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\begin_body

\begin_layout Chapter
Belief in Belief
\end_layout

\begin_layout Initial
\begin_inset Argument
status open

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“A
\end_layout

\end_inset

nd
\begin_inset ERT
status open

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}
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 then Janet was a Squib,” said the portrait of a short young woman with
 a gold-trimmed hat.
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

{
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco wrote it down.
 That was only twenty-eight but it was time to go back and meet Harry.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He'd needed to ask other portraits to help translating, English had changed
 a lot, but the oldest portraits had described first-year spells that sounded
 an awful lot like the ones they had now.
 Draco had recognized around half of them and the other half didn't sound
 any more powerful.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The sick feeling in his stomach had grown with each answer until finally,
 unable to take it any more, he'd gone off and asked other portraits Harry
 Potter's strange question about Squib marriages, instead.
 The first five portraits hadn't known anyone and finally he'd asked those
 portraits to ask 
\emph on
their
\emph default
 acquaintances to ask 
\emph on
their
\emph default
 acquaintances and so managed to find some people who'd actually admit to
 being friends with Squibs.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
(The first-year Slytherin had explained he was working on an important project
 with a Ravenclaw and the Ravenclaw had told him they needed this information
 and then run off without saying why.
 This had garnered many sympathetic looks.)
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco's feet were heavy as he walked through the corridors of Hogwarts.
 He should have been running but he couldn't seem to muster the energy.
 He kept on thinking that he didn't want to know about this, he didn't want
 to be involved in any of this, he didn't want this to be his responsibility,
 just let Harry Potter do it, if magic was fading let Harry Potter take
 care of it…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But Draco knew that wasn't right.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Chill the dungeons of Slytherin, gray the stone walls, Draco usually liked
 the atmosphere, but now it seemed too much like fading.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
His hand on the doorknob, Harry Potter already inside and waiting, wearing
 his cowled cloak.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“The ancient first-year spells,” Harry Potter said.
 “What did you find?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“They're no more powerful than the spells we use now.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry Potter's fist struck a desk, hard.
 “Damn it.
 All right.
 My own experiment was a failure, Draco.
 There's something called the Interdict of Merlin
\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset

--”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco hit himself on the forehead, realizing.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“--
\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset

which stops anyone from getting knowledge of powerful spells out of books,
 even if you find and read a powerful wizard's notes they won't make sense
 to you, it has to go from one living mind to another.
 I couldn't find any powerful spells that we had the instructions for but
 couldn't cast.
 But if you can't get them out of old books, why would anyone bother passing
 them on by word of mouth after they stopped working? Did you get the data
 on the Squib couples?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco started to hand the parchment over
\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset

--
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But Harry Potter held up a hand.
 “Law of science, Draco.
 First I tell you the theory and the prediction.
 Then you show me the data.
 That way you know I'm not just making up a theory to fit; you know that
 the theory actually predicted the data in 
\emph on
advance.

\emph default
 I have to explain this to you anyway, so I have to explain it 
\emph on
before
\emph default
 you show me the data.
 That's the rule.
 So put on your cloak and let's sit down.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry Potter sat down at a desk with torn scraps of paper arranged across
 its surface.
 Draco drew his cloak out of his bookbag, drew it on, and sat down across
 from Harry on the other side, giving the paper scraps a puzzled look.
 They were arranged in two rows and the rows were about twenty scraps long.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“The secret of blood,” said Harry Potter, an intense look on his face, “is
 something called deoxyribose nucleic acid.
 You don't say that name in front of anyone who's not a scientist.
 Deoxyribose nucleic acid is the recipe that tells your body how to grow,
 two legs, two arms, short or tall, whether you have brown eyes or green.
 It's a material thing, you can 
\emph on
see
\emph default
 it if you have microscopes, which are like telescopes only they look at
 things that are very small instead of very far away.
 And that recipe has two copies of everything, always, in case one copy
 is broken.
 Imagine two long rows of pieces of paper.
 At each place in the row, there are two pieces of paper, and when you have
 children, your body selects one piece of paper at random from each place
 in the row, and the mother's body will do the same, and so the child also
 gets two pieces of paper at each place in the row.
 Two copies of everything, one from your mother, one from your father, and
 when you have children they get one piece of paper from you at random in
 each place.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
As Harry spoke, his fingers ranged over the paired scraps of paper, pointing
 to one part of the pair when he said “from your mother”, the other when
 he said “from your father”.
 And as Harry talked about picking a piece of paper at random, his hand
 pulled a Knut out of his robes and flipped it; Harry looked at the coin,
 and then pointed to the top piece of paper.
 All without a pause in the speech.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Now when it comes to something like being short or tall, there's a 
\emph on
lot
\emph default
 of places in the recipe that make 
\emph on
little
\emph default
 differences.
 So if a tall father marries a short mother, the child gets some pieces
 of paper saying `tall' and some pieces of paper saying `short', and usually
 the child ends up middle-sized.
 But not always.
 By luck, the child might get a lot of pieces saying `tall', and not many
 papers saying `short', and grow up pretty tall.
 You could have a tall father with five papers saying `tall' and a tall
 mother with five papers saying `tall' and by amazing luck the child gets
 
