Is Wormtaiil an Occlumens?

[corinthum]

No: HPFGUIDX 95242

Eric wrote:

> 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." 

Very likely, but the question remains whether Pettigrew had anything 
to hide when he first joined the Order.  My impression has always 
been that he was part of the Order for a while before Voldemort 
approached him.  Otherwise, why would Voldemort have wanted him for a 
spy in the first place?  No extreme abilities (no well-known 
abilities, at least), no record of reliability, whiny and annoying, 
etc.  Given Peter's track record in school, Voldemort could hardly 
have expected Dumbledore to simply accept him into the Order, no 
questions asked, simply for showing interest.  If the plan was to 
insert a spy as a new member of the Order, there must have been 
better candidates out there.

Instead, Voldemort took a look at those he knew were in the Order and 
asked himself, "Who can I most easily cooerce/threaten into giving me 
some information?"  Peter was an obvious choice.

So it is entirely possible that Peter was able to pass Dumbledore's 
legilimency test when first joining, not due to Occlumency, but due 
to the fact that he wasn't yet a spy.

-Corinth