Time Travel, the Stall, and the All Knowing Mind?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 190352



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Margaret Fenney <fenneyml at ...> wrote:
>
> Shelley
> 
> >
> > > My husband also pointed out that Dumbledore, in order to stall
> > > at Hagrid's "intentionally" to allow Harry and Hermione 
> > > time to rescue Buckbeak, must have been aware of the Time
> > > travel.
> >
> >
> 
> Margie:
> 
>  ... the text can be taken to mean that Dumbledore stalled 
> and then that he knew Buckbeak would be gone, but it doesn't
> actually say that.  It could be interpreted in multiple ways:
> 
> (...Series of Quotes...)
> 
> 
> Margie
> 

Steve:

On Time Travel, we have had many discussion, some lasting weeks, and the always break into the same two camps -

- Time happens once
- Time happens twice

Personally, the "Time Happens Twice" never made a lick of sense to me, so I'm firmly in the other camp. However, it always gets down to these two camps being firmly entrenched and unyielding. Which is exactly where I stand - entrenched and unyielding. 

I've been thinking about this for years, as well as discussing it equally long, and no matter how you slice it and dice it, to me, only "Time Happens Once" makes any sense at all. And, yes, people have explained the alternate theory in great detail many many many many times, and it still doesn't make sense to me.

So, that is where it always ends, each camp makes its case in detail, and the opposite camp in not convinced. So, now we are down to how many time we are going to explain and re-explain it, before we become too tired to carry on. 

No winner here. Still, fascinating discussion though. 


As to Dumbledore intentionally delaying, much like time travel, that is open to interpretation. 

I doubt that Dumbledore has any way of seeing into the future. He doesn't seem to hold Divination in very high regard. But we do know from example, that Dumbledore has a very strong intuitive sense. He picks up on details that fly right over the heads of others. I think, to a small extent, that come with age and experience, but at the same time, some people just have a talent for it. 

For example, when they take Hagrid away to Azkaban, Harry and Ron are in the hut hiding under the invisibility cloak. The Minister and Mr. Malfoy are there and take no notice of Harry and Ron's presence, but Dumbledore seems to clearly know that they are there. How? Smell? Sound? Body Heat? Slope of the floorboards? Sense? Intuition? 

We also know that Dumbledore has a degree of ability in Legilimens. He can intuitively grasp what people are thinking. Perhaps when he enters a room, he simply reaches out and probes the minds in the room. In Hagrid's hut, while he didn't read the minds, he sensed their presences, and assumed it was two of the trio, though he may not have know which two. Though, once sensing two additional minds, he may have probed deeper to find out who they were.

Again, this example is not directly relevant to time travel, but it does indicate that Dumbledore has a very strong intuitive sense. Far more developed than the average or above average wizard. 

Now, pressing this farther, we could assume the Dumbledore is always reaching out searching for the presence of new minds. He would know when people were coming before they got there. And if he was mentally reaching out, he may have sensed Harry and Hermione near by. As time goes on, he may have been putting the pieces of the puzzle, as he knew it, together. By the time, the time came to send Harry and Hermoine back, it may have seemed like the natural and logical thing to do. 

I think we have far more evidence for this view, than for Dumbledore having some magical sense of the unforetold future. 


From Harry's perspective, Dumbledore's action certainly seem like he was creating a distraction and delay, but the fact is, the executioner DOES have to sign the documents. 

And if Dumbledore is delaying, why does he have to be delaying for Harry's sake? Why can't he be delaying for Hagrid's sake? The execution is going to be very traumatic for Hagrid, and the longer they can put it off the better. 

So, is Dumbledore's distraction convenient coincidence, or is it a calculated effort, and if calculated, on whose behave is it calculated? I don't think we really know. 

But I really see no evidence that Dumbledore has some magical way to know the future. Far more likely, what gifts he has are from being deeply observant, intuitively sensitive in the moment, highly intelligent, and being a deep thinker.

Or at least, that's one man's opinion.

Steve/bboyminn