Harry Potter and the Way of Reason

Saturday.

Harry suffered from insomnia on Friday night: he had anticipated that he might suffer from insomnia, so he had already decided to take the most obvious precaution, buying a sleep potion; Bought it from Fred and George for a few months. (Get ready, it's the marching song of the Boy Scouts...)

So Harry was well rested, and his carry-on bag contained just about everything he could think of that might come in handy.In fact, Harry was almost out of room in his carry-on bag; thinking he still needed to store a giant snake and God knows what else to stuff in it, he moved some of the bulkier stuff out, like car batteries.He's grown to the point where he can transform something the size of a car battery into a car battery in just 4 minutes, so that's not much of a loss.

Harry still kept the emergency flares, the oxyacetylene torch, and the fuel tank, because other things couldn't be transformed into combustibles.

(Get ready, it's like marching in life...)

Mary's Restaurant.

After the waiter took their order and bowed out of the room, Professor Quirrell cast only four spells.Then they talked about unimportant things, just some of Professor Quirrell's complicated theories about how the Dark Lord's curse on the professorship of Defense had caused the decline of dueling, and how this had changed the social mores of the British wizarding community.Harry nodded as he listened, trying to control his heartbeat as he said something clever.

Then the waiter entered the room again and brought their food, and this time, just a minute after the waiter left the room, Professor Quirrell gestured to the door, closed the door, locked the door, and began to read the 1 safe magic words. Harry was somewhat puzzled by the absence of one of Mr Best's series of spells.

Professor Quirrell finished casting the spell—

—rising from his chair—

—into a green snake with blue and white stripes—

— hissed, "Hungry, child? Fill your belly fast. We need strength, and we need time."

Harry's eyes widened slightly, but hissed in Parseltongue, "I had a good breakfast," before quickly forking the noodles into his mouth.

The snake looked at him with flat eyes for a moment, then hissed, "Don't want to explain here. Better go somewhere else first. Need to leave unnoticed, without leaving a trace that we ever left this room."

"That way nobody can follow us," Harry hissed in Parseltongue.

"Yes. Do you trust me that much, child? Think before answering. I have an important request that requires your trust; if you are going to refuse anyway, do so now."

Harry dropped his eyes, looked away from the snake's flat eyes, then back to his sauce-smeared noodles, took a bite, then another, thinking as he ate.

The Defense Professor...was, to put it mildly, a very ambiguous existence; Harry felt he had seen some of his purposes, but others remained a mystery.

But Professor Quirrell knocked out two hundred girls, just to prevent them from calling Harry.Professor Quirrell deduces that the Dementor is devouring Harry through Harry's wand.The Defense Professor saved Harry's life twice, twice, within two weeks.

It could also mean that Professor Quirrell just saved Harry for later, and he has other plans.Of course, there are other plans for sure.Professor Quirrell doesn't do these things on a whim.But Professor Quirrell also taught Harry Occlumency, he taught Harry how to throw in the towel... If the Defense Professor wanted to use Harry Potter for something, it must be the powerful Harry Potter. Potter, not weak.That's the very definition of being taken advantage of by a friend.They want their exploits to strengthen you, not weaken you.

Even if the atmosphere around the Defense Professor was sometimes icy, with angry voices and empty eyes, that was all he allowed Harry to see.

Harry didn't know how to describe his intimacy with Professor Quirrell, he could only say that Professor Quirrell was the only sane person he met in the wizarding world.Sooner or later, everyone else will start playing Quidditch, leave their time machines unprotected, and consider death their friend.It has nothing to do with their good intentions.Sooner or later, usually sooner, they will prove that somewhere in the depths of their consciousness there is confusion.Everyone except Professor Quirrell.This is a fetter that transcends all favors, and even all personal preferences - the two of them are alone in the entire wizarding world.While the Defense Professor can occasionally come across as a little scary or dark, it's not like Harry hasn't been told that.

"I trust you," Harry hissed.

So the snake began to explain the first stage of the plan.

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Harry stuffed the last mouthful of noodles into his mouth and chewed.Beside him, Professor Quirrell had returned to his human form, drinking his soup quietly, as if nothing particularly interesting had happened.

Harry swallowed the noodles and stood up from the chair at the same time, already feeling his heart pounding.The security measures they have taken can be said to be impeccable...

"Ready for the test, Mr. Potter?" said Professor Quirrell quietly.

It wasn't a test, but Professor Quirrell wouldn't say it, not even in this room where Professor Quirrell had added a shielding spell, and he wouldn't say it aloud in human form.

"Yes." Harry said as casually as possible.

first step.

Harry said "Invisibility Cloak" to the pocket, pulled the Cloak out, then unhooked the pocket from his belt and flung it across the table.

The defense professor stood up from his seat, drew out his wand, bent down, pressed the wand on his pocket, and whispered a spell.This newly added spell allows Professor Quirrell to enter the pocket in the form of a snake, freely enter and exit the pocket, and hear what is happening outside while in the pocket.

The second step.

When Professor Quirrell straightened up from where he had just bent over and removed his wand, which happened to be pointing in Harry's direction, Harry's chest tightened at the place where the Time-Turner rested, as if something was disturbing. Something creepy will pass over him.

third step.

