Harry Potter and the Way of Reason

That day, Harry's eyes filled with tears again.Ignoring the bewildered eyes of the Ravenclaws in the common room, he reached for the silver creature Draco Malfoy had sent and held it in his arms as if it were alive; Walking in the direction of his dormitory, walking almost blindly to the bottom of his box, the silver snake waited quietly in his arms.

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Fifth meeting: Sunday, April 4, at 19:10 am

Since Harry Potter owed Lucius Malfoy 58203 zero Galleons, Lord Malfoy asked Harry Potter to attend the meeting of debtors in accordance with British law, held at Gringotts Central Bank.

Chief Wizard Dumbledore tries to prevent Harry from leaving the safety of Hogwarts (a phrase that makes Harry Potter raise his finger and quietly put double quotes on the air).And the Boy Who Lived himself, for his part, seemed to weigh the pros and cons for a moment before agreeing to the meeting, oddly cooperative in the face of his enemy's demands.

Harry Potter's legal guardian, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, overruled his ward's consent in the eyes of Magical Britain.

The Wizengamot Debt Committee overruled the Hogwarts Headmaster's decision.

The Chief Sorcerer overruled the Debt Committee's decision.

The Wizengamot overruled the Chief Wizard's decision.

And so the Boy Who Lived made his way to Gringotts Central Bank under the tight protection of Mad-Eye Moody and a trio of Aurors; Moody's bright blue eyes swiveling wildly in every direction, As if to signal to any would-be assailants that he was on guard and always on the lookout, and that anyone who dared to sneeze in the general direction of the Boy Who Lived would happily throw that Human kidneys were burned to ashes.

As they walked through the wide-open front doors of Gringotts, past the motto "Strength comes from loyalty," Harry Potter watched more carefully than ever.During the first three times Harry had been to Gringotts, he had only had time to admire the marble beams, the burning golden torches, and the buildings that were different from those used by humans in Magic Britain.After that there was Azkaban and other things; and now, on his fourth visit, Harry is thinking about the goblin rebellion and the long-standing resentment that goblins have had for not being allowed to have wands , and some facts that were not written into the first-year history textbook, Harry guessed it using the pattern matching method, and Professor Flitwick confirmed it very quietly.Voldemort kills wizards and goblins as well - unless Harry really overlooked something, which is an incredibly stupid move from Voldemort's point of view - but what do goblins do to the Boy Who Lived , Harry knew nothing about it.Leprechauns have a reputation for paying their debts and taking their losses, as well as for taking a somewhat biased approach to these accounts.

Today, the armored guards standing at regular intervals around the bank stare blankly at the Boy Who Lived, glaring at Moody and the Aurors, and flipping them contemptuously from time to time. supercilious.At tables and counters in the bank's foyer, goblin tellers passed fistfuls of Galleons into the wizard's hands, casting the same contemptuous look at all of them; one teller grinned sharply. fangs, the witch it faced looked angry and desperate.

If my understanding of human nature is correct—if my conjecture that all magical humanoid creatures simply have human genes plus a heritable magical effect is correct—then you wouldn't Treat each other, or I say I sympathize with you, and become a wizard's friend.But I doubt if you would help the Boy Who Lived to overthrow the Ministry of Magic if I promised to overturn the wand laws after the fact...or if I quietly gave you wands and spellbooks in exchange for your support...that's why wands Is there a reason why manufacturing secrecy is confined to a few like Ollivander?But if you are really human, just normal human beings, then the kingdom of goblins may also have its own inherent horror, its own Azkaban, because that is also human; if that is the case, sooner or later I will overthrow Or reform your government.Well.

An elderly goblin appeared before them. Harry nodded politely, and the elderly goblin raised his chin stiffly in response.There was no wild train ride this time; instead, the older goblin led them into a short corridor that ended in a small waiting room with three stools for goblins and a chair for wizards , the chairs are empty.

"Don't sign anything Lucius Malfoy gives you," Mad-Eye Moody said. "Anything, you understand, boy? If Malfoy gives you a copy of The Amazing Adventures of the Boy Who Lived ", let you sign it, and tell him you broke your finger. When you're in Gringotts, don't touch a quill for a second. If someone hands you a quill, break it, Then break your own fingers. Do I need to go on explaining, boy?"

