How can the command to refer to the people of remembrance be reconciled with seeking a fatwa from oneself?

The reason for the revelation of the verse in Surat al-Anbiya: ﴿And We did not send before you except men to whom We revealed. So ask the people of the Reminder if you do not know﴾ was the denial of the polytheists of Mecca that Allah would send a human being. The "people of the Reminder" are the specialists in every field, and the verse indicates the obligation for those who do not know to ask those who do know, and that the general populace must follow their scholars.

As for the hadith: "Consult your heart," it indicates that Allah has instilled in believers the knowledge of truth and contentment with it, and that a person with a sound innate disposition (fitra) consults their heart in ambiguous matters for which there is no explicit text.

However, one whose innate disposition has been corrupted by whims and sins loses this sense. Regarding matters for which there is an explicit text from the Qur’an, Sunnah, or consensus, the believer has no option but to follow and obey, and there is no room for consulting the heart here. Thus, the verse commands asking the people of knowledge, and the hadith pertains to matters that are ambiguous to the Muslim for which there is no explicit text, and it does not mean abandoning asking the people of knowledge.