TBAY: Peter Wants A Promotion (WAS Peter Doesn't Get The Girl )

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 40935

"ELKINS!!!!" 

Cindy seized Elkins roughly by the arm and spun her 
around.  "Elkins!  Snap *out* of it!  Come on, enough's *enough* 
already!"  Cindy whipped the back of her hand across Elkins' cheek, 
slapping her again and again.  Elkins staggered backward, falling 
heavily against the wall, her face hidden in her hands.

Cindy wheeled around to confront George, who sat in an overstuffed 
armchair, stroking his clean-shaven chin.  "What did you *do* to 
her?" she demanded.  "You're supposed to be *helping* her, teaching 
her how to be more *assertive,* and you've . . . you're . . . you're 
turning her into an *Evil Overlord* instead?  You think Theory Bay 
needs a psychotic, dangerous *maniac* in our midst?  You call that 
*helping* her?  ARE YOU COMPLETELY *MAD!*" 

George stood silently, his arms folded defiantly across his chest, a 
fiendish smile playing across his full lips.

Cindy knelt down next to Eileen, who lay on her side gasping for 
air.  "Are you all right, Eileen?"

Eileen sat up abruptly, several oversized dust bunnies clinging to 
her hair.  "I'm *fine,*" she snapped.  "What are you *doing?*  Why 
did you have to *stop* her like that?"

Cindy gaped at her.  "You  . . . you *wanted* Elkins to torture you?"

"Oh *course* I did!"  Eileen said.  "You've ruined *everything!*  
Now the moment is *lost* forever!  Now I'll never experience 
Cruciatus, and I'll never know whether it can make me *stronger!*"

"Eileen, I -- " Cindy leaner closer to Eileen, lowering her voice to 
a whisper.  "I have to tell you something.  I made that whole 
Cruciatus-Makes-You-Stronger thing *up.*  Cruciatus does *not* make 
you stronger.  I can't believe I didn't wind up on *moderated 
status* for that one."  Cindy looked wildly around the room, 
suddenly feeling the disdain of the theorists around her.  Avery 
turned away, hurling his cigarette butt to the ground in disgust.  
Stoned!Harry lay back down on a brown leather chaise in the shadows, 
pulling his dark glasses over his reddened eyes.

"You see, Cindy," George said, pulling her gently to her feet.  "You 
have to *understand* SYCOPHANTS.  They have a desperate need to be 
dominated, yet they dream of one day being Supremely Evil, Supremely 
Powerful.  Those instincts – those terrible instincts – are 
constantly at war within the SYCOPHANTic mind.  It's, uh, Freudian 
or something.  Or, at least, I think it is, but I never understood 
that Freudian stuff either."  

He laughed a high, cold laugh that seemed to chill the air.  "And I 
use hypnosis to bring it all to the surface.  Elkins here," he waved 
a hand at Elkins, who had curled her arms around her knees and was 
rocking rhythmically, "is learning to *control* and *embrace* her 
SYCOPHANTic side by bringing out the Evil Overlord within.  It's a 
new, untested therapy, and I have no idea how it will work out for 
Elkins, but hey – it's entertaining and it sure helps pass the 
time," he said brightly.

Cindy snatched her arm from George's slender fingers.  "You're a 
*quack,* you know that?" she breathed.

"Ah, well now, that can't be true, can it, Cindy?"  George arched 
one thin eyebrow, smiling slightly.  "Look how much I've helped 
*you*"

**********************

You know, Peter Pettigrew just doesn't make *sense,* does he?  He's 
probably from Gryffindor, given that his very best friends are all 
Gryffindors.  There's nothing in the books to explain fully why he 
would turn spy for Voldemort and betray his best friend and his wife 
and their small child.  Even if the plan had worked and Peter had 
secured a lofty position in Voldemort's organization, why would he 
want it?  What did he hope to gain by it?  Was Peter really going to 
be satisfied to carry Voldemort's evil briefcase for the rest of his 
sorry life?

I think not.  Peter had other ideas.  *Big* ideas, which are the 
best kind of ideas.  ;-)


Eileen (about Peter):

> And, he keeps jumping to the conclusion that Voldemort's going to
> kill him. A reasonable conclusion perhaps but what has got Peter's
> mind into "He's trying to kill me and double cross me" mode? The 
> only way he could already have been doubled-crossed is if we 
> involve Lily. 

Elkins replied:

> Peter isn't an ideologue, to say the least.  He's self-serving.  
>So if he had always believed Voldemort to be the sort of Evil 
>Overlord who reneges on his promises and kills his minions the 
>second that they have outlived their usefulness, then it's rather 
>hard to imagine why he ever would have become involved, isn't it?  
>His service to the DEs before the Secret Keeper fiasco seems to 
>have entailed spying on the Potters' circle.  After his betrayal, 
>his cover would have been, er, blown.  To say the least.  Would he 
>have agreed to the plan -- or even engineered it, as it does seem 
>likely to me that he *volunteered* the information that he had been 
>made the Secret Keeper to Voldemort -- if he had believed at the 
>time that Voldemort was such a "kill the spare" type when it came 
>to his own followers?  I just don't know.  I rather think he might 
>have tried to flee instead, or tried to keep the SK switcheroo a 
>secret.
 

Good questions.  Very good questions.

You know, I'm starting to think that we are not giving little Peter 
*nearly* enough credit here.  We've put forth all manner of theories 
about Peter, but most of them assume that he is weak and 
talentless.  Flawed and cowardly, but still basically loyal to 
Voldemort.  Well, loyal for a DE, that is.  ;-)

How come we never consider the possibility that Peter *is* 
reasonably talented, but more importantly, that he is tremendously 
ambitious in his own right?  That he wishes to rule the world 
himself?  That he has seen how forgetful and careless Voldemort can 
be, and he knows he can do better if given half a chance?  

You see what's coming, right?  Peter is an Evil Overlord wannabe his 
own self!  He took Voldemort to the Potters knowing full well that 
Voldemort would not survive the confrontation with Little Harry.  
Once Voldemort was reduced to vapor, Peter figured he'd just make 
off with Voldemort's wand and take over where Voldemort left off.

But Peter miscalculated, didn't he?  Peter miscalculated Big Time.  
Voldemort was always going on about how his wand was so very 
*special,* how it came from Dumbledore's Phoenix, how Voldemort was 
*invincible* and all.  And Peter bought that whole line.  Ah, but it 
was all just PR, just *spin!*  Voldemort's wand isn't the source of 
Evil Overlord power after all.  Peter gave Voldemort's wand a little 
wave and realized that he was no more powerful with Voldemort's wand 
than with his own wand.  Oh, this wasn't going well for Peter *at 
all*, was it?

So Peter goes to Plan B.  Plan B is to go into hiding.  Peter 
hatches this whole "Frame Sirius and live 12 years as a rat" plan.  
It's not great, but it's better than a life sentence in Azkaban, so 
Peter does what he has to do.  That explains why Peter didn't seek 
out Voldemort earlier.  Peter couldn't be sure whether Voldemort had 
figured out Peter set him up.  But once Peter's cover was blown in 
PoA, well . . . Peter figured he'd go with the devil he knew 
(Voldemort) and hope Voldemort (who Peter figures isn't all that 
bright anyway) hadn't figured out Peter had tried to assassinate 
Voldemort.

Ah, this has possibilities.  After all, as Elkins and Eileen point 
out, Peter seems to fear for his life when he is discussing 
returning Voldemort to power.  And why would that be?  Because Peter 
is terrified that Voldemort may have learned that Peter tried to 
assassinate Voldemort after all.  

In fact, Assassin!Peter explains exactly why Peter hooked up with 
Voldemort in the first place.  It was not to get some magical power 
boost.  It was not because he felt disrespected in Dumbledore's 
organization.  No, Peter was making a Big Move.  He wasn't going to 
*work for* Dumbledore; he was going to take over Voldemort's 
organization and *defeat* Dumbledore.

What's that?  You want to know if I have *canon*?  Oh, sure.  No 
problem at all.  Canon's not hard to find if you know where to 
look.  ;-)

First of all, it is clear that there some sort of ancient magic 
protecting Harry.  Peter was a close friend of James and Sirius.  
Isn't it rather likely that Peter was fully aware of the ancient 
magic protecting Harry and, once he talked Sirius into allowing him 
to be SecretKeeper, just never mentioned the protection to 
Voldemort?  After all, Sirius seems to know something about the 
protection surrounding Harry.  When Harry was telling Dumbledore and 
Sirius about his graveyard adventures, Sirius tried to interrupt 
several times.  And of course, when Harry told of being pierced by 
the dagger, Sirius "let out a vehement exclamation."  If Sirius 
knows, wouldn't Peter know also?  

