Good characters going bad...specifically Wormtail

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 20223

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer <pennylin at s...> 
> I don't think any of our "good guy" characters would *choose* to 
*turn*
> the Dark Side.  I think any of them are susceptible to becoming a 
pawn
> of the Dark Side.  They all have some character trait that could be 
used
> against them.  

I totally agree with this.  I can't see any of them making a 
conscious decision to join Voldemort.  This isn't however, a "me too" 
post - it reminded me of some comments I wanted to make about 
Wormtail.   I had been trying to figure out why exactly he joined 
Voldemort, as I was thinking that if it was the story of James, 
Sirius, Lupin and Wormtail we were following, we would probably 
thinking the same about him as we think about our current "good guy" 
characters - that there is no way he would've joined the Dark Side.  

Voldemort seems to me to be a pretty good judge of character, whether 
this is magically assisted or not.  I think that he had various ways 
of recruiting wizards to his side, and of bending people to his 
will.  There are, of course, many who are inclined that way, who 
would not need persuading.  There are others who he knows would never 
join him - people such as James, Sirius, Barty Crouch Snr, 
Dumbledore, Mr Weasley - these are the people who would be most 
likely coerced into something against their will, by utilising the 
imperious curse (as we saw with BCS) - which works with varying 
degrees of success.  Wormtail, I think, fits into a third, inbetween 
category.  Their instinct isn't for evil, or for joining the Dark 
Side, but they would do so if a) it is the easier option, 
and "nothing seems to be gained from resisting" (Wormtail, 
paraphrase, PoA) or b) they were too scared to do otherwise.  I think 
the slightest threat of the cruciatus curse or death would have been 
enough to sway Wormtail, and I think there are plenty of others out 
there who would do exactly the same thing - whether any of our lot 
would is a debatable question.  

There are probably other factors at play with Wormtail - both push 
and pull.  JKR portrays him as a sulky little boy during the scene in 
the Riddle house with Voldemort.  Sulky and resentful.  I can easily 
see him behaving like this with his old school friends - knowing that 
he isn't as good a wizard as they are, and that they seem to overlook 
him would have made him feel resentful, and very much on the 
periphery.  I am sure Voldemort knew this and used it to his 
advantage, and in doing so, scared Wormtail into doing his bidding, 
and poisoning him against his friends in the first place.

So I think that Wormtail's motivation was primarily fear - 
cowardice.  I also think it likely that he regrets this now.  He 
spends 12 years as a rat, then returns to a master who tortures him 
for fun, or to teach him a lesson, and whom he finds repulsive.  He 
is like a child who needs someone stronger than him to lead him - and 
he swapped good people such as his Hogwarts' friends for someone who 
doesn't unintentionally ignore him, but who treats him very badly.

He is never going to be happy and I think he knows it.  Finally, if 
anyone is going to be offered the chance of some kind of redemption, 
I believe it is him.  It is possible that JKR drops a hint about this 
when Dumbledore is telling Harry that it wasn't a bad thing he does 
when he saves Wormtail's life, and that he may be glad of this one 
day.  I am hoping that there comes a time when Wormtail finds the 
courage to do something good, and turn away from Voldemort.

Catherine