[HPforGrownups] What house was Peter Pettigrew in?

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 40799

On 5 Jul 2002 at 13:10, Leanne Daharja Veitch wrote:

> If PP *was* in Slytherin, shouldn't MPP have known better, and the
> Potters known better than to trust him as their secret-keeper? Heck, HRH
> certainly wouldn't trust a Slytherin with their lives!
> 
> Thoughts? Comments?

It seems to me that PP might very easily have been in Slytherin. The description of 
his character that we have from Sirius in PA ("But you, Peter - I'll never understand 
why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd 
look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James...") seems 
to me smack of Slytherin - a person making friends who'd be to his benefit? 
Definitely seems Slytherin like to me. 

Should the others have known better? Maybe. But I wonder if the timing comes into 
it. This is all meant to have been around the early 1970s right. Consider the Muggle 
world at that time - when as part of the Civil Rights, movement, etc, a lot of 
meaningless prejudices were more than ever before being exposed as wrong in the 
eyes of the average person. How much impact this had on the Wizarding World, I 
don't know - but in the case of these boys, you have a group who have already 
challenged one of the prejudices of their world (that against werewolves) and found 
that they weren't as bad as they were painted. They may well have been willing to 
give someone else more of a chance - to not let preconceived ideas of what 
Slytherin's were like colour their decisions. People who in two cases given a 
werewolf a chance - and who had in one case had to deal with that prejudice 
themselves - I can certainly see them giving a Slytherin a chance.

Yes, HRH wouldn't do so - but Ron has grown up in a world recovering from a very 
dark period, and so would be far less likely to trust. Harry's opinion of Slytherin 
comes from what Ron told him - and what he has seen, primarily in Draco - it's a 
limited perspective based on his experiences. Hermione's is the same to an extent. 
If MWP had a different experience, that could make a real difference as to who they 
trusted.

And for all we know, PP may have been a true friend during his time at Hogwarts. 
He gave into Voldemort because he was weak and scared. When that fear didn't 
exist, he may well have seemed loyal and decent. They had no reason to question 
his loyalty and friendship - because it had not been tested. When it was, 
unfortunately, he was found wanting.




Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately |webpage: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       |email: drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in
common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter
the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen
to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who:
The Face of Evil | Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia