Harry Potter and the Way of Reason

It's a path in the middle of Hogwarts, twisting and twisting like a lock of hair slipping out; sometimes it looks like it intersects itself, but if you're tempted to take a shortcut, you won't get anywhere to the other end.

At the end of the path, six students were facing each other against a rough stone wall, gray against the black robes trimmed with green.In windowless candlesticks, torches were burning, warding off the darkness and cold of the Slytherin cellar with their light and heat.

"I'm pretty sure," snapped Liz Belka, "that's not a real magic ritual. A little witch in first year can't cast magic like that, and even if they could, who ever heard of a dark magic ritual sacrifices Sealed terror, come—that?"

"Did you—" asked Lucian Ball, "I mean—after that girl snapped her fingers—"

Belka's glare was enough to melt him down. "No," she spat, "I haven't."

"That means she wasn't stripped naked," Marcus Flint drew out, his broad shoulders resting relaxed against the uneven stone wall. "She was covered in chocolate sauce, yes, but Not stripped."

"Potter has greatly insulted all of our families today," said Hemi Estorga darkly.

"Uh, well, I'm sorry to be so blunt," Rudolph Lee said evenly.The seventh-grade duelist rubbed his cheeks, the shaggy beard looming over it, "But if someone sticks you to the ceiling, it's a message, Estorga. The message is: I am the mighty black." Wizard, I can do whatever I like with you, and I don't care if your family is offended."

Robert Gargson III let out a soft chuckle that sent chills down the spine of several people. "It makes you wonder if you've picked the wrong side, doesn't it? I've heard stories like that, the Dark Lord of old had a message like this..."

"I'm not ready to kneel to Potter yet," Estorga said, shooting Gargson hard in the eyes.

"Me neither," Belka said.

Gargson took the wand and twirled it nonchalantly between his fingers, pointing first up and then down. "Are you Gryffindors or Slytherins?" Gargson asked. "Everyone has a price. Smart people have."

These words caused a moment of silence.

"Isn't Malfoy coming?" Pol asked tentatively.

Flint snapped his fingers contemptuously. "Whatever Malfoy is planning, he's trying to look innocent. He can't be seen disappearing with him at the same time."

"But everyone knows it," Ball said, "even people in other colleges know it."

"That's right, so stupid," Belka snorted. "Whether he's Malfoy or not, he's just a first-year kid, and we don't need him."

"I'll owl my father," said Gagson softly, "and he'll talk to Lord Malfoy himself—" Gagson paused.

"I don't care about you, dears," Belka said in a falsely sweet tone, "but I'm not going to be scared off by a fake magic ritual, and I'm not done with Potter and his mudblood pet."

No one answered.Everyone stared behind her.

Belka turned slowly to see what the others were looking at.

"You are not allowed to do anything," snapped their headmaster.Severus Snape's expression was furious, and he was frothing as he spoke, staining his soiled robes even more. "You idiots have done enough! You have disgraced my house - lost to first-years - and now you want to involve the noble lords of the Wizengamot in this poor kid Disputes? I'll take care of this. Don't you ever embarrass this academy, don't you risk embarrassing this academy! Your days of fighting witches are over, and if you let me know who won't listen—"

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If you thought they were going to sit down for dinner after that incident, you were dead wrong.

"What the hell does she want from me?" cried the boy pitifully, who was a little naive about some things despite his scientific literature. "Does she want to be beaten?"

The older Ravenclaw boys sitting next to him at the dinner table looked at each other in dismay.Finally, according to some unwritten tacit agreement, the most experienced member of the group spoke.

"Look," said Arti Gray, the seventh-grader who secured the lead among his peers with three witches and a defense professor, "you have to understand that just because she's angry doesn't mean you Lost points. Miss Granger is angry because she's freaked out, and you can blame it on you, you know? But at the same time, though she won't admit it, she'll be touched, her The boyfriend put in such absurd, frankly insane efforts to protect her."

"It's not about scoring," said Harry Potter, gritting his teeth.The supper in front of him remained motionless. "It's a matter of fairness. And me. No. Yes. Her. Boyfriend!"

