Chapter 32 Summary - Flesh, Bone, and Blood

[msl at fc.net]

No: HPFGUIDX 13324

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Carole Estes" <lrcjestes at e...> wrote:
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1.  When Peter Pettigrew is serving the dark lord is he always 
> called wormtail?  As if his name was changed once he went over to 
> the dark side.

I think Voldemort uses the name Wormtail for Peter specifically to 
mock him.   I imagine that once upon a time, Wormtail was a name for 
which Peter had affection, as it was the name his friends 
affectionately bestowed upon him.  When Voldmort utters the name, it 
solidifies into Peter's shame and damnation.  It brands him a traitor 
and a murderer and reinforces Peter's self-loathing--which in turn 
reinforces his willingness to toady for Voldemort.

> Do the other Death Eaters know who Wormtail is?

Probably.  They probably look on him with contempt.  After all, the 
only reason to follow Voldemort is because he offers a quick avenue 
to power, and V's supporters are too shrewd not to understand that V 
considers them his tools.  To keep their pride they regard V as their 
tool in turn and, I'm sure, all would be happy to betray V for the 
sake of their own advancement, and V knows this and relishes it 
because it makes ruling them through fear all the more delicious.  
BUT...Wormtail doesn't fit this pattern.  He's too clingy, too 
subservient, too loyal in his treason, and V's other followers 
really, REALLY, resent, I bet, being pulled from their comfortable 
lives back into V's dangerous plan, all because Wormtail couldn't 
figure out a way to stand on his own two bloody feet.

 
> 2. Were you upset by Cedric's death?  Was it gratuitous or vital to 
> the plot and / or Lord Voldemort's character development?

Fairly vital to the development of Voldemort and Pettigrew, not 
visceral enough to be "gratuitous."  Extremely vital to Harry's 
development.

> 3.  Why didn't Wormtail bleed to death after he cut off his arm?

I imagine him pressing his bleeding stump into his side while he 
finishes Voldemort's spell, then collapsing against the cauldron, 
still clutching his stump as he loses strength and starts to bleed to 
death.  Voldemort gives Peter his new arm as sort of an afterthough, 
because Peter remembered to ask for his reward before passing out.

Marvin Long
Austin, TX