Peter and Death Sentences

[Angela Burgess]

No: HPFGUIDX 37047

Someone (I don't know who) wrote:
> The fact is, you cannot base any argument about Wormtail's death on
> "If they had killed him, many other people wouldn't have died",  
> since they couldn't have known (the plan was to imprison him, not  
> let him go free).  

Then DG responded:
"They DID know. They had steeled themselves to the task at hand (taking
any life, even one as deserving of death as Wormtail, is never a
casual decision) and were about to do the deed when Harry stepped in.

And even then, they did so only with the knowledge that there were
Dementors near at hand into whose custody Wormtail would be released
immediately, and EVEN THEN he was warned that he would be immediately
killed if he tried to escape.

Sirius and Lupin are treating him as if he were the most dangerous
creature in the universe, and are entirely correct to do so. Past
behaviour is on their side."

I say:
I believe that DG might be confusing the issue here to a certain extent.  What "they" (Remus and Sirius) did not know was what Peter would do.  Yes, they knew he was dangerous, yes, they knew he had contributed to the deaths of James and Lily, but there was no inidication while he was still in rat form that he was going back to Voldemort to kill many more.  Even after he was transformed and had told his story, while they might suspect what he was planning to do, they did not KNOW it.   

We have no evidence to believe that in the Wizarding World, one can be convicted to death simply because of what they suspected of planning.  The crime has to be actually commited (or in Sirius' case, they believed there was proof enough indicating he had commited said crime).

Also, I do not believe that Sirius and Remus were treating as if he were the "most dangerous creature in the universe".  He is not and they are well aware of this fact.  In my mind, their treatment of him is pitiful and degrading, they do give him the respect he feels he deserves, but Peter does not act deserving of respect OR fear.  While he does act like an animal, the animal he resembles is not one that is dangerous.  I can't think of an appropriate animal resemblance actually.  Animals typically do not plead for their lives to all of the animals around.  They defend themselves, fighting back and generally acting, well, animal-like.  They do not typically snivel, beg on hands and knees, compliment, etc.

DG later wrote (in the same post):
"There exist people who cannot be rehabilitated. There exist situations
where you cannot take the time to try and heal the underlying
problems. The exists situtations where you must *act*, and act
quickly, in order to defend yourself and/or your society."

I say:
While I believe that you are correct, there do exist people who cannot be rehabilitated, it is not up to general society members to decide this.  Not in our world, not in the wizarding world.  There do exist situations where one must act quickly to defend oneself and society.  Once again though, the taking-out of an unarmed criminal for the simple purpose of revenge is not one of those situations.  Yes, the wizarding world may have been a better place if Peter had been killed.  Then again, maybe not.  One can never know.  It is impossible for us to say what might have been if such-and-such had happened.

However, I am of the belief that Sirius was not out to kill Peter based on what he believed Peter *might* do.  He was out to kill him because he wanted to.  Not to save society, not to save himself, not to save Harry, but because he felt Peter deserved to die.  There is no indication to the contrary (that I can remember), therefore applying more ethical goals to the actions of Remus and Sirius is simply wishful thinking.

Reading back over this, it doesn't seem to make nearly as much sense as it does in my head, so I apologize it I have lost anyone or confused the issues.  Also, this is from the first of 3 digests that I received today (75 messages!!), so I apologize if it is outdated.

Angela BurgessGet more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com


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