This sentence made everyone present snicker.

"Ah well," said a sixth-year Ravenclaw boy, "I think after she kisses you and brings you back from insanity and you glue 44 bullies to the ceiling for her , we've moved well beyond the 'she's not my girlfriend, really isn't' stage and started getting into what your kids will be like. Wow, that's a scary thought..." This Ravenclaw Lowering his voice, he whispered, "Don't look at me like that."

"Look," Artie Gray said, "I'm sorry to be so blunt, but you either want fairness or girls, not both." He patted Harry Potter's face affectionately. Shoulders, "You've got potential, boy, more potential than any wizard I've ever seen, but you have to learn to use it, you know? Be sweet to 'em and learn a few spells to fix that thing you call your hair." In particular, you need to hide your evil a little better - not all of it, but well. Well-dressed nice boys attract girls, and dark wizards attract girls, but dark wizards who seem to be secretive, at the same time Well-dressed boys attract more girls than you can imagine-"

"Not interested," said Harry flatly, pulling the boy's hand off his shoulder and dropping it politely.

"But you'll be interested," whispered Arti Gray, "oh, you will!"

Elsewhere on the same table—

"Romantic?" Hermione Granger shrieked, so loudly that some of the girls around her flinched. "How romantic is this? He didn't ask me! He never asked me! He would send ghosts out to scare people, stick people to the ceiling, and do whatever he wants with my life!"

"But don't you understand?" said a fourth-grade witch, "It means that although he is evil, he loves you very much!"

"You're not helping," Penelope Clearwater said from a little further down the table, but she was ignored.When Hermione sat at the dinner table furthest from Harry Potter, several older witches tried to get closer to Hermione, but a group of young girls moved faster and surrounded her tightly. .

"Boys," said Hermione Granger, "shouldn't love girls without their consent! That's true in so many ways, especially about sticking people to the ceiling!"

This is also ignored. "It's like a play!" A third-grade girl sighed.

"A play?" said Hermione. "I'd like to see what play this happens in!"

"Oh," said the third-grade girl, "I was thinking of that very romantic play where a very kind and lovely boy visits friends on the Floo, but he mispronounces his destination and enters a The room of the dark wizard. Those people are performing a forbidden ritual that should have been lost forever, using seven human sacrifices to release an ancient demon. It is said that this demon will grant them one of their wishes when they are free. Of course. , the boy interrupted the ritual, the demons ate all the dark wizards, everyone was dying, the boy's last thought was that he would have had a girlfriend, and the next thing he did was lay in a In the arms of a beautiful woman, her eyes burn with a terrible light, but she doesn't understand how to behave, so the boy must keep her from eating people. [1] It's the same as that show, except you are the Boy, and Harry Potter is the girl!"

"It's..." said Hermione, rather startled, "it's kind of like—"

"Really?" blurted out a second-grade girl across the table, leaning forward, creepy but looking more fascinated.

"No!" said Hermione, "I mean - he's not my boyfriend!"

Two seconds later, Hermione's ears caught the words spoken by her lips.

The fourth-year witch put her hand on Hermione's shoulder and gave it a reassuring shake. "Miss Granger," she said reassuringly, "I think if you were really honest with yourself you would admit that the real reason you were angry with your dark master Passed it to Tracy Davis, not you."

Hermione opened her mouth, but her throat blocked before the words could come out.That might be a good thing, if she did yell, her volume might shatter something.

"Actually, how is that possible?" the third-year girl asked, "I mean, Harry Potter has already merged with your soul, how can it be possible to pass on the power to other girls? Have the three of you achieved it?" , you know, that kind of agreement?"

"Quack quack quack," said Hermione Granger, her throat still clogged, her brain shutting down, her vocal chords making a sound of their own accord, like coughing up a yak.

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(later.)

"I don't understand why you're being so unreasonable," said another second-year witch.She took the third year girl's place after Hermione threatened to have Tracy eat her soul. "I mean, really, if someone like Harry Potter saved me, I'd—write him a thank you card, hug him, and," she blushed a little, "well, kiss him ,I hope."

