diumenge, d’abril 27, 2008

The Fidelius Charm

Today I must talk about the Fidelius Charm, the charm that is central in the Harry Potter stories. We are told in Prisoner of Azkaban and in a FAQ poll on JKR official website some information about this charm. Professor Flitwick tells us the charm is something like “an immensely complex spell... involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find; unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it.” (HP&PoA)
JKR adds “When a Secret-Keeper dies, their secret dies with them, or, to put it another way, the status of their secret will remain as it was at the moment of their death. Everybody in whom they confided will continue to know the hidden information, but nobody else.” (JKRowling.com)


With those quotations we can make an idea of how the Fidelius Charm works. But we also know this is not the whole story. Each Fidelius Charm we have seen works differently: Number twelve Grimauld Place, the house at Godric’s Hollow and Shell Cottage, three properties protected by the Fidelius Charm.

If it was easy as JKR says, the information is concealed within the Secret Keeper soul for an eternity. It remains this way unless the Secret Keeper chooses to divulge the Secret. But it is not that easy, as Professor Flitwick emphasises. In Deathly Hallows, in Godric’s Hollow, we see that, even though the Secret Keeper of the house where James and Lily lived is still alive –Pettigrew-, the charm died with James and Lily. So, is the charm also concealed within the owners’ soul of the Secret, not only within the Secret Keeper’s? Is it a mistake in he books? We have been told that the Fidelius Charm “dies with the Secret Keeper”. But there we see it is not true! The Secret Keeper is not dead and the Charm doesn’t work anymore. Is it because the Secret Keeper revealed the Secret or because the spell caster died? In this case the spell caster is (or better was) Albus Dumbledore. So the charm could die when:

o When the Spell Caster dies
o When the protected by the spell dies
o When the Secret Keeper dies

If one of these options becomes real, the spell breaks up.


To Be Continued...xD