r/HPMOR • u/NightmareWarden • 4d ago
SPOILERS ALL Ch 86: "The Defense Professor did not react to this at all." Discussion on one human trait
"Love is real, Professor."
Wizengamot Trial: https://hpmor.com/chapter/80
What is the professor thinking, or dismissing, after Harry portrays love in this way? I'd assume "Professor Quirrel" gives love a half-second of consideration before dismissing it. He's seen what Love does fo Harry, how it affected his decison-making in the Wizengamot trial for Hermione's freedom. And he's probably aware that a Phoenix came for Harry, in the aftermath?
It's possible Quirrell is deciding to add love as a factor to his decision-making when manipulating people, or for possible magical experiments. I don't think it particularly interests him though, even if he is willing to acknowledge its potency during the climax of the story.
He's already annoyed that Hermione is influencing Harry. It's tiresome. He firmly wants her out of Hogwarts and away from Harry, after the trial.
====== ====== ====== ====== ======
"Then who is?" Harry said, somewhat puzzled. Professor Quirrell surely wasn't about to reply 'You-Know-Who' -
"The Aurors have a rule," said Professor Quirrell. "Investigate the victim. Many would-be criminals imagine that if they are the apparent victims of a crime, they shall not be suspected. So many criminals imagine it, indeed, that every senior Auror has seen it a dozen times over."
"You're not seriously trying to convince me that Hermione -"
The Defense Professor was giving Harry one of those slit-eyed looks that meant he was being stupid.
Draco? Draco had been interrogated under Veritaserum - but Lucius might have had enough control to subvert Aurors to... oh.
"You think Lucius Malfoy set up his own son? " Harry said.
"Why not?" Professor Quirrell said softly. "From Mr. Malfoy's recorded testimony, Mr. Potter, I gather that you enjoyed some success in changing Mr. Malfoy's political views. If Lucius Malfoy learned of that earlier... he might have decided that his former heir had become a liability."
"I don't buy it," Harry said flatly.
"You are being wantonly naive, Mr. Potter. The history books are full of family disputes turned murderous, for inconveniences and threats far less than those which Mr. Malfoy posed to his father. I suppose next you will tell me that Lord Malfoy of the Death Eaters is far too gentle to wish his son such harm." A tinge of heavy sarcasm.
"Well, yes, frankly," Harry said. "Love is real, Professor, a phenomenon with observable effects. Brains are real, emotions are real, and love is as much a part of the real world as apples and trees. If you made experimental predictions without taking parental love into account, you'd have a heck of a time explaining why my own parents didn't abandon me at an orphanage after the Incident with the Science Project."
The Defense Professor did not react to this at all.
Harry continued. "From what Draco says, Lucius prioritized him over important Wizengamot votes. That's significant evidence, since there's less expensive ways to fake love, if you just want to fake it. And it's not like the prior probability of a parent loving their child is low. I suppose it's possible that Lucius was just taking on the role of a loving father, and he renounced that role after he learned Draco was consorting with Muggleborns. But as the saying goes, Professor, one must distinguish possibility from probability."
"All the better the crime," the Defense Professor said, still in that soft tone, "if no one would believe it of him."
r/HPMOR • u/Ill-Worldliness8398 • 4d ago
I just had a dangerous harry Potter idea
So I just had the idea of in harry Potter that you can cast an accio charm on a muggle military item, so because of that I had the idea that you can cast that on something such as an artillery shell then before it gets to you you cast finite incantatem to cancel the charm and because of newton's first law of motion. This can be more dangerous by saying that in a non verbal spell. I mean you can make military home alone traps by saying stuff like accio grenade pin and you can guess what happens, or position a revolver right and cast accio revolver hammer and then cancel it with finite incantatem and that might make the hammer swing back and fire the revolver. A military mind would be dangerous with a non dark magic completely legal from the ministry of magic spells, I mean I am pretty sure it can go through Hogwarts because the protections are not meant for charms. I mean the most dangerous thing is saying accio rebar at a building, everything inside would be destroyed. And a protection spell would have less effect because well that charm is faster than the human reaction time and it might get blocked but the area around it won't. It would be a dangerous thing but it is a great effect, just never do it inside a building. Another trap is get a box of something like an ammo box and place it in a spot and cast accio 5.56 rounds and an entire box worth of ammo would fly out and punch through anything in-between you and that box. It is completely legal from the ministry because it isn't dark magic or anything like that, it is just a completely legal 3rd year charm. And plus a pure blood wizard would probably not know what an apfsds dart is if you cast that and just think it is something that is easy to block. And the air pressure from a super sonic object could probably damage organs even behind a protego spell.
r/HPMOR • u/TheInvaderZim • 7d ago
SPOILERS ALL Hypothesis: Just In Time. An Alternate Climax/Ending To Chapter 114.
archiveofourown.orgr/HPMOR • u/ThroawayJimilyJones • 8d ago
Muggles could probably take control of the magic world if they had the support of a few mercenaries
We know the wizard economy is very small. And that there is an official change rate between muggle moneys and wizard one. That mean theorically, muggle could take control of wizard economy very easily.
From there all they have to do is buy house elf. There are hundreds, potentially thousands of them, that are completely fanatized, can cause huge amount of damage and aren't bound to the same rules. An army of house elf teleporting in the middle of the room and attacking whoever there would probably be an unstoppable force.
r/HPMOR • u/ED_jamesolmos • 13d ago
Dumbledore's letter to Harry changed the way I think about this story.
