Scabbers! Day on HP Calendar

[absinthe at mad.scientist.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 12731

 heidi.h.tandy. wrote:
> TOday's picture on the HP Day By Day calendar is Scabbers.
> As I've said before, the people who decided to market Scabbers as 
> this cute little pet, instead of a mass murdering git, trouble me 
> (and make me wonder if they read through Book 3 or 4 because I 
cannot 
> imagine how someone who read about this creature cutting off his own 
> hand to raise Voldemort, slashing Harry, or, most horrifyingly, 
> murdering Cedric in cold blood could draw/market such a darned cute 
> little rodent)
> But that's not what bothers me about the drawing. Didn't we learn in 
> Book 3 that Scabbers' missing "finger" is on his front right paw? If 
> so, then the drawing is wrong, because it shows the normal 4 fingers 
> on that paw.
> Okay, I'm being picky. 
> So?

If you look very closely, the fourth finger is shorter than the other 
fingers. The other fingers are sort of curled around that 'R'.

I think the portrayal of Scabbers is an accurate one (though I thought 
he was much chubbier before his weight loss in PoA). I really can't 
see any child bringing a psychotic-looking or psychotic-behaving pet 
to school, let alone wanting to have such a pet. As Scabbers, Peter 
Pettigrew had the perfect cover: he was belonged to a wizarding family 
with Ministry connections and he was "safe" from Voldemort supporters 
in Hogwarts. He's akin to the apple in Snow White: an innocuous 
something that is very dangerous. The Scabbers character is an 
effective 'cautionary tale' device.

:-)Milz