"Exactly!" said the former second-year witch. "I've never understood why the girls in the show get angry because the protagonist goes out of his way to be nice to them. If the protagonist likes me, I won't be like that."

Hermione Granger leaned her head on the dinner table, pulling her hands slowly through her hair.

"You don't understand male psychology at all," the fourth-year witch said authoritatively. "Granger has to put on an appearance of being able to mysteriously resist his charm."

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(Later later.)

And so it wasn't long before Hermione Granger turned to the only person who could talk to her, the only person who was sure to understand her—

"They're all crazy," said Hermione Granger, striding angrily up to Ravenclaw Tower - she left the dinner table early today - "everybody but you and me, Harry, I mean the whole Hogwarts school except us, they are completely crazy. And the Ravenclaw girls are the worst, I didn't know the Ravenclaw girls were growing up I read some books when I was there, but I'm pretty sure they shouldn't. There was a witch who asked us if our souls were united, and I'm going to the library tonight to find out what that means, but I'm pretty sure it didn't something-"

"I don't even know what to call such absurd logic," said Harry Potter.The boy's gait was normal, which meant he had to scurry a few steps now and then to keep up with the speed she was picking up in righteous indignation. "I really think if it was up to them, they'd take us away by now and change our names to Potter-Evans-Verys-Granger... well, so I'm Only then did I realize how ugly it was."

"You mean your last name will be Potter-Evans-Verys-Granger and mine will be Granger-Potter-Evans-Verys," said Hermione, " It's terrible, it's unimaginable."

"No," said the boy, "the Potters are aristocrats, so I think that should go first—"

"What?" she said indignantly, "who said we had to—"

Suddenly there was a terrible silence, during which only their footsteps could be heard.

"Anyway," said Hermione hastily, "some of the crazy stuff they said at dinner got me thinking, so I just wanted to say, Harry, I'm very grateful for saving me and everyone else, despite what happened this afternoon. Some things upset me, but I'm sure we can talk calmly."

"Ah..." Harry gave a tentative smile, his eyes confused and nervous, "That's... good, I think?"

Specifically, the fourth-year witch explained that because Harry was an evil wizard who fell in love with Hermione, and Hermione was a pure and innocent girl, Hermione either saved him or was seduced by black magic, so Hermione There must always be outrage at anything Harry does, even his heroic rescue of her from some kind of doom, so that their romance doesn't become a foregone conclusion in Act Four.Then Penelope Clearwater - and Hermione really thought she'd be smarter - commented out loud that, for the same reason, it's impossible for Hermione to go and have a sane talk with Harry and tell him why she Felt hurt, and anyway, the dark wizard loves a woman's passionate defiance over logic.Hermione stood up from the bench at this point, strode angrily over to where Harry was sitting, and asked him in a rational voice if he wanted to go for a walk and settle things between them.

"So in other words," said Hermione in her most composed tone, "you're not in trouble with me, I'm still talking to you, we're still friends, and we're still studying together. We're not fighting. Are we?" ?”

For some reason, this only seemed to increase Harry Potter's nervousness. "Yes," said the Boy Who Lived.

"Great!" said Hermione. "So, do you know why I'm angry, Mr. Potter?"

a pause. "You want me to stay out of your business?" said Harry cautiously. "I mean - I know you want to do your own thing. And I really didn't until I heard you were killed by three morsels." There was an ambush by gangsters, and to be honest, I didn't expect this to happen. Professor Quirrell didn't expect this to happen. I started worrying that you were in trouble that you couldn't handle, and then, Hermione, I didn't mean to offend you , but the mass ambush of 44 bullies is far more than anyone can handle without help. That's why I think you really need help this time-"

"No, that's all right," said Hermione. "To be honest, we did get into more trouble than we could handle. Please guess again, Mr. Potter."

"Well," said Harry, "what did Tracy do...surprise you?"

