Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (HPMOR) is a Harry Potter fan fiction by Eliezer Yudkowsky, published on FanFiction.Net. It adapts the story of Harry Potter to explain complex concepts in cognitive science, philosophy, and the scientific method.[1][2] Yudkowsky published HPMOR as a serial from February 28, 2010[3] to March 14, 2015,[4] totaling 122 chapters and about 660,000 words.[5][6]

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
AuthorEliezer Yudkowsky
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreHarry Potter fan fiction, hard fantasy
Publication date
28 December 2010–14 March 2015
Media typeDigital serial
Websitehpmor.com

Yudkowsky wrote HPMOR to promote rationality skills he advocates on his community blog LessWrong.[7][8] His reimagining supposes that Harry's aunt Petunia Evans married an Oxford professor and homeschooled Harry in science and rational thinking.[4][6] As such, Harry "enters the wizarding world armed with Enlightenment ideals and the experimental spirit."[9] The fan fiction spans one year, covering Harry's first year in Hogwarts.[10] HPMOR has inspired other works of fan fiction, art, and poetry.[11]

Plot

In this fan fiction's alternate universe to the Harry Potter series, Lily Potter magically made Petunia Evans prettier, letting her abandon Vernon Dursley and marry Oxford professor Michael Verres. They adopt Harry Potter as Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres, with him and Michael unaware of his heritage, and homeschool him in science and rationality. When Harry turns 11, Petunia and Professor McGonagall inform him and Michael about the wizarding world and Harry's defeat of Lord Voldemort. Harry becomes irritated over wizarding society's inconsistencies and backwardness. When boarding the Hogwarts Express, circumstances make Harry befriend Draco Malfoy over Ron Weasley. Harry also befriends Hermione Granger over their scientific inclinations.

At Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat sends Hermione to Ravenclaw and Draco to Slytherin. Harry talks to it and almost goes to Slytherin, yet ultimately enters Ravenclaw. As school begins, Harry feels patronized by McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore, bonds with Professor Quirrell, and tests magic through the scientific method with Draco and Hermione. By testing timeless physics, Harry invents partial Transfiguration, a magical technique to transform parts of wholes. Quirrell starts a program involving "student armies" with Harry, Draco, and Hermione as first-year generals.

After winter break, Hogwarts procures a Dementor to teach students the Patronus charm. Though Hermione and Harry initially fail, Harry recognizes Dementors as shadows of death. Resolving to defeat death, he invents the True Patronus charm and destroys the Dementor. After learning the regular Patronus, Draco discovers Harry can speak Parseltongue. Quirrell reveals himself as a snake Animagus to Harry and makes him help free Bellatrix Black from Azkaban, leaving her hidden. Dumbledore learns about the prison break but not the participants, leading him to confine Harry to Hogwarts as a precaution.

After army battles, bullying incidents, and hearing a phoenix's call, Hermione establishes the organization S.P.H.E.W. to protest misogyny in heroism. Suddenly, she gets accused of Draco's attempted murder. Harry pays his fortune to Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, to save Hermione from Azkaban, after which Lucius withdraws Draco from Hogwarts. Harry and the staff theorize that Quirrell is David Monroe, a long-missing opponent of Voldemort. Not long after, a mountain troll enters Hogwarts and kills Hermione before Harry manages to kill it. Grieving, Harry vows to resurrect Hermione and steals her body. Harry absolves the Malfoys of guilt in Hermione's murder in exchange for Lucius returning his money, exonerating Hermione, and sending Draco back to Hogwarts.

Quirrell starts eating unicorns to stave off death from a supposed "disease." Near the end of the year, he captures Harry, revealing himself as Voldemort's spirit possessing Quirrell and how he framed Hermione, then murdered her with the troll. He threatens to massacre students unless Harry helps him steal the Philosopher's Stone, an artifact for performing true transmutation, as Transfiguration is otherwise temporary. Harry agrees after Voldemort promises to resurrect Hermione, and they magically coax the Stone from the Mirror of Erised in Hogwarts. When Dumbledore appears and tries to banish Voldemort outside time, Voldemort threatens Harry, forcing Dumbledore to seal himself instead. Voldemort's spirit abandons Quirrell and embodies using the Stone, after which he and Harry resurrect Hermione with the power of the Stone and Harry's True Patronus. Voldemort ritualistically murders Quirrell to give Hermione a Horcrux and the magic of a mountain troll and unicorn, rendering her near-immortal before summoning Lucius and his other Death Eaters. Knowing a prophecy predicts that Harry will destroy the world, Voldemort forces Harry into a magical oath never to risk doing so before ordering Harry's murder. Cornered, Harry kills every Death Eater at once with partial Transfiguration, stuns Voldemort, wipes most of his memories, and turns him into a jewel on Harry's ring. Harry claims the Philosopher's Stone and stages a scene looking like "David Monroe" died defeating Voldemort and resurrected Hermione.