"Not much," said Harry, "we have lawyers in Muggle Britain too, and they'll think your lawyers are cute."

Moments later Harry Potter handed his wand to an armored goblin guard who poked Harry around with various interesting-looking probes, and Harry slapped his Mork The bag was handed over to Moody for safekeeping.

Then Harry went through another door, and a small thief-proof waterfall, the water that wet his skin evaporated the moment he stepped out of the waterfall.

At the other end of the door was a large and luxuriously furnished room, across which a huge long golden table ran; on one side of the table were two huge luxurious leather chairs, and on the other side was a small wooden stool, which was the debtor's seat .Two goblins in full armor stood watching the room, wearing ornate earplugs and glasses.Neither side is allowed to possess wands or any other magical items, and if anyone dares to use wandless magic in this peaceful meeting witnessed by Gringotts, the goblin guard will immediately attack.The ornate earplugs worn by the goblin guards prevent the goblin guards from hearing conversations unless they are directly named, while the glasses make wizards' faces dim in their eyes.In short, this comes close to being truly safe, at least when you're an Occlumencyist.

Harry climbed onto his uncomfortable wooden stool, thought sarcastically "very subtle" in his head, and went to wait for his creditor.

After only a short interval - far shorter than the time the law can compel a debtor to have to wait - Lucius Malfoy entered the room and sat down in his leather chair.His snake-headed cane was out of hand, his long white hair was floating behind him as always, and the expression on his face was unreadable.

Behind him quietly followed a young boy with light blond hair. This boy was now wearing a black robe that was much more refined than any Hogwarts school uniform. He followed his father's footsteps and controlled his expression.With a debt of forty Galleons, the boy was also a creditor to Harry, and also belonged to the Malfoy family, and so was technically included in this Wizengamot-approved meeting.

Draco.Harry didn't cry out, or change his expression.He couldn't think of what to say.Even the words "sorry" didn't seem appropriate.Harry hadn't dared to apologize to Draco's Patronus earlier when they'd had a few brief contacts to confirm the meeting, and it wasn't just because Lucius might have been listening.It was enough to know that Draco's happy thoughts were still happy, and that he could still want Harry to know it.

Lucius Malfoy spoke first, his voice steady and stern. "I don't understand what's going on at Hogwarts, Harry Potter. Would you mind explaining it to me?"

"I don't know," said Harry, "if I understood, these things wouldn't have happened, Lord Malfoy."

"Then answer my question. Who are you?"

Harry watched his creditor's face calmly. "I'm not who you think you are - You-Know-Who," said Harry.Harry wasn't exactly a fool, he finally figured out who Lucius Malfoy thought he was talking to in front of the Wizengamot. "Obviously, I'm not an ordinary boy. Equally obviously, it might have something to do with the Boy Who Lived thing. But I don't know as much about what's going on, or why, as you do. Much. I asked the Sorting Hat once, and it didn't know either."

Lucius Malfoy nodded dryly. "I can't think of any reason you'd pay a hundred thousand Galleons to save a Mudblood's life; except one. That would also explain her strength and bloodthirsty well. But then she died in at the hands of the troll, and you survived. And my son told me a lot of things about you, Harry Potter, things that don't make sense at all, and I've heard St. Munger's madman raving gibberish, which is more plausible than what my son told me about what you did while under the influence of Veritaserum, and the part of this absurd madness which you yourself carry out, I demand You explain it to me, now."

Harry turned to look at Draco, and Draco looked back, his expression contorted, then restrained, then tense again.

"Me too," Draco Malfoy's voice was sharp and trembling, "want, know, why, Potter."

Harry closed his eyes and said without looking. "A smart-ass boy raised by Muggles. You saw me, Draco, and you thought that if, among all the boys in his year, the Boy Who Lived could be guided to see the truth of everything, How helpful it would be to be friends with you. And I think the same about you. It's just that you and I believe in different truths. I don't mean that there are different truths, I mean that beliefs are different, but There's only one truth, and there's only one universe that can decide whether those beliefs are true or not—"

"You lied to me."

Harry opened his eyes and looked at Draco. "I'd rather say," said Harry in an unsteady voice, "that what I'm telling you is true in a way."

"In some way?" Draco looked as outraged as Luke Skywalker, and in no mood to accept Kenobi's excuse[1], "There's a word for that in a certain way." are real things. They are called lies!"

"Or tricks," Harry said quietly, "statements that are technically true but capable of giving the listener the impression of further falsehood. I think it's necessary to make that distinction clear. What I'm telling you is that A self-fulfilling prophecy; you believe you can't fool yourself, so you don't try. The tricks you learn are true, and if you try to fight them in your mind, it's bad for you. People can't use faith to convince themselves that blue is green, but they think they can, and that's almost as bad."

"You used me," said Draco Malfoy.

"I only use you in a way that makes you stronger. That's what it means to be used by a friend."

"Even I know that's not the definition of friendship!"

Now Lucius Malfoy spoke again. "What's the purpose? What's the expected result?" Even the elder Malfoy's voice was no longer so steady. "Why?"

Harry studied him for a moment, then turned to Draco. "Your father may not believe this," said Harry, "but you, Draco, should be able to find that everything that happened fits with that hypothesis. And any more cynical hypothesis would not explain why I didn't Pushing you harder when I have the advantage, or why I have taught you so much. I think I was witnessed in public grabbing a muggle-born girl so she wouldn't fall off the roof of Hogwarts The heir to House Malfoy would be an excellent compromise to lead Magical Britain after the reforms."

"So you're trying to convince me," said Lucius Malfoy bitterly, "that you're claiming you're crazy. Oh, let's put that aside. Tell me who put that troll in Hogwarts tz."

"I don't know," said Harry.

"Tell me who you suspect, Harry Potter."

"I have four suspects. One of them is Professor Snape—"

"Snape?" Draco blurted out.

"The second, of course, is the Defense Professor at Hogwarts, simply because he is the Defense Professor." Harry wanted to omit Professor Quirrell, if he was innocent, Harry didn't want him to cause the Malfoy family Note, but Draco might spot this, "Third, you won't believe me. The fourth is an all-encompassing category called everything else." And the fifth, Voldemort, I Think I shouldn't tell you.

Lucius Malfoy's face contorted in a growl. "You think I can't recognize the bait on your hook? Tell me about the third possibility, Potter, the answer you want me to think is real, and stop playing."

Harry looked at Lord Malfoy calmly. "I once read a book that I shouldn't have read, and it taught me this: Communication is an activity between equals. Employees lie to bosses, and bosses, in turn, expect employees to Lies to myself. I'm not playing a fraud game, my thesis is that in our current situation, there's no way I can tell you about a third suspect and convince you that my story is more than just a decoy."

Draco spoke now. "That's the father, isn't it?"

Harry gave Draco a surprised look.

Draco said calmly, "You suspect father put trolls in Hogwarts to deal with Granger, don't you? That's what you're thinking, isn't it!"

Harry opened his mouth, was about to say "No, actually," and then for the first time in his life figured it out before he said it, and checked himself.

"I see..." said Harry slowly, "that's what happened. Lucius Malfoy publicly declared that Hermione wouldn't get away with her crimes, and lo and behold, a troll killed her ’” Harry smiled, baring his teeth. "If I deny it here, then Draco, who is not an Occlumency Master, will be able to testify after taking Veritaserum that the Boy Who Lived did not suspect Lucius Malfoy of sending The troll killed Hermione Granger, and she once swore allegiance to the noble Potter family, who just paid her blood debt with a hundred thousand Galleons, and so on." Harry leaned back gently Go, though his wooden stool had no backrest to allow him to do it properly. "But now that it's been named, I find it quite plausible. It's clear that you killed Hermione Granger, as you threatened in front of the entire Wizengamot."

"I didn't." Lucius Malfoy was expressionless again.

