Rehabilitation 13.2: Conspiracy Counter-Theory
"Hello," said the pony of starlight mane and female voice, now returned to stand before the Mirror. "And hopefully well-met, after the fact. I am Princess Luna of Equestria. Please just call me 'Luna', or 'Princess' if you prefer."
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," said Albus. "Please call me 'Professor Dumbledore'." As Tom certainly would. That should help remind Albus of the potential conspiracy, every time she addresses him by name.
Supposedly, Tom cannot perceive this conversation; he must be in range of the mirror, and so he is at that distant desk, now moved far to the back of the room, with sound and sight wards established to 'prevent him from distraction as he works'. But there's no telling how much of that, if any, is true.
"Forgive me for not offering my hand to shake," said Albus.
"A hand to shake?" asked the pony, sounding bemused. "What would that matter?"
"A handshake is a gesture of greeting and common courtesy between humans," Albus explained. With a wave of his wand, an illusion of humans shaking hands was shown.
If she had not been confused about that, it would have pointed either to Tom explaining the gesture to her beforehand, or to a noticeable flaw in Tom's performance. Or perhaps to there being creatures with hands in the pony world. Her being confused about it proves either that she's genuinely confused, or that Tom had anticipated the question and explained the appropriate reaction in advance, or that Tom is simply manipulating all of this actively, as a visual/auditory illusion or some such. But her confusion should be a point in favor of this not being a conspiracy... right?
Albus really isn't cut out for this sort of thing. But he'll continue doing it because he must.
The pony tilted her head, considering her reply before speaking. "Are you asking me to forgive you for not offering a literal handshake, or a metaphorical one? Between species, individuals, leaders, et cetera."
"All of the above, I suppose," said Albus, who was obviously blocked by the mirror from any physical interaction, but who also could not afford the casual courtesy of a good faith conversation, no matter how much he wished for one. "I would not hesitate, literally or metaphorically, under different circumstances." Like if he knew she was real and good.
"I understand."
"How do ponies offer greetings to each other, if I may ask?" Curiosity on his part is a good and necessary thing for unraveling any potential conspiracies; the more he asks, the more chances for obvious contradiction to arise.
Instead of answering in words, Luna conjured an illusion – proving illusions could be conjured, if they so chose – of two ponies... hugging? It seemed rather intimate, at least. Perhaps that was the point. Or perhaps ponies didn't see it that way. Either way, a better question to ask would be...
"How do ponies offer greetings to non-ponies?"
"To non-friends," said Luna, with particular emphasis on the last word, "verbal greetings usually suffice. What we've already exchanged was good enough to satisfy my cultural sensibilities. What about yours?"
Albus wondered if he should pursue that line of inquiry further, down however deep of a rabbit hole might be difficult for Tom to outright fabricate and remember... but truthfully, he was more interested in just getting to the important topics first.
"Likewise satisfied. Tom says you are the one most responsible for teaching him the Patronus?"
A brief creasing of the forehead, an ever-so-slight narrowing of eyes. Perhaps it indicated active critical thought, or perhaps mild frustration. "I am responsible for his remedial happiness lessons. Others bear responsibility for why the remedy is necessary in the first place."
Seeing an opportunity to provoke a potential Tom-response, if Tom is actively controlling all of this, Albus seized it. "Most prominently among them, Tom himself."
"Not quite," said Luna. She frowned further. "Not at all, even. If an eleven-year-old tried to learn the spell, and they executed the matrix perfectly, but their only failing was that they were not happy enough to cast it, would you place blame and responsibility upon their shoulders for their failing?"
That wasn't quite the response Albus had been expecting from conspiracy-Luna. And it was interesting enough that, even if it defended Tom, he couldn't mentally label it as an obviously Tom-produced response.
"I would, and I wouldn't," Albus answered. "I would blame their parents for failing to raise them in a happy household. I would say they are not responsible for failing to cast the Patronus on the first day. But from that moment forward, they gain some measure of responsibility for their future happiness, having learned of themselves that they currently lack it."
"And if their upbringing was so terrible that they could not gain happiness anymore – if, say, they were permanently damaged by Dementors – what then? Do they still bear responsibility for their own future happiness?"
(Albus did not find this question strange, for he knew of Dementors, and he did not know Equestria lacked them. Luna, after learning about Dementors and their properties from Riddle, has been waiting to make this analogy for years.)
"...No," said Albus. "They would not bear responsibility, in that case."
Luna nodded. "What my sister's scholars- sorry, what pony scholars have discovered, over the centuries, is that a lack of any loving caretakers in a foal's early life can be like exposing them to a Dementor, in such a fashion that the damage is permanent."
Albus considered the comparison. It would be worrying, if true. And, sadly, it reflects much of what he's seen in his tenure as a Hogwarts Professor, and later as its Headmaster.
"And if," Luna continued, "you then inflicted, from a position of authority, physical and mental and verbal violence upon a Dementor-exposed foal for years on end, what would you expect that foal to grow into?"
It wasn't a particularly difficult question to answer. "A dark wizard."
"And would that, then, yet be the foal's fault?"
"Not until the moment they hurt the innocent and uninvolved."
