0:01

Chapter 122 Something to Protect

0:03

Hermione Granger And

0:09

it was evening and it

0:11

was morning, the last day,

0:14

June 15th, 1992. The

0:19

beginning light of morning, the

0:22

pre-dawn before sunrise was barely

0:24

brightening the sky. To

0:27

the east of Hogwarts, where

0:29

the sun would rise, that

0:31

faintest tinge of grey made

0:33

barely visible the hilly horizon

0:35

beyond the Quidditch stands. The

0:39

stone terrace platform where Harry now sat would

0:41

be high enough to see the dawn beyond

0:43

the hills below. He

0:46

had asked for that, when he

0:48

was describing his new office. Harry

0:52

was currently sitting cross-legged on a

0:54

cushion, chilly pre-morning breezes

0:56

stirring over his exposed hands

0:59

and face. He

1:01

had ordered the house elves to bring

1:03

up the hand-glittered throne from his previous

1:05

office as general chaos, and

1:07

then he had told the elves to put it

1:10

back. Once it had

1:12

occurred to Harry to start worrying about

1:14

where his tastes in decorations had come

1:16

from, and where the Voldemort

1:18

had once possessed a similar throne. Which

1:21

itself wasn't a knock-down argument.

1:25

It wasn't like sitting on a glittery

1:27

throne to survey the lands below Hogwarts

1:29

was unethical, in

1:31

any way Harry's moral philosophy could

1:33

make out. But

1:36

Harry had decided that he needed to take

1:38

time and think it through. Meanwhile,

1:41

simple cushions would do well enough.

1:45

In the room below, connected to

1:47

the rooftop by a simple wooden

1:50

ladder was Harry's new office inside

1:52

Hogwarts. The

1:54

wide room surrounded by full wall

1:56

windows on four sides for sunlight,

1:59

currently barely bare of furnishings but for

2:01

four chairs and a desk. Harry

2:05

had told head Mistress McGonagall what he was

2:07

looking for, and head Mistress

2:09

McGonagall had put on the sorting-hat, and

2:11

then told Harry the series of twists

2:13

and turns that would take him where

2:15

he wanted to be. High

2:18

enough in Hogwarts that the castle shouldn't

2:20

have been that tall, high

2:23

enough in Hogwarts that nobody looking

2:25

from the outside would see a

2:27

piece of castle corresponding to where

2:29

Harry now sat. It

2:31

seemed like an elementary precaution against

2:33

snipers that there was no reason not

2:35

to take. Though,

2:39

on the flip side, Harry had

2:41

no idea where he currently

2:43

was in any real sense.

2:46

If his office couldn't be seen from

2:48

the lands below, then how was Harry

2:50

seeing the lands? How

2:53

were photons making it from

2:55

the landscape to him? On

2:58

the western side of the horizon,

3:00

stars still glittered, clean in the

3:02

pre-dorn air. Were

3:05

these photons the actual photons that

3:07

had been emitted by huge plasma

3:09

furnaces in the unimaginable distance? Or

3:13

did Harry now sit within some

3:15

dreaming vision of the Hogwarts castle?

3:18

Or was it all, without

3:20

any further explanation, just

3:24

magic? He

3:26

needed to get electricity to work better

3:29

around magic so he could experiment with

3:31

shining lasers downward and upward. And

3:35

yes, Harry had his

3:37

own office in Hogwarts now. He

3:41

didn't have any official title yet,

3:43

but the boy who lived was

3:45

now a true fixture of the

3:47

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

3:50

the soon-to-be home of the Philosopher's

3:52

Stone and the

3:54

world's only wizarding institution

3:56

of genuinely higher education.

4:00

It wasn't fully secured, but Professor

4:02

Vector had put up some preliminary

4:04

charms and runes to screen the

4:06

office and its rooftop against eavesdropping.

4:10

Harry sat on his cushion near the

4:12

edge of his office's roof and gazed

4:14

down upon trees and lakes and flowering

4:16

grass. Far below,

4:19

carriages sat motionlessly, not yet

4:21

harnessed to skeletal horses. Small

4:24

boats littered the shore, prepared to ferry

4:27

younger students across the lake when the

4:29

time came. The

4:31

Hogwarts Express had arrived overnight, and

4:33

now the train cars and the

4:35

huge old-fashioned engine awaited on the

4:37

other side of the southern lake.

4:40

All was ready to take the students home

4:42

after the leave-taking feast in the morning. Harry

4:47

stared across the lake. At

4:49

the great old-fashioned locomotive, he wouldn't

4:51

be riding home this time. Again.

4:56

There was a strange sadness and worry

4:58

to that thought. Like

5:01

Harry was already starting to miss

5:03

out on the bonding experiences with

5:05

the other students his age. If

5:08

you could say that at all, when a significant

5:10

part of Harry had been born in 1926. It

5:15

had felt to Harry, last night,

5:17

in the Ravenclaw common room, like

5:19

the gap between him and the other

5:21

students had… Yes.

5:25

…widened even further. Though,

5:28

that might only have been from

5:31

the questions Padma Patel and Anthony

5:33

Goldstein had excitedly asked each other

5:35

about the girl who revived, the

5:38

rapid fire speculation shooting through

5:40

the air from Ravenclaw to

5:42

Ravenclaw. Harry

5:44

had known the answers. He'd

5:47

known all the answers, and

5:49

he hadn't been able to say them. There

5:52

was a part of Harry that was tempted

5:54

to go on the Hogwarts Express and then

5:57

come back to Hogwarts by flu. But

6:00

when Harry imagined finding five

6:02

other students for his compartment,

6:04

and then spending the next

6:06

eight hours keeping secrets from

6:08

Neville, or Padma, or Dean,

6:10

or Tracy, or Lavender, it

6:13

didn't seem like an attractive prospect. Harry

6:16

felt like he ought to do it

6:19

for reasons of socialising with the other

6:21

children, but he did not want

6:24

to do it. He could

6:26

meet with everyone again at the start of the next

6:28

school year, when there would be

6:30

other topics of which he could speak more

6:32

freely. Harry

6:34

stared south across the lake at

6:37

the huge old locomotive, and

6:39

thought about the rest of his life. About

6:44

the future. The

6:46

prophecy Dumbledore's letter had mentioned about

6:49

him tearing apart the stars in

6:51

heaven. Well, that

6:54

sounded optimistic. That

6:58

part had an obvious interpretation to anyone who'd

7:00

grown up with the right sort of upbringing.

7:03

It described a future where humanity

7:05

had won, more or less. It

7:09

wasn't what Harry usually thought about

7:11

when he gazed at the stars,

7:13

but from a truly adult perspective,

7:16

the stars were enormous heaps

7:18

of valuable raw materials that

7:20

had unfortunately caught fire, and

7:23

needed to be scattered and put out. If

7:26

you were tapping the huge hydrogen-helium

7:29

reservoirs for raw materials, that

7:31

meant your species had successfully

7:34

grown up. Unless

7:37

the prophecy had been referring to something else

7:40

entirely, Dumbledore might

7:42

have been misinterpreting some seer's

7:45

words. But his

7:47

message to Harry had been phrased

7:49

as if there'd been a prophecy

7:51

about Harry, unfortunately, tearing

7:54

apart stars in the

7:56

foreseeable future, which

7:58

seemed potentially more worrisome, though

8:01

by no means certain to be true, or a

8:04

bad thing if it was true." Harry

8:07

vented a sigh. He

8:09

had begun to understand, in

8:12

the long hours before sleep had

8:14

taken him last night, just what

8:16

Dumbledore's last message implied. Looking

8:20

back on the events of the

8:23

1991-1992 Hogwarts school year was nothing

8:25

short of bone-freezingly terrifying, now that

8:27

Harry understood what he was seeing.

8:31

It wasn't just that Harry had kept

8:33

the frequent company of his good friend

8:36

Lord Voldemort. It

8:38

wasn't even mostly that. It

8:41

was the vision of a narrow

8:43

line of time that Albus Dumbledore

8:45

had steered through fate's narrow keyhole,

8:47

a hair-thin strand

8:50

of possibility threaded through a

8:52

needle's eye. The

8:55

prophecies had instructed Dumbledore to have

8:57

Tom Riddle's intelligence copied onto the

8:59

brain of a wizarding infant who

9:01

would then grow up learning muggle

9:04

science. What did

9:06

it say about the likely shape of the future

9:08

if that was the

9:10

first or best strategy the seers

9:12

could find that didn't lead to

9:15

catastrophe? Harry

9:17

could look back now on the unbreakable vow

9:19

that he'd made, and guess

9:21

that if not for that vow,

9:24

disaster might have already been set

9:26

in motion yesterday when Harry had

9:28

wanted to tear down the International

9:30

Statute of Seaglassoo, which

9:32

in turn strongly suggested that the

9:34

many prophecies Dumbledore had read and

9:37

whose instructions he'd followed had somehow

9:39

ensured that Harry and Voldemort would

9:41

collide in exactly the right way

9:43

to cause Voldemort to force Harry

9:46

to make that unbreakable vow, that

9:49

the unbreakable vow had

9:51

been part of Time's

9:53

narrow keyhole, one

9:55

of the improbable preconditions for allowing

9:57

the Earth's people to see. survive,

10:01

avow whose sole purpose

10:04

was to protect everyone

10:06

from Harry's current stupidity.

10:11

It was like watching a video tape of

10:13

an almost traffic accident that had happened to

10:15

you, where you remembered

10:17

another car missing you by centimetres,

10:20

and the video showing that somebody

10:22

had also thrown a pebble in

10:25

exactly the right way to cause

10:27

an enormous lorry to miss that

10:29

near collision, and if

10:31

they hadn't thrown that pebble then you

10:34

and all your family in the automobile,

10:37

and your entire planet, would

10:39

have been hit by the lorry, which,

10:42

in the metaphor, represents your own

10:44

sheer obliviousness. Harry

10:47

had been warned. He'd

10:50

known on some level, or

10:53

the vow wouldn't have stopped him, and

10:55

yet he'd still almost made the

10:58

wrong choice and destroyed the world.

11:01

Harry could look back now and see

11:03

that, yes, the alternate

11:05

Harry with no vow would have

11:07

had trouble accepting the reasoning that

11:09

said you couldn't get magical healing

11:12

to muggles as fast as possible.

11:15

If the alternate Harry had acknowledged the danger

11:17

at all, he would have

11:19

rationalised it, tried to figure

11:21

out some clever way around the problem

11:24

and refused to accept taking a few

11:26

years longer to do it, and

11:29

so the world would have

11:31

ended. Even

11:33

after all the warnings Harry had received,

11:36

it still wouldn't have worked

11:38

without the unbreakable vow. One

11:43

tiny strand of time

11:45

being threaded through a

11:48

needle's eye. Harry didn't

11:50

know how to handle this revelation.