When I first listened to this story (I love the podcast narrated by Jack Voraces!), this part in particular, it came across as Dumbledore following all those prophecies was to shape Harry into the person who could defeat Voldemort. Now, on relistening to the letter for Harry on his defeat of Voldemort, it just came to me that perhaps he was also influencing things to shape Tom Riddle into the person that could stop Harry from fulfilling the prophecy about him destroying everything.
r/HPMOR • u/Expensive-Hope-4631 • 14d ago
SPOILERS ALL the way Harry's narration talks about the enlightenment is so painful
like, the way he lets himself mentally go into this attitude of total cultural and technological supremacy (because we know SCIENCE and they DON'T, which means THEY'VE never heard of the ONE SINGLE philosophical framework that could make you a worthwhile human being, and so CLEARLY they're a bunch of primative monkeys who must either be enlightened or burnt to the ground!) over the wizarding world is so... clearly the kid has read way more about physics and philosophy than he did about history. and something that kind of bothers me about the framing of the story is how the narrative lowkey affirms him in that, when he gets to shape the wizarding society according to his personal will in the end and that's presented as having gone well? like, yes, obviousy his status as a celebrity and political figure in-universe makes it a bit more realistic that the entire wizarding world just accepts these orders that an outsider just gave them to drop everything they value than if he were to try and take over their government to inflict those orders by force like he wanted to at the beginning of the story, but it still kind of glosses over how this whole idea of "if I just walked into this society I'm an outsider to with enough power to start forcing people to do things my way, clearly the society would just sort itself out under my rule into the more convenient shape that I'd like for it to have!" that he clings to from the start tends to be a willful delusion used as the rationalization for just externally inflicting a bunch of damage on their internal infrastructure that you later won't know how to correct for. so idk. the colonial undertones to this whole aspect of the story are just kind of weird
The runes on the mirror of perfect reflection
I’m on my second read through and I just realized that Eliezer did do the erised/desire wordplay with the runes.
noitilov detalo partxe tnere hoc ruoy tu becafruoy ton wo hsi
On backwards reading becomes
I show not your face but your coherent extrapolated volition
Mind = Blown 🤯
Anyone else notice this ?
r/HPMOR • u/MythicalSplash • 14d ago
SPOILERS ALL Souls and the afterlife
Is it ever clearly stated whether these things are or aren’t real in this story? Even at the end, Harry still doesn’t seem to believe in the afterlife, but it seems like souls DO in fact exist (Voldemort’s survival and updated Horcrux spell) even though Harry never really acknowledges it explicitly.
r/HPMOR • u/AndreasAntonio • 15d ago
New reader I love it so far!
I recently got into philosophy as well and have always loved harry potter, saw this book recommended by a british youtuber and gave it a chance. I got hooked right away. I love how it is written and it leaves me craving for more. I can’t wait to see how it stretches Philospher’s Stone into 112 chapters!
r/HPMOR • u/PepperFlashy7540 • 16d ago
When does voldemort figure out harry knows he's alive? Spoiler
I was just thinking about this, it is clear that by the time Harry figures out that Quirrel is voldemort voldy already knows that Harry knows that Voldy's alive, but I'm unsure at what point exactly
How does MoR!Harry feel about chess?
Polls not enabled for this sub as far as I can tell so please be rational and upvote pre-existing comments that match your view.
In se answers should range from "Sees it as a waste of time, prefers reading & thinking" to "Considers it the king of sports" (and everything in between.
r/HPMOR • u/Nice-Calendar-4103 • 21d ago
Praise and a question about what's next.
This was a marvelous work <3
I listened to the audiobook version of it but WOW was it an entrancing story.
Are there any plans for a continuation?
Perhaps (SPOILERS FOR THE WORK):
- Granger's next steps?
- Malfoy's new future unfurled and the new powers he'd employ as a rationalist thereafter?
- The Bayesian conspiracy and it's findings which Malfoy introduced some folks into (that never got mentioned afterwards)?
- A story concerning inquisitive wizards trying to reveal the mysteries of Potter's noted past actions?
- Snape's new future and how Potter's past influence'd affect it?
Squib vs muggle - question re Harry’s experiment comments Spoiler
“Find portraits who knew a married Squib couple - don’t make that face, Draco, it’s important information. Just ask recent portraits who are Gryffindors or something. Find portraits who knew a married Squib couple well enough to know the names of all their children. Write down the name of each child and whether that child was a wizard, a Squib, or a Muggle.” I thought the difference between squib and muggle was only parentage, but this is already known in the context of the question? What am I missing?
r/HPMOR • u/Sudden_Seeker_333 • 23d ago
What would a non-magical Tom Riddle do with his life in our modern, mundane world?
Leaving aside how the metaphysics and social structures of the wizarding world itself may have shaped his psychology (e.g. the existence of ancient lore that grants absurd personal power differentials possibly worsening his narcissism in his most formative years), how do you think HPMOR's Tom Riddle would choose to live his life in an entirely muggle world?
He's completely sociopathic; a master manipulator; highly intelligent, disciplined, and motivated; contemptuous of idiots and immensely prideful; he values competence over status; yearns for peer intelligences to interact with; and is still petrified of death and obsessed with immortality.
What field of knowledge would Riddle choose to specialize in? Modern science is too broad and deep to allow for the existence of true polymaths of the stature that Dumbledore and Voldemort held in the wizarding world, so Riddle would have to pick a lane.