Luna nodded. "That is the correct attitude as applicable to law and typical morality, yes."
"But not correct for atypical morality, I take it?" Albus asked, trying to anticipate where this might be going.
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Do you think attempting to redeem Voldemort qualifies as a common moral quandary?"
"...Good point," Albus allowed. "May I ask where you are going with this?"
"In general, I am hoping to explain how I am getting through to him. Though I'm growing more and more certain that words alone won't suffice. Was there somewhere else you wanted our conversation to go?"
Albus's eyebrows rose. "No. I would very much like to know your process, if it seems to be working. What do you mean words alone won't suffice?"
Luna smiled. "Will you permit me to provide a practical demonstration?"
"Please do."
"Very well. This, then, is how I am getting through to Tom."
She then established a memory parchment screen, explaining as she went how it worked, until at last she was ready to show Albus a memory.
"This is from long ago," said Luna. "Well over a thousand years ago. Equestria is a very different place today than it once was, and even back then, not all ponies were like this."
Without further preamble, the memory began, starting with an image of a stern-looking pony.
"Put it away."
The viewpoint of the memory turned to look at a ball, then turned to look back to the pony.
"Selena Lullay. Put. The ball. Away."
The viewpoint didn't change, but there was a whump sound, then a thud. "That was me kicking the ball in the direction of the place that it's meant to go, and sitting down," said Luna.
The pony seethed in visible, yet controlled anger. "I asked you nicely. Put the ball away properly. Don't make me come over there."
"NO!" shouted a young girl's voice, sounding as if it came from the perspective of the viewpoint.
"That's it, young mare!" said the pony, horn glowing, and viewpoint rising into the air. "You're going into time out."
The memory stopped.
"If I may ask," said Luna before Albus could remark, "What's your first impression of my father?"
Albus hesitated.
"And please do not spare my feelings," Luna added. "I'd like your honest opinion."
"In that case," said Albus, "if he were the parent of a prospective muggleborn student, I would have already used Legilimency to see if his intentions towards you were as bad as that one interaction might suggest."
Luna frowned. "How habitually do you use Legilimency?"
"Only when the safety of a Hogwarts student demands it," said Albus. "Or in situations of consent with a practicing Occlumens. I did it more often as a Professor of Hogwarts than as its Headmaster. Minerva, my deputy headmistress, uses compulsion and memory charms, which muggles cannot defend against. I'm sorry to say it is traditional Hogwarts practice when dealing with abusive muggleborn parents. I did my own best to apply due courtesy when dealing with muggles, unlike many of my predecessors, and Minerva has inherited my ways. Legilimency, and magic in general, was my last resort, not my first. Conversation is more pleasant anyway, and can be just as revealing."
Luna's frown deepened. "You know, I think I am only now beginning to explicitly realize how reading a wide variety of minds in order to uncover abusers and protect the young – how meeting a wide variety of abusers who believe they can fool you when you already know their nature – can lead to becoming a good judge of character."
"Indeed," said Albus with a smile.
"I suppose that means I can skip showing you the second half of this memory. I only remembered this earlier moment because it was the catalyst for what came after. Notice the fact that we are outside, visible and audible to any pony who might be nearby. His first instinct, naturally, was to take me inside, and you can probably guess what happened from there. If you would, can you precisely describe which behaviors of my father, which red flags in particular, would have caused you to resort to Legilimency, just from what you did see?"
Albus took a moment to think about it. "He seemed harsh. His tone suggested constrained anger and violence. If I were more familiar with pony expressions, I could have likely seen it in his eyes as well. Even without Legilimency, it is possible to read intentions through eye contact."
Luna nodded. "And his words? Did you notice anything strange about them?"
Albus took more moments of consideration. "Not especially. Perhaps I would notice if I watched it again, but tone of voice was always my own greatest tell. It was where I looked for 'red flags', as you put it."
"In that case, I will show it to you again. This time I will pause at a key point."
She showed him the memory again, then halted just after "I asked you nicely. Don't make me come over there."
"Note," Luna said, "that a neutral witness might observe that he did not ask me nicely. He ordered me sternly, then claimed he asked nicely, and then proceeded to threaten me menacingly."
Albus nodded in agreement. Everybody has their own ways of noticing evil. Her father did not ask nicely, but claimed he did. He contradicted himself in the span of ten seconds. He lied. It's as simple as that.
This, perhaps, would be the Ravenclaw approach – to observe a neutral, inarguable truth that cuts straight to the heart of the matter. Albus respects the Ravenclaw angle more than he used to, thanks to Mr. Potter's wisdom, but also thanks to his role as Chief Warlock.
What Luna pointed out is what you might say to honestly convince others, not just yourself, about judgements on character; it's the approach and style one might see during arguments before the Wizengamot at a guardianship hearing.
No wonder Tom can tolerate these lessons. Empty as he may be, he still pictures himself as intelligent, and therefore respects the art of the argument. In retrospect, approaching conversations with him like a barrister approaches a court case makes perfect sense.
