Time Travel Paradoces

[Linda]

No: HPFGUIDX 57815

On Monday, May 12, Valky wrote:

> Dumbledore and Hermione both imply, with feeling, that the 
> constraints over time manipulation are complex and need careful 
> planning. Perhaps at some stage Dumbledore realised that saving 
Lily 
> and James was NOT inconsequential to the thread of time and posed 
> more of a threat to Harry and themselves than the events that had 
> already unfolded. 


Me(Linda):

  With so little canon on the subject, theory is just about all we 
have (not withstanding what information we do have on the 
timeturner) so theory is what we'll go with.  IMO there is no other 
subject in literature as confusing as time travel. Possibilities for 
paradoxes are endless and it is difficult enough to keep track of 
who is doing what and when they are doing it without the added 
complication of those involved possibly being in two places at once. 

  Like some other members of our esteemed list, I have to wonder 
about other means of time travel in the WW. I believe that the use 
of the time turner, by its' very nature(one hour increments per 
turn), is probably the most benign of what is avilable for the 
manipulation of time, that is if it is not the only available means. 
That would beg the question of what else is available. I really 
don't have any ideas on what other devices or spells may be 
available but after all we are theorizing here. If anyone else wants 
to take a crack at it, do so with my blessing.

  Which leads me to....

Dan had earlier written:

> Once you go down that "time travel" road you have a hell of a time 
> keeping things in check. The Star Trek writers did it FAR too 
often, 
> until they got to the point that they had to introduce some kind 
of 
> "Timeline Police" (don't remember what it was called exactly) 
to "keep 
> the timeline clean", that the Federation creates after they 
completely 
> master time travel. I think JKR is going to have to introduce some 
> serious limitation to time travel in general.

Me again:

  Hmmmmm. OK. I have a confesson to make. Not only am I thoroughly 
addicted to Harry Potter....I am also a trekkie. (More to the many 
books that have really developed the characters as opposed to what 
has been done on both the small and large screens.)  Anyway, here's 
my take on what Dan wrote. I think that he may have been on the 
right track with his allusion to Star Trek. Yes, the time travel 
angle was way over done but as the series progressed the multitude 
of writers involved realized the problem and took steps to deal with 
it. The "Department of Temporal Investigations" was born. (I know 
this seems to be getting OT but please bear with me.) This 
department was formed to make sure the correct timeline stayed 
intact. They would travel back in time to where time had been 
tampered with and try to minimize the damage.  It seems to me that 
if time travel in ways other than the time turner are available to 
the WW, that there is probably a similar department at the MOM. 
McGonagall needed to campaign heavily in order for Hermione to be 
allowed to use the time turner. Exactly whom did she submit her 
request to? Cannon has not given us any department in the MOM that 
seems to handle this kind of thing.Of course there is always 
the 'unspeakables' but we don't have any information (yet) as to 
what their function is. Most of the departments that we know of were 
intruduced to the reader by Arthur Weasley when he was pointing out 
differant ministry wizards at to Harry and Hermione at the word cup. 
We really only got a peak there and IMHO there must be many, many 
more departments that we simply don't know anything about. My point 
is that the JKR, and by extension, the WW, have already thought of 
regulating time travel and have already dealt with it. It's just 
that we, as readers, have not yet been apprised of the ins and outs 
of this particular issue. Considering the amount of notes JKR has on 
everything in the WW, I don't believe this is far fetched.


Later in her post Valky wrote:

> I remember someone posting a possible torture for Lily, recently.
> Re:5th person at Godrics Hollow
> Imagine the life of Lily, widowed of James and Imperiused under 
the 
> care of Peter 'Wormtail' Pettigrew. *shudders* A fate worse than 
> death? Likely.

I have two knuts more:

  Guilty.

  That post was mine. However, I never intended it to mean that 
Pettigrew would "keep'  Lily. I was thinking more along the lines of 
him making a request out of desperation that he knew LV would never 
honor anyway. ( If anyone wants to see my original post it's 57478.)



  Would *Paradox Theory* be a good name for a band?
   -Linda