Harry bared his teeth again, making an expression that wasn't a smile. "So, then, someone else must have killed Hermione, interfered with the Hogwarts barriers, and the same person tried to frame Hermione for the murder of Draco Malfoy earlier. Either you were Kill Hermione Granger after getting paid for your life, or else you'll plant the attempted murder of your son on an innocent girl, and use false pretenses to take all of my family's fortune , one of which must be true."

"Maybe you killed her, hoping to use that as an excuse to get your money back." Lucius Malfoy leaned forward, staring at Harry.

"Then I wouldn't have given my money to save her in the first place. You already know that. Don't insult my intelligence, Lord Malfoy—no, wait a minute, sorry, you just had to say that , don't mind if Draco has to testify about it."

Lucius Malfoy sat back in his chair, dumbfounded.

"I tried to tell you, Father," Draco whispered, "but no one could imagine what Harry Potter was like until they met..."

Harry tapped his cheek with a finger. "So people are starting to notice the obvious? Actually, I'm surprised. I really didn't see this happening." Harry now had roughly the rhythm of Professor Quirrell's cynicism, and was able to Parody came out, "I don't think newspapers are able to report something like 'either X or Y must be true, but we don't know which'. I would only expect reporters to report a sequence of atomic sentences [ 2], such as 'X is true', 'Y is false', or 'X is true and Y is false'; rather than more complex logical relationships, such as 'if X is true Yes, then Y is also true, but we don't know if X is true'. And all your supporters can only say 'You can't prove that Lord Malfoy killed Granger, maybe someone else did ' and 'You can't prove that someone else framed Granger'; but, as long as things are uncertain, they should try to promote both conflicting hypotheses at the same time... etc. Come on, isn't the Daily Prophet your property?"

"The Daily Prophet," said Lucius Malfoy coldly, "is naturally not my property, and it deserves respect for publishing such bawdy nonsense. Unfortunately, not everyone with Influential wizards are so reasonable."

"Ah. Understood." Harry nodded.

Lucius glanced at Draco. "The rest of what he said—was it of any importance?"

"No, father, no."

"Thank you, son." Lucius turned to look at Harry.Once he spoke, his voice was close to his usual drawl, calm and confident. "If you admit to the Wizengamot what you know for sure, that I am not at all responsible for it, I may be persuaded to do you some favors. I am willing to drastically reduce the debt you still owe the Malfoys, and even adjust Debt terms that allow deferment of repayment periods."

Harry looked at Lucius Malfoy firmly. "Lucius Malfoy. You now know full well that Hermione Granger was actually framed, that your son was the bait, that she had her memories altered or something worse happened, and that Po The Potter family has no ill will towards you before this. My proposal is that you return my family's money. I declare in front of the Wizengamot that the Potter family has no hostility towards the Malfoy family. We joined forces to fight and did this. We decided to go to hell with the characters we were meant to play, to ally with each other instead of fight. It would be a surprise to the enemy.”

The room fell into a brief silence, only the breathing of the two goblin guards remained.

"You are indeed crazy," said Lucius Malfoy coldly.

"It's called justice, Lord Malfoy. You can't expect me to cooperate with you when you're taking possession of the Potter family property under what you now know to be false pretenses. I understand how the situation looked to you at the time, But you now know the truth."

"You can't offer me anything more valuable than a hundred thousand Galleons."

"Didn't I?" said Harry flatly. "I doubt it. I think you're more interested in the long-term interests of the Malfoy family than in the politics of the personal preferences of a previous generation of failed Dark Lords." Harry gave Draco a pointed look, "The next generation is drawing its own battle lines and forming new alliances. Your son can be left out, or he can go straight to the top. Doesn't it matter to you?" Isn't it more important than the 200 Galleons you didn't expect and didn't really need?" Harry smiled coldly, "Forty thousand Galleons. 200 million Muggle pounds. Your son understands the basics of the Muggle economy. The size, I'm afraid it will surprise you. They will find it amusing that the fate of a country is determined by two million pounds. They will think it is cute. And I think so, Lord Malfoy. Not because I think Desperate. It's about you getting a fair chance to be fair to people."

"Oh?" said Lord Malfoy, "if I refuse you a fair chance, then what?"

