The Recruitment of Pettigrew (was Re: More On Snape's Backstory)

[brewpub44]

No: HPFGUIDX 34822

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Edblanning at a... wrote:
> 
> I've been wondering who recruited Pettigrew?
> 
> Eloise
> 
> 

Aha! You have wondered a great deal of import! Do you mind if I fire 
up a new thread on the subject?

IMHO, LV recruited him himself!

The evidence: He and Wormy are on awfully close terms. Why would 
Wormy go to find LV instead of just being like Karkarov or the 
others? He could have hid anywhere, but he chose to stay with the 
Weasley's to keep in touch with the wizard world and watch the news 
for signs of Voldy. He could have done any number of things, everyone 
thought he was dead! Try to take his point of view: you hang around 
with a bad lot, you can take the shape of a rat, and you can charm 
Muggles. Suddenly, everyone thinks your dead. As I see it, the world 
is your oyster! You can hide anywhere you want. Yet he hangs on to 
find LV, and when he gets his chance, he acts on it (although being 
discovered by the Marauders pushes him along).

The motive: This is not canon, but is my view on what happened. We 
all know James & Sirius are the practical jokers, not just on Snape 
but in general. And the Snape joke was pretty nasty, it could have 
involved actual physical harm (to what degree has been argued before 
so I won't go on). Now, if their teens were anything like my teens, 
everyone is fair game for practical jokes, friend or no friend. I've 
seen many fights and broken friendships because of awry practical 
jokes, and it is very possible this is what happened and why Wormy 
betrayed James (& Sirius too). And it is also clear that Sirius can't 
figure it out: again in my experience the practical joker simply 
can't understand what the big deal is. "It was only a joke!" is the 
common refrain, meaning he is basically clueless as to what damage 
(physical, psychological, whatever). He can't fathom Wormy hates him 
for "that simple little thing" and is blown away when Wormy betrays 
the Potters.

The recruitment: So along comes Voldy. Voldy hates the Potters, for 
reasons that are not fully explained as of yet. I suspect there is 
more to the story of the murder of hte Potters beyond "they were in 
the way", and I think most of you do, too. He knows he has to kill 
James and the boy. Yet Harry's parents are talented, and have 
talented and loyal friends and mentors (no one messes with Dumbledore 
lightly). He needs an inside man. So he studies their circle of 
friends, and because he too was treated badly as a boy, he can spot 
other troubled youths whereas those with happy childhoods simply 
don't understand others' childhood miseries. He spots Wormy, a lesser 
member of the Marauders, treated poorly by the others. He sees the 
tension. And he acts. He befriends Wormy somehow (perhaps through 
initial magical deception), and slowly poisons him further against 
his own friends. Eventually, DE city.

Then comes the betrayal, the murder, and a little scar on a baby's 
forehead.

A Barkeep in Diagon Alley