Harry Potter and the Way of Reason

On the rows of gradually rising semicircular dark stone steps, there is a sea of ​​raised arms.

The Wizengamot judges, male and female, in their fuchsia robes marked with a silver "W," stared down with stern condemnation on a shivering girl in chains.If they ever felt remorse in any moral sense, they evidently considered their present conduct to be noble.

Harry's breath quivered in his chest.His dark side came up with a plan - and then hid itself behind the scenes, because too cold a voice would be bad for Hermione; for some reason, the not-quite-cold Harry wasn't aware of that fact...

"Voting, yes," the secretary said when all the counting was over, and the raised arms dropped. "The Wizengamot admits that Hermione Granger owes the Malfoy family a life debt for attempting to murder the heir of the Malfoy family, ending its bloodline."

Lucius Malfoy smiled grimly and contentedly. "Now," said the silver-haired wizard, "I decide that the payment of her debt will be—"

Harry clenched his fists under the bench and shouted, "The Malfoy family owes the Potter family a life debt!"

"Quiet!" snapped the woman with too much pink makeup sitting next to Minister Fudge, "You have interrupted court proceedings enough times! Auror, get him out!"

"Wait a minute," said Augusta Longbottom from the top seat, "what kind of debt is this?"

Lucius' hand holding the cane turned white, "The Malfoy family doesn't owe you any debt!"

It's not the most solid hope in the world, based solely on a news report written by a woman under the influence of a fake memory charm, but Rita Skeeter seems to think that Mr. Weasley owes James Potter The matter of a life debt is reasonable because...

"I'm surprised you've forgotten," said Harry quietly. "Naturally, it was a very cruel and painful period in your life, under the control of You-Know-Who's out-of-body control, until the Potter family To set you free. My mother, Lily Potter, died for it; my father, James Potter, he died for it; and, of course, me."

There was a brief silence in the Hall of the Ancients.

"Ah, what a sharp statement, Mr. Potter," said an elderly witch, Ms. Burns. "I am also very surprised that Lord Malfoy would forget such an important event. How happy he will be that day." ah."

"Yes," said Augusta Longbottom, "he must be very grateful."

Ms. Burns nodded. "There's no way the Malfoy family can deny that life-debt—unless, perhaps, Lord Malfoy is going to tell us something he's misremembered? I have a strong professional interest in that. We've been trying to track down what happened in those dark days." things."

Lucius Malfoy's hand was gripping the silver snakehead of the cane, as if to attack with it, to unleash whatever power lay within—

Then Lord Malfoy looked relaxed, and a icy smile appeared on his face. "Of course," he said lightly, "I admit I didn't understand it before, but the kid was right. But I don't think the two debts cancel each other out - after all, the Potters are just trying to save themselves - "

"Not really," Dumbledore said above.

"—Therefore," said Lucius Malfoy, "for the blood debt owed to my son, I also demand monetary compensation. This is also stipulated by the law."

Harry felt a strange twitch in his heart.In the news reports, which also came up, Mr. Weasley demanded an additional ten thousand Galleons—

"How much?" asked the Boy Who Lived.

Lucius still had that grim smile on his face. "One hundred thousand Galleons. If you don't have that much money in the vault, I think I can accept a promissory note for the rest."

There was a roar of protest from Dumbledore's side of the room, and some people in purple robes sitting in the middle looked quite shocked.

"Shall we let the Wizengamot vote on that?" said Lucius Malfoy. "I don't think any of us would want to see this little murderer go free. A show of hands, an additional hundred thousand is needed to pay the debt." Garen's compensation!"

The clerks began to count, but the vote was clear.

Harry stood there, breathing deeply.

"You'd better not even think about it. 』【1】The Gryffindor in Harry's heart said threateningly.

"It's a lot of money," Ravenclaw pointed out, "and we should have thought about it for a long time." 』

It shouldn't be this hard.It shouldn't be. £200 million is just money, and money is only worth what it buys...

The psychological dependence you can have on "just money" is surprisingly great, or the pain of imagining losing a vault full of gold that you didn't even imagine existed a year ago can be surprisingly painful.