11:53

It wasn't a sort of situation that

11:55

human beings had evolved emotions to handle.

11:59

All Harry could do. was stare at

12:01

how close he had come to

12:03

disaster, might come again

12:05

to disaster if that vow was

12:07

fated to trigger more than once.

12:11

And think, think.

12:17

I don't want that to happen

12:19

again. It didn't seem

12:22

like the right thought. It

12:25

never wanted to destroy the world in the

12:27

first place. Harry

12:29

hadn't lacked for protective feelings

12:31

about Earth's sapient population. Those

12:35

protective feelings had been the

12:37

problem, in a way.

12:40

What Harry had lacked was some

12:42

elements of clear vision, of

12:44

being willing to consciously acknowledge what he'd

12:47

already known deep down. And

12:50

the whole thing with Harry having spent

12:52

the last year cozying up to the

12:54

defense professor didn't speak highly of

12:56

his intellect either. It

12:59

seemed to point to the same problem

13:01

even. There were things

13:04

Harry had known or strongly

13:06

suspected on some level, but

13:08

never promoted to conscious attention.

13:11

And so he had failed

13:13

and nearly died. Harry had

13:17

to do better than this, become a less

13:19

stupid person than

13:22

this. I

13:32

need to raise the level of my game or

13:35

fail. Dumbledore

13:37

had destroyed the recordings in the Hall

13:39

of Prophecy and arranged for no further

13:42

recordings to be made. It

13:45

apparently been a prophecy that said

13:47

Harry mustn't look upon those prophecies.

13:50

And the obvious next thought, which might

13:53

or might not be true, was

13:55

that saving the world was

13:57

beyond the reach of prophetic.

14:00

instruction. That

14:02

winning would take plans that were

14:05

too complex for Sia's messages, or

14:08

that divination couldn't see somehow.

14:11

If there'd been some way for Dumbledore

14:13

to save the world himself, then prophecy

14:15

would probably have told Dumbledore how to

14:17

do that. Instead,

14:20

the prophecies had told Dumbledore how

14:22

to create the preconditions for a

14:24

particular sort of person existing. A

14:27

person, maybe, who could

14:30

unravel a challenge more difficult

14:32

than prophecy could solve directly. That

14:35

was why Harry had been placed on

14:37

his own, to think without

14:41

prophetic guidance. If

14:43

all Harry did was follow mysterious

14:46

orders from prophecies, then he wouldn't

14:48

mature into a person who could

14:50

perform that unknown task. And

14:53

right now, Harry James

14:55

Potter Evans Varys was still

14:58

a walking catastrophe who needed

15:00

to be constrained by an

15:02

unbreakable vow to prevent him

15:04

from immediately setting the

15:06

earth on an inevitable cause

15:09

toward destruction, when he

15:11

had already been warned against it.

15:15

That had happened literally yesterday,

15:18

just one day after he'd helped

15:20

Voldemort almost take over the planet.

15:22

A certain

15:25

line from Tolkien kept running through

15:27

Harry's mind, the part

15:29

where Frodo, upon Mount Doom, put on

15:31

the ring, and Sauron

15:33

suddenly realized what a complete idiot

15:35

he'd been. And

15:38

the magnitude of his own

15:41

folly was at last laid

15:43

bare. Or however that had

15:45

gone. There was

15:47

a huge gap between who Harry needed

15:50

to become and who he

15:52

was right now. And

15:54

Harry didn't think that time, life

15:57

experience, and puberty would take care

15:59

of that automatically. No,

16:01

they might help. Though,

16:04

if Harry could grow into an

16:07

adult that was to this self

16:09

what a normal adult was to

16:11

a normal eleven-year-old, maybe

16:13

that would be enough to steer

16:16

through Time's narrow keyhole. He

16:19

had to grow up somehow, and

16:21

there was no traditional path laid out

16:23

before him for accomplishing that. The

16:26

thought came then to Harry of another work

16:28

of fiction, more obscure

16:31

than Tolkien. You

16:34

can only arrive at mastery by

16:36

practicing the techniques you have learned,

16:39

facing challenges and apprehending them using,

16:41

to the fullest, the tools you

16:43

have been taught, until they shatter

16:45

in your hands and you are

16:48

left in the midst of wreckage

16:50

absolute. I

16:52

cannot create masters. I

16:55

have never known how to create masters.

16:59

Go then and fail. You

17:02

have been shaped into something that

17:04

may emerge from the wreckage determined

17:06

to remake your art. I

17:10

cannot create masters, but

17:12

if you had not been taught, your

17:14

chances would be less. The

17:17

higher road begins after the art seems

17:19

to fail you, though

17:21

the reality will be that it was

17:23

you who failed the art. It

17:27

was not that Harry had gone down the

17:29

wrong path. It was not

17:31

that the road to sanity lay somewhere outside

17:34

of science, but reading

17:36

science papers had not been

17:38

enough. All the

17:41

cognitive psychology papers about known bugs in

17:43

the human brain and so on had

17:45

helped, but they had not

17:47

been sufficient. He

17:49

had failed to reach what

17:51

Harry was starting to realize

17:53

was a shockingly high standard

17:56

of being so incredibly, unbelievably

17:58

rational that you actually

18:00

started to get things right,

18:03

as opposed to having a handy language

18:05

in which to describe afterwards everything you'd

18:07

just done wrong. Harry

18:10

could look back now and apply

18:12

ideas like motivated cognition to

18:14

see where he'd gone astray over the

18:17

last year. That

18:19

counted for something when it came to

18:21

being seiner in the future. That

18:24

was better than having no idea what had done

18:26

wrong. But that wasn't

18:29

yet being the person who could

18:31

pass through time's narrow keyhole, the

18:34

adult from whose possibility

18:36

Dumbledore had been instructed

18:39

by seers to create.

18:42

I need to think faster, grow

18:45

up faster. How

18:48

alone am I? How alone

18:51

will I be? Am

18:54

I making the same mistake I made

18:56

during Professor Quirrell's first battle, when

18:58

I didn't realize Hermione had captains?

19:02

The mistake I made when I didn't

19:04

tell Dumbledore about the sense of

19:06

doom once I realized

19:08

Dumbledore probably wasn't mad or

19:10

evil? It

19:13

would help if Muggles had classes

19:15

for this sort of thing. They

19:17

didn't. Maybe Harry

19:19

could recruit Daniel Kahneman, fake

19:22

his death, rejuvenate him with the

19:24

stone, and put him in

19:26

charge of inventing better training methods. Harry

19:30

took the elder wand out of his robes,

19:34

gazed again at the dark

19:36

grey wood that Dumbledore had

19:38

passed down to him. Harry

19:40

had tried to think faster this

19:42

time. He'd tried to

19:45

complete the pattern implied by the cloak

19:47

of invisibility and the resurrection stone. The

19:51

cloak of invisibility had possessed the

19:53

legendary power of hiding the wearer,

19:56

and the hidden power of allowing the

19:58

wearer to hide from death itself

20:01

in the form of dementors. The

20:04

resurrection stone had the legendary power of

20:06

summoning an image of the dead, and

20:10

then Voldemort had incorporated it into

20:12

his horcrux system to allow his

20:14

spirit to move freely. The

20:17

second deathly hallow was a potential

20:19

component of a system of true

20:21

immortality that Cadmus Peverall had never

20:24

completed, maybe due to

20:26

his having ethics. And

20:29

then there was the third

20:31

deathly hallow, the

20:33

Elder Wand of Antioch Peverall,

20:37

that legend said passed from wizards

20:39

to stronger wizard, and

20:41

made its holder invincible against

20:43

ordinary attacks. That

20:46

was the known and overt

20:48

characteristic. The

20:51

Elder Wand that had belonged to

20:54

Dumbledore, who had been trying to

20:56

prevent the death of the world

20:58

itself. The

21:01

purpose of the Elder Wand, always going

21:03

to the victor, might be to find

21:05

the strongest living wizard and empower them

21:08

still further, in case there was any

21:10

threat to their entire species. It

21:13

could secretly be at all to defeat

21:15

death in its form as the destroyer

21:17

of worlds. But

21:20

if there was some higher power locked

21:22

within the Elder Wand, it had not

21:25

presented itself to Harry based on that

21:27

guess. Harry

21:29

had raised up the Elder Wand

21:32

and spoken to it, named himself

21:34

a descendant of Peverall, who accepted

21:36

his family's quest. He'd

21:38

promised the Elder Wand that he would do

21:41

his best to save the world from death

21:43

and take up Dumbledore's duty. And

21:47

the Elder Wand had answered no more

21:49

strongly to his hand than before, refusing

21:52

his attempt to jump ahead in the

21:54

story. Maybe

21:57

Harry needed to strike his first

21:59

true blow against the death of worlds

22:01

before the Elder Wand would acknowledge him,

22:04

as the heir of Ignatius Peverell

22:07

had already defeated Death's shadow, and

22:10

the heir of Cadmus Peverell had already

22:12

survived the death of his body, when

22:14

their respective deathly hallows had

22:17

revealed their secrets. At

22:20

least Harry had managed to guess that, contrary

22:22

to legend, the Elder Wand

22:25

didn't contain a core of thestral

22:27

hair. Harry had

22:29

seen thestrals, and they were skeletal

22:31

horses with smooth skin, and no

22:34

visible mane on their skull-like heads,

22:37

nor tufts on their bony tails.

22:40

But what core was truly inside

22:42

the Elder Wand Harry hadn't yet

22:45

felt himself knowing, nor

22:47

had he been able to find, anywhere

22:49

on the Elder Wand, the circled

22:51

triangle line of the deathly hallows

22:54

that should have been present. Harry-I

22:58

don't suppose, Harry

23:00

murmured to the Elder Wand, you

23:02

could just tell me. There

23:06

came back no answer from

23:08

the gloob-knobbed wand, only

23:10

a sense of glory and contained

23:13

power watching him sceptically. Harry

23:16

sighed, and put the most powerful

23:18

wand in the world back into

23:20

his school robes. It

23:22

did eventually, and hopefully

23:24

in time. Maybe

23:27

faster if there was someone to help

23:29

him do the research. Harry

23:33

was aware on some level, no,

23:36

he needed to stop being aware of things

23:38

on some level and start just being aware

23:40

of them. Harry

23:42

was explicitly and consciously aware that

23:45

he was ruminating about the future

23:47

mostly to distract himself from the

23:50

imminent arrival of Hermione Granger, who

23:53

would receive a clear bill of health

23:55

from St. Mungo's when she woke up

23:57

very early this morning, and who

23:59

would then flew with Professor Flitwick

24:01

back to Hogwarts. Whereupon,

24:03

she'd tell Professor Flitwick that

24:06

she needed to speak with

24:08

Harry Potter immediately. There'd been

24:10

a note from Harry to himself about

24:12

that, when Harry had woken up later

24:14

this morning with the sun already risen

24:16

in the Ravenclaw dorm. He'd

24:19

read the note, and then time turned

24:21

back to before the dawn hour when

24:24

Hermione Granger would arrive. She

24:27

won't actually be angry with

24:29

me. Seriously,

24:33

Hermione isn't that kind of person.

