Why doesn't Voldemort use a Time-Turner?

[Aquaria]

So let's review the facts:
Voldemort tries to kill Harry as a baby- he fails.
He lives on as a shadow of his former self.
He tries to kill Harry in his 1st year at hogwarts - he fails.
He tries to kill Harry in his 2nd year at hogwarts - he fails.
He tries to kill Harry in his 3rd year at hogwarts - he fails.
He returns to power.
He tries to kill Harry in his 4th year at hogwarts - he fails.
He tries to kill Harry in his 5th year at hogwarts - he fails.

Apparently he's not strong enough to cope with Harry's growing strength.
So why doesn't he go back using a time turner to try and kill Harry again?
He should know where he'd gone wrong these times so he could try and not make the same mistakes again.

Surely Harry could not win against two Voldemorts...

[Classical_Wizar]

there are promblems with meeting yourself but here the opposite Why not use the Time-Turner to stop Voldemort? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=4239&highlight=voldemort%2Atime+turner)

maybe Time travel & Time Turner: Questions and Ponderance (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=16898&highlight=time+turner)

[Aquaria]

but does he have to meet himself?
he knows where the potters have been hiding back then, he could show up days before pettigrew betrayed them and wouldn't risk meeting his former self.

[DarkThunder]

Because you cannot CHANGE time. Harry never died at that time, so he never CAN die at that time.

[EvilRaven]

I think it's because Voldemort is arrogant. He probably believes he'll eventually kill Harry and won't steal a time turner because of his belief.

[T_o_X_i_C]

I just assumed that you could only get one from the MOM , after all Mcgonagall said it was a hassle to get Hermione one, and you have to have proper reasons to use one. :cool:

[michaela]

If Voldermort wanted a Time Turner I'm sure he would find a way to get it, regardless if you could only get one from the Ministry of Magic.

[aluminium]

The way I see it, there's no way he could have used a Timeturner. If he was going to in Book Six or Seven, then he would have altered how things went in Books 1-5. Since Books 1-5 can sort of be seen as a record of those five years, if Voldemort did use a Timeturner, it would have showed up and had consequences on the books. I don't know if that will make any sense to you, but all I'm saying is that Harry had seen the consequences of the Timeturner from the orifinal time, so we would see that Voldemort used a Timeturner in whichever book he came back to.

[Stephie]

I believe you can only get one from the Ministry of Magic. They can't have people going aroung buying them and changing the past.

[Guybrush]

I think its really complicated. You can't CHANGE time! We saw in POA that what Hermione and Harry did was nothing NEW it was already there in the past. buck-beak was never dead. So.......apparently there is a time web and some pretty-confusing explanation for cause and effect but whatever, You just can't CHANGE time.

[Thædin]

Wait... I was under the impression that you COULD, because Hermione said Professor McGonagall was telling her about all these wizards who had gone back in time and killed their past selves... Sounds like a major change to me. And if Voldemort can't kill Harry before the fourth book, becuase then Voldemort wouldn't have been reborn, because Wormtail wouldn't have come and got him... and then the Voldemort that went into the past would disapear, I guess...and if Voldemort tried to kill Harry DURING his fourth year, then he would still be reborn, just without Harry's blood, so he wouldn't have Harry's protection, so he wouldn't be able to use the curse the moment he cast it, and it would inevitably make my brain hurt... a lot.

[Hermywormy]

In Hermione's case, Not being seen doesn't make sense. Becuase Hermione of 7:30 the night they saved Sirius KNEW about the time-turner, so couldn't she have just explained about it and then Hermione of later could've just told her that the rat is no good and put him in a box/cage and then kept him locked in the box/cage until she could bring him to Dumbledore.

I think it's well explained in this one book. It's something like "Time is like a lake; it happens all at once, but most people only experience it like a river, one day at a time." And this character can go back in time and she says that she can't change anything big that already wasn't going to happen anyway. So I guess Peter being found was too big or just had to happen. But I still think that's what Hermione should've done. But then we wouldn't have this life-debt which we are all so intersted in, so in a way, it might be good.

So I think you can change small things, but not things that HAVE to happen.

[autumn_ashes]

He would meet himself and probably end up marrying himself.

[stupiddeer]

if voldemort was going to use a time turner, we would know because harry would already be dead, remember how harry saw himself from the future, well harry would see voldemort fromt he future, if voldemort went back in time and killed harry , harry would be dead and voldemort from the present would never go back in time and harry wouldn't die

[TylerDurden]

He would meet himself and probably end up marrying himself.

I agree.

[aggiefan1206]

It wouldnt be that easy for him to get. Mabe he couldnt use it. You cant be seen which would mean he would have to not get seen for like 15 years.

What all can you actually change anyways the only think change in poa is that sirius was saved. Voldemort could ruin himself and mabe he knows that its too big of a risk

[Guybrush]

I have another explanation. Maybe........they have some kind of guard on the TIME-TRAVEL networks too.

[Barbara Kennedy]

Go to one of these threads for time travel questions.
Time travel & Time Turner: Questions and Ponderance (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=16898)
Free will and time travel in HP (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=17504)
The big issue: Has time/history been twisted? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=15280)

[winter snow]

I think if Voldermort were to use a timeturner to go back to the past, the same thing would happen. Lily would protect Harry and put a charming spell on him. Voldermort would again fail to kill Harry. Lily will always be there to protect Harry (in the past) so Voldermort would never win.

