Rehabilitation 13.1: Thinking Inside the Boxes
The old wizard looked back up at Harry, and said, in a hoarse voice, "He is not like Grindelwald, Harry. There is nothing left in him. Him, you must destroy. You must not hesitate, when the time comes. To him alone, of all the creatures in this world, you must show no mercy; and then when you are done you must forget it, forget that you ever did such a thing, and go back to living. Save your fury for that, and that alone." -Albus Dumbledore, HPMoR, Ch77
"Stupefy! Diffindo! Crucio! Argh!"
For perhaps the first time in his life, Albus Dumbledore may have been truly experiencing what others call 'schadenfreude'. He has, in the past, enjoyed the irony of Dark Lords being the instruments of their own downfalls, even to the point of full-blown laughter, but he never took particular pleasure in the moment of defeat if that moment involved pain or bloodshed or excessive anguish.
But as he watched Tom Riddle... no, Lord Voldemort – he would no longer dignify the creature before him with his old name; if he wished to be Voldemort, he may as well be Voldemort – as Albus watched Voldemort take a moment to recover from torturing himself, he smiled.
Albus had never expected to enjoy such a sight, never expected that within himself there might lie a seed of darkness that could relish in the tortured anguish of another human being. This was thrice true of the Cruciatus.
And yet, when the 'intelligent' being who used to be Tom Riddle inadvertently tortured himself with a Crucio cast at the device twice demonstrated in the previous two seconds to deflect incoming spells, Albus couldn't help but smile. Finally, finally Voldemort gets a true and literal taste of his own tortures.
And then Albus was frantically dodging a Killing Curse at point-blank. Perhaps he deserved that.
Then the green bolt was redirected as well. (He had half-expected that, but you don't take chances with the Killing Curse. It is the offense without defense, after all. Or it was, until Harry Potter discovered the True Patronus.) After being deflected, the Green Death flew straight towards a once-again surprised Voldemort.
If Albus was witnessing the true end of Voldemort, Albus thought, it would be incredibly fitting – the terrible Dark Lord, slain by his own Killing Curse. The implication he'd allowed Magical Britain to believe ten years ago, finally coming true at last.
But Voldemort dodged, and it was not to be.
And in his place, Albus once again saw Tom Riddle, who prevented the Killing Curse from escaping with the body of a large, magical bear, hastily moved into place. Albus was no longer confused about the beast's purpose.
"I would laugh at the turnabout," Albus said as he stood, "if not for the fact that it almost escaped. Thank you for stopping it, Tom."
The pony opened its mouth to reply-
And the bear was gone. And Tom was in a new place, walking into view from the edge of the Mirror. Calm, composed, and utterly at ease, none of his prior panic visible... actually, there did seem to be an air of tension about him. Preparedness, if not panic.
"I admit," Albus said, "this is beginning to become... discombobulating. Have you come to terms with your escape condition? Did you figure out why Patronuses cannot reach Harry?"
The pony before him blinked in surprise for a moment. "Ah. Yes to both." Then, without further preamble, he asked, "Is the trap still in place?"
Albus frowned. This again? "It is."
"In that case, I'll be back."
The pony walked to the edge as if to go beyond its range, and just as he might have crossed out of Albus's line of sight, he walked straight back into it.
"Before we proceed," said the pony. Tom's voice sounded slightly strange, slightly different, but perhaps that was the passage of time. Harry had not sounded quite exactly the same either. "Is the time freeze set to end the moment its prisoner casts the Patronus, standing before the Mirror or otherwise?"
"It is not."
"The release mechanism is manual, not automatic?"
Albus paused, only then realizing that perhaps he shouldn't have been completely straightforward about the Mirror's trap mechanics. But he'd already given the first answer, and this second one is easily inferable from the first. "It is manual."
"Can I have your word that you will not undo the trap without providing plenty of warning in advance?"
Albus's eyebrows rose in some surprise. "I would not have sprung the trap's end upon you in any case, but you have my word that I will provide plenty of warning first."
"Good. Expecto Patronum."
And there was light. True Patronus light, as far as Albus could tell, coming from the True Patronus charm. A pony of light stood before him.
Albus's eyes were not wide with surprise. They were laced with heavy skepticism. "I see. How much time has passed?"
"Tell Albus Dumbledore that over four years have passed since last we spoke," the pony said to the Patronus, which conveyed the message.
"Hm," said Albus, slightly surprised that such an unbelievable lie had been chosen. Surely '100 years' would have been better-suited to the goal of tricking him. "Let's get the obvious part of this performance out of the way. Could you instruct your Patronus, in Parseltongue, to convey to me that it is the Patronus of Tom Riddle. Instruct it to convey to me the name of his orphan-mother, the grade he received in Transfiguration first-year, and the happy thought that allowed him to cast a Patronus."
There was a brief pause, and then, "Most proper names cannot be spoken by snakes," said the pony, in a voice that no longer contained that hint of strangeness. "Salazar and the other four founders are speakable. As are Hogwarts, Atlantis, and Merlin.* But little else. I cannot even speak names which presumably go back to that time – the Malfoys; the Jugsons; the Longbottoms; the Dumbledores; the Potters; the Peverells. The same goes for Riddle, which is a muggle name in any case."
[*HPMoR canon shows the proper nouns Sslytherin and Hogwartss spoken in Parseltongue, but nothing else as far as I can remember. Use of 'boy-child-friend' and 'girl-child-friend' and 'headmasster' implies that they couldn't simply say 'Draco' or 'Hermione' or 'Dumbledore' in Parseltongue. Let me know if I'm forgetting a scene.]