\emph on
all ten
\emph default
 papers saying `tall' and ends up taller than both of them.
 You see? Blood isn't a perfect fluid, it doesn't mix perfectly.
 Deoxyribose nucleic acid is made up of lots of little pieces, like a glass
 of pebbles instead of a glass of water.
 That's why a child isn't always exactly in the middle of the parents.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco listened with his mouth open.
 How in Merlin's name had the Muggles figured all this out? They could 
\emph on
see
\emph default
 the recipe?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Now,” Harry Potter said, “suppose that, just like with tallness, there's
 lots of little places in the recipe where you can have a piece of paper
 that says `magic' or `not magic'.
 If you have enough pieces of paper saying `magic' you're a wizard, if you
 have a 
\emph on
lot
\emph default
 of pieces of paper you're a powerful wizard, if you have too few you're
 a Muggle, and in between you're a Squib.
 Then, when two Squibs marry, most of the time the children should also
 be Squibs, but once in a while a child will get lucky and get most of the
 father's magic papers 
\emph on
and
\emph default
 most of the mother's magic papers, and be strong enough to be a wizard.
 But probably not a very powerful one.
 If you started out with a lot of powerful wizards and they married only
 each other, they would stay powerful.
 But if they started marrying Muggleborns who were just barely magical,
 or Squibs… you see? The blood wouldn't mix perfectly, it would be a glass
 of pebbles, not a glass of water, because that's just the way blood works.
 There would still be powerful wizards now and then, when they got a lot
 of magic papers by luck.
 But they wouldn't be as powerful as the most powerful wizards from earlier.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco nodded slowly.
 He'd never heard it explained that way before.
 There was a surprising beauty to how exactly it fit.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
But,
\emph default
” Harry said.
 “That's only 
\emph on
one
\emph default
 hypothesis.
 Suppose that instead there's only a 
\emph on
single
\emph default
 place in the recipe that makes you a wizard.
 Only 
\emph on
one
\emph default
 place where a piece of paper can say `magic' or `not magic'.
 And there are two copies of everything, always.
 So then there are only three possibilities.
 Both copies can say `magic'.
 One copy can say `magic' and one copy can say `not magic'.
 Or both copies can say `not magic'.
 Wizards, Squibs, and Muggles.
 Muggleborns wouldn't really be born to Muggles, they would be born to two
 Squibs, two parents each with one magic copy who'd grown up in the Muggle
 world.
 Now imagine a witch marries a Squib.
 Each child will get one paper saying `magic' from the mother, always, it
 doesn't matter which piece gets picked at random, both say `magic'.
 But like flipping a coin, half the time the child will get a paper saying
 `magic' from the father, and half the time the child will get the father's
 paper saying `not magic'.
 When a witch marries a Squib, the result won't be a lot of weak wizarding
 children.
 Half the children will be wizards and witches just as powerful as their
 mother, and half the children will be Squibs.
 Because if there's just 
\emph on
one
\emph default
 place in the recipe that makes you a wizard, then magic isn't like a glass
 of pebbles that can mix.
 It's like a single magical pebble, a sorcerer's stone.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry arranged three pairs of papers side by side.
 On one pair he wrote `magic' and `magic'.
 On another pair he wrote `magic' on the top paper only.
 And the third pair he left blank.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“In which case,” Harry said, “either you have two stones or you don't.
 Either you're a wizard or not.
 Powerful wizards would get that way by studying harder and practicing more.
 And if wizards get 
\emph on
inherently
\emph default
 less powerful, not because of spells being lost but because people can't
 cast them… then maybe they're eating the wrong foods or something.
 But if it's gotten steadily worse over eight hundred years, then that could
 mean magic itself is fading out of the world.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry arranged another two pairs of papers side by side, and took out a
 quill.
 Soon each pair had one piece of paper saying `magic' and the other paper
 blank.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“And that brings me to the prediction,” said Harry.
 “What happens when two Squibs marry.
 Flip a coin twice.
 It can come up heads and heads, heads and tails, tails and heads, or tails
 and tails.
 So one quarter of the time you'll get two heads, one quarter of the time
 you'll get two tails, and half the time you'll get one heads and one tail.
 Same thing if two Squibs marry.
 One quarter of the children would come up magic and magic, and be wizards.
 One quarter would come up not-magic and not-magic, and be Muggles.
 The other half would be Squibs.
 It's a very old and very classic pattern.
 It was discovered by Gregor Mendel who is not forgotten, and it was the
 first hint ever uncovered for how the recipe worked.
 Anyone who knows anything about blood science would recognize that pattern
 in an instant.
 It wouldn't be exact, any more than if you flip a coin twice forty times
 you'll always get exactly ten pairs of two heads.
 But if it's seven or thirteen wizards out of forty children that'll be
 a strong indicator.
 That's the test I had you do.
 Now let's see your data.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And before Draco could even think, Harry Potter had taken the parchment
 out of Draco's hand.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco's throat was very dry.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Twenty-eight children.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He wasn't sure of the exact number but he was pretty sure around a fourth
 had been wizards.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Six wizards out of twenty-eight children,” Harry Potter said after a moment.
 “Well, that's that, then.
 And first-years were casting the same spells at the same power level eight
 centuries ago, too.
 Your test and my test both came out the same way.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There was a long silence in the classroom.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“What now?” Draco whispered.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He'd never been so terrified.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“It's not definite yet,” said Harry Potter.
 “My experiment failed, remember? I need you to design another test, Draco.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I, I…” Draco said.
 His voice was breaking.
 “I can't do this Harry, it's too much for me.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry's look was fierce.
 “Yes you can, because you have to.
 I thought about it myself, too, after I found out about the Interdict of
 Merlin.
 Draco, is there any way of observing the strength of magic directly? Some
 way that doesn't have anything to do with wizards' blood or the spells
 we learn?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco's mind was just blank.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Anything that affects magic affects wizards,” said Harry.
 “But then we can't tell if it's the wizards or the magic.
 What does magic affect that 
\emph on
isn't
\emph default
 a wizard?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Magical creatures, obviously,” said Draco without even thinking about
\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset

it.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry Potter slowly smiled.
 “Draco, that's 
\emph on
brilliant.
\emph default

\begin_inset Quotes erd
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\end_layout

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\emph on
It's the sort of dumb question you'd only ask in the first place if you'd
 been raised by Muggles.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Then the sickness in Draco's stomach got even worse as he realized what
 it would mean if magical creatures 
\emph on
were
\emph default
 getting weaker.
 They would know for certain then that magic was fading, and there was a
 part of Draco that was already sure that was exactly what they would find.
 He didn't want to see this, he didn't want to know…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry Potter was already halfway to the door.
 “Come 
\emph on
on
\emph default
, Draco! There's a portrait not far from here, we'll just ask them to go
 get someone old and find out right away! We're cloaked, if someone sees
 us we can just run away! Let's go!”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
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	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

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\begin_layout Standard
It didn't take long after that.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It was a wide portrait, but the three people in it were looking rather crowded.
 There was a middle-aged man from the twelfth century, dressed in black
 swathes of cloth; who spoke to a sad-looking young woman from the fourteenth
 century, with hair that seemed to constantly frizz about her head as if
 she'd been charged up by a static spell; and she spoke to a dignified,
 wizened old man from the seventeenth century with a solid gold bowtie;
 and him they could understand.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
They had asked about Dementors.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
They had asked about phoenixes.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
They had asked about dragons and trolls and house elves.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry had frowned, pointed out that creatures which needed the most magic
 could just be dying out entirely, and had asked for the most powerful magical
 creatures known.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
There wasn't anything unfamiliar on the list, except for a species of Dark
 creature called mind flayers which the translator noted had finally been
 exterminated by Harold Shea, and those didn't sound half as scary as Dementors.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Magical creatures were as powerful now as they'd ever been, apparently.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The sickness in Draco's stomach was easing, and now he just felt confused.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Harry,” Draco said in the middle of the old man translating a list of all
 eleven powers of a beholder's eyes, “what does this mean?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry held up a finger and the old man finished the list.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Then Harry thanked all the portraits for helping 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

 Draco, pretty much on automatic, did so as well and more graciously 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

 and they headed back to the classroom.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And Harry brought out the original parchment with the hypotheses, and began
 scribbling.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
\bar under
Observation:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
Wizardry isn't as powerful now as it was when Hogwarts was founded.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
\bar under
Hypotheses:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
\bar under
1
\bar default
.
 Magic itself is fading.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
\bar under
2
\bar default
.
 Wizards are interbreeding with Muggles and Squibs.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
\bar under
3
\bar default
.
 Knowledge to cast powerful spells is being lost.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
4.
 Wizards are eating the wrong foods as children, or something else besides
 blood is making them grow up weaker.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
5.
 Muggle technology is interfering with magic.
 (Since 800 years ago?)
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
6.
 Stronger wizards are having fewer children.
 (Draco = only child? Check if 3 powerful wizards, Quirrell / Dumbledore
 / Dark Lord, had any children.)
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
\bar under
Tests:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
A.
 Are there spells we know but can't cast (1 or 2) or are the lost spells
 no longer known (3)? 
\bar under
Result
\bar default
: Inconclusive due to Interdict of Merlin.
 No known uncastable spell, but could simply have not been passed on.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
B.
 Did ancient first-year students cast the same sort of spells, with the
 same power, as now? (Weak evidence for 1 over 2, but blood could also be
 losing powerful wizardry only.)
\bar under
 Result
\bar default
: Same level of first-year spells then as now.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
C.
 Additional test that distinguishes 1 and 2 using scientific knowledge of
 blood, will explain later.
 