[trigger naruto]

because hermione says McGonagal must be a lot of work to have the timeturner and there are not many timeturner and all are repercute in the ministry of the magie.

ps: I'm french sorry for the error :-)

[rotsiepots]

I don't imagine its easy to get your hands on a Time-Turner. They were all stored in the Department of Mysteries, and while Voldemort didn't have any difficulties pentrating the DoM in OotP, I don't think time travel has occurred to him as a viable option.

Similarly, Voldemort might not know about the intricacies of time travel and as such wouldn't feel comfortable embarking on a time bending crusade to save himself.

Time travel can't, and shouldn't, be the answer to everything. :D

[aluminium]

And when things get complicated like this, just remember, this is just a book series with a fixed plot. I don't think JKR would want to come up with a whole theory on time travel just so her books would be a little more logical.

[nextsuperhero]

hermione only used the time turner to go back 3 hours. I don't think you could go back 15 years or so. you'd be turning the the hourglass for the rest of your life until you'd turned it for all those hours.

[free_girl]

I think I remember somebody saying that there was only 3 out there and very well guarded. Even if Voldermort wanted one, it would take him a while to get, I mean he didn't even go into the Minstry of Magic in OotP.

[Dedalus]

I believe the same as the others, that time can't be altered. If Harry is not dead NOW, then it never happened in the PAST - and that includes in the past through a Time Turner. Travelling back to the past isn't just going to an alternate present, it really is the past! So in the present it's already happened, do you see? Take Buckbeak - he was never actually excecuted because at that moment another Harry and Hermione were there, from the future, saving his life. It's a big confusing loop, I know - and that's probably why you shouldn't dabble in time, you'd drive yourself mad before anything else!

[Hermywormy]

I think if Voldermort were to use a timeturner to go back to the past, the same thing would happen. Lily would protect Harry and put a charming spell on him. Voldermort would again fail to kill Harry. Lily will always be there to protect Harry (in the past) so Voldermort would never win.

Well, maybe he could kill her before Harry was even born! Like in the middle of the night or something. Then James could try to get revenge. Ooh, so much drama!

But to answer your question, I don't think the thought ever occuerred to him.

[londonknight]

Because you cannot CHANGE time. Harry never died at that time, so he never CAN die at that time.

That is quite right. If Voldemort had decided to go back in time then Harry never would have existed to live to the ripe age of 11 and find out he is a wizard . So none of the events from the 1st 5 books would have happened as Harry would have been dead 15 years ago.

But it does then ask the question, that if Voldemort did indeed go back in time to kill Harry, how would life in between have changed. If Voldemort goes back in time and kills Harry, then in the future/present he never would have had to go back in time.

[harry13]

If voldemort were to go back in time in the future books, it would have already hapened in the first 5 books.

[aluminium]

Well, maybe he could kill her before Harry was even born!John Conner!

[Hermywormy]

John Conner!

huh?

[Creatively Evil]

If Voldy used a time turner things would get so confusing, so messed up, and history would be completely different ..I'm not even going to start to think about this.

[Gwenog Jones]

Voldemort can't use a time turner, it just won't work. Here is why:

Voldemort goes back in time, and either
a) Tries to kill Harry another way or
b) lets Harry and his parents live, and he decides to wait before he attempts to kill him

Either way, Voldemort will end up, once again, marking Harry as his equal. He could not have killed Harry in another way, because it would have backfired. This is because the prophecy has to be fulfilled. At least, that is what I would assume would happen.

Also, it would mess up what has already happened in Book 1-5. If Voldemort was actually able to succeed in killing Harry, then we would not have had Books 1-5. Therefore, none of the series could have happend, which is why time travel probably won't be used in the next books.

[sirhcdralla27]

ok just think of it this way, when hermione used the time turner to go back three hours she had to turn it 3 times. so lets say voldemort wants to go back to before harry was born to kill lily. so he would have to turn it roughly 139,776 times to go back that far because if he doesnt go back that far he would only make harry his equall again. so by the time he turned it that many times harry and everyone would have found him and stopped em. do you see why he couldnt use a time turner?

[Hermywormy]

maybe you can turn it differently to make it turn years ago or days ago. I don't think it's ever said "you can only go back in hours" anywhere. So you never know.

[Spirit]

Voldemort tries to kill Harry as a baby- he fails.
He lives on as a shadow of his former self.
Well, even if he did have a Time-Turner with him then, would he really be in the shape he needs to use it? Voldemort only survived by posessing snakes at times - I don't think that he would have been able to use a Time-Turner then.

He tries to kill Harry in his 1st year at hogwarts - he fails.
Yes, but again, with Quirrel gone, he is in no better shape then he was when he first tried to kill Harry.

He tries to kill Harry in his 2nd year at hogwarts - he fails.
Yes, and Tom Riddle dies. So he is definetly in no shape to use a Time-Turner.

He tries to kill Harry in his 3rd year at hogwarts - he fails.
He does? :huh: No one was trying to kill Harry in his third year.

He returns to power.
He tries to kill Harry in his 4th year at hogwarts - he fails.
All right. Well, Voldemort just returned to power. He definitely wasn't ready for Harry to get away from him again, so I doubt he had Wormtail get a Time-Turner. And I don't think that his Death Eaters had any handy either. I don't think that Time-Turners are easy things to get from the Ministry anyway.

He tries to kill Harry in his 5th year at hogwarts - he fails.
I think that he didn't bother to go after Harry again because it would be an extremely risky thing to do. Dumbledore was involved. The Prophecy was involved. All his Death Eaters were involved. I think that he's moved on to bigger and better things then Harry.

