[HPforGrownups] Re: Voldemort addressing Pettigrew as "Wormtail"

[Patricia Bullington-McGuire]

No: HPFGUIDX 54283

On Mon, 24 Mar 2003, Becky Walkden wrote:

> Please note too that Snape who was NOT in their
> circle and didn't know they were animages (only that one of them was a
> warewolf) obviously recognized the nicknames on the Mauraders Map.  
> That's why he specifically asked if perhaps Harry got it straight from
> the manufacturers. It is possible that the nicknames were indeed well
> known even if the reasons for them weren't. So in all probability to was
> known anyways amongst the DE's that Peter Pettigrew and Wormtail were
> one and the same.  

I agree.  Since some of the current and former Death Eaters (Rosier, the
Lestranges, etc.) were friends of Snape's at Hogwarts, it seems likely
that they would know about the MWPP nicknames as well.  Even if the
nicknames were not widely known at school, it seems highly unlikely that
Snape would have failed to pass on that information to his friends, given
how much he hated those four during their school years.  He had no reason
at that point to keep secrets for them, and in turn Rosier et al had no
reason not to pass the information to other DEs.  So I think it's safe to
assume that at least some of the current group of DEs know that "Wormtail"
is Peter Pettigrew.

>  But I think his use of it is basically a reflection of his total
> comtempt for Peter Pettigrew.  Huggs Becky

This is my impression as well.  "Wormtail" is a rather insulting nickname.  
To constantly refer to Peter as "Wormtail," and to refuse to use Peter's 
real name, is a way of demeaning him and keeping him in his place.  
Voldemort clearly does not think highly of Peter.  He merely finds Peter 
useful and easy to control, and he is more than happy to remind Peter of 
that at every opportunity.


----
Patricia Bullington-McGuire	<patricia at obscure.org>

The brilliant Cerebron, attacking the problem analytically, discovered
three distinct kinds of dragon: the mythical, the chimerical, and the
purely hypothetical.  They were all, one might say, nonexistent, but each
nonexisted in an entirely different way ... 
                -- Stanislaw Lem, "Cyberiad"