History Fridge / HarryPotterAndTheMethodsofRationality

** Quirrellmort is pretty much an [[spoiler: immortal]] Nietzschean {{Ubermensch}}. Until he [[spoiler: hears a prophecy he does not like]] and [[spoiler: resolves to tear it apart at every possible point of intervention]], he's pretty much just doing stuff [[ItAmusedMe for shiggles]], because he ''chooses'' to (and to [[spoiler: mentor his young apprentice/younger self]]).

* In chapter 18, Snape correctly answers Harry's question on how many valence electrons a carbon atom has. Why would a wizard know this relatively obscure bit of information? Oh right, [[spoiler:he's a Legilimens!]] Alternately, he's also Muggle-raised.

* There are several Omakes on other ways Harry's Sorting could have gone. They all seem rather silly until you remember how that Hat works according to HPMOR: [[spoiler: it borrows intelligence and memory from the wearer]]. Those things definitely sounded like [[spoiler: the king of pranks Harry would do. The "Headmaster" thing instead reflects his egomania rather than his questionable humor.]]

-->'''Quirrel:''' I will tell you what does not hold my interest... Grading Ministry-mandated essays does not hold my interest, Mr. Potter. But I have undertaken the position of Defense Professor at Hogwarts, and I will see it through to its end.
** Quirrelmort is pretty much an [[spoiler: immortal]] Nietzschean {{Ubermensch}}. Until he [[spoiler: hears a prophecy he does not like]] and [[spoiler: resolves to tear it apart at every possible point of intervention]], he's pretty much just doing stuff [[ItAmusedMe for shiggles]], because he ''chooses'' to (and to [[spoiler: mentor his young apprentice/younger self]]).

** Also, just about ''everything he does'' as a Professor ''does'' further that goal - [[spoiler:mentoring Harry]] does so since [[spoiler:having Harry as his delegate and FriendlyEnemy or ally]] will increase his effectiveness, at the very least by freeing up his time from [[spoiler: ruling Britain]]. Teaching ''effective'' Battle Magic, as well as various other thinking skills, proactivity, ''and'' how to ''effectively'' fight in an army also ''increases the combat-readiness'' of his students, to fight [[spoiler: the Muggles]], as [[TheCynic Quirrel]] believes they will have to. He is also ''preparing them'' to ''accept the leadership of Harry and/or Draco''. So by that logic, teaching at Hogwarts is an investment in the future. [[spoiler: He also, of course, wanted the Philosopher's Stone.]]

-->'''Professor Quirrel:''' Not everyone who teaches here has been the best, but the best have all taught at Hogwarts. In such august company, and after so much time anticipating this day, I would be ashamed to set myself any standard lower than perfection. And so I do intend that every one of you will always remember this year as the best Defence class that you have ever had.
* Moody thinks rather than using a trapped Triwizard Trophy to teleport a victim (with a completely pointless return charm on it), an intelligent dark wizard would have someone simply toss the target a trapped Knut on their next visit to town. Quirrel used this exact method to take Harry to Diagon Alley (albeit consensually) earlier in the story, making this a call back (and reminder of Methods!Quirrel's intelligence compared to canon Voldemort).

* Quirrel's [[RefugeInAudacity answer to Dumbledore]] after [[spoiler:Harry killed a dementor]] makes us wonder why nobody caused him any problems after a SarcasticConfession of this sort. Until we realize that the only people who would take this answer at its face value are those who know the answer to the "[[spoiler:What lies at the center of a Dementor?]]" riddle, and those who had weren't likely to find Quirrel's goal in life to be all that bad.

* Crosses with FridgeHorror, in Chapter 103, Quirrel gives [[spoiler:Hermione a D on a Ministry exam, and laments that he would have given her a lower grade, but that would have been "in poor taste"]]. Considering how, in canon, the only [[spoiler: grade lower than a D is a T... for ''troll''...]]

* The story indicates that teachers can freely use memory charms on students without oversight or appeal (after the ritual incident, Snape modifies over a dozen students' memories without the Headmaster's knowledge). While we haven't seen any actual abuses of this, there have been tales of Defence professors who really get around or are more ObviouslyEvil than Quirrel, and if, like Snape, they can do it without Dumbledore's knowledge, the implications are not pleasant.

* In chapter 18, Snape correctly answers Harry's question on how many valence electrons a carbon atom has. Why would a wizard know this relatively obscure bit of information? Oh right, [[spoiler:he's a Legilimens!]] (Or a Muggleborn. Half-blood Prince, remember? He could easily have read that out of a textbook and remembered it.)

%% This isn't Troper Tales or a forum. Refrain from first person entries, speculation, and "replying" to entries. RepairDontRespond is in effect here as much as any other page.

* The "DO NOT MESS WITH TIME" note must have come from a Harry who created a different timeline and experienced something horrifying.

* Minerva's presence ''did'' make a final difference to how the [[spoiler:prophecy]] turned out. If it had been just Severus there with Trelawney, obviously he would have figured out that it was meant for him, and that would have required it to be even more ambiguous and subtle to make him still go to the Dark Lord with it before working out what it meant.

* In chapter 89 when [[spoiler: Hermione dies, she says "not your fault". At first you might think she is talking about not saving her the troll fast enough, but it is actually about the syringe he use on her. Its function to treat a poison area by '''slowing blood in and out of the area''' While keeping it alive. By putting it into her neck, he cut off the blood flow to her head.]]
** Nice theory but completely wrong because [[spoiler: the syringe Harry used didn't just reduce circulation, it also kept the blood oxygenated. That was the entire reason Harry used it, to keep oxygen going to her brain. Harry has been shown time and time again to be way too smart to make the kind of error you think he did. Furthermore it's not revealed that Hermione knows the details of his kit well enough to forgive a possible misuse of the syringe since she didn't know the effects.]]
* In chapter 6 when Professor [=McGonagall=] asked Harry [[spoiler:what sort of contingency that Harry needs a Emergency Healing Pack Plus for, he replied "One of my classmates gets bitten by a horrible monster..." This was proved to be {{Tempting Fate}} with what happened to Hermione.]] What's worse is, [[spoiler:Harry's point was to be well-prepared, and indeed Hermione would likely have died of blood loss if he hadn't had the healing pack, but with the revelation of a horror above, the direct cause of her death was brain hypoxia caused by ''Harry using the healing pack'' (wrongly).]]
** [[spoiler:Except not, because he used it correctly.]]

* In chapter 18, Snape correctly answers Harry's question on how many valence electrons a carbon atom has. Why would a wizard know this relatively obscure bit of information? Oh right, [[spoiler:he's a Legilimens!]]
** Or a Muggleborn. Half-blood Prince, remember? He could easily have read that out of a textbook and remembered it.

* Moody thinks rather than using a trapped Triwizard Trophy to teleport a victim (with a completely pointless return charm on it), an intelligent dark wizard would have someone simply toss the target a trapped Knut on their next visit to town. Quirrel used this exact method to take Harry to Diagon Alley (albeit consensually) earlier in the story, making this a call back (and reminder of Methods!Quirrel's [[GenreSavvy genre-saviness]] compared to canon Voldemort).