All of prasannak's Comments + Replies

This is great! I'm here two years later and learning a lot! Thank you!

If you have time do you have an update to the answers to the above questions after 2 years? 

In addition, what does your current practice of self love look like? 
 

Or, recently created memories esp of false-memory-charm origin are likely to be in the forefront, and push everything else to the background.

Anyone remember this ....

"And the reason it is easy for you to forgive such fools and think well of them, Mr. Potter, is that you yourself have not been sorely hurt. You will think less fondly of commonplace idiots after the first time their folly costs you something dear. Such as a hundred Galleons from your own pocket, perhaps, rather than the agonizing deaths of a hundred strangers."

Now he's gone and spent a hundred THOUSAND Galleons on a friend's folly, and I don't think Quirrelmort would've expected that.

-2Alsadius
I don't think any involved would consider any of Harry's friends to have been involved in much folly. And frankly, I don't think the Wizengamot were fools either, just people reasoning properly from the evidence they had.
ahartell120

On the other hand he internally declared war on magical Britain when it looked like they would cost him something dear to him, i.e., Hermione.

But by then he'd already declared war on the country of magical Britain, and the idea of other people calling him a Dark Lord no longer seemed important one way or another.

I, and others, interpret the scene exactly oppositly from how you seem to.

Can we get a sub-reddit? I'm tired of finding out which is the right thread for the present, and all the posts are scrambled over multiple threads, etc.

A sub-reddit might also get new people to hpmor, as opposed to being on lesswrong.com

I don't have a reddit account, but I'd create one if hpmor was there.

3Jonathan_Elmer
http://www.reddit.com/r/hpmor

Can't see the significance of 'The Horn Effect' in the title....

Is it that the Daily Prophet, et al, are creating a Horn effect against Hermione?

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_halo_and_horn_effect

4Percent_Carbon
Also Umbridge.

Chap 79 - EY's added #40 on list to read.

Chap 40

  • HP discloses to Q, Lucius's conversation, and also speculates that Dumbledore will kill Draco, making it seem as if Harry did it, to get Lucius to stop his game against Dumbledore and go after Harry.
  • Q suggests only way to remove cognitive dissonance in others is to kill them
  • Q talks about ways to stay alive and does not mention Horcruxes, instead leading on to the resurrection stone.
  • HP shows the Deathly Hallows symbol to Q who seems to have been oblivious of the Hallows till now, same as canon, & un
... (read more)
4knb
Draco is the better duelist at this point. Draco tired himself out by casting all those tough spells someone his age should not even be able to do, let alone do many times in a row. This was pointed out by Quirrel and Madame Bones, which makes it unlikely that it was just Draco rationalizing it. Hermione is more magically powerful and also more clever, but when it comes to dueling, Draco still probably has the edge.
9glumph
They were pretty evenly matched during the Chapter 78 battle, and Draco was a bit drained from charming all the gloves, so it's by no means impossible that Draco beat Hermoine. I expect if they had 10 duels, each would win at least a few. But it is true that our only sources regarding the outcome of the duel are Draco and Hermoine's memories along with Quirrell's testimony. If those memories were placed by Hat and Cloak, and if Hat and Cloak is Quirrel, then all of our information about what happened between midnight and 6.33am is based on what Quirrell wants us to know. The only bit that is confirmed by another party is that Draco was indeed at some point unconscious in the trophy room.
4Nominull
Maybe Malfoy's first self-defensive instinct was right? Maybe he really had worn himself down by casting all those spells on all those gloves, and that's the only reason he lost. Certainly he thought it was plausible enough that he could beat her that it was worth having a duel as a test.

Intermittent one is either people using time-turners, Weasley's don;t know about time-turners, so they think it's showing one person in two places or If it showed two names for the same person, that might be an intermittent bug too, ie Quirrel/Riddle based on who he is at the moment.

Permanent bug might be someone floating in the castle who they know shouldn't be there, perhaps Pettigrew, or Sirius, or someone who should be there but isn't - ie Quirrell being unplottable.

Dumbledore & Snape are known Occlumens, but they show up on the map just fine.

In canon, the bug that Harry saw was Pettigrew on the map but he wasn't actually there in reality.

5glumph
I don't think either of the glitches are Time-Turners. Time-Turners have (presumably) been used regularly in Hogwarts since the twins arrived, and it's made clear that these glitches are new:

Aah, somehow I read your earlier statement to mean H&C & Santa Claus were the same.

And you're absolutely right, Santa Claus is one person, and the name signifies it is the same person.

Looks like Harry told Quirrell that it was signed Santa Claus - we should assume in the future letters are from the same person or Q, since Q would definitely forge such letters if it was to his advantage.