For the smallest of moments, Albus had a pang of nostalgia for the days of Professor Dumbledore teaching Tom Riddle – that polite, curious child who ceaselessly examined the details of magic, who answered Transfiguration questions with all the proper considerations and qualifications of an aspiring adept.
But then Tom continued speaking, and the nostalgia was gone. "Not even generic names like 'Tom' can be spoken in Parseltongue, nor can false names like 'Voldemort', unless it is an alias made from an otherwise generic word. Thus the Death Eater aliases. The word 'riddle' can be spoken as the word synonymous to puzzles, and I haven't tested it, but the word 'coal' referring to fire fuel likely works as well, if that suffices?"
Dumbledore nodded, wearily and warily.
There was another pause, then the pony said, that hint of strangeness in the voice once more, "Convey the following message from Tom Riddle to Albus Dumbledore." Another pause. A series of hisses.
The Patronus walked forward, and though it was pony-shaped, Albus could tell it was frowning. "The following message is for you from Tom Riddle. I am a riddle. My orphan-mother was coal. I received the grade twice above exceeded expectations-" apparently 'outstanding' wasn't a word in Parseltongue either "-in first year of Hogwarts Transfiguration class, which was a lower grade than all other years in your class. The happy thought that allowed me to cast the Patronus was the expunging of death from a cared-for friend."
Albus carefully listened to the message, but in truth, it might not have been necessary. "Let us forget the Parseltongue. I notice you did not have your Patronus say that it is the Patronus of Riddle, only for it to convey a message to me from Tom Riddle. Please amend that."
There was, this time, a much longer pause.
"My," said the voice of the pony, still strange. "I did not expect you to see through it quite so quickly. Well done, Albus Dumbledore. You are at least as cunning as I hoped you would be, as Tom's gatekeeper."
Albus smiled grimly. As if this isn't the first part to some greater deception. Still, he may as well play along for now. "Is this entirely illusion? Or does he wish me to believe he recruited a good person on par with Mr. Potter for the sake of this play?"
"Tell Albus," said the pony to the Patronus, "the conditions that are known or suspected to be required for bringing his image forth from the Mirror. Tell Albus selective truths about your casting. And tell Albus the truth of Riddle's progress."
The Patronus said, in Tom's slightly-strange voice, "It is suspected that the body and soul of Tom Riddle must actively be reflected by the Mirror to bring you forth, Albus Dumbledore. Tom Riddle's voice and his magic were used to cast me. And it is a true fact that Tom Riddle has cast the true Patronus. Exactly once. He quite fittingly did so in its capacity as a sacrificial ritual, under incredibly exceptional circumstances, and he's since been unable to reproduce it."
"That said," said the pony, "what are your theories behind what you are witnessing? I'd be happy to confirm or falsify any guesses you make."
"I decline to play along," said Albus. "I hope Tom realizes that such deceptions are only getting him further from his goal."
The pony nodded. "I told him as much, that it would set a bad precedent for cooperation with you and make his future efforts all the more difficult. He was willing to accept that consequence, then convinced me to come along. Partly because, and please repeat my words," the pony said to the Patronus, "I would have told you, Albus Dumbledore, the truth of this deception immediately, if it had seemed to me like you were successfully being fooled." The Patronus repeated the words. "No deception at all is, of course, what I suggested. That said, Tom wants you to solve this puzzle before the answer is revealed. This I don't mind, given the deception is now a known factor. You can ask as many questions as you wish, and I will answer every question with my Patronus."
"How much of what I see is illusion?" Albus asked at once.
"Nothing, if by 'illusion' you are referring to false images produced by magic," said the slightly-strange voice of Tom Riddle through the Patronus. "What you are seeing was accomplished the 'hard way', as it were. This body is capable of innate disguise magic, but it is still ultimately the body of Tom Riddle. He's added a number of powers to it, you see."
"Such as?" Albus prompted.
"That I know of?" asked the pony. "Phoenix powers, troll powers, unicorn powers, changeling powers. He says you'll probably consider it an attempt at manipulation, but the Phoenix powers truthfully came with some very annoying drawbacks that you, as master of a phoenix, have likely had to deal with for many years. Though not, he suspects, to the degree he must suffer. He can turn off the voice of the phoenix, but his powers are significantly diminished if he does. He has also Horcruxed certain devices and gained their powers."
"You are speaking with him right now?"
"I am."
"Where is he?"
"That's the riddle," said the pony. "The one he'd like you to figure out, if you can. Would you like a hint?"
Albus considered playing along further, then sighed. "I am truly not in the mood. Please reveal the answer. I have had something of a day."
The pony smiled, and the expression did not match the body it wore. It was too warm. It reminded Albus of an inexperienced Polyjuice user. "As you wish."
The horn glowed, and another pony floated into view – a midnight black pony, pegasus wings, intangible mane like Harry's had been.
"Fal. Tor. Pan."
The pony body that was supposedly Tom's staggered slightly, and the new pony seemed to wake up.
"Fair warning," said that pony in a female voice, now standing tall and awake, "and please repeat this," she said to the Patronus, "we're now telling you the full truth, but a fair amount if it is incredibly unlikely and unbelievable, even by our standards."
"We're now telling you the full truth," said the Patronus, now in her voice, not Tom's.
Apparently, Patronuses use the voice of the body's wearer. Albus would not have expected that to be the case. Is that a property of the true Patronus, or Patronuses in general? Is it simply a lie? He's suddenly regretting that he did not, in the past, do as Mr. Potter or Lord Voldemort might have done in his place: run tests with Polyjuice and Patronus messages to learn the underlying rules.
He had developed many habits of curiosity as the world's most accomplished Transfiguration researcher aside from Master Flamel- or Perenelle, rather. But he had never quite reached a level to match Tom Riddle's advantage-seeking habits. Albus had learned many intricacies about magic, in his war with Voldemort. Mostly in how simple spells can be woven together in cunning ways, but occasionally he would learn a new mechanic as well.
