Own Secret Keeper? (Was: Ungrateful werewolf)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 175735

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Judy" <judy at ...> wrote:

> Alas, I think this is just one of JKR's many inconsistencies.
> 
> If you can be your own Secret Keeper, as Arthur and Bill are, then I 
> see no reason why James or Lily couldn't be the Secret Keeper.

Pippin:
I think it's because the Secret Keeper can reveal the secret, and the
secret they need to protect is not Lily or James, it's Harry. He is the 
one Voldemort wants to kill. If James or Lily are secret keepers, 
they can accidentally give themselves away, as Hermione did, and 
then they could be coerced or tricked into revealing Harry. IIRC,  the
idea was for Sirius to go into hiding, luring the pursuit after him and 
leaving the real secret keeper Peter unmolested. Peter would be
in hiding too, but nobody would go looking for him, since no one
would suspect such a supposedly weak wizard of being an SK.

Judy:
> I don't see any way to make the secret of #12 Grimmauld Place 
> consistent, either. If Hermione can let a Death Eater in by accident, 
> Snape could certainly have let a whole slew of them in intentionally. 
> (And even if he wouldn't let Death Eaters in, because he is 
> Dumbledore's Man, the Trio don't know that, so it made no sense for 
> them to stay at #12 Grimmauld Place for so long.) 

Pippin:
They knew the DE's couldn't get in because they were keeping watch on
the square instead of invading the House. They assumed that whatever
Moody did to stop Snape from letting the DE's in  worked. Presumably
Snape's tongue would curl up if he tried to tell anyone the exact location
of the doorstep. I  have to imagine  they know there are ways of keeping 
Snape from communicating the location by some other means than 
talking, just as there must be spells besides the stair slide to keep boys 
out of the girls dorms. 

JKR doesn't go into detail about them because they aren't 
important to the story. If she did go into detail, then we'd be expecting a 
subplot about Snape working his way past the spells, or boys breaking 
into a dorm. But the stair slide spell does appear again, when Hermione uses
it to block the DE's during the Battle of Hogwarts.

As for the doorstep, IMO, the risk of splinching while sidealong apparating 
into such a narrow space would be enough to discourage Voldemort from 
ordering Snape to try it, at least while Snape is still a valuable lieutenant.


Pippin