but if it is presented and discussed fairly, I won't be offended by it.
the squirrel is right chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
I can only hope that this chapter was intended as a test for us to see if we can recognise just how irrational Harry becomes once people he cares about are at risk, since his thinking here is completely out of line with everything he has held up throughout the series.

He's very much making up justifications rather than perform any sort of investigation into the truth. He is holding to what he _wants to believe_ rather than relying on rationality.
DragonRidingSorceress chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
As an Australian, I must object.

Canberra also has:

- Questacon (which Harry might have liked), and

- the War Memorial,

which are both quite interesting.

Only then can you say there's nothing else to do in Canberra. Unless of course you like politics and Australian political history. Then there's a few other things.
LauralHill chapter 85 . 4/19/2012
Wow, whoda thought THIS would be one of the more divisive chapters?

It was a little long-winded, I suppose, but for an innocent youth who thinks Life is a prime value, to make the decision that yes, he will have to start killing to win at some point is, as was pointed out, an Event Horizon that Batman (canonically) refuses to approach. It's not an easy decision to make. Harry is rightly horrified that he nearly decided to wipe out most of the Wizengamot.

Even his vow to kill the burner-alive of Narcissa had so many opt-out clauses for that reason. Snuffing out life should NOT be an easy decision. Genre Savvy is not reality. Nonetheless, learning from Dumbledore is not a bad idea. If he says he lost fewer people when he stopped treating them all equally valuable, it's something to consider. I don't see how Harry could have made any other decision.

... especially if you see it as repeated matches of the Prisoner's Dilemma - the solution is always "be nice to start then match what the other guy does." Technically this is Harry's first match "against" Voldemort as a PC (prophecy baby doesn't really count), and no one died, probably no one was meant to die, so Harry will continue on in his "no killing" stance. Hopefully.
chipperdyke chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
New reader.

Obvs I'm not qualified to say anything about this obviously amazing piece of art.

BUT your Harry is such a sick evil dumb bastard that I just have to say something. Okay, he's being manipulated, and sure, he's young, but I think it's unfair that you twist the rules of your world to allow his supreme insolence and ignorance to still triumph. He still hasn't lost anything, so no wonder he is still the same obnoxious boy who insisted on stealing his own money from the vault. It doesn't matter how many people tell him to be wise - he's 11 and he CAN'T win every fight.

Don't get me wrong, I like the ambiguously-moraled main protagonist as much as the next person. But this guy really needs to have his ass kicked in. He is not invincible, and the story is not interesting if we begin to be convinced that he is. Especially when you have a competing protagonist who sincerely does not deserve a single ounce of that bullshit you just dumped on her. Hermione's misery should not be a device you use to promote your "hero's" invincibility.

Sure, you achieved one good thing in this arc - you convinced me, Dumbledore, and Hermione that Harry, in fact, exactly the boy we expected to defeat Voldie with the power of love. But since very little else has gone to support that, personally I feel gypped out of a realistic conclusion to your story. Just because you're echoing the original series does not mean that every reader will believe suddenly that the power of 11-year old Harry's love for Hermione will allow him to defeat Voldemort. In fact I'm expecting Harry to turn evil and Hermione to take up the mantle of hero, and if that doesn't happen it will completely break my suspension of disbelief.

Also, cut the shit. This is not a story about 11-year olds, and this is not Harry's first year at Hogwarts. I'm still not thoroughly convinced that Quirrell is not in fact in the grip of possession by our favorite villain (mostly because of the rescue of Bellatrix and he thinks he can turn Harry, rightfully so; Tom Riddle is a genius and it's crazy to underestimate him). Regardless, I can see your hesitation to extend this story beyond the single school year (that being an obvious clue to Quirrell's identity). If you're rewriting this sometime and can think of nothing better, AT LEAST START HOGWARTS AT 15 YEARS OLD. My brother is 11 right now. I can only get through the story imagining these kids to be at least 15. Please start Hogwarts at 15. You've done things (like changing the Sirius Black storyline) with far less justification.