24:36

Maybe she was at the start of the year, but

24:39

she's too self-aware to fall for that one

24:41

now. What

24:43

do you mean? If you

24:45

have something to say in a voice, just

24:47

say it. We're trying

24:49

to be more aware of our own

24:51

thought processes, remember? The

24:56

sky had gone full blue-grey, dawn

24:58

barely short of sunrise, by the

25:00

time that Harry heard the sound

25:02

of footsteps coming from the ladder

25:04

that opened into his new office.

25:08

Hastily, Harry stood up and began

25:10

to brush off his robes, and

25:12

then, realising what he was doing,

25:14

stopped the nervous motions. He'd

25:17

just defeated Voldemort, damn it! He

25:19

ought not to be this nervous. The

25:24

young witch's head and chestnut curls

25:26

appeared in the opening and peered

25:28

around. Then

25:31

she rose up higher, seemed almost

25:33

to run up the ladder steps, like

25:35

she was walking along an ordinary sidewalk,

25:38

but vertically. Harry could

25:40

have blinked and misted, how

25:42

her one shoe came down on the top

25:44

rung of the ladder, and then she leaped

25:47

lightly onto the roof an instant later. Hermione.

25:53

Harry's lips moved around the word but made no

25:55

sound. There'd

25:58

been something Harry had done to the world. Meant to

26:00

say, but is it done right? out

26:02

of his mind. Maybe

26:05

a quarter of the minute

26:07

passed. On the rooftops before

26:10

her mind he granger spoke.

26:13

She was wearing a blue edged

26:16

uniform now and the blue brown

26:18

striped tie have a proper house.

26:23

Said. Mit Granger at terribly

26:25

familiar voice that almost brought

26:27

tears to Harrys ice. Before.

26:31

I ask you all the questions.

26:34

I'd like to start by saying. Thank.

26:36

You very much for and. Or

26:40

whatever it is you did. I mean

26:42

it's. Release. Thank

26:45

you. Ah,

26:47

My Any. Hurry said

26:50

and swallowed. The

26:52

phrase the may I Have Permission

26:54

to Hug You which Harry had

26:57

imagined using for his opening line

26:59

seemed impossible to say. S

27:02

welcome back out on well

27:04

I put up some privacy

27:06

smells. Harry took

27:09

the elder wand out of his

27:11

robes, got a book from his

27:13

pouts that he opened to a

27:15

bookmark and then carefully pronounced on

27:17

a number of Elio. along

27:20

with two other recently acquired security

27:22

challenge that Harry had found himself barely

27:24

able to cast if he wielded

27:26

the elder ones. It.

27:28

Wasn't much, but it was marginally

27:30

better security than just relying on

27:33

Professor Vector. You.

27:35

Have stumbled those ones. Emma

27:37

and he said. Her voice

27:40

was hushed and sounded as loud

27:42

as an avalanche in the still

27:44

don't as. You

27:46

can use it to cast source.

27:49

Yes, mouse. Abby

27:51

nodded, making a mental note to be

27:53

more careful. Who else saw him doing

27:55

that? Is it

27:58

okay if I hug you? I'm.

28:01

He moved lightly overdue M

28:03

S. Ah. movements were peculiarly

28:05

swift, more graceful than that

28:07

been before. Emotions

28:09

seemed to radiate an air of

28:11

something pure and untouched, reminding Harry

28:14

again of how peaceful I'm on

28:16

he had looked when she was

28:18

sleeping on Voldemort, Celta, Realize

28:21

a son had our a like a

28:23

ton of bricks or at least a

28:25

kilogram of bricks. And

28:28

Harry had the time I'd

28:30

ceiling out. Very alive. She

28:33

seemed. He

28:35

felt like crying and suppressed it because

28:37

he didn't know whether that was just

28:39

her aura affecting him or not. Am

28:43

on his arms around him with

28:45

gentle exceedingly light in that pressure

28:47

as if she were being deliberately

28:49

careful not to snap his body

28:51

and have like a used to

28:53

think. So.

28:56

Am. On he said once Harry had let go

28:58

of her. A

29:00

young face looked very serious as

29:02

well as pure and innocent. I

29:05

didn't tell the or as you are

29:07

that all that it was possess a

29:09

quill and not you know who. who

29:11

killed all the death eaters says it's

29:13

it lists only let them give me

29:15

one drop of their to serum So

29:17

I didn't have to say it's I

29:19

just told them the troll was the

29:21

last thing I remembered. Ah,

29:25

Harry. Said. He. Had

29:27

somehow found himself staring at her on

29:29

his nose instead of her eyes. Of.

29:33

Wants do you think

29:35

happened Exec Li. Well.

29:39

And. Money Granger said considering li.

29:42

I got eaten by a troll which

29:44

had sent me rather not do again

29:46

and then there was a really loud

29:49

bang and my legs were back and

29:51

I was lying on a stone outta

29:53

in the middle of a graveyard in

29:55

a dark moonlit for it I'd never

29:57

seen before us with somebody says it.

30:00

The clutched around my throat. So

30:03

you see Mister Potter? Finding.

30:06

Myself in a situation that weird

30:08

and dark and scary, I wasn't

30:10

going to make the same mistake

30:13

I did last time with Tracy.

30:16

I knew right away that it

30:18

was you. Barry.

30:20

Nodded. Assists goods

30:23

cool. I. Said

30:25

your name but you didn't answer.

30:27

Said. The money. I

30:29

sat up and one of the bloody

30:31

and slid over my shirts. Even

30:34

little bits of flesh behind. I

30:36

didn't scream though, even when I looked around and

30:39

so all their heads and bodies and. Realized

30:42

what the smell was. Ernie.

30:44

Stopped took another deep breaths.

30:48

I saw the skull mosques and realized

30:51

that the dead people had been death

30:53

eaters. And. I knew right

30:55

away that the defense processor had been

30:57

there with you and killed them all,

30:59

but I didn't notice. Professor Clear body

31:01

was also there. I

31:03

didn't realize it was him even when

31:05

I saw professor split with checking the

31:07

body. He looked. Difference

31:10

when he was dead. Am.

31:13

On his voice became quieter.

31:15

She looked humbled somehow and

31:17

away Harry couldn't often remember

31:20

seeing. They said

31:22

days Monroe his sacrifice to life

31:24

to bring me back. The.

31:26

Same way hits your mother sacrificed

31:28

herself the you said that the

31:30

Dark Lord would explode again when

31:32

he tried. To touch me. Pretty

31:36

sure that's not the whole truth, but.

31:39

I've thought a lot of nasty things about

31:42

our defense professor that I never should have

31:44

thought. Ah,

31:46

I'm. Sorry. Said. Am.

31:49

On a nodded solemnly hands clasped

31:51

in front of our as though

31:53

in penitence. I. Know

31:55

you'll probably too nice to see the things

31:58

to me that you have a right. The

32:00

say now so I'll see them for

32:02

you Have a. You.

32:04

Will write about possess a quill and I

32:07

was wrong. You. Told me

32:09

so. The. David Monroe's was

32:11

a. Little bit dog

32:13

and a whole lot say the rents

32:15

and it was childish of me to

32:18

think that was the same thing as

32:20

being evil. Ah,

32:23

Barry. Said this was very

32:25

hard to say. Actually,

32:29

Yes, the rest of the

32:31

world that doesn't know this

32:33

part. Not even the headmistress

32:35

butts in boiling to thanks

32:38

A you were one hundred

32:40

and twelve percent correct about

32:42

him being evil, and I'll

32:44

remember for future reference. That's

32:46

although the sand evil may

32:48

not technically be the same

32:51

thing it's There's a great

32:53

big statistical correlation. Oh.

32:56

Said. Him on a and fell

32:58

silent again. That.

33:02

They are not saying that's you

33:04

told me sir. Said. Harry.

33:07

His mental model of her mind. He was

33:09

yelling. Seen

33:12

as. Well

33:17

as. I

33:20

said bet you didn't

33:22

assume. A. Virtual

33:24

Emma and he just shook her head.

33:27

I know you cared. About him or not,

33:30

She. Said softly. Since.

33:33

I was rights. After a loss I

33:35

knew you'd probably be hurting a lot

33:37

of to possess a girl turned out

33:40

to be evil and. That

33:42

it wouldn't be a good time to say I

33:44

told. I mean, that's

33:46

what I decided when I was thinking

33:48

that bought through several months earlier. says.

33:52

Hangs you Miss Granger. Mary.

33:55

Was glad to said that much though may

33:57

just wouldn't have felt like Emma any other

33:59

way. So,

34:02

Mr. Potter," said Hermione

34:04

Granger, tapping her fingers on her robe

34:06

at around thigh level, "'after

34:10

the Mediwitch drew my blood, it

34:12

stopped hurting right away, and

34:14

when I brushed away the little bit of blood

34:16

on my arm, I couldn't find where the needle

34:18

had poked me. I

34:20

bent some of the metal in my bed

34:23

frame without trying hard, and though

34:25

I haven't had a chance to test it yet, I

34:28

feel like I should be able

34:30

to run really fast. My

34:33

fingernails are pearly white and

34:35

shiny, even though I don't

34:37

remember painting them, and

34:39

my teeth look like that too,

34:41

which, being the daughter of dentists,

34:43

makes me nervous. So,

34:46

it's not that I'm ungrateful, but

34:49

just what exactly did you do?" "'Um,'

34:55

Harry said, "'and I'm

34:57

expecting you're also wondering why

34:59

you're radiating an aura of

35:01

purity and innocence.' "'I'm

35:05

what?' "'That

35:07

part wasn't my idea,

35:09

honestly,' Harry's voice went

35:11

small. "'Please

35:14

don't kill me.' Hermione

35:17

Granger raised her hands in front

35:19

of her face, staring somewhat cross-eyed

35:21

at her fingers. "'Harry,

35:25

are you saying, I mean,

35:28

my radiating innocence and being all

35:30

fast and graceful and my teeth

35:32

being pearly white? "'Is

35:34

it alicorn?' my fingernails

35:37

are made of. "'Alicorn?'

35:42

"'It's the term for Unicorn Horn, Mr. Potter!'

35:45

Hermione Granger seemed to be trying to

35:47

nibble her fingernails and not having much

35:49

luck. "'So, I

35:51

guess if you bring a girl back from the dead,

35:53

she ends up as,' what

35:56

did Daphne call it, "'a

35:58

sparkling unicorn prince'?' That's

36:02

not exactly what happened," Harry

36:05

said, though it was frighteningly

36:07

close. Hermione

36:10

took her finger out of her mouth, frowning

36:12

at it. "'I

36:14

can't bite through it either. Mr.

