Harry Potter and the Way of Reason

Harry stepped on the spiraling leaves of the giant evergreen, and felt it like the fertile soil of the forest; not as hard as cement, but able to bear his weight.Harry watched the vine tendrils warily, but they didn't move.

As Harry reached the bottom of the leaf-covered spiral staircase, the vines jerked out and entangled his hands and feet.

After struggling a little, Harry let himself relax.

"Interesting," Professor Quirrell floated down from the top without touching the leaves and vines of the plants, "I noticed that you don't have much trouble surrendering to a plant."

Harry watched the Defense Professor more closely, his scrutiny no longer affected by panic.Professor Quirrell was able to stand and move, and had no apparent difficulty in flying; his sense of impending doom was strong.But his eye sockets were still sunken, and his arms were thin and weak.His illness wasn't feigned; the obvious guess was that the Defense Professor had recently eaten another unicorn, so he had temporarily regained some of his strength.

Also, the Defense Professor is speaking under the mask of Professor Quirrell, not as Voldemort; which might not be a bad thing for Harry.Harry didn't know why that was - unless the Defense Professor still needed him for some reason - but it was clearly in Harry's interest to continue acting with him.

"You put me in a trap on purpose, Professor," Harry replied in the tone he used to talk to Professor Quirrell.The character, the mask, reminding him of what our relationship once was... "If I had come by myself, I would have used my broom."

"Maybe. How would an average first year handle this challenge if they had a wand?" The vines of the plant were reaching for Professor Quirrell, but Professor Quirrell was suspended just out of their reach.

Harry remembered now that Professor Sprout had talked about a plant called Devil's Web, and herbalism textbooks said it liked cool, dark places, like caves—but why would such a leafy plant like dampness? That's something no one can tell. "I'm guessing it's a devil's web that might flinch from light or heat. So maybe first graders use lumos? Today I use blazing fire, but I only learned the spell in May."

The professor of defense twirled his wand, and a liquid sprayed out from the tip of the wand like a spray, hitting the base of the plant vines, making a soft click, followed by a light hiss.All the vines that touched Harry pulled back frantically, and began to slap the growing wound on the surface of the plant, as if trying to drive away the pain; the plant seemed to be screaming silently.

Professor Quirrell floated down the whole way: "Now it is afraid of light, heat, acid, and me."

After taking a good look at his robes and the floor to make sure the acid hadn't spilled elsewhere, Harry stepped over the last few leaves and onto the floor.Harry had begun to wonder if Professor Quirrell meant something, but Harry didn't know what he meant. "I thought we were on a mission, Professor. I can't stop you, but am I really wise to take this long?"

"Oh, we've got plenty of time." Professor Quirrell seemed amused. "If anyone finds out we're here and the guards have been replaced by Inferi, there's bound to be a commotion. If you find out during a Quidditch match With such a commotion going on, you would act differently when you go back to this time and talk to Snape."

Harry felt a slight chill as he grasped the words.His attempt to beat Professor Quirrell must not have disturbed the school, or at least not the Quidditch game, because the Quidditch game had not been disrupted.Even if enough power could be summoned to subdue Voldemort, it might not be easy without Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and everyone at the Quidditch match not being disturbed...

It's really hard to fight smart enemies.

Even so... Even so, Harry still felt that if he was standing in the position of Professor Quirrell, he would not be able to talk to him at leisure, nor would he play psychological tactics.Professor Quirrell's unhurriedness is to gain some kind of advantage.But what advantage can he earn?Does he need to wait for something else to be done?

"By the way, have you betrayed me?" Professor Quirrell asked.

"[Snake] hasn't betrayed you yet. [Snake]" Harry hissed.

The Defense Professor made a definite gesture with the gun held in his left hand, and Harry walked to the large wooden door at the end of the room and opened it.

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The next room has a smaller diameter and a higher ceiling.The vaulted alcoves emit white light rather than blue light.

All around them, hundreds of winged keys whizzed by, fluttering wildly through the air.After a few seconds of observation, it became apparent that only one key was dyed the same golden yellow as the Snitch - though it moved more slowly than the Snitch in a real Quidditch match.

At the other end of the room was a door with a large keyhole that stood out.

A broom is leaning against the wall on the left, which is the school's sturdy and durable sweeping seven stars.