[ErickGama]

I think someone already said/say this but here I go:

I think that he can't use a time turner because you have to ask for it to the Ministry of Magic, just like Professor McGonagall did with Hermione.

[ComicBookWorm]

He hasn't used the time turner because he hasn't used the time turner.

Anything done via time travel to the past is already reflected in the past, so it would already be part of the history of the present.

[aluminium]

John Conner!huh?It's from Terminator. John Conner is doing the whole saving-the-human-race thing from the robots. Then a robot goes back in time to kill John's mother before she gives birth to John. Ahhnold Schwartzenneggar (the robot) yells out "John Conaahhh" at some point in the story. Dunno, your theory sounded like him trying to kill John's mom pregnant.

[IheartLupin12]

Ok, if I think about this for more than a minute my head will explode...however...it doesnt make sense that he can kill harry using a time-turner, even if its in the end of book 7...and he only turns back few minutes or hour or whatever. So, he goes back...kills harry and then in the present time what happens? Harry just disappears without a trace? ...Im sorry but this idea is making me really confused so I must leave now!

[morgan le fay]

ok just think of it this way, when hermione used the time turner to go back three hours she had to turn it 3 times. so lets say voldemort wants to go back to before harry was born to kill lily. so he would have to turn it roughly 139,776 times to go back that far because if he doesnt go back that far he would only make harry his equall again. so by the time he turned it that many times harry and everyone would have found him and stopped em. do you see why he couldnt use a time turner?

While this makes sense, I think that the fact that the time turner is designed this way, allowing only for time return by the hour and not by week or day or month, shows that it is a device that is meant to allow for "short distance" time travel so to say. If there was a way to use the TT to turn back more than a day, I think we would know it. Regardless, there may be other devices designed just for this idea, of traveling over greater distances of time. The TT is not meant for mass time travel.

[AliceRose]

I there any reason to tell us that voldermort uses a time-turner?

[Dementor Dave]

Voldemort most likely does not use a time turner because he has little need of short term time travel (at the moment). Perhaps there is a means of traveling long distances through time? If anyone would have knowledge of such a spell it would be the Dark Lord. There is much talk of time travel in the series, perhaps Voldemort is the one skipping through time? Anyway, it's late here ( or maybe early?) and I'm having trouble thinking (quantum physics and three days thread lag are taking their toll) so I'll wrap this post up with an Orwell qoute:
"He who controls the present, controls the past.He who controls the past, controls the future."
-Dementor Dave

[Hermywormy]

It's from Terminator. John Conner is doing the whole saving-the-human-race thing from the robots. Then a robot goes back in time to kill John's mother before she gives birth to John. Ahhnold Schwartzenneggar (the robot) yells out "John Conaahhh" at some point in the story. Dunno, your theory sounded like him trying to kill John's mom pregnant.

Oh. I never saw Terminator. Not my type of movie. Well, okay it is, but my parents have this weird thing about the movies I watch.

Okay, back on topic. Good points, people! Don't have much to add except I don't think there is another way of time travel except the time turner. So for me, it's either the time turner can be turned somhow to go back by days, mothes, years, ect. or there is no way. That's probably why.

[deadsirius]

With all this said, about the time-turners being guarded, not being easy to get, etc., I can't understand why Hermoine was given a time-turner. Especially with Black on the loose.

Also, If you've ever seen Back to the Future 2, you could understand how stupid things would be if Voldemont used a time-turner.

Why didn't JKR put limits on the time-turners or at-least explain them more. Maybe she will in HbP. OOH OOH, SPOILER! I feel naughty

[130R]

I think the only reason Voldemort doesn't use the timeturner is because he would win. Obviously, JKR can't write a story where the villian defeats the hero.

If the MoM is giving out timeturners so that 13 year old girls can have extra time to do their homework, Voldemort would have no problem getting one. If you don't agree with that, he does have the power to evacuate everyone from the MoM. He could simply walk in, and take one off the shelf.

I don't know where people are getting the idea that you can't change time. It's stated quite plainly in the text that you can. Hermione said there were reports of people killing their time traveling counterparts. If that's not chaning time, then I don't know what is.

[deadsirius]

I still think that JKR should have explained the time-turners more, don't you?

[frodo328]

Alright, I've seen a few threads about using the time turner to kill people.. I have a theory about how the Time Turner works and what the user must deal with.

My basic theory is that the turner allows someone to travel back in time, but really provides no means as to return the what was once the present - in other words, travel into the future.

So far, all events fall under this theory. When Hermione used the turner to take her classes, she could travel back an hour or so to make it to a class, but once she was there, she had to stay there. With saving Buckbeak and releasing Sirius, Harry and Hermione were basically active until they returned to the "present". Even if they had finished early, they would have to just wait it out until they caught up with the present.

So... if Voldemort were to go back into time to kill people, he would be essentially caught in the past. This would mean that he would have a higher chance of bumping into his former self, which could prove to be catastrophic. Both Voldemorts of the time could not dominate the wizarding world.

But... Harry, could have actually saved himself as a baby. They always say that no one really knows why Harry was saved, although Dumbledore seems to have some understanding...

What if one day, Harry realizes that he can go back in time to save his parents, and does so, knowing that he can never return to his "present". The ultimate sacrifice! and yet, our Hero does not die. When he returns, he fails to save his parents, since we all know they died, but he manages to save himself. Since baby Harry is immediately wisked away to Privet Drive, adult Harry can easily avoid meeting his younger self, thus there is no chance of any chance meeting.

