Harry Potter and the Way of Reason

Hermione felt neither kind nor righteous now, and there was a searing anger burning in her heart, and she wondered if Harry's dark side was like this (though I'm afraid it was far from it), and she shouldn't have done it for him. A stupid game to get so mad at, but—

her entire army.Two soldiers defeated her entire army.That's what they told her when she woke up.

That's a little too much.

"Okay," said Professor Quirrell.Up close, the Defense Professor looked less healthy than the last time she had been in his office; he was paler and moved more slowly.But his expression was as commanding as ever, and his eyes were equally piercing; he tapped his fingers on the table sharply, smack-smack. "I guess of the three of you, only Mr. Malfoy guessed why I called you here."

"Is it something to do with the noble and oldest family?" Harry asked suspiciously beside her, "I'm not breaking some crazy law by attacking Daphne, am I?"

"That's not true," the man replied in a sarcastic tone, "Miss Greengrass didn't initiate the proper duel ceremony, so she has no right to ask you to be removed from your family. But naturally, I will not allow formal No one follows these rules in war." The Defense Professor leaned forward, his chin resting on his folded hands, as if sitting upright would tire him.His eyes stared at them, sharp and dangerous. "General Malfoy. Why did I call you here?"

"General Potter is no longer an even fight against the two of us," Draco Malfoy replied quietly.

"What?" Hermione blurted out, "We almost got them done, if Daphne hadn't passed out—"

"Miss Greengrass didn't faint from running out of mana," said Professor Quirrell dryly. "While your soldiers were distracted by the scene of the general hitting the wall, Mr. Potter cast a spell behind her." A sleeping spell. But congratulations anyway, Miss Granger, for nearly defeating two Chaos soldiers with only 24 Sunshine Soldiers."

Her cheeks got hotter. "That--that's just--if I find out he's wearing armor--"

Professor Quirrell put his fingers together and stared at her, "Of course, you could have won, Miss Granger. Every lost battle has its way of being won. The world around us is full of opportunities, how many chances of exploding, but few notice because it requires a change in the way they think; there are a thousand Hufflepuff bones waiting to be sharpened in every fight. Generally speaking, if you The thought of trying to get everyone to work together to cast the spell, you can take off Mr Potter's chain mail and everything else except his underwear; it makes me suspect that Mr Potter is not very aware of his weakness. Or you You could have your soldiers swarm up and force Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom to the ground, snatching the wand from their hands. Mr. Malfoy's reaction wasn't thought-provoking, but at least he didn't completely ignore his thousand options. ’ a sarcastic smile, ‘but you, Miss Granger, unfortunately remember how to cast a Stunning Charm, so don’t scour your excellent memory for a dozen simpler spells that might work. And you let your The army put all their hopes on you, so they lost their fighting spirit after you fell. Afterwards, they continued to cast sleeping spells in vain, dominated by the combat habits they had trained, and failed to fight like Mr. Malfoy. Breaking the rules like that. I don't quite understand what the hell people are thinking when they repeatedly execute a failed strategy, but apparently, the realization that you can find another way is surprisingly rare. Just like that, the entire Sun Corps was wiped out by two soldiers That's it." The defense professor smiled coldly. "It's kind of like, how fifty Death Eaters took control of all of magical Britain, and why our beloved Ministry of Magic is still in control."

The defense professor sighed. "Nevertheless, Miss Granger, the fact remains that such a failure is not the first time for you. In the last battle, you fought jointly with Mr. Malfoy, but there was still a stalemate. As for you and Mr. Malfoy having to climb the rooftops to chase after Mr. Potter. The Legion of Chaos has proven twice in succession that its military strength is as strong as the other two legions combined. I have no choice. General Potter, you Eight warriors must be selected from your army, including at least one Lieutenant of Chaos, to be assigned to the Dragons and the Sunshine Corps—”

"What?" Hermione blurted out again, and she glanced at the other two generals to see that Harry was as shocked as she was, and that Draco Malfoy was just resigned.

"General Porter is stronger than the two of you combined," Professor Quirrell said calmly and accurately, "Your game is over, he won, and now it's time to rebalance the strength of the three armies so that he can give him a A whole new challenge."

