This made me think of an omission that's probably not a very big deal, but preHogwarts Rationalist Harry never reports having used magic before. At the same time, he believes in magic. So maybe he did some magic or saw some magic and was Obliviated?
Also, since Harry's magic bag responds to sign language, can all spells be cast that way even by people who're bad at nonverbal magic?
since Harry's magic bag responds to sign language, can all spells be cast that way [...] ?
I very much doubt it. You have to say "prior incantato" or whatever it is, not "previous spell", and "expecto patronum" rather than "I'm waiting for my protector", etc., and (at least in MoR) the exact durations of the vowel sounds in "oogely boogely" are essential for conjuring glowing bats. It seems very much as if magic is keyed to particular sounds and (pseudo-)languages. There might be sign-language spells, whi...
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This is a new thread to discuss Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality and anything related to it. This thread is intended for discussing chapter 84. The previous thread has passed 500 comments. Comment in the 14th thread until you read chapter 84.
There is now a site dedicated to the story at hpmor.com, which is now the place to go to find the authors notes and all sorts of other goodies. AdeleneDawner has kept an archive of Author’s Notes. (This goes up to the notes for chapter 76, and is now not updating. The authors notes from chapter 77 onwards are on hpmor.com.)
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