Fidelius, Sirius and Dumbledore

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 33972

Alexander wrote:

>   Now reading 1st chapter of SS/PS. Dumbledore knows that
> Secret has been broken due to treachery of Secret Keeper. He
> thinks that Sirius is the Keeper (and hence the traitor).
> But when Hagrid tells him that it was Sirius Black who gave
> the motorcycle to Hagrid, Dumbledore shows no surprise, or
> shock, or anything!
> 
>   How can Dumbledore be so ignorant about this news?
> 
>   Did he know _already_ that Sirius was innocent?
> 

Hmmm.  Now that you mention it, that is rather odd.

I think that Dumbledore doesn't have enough facts to know that Sirius 
(supposedly) betrayed the Potters yet.  There are a few key facts 
Dumbledore doesn't know yet:

1.  Dumbledore doesn't know that the Fidelius Charm was ever cast.  
The Potters could have changed their minds, or were attacked before 
they cast the spell.

2.  Dumbledore doesn't know that the Charm was cast correctly.  Also, 
as we recently discussed, there could be additional means to break 
the spell that we don't know about (Imperius Curse on the 
SecretKeeper).

I don't think Dumbledore believed Sirius to be innocent at that early 
stage when Hagrid showed up, either.  I think he came to that 
conclusion later once he had all the facts.  

Cindy