Back From The Dead?

[Weasleyfanforever]

I believe it is Dumbledore that said that no kind of magic can bring someone back the dead. But how then, was the Time-Turner used to bring Buckbeak back from the dead? Harry and Hermione used the Time Turner after Buckbeak was dead, so can you only not bring back humans from the dead, or was this a mistake?

[MissWhizbee]

Seems like they technically didn't bring buckbeak back from the dead, they stopped him from ever having been killed in the first place. The circular way Time travel works is very confusing to think about for me but, I suppose I have always thoguht of it as though buckbeak never really died, because they were back in time when the event happened and stopped it from happening so it never really did happen even though if events had gone on without Harry and Hermione having gone back in time Buckbeak would have been dead by the time when they actually used the time turner.

But, even if this is the case and buckbeak never really died it still leaves room for something like buck beak's rescue to occur again and for Sirius or others to "come back from the dead" except they will not have come back at all because they never will have left.

Seems like this would work well for immediate events, like buckbeak's rescue where the events are so recent that changing them won't effect the events that have occured after the death (at least not by much). But, lets say if we were to go back in time and rescue Harry's parents, that would be from so long ago and so many things have happened since then that it would completely change history and would not be something that could be done easily because of all the ramifications.

[Alz]

Wow, you took it all my words there!

Time travel seems simplistic - but actually to pull it off with credability is really tough - but we saw in PoA that JKR is capable of it ...
As MW mentioned above - think of time travel as cyclic events - that almost are a paradox of themselves - as in once you do it - a time loop will occur between changes and changing ...
This is something I predict we will see happen in the next few books - and will explain exactly how Voldemort took steps long ago to ensure he was always around - and also check out my article 'Ouroboros and the Dark Lord' - that goes someway towards trying to rationalise a really complex subject!

Back from dead - look no further than Voldemort to see the answer to that ...
Personally I would be dissapointed that with all the hints JKR has placed - that she doesnt use it - but am really excited to see how she uses it if she does ...
Time is relevant to Harry Potter - some smart guy said that 3 years ago ...

[Kingsley]

I think it is a little specific--we never saw Buckbeak's body--we only heard the ax--
Sirius was scheduled to be executed--midnight never came around the first time

I think the events already happened so they were just going throught the motions--
I have the Bill and Ted philosophy of time travel--the events already happened so nothing was changed

If time travel was to change something--it already happened so nothing was changed

So before I get to mathematical Buckbeak never died

[Alz]

Umm - well contra to that Hermione looked away as the axe swung and it looked to all intense and purpose that Buckbeak was killed ...
The change in the timeframe was that they took Buckbeak away and as such no-one was killed that day ...
In the normal timeframe I think the reactions of the people watching would suggest Buckbeak was killed and I dont think JKR's writing was to trick us into any other conclusion.

This is the cyclic nature of time travel - theoretically Buckbeak should never have died because they did what they did and saved him - but at some point he would have had to die in order to effect the change ... like what comes first the chicken or the egg
This is where time travel becomes complex - you have to separate what was historical and what was tampered with ... because one changed the knowledge of the events should become history themselves ....

[Tinkerbell]

This thread takes some reading before you can get it straight in your head!!

My view is that Buckbeak never died - the thud of the axe that the trio heard was the executioner taking out his frustration on a nearby fence post or pumpkin (as in the movie), and that Hagrid's wail was not in anguish over Buckbeak's demise, but the fact that Buckbeak had escaped death.

I'm with Kings regarding the time travel thing - it has already happened so therefore Buckbeak never died in the first place.

[Nagini]

The time thing gets so confusing in my head at points and this could be one of those moments.

I think that Buckbeak did not die because time and Hermione and Harry interfered before the event happened and changed Buckbeaks situation. Dumbledore himself said "more than one innocent life can be saved". Sirius too was waiting for his fate of the Dementors kiss up in the tower but as the events of him being captured later on in the day its less questionable whether he was dead or going to die.

Time always interfered so Buckbeak would never have died unless Harry and Hermone did not figure it out they were meant to have save him - it just keeps going in a circle and when JKR said that explaining time was like going in a circle, I wasn't sure if she was talking about PoA or future events, but it made sense to me that it would apply in this case.

[Kingsley]

That is my way of understanding it--Dumbledore sent them back in time because they technically already did--it was already in the time loop--
Harry was already saved by Harry in this loop--the Dumbledore scene was just going through the motions--it was already part of the loop