All this said, I do really like Harry, he just needs to get his ass handed to him. I identify very strongly with the guy. But secretly the only reason I'm reading is because Hermione and Mandy really need to start getting their 15 year old bodies sweaty in about 10 minutes or I'm gonna burst.

Just kidding.
John Smith chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
"There was basically nothing else to do in Canberra." Made me lol.
Shaidar Haran chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
I am almost scared to think about just what saw all that poor people in their dreaW nightmares.
Entropic Specter chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Thanks for the recent updates. A great read as always.

One note regarding your Author's note: You misspelled the name of DKA's author. I'm pretty sure that it should be Pusakuronu. Anyhow, that's a nice recommendation.

That'll be all for now. Please keep up the great work, and please update soon.
meri47 chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
I think that the chapter kind of went off on a tangent for a minute there, but I got the point in the end.

Keep up the good work, and update soon!
lil chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
uh ,,,, nothing happened ?
Squirrelloid chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Really not a fan of this chapter.

(1) Inconsistent with Harry's attitudes and beliefs thus far, or maybe just further shines light on what was already a horribly inconsistent belief. Trying to imagine the opinions of people in the far future is hardly rational - and those people may well be *wrong*. Its sort of like an argument ad populum except displaced in time. Harry knows enough about fallacious thinking that he *should* know better.

(2) The opinion of some far flung future isn't some fixed thing. Consider the conclusion of WW2 by atomic bomb. In the aftermath a strongly US-positive narrative dominated for years. Then with the counter-culture of the 60s and 70s an anti-US narrative arose which condemned the decision to drop the bomb. Currently there isn't even a consensus about which narrative is 'right'. And that's only 60 years after the fact. Looking back only 1000 years we might consider the Norman invasion of England. How do people 'judge' the battle of Hastings? I would guess that most people don't even know what it is, and those who do (for the most part) don't bother to pass moral judgement. Its history, it happened. So there's a futility to imagine what people in the far-flung future will think of our actions today - most won't, and those who do won't judge. The only things that will matter are 'what was done?' (The Normans invaded England) and 'what were the consequences?'

(3) Ultimately victors write the history anyway. Whether or not something actually happened ultimately becomes irrelevant. A particular religious text assembled by committee some 16-1700 years ago, primarily written between 1900 and 1800 years ago by people who didn't personally witness any of it, and dominated by the beliefs and politics of a man who never personally witnessed anything of significance, is exceptionally good evidence of this.

Best case: Harry gets to decide how his actions are remembered by WINNING and writing the history himself. Worst case: The truth of whatever happens is irrelevant because other people write the histories and interpret them to suit their agendas. (Assuming he was a real historical person, what would Yehoshua think of the religion which worships in his name?)

(4) The amount of text Harry's inner monologue gets and lack of any real counterpoint strongly suggests this is the author speaking to us through Harry. Which is really disappointing considering how ridiculously wishful Harry's line of thinking is. When did the moral of the story take a sharp turn to Romanticism and away from Enlightenment? What happened to Heroic Responsibility, completing the Job No Matter What, consequentialism, and all the other ways you've basically said 'choose the course of action with the best predicted outcome'.

(5) We've previously seen Harry accept that even good guys kill. Why is he so hung up on it now? Highly inconsistent. Especially as his backup plan just a few chapters ago was 'kill every person who voted to send Hermione to Azkaban by having a dementor kiss them'. Seriously, he's hung up on killing an enemy now?

(6) You're seriously arguing that *no matter what* Voldemort does, it ultimately won't batter? No belief too abhorrent? No action beyond forgiveness? It can all be 'cured'? (Oh my that's a dangerous word). Is Harry's position now that Voldemort kills and worse on *accident* and not by *intention*, or is he seriously advocating 'curing belief' in people who believe the 'wrong' things. (Foucault's thoughts on prisons and mental health seem especially relevant here). Even if we assume that's a desirable end, what about all the damage Voldemort could do while Harry waits for those technologies to develop?

