Fidelius (Re: Chapter Discussions: Chapter 4, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 83711

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, eloiseherisson at a... wrote:
> Chapter summary.
> 
> Moody prevents Harry asking about the Order in public, before 
magically 
> igniting the parchment.
> 
> Number 12 is invisible to Harry until he follows Lupin's 
instructions to 
> think about what he just memorised. Lupin magically opens the door 
and the group 
> enter.
> <snipping>

>5)  Is any light thrown on the workings of the Fidelius Charm, by 
>which Number Twelve seems to be protected?


Jen: Now that you mention it...This does gives us more information 
on the Fidelius. It also reminds me of the Room of Requirement due 
to the similar mechanism of "imagining" a location into existence.

Well and once again, we see the ability in the WW to use more space 
than the Muggle World appears to notice or use, like the WW is 
operating on the same plane of existence but is able to incorporate 
almost another dimension.

Back to the Fidelius. So the Secret Keeper can give the location 
verbally or in writing, which underscores again how a secret is only 
as safe as the secret keeper! Harry could easily have stuck the bit 
of parchment in his pocket and lost it, if Moody didn't have a 
paranoid streak and immediately ignited the parchment.

Here's one part I didn't get: All the others were members of the 
Order--could they already see 12 Grimmauld upon arrival and only 
Harry had to think about what he memorized, or do you have to go 
through this process again each time you try to find the location? 
If it's similar to the Room of Requirement, you would have to re-
imagine it each time.

Seeing the Fidelius in action tells me that charm alone would be 
unlikely to safeguard the Potters at Godric's Hollow. If a Secret 
Keeper can give the location verbally, in writing, possibly someone 
could even extract the information with veritaserum or through 
Legilimens....the information isn't that protected. I always 
pictured the information as somehow being locked inside a person and 
there was a convoluted way to extract it, but Dumbledore has 
obviously informed many people of Grimmauld Place, so it's not that 
extensive of a process. 

And once you know the "secret" you can go back over and over to the 
location without having to be informed again by the Secret Keeper. I 
always pictured it as the secret being wiped from your mind once you 
left the location, but the Order obviously knows exactly where to go 
with Harry. Any other thoughts?