"But when I showed this memory to my fool over there," Luna flicked an ear – a curious expression – at the supposedly deaf Tom, "he pointed out that from my own perspective, and from my father's, he actually was being nice. Relative to his average. And so he wasn't lying when he said he asked me nicely. Well, he was not lying about the 'nice' part, anyway. A clever way to redefine niceness in a foal's mind, isn't it?"
Albus could feel his own wrinkles becoming more pronounced as he listened.
"But I'm digressing again," said Luna. "The point I'm trying to reach involves both my father's tone and his wording. Imagine, for a moment, my father speaking in those words and that tone of voice, not to a child, but to a fellow adult – somepony subordinate to him, such as an employee, but not somepony who is helpless before him. He has some authority over them, but not absolute authority. They can leave at any time, if they'd prefer to. The 'dinner table test', I like to call it."
(This was part of a wider test Luna explained to Tom, as a measure of quality for one's parents and other tribal authorities, a way to divorce yourself from the instinctual/evolutionary pressure on your mind to view them as good people. If you met your parents as strangers at a dinner party, and you saw them do what you know they've done behind closed doors, would you want anything to do with them? If they were complete strangers, would you actively want to spend time with them? Would you even tolerate them, if they directed their worst behaviors at you, and you were an unrelated adult? Most ponies are unable to ask themselves this question unless they are deliberately trained to do so because it goes against natural instinct.)
"If they were invited to dinner by my father," Luna began, shortening the thought experiment for the sake of this conversation, "and my father said that to his employee, or said something like it, how would you expect a self-respecting adult to react, in that situation?"
Albus thought for a while, then provided many various answers that came to mind, after having overseen a number of professorial interactions regarding one Severus Snape. Different personalities react differently to that sort of thing.
Luna seemed to appreciate the variety of proposed reactions.
"Though I confess," said Dumbledore, "that I cannot recall witnessing any adult speak to a peer or stranger in tones and words quite as extreme as what you just showed me. The idea is strange enough that I can hardly imagine it being done." He had trouble putting it into words. Mr. Potter would probably be able to do it in a heartbeat. "I have seen all manners of condescension between adults, but not quite..."
"Not quite the manner of condescension that is all the manners put together?" Luna offered. "Overlapping and magnifying each other to be something entirely new, something greater than the mere sum of its parts, like they aren't even speaking to a sapient being?"
"Precisely," said Dumbledore. "Though now that you've put it that way, I recall that I have seen an adult treating another that way, for I've had the displeasure of hearing Delores Umbridge speak to a Centaur. I distinctly remember her words as hardly being suitable for a dog, let alone a man. And perhaps House-Elf interactions count as well, though I'm not sure those qualify."
"You have centaurs-? No, I can ask my fool about it. In any case, I'm glad I don't need to explain further. I call it the 'foal voice'."
Luna's tone and emphasis suggested she regarded this part as particularly important.
"It is the voice that many adults once used when speaking to foals, the voice that utterly dismisses their agency as sapient beings. It is a voice more suited to a dog than a pony. If I were a grown, adult stranger with the job of putting that ball away, and my boss spoke to me as my father did, I'd laugh, say 'You're crazy,' and quit on the spot, for it is not wise to work for crazy ponies."
She did not explain how she almost drove her own fool away that one time, using the foal voice on him without realizing it because she was desperately frightened by Discord. Instead she replayed her own father's words once more, the 'foal voice' more noticeable to Albus's ears than ever before.
"No self-respecting being with their own preferences and convictions would sit there and take that," Luna explained. "To inflict it on foals, therefore, destroys their self-respect, their preferences, and their convictions. Or it pushes them away from you. Or both."
"You were the type to be pushed away?"
She nodded. "Thanks to Tia- my sister, I had a strong sense of self-worth, and I clung to it like a lifeline. Most foals, when they hear the foal voice, simply submit. They become lesser, as they are expected to become, as their instincts tell them to become, and their chances of survival increase. But some foals, when they hear the foal voice, dig in their heels and refuse to listen. Their stubbornness is their own attempt to preserve their sense of self-worth. It is the behavioral manifestation of their desire to be respected as thinking, feeling beings, their desire to be reasoned with. They are giving you a chance to notice your own actions and correct them. In a way, their petulance is their desire to respect you as a reasonable person, if only you would actually reason with them." She paused. "Does any of that sound wrong?"
"It does not."
"Good. Now that I've said all that, I will let this next memory speak for itself."
And she played the memory of that day in his office, skipping straight to the lecture he gave Tom Riddle – glaring in its flaws in a way that caught Albus completely by surprise. Had she not carefully explained the 'foal voice' first, had she not offered her own father as a caricatured extreme who was obviously in the wrong, Albus might not have seen his own past mistake so clearly, or maybe even at all.
Thus did Albus Dumbledore have his first 'Night Court' Session. He came to the conclusion that, if all of this is fake, it's almost certainly not the product of only Tom Riddle's imagination.
"Thoughts?" asked Luna, when it was finished.
"I confess," said Dumbledore, "my own memory of that day is not as clear as Tom's. If what you showed me was modified, I cannot say for certain. I can only say that it does not feel correct. But perhaps I truly did look like that, from Tom's perspective, and perhaps I truly did say those words, and perhaps I truly was like that, those many years ago."