"Professor," said Harry, looking up at the hordes of keys whizzing past, "you said you'd answer my questions; what the hell is going on here? If you think you've closed a door , it cannot be opened without the key, then you will store the key in a safe place, and the key copy will only be given to someone who is trusted and approved to enter the door. You will not put wings on the key, and then lean on a broom against the wall ...so what the hell are we doing here, and what's the situation? It's easy to guess that the Magic Mirror is the Stone's only real protection, but why are there other measures—and, why? Encourage first graders to come here?"

"I'm not really sure," replied the Defense Professor.He was already in the room, standing quite far to Harry's right, maintaining the distance between them. "But I'll answer your question, because I promise you. Dumbledore's style is to do twelve things that look crazy, and only eight or nine of them have any inner meaning. My guess is, Dumbledore tried to make me think that I could send a student to be my puppet. That would make it more likely that Voldemort would not think it was smart enough to do so, or at least Dumbledore predicted that would be his reaction. Imagine Dumbledore initially considering How to guard the Philosopher's Stone. Imagine him debating whether to lay a real danger to guard the Philosopher's Stone. Imagine him imagining some young student clumsily going through strange adventures at my orders. I think this is Dumbledore A situation that Lido was trying to avoid. Making the tactic seem inelegant by pretending to invite me to adopt it. Unless, of course, I misunderstood what Dumbledore thought Voldemort would think." Professor Quirrell grinned, and he The smile on his face was as natural as any he'd given Harry before. "Dumbledore wasn't born cunning, but he had to use it, so he did what he could. To accomplish the task, Dumbledore used intelligence, perseverance, learning from his mistakes, and showing his utter innocence." No talent. Because of that alone, he's extremely unpredictable."

Harry turned and looked towards the door across the room.This is no game for Dumbledore, Professor. "My guess is that the standard solution for first-years is to ignore the broom and just grab the key with the Levitation Charm, and since this isn't a Quidditch match, there's no rule against using Levitation Charms. So you're going to blow this level What ridiculously powerful spell?"

There was a brief silence.Only the keys whizzed.

Harry stepped back from Professor Quirrell: "I probably shouldn't have said that, should I."

"Oh, you should have said it," replied Professor Quirrell, "I think it's quite reasonable to say that when the most powerful dark wizard in the world is standing a few steps away from you."

Professor Quirrell tucked his wand back into the cuff of his other hand - the one that sometimes held the gun.

Then the defense professor put his hand into his mouth and took out what looked like a tooth.He tossed the dentures high, and when they fell they were transformed into a wand; Harry's mind was ignited with a strange familiarity, as if some part of him recognized the wand, felt that it was... a part of him ...

Thirteen and a half inches, yew.Phoenix tail feather staff core.Harry took note of the information given by the wandmaker Ollie at first because it seemed relevant to the plot.Both that event and the thinking behind it felt like a lifetime away.

The Defense Professor raised his wand, drawing a flaming rune symbol in the air, jagged and sinister, and Harry took another instinctive step back.Then, the defense professor said: "Az-reth.Az-reth.Az-reth."

The fiery red runes began to pour out... twisted flames, as if the jagged corners of the runes had become attributes of the flame itself.The bright flames were scarlet, a redder than blood, and shone with a scorching glare like an arc welder.It didn't feel right that such a brilliant light was this color, because something so red shouldn't shine so intensely; the burnt crimson was pierced by jet-black veins that seemed to suck away the firelight.In the blackened flames, intertwined scarlet and darkness outline the outlines of animals, twisting and deforming from one predator to another, cobras into hyenas, hyenas into scorpions.

"Az-reth.Az-reth.Az-reth." When Professor Quirrell repeated the word six times, the volume of the red and black flame pouring out was also six times the size of the small bush.

When Professor Quirrell's eyes locked on the cursed fire, the deformation of the flame slowed down, and it was fixed on a single image: a blackened phoenix burning with blood.

Harry felt a terrible certainty that if the Black Flame Phoenix touched Fawkes, the real Phoenix would die, never to be reborn.

Professor Quirrell gestured with his wand, and the black flame flew across the room.It faced the door and the keyhole, and with a single wave of its flaming crimson wings, most of the door and part of the archway were destroyed.The tainted scarlet flame continued to fly forward.

Harry only had time to glimpse through the opening to see the gigantic statues begin to raise their swords and clubs before black flames descended upon them, burning them apart.