In every other arena Harry at least turns to experimental evidence - what does the data say about criminal rehabilitation for the worst offenders?

(ok, there's a lot of diverse objections bundled up in 6, sorry, but i have a reasonable expectation that you can unpack it all).

-

I could go on, but i think i'd run out of characters to articulate my objections.

Your message is of course your own, although I find this chapter really distasteful ethically, and in contradiction to what seems to be your earlier advocated ethics. But I would like some *internal consistency* in the thoughts of characters, especially main characters, unless and until we have a decisive events which would alter the way they think about a particular decision. This feels like a sudden and surprise turn-about with no real motivation.
Spidey-phd chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Another great chapter!
Guest chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
I want to thank you for HPMOR. It inspires many wiki-walks as I go looking for more information on all the ideas and concepts in you write about. It makes me think and want to know more, which is what I believe you are trying to do. Thanks.
xan avalon chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Y'know, before reading HPMOR I do not recall ever hearing of Bayes or seeing the word "Bayesian" anywhere. And yet but a single day after reading Ch. 85, what do I see, on facebook no less, but the intro to a a /opinion/item/8598-what-about-the-real-or-surreal-thingbook review/a which reads: "The world of risk and insurance - replete with cagey underwriters, callous claim adjustors, and canny actuaries - is often viewed as staid and cheerless. In Acts of God and Man, Michael R. Powers challenges this perception, espousing a science of risk based upon both a "fundamentalist Bayesian" (i..."

how could I resist? Quite a good little piece, with one of the best little snippets of both Bayesian analysis and the subject of the paranormal I have ever seen. Well (tactfulness circuit suddenly leaps into action) outside the works of present company. :)
Serpent91 chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Well done!
WorriedFan1 chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Just wanted to say before I get started on my inane worries that I love your writing and I find this story to be one of the greatest that I have read on this site. I am not sure how copyright laws work exactly, but advertising on your story may be considered against copyright because you techinically profit. It might be better to put in any author's notes about ticket sales etc. inside your author page instead to avoid trouble just in case. I might be wrong about this and it may be completely fine but just in case... Love your story!
Larry Huss chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
George Orwell: "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

Yrs Larry Huss
Work Designer chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
I'm a little torn about how to review this chapter.

There is the obvious development where harry has made a distinct ethical choice. Yet, due to the lack of interactions, the point seems to be a little forced. Though in reality, all of us have to arrive at such decisions on our own. So, all in all, I'd have to say this is a good update, a necesary update for all future heroes, but not a great one, sorry.

I actually thought that the azkaban vow was of greater emotional impact, however that affected only trelawney and whatever is coming now is much bigger than it, but somehow I'm not able to feel the same. Anyway, June can't come soon enough. Good luck with the other endeavours.
This is my name chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
I accept Harry's philosophical musings as the character's not-not-flawed thoughts, but "Emiya Shirou"? Umm... how did Harry get his hands on Fate/Stay Night? Did he play it on Windows 3! Anachronism aside, he's a bit young for eroge, no? Not to mention that Shirou is a complete idiot... I get that you, as the author, like F/SN, but that was just *really* silly in all sorts of ways. If you want to pull off little nods and references, you can do a lot better than that...
OldUserAccount333 chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Uh.. why didn't you post the information about the high school summer camp on Lesswrong too?

I'm interested in going but I would like to discuss it first.
Raichu Pikachu chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
I don't think I need to say how good this was. I know this was a serious chapter but, "People die when they are killed." Thank you, fansub!Shirou, thank you.
James chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
You do this *really* well. Ambiguity where it would otherwise defuse tension. Common perceptions turned on their heads. Building up a situation where it *has* to go one way, there is no other option... and then, out of 'nowhere', something different happens. Tackling the difficult concepts. Educating readers while remaining relevant to the story. Excellent use of humour.