"Kimber Gennison won't hesitate," said Gryffindor, "really.For example, it is decided in an instant.What kind of hero are you?I already hate you for having to think for fifty milliseconds over this. 』

"It's real life," Ravenclaw said, "losing all your money is more painful to a real person than it is in a heroic novel." 』

"What? ’ asked Gryffindor, ‘Which side are you on? 』

"I'm not advocating an answer," Ravenclaw said, "I'm just stating the facts. 』

"If one hundred thousand Galleons were spent in other ways, could it save more than one life? ’ said Slytherin, ‘We have research to do and wars to fight, and the difference between a surplus of forty thousand Galleons and a debt of sixty thousand Galleons is not small—’

“Then we just need to make a quick buck in one of our many ways and get it all back. ' said Hufflepuff.

"Those methods are not necessarily feasible," said Slytherin, "and many of them require start-up capital—"

"Personally," said Gryffindor, "I vote that we save Hermione, and together we kill the Slytherins in us." 』

The clerk's voice announced that the count was recorded and the vote passed...

Harry's lips parted. "I accept your proposal," said Harry's lips, without hesitation at all, before any decision had been made; as if the debate in his mind was only a sham and an illusion, and the real owner of the voice did not seem to be among them part of the same.

Lucius Malfoy's mask of calm shattered, and he stared wide-eyed at Harry.His mouth was partly open, but no words were spoken, and if he made any noise, it was not audible over the consistent shocked inhales of the Wizengamot—

A sound of stone knocking made everyone quiet.

"No," said Dumbledore's voice.

Harry turned his head sharply, staring at the older wizard.

Dumbledore's wrinkled face had gone pale, and his silver beard was visibly trembling, as if he was suffering the final sting of a terminal illness. "I'm - sorry, Harry - but you don't have a choice - because I'm still the custodian of your vault."

"What?" Harry was too shocked to respond properly.

"I can't put you in debt to Lucius Malfoy, Harry! I can't! You don't know—you don't realize—"

to die.

Harry didn't know which part of himself was speaking, perhaps unanimous, pure resentment and anger surging through him.For a moment, he thought that the power of anger alone might be able to put on the wings of magic, and then fly out to attack the principal, make him roll off the ledge and die—

But when that inner voice spoke, the older wizard was still standing there, looking at Harry, holding the long black wand in his right hand and the short black stone club in his left.

Harry's eyes were also on the red-gold bird perched on the shoulder of Dumbledore's black robes, quiet at a time when no phoenix should be quiet. "Fawkes," said Harry, his voice sounding strange to his own ears, "can you scream at him for me?"

The bright red bird on the old wizard's shoulder did not scream.Perhaps the Wizengamot had asked for a tranquilizing spell to be placed on the creature, or it might have kept screaming.But Fawkes struck his master, and beat the old wizard's head with one of his golden wings.

"I can't, Harry!" said the old wizard, the pain in his voice clear. "I'm doing what I must!"

Then Harry knew, when he saw the red and gold bird, he knew what he had to do.It should have been obvious from the start, the solution.

"Then I'll do what I have to do," said Harry, looking up at Dumbledore as if they were the only two of them in the room. "You realize that, don't you?"

The old wizard shook his trembling head. "When you're a little older, you'll change your mind—"

"That's not what I said," Harry said, his voice still sounding strange to himself, "I was saying that I would never allow Hermione to be eaten by a dementor under any circumstances. Period. Whatever How the law says, whatever I have to do to stop this. Need I be more explicit?"

An unfamiliar male voice came from somewhere far away, "Make sure the girl is taken directly to Azkaban and the guards strengthened." Harry waited, staring at the old wizard, before continuing. "I'll go to Azkaban," Harry said to the old wizard, as if they were the only two of them in the world, "before Hermione can be taken there, and start snapping my fingers. That might cost me my life." price, but by the time she gets there, Azkaban will no longer exist."

Some of the Wizengamot gasped in surprise.

Then more people started laughing.

"How are you going to get there, little boy?" said someone from the laughing crowd.

"I have my own way of getting somewhere," said the boy's distant voice.Harry never took his eyes off Dumbledore, his gaze rested on the old wizard staring at him in shock.Harry didn't look directly at Fawkes, he didn't want to give away his plans; but he was ready in his mind to summon the phoenix to carry him, ready to fill his mind with light and fury, to call the flame bird with all he had, if If Dumbledore raised his wand, he might have to act immediately—

"Can you really?" said the old wizard to Harry, as if they were the only ones in the room.

