Why didn't the Longbottoms go into hiding? (long)

[scoutmom21113]

No: HPFGUIDX 110691

Bookworm:
> Both the Potters and Longbottoms went into hiding around the same
> time. Voldemort found the Potters first because of Pettigrew.
> After Voldemort disappeared the Longbottoms could come out of
> hiding.

mhbobbin:
But this all raises another question about the Potters' hiding. Why 
weren't the Potters in hiding before the Fidelius Charm? The Potters 
were only under the Fidelius Charm for less than a week before 
Pettigrew betrayed them. Fudge (in his PoA exposition) explains that 
one of DD's spies had alerted DD (Snape Perhaps?) that LV was 
looking for the Potters. Fudge also explained that the Potters knew 
someone was keeping LV aware of their movements for some time prior 
to that. (Sirius had suspected Lupin.)

As there was over a year between the Prophecy / Birth of HP and the 
Potters sealing their fate with Pettigrew, what protections were the 
Potters taking before this? This does possibly support the idea that 
the Potters were living at Hogwarts, possibly as teachers and that 
their movements out of Hogwarts were all that mattered. They also 
may have constantly been on the move or taking other precautions. 
Assuming DD told both the Longbottoms and the Potters of the 
Prophecy --and as they were all in the Order of the Phoenix I would 
expect that he did--what precautions were the Potters taking prior 
to the Fidelius Charm--as they knew that LV was aware of their 
movements? Or possibly the question is why weren't they taking 
precautions for an entire year prior to their deaths?

Bookworm:
According to canon (so far) the only people who knew about the 
prophecy were Dumbledore and whoever overheard it in the Hog's 
Head.  (It isn't stated, but I would think Dumbledore told the 
Potters and the Longbottoms.)  My theory is that the eavesdropper 
was Snape who used his partial knowledge of the prophecy as an
`in' to meet with Dumbledore and arrange to "return to
our side at great personal risk" (paraphrased from: GoF, The 
Pensieve).

As Dumbledore told Harry, there were two families to whom the 
prophecy might apply – the Potters and Longbottoms.  Lily is 
supposed to be good at charms.  We don't know what Alice 
Longbottom's specialty was, but she was talented enough to be an 
Auror.  We also have been told that the charm that protected Harry 
was based on ancient magic, and that Voldemort tends to overlook 
ancient magic.

I believe that Dumbledore worked with Lily and Alice to develop the 
protective charm that would protect both boys.  Mostly likely the 
charm was complicated and took some time to fine-tune and put in 
place.  When they were ready, Dumbledore sent Snape to tell 
Voldemort about the prophecy, then `learned' that Voldemort
was looking for them and the two families went into deeper hiding.

Something to keep in mind: the One was born to those who had thrice 
defied the Dark Lord.  If you are the Supreme Overlord of the 
Universe ;-) and someone defies you three times, wouldn't you be 
keeping track of them?  Here were two couples who had done just 
that.  It would be surprising if he had just shrugged it off, even 
without the prophecy.  As members of the Order, who had already 
defied Voldemort, the Potters and Longbottoms would have lived with 
the knowledge they would be attacked and would have taken security 
precautions.  The major threat the prophecy added was their sons 
also became targets.

Your idea that they were living at Hogwarts is intriguing, 
especially considering that Dumbledore was the only one Voldemort 
feared.  Two questions come to mind: (1) If the Potters were staying 
at Hogwarts, why didn't Fudge mention that during the scene in
the Three Broomsticks? and (2) What made Godric's Hollow a safer
place for them to go? [Something to think about. I don't have an 
answer for this.]

A few quotes from that scene, keeping in mind that most of what we 
know about the betrayal is from Fudge, with some comments by 
McGonagall:

Fudge: "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew
You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore <snip> had a number of 
useful spies.  One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and 
Lily at once.  He advised them to go into hiding."

McGonagall: "Naturally, James Potter told Dumbledore that Black 
would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning 
to go into hiding himself...and yet, Dumbledore remained worried.  I 
remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper
himself."

McGonagall: "He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had
been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements. Indeed, he 
had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned 
traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who."

How did Fudge know what happened? This sounds more like him 
repeating gossip, pretending he was `in-the-know'.  He is the
one telling most of the story in the scene.  To answer my own 
question, above, maybe Fudge didn't know the Potters were at 
Hogwarts (if they were), but he seems to know a lot of other details.

OTOH, McGonagall is closer to Dumbledore, so her comments carry more 
weight.  These comments sound like something Dumbledore might have 
discussed with her.  Dumbledore, however, is a master as half-truths 
and prevarication.  He might not lie, but he may not be telling the 
entire truth.  He may have offered to be Secret-Keeper knowing that 
James would decline; that way he could truthfully say he offered. 
(He strikes me as very Machiavellian, so there are likely hidden 
depths to much of what he says and does – but that's another 
discussion.)

In the second quote, McGonagall refers to "their movements." 
This could mean either (1) their daily activities, or (2) when they 
relocated from one place to another trying to hide.  She also tells 
us that Dumbledore had suspected a traitor for "some time".  
Definition (1) works even if Voldemort didn't know about the 
prophecy.  As stated above, he would be watching them for an 
opportunity for revenge.

Back to your question about the year-plus between the prophecy and 
the attack.  I suspect that Voldemort didn't know about the
prophecy until just before the attacks.  If, as many people believe, 
Snape is a double agent for Dumbledore, he has had a lot of practice 
hiding things from Voldemort.  Whether Snape dropped hints that he 
was investigating something or pretended that he just heard it –
well, either scenario could work.  Whichever the case, I think 
Voldemort learned about the prophecy just before the attack.

Ravenclaw Bookworm [With apologies for the long post.  It started 
out as a short answer, but the thoughts wouldn't stop.]