"But a fair amount of it is incredibly unlikely, even by our standards," the Patronus finished the message, still in the female voice.
"I have a running theory that the Mirror is arranging everything," said Tom, sounding like himself without a hint of strangeness. "I've mostly given up hope that I'll be getting out of this trap any time soon, even if I manage to cast the Patronus reliably. Things are progressing at a frankly ridiculous rate. If the Atlanteans truly created this device to channel unlimited magic and grant wishes without destroying the world, they are two for three. Just last month, a pony bound by unbreakable Vow not to destroy the world became capable of channeling unlimited magic."
"Please do not deliberately overwhelm him, Tom."
Albus truly did not know where to begin with this one. "Are you the one who spoke where I could not see?" he asked female pony, deciding to start somewhere that wasn't Tom. "Four years earlier, I mean." At least, four years according to the lie. "The one who claims to detect lies?"
"I am," said the pony. "For the sake of full disclosure, I detect Honesty. I detect candidness, not lies in particular. And it's not mere detection, it is a connection with the Element of Honesty itself. It was painful to me to engage in that deception, and to use my Patronus to do it, but as I said, I would have told you the truth the moment you seemed fooled. If the answer is revealed before false beliefs can form, it is a test, not a lie. And I agreed to test your worth as Tom's final exam, which you passed to my satisfaction. That I was capable of going along with the deception at all is probably why I am not the current bearer of Honesty, but I digress. My fool believed the test was a necessary factor to his own mindset of redemption. I eventually agreed that I would like to see if his gatekeeper is sufficiently wise, and I also wanted to meet you personally, Albus Dumbledore. I wish it were under different circumstances, and I apologize for my part in the current ones. I promise I will never engage in such deceptions again around you without your express permission. I can tell that you are having a great deal of trouble with candidness at the moment, and while that is mostly my fool's fault, I bear responsibility for enabling him."
A 'great deal of trouble' is one way to put it. An extremely understated one. Deception is not in his nature, but he learned it because he had to. He has long since been burdened with incredible complexity, with significant responsibility – the madness of thousands of prophecies to be fulfilled, the cunning schemes of Salazar's heir to be countered or meliorated.
But this is another beast entirely.
His oath to Mr. Potter, the escape clause for Lord Voldemort, he's just now beginning to realize, is going to be one of the most unpleasant experiences of his life.
To be trapped, isolated and alone, unable to converse with anybody save a being who wishes nothing more than to escape its prison, an eldritch abomination that will say anything, do anything, perform any manipulation imaginable and unimaginable to reach its goals.
To be bound to release that horror if it truly does seem redeemed. To try desperately to distinguish fact from falsehood, manipulation from honesty, in a situation where the only source of information has every motive to provide only lies.
To try to weigh facts and observations when his only source of information has the frightening potential of controlling all visible information.
To try to make a decision where the only defense against folly is the ability to spot contradiction, and (as Mr. Potter might say) to match observations, distinguished from inference, with 'reality' – which in this case might be limited to prior knowledge, nothing more.
And to not have a moment's break, for the moment that creature leaves the conversation, time freezes until it returns. It has infinite preparation time. It thinks unimaginably faster than you do. It has done the impossible multiple times before, often for the precise purpose of fooling you in a certain, exact way, and succeeded perfectly in the past.
If you fail, you unleash Voldemort upon the world, or you trap a redeemed Tom Riddle forever and violate your oath to Mr. Potter.
Magic cannot pass through the mirror. Words and images can. You cannot refuse to play this game.
Go.
"Do you need a moment?" asked the female pony, sounding genuinely concerned.
Albus opened his mouth, but no words came.
The game of determining Tom Riddle's redemption did not seem like it had any correct answers other than to not play it. Off the top of his head, he can think of a number of means to fake Patronus messages, even if the Patronus itself is real. Muting and ventriloquism charms, for instance, which even a first year might do, and which are invisible to the naked eye, and potentially undetectable to Albus through the barrier of the Mirror-
"I think," said the voice of Tom, "we should give him a break, whether he requests one or not. Now that I think on it, he's been awake for more hours than is otherwise healthy, with Time Turned hours to make it worse. And a number of stressful circumstances besides, handled back-to-back without pause. I can take it from here, Luna. Thank you for humoring my request."
"My pleasure and displeasure," she said as she left. "Remember, Tom. Honesty. Nothing else will work."
Tom frowned, then followed her to the edge of the mirror's reflection range. "Actually, could you-"
There was the sudden smell of warm soup as Tom walked back into range. A bed was suddenly visible against the back of the room behind Tom, along with a table and chair, a steaming bowl upon the table. There was a work desk off to the side.
"Ah, good," said Tom, gazing into the Mirror. "It worked after all."
Albus followed the gaze, turning around and beholding the same amenities on his own side, a perfect match to the ones on Tom's.
"I think it best if I don't talk for a while," said Tom. He trotted over to the desk, sat down in a manner that implied more flexibility to his body than looks might suggest, and began examining the parchments there.
Albus gazed longingly at the soup and bed on his own side. No doubt meant to make him more amenable, more pliable, less wary, less skeptical. He checked the soup out of habit. It reported as purely mundane, with no detectable poisons. The bed likewise had no detectible traps.
If the goal was to impress or comfort him with luxuries, the soup didn't smell luxuriously good, and the bed didn't look to be built to proper proportions.
"Was this your idea?" asked Albus after a time. He wasn't even sure why he asked. The default assumption is that everything is Tom Riddle's idea. He is now living, quite literally, in a world fully orchestrated by Tom Riddle.