[DragonBlk17]

That's a good theory.:tu: I agree that maybe Harry will somehow figure out a way to go back into time to save himself and his parents.

[Classical_Wizar]

maybe Was 18-year-old Harry also at Godric's Hollow that fateful night? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=27059&highlight=Godric+Hollow)

[Picko]

Thanks CW :tu:

Please check out that thread for more discussion on this topic, you'll hopefully find some interesting discussion there :)

In the future please make sure you do a quick search to ensure that the topic you wish to discuss isn't being discussed elsewhere :)

[Red Herring]

Where do you think Time-Turner Harry would have been for the last 14 years?

[frodo328]

Please check out that thread for more discussion on this topic, you'll hopefully find some interesting discussion there :)

In the future please make sure you do a quick search to ensure that the topic you wish to discuss isn't being discussed elsewhere :)

Wait wait... this is essentially a theory as to how the time turner works. But the baby Harry idea fits into the theory as well...

It is not the same as the other thread... even though i didnt realize it existed.


Where do you think Time-Turner Harry would have been for the last 14 years?


I haven't thought about where adult Harry has been... but who knows really...

In the Forbidden Forest reigning as king? Kidding... but I'll think about it...

[Picko]

Ahhh ... ok :D My mistake :D

Maybe you'd like to check out here (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=16898&highlight=time-turner) for a thread about time travel in general. It deals with theories and what not regarding time travel and I think it might give you a few ideas :)

[HaRRy PoTTr]

I love the idea.... But maybe instead of harry surviving after saving his babby self he dies trying?

[frodo328]

I love the idea.... But maybe instead of harry surviving after saving his babby self he dies trying? - Harry Pottr

I hate to think that is how it'll end! Heh. If he survives, it is almost like he dies... well, to everyone that he knew when he was 18. They would miss out on 18 years of his life. He could always find them again when he's 36, but thats a long time without your best friends.

[HarryPotter]

I honestly don't think that is likely to happen... why Baby Harry didn't die is directly related with his mom's sacrifice, not with a time travel...

[frodo328]

why Baby Harry didn't die is directly related with his mom's sacrifice

Well, Lily's sacrifice did allow adult Harry to have that little extra something to save himself. She did not do it all alone.

[Lily Potter 47]

It's a good idea, as I think J.K. Rowling introduced the time turner and the room that had to do with time in the Department of Mysteries for important reasons. But, baby Harry didn't die because Lily sacrificed herself, so adult Harry couldn't really do anything about that.

[Griffey30]

The thing I always had a problem with was the explanation of how Harry was saved from the dementors at the lake in PoA. If he died he would never had been able to go back in time to save himself. I hope JKR leaves time travel out of the next two books because its just confuses people.

[frodo328]

But, baby Harry didn't die because Lily sacrificed herself, so adult Harry couldn't really do anything about that.

Well, we only know some of how Lily's sacrifice saved Harry. In SS/PS, Dumbledore talks about the love of Harry's mother, but that does not seem it would be enough to save Harry, no does it? Anyone, who is to say that Lily didn't sacrifice herself to save Adult Harry?

The thing I always had a problem with was the explanation of how Harry was saved from the dementors at the lake in PoA. If he died he would never had been able to go back in time to save himself. I hope JKR leaves time travel out of the next two books because its just confuses people.

Well, it is a cycle basically. Time travel isn't easily understood - and basically, no one really understands it. In JK's world though, I believe that what has happened, has happened, in only one way! - but how that happened, is what is left up in the air.

[Reverie]

I don't know it's a good theory but since it deals with time traveling it makes me confused. So I have to ask if Harry went back there then there would be two HArry in the same 'time' because if he stopped Voldmort from killing the baby Harry now there are two.?

Maybe I really just don't understand the time turner I always understood it like this you really can't go back in time to the same world because then you would be going arounfd in circles always going back in time therefore you kind of die or stay like thst for ever. Of course this is fiction but overall I guess I agree with you're idea that when you go back there is no way to come back.

[Mumps]

I think if it did happen he'd have to use some device other than a time-turner.
To travel back 18 years you'd have to turn the time-turner back 157 788 times!
But maybe the time-turner is how Dumbledore has been doing somethings. Maybe the reason he got to Harry and Voldemort in PS/SS is because he used a time turner to go back a few hours. 1 of his "selves" would be in London at the MoM and the other at Hogwarts.

[frodo328]

So I have to ask if Harry went back there then there would be two HArry in the same 'time' because if he stopped Voldmort from killing the baby Harry now there are two.?

There would be two Harry's. But the thing is, Older Harry knows exactly where younger Harry is at all times. During the summer, he is conveniently at Privet Drive; during the school year, at Hogwarts

The real mystery is, if this Time Turner theory is true, and Harry can not return to the "present", what is he doing all this time?

I think if it did happen he'd have to use some device other than a time-turner.
To travel back 18 years you'd have to turn the time-turner back 157 788 times!


Well, he could turn it with a bit of magic. :D

[sindatur]

It's a neat theory I've seen several times, but, I have a few problems with this theory.

1. As pointed out, it was Lily's sacrifice that saved Harry (The blood bond and all)
2. Voldemort attempted to kill Harry with some spell (We assume it's an AK) and after firing off the spell, something ripped Voldemort from his body (My assumption is the rebounded curse as we've been told). I can accept maybe Adult Harry did whatever ripped Voldemort from his body, after Voldemort attacked baby Harry, but, there's still holes.
3. And finally, a Time Turner goes back an hour for each turn, 24 hours a day times, 365 days a year, times 18 years (plus a minimum of 4 leap years) equals 157,776 turns. How long will it take to make that many turns? Do you need to add extra turns for the hours that you are doing the turning? What happens if you miscount and go back one hour too few? Do you turn the time turner again, and multiply yourself again for that many hours? Time Turner just doesn't seem practical for long distance time travel.

