Good vs. easy, More Peter thoughts (bit long )

[pigwidgeon37 at yahoo.it]

No: HPFGUIDX 21968

First thing I'd like to say: I love those discussions and especially 
their level- thanks to everybody!!

Now, to Peter: I wouldn't have thought he would have brought up such 
a lot of serious discussion, but giving it a closer look, it's quite 
plausible. Because this is not only about HP, this is about *us*. 
Peter is the coward lurking in every single of us, we wouldn't want 
to be like him but we fear that we might.

About the "right vs. easy" topic:
Dumbledore, at the end of GoF states that "now the time has come to 
chose between what is right and what is easy". Do you really think 
that applies 100% to Peter's decision? was it *easy* to change sides 
and ally with Voldemort? Peter had to fear every single day that his 
identity as a spy would be discovered and I'm sure he was very well 
aware of what would have happened to him in that case.  

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote:
<We know very little of Peter's background and not much more about 
<what he thought that led him to do what he did to his good friends.


I somehow can't get rid of the idea that voldemort *must* have 
offered him  something something he desired so much that he would 
have done everything in order to get it.I'd rather discard power: 
Peter does not appeal to me as power- hungy, I'm rather with Sirius 
and his "biggest bully in the playground"- theory. Wealth? Maybe. 
Anyway, I found the theory of Peter being in love with Lily very 
interesting. Voldemort could have promised her to him, all he'd need 
to do was putting her under a good, powerful Memory Spell after 
having murdered her husband and her child and there you go...
Honestly, I can muster a bit more understanding for Peter, had things 
been like this.

Amy Z wrote:
<Being on Dumbledore's side *meant* taking sides in a very dangerous 
<conflict.  Neutrality was probably less and less of an option.  
<Forced to choose, he went with the side he thought would win.  I am 
<not in any way defending this!  But to say that Our Side offered him 
<friendship and loyalty and expect that to have swayed him is to 
<speakin the language of nobility to someone who is basically ruled 
<by fear. From his skin-saving point of view, why would he choose 
<friendship and loyalty when Voldemort would "reward" that choice 
<with torture and death? 

I must admit I've got my own theory about Voldemort and his "reign of 
terror". Although we unfortunately don't know really much about it 
and clearly most testimonies are highly biased, I somehow have the 
idea that he was mainly after Harry. all the rest was covering up his 
real aim and indulging the pervert amusements of his Death eaters 
(Muggle torturing as a sport, for example). He is very, very good at 
understanding people and their weaknesses, maybe he used the mirror 
of Erised (an object I definitely dislike) as a help to give 
everybody exactly what he wanted which meant the satisfying of a lot 
of cruel fantasies for his DEs. But I can only repeat that his main 
aim was Harry and if somebody didn't step into his way or attack him 
directly, I don't think there would have been that much danger. 
That's why I said that, had Peter chosen to stay quietly there with 
dumbledore,he probably wouldn't have been in extreme danger.

Still Amy Z:

<<BTW, on another thread, I do feel some sympathy for Pettigrew in PA 
<19, and it has nothing to do with why he might have become a 
<traitor, what else he ought to have done, or whether there's any 
<excuse for what he did.  It's purely that however scummy, he is a 
<man begging for his life.  He doesn't want to die and I feel for him.

I would not mix up "sympathy" and "empathy". Certainly, if you are a 
human being who deserves that name, you feel empathy whith somebody 
reduced as Peter in PoA, begging for his life and imploring Ron to 
prevent Remus and Sirius from killing him, because he made a good 
pet. Empathy surely is part of Harry's motivation when he tells 
Sirius& Remus to stop.


One of the reaons why we surely can't quite understand Peter is that 
we look at him through the eyes of first Madam Rosmerta 
( "Pettigrew...that fat little boy who was always tagging after them 
at Hogwarts?") McGonagall ("Hero-worshipped Black and Potter. Never 
quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with 
him."), Lupin (" Peter needed all the help he could get from James 
and Sirius") and so on. We can never have an impartial look at him 
and have certainly been prejudiced against him right from the outset.

I didn't mean this to get sooo long, but here it is.

Susanna (philosophical today)