Vaniver comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, February 2015, chapter 110 - Less Wrong

3 Post author: Gondolinian 24 February 2015 08:01PM

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Comment author: Yvain 24 February 2015 11:01:12PM *  12 points [-]

"Well," said Albus Dumbledore. "I do feel stupid."

"I should hope so," Professor Quirrell said easily; if he had been at all shocked himself at being caught, it did not show. A casual wave of his hand changed his robes back to a Professor's clothing.

Dumbledore's grimness had returned and redoubled. "There I am, searching so hard for Voldemort's shade, never noticing that the Defense Professor of Hogwarts is a sickly, half-dead victim possessed by a spirit far more powerful than himself. I would call it senility, if so many others had not missed it as well."

This is Dumbledore admitting he held the Idiot Ball. We've been promised nobody's holding the Idiot Ball. So something's up. I like the theory that mirror is operating as intended and showing Voldemort what he wants to see, that being Dumbledore making a mistake and losing. Alternately, it could be that Dumbledore was somehow able to make a version of him inside the mirror (maybe in his CEV he saw himself inside the mirror protecting the Stone, and that reflection-Dumbledore gained independent existence?). Or he could just have something else up his sleeve.

Comment author: Vaniver 24 February 2015 11:13:20PM *  8 points [-]

I'm not quite sure it's the idiot ball, for two reasons.

1:

I would call it senility, if so many others had not missed it as well.

Even with the knowledge that Quirrel was possessed by Voldemort in canon, whether or not Quirrel was Voldemort was an active topic of debate among readers for quite some time.

2:

Really, am I that hard to recognize without the glowing red eyes? ... Quirinus Quirrell seemed - what is the term I am looking for? Ah yes, that is the word. He seemed sane.

If Dumbledore is used to thinking of Voldemort as a cartoon villain, and expects his shade to also behave like a cartoon villain, I could see him missing Quirrell.

(There is, perhaps, also the third reason of motivated cognition brought on by McGonagall, but I always saw that as more plausible if it were magically brought on by Riddle than her really not caring who he was.)

There's also the possibility brought up earlier and echoed in a lot of the other threads: this may be a Dumbledore spawned by the mirror as part of reading Quirrell's mind and determining his CEV. That doesn't explain how real Dumbledore didn't see it, though.

Comment author: buybuydandavis 25 February 2015 01:27:16AM 4 points [-]

That doesn't explain how real Dumbledore didn't see it, though.

Dumbledore may have seen it, and refused to let on. Quirrell is next to impossible to kill permanently. He says he can detach from a body if it is in danger, and if you kill the body, he detaches too.

The argument would go that Dumbledore was luring Quirrell into the Mirror as a final solution, and therefore pretended not to recognize him.

(Though wouldn't an easier play be a sneak attack by Dumbledore incapacitating Quirrel but not killing him? )

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