What house was Peter Pettigrew in?

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 40808

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "mrflynn6" <mrflynn6 at y...> wrote:
> 
> > > > --
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > The Lexicon tells us that it is almost a 99 percent certainty, 
> based 
> > on an interview with JKR, that James and Lily were Gryffindor.
> > 
> > I further submit that the level of social interaction between the 
> > Mauraders indicates they belong to the same house. They created a 
> > rule-breaking map. They learned to be Animagus together. They 
spent 
> > countless hours together and that does not seem possible if they 
> are 
> > in separate houses, especially one with the animosity between 
> > Gryffindor and Slytherin.
> > 
> > Further, the timeline in the Lexicon says that Voldemort's rise 
> began 
> > in the early 1970s. James and Lily were at Hogwarts from 1971-
1978. 
> > Most, if not all, of their school careers would have taken place 
at 
> a 
> > time of fear and darkness.
> > 
> > This would HARDLY be the time to be open and friendly to the 
Death 
> > Eaters residing over in Slytherin. 
> > 
> > I realize it is fun to look for shades of gray and there is a 
> serious 
> > culture of "Slytherins aren't so bad, just misunderstood" out 
here, 
> > but the Death Eaters were mostly descended from a Slytherin gang 
> that 
> > ran together at Hogwarts.
> > 
> > The war with Voldemort has had some parallels drawn to World War 
> II. 
> > It's very simple. The Gryffindor were the resistance fighters and 
> the 
> > Slytherin were the sympathizers. Dumbledore was able to turn one 
of 
> > the sympathizers - Snape - to his cause.
> > 
> > And as soon as the V-Man disappeared, the smarter sympathizers 
like 
> > Lucius Malfoy began proclaiming "It wasn't my fault. I was 
> tricked," 
> > just like some of the sympathizers in France and other occupied 
> > nations said after Hitler fell. 
> > 
> > I don't see future resistance fighters like James and Lily 
> > fraternizing too much with the enemy. 
> > 
> > Darrin
> > -- Sometimes the search for gray is so intense that the black and 
> > white right in front of you is lost.
> 
> 

Gretchen wrote:

> I have to beg to differ with you Darrin.  Although the Lexicon 
states 
> that James is in Gryffindor, the interview does not.  A reader 
asked 
> the question "What position did James play on the Gryffindor team"  
> JKR stated simply that he was a chaser.  She did not confirm nor 
deny 
> that he was in Gryffindor.  She does state outright that Lily was 
in 
> Gryffindor.
> 
> Gretchen


OK, I consider this hairsplitting. First, the Lexicon states with 99 
percent certainty -- that's a quote from it -- that James was in 
Gryffindor, so I suppose it takes into account the sliver of doubt 
that could be raised by the interview. 

Second, I consider a question -- What position did James play on the 
Gryffindor team? -- to be clear. 

It would be like asking the question, "What position did Michael 
Jordan play on the Bulls?" and then saying that simply 
answering "shooting guard" refuses to confirm that he DID play for 
the Bulls.

Further, we have, in PoA, Lupin and Sirius referring to Snape as "a 
greasy haired Slytherin" and in GoF as "running with a gang of 
Slytherin who all became Death-Eaters.

If the Marauders were Slytherin, why in the world would they refer to 
the House as belonging to someone else? It doesn't conclusively prove 
they weren't Slytherin, but it certainly removes much of the 
remaining doubts. 

The Marauders started in 1971, about the same time as Voldemort rose 
to power. By the time they graduated, a good portion of the 
Slytherins, INCLUDING SNAPE, were on their way to becoming Death 
Eaters. We saw what happened when Snape turned against Voldemort - he 
is essentially a man targeted for death. Wouldn't any Slytherin who 
stood up against the Death Eaters -- or perhaps even refused to be 
considered DEs -- also have been put, at the very least, under a 
cloud of suspicion?

So what you are saying is that the Marauders would have been 
Slytherin, somehow turned against the DEs while still in school, and 
then graduated safely at a time when the entire nation was in fear of 
Voldermort? No, I think that is too far-fetched.

I concede there could be doubt as to whether all the Marauders were 
Gryffindor, though I believe they were. But I believe there is loads 
of evidence indicating that none of them were Slytherin. As for Ron's 
statement about no bad wizard coming from anywhere but Slytherin, it 
is either a bit of exaggeration, lack of knowledge -- he didn't know 
about Sirius Black being bad until PoA -- or just another FLINT.

And again, I think the picture might be in broader strokes than 
people want to admit. 

The players on the sides of good and evil might be switched around 
and twisted, but I don't think the books have ever contradicted the 
overriding notion of clear good and clear evil.

Pettigrew chose a side. Maybe he was a tortured little man who 
battled demons of insecurity, but in the end, he chose a side. Ditto 
for Voldemort, Snape, and the Malfoys. On the other side, we have the 
Potters, the HRH combo and Dumbledore.

Now, we may get surprises as to who is on what side, and we may get 
switching of sides, but I don't think this blurring of good and evil 
that I see here is accurate. 

Darrin
-- Yes, good and evil does exist