The closed timeloop thing is what I'm referring to. In PoA, Harry casts the patronus. He wouldn't have been alive to go back in time if he hadn't cast the patronus and he is the same Harry casting it before during and after the loop, but he had to think of and decide to cast it. It was in him to do so. Thus Harry thought up and acted on his actions in 1960 and it was in him to do so. So he is culpable for his actions timeloop or no. Like you said, he wouldn't have had to take those actions if he hadn't already. Of course, I found your story just after having read "The time traveler's Wife" so it's probably affecting my interpretation. (Also, I tend to prefer the the theory that an instance of time travel spawns a parallel universe so there is no paradox problem. *blink* Um, yeah, Star Trek. Hey, at least I didn't call it a recursive causality loop)
Ah! But Descartes' proof only applies to consciousness, not free will, and we can be conscious of things that are not true.
Looking over the passage, I think you're right it was mostly Hermione being clever. But it does serve as an example that there are workarounds, so Harry not even trying to think one up is a strike against him. It's thoughtless, not malicious, but still...
Actually, the canon seems to have the time travel thing work on some schrodinger's cat sort of method. As long as the time travel does not change what the time traveler perceived prior to the date of travel, there is no paradox. Like in PoA, even though they all thought Buckbeak had been killed, they hadn't actually witnessed it, so they could still rescue him in the timeloop.
At any rate, canon apparently finds the timeline robust enough that handing over a time travel device to a 13-year-old so she can take extra classes is considered acceptable.
I find the evolution of the Severus Snape interpretation to be pretty interesting. The idea he was a rich pampered pure-blood is pretty pervasive up through the release of book six. Snape Manor is everywhere. Up until book five, he was typically seen as Draco Malfoy grown up. And Sirius got a huge fannish overhaul with book 5. Up until then, he's most commonly written as a halfblood from a progressive middle class family. And of course he's picked on by that rich arrogant jerk Snape.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-09-16 02:49 am (UTC)Ah! But Descartes' proof only applies to consciousness, not free will, and we can be conscious of things that are not true.
Looking over the passage, I think you're right it was mostly Hermione being clever. But it does serve as an example that there are workarounds, so Harry not even trying to think one up is a strike against him. It's thoughtless, not malicious, but still...
Actually, the canon seems to have the time travel thing work on some schrodinger's cat sort of method. As long as the time travel does not change what the time traveler perceived prior to the date of travel, there is no paradox. Like in PoA, even though they all thought Buckbeak had been killed, they hadn't actually witnessed it, so they could still rescue him in the timeloop.
At any rate, canon apparently finds the timeline robust enough that handing over a time travel device to a 13-year-old so she can take extra classes is considered acceptable.
I find the evolution of the Severus Snape interpretation to be pretty interesting. The idea he was a rich pampered pure-blood is pretty pervasive up through the release of book six. Snape Manor is everywhere. Up until book five, he was typically seen as Draco Malfoy grown up. And Sirius got a huge fannish overhaul with book 5. Up until then, he's most commonly written as a halfblood from a progressive middle class family. And of course he's picked on by that rich arrogant jerk Snape.