Formal Premise: The inventors of the Mirror wanted to create a device that could channel infinite magic and grant wishes. The hard part was making sure those wishes would never destroy the world. Showing a person their heart's desire is a sensible precaution to put into a wish-granting machine designed NOT to go horribly wrong.
The Atlanteans got close, even managing to imbue some amount of intelligence and morality into the Mirror. But they never finished their work; the Mirror never DID get to the point where it could grant wishes... at least, nobody believes it ever got to that point. But then, nobody has ever been trapped inside the Mirror and returned to tell the tale.
When the Mirror traps someone inside itself and outside of Time, that person and their consequences can no longer affect the world. In that circumstance, with a person fully under its power, the Mirror isn't limited in what it can do. Sometimes, it can even grant seemingly incompatible wishes.
But complex problems require complex solutions. In this case, the Mirror takes a few massive liberties about how, exactly, it satisfies the wishes of both Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Namely, it sends them to a world of ponies.
Informal Premise: This is a crossover between MLP and Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, not just Harry Potter. No matter how accessible I try to make it to those who haven't read HPMoR, those who HAVE read it will undeniably have an easier experience reading this story.
HPMoR is the second most popular fanfiction of Harry Potter, at least according to fanfiction stats. It involves Harry studying & dissecting the wizarding world with science. Not with technology, with actual science. That is, he uses the experimental method, generates and tests hypotheses, and in the words of his Occlumency instructor, "wants to discover the underlying rules of magic to become all-poweful".
THIS fanfic brings THAT version of Harry Potter to Equestria. It also brings that story's version of Voldemort.
If you want the best reading experience, please go read HPMoR first. It can be found on fanfiction dot net, or on its own website, or even on any podcast app, as it has its own fan-made audiobook with 30+ contributing voice actors, production quality, sound effects, music, etc. (which is more than can be said for most PROFESSIONAL audiobooks).
Link to HPMoR on fanfiction: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry-Potter-and-the-Methods-of-Rationality
Link to HPMoR on its own website: http://www.hpmor.com/chapter/1
Link to audiobook (though the website isn't nearly as good as podcast apps): https://hpmorpodcast.com/?page_id=56
All forms of HPMoR that I've encountered are high quality, but that doesn't mean it's for everyone. You can probably read the first few chapters of HPMoR in thirty minutes or so. If it doesn't appeal to you, this story probably won't appeal to you either.
For those who haven't read Methods and want to read this story anyway, the first two chapters are going to be the most confusing. They're mostly housekeeping and stage-setting, barely touching the MLP universe beyond the new setting.
And I think the same advice Yudkowsky gave for HPMoR applies here. The story starts hitting its strides around Chapter 5, if not sooner. If you don't like it by Chapter 10, best just to give up and read something else.
Haven't read it just yet, but what happened to the first chapter?
How about providing links?
This caught my eye. I've seen lots of HP/MLP Crossovers, but HPMOR is a new one. Will track this. What happened to chapter 1?
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Fimfiction formatting happened. What's currently up is chapter 1, not 2. I tried to use the %i% system to dynamically add chapters each upload without manually typing the number in. Prior to posting, using the %i% system caused the first chapter to be numbered as 0 instead of 1. So I went with %i+1% to fix it. And now that the story's uploaded, it seems that %i% is working as intended, so %i+1% ISN'T a proper solution after all. Should be simple to change.
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Good idea. I'm used to ff.net not letting authors post links to any other websites, so I've gotten used to describing, in general terms, how to find something WITHOUT directly linking it. It's nice to not have that restriction anymore.
Wait, what?! I thought it was the most popular story on there. If it's only number two, then what's story number one?
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A fic called "Isolation." A Dramoine romance, according to the description. Rated "M", which fanfiction automatically filters out unless you click "Rating: ALL" in the search section.
I got through about thirty chapters of HPMoR. It was interesting, and seeing quotes from the end of Year 1 does put a lot of it into perspective, but it just seemed a little too over the top. This one seems better, though I suppose it took me thirty chapters to declare the other one dead, so let's keep trying and seeing what the outcome will be.
Oh I recognize that surname, Methods of Rationality
I'm honestly surprised this story isn't getting more traction. HP: MoR was the first HP fanfic I read, and it was a blast. Maybe the unfamiliar characterization of Harry and Voldemort is turning them off? Regardless, I am pleasantly surprised with each update, and look forward to the results of Nightmare Moon and Voldemort's encounter with each other.
Innervate?
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The spell that wakes ppl up. Same spell used at the end of Ch1, and all throughout Methods of Rationality. The incantation of that spell always felt strange to me, probably because "ennervate" means to drain someone of energy, and that's the opposite of waking someone up. Still, "innervate" means to supply a body part / organ with nerves, and I guess that fits.
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Thanks. Yeah, I went into this expecting a niche appeal, so I don't mind.
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My confusion comes from the possibility that the author of MoR misspelled it when he wrote it. I think Rowling changed the spell at some point to Rennervate
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The spell is different from canon. Don't know if that was intended by Yudkowsky or an accident. It was probably intentional. The term "rennervate" doesn't make much sense as a revival spell, given the definition of ennervate. Then again, I'm baised in his favor, so it could go either way. He made up a spell "frigideiro" that allowed first years to cool things down when the spell "glacius" already existed. So who knows.
Either way, since this story treats MoR as canon, I gotta go with what is used there.
Need more
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Here you go. Thanks for the motivation. That chapter spent a tad too long in editing hell.
I got so into this, I didn't realize I had gotten to this point until I noticed the next page button was gone. This is really good.
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Glad to hear the story is having that effect so far. I apologize that you discovered it now instead of six months from now, or however long it takes me to upload the chapters I've written. If I get that far.
We all require more story. GIVE US MORE! WE DEMAND IT!!!
Also, for a fanfiction of a fanfiction this is a really great story so far. I especially enjoyed the interactions between Tom and Harry as they adjusted to their new forms. Seriously though don’t give up on this. Good stories help me get through the day.
Shouldn't they know about the 80's muggle cartoon about the ponies?
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Hermione might. In fact, now that I think about it, it might be HER "wish" that caused the setting to be what it is. That would make some sense, although then we'd be in the 80s version of the show, wouldn't we? And that would have been a pointless story to write. Still, something to think about.
But if you're asking shouldn't Harry and Professor Quirrell know? Nope. If Harry has heard about the show (and remember that he didn't get out much), he's probably suppressed the memory because it was WAY too "girly". But I think I'm just going to have it be the case that his parents never showed it to him because they knew he wouldn't like it.
And Professor Quirrell was effectively dead during the show's runtime in 1986 and 1987. When he came back in the early 90s, the show wouldn't have been airing, and he mostly stuck to wizarding society for the length of HPMoR, so he wouldn't have seen it even if it HAD still been on TV. We know he interacted with the muggle world to some extent, but to the extent that he heard about MLP? Unlikely. Being smart and informed is not the same as being omniscient.
Thanks for pointing that out, though. I hadn't thought of it.
He should bonk Celestia on the head, because he's Twilight substitute friend as well.
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Yes, some time after composing the scene, I realized it was slightly OOC for Celestia to ask that, even if, theoretically, she thought she had to. I adjusted the wording when I first noticed. "Do not influence Twilight's friendship decisions" is not the same as "Do not get involved in the lessons." But yeah, sorry. Can't do much more than that, especially now that it's posted.
Maybe Philomena bonked with a wing while she was writing it.
Good stuff, as usual.
Did Harry just call Twilight MUM!!!
I wonder how she is going to react to that.
Doesn't seem like Harry even realized he did it.
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No, "Keep it mum" is british slang for "keep it secret." See Nymphadora's reply to Snape in Chapter 104 of HPMoR. Wow, I got that chapter number right the first time. Didn't have to correct it after double-checking.
But now that you mention it, I guess Twilight WOULDN'T know about that slang. Lemme re-read how the chapter ended, to see if what you've just suggested could have happened "off camera"... Hmm, looks like that totally could have happened. Harry was introspecting at the moment. Good idea.
But don't expect it to be referenced in future chapters; up to chapter 30 has already been written. It might get added in editing, Twilight thinking back to that moment. Or it might not.
I actually like this theory.
Has potential for some fun stuff.
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I ve heard of 'keep mum' but 'keep it mum' just sounds like a case of misplaced comma
I leave it up to you how you want to explain the magic in Equestria and how it relates to the Pegasi performing foreign magic with the help of the wand cores but having difficulty performing the most basic passive magic that they can do without even thinking.
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Pegasus magic theory will be laid out next chapter, more or less. Or at least, the reasons why Silver was having trouble will be explained. Hopefully the theory doesn't seem TOO ass-pully. Less Wrong did the same thing with Free Transfiguration, basically: he designed a challenge for Harry to figure out, with his unique background giving him a special advantage in doing something no wizard before him could ever think to do.
Unfortunately, in my case it's a little more blatant. Other pegasi COULD have figured it out, but they didn't because they'd never needed to, and scholarship is a "unicorn" thing. I've already got an author's note in the next chapter explaining the basic problems.