"Professor Quirrell!" said Harry, "I didn't—"

"This is my decision as a professor of combat magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there is no room for negotiation." The words were still accurate, but Professor Quirrell's eyes made Hermione's blood run cold, even though he was staring at Harry, not her. "And I find it suspicious, Mr Potter, that you could kill exactly that many of their combined forces just as soon as you hoped to separate Miss Granger and Mr Malfoy and have them chase you to the roof. That's what I expected of you at the start of the year and I'm so annoyed that you haven't been doing your best in my classes! I've seen what you can really do Mr. Potter. You've surpassed Mal The level at which Mr. Foo or Miss Granger can fight you fairly, you must not pretend otherwise. Mr. Potter, I want to say to you as a professor: In order to stimulate your full learning potential, you must do your best, no Withholding for any reason - especially not childishly wondering what your friends will think!"

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By the time she left the Defense Professor's office, the army had grown and the dignity had shrunk, and she was trying very, very hard not to cry like a poor squashed bug.

"I didn't spare any energy!" said Harry hurriedly after they left Professor Quirrell's office and turned the first corner, the wooden door of the office disappeared behind the stone wall, "I didn't pretend, I never let over any of you!"

She didn't answer, couldn't answer, and if she tried to talk, everything would fall apart.

"Really?" Draco Malfoy said.General Feilong still had an expression of resignation. "Because Professor Quirrell's right, you know, it's really suspicious that you've suddenly defeated almost everyone in both of our armies as soon as you decided you were going to get us up on the rooftops after you. And didn't you say that, Bo Te, we have to beat you when you're serious about fighting?"

The burning sensation spread up her throat, and when it reached her eyes, she would cry out, and from then on she would only be a crying little girl in front of them.

"That—" Harry said urgently, she didn't look at him, but from the sound of his voice his head seemed to be turned towards her. "That's because——I had to work harder that time. There was an important reason. I was forced to do so, so I used a lot of tricks I usually saved—and—"

She always does her best, every time.

"—and me, I unleashed a side I rarely use in Defense class—"

So even if she was close to winning over Harry, if it really mattered, he could crush her just by getting into his dark side, right?

...Of course it is.How could she really beat him when she couldn't even look at Harry when he was in that scary state?

The hallway branched ahead, and Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy walked to the left of the stairs leading to the third floor, while she turned to the right, she didn't know where the road led, but she now Rather get lost in the castle for a while.

"Sorry, Draco," Harry said, and there was a sound of footsteps behind her.

"Leave me alone," she said, sternly as she said it, but she had to shut her mouth, press her lips tightly together, and hold her breath to keep the tears from pouring out.

The boy insisted on following, ran past her, and stopped in front of her, because he was a fool, that's why, and then Harry said, his voice becoming a desperate high-pitched whisper, When I was better than me in all courses, I didn't run away!"

He doesn't get it, he never gets it, Harry Potter will never get it, because no matter what match he loses, he's still the Boy Who Lived, if you're Harry Potter and Hermione Granger beats you, and everyone expects you to be stronger because of this challenge, and if you are Hermione Granger and Harry Potter beats you, it just proves that you are nothing.

"It's not fair," she said, her voice shaking, but she didn't cry, still didn't, "I shouldn't have to fight your dark side, I just—I—" I was 12, and she was so Thought.

"I've only used my dark side once, and that time was—by necessity!"

"So you defeated my whole army today as Harry?" She still wasn't crying, she wondered what her face was like now, whether it was an angry Hermione or a sad Hermione.

"I—" said Harry, lowering his voice a bit, "I didn't... didn't expect to win at the time, I know I said I was invincible, but that was just scaring you, I really I just wanted to hold you back a little bit—"

She walked on, right past him, and Harry's face tightened as she walked past him, as if he was about to cry.

"Is Professor Quirrell right?" a desperate shrill whisper came from behind her, "If you were my friend, I'd always be afraid of being better than you, knowing I'd hurt your feelings otherwise? It's not fair, Hermione!"

She took a breath, held her breath, and ran away, her feet racing across the flagstones, running as fast as she could in the blurred vision, running so that no one else could hear her cry, and this Once Harry didn't follow.

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Minerva was grading a Transfiguration homework due on Monday; she had just deducted two hundred points from a fifth-grader's parchment because that mistake could have killed someone.In her first year as a professor, she was outraged by the mistakes of her seniors, but now she has resigned herself to it.Not only do some people never learn their lesson, they don't even know they're incurable and just keep trying.Sometimes they will believe you when you tell them before they graduate from Hogwarts that they must never try any unusual experiments, that they must give up Free Transformation, and only use the Transfiguration Charm; but sometimes ...they won't.

She was analyzing a particularly complex answer when a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts; it wasn't her time to answer questions, but after serving as Head of Gryffindor, she quickly learned not to jump to conclusions .You can always deduct house points after the fact.

"Come in," she said bluntly.

