Luna's mother climbed back into the vat of life-preserving liquid. Luna dragged her unconscious friend into the Entrance Chamber.

There were seven Unspeakables in the Entrance Chamber. The green brain-preserving liquid splashed across their shoes and into the bottom of their long, flowing ceremonial robes.

They looked down at Luna and her friend.

"I am honored to be welcomed into your ranks," bluffed Luna.

"Expelliarmus!" cast an Unspeakable.

Not again. The next time Luna went into battle she would tie her wand to her wrist with a strap. Or stick it to her hand with a charm. Or enchant the wand to return to her hand. But without her wand Luna couldn't do any of that. She couldn't cast her ridiculously overpowered spell.


When Luna read serialized fiction, it confused her how stories seemed to start over each book. A hero would discover the Chamber of Secrets in his second year and then in his third year it would be as if the second year had never happened. He would discover time travel in the third year and then in his fourth year it would be as if time travel was not possible.

Stories are modular because they are designed to be easy to understand. In real life, a hostile will throw memory modification, propaganda, reverse causality, traps, antimemes and cognitohazards at you all at once. That way it is maximally difficult for you to untangle rules and isolate variables.


Luna put her wrist between her teeth, ready to paint a transmutation circle in her own blood.

Wrong answer. Right answer but to the wrong question. If you cannot solve the puzzle then pick a different puzzle. If you are not sure what to do then just do the opposite of whatever you have been doing.

What is the countercurse to Fidelius?

Luna looked up at the Unspeakables.

The Secret Keeper couldn't counter the Fidelius Charm because the Secret Keeper revealing the secret of the Fidelius Charm was the Fidelius Charm working as intended. The Department of Mysteries did not know how to counter the Fidelius Charm.

The Secret Keeper sharing the secret didn't break the curse. It was part of the curse. The Fidelius Charm enforced the confidence of a secret. How do you end a secret without breaking confidences?

Your rediscover it independently.

The most important part of any secret is the knowledge that a secret exists.

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓓𝓮𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓜𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾.

Who wrote that?

"Stupify!" The seven instances of Kirito cast the spell simultaneously.

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3 comments, sorted by Click to highlight new comments since: Today at 3:49 AM
[-]nim2y60

Another installment, another interlude of puzzlement and delight in a reader's day. Thank you for writing and sharing.

it is maximally difficult for your to untangle rules

-> it is maximally difficult for you to untangle rules

Fixed. Thanks.