Unfortunate!Peter

[sophierom]

No: HPFGUIDX 118219


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Barry Arrowsmith
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
>
> The earliest images we have of him are in the Pensieve memory. It
is 
> not a comfortable picture. Although generally classed as one of the 
> Marauders, he's obviously the odd one out. To James he's an 
> appreciative audience, ready to admire and perhaps hero worship 
> whenever James feels like putting on a performance. To  Sirius he's
a 
> nothing, a hanger-on to be belittled; to Lupin - what? We don't
really 
> know, Lupin acts as if he wasn't there.
> 
> So why did they spend so much time and trouble encouraging him to 
> master the Animagus spell? Why did they tolerate him, what did they 
> need him for? 

Sophierom:

As usual, a brilliant post.  And as usual, I disagree, not through any
fault in your reasoning, really, but because I think we interpret
canon quite differently.  Still, I had fun reading your post. :-)

I wanted to comment particularly on this passage about the Pensieve
scene because I think it suggests a fundamentally different
interpretation we have about Peter.  You see Peter in this scene as
the "odd one out." He's certainly the lowest on the totem pole, but he
has his role: he's the official James fan club; he's a "hanger-on" as
you said.  Let's look at the roles each of the four play: James - the
one to be admired, the golden boy with the golden snitch; Sirius - the
prankster, the troublemaker, the one who says "excellent" when he sees
an opportunity to pick on Snape; Remus - the self-effacing, reasonable
one, who, as you say, tries and fails to exert control over the antics
of the gang leaders; and Peter, the follower, the fan, the hanger-on.
 His role is certainly not one to be admired or envied, but he's
definitely not on the periphery of the group.  He's almost a necessary
component because without him, who worships James, who provides Sirius
a target? This is why Sirius and James put up with him.  And Peter
knows this - he "turned slightly pink" when Sirius insulted him, but
he didn't object because he thinks this is the role he has to play in
order to stay on the good side of the most popular kids in school. 

Okay, so why the big deal about this? If Peter is the "odd one out,"
as you see him, then the idea that he could be the "informer" and DD's
spy makes more sense - since he was on the periphery of the group, he
feels less compunction, perhaps, serving as the spy or informer.  But
if he's quite simply the guy who always ends up following the
strongest members of whatever group looks to be in power, well, then
it makes a lot more sense that he really does turn to Voldemort
sometime around 1980. He's only working for Voldemort because LV is
the strongest guy around, and Peter only knows how to bow to the
strong.   

Kneasy:
"They cower before Voldy. Peter disagrees with
him, tries to get him to change his mind about using Harry Potter for
his scheme while they're at the Riddle House."

Sophierom:

Now, now.  This isn't really a fair comparison. Peter "disagrees" with
LV when LV is nothing more than a baddie in baby monster form.  THe
DEs who cower (including Peter) cower when LV has fully returned, when
 he can hold a wand and kill them without a problem.  I do agree that
Peter seems pretty adamant about wanting to use someone other than
Harry for LV's return.  Whether this is out of a feeling of obligation
to Harry after the Shrieking Shack or Peter's own laziness and fear
(it would be a heck of a lot easier to get someone like Bertha Jorkins
than Harry Potter), I don't know.  But I'm not so sure that Peter's
squeaky, sputtering, panicky responses (GOF, pp.8-10, AM. ed) really
constitutes a full-blown disagreement.  

Kneasy:
"He's  DD's eyes and ears in the Voldy camp and maybe the final safety
net if Harry gets into a really sticky
spot. Forget all this 'life debt' guff (a phrase invented by fans
incidentally and not in canon). Peter will eventually help Harry
and/or
turn on Voldy for reasons that have little to do with the Shrieking
Shack episode. He may already have done so."

Sophierom:

If Peter is really working of DD by the beginning of GoF or earlier as
you say, if he's really Harry's "final safety net," why not bring baby
volide to Dumbledore so that Harry can kill the little monster before
he comes back to power? Peter has to help LV with just about
everything early in GOF.  He has LV's wand, he carries LV around, he
feeds LV Nagini's milk in a bottle (oh, how sweet).  If "Peter will
eventually help Harry and/or turn on Voldy," why didn't he do it at
this point, when LV was still relatively weak? Wouldn't that be in
DD's best interests? Whether you see DD as puppet master, ESE, or
goodness personified, it seems that DD would want LV out of the way as
soon as possible.  

Kneasy:
"Remember the graveyard, the bit where Harry escapes? Do you really
think that one unaimed Impedimenta! spell thrown over his shoulder
could have discommoded that many DEs, spread in a circle, all at
once?"

Sophierom:
No, Harry's spell couldn't have "discommoded that many DEs," and it
didn't.  But neither did Peter.

GOF, Am. ed., pp. 668-669:
"From a muffled yell, [Harry] though he had stopped at least one of
them, but there was no time to stop and look; he jumped over the cup
and dived as he heard more wand blasts behind him; more jets of light
flew over his head as he fell, stretching out his hand to grab
Cedric's arm - 
'Stand aside! I will kill him! He is mine!' shrieked
Voldemort....Voldemort's red eyes flamed in the darkness.  Harry saw
his mouth curl into a smile, saw him raise his wand.  
'Accio!' Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the Triwizard Cup. It flew
into the air and soared toward him.  Harry caught it by the handle - 
He heard Voldemort's scream of fury at the same moment that he felt
the jerk behind his navel..."

So, are you trying to argue that Peter somehow induced LV's
megalomania? :-) The reason that Harry escapes is because Voldie is
determined to kill Harry himself and thus Harry doesn't have any more
curses to dodge as he calls out for the cup.  It's a one-on-one at
this point. Harry does not escape because of his one Impedimenta
spell. He doesn't do away with the other DEs; Voldemort does because
Voldemort can't stand to have anyone else triumph. You could argue, I
suppose, that in between the Impedimenta and VOlide's "shriek," Peter
was stopping some of the other DEs, but there are still "jets of
light" flying over Harry's head, and how in the world would Peter
explain to the other Death Eaters what he was doing? Uh, sorry mates,
didn't mean to shoot at you, I have really bad aim.  Not so sure that
would fly.  I'm sorry - don't mean to be overly flippant. :-) But I am
wondering what you think Peter was doing to help Harry escape in this
scene. 

Thanks again for the interesting post. I really did enjoy it, and I'm
looking forward to you and many other people arguing with my
admittedly faulty logic! :-)

Best,
Sophie