Pettigrew was Potter's Secretkeeper... Fidelity - a Condition

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 161117

---  J <tidblgr72 at ...> wrote:
>
> bboyminn:
> 
> If is primarily about the secret rather than the Trust, 
> then why isn't it called the 'Specialis Charm'?
> <snip>
> It is actually called the 'Fidelius Charm', and that very 
> strongly implies that 'Fidelity' is at the core of it.
> <snip>
> 
> Jeremiah:
> 
> Very true. ... I had assumed that the reason of the 
> fidelity rested in the simple trust of whom they would 
> choose. Also, I wouldn't have thought that a condition 
> of the charm would be naming a specific group or 
> individual as being forbidden but, rather, that the 
> inherent trust of whoever was chosen as keeper would be
> enough to secure the secret from anyone wanting to cause
> harm.
> 
> I guess that's why I would think that the charm would 
> still be in effect and not broken just by telling. That's
> also why I think there is still a charm on the exact 
>location.
>

bboyminn:

That's the big problem with many key spells in the series,
we don't know how they work, at least not in detail, so
we are left to speculate until and if JKR choses to tell
us the whole story.

It would seem that the Fidelius Charm is made up of two
parts 'the Secret' and 'the Secret Keeper'. I agree that
trust in the Secret Keeper is important. You don't make
this Charm unless you have a very serious Secret that
needs keeping, so finding someone you can trust to keep
the Secret is critical. 

Yet, it is the Secret itself that is being hidden, and it
is hidden by the magical oath of Fidelity by the Secret 
Keeper (speculation of course). "I solemnly swear that I
will take this Secret and hold it in myself with the 
greatest, truest, and most honorable Fidelity."

First, I have to believe the Secret Keeper Charm was 
broken, any other option simply compicates the plot too
much. JKR can't waste pages and pages trying to work
around a still in effect Secret Keeper Charm. But that
bring up the question of how and why it was broken.

I say 'Breach of Fidelity'. Other say it was something in
the phrasing of the Secret itself that caused it to break.
'Twelve Lake Street; Godrics Hollow, Wales is the location
at which the Potter are hiding' is very different from
'James and Lily Potter are hiding at twelve Lake 
Street; Godrics Hollow, Wales'. The difference is what is
the subject of the Secret. In the first example, the 
subject is '12 Lake St, Godrics Hollow'. In the absents 
of '12 Lake St', there is no secret left to keep. When 
the house was destroyed, the secret was destroyed. In the
second example, 'James and Lily' is the Secret and '12 Lake
St' is incidental.  When the Potters were destroyed, the 
secret no longer existed, and so the Charm was nullified.

Yes, I know that leaves Harry out, and I know that is a
problem, but I'm just trying to illustrate a point, not
solve the mystery completely.

The Secret could has been futher made more specific by 
adding conditions to it. "James and Lily are hiding from
Voldemort, his Death Eaters, and their agents at 12 Lake
St, Godrics Hollow'. That mean the good guys can find them
but the bad guys can't. Though, I don't think this would
be a very wise choice for a secret. Adding qualifiers and
conditions would seem to weaken the Charm and open the 
door to accidentally revealing the Secret. 

It could be that this line of thinking is completely wrong.
It is possible that the Secret is formed merely by general
intent rather than precise and specific phrases, and that
is, of course, my point; we don't know. But at the same 
time, regardless of what we do know, we can safely say that
if the Secret is still intact, and needs to be overcome, 
then the plot become extremely complicated. If the Secret
is not intact, then the plot is simplified and we can move
on.

Still, I thought there would be a huge fight over Sirius's
Estate. I couldn't possibly see how JKR was going to 
resolve that without making it at the center of the whole
book. Yet, she solved it in a couple of paragraphs and 
the story moved on. Maybe she has some plan for by-passing
or overcoming the Secret of Godrics Hollow. Maybe only 
Harry will be able to see the house. Maybe they won't be
concerned with the house at all, and just go directly to
the graves, thereby by-passing the problem all together.

So, the only logical conclusions, unless JKR wants to 
dedicate the whole book to it, is that the Charm is
already broken, or she has some plot-line shortcut to
by-pass it. 

> J: 
> If Harry doesn't know where the location is I would 
> think he has to either get the info from Pettigrew or 
> figure out how to sense the magic Voldemort used to 
> destroy his parents.
> 

bboyminn:

Maybe JKR's shortcut will be for Harry to recieve an
annonymous Owl with a note that says 'Twelve Lake Street;
Godrics Hollow, Wales is the location at which the Potter
are hiding'. Snape has access to Peter, Peter knows the
Secret. Snape has Peter write a note then sends the note
off to Harry. Harry and friends read the note, bada-bing
bada-boom, everyone get to go to the house at Godrics
Hollow. Problem solved. 

This may be the first sign that Snape, nasty as he is, is
still a good guy.

> J:
> Maybe I'm alone in all of this, but I'm not afraid to
> be totally wrong. You all have great points and I'm 
> interrested to see how the story unfolds. Thanks for 
> the insights and taking time to respond. ...
> 
> :) Sorry if I bored some of you.


bboyminn:

Bored? I don't think so. This is one of the most hotly
debated and yet still totally unresolved aspect of the
next book. Your post, simple and direct as it was, has
generated 27 responses, that hardly indicates that 
anyone is bored with the topic...frustrated-yes, but
bored-no.

Steve/bboyminn