Is Percy A Spy?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 111251

Caspen wrote: 
> Having re-read COS recently, I was struck by the number of times 
> mysterious behavior on the part of Percy is mentioned - it's not 
> just once or twice, but several times. In COS Percy seems to have 
> some hold over Ginny, or at the very least to be monitoring her. In 
> addition, he appears inexplicably in the dungeon.
> 
> I know the canon explanation (offered by Percy) at the end of COS is 
> that Ginny has caught him in an assignation with Penelope 
> Clearwater, but, if so, why insist that she conceal it, and why 
> behave deceptively, (again!) not once, but several times, given his 
> later openess about the relationship? Why, for that matter, would 
> Percy (a Gryffyndor, a Slytherin rival, residing in the upper floors 
> of the castle) and Penelope (a Ravenclaw, also residing in the upper 
> floors of the castle) meet in a dungeon, close to the Slytherins' 
> quaters of all places? 
> 
> Why does PP become Percy's pet and why does Percy bequeath PP, in 
> the form of Scabbers, to to Ron? Why does PP choose the Weasely 
> family to reside with, and why is another Weasily, Ginny, targeted 
> by LM in COS? <snip>


Carol:
Considering that Percy was only about six years old when he acquired
Scabbers, I think PP most likely chose him because of his age and
relative poverty. He was simply a little boy who wanted a pet and his
parents accepted the pet because it cost nothing and required very
little beyond a cage, a food and water dish, cheap food and litter for
the cage. If he was *very* tame, as he probably was (being fat and
lazy), he might not even have required *that* much maintenance. Percy
simply turned him over to Ron, his youngest brother who was just
entering Hogwarts, when he was given Hermes the owl for becoming a
prefect. (You can't have two pets, and proud Percy not going to choose
a scroungy old rat over a handsome new owl.) I don't see any need for
an ulterior motive on Percy's part regarding Scabbers. Even though
rats aren't on the approved pet list, Dumbledore and McGonagall
probably looked the other way considering the family's poverty. A rat
is a lot less expensive than a cat or an owl.

As for Peter's motive in choosing to live with the Weasleys, I think
he simply wanted a family to take him in, and he had a better chance
with a poor family than a rich one. From what we know of Peter, he
isn't so much evil (aside from being able to cast an avada kedavra
under coercion) as weak and lazy and cowardly. He probably was
perfectly happy as a rat--that's his animagus form and therefore his
nature, after all--and enjoyed being taken care of without having to
do anything in return. He had no desire to go back to the DEs, who
thought he had betrayed them and would have sought revenge if they
knew he was alive, and no reason to think that Voldemort was back
until at least the end of SS. He apparently wasn't seriously worried
by what he overheard from Harry or the Weasleys until the beginning of
PoA. And it wasn't spying but survival that was on his mind. He feared
revenge from Sirius Black--and with good reason.

Whatever Percy may be up to now (and I think he's simply been led
astray by ambition, the desire to be appreciated, and a too-rigid
belief in authority and rules), he can't possibly have been corrupted
by a rat who remained a rat for the entire time that Percy owned him.

Carol