Pettigrew Power (Was: James Potter Bio Facts)

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 90282

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kathy King" <kking0731 at h...> 

> I loved what you had to say about Peter and the way that you stated 
it 
> all....It was Harry's compassion along with his mother's that set 
them 
> apart. It really brought up two questions when reading all you had 
to say 
> about Peter:
> 1st:  Why did V ask Lily to step aside? Maybe Lily (like Harry to 
Pettigrew) 
> was compassionate to V and saved his life once. Then V owed Lily.

> 2nd: If Harry is soooo compassionate that he can't stand a side and 
let a 
> muggle (like Dudley)  or a wizard (like Pettigrew) be killed, then 
how can 
> he kill V? Maybe thats when Pettigrew steps in. He still owes Harry 
his 
> life. ...Pettigrew still has time to change his spots.

I see a contradiction here.  If V owed his life to Lily, surely 
simply giving her a warning to step aside is not a method to repay 
that.  Especially since he killed her immediately afterwards.  And, 
if V can behave in this way, why would we assume Peter wouldn't?  

I've always seen Peter as amoral. He doesn't do horrible things 
because he takes joy in them, like Bellatrix, or because he has 
Vmort's worldview of "Kill all the Mudbloods." Peter gravitates to 
whatever people will make his life easier.  He felt that the Order 
was not going to be able to stop Vmort in the first war, so he traded 
information for his own skin.  

Now, his situation doesn't strike me as a particularly happy one. 
Yes, he's a henchman that Vmort depended on very heavily, but it 
doesn't seem like Peter's been shown any appreciation for that.  He 
didn't seem like a particularly happy DE in the graveyard scene in 
GoF.  And with Bellatrix back, I'd be willing to bet that Peter has 
slipped down a rung or two in the DE heirarchy. 

But, is that enough to make him switch sides again or suddenly get a 
conscience?  I don't think so. If he were to do something heroic, I 
still think he'd be doing it because he believed that the DEs were 
going to lose.  And, thus he could try to gain some goodwill from 
Harry's side to try to mitigate against his past sins.  Again, it 
wouldn't be because he was remorseful over his past actions or 
because he was trying to repay a debt, it would be because he saw a 
potential way to once again save himself. 

I, for one, am hoping that Remus rips his heart out.  

Oh - I just had a thought.  I could see Harry making a bargain with 
Peter that ran along the lines of "I'll do what I can to protect you 
from harm or see that you get a only a short prison sentence, but 
only if you clear Sirius' name."

Marianne, who'd still vote for heart-ripping-out