36:17

Potter, did you consider the

36:19

problems now that it's literally impossible

36:21

for me to trim my fingernails

36:23

and toenails? How

36:26

easily twins have a magical sword that should

36:28

work?" Harry

36:30

volunteered. "'I

36:33

think,' Hermione Granger

36:35

said firmly, "'that I

36:37

would like to know the whole story behind

36:39

all this, Mr. Potter, because

36:42

knowing you and knowing

36:44

Professor Quirrell, there was some

36:46

sort of plan going on.'"

36:51

Harry took a deep breath. Then

36:53

he exhaled. "'Sorry,

36:57

it's classified.

37:01

I could tell you if you studied Occlumency,

37:03

but do

37:06

you want to?" "'Do

37:08

I want to study Occlumency?'

37:11

Hermione said, looking slightly surprised.

37:14

"'That's at least a six-year thing, isn't

37:17

it?'" "'I learned

37:19

it,' Harry said. I

37:21

started with an unusual boost, but I

37:23

doubt that really mattered in the long

37:26

run. I mean, I'm

37:28

sure you could learn calculus if you studied

37:30

hard, regardless of what age

37:32

muggles usually learn it. The

37:35

question is —'" Harry

37:37

was having to control his breathing. "'The

37:42

question is, do you

37:44

still want to do that

37:47

kind of stuff?'" Hermione

37:50

turned and looked at where the sky

37:52

was lightning in the east. "'You

37:56

mean,' she said

37:58

quietly. Do I

38:00

still want to be a hero, now that

38:02

it's earned me a horrible death that one

38:04

time?" Harry nodded,

38:07

then said, "'Yes,' because

38:10

Hermione wasn't turning toward him, though

38:12

the word felt blocked in his

38:14

throat. "'I've

38:16

been thinking about that,' Hermione

38:18

said. "'It was, in fact,

38:22

an exceptionally gruesome and

38:24

painful death.' "'I,

38:27

um... I did

38:29

set some things up, just

38:31

in case you still wanted to be

38:33

a hero. There were

38:35

some short windows of opportunity where I

38:37

didn't have time to consult you. I

38:40

couldn't let you see me because I expected you

38:43

to be given Veritas here later. But

38:45

if you don't like it, I can undo most

38:47

of what I did and you can just ignore

38:50

the rest.'" Hermione

38:53

nodded distractedly. "'Like

38:56

making everyone think that I... Harry,

39:00

did I actually do anything to you

39:02

know who?'" "'Uh,

39:05

no. That was all me. Though,

39:08

please, don't tell anyone that. Just

39:11

so you know, that time the

39:13

boy who lived supposedly defeated

39:16

Voldemort on the night of

39:18

Halloween in 1981, that

39:20

was Dumbledore's victory and he

39:23

let everyone think it was me. So,

39:25

now I've defeated a Dark Lord

39:27

once and gotten credit for it

39:29

once. It all balances

39:32

out eventually, I guess.'" Hermione

39:36

went on gazing to the east. "'I'm

39:39

not really comfortable with this,' she

39:42

said after a while. "'People

39:44

thinking I defeated the Dark Lord

39:46

Voldemort? I haven't done anything at all.

39:49

Oh, that's the same thing you went

39:51

through, isn't it?'" "'Yeah.

39:54

Sorry about infecting that on you. I

39:57

was... well... I

40:00

was trying to create a separate identity

40:02

for you in people's minds, I

40:04

guess. There was just

40:06

the one opportunity and everything

40:09

was sort of rushed and I

40:12

realized afterwards that maybe I

40:14

shouldn't have, but it

40:16

was too late." Harry

40:19

cleared his throat. "'Though,

40:23

if you're feeling like you want to do something

40:25

that's actually worthy of the way people think about

40:27

the girl who revived,

40:31

I might have an idea for what you can do.

40:34

Very soon, if you want." Hermione

40:38

Granger was giving him a look. "'But

40:42

you don't have to,' Harry

40:44

said hastily. "'You can

40:46

just ignore this whole thing and be

40:48

the best student in Ravenclaw, if

40:51

that's what you prefer.'" "'Are

40:54

you trying to use reverse psychology

40:56

on me, Mr. Potter?'" "'No,

40:59

honestly,' Harry took a

41:02

deep breath. "'I'm trying

41:04

not to decide your life for you.

41:08

I thought I saw yesterday.

41:11

I thought I saw what might

41:13

come next for you. But

41:15

then I remembered how much of this year

41:17

I'd spent being a total idiot. I

41:20

thought of some things,' Dumbledore said to me.

41:24

I realized it genuinely wasn't

41:26

my place to say, that

41:28

you could do anything you

41:30

wanted with your life and

41:32

that, above all, the choice had

41:34

to be your own. Maybe

41:37

you don't want to be a hero

41:39

after this. Maybe you

41:41

want to become a great magical

41:44

researcher because that's who Hermione Granger

41:46

really was all along. Never

41:49

mind what your fingernails are made out of now. Or

41:52

you could go to the Salem Witches Institute

41:54

in America instead of Hogwarts. I

41:57

won't lie and say I'd like that, but—"

42:00

It really is up to you." Harry

42:03

turned to the horizon and swept his

42:05

hand wide, as though to indicate all

42:07

the world that lay beyond Hogwarts. "'You

42:11

can go anywhere from

42:14

here. You can do

42:16

anything with your life. If

42:19

you want to be a wealthy sixty-year-old merman,

42:21

I can make it happen. I'm

42:24

serious.'" Emmani

42:27

nodded slowly. "'I'm

42:30

curious about how you'd do that

42:32

exactly, but what I

42:34

want isn't to have things

42:36

done for me.'" Harry

42:40

sighed. "'I understand.

42:45

Um…" Harry hesitated.

42:48

"'I think. If it helps

42:51

you to know, in my

42:53

case, things are being arranged for me a

42:56

lot. My

42:58

Dumbledore, mostly, though Professor Quirrell,

43:00

too. Maybe

43:02

the power to earn your own way in

43:04

life is itself something you have

43:07

to earn.'" "'Why,

43:09

that sounds very wise,'

43:12

Emmani said. "'Like having my

43:14

parents pay for me to go to universities

43:16

so I can someday get my own job.

43:19

Professor Quirrell, bringing me back to

43:21

life as a sparkling unicorn princess,

43:23

and you telling everyone that I,

43:26

off the Dark Lord Voldemort, is

43:28

just like that, really.'" "'I

43:32

am sorry,' Harry said. I

43:35

know I should have done it differently, but I didn't

43:38

have much time to plan and I

43:40

was exhausted and not really thinking straight.'

43:44

"'I'm grateful, Harry,'

43:46

Emmani said, her voice softer

43:48

now. You're

43:51

being too harsh on yourself, even. Please

43:54

don't take it so seriously when I'm

43:56

snarky at you. I

43:58

don't want to be the sort of girl who can do it. comes back from

44:01

the dead and then starts complaining about

44:03

which superpower she got and that her

44:05

alicorn fingernails are the wrong shade of pearly white."

44:09

Hermione had turned, was

44:11

again gazing off to the east. "'But,

44:15

Mr. Potter, if I

44:17

do decide that dying a horrible

44:19

death isn't enough to make me

44:21

rethink my life choices, not

44:23

that I'm saying that just yet,

44:27

then what happens next?'" "'I

44:31

do my best to support

44:33

you in your life choices,' Harry

44:35

said firmly. "'Whatever they

44:38

are.' "'You have

44:40

a quest already lined up for me, I'm guessing. A

44:43

nice, safe quest where there's

44:45

no chance of me getting

44:47

hurt again.' Harry rubbed his

44:49

eyes, feeling tired inside. It

44:52

was like he could hear the voice

44:54

of Albus Dumbledore inside his head. "'Forgive

44:58

me, Hermione Granger.'

45:02

"'I'm sorry, Hermione. If

45:04

you go down that path, I'm going

45:06

to have to Dumbledore you and not

45:08

tell you some things. Manipulate

45:11

you, if only for a short

45:13

while. I do

45:15

believe there's something you might be able to

45:17

do now, something real,

45:20

something worthy of the way people are

45:23

thinking about the girl who revived. That

45:26

you might have a destiny, even.

45:29

But, in the end, that's

45:31

just a guess. I know

45:34

a lot less than Dumbledore did.

45:36

Are you willing to risk the life you

45:38

just got back?" Hermione

45:41

turned to look at him, her eyes

45:43

widening in surprise. "'Risk

45:46

my life?' Harry

45:49

didn't nod, because that would have been

45:51

outright lying." "'Are

45:54

you willing to do that?' Harry

45:56

said instead. The

45:58

quest that I think might be

46:00

your destiny. And no, I don't

46:02

know any specific prophecies, it's just

46:04

a guess. Involves

46:06

literal descent into hell

46:08

type stuff." I

46:12

thought, Hamani said. She

46:14

sounded uncertain. I

46:17

thought for sure that after this, you

46:19

and Professor McGonagall wouldn't, you

46:21

know, let me do

46:23

anything the least bit dangerous ever

46:26

again. Harry

46:29

said nothing, feeling guilty about the

46:31

false relationship credit he was getting.

46:34

It was in fact the case

46:36

that Hamani was modelling him with

46:38

tremendous accuracy, and that if not

46:40

for Hamani having a horcrux, the

46:42

surface of the planet Venus would

46:44

have dropped to fractional Kelvin temperatures

46:46

before Harry tried this. On

46:49

a scale of zero to a hundred,

46:52

how literal a descent into hell

46:55

are we talking about here? said

46:58

Hamani. The girl now looked

47:00

a bit worried. Harry

47:03

mentally calibrated his scales, remembering

47:05

Azkaban. I'd

47:08

say maybe eighty-seven.

47:11

This sounds like something I

47:13

should do when I'm older, Harry. There's

47:16

a difference between being a hero and

47:19

being a complete lunatic. Harry

47:21

shook his head. I don't

47:24

think the risk would change much, Harry

47:27

said, leaving aside the question of how

47:29

much risk that really was. And

47:32

it's the sort of thing that's better done

47:34

sooner, if someone does it at

47:36

all. And my

47:38

parents don't get a vote? Hamani

47:41

said. Or do they? Harry

47:44

shrugged. We both know how they'd

47:47

vote, and you can take that into account if

47:49

you like. Um, I

47:51

said for Doctor and Doctor Granger not

47:53

to be told yet that you're alive.

47:57

They'll find out after you come back from

47:59

your mission. If you

48:01

choose to accept it, that

48:04

seems a bit, uh, kinda,

48:06

on your parents' nerves. They

48:08

just get the one pleasant surprise instead of

48:11

having to worry about, uh, stuff."