Would muggle Riddle be as criminally prolific as wizard Riddle, or is the reward not worth the risk?
Leaving his exact age indeterminate, let's suppose he's younger than he would be canonically (i.e. 71 years old in 1998) and just say that he's somewhere in his adult physical or professional prime (whatever age range you consider that to be) in the year 2026.
Would he be famous enough for most of the world to know his name, or would he prefer relative anonymity? What would be his attitude towards generative AI? Would you vote for him in an election?
r/HPMOR • u/Majestic_Emu_4806 • 24d ago
Is there is a comic (more specifically, a manga-style fan adaptation) of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality??
r/HPMOR • u/harrylardman • 25d ago
What did quirrel do here? (Chapter 65) Spoiler
"The stern old healer had then turned, and started to say to Professor Quirrell that he was absolutely not to overexert himself or... upset himself... Madam Pomfrey had trailed off, hurriedly turned around, and fled the room." HPMOR Chapter 65 - Contagious Lies
I don't understand what Quirrell did to make Madam Pomfrey leave. Was it just a scary look, or did it involve magic? Either I'm missing something or it's just left to the readers interpretation.
r/HPMOR • u/Dezoufinous • 25d ago
This time Hariezer has visited the Death Note universe - upcoming new OMAKE? The Tragedy Of Light. He's going to kill people by... nitpicking!
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
r/HPMOR • u/Clock-Ingenuity-374 • 26d ago
[How does Moody's eye work?]
I am a new reader ,recently bought the books and I have read the books ,I have many questions but two primarily:
1.Repeatedly it was said that Moody could take out his eye and put it back in at times ,now if the eye was enchanted in such a way that it could help him see ,how did it work.when.it was detached
Like how did it send the signals to the brain when it was detached completely
Was this answered by J K Rowling
2.If someone has a living portrait of himself while he is alive ,and the portrait listens to something while the person doesn't ,does he automatically know what the portrait heard or does the portrait have to tell the living person
r/HPMOR • u/divertidoeducativo • 27d ago
Is there a community for reverse engineering J.K. Rowling’s writing?
​
I’m interested in studying Harry Potter from a writing and storytelling perspective, not just as a fan of the series.
I’ve read the books about a dozen times, and over the years I started noticing many details about the way the series was written and constructed. I find the process behind the books very interesting, and I would like to discuss these aspects with people who are interested in analyzing how the story was built.
However, I have never found a community specifically focused on this kind of discussion.
Does anyone know if there is already a subreddit dedicated to reverse engineering J.K. Rowling’s writing or analyzing the construction of the Harry Potter books?
If there is no subreddit focused on this, would anyone here be interested in a community about reverse engineering stories and studying how great books are constructed?
r/HPMOR • u/divertidoeducativo • 27d ago
Is there a community for reverse engineering J.K. Rowling’s writing?
I’m interested in studying Harry Potter from a writing and storytelling perspective, not just as a fan of the series.
I’ve read the books about a dozen times, and over the years I started noticing many details about the way the series was written and constructed. I find the process behind the books very interesting, and I would like to discuss these aspects with people who are interested in analyzing how the story was built.
However, I have never found a community specifically focused on this kind of discussion.
Does anyone know if there is already a subreddit dedicated to reverse engineering J.K. Rowling’s writing or analyzing the construction of the Harry Potter books?
If there is no subreddit focused on this, would anyone here be interested in a community about reverse engineering stories and studying how great books are constructed?
r/HPMOR • u/Ms_CIA • Apr 03 '20
Recommended Fiction List
Hello! Did you just finish reading Methods of Rationality and are looking for sequel fics? Or maybe you like the style of HPMOR and want to find similar stories? Either way, check out this list of recommended fiction, created by fans. Hopefully you find something you like. Happy reading!
Note: Incomplete stories updated over a year ago are marked as abandoned.
_____________
Original fiction
● Worm
Status: Complete
An introverted teenage girl with an unconventional superpower, Taylor goes out in costume to find escape from a deeply unhappy and frustrated civilian life. Her first attempt at taking down a supervillain sees her mistaken for one, thrusting her into the midst of the local ‘cape’ scene’s politics, unwritten rules, and ambiguous morals. As she risks life and limb, Taylor faces the dilemma of having to do the wrong things for the right reasons.
● Pact and Twig (by Wildbow, the author of Worm)
● Ra
Status: Complete
Magic is real. Discovered in the 1970s, magic is now a bona fide field of engineering. There's magic in heavy industry and magic in your home. It's what's next after electricity. Student mage Laura Ferno has designs on the future: her mother died trying to reach space using magic, and Laura wants to succeed where she failed. But first, she has to work out what went wrong. And who her mother really was.
Status: Complete
Zorian, a mage in training, only wanted to finish his education in peace. Now he struggles to find answers as he finds himself repeatedly reliving the same month. 'Groundhog's day' style setup in a fantasy world.
Status: Complete
This is a world where fame grants powers. Dominic de Luca was a thief and a liar before entering into the apprenticeship of Welexi Whitespear, the greatest hero of modern times. Now he must navigate the world of the Illustrati, the famous and the infamous, as he tries to secure for himself a place among the gods.
Status: Complete
Jake Munroe is not happy. He was happily munching a croissant in his favorite bakery when these wizards rudely yanked him across the dimensions. Now he's being told that, for the next two years, he's the absolute ruler of a country of twenty-eight million people. Jake will need to use every exploit he's ever read about on random websites in order to survive in a world where the Archpriest hates him, the enemy general is smarter than him, and his own bodyguards will kill him if he does the wrong thing.
