Secret Keeper

[aja_1991]

No: HPFGUIDX 56713

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "greatlit2003" <hieya at h...> 
wrote:
> Hi everyone..I noticed something unusual in PoA...Sirius said that 
> the Potters had switched their Secret-Keeper at the last 
minute...we 
> were led to assume that they did this because Sirius was an easy 
> target for Voldemort (it was well known that he was close to 
> James)...but, Dumbledore later told Hermione and Harry that he had 
> testified to the Ministry that Black had been the Potters' Secret 
> Keeper (during that frantic conversation in the hospital wing). 
> Dumbledore DID NOT KNOW about the switch. Why would the Potters 
keep 
> something so big a secret from him unless they suspected that he 
was 
> not as good as he seemed? Why didn't they use him as their secret 
> keeper? I wonder whether the switch was because of the threat of 
> Voldemort or Dumbledore. Sorry if this has been discussed already. 
> I'd love to hear your responses anyway.

Me:
Actually, something bothers me more than this about the whole Secret 
Keeper situation, beyond just who and who wasn't the Secret Keeper.

The people who knew about the switch of Secret Keeper were:
(1) James Potter
(2) Lily Potter
(3) Peter Pettigrew
(4) Sirius Black
(5) Voldemort (through Pettirgrew)
and...
(6) Whoever cast the Fidelius Charm

I think I've always just intuitively assumed that Lily cast the 
charm... you know, Ollivander telling Harry how her wand was great 
for Charm work.

But then, reading your post, I began to remember something else.  
Flitwick, in the scene in PoA where the Trio overhear about the 
seeming betrayal of Black... Flitwick, the Charms professor, 
explaining that the Fidelius Charm is an IMMENSELY complicated spell 
(or words to that effect).  Which raises two problems with the idea 
of Lily doing the Charm:

(1) Was Lily good enough at Charms to perform this spell?  If it's 
that complicated, and she was good enough at charms for Ollivander to 
mention it, it would seem that only she of #1-4 above could have done 
it.
(2) Can a person who is the subject of the Secret contained by the 
Fidelius Charm (in this case, Lily) actually cast the Charm anyway?  

My thought is that these points suggest Lily, the only one of the 
four who would have been able to cast the charm, did not.  So #6 is a 
different person.  Say, Flitwick, or maybe Lupin or Snape...

Whoever #6 was, why didn't that person TELL Dumbledore that the 
Secret Keeper was switched?  Do we have another mole at Hogwarts in 
the form of Professor Flitwick?  Did the Potters, or #6, have some 
reason to believe Dumbledore should not be entrusted with this 
information when he clearly knew the charm was being cast?

Interesting thought... Dumbledore was #6, but somehow Pettigrew casts 
a small Memory charm on him after the spell was cast and he forgets 
that Black and Pettigrew switched, so Dumbledore's remaining memory 
was of Black as Secret Keeper.

Interesting ideas to ponder...

aja_1991