Rats at Hogwarts (was Cedric and Pettigrew)

[suehpfan]

No: HPFGUIDX 91928

<drjuliehoward at y...> wrote:
snip
(2) Did DD know about the marauders being animagi?
(3) If "yes" do you suppose he had a hunch that Scabbers was 
actually PP and allowed him in Hogwarts to keep an eye on him?  I'm 
not suggesting he knew about PP being the secret keeper/traitor and 
Sirius beig innocent.  I'm just speculating that DD recognized 
PP/Scabbers, wondered why he was in rat form and in this form for 
sooooo long, and chose to keep him around to watch.  DD doesn't act 
hasty, nor does he disclose all he ponders.  
(4) For that matter, could he have found PP/rat and gave it to Percy 
for precisely that reason?  He knew Percy would go to Hogwarts as 
would all other Weasleys.  When Ron got prefect, he wondered what 
kind of "gift" he would receive because his older brothers did 
(stated in post above).  Given that canon evidence, another Weasley 
tradition would very likely being passing down clothes, robes, 
books, and pets.  So, DD could anticipate that whichever Weasley had 
PP/rat, it would be at Hogwarts, thus motivating him to give it 
(anonymously?) as a pet.

Just some thoughts.

Sue Here:
It seems entirely possible to me that DD had no knowledge of the pet 
rat (at least until after permission had been given).  Since the 
letters from Hogwarts come directly from professor McGonagall and she 
is head of house for Gryffindor, it seems to me the Weasleys would 
have simply sent a return owl to her to ask permission (M/M Weasley 
were both Gryffindor and their other sons had been as well so IMO, 
they would have known McGonagall).  Once Percy had been given 
permission, there would have been no need to make a new request for 
Ron to bring the same rat.

I think it is highly unlikely that DD had *any* idea PP was able to 
turn into a rat.  If he did know and he suspected Percy/Ron's rat 
might be Peter wouldn't he have questioned him about why he allowed 
the WW to believe he was dead?  The only two people who really knew 
what happened (at least that we know of) in the middle of that street 
were Peter and Sirius.  One of them did something very bad, the other 
was a victim.  I am sure DD would have wanted to be very sure he knew 
who was who.

He was the only one who didn't trust Tom Riddle after all.

Sue