Dumbledore's watch (was time travel is dangerous)

[Berit Jakobsen]

No: HPFGUIDX 89056

Neri wrote:
> The idea about DD's watch is appealing. I ran a quick search, and 
> came up with three times where it is mentioned. Interestingly 
enough, 
> one is in PoA when he sends Harry and Hermione to their 3 hrs time-
> travel to save Sirius.   
> 
> CS/PS, first chapter:
> 
> Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at 
her 
> eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he 
took 
> a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd 
> watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets 
> were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, 
> though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's 
> late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"
> 
> PoA, DD sends Harry and Hermione to the past: 
> 
> "Now, pay attention," said Dumbledore, speaking very low, and very 
> clearly. "Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the 
> seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. 
If 
> all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life 
> tonight. But remember this, both of you: you must not be seen. Miss 
> Granger, you know the law — you know what is at stake
You — must — 
> not — be —seen."
> 	Harry didn't have a clue what was going on. Dumbledore had 
> turned on his heel and looked back as he reached the door.
> 	"I am going to lock you in. It is —" he consulted his 
> watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should 
do 
> it. Good luck."
> 
> OotP, Just after the great battle in the MoM:
>  
> 'Now see here, Dumbledore!' said Fudge, as Dumbledore picked up the 
> head and walked back to Harry carrying it. 'You haven't got 
> authorisation for that Portkey! You can't do things like that right 
> in front of the Minister for Magic, you — you — '
>     His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him magisterially 
over 
> his half-moon spectacles.
>     'You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from 
> Hogwarts,' said Dumbledore. 'You will tell your Aurors to stop 
> searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can 
> return to work. I will give you . . .' Dumbledore pulled a watch 
with 
> twelve hands from his pocket and surveyed it. . . half an hour of 
my 
> time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover 
> the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall 
> need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, 
> of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters 
> addressed to the Headmaster will find me.'

Berit replies:

Good research :-) But in all these three passages where DD's watch is 
mentioned, it looks like he's using it the same way ordinary watches 
are used; to consult the sort of time we're used to; the linear one :-
) He checks his watch to decide how much time he's going to give 
Fudge; he looks at his watch and it tells him it is five minutes to 
midnight (nothing spooky about that), and in the first instance he 
checks his watch and announces that Hagrid is late. Nothing 
extraordinary. From these passages it's hard to deduce that the watch 
is used in time travel; i.e. canon doesn't support it so far. I'm not 
saying it couldn't be more to the watch than meets the eye, but 
Rowling is not saying or hinting in these passages exactly what that 
might be, since DD so far only has used the watch the "ordinary" way.

(Sorry; I'm one of the sceptics who really don't think time travel is 
going to be used again)

Berit
http://home.no.net/berjakob/snape.html