Harry shrugged. "Then see what a coalition government looks like without the Malfoys. I'll pay you in cash if the government can be improved peacefully, and other actions would disturb the peace. Or, maybe Death Eaters They will be retried for past crimes and executed with justice, of course, all due to due process of law."

"You're really crazy," whispered Lucius Malfoy, "you have no power, no money, and yet you talk to me like that."

"Of course, it would be foolish to think I could scare you. After all, you're not a dementor."

Harry continued to smile.He had looked it up once, and it seemed that bezoar could cure almost any poison, provided you could pop it into someone's mouth just in time.Maybe it wouldn't be able to heal radioactive damage from deformed polonium, but on the other hand, maybe it could.So Harry looked up the freezing points of various acids and found that sulfuric acid could freeze at just ten degrees Celsius, which meant that Harry could buy a liter of sulfuric acid from a Muggle market, freeze it solid, and transform it into A piece of ice so small that it's not noticeable that water freezes and is thrown into someone's mouth for him to eat.After the deformation fails, the bezoar can't heal such damage.Of course, Harry doesn't intend to say this out loud, but now that he has failed to ensure that no one dies during his adventures, he no longer intends to follow the law, or even Batman's code of conduct[3].

This is your last chance to live, Lucius.Morally speaking, your life was bought and paid for the day you committed your first atrocity for the Death Eaters.You are still human, and your life still has intrinsic value, but you no longer have the moral protection that innocents deserve.Now, any good person has the power to kill you if they think doing so will save more lives in the long run; and if you get in my way, I'll come to the same conclusion about you.Whoever sent the troll to kill Granger must have had their eye on you too, and hit you with a curse that would melt an ex-Death Eater into a pile of rotten flesh.how sad.

"Father," Draco whispered, "I think you should think about it, Father."

Lucius Malfoy looked at his son, "You're kidding."

"It's true. I don't think Potter's books are just made up by him. No one can write them to that extent, and there are things I can check for myself. Even if only half of them are true, He's right, then, that a hundred thousand Galleons is nothing. If we gave him the money, he would really be friends with the Malfoys again—in the way he thinks they are, anyway. And if we don't Do it, and he will be your enemy, whether it benefits him or not, he will be your enemy. Harry Potter really thinks so. For him, it's not about money, it's about his heart Where the honor lies."

Harry Potter tilted his head and continued to smile.

"But let's get this part straight," Draco said, looking directly at him now.Flames burned in his eyes. "You failed me. And you owe me."

"I admit," said Harry quietly, "it depends on the rest of the matter, of course."

Lucius Malfoy opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. "Crazy," he said again.

A long argument ensued between father and son, and Harry resisted the urge to speak.

When the situation came to a point where it seemed that even Draco couldn't convince his father, Harry spoke again, proposing his next plan if the Potters and the Malfoys could join forces.

Then there was another argument between Lucius and Draco, and Harry remained silent again.

Finally, Lucius Malfoy turned and glared at Harry. "And you believe," said Lucius Malfoy, "that you will be able to persuade Longbottom and Burns to agree to this proposition even with Dumbledore's objections."

Harry nodded. "Of course, they'll be suspicious of your involvement. But I'll tell them it was my idea from the beginning, and that will help."

"I'm assuming," Lucius Malfoy said after a pause, "that in case I do go along with this crazy idea, I can draw up a contract that cancels nearly all outstanding debts. It will take More guarantees, of course—”

Harry reached into his robes just in time, pulled out a piece of parchment, unfolded it, and pushed it across the golden table. "I actually drafted the agreement myself," said Harry.He spent some time in the Hogwarts library studying all the law books he could find there.Thankfully, as far as Harry knew, the laws of magical Britain were charmingly simple by Muggle standards.The agreement stated that the original blood debt and compensation were cancelled, the Potter family's wealth and all other items in the vault would be returned, and the rest of the debt was cancelled. None of this was a problem for the Malfoy family, just It takes a few more lines to say it out loud. "I had to promise my protector not to sign anything you gave me. So I drafted this myself and signed it before I set off."

Draco let out a choked laugh.

Lucius read through the contract and smiled humorlessly. "How straightforward."

