I've been wondering whether the characters aren't playing a bit loose with the details or honestly confused when they talk about "the" Fidelius Charm. Maybe part of the confusion over how it works stems from there being several variants. If it's a very old charm, that wouldn't be surprising. In fact, I suspect there's a variant where anyone the Secret-Keeper tells instantly becomes a Secret-Keeper too. And this version is slapped on the Leaky Cauldron. (Iirc Harry didn't see the pub just looking at the right spot--not until Hagrid explicitly told him it was there.) Weak protection, but it has to be: it's a shopping district, and even a minimal level of vetting before anyone can get in is better than nothing.
If this is the case, we don't know either (a) which version Dumbledore would have used, or (b) which version the Marauders actually cast. They may not have realized there were different versions if they only had one book tha tmentioned it. So we also don't know whether they would have expected Dumbledore keeling over to affect the secret. Though if they thought it would trap them with no way to lift it, that might also make him look like a poor choice. Though not worse than Sirius or Peter, who might get killed...
ETA: I wonder if the variant that lets someone be their own Secret-Keeper, as Bill is for Shell Cottage, hadn't been invented in 1981? Maybe that whole SNAFU inspired some experimentation.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2023-03-04 03:05 am (UTC)If this is the case, we don't know either (a) which version Dumbledore would have used, or (b) which version the Marauders actually cast. They may not have realized there were different versions if they only had one book tha tmentioned it. So we also don't know whether they would have expected Dumbledore keeling over to affect the secret. Though if they thought it would trap them with no way to lift it, that might also make him look like a poor choice. Though not worse than Sirius or Peter, who might get killed...
ETA: I wonder if the variant that lets someone be their own Secret-Keeper, as Bill is for Shell Cottage, hadn't been invented in 1981? Maybe that whole SNAFU inspired some experimentation.