Snape Loved Lily, now with Secret Keeper switch

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 148658

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "zgirnius" <zgirnius at ...> wrote:
>
> > Sydney:
> > 
> > ...If the secret can't be extorted or tortured out, and it
> > dies with the Keeper, then why bother with the switch?  
> > Either JKR or Sirius wasn't firing on all cylinders on this 
> > one.. ).
> 
> zgirnius:
> Do we know it can't be extorted or tortured out? (AM I missing 
> some explanation of this?)
> 
> Or are you just saying that Sirius would assume this to be the 
> case, were he the Secret Keeper?
> 


bboyminn:

Yes, I think Sydney may be operating under a false assumption here.
JKR says that Keeper of the Secret can't be forced to reveal the
secret against their will. That is Legilimen, Verituserum, and the
Imperius Curse are useless because you are attempting to take the
information without the Secret Keeper's consent.

Extortion and Torture however are different. If you in essense
blackmail or extort the information, the Secret holder is agreeing to
give you the information in order to prevent certain threatened
consequences. That same is true of torture. You are tortured to the
point where you break, and voluntarily give up the information to stop
the torture.

In all the cases, the information is given up under duress, there is
no doubt about that, but none the less, the Secret Keeper must choose
to do it. But, as Sirius said, he would die before he gave up the
information, so in his case, torture and extortion would not have
worked. But, in general, I think they would.

Just a thought.

Steve/bboyminn