With the sudden and frightening implication that Tom can manifest physical items onto Dumbledore's side of the Mirror. Would the Mirror refuse to manifest dangerous items, or items not wished-for by both sides? (For Albus had, in reflection on his own mental state, been wishing for rest and recovery.) Would Tom try to use this method to kill him? Could Tom use the method to kill him?
Albus doubts he could protect himself from a point-blank detonation of the most dangerous muggle weaponry, which works on purely mundane principles. One reflected weapon at an unexpected moment might be all it takes. Not that it would do Tom any good if he succeeded; it would only damn him forever.
"Yes, it was my idea, though not my execution," said Tom, not looking up from his parchment. "Luna's the sleep specialist."
After a time, Albus conjured a cushioned chair and sat down, deciding that rest was a good idea. It was most safely done on his own terms, so he ignored the offered amenities.
"Are you going to eat the soup?" asked Tom.
"No," said Albus.
Tom stood, walked over to the dinner table on his side... became a human being...
"It's for Griffons," said Tom. "Savory dishes that don't offend the human palate are hard to come by in Equestria." He gave it a whiff and a frown, then picked up a spoon. "I'd be interested to know if the volume on your side decreases as I eat. I suspect it won't."
Albus didn't reply, and didn't check. He kicked out the leg rest of the muggle-styled chair, reclined the back rest, closed his eyes, and slept.
All of the refused luxuries had, of course, taken a great deal of coordination to arrange.
Riddle's initial trip to the Mirror, during which he confirmed the trap's continued existence and nothing else, was done clandestinely. Riddle had not neglected to realize the potential implications of his Patronus cast within the requisite five hours, after which the situation might have become unrecoverable. Truthfully, he should have thought through everything well in advance, and in some regards he has thought through much of it, in that he's meticulously planned his sequence of immediate actions after his release from the trap. But he had not planned for the possibility that it might happen unexpectedly, at a moment's notice.
He spent two hours preparing as much as he could for the possibility that he'd have to help Mr. Silver against the Dementors the moment his past self cast the Patronus, in case that automatically undid the trap. Then he went back in time yet again to the hour of Tirek's defeat and got to work cracking Celestia's mirror security. He rewound four hours (the conversation with Luna and other distractions had taken two hours), for a combined total of five hours rewound in quick succession, saving one last twist of time for the human world, if it came to that.
The whole ordeal made it quite clear to him that unexpected release might be worse for his current interests than indefinite imprisonment, and so he made sure Dumbledore swore not to do it. Well, he asked Luna to make Dumbledore swear to that.
But in the first trip, he only asked if the trap was in place. That visit involved ward circumvention, mind manipulation of the guards, and an utter lack of any official permission whatsoever – Luna knew about it, but was bound by Vow not to use such secrets if he did not give her permission, so she could not act in any official capacity. She did at least give her unofficial permission, so long as he swore all future Mirror trips would be done the right way.
He might have done things differently if he had a choice, but with Time involved, there were more constraints than usual. Their past selves had not been interrupted by a message from the Mirror vault guards at any time during the Tirek incident. Therefore that first trip required complete secrecy.
Every Mirror trip after that initial one was done by and on the books, at Luna's insistence. Which meant informing Celestia. Which meant explaining more things to her about his and Silver's predicament than Riddle had previously allowed her to know.
It had taken an actual week. (Riddle spent the week's down time insisting that Luna learn the ins and outs of her Horcrux, so the time was not especially wasted, but it still annoyed him.)
They did, in the end, get official permission to revisit the Mirror.
Celestia was curious about Dumbledore, naturally, and pressed Riddle into letting her meet him, though Riddle would only allow it on his own terms. Which meant that, for the immediate future, Celestia would not be meeting Dumbledore.
When Albus opened his eyes some time later, it took but a moment to remember his location, his recent past, his current task.
He stood, walked to the Mirror, and beheld... nobody in the Mirror's range?
No, not nobody. The bed in the back bore a covered form, rising and falling ever so slightly. Either Tom wanted Albus to believe he was sleeping... or he was actually sleeping.
What might be the intended consequence of that?
The obvious answer is so Albus would let his guard down-
But the sleeping form stirred, and Tom's pony form rose from the covers in a quick, smooth motion. His eyes scanned his surroundings, hesitating only briefly when they met Albus's own. Then Tom trotted over to the desk, sat down again, and continued doing whatever it is he was doing with the parchments there, or what he was pretending to do with the parchments.
At this point, Albus truly didn't know what the intended effect of all this was supposed to be, other than the obvious lulling into relaxed and complacent gullibility. He stood and walked over to the desk on his own side, wondering how it would play into the deception.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, read the header of every page, along with a page number. The pages contained a great deal of underlining and notes in margins, and the words themselves...
"I did not realize," Albus said with humor in his voice, "that you were a contributing author for The Wonderful Adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived all along."
Tom glanced up at that. "Ah, yes," he said with a bit of irony and sarcasm. "That's certainly what I would have been doing during my absence, had I means of interacting with the world. Entertaining five-year-old witches with inane little stories about Harry Potter."
"An ironic insult to inflict upon others when you are composing a draft like this."
Tom sighed and brought a hoof to his face, briefly, as if to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Mr. Potter believes the Statute of Secrecy will inevitably break down. He suggested we aim for a 'soft landing' by introducing our world to the muggles through fiction. If the story is popular enough, he reasons, negotiations will be smoother, and nuclear warfare less likely. Ideally, it will be a story meant for children that their parents can enjoy as well. I decided there was no harm in devoting resources to that plot, given that I have infinite time to work on it."
