Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (116 page)

“No,” Hermione said absently. This had been in one of her history books, though she’d had no idea the magical dueling sword looked like
that
. “They cast it so it’ll only stun if it touches.”

“You
know
that spell?”

“Oh, no, it’s the Charm of the Most Ancient Blade, it’s only legal for Noble and Most Ancient Houses to use -”

Hermione stopped talking and looked at Harry, or Harry’s grey hood rather.

“Well,” said Harry’s voice, “I guess I could take down the rest of the Sunshine Regiment by myself, then.” She couldn’t see his face, but his voice sounded like he was smiling.

“You dodged when Daphne hit your own spell back at you,” Hermione said. “So whatever you did, you’re
not
invincible. A
Stupefy
can still get you.”

“Interesting theory,” said Harry’s voice from beneath the hood. “Got anyone in your army who can test it?”

“I read about the Stunning Hex once,” said Hermione. “A few months ago. I wonder if I can remember the instructions right?” Her wand came up to point at Harry.

There was a slight pause, as nearby a boy and a girl breathing in audible gasps slowly whacked at each other with lightsabers.

“Of course,” Harry said, leveling his own wand on her, “
I
can just use Somnium on you. That’ll take a lot less effort.”

New
Contego
shields sprung into existence in front of her, cast by Jenny and Parvati, even as Harry spoke.

The tip of Hermione’s own wand began making small motions in the air, a diamond within a circle, a diamond within a circle, rehearsing the gesture to match exactly what she remembered seeing in the book. It would be a difficult feat even for her, but she
had
to cast the spell right on the first try, she couldn’t afford any failed castings that would sap her energy.

“You know,” said Hermione Granger, “I understand that it’s not really your fault, but I’m getting tired of hearing people talk about the Boy-Who-Lived like you’re - like you’re some kind of
god
or something.”

“Same here, I must say,” said Harry Potter. “It’s sad how people keep underestimating me.”

Her wand kept rehearsing the diamond within the circle, over and over. Harry would be recharging his own strength, she knew, even as she practiced as much as she could before her attack. “I’m starting to think you need taking down a peg, General Chaos.”

“You could be right,” Harry said equably. His feet began to shuffle through what she recognized as a duelist’s dance. “Unfortunately there’s nothing left that can defeat me now except another Harry Potter.”

“Let me be specific, Mr. Potter.
I’m
taking you down a peg.”

“You and what other army?”

“You think you’re pretty cool, don’t you,” said Hermione.

“Why, yes,” said Harry. “Yes, I do. Some might call that arrogant, but am I supposed to be the last person in Hogwarts to notice how awesome I am?”

Hermione raised her left hand into the air, and made a fist.

It was a signal. Eight designated soldiers in her army would be pointing their wands at her, and quietly casting
Wingardium Leviosa
.

They’d practiced
this,
too, once Hermione had given up on lecturing her soldiers, and at Anthony’s suggestion, tried giving them a Sunshine General who
looked
like she could defeat invincible enemies.

“You pretend you’re Superman,” said Hermione. She raised her left fist higher in the air, and the eight soldiers supporting her Hovered her off the ground. “
Well here’s Super Hermione!
” Her hand pushed forward, and as she shot rapidly through the air toward Harry, regretting only that she couldn’t see the look on his face, her wand made a diamond within a circle and she summoned up all the magic she could, it felt like she imagined touching a live wire would feel as the too-powerful spell poured through her when her voice screamed ”
Stupefy!
”

The red bolt burst from her wand, perfectly formed.

Harry dodged it.

And then, because they hadn’t practiced doing this part inside of hallways, she crashed into a wall.

“
Somnium!
” shrieked Draco, and then after only a few seconds to recharge, ”
SOMNIUM, CURSE YOU!
”

He
knew
he was hitting Theodore, the other boy wasn’t even trying to dodge, but the scion of Nott only grinned as evilly as his father and leveled his wand -

Draco managed to leap aside just as Theodore said “
Somnium!
” but Draco was getting winded, he couldn’t keep this up, Theodore wasn’t bothering to dodge at all while Draco had to keep moving, this was
crazy.

