[HPforGrownups] Wormtail, and the Zoo

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 4314

Denise Rohleder wrote:

> Ron is the one who pops up, and explains who Peter was (If I recall right), which means that it was a discussed thing in his house hold.
>
> They speak of him receiving the Order of Merlin, posthumously, and I am under the impression that that isn't something that is too frequently given out.  Hence the knowledge that everyone is familiar with.

Okay, I was intrigued and flipped thru book 3 looking for the first mention of Pettigrew by name. It happens in chapter 10, The Marauder's Map, when Harry has sneaked out to Hogsmeade, met Ron and Hermione, and they're having butterbeers in the Three Broomsticks. After the teachers have come in, and Harry's under the table, and Hermione moves the tree over to hide their
table, all three of them overhear the teachers', Fudge's, and Rosmerta's conversation. It is this conversation that first mentions Peter Pettigrew, and explains who he is and what he did.

In the next chapter, when Ron and Hermione are trying to keep Harry from going out looking for Black, Ron is the one who says that Pettigrew' mom got the Order of Merlin, First Class, and Pettigrew's finger in a box, that that had been the biggest bit they could find. He said his Dad told him, but (a) Arthur works at the Ministry of Magic and has access to privileged
information, and (b) it's not clear whether Ron would have been told this, or whether this would have been discussed, prior to Sirius' escape from Azkaban. I suspect the latter, that Ron had been sort of set to watch Harry by his dad, since Arthur and Molly were so plainly worried about Harry deciding to go off after Sirius, and Arthur hadn't gotten the promise from
Harry not to.

In any case, how often is Ron looking at the Marauder's Map in book 3, before Pettigrew is forced to reveal himself? Would he have had a chance to see "Peter Pettigrew" there?

--Amanda