What possessed Peter to restore Voldemort? (Was: Trusting Snape)

[sophierom]

No: HPFGUIDX 149425

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, elfundeb <elfundeb at ...> wrote:
>
> Carol:
> Why Peter actually went through with the assignment--kidnapping and
> injuring Harry, murdering Cedric (not part of the original deal, but
> promptly performed), violating a grave, and above all mutilating
> himself, all to restore Voldemort and make him stronger, is unclear to
> me. Did he really think he had no alternative and that he'd be better
> off with a stronger Voldemort? 

<snip>


> Debbie:
 
> This is really a pretty good deal for Peter.  Yeah, he's a little
put out
> that he doesn't get more respect, but his conversation with Snape at
> Spinner's End makes clear that he's not willing to give up his
comfortable
> life with Snape to improve his standing.  It's all about that protection
> from the most powerful.



Sophierom:

It struck me, as I was reading Debbie's reponse, that Peter has been
one of the most predictable characters of the series so far.  If you
take out a few words in Debbie's response (above), she could have been
referring to Peter's deference to James and Sirius:

"This is really a pretty good deal fo Peter.  Yeah, he's a little put
out that he doesn't get more respect, but ... he's not willing to give
up his comfortable life ... to improve his standing.  It's all about
that protection from the most powerful."  

At Hogwarts, James and Sirius may have been the kings on campus. 
Peter promptly allies himself with them.  They graduate, and James and
Sirius are no longer the major source of power. Now it's Voldemort. 
So, Peter switches sides.  Will we see, in the end of the series, an
attempt by Peter to switch sides once more? Will the tide turn and
will Peter, recognizing Harry as the one with power, go with the flow?
 Probably.  And I will still despise the little rat at the end of it all.