"You see that you were in the wrong?"
Albus nodded. "I do now see," he said reflectively, "how it looks like, say, trying to sternly lecture a young Mr. Malfoy about the follies of blood purism. I agree that the approach I took was the wrong one."
"That is a good first step," said Luna. "If the memory is unmodified – thank you for mentioning that, by the way, I did not know it was possible, and I shall speak with my fool about that later – if it is unmodified, then it is a very good thing it feels incorrect, that it feels like your past self is wrong. One of the most sobering means of self-knowledge is to see ourselves as others see us. If you had seen that memory and claimed to see nothing wrong with it, I think there would have been little I could do demonstrate how I am getting through to Tom, in the short amount of time we have to speak."
Albus nodded. "And yet, even having seen my own past folly, I cannot imagine what the right approach might have looked like. I had no blatantly obvious memories to show Tom of Dark Lords begging for immortality. Mr. Potter redeemed Mr. Malfoy in his first year of Hogwarts, and I doubt I could have ever accomplished that myself, with or without memory magics, even if I were his age, in his position, with careful instructions on what to do. It is much the same with Tom, I feel. If it is essentially a political difference, I have learned that those are mostly helpless to overcome deliberately. I have learned that minds cannot be easily influenced or predictably changed, even when they are not fully set in their ways. This nature of this problem only grows worse with more intelligent people." Like Tom. And the Malfoys, to a lesser but still significant degree.
"Such is the nature of Free Will," said Luna. "Given that we are not Voldemort, and do not wish to be anything like Voldemort, empathy is the only good way to change minds. It may be unreliable, it may be difficult, but like Dementor exposure in reverse, the impacts of true empathy are everlasting, if done for long enough."
Albus's eyes widened at the obviously good, obviously wise answer. "Indeed."
"That said, I think your own biggest hurdle is that you are still asking yourself how you could have steered Tom from the path to immortality. You still see that in itself as wrong. You are not asking how you might have steered him from the immoral paths to immortality. But more importantly than that, you are not asking yourself the most important question first: you are not asking yourself how you might better understand his perspective. Your inability to empathize with that aspect of his psyche – to ever understand how he feels in any way, shape, or form – would make you like a dietitian trying to help an obese pony overcome their many problems without ever having made the journey from obesity to health yourself." (Or perhaps YOU are the obese one, Albus Dumbledore. But this, Luna did not say out loud.) "You view all paths to immortality as immoral, and so you cannot redeem him, for you do not understand him."
Albus accepted this with a nod. "Agreed. It is only thanks to Mr. Potter that I now possess even an inkling of understanding, of empathy, into that particular aspect of the minds of dark wizards. But six months ago is too little, too late."
"Is it?" asked Luna. "Is it ever too late to turn down the paths of good? Is it ever too late to try? Is it ever too late to acknowledge new darknesses in your own soul that you did not know were there before? To learn the red flags that point to it?"
Albus felt an impulse to get the conversation a bit back on track to his original goals. "What, if I may ask, is your opinion of Tom? When you met him, did you notice his 'red flags', as you put it?"
"Given that he requested the same employment condition of me that he requested of you, I think it's fair to say that, until it was almost too late, I did about as well and as poorly in the task of noticing Mystery Book's red flags as you did when noticing the red flags of Professor Quirrell."
Albus sighed wearily. "Touché. I would still like to hear about it."
She thought for a time before speaking. "If not for my ignorance of his hidden past, and the ambiguity of his current actions, things might have played out much worse, and Riddle may be in a much worse position to be redeemed. I will say, speaking narrowly and only about one particular red flag, by which I mean the 'foal voice'... well, I've seen many of his memories, including many of his Hogwarts interactions as Defense Professor, and even if those had been modified, he's been in my company for years on end, and I've personally seen him interact with foals in a teaching capacity."
In Silver's Flight Club in particular, she thought.
"There is something of a dark irony that the mass-murderous psychopath Dark Lord has never, to my knowledge, used the 'foal voice', implying that he, of all ponies, sees the universal sapience in others. Nor has he used the inverse to the 'foal voice', the voice of slave-like humility. Even in my first meeting with him, where so many ponies of the past treated me like a God or a Devil, he treated me like the prospective employer that I was. He treated me as a pony and not a God, he treated himself as a pony and not a slave, he remained firm in his preferences, and that came across clearly in his attitude and in our negotiations. He did not pretend to be supremely lesser-than-your-majesty, nor did he condescend as supremely holier-than-thou, even after he became an alicorn."
"I find it hard to believe he refrained from condescension," said Albus Dumbledore. Unless it was part of the act, of course.
"Oh, he was condescending in a great variety of rude and negative ways," Luna confirmed. "To me and especially to others. Just not supremely so. It was never beyond the point of critical mass, like you saw in that memory of my father, and of yourself. That is the key difference. That is the threshold I won't tolerate, when your authority or superiority fully goes to your head, when empathy is fully shut down, when evidence and reason can no longer reach or sway you. He never crossed that line. He lays out his arguments, unpleasant as they may be, and if the other party rejects them, he regards them as stupid, but he does not behave as if their entire belief system and worldview can be rewritten in a single lecture. No matter how much they trusted him as competent before that point."