\bar under
Result
\bar default
: There's only one place in the recipe that makes you a wizard, and either
 you have two papers saying `magic' or you don't.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote

\emph on
D.
 Are magical creatures losing their powers? Distinguishes 1 from (2 or 3).
 
\bar under
Result
\bar default
: Magical creatures seem to be as strong as they ever were.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“A failed,” said Harry Potter.
 “B is weak evidence for 1 over 2.
 C falsifies 2.
 D falsifies 1.
 4 was unlikely and B argues against 4 as well.
 5 was unlikely and D argues against it.
 6 is falsified along with 2.
 That leaves 3.
 Interdict of Merlin or not, I didn't actually find any known spell that
 couldn't be cast.
 So when you add it all up, it looks like knowledge is being lost.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And the trap snapped shut.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
As soon as the panic went away, as soon as Draco understood that magic 
\emph on
wasn't
\emph default
 fading out, it took all of five seconds to realize.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco shoved himself away from the desk and stood up so hard that his chair
 skittered with a scraping noise across the floor and fell over.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“So it was all just a stupid trick, then.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry Potter stared at him for a moment, still sitting.
 When he spoke, his voice was quiet.
 “It was a fair test, Draco.
 If it had come out a different way, I would have accepted it.
 That's not something I would ever cheat on.
 Ever.
 I didn't look at your data before I made my predictions.
 I told you up front when the Interdict of Merlin invalidated the first
 experiment 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Oh,” Draco said, the anger starting to come out into his voice, “you didn't
 know how the whole thing was going to come out?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I didn't 
\emph on
know
\emph default
 anything you didn't know,” Harry said, still quietly.
 “I admit that I suspected.
 Hermione Granger was too powerful, she should have been barely magical
 and she wasn't, how can a Muggleborn be the best spellcaster in Hogwarts?
 And she's getting the best grades on her essays too, it's too much coincidence
 for one girl to be the strongest magically 
\emph on
and
\emph default
 academically unless there's a single cause.
 Hermione Granger's existence pointed to there being only one thing that
 makes you a wizard, something you either have or you don't, and the power
 differences coming from how much we know and how much we practice.
 And there weren't different classes for purebloods and Muggleborns, and
 so on.
 There were too many ways the world didn't look the way it would look if
 you were right.
 But Draco, I didn't see anything you couldn't see too.
 I didn't perform any tests I didn't tell you about.
 I didn't cheat, Draco.
 I wanted us to work out the answer together.
 And I never thought that magic might be fading out of the world until you
 said it.
 It was a scary idea for me, too.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Whatever,” Draco said.
 He was working very hard to control his voice and not just start screaming
 at Harry.
 “You claim you're not going to run off and tell anyone else about this.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Not without consulting you first,” Harry said.
 He opened his hands in a pleading gesture.
 “Draco, I'm being as nice as I can but 
\emph on
the world turned out to just not be that way
\emph default
.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Fine.
 Then you and I are through.
 I'm going to just walk away and forget any of this ever happened.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco spun around, feeling the burning sensation in his throat, the sense
 of betrayal, and that was when he realized he really 
\emph on
had
\emph default
 liked Harry Potter, and that thought didn't slow him down for a moment
 as he strode toward the classroom door.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And Harry Potter's voice came, now louder, and worried:
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Draco… you 
\emph on
can't
\emph default
 forget.
 Don't you understand? That was your sacrifice.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco stopped in midstride and turned around.
 “
\emph on
What
\emph default
 are you talking about?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But there was already a freezing coldness in Draco's spine.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He knew even before Harry Potter said it.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“To become a scientist.
 You questioned one of your beliefs, not just a small belief but something
 that had great significance to you.
 You did experiments, gathered data, and the outcome proved the belief was
 wrong.
 You saw the results and understood what they meant.” Harry Potter's voice
 was faltering.
 “Remember, Draco, you can't sacrifice a 
\emph on
true
\emph default
 belief that way, because the experiments will confirm it instead of falsifying
 it.
 Your sacrifice to become a scientist was your 
\emph on
false
\emph default
 belief that wizard blood was mixing and getting weaker.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
That's not true!
\emph default
” said Draco.
 “I didn't sacrifice the belief.
 I still believe that!” His voice was getting louder, and the chill was
 getting worse.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry Potter shook his head.
 His voice came in a whisper.
 “Draco… I'm sorry, Draco, you 
\emph on
don't
\emph default
 believe it, not anymore.” Harry's voice rose again.
 “I'll prove it to you.
 Imagine that someone tells you they're keeping a dragon in their house.
 You tell them you want to see it.
 They say it's an invisible dragon.
 You say fine, you'll listen to it move.
 They say it's an inaudible dragon.
 You say you'll throw some cooking flour into the air and see the outline
 of the dragon.
 They say the dragon is permeable to flour.
 And the telling thing is that they know, in 
\emph on
advance,
\emph default
 exactly which experimental results they'll have to explain away.
 They 
\emph on
know
\emph default
 everything will come out the way it does if there's no dragon, they know
 in 
\emph on
advance
\emph default
 just which excuses they'll have to make.
 So maybe they 
\emph on
say
\emph default
 there's a dragon.
 Maybe they 
\emph on
believe
\emph default
 they believe there's a dragon, it's called belief-in-belief.
 But they don't actually believe it.
 You can be mistaken about what you believe, most people never realize there's
 a difference between believing something and thinking it's good to believe
 it.” Harry Potter had risen from the desk now, and taken a few steps toward
 Draco.
 “And Draco, you don't believe any more in blood purism, I'll show you that
 you don't.
 If blood purism is true, then Hermione Granger doesn't make sense, so what
 could explain her? Maybe she's a wizarding orphan raised by Muggles, just
 like I was? I could go to Granger and ask to see pictures of her parents,
 to see if she looks like them.
 Would you expect her to look different? Should we go perform that test?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“They would have put her with relatives,” Draco said, his voice trembling.
 “They'll still look the same.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“You see.
 You already know what experimental result you'll have to excuse.
 If you still believed in blood purism you would say, sure, let's go take
 a look, I bet she won't look like her parents, she's too powerful to be
 a real Muggleborn 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“They 
\emph on
would
\emph default
 have put her with relatives!”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Scientists can do tests to check for sure if someone is the true child
 of a father.
 Granger would probably do it if I paid her family enough.
 
\emph on
She
\emph default
 wouldn't be afraid of the results.
 So what do you expect that test to show? Tell me to run it and we will.
 But you already know what the test will say.
 You'll always know.
 You won't ever be able to forget.
 You might 
\emph on
wish
\emph default
 you believed in blood purism, but you'll always 
\emph on
expect to see happen
\emph default
 just exactly what would happen if there was only one thing that made you
 a wizard.
 That was your sacrifice to become a scientist.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco's breathing was ragged.
 “Do you realize 
\emph on
what you've done?
\emph default
” Draco surged forward and he seized Harry by the collar of his robes.
 His voice rose to a scream, it sounded unbearably loud in the closed classroom
 and the silence.
 “
\emph on
Do you realize what you've done?
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry's voice was shaky.
 “You had a belief.
 The belief was false.
 I helped you see that.
 What's true is already so, owning up to it doesn't make it worse
\begin_inset space ~
\end_inset


\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The fingers on Draco's right hand clenched into a fist and that hand dropped
 down and blasted up unstoppably and punched Harry Potter in the jaw so
 hard that his body went crashing back into a desk and then to the floor.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Idiot!
\emph default
” screamed Draco.
 “
\emph on
Idiot! Idiot!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Draco,” whispered Harry from the floor, “Draco, I'm sorry, I didn't think
 this would happen for months, I didn't expect you to awaken as a scientist
 this quickly, I thought I would have longer to prepare you, teach you the
 techniques that make it hurt less to admit you're wrong 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“What about Father?” Draco said.
 His voice trembled with rage.
 “Were you going to prepare 
\emph on
him
\emph default
 or did you just not 
\emph on
care
\emph default
 what happened after this?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“You can't tell 
\emph on
him!
\emph default
” Harry said, his voice rising in alarm.
 “He's not a scientist! You promised, Draco!”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
For a moment the thought of Father not knowing came as a relief.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And then the real anger started to rise.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“So you planned for me to lie to him and tell him I still believe,” Draco
 said, voice shaking.
 “I'll always have to lie to him, and now when I grow up I can't be a Death
 Eater, and I won't even be able to tell him why not.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“If your father really loves you,” whispered Harry from the floor, “he'll
 still love you even if you don't become a Death Eater, and it sounds like
 your father 
\emph on
does
\emph default
 really love you, Draco 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Your
\emph default
 stepfather is a scientist,” Draco said.
 The words coming out like biting knives.
 “If 
\emph on
you
\emph default
 weren't going to be a scientist, he would still love you.
 But you'd be a 
\emph on
little less special
\emph default
 to him.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry flinched.
 The boy opened his mouth, as if to say `I'm sorry', and then closed his
 mouth, seeming to think better of it, which was either very smart of him
 or very lucky, because Draco might have tried to kill him.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“You should have warned me,” Draco said.
 His voice rose.
 “
\emph on
You should have warned me!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I… I did… every time I told you about the power, I told you about the price.
 I said, you have to admit you're wrong.
 I said this would be the hardest path for you.
 That this was the sacrifice anyone had to make to become a scientist.
 I said, what if the experiment says one thing and your family and friends
 say another 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
You call that a warning?
\emph default
” Draco was screaming now.
 “
\emph on
You call that a warning? When we're doing a ritual that calls for a permanent
 sacrifice?
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“I… I…” The boy on the floor swallowed.
 “I guess maybe it wasn't clear.
 I'm sorry.
 But that which can be destroyed by the truth should be.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Hitting him wasn't enough.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“You're wrong about one thing,” Draco said, his voice deadly.
 “Granger isn't the strongest student in Hogwarts.
 She just gets the best grades in class.
 You're about to find out the difference.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Sudden shock showed in Harry's face, and he tried to roll quickly to his