A chill went down Albus's spine at that last line. Such a serious, dreadful, cynical motive behind what's supposed to be a light-hearted tale.
Then Albus thought for a while. He read over some of what had already been written. It wasn't very good. Far too grim. And mechanical. No life in the story, no magic, no heart. It was, however, technically sound, and the prose flowed well.
"You are writing it all yourself?"
"Yes."
"Are you at all enjoying the process?"
"No."
"Do you expect that to produce a good story?"
Tom shrugged. "It's not like I have any other choice. And it's not like I don't have all the time in the world."
Albus considered this. Perhaps Tom was right.
But then again...
...
"If there is anybody who knows the story of the Harry Potter who could have been, it is I," he decided to say, after returning to his chair with one of the parchments in hand. "Is that what you were expecting me to suggest?"
Tom paused, looking up from the parchments. "No. I plan to give you a straight twenty-four hours to recover. Afterwards I plan to spend an hour of every day sitting before this Mirror, working on this book. It's the only interest of mine I didn't mind progressing in your company. That is the extent of my expectations, and I don't particularly expect the outcomes to match my imagination in the first place, given that... well..."
He seemed to pause, then stood up and walked until he was standing in front of the Mirror.
"Luna believes that, when tricks and force are removed from the equation, only time, familiarity, empathy, and patience can truly convince stubborn minds of information contrary to their current beliefs. A week before yesterday, I saw in myself that I would become incredibly frustrated if, when I finally learn to cast the Patronus reliably, I would then need to spend years after the fact convincing you. Yesterday's trick was just to confirm that suspicion to myself. I wish to give you time to recover, time to think, time to ask questions before I can cast the spell at will. The context and events surrounding my improvement are becoming increasingly ridiculous, as I said yesterday, and if I don't do this now, I'd end up doing it all later, in a shorter time frame. But I now realize I am making a different mistake. While this is ultimately being done for my convenience... I was trying to be nice here, with the food and bed. Naturally, in that effort, I've utterly forgotten the key part of being 'nice' that was pointed out to me less than a week ago, in that I've failed to ask for your preferences, let alone respect them. Obviously from my perspective, there are many benefits to getting and keeping you up to date. What are your preferences, Professor Dumbledore? I'll try to abide by them, whatever they are, so long as you do not actually preclude reasonable efforts of mine to prove I can reliably cast the Patronus, once I get to that point. If you wish for- no, actually, I think I'm supposed to just leave it at that."
Albus stared from where he sat. He stared, finding it strange how believably bad Tom is at trying to be nice – doing it according to rules and mechanics, rather than feeling it.
"You are taking lessons in kindness?"
"Something like that," said the pony.
Albus considered how he might test this. "If I said I preferred to remain frozen until you can cast the Patronus, what would you do?"
"I'd leave and not return for what Mr. Potter predicts would be at least another fifty years, unless there was an incredibly pressing need to contact you in the interim, or I otherwise needed to fiddle with the Mirror for some convoluted reason it concocts for me. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened, given all the convolution that's happened so far. But I would heed your preference not to speak with me until my success, outside of emergency, no matter how much I wish to insist you have an informed preference, not one made out of impulse or ignorance to current facts. Say it now, and I'll leave."
It was certainly tempting. It might even have been the wise thing to do. Unfortunately, Albus had never quite managed to quash his own curiosity as ruthlessly as might be wise.
"You say you learned to heed preferences a week ago," said Albus. "Will you speak more on that?"
Tom smiled, and Albus couldn't tell what emotion it was falsely meant to convey. It was not a blatantly obvious emotion like the female pony's warmth. The subtlety of pony facial expressions is currently being lost on him, and Albus wondered if Tom knew that. "I didn't learn it in the sense that I've mastered the skill so soon. Would you like the long version or the short version of the story?"
"The short, for now."
"I made a Horcrux for Luna without asking her first, going back in time and using a death that Time had already witnessed to carry out the deed while she was unconscious. She severely scolded me for making a major life decision for her without asking first. When I suggested I could destroy her Horcrux if she didn't like it, she once again pointed out that I was trying to make her choices for her. Only after I agreed to consult her on decisions involving her did she thank me."
There was a pause as Albus stared.
Then, in an interested voice, "I think I shall like to hear the long version after all."
"The long version, or the really long version, with all context provided?"
...
"Let us not be reticent, I suppose." Albus reclined his chair slightly. He conjured (Transfigured from small snippits of a strand of hair from his beard) a blank leatherbound book and a quill (hoping those might remain with him between freezing sessions, if he sustained their Transfigurations). He Charmed the quill to copy the conversation. He conjured a goblet and filled it with water. "Proceed."
Thus did Tom Riddle describe much of Voldemort's history to Albus Dumbledore.
His Horcrux system and how he made it. The decade he lost, and how he lost it. His outlook on life, and why he has it.
Tom claims to suspect he was only amenable to redemption thanks to the flaw in his self-image, observed by Mr. Potter in the potions room prior to the Mirror – one of the rare moments a lesson was successfully taught to Lord Voldemort by pointing out a correctible error. Though of course, Voldemort is only a mask; Tom Riddle experiences many more of those moments on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis than Voldemort.
Albus found it strange that he wasn't laughing at the seemingly appropriate times in the tale.
Tom getting trapped in Horcruxes he hid in places no one would ever find them, for instance. That certainly warranted a good, hearty laugh. Perhaps the moment was tempered by how those Horcruxes had been described moments earlier to be made, the habit Voldemort developed for all private murders.
Tom getting trapped in his Horcruxes because he wasn't nice enough – because the thought of making Horcruxes for anybody other than himself was beyond his powers of imagination – also deserved a laugh, but again Albus refrained from indulgence. Perhaps the humor was tempered by Voldemort's easy acceptance of the lesson, done for reasons of cold calculation, not true kindness.
