Mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died - Emerson Spartz [74]
In DH, J.K.R. introduces an entirely new spin on the Fidelius Charm, and it’s almost the opposite of what we understood before. Arthur Weasley tells the kids that because Dumbledore died, every survivor of the Order of the Phoenix has become a Secret-Keeper and the Fidelius Charm is breaking down. So instead of one Secret-Keeper, Grimmauld Place suddenly has twenty Secret-Keepers. What? Why would the spell work that way? That is the opposite of keeping a secret, and goes against what the spell is meant to do, which is to protect others from finding out the secret.
The only answer is that J.K.R. needed to change the spell to fit the plotline she had in mind. But it’s hard to believe she expected the readers to buy it. It’s just totally inconsistent. For instance, in DH, the kids can go back to Grimmauld Place to hide because they already know the address from before Dumbledore died. But when a Death Eater named Yaxley grabs Hermione’s arm and Apparates with her to the door, where he can see the address too, the rules get complicated. That shouldn’t happen under the old rules of the Fidelius Charm. Because of Hermione’s fear that Yaxley and the other Death Eaters are going to invade Grimmauld Place, the Order loses their safe house and suddenly the kids have to go on an extended camping trip, which is all J.K.R. wants them to do. So the new Secret-Keeper information is just a plot device to move the action away from Grimmauld Place. But it’s also a plot hole because the Trio never considers doing something simple, such as redoing the Fidelius Charm to make Harry the new Secret-Keeper so they can stay at Grimmauld Place. Hermione should have thought of that.
And then we come to the muddled plotline about Shell Cottage, home to Bill and Fleur Weasley. Bill Weasley makes himself Secret-Keeper for his own home (a brilliant idea that never occurs to James or Lily Potter), so only Bill can give someone the address. Yet for some unknown reason, Ron is able to tell the address to Dobby: “Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth” [DH, p. 468]. That’s not right at all. Ron isn’t the Secret-Keeper of Shell Cottage, and even if he knows the location, he can’t divulge it, right? That’s the reason Snape cannot tell Bellatrix about Grimmauld Place in Half-Blood Prince:
I am not the Secret-Keeper; I cannot speak the name of the place. You understand how the enchantment works, I think? [HBP, p. 30]
In HBP, Dumbledore has to visit the Dursleys in person to give them the address of Grimmauld Place, because only he is the Secret-Keeper. But Bill Weasley inexplicably goes on to tell Harry that the rest of his family is at Aunt Muriel’s house, and Arthur is the Secret-Keeper there. Again, only Arthur should have been able to say that, or to write it down. Whoops!
No!
Wrong—there is no contradiction with the Fidelius Charm. It is unfair to compare what J.K.R. wrote on her website with the books themselves. But even so, J.K.R. was right because after Dumbledore’s death, the secret remained the same and no one new could be allowed into Grimmauld Place. Anyone who knew the address of Grimmauld Place when Dumbledore was alive would still know it, and that’s exactly what we have in DH. All the Order Members share the knowledge, so they all become new Secret-Keepers.
And if Hermione is able to lead Yaxley to the door, then that is J.K.R.’s way of telling us that there are loopholes in the Fidelius Charm. There are ways to get inside a secret place if the magic isn’t strong enough, and Mr. Weasley says the magic is getting weaker. Why is this confusing? Flitwick never talked about that possibility in PoA because it never came