Witness to LV attack on Harry at Godric's Hollow

[scoutmom21113]

No: HPFGUIDX 77723

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "confusinglyso" 
<pjcousins at b...> wrote:
<snip>
> My witness is Frank Longbottom. The Potters and Longbottoms are 
> linked by the prophesy, they were all in the original Order of the 
> Phoenix, and maybe were neighbours in Godric's Hollow.
<snip>

RB responds: I love this theory.  

Matt wrote (77688):
Mandy's explanation that Pettigrew told Frank *before* telling 
Voldemort doesn't square with the spirit of the account we heard in 
the Shrieking Shack: though I don't have PA in front of me, my 
recollection is that Peter is portrayed as having gone more or less
straight to Voldemort with the information. 

RB responds:
This is the second time tonight that I've thought of this scene, so 
I finally found where my daughter left our copy to look it up.  PA, 
p365, US: Sirius tells Harry "I persuaded Lily and James to change 
to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-
Keeper instead of me....<snip>....The night they died, I'd arranged 
to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived 
at his hiding place, he'd gone. <snip> I set out for your parents' 
house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and 
their bodies..."

On p369, Sirius says, "Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper 
because I suggested it.  <snip> I thought it was the perfect 
plan...a bluff....Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would 
never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you...."

Does "at the last minute" mean before a Secret-Keeper was 
designated, or just before the Potters died?  I had previously 
thought that Pettigrew had been the only Keeper, but that the 
Potters had arranged for one after receiving clear information 
Voldemort was looking for them.

If the prophecy was made just before Harry and Neville were born, 
why didn't the Potters and Longbottoms designate a Secret-Keeper as 
soon as Dumbledore told them about it.  Harry was 15 months old when 
his parents were killed.  It is unlikely that Pettigrew would have 
kept the secret for that long.  So either Sirius had the Potters 
*transfer* the designation to Pettigrew, or they had no Secret-
Keeper for most of that time.  What were they doing for protection 
for more than a year?  

As for how Frank Longbottom would know where the Potters were, I 
would have given my Secret-Keeper a list of people I wanted to know 
how to find me.  Many of the members of the Order were probably on 
the list, otherwise how would Sirius, Dumbledore and Hagrid know 
where they were?

Ravenclaw Bookworm