The little girl who walked into her office had obviously cried, and washed her face afterwards, hoping that no one would see—

"Miss Granger!" said Professor McGonagall.It took her a moment to recognize the face with its tear-red eyes and puffy cheeks. "what happened?"

"Professor," said the little girl in a trembling voice, "you once said that if I was worried, or uncomfortable about anything, I should come to you right away—"

"That's right," said Professor McGonagall, "what's going on?"

The girl began to explain—

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Hermione stood quietly on the spiral staircase. This spiral body was not supposed to take her anywhere, but in fact took her all the way up.Hermione felt that this seemed to be an endless staircase spell, invented in 1733 by the wizard Alam Sabeti, who lived on the top of Mount Everest, which was not yet climbable by Muggles.It just doesn't make sense, Hogwarts is much older - maybe the spell was invented more than once?

She should have been scared, should have been nervous about her second meeting with the principal.

In fact, she was really scared and nervous about the second meeting with the principal.

Only Hermione Granger thought about it; she thought about it a lot, and when her lungs were on fire and she couldn't run anymore, she collapsed against the wall, curled up in a ball on her back Leaning against the cold stone wall, hugging my legs and crying, thinking.

Even if she lost to Harry Potter, she could never, ever lose to Draco Malfoy, which is completely and absolutely unacceptable, and Professor Quirrell praised General Malfoy, saying that he did not ignore his A thousand options; so Hermione, after crying, came up with fourteen spells she should have tried on Harry and Neville, and wondered if she'd made the same mistake in other things ; which is why she finally came and knocked on Professor McGonagall's door.Not to ask for help, Hermione didn't have any plans for help at the moment; just told Professor McGonagall everything, because it occurred to her that this seemed to be one of the thousand options Professor Quirrell was talking about.

So she told Professor McGonagall how Harry Potter had changed since the day the phoenix landed on his shoulder, how people increasingly saw her as Harry's appendage, and how Harry Growing estranged from all the others in the same year, and sometimes he walks around with a sad look on his face, like he's lost something, and she doesn't know what to do anymore.

Professor McGonagall told her they needed to speak to the Headmaster.

Hermione had been worried at first, but then she remembered that Harry Potter wouldn't be afraid of the Headmaster.Harry Potter just goes on a rampage and does whatever he wants.She thought maybe she should try this too, don't be afraid, do what has to be done, and see what happens, it can't be any worse anyway.

The never-ending staircase came to a halt.

No one touched it, and the oak door inlaid with bronze griffins opened automatically.

In the office, a black oak desk inlaid with dozens of drawers facing in all directions, and what appear to be drawers within drawers, is the silver-bearded headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Percival Woolfrey. C. Brian Dumbledore sat on the throne behind the desk, and Hermione met those kindly, shining eyes for three seconds before being drawn to everything else in the room.

Some time later—she wasn't sure how long, but she had counted the things in the room three times and still couldn't get the same answer, though her memory insisted that nothing was added or subtracted—the headmaster cleared Clearing his throat, he said, "Miss Granger?"

Hermione turned her head back sharply, feeling her cheeks burn a bit; but Dumbledore didn't look impatient at all, just serene, with a mildly inquiring look in his eyes behind half-moon spectacles.

"Hermione," said Professor McGonagall, the old witch's voice was very gentle, with a hand on Hermione's shoulder encouragingly, "please tell the headmaster what you told me about Harry."

Hermione began to speak, her voice still trembling with tension, even with her new determination.She described how he had changed in recent weeks since Fox stood on Harry's shoulders.

When she had finished, the headmaster paused for a moment, then sighed. "I'm sorry, Hermione Granger," said Dumbledore, his blue eyes growing sad as he listened to her, "it's...unfortunate, but I can't say it was unexpected. What you see is a hero's burden."

"Hero?" Hermione said.She looked up nervously at Professor McGonagall to see that the Transfiguration Professor's face was tense, but her hand still held her shoulder encouragingly.

"Yes," said Dumbledore, "I was a hero, too, in my days against Grindelwald, before I was the mysterious old wizard. Have you read the history books, Miss Granger?"

Hermione nodded.

"Well," said Dumbledore, "that's what heroes have to do, Miss Granger, they have a mission and they have to be strong to do it, and that's what you're seeing happening to Harry ...if anyone can do something to make this path less difficult, then it's you, not me. Because unfortunately, I'm not Harry's friend, I'm just his mysterious old wizard. "

"I—" said Hermione, "I'm not sure—I'd like to be—" Her voice trailed off, and it seemed too scary to say that.

