Apparition & Secrets (was Re: Dumbledore's Past & Harry finding Godric's Hollow)

[va32h]

No: HPFGUIDX 167883

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...> 
wrote:
> I'm not sure about the rules of Apparition, but neither Narcissa in
> "Spinner's End" nor Dumbledore in "The Cave" Apparated to their 
exact destination. I think Harry would merely need to find the 
village of Godric's Hollow on a map and then wander around until he 
found the exact location of the ruins of the Potters' cottage.

va32h here:

I suspect Narcissa and Bella apparated in the woods to avoid being 
seen by any Muggles - the same way wizards apparated into the woods 
around the campground at the QWC instead of the campground itself. 
Dumbledore apparates outside Bubbleigh Babberton for the same reason, 
and as a courtesy to Slughorn (I doubt the Black sisters cared about 
courtesy at the time). 

Dumbledore apparates outside the cave, because the cave is only 
reached by climbing up a cliff face, and finding a hidden entrance. 
Although if anyone could apparate directly onto a cliff face, I am 
sure it would be Dumbledore. 

Anyway, my point is, I think that if Harry knew his parents' address 
(123 Golden Snitch Lane, for example) he could apparate directly to 
the house. But since he only knows Godric's Hollow, he can apparate 
there, and probably quickly find the house (surely someone in town 
remembers the location of a spontaneous explosion 16 years ago).

Carol here:
> I'm not so sure, though, that the only living people who know the
> exact location, aside from Hagrid (who may be able to Apparate since
> he disappears from Platform 9 3/4 in SS/PS), are bad guys. The 
Secret
> is no longer in effect and the cottage itself was never hidden, only
> the location of the Potters. If the cottage belonged to Albus
> Dumbledore and he gave or lent it to the Potters as a hiding place,
> they could have been hiding there for months before the danger
> intensified to the point where DD thought they needed a Fidelius
> Charm. He could have visited them there himself to make the
> suggestion, and the moment he "forgot" where they were hiding, he
> would know that the charm was in place. 

va32h here:

Now I am truly confused, because I never thought that the Fidelius 
Charm made you forget something you knew, it just made you unable to 
tell anyone else. Snape certainly knows that 12 GP is the 
headquarters of the Order, he just can't tell anyone, and he remarks 
on the frustration of this to Bella in "Spinner's End". All the 
members of the Order know where there headquarters are - it wouldn't 
do them any good to have headquarters if they forgot where it was as 
soon as Dumbledore became secret keeper. They just can't tell any new 
members.

My thinking has always been that Lupin, Sirius, Hagrid, and anyone 
else who might have visited the Potters knew where their house was, 
and could visit it, but they were just magically prevented from 
sharing that information with anyone else. We haven't seen what 
happens though, if a non-secret keeper tries to tell the secret. Do 
they lose their voice? Drop dead a la the Unbreakable Vow?  

va32h