| Under the Gun ( @ 2003-11-24 22:42:00 |
| Current mood: | devious |
Ron is Dumbledore Part 1.2
Because there seems to be some confusion...
Ok, this is quick and dirty, but I think it illustrates how this works:
At some point in Ron's sixth or seventh (probably seventh) year, Ron goes back in time to circa 1858 or so. Around the time Dumbledore, were he not Ron, would have been at Hogwarts. Ron then lives out the rest of his life as Dumbledore. He is a young man when he arrives in the past. Somewhere along the way, he realizes what he is to become. Maybe he figures it out before he leaves. Maybe going back is an accident. At any rate, he's a young man in the past and must live out his days as Dumbledore.
Now... as for him changing time. He can't just go into hiding. He knows Dumbledore does certain things becase he did them. He has to do them. He has to defeat Grindewald. He has to come up with the uses for dragon's blood, etc. He also has to do some things he doesn't want to do, because if he changes anything (and by not actually becoming Dumbledore, he would in fact change EVERYTHING) he has to do all of the chess playing, beghind the scenes, manipulative things DD does. Now, he doesn't do these things (letting Cedric, Sirius, the Potters, etc. die) because he wants to, but because he has to. He has imperfect knowledge of what *really* happened, but he has to do his best to do things the same so that Harry can defeat Voldie. The question is... does he have any choice? That really has to do with the nature of time travel. In PoA, Harry and Hermione change everything yet change nothing. Everything happens the exact same way both times. There is a paradox. There is no first time where Harry wasn't on the other side of the lake to save himself. If he was, he couldn't through the second time. So... it is unclear if DD/Ron could change anything even if he wanted to. In other words, when you travel backwards, you have set the past. Yes, it is confusing. That is the nature of time travel, and there are many, many ways to think about it and I am not completely sure how JKR sees time (immutable, changable, etc.). What is pretty simple to understand, however, is the order of events. The nature of space/time is a separate thing, and I will be the first to admit it is messy.
Very soon,
ixchelmala and I will be posting something akin to the Great Unified Theory in physics. It is something JKR sets up at the end of PS/SS -- the chess game. It involves Ron=DD, and I think may shed some light on this particular theory. Still working out the bugs. For now, there is the timeline :D