Cyan comments on Open Thread: April 2010 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Unnamed 01 April 2010 03:21PM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (524)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 04 April 2010 10:19:52PM *  14 points [-]

It's almost done, actually. Here's a sneak preview of the next chapter:

Dumbledore peered over his desk at young Harry, twinkling in a kindly sort of way. The boy had come to him with a terribly intense look on his childish face - Dumbledore hoped that whatever this matter was, it wasn't too serious. Harry was far too young for his life trials to be starting already. "What was it you wished to speak to me about, Harry?"

Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres leaned forward in his chair, looking bleak. "Headmaster, I got a sharp pain in my scar during the Sorting Feast. Considering how and where I got this scar, it didn't seem like the sort of thing I should just ignore. I thought at first it was because of Professor Snape, but I followed the Baconian experimental method which is to find the conditions for both the presence and the absence of the phenomenon, and I've determined that my scar hurts if and only if I'm facing the back of Professor Quirrell's head, whatever's under his turban. Now it could be that my scar is sensitive to something else, like Dark Arts in general, but I think we should provisionally assume the worst - You-Know-Who."

"Great heavens, Harry!" gasped Dumbledore. He sat there with his head whirling. The boy was right that this was nothing to ignore. He dared not confront Professor Quirrell within the halls of Hogwarts, around the other students - he would have to figure out some way to lure Quirrell out of the castle -

But the grim young boy was still speaking. "Now, if the worst is true, then we know exactly where You-Know-Who is right now. And I don't think that's an opportunity we should pass up. Destroying his body didn't work last time, so I asked Hermione if she'd ever heard of anything that would destroy a soul, and she mentioned a method of executing criminals called the Dementor's Kiss..."

just kidding

Comment author: Cyan 15 April 2010 04:46:39AM 1 point [-]

How proud of myself should I feel for figuring out how Comed-Tea works before Harry did? (Keeping in mind that it's been years since I internalized the facts that in the Harry Potter universe, prophecies work and Time-Turners don't create alternate time-lines, information not available to rational!Harry.)

Comment author: gwern 16 April 2010 10:10:03PM 1 point [-]

How proud of myself should I feel for figuring out how Comed-Tea works before Harry did?

Not very. Tons of commentators glommed onto the non-time-warping explanation, and the fic all but tells us that this is a possibility, especially with the experiment vignette with Hermione on the train.

(Personally, I don't like the idea that the Comed-Tea affects only Harry; that mechanism leaves Luna Lovegood as an ethically depraved libeller.)

Comment author: arundelo 16 April 2010 11:57:43PM 1 point [-]

that mechanism leaves Luna Lovegood as an ethically depraved libeller.

Or just charmingly nutty.

Comment author: CronoDAS 16 April 2010 10:18:27PM 1 point [-]

Or her father, at least. (I think there was an author's note about this - she says vague things and he turns them into ridiculous headlines.)

Comment author: gwern 16 April 2010 11:53:42PM 0 points [-]

I think there was an author's note about this

Well, that's just great - how am I supposed to know that now with Eliezer's little erasure system?

she says vague things and he turns them into ridiculous headlines.

I suppose better Xenophilius being a depraved libeller than Luna... although as an adult it's even more inexcusable.

Comment author: CronoDAS 21 April 2010 01:36:17AM 1 point [-]

I was looking over the old chapters and I found this:

One alert reviewer asked whether, if Luna is a seer, that means this is going to be an HPDM bottom!Draco mpreg fic. I regret that FFN does not allow me any larger font size in which to say NO. It honestly hadn't occurred to me that Luna might be a real seer - I'll have to decide whether to run with that or not - but I think we can all safely assume that if Luna is a seer, she said something about "light planting a seed in darkness", and Xenophilius, as always, interpreted this in rather the wrong way.

Comment author: Cyan 16 April 2010 11:14:55PM 0 points [-]

Good to know.