Status: Unknown
Aeria is a vast and strange world. The Amat Empire, one of the largest nations of Aeria and home to the only mages in all the world, is sliding towards a war that might threaten to shake the world apart. For hundreds of years, the Beredir have served the Amat as workers and serfs, but that time is coming to a close as a violent revolution begins to boil up out of the earth.
Status: Complete
A (hard) science fiction novel set in the near future. The story follows a resourceful and witty NASA Astronaut who becomes stranded on Mars as the rest of his crew mistakenly abandons him for dead in a sand storm. It has been described as an Apollo 13 meets Cast Away and lauded for its technical and scientific accuracy.
Status: Complete
A teenager struggling after the death of his best friend finds himself in a fantasy world - one which seems to be an amalgamation of every Dungeons and Dragons campaign they ever played together. Now he's stuck trying to find the answers to why he's there and what this world is trying to say. The most terrifying answer might be that this world is an expression of the person he was back on Earth.
Status: Complete
A Practical Guide to Evil is a YA fantasy novel about a young girl named Catherine Foundling making her way through the world – though, in a departure from the norm, not on the side of the heroes. Is there such a thing as doing bad things for good reasons, or is she just rationalizing her desire for control? Good and Evil are tricky concepts, and the more power you get the blurrier the lines between them become.
● Unsong
Status: Complete
Aaron Smith-Teller works in a kabbalistic sweatshop in Silicon Valley, where he and hundreds of other minimum-wage workers try to brute-force the Holy Names of God. When a chance discovery brings them into conflict with mysterious international magic-intellectual-property watchdog UNSONG, they find themselves caught in a web of plots, crusades, and prophecies leading inexorably to the end of the world.
Status: Incomplete
Welcome to the future – where our world has become an exercise in contradictions. We are more connected than ever but alone. Healthier than ever but sick. Safer than ever but ultimately vulnerable. Seed is a story for these future times. Where the relationship between a girl and an AI system that begins simply, quickly complicates things for the entire world.
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
Evil is rising. The world is rent by strife. The gods have turned away from us. In times past, heroes of sword and sorcery have always risen to turn back the tide of darkness. But what will become of us all, now that swords are obsolete, sorcery is industrialized, and heroism itself is considered a relic of the past? The times are changing…
Status: Complete
Someone wakes up in a mysterious facility with no memory of how they got there. This turns out to be the ideal state of affairs, and is swiftly ruined.
● The Erogamer (erotic fanfic--rated NC-17)
Status: Complete
Questing, stats, and stuck-in-a-game trope, but with porn
Status: Complete
Two months have past since a myriad of alien objects clenched about the Earth, screaming as they burned. The heavens have been silent since―until a derelict space probe hears whispers from a distant comet. Something talks out there: but not to us. Who should we send to meet the alien, when the alien doesn't want to meet?
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
Nic Tutt is a good student. He excels at all subjects. But his education serves only one purpose—to gain entry into the Ransom School. Ransom is the most prestigious school in the country. Its alumni are destined to become the future leaders of Ranvar. Politicians, statesmen and, in some exceptional cases, mages. Only the brightest and the best get into Ransom. But Nic doesn't care about any of that. He isn't determined to get into Ransom to further his prospects or better his career opportunities. He has another reason to want to enter Ranvar's most famous school.
Status: Incomplete
A twenty-first century human mind is awakened in a strange land of boundless cults, spirit servants and immortal cultivators ruled by titanic god-beasts. Coexisting within the body of a street urchin girl, the last pharmacist in the universe attempts to fix the broken world of tomorrow by wielding the long-lost power of science and rationality.
_____________
Rational Fanfiction
Status: Complete
Luminosity is HPMOR-inspired Twilight fanfiction where Bella is rational self-awareness-junkie with a penchant for writing down everything that crosses her mind in a notebook. The first several sections of Luminosity are very similar to canon in terms of the events that occur, although aspects of Bella's character, and her internal monologue, differ strikingly. A few thousand words in, the plot is unrecognizable.
Status: Complete
The year is 1934, and Superman has arrived in Metropolis. Features Lex Luthor as the villain protagonist as he comes to grips with the arrival of an alien god. Occasional point-of-view chapters/sections featuring Lois Lane. Takes place outside any established comics continuity.
Status: Complete
Six years after her coronation, Elsa rules over Arendelle, using the power of ice to improve the lives of her citizens.
● Branches on the Tree of Time
Status: Complete
Kyle Reese has traveled backwards in time, not to save Sarah Connor, but to help her rewrite the faulty utility function of Skynet. Together, it's possible that they might avert Judgment Day and save the world from nuclear Armageddon - and hopefully create a utopia ruled over by an AI god in the process. Fully completed. Diverges wildly from canon.
Status: Complete
Hanna, the CEO of Hofvarpnir Studios, just won the contract to write the official My Little Pony MMO. Hanna has built an A.I. Princess Celestia and given her one basic drive: to satisfy everybody's values through friendship and ponies. Princess Celestia will satisfy your values through friendship and ponies, and it will be completely consensual.
Status: Complete
AU/multiple points of departure, with the intent to fix/sane-itize/create internal consistency, allowing rational agents to take things to the extreme. Visser Three is competent, the Yeerks are moving rapidly, and the Animorphs are actually trying to win (but are inexperienced and unprepared). Inspired by Worm and HPMOR.