 feet 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It was already too late for him.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Expelliarmus!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry's wand flew across the room.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Gom jabbar!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
A pulse of inky blackness struck Harry's left hand.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“That's a torture spell,” said Draco.
 “It's for getting information out of people.
 I'm just going to leave it on you and lock the door behind me when I go.
 Maybe I'll set the locking spell to wear off after a few hours.
 Maybe it won't wear off until you die in here.
 Have fun.”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco moved smoothly backward, wand still on Harry.
 Draco's hand dipped down, picked up his bookbag, without his aim wavering.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The pain was already showing in Harry Potter's face as he spoke.
 “Malfoys are above the underage magic laws, I take it? It's not because
 your blood is stronger.
 It's because you already practiced.
 In the beginning you were as weak as any of us.
 Is my prediction wrong?”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco's hand whitened on his wand, but his aim stayed steady.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Just so you know,” Harry said through gritted teeth, “if you'd told me
 I was wrong I would have listened.
 
\emph on
I
\emph default
 won't ever torture 
\emph on
you
\emph default
 when you show me that I'm wrong.
 And you 
\emph on
will
\emph default
.
 Someday.
 You're awakened as a scientist now, and even if you never learn to use
 your power, you'll always,” Harry gasped, “be looking, for ways, to test,
 your beliefs 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco's backing away was less smooth, now, a little faster, and he had to
 work to keep his wand on Harry as he reached back to open the door and
 stepped back out of the classroom.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Then Draco shut the door again.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He cast the most powerful locking Charm he knew.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco waited until he heard Harry's first scream before casting the 
\emph on
Quietus.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And then he walked away.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Aaahhhhh! Finite Incantatem! Aaaahhh!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry's left hand had been put into a pot of boiling cooking oil and left
 there.
 He'd put everything he had into the 
\emph on
Finite Incantatem
\emph default
 and it still wasn't working.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Some hexes required specific counters or you couldn't undo them, or maybe
 it was just that Draco was that much stronger.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Aaaaahhhh!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry's hand was really starting to hurt, now, and that was interfering
 with his attempts to think creatively.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But a few screams later, Harry realized what he had to do.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
His pouch, unfortunately, was on the wrong side of his body, and it took
 some twisting to reach into it, especially with his other arm flailing
 around in a reflex, unstoppable attempt to fling off the source of pain.
 By the time he managed it his other arm had managed to throw away his wand
 again.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“Medical 
\emph on
ahhhhh
\emph default
 kit! Medical kit!”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
On the floor, the green light was too dim to see by.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry couldn't stand.
 He couldn't crawl.
 He rolled across the floor to where he thought his wand was, and it wasn't
 there, and with one hand he managed to raise himself high enough to see
 his wand, and he rolled there, and got the wand, and rolled back to where
 the medical kit was opened.
 There was also a good deal of screaming, and a bit of throwing up.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It took eight tries before Harry could cast 
\emph on
Lumos.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And then, well, the package wasn't designed to be opened one-handed, because
 all wizards were idiots, that was why.
 Harry had to use his teeth and so it took a while before Harry finally
 managed to wrap the Numbcloth over his left hand.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
When all feeling in his left hand was finally gone, Harry let his mind come
 apart, and lay motionless on the floor, and cried for a while.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
Well,
\emph default
 Harry's mind said silently into itself, when it had recovered enough to
 think in words again.
 
