"If we turn our heads and look away and hope that it will all disappear then they will - all of them, an entire generation of people. And we will have only history left to judge us."

- George Clooney
April 30, 2006, Washington




Dumbledore Knows All... But How?

by Long Live the Weasel King
December 10, 2004

I have had a theory about Dumbledore for some time, but had no shred of evidence to back it other than the fact that Dumbledore appears to have foreknowledge of every single event that befalls Harry Potter (which would not count as evidence as this was the catalyst which made me think of the theory in the first place). However, I believe proof exists in the watch that Dumbledore carries in his pocket.
"'You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts,' said Dumbledore [to Cornelius Fudge]. 'You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you . . .' Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve hands from his pocket and surveyed it, 'half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school.'" (pg 818 OotP,am.hc.v.)

There are other instances when Dumbledore pulls his watch out; it is always noted that the watch has twelve hands. What good is a watch with twelve hands, I ask you? It is my theory that it tells at least six different times.

...Because Dumbledore is a Time Traveler.

It keeps track of where he has been, when he had left, and where he needs to be next (though, when might be a better word than where, but that makes that sentence rather confusing). I do not believe it is the watch that enables him to travel. It is only a tool. I believe he uses a magical ability, like Apparation (which is not really a proper "spell" because once it is learned they do not need to say an incantation or use a wand).

But wait, there's more!

In Dumbledore's duel with Voldemort, there are several instances that seem rather odd (and I don't mean the fact that Dumbledore never tries to kill Voldemort).

"Voldemort raised his wand and sent another jet of green light at Dumbledore, who turned and was gone in a whirling of his cloak; next second he had reappeared behind Voldemort and waved his wand toward the remnants of the fountain; the other statues sprang to life too. The statue of the witch ran at Bellatrix, who screamed and sent spells streaming uselessly off its chest, before it dived at her, pinning her to the floor. Meanwhile the goblin and the house-elf scuttled toward the fireplaces set along the wall, and the one-armed centaur galloped at Voldemort, who vanished and reappeared beside the pool. The headless statue thrust Harry backward, away from the fight, as Dumbledore advanced on Voldemort and the golden centaur cantered around them both." (pg 813)


This seems odd to me because of the description of Dumbledore's disappearance and reappearance. Before, whenever anyone Disapparates they are described as simply vanishing with a pop, or crack, reappearing instantly at their destination, with a similar pop of displaced air. There has never been talk of whirling cloaks, or taking a second to arrive only a few feet away. I propose that Dumbledore was not Apparating, but rather travelling through time. It would take a powerful bit of magic to transfigure five separate statues, with five separate sets of instructions. (Arguably they were only given four sets of instructions, as the goblin and house-elf both went to fetch Fudge.) Dumbledore did not Apparate; he stepped into a different time stream, a sort of wizard "bullet-time" if you will, giving himself time to dodge Voldemort's spell, move behind him, and prepare the magic necessary to give life to five statues (all in the space of a second).

Again, there is the rather fortunate appearance of Fawkes. While Dumbledore is handling the snake Voldemort summoned, Fawkes appears in a flash of flame (his calling card when he Apparates from a distance) and swallows the Avada Kedavra curse meant for Dumbledore. This could easily be more than fortunate timing, but rather another case of Dumbledore using time to his advantage. The movement of his wand is described as "one long, fluid movement" as it would appear if he was speeding through time, casting multiple spells. This apparent one movement had the effect of lifting the snake high into the air where it disappeared in a puff of dark smoke, as well as encasing Voldemort in the water from the fountain "like a cocoon of molten glass." That seems an awful lot for one movement of the wand, no matter how long and fluid.

There are also several strange discrepancies in the descriptions given of Dumbledore. Once he will be described as old but sprightly and energetic, next as tired and sad, older than Harry had ever seen him, then again he will be younger than he seems and full of energy. While these could be attributed to his emotional status at the time, I believe it is more than that. I believe Dumbledore is traveling along a much more complex timeline than we could comprehend.