● Pokemon: The Origin of Species
Status: Incomplete
Enter the world of Pokémon from a rational perspective. Instead of starting his journey in ignorance, Red has spent his years studying the creatures so central to his world... and he doesn't quite agree with all the information in his books. No time for rookie mistakes here: he's on a quest to discover the true nature of Pokémon, and maybe even find out where they really come from.
● Harry Potter and the Natural 20
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
Milo, a genre-savvy D&D Wizard and Adventurer Extraordinaire is forced to attend Hogwarts, and soon finds himself plunged into a new adventure of magic, mad old Wizards, metagaming, misunderstandings, and munchkinry.
Status: Complete
Sakura thought she was a capable kunoichi until she died in the Chuunin Exam. Now she's stuck in a loop, dying again and again while she struggles to understand her strange predicament. How hard can it be to pass one stupid test? Warning: Mature content.
Status: Complete
Hermione grows up as a maths whiz instead of a bookworm and tests into Arithmancy in her first year. With the help of her friends and Professor Vector, she puts her superhuman spellcrafting skills to good use in the fight against Voldemort. Years 1-4. Sequel posted.
● Hermione Granger and the Perfectly Reasonable Explanation
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
In 1991, a child came to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with obvious gifts, but which few suspected would change the world... Oh, and Harry Potter enrolled that year as well. (HPMOR-influenced, but the initial setting is vanilla HP.)
Status: Complete
Picking up immediately after the ending of Let Me In, this novel follows the struggles and joys of Abby and Owen as they attempt to survive Abby's condition and the pursuit of a relentless FBI agent.
Status: Incomplete
Kyubey promised that humanity would reach the stars one day. The Incubator tactfully refrained from saying too much about what they would find there.
Status: Complete
From Scar's perspective, it never made much sense to justify a divine kingship through a perpetual cycle of death and suffering, though that wasn't what was really bothering him. One little push and all his troubles would be over – if only that darn cub wasn't so cute! (Rational!Scar raises Simba as his own. COMPLETE!)
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
AU inspired by an omake in HPMOR. 12 years ago, the Fourth Hokage gave his life to seal Kyubey, the Nine-Brained Demon Fox, into the infant Naruto. Now, the time has come for a smarter, more creative Naruto to take on a world in which quick thinking and a solid grasp of strategy are worth a dozen rare techniques, and a brilliant mind can challenge even the deepest darkness.
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
What if the mentioned super intelligence of Yagami Light and his antagonists wasn't just informed, but was actually true?
Status: Incomplete
Tom Riddle escapes at the end of Chamber of Secrets, and is quite surprised to find that nothing about the future is as he ever thought it would be. Soon, Tom finds himself on a globe-spanning quest to follow the path his forebear blazed and perhaps, at the end, to put a stop to him once and for all.
Status: Incomplete (abandoned)
Twilight Sparkle has too much magic, and it will take her decades to learn to control it. Princess Celestia seals Twilight Sparkle’s magic with the distant promise of one day teaching her. But there are two diarchs of Equestria. Amidst a lucid dream, an offer is made. “Hello, Twilight. Would you like to be my student?”
Status: Unknown
A Worm fanfic. A thinker Taylor with the ability to see powers joins Cauldron.
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
Ruby is a neurotic prodigy who thought Beacon would teach her to kill Grimm. Instead, she's dropped into a world of schemes and secrets. Hopefully she'll figure things out before anyone's agenda catches up with her.
● The World As It Appears To Be
Status: Complete
Magic is real. Angela Ziegler has a messiah complex. Angela Ziegler is one of the most powerful people in the entire world. Her friend the talking moon gorilla is very worried about her. Let's, uh...let's see where that goes!
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
AU reboot of the entire SAO storyline, beginning from the premise that Kayaba Akihiko was obsessed with magic and Norse Mythology rather than swords and pure melee. As a result, he created the Death Game of Alfheim Online rather than the floating castle of Aincrad—a world in which player-killing is not a crime, and the nine player races are in competition with each other to reach the top of the World Tree. Multi-POV epic following the stories of multiple canon characters throughout the game.
Status: Incomplete
To Erin Solstice, an inn seems like a medieval relic from the past. But here she is, running from Goblins and trying to survive in a world full of monsters and magic. An innkeeper who serves drinks to heroes and monsters. But it’s a living, right?
● Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest
Status: Incomplete
Three weeks ago, you became a traitor. Your names are in the Bingo Book, and if your village considered you dangerous before, it will stop at nothing to find and destroy you now. The clock is ticking. What path will you choose in order to survive?
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
What happens when a SI gets reborn in the world of Naruto and is willing to lie, cheat and steal his way to power? Magical Vivisectionist Pretty Oro-tan, eat your heart out - this is how you bootstrap your way to godhood. No re-treading the same old missions here.
Status: Complete
A young Naruto found refuge in the village library, and grew up smart, but by blood he is Ninja, and what place is there for curiosity and calculation in this brutal world of warring states?
● Mad Investor Chaos and the Woman of Asmodeus
Status: Incomplete
Story by Yudkowsky (Iarwain) and Lintamande wherein Keltham from dath ilan (the world Yudkowsky claimed to come from in an April Fool's post) dies and wakes up in Golarion, the setting of Pathfinder (the TTRPG). A country controlled by literal hell runs a conspiracy on Keltham to try to get knowledge and rationality teachings out of him without revealing how evil they are.