\emph on
Was it worth it?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Slowly, Harry's functional hand reached up to a desk.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry pulled himself to his feet.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Took a deep breath.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Exhaled.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Smiled.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It wasn't much of a smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
Thank you, Professor Quirrell, I couldn't have lost without you.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He hadn't redeemed Draco yet, not even close.
 Contrary to what Draco himself might now believe, Draco was still the child
 of a Death Eater, through and through.
 Still a boy who'd grown up thinking “rape” was something the cool older
 kids did.
 But it was one heck of a start.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry couldn't claim it had all gone just as planned.
 It had all gone just as completely made up on the spot.
 The 
\emph on
plan
\emph default
 hadn't called for this to happen until December or thereabouts, after Harry
 had taught Draco the techniques not to deny the evidence when he saw it.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But he'd seen the look of fear on Draco's face, realized that Draco was
 
\emph on
already
\emph default
 taking an alternative hypothesis seriously, and seized the moment.
 One case of true curiosity had the same sort of redeeming power in rationality
 that one case of true love had in movies.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
In retrospect, Harry had given himself hours to make the most important
 discovery in the history of magic, and months to break through the undeveloped
 mental barriers of an eleven-year-old boy.
 This could indicate that Harry had some sort of major cognitive deficit
 with respect to estimating task completion times.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Was Harry going to Science Hell for what he'd done? Harry wasn't sure.
 He'd contrived to keep Draco's mind on the possibility that magic was fading,
 made sure Draco would carry out the part of the experiment that would seem
 at first to point in that direction.
 He'd waited until after explaining genetics to prompt Draco into realizing
 about magical creatures (though Harry had thought in terms of ancient artifacts
 like the Sorting Hat, which no one could duplicate anymore, but which continued
 to function).
 But Harry hadn't actually exaggerated any evidence, hadn't distorted the
 meaning of any results.
 When the Interdict of Merlin had invalidated the test that should have
 been definitive, he'd told Draco up front.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And then there was the part 
\emph on
after
\emph default
 that…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But he hadn't actually 
\emph on
lied
\emph default
 to Draco.
 Draco had believed it, and 
\emph on
that would make it true.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The end, admittedly, had not been fun.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry turned, and staggered toward the door.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Time to test Draco's locking spell.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The first step was simply trying to turn the doorknob.
 Draco could have been bluffing.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco hadn't been bluffing.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Finite Incantatem.
\emph default
” Harry's voice came out rather hoarse, and he could feel that the spell
 hadn't taken.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
So Harry tried it again, and that time it felt true.
 But another twist at the doorknob showed it hadn't worked.
 No surprise there.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Time to bring out the big guns.
 Harry drew a deep breath.
 This spell was one of the most powerful he'd learned so far.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
“
\emph on
Alohomora!
\emph default
”
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry staggered a little after saying it.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And the classroom door still didn't open.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
That shocked Harry.
 Harry hadn't been planning to go anywhere near Dumbledore's forbidden corridor,
 of course.
 But a spell to open magical locks had seemed like a useful sort of spell
 anyway, and so Harry had learned it.
 Was Dumbledore's forbidden corridor meant to lure people so stupid that
 they didn't notice the security was worse than what Draco Malfoy could
 put on it?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Fear was creeping back into Harry's system.
 The placard in the medical kit had said the Numbcloth could only safely
 be used for up to thirty minutes.
 After that it would come off automatically, and not be reusable for 24
 hours.
 Right now it was 6:51pm.
 He'd put on the Numbcloth about five minutes ago.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
So Harry took a step back, and considered the door.
 It was a solid panel of dark oaken wood, interrupted only by the brass
 metal doorknob.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry didn't know any explosive or cutting or smashing spells, and Transfiguring
 explosive would have violated the rule against Transfiguring things to
 be burned.
 Acid was a liquid and would have made fumes…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But that was no obstacle to a 
\emph on
creative thinker.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry laid his wand against one of the door's brass hinges, and concentrated
 on the form of cotton as a pure abstraction apart from any material cotton,
 and also on the pure material apart from the pattern that made it a brass
 hinge, and brought the two concepts together, imposing shape on substance.
 An hour of Transfiguration practice every day for a month had gotten Harry
 to the point where he could Transfigure a subject of five cubic centimeters
 in just under a minute.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
After two minutes the hinge hadn't changed at all.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Whoever had designed Draco's locking spell, they'd thought of that, too.
 Or the door was part of Hogwarts and the castle was immune.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
A glance showed the walls to be solid stone.
 So was the floor.
 So was the ceiling.
 You couldn't separately Transfigure a part of something that was a solid
 whole; Harry would have needed to try Transfiguring the whole wall, which
 would have taken hours or maybe days of continuous effort, if he could
 have done it at all, and if the wall wasn't contiguous with the rest of
 the whole castle…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry's Time-Turner wouldn't open until 9pm.
 After that he could go back to 6pm, before the door was locked.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
How long would the torture spell last?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry swallowed hard.
 Tears were coming into his eyes again.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
His brilliantly creative mind had just offered the ingenious suggestion
 that Harry could cut his hand off using the hacksaw in the toolset stored
 in his pouch, which would hurt, obviously, but might hurt a lot less than
 Draco's pain spell, since the nerves would be gone; and he had tourniquets
 in the healer's kit.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And that was obviously a hideously stupid idea that Harry would regret the
 rest of his entire life.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
But Harry didn't know if he could hold out for two hours under torture.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He wanted 
\emph on
out
\emph default
 of this classroom, he wanted out of this classroom 
\emph on
now,
\emph default
 he didn't want to wait in here screaming for two hours until he could use
 the Time-Turner, he needed to 
\emph on
get out
\emph default
 and find someone to get the torture spell off his hand…
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard

\emph on
Think!
\emph default
 Harry screamed at his brain.
 