"Surprised me, Mr. Potter?" There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "No, Mr. Potter, I'm scared. I'm scared to death. I don't want to admit that I'm afraid of dragons or anything, Because people may think I'm cowardly, but when you hear a voice calling faintly 'Tekley-lee! Takeley-lee!', [2] pools of blood flow from under all the doors It’s normal to be afraid when you come in.”

"I'm sorry," Harry said with what seemed to be sincere regret, "I thought you'd think it was me."

"And the reason we're all scared like that, Mr. Potter, is because you didn't ask me first!" Hermione's voice raised again involuntarily, despite her best efforts to restrain herself, "You should have asked me before doing such a thing." Pass me, Harry! You should have been very specific, 'Hermione, can I let the blood come under the door?' It's important to be specific in this kind of thing!"

The boy rubbed the back of his neck as he walked forward. "I...honestly, I just thought you were going to have to say no."

"Yes, Mr. Potter, I could have said no. That's the whole point of asking me first, Mr. Potter!"

"No, I mean you're going to have to say no, whether that's what you really want or not. Then you're all going to get spanked, and that's what I was wrong about asking you first."

Hermione's eyebrows were raised in surprise, and she took a few steps forward, trying to understand the words. "What?" she asked.

"Uh..." the boy said slowly, "I mean... you're General Sunshine, aren't you? You can't let me scare people, not even bullies, not even to save your friends from getting beaten Nope. You’re going to have to say no, and you’re going to get hurt. I’m doing this so you can be honest and tell everyone that you didn’t know and it’s not your fault. That’s why I didn’t warn you.”

Hermione stopped and turned to face Harry, not just her head.Carefully keeping her voice even, she said, "Harry, you must stop making clever excuses for stupid things."

Harry raised his eyebrows.After a while, he said, "Look... of course I see what you mean, but there's another question, whether it's really a good idea, or just clever—"

"I understand why you did what you did today," said Hermione, "but I want you to promise that from now on, you'll always ask me first, even if you can think of a reason why you shouldn't. "

The silence was prolonged, and Hermione felt her heart sink.

"Hermione—" Harry began.

"Why?" Frustration broke out in her voice, "Why is it so bad? You just have to ask first!"

Harry's eyes were serious. "In SPHEW, who are you trying to protect the most, Hermione? When you're fighting, who do you worry about the most?"

"Hannah Abbott," Hermione replied without thinking, and then felt a little guilty, because Hannah really worked hard, and she's gotten a lot stronger—

"Are you sure that other people, such as Tracy, will take the ultimate responsibility for protecting Hannah? If you know that Hannah will be ambushed and you think of a way to protect her, are you willing to let Tracy decide? Can you do this?"

"Uh... no?" Hermione replied inexplicably.

The Boy Who Lived watched her steadily with green eyes. "Are you sure you want Hannah to make the final decision on whether she needs protection?"

"I—" said Hermione, then stopped.Strangely enough, she knew the right answer, but she also knew that the right answer was actually wrong.Hannah tries so hard to prove she's not scared, but she is, and it's easy to see that the Hufflepuff girl might be trying too hard—

That's when Hermione understood what it meant. "You think I look like Hannah?"

"No... exactly..." Harry ran his hands through his messy hair. "Listen, Hermione, if I warned you that 44 bullies were going to sneak up on you, what would you suggest?"

"I'll do the responsible thing, tell Professor McGonagall, and let her take care of it," Hermione replied immediately, "so there won't be darkness, screaming, and horrible blue light—"

But Harry just shook his head. "That's not the way to be responsible, Hermione. It's just what the responsible girl would do. Yes, I'd like to go to Professor McGonagall, too. But she can only prevent such a disaster from happening once. Maybe in the event Stopping it before it happens, like telling the bullies that she found out about their plans. Even if the bullies get punished for their plans, it's nothing more than losing some college points, at worst a day's worth of labor service, and won't let them Be apprehensive. Then these bullies will try again. There will be fewer people participating, and the operation will be more secretive, so I will never find out. They may sneak up on one of you when you are alone. Professor McGonagall has no right to do Protect you by doing something that scares them — and she won't overstep because she's not really in charge."