I would love to know your writing process.
kattastic999 chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Ominous.
esscsc chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
"Batman is a murderer no less than the Joker, for all the lives the Joker took that Batman could've saved by killing him."

See, I think your fantasy scenario is producing some wonky moral reasoning here. In real life, we don't have Voldemorts who can't be kept in prison without torture; we don't have comic-book villains who can't be kept in prison and will keep killing unless you kill them.

We just have human beings. And if anyone in real life is sure that their side is "good" and their opponents are "evil", you should run the other way, fast.
yamiishot chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
ooh interesting
Blackguard83 chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Surely Harry has to realize that he is setting up himeself for only one possible outcome?

If previous history and the fact that he is not omnipotent God is any indication.. this whole affair seems as if he is just waiting for excuse to start killing, he is waiting for the enemy to draw first blood. Which makes no sense from the tactical point of view and from the moral point of view.

If Harry considers himself smart and competent enough to include every life in his sphere of responisibility why should and innocent bystander pay the price while Harry is waiting for something that he know is inevitable?
butterflygrrl chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
So, Harry's rationality appears to be running out under stress. (Which is fine, he's not perfect, but if someone reading doesn't see the problem...)

Just as he was unwilling to even consider that Hermione might have *done* what was was accused of (for different reasons than those she was accused of), he's also willing to tie himself in knots to try and justify Dumbledore and keep himself on Dumbledore's side, even when by ANY standard of true-to-Harry reasoning, Dumbledore is, if not an enemy, not a reliable ally either.

He is unwilling to contemplate the possibility that Dumbledore's side is not the side he should be on.

He is frantically justifying Dumbledore's possible actions in terms of the necessities of war, while conveniently brushing aside his own point that sometimes good people must kill, but good people DO NOT TORTURE. (Thus also negating the entire nazi nuclear weapons anecdote. It didn't need saying, he'd already agreed long ago that sometimes you have to kill and sometimes you even have to kill innocents.)

He's also brushing aside DRACO's point, that fearing Dumbledore helped to bind more people to Voldemort's cause!

Were I Draco and knew that Harry was still hesitating with what Harry knows at this point, our friendship would be over. It would be proof that Harry would betray his own ideals rather than listen to me.
Plotinus chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
I really like this story, and have been reading the chapters since the beginning, but this section bothered me:

"In the 40,000 years since anatomically modern humans had migrated to Australia from Asia, nobody had invented the bow-and-arrow. It really made you appreciate how non-obvious was the idea of Progress. Why would you even think of Invention as something important, if all your history's heroic tales were of great warriors and defenders instead of Thomas Edison? How could anyone possibly have suspected, while carving a rock-thrower with painstaking care, that someday human beings would invent rocket ships and nuclear energy?"

It seems you've overlooked an obvious question. Does the native flora of Australia lend itself well to the creation of bows of arrows? So, I did some research and it turns out that no. No, it doesn't, except in some extremely isolated areas, but for the most part, across the country, there is no native flora that lends itself well to making bows and arrows. The aboriginals of Australia lived for 40,000 years in an extremely hostile environment and they made tools for hunting from the materials they had readily available to them. Instead of bows and arrows, they made rock throwers and boomerangs. Boomerangs are kind of like bows and arrows, except the "arrow" returns to you after you've thrown it, and the returning boomerang is one of the earliest examples of heavier than air man-made flight.

You might as well ask why the Inuit living in the arctic circle didn't make bows and arrows either. Huh, I wonder if it has something to do with the amount of trees that can be found north of the arctic tree-line? Or maybe they were just backwards and didn't have the right mythology. Yeah, that's it.
Eponymuse chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Good stuff! Thanks for ending this batch of posts at a good break.

It seems a little odd to me that Harry consciously puts so much faith in the ethical frameworks of science fiction authors. But on the whole, I enjoyed reading Harry's analysis of his moral dilemma.
Anamorphus chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
NOw that was fascinating! Harrys monologue on the Tower. The last part was a little bit confusing, but I'm shure you will elaborate on that.

Keep it going! I really enjoy this story.

