Own Secret Keeper? (Was: Ungrateful werewolf)

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 175749

> > Judy 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.

Mike:
Ooh, a technical magical quandry - I love these. OK, here's my take.
The problem for James and Lily is that they are the secret, that is, 
they are the ones to be hidden from everyone. I, long ago, set the 
premise that the Fidelius requires three things to work. 1) It must 
be true. 2) The secret makers must have propriety over the secret 
they are making. 3) The secret must be limited to their propriety.

So James and Lily (and Harry) must be hiding at 123 Some Street, 
Godric's Hollow for the secret to be true. And if they are their own 
secret keeper, then nobody else can be there, else they are not 
hidden from everyone else and the secret isn't true from the get go. 
If they follow these conditions, the only way for them to reveal the 
secret to others, is to leave their home to become visible, i.e. 
stop "hiding at GH" to make that part untrue. That's what Bill did, 
he left the protection of the cottage and went out to meet Harry and 
Co.

Notice, neither the Shell Cottage nor the Potter home are invisible, 
only the people under the Fidelius and within the location are 
invisible to those that don't know the secret. So, I must therefore 
conclude that the Potters chose to remain in hiding, to not take the 
chance of revealing themselves **at all** and rely on a trusted 
friend to reveal their secret to only those other trusted souls. 
Which isn't entirely inconsistant with what we've been led to believe 
the climate was like re Voldemort and VWI at that time. Lily's letter 
was written before the Fidelius and it seems James was already going 
a little stir-crazy, but was staying inside none the less.



> > 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. <snip>
> 
> 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.

Mike:
Yeah, Pippin, that was my conclusion also. The DEs were outside 
because the Trio inside were still using "Voldemort's" name. So that 
Taboo had kicked in, but evidently it wasn't strong enough to defeat 
the Fidelius. And the Fidelius is on 12 GP, not the occupants, so the 
Trio weren't invisible inside it, it was invisible to outsiders. That 
brought the DEs into the vicinity, but no further.




> Pippin
> 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.

Mike:
I think you got things a little twisted around, in fact, you might 
have gone and splinched *yourself* on this one - check your 
fingernails. LOL

What I mean is that Snape would have had to lead the side-along, so 
the DE he was taking would have been at risk. But no matter really, 
Snape didn't need to apperate onto the step, he could just walk up to 
it like the Trio did in Chapter 9, A Place to Hide. 

Voldemort must have concluded that the Order did abandon their old 
hiding place, which they did do of course, and that there was nothing 
of value there. Or, possibly, Snape wasn't the only one who searched 
the house before the Trio got there, and no Order stuff was found. 

As long as the DEs out front weren't the sames ones that searched the 
house, they wouldn't know where the Taboo breakers were, nor why they 
couldn't see them.  They'd be sitting there trying to look innocuous 
but not knowing who they were looking for. 

Mike