Harry Potter and the Way of Reason

Phoenix travel feels completely different than Apparating or Portkeys.You're on fire - you definitely feel you're on fire, it doesn't hurt at all - but you're not burnt to ashes, the fire burns through you and you become a flame, and you're in one place Extinguished, ignited in another place.It's not quite as nauseating as Portkey or Apparition, but it's still a pretty stressful experience.If the essence of phoenix travel is really to be one of the embodiment of fire in a broad sense, then it seems to imply that you could burn anywhere—even in the distant past, or in another universe, or at the same time. In two places.You could go out in one place and light up in a hundred others, and you'll never notice the difference when you get to Hogwarts.Even though Harry had read everything he could about phoenixes, trying to figure out how to get his own, there was no mention of anything close to such abilities anywhere.

Harry was lit, extinguished, and ignited elsewhere; and thus he and the headmaster, with Hermione Granger unconscious in the headmaster's arms, emerged elsewhere; superior.A calm, warm room with bright stone columns, with skylights opening on all sides, and long rows of white beds, four of which were surrounded by silent bed curtains, the rest were left empty.

In the corner of Harry's field of vision, a surprised Madam Pomfrey turned to them.Dumbledore didn't seem to care much about the senior healer as he placed Hermione carefully on an empty bed.

In the far corner, a green light flickered, and Professor Minerva McGonagall stepped out of the fireplace, lightly dusting the ashes from the Floo net on her body.

The older wizard turned from the bed and put his arm around Harry again; then the Boy Who Lived and his wizard disappeared into another flame.

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When Harry fully ignited again, he was standing in the headmaster's office amidst the noise of a hundred incomprehensible little things.

The young boy took a step away from the older wizard, then turned to face him, eyes of emerald green and sapphire blue staring at each other.

The two of them were silent for a while, looking at each other as if they needed to say something that couldn't be said any other way but with a stare.

After a long time, the boy opened his mouth slowly and accurately.

"I can't believe the phoenix is ​​still on your shoulders."

"Phoenixes choose only once," said the elder wizard, "and they may leave a master who turns good to evil; but they will not leave a master who is forced to choose between two good things. Phoenixes are not arrogant. They Know the limits of their wisdom." The vicissitudes of the gaze were severe, "Not like you, Harry."

"Choosing between two kinds of goodness," Harry repeated flatly, "is like Hermione Granger's life, and a hundred thousand Galleons." For some reason, Harry wanted to express in his voice The fury and indignation of the man could not be expressed well, perhaps because——

"I'm afraid you don't have the position to say these things to me, Harry Potter," said the headmaster with a bewildering softness, "otherwise, the reluctance I saw on your face in the Hall of the Ancients was what happened?"

The inner emptiness got worse. "I was looking for other possibilities," Harry said in a word, "some way to save her without losing money."

"Wow," said Ravenclaw, "you just lied straight up.Not only that, I think you believed it yourself when you said it.It's kind of scary. 』

"Is that really what you were thinking, Harry?" The blue eyes were piercing, and for one terrifying moment Harry suspected that the most powerful wizard in the world could see right through his Occlumency barrier.

"Yes," said Harry, "I flinched from the pain of losing all the money in my coffers. But I did! That's what matters! And you—" Harry's voice dropped for a moment The indignation returned, "You actually put a price on Hermione Granger's life, and you put a price on it for less than a hundred thousand Galleons!"

"Oh?" said the older wizard softly. "So, what's your price on her life? A million Galleons?"

"Are you familiar with the economic concept of 'replacement value'?" [1]" These words emerged from Harry's lips faster than he could think, "Hermione's replacement value is infinite! I Impossible to buy another one anywhere!"

"Now you're talking mathematical nonsense," said Slytherin, "Ravenclaw, support me? 』

"Is Minerva's life worth infinity too?" said the old wizard sternly. "Would you sacrifice Minerva to save Hermione?"

"Both," snapped Harry. "That's part of Professor McGonagall's job and she knows it."

"Then Minerva's value is not infinite," said the old wizard, "though everyone loves her very much. There can only be one king on the board, Harry Potter, and there is only one piece that you would sacrifice all the others for." Saved. And Hermione Granger was not that pawn. Make no mistake, Harry Potter, you may have lost your war today."

If the old wizard's words hadn't hit so hard, then Harry might not have said what he said then.

"Lucius was right," said Harry through gritted teeth, "you've never had a wife, you've never had a daughter, you've never had anything other than a war—"

The old wizard's left hand gripped Harry's wrist tightly, his bony fingers digging deep into the still-developing muscles of Harry's arm, and for a split second Harry froze in shock, he What is meant by the fact that adults are stronger has been forgotten.

Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to notice this.He just turned around, tugged at Harry, and strode hard towards the wall where the room stood.

"The Price of the Phoenix."

Harry was dragged up the black stairs.

"The Fate of the Phoenix."

In the room full of black pedestals, silver light shone on the broken wand.

"You think," Harry exclaimed, after his lips were able to part, "that you can win any argument just by standing here?"

The old wizard ignored him, dragging Harry across the room.His right hand no longer held the wand, but grabbed a tube of silver liquid—

Harry blinked in shock; the tube of silvery liquid stood next to a picture of Dumbledore, or so he thought in the split second before Harry was dragged past it.

Past all the pedestals, at the far end of the room stood a huge stone basin carved with runes Harry didn't recognize.The shallow depression in the center of the stone basin was filled with a transparent liquid, and the old wizard poured the tube of silver liquid into it.Immediately, the liquid began to spread and rotate, causing the entire stone basin to emit a frightening white light.

The old wizard's hand released Harry's arm, motioned to the glowing basin, and ordered sternly, "Look!"

Harry stared at the glowing liquid as he was asked to.

"Put your head in the Pensieve, Harry Potter," said the old wizard's voice harshly.

Harry had heard that word before, but he couldn't remember where. "What is this—what—"

"Memories," said the old wizard, "you'll see my memories. I swear it's safe. Look into the Pensieve now, Ravenclaw, if you have even a smidge of your precious truth If you care!"

It was a request Harry couldn't refuse, and he stepped forward, dipping his head into the glowing liquid.

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Harry sat behind the headmaster's desk at Hogwarts, clutching his head in wrinkled hands dotted with the white hairs and age spots of time.

"He's all I have!" said a weeping voice, Dumbledore's own voice as he remembered it, and it sounded odd, and from within it seemed far less stern and wise. "The last of my family! All that's left of me!"

Emotions cannot be conveyed through the Pensieve, only physically felt illusions speak.Harry heard the utter desperation in Dumbledore's words, which seemed to come from Harry's own throat, but Harry was not affected by emotion in any other way than hearing.

"You have no choice," said a stern voice.

The eyes moved, and a man Harry didn't recognize appeared in his field of vision. His clothes were Auror's bright red, but they were made of pure leather with many pockets.

His right eye was oversized, and the arc-blue eyeball was jumping and moving all the time.

"You can't ask me like that, Alastor!" Dumbledore's voice seemed to go crazy, "This is not acceptable! Only this is not acceptable!"

"I didn't ask," the man growled, "Lao Fu is the one who asked, and you have to tell him not to."

"For money, Alastor?" Dumbledore's voice began to beg. "Just for money?"

"If you pay the ransom for Abuforth, you lose the war," said the man sternly, "simple as that. One hundred thousand Galleons is almost all of our war chest, and if you spend It, but it can't be refilled. What are you going to do, try to convince the Potters to empty their coffers like the Longbottoms? Old V will just kidnap another guy and blackmail him again. Alice, Minerva , anyone you care about, if you pay the Death Eaters, they will be targeted. That's not the lesson you should be trying to teach them."

"If I did that, I'd have nobody. Nobody." Dumbledore's voice cracked, his head looking out into his wrinkled hands, tilting the world instead of Harry's. A mournful sound came from his throat, and he wept like a child.

"Can't I tell Lao V's messenger?" said Alastor's voice, strangely soft now, "You don't need to say it yourself, old friend."

"No—I'll say it myself—I must—"

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The memory ended abruptly, and Harry jerked his head out of the glistening water, gasping for air as if smothered.

The change of scene between the reality of a dozen years ago and the present moment shook Harry's mind again; in a sense, the past he was immersed in shook him.The heartbroken old man crying in his office was someone else from another time, someone softer, and Harry understood that—

Back to the present, to the present day, after everything has vanished like vapour.

The old wizard stood there, terrible and stern, as if carved from rock; his braided beard was like steel, his half-moon spectacles were like mirrors, and the pupils behind them were as sharp and unyielding as black diamonds .

"Do you still want to see my brother die under the Cruciatus Curse?" said Albus Dumbledore. "Voldemort gave me that memory too."

"And that—" Harry had difficulty speaking because of the growing nausea in his chest, "It was—" When he guessed the terrible answer, the frightening truth, the words seemed to be in his mouth Burning down his throat, "That's when you burned Narcissa Malfoy alive in her bedroom."

Albus Dumbledore's eyes were cold as he answered. "Only a fool would answer yes or no to that question. The point is, the Death Eaters believed me to kill her, and that thought kept the families of all those who served the Order safe—until Today. Do you understand now what you have done? What have you done to your friends and those who stood by you, Harry Potter?" The older wizard looked even taller and more menacing. , His voice became louder, "You made them all targets, and they will always be targets! Until you use the only method to prove that you are no longer willing to pay such a price!"

