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Peter Pettigrew
- In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learned that Peter Pettigrew, who had been called Wormtail by his fellow Marauders, had been the one to tell Lord Voldemort where the Potters were hiding.
screenrant.com/harry-potter-peter-pettigrew-wormtail-hand-death-loyalty-explained/"May Your Loyalty Never Waver": Why Wormtail's Hand Betrayed ...
People also ask
Does the Dark Lord call Wormtail 'Peter' or 'Pettigrew'?
Why did Voldemort call Peter 'Wormtail'?
Who was Wormtail in Hogwarts?
Who was Wormtail in Harry Potter & the prisoner of Azkaban?
Why did the Death Eaters call Pettigrew Wormtail?
How did Peter Pettigrew identify himself as Wormtail?
The Dark Lord only ever calls him Wormtail - at no point does he call him ‘Peter’ or ‘Pettigrew’, including when addressing him in front of the Death Eaters.
Could it be because of how loyal Pettigrew was to him? Yes, we all know Peter to be one of the more cowardly characters in the entire series, but he's the first one to come to the Dark Lord's aid and, therefore, the only one who might gain respect from Voldemort.
- Overview
- Biography
- Physical appearance
- Personality and traits
- Magical abilities and skills
- Possessions
- Relationships
- Etymology
- Behind the scenes
"And you understood Wormtail too... you knew there was a bit of regret there, somewhere..."
— Harry Potter regarding Peter's regret for having betrayed his friends
Peter Pettigrew, O.M. (First Class), (c. 1960 – March 1998), usually referred to as Wormtail or Scabbers was a wizard who began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1971 and was sorted into Gryffindor House after the Sorting Hat pondered over which house he belonged in for over five minutes, making him a true Hatstall. During his years at Hogwarts, he became one of the Marauders; he was best friends with Sirius Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin, and together they created the Marauder's Map.
During the First Wizarding War, Peter was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but became a spy when he was coerced into joining Lord Voldemort. He was made Secret-Keeper for the Potters when they went into hiding with the use of the Fidelius Charm, and betrayed James, his wife Lily, and their son Harry to Lord Voldemort. After Voldemort's fall, he faked his own death and framed Sirius for betraying James and Lily, as well as for his own murder and those of the twelve Muggles he killed during his escape.
Peter spent twelve years living in his Animagus form as the Weasley family's pet rat, Scabbers. However, his identity was exposed by Sirius and Remus in 1994, and Pettigrew, with nowhere else to go, sought protection in returning to the service of Lord Voldemort, whom he found in the forests of Albania.
Pettigrew played a key role in Voldemort's rebirth and continued to serve him during the Second Wizarding War. In the spring of 1998, during a skirmish at Malfoy Manor, in a moment of rare mercy, he hesitated to strangle Harry. The silver hand Lord Voldemort had given Pettigrew interpreted his hesitation as weakness and/or disloyalty, and strangled him to death, saving Harry and finally finding redemption for his treason, despite his reputation remained tarnished as many remained dubious of the evidence of his innate bravery.
Early life (1959/1960–1971)
Peter Pettigrew was born around 1959/1960. His mother was a witch, and his father's blood status was unknown.
Hogwarts years (1971–1978)
Peter Pettigrew: "I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and the tufted tail, but I couldn't think what else —" James Potter: "How thick are you, Wormtail? You run round with a werewolf once a month —" — Peter's lack of intelligence compared to his friends Pettigrew began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 1971–1972 school year. During his Sorting Ceremony, the Sorting Hat wavered between placing him in Slytherin or Gryffindor. After a deliberation of more than five minutes (making Pettigrew a Hatstall), the Hat decided to sort him into Gryffindor. He soon became friends with Sirius Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin, fellow Gryffindors he idolised for their popularity and talents. Pettigrew took part in James's and Sirius's bullying of Severus Snape, a Slytherin boy in the same year as the Marauders. He, James, and Sirius soon discovered Remus Lupin to be a werewolf, but they did not abandon him as many other wizards would have. Instead, they spent years learning how to become Animagi so that they could accompany Remus during his transformations. Pettigrew's Animagus form was a rat, from which his nickname "Wormtail" was derived. The four friends called themselves the Marauders and designed a map to navigate Hogwarts. Pettigrew's rat form helped him slip through the Whomping Willow's branches and immobilise the tree in order to let himself and the Marauders enter the Shrieking Shack. Professor Minerva McGonagall described Pettigrew as a "stupid and foolish boy" who hero-worshipped Sirius and James. She also stated that Pettigrew was a less than average student and was not capable of fighting with Sirius. She was somewhat harsh with him during their years of student-teacher relationship.