[Lord Nicholai]

we already know that lilys sacrifice invoked an ancient magic which was able to protect Harry from the curse. I dont think Harry went back in time.

(note: JKR has already done the "lets go back in time" story. I doubt she'd do it again)

[Romy]

This is an excellent theory as to why it´s not possible to use a time-turner to erase all present problems (a real eye-opener, I´d call it) but I find the thought that JKR would use such a complicated method to conclude her series very unlikely. I think Harry has only been saved by his mum as it´s pointed out in all the books. And at the end of book seven he´ll either die (likely, I´m afraid) or survive and not disappeare mysterically. But the original theory of time travelling is very good :clap: .

[Reverie]

There would be two Harry's. But the thing is, Older Harry knows exactly where younger Harry is at all times. During the summer, he is conveniently at Privet Drive; during the school year, at Hogwarts

The real mystery is, if this Time Turner theory is true, and Harry can not return to the "present", what is he doing all this time?
I guess he is going living through his life all over again. About my other question if Harry does that wouldn't he be stuck like that forever always going back in time in that exact same year? Time travel is weird. Oh and do you think they age back like if he goes back in time 18 years he'll be a baby when he gets there?

[aluminium]

Hermione said there were reports of people killing their time traveling counterparts. If that's not chaning time, then I don't know what is.It's not really changing time though. It's preset that the person who killed their future-self will live up to the point of their use of the TimeTurner, will go back in time, and kill themselves, only to go back and be killed later by the self who will use the TimeTurner... and so on.

But if the time-traveling future-self killed the past-self... well, I don't see how that could work. Because then, how would they be able to live on to use the Turner? So killing your past-self, in my train of thought, would be impossible. Since "Anything done via time travel to the past is already reflected in the past, so it would already be part of the history of the present." (ComicBookWorm, that's a great way of saying it:))

(edited just to put into two paragraph-y things)

[frodo328]

About my other question if Harry does that wouldn't he be stuck like that forever always going back in time in that exact same year?

No, his 18 year old self would go back in time. 36(or 35 rather) year old Harry would keep going in his normal time frame. So 18 year old Harry would go into the past, and 35 would continue with the "present".

Oh and do you think they age back like if he goes back in time 18 years he'll be a baby when he gets there?

He should be the same as. His physical body doesn't change, just the time frame.

[Melon]

Harry didnt die because as (i think dumbldore) said of his mother's love, its pretty easy to understand

[LS fan aSoUE]

i imagine it would be a bit hard to get ahold of one, who knows how many exist?

[tantrix]

I don't know.. the theory may hold some promise.. but the whole idea of harry living by himself somewhere doesn't make sense.. another thing.. would he remain 18 for the 18 years he waits.. or would he age?

[deathfairy87]

I agree with Dark Thunder, you cannot CHANGE time

[frodo328]

another thing.. would he remain 18 for the 18 years he waits.. or would he age?

He would age. Living in a different time is no different from living in a different city. Think about it that way.

[Aseldar]

This theory has already been beaten over in another thread. I don't believe it, though.

[frodo328]

Again, the core of this thread is the idea of how the Time Turner works and why people just can't go back in time to change things as they wish. There is a sacrifice.

This mainly explains why Voldemort cant go back and kill whoever he choses.

[Barbara Kennedy]

These threads discuss how the time turner works and why time travel cannot change the past.

Time travel & Time Turner: Questions and Ponderance (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=16898)
Free will and time travel in HP (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=17504)
The big issue: Has time/history been twisted? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=15280)
Why not use the Time-Turner to stop Voldemort? ( http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=4239)

[Lord Nicholai]

nothing can be changed by going back in time. it always makes me laugh when people say "why not go back and change things"

look at POA. Hermione and Harry DO NOT change anything with the time turner

http://members.lycos.co.uk/remmy/HPtime.jpg

this diagram shows harry and hermione going back in time. the yellow dot is saving buckbeak. both dots are the same event! it happens in the past AND when harry and hermione go back. Its just seen from a different angle. Its the same with saving Sirius from the dementors (shown in purple)

Nothing changes. When going back in time, they just ensure that what has already happens, happens

[fawkes4eva]

who says voldemort isnt using a time turner??? as the undisputed lord of darkness, he must be pretty busy, more so than hermione in her third year, and who knows, he could probably count it as a business expense when he does his tax. (incidentally, do wizards pay tax???)

of corse, i dont think this helps him to kill harry, as i dont beleive the past can be undone, but he still might have one. maybe he'll use it in the 7th book so there r two of him fighting harry.

[Tonks04]

We dont really know why he doesnt use a time turner, because he mgiht run into himself in the past and screw things up royaly, But kaybe he is using a time turner, we dont really know.

[QuidditchChaser]

If he did use a time turner. He would meet himself and the "past himself" would think it as a fake and try to kill it so it would be a war against each other causing reanimating wars. If he didn't go that far back why wouldn't he go to book 1 and get himself a new body sooner?? :huh: This is confusing but maybe as stated before there are laws to the time turner.