He had enough strength now to fire again, but -

Stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result,
Harry had said, this was
Harry’s
work somehow, it couldn’t be a Muggle artifact anymore but Draco couldn’t figure out what it
could
be, and he should be thinking of hypotheses and ways to test them but he was too busy frantically dodging as Theodore laughed and shot another Sleep Hex at him, Draco felt a little numbness in his side that time as he twisted, that had been a very very near miss and finally Draco couldn’t take it anymore, he didn’t bother working out what theory he was testing or why as he just -

“
Luminos!
” shouted Draco, and Theodore was haloed in red light, ”
Dulak!
” and it went out again (so Theodore
was
still being affected by magic), ”
Expelliarmus!
” and Theodore’s wand went flying (that had been a good spell to cast anyway now that Draco realized it) but Theodore was rushing toward Draco with his arms outstretched to grapple so Draco yelled ”
Flipendo!
” and the other boy’s feet were abruptly yanked up -

- and Theodore’s back hit the ground with a surprisingly loud and
metallic
-sounding crash.

Draco’s vision was swimming now from casting four spells in such fast succession, and Theodore was already scrambling to his feet, so there wasn’t even time to think in words, but Draco still managed to say “
Somnium!
” and
this
time he aimed for Theodore’s face instead of the chest.

Theodore dodged (he
dodged!
) and the boy shouted “
Code seven on Malfoy!
”

“
Prismatis!
” cried Padma’s voice and there was suddenly a shimmering rainbow wall in front of Draco, just as four Chaotic voices cried ”
Somnium!
”

And there was a pause, as everyone looked at the huge Prismatic Sphere protecting the remnants of Dragon Army.

Casting that fifth spell had sent Draco to his hands and knees, but he looked up and managed to say, as clearly as he could, “If the Sleep Hex - doesn’t work - aim for the face - I think the Lieutenants are wearing metal shirts.”

“You’ve already lost too many soldiers,” Finnigan said loudly from across the barrier, “we’ll beat you anyway,” and then the Gryffindor boy laughed evilly. He did the evil laughter almost as well as Harry Potter by now, and the other Chaotic Legionnaires started laughing with him soon afterward.

Draco could see from the corner of his eye where Gregory and Vincent lay unconscious. Padma was still sustaining the Prismatic Sphere, the largest one he’d ever seen her cast; but she was breathing hard, still visibly sweaty from when they’d all jogged to get into position, the Ravenclaw girl was a strong witch but not an
athletic
one.

He really hoped General Granger got here soon and hit Chaos from behind. General Potter and Neville of Chaos were missing, and Draco could guess where they’d gone, but two soldiers couldn’t delay the whole Sunshine Regiment for too long all by themselves, could they?

She knew it wasn’t fair, that the other girl had given all she could, but Hermione still wished that Daphne had lasted longer.

“
Lagann!
” said Neville’s voice from behind her as she flew, and there was the sound of a Prismatic Wall shattering, Hannah’s voice desperately cried ”
Somnium!
” and then a few moments later Neville’s voice calmly said “Somnium” and there was the thud of another of her soldiers falling over.

And the force keeping her in the air diminished again, Hermione could feel the grab of the Hover Charms straining at her, but now it just wasn’t enough.

Her flight stopped and she began falling in slow motion toward the ground, and she should’ve signaled her soldiers to just
drop
her, but she was too angry and confused and not thinking fast enough and still trying to muster the strength for one last Stunning Hex, and so there was nowhere to go when Harry pointed his wand at her and said “
Somnium
” and that was the last word that Hermione Granger heard of her battle.

Hermione wasn’t feeling very nice right now, or Good either, there was a hot ball of anger burning inside her and she wondered if this was something like Harry’s darkness (though it probably wasn’t even close) and she shouldn’t have felt that way over some silly little game but -

Her whole army. Two soldiers had beaten her whole army. That was what she’d been told after she woke up.