Time travel is not illegal, it is just closely monitored by the Ministry as to who is allowed to time travel. Dumbledore could easily have been granted permission, as he held several key positions at the Ministry. Or not. He does not always follow the law, as he refused to yield to Fudge during the "Dumbledore's Army" fiasco.

Also, as long as he was not changing actions he had already made he would not be doing anything illegal. No doubt illegal, because that would create a paradox.

For instance, he could travel into the future before Harry was born, learn what had happened in the past ten years, go back in time to when he just left, and act on the foreknowledge he had gained by say, leaving Harry with Petunia rather than giving him to a wizarding family where he may have turned into a Draco-on-speed type character, all full of himself and craving power (perhaps even joining Voldemort??). Then he could travel back into the future to the point he had just returned to the past, and find out the effects of this action. Then he could return to the past, a moment after he left again, and take the Sorcerer's Stone out of the vault the day before it was stolen by Quirrel.

That includes only four hands of the watch. Two to record the present time, two to record just how far into the future he went, and how long he was there. He could be jumping to many other points and back at certain times. He may have jumped far back into the past, say to the times of Merlin, to learn powerful magic, or he may jump back from the future (having become a powerful wizard on his own by then) to times when he knows that only his future self would be powerful enough to do what needs to be done, and that is why he "radiates an aura of power" at certain times and not others. Because mostly he is the "present" Dumbledore, and other times he is an older, wiser, and more powerful version of himself.

So why doesn't Dumbledore go back and save Lily and James, some of you may be asking. Yes, there are many things he could have changed, but I do not think saving James and Lily was one of them. Not because he couldn't, but because without the attack on Harry, no one would have the power to destroy Voldemort. It was through Lily's sacrifice, giving her life to save Harry, that Harry was able to survive the Avada Kedavra curse which Voldemort attempted to use on him. It was through the "Curse That Failed" that Voldemort transferred some of his power to Harry, forging a link, a mental bond if you will, between them. It is this power which marks Harry as his equal. It is also this power that will be key in the final battle between them.

Then I got to thinking. Why not just go back and adopt Tom Riddle from the orphanage as an infant and give him a good upbringing?

At which point I realized that Dumbledore's time traveling must have occurred after Voldemort had come to power. Indeed, because Voldemort had come to power, when it looked like all hope was lost, and Voldemort was on his way to becoming all powerful. Dumbledore needed to know how he could be stopped, so he went into the future to find out what was going to happen. He found out about the prophecy before ever hearing it, how Voldemort only heard part of it, then attacked Harry and lost his powers, because these things would have happened, even had Dumbledore not been there, as it would have been some other Headmaster interviewing Trelawney for the post of Divination Teacher. But without Dumbledore doing what he does, Voldemort would have gotten the Sorcerer's Stone from Gringotts through Quirrel, returned to power then, and killed Harry right off the bat (before he ever even started school). Then he would have risen quickly, as the Elixir of Life would make him immortal, and used the Stone to turn objects into gold, giving him unlimited wealth to use toward his own wicked ends.

So when Dumbledore first went into the future he would have seen a scenario when Voldemort had already won. Which would be why he had to keep jumping back and forth, until he found out everything he had to do to ensure Harry triumphs.

Once you travel into the future you are displaced from your natural timeline. For instance, if you never went back, you would have just disappeared. So traveling into the future, for the first time, you would arrive in a world from which you disappeared, and had no affect on the timeline you visited. Once you went back to the point you left, that particular timeline would cease to exist, as you DID NOT disappear, but only left for a while.

However, you would still be able to see major events and turning points in the fate of the world, such as Voldemort stealing the SS from Flamel's Gringott's vault. Stop that from happening, and you would change that future. So, you would have to go back into the future to find out what would happen next, and jump back to your present to change that (in Harry Potter's case, the events with Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets). If Dumbledore had not sent Fawkes to him with the Sorting Hat containing the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, than Riddle would have killed Harry with his own wand, sucked the life essence from Ginny, and become a solid being, leaving him free to join Voldemort and fight alongside him(self).

