The Biggest Harry Potter Plot Hole (Isn’t A Plot Hole)

The Harry Potter plot hole involving time travel wasn’t a plot hole after all. Many readers of J.K. Rowling’s book series and the fans of the movie adaptation figured that the introduction of Time-Turners created a large plot hole. Here’s why the use of Time-Turners didn’t create a plot hole based on the laws of time travel established early in Harry Potter canon.

A Time-Turner was a magical device used by wizards and witches for the purpose of time travel. The one on which the series focused had an hourglass shape and was encased to be worn as a necklace. Each turn of the hourglass would send the user back one hour. The Ministry of Magic tried to use the Hour-Reversal Charm to limit the amount of time one could stay in the past to no more than five hours. Not many Time-Turners existed in the Wizarding World but Hermione Granger was given one by Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban so that she could attend more classes. The device was then used for a more serious purpose by Hermione and Harry.

With the introduction of the Time-Turner in Prisoner of Azkaban, many fans wondered why the device couldn’t be used to travel back in time to kill Lord Voldemort when he was a powerless infant. The powerful Time-Turner could have given the young trio the ability to travel to various moments in the past to eliminate Tom Riddle before he transformed into the Dark Lord. The action would have prevented much of the destruction caused by Lord Voldemort and his violent followers. On the surface, not considering the use of the Time-Turner to stop Voldemort did seem like a justified plot hole. But looking closer at the rules of time travel, using the Time-Turner to kill Voldemort wouldn’t have worked.

How Time Travel Worked In The Harry Potter Series

The rules of time travel are always tricky and this was the same within the Harry Potter universe. Rules tend to vary from franchise to franchise which is understandable. When Hermione possessed the Time-Turner, the Harry Potter series was following the Novikov Self-Consistency Principle when it came to time travel. The theory suggested that nothing in the past could be changed. Time travelers could only relive a moment from a different perspective.

This was reiterated when Hermione and Harry used the Time-Turner to rescue Sirius Black and Buckbeak. During the time travel journey, Harry learned that a version of himself cast the Patronus Charm at the Dementors explaining what happened to him in his past encounter. It also explained that Buckbeak was able to be saved because he originally escaped the executioner. These instances followed Rowling’s stance on self-fulfilling prophecies.

With the established Harry Potter time travel rules, Harry and his friends never had the option of traveling back in the past to kill Voldemort. If they were to do so, Voldemort would already be dead in the present timeline. Over time, Harry Potter canon presented through Pottermore and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child made the time travel rules a little murky. It was insinuated that messing with the past could have catastrophic effects on the present or create alternate timelines. There were even situations that suggested a wizard or witch could be unborn due to their actions while time traveling. Rowling has been known to make changes to Harry Potter canon and the notion of time travel was one of the aspects she tweaked over time. That said, the rules were already cemented when Hermione obtained the Time-Turner, and was why a Voldemort mission was never explored.

About The Author

Kara Hedash
(1746 Articles Published)

Kara Hedash is a features editor and writer for Screen Rant. From time to time, she dives into the world’s most popular franchises but Kara primarily focuses on evergreen topics. The fact that she gets to write about The Office regularly is like a dream come true. Before joining Screen Rant, Kara served as a contributor for Movie Pilot and had work published on The Mary Sue and Reel Honey. After graduating college, writing began as a part-time hobby for Kara but it quickly turned into a career. She loves binging a new series and watching movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden indie gems. She also has a soft spot for horror ever since she started watching it at too young of an age. Her favorite Avenger is Thor and her favorite Disney princess is Leia Organa. When Kara’s not busy writing, you can find her doing yoga or hanging out with Gritty.

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