It was a little too much.

“Well,” Professor Quirrell said. From up close the Defense Professor didn’t look quite as healthy as he had the last time she’d been in his office; his skin looked paler, and he moved a little slower. His expression was as stern as ever, and his gaze as penetrating; his fingers tapped sharply on his desk, rap-rap. “I would guess that of the three of you, only Mr. Malfoy has guessed why I’ve asked you here.”

“Something to do with Noble and Most Ancient Houses?” said Harry from beside her, sounding puzzled. “I didn’t violate some kind of crazy law by firing on Daphne, did I?”

“Not quite,” the man said with heavy irony. “Since Miss Greengrass did not invoke the correct dueling forms, she is not entitled to demand that you be stripped of your House name. Although of course I would not have permitted a formal duel. Wars do not respect such rules.” The Defense Professor leaned forward and rested his chin on steepled hands, as though sitting upright had already tired him. His eyes gazed at them, sharp and dangerous. “General Malfoy. Why did I call you here?”

“General Potter against the two of us isn’t a fair fight anymore,” Draco Malfoy said in a quiet voice.

“
What?
” blurted Hermione. “We almost
had
them, if Daphne hadn’t fainted -”

“Miss Greengrass did not faint from magical exhaustion,” Professor Quirrell said dryly. “Mr. Potter shot her in the back with a Sleep Hex while your soldiers were distracted by the sight of their general flying into a wall. But congratulations nonetheless, Miss Granger, on
almost
defeating two Chaotic Legionnaires with a mere twenty-four Sunshine Soldiers.”

The blood flaming in her cheeks grew a little hotter. “That - that was just - if I’d only figured out he was wearing armor -”

Professor Quirrell gazed at her from over touched fingers. “Of course there are ways you
could
have won, Miss Granger. There always are, in every lost battle. The world around us redunds with opportunities, explodes with opportunities, which nearly all folk ignore because it would require them to violate a habit of thought; in every battle a thousand Hufflepuff bones waiting to be sharpened into spears. If you had thought to try a massed
Finite Incantatem
on general principles, you would have dispelled Mr. Potter’s suit of chainmail and everything else he was wearing except his underwear, which leads me to suspect that Mr. Potter did not quite realize his own vulnerability. Or you could have had your soldiers swarm Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom and physically wrest the wands from their hands. Mr. Malfoy’s own response was not what I would term
well-reasoned,
but at least he did not wholly ignore his thousand alternatives.” A sardonic smile. “But you, Miss Granger, had the misfortune to remember how to cast the Stunning Hex, and so you did not search your excellent memory for a dozen easier spells that might have proved efficacious. And you pinned all your army’s hopes on your own person, so they lost spirit when you fell. Afterward they continued to cast their futile Sleep Hexes, governed by the habits of fighting that had been trained into them, unable to break the pattern as Mr. Malfoy did. I cannot quite comprehend what goes through people’s minds when they repeat the same failed strategy over and over, but apparently it is an astonishingly rare realization that you can try something else. And so the Sunshine Regiment was wiped out by two soldiers.” The Defense Professor grinned mirthlessly. “One perceives certain similarities to how fifty Death Eaters dominated all of magical Britain, and how our much-loved Ministry continues in its rule.”

The Defense Professor sighed. “
Nonetheless,
Miss Granger, the fact remains that this is not the first such defeat for you. In the previous battle, you and Mr. Malfoy united your forces, and yet you were fought to a standstill, so that you and Mr. Malfoy had to pursue Mr. Potter onto the roof. The Chaos Legion has now demonstrated, twice in succession, military strength equal to both other armies combined. This leaves me no choice. General Potter, you will select eight soldiers from your army, including at least one Chaotic Lieutenant, to be divided among Dragon Army and the Sunshine Regiment -”

“
What?
” Hermione burst out again, she glanced over at the other generals and saw that Harry looked as shocked as her, while Draco Malfoy only looked resigned.

