Dumbledore and Scabbers

[maria_kirilenko]

No: HPFGUIDX 55900

Marianne asked:

>Why would it have mattered whether or not Peter attempted to change 
>back to human form while at the Weasleys?  If he did, obviously 
>Molly never saw it happen or never came across a strange man roaming 
>around the house. So, Dumbledore may have assumed that Peter 
>remained in his rat form.  And, after PoA, he's gone off to 
>Voldemort, and Ron knows ho he is, so chances are Peter's not going 
>to go back to the Weasleys.  

Because there is a theory (can someone clarify *what*, exactly, it 
is?) that Peter Pettigrew did not, in fact, transform when nobody was 
around, but transformed in the middle of the night, when everybody 
was asleep, and either Imperio'd the children, or just had meaningful 
talks with them about good and evil, namely, about the absence of a 
distiction between them. In brief, messed with their minds. Or 
something. 

I don't believe in this for a moment, but *it's possible*.

But anyway, the fact remains that for 13 years, a *Death Eater*, who 
was responsible for a most atrocious murder, was Percy's and Ron's 
*pet*. That's something parents should know about, don't you think?

Does that answer your question?

What interests me more is whether Hermione's parents knew that she 
was Petrified in CoS.

>Maybe this is evidence of Dumbledore the Manipulator, or maybe it's 
>Dumbledore trying to protect Sirius.  After all, saying Scabbers is 
>Peter Pettigrew inevitably would lead to questions about Sirius, and 
>maybe Dumbledore figured it would be best to keep that quiet until 
>such time as Peter can be presented alive to the authorities as 
>proof 
>of Sirius' innocence. Plus, since everyone is so convinced of 
>Sirius' 
>guilt, this whole Peter-as-Animagus story sounds like a fairy tale. 
>Unless you have the man/rat right in front of you as proof.

Well, I'm inclined to think that Molly and Arthur would have believed 
Dumbledore, had he told them the whole story. Molly Weasley certainly 
seemed OK with Sirius at the end of GoF, although he gave her a nasty 
shock at first.

I wonder what other uses Molly's potato-peeling spell has...

Maria