"Professor McGonagall isn't responsible?" Hermione said in disbelief.She put her hands on her hips and stared openly at him. "Are you crazy?"

The boy's eyes didn't blink. "Perhaps you could call it a hero's duty," said Harry Potter. "It's different from ordinary duty. It means that no matter what happens, no matter what, all the faults are yours. Even if you tell Professor McGonagall, she can't be responsible for what happened, you are responsible. Obeying the school rules is not an excuse, it is not an excuse for someone else to be in charge, and even trying your best is not an excuse. There is no excuse at all, you have to do things no matter what Done." Harry's face tightened. "That's why I said you weren't thinking responsibly, Hermione. You felt like telling Professor McGonagall and your job was done—that's not how a heroine thinks. It seems like after It's okay that Hannah gets spanked, because it's not your fault. Being a heroine means your work isn't done until you manage to protect the other girls permanently." There was grit in Harry's voice The tone, which has been in his voice since the day Fox stood on his shoulders, "You can't think following the rules means you've done your duty."

"I think," said Hermione evenly, "that you and I may disagree on some points, Mr. Potter. Like who is more responsible, you or Professor McGonagall, and whether, in general, responsibility means letting Others running and screaming, and whether or not school rules should be obeyed. And just because we disagree, Mr. Potter, doesn't mean you have the final say."

"Well," said Harry, "you asked me why it would be so bad to ask you first, which was a surprisingly good question, so I reflected on it, and here's what I got. I guess my real fear was , if Hannah is in trouble, I think of a way to save her, but it will look weird or dark or something, and you may not measure the consequences for Hannah. You may not accept being a heroine Duty, somehow, to try to figure out some way to save her. You might play the role of Hermione Granger, a Ravenclaw girl with common sense; and Hermione Granger The character will automatically say no, whether she has a better plan or not. Then 44 bullies will take turns beating up Hannah Abbott, and it's all my fault, because I know that even if I don't want reality to become That way, I knew things were going to go that way. I was pretty sure that was my secret, unspoken, inexpressible fear."

Frustration piled up in her heart again. "This is my life!" Hermione blurted out.She could imagine what it must have been like to be meddled by Harry all the time, and he would keep inventing all sorts of excuses for not asking her first, ignoring her objections.She shouldn't need to win a debate to be able to - "There's always a reason, you can always say I'm wrong! I want my own life! Or I'll leave, I really will, I mean it, Harry."

Harry sighed. "That's the last thing I wanted to happen, but we've gotten to this point. Your concerns are the same as mine, aren't you? You're afraid that if you let go of the steering wheel, we're going to crash." The corners of his mouth Pulls a bit, but doesn't look like a real smile. "I can understand that."

"I don't think you understand at all!" Hermione retorted sharply. "You said we were mates, Harry!"

The word stopped him, she could feel it stopped him.

"Is that okay?" said Harry finally. "I assure you that I will ask you before I do anything that could be construed as meddling. But you must promise me to be reasonable, Hermione. I mean Really, sincerely, stop for 20 seconds and consider it a real option. Makes sense to the point where you realize I'm offering a way to protect other girls, and if you automatically say no without serious consideration If there were, there would have been de facto consequences and Hannah Abbott would have been hospitalized as a result."

Hermione stared at Harry until he had finished speaking.

"How?" Harry asked.

"I shouldn't need to make a commitment," she said, "just to be able to participate in discussions about my own life." She turned her back on Harry and started walking towards the Ravenclaw tower without looking at him, "But anyway, I'll think about it."

She heard Harry sigh, and they walked in silence for a while, through a metal arch that was as red as copper, and into a corridor that looked exactly like the previous one, except that the floor tiles had become pentagonal instead of pentagonal. square.

"Hermione..." Harry said, "I've been watching you and thinking about you since the day you said you were going to be a hero. You have courage. You will fight for justice, even when you face a situation that will scare others. Enemy who ran. You obviously possess enough intellect, and inside you, you may be a better person than me. But even so... well, honestly, Hermione... I don't think you can replace Dumbledore position, leading Magic Britain to fight the Mysterious Man. At least not yet."

