Time-turning (was: Snape and DADA)

[hannahmarder]

No: HPFGUIDX 112440

In 112370 SSSusan <susiequsie23 at s...> wrote:
<snip>
> And in 112285 PK wrote:
> >>> The line about it being dangerous to meet oneself, and wizards 
> killing their past and future selves, does seem to confuse the 
> issue -- killing one's future self shouldn't actually present a 
> problem of feasibility in itself, but killing one's past self 
> should be impossible.<<<
>
> <big snip> 
>
> And in 112331 Chancie offered:
> >>>The only rule I could see that could apply and make [sense] in 
> this situation, is that the TT maybe only lets you go back in time 
> during the current day. Hermione went back in time to her classes 
> everyday, I don't believe there is any reference to her going back 
> a few days in time. This is the only thing I could think of that 
> would make [sense].<<<
>  
> SSSusan AGAIN NOW:
> I just don't see why it would have to be the same DAY, as Chancie 
> suggested.  It's certainly not at all what PK was describing to us 
> yesterday--where a person can easily TT back to a point *before* 
> s/he was even born.


Hannah: Thanks Susan, I found it helpful (and was flattered to be 
quoted in it!).  It's an excellent summary of a very interesting and 
complicated discussion :-) Sorry I snipped so much of it!

This post concerns a different aspect of the TT question, which was 
asked in one of the early posts that started off this thread - 
namely, can a person time turn to a date before they were born?  
Some people think yes, some think no, some even believe time 
travelling is restricted to the past 24 hours or so.

I had a thought about this.  When H and H use the TT, they turn it 
to go back, but not to return to the 'present' (the point from which 
they started).  Instead, they live through the intervening hours 
between the time they left (eg 9pm) and the time they travelled back 
to (eg 6pm), so they have 3 hours 'extra' time.  This isn't 
particularly long, so they haven't 'aged' in that short time.  

Suppose you go back a long way, 50 years for instance.  You go back, 
do what you need to do... then what?  Can you use the time turner to 
go forward in time, back to when you started? Or once you've gone 
back, are you then stuck, having to live out the 50 years until you 
catch back up with when you left? If this is the case, you would 
have a pretty wretched life, making sure you didn't meet yourself or 
anyone else who knows you.  And when you got back, you would 
suddenly be fifty years older, very confusing for friends and 
family!  You can imagine the reaction of your nearest and dearest 
when you pop upstairs and come down five minutes later having aged 
fifty years!

If it is the case that the time turner can only take you backwards, 
and not forwards even if it is to return to your time of origin, 
then that would put a fairly short time limit on how far you would 
want to go.  Except in a real emergency... maybe this is how DD has 
clocked up so many years? That would explain how his examiner is 
still alive and kicking - they aren't in fact older than DD.

This is probably a bit controversial - the DD bit at least.  But the 
principal in general might be OK.
Hannah