48:16

"'Why, that's very thoughtful of you,' Amarni

48:19

said. It's nice that you're

48:21

so concerned about their feelings. May

48:23

I think about this for a few minutes, please?"

48:28

Harry gestured toward the cushion he'd set

48:30

down opposite his own, and Amarni moved

48:32

over with fluid grace and sat down

48:34

to look out over the castle edge,

48:37

still radiating peacefulness all over the

48:39

place. "'They'd really need

48:41

to do something about that. Maybe

48:44

pay someone to invent an

48:46

anti-purity potion?'" "'Do

48:49

I have to decide this without knowing what

48:51

the mission is?' Amarni

48:53

asked. "'Oh, hell

48:55

no,' Harry said, thinking of

48:57

a symbol. "'I'll have to do a similar conversation

48:59

before his own trip to Azkaban.'" "'This

49:02

is the sort of thing you have to

49:04

choose freely, if you do it at all.

49:07

I mean, that's an actual

49:09

mission requirement. If you

49:11

say that you still want to be a hero, I'll

49:14

tell you afterwards about the mission.

49:17

After you've had some time to eat and talk

49:20

to people and recover a bit, and

49:22

you'll decide then if it's

49:24

something you want to do. It

49:26

will test in advance whether returning from

49:29

death has allowed you to cast the spell that

49:31

normal wizards think is impossible

49:34

before you go out." Amarni

49:38

nodded and fell back in disceance.

49:42

The sky had lightened further by

49:44

the time Amarni spoke again. "'I'm

49:48

afraid,' Amarni said, almost

49:50

in a whisper. Not

49:52

of dying again, or not

49:55

just that. I'm

49:57

afraid I won't be good enough. I

49:59

have to do it. had my chance to defeat a troll

50:01

and instead I just... died.

50:05

That was a troll empowered by

50:08

Voldemort as a weapon. Plus

50:10

he sabotaged all your magic items,

50:12

just so you know. I

50:16

died! And you

50:18

killed the trolls somehow. I

50:20

think I remember that part. It didn't

50:23

even slow you down. Hermione

50:26

wasn't crying. No tears

50:28

glistened on her cheeks. She

50:30

simply gazed off at the lightning sky where

50:32

the sun would rise. Then

50:36

you brought me back from the

50:38

dead as a sparkling unicorn princess.

50:41

I know I couldn't have

50:43

done that. Afraid

50:45

I'll never be able to do that no

50:48

matter what people think about me. This

50:52

situation is where your journey

50:54

begins, I think. Harry

50:57

paused. Eh, excuse

51:00

me. I shouldn't be trying to

51:02

influence your decision. No.

51:05

Hermione whispered, still gazing at the

51:07

hills below her. She

51:10

raised her voice. No,

51:13

Harry. I want to hear this.

51:17

Okay, um... I

51:19

think this is where

51:22

you start. Everything

51:25

that's happened up until now, it

51:27

places you in the same place I started

51:30

out in September, when I'd

51:32

thought of myself as just being

51:34

a child prodigy before, and

51:36

then I found something new I needed to

51:38

live up to. If

51:41

you weren't comparing yourself to me and

51:43

my... adult cognitive

51:46

pattern copied off Tom Riddle...

51:49

Darkseid? Then you'd

51:51

be the brightest star of Ravenclaw

51:53

who organized her own company to

51:56

fight school bullies and kept her

51:58

sanity under assault by Voldemort. all

52:00

while she was only 12 years old. I

52:04

looked it up. You got better

52:07

grades than Dumbledore did in his

52:09

first year. Leaving aside

52:11

the defence grade because that was

52:13

just Voldemort being Voldemort. Now

52:16

you have some powers and a reputation

52:19

to live up to, and

52:21

the world is about to hand you some difficult

52:23

tasks. That's where

52:25

it all begins for you.

52:28

The same as it began for me. Don't

52:32

sell yourself short. And

52:35

then Harry shut his mouth hard

52:37

because he was talking Hermione into

52:39

it, and that wasn't

52:41

right. He'd at

52:43

least managed to stop before the part where

52:45

he asked if she couldn't be a hero

52:47

with all that going for her, who exactly

52:49

she thought was going to do it. You

52:53

know, Hermione said to the

52:55

horizon, still not looking at Harry. I

52:59

had a conversation like this with Professor Quirrell

53:01

once about being a hero.

53:04

He was taking the other side of course,

53:07

but apart from that, this is

53:09

feeling like when he argued with me

53:11

somehow. Harry

53:14

kept his lips pressed shut. Letting

53:17

people make their own decisions was hard

53:19

because it meant they were allowed to

53:21

make the wrong ones, but

53:24

it still had to be done. Hermione

53:28

spoke carefully. The blue fringes of

53:30

her Hogwarts uniform now seeming brighter

53:33

against her black robes as the

53:35

sky all around them became illuminated.

53:39

There were no more stars in the

53:41

west. Professor Quirrell

53:43

told me. He

53:45

said he had been a hero

53:47

once, but people weren't helping

53:50

him enough, so he gave up and

53:52

went off to do something more interesting.

53:55

I told Professor Quirrell that it hadn't been

53:57

right for him to do that. What

54:00

I actually said was. Parents.

54:03

Horrible. Bosses

54:05

The Quiroz said that yes, maybe he

54:07

was an awful person, but then what

54:09

about all the other people who have

54:11

never tried to be heroes at all?

54:14

Where. They even worse than him. And.

54:18

I didn't know what to say bag

54:20

and mean it's wrong to say that

54:23

only Griffin Door style heroes of good

54:25

people and why think from Professor Quiroz

54:27

perspective it was more like only people

54:29

with big ambitions had the right. To

54:32

please. And. I didn't

54:34

believe that but is also seemed

54:36

wrong to stop being a hero

54:39

to walk away. Like

54:41

he's done. So. I

54:44

just stood there looking silly.

54:46

But. Now I know what I should have told him

54:48

back then. Very.

54:51

Controlled is breathing. Air.

54:53

Money stood up from her cushion and

54:55

turned to say sorry. I'm

54:58

done with trying to be a heroine. Said.

55:01

Mit Granger with the eastern sky

55:03

brightening around her. I

55:06

shouldn't have as a gone along

55:08

with that entire line of thinking.

55:10

it's never just people who do

55:12

what they can. Whatever.

55:15

They can. And there are also

55:17

people who don't even try to

55:19

do what they can. And yes,

55:21

those people are doing something wrong.

55:24

I'm not as I going to try to be

55:26

a hero again. I'm not

55:28

going to sink in heroic terms if

55:30

I can help it. But.

55:33

I won't do any less than I can. Oh,

55:36

not a lot less. I mean,

55:38

I'm only human. Race

55:41

had never understood what was supposed

55:43

to be mysterious about the Mona

55:46

Lisa Us, but if he could

55:48

have taken a picture of her

55:50

money's resigned joyous smile just then.

55:53

He. Had had the sense that he

55:55

could have looked at it for

55:57

hours without understanding and that Dumbledore

55:59

couldn't read wrote in a glance.

56:02

I won't learn my lesson. I

56:05

will be that stupid. I'll go on

56:07

trying to do most of what I

56:09

can. Us or at least some of

56:12

what I can is, you know what

56:14

I mean. Even if

56:16

it means risking my life again so

56:18

long as it's worth the risk and

56:20

isn't being. You know it's.

56:23

Actually Stupid. Know.

56:26

My answer. Am.

56:28

On a took a deep breath, her

56:30

face resolute. says.

56:34

Is there something I can do? Harrys.

56:37

Throat was choked. May reached

56:39

into his cloak and signed

56:41

C O O J K

56:43

since he couldn't speak and

56:45

drew for the fold in

56:48

a spell of the cloak

56:50

of invisibility. Offering. It

56:52

to her money for the last time.

56:55

Area had to force the words from

56:57

his throat. As

56:59

s is that true cloak

57:02

of invisibility. Barry. Said

57:04

in almost a whisper. And

57:07

The Deathly Hallows. Passed down from

57:09

Big Nose just better how do

57:11

his as the Potters. And

57:14

now who? Do. You. Eat.

57:19

Em on he said. The hands blew up

57:21

across I just as though to protect itself

57:23

from the attacking just. Don't

57:25

pass to do this. I

57:28

do ask do this. I've

57:30

less the part of the

57:32

path that lets me be

57:35

a hero. I can't risk

57:37

myself but venturing ever. And

57:40

you. Can.

57:43

Carry Reid out the hands that wasn't

57:45

holding the cloak and wiped out his

57:47

eyes. And this

57:50

was made so you I

57:52

think. Of other person you're

57:54

going to become. A

57:57

weapon to fight desk And it's

57:59

form. the shadow of despair

58:01

that falls upon human minds and

58:03

drains away their hope for the

58:06

future. You will

58:08

fight that, I expect,

58:11

in more forms than just dementors.

58:15

I do not loan you, my cloak,

58:17

but give you unto

58:19

Hermione Jean Granger. Protect

58:23

her well forever more. Slowly,

58:27

Hermione reached out and took hold

58:29

of the cloak, looking like she

58:31

was trying not to cry herself.

58:35

Thank you, she whispered. I

58:38

think, even though I'm

58:40

done with the notion of harrowing,

58:43

I think that you always were,

58:45

from the day I met you,

58:48

my mysterious old wizard. And

58:52

I think, Harry said, his

58:55

own throat half closed, even

58:58

if you deny that way of thinking now,

59:01

I think that you are

59:03

always destined to become, from

59:06

the very beginning of the story, the hero.

59:11

Who must Hermione Granger become?

59:14

What adult form must she

59:16

take when she grows up,

59:18

to pass through times narrow

59:20

keyhole? I

59:22

don't know the answer to that either, any

59:25

more than I can imagine my own

59:28

adult self. But

59:30

her next few steps ahead seem clearer

59:32

than mine. Harry

59:35

let go of the cloak, and it passed

59:37

from his hands to hers. It

59:41

sings, Hermione said.

59:43

It's singing to me. She

59:46

reached up and wiped at her own eyes. I

59:50

can't believe you did that, Harry. Harry's

59:53

other hand came out of his pouch,

59:56

now bearing a long golden chain, at

59:58

The end of which, Tangled, a

1:00:01

closed golden shell. And.

1:00:04

This is your purse no

1:00:06

time machine. There

1:00:09

was a pause a during which

1:00:11

the planet earth rotated a bit

1:00:13

further in it's orbit. Who.

1:00:16

Has. Said. To money. And

1:00:19

time turn as. They call at Hogwarts

1:00:21

has a stock may give out to

1:00:24

some students sets. I got one at

1:00:26

the start of the year to treat

1:00:28

my sleep disorder s. It lets

1:00:30

the user go backwards in time.

1:00:32

In up to six a one

1:00:34

hour increments which I used to

1:00:36

get six extra hours per day

1:00:39

to study and to vanish out

1:00:41

of potions, glass, and so on.