Dumbledore closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he looked older than before. "If you choose not to be Harry's friend again, no one can stop you, Miss Granger. You probably know better than I do what it will do to him."

"It's—not fair," said Hermione, her voice shaking. "I can only be friends with Harry because he has no other friends? It's not fair."

"Friendship can't be forced, Miss Granger." The blue eyes seemed to see through her heart. "Emotions are either there or not. If they are, you can choose to accept or deny them. You are indeed Harry's friend." —choosing denial would hurt him badly, perhaps forever. But how could you go to such extremes, Miss Granger?"

She didn't know how to describe it.She never knew how to describe it. "If you get too close to Harry - you'll be swallowed up, no one can see you anymore, you're just an appendage of him, everyone thinks the world revolves around him, and -" She couldn't describe it.

The old wizard nodded slowly. "We do live in an unjust world, Miss Granger. The whole world knows that I defeated Grindelwald, but few people know that Elizabeth Beckett sacrificed herself to open the way for me to enter But people will still remember her. Harry Potter is indeed the protagonist of the play, Miss Granger; the world does revolve around him. He is destined to do great things; I foresee that in the future, everyone will Remember the name Albus Dumbledore because I'm the mysterious old wizard from Harry Potter, not because I did something myself. You may also remember Hermione Granger as his companion , if in your day your deeds were worthy of this honour. I tell you the truth: you will never be more honored by yourself than you can be by Harry Potter's companion."

Hermione shook her head quickly. "But it's not—" she knew she couldn't explain it clearly, "it's not a question of glory, it's a question of existence—existence as an appendage of other people!"

"So you think, you'd rather be a hero yourself?" The old wizard sighed, "Miss Granger, I was once a hero, a leader; if I could be someone like Harry Potter I would be a thousand times happier than I am now. Someone who is stronger than me, makes those difficult decisions, and still deserves to lead me. I used to think I found someone like that, but I was wrong ...Miss Granger, you have no idea how lucky someone like you is compared to a hero."

A fiery burning pain surged into her throat again, followed by a sense of powerlessness. She didn't understand why Professor McGonagall brought her here, and the principal wasn't going to help her.She glanced at Professor McGonagall, and from her expression, it seemed that she too was beginning to suspect that this was a bad idea.

"I don't want to be a hero," said Hermione Granger, "and I don't want to be a hero's sidekick. I just want to be myself."

(After a few seconds, she realizes that she might actually want to be a hero, but she decides not to take it back.)

"Ah," said the old wizard, "that's a tough request, Miss Granger." Dumbledore rose from his throne, stepped outside his desk, and pointed to a sign on the wall; the sign was all too common So much so that Hermione's eyes automatically ignored it before.It was a faded shield with the Hogwarts arms, the lion and the snake, the badger and the raven, and words she didn't understand written in Latin.Then, when she realized where the shield was, and how ancient it looked, it dawned on Hermione that it might be the original—

"Hufflepuff would say," said Dumbledore, tapping his finger at the faded badger, making Hermione wince at the disrespect (if it was the original), "people don't become who they really are, Because they were too lazy to get all the work done. And Ravenclaws," he tapped the crow, "will quote the words of philosophers older than Socrates, Know yourself;[1] They will say , people don't become who they really are because of their ignorance and lack of thought. And Salazar Slytherin," Dumbledore frowned and tapped the faded snake, "well, he said people have to be If they are themselves, they must chase their desires wherever they lead. He might say that people do not become who they really are because they refuse to do what is necessary to realize their ambitions. But we know that almost all The dark wizards born at Hogwarts are all Slytherins. Have they become who they really are? I don't think so." Dumbledore tapped the lion with his finger and turned to face her. "Tell me, Miss Granger, what would Gryffindor say? I don't need to ask. The Sorting Hat suggested this house to you."

This problem does not seem difficult. "Gryffindors would say that people aren't who they are because they're timid."

"Most people are really timid, Miss Granger," said the old wizard, "they've been bound all their lives by a terrible fear of being unable to do what they could have done, to be what they could have been. Fear of saying the wrong thing words, doing the wrong thing, fear of losing possessions, fear of death, and above all, fear of what other people think of them. Such fears are terrible, Miss Granger, and it is very important to know. But Godric Gryffin Do not answer in this way. One must do the right thing, Miss Granger, in order to become one's true self." The voice of the old wizard was very gentle, "Then tell me, Miss Granger, what do you think the right choice is? What? Because that’s who you really are, and that’s who you should be wherever that path leads.”

There was a long pause, with only the sounds of innumerable instruments in between.

She was thinking because she was a Ravenclaw.