“General Potter is stronger than both of you together,” Professor Quirrell said with calm precision. “Your contest is over, he has won, and it is time to rebalance the three armies to present him with a renewed challenge.”

“
Professor Quirrell!
” said Harry. “I didn’t -”

“This is my decision as the Professor of Battle Magic at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and it is not subject to negotiation.” The words were still precise, but the look in Professor Quirrell’s eyes chilled Hermione’s blood, even though he was glaring at Harry and not at her. “And I find it
suspicious
, Mr. Potter, that the moment you wished to isolate Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy and force them to chase you onto the roof, you were able to annihilate just exactly as much of their united force as you pleased. Indeed, that is the level of performance I
expected
of you since the start of this year, and I am
annoyed
to discover that you have been holding back in my classes this entire time! I have seen what you can truly do, Mr. Potter. You are far beyond the point where Mr. Malfoy or Miss Granger can fight you on an equal level, and you will not be permitted to pretend otherwise. This, Mr. Potter, I tell you in my capacity as your professor: For you to learn to your full potential, you must exercise your full abilities and not hold back for
any
reason - particularly not childish frets over what your friends might think!”

She left the Defense Professor’s office with a larger army, and less dignity, and feeling a lot like a sad little bug that had just been squished, and trying very very hard not to cry.

“I
wasn’t
holding back!” Harry said as soon as they turned the first corner away from Professor Quirrell’s office, the moment the wooden door faded out of sight behind the stone walls. “I wasn’t pretending, I never
let
either of you win!”

She didn’t answer, couldn’t answer, it would all break loose if she tried to say a word.

“Really?” said Draco Malfoy. The Dragon General still had that air of resignation. “Because Quirrell’s right, you know, it’s
suspicious
that you could beat nearly everyone in both our armies as soon as you wanted to make us chase you onto the roof. And didn’t you say something then, Potter, about us needing to beat you when you were fighting for real?”

The burning sensation was creeping up her throat, and when it reached her eyes she would burst into tears, and from then on she would be just a crying little girl to both of them.

“That -” Harry’s voice said urgently, she wasn’t looking at him but his voice sounded like he had his head turned toward her. “That was - I tried a lot harder that time, there was an important reason, I
had
to, so I used a whole bunch of tricks I’d been saving up - and -”

She’d always been trying her hardest, every time.

“- and I, I let out a side of myself I wouldn’t usually use for something like Defense class -”

So if she ever got close to winning against Harry when it
really
mattered, he could just go into his dark side and crush her, was that it?

…of course it was. She couldn’t even
look
Harry in the eyes when he was being scary, how had she ever thought she could beat him for real?

The corridor forked, and Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy went left toward a staircase that climbed to the second floor, and she went right instead, she didn’t even know where that passage went but right now she’d rather be lost in the castle.

“Excuse me, Draco,” said Harry’s voice, and then there was a pattering of footsteps behind her.

“Leave me alone,” she said, it came out sounding stern but then she had to shut her mouth and press her lips together tightly and hold her breath to stop it all from coming out.

That boy just kept on coming, and ran around her and put himself in front of her, because he was stupid that was why, and Harry said, his voice now a high and desperate whisper, “I didn’t run away when
you
were beating
me
in all my classes except broomstick riding!”

He didn’t understand, and he would never understand, Harry Potter would never understand, because no matter what contest he lost he would still be the Boy-Who-Lived, if you were Harry Potter and Hermione Granger was beating you then it meant everyone was expecting you to rise to the challenge, if you were Hermione Granger and Harry Potter was beating you that meant you were just no one.

“It’s not fair,” she said, her voice was shaking but she wasn’t crying yet, not yet, “
I
shouldn’t have to fight your dark side, I’m just - I’m only -”
I’m only twelve,
that was what she thought then.

