This is a spin off of Less Wrongs Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Fanfiction. All idea's and characters go to him and J.K. Rowling. I just couldn't resist jumping in on the fun.

If you have not read Methods of Rationality, please stop what you are doing and read it NOW! It is awesomeness in a can.

And now, please enjoy my fanfiction, of a fanfiction.

Chapter Three

Poking the Fire

A horrible silence hung in the air, even after Harry had set his wand aside and shut himself in Professor Quirrell's backroom. Hermione was struggling with herself. Part of her felt so much sympathy for Harry that she was literally tearing up. It hadn't been right what the Defense Professor had done, Harry really hadn't done anything wrong and for Professor Quirrell to claim Harry deserved punishment for 'terrifying' his classmates was laughable. Since when did Professor Quirrell care so much about the student's mental wellbeing? Certainly not on the first day of class or any day since. He practically awarded points to the student who could be the most 'terrifying.'

No, Harry had done something else that Professor Quirrell did not like, and she wanted to say as much. However, she was in a room full of people learning a spell that could potentially kill her, and Lucius Malfoy wanted her dead, or something horrible to happen to her anyway. Now would be an incredibly stupid time to challenge the Defense Professor, especially since he was already riled up.

"You know," Hermione began, voice slightly trembling. "you are one of the most horrible people I have ever met." Ah, well, the hat had offered her Gryffendor.

Professor Quirrell turned to her, his mouth twitching in that evil smile of his. Whatever he'd been feeling before, he was nothing but amused at what Hermione had just said. She didn't know why that made her even angrier. She should be relieved that he was not asking her to stand in front of the class and have everyone practice Avada Kedavra on her.

"You think it horrible of me to send an angry student out of the room after he'd just mastered a lethal spell? Perhaps it would have been more prudent of me to let things escalate till someone ended up dead. Sorry, but I do not follow your logic, Miss Granger."

"You should not have punished him! He didn't do anything wrong!" Hermione yelled. She wanted to pose a more intelligent argument, but she wasn't Harry, she didn't talk like a textbook, she couldn't come up with counter arguments to soot her needs on a whim.

Professor Quirrell arched a brow. "Are we still talking about Potter, Miss Granger?"

Hermione's jaw tightened at that. Of course they were talking about Harry. This had nothing to do with what had happened to her a few days ago. "Your reason for punishing him is for 'terrifying' us. If that were true, you would have taken points away the moment he cast the curse because that was what scared everyone. But you didn't. I don't think it was us that Harry had scared, Professor, but you!"

Professor Quirrell laughed and Hermione knew she'd said something wrong and now he was going to make a joke of her and she had to think of something intelligent and accurate to say before he did.

"No," the Defense Professor said ending his throaty laugh quite abruptly. He turned to the rest of the class, who had been watching the exchange in a state of fixed horror, or maybe they were still perturbed at what Harry had just done. "Is there anyone here that does not feel threatened by Potter?"

No one said anything.

"I don't!" Hermione and Neville said at the same moment. He'd spoken softer than she had and she would not have heard him if he were not standing so close to her.

Clearly the Defense Professor had not, for when he next spoke he only addressed Hermione. "That, Miss Granger, simply isn't true. You'd been just as frightened as everyone else. When Potter got angry you felt threatened and scared which is why you did not speak until he'd left the room."

"I didn't speak because I was angry!" Hermione burst out. "It wasn't Harry getting upset that had scared me! It was the fact that he killed something that had scared me and it would have scared me more if he had taken that in stride. The fact that Harry got upset made him less threatening. And you were being really insensitive and unfair and you still are and you don't care because you are a spider!" She stood there fuming for a few moments. It took a mental effort to keep from shouting.

Professor Quirrell simply watched her, a vexed expression on his face and it was another moment before he said. "Perhaps you ought to step out for a while as well, Miss Granger."

She was about to spin on her heel and storm out of the room when she realized something. She was angry, really angry. And part of her thought she was being stupid but…

It had worked for Harry.

She spun towards the rat, preformed the gestures perfectly, and in a voiced filled with rage shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"

Nothing happened. Not even the squirt of light Tracy had managed. It was so unfair! When Harry got angry he got to kill things, but when she did she just ended up looking like an idiot.

"Alright, you made your point. You can stay," Professor Quirrell said.

Hermione snarled. She would not take another minute of his mockery! This time she really did spin on her heel and storm out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her for good measure.