Hey guys,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video we’re going to be
discussing Albus Dumbledore, The Potters, Lord Voldemort, and one fateful October evening
that would reshape the wizarding world for years to come.
James Potter was one of the Marauders, and a member of the Order of the Phoenix during
the first wizarding war, and because of this, he held certain established relationships
with people whom he felt he could trust. When the fabled prophecy foretold the birth of
a boy that held the power to vanquish the dark lord Voldemort, the Potter family-who
had just given birth to baby Harry, had to go in to hiding. In order to secure their
hidden location, the Potter family didn’t tell anyone where they were hiding, except
for one person - Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew was made the ‘secret keeper’ for the Potter
family- a secret keeper is a witch or wizard designated to hide a secret, secured by the
fidelius charm which conceals the secret inside of the secret keepers soul. Sirius Black was
the initial choice for secret keeper, but Sirius, thinking that Voldemort might target
him, suggested that they choose Pettigrew instead. The following excerpt from Sirius
addresses this:
"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it... I thought it was
the perfect plan... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd
use a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable
life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."
After being made secret keeper, Peter Pettigrew revealed his true colours, and in one infamous
act of cowardice and disloyalty, revealed the location of the Potter cottage to Voldemort-
not even a week after he was made secret keeper.
It was then that Voldemort, seeking out the Potters in an attempt to stop Sybil Trelawney’s
‘prophecy’ from coming true, travelled there with one goal in mind: kill the boy.
When he entered the Potter residence he quickly put an end to James Potter, and then started
making his way towards Lily and baby Harry. Voldemort then killed Lily, and next advanced
towards Harry- letting out one final avada kedavra. However, what Voldemort didn’t
know was that this would be the last offensive spell he would conjure for quite some time,
as the spell rebounded and deflected back at him. This marked the end of the first wizarding
war, and the end of lord Voldemort-for a while at least.
While the temporary defeat of Voldemort was a blessing for the wizarding world, I can’t
help but speculate on the whole situation, as I feel that it surely could have been avoided
altogether. First of all, why would the Potters hide in such an obvious place? A big house
in Godric’s Hollow seems like a far-cry from an actual hiding spot, regardless of
whether or not a fidelius charm was involved.
However, my biggest issue with the whole situation was that Dumbledore was never selected as
secret keeper. Dumbledore is arguably the most powerful wizard of all time, and he was
an ally of the Potters-so to me he seems the obvious choice as secret keeper. He wouldn’t
have even needed to be ‘secretive’ about it- as even Lord Voldemort feared Dumbledore.
In fact, he was the only person that he ever feared- this is supported with the following
quote from McGonagall to Dumbledore:
“But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort,
was frightened of."
If Dumbledore had been secret keeper, it would have ensured that the Potters were safe-so,
why didn’t that happen? Why would they choose Peter Pettigrew?
In the Prisoner of Azkaban, it’s revealed that Dumbledore even offered to take on the
responsibility:
“James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were,
that Black was planning to go into hiding himself… and yet, Dumbledore remained worried.
I remember him offering to be the Potters’ Secret-Keeper himself.”
This means that, even though Dumbledore offered, James Potter’s blind trust in Sirius Black
and his friends, whom he deeply trusted, was his eventual downfall. Dumbledore was close
with James, but he wasn’t one of the Marauders, and James felt that he could truly trust his
friends more than anyone- and that if he made one of them secret keeper, he would never
have anything to worry about.
Another reason that Dumbledore may not have been chosen was the fact that he was SO high-profile,
and they may not have wanted to make such an obvious choice. However, it certainly would
have been the right choice given Dumbledore’s immense levels of power.
And one final reason that Dumbledore may not have been selected, was his new relationship
with Snape. Snape came to Dumbledore when he learned that Harry was the target of the
attack, and presumably this prompted the use of the fidelius charm in the first place.
This means that by this point, Dumbledore had accepted that Snape had switched sides-however,
his new relationship with Snape may have instilled doubt in his other allies, as it’s unlikely
that people were particularly welcoming of Snape. They preferred to go with someone that
they were completely familiar with, and that was their ultimate downfall.
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Until next time YER A WIZARD ARRY