The room fell silent again, as everyone stared in amazement at the Wizengamot's head wizard - who seemed to take the mad threat seriously.

The old wizard's eyes were still locked only on Harry. "You're really going to bet everything - all - just for her?"

"Yes." Harry replied.

"That's not the right answer, you know," said Slytherin, "really. 』

"But that's the real answer. 』

"Aren't you ready to reason?" said the old wizard.

"Obviously," Harry replied.

The eyes of both sides continued to be deadlocked.

"It's terribly stupid," said the old wizard.

"I know," said the hero, "now go away."

There was an odd gleam in the older blue eyes. "As you wish, Harry Potter, but you know it's not over yet."

The rest of the world resurfaces.

"I withdraw my objection," said the old wizard, "Harry Potter may do as he wishes." Then the Wizengamot exploded in a shock, and fell silent after a final blow of the stone club down.

Harry turned his head to look at Lord Malfoy, who looked as if he had seen a cat turn into a man and start eating other cats."Confused" isn't even a ten-thousandth of a way to describe that expression.

"You really would..." Lucius Malfoy said slowly, "you really would pay a hundred thousand Galleons, just to save a Mudblood girl."

"I think I have about forty thousand Galleons in my Gringotts vault," said Harry.Strangely enough, it still hurts him more than the thought that he has over a 50.00% chance of losing his life in the process of destroying Azkaban. "As for the other sixty thousand—what does the law say specifically?"

"It's due when you graduate from Hogwarts," said the old wizard from above, "but I'm afraid Lord Malfoy has certain powers over you until then."

Lucius Malfoy stood motionless, frowning at Harry. "So, who is she to you? What is she to you that you would give so much to keep her from getting hurt?"

"My friend," said the boy quietly.

Lucius Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "From the reports I've received, you can't cast the Patronus Charm, and Dumbledore knows that. Just the power of a dementor almost killed you. You can't possibly risk being near Azkaban alone -"

"That was in January," said Harry, "and now it's April."

Lucius Malfoy's eyes were still cold and calculating. "You pretend you can destroy Azkaban, and Dumbledore pretends to believe it."

Harry didn't answer.

The silver-haired man turned slightly, facing the center of the semicircle, as if speaking to the entire Wizengamot, "I revoke my proposal!" Lord Malfoy shouted, "I do not accept the orders of the Potter family." As compensation, even a hundred thousand Galleons will not work! That girl's life debt to the Malfoy family is still valid!"

The roar of many voices sounded again. "Shame!" someone yelled. "You admit your life-debt to the Potters, but you--" Then the voice stopped.

"I admit the life debt, but the law does not strictly require me to accept the payment," Lord Malfoy said with a stern smile, "that girl is not part of the Potter family; the life debt I owe the Potter family has nothing to do with her. As for saying Shame——" Lucius Malfoy paused, "Although I am deeply ashamed of the Potter family's ungrateful behavior, they have done so much for me—" Lucius Malfoy lowered his head , "May my ancestors forgive me."

"How about it, boy?" cried the scarred man sitting on Lord Malfoy's right hand, "Now, go and destroy Azkaban!"

"I'd love to see it," said another voice. "Do you sell tickets?"

Undoubtedly, Harry did not choose to give up at this time.

The girl wasn't part of the Potter family—

In fact, he found the obvious solution to the problem almost instantaneously.

It might have taken him even longer if he hadn't overheard some of the conversations of the senior Ravenclaw girls lately, and read some of the Quibbler's stories.

However, he still had a hard time accepting it.

