Unfortunate!Peter

[stbjohn2]

No: HPFGUIDX 118223


Kneasy wrote about Peter: 
> 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? "Ah," some will say "it's because as a rat he could 
> immobilise the Whomping Willow, that's why."
> "Oh, yes," says I "and how did they know he'd be a rat?" Because 
> they couldn't know, not in advance. Besides, I'm not so sure that 
> the tree was all that massive then and even in PoA Harry et al manage 
> quite nicely with a broken branch. Peter  was not essential, yet they 
> persisted for years. Why?
>
(major snippage, cause this is the only point I'm going to address, 
but, as always, kneasy, an interesting post)

Seems to me, Peter just got included in the group because he happened 
to share a dorm room with the other three, and there was no way to 
exclude him -- especially when they realized they had to protect 
Lupin's secret. Lupin himself admits his roommates -- and he 
specicially names Peter as well as James and Sirius -- couldn't help 
but notice his monthly absences and wonder what was up. Once they 
realized and decided to  join in the adventure, they could hardly 
say, "well, not you, Peter, you're not clever enough" because he 
would have run off and broadcast that Lupin was a werewolf to all the 
school. The Pensieve scene makes it pretty clear the other three 
weren't thrilled to have Peter around, but they were stuck with him.

Sandy, who thinks James and Sirius might have hatched a similar plot 
even if they didn't have a werewolf roomie.