Faking Sirius' Death?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 91730

Sue said:
I had always believed Kreature was tied to the house.  He did not
leave when Mrs. Black died, he just stayed in the house and answered
the demands of a crazy portrait.  I think if he was able to go to work
for Narcissa he would have done so when Mrs. Black died and everyone
else was in Azkaban. It seems more likely to me that "his adored
Bellatrix" 
will try to find #12 and move her escaped clan in there.
 
 
Sharon replies:
That's a very interesting thought about Bellatrix trying to move some 
DEs into #12. With her assumption that the house is now vacant, it 
may seem to her to be the perfect hideout.  Or will it become a 
battle front if the DEs discover the OOP there?

Carol:
I think Kreacher is tied to the family, not the house, and as long as
a member of the family is alive, he has to serve them. He didn't move
out when Mrs. Black died because she was his beloved mistress and 12
Grimmauld is his home and the home of his ancestors. (Remember, his
life's ambition is to have his head mounted on the wall with theirs.)
But now, with Sirius dead, he may be free to serve or at least visit
other family members, and I really think he would choose to serve
Narcissa (taking Dobby's place) if Bellatrix is unavailable.

At any rate, I'm quite sure that Narcissa knew quite well which house
Kreacher lived in and had always lived in and figured out quite
easily, without being told, that 12 Grimmauld Place was the
headquarters of the Order. (Kreacher was there, Sirius was with
Kreacher, Sirius was in the Order, etc.). Snape isn't the only one who
can put two and two together. Narcissa would have told Lucius, if he
didn't know already who Kreacher belonged to, and Lucius would have
told Voldemort, meaning that all of them now know where the Order's
headquarters are. The problem with expelling the Order and taking over
those headquarters themselves is all those protective spells, which
have probably been altered so that the Blacks and Malfoys would now be
recognized as enemies rather than friends, and that problematic
Fidelius Charm, which would not let them see or enter the house even
if they could find where it used to be.

I thought at first that they might be able to see members of the Order
entering or leaving the house but am now half-convinced that the Order
members themselves would be protected by the spell and would be made
invisible to anyone who had not personally been told the secret by the
secret keeper, either in person or in writing. Someone also suggested
that the house, being unplottable, may have been moved from its
original location. If that's the case, then maybe the address hasn't
always been 12 Grimmauld Place--same house, same portraits, same heads
on the wall, same house-elf, but a different location than the one
Narcissa and Bellatrix almost certainly visited as children. Come to
think of it, there's some sense to that theory. Consider that, if the
house has always been where it is now, the pureblood Blacks would have
had Muggle neighbors! And if the house has been moved, then even
knowing that Kreacher was Mrs. Black's house-elf and that Sirius is
(was) hiding out in his old family home wouldn't enable Bellatrix or
Lucius to apparate into the neighborhood and lie in wait to ambush
unwary Order members leaving or entering the house.

This Fidelius stuff is starting to make sense to me. . . .

Carol