"This is ridiculous," said the part of Harry that called himself the internal consistency [2] checker, "we're acting completely contradictory.First off, you'd rather risk your bloody life, maybe even die for Hermione, than say goodbye to a pile of stupid gold.And now just getting married is holding you back? 』

"system error. 』

"do you know? ’ and the internal consistency checker says, ‘You’re stupid. 』

"I didn't say no," thought Harry, "I just said the system was wrong. 』

"I vote to destroy Azkaban," said Gryffindor, "it should be done anyway. 』

"Wow, that's really stupid," said the internal consistency checker, "Oh, hell, I want to control our bodies. 』

The boy took a deep breath, then opened his mouth—

Up until this point, Harry Potter had completely forgotten about Professor McGonagall's existence, and she had been sitting there with a series of funny expressions on her face, but Harry hadn't noticed it at all because of his distraction.To say that Harry has forgotten her existence because he doesn't see her as a player character is a bit harsh.On a more polite note, Professor McGonagall doesn't seem like a solution to any of his current problems, so she's not part of the system.

So, when Professor McGonagall, with impossible hopes burning in his eyes and half-dried tears on his cheeks, jumped up and shouted, "Follow me, Mr. Potter!" Harry, pumped with adrenaline, visibly jumped up in fright.Without waiting for Harry's answer, she sprinted down the stairs, which led to the lower landing, where there was a black metal chair.

After a while, Harry was in hot pursuit; though it took him a little longer to reach the lower platform.Professor McGonagall leaped halfway up the steps in a strange cat-like motion, and the shocked-looking trio of Aurors had their wands pointed at her as she landed.

"Miss Granger!" cried Professor McGonagall. "Can you talk now?"

Like Professor McGonagall, in a way, Harry also forgot that Hermione Granger existed, because Harry had been looking up, not down, and he didn't think She is the solution to any of his current problems.Although not sure, Harry remembered looking at Hermione or thinking about her feelings, and it was almost impossible to help.

Harry reached the end of the stairs, taking Hermione Granger fully into view—

Without thinking, and irrepressibly, Harry closed his eyes, but he could already see.

The circle of her school uniform around her neck was completely soaked with tears.

Her eyes dodged his way.

And the eye of memory and sympathy can't be closed, it can't be removed, it knows that Hermione recounted the greatest shame in her life in detail in front of the nobles of Magic Britain, Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore and Harry; Ben incarcerated, where she would be exposed to darkness, cold, and her worst memories until she went mad and died; then she heard that Harry was going to give up all his money and go into debt to save her, possibly even sacrificing him s life.

And the dementor was standing just a few steps behind her...

she didn't say anything...

"Can - can," whispered Hermione Granger, "I can - can talk."

Harry opened his eyes again, looking at the face she was looking at him now.It didn't express any of the emotions he thought Hermione was going through, facial expressions couldn't convey such complex concepts, and all the facial muscles could do was twist themselves into a ball.

"Ha-ha-Harry, I-I'm, I'm-"

"Shut up," Harry advised.

"Huh-hug-sorry-"

"If you'd never met me on the train, you wouldn't be in any trouble now. So shut up," said Harry Potter.

"Don't be fools, both of you," said Professor McGonagall, in a stern Scottish accent (which is surprisingly powerful), "Mr Potter, raise your wand so that Miss Granger's fingers can reach It. Miss Granger, repeat after me. With my life and magic—”

Harry did as he was asked, held out his wand, and touched Hermione's fingers; and Hermione said in a trembling voice, "With my life and magic—"

"I swear allegiance to the Potter family—" said Professor McGonagall.

Then Hermione, without waiting for more prompts, the words rushed out of her lips, "I swear allegiance to the Potter family, to obey its master or mistress, to stand at their right hand, to follow their to fight at their command, and to follow them to the ends of the earth, until the end of my life."

Before Harry could think or say anything, all the words came gushing out in one desperate exhalation, and Harry wasn't crazy enough to interrupt it.

"Mr. Potter, repeat these words," said Professor McGonagall, "I, Harry, heir and last of the Potter family, accept your allegiance until the end of the world and of magic."

Harry took a breath and said, "I, Harry, heir and last of the Potter family, accept your allegiance until the end of the world and of magic."

"It's over," said Professor McGonagall, "well done."

Harry looked up to see the entire Wizengamot staring at him, he had completely forgotten they were there just now.

Then Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House - though she often didn't show it that way - looked up at the dais on which Lucius Malfoy stood; "I regret every point I gave you in Transfiguration class, you vicious, vile worm."

