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ChristianKl comments on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, February 2015, chapters 105-107 - Less Wrong
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That's a mistake. The response should be to transfigure air into a very thin net of carbon nanotube that's invisible and that can be between him an Quirrell's gun. Transfiguration doesn't seem to need speaking if I remember right.
What happens if he just bolts and tries to use the Time-Turner as soon as possible? He gets shot, obviously, or at least shot at; but wizards seem hard to kill by mundane means, bullet wounds usually aren't immediately fatal, and fast-moving targets in close quarters are hard to hit. I think he has a good chance of survival, maybe better than if he does what the legendary dark wizard wants.
On the other hand, if future Harry suddenly appeared, Time-Turned, in the forbidden corridor with serious wounds from Muggle weapons, I can't see that doing anything other than causing a massive stink. The fact that present him and the rest of the students got to the forbidden corridor without encountering a stink may count as evidence that it wouldn't work.
You cannot transfigure from air, hard physical limit. Harry tested this.
Can't you? If I recall correctly, Harry tried and failed before succeeding with Partial Transfiguration, while he was still thinking in the terms of atoms. Also, you could consider transfiguring air as a partial transfiguration unless it's within a closed system, since you can't think of air as a whole or defined object. So it stands to consideration that Harry might be able to do it using the model of timeless physics like he did to achieve partial transfiguration, since we have no proof that he tried again afterwards ( that I recall ). Still, this wouldn't be the best moment to try it.
Besides, could've just tried to levitate the gun or something towards the gun he could use as a shield, and run away or retrieve his invisibility cloak or used the spare turn on the time-turner... There are countless possibilities. Even if he did appear on the corridor one hour before, when only Snape was there, he could probably convince him of acting as he did towards him... Which would've opened the possibility of another Harry hidden somewhere ready to try to take down professor Quirrell, or rather a Harry who had already sent a messenger Patronus to Dumbledore so he could quietly and without disrupting the Quidditch match take down the very charming Defence professor. Actually, this could still happen if Harry somehow retrieves his time-turner, or even if Cedric is hidden in Harry's pouch and uses it ( though I'm not sure how this would turn out... )
Is a sheet of carbon nanotube so thin that it's invisible actually going to stop a bullet? And even if it does, once Quirrell realizes what happened, what are the odds Harry can keep such a wall up for more than three tenths of a second?
Glass also manages to let light through. Carbon nanotubes are very strong. To make them invisible you just have to get the structure right and have big enough pores in the net for the wavelength of light to pass through.
The wall is Harry magic and as thus not able to be simply canceled by Quirrell. It also doesn't take that long to grab the time turner and activate it. Probably less than a second.
Good idea. Not enough time.