1:00:43

And don't worry at times, and

1:00:45

I can't change history or generate

1:00:47

paradoxes that destroyed the universe. You

1:00:51

were keeping up with me in

1:00:53

lessons. My studying six

1:00:55

extra hours a day

1:00:57

using. A. Time

1:01:00

Machine. Mit.

1:01:02

Green just seems to be having trouble

1:01:05

with this concept for some unaccountable reason.

1:01:08

Barry. Made his face looked

1:01:10

puzzled. As

1:01:12

bad as something odd about that.

1:01:15

Am. On a reached out and took

1:01:18

the gold necklace. Yes,

1:01:20

not like we said standards. She

1:01:23

said. The some reason

1:01:25

her voice sounded rather shops. She

1:01:28

arranged the chain around her neck,

1:01:30

placing the hourglass inside her shirt.

1:01:33

I do feel a bit better now about

1:01:36

keeping up with the those say. Thank.

1:01:38

You for that. Area

1:01:40

cleared his throat s at

1:01:42

also has since Voldemort wiped

1:01:44

out the house of Monroe

1:01:46

and then so far as

1:01:48

if one believes say you

1:01:50

avenged them by killing Voldemort.

1:01:53

I.emilia Bones Dough Railroad A

1:01:55

bill through what's left of

1:01:57

the wisdom much at saying

1:01:59

that's great. Yeah! is now a

1:02:01

noble house of Britain. Scuse

1:02:04

me. Said. Her money, That

1:02:08

also makes use. The only sire

1:02:10

knows a noble house which means that

1:02:12

to get your legal majority it's

1:02:14

you just need to pass your

1:02:16

ordinary was ending levels. Which I've

1:02:18

set us up to do. At the end of

1:02:20

the seller say we'll have some time to study

1:02:22

first. Is you're okay with

1:02:24

that? I mean. Am

1:02:27

I need? Granger was making some

1:02:29

sort of high pitched noise that

1:02:32

would mean a less organic device

1:02:34

have indicated an engine malfunctions. Still

1:02:39

studies of my O W Else.

1:02:42

Am I in a it said

1:02:44

test design. Said that most sixteen

1:02:46

year olds can pass ordinary fifteen

1:02:48

year olds. We can get a

1:02:50

passing grade with a low third

1:02:52

years power level if we learn

1:02:54

the right set of. Spells and

1:02:57

that's all we need for

1:02:59

our majorities. Though you need

1:03:01

to come to terms with guessing

1:03:03

acceptable scores instead of your usual

1:03:05

out standings. The.

1:03:08

High pitched noise is coming from her

1:03:10

money. Granger rose in pitch. Is

1:03:13

the all ones back? Hurry.

1:03:16

To get out from his bouts and

1:03:18

your most skyn bout some I made

1:03:20

sure they put back everything that was

1:03:23

there and you died. That

1:03:25

pouch Harry withdrew from a normal

1:03:27

pocket of his robes since he

1:03:29

was reluctant to put a bag

1:03:31

of holding inside a bag of

1:03:33

holding and them as a what

1:03:36

was supposed to be homeless so

1:03:38

long as both devices had been

1:03:40

crafted. Observing all safety precautions. I'm

1:03:43

on a took i won't bags and

1:03:45

then hop out the motions, somehow managing

1:03:47

to look graceful me even though her

1:03:50

fingers were a bit shaky. let's

1:03:53

see what else the as use

1:03:55

while before to house but i

1:03:57

only said you had to say

1:04:00

until the day you die. So

1:04:02

you're now free and clear. And

1:04:05

right after your death I got

1:04:07

the Malfoy's to publicly declare that

1:04:09

you were innocent of all charges

1:04:12

in Draco's attempted murder." Why,

1:04:16

thank you again, Harry, said

1:04:19

Hermione. It was very

1:04:21

nice of you, and them too, I guess.

1:04:25

She was repeatedly running her fingers

1:04:28

through her chestnut curls, as though,

1:04:30

by organizing her hair, she could

1:04:32

restore sanity to her life. Last,

1:04:36

but not least, I

1:04:39

had the goblins start the process of

1:04:41

building a vault in Gringotts for House

1:04:43

Granger, Harry said. I didn't

1:04:46

put any money into it, because that was

1:04:48

something where I could wait and ask you

1:04:50

first. But if you're going

1:04:52

to be a superhero who goes around

1:04:54

writing certain kinds of wrongs, it'll help

1:04:57

a lot if people consider you to

1:04:59

be part of the upper social strata.

1:05:01

And, um, I think

1:05:03

it may help if they know you can afford

1:05:06

lawyers. I can put in

1:05:08

as much gold into your vault as you want,

1:05:10

since after Voldemort killed

1:05:12

Nicholas Flamel, I

1:05:14

ended up holding the Philosopher's Stone. I feel

1:05:18

like I ought to be

1:05:20

fainting, Hermione said in a high-pitched voice.

1:05:23

Only I can't because of my superpowers,

1:05:25

and why do I

1:05:28

have those again? If

1:05:31

it's all right with you, your

1:05:33

occlumency lessons will start on Wednesday

1:05:35

with Mr. Bester. He can

1:05:38

work with you once per day. Until

1:05:40

then, I think it might be better

1:05:43

for the true origin of your powers

1:05:45

not to become known just because the

1:05:47

Legilimans looked you in the eyes. I

1:05:50

mean, obviously there's a

1:05:52

normal magical explanation. Nothing

1:05:55

super, supernatural, but

1:05:58

people do tend to worship. their own

1:06:00

ignorance and, well, I

1:06:03

think the girl who revived will be

1:06:05

more effective if you remain mysterious.

1:06:09

Once you can keep out Mr. Bestor

1:06:11

and beat Veritas Erem, I'll

1:06:13

tell you the entire backstory. I

1:06:16

promise, including all the

1:06:18

secrets you can never

1:06:20

tell anyone else." "'That

1:06:23

sounds lovely,' said

1:06:25

Hermione Granger. "'I'm quite

1:06:27

looking forward to it.' "'Though

1:06:30

you'll need to take an unbreakable vow

1:06:33

to not do anything that might

1:06:35

destroy the world before I

1:06:37

can tell you the more dangerous parts of

1:06:39

the story. I mean, I literally

1:06:42

can't tell you otherwise because I

1:06:44

took an unbreakable vow myself.' "'Is

1:06:48

that okay?' "'Sure,'

1:06:51

said Hermione. "'Why shouldn't

1:06:53

it be okay? I wouldn't want

1:06:55

to destroy the world anyhow.' "'Do

1:06:59

you need to sit down again?' Harry

1:07:01

said, feeling alarmed by the

1:07:04

way Hermione was swaying slightly,

1:07:06

as though in rhythm with

1:07:08

the words being spoken. Hermione

1:07:10

Granger took several deep breaths. "'No,

1:07:14

I'm perfectly peachy,' she

1:07:17

said. "'Is there anything else

1:07:19

I should know about?' "'That

1:07:23

was it. I'm finished, at

1:07:25

least for now.' Harry paused.

1:07:29

"'I do understand that you want to

1:07:31

do things for yourself, not

1:07:33

just have them done for you. It's

1:07:36

just, you're

1:07:38

going to be a more serious kind

1:07:40

of hero, and the only

1:07:42

sane choice is for me to

1:07:44

give you all the advantages I

1:07:47

can manage.' "'I understand that

1:07:49

quite well,' Hermione said.

1:07:52

"'Now that I've actually lost a

1:07:54

fight and died, I didn't used

1:07:56

to understand, but now

1:07:59

I do.' A

1:08:01

breeze ruffled Hermione's chestnut hair and stirred

1:08:03

her robes, making her look even more

1:08:06

peaceful in the dawn air as she

1:08:08

raised one hand and carefully clenched it

1:08:10

into a fist. If

1:08:13

I'm going to do this, I'm going

1:08:15

to do it right. We

1:08:17

need to measure how hard I can

1:08:19

punch and how high I can jump

1:08:21

and figure out a safe way to

1:08:23

test if my fingernails can kill leatherfolds

1:08:25

like a real unicorn's horn, and

1:08:28

I should practice using my speed to dodge spells

1:08:30

I can't let hit me end, and

1:08:32

it sounds like you could maybe arrange

1:08:34

for me to get aura training like

1:08:36

from whoever taught Susan Bones?" Hermione

1:08:40

was smiling again now, a strange

1:08:42

light in her eyes that would

1:08:44

have puzzled Dumbledore for hours and

1:08:47

that Harry understood immediately,

1:08:50

not without a twinge of apprehension.

1:08:54

Harry said, imitating Professor McGonagall's Scottish

1:08:56

accent as best he could, that

1:08:58

I ought to

1:09:19

be doing something about this. Oh,

1:09:23

it's much, much, much too

1:09:25

late for that, Mr Potter. Say,

1:09:28

can you get me a

1:09:30

bazooka? The rocket launcher, I

1:09:32

mean, not the chewing gum. I

1:09:35

bet they won't expect that from a

1:09:37

young girl, especially if I'm radiating

1:09:39

an aura of innocence and purity.

1:09:43

All right, Harry said

1:09:45

calmly, now you're starting

1:09:47

to scare me. Hermione

1:09:50

paused from where she was experimenting with

1:09:53

balancing on the tip of her left

1:09:55

shoe, her arm reaching in one

1:09:57

direction and her right leg stretched in the

1:09:59

other. like a ballet dancer. Am

1:10:03

I? I was just thinking that

1:10:05

I didn't see what I could do

1:10:07

that a ministry squad of hit wizards

1:10:09

couldn't. They have broomsticks

1:10:11

for mobility and spells that

1:10:13

hit harder than I possibly could. She

1:10:17

gracefully lowered her leg back down. I

1:10:20

mean now that I can try a

1:10:22

few things without worrying about who was watching,

1:10:24

I'm starting to think that I

1:10:27

really really really like

1:10:29

having superpowers. I still

1:10:32

don't see how I could win a fight

1:10:35

the professor Flickwick couldn't, not

1:10:37

unless it involves me

1:10:39

taking a dark wizard

1:10:41

by surprise. You can

1:10:43

take risks other people shouldn't and

1:10:45

try again with the knowledge of

1:10:48

what killed you. You

1:10:50

can experiment with new spells

1:10:53

more than anyone else could try without

1:10:55

dying for sure. But

1:10:57

Harry couldn't say any of that yet so

1:11:00

instead he said I think

1:11:02

it's okay to think more about the future not

1:11:05

just what you can do

1:11:08

this very minute. Hermione jumped

1:11:10

high in the air, clicked her heels together

1:11:12

three times on the way down and

1:11:15

landed on her tiptoes perfectly

1:11:17

posed. But you

1:11:19

said that was something I could do right

1:11:21

away or were you

1:11:23

just jesting? That

1:11:25

part is a special case, Harry

1:11:28

said, feeling the chill of the dawn

1:11:30

air against his skin. He

1:11:33

was increasingly not looking forward

1:11:36

to telling Super Hermione that

1:11:38

her ordeal would involve facing

1:11:40

her literal worst nightmare under

1:11:43

conditions where all her

1:11:45

newfound physical strength would

1:11:48

be useless. Hermione nodded

1:11:50

then glanced to the east. At

1:11:53

once she went to the side of the roof

1:11:55

and sat down, Her feet dangling

1:11:58

over the rooftop ledge. Gary

1:12:01

went to her side and sat down

1:12:03

to sitting cross legged and further back

1:12:06

of the research. In

1:12:09

the distance, a brilliant tinge of

1:12:11

read was rising above the hills

1:12:13

to the east of Hogwarts. Watching

1:12:16

the tip of the sunrise made

1:12:19

to harry feel better somehow. So.