Anything Lucius wanted to say in response was cut short by the club in Dumbledore's hand. "Ahoy!" said the old wizard from the dark stone dais on which he sat, "this meeting has dragged on too long, and some of us will miss the whole lunch if it is not over at once. The legal provisions of the law are very clear. You have already voted on the terms of the transaction, and according to the law, Lord Malfoy cannot refuse the transaction. Now that we have greatly exceeded the planned time, I now, according to the No.80 Eighth Wizengamot The final resolution of the existing members to suspend this meeting."

The old wizard struck the dark stone stick three times.

"You idiots!" cried Lucius Malfoy.The silver hair was shaking like in the wind, and the face beneath was pale with rage, "Do you think your actions today have no consequence? Do you think that girl could try to murder my son and walk away unscathed? "

The toadlike woman with pink makeup, whose name Harry couldn't remember, was getting up from her seat. "Oh, of course not," she said with a disgusting smile, "the girl is still a murderer anyway, and I think the Ministry of Magic will be watching her every move closely - allowing her to be seen in the streets. Loitering is hardly a wise decision, after all—”

Harry couldn't take it anymore.

Without waiting to hear any more, Harry turned and strode forward—

The horror that only he could really see, the void without color and space, the wound of the world, above which floated a tattered cloak; barely seen by a running moon-colored squirrel and a flapping silver sparrow Hold on.

His dark side noticed too, and as it scanned the room for anything that might be used as a weapon, the enemies were foolish enough to bring a dementor to Harry.It was indeed a powerful weapon, one that Harry could wield better than its supposed master.At some point in Azkaban, Harry ordered the twelve Dementors to turn away, and they did.

Dementors are death, and the Patronus Charm works by thinking of happy things instead of death.If Harry's theory was correct, then just one word would be enough to make the Aurors' Patronus charms pop like soap bubbles, and guarantee that no one who heard his words would be able to cast another.

I will disable the Patronus Charm and prevent any more Patronuses from appearing.Then my dementor, flying faster than any broomstick, will kiss everyone who votes to send a 12-year-old girl to Azkaban.

Say the words, build a logical "if-then" expectation, and wait for people to understand and start laughing.Then speak the deadly truth; and when the Patronuses of the Aurors fade away, confirming his words, the anticipation of that witless void, or Harry's threat of destruction to it, will make the The ghost obediently obeyed.Those who try to come to terms with the darkness will be swallowed up by it.

Here's another solution his dark side came up with.

Ignoring the gasp behind him, Harry walked through the radius of the Patronus and came within a step of death.Its undisguised fear swirled around him like a vortex, as if standing next to the suction of a gigantic bath tub being filled; but when the false Patronus no longer obscured the layers of their mutual communication, Harry could Affected the Dementor as the Dementor had affected him.Harry looked straight into the sucking vacuum, and—

earth among the stars

his success in saving hermione

One day your reality as a shadow will cease to exist

Harry mustered all the silvery emotion that ignited his Patronus Charm, and let it surge toward the Dementor; expecting the shadow of death to flee from him—

——At the same time, he raised his hands and shouted: "Peng!"

The vacuum receded rapidly away from Harry until it was against the dark stone wall behind.

There was a dead silence in the hall.

Harry turned, his back to the blank vacuum, and looked up to where the female toad was standing.Her face was pale beneath the pink makeup, and her mouth was opening and closing like a fish.

"I have a proposition for you," said the Boy Who Lived, "don't let me know that you're bothering me or my people, and you'll never learn why that unkillable Soul Eater is afraid of me .Now, sit down and shut up."

The toad fell back on the bench without a word.

Harry looked higher up.

"A riddle, Lord Malfoy!" shouted the Boy Who Lived across the Halls of Ancients, "I know you're not Ravenclaw, but try to answer anyway! What destroys the Dark Lord, scares the Ghost, and owe you [-] Galleons?"

For a moment, Lord Malfoy stood there with his eyes slightly wide open, and then his face changed back to a calm disdain, and when he answered, his voice was cold, "Are you threatening me publicly, Mr. Potter?"

"I'm not threatening you," said the Boy Who Lived, "I'm threatening you. It's different."

"Enough, Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall, "we're going to miss Transfiguration this afternoon. Come back here, you've frightened the poor Dementor." She turned to the Aurors They said, "Mr. Kleiner, please excuse me!"

