[HPforGrownups] Why did Sirius trust Pettigrew? WAS: Snape investigating Potters' Betrayal

[k12listmomma]

No: HPFGUIDX 186556


> Frank D:
> This may be old stuff to most on this list, but I am constantly being 
> reminded of how ignorant I am about this subject. Please excuse me if this 
> has been discussed and put to rest before.
>
> I'm at a loss to answer this question with any degree of confidence: Why 
> was such "blind" trust in Peter Pettigrew so firm among 
> James/Sirius/Lupin? Especially since Pettigrew eventually proved to be 
> such a weakling and (so obviously) a RAT? It just doesn't seem plausible 
> to me that a person with such character faults could have been trusted so 
> fully by James and Sirius. And shouldn't Lily have had some say in the 
> decisions about who would be their life-protecting Secret Keeper?

Shelley:
I don't think that it ever was a matter that Peter was trusted, and Sirius 
"wasn't". The switch of Secret Keepers was last minute, and was meant to 
confuse any enemy who thought they had it figured out. It was meant to be a 
tactical decision, not one based on "trust" or "lack of trust" of anyone to 
do the job properly. What everyone didn't realize at the time is that they 
where handing the key directly to the traitor, not protecting that 
information from the traitor.

But I agree, surely Peter would have shown some sort of weaknesses before 
this point that his friends would have noticed, but maybe they were blind to 
such faults. They were too busy using Peter, and Peter followed. I can only 
think that having a rat in the party would have helped the Marauders enter 
places where they shouldn't have gone, as a rat can get into places where 
people can't, or a larger Animagus wouldn't fit. A rat could have slipped 
under a door to then open it from the inside, and to then lock it again from 
the inside and slip back out so that it appeared to be undisturbed after the 
fact. Maybe the other Marauders didn't think being a rat was a character 
issue, but just focused on how handy it would be to have someone who could 
be small and sneaky as an asset to their trouble-making. These other 
Marauders weren't saints, either. If Peter never so much as squeaked about 
their misdeeds, they would think he was being loyal, and never did they 
suspect that Peter could have kept a secret about meeting Voldemort from 
them at the same time. That ability to keep secrets was probably the most 
important reason why switching to him last second made sense!

I imagine that Peter kept to himself any dealings with Voldemort. We don't 
know if he was threatened into becoming what he was, or what that situation 
was that lead Peter to cross that line to betray his friends. I think if the 
situation had drawn out longer, the others would have figured it out, but I 
think Peter couldn't have been a Death Eater for very long at all when that 
incident happened, and he was pleased as punch to be a very valuable service 
to Voldemort. I don't think he ever was a leader, and just did what the 
other Marauders told him to. So, having Voldemort for a master was in 
essence just "switching masters". He was important in only what he could do 
for someone more important than him, and I think he lived on praise, rather 
than having a strong sense of self-esteem to think for himself.

Shelley