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There are a lot of questions about the time turners in Harry Potter. There's a fan theory that Ron could have used one and become Dumbledore at some point in the past (but that's been debunked). I also asked Why Couldn't a Time Turner Have Been Used to Stop Voldemort?. It seems that Rowling had them all destroyed to stop time travel issues (such as paradoxes or the idea that one could be used to just undo all the bad with Voldemort before it started).

The time turners are magic machines, so they had to be created at some point. But are they the only way to time travel and why couldn't one use the same type of magic a time turner uses to move back in time more than just an hour?

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Tango
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  • @JasonBaker: I had kind of mixed feelings about including that, but thought it better to have a broader than a narrow span. – Tango Oct 02 '15 at 15:21
  • Dupe of http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/54360/how-are-time-turners-made – Valorum Oct 02 '15 at 15:21
  • Oops. Meant to flag for community approval. – Valorum Oct 02 '15 at 15:21
  • Okay, @Richard: Since there's the "How were they made" question, I've changed it to ask if it's the only method and why one can't move back more than an hour at a time. – Tango Oct 02 '15 at 15:24
  • You can, it's just ill-advised. Dupe of http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/11946/why-couldnt-a-time-turner-have-been-used-to-stop-voldemort?s=11|1.7148 – Valorum Oct 02 '15 at 15:28
  • I felt that my answer on this one was pretty definitive. Is there anything else you'd like to see before considering an acceptance? – Valorum Jul 01 '16 at 19:55
  • @Valorum: Sorry. When I see answers posted soon after the question, I like to allow a few more days before selecting one, to give more people time. I must have lost track and forgot to get back to this question to pick an answer. Thanks for asking. – Tango Jul 02 '16 at 02:28

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Per Pottermore, the time-turners are a charm housed in an attractive container;

According to Professor Saul Croaker, who has spent his entire career in the Department of Mysteries studying time-magic:

We have been able to encase single Hour-Reversal Charms, which are unstable and benefit from containment, in small, enchanted hour-glasses that may be worn around a witch or wizard’s neck and revolved according to the number of hours the user wishes to relive.

So the answer is; yes, a spell (or rather a charm) can be used to travel without the time-turner but not as conveniently.

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