[starutena]

Time may be the one thing he doesn't want to mess with. In time travel, unintended consquences abound. If Voldy goes back in time to book 1, changes the outcome so that

a) Quirrel gets the stone- then bodiless Voldy gains a body and immortality. But the Voldy that goes back then wouldn't be the same Voldy-he'd be immortal and wouldn't need to go back because the events of the next 4 years radically change- a Paradox occurs.

or

b) The Voldy that goes back takes the stone from Harry between the time the stone appears in Harry's pocket and Harry passing out. In that case both Voldy in Quirrel and Harry would see the restored Voldy. The shock would freak out all in the room, changing the events of the next four years- Paradox again.

or

c) Voldy goes into the past. Steals the stone prior to it's being moved to Hogwarts. Bodyless Voldy goes balistic because someone beat him to the stone-not knowing that his future self is the culpruit. He then uses Quirrel to regain a body, changing the next four years- oh look another paradox.

In any event, Voldemort going back in time to cause his restoration to a body early would cause a huge paradox. Who knows how such things are resolved by time. I think that alone is the reason he will not play with time. Too many varibles. He is smart enough to know what not to touch.

[Joen]

he could no get one, and i thik it would already have had an effect on the books if he had :no:

[frodo328]

Well, no one can say that for sure. Unless of course, you've time traveled...

[Lord Nicholai]

its obvious from the film...look at the scene in hagrids hut. 2 stones get thrown through the window, alerting the trio that that the ministers coming. When they go back in time, nothing changes. 2 stones go through the window, exactly like before...We just see it from a different angle. I dont have POA here with me to pull a similar example from the book, but ive no doubt there is one. This shows that Harry, Voldemort, Dumbledore or anyone else CANT change whats happened in the past. Its already happened! theres nothign you can do to change it. you can spectate, or ensure that what happens, happens.

[Gwenog Jones]

Good example, Lord Nicholai. Voldemort will not use a time-turner to change the events that happened when Harry was a baby, because then we would already know about it. Then, we would not have the series!

[Rola]

Because you cannot CHANGE time. Harry never died at that time, so he never CAN die at that time.

I agree with this dude. Everyone else ignored him...bless. :rotfl:

[Sophie Patil]

I know this might sound like a stupid question, but why didn't voldemort use a time-turner to get back his power?
Well, obviously it is like THE ultimate illegal thing to do, but it's not like he would care. If he went back in time and prevnetd himself from killing harry, than he would still be powerful and everything. he is evil enough to do that kind of thing, even though you never know of the consequences - but honestly did he have anything to lose?
and he is Lord Voldemot, he'd be in the position to get something like that, or make up a plan for someone else (for example Quirrel or Peter), that way he hardly would have had any trouble at all to gain back his powers.

what do you think?

(I did do a search. couldn't find anything, hope I didn't miss something)

[Rapunzel]

How would he get ahold of a time turner? It was a major undertaking to get into the DoM to try to get the prophecy - time turners are well guarded. Also, the time turner that we saw takes you back one hour for each turn. If his possession of Quirrel was the first time he actually had a physical body and could hold a time turner, years had already gone by. How many turns would it need to go back 11 years, one hour at a time?

[woop]

he didn't use a time turner becuase if he had used one, there wouldn't be a story! :p

[Sophie Patil]

he didn't use a time turner becuase if he had used one, there wouldn't be a story! :p

haha! too true!

How would he get ahold of a time turner? Also, the time turner that we saw takes you back one hour for each turn. If his possession of Quirrel was the first time he actually had a physical body, years had already gone by. How many turns would it need to go back 11 years, one hour at a time?

He could have surely figured something out, maybe peter and quirrel were of no use for that, barty crouch jr. very much liekly could have arranged to get voldi one. you know directly from the MoM... he would found a way..
and do you think that it'd be so bad to do the turn it millions of times, if it meant getting back his powers? maybe there is an alternate time-turner for longer periods of time. like a calender instead of the clock thingy... haha

[woop]

How would he get ahold of a time turner? It was a major undertaking to get into the DoM to try to get the prophecy - time turners are well guarded. Also, the time turner that we saw takes you back one hour for each turn. If his possession of Quirrel was the first time he actually had a physical body and could hold a time turner, years had already gone by. How many turns would it need to go back 11 years, one hour at a time?

well if you spun it around really fast you could back quite a bit. a more important question might be not how far back you can go, but how much farther you can go once you've already gone back. so if you go back five hours and realize you haven't gone back far enough, can you go back five hours more? that's where it gets complicated. there could be dozens of u running around.

[elperuaan]

Well, I believe he is smart enough to think about that, but I did see a calculation on how many times he had to spinn the darn thing, and thats a lot! (1hr a spin, 24 hours in a day, 365 days a year, 16 years....I mean, an hour would have past before you finish.....

No, I think there are three major problems.
1. If he met himself, to stop himself from going to Harry, he would probably kill himself, because he is too paranoid.

2. If he did manage to change time like that, he would never go back after 16 years, so he would never change time like that....etc.

3. I don't think the Time Turners can really change time. You can use them to observe past events, or make things happen that have already happened. (I've got a piece on that at 'sirius and the timeturner') Basically, you can go back and do stuff, but only stuff that's already recorded. Like the escape of buckbeak. DD send back H and H after he had witnessed the escape of Buckbeak, so he knew H and H would be able to free him, although he didn't tell them. so you can't change things that have been recorded.

[ShellyBell18]

I think that he could have done that, but like woop said, there would be no story. ;) But realistically he probably realized that it wouldn't have worked by the time he had a new body to use.

[Barbara Kennedy]

Aside from the fact that he probably doesn't have a timeturner, some of the same reasons apply as why anyone else cannot change the past, with a timeturner or not.

