Fred & George - Evil?

[Britt]

No: HPFGUIDX 132594

Forgive me if this has been discussed before (I couldn't find it), buta few posters recently have discussed the potential for a rat having been planted in the Order.  This led me to think about Chapter 10 of PoA, and Gred and Forge's tale of how they had nicked the Maurauders' Map from Filch's office.  That chapter has ALWAYS bothered me.

Why, in a drawer full of "confiscated, but highly dangerous" objects -
objects that they would no doubt find fascinating - would they home in on a folded up piece of old parchment?  Not only that, but be able to noodle out how it works?  Only three living people alive at the time knew how it worked (we're told Filch didn't know).  One of those was locked in Azkaban, one was living in a location unknown ... and one was living in the Weasley household.  Further, since Lupin himself apparently knew the map was hidden in Filch's office (remember where Harry's practice dementor/boggart came from in PoA), it had apparently languished in that drawer for a LONG time.  Probably since the marauders' days at Hogwarts, which means Peter would presumably have known it was there, too.  

Sirius's theory in PoA was that Scabbers!Peter wanted to keep
perfectly positioned to act when LV made his presence known.  What
better way to do that this than to have the map, which quite literally shows him where the action is at all times.  

Another reason he might have wanted access to the map was Mrs. Norris, of all things.  Scabbers!Peter was Percy's rat before he was Ron's. Scabbers!Peter must have been distressed, upon arrival at Hogwarts, to find that foul cat prowling around.  The map would have helped Scabbers!Peter to avoid the cat while still having access to the rest of the castle, and the conversations regarding LV that he wished to overhear.  Remember, in PoA/10, we're explicitly told that Mrs. Norris shows up on the map.

The next Weasley to make an appearance at Hogwarts were the twins, and lo and behold, one of the first thing they do is snag the map from Filch.  

The timing of the twins' giving of the map to HP is also suspicious. 
Note that this was when Scabbers!Peter was being chased all over the
castle by Crookshanks, and likely had no time to spend perusing a map.  Maybe the twins gave it to Harry at this time figuring Scabbers!Peter no longer had any use for it.  Maybe they felt guilty about helping a scumbag like Scabbers!Peter and decided to make amends.  Or maybe they were trying to lure Harry out of the castle.  

Fred and George have been morally ambiguous during the entire series.
 They've thought nothing of urging Harry (and Ron, and anyone else
within earshot) to engage in all manner of dangerous, potentially
life-threatening activities.  


Please understand that I HATE this theory - I don't want to think of
what horrible bargain Gred and Forge might have struck with
Scabbers!Peter in exchange for retrieving the map from Filch's office.   (Maybe Scabbers!Peter gave the twins access to a time turner, which would explain their mysterious winning bet in GoF.)  But I can't think of any other way the twins could have known where the map was, WHAT it was, and how to use it, other than getting this information directly from the filthy rat.  And THAT could not have happened unless the rat had made his true nature known to the twins.  As far as I can tell, nowhere in the books has JKR ever indicated the twins' awareness, or lack thereof, of Peter Pettigrew's true nature.  They, of course, know of Sirius's innocence, having shared a house with him, but HRH never once mentioned the Wormtail business in the twins' presence, as far as
I've been able to see.

So, maybe it's the twins that are evil.  Or just greedy (but we
already knew that).  And if it is the twins who are the REAL rats,
then maybe Wormtail's life-debt to Harry will be repaid by ratting
them out...

PLEASE, someone, tell me I'm full of it.  I like Fred & George, but I
also can't explain away any of the above.

brossiter