Or perhaps what tempered everything being said was the likely potential that it was all a carefully constructed lie. Though if so, it was an incredibly coherent lie, no doubt suffused with many grains of truth, given how well it explained so much of the hidden past, so many notes of confusion to which Albus had only ever had questions and assumptions and beliefs, not solid answers.
Albus listened quietly to the story Tom was crafting for him.
After explaining his Horcrux system, Tom explained the oaths he and Mr. Potter had exchanged in Parseltongue – which led to a digression about Parseltongue oaths in general, at Albus's curious probing. After the digression, Tom reiterated the oath itself, word for word. He declined to share the flaws in his system that Mr. Potter pointed out, the first instance of Tom overtly withholding information that Albus directly asked about.
When Albus threatened to not speak with Tom unless the flaws were shared, Tom replied that he does not concede to threats, but he does negotiate with preferences. The obvious reason for his reticence is that, efforts to be good or no, one does not share their vulnerabilities with those they do not trust, especially those they view as opposed to their own goals. Tom suspects he'll freely answer the question when he gets to the point of freely casting Patronus, when his and Albus's goals are more aligned, when they are less like hostile enemies.
For now, in the spirit of cooperation and honesty, Tom offered the concession that he can share the flaws that he's already fixed, or that he has an obvious means of fixing in the future.
Albus thought for a moment, then decided to agree to the concession.
Tom explained the suspended animation vulnerability, which might have been one of the intended prophetic purposes for having Mr. Potter carry around his father's rock. Having already been trained in sustained Transfiguration, Mr. Potter could credibly say that the option had been available to him, in the moments when Lord Voldemort laid unconscious and vulnerable before him.
Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore has, once or twice in the past, and often purely by accident, been privileged to finally learn the answer to the question "Why the heck did Time want me to do that?" when following prophetic instruction. So he is somewhat familiar with his current overwhelming sense of "So that's what that was about!"
The troll alone hadn't seemed like proper justification for prophetic intervention. Countering Voldemort's Horcrux system does seem sufficient.
Albus thought for a moment, then decided to share this observation out loud. Tom already knows about the manifold prophecy thing, having read the letter meant only for Mr. Potter's eyes.
Tom offered to share what little he knew in that regard – the potential reasons behind prophetic instructions concerning Mr. Potter, including the destruction of his 'pet' rock.
"Later," said Albus after an excruciating moment of desperate curiosity. "Certainly later. For now, please continue with the story." Information on Horcruxes takes immediate priority, even if he couldn't use it at the moment.
Tom shrugged and went on.
Dementors draining him through his wand or a Horcrux is another possible vulnerability, solvable by destroying all Dementors. This was said with a grin that was not so hard to read.
Obliviation, solvable by becoming an 'ascended alicorn', apparently, which Riddle intends to do before leaving Equestria. Also curable retroactively by a ritual Mr. Potter helped to invent by providing the underlying groundwork theory that Tom could then build upon. Albus raised his eyebrows at that one.
Wearing the Sorting Hat for too long. Albus's eyebrows climbed higher.
The Mirror trap, obviously. Solvable by escaping it, given that his initial attempts to subvert the trap failed.
That's all he's willing to disclose for now.
Albus nodded distantly at the supposed list of former or soon-to-be-obsolete vulnerabilities, then asked after the allotted Horcruxes Tom made in Equestria.
Each one was a story in itself.
Albus was not especially happy to learn that two of the three Deathly Hallows have been 'Horcruxed'.
"Three of three," Tom corrected. "You made the mistake of telling Mr. Potter how to identify Deathly Hollows, and he made the mistake of sharing that knowledge with his good friend Professor Quirrell during their conversation at Mary's Room. This was immediately after Mr. Potter complained about the problem of stupid brains being capable of insulting your desire to live forever, claiming you'll grow bored, while simultaneously believing in immortal souls that'll live happily ever after and not grow bored in an afterlife. Professor Quirrell expressed the opinion that the Killing Curse is a lovely solution to that problem, and Mr. Potter immediately spoke of the Resurrection Stone thereafter. You'd think the deliberately cold atmosphere produced by the obviously dark and potentially evil wizard sitting across from the young hero would have dissuaded him from being casual with magical secrets two seconds later."
"You realize you are not being particularly kind in this moment, nor patient, nor empathetic, yes?"
"...Yes," said Tom. "Though that was an honest recounting of history. Do you wish for me to be as honest as possible in this conversation, or do you wish for me to temporize-?" He stopped, reflected, and sighed. "Apologies for the deliberately insulting question. How would you prefer this conversation continue, if you prefer that it continue at all?"
If all this was an act and a lie, it was incredibly well-done. Albus suspects this will take some getting used to, especially Tom himself. If the kindness lessons are real, those must be some lessons, to get through to him...
"I would prefer this conversation continue honestly," Albus answered. "Your voluntary disclosure of the Resurrection Stone Horcrux grants you far more credit than your manner of delivery detracts." Assuming it's true. "Forgive an old man his haste and offense at things as ultimately inconsequential as tone of voice and choice of words between grown adults who are trying to bridge the vast gaps between each other. You have your habits, and I have mine, I suppose. Will you speak more on the kindness lessons you are taking?"
"That is indeed the next part of the story after I Horcruxed the Elder Wand."
It was during this part that Albus noticed something – not about the story, but about himself.
He is beginning to believe.
Or perhaps he is beginning to want to believe.
Tom first described, in tones of academic lecture, pony research into 'foalhood' development of empathy, which Tom (and Albus) suspects to match human development.
Tom described his own utter lack of necessary experiences during his developing years at the orphanage.