See these threads.

Time travel & Time Turner: Questions and Ponderance (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=16898)
Free will and time travel in HP (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=17504)
The big issue: Has time/history been twisted? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=15280)
Why not use the Time-Turner to stop Voldemort? ( http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=4239)
How Voldemort invented the flushing toilet (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=34621)
Why oh why timetravel??? (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=22564)

[godrics hollow]

he didnt use one because ne never thought of it... iv'e dont that tons of times ahahh usually meant the difference between 95 and 100 % on an assignment but who really cares there tons of other ways (like he demonstrated for like 3 books straight i think) to make ure self come bk if ure voldy so why use something so mind boggling?

[LengMui]

i don't think he had access to one. mcgonagall told hermione that the ministry of magic had really strict rules on it and stuff so i highly doubt there will be one with voldemort. of course there are ways that he could get it, but without a good body, it's not exactly possible is it

[wHotOOkmYtAcO]

even if he could get his hands on one time turners tend to make wizards loony. if he was a nutter then he wouldn't make a very good antagonist now would he?

[willi]

he didn't use a time turner becuase if he had used one, there wouldn't be a story! :p

Meh - that's the same old argument used with Hamlet. ("Why did Hamlet delay?")

But seriously - As an extrordinarilary powerful wizard he most probably COULD have got his hands on an illegal time turner.

But after he was almost destroyed with his encounter with Harry, he was left eith no body so there is no way he could have grasped a physical object and used it.

Even if he DID have a time turner, he could not have used it with no physical body to operate it.

[elperuaan]

I believe people meant that when he got his body back, why didn't he use the time-turner then. I already reacted on that my last post, but no reactions yet. But an even better would be: why didn't he use a time turner to get to the boar's head, and listen to the prophecy there....much easier, and less invasive.

[Droobles]

Don't you need permission to get a Time-Turner from the MoM....?

[Nephel]

Perhaps time-turners only work upto 24 hours. Voldemort was in no state to retain his powers 24 hours after the Avada Kedavra curse rebounded and hit him.

[woop]

Don't you need permission to get a Time-Turner from the MoM....?

only if you're a good, law abiding citizen. if you're a bad guy, well, you'd prolly steal it or something.

[nano]

I reckon even if he DID think of the idea, it wouldn#t have worked, cause he couldn't have changed what has already happened anyway - thats the way it seems to work - When Harry & Herminone went back in time, they didn't change anything - they only carried out what had already happened.

But who knows, perhaps the Voldy who died already had travelled back in time to get Harry - noooooo, not ging down that lane again!!! Or even better: the reason Harry survived, was the fact, that Harry himself from the future was there and somehow and because of this young Harry could not be killed (would have been a paradoxon) Perhaps that was why the spell backfired on old Voldy straining him of his powers and killing the Harry from the future instaed of the littl baby Harry, giving him a chance to grow up and fight Voldy on his return!! - nooooooooooo, not going there either - already been said on other threads.

I just think it is not possible to change anything in JKR's kind of timetravel used in the HP series. So if someone will go back in time in future books we will already have read about it, (perhaps we even have read about it all the time!!! *spooky*) by the time they actually do, but just not recognised he signs, same as it was in PoA.

greetings
nano

[Tane]

There is the possibility that Voldemort could have acquired one as Lucious might have sent Voldemort a present in the form of a time-turner. Lucious at one point did have close ties with the ministry and may have even bought some members to cover up the fact that he acquired perhaps several time-turners. There is really nothing stopping him from gaining a time-turner and that might have been the reason for Voldemort wanting to know the exact wording of the prophecy because that would tell him where he went wrong. If Voldemort knew what the prophecy foretold then he could try and go back in time to prevent his possible future demise, change the time line and not mark Harry as his equal.

If Voldemort had not gone and mark Harry I have a strange feeling that he would have gone on and won the war he was fighting back then. This could be why Dumbledore never wants Voldemort to know what the prophecy is, so that he can not go back in time and change history in such a damaging way.

On another level, why does Harry not just go back in time and tell Riddle that he is about to marry a witch, if he does that then Tom may never have been born because that was the reason I think Riddle left Tom’s mother in the first place. Vanquish the dark lord, whip out his actual existence from the time line by telling Tom’s father that his mother is a witch.

Edit: She might never have gone on and married to have children after that.

[Droobles]

only if you're a good, law abiding citizen. if you're a bad guy, well, you'd prolly steal it or something.

Oh okay I see now...

[woop]

that's why bad guys are bad guys. they're always breaking the law!

[ramones]

If Voldemort could have used a time turner, I think he would have.

Maybe he couldn't, and I think you are bringing up interesting reasons:

1) He didn't have access to a Time-Turner
2) He couldn't go back that far in time

I think that had he gone back in time, maybe he couldn't change the events that happened at Godric's Hollow. And that's why he didn't even try.
That's why he had to wait for help so that he could get his body back.

Tane I think there is one major flaw in your theory:

Lucius could have taken a Time-Turner from the DoM, but he never went to look for Voldemort, he wasn't interested in having in back.

[Tane]

Tane I think there is one major flaw in your theory:

Lucius could have taken a Time-Turner from the DoM, but he never went to look for Voldemort, he wasn't interested in having in back.Lucious turned up at the end of GoF in the circle of death eaters and could have passed on the time turner there and then to Voldemort though.

[HarryPotter]

It is hard to turn a Time Turner when you don't have a body and you're weaker than the weakest of spirits...