Legacy
Despite Pettigrew living his life full of cowardice, opportunism and betrayal, the Sorting Hat had always considered its choice of sorting him into Gryffindor as correct. The Hat took Pettigrew's hesitation to kill Harry as evidence of his innate bravery, which many remained doubtful of. Harry, while disliking Pettigrew for his despicable cowardice and betrayal, nevertheless felt some pity for the way he had to die, and was perhaps one of the few to accept Pettigrew's subtle regret of his life choices.
"He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry and Hermione. His thin, colourless hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers's fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes."
— Pettigrew's physical appearance after having reverted to his human form after many years
Pettigrew was an extremely short man (no taller than Harry when he was thirteen or Hermione when she was fourteen years old) with grubby skin, small watery eyes, and a pointed nose, all of which were lingering attributes of his animagus rat form; he even spoke in a squeaky voice that is another lingering attribute of his rat form. In his youth, his hair was mousy brown, but by his mid-thirties, it had thinned, lost a lot of its colour, and acquired a large bald patch.
He was also described as "fat" in his youth, but when forced to return to his human form in the Shrieking Shack, he looked as though he lost plenty of weight in a short time, mostly due to his stress of fearing Sirius's wrath. The stress he endured also apparently caused him to appear middle-aged by his mid-thirties. In 1981, he cut off his right index finger as part of a ploy to fake his own death, which is reflected in his "Scabbers" form, and, fourteen years later, he cut off his entire right hand at the request of Lord Voldemort. Voldemort used magic to give Pettigrew a shining silver, glove-like replacement. As a Death Eater, he bore the Dark Mark on his left inner forearm.
Peter Pettigrew: "He's come to try and kill me again! He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too… You've got to help me, Remus..."
Remus Lupin: "No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out."
— Peter's cowardice and weakness
Peter Pettigrew was characterised by weakness. Despite having been Sorted into Gryffindor, he was not especially brave, possibly proving that the Hat saw potential in him rather than any actual inborn courage, potential that he never lived up to. The Sorting Hat may have mistaken his adoration of James and Sirius for steadfastness, or sensed in him a desire to surround himself with respected individuals and believed that he would make a compatible friend to a Gryffindor; Pettigrew clearly looked up to strong, courageous people and it is possible that the Sorting Hat put him there because he wished to absorb that quality.
Pettigrew was a Hatstall, being considered between Gryffindor and Slytherin by the Sorting Hat, though the hat ultimately decided that it made the right choice to this day, citing the manner in which Pettigrew died as (what some would call dubious) evidence.
In his youth, he latched onto James Potter and Sirius Black, more talented and popular students, idolising them and living vicariously through their accomplishments, as well as joining them in bullying other students, such as Severus Snape. Due to the huge difference in terms of talent, bravery, and popularity, Peter was more of a hanger-on than an equal. However, the three Marauders did love Peter as a friend and brother, which made the eventual betrayal of James especially bitter.
"It turned out that he was a better wizard than they knew."
— J. K. Rowling describing Pettigrew's skills
Despite Professor McGonagall claiming that Peter was less talented than his friends, and Voldemort later denoting him as a poor wizard, he showed a surprising amount of magical capability when pushed. It is likely that Pettigrew was always a skilled wizard, but his potential or power was overshadowed by that of his friends and peers. His powers were also overshadowed by his shy personality, this would become apparent as he grew into adulthood and gained further experience. From what was known, Peter was remarkably skilled in magic and seemed to be as magically-skilled as the other three Marauders, and was quite adept in the Dark Arts (perhaps the most capable of the four in that aspect).
•Charms: Pettigrew was shown to be talented in charm-work. Along with the other three Marauders, Peter helped design the very complex Marauder's Map with the powerful Homonculous Charm; the map was extremely "smart" and could see through anything. Pettigrew was also capable of casting a powerful Memory Charm, which he used to erase the memory of Jacob's sibling after they discovered his identity, keeping his secret. He could also effortlessly cast simple charms such as the Wand-Lighting Charm, Fire-Making Spell and Levitation Charm non-verbally, and could also perform a powerful Stunning Spell.