In fact, it is actually *more* likely that Peter knew Voldemort was 
walking into a setup than that Peter was surprised about this 
ancient magic.  Peter was in on the preparations for the Fidelius 
Charm; he probably knew Lily had a Plan B.  As Pip has explained on 
more than one occasion, *everyone* in the wizarding world has a Plan 
B.  ;-)

Peter also seems eager to encourage Voldemort not to make himself 
*too* strong, doesn't he?  A little *too* eager, I think.  "Your 
Lordship is still determined, then?" Wormtail said quietly."  When 
Wormtail thinks for a brief moment that Voldemort will agree to use 
another wizard, Wormtail "sound[s] thoroughly relieved."  Indeed, 
Wormtail goes so far as to try to convince Voldemort that Voldemort 
is already quite strong:  "But you seem so much stronger, My 
Lord –"  And notice how JKR takes pains to describe Wormtail's 
reaction to Voldemort's doubts about Wormtail's loyalty.  She tells 
us that Wormtail speaks with "the merest trace of sullenness in his 
voice," that "there was definitely a sulky edge to his voice now."

That's right.  Wormtail is *still* thinking that he is going to 
assassinate Voldemort when the time is right, and Wormtail does not 
want Voldemort to get *too* strong, now does he?  Wormtail is plenty 
strong, but when he finally catches Voldemort alone on a rickety 
catwalk over a river of molten lava, Wormtail wants to make darn 
sure that Voldemort is just a little bit shaky.  That's just good 
tactics.

The amazing thing here is that JKR actually *tells* us straight up 
that Peter set up Voldemort, and we don't even believe it, do we?  
Sirius says in PoA:

"I heard things in Azkaban, Peter . . . They all think you're dead, 
or you'd have to answer to them . . . . I've heard them screaming 
all sorts of things in their sleep.  Sounds like they think the 
double-crosser double-crossed them.  Voldemort went to the Potters 
on your information . . . and Voldemort met his downfall there."

And that's *exactly* how it all went down.  The night the Potter' 
died was supposed to be the hat trick for Peter:  James dead, Lily 
dead, and best of all, Voldemort dead.  Two out of three – 
definitely an off night if you're Peter.

Oh yeah.  No wonder Wormtail just about goes to pieces in the 
graveyard scene.  Voldemort says there is a "stench of guilt" in the 
air, and Wormtail thinks Voldemort is finally onto him and that this 
is the bitter end.  Because we all know what happens to Evil 
Overlord assassins who don't get it right the first time, don't we?  

::shudder::

Forget whether Peter-Gets-The-Girl.  Now we have to decide whether 
Peter-Wants-A-Promotion.  DangerousAssassin!Peter is much, much, 
*much* Bangier than SYCOPHANTic!Peter, with or without rickety 
catwalks.  ;-)

********************

Cindy knelt down next to Elkins, gingerly pulling her trembling 
hands away from her reddened cheeks.  "Elkins, I'm so sorry to rough 
you up like that.  I just *had* to do it, for Eileen's sake.  You 
know that, don't you?"

"No!"  Elkins cried, shrinking away from Cindy in 
horror.  "Don't . . . please . . . just don't *hit* me again!  I 
can't take all the *hitting!*"

"Elkins, I'm not –"  Cindy paused, drawing a long slow breath before 
continuing.  "Are you . . . are you *sure* you're all right?" she 
asked quizzically, staring into Elkins' eyes, which seemed to have 
changed from their usual watery blue to a rather steely grey.

"I feel *different,* Cindy."  Elkins blinked, shaking her head 
vigorously.  "I can't put my finger on it, but something's really 
*different.*  I feel stronger – tougher -- somehow.  Not at all 
SYCOPHANTish."  She got slowly to her feet, swaying slightly.  "I 
feel like I could get away with *anything.*  Like *nothing* could 
defeat me."  She looked down at Cindy, smiling lazily.  "You know, I 
think I just might be *Tough* now – Tough like you, Cindy," she said 
lazily.

"Look what you've done!" Eileen shrieked, pointing her finger at 
George.  "You've created a *monster!*"  

"Why, maybe I have, maybe I have," said George cheerfully.  "Oh, 
this is going to be *Big!*  This is the sort of thing that really 
*makes* a career for a canon theory specialist like me!"

"Oh, no."  Cindy fell back against the wall, sliding slowly to the 
floor.  "Elkins is *Tough* now?"  She buried her head in her hands 
and heaved a defeated sigh.  

"This is just *never* going to work out."

*******************

Cindy

*******************


For an explanation of the acronyms and theories in this post, visit
Hypothetic Alley at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%
20Files/hypotheticalley.htm 

and Inish Alley at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/database?
method=reportRows&tbl=13