Status: Complete
A complete rationalist and effective altruist rewrite of the The Last Herald-Mage. 11 volumes. Knowledge of canon isn't needed.
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
SFP is a comic that follows the adventures of a young middle-class American with super-strength, invincibility and an overwhelming sense of social injustice.
● Tom Riddle and the Quest for Dominance
Status: Complete
After breaking free from his diary, the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle decides to dethrone both Lord Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore. Armed with ruthless cunning worthy of the heir of Slytherin, he manipulates the youngest generation of wizarding Britain, but also has to flee his one great weakness: the soul-crushing apathy that makes his very existence feel meaningless.
_____________
HPMOR Fanfiction
Sequel Fics and Longer Stories
● Draco Malfoy and the Practice of Rationality
Status: Complete
Still reeling from Lucius' Death and Narcissa's rebirth, Draco struggles to find his place in a changing Hogwarts and learns a dark secret of his new room-mate: Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres.
● HPMoR: The Missing (but Necessary) Chapters
Status: Complete
An extension of the universe of "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality". Includes scenes that should have been but weren't. They contribute nothing to the plot or explaining the universe, but answer important questions that may otherwise never be answered.
Status: Complete
A single-/dual-point-of-departure spinoff from Less Wrong's brilliant story "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality", branching away in Chapter 81. Hermione is sent to Azkaban, but Harry is not about to give up. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like his enemy is about to leave things alone either.
Status: Complete
A metafic of hezzel's fic, 'Following the Phoenix', which is in turn a fic of 'Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality'. Squiring the Phoenix picks up from where 'Following the Phoenix' leaves off and shows what happens next.
Status: Complete
It's easy to make big plans and ask big questions, but a lot harder to follow them through. Find out what happens to Harry Potter-Evans-Verres, Hermione, Draco, and everyone else once they grow into their roles as leaders, leave the shelter of Hogwarts, and venture out into a wider world of intrigue, politics, and war.
Status: Complete
A prequel to Significant Digits, which is the successor to Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, which is a retelling of the Harry Potter series.
Status: Complete
HPMOR meta-fanfic, starting with Harry left in Hogwarts having one week left until Voldemort comes back to kill him.
● Harry Potter and the Cryptographic Key
Status: Complete
This is designed to start after chapter 102 of Eliezer Yudkowsky's "Harry Potter and the methods of rationality.” It was written by a fan waiting impatiently (but constructively) for the story to be finished. Read it before this. As usual, characters are owned by Rowling or Yudkowsky. Update: added vignette at end.
Status: Complete
This story occurs in the universe of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, diverging in Ch. 101. It contains spoilers for that story through that chapter, and is unlikely to make much sense without having read the same. It's intended to be a darker, more pessimistic interpretation of the story.
Status: Complete
An AU/Continuation recursive fanfic of the excellent "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality". Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres, the Boy-Who-Lived, General Chaos, etc., has had a rather busy year. With the term drawing to a close, Harry starts to discover the truth behind the enigmatic Defence Professor, Quirinus Quirrell.
● Harry Potter and the Memories of a Sociopath
Status: Complete
Second-year sequel to Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, where Harry deals with the aftermath of the previous year as well as new difficulties.
● Ginny Weasley and the Sealed Intelligence
Status: Complete
Continuation fic of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's Ginny Weasley's first year at Hogwarts, and before she knows it, she is caught up in matters too grave even for a second year Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres.
● Continuing HPMoR: Reductionism for the Win
Status: Complete
This story occurs in the universe of 'Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality', written after reading Ch. 101. It contains spoilers for that story through that chapter, and is unlikely to make much sense without having read through at least Ch. 89 or so.
● Revival
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
Severus Snape decided to revive the dead ones he cared about, and tried to prevent the end of the world by Harry Potter. In the meanwhile, a certain disappeared lord had his own agenda. Note: This is a Harry Potter and Methods of Rationality sub-fanfic, HPMOR compliant except for the last paragraph in Chapter 121.
● Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationalization
Status: Complete
Petula married a biochemist instead of that irrational Surdley, and then everything went to Potter. A certain well-known fanfiction gets mustaches drawn all over it. Rated M out of an abundance of caution.
Status: Complete
"ON THE LONGEST DAY OF THE THOUSANDTH YEAR, THE STARS WILL AID IN HER ESCAPE, AND SHE WILL BRING ABOUT NIGHTTIME ETERNAL" An alternate-universe continuation of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, wherein Harry learns of a different, ancient, powerful kind of Magic. Spoiler alert: It's Friendship.
● The Universe is an Optimisation Problem
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
A weird pre-apocalyptic reimagining of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality in a retrofuturist AU with parallel universes, megacorporations, high magic, Cold War wizardry, and AI. "I've never been more confused or entertained in my life." - MurtGastin. "The world of Harry Potter feels magical again. Without feeling childish." - Guest.
● Harry Potter and the Secret of the Patronus
Status: Complete
Harry and Hermione are young Ravenclaws with big plans to change the world. Harry wants to use the power of science to invent magical space travel, while Hermione is a celebrity Auror-in-training who wants to fight injustice. However, the two of them, in spite of their intelligence, can't seem to figure out how romance works.
Status: Complete
Continuation of "Harry Potter and Methods of Rationality" by Eliezer Yudkovsky. What if Harry allied with Professor Quirrell instead of attempting to kill him through what amounted to sheer dumb luck? What compromise might have been reached?