•Potions: Peter displayed proficiency in brewing potions, at least those of dark magic nature, having successfully brewed the Rudimentary body potion and the Regeneration potion per Voldemort's instructions, allowing his master to regain a temporary, and then permanent, form, respectively. He also helped brew the Polyjuice Potion for Barty Jnr to disguise as Moody.
Sirius Black: "That's not a rat."
•Tom Riddle's wand: Following his master's downfall, Peter kept his yew wand with a Phoenix feather core, until he returned it to him after his rebirth.
•Previous wand: Pettigrew's original wand was used during his youth, from his time as a student in Hogwarts up to its last known usage of killing twelve muggles. He lost this wand sometime after this and prior to his exposure in 1994, as he eventually obtained a replacement crafted by Ollivander.
•Own wand: In 1996 after being captured, Garrick Ollivander made a wand specifically for Peter, of chestnut wood with a dragon heartstring core.
•Marauder's Map: Peter and his friends create the Marauder's Map together, which was confiscated in their seventh year.
•Order of Merlin, First Class medal: Pettigrew was "posthumously" awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class, for his alleged heroic confrontation against Sirius Black. It was given to his mother, along with the finger he severed that the Ministry recovered. It is unknown if the medal was retracted upon Peter's true allegiance and actions were discovered.
•Knife: He used a silver dagger during Voldemort's rebirth, severing his own hand and drawing blood from Harry Potter.
Parents
Peter Pettigrew's relationship with his parents is unknown, but after Pettigrew faked his own death, the Ministry gave an Order of Merlin to Mrs Pettigrew along with her son's finger — the biggest part of Peter that was found. It is also unknown if his parents knew about his faked death.
Marauders
Remus Lupin: "Harry, don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down — but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father — Sirius tracked Peter down —" Harry Potter: "THAT'S NOT TRUE! HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!" Sirius Black: "Harry... I as good as killed them. I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me... I'm to blame, I know it… The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies... I realised what Peter must've done... what I'd done..." — Lupin and Sirius revealing the truth about Pettigrew to Harry Potter During his seven years at Hogwarts, Peter came to greatly admire James Potter and Sirius Black for their popularity and magical ability, as well as James's renowned skills as Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Though they accepted him as a friend and included him in their various mischief-making endeavours, it was clear he was considered more of a hanger-on than an equal. Nevertheless, they were close throughout their time at school. When they discovered that a member of their group, Remus Lupin, was a werewolf, they illegally became Animagi so as to be able to accompany Remus while he was in his transformed state, rather than shun him as many would have. The four of them eventually came to be known as the "Marauders". While James, Sirius, and Remus considered Peter a true friend and would have willingly died for him, Peter proved that he lacked any similar conviction or sense of loyalty. "S—Sirius... R—Remus... My friends... my old friends..." — Peter Pettigrew meeting his old friends in the Shrieking Shack Some time after joining the Order of the Phoenix, Pettigrew defected from it and joined the Death Eaters. Peter betrayed James and Lily Potter, who entrusted him to be their Secret-Keeper when they cast the Fidelius Charm. Peter later framed Sirius for the crime by pretending to confront him, then cutting off his own finger before taking his rat Animagus form; he killed twelve Muggles in the process, and landed Sirius in Azkaban for twelve years. Sirius had convinced James to use Pettigrew as Secret-Keeper in what he believed to be a brilliant gambit. This was proven to be a fatal mistake that Sirius would regret for the rest of his life. When Sirius learned the truth, he became obsessed with avenging the deaths of his friends. Remus, unaware of the truth until twelve years later, thought Peter died in a heroic confrontation with Sirius. When Peter's treachery was revealed to James's son, Harry Potter, both Sirius and Remus showed no mercy nor sympathy for Peter's lack of courage (if anything, both were disgusted by him), and were absolutely intent on killing Peter, and were only stopped by Harry's insistence that Pettigrew was not worth their becoming murderers. As Remus had forgotten to take his Wolfsbane Potion in the wake of discovering Pettigrew's continued existence, he transformed under the full moon and was completely uncontrollable. Peter was able to escape, but for his freedom he owed Harry a life debt that would later cost him his own life. Peter's escape led Sirius to remain a wanted fugitive for another two years, and only Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Remus and, later, members of the second Order of the Phoenix knew of his innocence for those two final years.