Another trip through time would then be necessary. Dumbledore would see the death of Wormtail, and or Sirius, and possibly Harry, which Dumbledore stopped by hiring Lupin. Then, having stopped that, you'd have to go back into the future, and find out what needed to be done again. However, you cannot be sure you're doing the right thing until you've done it, as any trips into the future you made until you had at least set the events in motion would show you only a future where they had not happened.

Conversely, once you had set events in motion, you would be unable to stop them, as that would be changing the past, which would create paradox, and would also be breaking wizarding law.

So, Dumbledore would have to allow Lily and James to die so that Voldemort would transfer his powers to Harry, enabling him to fulfill the prophecy and destroy Voldemort once and for all; something that, according to Trelawney's first prophecy, no one else can do.

So, why didn't Dumbledore just go and adopt wee baby Tom?

If he had, Voldemort would never have come to be. Dumbledore never would have had a reason to time-travel, which means he would not have adopted Tom Riddle in the first place, which means Tom Riddle would have become Voldemort, prompting Dumbledore to go back in the past and adopt him, which meant that Voldemort never came to be... It is a paradox. That is why changing the past is illegal -- it creates paradoxes that threaten the fabric of reality (not because a wizard might kill off himself, which would change little about the world as a whole... Unless said wizard kills his past self, which would mean that he never grew old enough to travel back in the past and kill himself. Another paradox, and the reason Hermione would not allow Harry to interact with himself -- Also the reason such interactions are illegal).

Time Travel is a tricky subject, full of loops, pits, and whirlpools that could tear the very fabric of time and space to shreds, creating more havoc than it would fix. We know that time travel is possible in the Potterverse because of events in PoA. We also know it is very strictly monitored by those in charge of setting and enforcing Wizarding Law, that Dumbledore knows a lot more than he lets on, and that even when he tells Harry, he does not tell him more than he needs to know at that time. We ALSO know that Harry is always saved exactly when his resources have run out. At the exact moment he has used every trick he knows, or is capable of inventing; at the exact moment he loses hope; at the exact moment he accepts his fate, and is prepared to die... Dumbledore saves him.

