Weird thought about LV & Wormtail

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 95283

Karen wrote:
<snip> Has anyone else noticed that LV addresses
all the DEs either by their first or last names? 
Pettigrew seems to be the only exception to this rule
as Voldemort always refers to him by his nickname. 
Could there be some special reason for this or is it
just coincidence?
 
 
Lilian responded:
I have not discovered in canon any reason, but I got the impression 
that LV, by using Peter's nickname, constantly reminds him that he 
is a lesser DE than the others. I was about to say that maybe even 
LV would not have made him a DE if it had not been for the fact that 
LV, as Vapormort!, needed Peter, but no, Peter had already the Dark 
Mark on his arm so was a DE before LV was vanquished by baby!Harry. 
 
Remains a distinction of lesser worth, perhaps to be compared to the 
fact that LV, in the Graveyard, calls Lucius by his first name 
(expression of high ranking) as compared to Crabbe and Goyle (lesser 
ranking) and, finally, Wormtail (ranked least of all DE's).


Carol:
Certainly you're right about LV's "slippery friend" Lucius being
ranked higher than Crabbe, Goyle, and all the rest who are addressed
by their last names, but Wormtail appears to be a special case and not
as easily classified or ranked. The nickname LV uses for him is the
same one that his best friends used when they were at Hogwarts, a sign
of affection then. Now it suggests his ability to transform himself
into an animal--an ability shared by no other DE that we know of--and
specifically a rather lowly and often despised animal--a rat. (I'm not
attacking rats, which I know can make good pets.) LV, who probably
underestimates Wormtail's abilities and definitely holds him in
contempt for his cowardice, knowing quite well that the sole basis of
his "loyalty" is fear of punishment, nevertheless has found him quite
useful (though he probably considers his debt to Wormtail repaid by
the silver hand). So is his use of "Wormtail" before that point a kind
of mock affection that is really contempt (like addressing him as
"Rat")? Does he use this nickname in front of the other DEs to
disguise PP's identity from them in the graveyard scene? Clearly, as
we've already discussed, the DEs in Azkaban didn't know that Peter
Pettigrew was an animagus--or that he was still alive. Now Lucius and
Bellatrix, at least, know that MWPP were animagi so they must know who
Wormtail is, but I wonder if the others also know.

To backtrack a moment, Wormtail probably *was*, as Lilian suggests, a
"lesser DE" to begin with--just a spy--yet he can cast an AK without a
qualm, so maybe he did more harm than we know in the days before
Godric's Hollow. If what Bellatrix and Crouch Jr. have said about the
Unforgiveables is true, you can't just cast an AK because someone you
fear orders you to. You have to master the spell through practice (and
by cultivating the proper frame of mind)--which indicates to me that,
like Barty Jr., he must have used at least one Unforgiveable in the
days before Godric's Hollow.

Maybe Wormtail is useful but contemptible in LV's eyes and that's why
he uses the nickname, with all its unpleasant connotations. If Sirius
had been a DE and LV was aware of his abililties as an animagus (as he
almost certainly would have been), would LV have called him Padfoot? I
don't think so.

Carol, with apologies for a less than coherent post, but I'm still
working out what I think here