My (somewhat belated) thoughts on Time Travel in PoA

[aldrea279]

No: HPFGUIDX 42029

Dicentra:
>>So does Dumbledore know that Harry and Hermione are in the forest 
with
Buckbeak? Is he trying to stop Macnair from finding them? This might
be Harry and Hermione's second trip through this time frame, but it's
Dumbledore's first. I suppose he could have guessed they let Buckbeak
go without knowing they were travelling in time.>>

Actually, it's Dumbledore's ONLY trip through this time frame.   He 
didn't go back in time with the Trio, for him Buckbeak is just now 
being rescued and was never actually executed.  But perhaps he can 
guess what is going on.  He more than likely knew the Trio was 
helping Hagrid with the defense on Buckbeak, and so when the lil 
hippogriff mysteriously gets away, I don't think it's such a huge 
mental leap for Dumbledore to assume the Trio played a part in it.  

Dicentra:
>>But then he must have found out (or figured out) that they didn't 
save
Buckbeak during their first trip through that time frame, so that's
why he gives them the clue.>>

No no no no.  Dumbledore went through that time frame ONCE.  As 
Marina points out, "in order for Harry and Hermione to survive long 
enough to go back in time to rescue themselves, they have to have 
gone back in time and rescued themselves." So the fact that they are 
there talking to Dumbledore in the Hospital Wing means that they've 
already gone back in time and fixed things up.  But they don't know 
it.  

Now, Dumbledore is the one that figures out that Sirius cannot be 
proven innocent.  But he also knows that Buckbeak escaped.  And 
Sirius is ever-so-conveniently locked in a room with a *window*.  I 
wonder if our dear headmaster had something to do with that?
(remember, he also gives the Trio a very detailed description of how 
to find Sirius's window from the -outside-)  Now to account for the 
clue.  When Dumbledore is talking to H&H, Buckbeak has already been 
saved as far as he knows.  So what makes him drop that hint?  
Hmm....I'm trying to see if anything was mentioned about Buckbeak in 
the Shrieking Shack scene.  Because if you want to be believable when 
explaining things, it is *best* to go into as much detail as 
possible.  Look at Snape's excellent lies at the end of PoA.  He was 
able to account for everything that happened...why? Because he went 
into such detail with his lies, and Fudge bought them all(quite the 
work of an able multi-tasker, wouldn't you say? =P).  Now, when 
Dumbledore went to Sirius, I'm sure Sirius was anxious to prove his 
innocence.  And Dumbledore probably wanted the *whole* story.  But 
I'm not entirely sure that the time allows for such a lengthy tale. 
Hmm...but oh! Lupin's arrival.  Dumbledore would be interested in 
that.  Lupin does mention a "hippogriff" and "executed".  Sirius 
might have been explaining to Dumbledore that Lupin had the 
Maurader's Map(explanation as to what it is, if Dumbledore needs one) 
and that he had been watching the kids to see if they were going to 
Hagrid's or not...something about an execution of a hippogriff or 
something.  But Dumbledore knows Buckbeak was *saved*.  So what could 
that mean?  He knows Sirius cannot be proven innocent...but he 
figures out a way for him to be saved.  So he goes to the Hospital 
Wing and drops the clue, so H&H will save both Buckbeak and Sirius.  
And he knows they'll succeed in *altleast* one.  It's a 50/50 chance 
for the old gambler.

Dicentra:
>>So
when Harry and Hermione see Dumbledore and his amused demeanor, is he
aware of the fact that H&H have changed events? Does he know in that
moment that his future self sent them back in time?>>

It could be Harry just thinks Dumbledore sounds amused.  There's no 
way for Dumbledore to know Buckbeak had been executed...unless 
there's some charm that wards off the effects of a TimeTurner, but I 
think that's a yellow flag violation.  Anyways, Harry might not be 
thinking so hard into this thing as we are(he usually isn't, though, 
is he?  He has yet to go "OH! Maybe Arabella Figg=Mrs Figg?!"), so he 
might not have realized that for Dumbledore, Buckbeak was never 
executed.  And thus,  he could be implying the "amused demeanor" on 
Dumbledore.  Or Dumbledore could really be amused, but just by the 
fact that Buckbeak did get away.  He's happy there was no execution, 
and happy for Hagrid that he didn't have to watch his pet get 
killed.  No need to read into it anymore. (Yeah, right. =P)

And as I already stated above, I think in that point and time 
Dumbledore does suspect the Trio.  But later on in the night he 
realizes that they were in two places at once. Oh! Maybe Hagrid 
mentioned the Trio's visit, and how he sent them away.  We know how 
well timed Sirius's attack was.  They missed Dumbledore, MacNair, and 
Fudge by moments.  So Dumbledore could have reasoned that, since he 
saw no sign of anything when he went to the castle, the Trio must not 
have had *time* to untie Buckbeak and get inside the Whomping 
Willow.  Which means the Time-Turner must have been used.

Qaztroc:
>>Now why Dumbledore's subtle hint? First, why wouldn't he be more 
explicit, and just tell them to go and save Buckbeak and use him to 
free Sirius?>>

I think this is just the way Dumbledore is.  In PS/SS, he never 
outrightly tells Harry to go after Voldemort, but he certainly gives 
him enough clues and tools.   And he doesn't *outrightly* say "I want 
you to use the Time Turner", he just says "What we need is more 
*time*."  And he also says that he thinks two turns will do it.  
Maybe the old coot just likes to be all subtle.  Or maybe he's 
teaching Harry to be more alert and clever.  And maybe it's so he can 
justly praise them.  *They* figured out what to do(with only a couple 
small hints..)and *they* did it.  Same thing with PS/SS.  He gave 
them the nudge, but they innitially took the step, and so the praise 
and glory is their's.

~Aldrea, (I'm about three or four days behind, and I'm leaving on 
Sunday for a week...oh, I'll never get caught up after that!)