In the battle's aftermath, Harry receives Dumbledore's letters and learns that Dumbledore has gambled the world's future on him due to prophecies and arranged for Harry to inherit his positions and assets. With Voldemort defeated, Harry helps a grieving Draco find his missing mother, Narcissa Malfoy, whom Draco believed Dumbledore had murdered. Harry plans with the resurrected Hermione to overhaul wizarding society by destroying Azkaban and using the Philosopher's Stone to grant everyone immortality.

Background

According to Yudkowsky, "I'd been reading a lot of Harry Potter fan fiction at the time the plot of HPMOR spontaneously burped itself into existence inside my mind, so it came out as a Harry Potter story. ... There's a large number of potential readers who would enter at least moderately familiar with the Harry Potter universe." He states that his work on rationality "informs every shade of how the characters think, both those who are allegedly rational and otherwise". He also used it to assist the launch of the Center for Applied Rationality, which teaches courses based on his work. David Whelan of Vice described HPMOR's version of Harry Potter as "a miniature Ravenclaw Spock with a taste for deductive reasoning" and said the book "reads like the originals after a lifetime spent playing Nintendo's Brain Training."[3]

Reception

Critical response
Yudkowsky giving a talk at Stanford University

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is highly popular on FanFiction.Net, though it has also caused significant polarization among readers. In 2011, Daniel D. Snyder of The Atlantic recorded how HPMOR "caused uproar in the fan fiction community, drawing both condemnations and praise" on online message boards "for its blasphemous—or brilliant—treatment of the canon."[12] In 2015, David Whelan of Vice described HPMOR as "the most popular Harry Potter book you've never heard of" and claimed, "Most people agree that it's brilliantly written, challenging, and—curiously—mind altering."[3]

HPMOR is "Widely considered as one of the best fanfics ever written," according to Rhys McKay of Who.[13] Hugo Award-winning science fiction author David Brin positively reviewed HPMOR for The Atlantic in 2010, saying, "It's a terrific series, subtle and dramatic and stimulating… I wish all Potter fans would go here, and try on a bigger, bolder and more challenging tale."[12] In 2014, American politician Ben Wikler lauded HPMOR on The Guardian as "the #1 fan fiction series of all time," saying it was "told with enormous gusto, and with emotional insight into that kind of mind," and comparing Harry to his friend Aaron Swartz's skeptical attitude.[14] Writing for The Washington Post, legal scholar William Baude praised HPMOR as "the best Harry Potter book ever written, though it is not written by J.K. Rowling" in 2014[15] and "one of my favorite books written this millennium" in 2015.[4] In 2015, Vakasha Sachdev of Hindustan Times described HPMOR as "a thinking person's story about magic and heroism" and how "the conflict between good and evil is represented as a battle between knowledge and ignorance," eliciting his praise.[10] In 2017, Carol Pinchefsky of Syfy lauded HPMOR as "something brilliant" and "a platform on which the writer bounces off complex ideas in a way that's accessible and downright fun."[11] In a 2019 interview for The Sydney Morning Herald, young adult writer Lili Wilkinson said that she adores HPMOR; according to her, "It not only explains basically all scientific theory, from economics to astrophysics, but it also includes the greatest scene where Malfoy learns about DNA and has to confront his pureblood bigotry."[6]

Accolades

The audio version of HPMOR was a Parsec Awards finalist in 2012 and 2015.[16][17]

Translations
A rejected cover variant of the Russian print project available as a dust jacket.
Covers of the Hebrew printed edition

Russian

In July 2018, a crowdfunding campaign for printing a three-volume Russian translation of HPMOR was launched on the website Planeta.ru.[18] The 1.086 million ₽ goal (approximately US$17 000) was reached within the first 30 hours.[19] The campaign ended on the 30th of September with 11.4 million ₽ collected (approximately US$175 000) and became the highest funded Russian crowdfunding project, although this record was broken the day after.[18] This is the biggest HPMOR publication project:[20] the book was published by fans many times, but the book's circulation was lower.[21] According to Mikhail Samin, the founder of the project, "Yudkowsky accepted the idea positively", but the popularity of the campaign surprised him.[21] Yudkowsky wrote an introduction exclusively for the Russian printing.[21] The book was compiled by Lin Lobaryov, the former lead editor of Mir Fantastiki magazine.[21] Extra books will be sent to libraries and presented to school Science Olympiad winners.[18][20]

After the success of the crowdfunding project, Russian publishing house Eksmo asked Rowling's agents for permission to publish HPMOR in Russia officially, but Rowling has refused use of fanfics of her Wizarding World for commercial purposes.[18]

Other

HPMOR has Czech,[22] Chinese,[23] French,[24] German,[25] Hebrew,[26] Italian,[27] Japanese,[28] Norwegian,[29] Spanish,[30] Swedish,[31] and Ukrainian[32] translations.