After the end, the black flame phoenix flew back from the hole, hovering over Professor Quirrell's left shoulder, hovering with the sun-like crimson claws, only an inch away from his robe.

"Go on," said Professor Quirrell. "It's safe now."

Harry walked forward, needing to activate the cognitive mode of his dark side in order to remain calm enough.He stepped over the fiery corners of the wreckage of the gate, looking at the gigantic ruined chess pieces that filled the entire chessboard.The black and white marble floor tiles began five meters from the destroyed doorway, spread all the way to the opposite wall, and disappeared five meters away from the next door on the opposite side of the room.The ceiling is much higher than the statues would have achieved otherwise.

"I'd guess," said Harry, keeping his voice calm in his dark side cognitive mode, "that the standard answer is to use the broom from the previous room to fly over these statues, since there's no need to get the key?"

Behind him, Professor Quirrell laughed; it was Voldemort's laugh. "Go on," said a voice that became colder and higher. "Go to the next room. I want to see how you interpret the things in that room."

This was prepared by Dumbledore for the first years, Harry reminded himself, it must be safe.So he walked past the broken chessboard, took hold of the doorknob, and pushed the door inward.

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Half a second later, Harry slammed the door and jumped back.

It took Harry several seconds to catch his breath and regain control.Behind the door continued the deafening roar and the thumping of stone clubs against the floor.

"I speculate," said Harry, his voice also turning cold, "since it's unlikely that Dumbledore put a real troll in there, the next challenge is actually a vision from my worst memory. Like a dementor, Just projecting the memory into the outside world. Funny, Professor."

Professor Quirrell approached the door, and Harry stood far away.The sense of impending doom surrounding the Professor was strong now, and Harry's dark side - or just clear instinct - told him that he must never come near the red and black flames hovering over Professor Quirrell's shoulders.

Professor Quirrell turned the door open and looked inside. "Well," said Professor Quirrell, "it's just the troll, as you said. Ah, well. I was hoping for a more interesting side of you. There's a Koko in the room Herkus, commonly known as Boggart."

"Boggart? What does it do—no, I guess I know what it does."

"Boggart," said Professor Quirrell, sounding like a Hogwarts professor in class again, "loves dark, closed spaces that are not opened often, such as the discarded cupboard in the attic. It wants Alone, so it manifests itself in whatever form it thinks it can scare you away."

"Scared me away?" said Harry. "I killed the troll."

"You jumped out of the room without even thinking about it, and backed away. What the Boggart wants is for the other person to recoil instinctively, not for the threat to stand up to scrutiny. Otherwise, it would have chosen to morph into a more believable one before. Anyway, the standard counter-curse against Boggarts is, of course, Fiendfyre." Professor Quirrell gestured, and Black Flame leaped from his shoulders and walked through the door.

There was a short scream in the room, and then silence.

They entered the room where a Boggart used to be, this time led by Professor Quirrell.When the vision of the troll dissipated, the room was just another great hall, illuminated by the cold blue light of the wall candles.

Professor Quirrell looked far away, thoughtful.He crossed the room without waiting for Harry to follow, and opened the door on the opposite wall himself.

Harry followed him at a distance.

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The next room holds a cauldron, a shelf of bottled ingredients, a chopping board, stirring sticks, and other equipment used in potion making.The vaulted alcoves emitted white light rather than blue light, presumably because color vision was important when brewing potions.Professor Quirrell had already stood beside the potion brewing equipment, carefully examining the long roll of parchment in his hand.The door to the next room was guarded by a curtain of purple flames, which should have been more formidable, but looked vulnerable to the black flames hovering over Professor Quirrell's shoulders.

By this point, Harry had already gone on vacation with the absurdity of the tolerance system, so he didn't say what he thought: real-world security systems are meant to distinguish between authorized and unauthorized people, and thus need to be set Tasks that have licensed and non-licensed perform differently.For example, a good security measure could be to test that the attempted entry knows the unlock code, which only authorized persons are told, while a bad security measure could be to test whether the attempted entry can follow the written instructions that are kindly provided. To brew a potion.

Professor Quirrell tossed the parchment to Harry, and it fell tremblingly to the ground between them. "What do you think?" asked Professor Quirrell, taking a step back so Harry could pick up the parchment.

