Harry Potter was a sprawling story, set over seven books, and the Time-Turners were one of the most confusing parts of it. Beginning in 1997 with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the Harry Potter books catapulted the names Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger into the public consciousness.

Played respectively by Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, these characters utilized the Time-Turners in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but not always logically. One could even say they caused more problems than profit overall.

By Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’s ending, it was clear that Time-Turners were at the heart of the story. The plot revolved around them, and the third release in both film and book format is often heralded as the best of the series.

However, including time travel was overly ambitious, and J.K. Rowling herself acknowledged this. While the story it made possible was essential, Rowling knows that she could have implemented it better, because of the sheer number of plot holes it opened up.

Time-Turners Create Plenty Of Plot Holes

Harry Potter’s Time-Turners Open Up A World Of Possibilities

The Time-Turner in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was a brilliant plot device, but it opened numerous plot holes in the Harry Potter movies and books. It allowed Hermione to shine more than she ever had before, which was a breath of fresh air. However, its reveal raised more questions than it answered.

Firstly, it wasn’t clear why Albus Dumbledore would give Hermione a Time-Turner to get better grades in her third year, and save such particular lives. There were other lives he could have saved before that point with the Time-Turner.

It is true that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets did not really contain the most significant of these deaths. Therefore, many viewers wouldn’t have questioned how Dumbledore suddenly decided that the Golden Trio’s third year at Hogwarts was the right point to use the Time-Turner.

But more discerning readers, especially in retrospect, found it odd that one of Hogwarts’ famous professors had no better prior uses for the device, and that these weren’t worth mentioning. Also, the Time-Turner didn’t crop back up after book and movie three, despite its usefulness.

It Makes No Sense To Give A Time-Turner To A Student

The Time-Turners Were Too Advanced For Third-Year Students

Hermione Granger was one of the most powerful wizards in Harry Potter, but not even she was equipped to handle the Time-Turner in her third year. This advanced magic was well out of her depth, as evidenced by the occasional mistakes she made using it, including turning up to class late and falling asleep.

Even in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it was made clear how dangerous these objects were. Both Dumbledore and Hermione referred to the terrible consequences of misuse of the Time-Turner. For instance, if someone should spot themselves in the past, chaos may ensue.

It doesn’t make sense for one of the Hogwarts headmasters to give a Time-Turner to a third-year student, bearing all this in mind. Dumbledore would have been even more acutely aware of its risks than Hermione. Of course, Harry Potter was a book series originally meant for children, and as with all children’s stories, greater than usual responsibility was placed in the hands of its child heroes.

However, the series became YA as its characters and audience became teens. By the time of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione getting the Time-Turner should have been much better explained.

How Are Time-Turners Used For Good In The Wizarding World?

Time-Turners Had Huge Potential In Harry Potter

Along with the Horcruxes in Harry Potter, Time-Turners seemed to be some of the most powerful objects in the world, but they were capable of great good. Unlike Voldemort’s Horcruxes, the Time-Turners sometimes helped Harry Potter’s heroes achieve their goals.

Of course, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione used it with her friends to save Buckbeak and Sirius, plus themselves, when confronted with the werewolf that was Remus Lupin on a full moon. There were also other Time-Turners stored in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic, implying that they had a use.

The Time-Turners were probably studied and protected at the Ministry of Magic in an attempt to keep them out of the wrong hands and apply their principles to other spells or situations. What’s more, J.K. Rowling returned to the concept in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

This play made the rules and physics of Time-Turners even more confusing. But it proved that the artifacts could be helpful to kind Wizards. Harry’s son and his best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, managed to use one to thwart the plans of Voldemort’s daughter.

J.K. Rowling Has Tried To Clean Up Time-Turner Lore On Pottermore

Rowling Had To Clarify Time-Turners In Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling was obliged to clarify the position of Time-Turners in her world after the confusion they caused. Many fans pointed out the plot holes left in The Prisoner of Azkaban by the device. Many more pointed out how, what logic the third Potter movie and book did have – which is certainly arguable – was rendered much more difficult to accept by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Via a quote from a character named Saul Croker in an addendum to the story, J.K. Rowling has used Pottermore to clarify that,

All attempts to travel back further than a few hours have resulted in catastrophic harm to the witch or wizard involved.

This explains why Dumbledore didn’t use Time-Turners with more fervor during his time in the books or before, and it explains why he didn’t use them to save Harry’s parents. It also explains why he didn’t use it to stop Voldemort as a child, teenager, or young Wizard. Rowling also confirmed that all the Time-Turners were destroyed in the Department of Mysteries.

This explains why no one used a Time-Turner during the Battle of Hogwarts, or to save loved ones lost during it. Except for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Rowling managed to explain Time-Turners in Harry Potter fairly well.