“I only used my dark side
once
and that was - when I
had
to!”

“So today you beat my
whole army
being just Harry?” She still wasn’t crying yet, and she wondered what her face looked like right now, if she looked like an angry Hermione or a sad one.

“I -” Harry said. His voice got a little lower, “I wasn’t… really
expecting
to win, that time, I know I said I was invincible but that was just to try to scare you, I really just thought we’d slow you down for a bit -”

She started walking again, walked right past him, and as she passed Harry’s face tightened up like
he
was going to cry.

“Is Professor Quirrell right?” came a high desperate whisper from behind her. “If I have you for a friend, will I always be afraid to do better because I know it will hurt your feelings? That’s not fair, Hermione!”

She took a breath and held it and ran, her feet pattering across the stone as fast as they could, running as fast as she dared with her vision all blurry, ran so that no one would hear her, and this time Harry didn’t follow.

Minerva was going over the Transfiguration parchment due Monday, and had just marked down to negative two hundred points a fifth-year parchment with an error that could have potentially killed someone. During her first year as a professor she’d been indignant at the folly of older students, now she was just resigned. Some people not only never learned, they never noticed that they were hopeless, they stayed bright and eager and kept on trying. Sometimes they believed you when you told them, before they left Hogwarts, that they must
never
try anything unusual, give up free Transfiguration and use the art only through established Charms; and sometimes… they didn’t.

She was in the middle of trying to unravel a particularly convoluted answer when a knock at the door disrupted her thoughts; and it wasn’t her office hours, but it had only taken a very short time as Head of Gryffindor House for her to learn to suspend judgment. You could always deduct House points
afterward.

“Come in,” she said in a crisp voice.

The young girl who entered her office had clearly been crying, and then afterward had washed her face in hopes it wouldn’t show -

“Miss Granger!” said Professor McGonagall. It had taken her a moment to recognize that face with its eyes reddened and cheeks puffed. “What happened?”

“Professor,” said the young girl in a wavering voice, “you said that if I was ever worried or uncomfortable about anything, I should come to you at once -”

“Yes,” said Professor McGonagall, “now what
happened?
”

The girl started to explain -

Hermione stood still and the stairs turned around her, a revolving helix that shouldn’t have taken her anywhere at all, and instead bore her continuously
upward.
Hermione thought it seemed like the Enchantment of the Endless Stair, which had been invented in 1733 by the wizard Arram Sabeti who’d lived on top of Mount Everest in the days when no Muggles could climb it. Only that couldn’t be right because Hogwarts was much older - maybe the enchantment had been
re
invented?

She should’ve been frightened, should’ve been nervous about her second meeting with the Headmaster.

She
was
, in fact, frightened and nervous about her second meeting with the Headmaster.

Only Hermione Granger had been thinking; she’d been thinking a lot, after she hadn’t been able to run any further and had slid down against the wall with her lungs on fire, thinking while she curled up in a ball with her back against the chilly stone wall and her legs drawn up and crying.

Even if she lost to Harry Potter she was never, ever going to lose to Draco Malfoy, that was just totally
absolutely
unacceptable, and Professor Quirrell had praised General Malfoy for not ignoring his thousand alternatives; and so after Hermione had cried herself out she’d thought of fourteen other spells she
should’ve
tried against Harry and Neville, and then she’d started wondering if she might be making the same sort of mistake about other things; and that was how she’d ended up knocking on Professor McGonagall’s door. Not asking for help, right now Hermione didn’t have any plans she could ask for help
with,
just telling Professor McGonagall everything, because when she’d thought of it that had seemed like one of the thousand alternatives that Professor Quirrell had been talking about.

And she’d told Professor McGonagall about how Harry Potter had changed since the day the phoenix had been on his shoulder, and about how people more and more seemed to see her as just something of Harry’s, and how it seemed like Harry was pulling farther and farther away from everyone else in their school year and went around with a sad air sometimes like he was losing something, and
she didn’t know what to do anymore.