Harry walked back towards them, and the named Auror stepped forward, pressed a short dark metal rod against the dark metal chair, and released it in an inaudible whisper.

The chains snaked back as smoothly as they went; Hermione got up from her chair as quickly as she could and took a few steps, half-running, half-falling.

Harry opened his arms—

—Hermione half-jumped, half fell into Professor McGonagall's arms, and began to cry hysterically.

"Uh," said a voice inside Harry, "I thought we'd won that one." 』

"Okay, shut up. 』

Professor McGonagall was holding Hermione so tightly that one might think it was a mother holding her daughter, or granddaughter.After a while, Hermione's crying slowed, then stopped.Professor McGonagall changed his stance suddenly, and hugged her even tighter; now, the girl's hands dropped limply, her eyes closed—

"She'll be fine, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said softly in Harry's direction, without looking at him. "She just needs to stay in Madam Pomfrey's hospital bed for a few hours."

"All right, then," said Harry, "let's take her to Madam Pomfrey."

"Yes," said Dumbledore, as he descended the dark stone steps, "in fact, let's go back together." His blue eyes, which were fixed on Harry, were as hard as sapphires.

————————————————————————

The wizards and witches of the Wizengamot began to leave their wooden benches, looking tense as they had come.

Most of them were thinking "Dementors are afraid of the Boy Who Lived!"

Some of the more astute minds were already thinking about how this would affect the delicate balance of power in the Wizengamot if a new piece were to appear on the board.

Almost no one is thinking something along the lines of "I want to know how he did it."

This is the reality of the members of the Wizengamot: many are nobles, many are wealthy business magnates, and some have achieved their status through other means.Some of them are stupid.The vast majority of people are very shrewd in business and politics, but there is a limit to their shrewdness.Few are on the path to becoming a powerful wizard.They do not peruse ancient texts, scrutinize ancient parchment scrolls, seek truths too powerful to discuss openly but exist in riddles, seek real magic from a hundred imaginary fairy tales.When they don't look at the debt contract, they give up the shrewdness they had and let loose in some comfortable nonsense.They believe in the Deathly Hallows, but they also believe that Merlin fought the fearsome Totoro and imprisoned Rei [3].They know (because it's part of standard sagas) that powerful wizards must learn to distinguish truth from hundreds of plausible lies.But it didn't occur to them that they might do the same.

(Why not? In fact, why would wizards, with enough stature and wealth to attempt any venture, choose to spend their lives fighting for a lucrative ink import monopoly? The headmaster of Hogwarts almost watched Don't see the problem; of course, most people can't be powerful wizards, just like most people can't be heroes. The Defense Professor will explain in detail and irony why their ambitions are so irrelevant; For him, too, the problem didn't exist. Only Harry Potter, despite his many readings, still couldn't understand; Life choices seem incomprehensible - they are not chosen by good people, nor by bad people. Now, who is the wisest of the three?)

For whatever reason, the vast majority of the Wizengamot have never set foot on the path to great sorcery; they do not seek out what is hidden.For them, there is no "why".no explanation.There is no cause and effect.The Boy Who Lived, already halfway to the legendary epic, is now a complete legend; the Boy Who Lived scares the Dementors, a crude fact, simple and inexplicable.Ten years ago, they had been told that a one-year-old boy had defeated the most feared Dark Lord of their generation—perhaps of all time—and they had simply accepted that.

You shouldn't question that sort of thing (they make it clear in some inexplicable way).If the most feared Dark Lord in history, duels an innocent baby - oh, how can he not be defeated?The pace of the drama demands that he be beat ah.You should be clapping instead of getting up from your seat and saying "why?" You might as well not go to the show in the first place.

They did not consider carefully whether such logic could be applied to the events they had witnessed in the oldest hall.In fact, they don't know that they are applying the way of thinking in fiction to real life.As for thinking about The Boy Who Lived with the same careful logic as when thinking about political alliances or business arrangements—what kind of brain would make that association when it's part of a legendary epic?

But those sitting on those wooden benches, a very small number of people, don't think this way.

Certain members of the Wizengamot had perused mutilated scrolls of parchment and heard what had happened to one's brother's cousin; not for entertainment, but as part of a quest for power and truth.they have dumbley