(1) No one in the UK would be likely to use the word "gotten"
This fic is written in American English, Eliezer isn't even remotely trying to be British (look t.e. at all the -ize verbs).
I do think it was a wiser choice than attempting to fake Old World speech, but now that HPMOR has become extremely popular I REALLY wish he would enlist some native fans to Britpick the chapters. I'm not even British and I still found it quite jarring when Quirrell retorted "Fire me" instead of "Sack me".
(I understand that nowadays there is a lot of cross-Atlantic mingling between the two dialects, especially eastwards, but firstly, Harry Potter is set in 1991; and secondly, a medievalesque public school is such a stereotypically British environment that one expects the language to match.)
and secondly, a medievalesque public school is such a stereotypically British environment that one expects the language to match.
During the Revolution, Salem witches were considerably more adept at battle magic than those taught at the institution that had been sucking magical knowledge out of the world for the previous 600 years. They also had the advantage of being able to train in the open since most Puritans were self-obliviating.
It wasn't until the 1890's that the school returned fully to Ministry control after the retirement of Headmaster Teetonka...
Update: Discussion has moved on to a new thread.
The hiatus is over with today's publication of chapter 73, and the previous thread is approaching the 500-comment threshold, so let's start a new Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread. This is the place to discuss Eliezer Yudkowsky's Harry Potter fanfic and anything related to it.
The first 5 discussion threads are on the main page under the harry_potter tag. Threads 6 and on (including this one) are in the discussion section using its separate tag system. Also: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. The fanfiction.net author page is the central location for information about updates and links to HPMOR-related goodies, and AdeleneDawner has kept an archive of Author's Notes.
As a reminder, it's often useful to start your comment by indicating which chapter you are commenting on.
Spoiler Warning: this thread is full of spoilers. With few exceptions, spoilers for MOR and canon are fair game to post, without warning or rot13. More specifically: