Pettigrew Attacked Ron?

[Bex]

No: HPFGUIDX 109189

DuffyPoo wrote:
> While trying to find a quote for some reply this morning, I came 
across this, which I truly have never noticed before, in the chapter 
of PoA titled Hermione's Secret.
> 
> "Professor, Black's telling the truth -- we saw Pettigrew --
> --he escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf --
> --he's a rat --
> --Pettigrew's front paw, I mean, finger, he cut it off --"
> NOW, GET THIS...
> "--Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius --"
> 
> Where did that come from?  
> 
> Scabbers had faked his own death in February on a Thursday 
(Lupin/Harry's Patronus lessons were on Thursdays) - before the 
Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw match - in fact, the day Harry got his 
Firebolt back.  There was a Quidditch practice the next day, then the 
match on Saturday against Ravenclaw, which Gryffindor won.
>  
> Saturday night, after the festivities, Ron was attacked. Ron 
said, "Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!" and "Perce -- Sirius 
Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" Later, Ron 
describes Black "and I saw him standing over me ... like a skeleton, 
with loads of filthy hair..."  This sort of matches Harry's 
description of Black from the muggle news was "whose gaunt face was 
surrounded by a matted, elbow-length tangle," especially that it is 
now seven months later. Granted Ron wouldn't have known what 
Pettigrew looked like, but he would have seen pictures of Black in 
the Daily Prophet, and presumably spread over the town of Hogsmeade. 
(Although that is not stated, there were pictures of the 10 escaped 
DEs posted in the town in OotP.)  Professor McGonagall asks Sir 
Cadogan if he let a man into the tower and Sir Cadogan said that he 
had, and that the man had the whole weeks' passwords written on a 
piece of paper.  Sir Cadogan didn't say it was Black, Peeves told DD 
it was Black when the Fat Lady was attacked the previous Hallowe'en.

> Nobody, in the Shrieking Shack admitted or denied attacking Ron, it 
was never mentioned.
> 
> Would Scabbers have also known the passwords?  He rarely left the 
tower room.  If he had seen the list on Neville's table?  Could it 
have been Pettigrew who actually attacked Ron?  Why would he have 
done so?  Is Pettigrew not only able to transform himself into a rat, 
but have some way of transforming into Black?  Sirius used to keep 
his hair cut short (first OotP picture), was Pettigrew cutting it for 
him and pocketing some of the hairs?  Oh, why would he need hairs...I 
wonder.....
> 
> Why does this say "Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius"?????

Yb thinks:
YOWSA!!! What a thought!

I always read that as when they were leaving the Shack, when Lupin 
tranformed, Peter grabbed a wand and started firing, knocking Ron 
out. It seems the kids are trying to explain everything that's 
happened in the last few hours, not 4 months ago. If Peter was saving 
Sirius' hair, (seems a little odd: "Peter, /what/ are you doing? Oh, 
nothing...") that would have been a long time to save it, though I 
can see a point to it, sort of. 

If Peter is dead, he can't be wandering around in human form, so when 
he isn't a rat (physically, that is; if he was anymore like a rat, 
he'd sprout a tail) he might want to tranform into someone else. But 
my first guess wouldn't be a wanted criminal. We know Peter is the 
only person who could confirm Sirius' story, so unless Sirius broke 
out of Azkaban, thus being on the run, no one would ever see him in 
public, so Peter wouldn't want to tranform into him. Would not go 
over well, not at all.

So I think Sirius did attack Ron in the tower, but he was looking for 
Peter. Why would Peter attack Ron as Sirius? LV isn't back, and has 
had no contact with Peter yet, so there would be no reason. Plus, 
Peter has spoent enough time in the dormitories to know whose bed is 
whose, so he couldn't have made a stupid mistake like going for Harry 
but accidently attacking Ron instead.

One thing that may help you, though I always saw it as hinting 
at /Sirius'/ animaga form: When Ron is bragging to everyone about 
what happened, he says "and then he [Black] /scampered/." (JK's 
italics, describing how Sirius ran off.) I always took this as a dog 
would scamper, but of course a rat could too.

And one more thought: Sirius would probably transform when he 
realized his little plan had failed and Ron had woken up the entire 
tower. When he is dashing out of the common romm, down the halls, and 
to the doors or secret passageways, wouldn't someone notice a big 
hairy dog running through Hogwarts? This is probably arguable, and 
writer's license,, but what do y'all think?

~Yb (a non-southern girl with just the right amount of /twang/)