Peter's basic nature v Snape basic nature/ Which one is worse? Pure speculat

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 144989

Juli earlier:
> > > And Peter's not really the betrayer who  got Lily and James 
> > > killed by Voldemort (much more directly so than, say,  Snape)?
 
Alla:
> > It is possible that without Snape giving that little  piece of 
> > information to Voldemort, Voldemort would never gone after Peter 
> > in the first place. 

SSSusan:
Butting in to this discussion here to ask a question.  Do we KNOW 
that Voldemort went after Peter Pettigrew?  As opposed to, say, 
Peter's going *to* Voldemort?  Have I missed (or forgotten) 
something?  Can someone provide canon for Voldy's being the one to 
have gone to Peter to recruit him?


Julie:
> You are right that Snape opened his mouth, thus putting this all in 
> action. But that does NOT make Snape responsible for Peter's 
> actions. Snape gave away the prophecy, but if we are to believe 
> Dumbledore, he regretted it. (And I do believe Dumbledore). 
> Additionally, Snape did put lives in  danger, but he didn't 
> initially know the identities. This isn't a nice thing to  do,
> of course, but it's always easier to commit evil when it's anonymous
> and removed from you. But Peter betrayed one of his closest friends.
> And while Snape attempted to keep the Potters safe (by aiding DD), 
> Peter revealed their hiding place directly to Voldemort. 


SSSusan:
See my above question.  Assuming there is no evidence to counter 
Peter having voluntarily gone to Voldy... or even if Voldy DID come 
to Peter to present the "opportunity" of working for him... I still 
agree with Julie here.  Snape's certainly NOT a blameless individual 
in many, many ways and for many, many reasons, but I don't see how 
he's more to blame than Peter in the Lily & James murders.  

I know this has been a discussion of whether Peter is cowardly or 
brave or OFH, but the issue has also been raised about whether he's 
to blame or not to blame for various things.  In this case, while 
Pettigrew spilling the beans to Voldy might be *understandable* (esp. 
if Voldy came *to* him), I still don't reduce how much I blame him or 
how much I disrespect him, simply because Voldy's a scary guy.  Peter 
GAVE the information and we've seen no indication that he regretted 
having done so.  (I do NOT buy his line in the Shrieking Shack as 
true remorse for one minute -- he was trapped and desperate he knew 
it.  If he had really had regretted it, would he have concocted 
the "kill a dozen Muggles and frame Sirius" plan?)


Julie:
> ...there is some doubt about Snape's motivations in performing the 
> Avada (for self gain, or because DD requested it as the best way to 
> preserve the most lives including the most important one there, 
> Harry's), and perhaps even some uncertainty about whether it was a 
> true Avada. Additionally, even if Snape did kill DD to save 
> himself, at least he seemed pained by it. Peter showed no 
> compunction in killing Cedric, and certainly couldn't point to a 
> net gain for the good side by his  action.

SSSusan:
Yup, me too, I agree, and all that jazz.  Which is NOT absolving 
Snape of responsibility if, in the end, we find that he did murder DD 
in cold blood.  It is, rather, just holding Peter responsible for his 
own actions and saying, "Killing Cedric was a horrible thing, and we 
didn't see any hesitation about it."  YES, if he'd refused, he might 
have suffered Voldy's wrath... but then again, Voldy desperately 
NEEDED Wormtail at that point -- he didn't yet have his body back, 
and he needed Wormtail's help in a MAJOR way to get back -- so how 
much would Voldy have hurt him?  

And couldn't Wormtail have even still run away at this point??  Left 
Voldy just lying there in his icky-underside-of-a-rock form?  
Wouldn't he have died without someone's assistance?  YES, Wormtail 
was probably scared someone *would* help Voldy and that Voldy would 
hunt him down & kill him eventually, but if he'd thought about that 
logically, what would the odds of that have been?  He was the ONLY 
loyal party, helping Voldy to come back!  

It's all about choices, no?  And I find Peter's choices to be 
despicable.  Humanly understandable at times, but other times just 
despicable and *not* choices he "had" to make, where he had no other 
real alternative.  


Siriusly Snapey Susan, anxiously awaiting someone's reminding me of 
the canon re: Pettigrew going to Voldy or Voldy coming to him....