See also

References
  1. Mulligan, Christina (11 February 2015). "The most scandalous part of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' isn't the sex and bondage". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 September 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. Packer, George (20 November 2011). "No Death, No Taxes". The New Yorker. Retrieved 11 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. Whelan, David (2 March 2015). "The Harry Potter Fan Fiction Author Who Wants to Make Everyone a Little More Rational". Vice. Retrieved 23 December 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Baude, Will (14 March 2015). "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is complete, and it is excellent". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 December 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. Yudkowsky, Eliezer Shlomo (28 February 2010). "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Chapter 1: A Day of Very Low Probability, a harry potter fanfic". FanFiction.Net. Retrieved 29 July 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. Kembrey, Melanie (21 July 2019). "'Ridiculed and not taken seriously': why fan fiction deserves more credit". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. Miller, James D. (16 October 2012). Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World. Dallas, Texas: BenBella Books. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-1-936661-65-7. Retrieved 23 December 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. Kahn, Jennifer (14 January 2016). "The Happiness Code". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. Bonazzo, John (9 May 2018). "Elon Musk and Grimes Are Dating Thanks to This Weird AI Conspiracy Theory". The New York Observer. Retrieved 10 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. Sachdev, Vakasha (17 October 2015). "A Harry Potter story you haven't read". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  11. Pinchefsky, Carol (2 November 2017). "Stuff We Love: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is a love letter to Ravenclaws". Syfy. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  12. Snyder, Daniel D. (18 July 2011). "'Harry Potter' and the Key to Immortality". The Atlantic. Retrieved 23 December 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. McKay, Rhys (17 August 2019). "Here's 10 Harry Potter Fanfics That You Should Read Right Now". Who. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  14. Raptopoulos, Lilah (11 July 2014). "Listen to this: Ben Wikler and Aaron Swartz's The Good Fight". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. Baude, Will (14 May 2014). "More thoughts on the rules of Quidditch". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. "2012 Parsec Awards Winners & Finalists". Parsec Awards. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  17. "2015 Parsec Awards Winners & Finalists". Parsec Awards. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  18. Зеркалева, Александра (2 October 2018). "Российский краудфандинговый рекорд побила книга по мотивам "Гарри Поттера". Контролировать печать будет ФБК" [The Russian crowdfunding record was broken by a book based on Harry Potter. FBK will control the printing]. Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  19. Алисултанова, Ася (1 October 2018). "Книга "Гарри Поттер и методы рационального мышления" установила рекорд российского краудфандинга" [The book "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" set a record for Russian crowdfunding]. Собака.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 23 October 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. Кирпанова, Елизавета (6 October 2018). "Здравомыслие в России может привести к инакомыслию" ["Sanity in Russia can lead to dissent"]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  21. "История о "мальчике, который выжил" для взрослых" [The story of the "boy who lived" for adults]. REGNUM News Agency (in Russian). Moscow. 16 August 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  22. Neumannová, Edita; Yudkowsky, Eliezer; Matýšek, Jaromír (5 December 2016). "Eliezer Yudkowsky: Harry Potter a metody racionality" [Eliezer Yudkowsky: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality]. archetypal.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 1 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. "哈利波特与理性之道 – 同人小说《哈利波特与理性之道》中文粉丝站点" [Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality – Fan fiction "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" Fan Site in Chinese]. hpmor.xyz (in Chinese). Retrieved 2 January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. AdrienH (16 April 2011). "Harry Potter et les Méthodes de la Rationalité Chapter 1: Un jour à très faible probabilité, a harry potter fanfic" [Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Chapter 1: A Day of Very Low Probability, a harry potter fanfic]. FanFiction.Net (in French). Retrieved 2 January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. Menke, Torben (4 May 2022). "Deutsche Übersetzung (German Translation) von "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" (HPMOR)" [German Translation of “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality” (HPMOR)]. GitHub (in German). Retrieved 30 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. "רציונליות ישראל – "למה אתה מאמין במה שאתה מאמין?"" [Rational Israel - "Why do you believe what you believe?"]. rationality.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 3 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. "Harry Potter e i metodi della razionalità - Home page" [Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Home page]. Google Sites (in Italian). Retrieved 1 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. "HPMOR日本語訳" [HPMOR Japanese translation]. Tumblr (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. "Harry Potter og rasjonalitetens metode" [Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality]. www.hprm.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. Rhaidot (26 July 2013). "Harry Potter y los métodos de la racionalidad Chapter 1: Un día de muy baja probabilidad, a harry potter fanfic" [Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Chapter 1: A Day of Very Low Probability, a harry potter fanfic]. FanFiction.Net (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. "Resurser" [Resources]. www.vof.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. Кирило, Яценко; Ізмаілова, Ельвіра; Бєлова, Ольга; Володимир, Охрим; Кабакчей, Дмитро. "Гаррі Поттер і Методи Раціональности" [Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality]. гпімр.укр (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2 February 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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