Regards, Anamorphus
iamnuff chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
i dont know what got me more, the fact that the fact that all over the world people are freaking out that harry has decided that he "might" have to kill people, or the fact that harry looked towards Emiya Shirou for answers.
Arkh Cthuul chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Some very strange tenses especially in the first third of the chapter.

It has somehow a ... unfinished, yes even raw, feel to it. You can do better.

The final aftermath made me smile evilly though.
avazgaziz chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
I like author to try rationalize the ethics.

May be this pint is the central in all the HPMOR.
Other chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Hmm, evil Harry is here. Prophesied by a random girl and other random characters.
Markus Ramikin chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
This is probably the first chapter I've read so far which I didn't like. Maybe it's not bad, in some objective sense, but I sure didn't enjoy it. Mostly because Harry's logic based on what our descendants will believe just seems like vacuous far-mode thinking.

If I were fighting or preparing to fight a WAR (I don't think it's possible for me to make that word loud enough no matter what text formatting I had available), and I could talk to our descendants and they told me that that's how they actually felt about my situation, I'd tell them "that's easy for YOU to say, in your bright and cushioned future" and ignore them, because they're obviously ignoring the near details of the state of the gameboard I have the displeasure to actually be on. Now on the other hand if they gave me some good game-theoretical reasons to change my views about how I should act...

Which is not to say a young idealist like Harry couldn't be thinking those kinds of thoughts; I just don't know why there had to be a whole chapter about it.

Need moar Quirrel.

As to what a comic book or fantasy/scifi character would think or do - who cares? This is the hero that Dumbledore himself is taking seriously?

Anyway, you're still awesome and I'm still a guy who couldn't write 1/10 of what you wrote, SoYeah.
LahDeeDah chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
OH my goodness! Something huge is going to happen! Like, REALLY REALLY REALLY HUGE! It took FOUR seers to release all this ripple pressure of this gigantic event that will take place! FOUR seers! Across the world!

And from what we've read earlier, Trelawny was the first pressure point it tried, but she wasn't enough. Now again it got 4 seers and it still obviously wasn't enough because none of them made any kind of prophecy! So obviously the event has come nearer, and it seems to be more urgent given that it tried 4 different people to release this prophecy. Seeing as how it is so urgent we can assume it will happen soon. perhaps the next story arc will have more seers and Trelawny will finally make her prophecy. Which begs the question. Are prophecies automatically placed in the Department of Mysteries, or does it have to be recorded from a memory of someone who saw the prophecy being said?
Elelith chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Lovely as always but I am fixated on how I am going to survive until JUne, theoretically it's a good thing as I have exams but still... Anyways, until then...
five pounds chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
This is my favorite kind of chapter - smart, substantial thinking, self-exploration and exploring at the edge of thinking. All wrapped up in story, to boot. I'm sure you don't but, you're right not to worry about anachronisms - use whatever makes the final story good. To me this kind of chapter is worth any number of the ones with magic / counter magic silliness. You'll be a great (paid) author someday I think, if you want. At least I hope this all pays off for you.
rikkittavi chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Is it fallacious for one to bind one's future actions based on limited information about the future context, given one is likely to possess more information relevant to the decision at the future point at which the action must be taken?

Doesn't Anansi the Spider have a point?

Would it not be a standard tactic for an inimical player to manipulate the protagonist to bind himself to a disadvantageous position through incomplete information in a contrived context, which position he would not adopt in possession of full information in a different context?
anon chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
"...I don't get it." about sums up my reaction to this chapter.

Kinda ambivalent about this chapter, somewhat lacking in concentrated awesome compared to the previous ones.
outlawpoet chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
It's always gratifying to find a parallel, but I am particularly pleased that Corwin's vow is a part of Harry's bookwisdom. This recent arc on the limitations of intelligence and the boundaries of morality has been really quite illuminating, even if it doesn't quite fit in the tone of the story in parts.