1:12:22

Long as the sun was in the

1:12:24

sky things was dell all done some

1:12:26

level. Like. Ms having

1:12:29

not yet destroyed the So.

1:12:32

So. I'm on he said.

1:12:34

My voice rose a bit. Speaking

1:12:37

of the future. Harrys.

1:12:40

I. Had time to think about

1:12:42

a lot of things while I was

1:12:45

waiting. Instant mongers. And.

1:12:48

Maybe it's silly of me, but. As

1:12:51

a question, I still want to know the

1:12:53

answer to. Do.

1:12:56

You remember the last thing we talked about

1:12:58

to get us. Missile. I.

1:13:00

Mean. Oh odds.

1:13:03

Are. He said bluntly. Oh,

1:13:06

I'm on He said with two

1:13:08

months ago, see us I guess

1:13:10

you don't recall that and. And

1:13:14

tirade remembered. It

1:13:17

on x. M on he

1:13:20

said as a sort of strangled have dug

1:13:22

old came from Harrys throats. I

1:13:24

promise no matter what you say it's I

1:13:27

won't burst into tears and run away and

1:13:29

get eaten by a troll. It, and I

1:13:31

know it's been less than two days for

1:13:33

me, it's But I think that dying has

1:13:36

made a lot of things I used to

1:13:38

fret about see much less important compared to

1:13:40

what I've. Been. Through. Ah

1:13:44

no. Are he said

1:13:46

his own voice now high pitched

1:13:48

fast As that says, good use

1:13:51

of a major trauma I guess.

1:13:55

And meets. Seats. i

1:13:57

was still wondering about it

1:14:00

Harry, because for me it hasn't

1:14:03

been very long at all since our last conversation,

1:14:05

and we

1:14:07

didn't finish talking, which was admittedly all

1:14:09

my own fault for losing control of

1:14:12

my emotions and then being

1:14:14

eaten by a troll, which I am definitely

1:14:16

not going to do again. I've

1:14:18

been thinking I ought to reassure

1:14:20

you that's not going to happen every time

1:14:23

you say the wrong thing to a girl."

1:14:26

Hermione was fidgeting, leaning from one

1:14:28

side to the other where she

1:14:30

sat, slightly back and forth. "'But,

1:14:35

well, even most people

1:14:37

who are in love don't

1:14:40

do literally one-hundredth

1:14:42

of what you've done for me, so Mr.

1:14:46

Harry James Potter Evans

1:14:49

Ferris, if it's

1:14:51

not love, I want

1:14:53

to know exactly what I am to you.

1:14:56

You never said.' "'Ah,

1:14:59

ha-ha, that's a

1:15:01

good question,' Harry said,

1:15:03

controlling the rising panic. "'Do

1:15:06

you mind if I think about it?' Bit

1:15:11

by bit, more of the searingly

1:15:13

brilliant circle became visible beyond the

1:15:15

hills. "'Ah,

1:15:19

Hermione,' Harry said, when

1:15:21

the sun was halfway above the horizon. "'Did

1:15:24

you ever invent any hypotheses

1:15:26

to explain my mysterious dark

1:15:28

side?' "'What

1:15:30

the obvious one,' Hermione said, kicking

1:15:33

her leg slightly over the rooftop's

1:15:35

edge. "'I thought maybe

1:15:38

when you know who died right next to

1:15:40

you, he happened to give off the burst

1:15:42

of magic that makes a ghost, and

1:15:44

some of it imprinted on your brain instead

1:15:47

of the floor, but that never felt

1:15:49

right to me, like it- it was

1:15:51

just a clever explanation that wasn't actually

1:15:54

true, and it makes even less sense

1:15:56

if you know who didn't really die

1:15:58

that night.' conceptions of Linkfeminian good enough," Harry

1:16:01

said. Let's imagine that

1:16:03

scenario for now." His

1:16:06

inner rationalist was looking back and

1:16:08

face-palming again at how he'd managed

1:16:10

to not think about hypotheses like

1:16:12

that one. It wasn't

1:16:14

true, but it was reasonable,

1:16:17

and Harry had never thought of

1:16:19

any causal model that concrete, just

1:16:22

vaguely suspected a connection. Hermione

1:16:25

nodded. You probably

1:16:27

know this already, but I just thought

1:16:29

I'd say to be sure, you're

1:16:32

not Voldemort, Harry. I

1:16:36

know, and that's what you mean to

1:16:39

me. Harry

1:16:42

took a breath, finding it still painful

1:16:44

to say aloud. Voldemort,

1:16:49

he wasn't a happy person. I

1:16:53

don't know if he was ever happy a

1:16:55

single day in his life. He

1:16:58

never could cast the Patronus charm. That's

1:17:01

one reason his cognitive patterns

1:17:04

didn't take me over. My

1:17:06

dark side didn't feel like a

1:17:08

good place to be. It

1:17:10

didn't get positively reinforced. Being

1:17:14

friends with you means that my

1:17:16

life doesn't have to go the

1:17:18

way Voldemort did. And

1:17:22

I was pretty lonely before Hogwarts,

1:17:24

although I didn't realise it then, so… Yeah,

1:17:28

yeah. I might have

1:17:30

been slightly more desperate to bring you back from

1:17:32

the dead than the average boy my age would

1:17:34

have been, though I also

1:17:37

maintained that my decision was strictly

1:17:39

normative moral reasoning, and if

1:17:41

other people care less about their friends,

1:17:43

that's their problem, not mine. I

1:17:47

see, Hermione said softly. She

1:17:50

hesitated. Harry,

1:17:53

don't take this the wrong way, but I'm

1:17:55

not 100% comfortable with that. It's

1:17:59

a big responsibility. that I didn't choose,

1:18:01

and I don't think it's healthy for

1:18:03

you to lay it on just one

1:18:06

person." Harry

1:18:08

nodded. I know, but there's

1:18:11

more to the point I'm trying to make. There

1:18:14

was a prophecy about my

1:18:16

vanquishing Voldemort. A

1:18:19

prophecy? There was a prophecy about you?

1:18:22

Seriously, Harry? Yeah,

1:18:25

I know. Anyway, part

1:18:27

of it went, And the

1:18:29

Dark Lord shall mark him as

1:18:31

his equal, But he shall have

1:18:34

a power the Dark Lord knows

1:18:36

not. What

1:18:38

would you guess that meant? Hmm.

1:18:42

Come on, he said. Her

1:18:44

fingers tapped thoughtfully on the roofstone.

1:18:48

Your mysterious dark side is, you know whose

1:18:50

mark on you that made you his equal.

1:18:53

The power he knew not was…

1:18:57

The scientific method? Right?

1:19:01

Harry shook his head. That's

1:19:04

what I thought, too, at first, that

1:19:07

it was going to be Muggle Science

1:19:09

or the methods of rationality, but… Harry

1:19:14

exhaled. The sun

1:19:16

had now fully risen above the hills.

1:19:20

That's felt embarrassing to say, but he

1:19:22

was going to say it anyway. Professor

1:19:25

Snape, who originally heard the

1:19:27

prophecy… Yes, that's

1:19:30

also a thing that happened. Professor

1:19:33

Snape said he didn't think it

1:19:35

could just be science. That

1:19:38

the power the Dark Lord knows

1:19:40

not needed to be something more

1:19:42

alien to Voldemort than just that.

1:19:46

Even if I think of it in terms

1:19:48

of rationality, well, it

1:19:51

turns out the person Voldemort really

1:19:53

was… Why,

1:19:55

Professor Quirrell? Why?

1:19:59

The thought's not right. still stabbing sickness at

1:20:01

Harry's heart. He'd

1:20:03

have been able to learn the methods of

1:20:05

rationality too, if he'd read

1:20:08

the same science papers I did. Except

1:20:12

maybe for one last

1:20:14

thing. Harry

1:20:16

drew a breath. At

1:20:18

the end of all of it, during my

1:20:21

final showdown with Voldemort, he threatened

1:20:23

to put my parents and my

1:20:26

friends into Azkaban. Unless

1:20:29

I came up with interesting secrets to

1:20:31

tell him, one person

1:20:33

saved per secret. But

1:20:36

I knew I couldn't find enough

1:20:38

secrets to save everyone, and

1:20:41

in the moment that I saw no way at

1:20:43

all left to save everyone, that's

1:20:45

when I actually started thinking.

1:20:49

Maybe for the first time in my life,

1:20:51

I started thinking. I

1:20:55

thought faster than Voldemort, even though

1:20:57

he was older than me and

1:20:59

smarter, because... Because

1:21:03

I had a reason to

1:21:05

think. Voldemort

1:21:08

had a drive to be

1:21:10

immortal. He strongly preferred

1:21:13

not to die. But

1:21:15

that wasn't a positive desire, it

1:21:17

was fear. And

1:21:21

Voldemort made mistakes because of that

1:21:23

fear. I

1:21:25

think the power that Voldemort

1:21:27

knew not was

1:21:29

that I had something

1:21:31

to protect. Oh

1:21:35

Harry, Hermione said gently,

1:21:37

as she hesitated.

1:21:40

Is that what I am to you then? The

1:21:43

thing that you protect? No,

1:21:46

I mean the whole

1:21:48

reason I'm telling you this is

1:21:50

that Voldemort wasn't threatening to put

1:21:52

you in Azkaban. Even

1:21:56

if he'd taken over the whole world,

1:21:58

you'd be... been fine. It already

1:22:02

made a binding promise not to

1:22:04

harm you because of… because

1:22:08

of reasons. So in

1:22:10

my moment of ultimate crisis, when

1:22:12

I reached deep down and found

1:22:14

the power Voldemort knew not, I did

1:22:17

it to protect everyone

1:22:20

except you." Hermione

1:22:24

considered this, a slow

1:22:26

smile spreading over her face. "'Why,

1:22:30

Harry,' she said, "'that's

1:22:34

the least romantic thing I've ever

1:22:36

heard.'" "'You're

1:22:38

welcome.'" "'No, really,

1:22:41

it does help,' Hermione

1:22:44

said. "'I mean, it makes

1:22:46

the whole thing much less stalkery.'

