OoTP, Percy's letter, chptr 14, Cryptic message?

[Bex]

No: HPFGUIDX 111944

Karen wondered:
> In the "New clues to HP: Book 5" by Galadriel Waters, they have 
> "found" clues in the letter that suggest that :
>  1.  The escape of 10 Azkaban prisoners
>  2. The whereabouts of Peter Pettigrew
>  3. Info about the War.
> They say that you have to read the letter like Sirius would have 
> read Harry's previous letter, as if it were written in code. 
> "Think about Harry's letter to Sirius", they say.  I have read and 
> re-read that passage, and I can see that you could get some other 
> things out of the letter, but not what they are suggesting.  Does 
> anyone else have ideas about this?  It is starting to keep me up 
> nights.

Yb's turn:
Well, I hope I can help you get some sleep tonight. I don't think 
they were really "clues", but GW refers to them as "coincidental 
references," which according to rule #3, means the radar should be 
picking up something...

1. Percy mentions Ron is "following in his footsteps" becoming a 
prefect and such. In Chapter 25, When Fudge is commenting on the 
breakout from Azkaban, he uses the _exact same phrase_. Simple, 
subtle, almost completely ignored, but hmmm...

2. OK, I found 2 things, but I need to say something first: I think 
Peter Pettigrew was the "tail" (bad pun, I know) that was following 
Hagrid and Olympe in France. That being said: 

First, the words "regime" and "ardently" stuck out a 
little. "Regime" not so much, but "ardently" did, and both are Old 
French words... 

Plus, in the letter, Percy writes "_petty_ criminals with whom they 
are currently rubbing shoulders" (emphasis mine). "Petty" jumped out 
a little (Petty=petti=small=pettigrew) as did the "rubbing 
shoulders" bit. In the old order picture Moody showed Harry, Peter 
is between Lily and James, rubbing shoulders with the rest of the 
Order. 

Also, Hagrid says in Chapter 20 that "we [he and Olympe] knew we was 
bein' tailed by someone from the ministry." Hagrid goes on to say 
that they gave "the berk tailin' us" the slip. (A berk is a stupid 
person easy to take advantage of. A little like Pettigrew...) Hagrid 
thinks it's a ministry person, but maybe it was Pettigrew, and he 
tipped off the DEs when Hagrid and Olympe shook him off.

3. This was blatantly obvious: The Prisoner of War is Sturgis 
Podmore, and he's been sentenced to six months in Azkaban, as Percy 
reiterates. (We knew that from a DP article a while back.)

OK, so there are those. About the "code":

I read this over and over, trying to redeem Percy. It is not easy. 
But some of the things he writes:

"I am afraid I can no longer..."

"I must tell you..."

"I feel bound to tell you..."

Like he's telling Ron these things not because he wants to, but 
because he _has_ to, maybe to keep face with Fudge. 

He mentions that he is sorry more than once, and his comment near 
the end, "I hope they will realize how mistaken they were," points 
me towards the idea that we may have Perce all wrong. Maybe he's a 
spy, and the whole prat-act is a charade. I'd like to think so.

~Yb, desperately trying to redeem Perce, all the while thinking 
Lucifer would be easier, and hoping that Jo will do it for her in 
the next book.