Secret Keepers/JKR Poll Question

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 148601

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lolita_ns" <lolita_ns at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "spotsgal" <Nanagose@> wrote:
> > 
> > And I still wonder what happens to a secret if the secret 
> > itself dies...that is, did the charm on the Potters break when 
> > *they* died...
> > 
> > Christina
> 
> 
> Lolita:
> 
> I think that the only way Rowling's answer could correspond to
> what we've been told in the books would be for the charm to have 
> been upon the house, ... Otherwise,  there is simply no way for 
> DD to have been able to send Hagrid to GH, and for Hagrid (and 
> the Muggles, and the MoM) to find it, had the secret not been 
> revealed to them by its Keeper. 

bboyminn:

I touched on aspects of this in my response to Marianne in the
following post.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/148595

Here is my thinking on the issues you have raised, of course, it is
pure speculation and fanatasy, but what else do we have?

I suspect that the Potters need a certain amount of logistical
support; food, information, etc.... So, it would seem reasonable that
the 'secret' would be revealed to select members of the Order. 

I can picture it happening like this. Sirius arrives at an Order
meeting with a hand full of notes that are discreetly distributed to
the few appropriate people, who read them then destroy the note. This
is similar to the way that Dumbledore revealed the secret location of
Headquaters to Harry via Moody and a note.

Now a very small number of people have been let in on the secret. They
are now available to check up on the Potters and make sure everything
is OK, to keep them up-to-date on how the war is going, and to deliver
varous needed supplies. 

They may have thought it odd that Sirius was using notes, but on the
other hand, it is a way for him to reveal the secret in a room full of
people, yet only have a small select few know the secret. Futher,
since the secret was coming from Sirius, that would have re-enforced
to everyone that Sirius was indeed the Secret Keeper since he was
revealing the secret. That seems like a reasonable stategy to me.


> Lolita continues:
>
> I think that we can be *absolutely* sure that DD didn't know that 
> the true Secret Keeper was PP, because he would have never ever 
> let Sirius stay in Azkaban for 12 years had he known (and  why 
> didn't he ever, during all those years, request to see him in 
> prison and try to see what had realy happened... back in 1981 
> is a thing I don't understand. ... 

bboyminn:

I think you need to look at the specific circumstances surrounding
Sirius capture. He was quite deranged with grief at the Potter's death
 and his failure to avenge them. Everyone assumed he was the Secret
Keeper, an idea which Sirius had cultivated. Witnesses said Sirius
killed Peter and 12 muggles. Sirius seems to have even admited his
crimes, though there was a hidden context to his admission which was
that he felt responsible, and not that he had killed them by direct
action.

The evidence seems so overwhelming and crystal clear in that moment,
and Sirius was putting up no defense for himself. I think to all
concerned, even Sirius's friends, it seem cut and dried, so there was
no logical need for further inquiry. Once Sirius was put away, it
seemed to be a done deal; tragic, but finally over with and resolved.
What could have possible motivate Dumbledore to investigate further
when the evidence was so overwhelming? 

> Lolita continues:
>
> The charm had to have been upon the house. It couldn't have been
> on the family, because Harry was still alive at the time. 
> 
> ...eidted...
> 
> Anyway, I should probably stop here, as this post is turning out to 
> be rather long... 
> 
> Cheers,
> Lolita :)
>


bboyminn:

Well, the House being the subject of the Secret Keeper Charm, does
make some sense, but does that mean that that house is still hidden?
How could muggles and the Ministry come running to investigate a house
which couldn't be found? Unless the house was completely vanished, I
don't see how the secret could be broken by the house being destroyed.

If the secret were something like 'the presents of number 6 Gryffindor
Lane in the village of Gordrics Hollow can only be reveal by the
Secret Keeper' then in a sense, a location is the secret. Even without
a house, the lot at #6 Gryffindor Lane would still remain a secret. 

I suppose we could modify the secret to read 'the presents /of a
house/ at #6 Gryffindor Lane in the village of Godrics Hollow can only
be revealed by the Secret Keeper', but then we must ponder if the
/rubble/ of a house still constitutes a house, just not a habitable
one? And if it constitutes a house, then it must still be a secret.

[#6 Gryffindor Lane - just so were clear, is pure fantasy on my part -
just made it up]

Steve/bboyminn