Chapter Discussion: Prisoner of Azkaban Ch 16: Professor Trelawney's prediction

[June Ewing]

No: HPFGUIDX 190313

> zanooda:
> Buckbeak was about to be executed, and there was no way to save
him - that's what has "gone wrong" :-), and without Buckbeak
Sirius was doomed as well. But this doesn't mean that Buckbeak
> lost his head.

There is only one timeline in this case, because Harry and Hermione
went back in time *before* Buckbeak was executed. *If* the kids saw
the executioner behead him, *if* he actually died, and only *after*
that H&H went back to prevent this from happening, then yes, there
would have been a second timeline (I suppose :-)), where Buckbeak
> died and Sirius was Kissed.

> But that's not what happened in the book. H&H went back in time
*before* Buckbeak was killed and prevented it, therefore he was
> never killed. JMO :-).

June:
If it never happened in any timeline, what was the point of sending
them back? Think logically for a minute. Let's say for argument
sake that you have had a normal good day and nothing went wrong,
but someone you know and respect tells you that you need to go back
in time to ensure that a friend does not die in the past. One of
two things has to have happened here. Either your friend in some
timeline has died or the person you respect who is telling you to
go back in time to save a friend who was not in danger is suffering
a mental breakdown of sorts. It is like going to the trouble of
fixing a stereo that is sitting right in front of you playing and
sounding great. There is no reason to fix it. So for Dumbledore to
send Harry and Hermione into the past to stop Buckbeak from being
beheaded and to save Sirius from the dementor's kiss, there would
have to be a reason. You don't just fix some thing that hasn't been
broken.