[Kidney Pie]

Why did McGonigal have a time turner anyway? Why did she give it to Hermione? I think it goes deeper than just to help her get good grades. And maybe deeper than just to help Buckbeak. There is probably another very good reason she got it, to forfil something that has to happen.
As much as I love Buckbeak, he is just a Hippogryph......isn't he?
If he were one of the last of his kind, that would be something. Hey, maybe he is one of a few that are left...
Anyway, there has to be more to Buckbeak than just a Hippogryph...

[godrics hollow]

hahha lol so we all agree he didnt use it because it just wasnt meant to be right? good now can someone tell me how to get upgraded a year i never figured it out

oh and the dude before me its a coincidince that she got the turner all she wanted t odo was help hermione so its not something deeper cause that would be really gey

[Spirit]

How could he even use a Time-Turner? He didn't have a body to hook the Time-Turner to. And besides, I don't think that Time-Turners are the easiest thing to get a hold of. I'm sure that they are heavily protected, and maybe there is a law that Death Eaters cannot get a hold of them in case they tried to go back in time and bring Voldemort back to power. And all the Death Eaters deserted him anyway -- Wormtail only returned twelve years later. I don't see how Voldemort could have gotten a hold of, and used a Time-Turner.

[aggiefan1206]

How would he go back and do all that stuff without being seen. That would have been pretty hard and mabe only certain people have access

[nano]

I don't think, that actually anything *bad* happens when you are seen - Sirius saw Harry and Hermione in PoA didn't he? I think it is just a directive, that you *should* keep to, so as not to meddle too much. And as for Voldemort - who he have kept to directives and rules???

nano

[Machiavelli]

Do we even know how many wizards know there are time-turners? They're in the mysteries dept right? so...

1) all those who have pointed out that prior to his regeneration Voldemort couldn't have gotten ahold of a time turner are spot on.

2) If time turners are generally known about there must be some way of protecting them that we didn't see - the kids after all did not try to remove anything from that room. If there isn't serious security I would think the more reasonable question would be "Why didn't any of the DE's use a time-turner to go back and warn Voldemort not to attack Harry".

3) I think JKR knows better than to abuse time turners in her books. She has placed quite strict limits on the use in the only book it's shown up in.

[sarria33]

How would he get ahold of a time turner? Yeah but how did he get a wand also??????????

[Spirit]

How would he get ahold of a time turner?
Yeah but how did he get a wand also??????????
I thought that Voldmort got his wand back from Wormtail...?

[Wiehan Potter]

Personally I think that time, or its effect, can't really be changed, and Vodemort knows that. What would have happened with the prophecy if Voldemort somehow went back in time and stopped himself from attempting to kill Harry? How would he have marked the one with the power to vanquish him?

Time is kind of a preset entity - and no amount of altering can change its ultimate effect. In this case a prophecy was made, and whatever happened, Voldemort would have went to Godric's Hollow and attempt to kill Harry Potter.

So, if Voldemort did go back in time, he would by some conclusion of events not have been able to stop himself trying to kill Harry.

As for why he didn't use a time-turner, there are probably other ways in which one could travel time: a spell, for example.

[MadMagic]

After Harry "defeated" Voldemort, he was hardly in the position to be able to organize a time travel adventure. He was without a physical body and all his supporters abandoned him. How would he have been able to travel through time without a body?
Once he regained his followers (Peter in PoA) it was too late for timetravel. Unless the time turner also can move you forward in time, once he was there to stop himself he would have to re-live the past 13 years in order to meet up with the present again. And really that's just not practical.
So I really just don't think that the timeturner is a practical option for Voldemort's situation. If he still had followers to help him after the Harry incident maybe, but he didn't so he had no means with which to accomplish such a thing.

[elfgirl831]

Also, even though Voldemort was very powerful, time turners are still very hard to obtain. In PoA, it sounded to me like the MoM has control of time turners. Even though Voldemort still had supporters in the MoM, they didn't exactly know that he was still around, now did they?

[EndersWrath88]

How would he get ahold of a time turner? It was a major undertaking to get into the DoM to try to get the prophecy - time turners are well guarded. Also, the time turner that we saw takes you back one hour for each turn. If his possession of Quirrel was the first time he actually had a physical body and could hold a time turner, years had already gone by. How many turns would it need to go back 11 years, one hour at a time?

it would take exactly 96408 turns if it goes by hours...i included leap year also.... :rotfl:
that is a lot of turns if you ask me...but if it would get me full power again then i might do it...if there is nothing good on TV that is.

[MoodyHarry]

Why didn't Dumbledore use the time turner to prevent the death of the Potters?

There are so many instances where we think the time turner would help.

But that is a brilliant question, Sophie Patil.

Don't know - the only answer I have is that every villain - whether in books or film - has always taken the hard way when doing nasty deeds.

Case in point - the Prior Incantatum scene in GoF.
It was an amazing scene and so well written, but my cynical side kept thinking throughout the entire exchange: "Just kill him already! Stop yapping!"

But a very valid question.

Remember during PoA, Dumbledore was very adamant about changing the past. It was clearly stated that any change in the past time line would cause major problems with the future. So maybe Voldemort had some brains to realize this....but maybe not...:)

[nano]

Remember during PoA, Dumbledore was very adamant about changing the past. It was clearly stated that any change in the past time line would cause major problems with the future. So maybe Voldemort had some brains to realize this....but maybe not...
... maybe not ... Perhaps he has already used it to get to Godric's Hollow and that was what went wrong and made him powerless in the first place - I now - different thread ...

nano