Why Peter Turned Traitor (was PoA Chap Summary 18-20)

[Indigo]

No: HPFGUIDX 21895

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Zarleycat at a... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., sprsun at y... wrote:
> > Susan Hall wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Helen N wrote:
> > 
> > > 10. Did you feel any kind of sympathy for Pettigrew?
> > >
> > > Yes, definately. Some Death Eaters seem to be what they are 
> because 
> > they 
> > > enjoy the power and the killing. Peter, to me at least, doesn't 
> > seem that 
> > > way. He seems to be a Death Eater because he couldn't quite 
work 
> > out how to 
> > > be anything else. I think he killed Lily and James because he 
saw 
> > it as his 
> > > only option, because he was too scared to do anything else. I 
> feel 
> > very 
> > > sorry for someone who is that scared by his life.
> > 
> > Good to know I'm not the only one feeling kind of sorry for Peter.
> > Somehow I can't imagine James and Sirius making friend with a 
total
> > opportunist. There had to be something good in Peter back in their
> > school days? It just doesn't seem possible to me that such a close
> > friendship was formed just becaues Peter kept following them 
around
> > seeking protection. Sometimes people makes one wrong step and
> > kept sinking deeper and deeper and after a while, survival becomes
> > the only concern. I feel that it's kind of tragic.
> > 
> I understand your points, but I still can't work up more than the 
> tiniest iota of sympathy for Peter.  

Nor can I. 

> My take on it is that he had 
> some deep resentments of the other three because he wasn't as 
> powerful or as bright as they.  


Yes, this is true. So did Snape resent the Marauders, but *he* got 
his act together and became one of the Good Guys.   

Pettigrew is too spineless to do even that.  

Pettigrew also lacks foresight. He had the *perfect* opportunity to 
lead Dumbledore's people straight to Voldemort.  This would've made 
him a hero, given him the attention he craved.  His best friend and 
Lily would still be alive.  Sirius would never have been imprisoned, 
and Peter would've spent the rest of his life being slapped heartily 
on the back going, "Nice job, Pettigrew! Such courage!"  

I'm going out on a not-quite canon 
> limb here and add that Peter possibly resented James' Quidditch 
> skills, 

Heh.  Someone speculated that's part of Snape's problem with James 
too.  

Did James do anything besides turn into a stag, wear the Invisibility 
Cloak, and play Quidditch?  [amused] 

Sirius' good looks, 

Well, we don't know how cute or not Peter was. we know he was [a bit 
chubby] and considered less bright than the others.  Still, someone 
with an inferiority complex doesn't need much, I suppose. 

and could also have, in a perverse way, 
> been jealous of the attention Remus received from his lycanthropy.  

Not to mention the power. 

Again, he lacks foresight. If he wanted the attention and accolade, 
he could've been the first to invent that potion Snape made to render 
Remus a nice docile wolf.  Or to make Remus intelligent as a human 
while in wolf form and thus able to control his attacks.  So either 
Peter really is as bad a wizard as Sirius made him out to be [little 
better than Neville, really] or he's just lazy. 

> Maybe he was always treated like a younger brother who was never 
> expected to be the leader or the bravest or the smartest and this 
> eventually gnawed at him.  OTOH, perhaps J/S/R were too busy being 
> clever to realize that they were reinforcing Peter's feelings of 
> inadequacy.  That's where my iota of pity comes from.

Teenagers recognize they are affecting others beyond themselves? Not 
likely, no.

Good analysis, though. Gave me a bit to think about, when I 
desperately needed to be able to have something to think about.

Indigo