"You believe the attitude of condescension is better than kindness and politeness in the face of those you believe to be wrong?"
"You were not kind nor polite to the young Tom Riddle when he came to you. But to answer your question anyway, it depends. If kindness and politeness are being used as a poor pony's substitute for respect, or to hide an utter lack of respect for those you disagree with, I do believe condescension can be better, for at least it is honest. It is not the best approach, of course, and often not even a good one, but it is still better than the alternative of dishonesty and falsifying your own preferences and self-worth. My fool rudely regards others as stupid, but he at least respects himself, and he acknowledges that others have their own deep beliefs that can't easily be changed by lecture. That is close to respecting the existence of someone else's preferences, even if it is not respecting the preferences themselves. In order to respect a worldview, you must at least know that it exists in the first place, and he knows of just about every worldview out there, with how much Legilimency he's done. We're still working on the 'respect' part, but... he's at a workable starting point. He disparagingly referred to Silver as 'boy', and to the Wonderbolt Captain as 'stupid mare'. He ordered his Death Eaters about like tools. But he did, at least, attempt to reason with them first. When reason failed, he resorted to force, which is far worse than the 'foal voice', mind you, but he did skip the step of the 'foal voice'. And after arriving in Equestria, he refrained from undue force almost entirely."
"What do you resort to, when reason fails?" asked Albus, though he realized a second later that she'd already given the obvious answer of 'empathy' earlier in the conversation.
"My own solution is to respect that they have Free Will," said Luna. "Free Will means you can't control what others believe, what others decide, what others want. You can only influence. Or, alternatively, you can disassociate. That, too, is Free Will. Tying yourself up in knots about how your actions can change other people is often an exercise in frustration. They have free will, and that's all there is to it. They can always leave or ignore you. You can do the same to them. My own approach is to understand others before saying or doing anything at all, especially anything irreparable. Prevention is better than cure, and easier, but only if you know how. Sometimes a 'cure' is flatly impossible. And when cure is possible, you need a thorough understanding of the disease to stand a chance at curing it. Which you did not have when it came to fear of death. Or to blood purism, for that matter. Which is why you cannot quite imagine any workable means of dissuasion."
"I cannot quite understand his condescension either," said Dumbledore. "Not empathetically. Not as anything other than a shallow shadow of observation that does not match true understanding. Are you working on that, as well?"
She nodded. "His mild condescension – and yes, I know that sounds ridiculous, but in the context of the 'foal voice' and the mindset that goes with it, everything else is mild by comparison – his condescension is what sometimes results from constantly using the 'foal voice' on a young colt. Many foals give in, subconsciously sacrificing their self-respect in exchange for safety. They respond to the 'foal voice' by using the subservient-slave voice, in which authorities are treated as Gods – infallible and beyond reproach. This lasts until they become parents or some other kind of authority themselves. They then become the Gods in their own minds, and they instinctively switch to using the 'foal voice' themselves.
"Those who do not follow that self-perpetuating pattern have various ways of maintaining their self-respect. Tom demonstrates one of those ways. That young colt, now wearing the body of a grown stallion, always pushes buttons, always attempts to goad the true, honest, impulsive reactions out of those around him so that their characters may be laid bare. But he never crosses the threshold into the 'foal voice' because he knows what that feels like and hates it with a burning passion. He'd rather disassociate entirely than do that. It was only recently that I learned his final means of 'disassociation' is murder, but by then I had already committed by Unbreakable Vow to help him, and he had already honestly promised to stop."
Albus took this moment to express a thought which had occurred to him much earlier. "Perhaps he read your mind in order to determine how best to act in your presence."
"Initially, he refrained from Legilimency on myself and my sister out of fear of discovery and subsequent incineration-by-sunbeam. He likely would have done it if he knew for certain if it was safe, but he didn't. Now he can say honestly that he never did it to me outside my Occlumency lessons."
"Perhaps he succeeded in leaving Legilimency impulses within your mind, and False Memories, and all that you just said is merely what he wishes you to think."
"At some point, an empiricist must listen to the evidence of their senses. Thinking that everything is a simulated lie only leads to madness."
Albus refrained from saying 'now you know how I feel.'
"More often than not," Luna continued, "obsessing about conspiracies is the natural result of being surrounded by powerful liars-"
Like Albus currently is.
"-growing up. Your belief that everyone is out to get you is not often a reflection of all reality, just the nasty ponies who had power over you."
"Quite," was all he decided to say in reply. "So, you believe you saw no more red flags in Tom than I saw in Professor Quirrell?"
"I'm not sure how much our experiences overlap. All I can say is that he had a great many red flags, the kinds that deep abuse would be expected to produce, but nothing that conclusively proved his own nature as an abuser. Or murderer, torturer, et cetera. And while I can measure Honesty at a glance, I did not have anything as simple and elegant as Legilimency to confirm my suspicions, so I hired and kept a close eye on him, and had many long conversations with him. He refused to speak of his past, but his present never crossed the line, though he came as close to the line as possible many times over."
