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I was reading through questions related to one of my others, and came across a gem by Slytherincess about the Fidelius charm and saw something interesting.

She mentions that Harry can see Bill Weasley's house, and that he's the Secret Keeper for the house, but I noticed something else. The quote below has emphasis mine.

‘I’ve been getting them all out of The Burrow,’ he explained. ‘Moved them to Muriel’s. The Death Eaters know Ron’s with you now, they’re bound to target the family – don’t apologise,’ he added, at the sight of Harry’s expression. ‘It was always a matter of time, Dad’s been saying so for months. We’re the biggest blood traitor family there is.’

‘How are they protected?’ asked Harry.

‘Fidelius Charm. Dad’s Secret Keeper. And we’ve done it on this cottage too; I’m Secret Keeper here.

Deathly Hallows - page 390 - Bloomsbury - chapter 24, The Wandmaker

I noticed that Bill also disclosed the location of where the rest of the Weasleys were, despite not being the Secret Keeper.

Is this a plot hole?

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Anoplexian
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    Fidelius charm protects a place, not a person(s). Bill has not disclosed the location of auntie muriel's house. – The Giant of Lannister Mar 24 '16 at 20:14
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    Bill didn’t disclose the location of where the rest of the Weasleys were. “Auntie Muriel’s” isn’t a location. If it had been, Dumbledore’s note to Harry would only have to read “Headquarter of the Order of the Phoenix”. To disclose the location (though he wouldn’t have been able to), Bill would have had to tell Harry where Auntie Muriel’s is. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Mar 24 '16 at 23:35
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    -gasp- A plot hole in Harry Potter?! – Misha R Mar 25 '16 at 03:23
  • @JanusBahsJacquet As Rand said in the other comments, "But surely Ron knows where Muriel's is?". And the linked question removes any "he would have forgot", as well as the "even if Voldemort put his face to the window" thing, that's why he didn't know where the Potters were until he was told. The Fidelius charm affects a secret not a location. – Anoplexian Mar 25 '16 at 21:02
  • @Anoplexian Where does the linked question deny the possibility (actually, I'd say the almost certain conclusion) that Ron would no longer be able to find Aunt Muriel's house? It's not even mentioned in that question. Or if you prefer, that Ron would be able to see his family even if he pressed his face against Muriel's windows? As it happens, the only secrets we've seen covered by the Fidelius charm are locations. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Mar 25 '16 at 23:03

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As I understand it, the fidelius charm's protection applies to the location of a place, not the people residing in a place. By saying that the Weasleys are at "Auntie Muriel's", Bill is not disclosing the location of Auntie Muriel's, only the people who are there. Somebody trying to find Auntie Muriel's based on this information would still be unable to reach the Weasleys so long as they stayed within the boundaries of the location to which the fidelius charm applied.

The Giant of Lannister
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    Canonically, the protection applies to any secret, not necessarily a location. But you're quite right that simply saying "Muriel's" doesn't reveal the secret in any meaningful way. – Harry Johnston Mar 24 '16 at 21:15
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    But surely Ron knows where Muriel's is? – Rand al'Thor Mar 24 '16 at 21:21
  • @randal'thor This is quite literally the point I was typing out. – Anoplexian Mar 24 '16 at 21:26
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    @randal'thor only in the same way that people knew the Potters lived in Godric's Hollow. It's mentioned that "Voldemort could walk [the village] for years and never find the Potters" without being given the secret. I'd imagine that now Fidelius is cast, if Ron was not given the secret by the secret keeper, he would now find he is unable to reach his Aunt Muriel's. – The Giant of Lannister Mar 24 '16 at 21:28
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    @Anoplexian see my response to randal'thor. Ron will know roughly where his Aunt Muriel's is, e.g. which village it is in, but now Fidelius is cast and he has not been given the secret (Aunt Muriel's location), he will as I understand it no longer be able to get to Aunt Muriel's. – The Giant of Lannister Mar 24 '16 at 21:36
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    There's no canon information supporting your point in the comments, so I can't take it as being the truth, and therefore lends a large gap to your answer. If you can provide canon references to what the comment addresses in the answer then I will remove it with much haste! – Anoplexian Mar 24 '16 at 21:38
  • @TheGiantofLannister Please see the question here for more information invalidating your point on "Ron didn't know the exact location, and the charm prevents him from knowing anymore" (paraphrase). I also had the answer to your fallacy in the question, so the downvote feels warranted. – Anoplexian Mar 24 '16 at 21:41
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    @Anoplexian I disagree strongly and I think you are applying your own interpretation to canon. Still, you are welcome to accept whatever answer you like, but this how I have always read the fidelius charm as working. – The Giant of Lannister Mar 24 '16 at 21:42
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    @Anoplexian I never said he didn't know previously. I'm making the point that now fidelius has been cast, he will find he is no longer able to find Aunt Muriel's. He will go to where he thinks (knew) it was, yet will not be able to find it. – The Giant of Lannister Mar 24 '16 at 21:43
  • @TheGiantofLannister The link and the question in my question both answer your concerns. – Anoplexian Mar 24 '16 at 21:44
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    @Anoplexian that is interesting, however.. I'm not sure inconsistencies in other examples invalidate the principles behind my answer. All they do is prove that fidelius is presented inconsistently across the medium as a whole. And either way, Bill is not disclosing anything meaningful at all in his statement, so clearly his statement does not conflict with the basics of fidelius, which is that only the secret keeper can divulge the secret. – The Giant of Lannister Mar 24 '16 at 21:52
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    An additional wrinkle is that Aunt Muriel was significantly better off that the Weasleys, there could be a handful of locations which she owns and Ron wouldn't know which (assuming this is correct). – Morgen Mar 25 '16 at 04:43
  • @Morgen theoretically possible, but a) is based on a supposition and b) a counter-explanation would be that Aunt Muriel, although owning multiple properties, has one "main" residence which she frequents most of the time, and that Bill/Ron would refer to the main residence as Aunt Muriel's unless further clarified – The Giant of Lannister Mar 25 '16 at 12:41
  • @Morgen but the idea of Aunt Muriel's wealth/properties might make a decent question (no idea if there is an answer to it though). – The Giant of Lannister Mar 25 '16 at 12:42
  • True, we have no idea. It is at least plausible given her canon representation and does provide some additional uncertainty to avoid having to call this a plot hole. – Morgen Mar 26 '16 at 22:40