Qiaochu_Yuan comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 19, chapter 88-89 - Less Wrong

12 Post author: Vaniver 30 June 2013 01:22AM

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Comment author: Qiaochu_Yuan 30 June 2013 03:27:22AM *  10 points [-]

Good point, but I'm not sure if the wards triggered right then: Dumbledore said he felt Hermione die, not that the wards alerted him that Hermione died. During the Draco fiasco various characters say the wards are triggered to detect rapid harm to students, which is why they didn't detect the blood-cooling charm (although you'd think that means the wards would have detected what happened to Hermione sooner...). The implication is that if someone hadn't discovered Draco he would have died without the wards detecting it, or at least that's what it sounded like to me.

Comment author: gwern 30 June 2013 03:46:02AM 4 points [-]

We don't even know Dumbledore was in the castle, as I understand it. Ch88:

A quick glance at the Head Table confirmed that the Divination Professor was waving her wand frantically as the half-Giant dabbed at his clothes. Nobody else seemed to be paying much attention, even Professor McGonagall. Professor Flitwick was standing on his chair as usual, the Headmaster seemed to be absent again (he'd been gone most days of the holiday)

If he's not even at Hogwarts, that seems like it renders it difficult to infer anything from when he shows up since any delay or argument-from-silence could just as well be due to it taking time to phoenix-fire back from whereever and then repoint himself.

Comment author: Vaniver 30 June 2013 04:12:59AM *  2 points [-]

During the Draco fiasco various characters say the wards are triggered to detect rapid harm to students

Hmm, this does appear to be a hole in my logic, and also the response of "the wards only trigger on death" to "if Dumbledore had show up seconds sooner things would have been different." The text from earlier:

The clear intent of the Blood-Cooling Charm had been to kill Draco Malfoy so slowly that the wards of Hogwarts, set to detect sudden injury, would not trigger.

Comment author: Vaniver 30 June 2013 05:16:59AM *  12 points [-]

Something else interesting, from Chapter 84:

The old wizard nodded in affirmation. "If any hostile magic is cast on her, or any spirit touches her, I shall know, and come."

Grievous bodily injury, unfortunately, is not covered under that warranty.

Also,

also a toe-ring with an emergency portkey to a safe location

Now I guess we know why it started with her legs.

Comment author: DanArmak 30 June 2013 11:07:18AM 3 points [-]

The portkey would only work if she was taken outside Hogwarts.

Comment author: Alsadius 30 June 2013 07:12:12PM 0 points [-]

Not true. Portkeys can work in Hogwarts - cf., the end of Goblet of Fire. It's only Apparation that doesn't work.

Comment author: DanArmak 30 June 2013 07:55:19PM 4 points [-]

In HPMOR, portkeys do not work in Hogwarts (chapter 63).

Comment author: Alsadius 30 June 2013 08:43:29PM 2 points [-]

Right. I was thinking of the "rip the playing card" portkey, but in retrospect that said to get beyond the wards first.

Comment author: Sheaman3773 22 August 2013 06:27:01PM 0 points [-]

It seems reasonable for the Headmaster to be able to make portkeys that can bypass those wards.

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