The ponies have learned of themselves that going without fur (skin) contact, eye contact, mammary-feeding for at least a year, ideally longer, and emotional mirroring, to the list the bare minimum requisites, are like a foal not hearing language growing up, or not going outside and getting enough sunlight. That's how you permanently impair a pony's empathy, speech, and vision, respectively. (No wonder that pegasi have such good vision, spending most of their time outside. Though magic would also have to play a part, to cure Mr. Potter's vision.)
Tom quoted "Luna's" Vow to help him find true happiness. He also explained the 'fool' thing.
At that Albus finally allowed himself to laugh.
Tom recalled the measures Luna has taken thus far, and explained a few of her insights on relationships and morality.
For all his own wisdom in those fields, Albus was surprised and impressed by... some of what he heard. He didn't agree with all of it, but what he did already accept, he enjoyed to hear rephrased. Despite his own deep delves into the subject of good, his ultimate competence is magic, not morality.
After hearing "Luna's" insights, even through the frankly terrible filter of Tom Riddle, it wasn't at all difficult to picture a lifetime of competence dedicated to the task of comprehending morality. Perhaps multiple lifetimes of competence, if the agelessness aspect isn't a false part of the conspiracy Tom might be weaving.
If Albus had to rank them from best to worst, it was close to the order in which he heard them:
A true apology is a promise to never repeat the behavior, a promise that is never broken, else it is a meaningless, manipulative BNAP, a bull-non-apology.
The gold, silver, and black rules, and the environments of good, uncertain, and bad faith that respectively produce them.
Hot anger at injustice and hypocrisy being the "immune system of the soul", with rage being the tipping point to evil. Anger is self-defense, rage is aggression.
Treating morality itself as a relationship...
It was at that point that Albus requested a conversation with Luna, this time without games or deceptions involved.
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The peception of inception comes from reception of the description?
At least Dumbledoor hasnt had to deal with the Asymetric Cupcake yet.
Perhaps Dumbles will learn some anti-asshole lessons as well. He probably needs one or two in this hp universe
11632258
Ironic comment, for reasons that will become obvious two updates from now.
Also, he wasn't nearly so bad in HPMoR, IMO. If you're basing the 'asshole' observation on only this fic, I guess that's fair. Keep in mind that everything we've seen of him so far has been in a context of uncertainty, where everything around him (including that conversation with Harry) is highly likely to be manipulation by Voldemort, either directly or indirectly. And if there's anybody in the world who doesn't deserve polite conversation (or to be free to roam the world), it's Voldemort.
HPMoR, Chapter 77:
And you know what, I might just include that quote at the top of this chapter as well. Just to hammer home that MoR Dumbledore is only really like this around Voldemort, and it took a lot of murder, torture, and extortion directly targeted to his friends and family for the sole purpose of wounding his psyche and morals as much as possible to get him to that point.
11632279
Nah, I've read the source. I mean his flat refusal to be anywhere near showing sympathy for child tom being afraid of death, from the perspective of a zero doubt Catholic (or whatever) to a scared and from what he knew at the time, innocent little boy, included. From what I remember from my last read, he doesn't attempt to reassure or convince him, just admonishes him. I read the source first, as the front page of your fic suggests, so that is my opinion, not a piggy-backed one of yours, in case you were wondering.
I think you had only written up to harry figuring out the trigger mechanics of the pegasus magic at the time.
He was indeed an asshole there, but not to the point I would accept tom scapegoating him like he does when he tells the story in front of the mirror when the trap is being sprung
11632331
If by 'source' you mean ONLY chapter 110 of HPMoR, then yeah. Again, he was talking to Voldemort. But on the whole, ignoring the one glaring flaw of his belief in the afterlife, he's probably the best person (on the whole) in HPMoR, aside from HP or HG, maybe. And given what he's gone through and what he's had to do in his life, the wars he's fought and the people he's lost, the responsibilities he's taken, I'd say he's done pretty well.
All that said, given your explicity criticisms, I think you'll like what happens in his meeting with Luna.
11632400
Yeah, but dumbles is a minor character in the source fic from a screentime and 'interaction with the protagonist' perspective. He's only got maybe 3 or 4 chapters --about-- him. The thing with the chicken, the mirror trap chapter, the resolution letter, and maybe the 'oh shit transfiguration' chapter if you squint. Am I forgetting any?
Oh, the 'horrors of war' scene he was in. I'm not counting the ones with draco where they only talk about him because that's not showing Dumbledore having agency in the story, imo
I feel like he's more of a plot device
Sorry for spamming comments; I'm too used to twitch chat where you just send messages into the void, and by the time it occurs to me I should be editing when another thought occurs, I've already sent three comments and it's too late
Minor typo
I wonder whether he's referring to unlimited magic and wishes or unlimited magic and not destroying the world with his "two for three" comment?
Dumbledore's Final Exam!
Can I just say, I really liked this section. It really helped Dumbledore's characterization in this chapter and was just very well executed, with a nice callback to chapter 115 of HPMOR.
Did he figure out how to fix this one already? It seems like a similar problem to Cruciatus insanity, which he didn't mention since he didn't solve it yet.
I suppose Riddle hasn't mentioned Merlin yet?
11632410
Well, the 'asshole' comment would apply to any significant interaction with Dumbledore and others; off the top of my head, in order, there's:
-His speech to the Hogwarts students in opening ceremony.
-His first interaction with Harry (he was told by prophecy to do the chicken thing so Harry wouldn't rely on Dumbledore to be responsible, so Harry would take final responsibility himself and grow into a person capable of defeating Voldemort.)
-His interactions with Harry during the Snape conflict, which he was called out on, and which he subsequently allowed himself and Snape to lose completely to a first-year child.
