Narrative technique and the SK switch (Was: Dumbledore's letters to Petunia )

[dungrollin]

No: HPFGUIDX 170053

> > > Dung:
> > > Well actually, having a dead SK is perfect, because then nobody
> else can ever be told the secret again. The weakness of fidelius 
lies in the SK, while the SK stood firm, the Potters were safe, if 
the SK had died without revealing the secret, their hiding place 
> would have been completely safe.
> > 
> > Jen: Okay, that makes sense and also means it would be dumb of LV 
to actually kill the SK then.  Not that he wouldn't anyway. ;)  <snip>
> 
> Carol responds:
> 
> I don't think that swearing to die rather than telling the Secret is
> part of the Fidelius Charm, as Dung suggests. It's not an 
Unbreakable Vow (which strikes me as very Dark magic); it's just 
placing a secret inside a trusted person. Certainly, Peter didn't die 
from revealing the Secret. He just violated the Fidelity placed in 
> him.

Dung:
That's not what I meant. I meant that if the SK had died rather than 
broken his word (as Sirius would have, and Peter didn't), instead of 
the Potters being at *more* risk, they would have been at *less* 
risk, because there would now be no chance of the SK telling 
inappropriate people the secret (when a secret-keeper dies, the 
status of the secret remains the same - JKR's website). I certainly 
didn't mean that swearing to die rather than reveal the secret was a 
part of the charm.