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AnthonyC comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, March 2015, chapter 119 - Less Wrong Discussion

4 Post author: Gondolinian 10 March 2015 06:10PM

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Comment author: Velorien 11 March 2015 11:57:19AM 2 points [-]

As a point of interest, wasn't it Merlin's original intent that, at minimum, everyone mentioned in a prophecy should have access to it? It was only centuries later that the Unspeakables sealed the prophecy records away, so why does the Line of Merlin Unbroken have a function for bypassing that seal, how does anyone know this, and why is using it forbidden?

Comment author: AnthonyC 11 March 2015 08:20:12PM 3 points [-]

The Line may not - in ch 86 Dumbledore hints he got in via phoenix travel:

"You took James and Lily there? " Minerva said.

"Fawkes can go to many places," Albus said. "Do not mention the fact."

Comment author: Velorien 11 March 2015 08:47:40PM 1 point [-]

In that extremity, I went into the Department of Mysteries and I invoked a password which had never been spoken in the history of the Line of Merlin Unbroken, did a thing forbidden and yet not utterly forbidden.

It's possible that the Line reference is misleading, but if so it is an odd piece of phrasing.