"I don't think that's right," said Hermione slowly, "it's not right for a person to live in someone else's shadow like this..."

"There are many things that are not right in the world," said the old wizard, "the question is what is the right response for you. Hermione Granger, I will make an exception unlike a mysterious old wizard usually will So cryptically, but bluntly telling you that if things went wrong around Harry Potter, you can't imagine how bad things could be. If you knew his mission, you wouldn't even dream leave him."

"What mission?" Hermione asked.Her voice was shaking because it was obvious the answer the headmaster wanted, but she didn't want to give him that answer. "What happened to Harry and why was Fox standing on his shoulders?"

"He's grown up," said the old wizard, blinking a few times behind his half-moon spectacles, his face suddenly looking very old. "You see, Miss Granger, the passage of time doesn't make people grow up, it's the adult situation that makes people grow up. That's what happened to Harry Potter that Saturday. He was told— - you can't give this information to anyone, understand - he was told that he had to fight someone. I can't tell you who this person is. I can't tell you why. But that's what happened to him , and why he needs friends."

a pause.

"Bellatrix Black?" said Hermione.Even if someone plugged a wire into her ear, she wouldn't vibrate like this. "You're going to send Harry to fight Bellatrix Black?"

"No," said the old wizard, "it is not her. I cannot tell you who, or why."

She thought about it for a while.

"Is there any way I can catch up with Harry?" Hermione asked, "I mean, I'm not saying I'd do it, but—if he needs a friend, can we be equal friends? Can I be a hero too?"

"Ah," said the old wizard, laughing, "this is a matter for you to decide, Miss Granger."

"But you won't help me like you helped Harry."

The old wizard shook his head. "I didn't help him much, Miss Granger. If you're asking me for a mission—" The old wizard smiled wryly, "Miss Granger, you're only a first year at Hogwarts. Don't Then grow up in a hurry; it will take a long time to do these things in the future."

"I'm 12. Harry's 11."

"Harry Potter is different," said the old wizard, "you know that, Miss Granger." The blue eyes behind the half-moon glasses suddenly sharpened, reminding her of the day at the dementors. , Dumbledore's voice had said in her head that he knew Harry's dark side.

Hermione raised her hand to touch the hand that Professor McGonagall had been holding firmly on her shoulder.Then Hermione said, surprised her voice didn't break, "I want to go, now, okay."

"Of course." Professor McGonagall said, and Hermione felt the hand on her shoulder gently lead her to turn around, and turned to the oak door.

"Have you chosen your path, Hermione Granger?" Albus Dumbledore's voice was heard just as the door opened slowly with a creak, and the never-ending magic staircase appeared in front of him came from behind.

She nodded.

"What is it?"

"I will," she said, her voice choking, "I will, I will—"

She swallowed.

"I'll do—the right thing—"

She didn't say anything else, she couldn't, and then the never-ending staircase started spinning around her again.

Neither she nor Professor McGonagall spoke as they went downstairs.

When the gargoyles made of water stones cleared the way and the two of them entered the corridors of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall finally whispered, "I'm very, very sorry, Miss Granger. I didn't expect the headmaster to say this to you." Words. I think he's really forgotten what it's like to be a kid."

Hermione looked up at her and saw that Professor McGonagall seemed to be about to cry... but she didn't, but her face was so tense that it gave the illusion.

"If I want to be a hero too," said Hermione, "if I decide to be a hero too, can you help me?"

Professor McGonagall shook her head quickly and said, "Miss Granger, I don't think the headmaster is wrong on this point. You are only twelve years old."

"Fine," said Hermione.

They walked forward for a while.

"I'm sorry," said Hermione, "can I go back to Ravenclaw Tower by myself? I'm sorry, it wasn't your fault or anything, I just wanted to be alone for a while."

"Of course, Miss Granger." Professor McGonagall said, his voice sounding hoarse.Hermione heard her stop and turned to leave behind her.

Hermione Granger walked away.

She went up one flight of stairs, then another, wondering who else at Hogwarts could give her a chance at being a hero.Professor Flitwick's answer will be the same as Professor McGonagall's, and even if it's different, he probably won't be able to help, and Hermione doesn't know who can help.Well, Professor Quirrell would have some bright ideas if she spent enough Quirrell points, but she had the feeling it wasn't a good idea to ask him - the Defense Professor couldn't help anyone be the one worth being. He is a different kind of hero, and he can't understand the difference.

Just as she was about to reach Ravenclaw Tower, she saw a golden light.

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[1] Know yourself: According to legend, it is one of the three mottos inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: zh.wikipedia/wiki/Know yourself