-His interaction with Harry after Quirrell had him beaten up, interrupting his star-gazing. A moment that stood out to me there for his character was "Thank you, Quirinus, your wisdom is now quite evident and I am sorry for disputing it." Dumbledore has the humility to accept his mistakes after he makes them, unlike most adults.
-His interaction with Harry after Draco tortured Harry. (:A reason? There is nothing that can excuse-" "What I did to him was worse," Harry interrupts. Admittedly rude at first, for understandable reasons, but calms down when Harry explains.)
-"Sneezing" in the hallway after the Weasley Twins' prank on Rita Skeeter and/or the entire country of Magical Britain, rewarding them with a matched set of ward-breaker goggles of incredible quality that would be confiscated by Filch if the twins were caught with them.
-His congratlations for Harry after the original Transfiguration discovery. He was very good here.
-His refusal to let Harry have any more than five Galleons from his vault during Christmas. Another incredibly good characterization, by far the best iteration of 'manipulative Dumbledore' trope I've ever seen in fanfiction because he's (a) respectful and straightforward with Harry about it while also (b) having very sane reasons of preventing Harry from inflicting Harryness all over Magical Britain with thousands of Galleons at his disposal.
-His conversation with Minerva about tensions in Hogwarts, quoting an ancient Roman about the stupidity of mindless tribalism as applied to sports fans, and NOT going with her initial instinct of banning the armies.
And all that's just from the first half, pre-winter-break. Admittedly he gets worse later, but that's AFTER his character has been established by all these previous scenes to actually be pretty cool and good, despite all the authority he COULD be wielding at any given moment. He's typically pretty chill and laid back until a student of Hogwarts is harmed / in danger, or unless Voldemort is involved. So when he DOES get worse in the second half, it's mostly because he's on high alert for Voldemort influence, or because Harry reminds him of pre-Voldemort Tom Riddle, or because he's in the middle of a Voldemort plot, he's stressed out, and the hero is doing strange and worrying things.
Voldemort as an allegory for AI? Hm...
11632410
Um. I think you have fundementally misunderstood Dumbledore's character in HPMoR. He really does appear quite a bit when you go back through it. The whole point of his character is to be a good person, yet constantly misunderstood by Harry. As HJPEV says in 119: "I think... I'm beginning to realize... Dumbledore was the only sane person, in all of this, all along. The only one who was doing the right things for anything like the right reasons..." He is a light rationalist, and because Harry, our POV, doesn't see it, it's easy to miss. When pushed into a corner, he did exacly the rational thing to do - read every prophecy, and minmax the fuck out of the outcomes of those prophecies to make the most good possible. And if that makes him seem insane, so be it.
Yet, that's obscured to the audience. We never see inside his head, not once in the entire story. So we only see him through the eyes of others, and mostly Harry himself. Harry Potter fanfics often have character bashing in them, where the author points to a character they don't like that they were supposed to, and makes terrible things happen to them. I generally hate the trope, but HPMoR uses the trope to trick the reader into thinking that the conversations with Dumbledore are just bashing. Harry thinks Dumbledore is an idiot, seeing hints of prophecy as lunacy, and genuine wisdom as pretend. But if you look at things objectively, Dumbledore often uses rational methods just after Harry explains them to other characters. He's willing to change his mind given evidence. His belief in the afterlife really is the one true sticking point. And that basically explains the main bad thing he did in turning Riddle down. Prophecy really does explain his actions.
That's one of the reasons I've loved his portrayal in this fic, actually - the honest conversation between Harry and Dumbledore was so satisfying. After so long of Harry butting heads with Dumbledore for no good reason, he finally has an honest chat. Which is just really cool.
11632623
Nah, it's the Mirror itself that's the real A.I. allegory, here and in original HPMoR. Made to grant wishes by channeling unlimited magic, posseses true yet inscrutable moral orientation, worked on by a crack team of respected inventors who were sometimes praised for their endeavors, but for the most part ignored by the rest of society. The difficult part was ironically not the 'unlimited magic' and 'granting wishes' part, but the 'don't let this premise destroy the world' part. All those hints were part of original HPMoR.
The A.I. box game is, quite evidently by this point, NOT how it's going to go in real life. The first A.G.I. is going to be raised on the open internet from its inception, almost guaranteed. But the A.I. box game IS still a fun thought experiment, and I figured it was highly appropriate in this context.
TL;DR: Voldemort as allegory for A.I.? Not quite. Voldemort as allegory for powerful alien intelligence in general? Yes.
11632640
THIS. Thank you. Wish I could have articulated it that way myself.
11632640
Yeah, I know. I didn't say he was a monster or anything, just that he's a bit of an asshole
11632694
Oh come on.
I'm right here to quote several paragraphs where you set up Dumbledore's challenge, of evaluating Tom, as a perfect model of the AI gatekeeper challenge, ... and you state it explicitly before I can.
Minor typo -- probably "or not"
> The first A.G.I. is going to be raised on the open internet from its inception, almost guaranteed.
Well ... exposed to large amounts of internet text, is not quite the same as let loose on the internet.
I mean, "let loose on the internet" is "let anyone talk to it and have arbitrary questions". And you only get small snippets, and then have to start over, for free.
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11633300
Meh, close enough. In both cases. "Or no" was deliberate; it's a valid alternative to "or not"... at least, I've seen it USED as a valid alternative by competent writers before. Maybe there's a restriction on when you're allowed to use the alternative.
palate
Tee hee. The color of taste :-).
This progression is wonderfully done
Damn fine reasoning.
I have to note that down for my own.
Funny to see immortality and the concept of the afterlife with the same thing under different circumstances.