PoA: an explanation of the time/patronus paradox

[stlcole]

No: HPFGUIDX 67757

Maybe this point has been discussed before, but ..

In PoA, Harry travels back in time to save himself .. of course, he 
can only travel back in time to save himself, because he already 
saved himself, or DID HE? There was something in OOP that helped me 
resolve this time/patronus paradox of PoA differently, but it was 
nothing specific so I cannot quote a supporting passage.

In any case, the alternative theory (the second gunman hypothesis)
that I now favor is that that Harry did NOT cast the FIRST patronus 
to dispel the dementors that were attacking Harry or Sirius. Someone 
else cast the FIRST and only the FIRST patronus. Harry cast all 
subsequent patronus (in this endlessly repeat time loop).

As Harry is attacked by Dementors and then unexpectedly saved, Harry 
sees a Patronus that looks like a Unicorn. Later, he cast his own 
patronus (a stag). We are lead to assume that what Harry thought was 
a unicorn was in truth, his own stag.

So we are lead to think that Harry remained alive because his 
furture self saved his current self. I always hated this paradox: in 
fact, to me it was the worst / least-sensical part of the whole 
Harry Potter saga. And I am, to this day, still worried that book 
seven will deteriorate into improbable, unsupportable plot turns 
that mirror this rather turned one.

But if in fact, there were two different patronus spells cast -- the 
FIRST one (the Unicorn) and Harry's thereafter (the Stag) -- then I 
believe JKR wrote very cleverly (as apposed to very badly - my 
opinion). We cannot know which alternative is right because JKR has 
purposely avoided giving enough facts to dispell my alternative 
hypothesis (which I call the second gunman hypothesis). This 
ambiguity enhances the probability that the second gunman hypothesis 
is correct.

JKR clearly does not indicate what either Dumbledore's or Lupin's 
patronus was. She goes out of her way not to say. There are times 
when she might logically describe other partonus (Lupin on the 
train, Dumbledore at the Quidditch match), but she doesn't. Harry 
could ask during his Patronus lessons with Lupin, but doesn't. So we 
are kept in the dark about the Patronus of two major characters. We 
are kept purposefully in the dark.

Either Dumbledore or Lupin could have been in position to cast the 
FIRST patronus to dispell the Dementors. So could many other 
characters, for that matter. When Harry steps out to cast the SECOND 
patronus, the other gunman (the one on the grassy knoll) withdraws, 
fearing to be seen by Harry. This last point is a requirement for 
the events in the time stream to switch from the unknown patronus 
caster to Harry.

One character obviously shows some awareness about the converging 
time streams -- Dumbledore (he returns to Hagrid's cabin with 
seeming foreknowledge that Harry and Hermione need a short bit of 
extra time to deal with Buckbeak, and there are several other rather 
blantant suggests throughout the time travel episode). So Dumbledore 
is most like the one who casts the first Patronus because he is also 
the one most likely to remain passive when Harry steps into the seen 
to cast his own partonus. Additionally, it seems quite possible if 
not outright likely that Dumbledore's patronus is a unicorn. So it 
could prove, in fact, the first partronus was as Harry saw -- a 
unicorn.

Of course, Harry also saw someone who looked like his father. 
Dumbledore does not. I think it is too contrived to suggest that 
Dumbledore disguised himself as Harry/James to cast the first 
Patronus. Then again, the paradox as presented, is overly contrived 
in my opinion. So maybe Harry's vision was more accurate re: unicorn 
than re: wizard.

There is the other odd theory that Lupin is really James. And maybe 
the time/patronus paradox resolves towards this theory.

Black is beset by dementors. He is no longer the dog, but rather in 
human form as he is attacked. He was in dog form to chase off the 
werewolf form of Lupin.

So without Black, Lupin could/should be running amok as a ravenous 
werewolf. But the werewolf is conspicuously absent from the dementor 
scene. So maybe Lupin casts the first patronus. And at that moment, 
he both looks like James and also casts a Unicorn patronus.

The somewhat cumbersome explanation for Lupin's James-like 
appearance is either that Harry is mistaken, or that Lupin, in order 
to handle being an out-of-control werewolf, must risk abandoning the 
Lupin/werewolf disguise, and show himself (in hiding) as James. Thus 
James/Lupin is hide, but then decides to rescue both his son and his 
best friend when the dementors appear (thus, the FIRST patronus). 
When Harry casts the second patronus, he has to step out into the 
scene, looking for his father. James cannot act and be seen, so he 
must let Harry cast the patronus (the second and subsequent 
patronus). Ironically, Harry's father who is there, cannot show 
himself when Harry shows up to look for his father, thus forcing 
Harry to save himself. The irony of that possibility gives it some 
force.

So who has a Unicorn for a Patronus?