Time-Turner

The **Time-Turner**, created in unknown times, is a device used to transport a person's soul backwards in time to prevent great calamities that occur in the future.

## Appearence

The Time-Turner is described as an oddly shaped glass tube that twisted and turned back in on itself, frequently in ways that seemed to defy Euclidean geometry. Hermione Granger noted it's resemblance to a Klien Bottle.

Whenever used, the user's body is vaporized in a blaze of Wild Magic, while their soul moves back in time.

## The Cryptohedron

Although the Time-Turner allows a person's soul to travel back in time, it is locked within the chrome-like metal cube with a button on top. This cube is the **Cryptohedron**, which only allows certain individuals to utilize the Time-Turner. Although the Unspeakables' current theory is that only people chosen by Magic can open the Cryptohedron and use the Time-Turner, Hermione Granger proved that, once opened, the Cryptohedron can be altered to allow others to use it. However, knowledge of how to alter it was lost after Harry used the Time-Turner, causing the current timeline's Hermione to not be influenced by the Time-Turner and collect the materials and knowledge required to reprogram it.

## History

### Origins

In the 5th century, during the conquest of Britain by Roman wizards, the druid mystagogues feared that the indigenous and Roman wizards would destroy each other, and thus the ancient artifacts they guarded would be destroyed or that knowledge of how to use them would be lost, with potentially disastrous results for the whole world. So they betrayed their own people to the invaders in exchange for a promise that they would set themselves to preserving and defending their secrets, secrets which they claimed had been passed down since the fall of Avalon, their name for the fabled Atlantis.

Ever since then, the Department of Mysteries has gained possession of the time-turner, and are supposed to deliver it to the only person who can prevent a calamity.

### Jocasta Flint's Usage (Rejected)

The Cryptohedron previously identified the dark witch, Jocasta Flint, to use the Time-Turner. However, when the Unspeakables she was to be it's user, they debated amongst themselves as to whether she would be allowed, as it had taken a long time to capture her. Ultimately, the governing council of the Unspeakables denied her access to the Time-Turner in a 4-3 vote.

It would be many years before they realised the gravity of this decision. Jocasta Flint had been captured due to a French Auror becoming a mole in her organisation and "betraying" her. Jocasta never learnt this fact, however, believing that she was betrayed by her second-in-command, Gellert Grindelwald. Had the Unspeakables allowed her to use the Time-Turner, she would have likely gone back in time, killed Grindelwald upon arrival, and still have been captured by the French spy. By not letting her use it, the Unspeakables allowed Gellert Grindelwald to live and start the Global Wizarding War, which resulted in a much worse future.

### Hermione Granger's Usage

In Hermione's personal timeline before she used the Time-Turner (July 9th, 1993 - March 28th, 1994), events occurred that resulted in the deaths of several of her friends, several Muggle-friendly Hogwarts staff removed from the Castle, a new political voting block consisting of Pure-Blood houses taking control of the Wizengamot (who then passed anti-Muggleborn laws and released Death Eaters from Azkaban) and a "Voldemort/Dementor Apocalypse".

When Hermione used the Time-Turner, she returned to the summer before third year, when she was in Florence, Italy with Blaise Zabini. Upon returning to the past, she wrote a to-do list and attempted to get to work. She quickly learnt that changing the past didn't require grand gestures and only required her to act on "good feelings" and making suggestions to people who could act more effectively than her. She also learnt that the Time-Turner could nudge the user towards performing or not performing certain actions, such as when she attempted to contact the Azkaban Warden about the Breakout but "random events" delayed her actions until she accepted it had to happen or when she avoided getting a sweet tooth to prevent her from eating the hexed cake. Her actions led to the timeline that were covered throughout the majority of "The Death-Eater Menace".

In Harry's personal timeline, two days before she would be re-introduced to the Cryptohedron, she cast a horoscope for Harry Potter on sheer impulse. After the events of the night of the 27th of March, Harry contacted her, where she learnt that both Peter Pettigrew would cause a werewolf apocalypse and Harry had been the target of the Ultimo Sanction. Realizing that she could use the horoscope to reprogram the Cryptohedron to recognize Harry as the Time-Turner's next user, she arranged for him to met her a few minutes after her meeting with the Unspeakables. When the Unspeakables eventually came to reveal the Cryptohedron to her, she rendered them unconscious and reprogrammed it to identify Harry. She then met with Harry and allowed him to use the Time-Turner himself.

### Harry Potter's Usage

In Harry's personal timeline (March 26th, 1994 - March 28th, 1994), covered in Chapters 122 to 125, Marcus Flint and Remus Lupin are both killed, Peter Pettigrew is able to escape with Wolfsbane Potion (causing a potential werewolf apocalypse) and Harry both learns of the Potter Prophecy and is ejected from House Potter via Ultimo Sanction. However, when he tells Hermione of the impending apocalypse, she (still under the effects of her own use of the Time-Turner) reprograms the Time-Turner to recognise him as it's next user, allowing him to travel back and prevent the events that occurred the previous night.

With the knowledge of his personal timeline, Harry told Regulus Black, Hermione Granger and Theodore No-Name about the Prophecy, arranged events with Severus Snape and Rufus Scrimgeour so the Werewolves would be captured, "cured" Remus Lupin of his lycanthropy, revealed the truth about the Potters' Secret-Keeper, and prevented the Ultimo Sanction from being cast on him. These events were cover in Chapters 127 to 130.

However, he failed to succeed in all his goals. When informed by Hermione that a True Prophecy, given by Sybill Trelawney, foretold Harry would become Prince of Slytherin, Harry told the Hydra Throne about the Prophecies surrounding him, he tried to remove his claim to the Throne. However, the Throne decided that he was ready to claim the title of Prince of Slytherin, despite Harry's objections.

The three conflicting timelines (Hermione's personal timeline, Harry's personal timeline, and the current timeline) also had an unintended consequence. The Rogue Dementor that had obsessed over Harry and Jim during the year now suffered three different fates in alternate timelines (giving Harry and Jim the Kiss, being killed by Harry and his friends, and continuing to exist). Due to Dementors not seeing time linearly, these alternating fates caused the Dementor to be removed from the Dementor Hive Mind. It then approached Harry and detailed the future for him, when the pair of them would "walk (together) unto the ending of the world", after which it left.

## Trivia

* Hermione Granger has theorized that the Time-Turner and the Cryptohedron haven't been created as of 1994, and are actually created in the future and sent back to the past.

## References

Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 126 - Speaking of Time,

Detailed when Hermione meets Unspeakables.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 126 - Speaking of Time,

Proven after Hermione stuns Unspeakables in Harry's personal timeline.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 126 - Speaking of Time,

Revealed by Unspeakables in Hermione's Personal Timeline.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 126 - Speaking of Time,

First half of chapter covers Hermione's Personal Timeline.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 126 - Speaking of Time,

Second half of chapter covers Harry's Personal Timeline.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 128 - Redux (Pt 2),

Harry tells Hydra Throne to remove his claim.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 129 - Redux (Pt 3),

Hydra Throne grants Harry Title, despite protests.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 129 - Redux (Pt 3),

Explained by Fabian, the Dementor during his talk with Harry.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 126 - Speaking of Time,

Explained by Hermione to Harry before he used the Time-Turner.