Is this Dumbledore's perfect sense of timing allowing Harry to gain the experience and confidence necessary to eventually defeat Voldemort, without making him dependant on others to rescue him? Or, is it Dumbledore's timing making perfect sense? If it's the latter, Dumbledore is bouncing from point to point, past to future, future to present, present to past, all kept track of by a watch with twelve hands.
User reviews
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MistyMoon
2006.07.07
I tottaly get it!!That means that dumbledore died on purpose beacuse he kne...
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Mystic
2006.07.05
Brilliant! It makes perfect since in a very twisted sort of way. Dumbledore...
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Beaky
2006.06.30
<b>LISTEN, PEOPLE:</b> Well, I'm sure it wasn't easy to think over. I appr...
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Loony Lovegood
2006.06.28
Although this definitely was food for thought for me, I have to agree with ...
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Weaslygurlthtsme
2006.05.11
I`m sorry but although your theory is interesting I have to tell that Ms. R...
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Tu-sais-qui
2006.05.09
I was very septical at first, but I must admit that... it works ! That may ...
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The Green Eyed Lily
2006.05.01
This was a very interesting and well thought out theory, i like it a lot, b...
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Bety
2006.04.25
Well i am very impressed by your prophecies and i agree with you it makes s...
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felix
2006.04.22
I LOVE IT!! It explains logically the huge lucky coincidences that allow Ha...
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swish and flick!
2006.04.11
ummm...u certainly gave this a lot of thought.Though maybe going back in ti...
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jeni
2006.03.21
you are definitely crazy.. cool.. love the theory. makes perfect sense why ...
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MudBlood67
2006.03.16
Holy Moly!!!That's an amazing theory. Although it took me quite a while to ...
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Petunia
2006.03.07
You have WAY to much time on your hands, are you by the way single...looks ...
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cho
2006.03.02
wow i'm not amasez because of your editorial(because ,sorry, I disagree), b...
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Agean
2006.02.24
HOLY Cow! Again you amaze me. Jee whiz how much time do you have on your ha...
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xkidrogue
2006.02.17
This is confusing, yet intriguing. It is an interesting concept that has ne...
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HermionEmma
2006.02.17
This is very confusing, but after reading it a few times I do not agree wit...
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zahra
2006.01.30
in haif blood prince,harry tried to open the room of requirement but failed...
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Antares
2006.01.13
i completly desagree... why?.. because my theory is that if you travel to t...
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brenda
2006.01.02
some good points. I think the pocket watch IS symboliv and important althou...
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Zb..(that's short for Ziyad Bagharib)
2005.12.23
YOU ARE A GENIUS,MY MAN..PURE GENIUS!!!!how the heck did you think this up?...
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Who Cares who i am
2005.12.18
Have you ever heard of "The Grandfather Paradox". Just imagine, you go back...
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Phoenix Feather
2005.12.15
Wow, you certainly thought this one out. I have to say i loved this piece m...
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bella
2005.12.12
You know, I always believed that the only reason Voldemort was afraid of Du...
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zanaboo
2005.12.12
One more thing... Dumbledore isn't going back into the past to change thin...
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zanaboo
2005.12.12
This is my first visit to veritaserum - and the first time I've read my own...
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whatever
2005.12.10
i think that dumbledore is still alive....because he is as powerful as vold...
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goodgirlie
2005.11.27
Just one thing... I'm not sure anyone can just go change the past. That is ...
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KylePotter
2005.11.24
Awesome editorial and well thought out!!! This would also fit with DD's m...
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amz
2005.11.11
wow. this was an interesting prophecy. i really liked very much. i am sure ...
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Razor
2005.11.07
In POA Dumbledore stalls the execution of BuckBeak as if he knows Harry and...
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padfoot99
2005.10.29
i would first like to say you are by far the most open minded and observant...
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YOu KNOw WHo
2005.10.27
travel and the alternate timeline----I find the time travel idea itself in ...
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Jessica
2005.10.22
I disagree completely. I'm sorry, but time-travel? Its just not likely. I d...
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Hermione-ish
2005.10.16
It makes sense!It's really long & complicated but it makes sense! But I thi...
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LGDFGHG
2005.09.15
.... if dumbledore can to to the future and go back in time y didn't he sav...
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The guy from RGS
2005.09.10
excellent, absolutely excellent, and another thing is that he might trust s...
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TJ
2005.08.26
The best HP theory I have ever read. I was wondering how DD was all-knowin...
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John Cleveland
2005.08.06
That's quite interesting! It's very kool how you thought all of that up, ev...
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Julia
2005.08.03
it´s complicated but it makes sense! But I think that it won´t appear in th...
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Mat
2005.07.05
Wow that is way too complicated, no offense. The watch thing is a little we...
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Haleigh
2005.06.29
I'm soo sorry, but I just cannot see it. It was definitely interesting, bu...
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Alex
2005.06.26
That was great i just dont know how u thought it up. I think that it is ver...
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Axel
2005.06.23
