Velorien comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 21, chapters 91 & 92 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: NancyLebovitz 04 July 2013 11:49AM

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Comment author: Velorien 04 July 2013 07:39:19PM 6 points [-]

I am inclined to believe that he wasn't defeated - the body everyone believes to be his had been "burnt to a crisp", which is inconsistent with everything we know about the Killing Curse.

Assuming, however, that the official account is accurate, the logical next step would be to learn the True Patronus Charm, the only thing he knows which can block a Killing Curse. He might also want to study Harry for lingering magical effects (if any such effect can endure over twelve years), though this is made more difficult by the resonance effect.

Comment author: kilobug 05 July 2013 12:57:14PM 2 points [-]

Do we know the True Patronus blocks the Killing Curse ? My own interpretation was more than Quirell-Harry magical interaction made both spells to fizzle when they interact (like in canon, where repeatedly Voldemort casting AK on Harry leads to unexpected results), but it wouldn't work with someone else casting either of the spells.

Comment author: Velorien 05 July 2013 02:12:39PM 9 points [-]

It's possible. However, insofar as the True Patronus is powered by the absolute rejection of death, and the Killing Curse is pretty much death in spell form, it is plausible that one could block the other.

Comment author: hairyfigment 05 July 2013 06:55:09PM -1 points [-]

I thought the idea was that reality extrudes an error message when they meet, because the Source of Magic can't decide what should happen. And when this error message meets...whatever causes prophecies...we get Harry's sense of doom (which seems stronger after his first Patronus casting and then after his recent resolution). I admit that second part confuses me.

Hopefully - since the oldest prophecies we know of supposedly refer to "the end of the world and its magic" - they all result from Ohtori "It" Harry reaching back in time.

Comment author: Ritalin 05 July 2013 11:31:53AM 1 point [-]

Nobody checked for dental history, did they?

Comment author: Velorien 05 July 2013 11:47:25AM *  3 points [-]

It seems unlikely that the DMLA are even aware of such techniques. However, we do not know either way.

Edit: How would anyone have access to Voldemort's original dental records in the first place? And would they be accurate given all the self-modification he apparently underwent during his time as the Dark Lord (glowing red eyes, serpentine features etc.)?

Comment author: Ritalin 05 July 2013 02:29:02PM -1 points [-]

Wizard ignorance on muggle matters is truly spectacular...