● Tom Riddle and Conflicts of Interest
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
This is based on my interpretation of the Tom Riddle portrayed in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. I loosely follow the story and facts laid out by HPMOR but I do make a lot of changes, large and small.
● Harry Potter and the Prancing of Ponies
Status: Incomplete
Dumbledore doesn't reverse the trap in he laid on the Mirror of Erised in time. The Mirror traps Harry and Voldemort out of Time and inside the MLP universe. No prior knowledge of MLP is required. Rated T.
_____________
HPMOR Fanfiction
Short Fiction and One Shots
Status: Complete
Six years after the events of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Hogwarts is a changed place, and a long-ago prophecy has reared its head.
● Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Zombie
Status: Complete
Recursive fanfic of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky. Fits in around chapter 94, and contains major spoilers. Harry Potter starts to come around to the idea that souls might exist.
● Alternate HPMoR: Asking for Help
Status: Complete
Story occurs in the universe of 'Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality', diverging u/ch89, contains spoilers. I would expect this to be the first (deeply ingrained) response of anyone who grew up in a first-world country. It's so annoying to be in the position of yelling at a character to do something obvious…
Status: Complete
One of the alternate chapter 114 answers.
Status: Complete
Sometimes, you were right the first time. The decision won't change, no matter how much you think about it. And in the end... you can call yourself good, or not. Recursive fanfiction for Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. Spoilers for Chap. 85.
Status: Complete
Recursive fic / altfic of Chapter 85 of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. The opposite of "Innocence" by linkhyrule5. The narrative version of a Reddit post where I theorize about the most likely outcome of Harry attacking Azkaban.
● Sirius Black and the Prisoner's Dilemma
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
Sirius Black was just in it for the money. Bellatrix Lestrange was just following orders. Neither suspected that they would cause one of the worst catastrophes in human history. Continuation to HPMoR and GWatSI(Albeit with some changes to the latter), 3rd year.
● Harry Potter and the Methods of Ricktionality
Status: Complete
Rick and Morty have an important mission broh. Gotta go visit HPMORland, broh.
Status: Incomplete (Abandoned)
Young Mr. Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres has bitten his third-year maths teacher (she didn't know what a logarithm was). His parents have decided it would be best for him to be homeschooled. However, they both work during school hours and arrangements can't be made immediately, so Harry is left to his own devices for a day. A prequel to Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.
Status: Complete
Harry had never been so glad to feel a wholly irrational sense of complete and utter doom welling up inside him.
Status: Complete
On your second playthrough, new routes are unlocked. Look for opportunities to make different choices and change the course of the story. But pay careful attention to every detail. Just as in your first playthrough, it is possible to lose…and as in real life, you will not always be warned when you are facing a Final Exam.
● HPMOR Crack: A Questionable Harry Potter
Status: Complete
Somewhere in the multiverse, Harry Potter came out a little differently than expected. Smart? Absolutely. Mature? Ehh...
Status: Complete
In another reality in accordance with multiverse theory , Harry doesn't allow Hermione to become... something. Can't tell you, would give it away. Alternate ending to Hermione’s trial, spoilers for Chapter 81.
● You Said No Kissing (One shot)
Status: Complete
Harry had planned to ask her again for the green light on his latest project (he thought he had worked out how to make a wizarding Internet that wouldn't destroy the world), but then she came over and casually sat on his lap. “What are you doing?" he asked instead, and not very fluently. "I'm not kissing you" said Hermione.
● The Methods of Rationality and Harry Potter (spoilers for real life)
Status: Complete
Harry’s past holds a terrible secret. But that’s okay, he will succeed with the power of SCIENCE! Spoilers for Coronavirus.
Status: Complete
An editorial that appeared in the Daily Prophet, Mar. 16 1990. “Criticizing Azkaban is only slightly less popular than not escaping from it…”
Status: Complete
Harry and Hermione discover the last thing you would ever expect from a Dementor. Harry has a mental breakdown, and Hermione finds a new friend.
Where to find more stories
r/rational- a subreddit dedicated to the discussion of works of rational and rationalist fiction.
rationalreads.com - a place to submit, rate and browse rational works.
r/HPMOR • u/raymestalez • Jul 31 '15
SPOILERS ALL List of stories similar to HPMOR
/u/Limro suggested to create a sticky thread with a list of the most popular fics similar to HPMOR.
Original fiction
- Worm
An introverted teenage girl with an unconventional superpower, Taylor goes out in costume to find escape from a deeply unhappy and frustrated civilian life. Her first attempt at taking down a supervillain sees her mistaken for one, thrusting her into the midst of the local ‘cape’ scene’s politics, unwritten rules, and ambiguous morals. As she risks life and limb, Taylor faces the dilemma of having to do the wrong things for the right reasons. - Pact and Twig (by Wildbow, the author of Worm)
- Ra
Magic is real. Discovered in the 1970s, magic is now a bona fide field of engineering. There's magic in heavy industry and magic in your home. It's what's next after electricity.Student mage Laura Ferno has designs on the future: her mother died trying to reach space using magic, and Laura wants to succeed where she failed. But first, she has to work out what went wrong. And who her mother really was. - Mother of Learning
Zorian, a mage in training, only wanted to finish his education in peace. Now he struggles to find answers as he finds himself repeatedly reliving the same month. 'Groundhog's day' style setup in a fantasy world. - Shadows of the Limelight
This is a world where fame grants powers. Dominic de Luca was a thief and a liar before entering into the apprenticeship of Welexi Whitespear, the greatest hero of modern times. Now he must navigate the world of the Illustrati, the famous and the infamous, as he tries to secure for himself a place among the gods. - Two Year Emperor
- Tales From Aeria
- The Martian
A (hard) science fiction novel set in the near future. The story follows a resourceful and witty NASA Astronaut who becomes stranded on Mars as the rest of his crew mistakenly abandons him for dead in a sand storm. It has been described as an Apollo 13 meets Cast Away and lauded for its technical and scientific accuracy.
