Fidelius Charm/ Who LV wanted to kill

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 32152

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Hollydaze" <hollydaze at b...> wrote:
> 
> It can't make the house invisible because when we are told about 
Fidelius, we are also told that LV wouldn't be able to find the 
Potter's "even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room 
window". That would imply the house is still there and so friends etc 
would still be able to see them.

> This leads me to an idea I have about the Fidelius Charm: I don't 
think it is the actual location of the people who are hiding that is 
the secret. This quote above backs up my point as surely if it was 
the house and location that were secret then LV wouldn't even be able 
to press his nose against their living room window, because he 
wouldn't now where it was. What exactly the secret would be I don't 
know, I want more information before I try and work that out. The 
other thing that leads me to this idea, is the quote about 
the "magical concealment of a secret within a living person". It 
sounds like an odd way to phrase someone keeping something secret, 
something they shouldn't tell anyone. Why not just say that someone 
has to keep the location (or whatever) a secret and not tell anyone. 
> 
> This is probably totally ridiculous but I get the feeling there is 
more to this "secret" than just the location of the people that are 
hiding, it just doesn't feel right.


I've always had a problem with this, too.  There has to be more to it 
than just keeping the location of the Potters a secret because both 
Sirius and Hagrid knew to go to Godric's Hollow that fateful night.  
Okay, Hagrid was sent there by Dumbledore, but that shows that at 
least two people who were not the Secret Keeper- Sirius and 
Dumbledore - knew to go to Godric's Hollow to check on the Potters. 

Sirius tells us that he convinced the Potters to use Peter as Secret 
Keeper because no one would suspect him, and that V and his happy 
band of Death Eaters would naturally assume that Sirius was the 
Secret Keeper and go after him.  What this meant to me was that 
Sirius was trying to give the Potters additional protection.  Sirius 
goes into hiding, V concentrates some resources towards finding him, 
and when and if Sirius is found, V can torture him to death and he 
won't reveal how to find the Potters because he doesn't know.  At 
that point V can either think that the secret died with Sirius, or he 
can assume that maybe someone else was the Secret Keeper and start 
looking again.  At the very least, it gives the Potters, Dumbledore 
and the forces of Light more time to work towards V's defeat.  

I think the Fidelius Charm, in this case, is used not just to hide a 
precise location.  I think there is an element that hides the people 
in that location - it's not just "where" they are, it's also "how do 
I find them here in this location".  V might discover that the 
Potters were in Godric's Hollow, but he would not find them once he 
got there unless he knew how to break the Charm.  And he would only 
know that if the Secret Keeper revealed it to him.  Otherwise, the 
whole idea of switching Secret Keepers doesn't make much sense.

Speaking of sense, did any of the above make sense?

Marianne, with best wishes for a Merry/Happy Christmas for all!