\emph on
Think! Think!
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The Slytherin dorm was mostly empty.
 People were at dinner.
 For some reason Draco himself wasn't feeling very hungry.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco closed the door to his private room, locked it, Charmed it shut, Quieted
 it, sat down on his bed, and started to cry.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It wasn't fair.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It wasn't fair.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It was the first time Draco had ever really 
\emph on
lost
\emph default
 before, Father had warned him that losing for real would hurt the first
 time it happened, but he'd lost 
\emph on
so much
\emph default
, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair for him to lose 
\emph on
everything
\emph default
 the very first time he lost.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Somewhere in the dungeons, a boy Draco had actually liked was screaming
 in pain.
 Draco had never hurt anyone he'd liked before.
 Punishing people who deserved it was supposed to be fun, but this just
 felt sick inside.
 Father hadn't warned him about that, and Draco wondered if it was a hard
 lesson everyone had to learn when they grew up, or if Draco was just weak.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco wished it were Pansy screaming.
 That would have felt better.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And the worst part was knowing that it might have been a mistake to hurt
 Harry Potter.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Who else was there for Draco now? Dumbledore? After what he'd done? Draco
 would sooner have been burned alive.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco would have to go back to Harry Potter because there was nowhere else
 for him to go.
 And if Harry Potter said he didn't want him, then Draco would be nothing,
 just a pathetic little boy who could never be a Death Eater, never join
 Dumbledore's faction, never learn science.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
The trap had been perfectly set, perfectly executed.
 Father had warned Draco over and over that what you sacrificed to Dark
 rituals couldn't be regained.
 But Father hadn't known that the accursed Muggles had invented rituals
 that didn't need wands, rituals you could be tricked into doing without
 knowing it, and that was only one of the terrible secrets which scientists
 knew and which Harry Potter had brought with him.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco started crying harder, then.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He didn't want this, he 
\emph on
didn't want this
\emph default
 but there was no turning back.
 It was too late.
 He was already a scientist.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Draco knew he should go back and free Harry Potter and apologize.
 It would have been the smart thing to do.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Instead Draco stayed in his bed and sobbed.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
He'd already hurt Harry Potter.
 It might be the only time Draco ever got to hurt him, and he would have
 to hold to that one memory for the rest of his life.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Let him keep screaming.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Quote
\align center
\begin_inset Graphics
	filename fleur.png
	scale 50

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry dropped the remnants of his hacksaw to the ground.
 The brass hinges had proved impervious, not even scratched, and Harry was
 beginning to suspect that even the desperation act of trying to Transfigure
 acid or explosives would have failed to open this door.
 On the plus side, the attempt had destroyed the hacksaw.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
His watch said it was 7:02pm, with less than fifteen minutes left, and Harry
 tried to remember if there were any other sharp things in his pouch that
 needed destroying, and felt another fit of tears welling up.
 If only, when his Time-Turner opened, he could go back and 
\emph on
prevent
\emph default
 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset


\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And that was when Harry realized he was being 
\emph on
silly
\emph default
.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
It wasn't the first time he'd been locked in a room.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Professor McGonagall had already told him the correct way to do this.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
…she'd also told him not to use the Time-Turner for this sort of thing.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Would Professor McGonagall realize that this occasion really 
\emph on
did
\emph default
 warrant a special exception? Or just take away the Time-Turner entirely?
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Harry gathered up all his things, all the evidence, into his pouch.
 A 
\emph on
Scourgify
\emph default
 took care of the vomit on the floor, though not the sweat that had soaked
 his robes.
 He left the overturned desks overturned, it wasn't important enough to
 be worth doing with one hand.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
When he was done, Harry glanced down at his watch.
 7:04pm.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
And then Harry waited.
 Seconds passed, feeling like years.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
At 7:07pm, the door opened.
\end_layout

\begin_layout Standard
Professor Flitwick's puff-bearded face looked rather concerned.
 “Are you all right, Harry?” said the squeaky voice of Ravenclaw's Head
 of House.
 “I got a note saying you'd been locked in here 
\begin_inset ERT
status open

\begin_layout Plain Layout

--
\end_layout

\end_inset

”
\end_layout

\end_body
\end_document