"I also promised I'd never touch a quill when I was at Gringotts," said Harry.He reached inside his robes again and produced a Muggle pen and a piece of plain paper. "Are those the right words?" Harry quickly scribbled out a legal clerk-like declaration that the Potters did not hold the Malfoys responsible for Hermione Granger's murder, nor did they believe they had anything to do with it. Anything related, and then held up the piece of paper for Lord Malfoy to review.

Lord Malfoy looked at the paper, rolled his eyes a little, and said, "Not bad, I think. But you should use the legal term 'indemnity' instead of 'pardon' if you want the correct meaning [4]—”

"Nice attempt, but it won't work. I know exactly what the word means, Lord Malfoy." Harry took his parchment and began copying out his original words more carefully.

When Harry had finished, Lord Malfoy reached across the golden table, picked up the pen, and looked at it thoughtfully. "One of your Muggle things, I suppose? Son, what's that for?"

"It can write without an inkwell," Draco replied.

"I can see that. I guess some people will find this a funny little thing." Lucius flattened the parchment with the contract on the table, and put his hand on the signature line. Thinkingly tapped the pen at the starting point.

Harry turned his eyes away to look at Lucius Malfoy's face, forcing himself to breathe evenly, but couldn't help his muscles relax completely.

"Our dear friend, Severus Snape," said Lucius Malfoy, continuing to tap his pen on the line awaiting his signature, "Professor of Defense who calls himself Quirrell. Now I ask again, Harry Potter, who is your third suspect?"

"If you're going to sign anyway, I strongly recommend that you sign first, Lord Malfoy. You'll benefit more from this message if you don't think I'm trying to induce you to believe something."

Another humorless smile. "I'm willing to take the risk. Say it now if you want the negotiations to continue."

Harry hesitated, then said calmly, "My third suspect is Albus Dumbledore."

The pen tapping on the parchment stopped. "A strange accusation," Lucius said slowly, "that Dumbledore's reputation has fallen because Hogwarts students died during his tenure. You think that just because he's my enemy, I'm going to believe it." Anything about him?"

"He was one of several suspects, Lord Malfoy, and not necessarily the most likely. But I was able to kill a full-grown troll because I owned a weapon. It's not strong evidence, but it's suspicious. If you think murdering his students is not Dumbledore's style, I thought so too."

"Isn't that his style?" Draco Malfoy asked.

Lucius Malfoy shook his head in a measured, cautious motion. "Not exactly, my son. Dumbledore's evil is different." Lord Malfoy leaned back in his chair, then sat up straight. "Tell me what weapon it is."

"I'm not sure I should explain the details in front of you, Lord Malfoy." Harry took a breath, "Let me be clear, I'm not trying to lure you into the idea that Dumbledore was behind it, I'm just is raising the possibility—”

Then Draco Malfoy spoke. "The device that Dumbledore gave you - is it a troll-killing weapon? I mean, just against trolls? Can you tell us that?"

Lucius turned to look at his son in some surprise.

"No..." Harry said slowly, "it's not some troll-killing sword, or anything like that."

Draco's eyes were focused. "Is that device effective against assassins?"

If they put up a protective spell, it will have no effect. "No."

"School fight?"

A stone growing in the throat is of course fatal. "No, I don't think it's targeting any humans."

Draco nodded. "Just magical creatures, then. Is it an effective weapon against an angry hippogriff, or something like that?"

"Does the Stunning Charm work on hippogriffs?" said Harry slowly.

"I don't know," Draco said.

"It works," said Lucius Malfoy.

Rather than trying to target Wingardim Leviosa and Spellstop - "then a stun spell would be a better way to fight the hippogriff." With that said, a deformed stone seems More and more it seems like it's only good against a magical creature with flesh and blood and skin with spell resistance. "But... I mean, maybe it wasn't meant to be a weapon, the way I used it was weird, maybe it was just a crazy whim—"

"No," said Lucius Malfoy slowly, "it's not a whimsy. It's not a coincidence. It wouldn't have happened to Dumbledore."

"That's him, then," Draco said.He narrowed his eyes slowly, then gave a vicious nod. "It's been him from the beginning. The Legilimency master at the court said someone had used Legilimency on Granger. Dumbledore