[HPforGrownups] Explanations please

[Nathan]

No: HPFGUIDX 8155

>Second of all, can anyone explain in PoA how Harry stops the
>dementors
>the first time round before he goes back in time with Hermione?
>First
>he thought it was his dad, but when he goes back he finds out it was
>himself, and stops them .. .but how did he manage it the first time.
>I think I have a bad case of Back To The Future here lol.  It's like
>round robin, without the start!  Does anyone know?

It's one view of looking at time travel, in this case that the observations
made in Time are fixed and immutable. Let's try observing the timeline from,
for lack of words, Beyond Time. For an observer Beyond Time, that point of
Time had two Harrys, one about to experience a Dementor's Kiss, one casting
the Patronus Charm. The only confusion comes about when Harry has to live
the same segment of time twice.

Which is probably why time travel is heavily restricted... it reduces
possible timeline sections into fixed, predictable pieces.

Nathan