[HPforGrownups] Fawkes' Age, "Wormtail" vs. Pettigrew

[Patricia Bullington-McGuire]

No: HPFGUIDX 54307

On Tue, 25 Mar 2003, erisedstraeh2002 wrote:

> Just because JKR has implied that she named Fawkes the phoenix after 
> Guy Fawkes doesn't mean that Fawkes the phoenix has to have been born 
> (for the first time) after the death of the real Guy Fawkes.  

Exactly.  It only means he was given the name "Fawkes" after the gunpowder 
plot took place.  He could have had a different name before that, or he 
could have been living in the wild and had no name at all.

Personally, I don't believe Fawkes was Godric's phoenix.  Phoenixes are 
notoriously hard to domesticate and extremely loyal.  I doubt he would 
accept being handed down from wizard to wizard like a family pet.  I 
believe he is with Dumbledore because he chose Dumbledore, and it is a 
testament to Dumbledore's greatness as a wizard that he could 
"domesticate" a phoenix where so many others have failed.

> Now that Voldemort has regained his body, yes, I agree that 
> protecting Pettigrew from the other DEs has become a moot point.  
> However, since Pettigrew was a crucial part of Voldemort's plan to 
> regain his body and to regenerate using Harry's blood, I believe it 
> was important to Voldemort to keep his identity hidden, especially 
> from Barty Crouch Jr., who, in his own words, has stated: "if there's 
> one thing I hate more than any other, it's a Death Eater who walked 
> free."  Pettigrew walked free, so in order for Pettigrew and Crouch 
> Jr. to work together to implement Voldemort's regeneration plan, it 
> is quite possible that Voldemort needed to hide Pettigrew's identity 
> from Crouch Jr. in order to keep Crouch Jr. from killing Pettigrew.

I disagree that Pettigrew "walked free" in the sense that Crouch meant
that.  Pettigrew's life after Voldemort's defeat actually mirrors Crouch's
rather closely.  Both had to fake their deaths to avoid/escape Azkaban.  
Both then had to live in a terribly demeaning manner after that, Peter
reduced to being a pet ret and Crouch hidden under an invisibility cloak
24 hours a day, subject to the Imperius Curse.  Both had to avoid everyone
who cared about them.  (I don't think Crouch Sr. actually cared about his
son.)  Both were deprived of any meaningful activity.  Both faced a
lifetime of endless, stultifying boredom and pointlessness if they stayed
hidden, and a far worse fate if they were discovered.

Compare that to Snape and Karkaroff.  Both of those two went on to hold
prestigious positions and were accorded a good bit of social respect.  
Both were free to associate with whomever they chose, to engage in
intellectual pursuits, professional advancement, hobbies, romantic
relationships, and whatever else might catch their fancy.  Whether either
actually did all those things is not the point.  They had the
*opportunity* to do so, which is what makes them free.

While Pettigrew might not have suffered quite as much as Crouch, his
experience is much closer to Crouch's than to Snape, Karkaroff, Malfoy,
etc. -- DEs who unequivocally did walk free.  Furthermore, Pettigrew and
Crouch were the only DEs who returned to Voldemort's service before
Voldemort regained his full power.  I would think that Crouch would feel 
far more brotherhood with Pettigrew than with most of the other DEs.  I 
don't think Pettigrew needed to fear for his life around Crouch.

> Now that Voldemort has been returned to his body, however, he has 
> less of a need to keep Pettigrew's identity hidden.  Which leads me 
> to speculate on what might happen when (and if) Voldemort "breaks 
> open" Azkaban and sets the DEs free  Voldemort might just feed 
> Pettigrew to his enemies.

I think as long as Pettigrew remains useful Voldemort will keep him
around.  He gave Pettigrew quite a powerful reward in the form of that new
hand.  Right now Peter serves as an example of the rewards DEs can receive
for loyal service to the Dark Lord, even (especially) service rendered at
their own expense.  I don't think Voldemort would waste that without a
good reason.  In fact, if he did knock off Pettigrew without a good reason
(or allow another DE to do so), it would diminish the other DEs incentive
to remain loyal.  I think he will be keeping Peter around for a while.


----
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"