"No way," said Harry, after skimming the parchment. "Testing whether entrants can solve a ridiculously simple logic riddle to figure out the order of the ingredients, this kind of task still can't distinguish between authorized and unauthorized. Authorized personnel. Even with a more interesting logical riddle, such as the three gods or the hat color problem[1], it still misses the point entirely."

"Look at the back," said Professor Quirrell.

Harry turned the two feet of parchment over.

On the back of the parchment, written in tiny letters, were the longest cooking instructions Harry had ever seen. "What the hell is-"

"It's the Brilliant Potion, used to extinguish the Purple Flame," replied Professor Quirrell. "It's made by adding the same ingredients over and over again, each time in a slightly different way. Imagine some impatient first-year The students passed through all the other rooms, thinking they were about to reach the mirror, only to encounter this quest. This room is indeed the work of the Potions Master."

Harry glanced directly at the black flame on Professor Quirrell's shoulder: "Can't fire beat fire?"

"Yes," replied Professor Quirrell, "but I'm not sure I should use it. What if there's a trap in this room?"

Harry had no desire to be stuck in this room, brewing potions for fun, or for any other reason for Professor Quirrell to walk him through these halls at his leisure.The potion recipe reads that bellflowers are to be added 35 times each, and "A Lock of Bright Hair" is added fourteen times... "Perhaps this potion will give off a poisonous gas that is fatal to adults but not harmful to children. Or Any of a hundred other deadly tricks, if we're suddenly serious now. Are we serious now?"

"This room is the work of Severus Snape," said Professor Quirrell, looking thoughtful again. "Snape is not a bystander to the game, not quite. He lacks Dumbledore." Lido's intelligence, but with a killing intent that Dumbledore never had."

"Well, whatever the circumstances of this level, it doesn't really stop kids," Harry commented, "lots of first graders get through it. And if you can somehow just let kids through, From Dumbledore's point of view, then, this would force Voldemort to possess a child to enter the next room. I don't see the point of this level given their goals."

"Indeed," said Professor Quirrell, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "But you see, boy, the other rooms have triggers and brigade marks, but this one doesn't. There's no subtle ward to break. It's almost like inviting me to jump over a magic spell." Potions were brewed, and straight into the next room - but Snape knew Voldemort would see this. If there were indeed traps for those who did not make potions, it would be wiser to set up a barrier so that the The room appeared to be no different from any other room."

Harry listened, frowning, intently. "So...the only purpose of not setting up a detection network here is to prevent you from forcing your way through this room."

"I expected Snape to predict that I could reason that out," said Professor Quirrell, "but further back, I couldn't predict what level of the game he thought I was playing. I'm quite Be patient and give yourself enough time to do it. But Snape doesn't know me, he only knows Voldemort. He's seen Voldemort sometimes scream in frustration, act on impulse, and it backfires. From Snape's For perspective: this is the Potions professor at Hogwarts telling Voldemort to be patient and follow directions to enter, as if Voldemort were just a schoolboy. I could easily obey with a smile and retaliate later. But Snape Didn't know Voldemort could have taken that line of thought so easily." Professor Quirrell looked at Harry, "Boy, you saw me floating in the air at the Devil's Snare, right?"

Harry nodded.Then he noticed his confusion. "My Charms book says it's impossible for a wizard to levitate themselves."

"That's right," replied Professor Quirrell. "The Charms books do say so. No wizard can levitate himself, and objects can't support their own weight; just as you can't pull yourself up by your shoelaces. But only Voldemort can fly - how? Answer as soon as possible."

If only this question could be answered by a first grader—"You let people put broomstick spells on your underwear and forget about them."

"Not exactly," said Professor Quirrell. "The Broomstick Charm can only be cast on long, rigid strips. Cloth won't work."

Harry frowned. "How long does the object need to be? Can you attach a short broom stick to a protective cloth belt and use it to fly?"

"It's true that I strapped spelled clubs on my arms and legs at first, but that was just to learn to fly in a new way." Professor Quirrell rolled up the sleeves of his robe, revealing his bare arms, "Can you See, I have nothing up my sleeve now."

Harry took this additional constraint into account: "You had someone put a broomstick spell on your bones?"

Professor Quirrell sighed: "And that's one of Voldemort's most frightening abilities, at least that's what I've heard. After all these years and a lot of reluctant Legilimency, I still haven't done it." Clear what strings are broken in the minds of ordinary people...but you are not ordinary people. It is time for you to start contributing to this expedition. You have known Snape in recent years. Tell me about your own experience with this Analysis of the room."