As for the "how can they use wands/wizard magic" question, that can always be attributed to Mirror fiat, but there's also something else that might explain it. I haven't decided which. I also haven't decided if I want it to be possible for ANY pony to use wand magic, or JUST unicorns with the exception of former wizards, or JUST Harry/Tom/Hermione/Quirrell and nopony else. The fun thing about serial productions is that I don't have to decide right away, and I COULD always just leave it an open question. Unless stated otherwise, assume they can use wands because that's how the Mirror set things up. I'm pretty sure I already had Harry speculate that possibility in an internal monologue, but I can't remember now.
Yessss. Logic and critical thinking are exactly what I like in a story.
I did no research, and have no reason to believe a few random people on the internet, but there is a claim that there both is always water vapor in the air, just less. In that situation of a burning building, from wood or w.e. burning, and water content evaporating, there was absolutely water vapor there. Whether that works different in said universe, Frozone was wrong about how his power worked, who knows.
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You're right, however as temperature increases, relative humidity decreases. The same amount of water vapor is spread out among a greater volume. So while Frozone might not have been scientifically accurate, it's shorthand for something almost correct.
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While the idea is interresting after reading the first view chapters of HPMoR, and the commen section, I came to the conclusion that this story is nothing for me, But the story you just mentioned sounds extremly intresting. So, thank you for that tip.
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No prob.
I'm seriously loving this story.
It's making me want to try my hoof at my own HPMoR Xover fic... but I don't think I'm smart enough to even REMEMBER all the names of the theories Harry uses
A little HPMoR fic a day keeps my sleep away.
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Just read the story five times over, like Hermione does. :)
Or, my own preferred method, listen to the podcast/audiobook over and over, at increasing speeds with each iteration. And when THAT gets old, listen at decreased speed. I'm currently on my second half-speed listen. Just finished chapter 110, the point of departure into this fic, ironically enough. Bout to go for a walk and continue to 111. Can't wait to listen to Voldemort's triumphant schadenfreude. Iniosh, the primary voice actor / director of the podcast, does a good job of it.
I love the chapter.
I wonder how academic unicorns react to this find, I hope it makes them interested in the magic of Pegasus and land ponies.
Not to mention their cutie mark, I understand that they cannot be modified. Surely the fact that it has been modified should attract attention.
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Eh, canon has artificial cutie marks via cutie pox, replacement via Starlight Glimmer, swapping via Starswirl's last spell and also Starlight Glimmer.
But it is almost certainly rare enough to get significant notice.
Actually, Mystery Book got the infinity symbol added when he created his first Horcrux here, so it isn't really even surprising.
I can absolutely see him researching Cutie Marks, though I have no idea where that will lead. Fanfictions which go deeper into mechanics tend to vary a lot.
Oh this was fun. I love how Harry keeps breaking the norm. I also want to thank you for turning me onto the original novel, its really good. Lets see how things progress, cause I hope its more fun. Oh Discord is gonna have fun with this one
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Yup. But it might take... oh, chapter twenty nine or so for the changing cutie mark plot point to be expanded upon. The original iteration of this story didn't have it at all, but I decided it would be a fun little addition.
Harry :
>being normal is overrated
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Did you read the original before starting this one? I hope I didn't spoil the ending for you.
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I'm reading it currently. You spoiled a little but nothing major that I didn't assume would happen
I actually like the technical side of things.
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Huh, It seems great minds think alike. I actually had a similar theory on Pegasus Magic being associated with feelings of freedom/lack therof, so this story is hitting me right in the brain, my man.
Good work.
Aight, it's official, this story is my new favorite.
With every word you write, it's like you're plucking the MLP Magical Headcanons right out of my very own head, and I keep finding myself nodding and going "EXACTLY! That's EXACTLY IT!"
Wow. Just wow.
Edit* It sure as hell doesn't hurt when you literally quote Xavier; Renegade Angel at me, one of my favorite cartoons of ALL TIME.
Who are you, and how did you get your hands on my brain.
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Honestly, the freedom stuff mostly comes from Avatar the Last Airbender's conception of airbending, if I'm being honest. That's probably why it feels familiar. Remember that most ideas are inspired from existing works of fiction in one way or another. Yudkowsky said it best, originality isn't easy, but it IS simple: just do what hasn't been done before. The other half of the equation at least, determination, was mostly me, I'm pretty sure. Unless my mind just switched to earthbending, who knows.
And thank you. Wasn't expecting anybody to care for the Xavier quote. You heard the rambler song with voice remix? This one, I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wugRdinTS6w