Scabbers

[dfrankis at dial.pipex.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 19796

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Melissa Smith <purplefanta at y...> wrote:
> Well, this is my first post, and I may have this
> theory totally wrong, but I think I have an idea as
> how the twins overlooked Peter on the map.
> 
> When we see that Ron has Scabbers, it doesn't say that
> he JUST got him- I assumed he had owned him for a
> while. So picture Percy owning the rat, he gives him
> to Ron sometime before Fred and George get to
> Hogwarts.  The two of them find the map, figue out how
> to use it, and memorize the passageways.  They don't
> really care about the fact that it can locate people,
> otherwise, they wouldn't have given it to Harry.  By
> the time Ron gets to school with Scabbers, the twins
> are barely using the map, and if they do, they
> probably don't look at where Ron is- he barely knows
> his way around as a first year.  Map is given to
> Harry, but Harry has never heard of Peter and just
> assumes it is a student.  Remember, he only used the
> map a few times, mostly at night.  Before he can
> notice anything suspicious about Moody, it gets taken
> away.
> 
> I think that explains a lot, even if it doesn't, it
> was an idea that I had floating around.
> 
> Melissa

Nice one - it may even be that Fred and George realise that 
Scabbers' "real name" is Peter Pettigrew - but the name means nothing 
to them (they would have been 3 at the crucial time), and of course 
they keep quiet about it since they would have to explain about the 
map.  They may assume he's just another magical animal - after all, 
Mrs Norris shows up on the map.

Welcome to the group (I say that, though I've only been around about 
a month)

David