[HPforGrownups] Re: Fidelius charm?

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 42300

Aloha disagrees with my (Eloise's) interpretation of the Fidelius charm:

> My response: From the way they described it in the book, I had always
> believed that the Fidelius Charm only prevented a certain person or
> group of people from seeing the Potters. This was why Sirius,
> Dumbledore, Hagrid etc. knew where they were and Voldemort, DEs etc.
> did not. The only problem I can see with that scenario is that they
> didn't necessarily know who to trust at that time (well, obviously,
> huh?), but it is possible that they could cast the spell in such a way
> that hid them from all "untrustworthy parties" or would only show them
> to a specific few people that had to be mentioned in the spell. 

Eloise:
This is a *big* problem, especially as Dumbledore suspected a mole in the 
organisation already. It adds a layer of complication in having to add the 
"untrustworthy parties" clause, which I don't like.
It also means that it would have to somehow prevent those in the know from 
divulging the secret (under torture, or whatever), or those who got the 
information from them from understanding the answer.

> thought that it would keep them hidden from *everyone*, however, and
> I'm not sure what if anything in the book points to that. 

Eloise:
Simply the fact that we are told that the secret is concealed within a 
"single living soul". If others also knew, but were unable to divulge the 
information, then it wouldn't be concealed in a single soul, but in as many 
as knew, wouldn't it?

(Oh, I've just realised. Someone asked today what happened if the Secret 
Keeper died? Perhaps that's the key - "living" soul. The charm would be 
broken by their death. And perhaps that's the reason Sirius went ahead with 
the switch - if he were the more likely target, his death wouldn't release 
the secret. In fact, given that they thought there *was* a mole, it was the 
sensible thing to do as he could expect the traitor to attempt his murder, 
hence the fact that he, too was going into hiding. Oh dear, I feel a sudden 
unaccustomed glow of admiration for Sirius!)

> 
> Anyway, I'm pretty sure the Fidelius only hides you from certain
> people. Perhaps part of its power is that even if someone *not*
> specifically protected against found out and told Voldemort where they
> were, Voldemort wouldn't be able to see them anyway. I think that for
> the Charm to be broken, the Secret Keeper specifically has to divulge
> the information to the person(s) that the charm is to protect against.
> So, the only way Voldie could have found them was for Wormtail to have
> told him (which, obviously happened)... even if Sirius or Dumbledore
> himself told him where they were hiding, he wouldn't have been able to
> see them/kill them.

I agree with the latter, but personally I don't think they could have, even 
if they'd wanted to.

But hey, this is a complicated spell and I doubt if anyone but Prof. Flitwick 
knows how it really works. Your guess is as good as mine.

I suppose JKR might have an inkling, but <whispers> I'm not even sure if she 
really knows. ;-)

> 
> Just my theory, though...

Just mine, too...

Eloise
(Who will answer to Ellie, or anything polite, but thinks it might confuse 
other people. It confused her, at first!)






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