Harry hesitated, trying to appear thoughtful.

"I want to remind you," said Professor Quirrell, the black flame phoenix on his shoulders seemed to stretch its neck, glaring at Harry, "if you deliberately fail me, it will also be counted as betrayal. Remember, the Philosopher's Stone is the The key to Miss Jay's resurrection, and I'm holding hundreds of students hostage."

"I'll remember." The next moment Harry's creative wonder brain had an idea.

Harry wasn't sure if he should say it or not.

The silence stretches.

"Have you thought of anything?" said Professor Quirrell. "Answer in Parseltongue."

No, it's not that easy to hide your thoughts; opponents are smart enough to force you to tell the truth at any moment. "Severus, or at least Severus now, has great respect for your intelligence." Harry turned, "I think... I think he probably expected Voldemort to believe that Severus didn't think Voldemort could Pass this test of patience, but Severus actually expected Voldemort to pass."

Professor Quirrell nodded: "It makes sense. Do you believe in this theory yourself? Answer in Parseltongue."

"[Snake] believed. [Snake Bi]" Harry hissed.Knowing information and not reporting it can be dangerous, and it is not even safe to withhold thoughts and ideas... "Therefore, the intention of this room is to hold Voldemort for an hour. If I want to kill you, and believe what Dumbledore believes , then I should obviously try to use the Dementor's Kiss. ​​I mean, they thought you were a disembodied soul—by the way, are you?"

Professor Quirrell remained motionless. "Dumbledore wouldn't have thought of that," said Professor Quirrell after a while, "but Severus might." Professor Quirrell tapped his fingers on his cheek, eyes far away. "You can dominate a dementor, boy, are there any dementors around?"

Harry closed his eyes.If dementor-like hollows of the world were indeed nearby, he couldn't feel them now. "There are no dementors that I can sense."

"Answer in snake language."

"[Snake] can't sense the Life Eater. [Snake Bi]"

"But you were telling the truth when you suggested it was possible? You weren't trying to play a clever game?"

"[Snake] is the truth. Not a trick. [Snake Bi]"

"Maybe there is a way to hide the dementors and order them to jump out and eat the possessed soul as soon as they see it..." Professor Quirrell was still tapping his cheek, "Maybe I can indeed be regarded as a possessed soul. You can also order the dementors Eat anyone who walks through this room too quickly, or anyone who isn't a child. Keep in mind that I hold the lives of Hermione and hundreds of other students hostage to me; Under the circumstances, if a dementor jumps out, will you use your ability to dominate the dementor to protect me? Answer in Parseltongue."

"[Snake] doesn't know. [Snake]" Harry hissed back.

"[Snake] Life Eater can't destroy me, I think. [Snake Bi]" Professor Quirrell hissed, "[Snake] If they get too close, I will just abandon this body. I will return quickly this time , unstoppable. Will torment your parents for years as punishment for your obstruction of me. Hundreds of student hostages will die, some of whom you call friends. Now I ask again. If the Life Eater comes, will you use Does the ability to control the Life Eater protect me? [Snake Bi]”

"[Snake] will. [Snake Bi]" whispered Harry.Harry's suppressed sadness and shock came back up, but his dark side had no established way of dealing with those emotions.Why, Professor Quirrell, why are you so...

Professor Quirrell smiled: "This reminds me. Have you betrayed me?"

"[Snake] hasn't betrayed you yet. [Snake Bi]"

Professor Quirrell walked up to the potion equipment and began to chop up the roots with one hand, the speed of the knife was so fast that the knife was almost invisible, and it seemed effortless.Li Huo Phoenix slowly flew to the opposite corner of the room, waiting there. "Given all these uncertain possibilities, the sensible move would be to prolong the time through this, like first graders," said Professor Quirrell. "We might as well chat while we wait. Do you have any questions, kid?" I said I'd answer, so ask."

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[1] Three gods or hat color problem: famous logic puzzle cambodiacalling.blogspot/2009/08/logic-puzzle-three-idols.html//en.wikipedia/wiki/Prisoners_and_hats_puzzle

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Annotation: The author EY's comment in this chapter: "You group of people who are arguing about the secret of the defense professor should make a bet, hurry up and make a bet, or keep your mouth shut forever."