"Weak" Pettigrew (Re: What Pettigrew did at Godric's Hollow)
mhbobbin
mhbobbin at yahoo.com
Wed Sep 1 00:08:58 UTC 2004
No: HPFGUIDX 111736
--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, theotokos
<theotokos_8679 at s...> wrote:
> Jekatiska:
> > Has anyone else noticed how Pettigrew is always described
as "talentless" and "weak", yet he has managed some quite impressive
magic? [snip]
mhbobbin: The contrast between how Pettigrew is described and his
supposed actions is very strange. McGonagall describes Pettigrew
as "hopeless at duelling". Yet he supposedly got the better of a
more clever wizard, Sirius. And yet the characters never question
this contrast. Sirius dismisses Pettigrew getting the better of him
in that duel by having his wand behind his back. If Pettigrew has
his wand behind his back, followed by an explosion, how does Sirius
know it was Pettigrew? Why wouldn't Sirius have anticipated that
Pettigrew would have his wand behind his back? He was, after all,
corned.
And Sirius never credits that Pettigrew learned how to transform
into a rat. Sure, his friends helped him. But few wizards,
apparently, can do this. The rat is not all that he seems. It's hard
to reconcile poor weak Peter Pettigrew with a wizard who was a
traitor to one his best friends for about a year--clever enough that
DD, James, Sirius and Lupin never suspected him; finally delivered
the Potters to LV; was able to transform into an animal; blew up a
street in a duel with a more powerful opponent; and eventually finds
his way to a distant place and locates LV, bringing him back to
power. Was Peter just faking it all through school, or did he
become more clever and powerful after school without his friends
realizing it. Were they so dismissive of him, so sure of the niche
they placed him in they didn't realize he was gaining on them?
jekatiska:
He also killed twelve people with a single curse, which must be
very advanced dark magic, judging by the way it is mentioned in
PoA. "Black killed thirteen people with a single curse" is always
emphasizing how extremely dangerous Sirius is supposed to be. And we
haven't heard of any other incident where so many people would have
been killed by one curse. Is there more to Peter than meets the
eye?
>
mhbobbin: Which may be why ordinary wizards like Lupin couldn't see
such a dangerous wizard like Black in Azkaban. Which also brings me
to the question--what are the alternatives to dementors for guards
at a prison for dangerous wizards? IF it's spells, then the danger
is that the more powerful wizard is the one being spelled into a
prison by some mediocre civil servant wizard.
> theotokos:
> Maybe it wasn't a curse to kill 12 people but a spell to blow up
the street giving Wormtail access to the sewers? The concrete and
blown gas lines killed the pedestrians as a result. As the MOM
originally thought the fault lay with Sirius, it wouldn't have
occurred to them the street was the focus of the spell, especially
since Sirius was just standing there laughing instead of trying to
escape.
>
mhbobbin: I still think that there was another wizard on the scene,
possibly Fudge. But the idea that Pettigrew was looking to escape
and blew up the street to get where he was going--what did he care
about innocent bystanders--is a plausible explanation.
It's been written before but I think it's valid to repeat--was the
Laughter due to a Cheering Charm? Throughout PoA, the kids are
learning Cheering Charms--it's said that overstressed Hermione could
use one, and Harry overdoes one on Ron so that Ron must be taken
away to quiet down before he can finish the exam. Why learn Cheering
Charms? Perhaps the mystery of the hysterical laughter in the
Sirius / Pettigrew duel. And we haven't seen a Cheering Charm since
PoA.
And I still think there must be important backstory to the reasons
that Remus and Sirius suspected each other of being the Spy. Maybe
it was just Default--it can't be Peter so it must be you. But maybe
Remus--and DD---accepted Sirius' guilt because of what they knew he
was capable of. And that may bring us right back to the episode in
school where he tricked Snape in the infamous Whomping Willow
episode. If that is the case, then what had Remus done that made
Sirius suspect him of being the Spy?
mhbobbin
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