Tough very well documented, I'm sorry to think you are wrong. Of course, it...
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Carrie
2005.06.22
No way whatsoever could that be possible. Time travel can never be looked t...
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Anni
2005.06.18
I think you missed a point, and JKR did, too: future is NOT predictable. Ou...
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Sam
2005.06.13
Man, how did you come up with this? I have to say that it gave me a lot to ...
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Adrienne
2005.06.05
I do npt think Dumbledore's watch is for time travel. I think it is very ...
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Chloe
2005.06.05
it must have taken you a while to think all that through! i agree with many...
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death snacker
2005.06.02
i Mean you no disrespect as i have read many of your other, and my I say in...
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_mtx`
2005.05.28
I feel anomalistic giving the lowest score...I know I’m being sort of harsh...
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Janie
2005.05.18
Excellent!...and explains a lot...for example...how Dumbledore left his off...
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sid
2005.05.15
Real cool article....explains a lot...but why didnt Dumbledore save the liv...
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killmyidols
2005.05.12
Largely well reasoned BUT: JKR makes sure that nothing really important is ...
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WhaT
2005.05.04
This is an exceptionally well thought out "prophecy." I had never thought a...
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Indu
2005.05.02
I totally thought the same thing, but I didn't know what kind of evidence, ...
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Shawn
2005.04.29
I think it's a good idea but, if you remember Harry and Hermione's experien...
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Mel
2005.04.29
I totally agree that there is more to Dumbledore's watch than meets the eye...
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Goddess_elppy
2005.04.29
That' a really neat theory; I read something like that in the Ultimate Unof...
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Rojaneer
2005.04.29
Wow, this is amazing. Knowing Dumbledore and JKR, this is well within the ...
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MaD_EyE_MoOdy
2005.04.28
oh my wow is all i can say. it is as if you are living in the potterverse a...
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Prongs
2005.04.28
that was awsome. i have to say that after reading that my head hurts, but i...
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Peter
2005.04.28
Well, it is an intriguing thought; however, I think it is too complicated a...
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KitKat
2005.04.28
I also have thought that Dumbledores watch is tha key to something and i su...
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Dragonegg
2005.04.28
That has got to be the best, most thought out theory ever. That would expla...
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Long Live the Weasel King!
2005.04.27
UPDATE As you can see, this editorial was posted on December 10th, 2004....
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cricketc
2005.04.27
I asbolutely back your theory. Great job! You have some rather good points ...
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Roach
2005.04.27
I think you've put a lot of thought into this theory, and I appreciate your...
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Nico Robin
2005.04.27
You really dug this down out. I admit that watch of Dumbledore is some kind...
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Samnahta
2005.04.26
I totally agree with you on the fact that Dumbledore traveks through time u...
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Amy G
2005.04.26
WOW! You did a lot of work here and had some really great thoughts as well...
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The One Who Knows
2005.04.26
That was amazing. I don't get how you could come up wiht all this, plus all...
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Cody
2005.04.26
I do believe that Dumbledore travels through time using his watch. After re...
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SnowLeopard
2005.04.26
It was a good editorial but there were a few things I think were flawed alt...
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Heather
2005.04.23
I respect your idea and can believe it to some degree about time trial. Ho...
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Drenagon
2005.03.24
Congratulations, you've just become the first person to make me seriously d...
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ForeignLoveMonkey
2005.02.17
The only criticism I have is that you don't seem to have consided that Dumb...
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lupinsmyman
2005.02.16
WOW! I had suspected that Dumbledore was a time traveler but never to that ...
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lily
2005.02.10
I like the idea of this editorial, but instead I will keep to thinking that...
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Kristen
2005.02.01
This is a really good editorial. I've always thought Dumbledore knew a LOT ...
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Jonathan
2005.01.14
Bravo!!! you have opened my mind to so much more than I had even comprehen...
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angharad
2004.12.27
Clocks, compasses and zodiacs all have 12 points so I assumed that it was s...
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Rip
2004.12.18
I have not even finished reading through this, but trust me, I will soon. T...
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Jeff
2004.12.16
Well thought out (with a nice explanation of the watch's purpose, btw) EXCE...
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susan
2004.12.16
Thinking about Dumbledore's apparent knowledge of so many things that happe...
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Ferhat
2004.12.15
Utterly amazing really! I really hadn't thought about this before and this ...
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PerfectWorld
2004.12.14
Well the 12 handed watch could also be a lot like Molly's and show the loca...
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LuvSeverus
2004.12.12
Very well articulated for the most part but still slightly confusing. But t...
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betty
2004.12.12
I do believe that Dumbledore's watch may allow time travel; perhaps not to ...
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Matthew
2004.12.10
After reading this editorial, I realized that I never even thought twice ab...
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