[HPforGrownups] How did Sirius find Harry?

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 57465

At 21:41 09/05/03 , cgbrennan2003 wrote:
>I don't know if this has already been discussed, since I'm new (so
>please forgive me) but how did Sirius find Harry?  If, and it seems
>this is the general consensus, that Arabella Figg is Harry's secret
>keeper, no one should have been able to find him.

Whoah! I think you'll find that the general consensus is quite the 
opposite. Every time someone (usually someone new to detailed rational 
analysis of the Potterverse) suggests that notion either here or in other 
forums, they're very quickly shot down.

I won't go through the rationale as it's an old, tired subject (and 
regularly raised), but suffice to say that people who propose that "theory" 
have little to defend it in discussion other than wishful thinking.

>Okay, so maybe Figg isn't a secret keeper, but Voldemort alludes to some 
>"ancient magic" keeping Harry safe while he's "in his relations care," so 
>the secret-keeper idea makes sense.

No it doesn't, because a heck of a lot of people know where Harry lives, 
starting with the Weasleys and ending with Voldemort himself.

>Is it just applicable to someone who wants to harm Harry, like in SS with 
>the mirror only giving the stone to one who wants to find, but not use the 
>stone? I'm assuming that, being James and Lily's best friend, he'd 
>probably know about her sister, but still, how did he find Harry?  Did he 
>just look him up in the yellow pages?

Hagrid had a conversation with him in Godric's Hollow when he took Harry 
away, and considering Sirius wasn't under suspicion at that time, it would 
have been perfectly reasonable for Hagrid not only to say where he was 
taking Harry in rough terms, but the exact address.

Even so, considering his best friend's wife was Muggle-born, it would have 
been perfectly reasonable for Sirius to have known how to use a telephone 
and even a directory  to find the Dursleys.

All in all, if you get over the (IMO daft) suggestion that Harry is 
protected by a Secret Keeper, there's nothing at all surprising in the ease 
with which Sirius traced Harry.

--
GulPlum AKA Richard, who's just looked through the FAQ and was a bit 
surprised that the Figg Secret-Keeper issue isn't covered...