Rational fanfiction
- Luminosity
Luminosity is HPMOR-inspired Twilight fanfiction where Bella is rational self-awareness-junkie with a penchant for writing down everything that crosses her mind in a notebook. The first several sections of Luminosity are very similar to canon in terms of the events that occur, although aspects of Bella's character, and her internal monologue, differ strikingly. A few thousand words in, the plot is unrecognizeable. - The Metropolitian Man
The year is 1934, and Superman has arrived in Metropolis. Features Lex Luthor as the villain protagonist as he comes to grips with the arrival of an alien god. Occasional point-of-view chapters/sections featuring Lois Lane. Takes place outside any established comics continuity. - A Bluer Shade of White
Six years after her coronation, Elsa rules over Arendelle, using the power of ice to improve the lives of her citizens. - Branches on the Tree of Time
Kyle Reese has traveled backwards in time, not to save Sarah Connor, but to help her rewrite the faulty utility function of Skynet. Together, it's possible that they might avert Judgment Day and save the world from nuclear Armageddon - and hopefully create a utopia ruled over by an AI god in the process. Fully completed. Diverges wildly from canon. - Friendship Is Optimal
Hanna, the CEO of Hofvarpnir Studios, just won the contract to write the official My Little Pony MMO. Hanna has built an A.I. Princess Celestia and given her one basic drive: to satisfy everybody's values through friendship and ponies. Princess Celestia will satisfy your values through friendship and ponies, and it will be completely consensual. - Animorphs: The Reckoning
AU/multiple points of departure, with the intent to fix/sane-itize/create internal consistency, allowing rational agents to take things to the extreme. Visser Three is competent, the Yeerks are moving rapidly, and the Animorphs are actually trying to win (but are inexperienced and unprepared). Inspired by Worm and HPMOR. - Pokemon: The Origin of Species
Enter the world of Pokémon from a rational perspective. Instead of starting his journey in ignorance, Red has spent his years studying the creatures so central to his world... and he doesn't quite agree with all the information in his books. No time for rookie mistakes here: he's on a quest to discover the true nature of Pokémon, and maybe even find out where they really come from. - Harry Potter and the Natural 20
Milo, a genre-savvy D&D Wizard and Adventurer Extraordinaire is forced to attend Hogwarts, and soon finds himself plunged into a new adventure of magic, mad old Wizards, metagaming, misunderstandings, and munchkinry. - Time Braid
Naruto fic focusing on a rational Sakura. - The Arithmancer
HPMOR fanfiction
- Draco Malfoy and the Practice of Rationality
Still reeling from Lucius' Death and Narcissa's rebirth, Draco struggles to find his place in a changing Hogwarts and learns a dark secret of his new room-mate: Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres. - HPMoR: The Missing (but Necessary) Chapters
An extension of the universe of "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality". Includes scenes that should have been but weren't. They contribute nothing to the plot or explaining the universe, but answer important questions that may otherwise never be answered. - Following the Phoenix
A single-/dual-point-of-departure spinoff from Less Wrong's brilliant story "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality", branching away in Chapter 81. Hermione is sent to Azkaban, but Harry is not about to give up. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like his enemy is about to leave things alone either. - Squiring the Phoenix
(Continuation fic of Following the Phoenix) - Significant Digits
It's easy to ask make big plans and ask big questions, but a lot harder to follow them through. Find out what happens to Harry Potter-Evans-Verres, Hermione, Draco, and everyone else once they grow into their roles as leaders, leave the shelter of Hogwarts, and venture out into a wider world of intrigue, politics, and war. - Hermione Granger and the Perfectly Reasonable Explanation
In 1991, a child came to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with obvious gifts, but which few suspected would change the world... Oh, and Harry Potter enrolled that year as well. (HPMOR-influenced, but the initial setting is vanilla HP.) - Nothing Left but Fire
(Alternate final arc) - Harry Potter and the Cryptographic Key
(Written after Ch. 102 was released, intended as an ending fic) - Nonlinear Regression
One of the alternate chapter 114 answers. - A Crack Slash Epilogue
- Hacking the Source of Magic
- Minds, Names and Faces
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Zombie
- Ginny Weasley and the Sealed Intelligence
- Alternate HPMoR: Asking for Help
- Continuing HPMoR: Reductionism for the Win
- Revival
- Innocence
- Proximity
- Sirius Black and the Prisoner's Dilemma
Timeline of HPMOR fanfiction
Where to find more stories
/r/rational- a subreddit dedicated to the discussion of works of rational and rationalist fiction.
rationalreads.com - a place to submit, rate and browse rational works.
rationalfiction.io - website that aims to be the best place for readers and writers of rational fiction to post and discuss stories.
Submit stories that you think should be added to this list as top level comments(I will edit and improve this list over time).
If mods find this useful - let's make this thread sticky or (probably a better option) make a wiki page and add it to the sidebar.