The Defense Professor was snake again, and the sense of impending doom lightened; the snake scrambled to the pocket, burrowed in, and the pocket opened its mouth wide for the green figure to enter, while the mouth of the pocket tightened behind the tail. Then the sense of impending doom became lighter.

the fourth step.

Harry drew his wand, while being careful to keep his body still so that the Time-Turner would not stray from its current orientation—Professor Quirrell had just fixed the orientation of the hourglass in the protective cover. "Wingardium, Leviosa," Harry whispered, and the pockets began to float towards him.

Slowly, slowly, as Professor Quirrell had instructed, the pocket began to float towards Harry.Harry watched the bag warily, and at the slightest sign of it opening he would cast the Hover Charm and push it away.

When the pocket came within a meter of Harry, the sense of doom returned.

The sense of impending doom grew stronger as Harry put the pocket back on his belt, but not so strong that it overwhelmed him, and he could bear it.

Even when Professor Quirrell was in his Animagus form in the magnified space of his pocket, which was attached to Harry's lap.

the fifth step.

Harry put away his wand, still holding the Invisibility Cloak in his other hand.Harry put the Invisibility Cloak over his head.

Step [-].

In this room where all possibilities of prying eyes can be shielded, and Professor Quirrell personally added confidentiality measures, Harry still put on the real invisibility cloak first, and then reached into his shirt and turned the shell of the time-turner once. .

The hourglass in the Time Converter still stopped at the fixed angle and did not move.The base moved around the hourglass—

The food disappeared from the table, the chairs jumped back into place, and the door slammed open.

As expected, Mary's room was empty, as Professor Quirrell had previously contacted Mary House under a pseudonym to ask if the room was available at this hour - no reservations, it might attract attention if a reservation is canceled, just an inquiry for a moment.

The seventh step.

Under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak, Harry exited through the wide open door.He walks through the tiled corridors of Mary's House to the well-stocked bar that greets guests, where Jack, the owner of Mary's House, is entertaining.It was mid-morning, before the normal lunch hour, and there were only a few people at the bar.The invisible Harry had to wait at the door for a few minutes, listening to muffled conversations and belching, until the door was opened by a big, kind Irishman, and Harry slipped out.

eighth step.

Harry walked for a while.He was already far away from Mary's Court, and then he turned and walked out of Diagon Alley into a smaller alley.At the end of the alley there was a dark shop whose windows had been magically turned black.

Ninth step.

"Swordfish and melon friends." [1] Harry said the combination to the lock, and the lock opened.

It was also dark inside the shop, and by the light that came in when the door opened it could be seen that it was a large empty room.According to Professor Quirrell, it used to be a furniture store, but it went bankrupt a few months ago.The store has been recycled but has not yet been resold.The walls were simply painted white, the wooden floors were scratched and dull, and there was a closed door on the back wall; this used to be a showroom, but there is nothing in it now.

The door clicked shut behind Harry, and darkness once again filled the room.

tenth step.

Harry took out his wand, said "Lumos," and white light lit up the room; he unfastened the pocket from his belt (the sense of impending doom intensified a little as his fingers touched it. ) and toss it lightly across the room (the feeling of impending doom is almost completely gone).Then he took off the invisibility cloak and hissed in Parseltongue, "It's done."

No. 11 steps.

A green head protruded from the pocket, and the snake crawled out, followed by a one-meter-long green body.After a while, the snake turned into Professor Quirrell.

No. 12 steps.

Harry waited silently for Professor Quirrell to finish casting thirty spells.

"Okay." After the spell was cast, Professor Quirrell said calmly, "If someone is still staring at us now, then we are dead anyway, so I will speak directly in human form. I am afraid that Parseltongue will not Perfect for me, since I'm neither a descendant of Salazar nor a real snake."

Harry nodded.

"So, Mr. Potter," said Professor Quirrell.His gaze was eager, his pale blue eyes clouded by the white light from Harry's wand. "It's just the two of us and no one else is watching. I have an important question for you."

"Go ahead," said Harry, his heart beating faster.

"What do you think of the British wizarding government?"

It's not quite what Harry envisioned, but it's close enough that Harry says, "Based on my limited knowledge, I'd say that both the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot seem stupid, corrupt, and evil."

"Correct," said Professor Quirrell. "Do you know why I ask that question?"

Harry took a deep breath, then looked directly into Professor Quirrell's eyes.Harry finally figured out how to make a brilliant deduction with only a few clues, and that is to know the answer in advance.He'd guessed the answer a full week ago, with just a few tweaks...

"You're going to invite me to join a secret society of interesting people like you," Harry said. "One of their goals is to reorganize or overthrow the British wizarding government, and yes, I'm going to join."

There was a pause in the conversation.

"I'm afraid this is not the direction of the conversation I intend to lead." Professor Quirrell said.The corner of his mouth twitched, "I just plan to ask you to help me do something that betrays the country and is seriously illegal."

Ouch, thought Harry.However, Professor Quirrell did not deny... "Go on."