"Although of course Harry hadn't told Professor Quirrell who'd sent him the card, nor what it was supposed to do, before he'd asked Professor Quirrell if it w

... (read more)

I was annoyed too, then I read Eliezer's comment somewhere about deliberately embedding many clues on Quirrelmort and other things, and reading the reviews to figure out who got them.

After that, I just decided that what looked like a clue, smelled like a clue, was probably a clue - and not some mysterious writing which is meant to be mysterious. My eyes were opened :) Might work for you too :)

In 14 - Harry's Invisibility Cloak is not given by Santa Claus - the letter is unsigned unlike future letters - and is almost surely given by Dumbledore himself. Perhaps this is a hint toward the use of a time-turner? (Does Hermione know about Harry's time-turner yet? )

63 is on the list - where Harry actually receives the gift from Claus.

Also, 43-47 has Harry going deep into his dark side, that's probably more the clue than killing of the dementor.

OT - Whoa! I didn't realize that http://hpmor.com/chapter/58 had someone saying "I'm not serious" - awesome!

7FAWS
The reason the later letters are signed "Santa Claus" is to signify that they are from the same anonymous person who was wishing Harry a merry Christmas and giving him an early Christmas present with the first note. Otherwise there would have been no reason to use the alias Santa Claus. It's possible that they are from another person merely pretending to be that anonymous gift giver, but then it's also possible for any appearance of a non-POV character to be someone else under the influence of polyjuice. if you were going to make an objection of that kind it would have made a lot more sense to object to calling Hermione's assailant H&C.

Why do you think that particular Santa Claus was H & C ?

Sounded more like Lupin to me, with the 'getting into more trouble than James' reference.

0[anonymous]
That Santa Claus is Hat and Cloak was the implication I took from this exchange. Still seems correct to me. It's the combination of his paranoid advice and ignorance of current events. Why would Lupin tell Harry to avoid Dumbledore? (That's the letter with the 'more trouble than James' reference.)
prasannak150

Eliezer suggests re-reading 14, 21, 26, 35, 43-47, 56-57, 63, 66, 73-77, chapters

What're the possible clues embedded in these chapters?

  • 14 - Time-turner given to HP, Santa Claus gives inv Cloak
  • 21 - Hermione worried that she was going 'bad' + Bayesian Conspiracy starts + Draco wants to learn about blood + SC gifts 2 galleons, Occlumency book, advice about Quirrell, and warnings about Dumbledore
  • 26 - Noticing Confusion. A Muggle casts a dangerous spell on a Slytherin without knowing what the spell would do, also the Weasley's plot in the Prophet. Bacon's b
... (read more)
8FAWS
The first thing I noticed is that the list contains the Santa Claus messages and H&C appearances (14, 21, 35, 63, 77). Presumably all chapters that contain strong and deliberate hints at H&C's identity are on the list. I notice that neither the chapter where Remus talks about Sirius and Peter, nor the chapter where a prisoner is mumbling "I'm not serious [Sirius]" are on the list, so H&C is unlikely to be Sirius. On the other hand 65 which has Quirrel explain that the port key Santa Claus sent had a misleading description attached is not on the list either, so that may not be definite.
prasannak130
  1. HPJEV has told Quirrel that Lucius threatened him with dire consequences if anything happened to Draco.
  2. Q can't make HPJEV do anything directly
  3. Q, in the form of H&C, makes Hermione hurt Draco,
  4. Why? One or more of ...
    • To get Lucius to hurt Hermione
    • To get HPJEV to his dark side, moving him away from Hermione
    • To show HPJEV that no one is really 'good', ie even Hermione can hurt someone else

If that's not true, then all I can say is "I am confused".

2Joshua Hobbes
I quite doubt Lucius is upset with Harry at the moment. He's not stupid, and Harry is not to blame for what happened to his son. And I'm quite confident Quirrell is not H&C, as the Defense Professor would have been considerably better at brain-washing Hermione. Besides, Harry will know that Hermione truly going dark is far more unlikely than interference via mind-magic or blackmail. He is going to stay on her side and investigate what happened, and Quirrell would anticipate this and not expect Harry to fall into darkness.

Hehe, now re-reading it, I realize I've muddled things up :) - some parts in my head, some came out into the comment... Fixing it now...

From Chap 26

The key to a puzzle is often something you read twenty years ago in an old scroll, or a peculiar ring you saw on the finger of a man you met only once.

Possibly Voldemort made the Resurrection stone/ring into a Horcrux while killing his 'uncle'.

Later in the same chapter, Quirrell suggests that he's made Bacon's diary into a Horcrux.

"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. In any case, I await your decision."

In can... (read more)

1Jonathan_Elmer
Just because Quirrell says that he recently stole it does not mean it is true. Telling harry that it is stolen property is a good way to make sure he keeps it secret without causing any suspicion about the nature of the book. I think that the diary is a horcrux and another attempt to turn Harry over to his dark side permanently.
0pedanterrific
I didn't downvote, but I'm curious: what brought up Bacon's diary? You dropped in "or at least Bacon managed to charm it to be nearly indestructible" as though it was mentioned in the parent.

