Pettigrew's effectiveness I(Re: Rats! (Or: A Treatise on Ron and Evil))

[marinafrants <rusalka@ix.netcom.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 48238

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "clicketykeys 
<clicketykeys at y...>" <clicketykeys at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "marinafrants 
<rusalka at i...>" <
> > As a young man, he fooled everyone about his loyalties for at 
least 
> > a year -- everyone from Dumbledore on down to his closest 
childhood 
> > friends. 
> 
> I don't think this would have been as difficult as you are making 
it 
> out to be. First of all, this is after they'd graduated Hogwarts, 
so 
> he wouldn't've been around Dumbledore all that much. 

Dumbledore wasn't just the Headmaster of Hogwarts, he was also a 
leader in the fight against Voldemort -- a fight that the Marauders 
were a part of.  They may not have had as much contact with him as 
they did when they were students, but they were still working 
together.  Peter must have had at least some access to Dumbledore 
and the "old crowd," or he would've been of no value as a spy.


> Second, one 
> generally doesn't suspect friends of being eeeeevil without cause. 

Ah, but why did they not have cause to suspect him, when he was 
guilty as sin?  Because he successfully concealed his guilt for a 
long time.  These are people who knew him since he was eleven years 
old, shared a dorm with him for seven years, let him in on their 
deepest secrets -- and none of them had a clue what he was really  
up to.

>And 
> third, as the 'follower' of the group, described as the weakest 
> member, it is quite reasonable to guess that either he didn't 
offer 
> much input, or when he did, the others were used to less-than-
stellar 
> ideas.

So they underestimated him.  And look where it got them.

> 
> > When the game fell apart, he framed Sirius with remarkable 
> > efficiency under very difficult circumstances. 
> 
> Yet his plan to do so was fairly simple, and he could have thought 
it 
> out ahead of time... it works as a generic getaway plan.

It *was* a simple plan, and I consider it a great point in its 
favor.  Simple plans are the ones that *work.* It's the twisty, over-
complicated plans that come back and bite you on the ass, as many an 
Evil Overlord has discovered to his dismay.  

And simple or not, it required Peter to put on a convincing show of 
innocence in front of witnesses, to slice off his own finger, and to 
cast a very powerful destructive spell without anyone noticing and 
with his wand held behind his back -- all while dodging an enraged 
Sirius Black.  Not exactly a piece of cake.


> 
> > When he ran into 
> > Bertha Jorkins while on his way to Voldemort, he persuaded her 
to 
> > accompany him alone to an isolated place, even though she had 
every 
> > reason to be suspicious of him.  
> 
> Okay. Was looking for my book and I could NOT find where it talks 
> about him persuading her, though I seem to remember it. D'you have 
the 
> reference?
> 

I believe Eloise has already responded to this.  (Thanks, Eloise!)

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com