Naming Wormtail (was Scabbers at Hagrid's)

[Zarleycat at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 29110

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Cindy C." <cynthiaanncoe at h...> wrote:
I like the fact that Wormtail/Pettigrew/Scabbers has so many 
> identities.  First, if anyone overhears a DE refer to "Wormtail", 
> they won't necessarily learn that Peter is still alive.  Also, it 
> seems logical that Voldemort would call him Wormtail, which is a 
> rather nasty name.
> 

Which makes me wonder - once WPP succeeded in figuring out how to 
become Animagi, did each individual decide on his own Animagus 
nickname, or was each boy named by the other three?  The names 
Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail reflect something about a physical 
aspect of the animals in question, but surely something a little more 
appealing could have been used for the rat - Whiskers, for instance.

So, did the other three boys name Peter Wormtail, which strikes me as 
somewhat mean (after all they used Padfoot, not Drooling Jowls, and 
Prongs, not Grass-Eater)?  Or did Peter name himself Wormtail?  And, 
if so, did he do it as a joke, or did his personality and character 
not allow him to come up with a nicer name for himself?

Marianne, off to work now...