"And is that true?" said Harry.He felt the buzzing in his head, his body seemed to be moving away, "Draco said, Narcissa Malfoy never got her hands dirty, she was just Lucius' wife? I know, she A cover-up, but I can't stand that deserves to be burned alive."

"If not, I can't prove to them that I have stopped hesitating." The old wizard's voice cannot be questioned or denied, "I have always been too soft to do what I have to do, and it has always been someone else Paying for my kindness. Alastor has told me from the beginning what to do, but I have not listened to him. I hope, you, will come out better than I at a decision like this."

"I'm surprised," said Harry, surprised that his voice was almost even, "I thought that if you didn't kill them all the first time, the Death Eaters would target another family of the Light side, causing an escalation." retaliate against each other."

"If my opponent was Lucius, maybe." Dumbledore's eyes were like rocks. "I was told that Voldemort laughed at the news and announced to his Death Eaters that I had finally grown up, that I was finally a child." An opponent worth mentioning. Maybe he was right. After the day I let my brother die, I began to measure my followers, compare each other's importance, and think about who I could risk and whom I could sacrifice. , to what extent. It's strange how much fewer pieces I lose once I know how much they're worth."

Harry's jaw seemed to be locked, as if it took an enormous effort to move his lips. "But Lucius didn't intentionally kidnap Hermione for ransom," Harry said reluctantly, "From Lucius' point of view, someone else broke the armistice agreement first. Under this premise, how much is Hermione worth? Long? Don't worry about Danish gold [2], if it's just a general threat to her life, how much should we spend to save her? Ten thousand Galleons? Five thousand?"

The old wizard didn't answer.

"Funny," said Harry, his voice trembling like a reflection in water, "you know what's my worst memory the day I faced the dementors? It was my parents dying situation, I heard their voices, and everything."

Behind half-moon spectacles, the old wizard's eyes widened.

"One thing," said Harry, "I've thought about it time and time again. The Dark Lord gave Lily Potter the chance to go away. He said she could escape. He told her that dying in the cradle wouldn't save her baby. 'Go away, stupid woman, if you have any sense of judgment--'" Harry was shaken off by a terrible chill as he uttered the words from his own lips. , and continued. "Afterwards I kept thinking, I can't help but, is the Dark Lord right? If only the mother had walked away. She tried to curse the Dark Lord, but it was suicide, she must have known it was suicide. She wasn't It's a choice between her own life and mine, she's choosing between letting her live or both of us dying together! If she does the logical thing and walks away, I mean, I love that too Mum, but Lily Potter will be alive now, and she'll be my mother!" Tears blurred Harry's eyes, "I understand now, I know what it's like to be a mother. She can't get away from the cradle .She can't! Love won't go away!"

It was as if the old wizard had been hit, as if a chisel had struck him right in the center and smashed him to pieces.

"What did I say?" whispered the old wizard, "What did I say to you?"

"I don't know!" Harry yelled, "I didn't even listen!"

"I - I'm sorry, Harry - I -" the old wizard buried his face in his hands, and Harry could see Albus Dumbledore weeping, "I shouldn't, say things like that to you - I shouldn't, resent your innocence—”

Harry stared at the wizard for another moment, then turned and strode out of the dark room, down the stairs, through the office—

"I don't know why you're still on his shoulders," Harry said to Fox.

——Walking out of the oak gate, stepped onto the infinitely rotating spiral staircase.

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Harry arrived at the Transfiguration classroom earlier than anyone, including Professor McGonagall.There had been a Charms lesson in his year before this, but he hadn't tried to take it at all.He wondered if Professor McGonagall would catch up with today's class.The empty desks and blank blackboards around him felt ominous, as if he was standing alone in Hogwarts with all his friends gone.

According to the schedule, today's lesson was about staying transformed, and Harry had already kept all the rules in mind when he transformed a large rock into a shiny diamond on his pinky finger.For the rest of the class, it would be a theory lesson, not a practical one; which was a pity, because he could have focused on Transfiguration to free his mind.

Harry had vaguely noticed that his hands were trembling, so that when he took out his Transfiguration book, he had difficulty untying the tie of the Mork bag.

"Your injustice to Dumbledore is appalling," said the voice that Harry once called Slytherin, and which now seemed to be called economic reason and perhaps conscience.

Harry's eyes fell on the textbook, but this part was so familiar that it was indistinguishable from a blank sheet of paper.

"Dumbledore fought a war with the Dark Lord, who went to great lengths to destroy him in the most brutal way possible.He had to choose between losing the war and losing his brother.Albus Dumbledore knew that he had learned in the worst possible way that a life was of limited value; and admitting it almost broke his sanity.But you, Harry Potter - you already knew that. 』

"Shut up," the boy said to the empty Transfiguration classroom, though no one was there to listen.

