Weak vs. Unwilling, Fidelius, Pettigrew's Poor Strategy

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 34995

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ssk7882" <theennead at a...> wrote:
<snipping musings on why Peter didn't throw himself on Sirius' mercy 
after the Potters were killed>

> Once again, I'm left with the conclusion that the only reason that 
> Pettigrew could possibly have chosen the strategy he did was that 
he 
> knew full well that Sirius Black's "nasty temper" -- or maniacally 
> homicidal tendencies, depending on how you look at it -- would 
have 
> caused him to be blasted to smithereens on the street in *spite* 
of 
> the fact that this would have been a monstrously unjust and indeed 
> psychopathic response on Sirius' part. 

I don't think we can dismiss out of hand the possibility that Peter 
just didn't think of it, just as Sirius, freshly out of Azkaban, 
didn't think of owling Dumbledore to tell him what really happened.  
People functioning under extreme stress don't always come up with 
the best strategy.  For a milder example, look at Harry and Ron in 
CoS, stealing the Ford Anglia to get to the school after they miss 
the Hogwarts express.  It's a stupid plan, and when they explain to 
McGonnagal why they did it, her immediate response is "why didn't 
you just owl the school and tell us what happened?"  And Harry and 
Ron can only stand there like a couple of dopes saying "uhm, we 
didn't think of it."  So it's possible that if someone said to 
Pete, "hey, why didn't you just tell Sirius you were tortured into 
revealing the Potters' location," it's possible he would've slapped 
himself on the forehead and exclaimed, "D'oh!  Can't believe I 
didn't think of that!  Boy, is my face red!"

Also, even if Peter did think that Sirius would summarily blast him 
no matter what excuse he gave, that doesn't mean Peter was right.  
The combination of extreme terror he must've been feeling and 
knowledge of his own guilt may have made it impossible for him to 
believe that any of James' friends might show him mercy or 
compassion.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com