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pedanterrific comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 12 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: Xachariah 25 March 2012 11:01AM

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Comment author: pedanterrific 28 March 2012 02:29:36AM 1 point [-]

Not for no reason, no.

In canon, Voldemort put a (magical) Taboo on the word "Voldemort" so that saying it summoned minions of his to your location. VoldeMoR seems a bit more creative than that, don't you think?

Comment author: TobyBartels 01 April 2012 03:29:51PM 0 points [-]

That this is possible means that anybody who doesn't want to be found this way should always use the same language as everybody else. If you call Voldie ‘Voldemort’ (or ‘Tom Riddle’ or even ‘Voldie’) when everybody else is calling him ‘You-Know-Who’ (or ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ or even ‘The Dark Lord’), then you're holding the Idiot Ball. (And it doesn't have to be the caster's name; you shouldn't use any unusual words, or you can be tracked by them.) Not that canon!Dumbledore was holding the Idiot Ball in books 1–6, because this was not possible then; Rowling hadn't thought of it yet. But MoR!Dumbledore seems to be, unless MoR!Taboo works differently.

A good way to balance the Taboo spell might be this: It only works if the speaker knows about the Taboo (although this contradicts canon). Then you can get a nice dilemma: Do you tell people about the Taboo here at Hogwarts, where it's safe so they can practice, but opening them up to the curse later; or do you keep silent, and hope that they aren't surprised by that information later and disoriented thereafter.

Comment author: Alsadius 29 March 2012 06:12:43PM 0 points [-]

Sure, but Harry has no clue that's possible. What actual reason does he have to be afraid of the word? Not a reason we can come up with for why that fear is positive, but one internal to Harry's mind.

Comment author: pedanterrific 29 March 2012 06:21:37PM 1 point [-]

...I was suggesting that Voldemort cast a "be afraid, be very afraid" jinx triggered by his name.