Wormtail and non-prophecy activities

[Paul Smith]

No: HPFGUIDX 81435

First posted late in June to no response, and as far as I'm aware 
hasn't been discussed since.  Hope this time it will get people 
thinking.

Hey everyone,

I don't think anyone else has questioned this, but for me it's one of 
the biggest mysteries to come out of OOP: where was Wormtail for the 
entire year? He is referred to a couple of times, we saw him in 
Snape's memory but we are never given information about what he's up 
to. And there was me waiting excitedly for what he might do with his 
new silver super-hand! I've given it a little thought and I suppose 
Wormtail's abscence might be due to a mission he is completing for 
Voldemort. I remember noticing Harry hearing something scuttling 
behind the wall at Grimmauld Place the first time he was there. Was 
that Wormtail as Scabbers? Highly unlikely I know, but it seems 
speculations are all we can make on the subject.

Along the lines of speculations, here's my favourite one at the 
moment. After reflection on the book, it feels like the cause of 
neither good nor evil was especially advanced. Voldemort didn't hear 
the rest of the prophecy and Harry went through little else but pain 
and anger through his fifth year. It's pretty hard for me to accept 
that the only thing Voldemort was thinking about was the prophecy, 
and that the only thing the Order were thinking about was keeping the 
prophecy out of evil hands. Surely both groups had other goals? We 
are aware of the attempts to recruit the Dementors and the giants 
(was Wormtail involved with the Dementors at all?), but is that 
really everything either Voldemort or Dumbledore could think of? 
Okay, I have to admit I don't have any clue as to what Wormtail could 
have been doing for a whole year that would keep him out of Harry's 
way. If he'd been at Hogwarts Crookshanks would have been on his 
tail; if he's been the one communicating with the Dementors why 
didn't they suck out his soul (takes messages to them as a rat?), and 
what else is there?

I'd love to hear anyone else's ideas on what Wormtail did for the 
year, I suppose my best guess is that he was delivering messages from 
Voldemort to the Dementors as a rat, but if that was the case why 
couldn't Voldemort have just gone and sorted it himself?
As you can see, this is driving me nuts, as so many things about OOP 
are. Please help!

Paul Smith, who's very happy it didn't turn out to be Z. Smith who 
was the sneak, but who's fuming at Harry and Dumbledore for failing 
to prevent Sirius's death.