1:22:50

"'I know, right?' The

1:22:53

two of them shared a companionable nod,

1:22:55

both of them looking more relaxed now,

1:22:58

and watched the sunrise together. "'I've

1:23:03

been thinking,' Harry said, his

1:23:05

own voice going soft, "'about

1:23:08

the alternate Harry Potter, the

1:23:11

person I might have been if Voldemort

1:23:13

hadn't attacked my parents. If

1:23:16

Tom Riddle hadn't tried to copy himself

1:23:18

onto me. That

1:23:20

other Harry Potter wouldn't have been

1:23:23

as smart, I guess. He

1:23:26

probably wouldn't have studied much muggle

1:23:28

science, even if his mother

1:23:30

was a muggle-born. But

1:23:32

that other Harry Potter

1:23:35

would have had the

1:23:38

capacity for warmth that

1:23:40

he inherited from James Potter and

1:23:42

Lily Evans. He

1:23:44

would have cared about other people and

1:23:47

tried to save his friends. I

1:23:49

know that would have been true, because

1:23:52

that's something that Lord Voldemort never

1:23:54

did, you see." Harry's

1:23:57

eyes were watering. So

1:24:01

that part must be the

1:24:03

remnant." The

1:24:07

sun was well above the horizon now,

1:24:09

the golden light illuminating both of them,

1:24:12

casting long shadows off the other side

1:24:14

of the rooftop platform. "'I

1:24:17

think you're just fine the way

1:24:19

you are,' Hermione said. I

1:24:22

mean, that other Harry Potter might

1:24:24

have been a nice boy, maybe,

1:24:27

but it sounds like I would have had to do

1:24:29

all his thinking for him." Going

1:24:32

by heredity, older Harry would

1:24:34

have been in Gryffindor like his parents,

1:24:36

and the two of you wouldn't have

1:24:39

become friends. Though James

1:24:41

Potter and Lily Evans were the head boy

1:24:43

and head girl of Hogwarts back in their

1:24:45

day, so he wouldn't have

1:24:47

been that bad. "'I

1:24:50

can just imagine it,' Hermione

1:24:52

said. Harry James

1:24:55

Potter, sorted into Gryffindor,

1:24:57

aspiring quinnish player. "'No,

1:25:01

just, uh, no,'

1:25:04

remembered by history as the sidekick

1:25:06

of Hermione Jean Granger, who'd send

1:25:08

out Mr. Potter to get into

1:25:11

trouble for her and then solve

1:25:13

the mystery from the library by

1:25:16

reading books and using her incredible

1:25:18

memory. "'You're

1:25:20

really enjoying this alternate universe, aren't

1:25:22

you?' "'Maybe he'd

1:25:25

be best mates with Ron Weasley,

1:25:27

the smartest boy in Gryffindor, and

1:25:29

Ned fights side by side in

1:25:32

my army and defence class, and

1:25:34

afterwards help each other with their

1:25:36

homeward.' "'Ah, okay,

1:25:38

enough. This is

1:25:40

starting to creep me out.' "'Sorry,'

1:25:43

Hermione said, though she was

1:25:45

still smiling to herself, appearing

1:25:47

wrapped in some private vision.

1:25:51

"'Abology accepted,' Harry

1:25:53

said dryly. The

1:25:56

sun rose a little further in the sky"

1:26:00

After. A while her mind he

1:26:02

spoke. Do. You suppose

1:26:04

will fall in love with each other later

1:26:06

on? I don't know

1:26:08

any better than you do have money.

1:26:11

But why does it have to be

1:26:13

about. At

1:26:15

seriously, why does it always has

1:26:18

to be about that? Maybe when

1:26:20

were older? Will. Fall in Love and. Maybe

1:26:23

we went, maybe we'll stay

1:26:25

in love. and maybe. We won't.

1:26:28

I returned his head slightly. It

1:26:30

isn't was hooked on his cheek and he

1:26:32

wasn't wearing sunscreen. And

1:26:35

no matter how. It goes, we shouldn't

1:26:37

try to force our lives into

1:26:39

a pattern. I think when people

1:26:41

try to force Pattern Zone to

1:26:43

this sort of thing is that

1:26:45

that's when they end up on

1:26:47

happy. Know. Soloist:

1:26:50

buttons. A mine he

1:26:52

said my eyes had taken on a

1:26:54

mysterious look. That.

1:26:56

Sounds like a more complicated way of saying

1:26:59

no rules, which I guess seems a lot

1:27:01

more reasonable to me than it would have

1:27:03

at the start of this year. If.

1:27:06

I'm going to be a sparkling

1:27:08

unicorn princess and have my own

1:27:10

time machine. I might as well

1:27:12

give up on rules, I suppose.

1:27:15

I'm not saying that rules

1:27:17

are always bad, especially when

1:27:19

they actually sit people instead

1:27:21

of them being blindly imitated

1:27:23

like when it's but weren't

1:27:25

you the one he rejected

1:27:27

thus heroes pattern in favor

1:27:29

of just doing. The things he

1:27:31

could. I suppose.

1:27:34

so. I'm on a turned

1:27:36

her head again to gaze down at the

1:27:38

grounds below Hogwarts for the sun was too

1:27:40

bright to look at now. Or

1:27:44

he thought I'm on is written

1:27:46

as would probably he'll now did. was

1:27:48

safe for her alone to look

1:27:50

directly into the light. You.

1:27:53

Said. Harry that you

1:27:55

thought I was always destined.

1:27:57

To be the hero. I've

1:27:59

been. Shuddering and I suspect

1:28:01

to completely wrong. If.

1:28:03

This had been meant to be.

1:28:06

Things would have been a lot easier all

1:28:08

round. He just doing the things

1:28:10

you can do. You. Have

1:28:12

to make that happen. You have to

1:28:15

choose it over and over again. That

1:28:18

might not conflict with your being

1:28:20

a destined hero Perry said thinking

1:28:23

of compatible ist berries of free

1:28:25

will and prophecies that he must

1:28:27

not look upon in order to

1:28:29

fulfill. Ludwig a

1:28:31

dog about that later. Sue.

1:28:34

Have to choose it. Mit

1:28:37

repeated that. He pushed herself up,

1:28:39

on to our hands, then popped

1:28:41

herself backwards and on to the

1:28:43

rooftop rising. Do as eat in

1:28:45

a smooth motion. Just

1:28:47

like I'm choosing to do this.

1:28:51

Essay: Harry. Said scrambling

1:28:53

to his feet and preparing to

1:28:55

dodge though the realization came to

1:28:57

him that the girl who revived

1:29:00

would be much, much faster. I

1:29:03

won't try to kiss. see you

1:29:05

again, Mister Potter, Not until you

1:29:07

asked me. If you ever

1:29:09

do, but that are all these warm

1:29:12

feelings bubbling up inside me and I

1:29:14

feel like I might burst if I

1:29:16

don't do some things. And then what

1:29:19

does? Now occurred to me that it's

1:29:21

unhealthy if girls don't know any way

1:29:23

of expressing gratitude to boys besides kissing

1:29:26

them. Am on

1:29:28

a took out how one that offered

1:29:30

it crosswise in the position had used

1:29:32

to swear her oath of fealty to

1:29:34

House Potter before the wasn't come out.

1:29:37

Oh hell. No. Harry.

1:29:40

Said. Do. You realize what it took

1:29:42

the get you? Out of that as last

1:29:44

time. Don't. Go jumping

1:29:46

to conclusions. You wasn't about to

1:29:48

swear fealty your house again. it's

1:29:51

You've got to start trusting me

1:29:53

to be sensible if you're going

1:29:55

to be my mysterious young wizard.

1:29:57

Now. Please hold out your.

1:30:00

wand. Slowly

1:30:02

Harry took out the elder wand

1:30:04

and crossed it with Hermione's ten

1:30:06

and three-quarter inches of vine wood,

1:30:09

forcing down a last worry about

1:30:11

her choosing the wrong thing. You

1:30:15

can at least not say anything about,

1:30:17

until death takes me, because I

1:30:19

did mention I have the Philosopher's Stone

1:30:21

now. Or anything about

1:30:23

the end of the world and its

1:30:25

magic. I'm a lot more nervous

1:30:28

around phrases like that than I used to be.

1:30:33

Upon a roof, floored in

1:30:35

square stony tiles, the

1:30:37

brilliant morning sun blazed down

1:30:39

upon two, not

1:30:42

really children anymore, both

1:30:45

in blue-fringed black robes,

1:30:47

facing each other across

1:30:49

crossed wands. One

1:30:52

has brown eyes beneath chaotic chestnut

1:30:54

curls and radiates an aura of

1:30:56

strength and beauty that's not magic

1:30:59

only. The other

1:31:01

has green eyes under glasses,

1:31:03

with messy black hair above

1:31:05

a recently inflamed scar. Below,

1:31:08

a stone tower nobody

1:31:10

remembers seeing from ground level stretches

1:31:13

downwards into the broad base of

1:31:15

the castle Hogwarts. Far

1:31:18

beneath them are visible the green hills

1:31:20

and the lake. In

1:31:22

the distance, a huge red and

1:31:25

black line of railcars and an

1:31:27

engine, appearing tiny from this height,

1:31:30

a train neither muggle nor

1:31:32

fully magical. The

1:31:35

sky is nearly unclouded, but

1:31:37

for faint tinges of orange

1:31:39

white where wisps of moisture

1:31:41

reflect the sunlight. A

1:31:44

light breeze carries the crisp chill of

1:31:46

dawn and the dumpness of morning.

1:31:49

But the huge blazing golden

1:31:51

globe is now risen high

1:31:53

above the horizon, and

1:31:56

its incandescence casts warmth on

1:31:58

everything it touches. Well,

1:32:03

maybe after this you'll be less

1:32:05

nervous," the hero says

1:32:07

to her enigmatic wizard. She

1:32:10

knows she doesn't know the whole story,

1:32:13

but the fragment of truth that

1:32:15

she does hold shines bright like

1:32:17

sunlight within her, casting warmth

1:32:19

on her insides the way the

1:32:21

sun warms her face. I

1:32:25

do choose this now.

1:32:30

Upon my life and magic,

1:32:32

I swear friendship to Harry Potter,

1:32:35

to help him and trust in him,

1:32:38

to stand with him and... um...

1:32:41

stand by him, and

1:32:43

sometimes go where he can't go, till

1:32:46

the day that death takes me

1:32:48

for real, if it ever does, I

1:32:51

mean. And if the

1:32:53

world or its magic ends, we'll

1:32:56

deal with that together.

1:33:05

This is the end

1:33:07

of Harry Potter and the methods

1:33:10

of Russia. Thanks

1:33:17

for watching!