Severus Snape
Narcissa Malfoy: "We... we are alone, aren't we?" Severus Snape: "Well, Wormtail's here, but we aren't counting vermin, are we?" — Narcissa Malfoy visits Snape at his house While they were students at Hogwarts, Pettigrew, along with James Potter and Sirius Black, enjoyed tormenting Severus Snape. Pettigrew, who probably would not have fared well duelling with a wizard as skilled and powerful as Snape, only got away with doing so because he had more talented friends backing him up. When the Dark Lord later assigned Pettigrew to work as his assistant, Snape took to treating him like a slave, forcing him to clean his house and serve food to his guests, while refusing to let him in on their meetings. Pettigrew, though very dissatisfied with Snape's abuse, found little courage to argue or request the Dark Lord for reassignment, and seemingly had to obey out of fear of Snape, as he flinched as though Snape threw something at him when ordered to serve Bellatrix and Narcissa wine and could not look at Snape eye-to-eye when protesting. Severus did not condone Peter's habit of eavesdropping, and even slamming the door in his face to get him to stay away from listening any further. With the feeble protests Pettigrew made proving his ineptitude and cowardice, Snape openly and contemptuously mocked him for it, showed his "assistant" no respect whatsoever, and regarded him as a negligible vermin. Like the rest of the Death Eaters and Order of the Phoenix alike, Snape would address Pettigrew as "Wormtail" instead of his real name during their later years of life.
•In the Bible, Peter is the name of one of Christ's apostles who, on the morning of the crucifixion, denied Christ, although he later repented. Also, the name 'Pettigrew' could be derived from the French word 'petit' ('small') and the English word 'grew', hence 'grew small'. The name 'Pettigrew' could also be a reference to his time as Ron's rat, being the pet that Ron grew. 'Petti' could also be a corrupted form of 'petty' meaning 'of little importance' or 'trivial', showing his lack of talent and - had he not befriended James, Sirius or Remus - easily overlooked.
•Scabbers may derive from the word 'scab'. A scab is the crusty covering blood forms over a wound as it clots. A scab is also a worker hired to replace others who are on strike, and 'Scabby the Rat', often used as a caricature by the labour rights movement, is a possible source for his name. 'Scab' is also slang for a horrible person, which could reflect Peter Pettigrew's true nature.
•Peter Pettigrew is the only known Death Eater from Hogwarts that was not from Slytherin House, as Igor Karkaroff is believed to have attended Durmstrang Institute, and Quirinus Quirrell (Ravenclaw) was never officially a Death Eater.
•There is no appearance or mention at all of Pettigrew's father: It is unknown if he is a wizard or a Muggle, and unknown if he died or had abandoned his wife and son before the Potters' deaths.
•Almost like Harry, Peter underwent a Hatstall when being sorted, being considered between Gryffindor and Slytherin by the hat before being put in Gryffindor.
•Peter is the only Marauder who does not have:
•Any family connection to Ted Lupin. Teddy is the son of Remus Lupin. Teddy's godfather is Harry Potter, the son of James Potter. Teddy's grandmother was a first cousin of Sirius Black.
•A first name that ends with the letter 's': Remus, Sirius, and James.
Voldemort probably called him “Wormtail” just to annoy Peter. It’s a reminder that Peter betrayed his “friends.” Peter handed over James and Lily’s location to Voldemort.
Sep 19, 2023 · In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learned that Peter Pettigrew, who had been called Wormtail by his fellow Marauders, had been the one to tell Lord Voldemort where the Potters were hiding. Despite this, the Boy Who Lived didn't believe that his father would have wanted Sirius Black and Remus Lupin to murder their old friend.
- Senior Staff Writer
May 6, 2021 · Wormtail was the servant of Voldemort who found him in Albania and helped bring about the Dark Lord’s rebirth and return to power. While at Hogwarts, Peter Pettigrew first used the nickname “Wormtail” when, with the help of Sirius Black and James Potter, he learned to become an Animagus (a rat) (PA17, PA18).
Every time Voldemort called him Wormtail, Pettigrew would have been reminded that it was a nickname that his friends gave to him. Friends that he sold out and that are dead because of him. Using "Wormtail" would be akin to emotional torture for Peter.