"How so?"
"Horcruxes one, two, and three."
"Ah," said Albus.
There was a brief pause.
"I'm surprised you do not ask how those did not cross the line."
"He explained the full context of the first two," said Albus. "In any case, thank you for this. I think I better understand-" the story (Lie? Fabrication? Modified truth?) "-what is going on. I would like some time to reflect, please."
Luna hesitated for a moment, then nodded. If she could truly detect candidness, she likely noticed he was maintaining his skepticism. "One last thing, then. I apologize for this. This session, I mean. Normally I do not come to criticisms or judgements so quickly. I told myself you of all people can handle it, given your moral character, and while I truly do believe that as a compliment to you, it is also the case that I was motivated by my own personal annoyance. In particular, I disliked your failure to acknowledge the responsibility you bore in creating Voldemort. Admitting as much to Voldemort when he explicitly asks about it has little value, or perhaps anti-value, but your words seemed honest enough, in that memory, and so I've always wished you to see why my fool reacted as he did to your lecture, why his convictions only grew stronger. It's true that his decisions were all his own; a celebrity does not bear much responsibility for the actions of their fanatics, in most cases. And yet, most celebrities do not give their fans a one-on-one moral lecture after being begged for help, nor teach them as professor for years prior to that, nor introduce them personally to a new world of possibilities. Even if it is only a tiny fraction, even if it is only the tiniest shred of responsibility, I believe that shred does exist, whether you acknowledge it or not."
"Acknowledged," said Albus Dumbledore. "Please, go." He would not ordinarily be so curt, so impolite, but prudence in the face of the box-problem demanded it.
She nodded and left.
After a long time to reflect, Albus gave the signal that indicated he wished to speak with his prisoner.
When Tom came before the mirror, Albus said, "Did you ask her to give me a lesson?"
"I did indeed ask her to give a practical demonstration of her talents. Her sessions are unrivaled. Capable of reaching me, obviously, but possibly even capable of reaching you." Though Albus could not quite read subtle pony expressions, he could see the self-satisfied grin of amusement quite clearly present on Tom's face. "Her sessions are typically only effective in a positive direction for those who are looking for advice and help, who do not already believe themselves good enough, who are actively receptive to her words. I was curious how the supremely wise and good Albus Dumbledore would react."
"Did you ask her to specifically target the memory you complained about immediately prior to your entrapment?" And which Harry asked him to focus on as well.
"No, but I suspected she might. I showed her many of the significant memories of my life so that she could analyse them for the sake of my own benefit. This was years ago. I did not show them to her with the intention or permission of ever sharing them with anybody else, but before I asked her to come here on your request, I gave her permission to show whatever she wished to you alone, even if it was from my own private hoard of memories, so long as it was for the sake of redeeming you." Again, that twisted smile.
"You admit you imagined the possibility she would show that particular memory in the course of a lesson?"
"Indeed. It was closer to hope than a true weighing of probabilities. And in light of that specific hope, I thought that if she succeeded in convincing you, good. And if she failed, also good, as you would know how I felt after that day – bitter, resentful, and utterly convinced in your own ways. Perhaps it would not be good for my ultimate goal of escaping, but it would be good for my own personal satisfaction. My lessons have not progressed far enough to be immune to that temptation."
Or perhaps, Albus thought, they have progressed far enough for you to give in to that childish temptation at all, where the cold and calculating Tom Riddle would act only for the sake of his future goals – utterly evil in a different fashion than he was pretending with Voldemort, capable of perfect emotional control, with all of Voldemort's outbursts being mere masks and performances.
This, too, Albus had come to understand, after being given time to think, time to reflect, time to consider what the year-long performance of Professor Quirrell implied. According to his own pre-existing experience before mirror entrapment, six months is the about cut-off time for the most desperate and dedicated preference-falsifiers, beyond which extended deception that involves daily personal effort contradictory to one's own nature for a distant goal becomes impossible. Tom Riddle doubled that time.
Perhaps Luna's lessons are meant to destabilize your perfect control, as true emotion would, and turn you human once more. As a first step, at least.
His own session had certainly invoked many of his own raw emotions. Defensively asking Luna how many red flags she'd seen – which in retrospect elicited defensiveness of her own – was not something a calm, collected, emotionally tranquil Albus Dumbledore would have done.
"Thank you, Tom," said Albus. "Please leave me to my thoughts."
The man nodded, and went back to writing.
Albus returned to his chair.
His true motivation in asking about Luna's own experience with spotting Tom's 'red flags' had been to determine – as if it were a competition, a comparison between himself and her – if she had unraveled the truth of Tom Riddle sooner / better / more proactively than he had. If she was more adroit at the moral skill of spotting 'red flags', and therefore more worthy of teaching Albus Dumbledore a lesson on morality, then she presumably would have more skillfully spotted Tom Riddle's red flags.
But then she pointed out that Tom is a very good liar, and she probably did about as well as Albus did. (Possibly better, if she had suspicions of her own before the moment of revelation, where Albus had been caught completely off guard by Professor Quirrell's appearance before the Mirror, despite all his own advanced abilities at anticipating that sort of thing.)
