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Benito comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, February 2015, chapter 104 - Less Wrong Discussion
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I thought that Quirrell would die and in this chapter we'd learn the lesson that stories don't always finish when you expect them to (and then Harry would go on a 16-chapter quest to figure out Quirrellmort) but it appears that Yudkowsky can teach us that fact of life without it actually happening in the story.
The outcome of the comedy of errors that we witnessed, was that Harry realised that Quirrell was Voldemort. If this was Quirrell's explicit intention, then that's strange because there are much more efficient ways for him to do this (there are also more efficient ways for him to do this AND get them alone outside of the third floor corridor).
However, I think it's more likely that Quirrell wanted Harry to think he'd set it up so that they could break in together.
It appears that people are thinking that Quirrell knew Harry would realise about him being Voldemort because Quirrell is a n+1 player, but I think this is less likely than the obvious alternative:
“You’re out of practice, boy,” Moody said. Harry wasn’t looking at the man’s face, but his voice was deadly grim. “And I’ll warn you of this but once. Voldie isn’t like any other Legilimens in recorded history. He doesn’t need to look you in the eyes, and if your shields are that rusty he’d creep in so softly you’d never notice a thing.” -Multiple Hypothesis Testing
I think it's further likely that Quirrell wanted Harry to do this for him, because after the roles arc, he may believe that Harry actually wants to use the stone not for himself but for others, like the mirror requires of you, and like Harry told Dumbledore in Pretending to Be Wise part one. Also, Quirrell was pressuring Harry to do it quickly. Once Harry realised, Quirrell knew through mind-reading, and his act was over.
Nonetheless, the main quirrellmort hypothesis has been strongly evidenced, but I expected that to come to light over the course of 17 chapters. That Yudkowksy wrapped it all up into the one chapter, and now has 16 chapters with which to play... I haven't a clue what's going to happen now.
Maybe the point is for Harry to not go that extra step, and realize that Q wanted him to know at that point?
Though I think the simpler explanation is just that Q's plan failed, and now he is resorting to his backup plan. That Q is always N+1 to Harry's N strikes me as a false portrayal of human reasoning and knowledge.
I agree with this: I think being adaptable and/or having contingency plans is probably more powerful than trying to anticipate everything your opponent might do and rely on your plan to deal with it going perfectly.
Don't forget that Quirrell can sense Harry's emotions (cf. coming to a resolution, and the prophecy). Under the circumstances, he doesn't need mind-reading to realise that Harry's figured him out.
And I'd managed to forget about their magics not touching. So yes, maybe it was body language after all.
Well, we only know that Harry feels doom when near Q and/or his magic, and that in one case in Azkhaban something weird happened when Harry’s Patronus interacted with what appeared to be an Avada Kedavra bolt, and that Q appears to avoid touching Harry.
Normally I’d say that faking the doom sensations for a year, and faking being incapacitated while trying to break someone out of Azkhaban, would be too complicated. But in this case...