I'm no longer as confident in some of my projections, and look forward greatly to your further chapters.
Endymion2314 chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
For all his vaunted rationality Harry is still an idiot hero, nicely done.
Norven chapter 85 . 4/18/2012
Did the Aftermath part hint to Harry stepping on a dangerous path of him repeating Dumbledore's mistakesor was it not connected to his recently taken decision? I guess I have to wait and find out)
Alexeon chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Awesome chapter as always. I just wanted to point out that Harry thought of Emiya Shirou's point of view in the latest chapter. The problem is that this takes place in the early 90s but Fate/Stay Night was written in early 2000s. Harry should not be able to quote Shirou (though its awesome he did, and I understand it was important for the scene.) I just wanted to mention it out of a desire to calm my OCD.
Not-A-Spy chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Something about this chapter made me think of the Philotic Effect invented in Ender's Game and related novels. That, somehow, a conscious being making a decision is a cosmic event that can instantaneously affect other beings, no matter the distance. The momentous events of the last few chapters set something more urgent in motion.

I still greatly enjoy your story, and I still regret that my skills as a rationalist are severely lacking.
anon chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Everytime you reference Fate/stay night I'm caught off guard. What do you think of Code Geass? Just genuinely curious.
Loonynamelass chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Oh my, what a suspenseful ending!
Argh chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Yeah, pretty shit update; very minimal story development, heavy reading and no dialogue between characters whatsoever. You're starting to push your ideas more than your story again. -_-
AspergianStoryteller chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Interesting. I see the sense in Harry's decision. Hey, I recognise that quote! Shirou from Fate Stay Knight. Cool.
LP chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Oi!

I can't believe you had war and Canberra in the same vicinity without mentioning the War Memorial. The Memorial is every bit as relevant as the Museum if you're going to dicuss human lives in war, etc. An oversight if ever I've seen one. Bloody tourists. :P
bolson chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
epic. love it.

For Doctor Who fans, at the end of this chapter, I can just hear the Cloister Bell going off. The kind of sound you get from someone banging on the Universe and the whole thing reverberates.
Darklooshkin chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
I wonder what they saw...

This should be fun.
Valiar Marcus chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Eliezer,

I have read many thousands of stories, and I want to tell you that I count this one amongst the top ten ( amongst Lord of the Rings, Dune (#1), etc). I just want to thank you so much for writing such an awesome book, and I mourn J.K. Rowlings ban on making money from fanfictions, as I would dearly love to buy this, and be able to encourage your further writing.

I have been reading and planning on writing a review thanking you for a while now, but this chapter pushed me over the edge. In particular, the comment about Batman. The fact that he doesn't kill has been bothering me for so long now. I have told people that for every murder joker/whoever commits, batman is partially responsible. Not only that, in the movie he saves jokers life! That made me want to walk out right there. So kudos to you for making a point that I believe most of the world has been oblivious to.

In any event, thank you for the wonderful book, and may you continue to write as amazingly as you have.

P.S. I hope to P.M. you with a small surprise favor.
bakapervert chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Thanks for the update.
Rigal chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Great chapter as always :)
bohemian-rhapsodi chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
As a resident of Canberra, I wish to protest the way you have callously attacked our rich culture and national institutions. They're... erm... good for tourists.

(Nope. I can't do it. It's boring, you're right. Get me out of here. :P)
Jenny chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Very strange: I was reading earlier today about Knut Haukelid in Norway (in the book "Between Silk and Cyanide" by Leo Marks - highly recommended). That isn't a subject that comes up often. However, the treatment was similar. Marks writes with terrible honesty about the choices he faced as head of codes for SOE, including allowing some people to die, because saving them would have cost more. So if you are impatiently waiting for the next installment of HPMOR, and enjoy books about cryptography in WWII, you might check that out.
Leah chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Factual error: "And so, years later, the only neutron moderator the Nazis had known about was deuterium."

Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes pg. 344-345. I see where you got that idea from, because Rhodes says that their secrecy was just in time. However, Heisenberg did indeed know about graphite, but he ran his tests on a less-than-pure sample and got the wrong numbers, and therefore concluded that he needed to use heavy water instead. "The graphite in both experiments was probably contaminated with neutron-absorbing impurities..."

I'm assuming you've read MoAB due to the way you described the Haukelid story. But there is one other point in the book, relevant to the idea of a scientific conspiracy of silence about dangerous discoveries. pg. 501- Soviet physicists realized in 1940 that the US must also be pursuing a program when the names of prominent physicists...disappeared from international journals: secrecy itself gave the secret away."

also- "And Harry had never read anything suggesting that Haukelid had acted wrongly." what has harry been reading? I've never come across an account of this story critiquing Haukelid's decision ethically. Who's written about that? Curious.
Eclipse1234 chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Can't believe you used Emiya. Brilliant.
timunderwood9 chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Hmmm, the way you ended this strongly suggests the point that Harry simply hasn't thought through how dangerous playing with things is (he is working still in the story book model where in the end the Human race doesn't go extinct because a scientist made a minor mistake) will be an important part of the later storyline.

Which it really, really, really ought to be, even assuming (as I tend to) in the end some mistake is going to kill us, people paying attention might give the species extra years or decades before we all die due to a mistake.

Although I do suppose it is theoretically possible a correctly designed friendly AI could create a set up where that never happens.
Majin Hentai X chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
That was intense foreshadowing I mean so classic yet not done to death.

Something is coming something terrible is coming that will shake the foundations of the world and almost no-one can see it coming until it is far too late to stop it from attacking.

Let's hope that the minority who can see what's coming are against it rather than aide it encroaching prescence.
Jonny Napalm chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Excellent work on the developing philosophy of a warrior in a young man...particularly one so steeped in the scientific method. I particularly loved the examples he drew from to influence his thoughts... Corwyn of Amber has always been a favorite of mine... but then again Zelazny was brilliant on many fronts.
M. Scott Eiland chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Nice use of the Corwin quote from "The Guns of Avalon" to reflect Harry's state of mind right now. I wouldn't want to be anyone in Harry's way once that line is crossed.
Sage of Wind Dragons chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
its horrifiying that harry, is baseing like half of the info he uses is from story books (I really wish i could Italizise) I am slightly happy (cause it will make a good story) and completly horrified (cause of what care anyone puts into a story they read) that harry is arrogant and resolute beleving and the whole decisions based opon what people will view from 1000 years from now

(achellies problem ehh? live happy but be forgoten or be rembered forever?)

your takeing some intesting idea's from this stuff

still say logic is maping out cause and effects webs I guess is the correct word Love how your only haveing harry map out a few and think of only those, and they are very detailed logical things for a 11 year old charecter (cause no one save bigoraphy can capture an age correctly) and how it could go a completly another way

also

he forgot that a vow is made through 3 wizards?

my god Mcgonagall really sqrewed the pooch when she brought an 11 year old into this.

her talk about Hermione and her age not shouldent deal with this?

but Harry is such a charmer that he brought himself in to a game he is not ready for.

ahh but when are we ever ready?. everything is thrust apon ourselves no matter what it is even if you were willing.
Reviewer chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Interesting chapter. Overall was easily in the upper third of HPMOR chapters we've seen so far in my opinion.

I hope you realized when posting that it's totally an anachronism for Harry to be thinking about specifically Shirou Emiya from F/SN as Harry's still stuck in 1992 according to canon and those haven't been released yet. Previous references made explicitly by the characters themselves to fiction, i.e. Ender's Game, is all pre-91/92 as far as I can remember, though of course there's been a ton of references the characters and setting made to later pieces of fiction. Perhaps these could be replaced by something which Harry could legitimately know about - for example, Pratchett's eminently quotable and had a lot of stuff out even by then. The Cold Equations short story might also be worth taking from, though I can't remember if there were any succinct and easily extractable bits in it. I don't remember Anansi unless it's from Anansi Boys, which is also anachronistic at this time - but it could be from a lot of other sources, because that myth is very well known and probably made it's way into a ton of other science fiction/fantasy that I don't recall.

