PoA: an explanation of the time/patronus paradox

[oliviawood06]

No: HPFGUIDX 67886

"stlcole" <cole.bitting at a...> wrote:

> 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? ...
> 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)....

[snippity, see post 67757 for stlcole's full theory, might not 
make sense otherwise]


Stlcole, I partly agree with you (and always have) in that I don't 
think it would have been possible for Harry to save himself with the 
patronus if someone else wouldn't have saved Harry otherwise. I 
don't, however, think it's possible likeley to have been Dumbledore 
or Lupin, or any of the other characters at Hogwarts for that 
matter. 

I think it was James Potter. 

And, no, I don't believe that he is still alive. He doesn't have to 
be, because it never happened. It didn't have to because Harry 
showed up and saved himself. The point is null and void. It's magic. 

I think this is partially what Dumbledore meant with his "Prongs 
rode again last night" speech, and it makes Harry seem less stupid 
for thinking he was his father, since the first time, it actualy 
was. :)

Although that still leaves the matter of Buckbead to be dealt 
with... and I don't think you really expained that either. Maybe 
Dumbledore, being such a great wizard and all, was going to turn 
Buckbeak invisible or banish him away anyway, but then didn't have 
to do it because Buckbeak dissapeared by himself. Maybe he saw Harry 
and Hermione in the trees and assumed they were going to try to help 
Buckbeak, not even knowing they were from the future. 

It all makes perfect sense to me, but I might just be weird. I spent 
weeks obsessing over all this after Prizoner of Azkaban came out... 
lots of time to get used to the idea. :)

Olivia Wood.