This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: The Not Secret: From YKTTW
Frank75: Huh? Did any non-slashers even consider that? This troper certainly didn't.
Lale: I don't know about every individual Potter reader on the planet, but I do know that none of the news articles I read covering that reveal said "WTF?" — more like "So, why not work that into the series instead of stating the obvious after the fact?" (Or, humorously, "Who are you to out him?")
Looney Toons: Snipped this because it should go in Troper Tales.
- Happened to a friend of mine, when he came out as gay. Nobody made light of it (much), but he did get to hear that we'd known for years. he was also relieved, as coming out to his parents had gone really badly, and us having always known meant we really didn't care which way he swung.
Totally Not Ununnilium: This isn't an example, just something people think should be an example:
- Harry Potter — Between all the world leaders, muggleborns' parents, whoever built the railways, doubtlessly whoever runs King's Cross, whatever muggle a wizard has a kid with, that crazy dude they missed in a Mindrape session and lord knows what else, who are they fooling with this "secret world" stuff? And with all the magical creatures out there sucking up power, causing crop circles, eating people, and generally being conspicuous, who knows who else is "in on it"?
- Let's give some estimates shall we? Let's assume that the population of people with magical ability is relatively small, for example, Harry was the only kid going through wizardly things at his school. Considering that every wizard/witch tells at least five people, you're still looking at only around 5% of the World's population of SEVEN BILLION knowing about magic.
- Considering how many magical creatures in the series are based on folklore, it's probably a lot like in Real Life: a rather large (but still tiny compared to Earth's population) number of people claim to have witnessed this stuff, and nobody else believes them.
Some of these examples are not "The secret was already known to the general public" but rather "The general public did not know about the secret, and their reactions could best be described as 'Oh, that makes sense. What's for lunch?'" Should that be a different trope or should this trope's definition be expanded?