"You have read Philip Tetlock's experiments [3] in which people were asked to choose between sacred and secular values, such as a man who had to spend a million dollars for a liver to save a Five-year-olds, or hospital administrators who spend that $100 million on other medical equipment or doctors' salaries.The subjects in the experiment became very angry and wanted to punish the hospital administrator for daring to consider this option.Harry Potter, do you remember reading this?Do you remember how stupid you felt about the emotion?Because there's no point in having hospitals or doctors if medical equipment and doctors' salaries don't equally save lives.If that liver costs a billion pounds and it will bankrupt the hospital the next day, should the hospital administrators pay that money? 』

"Shut up!" the boy whispered.

"Every time you use money to save lives with a certain probability, you establish a lower limit for the value of money for life.Every time you refuse to spend money to save a life with a certain probability, you establish a monetary value for life.If your upper limit doesn't match your lower limit, that means you're able to move money from one place to another, saving more lives for the same amount of money spent.So, if you want to save the most lives with finite money, your choices have to match the monetary value of human life determined by some method; if not, then you can do better by reallocating the money.How pathetic are they, and how hollow is their wrath, who refuse to say that money and life are comparable.All they do is to pretend to take the moral high ground and hinder the implementation of the strategy that will save the most lives...”

"You know this, and you still said and did that to Dumbledore. 』

"You deliberately tried to hurt Dumbledore's feelings. 』

"He never tried to hurt you, Harry Potter, not once. 』

Harry put his head in his hands.

Why did Harry say those words to a sad old wizard?That old wizard had fought hard, and endured more torture than anyone should?Even if the old wizard was wrong, after all he'd been through, should he be hurt by it?Why did a part of Harry seem to resent the old wizard irrationally, venting on him more viciously than Harry had ever hurt anyone, that Harry hadn't thought about restraint when that rage surged, and when Harry left him Calm down immediately after your side?

"Is it because you knew Dumbledore wouldn't fight back?No matter what you say to him, no matter how unfair, he will never attack you in his own power, he will never treat you the way you treat him?Is this how you treat people you know won't fight back?Is James Potter's bullying gene finally showing? 』

Harry closed his eyes.

Like the Sorting Hat talking in his head—

"What is the real cause of your anger? 』

"What are you afraid of? 』

At this time, a whirlwind of scenes flashed through Harry's mind. The former Dumbledore covered his face with his hands and wept bitterly; the current old wizard stood upright, tall and terrifying; A scene of her shackled and screaming in a metal seat when leaving her with the dementors; a scene of a woman with long white hair (does she look like her husband?) in her bedroom Fell in flames, a wand pointed at her, and orange flames reflected in half-moon glasses.

Albus Dumbledore seemed to think Harry was better at this sort of thing.

And Harry knew he probably would.Anyway, he understands math.

But everyone understands, somehow everyone understands, that utilitarian ethicists don't actually rob banks in order to distribute money to the poor.Throwing away all moral compass won't really lead to a utopia of sunshine and roses and happy people.The prescription for consequentialism is to adopt strategies that lead to the best overall outcome, rather than those that have one positive outcome while ruining all others.Expected utility maximizers should take common sense into account when calculating expectations.

Before anyone warned Harry, he somehow figured it out.He knows it before he reads about Vladimir Lenin or the history of the French Revolution.Maybe it was Harry's earliest sci-fi stories that reminded him to beware of people with good intentions, or maybe he came up with the logic himself.In any case, he knew from the beginning that if he set aside morality every time he had a reason to do so, the end result would not be good.

At this point, a final scene entered his mind: Lily Potter standing in front of her baby's cradle, calculating different outcomes: what would happen if she stayed there trying to curse her enemies (dead Lily, Harry dead), and the consequences if she walks away (Lily alive, Harry dead), weigh the expected effects, and make the only rational choice.

If she did, she would be Harry's mother.

"But humans can't live like that," the boy's lips whispered into the empty classroom, "Humans can't live like that."

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1.Replacement value: Refers to the full cost of repurchasing the same asset or manufacturing the same product.See: baike.baidu/view/2096572.htm

2. Danish gold: Britain was harassed by the Vikings all the year round in the early Middle Ages, and Britain collected taxes and handed them over to the Vikings in exchange for peace.It is basically equivalent to the old coins of the Northern Song Dynasty. baike.baidu/view/2112161.htm

3. Philip E. Tetlock's experiment is basically as described in this article. More specific examples of "taboo trade-offs" can be found in this document: researchgate.net/publication/259729342_Taboo_Scenarios