In retrospect, it was childish and silly of him to call her out like that. Like a petulant child, he simply didn't want to accept her lesson... though not quite like a petulant child who had been given a lecture in the 'foal voice'. More like a child who had been reasoned with, a child who is now conflicted between doing what he knows to be right and what he knows to be easy.
In that mental state, though he did not realize his emotions were doing it at the time, he instinctively sought to reject her lesson by the easiest means. He appealed to her moral authority (or lack thereof) over himself – ad verecundiam, the second of the classic logical fallacies. In fact, replying as he did, he was also calling her character itself into question, appealing to her person (and/or insulting her); ad hominem, the first classical fallacy.
The trustworthiness and quality of the teacher are important considerations, to be sure, especially when evil manipulators are about. But those considerations weigh less strongly when the logic is laid out as clearly as she presented hers. The lesson is slightly more trustworthy when the moral is applicable to far MORE areas in his life than the narrow moment in his past where he most greatly violated it, or where his violation had the greatest consequences, or where Tom Riddle specifically might want him to see his own folly.
To start, and ignoring everything else, he can see how and why the pensieve method is effective. Despite his own extensive knowledge of pensieves, and despite using it on Mr. Potter that one time in a similar way, he never would have imagined this method on his own. It's useful in a good way, even if it's the product of Voldemort's imagination.
But getting to the meat of the lesson, Albus can see general behaviors of his own that can be improved by the insight of the 'foal voice', should he accept it. He can see how the lesson might benefit Minerva too, should he teach it to her. It would likely help her along the path she chose for herself that day, when she resolved to do better.
She seemed to take Mr. Potter's remarks to heart, when Mr. Potter claimed she viewed children as animals to be herded into a pen and kept from wandering out, a flaw which Mr. Potter, in the same breath, said Albus did not share.
(If only Mr. Potter had been more honest, in that moment, or less forgetful. Albus does share the flaw, apparently and evidently. Perhaps not as egregiously as Minerva, or Severus, but he does share it. Harry had even complained about it directly on the day he challenged Severus, on the day he threatened to walk out on Dumbledore and run a newspaper campaign against him, saying something like, "This isn't a negotiation. This is your punishment. And if that seems uncourteous to you, it seemed no less uncourteous when you said it to me. That's only something you would say to a subordinate child, not someone you see as an actual human being." Or something like that. It wasn't quite a strong enough memory for Albus to remember it exactly enough for pensieve extraction.)
In any case, if Albus were to go back to the normal world this instant, he could see how this lesson might help Minerva, and might help himself.
Albus could see future lessons from Luna helping himself.
...
...
...
And then, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had an idea.
A surprisingly good idea, under the circumstances, a solution to the problem of being shown a world almost fully controlled by Tom Riddle, and trying to determine his redemption from there.
Albus smiled rather widely once he comprehended the initial reason why his mind suggested it, why his mind had returned to that part of his conversation with Mr. Potter.
His smile widened and widened as he thought further about it, until he burst into full-blown laughter.
Tom did not interrupt or inquire.
Albus settled down.
Perhaps it is too ridiculous. Perhaps it is, hilariously enough, too unfair to Tom.
But one means of being more certain of Tom Riddle's redemption is...
Stats
Page generated in 0.054 seconds
Total duration
1,001 users online
1,442,654 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Thanks, OP, I think you've argued my point of that scene with bumbles way better than I can.
Not that that portion is in any way a large portion of the chapter, but at least I'm confident you know what I was trying to get at when I said that Luna should tell Dumbledore off for being an asshole about it
... Maybe for tom to teach the lessons he's received? Presumably the leap is from Harry's actions when applied to tom
If the only communication through the mirror is audio and video, then heiograph, semaphore and simple acoustic couple modems might be considred for starters? Light emmiting diodes, such as TV remote controls when correctly built and driven can get to suprisingly high megabaud,.
There is also a set of relatively simple natural mechanisms for having forces transfered optically, either by the heating effect of illumination on certain simple materials, or asymetric illuination by shading by partition for simple automated sun trackers.
Many years ago, when CRT displays were used with raster scanning beams, a remote sensing targeting system was created by having focusing optics that could discern a small patch of the screen at a time, and a connection to a counter. As the screen started its refresh, the counter started, as the optics detected the beam passing, the counter stopped. The counter gave how long since the complex area scanning started, which gave a good enough position on the screen for the device to know where it was looking.
Good enough for Duck Hunt.
Modern TVs and cameras are just a little too slow to use a reflection off the ISS to measure speed of light through flight time delay. If you want to measure how fast a reflection is responding, a modern TV and camera is faster than any human reaction, even Bruce Lee, and in the infinite tunnel will give a lag.
Thre are deeper muggle methods currently available that allow more subtle research, but they are approaching the Pink realms.
As for what Dumbledore might be considering, I have no idea. I dont exaclty have the capacity for that level and quality of analysis, from what I can work out.
So what all would be changed here? How much would you have to go back and edit, and would it be feasible to do so?
