Past and future in the HP universe

Current debate:

-James grew up to be a better person than he was at 15.
tinderblast argues for.
mimine argues against.


Recent essay:

-no_remorse: 'There is no real past in Harry Potter, as there is no reality outside of Harry's head. If there is a "past" event, it is very obviously someone's memory of it, not the past itself. And with this ever-subjective interpretation of the past as the individual's memory of it - time itself becomes "memory in the making."'


Good point:

-ruhgozler: 'Everything I have read in canon points to the theory that time turners take you into the past and you have to live your way back to the present. [...] No where does it give any indication that time turners can jump you into the future.'


It's a coincidence that these things all came up around the same time, but they all speak to the reality of past events. The HP universe is one in which the past is definite -- you can go back into it, muck about with it, and the present still comes out the same.

The future, on the other hand, is indefinite. While there are reliable ways of magically seeing the past (Pensieve), magic to tell the future is presented as difficult and untrustworthy. There's no obvious reason this must be so; it was a conscious decision on JKR's part.

The way time travel is presented in PoA always bothered me, because it seems to tell us that free will doesn't exist in the HP universe, and that doesn't jive with the "our choices make us who we are" business. But if the past is essentially different from the future, and is consistently treated differently in the text... hm. Free will may "exist" in the present, but not the past. To carry no_remorse's point a little further, it can be read that Harry is the only one who experiences free will, as the "present" is defined as his consciousness.

Wild stuff.

Past and future in the HP universe

Current debate:

-James grew up to be a better person than he was at 15.
tinderblast argues for.
mimine argues against.


Recent essay:

-no_remorse: 'There is no real past in Harry Potter, as there is no reality outside of Harry's head. If there is a "past" event, it is very obviously someone's memory of it, not the past itself. And with this ever-subjective interpretation of the past as the individual's memory of it - time itself becomes "memory in the making."'


Good point:

-ruhgozler: 'Everything I have read in canon points to the theory that time turners take you into the past and you have to live your way back to the present. [...] No where does it give any indication that time turners can jump you into the future.'


It's a coincidence that these things all came up around the same time, but they all speak to the reality of past events. The HP universe is one in which the past is definite -- you can go back into it, muck about with it, and the present still comes out the same.

The future, on the other hand, is indefinite. While there are reliable ways of magically seeing the past (Pensieve), magic to tell the future is presented as difficult and untrustworthy. There's no obvious reason this must be so; it was a conscious decision on JKR's part.

The way time travel is presented in PoA always bothered me, because it seems to tell us that free will doesn't exist in the HP universe, and that doesn't jive with the "our choices make us who we are" business. But if the past is essentially different from the future, and is consistently treated differently in the text... hm. Free will may "exist" in the present, but not the past. To carry no_remorse's point a little further, it can be read that Harry is the only one who experiences free will, as the "present" is defined as his consciousness.

Wild stuff.