You're looking at Less Wrong's discussion board. This includes all posts, including those that haven't been promoted to the front page yet. For more information, see About Less Wrong.

Izeinwinter comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, March 2015, chapter 116 - Less Wrong Discussion

4 Post author: Gondolinian 04 March 2015 08:11PM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (302)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Izeinwinter 05 March 2015 07:56:00PM *  0 points [-]

Yhea, that's not a workable approach. Seriously, Flamel is centuries old and has had the key to eternal life for all of that. and the largest hoard of lore on the planet for most of it. Trying to legilimency that mind has the most likely result of you becoming a drooling vegetable. Certainly, its not going to actually work. If it did, it would be point 1 on every single aspiring dark lords to-do list. That's actually my main reason for thinking "Not dead". A lot. Really, just a an absurd number, of people must have already tried this. It doesn't even matter what "It" is. Someone tried that one already. And failed. If Voldemort had attempted it in person? Maaaaybee. A hired hit? Nope.

Comment author: Vaniver 05 March 2015 09:05:39PM *  2 points [-]

Yhea, that's not a workable approach. Seriously, Flamel is centuries old and has had the key to eternal life for all of that. and the largest hoard of lore on the planet for most of it. Trying to legilimency that mind has the most likely result of you becoming a drooling vegetable.

The relevant section (Ch 108):

Next you will ask why I did not kidnap, torture, and kill Perenelle after I learned the truth."

This had not in fact been a question that had come into Harry's mind.

Professor Quirrell continued to speak. "The answer is that Perenelle had foreseen and forestalled the ambitions of Dark Wizards like myself. 'Nicholas Flamel' publicly took Unbreakable Vows not to be coerced by any means into relinquishing his Stone - to guard immortality from the covetous, he claimed, as if that were a public service. I was afraid the Stone would be lost forever, if Perenelle died without saying where it was hidden, and her Vow prevented attempts at torture.

Perenelle's safety relied on the Stone's uniqueness and hiddenness, which is no longer a factor as far as Quirrell is concerned.

I did not attack her directly, for I was not sure of my great creation; it was not impossible that I would someday need to go begging to her for a dollop of reversed age.

Comment author: SilentCal 05 March 2015 11:33:48PM 1 point [-]

I agree with your assessment of how powerful Perenelle/Flamel (side note: need a good portmanteau a la Quirrellmort) should be, having been able to outwit Baba Yaga in her sixth year and then having six hundred years of excellent leverage to accumulate lore and also maybe play with what the stone can do.

That objection notwithstanding, the most plausible non-Voldemort killer would be Bellatrix, using her superpower of very strict obedience to orders like "Just use AK and do not hesitate for any reason".

Comment author: gjm 06 March 2015 12:01:46AM 5 points [-]

Perenelle/Flamel

Flamelle.

Comment author: SilentCal 06 March 2015 06:52:19PM 0 points [-]

I'm going with this.

Comment author: Decius 07 March 2015 11:42:18PM 0 points [-]

It's not Perenelle, it's still Baba Yaga, who killed a sixth-year dark witch, stole her identity, and faked her own death.

Comment author: Velorien 08 March 2015 12:01:13AM 0 points [-]

The odds of that being true are steadily falling, if only because there aren't many chapters left in which to have that revelation, and it's hard to see how it would improve the plot at this point.

Comment author: TobyBartels 08 March 2015 09:18:36PM 0 points [-]

On the contrary, tthe odds are increasing, since we're running out of opportunity for this deduction from the text to be contradicted. (^_^)

Comment author: TobyBartels 06 March 2015 06:29:36AM 0 points [-]

Perenelle's surname is also Flamel. (You could use a portmanteau for Perenelle/Nicolas.)

Comment author: MathMage 06 March 2015 10:31:01PM 0 points [-]

Nicolelle?