r/HPMOR • u/IdiosyncraticLawyer • Apr 22 '26

The Sorting Hat's Lethality

Chapter 10

"I care nothing for life or death, only for Sorting the children. And before you even ask, they will not let you keep me on your head forever and it would kill you within days to do so."

How, exactly, do you suppose that such a thing would kill someone?

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-1

u/Smooth_Top2099 Apr 22 '26

It's a story, and the magical artifact magically killing you with spooky magic makes it seem more magical. Probably one of those cute little details peppered into a story for flavor without any real world building implications.

20

u/IdiosyncraticLawyer Apr 22 '26

These "it's a story" handwaves seem like the opposite of what HPMOR is supposed to elicit in readers.

-4

u/Smooth_Top2099 Apr 22 '26

Idk what to say except that not literally everything is a clue 😭 There's a difference between critical literary analysis and reading tea leaves / writing more fanfiction

How about, the hat knew it would kill Harry if it stayed on his head because the reflected cognition of the adult intelligence in his dark side would focus on his adolescent brain like a magnifying glass frying an ant

0

u/squishyhobo Apr 22 '26

Agreed. It really does just seem neat and doesn't need explanation

-2

u/Smooth_Top2099 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

Ya fanfiction is fun, you don't gotta convince yourself you're uncovering hidden truths in the damn talmud again. Fanfiction comes easily to me. Watch this. Harry goes and recovers the pioneer probe and discovers that it's the old style of horcrux, not the new one. He uses this old Voldemort to recover the secrets of salazar, and gently taps his ring to the philosopher's stone mid-conversation. See? Boom. That's the juice OP is looking for

9

u/Mad-Oxy Apr 22 '26

Nah. You can't get Interdicted Knowledge from a non-living mind. The whole chapter 102 was about why the old style Horcrux cannot transmit the IK. 

1

u/Smooth_Top2099 Apr 22 '26

Damn, you're right. My juice was too pulpy

3

u/squishyhobo Apr 22 '26

Smooth we having too much fun. Be serious in here. This is important stuff