From canon. Because this was the year that Quirrellmort tried to steal it out of the vault at Gringotts. So it needed to be somewhere safer - the only place safer than Gringotts -> Hogwarts.

1Anubhav
In canon, Quirrelmort tried to steal it after it was taken away. We were never told why Dumbledore suspected that Voldemort would try to get a hold of it that year.

Dumbledore tells Harry that Voldemort has used Dark Magic to save his own 'soul' at the cost of Myrtle's life. So Harry knows of at least one Dark Ritual which needs a death as sacrifice, ie making a Horcrux.

Quirrell tells Harry that the darkest ritual he knows requires only a sword that has slain a woman, and a rope that has hanged a man - to summon death.

Since Harry knows Quirrell knows every Dark Ritual there is worth knowing, and one of the rules of Evil Overlords is to get immortality, Harry knows that Quirrell is not telling him about the Horcrux rit... (read more)

1Joshua Hobbes
I don't think making a Horcrux qualifies as a ritual. And if it did, it requires one death whereas the one Quirrell mentions requires two (albeit indirectly and with the possibility of them not being murders). He probably is hiding some darker rituals, but I doubt the making of Horcruxes is one of them.

Obviously Voldemort - to figure out what really happened that night.

0Eneasz
My first thought was either Voldemort or his parents, but there is no way to verify what they say, so it could easily be a projection of the summoner's own interpretation and doesn't work as a test.

Assume Quirrell is not able to model 'good' people well -> we know he is not all powerful, and this is certainly where he is weak - witness conv with Harry on 'give a finger of my wand hand', 'does it really matter what your friends think', etc.

And each iteration with Hermione could have brought a different reason from Hermione, which was then subverted - we only saw one arc. Also H&C wanted Hermione as a willing participant, not as an NPC, much harder than simply memory charming her.

It's very unlikely EY has used two different H&C, and there was the 'wards keyed in' statement of both H&C & Quirrell earlier.

Will need much stronger evidence to say Quirrell is not H&C.

0major
Ch71: So, maybe H&C is Padma!!1! sigh. Can we please let this idea die already? It's no more than common use of a technical term. Amelia Bones, Ch55:
0thomblake
I'd still write this off as unintentional except that I believe Eliezer then would have changed the wording now that it's been brought up. It's still possible Quirrell was eavesdropping on H&C or vice-versa.
2Joshua Hobbes
Zambini's actions during the Lake-Battle were not good for Quirrell. It did end in Harry hearing that Dumbledore acted dark, but Quirrell knows Harry well-enough to predict he wouldn't trust that information. So if Quirrell was really H&C, he should have had Zambini serving Potter all along so that Harry would win and be more likely to rule the country. But I also very much doubt that it's Lucius, as he doesn't seem to fall into the category of "clever, but not too clever."

Woot! Perhaps a few days more, and then I'll have to take the day off :)

Currently 4,800 words into Ch. 83, the Aftermath (final chapter) of the next story sequence.

Eliezer,

Could we have an update every 10 days telling us where you are? Makes the waiting much easier, knowing we're getting more.

One like last time with #of words, chapter would be great.

The super awesomeness of HPMOR so far is what makes all the anticipation fun...

0prasannak
Woot! Perhaps a few days more, and then I'll have to take the day off :)
2gwern
Would it be even more awesome if someone set up ~190 predictions on PB.com just for MoR speculation?
0Shmi
Maybe he could even post a puzzle or a hint once in a while :)

Because he is nothing if not thorough?

And a mind-upload might not have negative repercussions in MoR, vis-a-vis canon.

Answered today..

  • Today's HPMOR words written: 3,800.
  • Latest chapter with a complete draft: Ch. 81.
  • Hours past bedtime stayed up before even starting to go to sleep: 1.5.

Now we wait till the whole arc is done and dusted...

I like this form of update :)

2Joshua Hobbes
The more I realize taking his time will make the story even better, the more I want to read the story right now. I do hope this arc isn't as enormous as SA.

At this stage, I'm ready for mid word :)

Knowing there's one chapter ready makes it even harder to wait...

My suggestion, even if it 'spoils' 78 a bit, is to drop 5K words of 78 at a weeks interval each, that'll sake our thirst better than a big drop 78, a big drop 79 and then long wait...

Chp 78 ---

Eliezer, given all the waiting, and that Chp 78 is 17K words, can we have a NY gift of Chp 78 in 3 parts? 5K each spaced about a week apart? That should take us till the third week of Jan :)

From an addict's perspective, drip helps :)

5obfuscate
2Joshua Hobbes
He already tried to subdivide 78, and it didn't work out. But frankly I'd read it even if it cut off midsentence.