"Before I say it," said Professor Quirrell, there was not even a hint of teasing in his voice now. "Will you accept such a request, Mr. Potter? I repeat, if you are inclined to refuse anyway, you must refuse now. If curiosity is driving you to agree, take curiosity back."

"I don't care about treason and breaking the law," Harry said, "I care about the risk and the reward commensurate with the risk, but I can't imagine you taking the risk lightly."

Professor Quirrell nodded. "I wouldn't. It's a gross abuse of my friendship with you and my trust as a Hogwarts professor—"

"You can skip that part," said Harry.

Professor Quirrell's mouth twitched again, then calmed down. "Then I'll skip it. Mr Potter, you sometimes play a game of lying with the truth, playing with words to hide what you really mean. What do you do together, Mr. Potter, you lie and conceal. You lie directly, without hesitation, without playing with words, without insinuation, no matter who asks you, whether to your enemies or your closest friends. You Lie to Malfoy, lie to Granger, lie to McGonagall. You'll say exactly what someone who knows nothing would say, without hesitation at all times, without regard to your own morals .You have to do it."

There was a silence that lasted for a while.

This is the price Harry needs to measure with a small slice of his soul.

"Without specifics..." said Harry, "can you tell me that it's urgent?"

"There is one person who needs your help," said Professor Quirrell simply. "No one can help but you."

There was another silence, but not for long this time.

"Okay." Harry said softly. "Tell me the content of the mission."

The silhouette of the Defense Professor blocked the white light from Harry's wand, casting a shadow on the wall, and his dark robes seemed to melt into that shadow. "The normal Patronus Charm, Mr. Potter, wards off the fear from the Dementors. But the Dementors can still see you through the Patronus, and they know you're there. Only your Patronus Charm isn't. Your Patronus The spell can make them blind, or not just blind. I found that when you killed it, the thing under the robe didn't look in our direction at all; until it died, it seemed to completely forget our existence."

Harry nodded.This isn't much of a surprise after seeing through the anthropomorphic façade and revealing the dementors for what they really are.Death may be the last enemy, but not the conscious one.When humans eradicated smallpox, smallpox did not resist.

"Mr. Potter, the central branch of Gringotts is heavily protected by elf spells, large and small. Even so, some vaults have been successfully robbed; anything that spells can do, can be undone by spells. But no one Escaped from Azkaban. No one. All spells have counterspells, all forbidden areas have bypasses. Why has no one ever been rescued from Azkaban?"

"Because there is one thing that is invincible in Azkaban," said Harry. "Something so terrifying that no one can beat it."

It was the keystone of their absolute security, and it must be something beyond the reach of human beings.It is death who keeps watch over Azkaban.

"Dementors don't let their plate go," said Professor Quirrell.There was a chill in his voice. "Once someone tries, they'll find out. There's hundreds of dementors out there, and they'll talk to the guards. It's as simple as that, Mr. Potter. If you're a powerful wizard, it's easy to get in and out of Azkaban .as long as you don't try to take anything from the dementor."

"But Dementors aren't invincible," said Harry.With this in mind, he can now cast the Patronus Charm. "I never believed they were invincible either."

Professor Quirrell's voice was very soft. "Do you remember how you felt the first time you lost to a dementor?"

"remember."

Then Harry's heart sank, and he knew where this conversation was going; he should have thought of it before.

"There is an innocent man in Azkaban," said Professor Quirrell.

Harry nodded, his throat burning, but he didn't cry.

"The person I'm talking about wasn't manipulated by the Imperius Curse." The defense professor said, the outline of the black robe fainted into more shadows. "If you have time to torture, use Legilimency, perform rituals I won't say, there are surer ways to break a person's will than the Imperius Curse. I can't tell you how I know this Yes, I can't say, not give a hint, not even you. You have to trust me. But there is one man in Azkaban who has never chosen to serve the Dark Lord; The most terrible cold and dark torture imaginable, but I don't deserve even a second of it."

Harry found the answer intuitively, he almost blurted it out.

No sign, no warning, we all thought—

"A man named Black," said Harry.

There was a silence.In silence, pale blue eyes stared at him.

"Okay," said Professor Quirrell after a while. "It's a pity that I spent so much time to ensure that I will tell you your name after you accept the task. I want to ask if you are reading my heart, but it is undoubtedly impossible."

Harry didn't say anything, but it's an easy guess if you believe the procedures of modern democracies.The most obvious innocent in Azkaban is the one who didn't go to trial—

"I'm very amazed, Mr. Potter." Professor Quirrell said with a serious face, "but this matter is very important. If other people can reason it out, I need to know. So tell me, Mr. Potter, look at Merlin, For Atlantis, and the Void Between the Stars, how did you guess I was talking about Bellatrix?"

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[1] Swordfishmelonfriend: There are two sources

a) swordfish is an obvious password in a classic comedy joke en.wikipedia/wiki/Swordfish_%28password%29

b) The Lord of the Rings terrier.The password for the entrance to Moriah Mine is mellon, which is friend in Elvish language.

Also note: On why four random words make up 100 times more cryptoscience than meaningful short sentences: xkcd/936/