Hermione turned her head to stare at Harry, and he just kept walking, seemingly lost in thought.Replace that position?She had never imagined herself this way.She had never imagined imagining herself like this.

"Maybe I'm wrong," said Harry, as they moved on, "Maybe I've just read too many stories where the main characters never do what's reasonable, never do what the rules tell them Professor McGonagall, that's why my brain thinks you're not a standard story hero. Maybe you're the sane one, Hermione, and I'm just being silly. But every time you say follow the rules or rely on your teacher , I have a feeling that this is the last thing that binds you, puts your player character to sleep, and turns back into a system character..." Harry sighed, "Maybe this is Why did Dumbledore say I need evil stepparents."

"what did he say?"

Harry nodded. "I still don't know whether the headmaster was joking or ... I would say he was right in a sense. I had parents who loved me, but I could never trust their decisions, they weren't enough Reason. I always knew I could get hurt if I didn't think it through myself. If I kept bugging Professor McGonagall, she'd do everything in her power to get the job done, but she wouldn't take the initiative to break without heroic oversight. Rules. Professor Quirrell is really someone who can get one thing done anyway, and he's the only one I know who notices things like the Snitch ruining a Quidditch game. But I can't trust him to be a good guy. Sad, but I think that's part of what makes Dumbledore what he would call a hero—you can't put the ultimate responsibility on anyone else, so you have to get used to being in charge of everything yourself."

Hermione didn't speak, but she recalled a line Godric Gryffindor wrote near the end of his extremely brief autobiography.A short sentence, without any explanation, because that was the age when scrolls had to be copied by hand hundreds of years before Muggle printing inspired wizards to invent the reading and writing pen.

Rescuers have no one to rescue, Godric Gryffindor wrote, the warrior has no master, no father or mother, and nothing above him.

If that was the price of being a hero, Hermione wasn't sure she was willing to pay it.Or maybe - though she wouldn't have thought of that until she was with Harry - maybe Godric Gryffindor was wrong.

"Do you trust Dumbledore?" said Hermione. "I mean, he's at our school, and he's the greatest hero ever—"

"He was the greatest hero ever," said Harry, "and now he sets fire to chickens. Honestly, do you think Dumbledore is any good?"

Hermione didn't answer.

Side by side, the two of them walked up the huge, wide, spiral staircase of alternating bronze metal and blue stone; at the top of the steps was a portrait of Ravenclaw, waiting to guard their dormitory with silly riddles.

"Oh, I just thought of something to tell you," said Harry halfway through the walk, "because it's about your life and all. Think of it as a down payment—"

"What?" Hermione asked.

"I predict that SPHEW will retire soon."

"Retired?" said Hermione, almost tripping down a flight of stairs.

"Yeah," Harry said, "I mean, I'm not necessarily right, but I guess the teachers are going to have to tighten up the management of disputes in the corridors," Harry smiled as he spoke, the eyes behind his glasses Eyes flickering, suggesting he's got an inside tip, "Maybe beef up surveillance systems to detect offensive jinxes, maybe start verifying reports of bullying with Veritaserum - I can think of several ways to put an end to this kind of behavior Way. But if I'm right, then it's cause for celebration for you and all of you, Hermione. You've created enough publicity to actually do something about bullying. All bullying the behavior of."

Then, a smile slowly appeared on her lips. When she walked to the top of the stairs and walked towards the portrait of Ravenclaw to guess the riddle, Hermione felt that her steps were brisk, and her whole body was full of a beautiful feeling of being lifted up. , like a balloon filled with helium.

I don't know why, although the eight of them worked so hard, she never expected so much, she never thought that they could really succeed.

They make some difference...

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The next morning, at the end of breakfast.

Students from each grade sat motionless on the benches, all heads pointing in one direction, looking at the guest table, in front of which, a lone first-year girl stood quietly.