Perhaps these are meant to be narrative thingies evoking stuff in the reader, rather than specific things Harry is thinking about and/or remembering?

I thought that it was interesting that we're seeing so many seers have nightmares. That's surely not a good sign of things to come.

I think it's interesting, believable, and true to Harry's character as revealed so far that he failed to come to some sort of a concrete understanding of what to do regarding the urge to save everyone and the necessities of brutal conflicts. That said, Harry's struggled with this conflict a lot recently, and I'm not sure this chapter added much in the way of new ideas.

The chapter had a good atmosphere, though, and the writing was as strong as ever. Please keep writing!

Regarding your author note, as far as books like HPMOR go, have you heard of K J Parker's Engineer Trilogy? It's got a strongly manipulative protagonist who primarily sets things in motion to accomplish things in nice intricate plots and plans, and is quite interesting in many ways. It doesn't have much in the way of rationalism - the primary protagonist is hugely emotion-driven rather than driven by coldblooded rationality. It's still a pretty terrific story though. As far as "using the scientific method to solve problems" goes in storytelling I really haven't seen much of that. I'd recommend Zelazny's Lord of Light, because it deals with a lot of ideas about transhumanism and has an interesting amount of pseudomagic and so forth as well as having a great and interesting plot but if you haven't read that I'd be supremely surprised given your quote of Zelazny earlier in the chapter. I recommend for no reason at all Kage Baker's Anvil of the World - there's little resemblence to Harry or rationality anywhere, but I just feel the writing felt a lot like yours in terms of energy and interleaving humor with drama skillfully, and finally having a pro-humanist ending and overarching plot about science and technology and human advancement in a fantasy context. Finally, The Prince of Nothing series by Bakker has a character named Khellus Anasurimbor who in some respects feels a little like Harry - his intellect, his manipulation of others. The series has a few major problems which turn people off, however - rampant misogyny which is at least partially an artifact of the time the books' set in, and some pacing issues especially early in the first book.

Hope one of these recommendations helps you out! Sadly, I haven't seen characters or books that really capture HPMOR!Harry's frantic energy other than Bujold's Vorkosigian books which you said you've already read... Please post in your author's notes next time if anything good comes of your request!
ByLanternLight chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Extra thumbs up for the Emiya Shirou quote.
GuesssWho chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Uh oh.
titan616 chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Well that was an ominous ending. It doesn't seem to imply the whole superhero thing will work out. Then again, Batman never broke Harley Quinn out of Arkham Asylum.
Lady Asher chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
I do not feel particularly sanguine about the import of this chapter.

Also, the spell used to produce water is Auguamenti, not Aguamente.

Awaiting the next installment... I find myself more and more unable to predict where you are going.

I doubt I will enjoy it when I find out.
MariusDarkwolf chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
A great and terrible choice has been made it seems. Looking forward to more
Zargon chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
And so the fear I expressed in my previous comment came to pass. I wanted an aftermath for Draco, but only got one for Harry. A damn fine aftermath, if I do say so myself, but now we're left hanging on how he's doing. I wasn't expecting to find out what he is doing, as I expect if he's still a PC, then that would take us well into the next arc, but the all important question for Draco is - PC or NPC, and I was hoping to get an answer before the break. My hopes went way up seeing the final aftermath, but alas, it was not to be.
JoshuaZ chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Very well done as usual. However, a minor factual note: Andromeda is not the closest galaxy. There are quite a few dwarf galaxies that are closer, although many of those would not be discovered until after the timing of the story.
Malix2 chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Yet another great chapter. Keep up the excellent work.
Wrathkal chapter 85 . 4/17/2012
Quoting Fate/Stay Night... Don't think this is the timeline for it though. Admirable ideal nonetheless.

The rationality in this chapter went over my head a little, but I can understand it enough.