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pengvado comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, part 24, chapter 95 - Less Wrong Discussion

6 Post author: palladias 18 July 2013 02:23AM

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Comment author: pengvado 19 July 2013 08:17:18AM 2 points [-]

"Oh," said Professor Quirrell, "don't worry about a little rough handling. You could toss this diary in a fireplace and it would emerge unscathed.

That isn't necessarily the same level of indestructibility as a horcrux. It could just be a standard charm placed on rare books.

Comment author: ChrisHallquist 19 July 2013 08:39:26AM -1 points [-]

We don't know of any such charms, and why would Voldemort settle for a less degree of protection, when he has so few qualms about killing? My guess is he murdered the owner to make the horcrux.

Comment author: Velorien 19 July 2013 11:10:02AM *  4 points [-]

Canon Voldemort chose his horcruxes for symbolic value. HPMOR!Voldemort presumably chose the plaque for its indestructibility by human hands (though it might have symbolic value too). On the other hand, Bacon's diary has nothing to commend it in terms of material (it is just a book), and Voldemort has no special attachment to Muggle science as a whole - indeed he is inimical to much of it.

Comment author: bogdanb 20 July 2013 11:19:38PM *  1 point [-]

On the other hand, Bacon's diary has nothing to commend it in terms of material (it is just a book),

I’m not arguing, but how do we know that? IIRC we’ve never seen exactly what was in there, and Harry never got around to reading it. And it doesn’t sound like Quirrell to just make a gift just because it’s an "old rare item”, especially since he doesn’t quite like science and Bacon’s relevance to Harry is not that he had magic, but that he was a (proto-)scientist.

Comment author: Velorien 21 July 2013 02:58:27PM 4 points [-]

We're told that Bacon's research into magic did not get very far without a wand, and he never had any formal magical training since he refused his letter. It thus seems unlikely that he enchanted his diary in any interesting way.

Comment author: bogdanb 21 July 2013 07:56:31PM 2 points [-]

We have only Quirrell’s word for most of that, though it seems plausible to me too.

Comment author: ChrisHallquist 19 July 2013 06:18:29PM 1 point [-]

There's a couple potential advantages to having a horcrux in Harry's possession: Harry's then guarding it, and it might be used to possess Harry later on. Though that's less helpful if, as in canon, Harry is a horcrux. But even then, I'd hardly be shocked to see Voldemort creating an additional horcrux on a whim.

Comment author: sboo 19 April 2014 07:00:02AM 1 point [-]

"You can never have enough big white belts, remember that."

Comment author: MugaSofer 29 July 2013 04:46:19PM -1 points [-]

He gave it to Harry. It's something Harry would unquestionably want.

Unfortunately, it hasn't come up again, so maybe not.