Is Wormtaiil an Occlumens?

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 95203

It occurs to me that Peter (Wormtail) Pettigrew would about have had to be
an Occlumens.

Think about it.  He was part of the original Order, working with DD.  DD
himself is, by his own admission, a Legilimens.  I rather doubt that even
with the endorsement of the rest of the Marauders, DD would just take
Pettigrew on trust.  However, given their endorsement, any checking he did
would probably have been fairly cursory---"Oh, he's one of their best
friends in the world.  I'll just get this formality over with, and then he's
in."  I doubt that Snape got the once-over-lightly treatment...he probably
had to really, really show that he was sincere about changing sides.

If he is an Occlumens, without the knowledge of anybody else (he is a more
powerful wizard than he appears to be; I don't take V-mort's waspish
comments on his lack of ability at face value at all) he might well be able
to play a double game.  What with V-mort's contemptuous treatment of him
since their reunion, I could see him hiding a growing hatred for the Dark
Lord behind his Occlumency, and trusting to V-mort's contempt for him to
keep him from figuring out that Wormtail is an Occlumens.  "What, him, an
Occlumens?  _Howls_ of derisive laughter!  He couldn't keep _me_ from
reading his mind!"

For someone like Pettigrew/Wormtail, who has depended on flying under the
radar for so long, Occlumency would be an essential skill given the
existence of Legilimency.  He could have learned it at Hogwarts, or
afterwards---V-mort apparently studied long and hard after leaving school,
and I would bet that opportunities to learn Occlumency exist in the WW.