Remember, Earth itself was not stored inside the mirror, even when the mirror was in orbit / on the moon; heck, you could shine the mirror into space at night, and reflect the moon, yet the moon did not go away. So ... there is *something more* than just being reflected to activate things.
An object like the stone being "placed inside the mirror" is one thing.
A separate reality containing a copy of what is reflected is something else.
And in some sense, both of these happen? Certainly a lot of people are placed inside the mirror; other things are copied.
11645671
I guess you're right. The Mirror does have a function for both; I envisioned the 'create a new copy' only worked for environments, the part of the Mirror that created new realms of existence, and it could only be done once per new realm of existence, or something like that. But yeah, I guess there are enough examples of the Mirror possessing the capacity for both that it doesn't really matter.
Transfigure Luna into a rock, have it reflected in the mirror and then end transfiguration on Dumbledore's side, thereby being able to inspect Riddle's advocate?
11645613
I said you'd like one of the upcoming chapters, based on what you said. This scene was written prior to that exchange of ours, though it WASN'T written prior to the exchange I had with a different commenter where the child voice was brought up, and I realized I was writing in the comments something that would work as the subject of a whole chapter.
11645749
Nah. Objects DO mean objects. No clever workarounds to get living sapient beings reflected across sides would work. Plus that would create a clone of Luna? I almost included "No magical objects may be transferred across the mirror", but I wanted to leave open the possibility of future shenanegans that I honestly should have just constrained away completely.
Use the stone of permanence, and turn Luna into a rock. Period. It's now a rock. Pass both the rock and the stone to Dumbledore, and give instructions on how to perform human transformation.
Seriously, why not learn from the Elrics, and "we can do what they failed" :-)
Hmm. Imagine being able to duplicate an artifact ...
11645861
... That's going to be how they wind up duplicating the stone, isn't it.
11645890
I thought the idea was that after 3+ decades, he learned how they were made and could replicate/re-produce them.
Not using a magical copier.
11645861
if you actually use the stone of permanence to turn Luna into a rock, you have effectively killed Luna and the rock is now just a rock.
Of course Luna has a Horcrux, so she'd survive, but she'd presumably have no ties at all with what's by all account just a normal rock.
In regards to Dumbledore's dilemma, my first thought would just be to have the mirror made invisible and have Dumbledore spectate on as many different social interactions between Riddle Tom and his "friends" as possible. But then again, that doesn't seem like enough. Tom COULD fake those interactions. Easily, even.
or...
mh...
a first step could be to have the mirror present (and invisible) during Luna's night court, to basically help prove Luna's competence and make it more likely she isn't a fake...
I think a way to prove that Equestria is not fake, at least, would be to just have Tom/Luna give Dumbledore as many books as possible, about history, psychology, equestrian magic, and so on. Enough stuff that it would be unfeasible for Tom to have faked it all.
Even better, have it be done by Luna, while Tom stays in front of the mirror and doesn't leave until the books have been delivered, so that he can't try to fake the time taken to get them (and potentially write them on his own).
I think even Tom wouldn't be able to fake a comprehensive history, geography, and multiple magical discoveries from an entire world.
mh... is a meeting between Dumbledore and Merlin not an option as well, maybe?
The important thing is: What can a reformed Riddle do that a deceptive Voldemort cannot do? All those people saying trying to get Luna across the mirror wouldn't distinguish between those, because sending someone under an imperious or legimency is possible too.
However, there's one thing that Voldemort cannot understand: the true patronus charm the way Harry did it, and he wouldn't be able to teach what he doesn't understand.
If Voldemort can teach Dumbledore to cast the true patronus charm on his own side of the mirror himself, that would be strong evidence that he actually understands it. Would requiring that work?
11646368
...ok, that's ingenious. Of course for Dumbledore to learn to cast the Patronus he'd have to start believing that immortality is not bad. It would require A sincere effort on Dumbledore's part to actually change very long held beliefs.
It might take him decades to do so, normally. I THINK it might be easier for Dumbledore, because he already believes that life is important and sacred, but believing that Death is evil and can and should be stopped... it requires a LOT out of him.
Starting with accepting that no, he'll never get a next great adventure in which he'd have a chance to meet Ariana again. That No, Ariana isn't in a better place.
He'd have to accept for good that Ariana is dead, as if her soul had been destroyed.
Could he even survive such an understanding?
now, it might be possible to learn to cast the true patronus without going quite THAT far, but still...
Is...???
"Or, alternatively, you can dissociate. "
Did you mean "disassociate"? Like, cutting ties? Or is Luna invoking cognitive dissonance as a free will reaction to lacking an ability to make a change?
I don't think "prisoner" is the right word here.
11670617
Maybe not. I think my original thought was to remind readers and/or have Dumbledore remind HIMSELF who has what role here. Riddle's the prisoner petitioning for release, Dumbledore's the committee/judge/warden responsible for subjectively deciding if Riddle should go free or not. Even if it might sometimes feel like that's not the power dynamic at play because of how Riddle goes around thinking, talking, and acting.
I had no idea, yet I see this and know it to be true.
Damn....!
Culture and respect give a lot a food for thoughts, excellent chapter content!