Peter Pettigrew
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
 Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
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| Peter Pettigrew | |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair colour | "Colourless" — white (formerly mousy brown) |
| House | Gryffindor |
| Allegiance | Death Eaters, Order of the Phoenix (formerly) |
| Actor | Timothy Spall, Charles Hughes (as teenage Peter) |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (in Animagus form) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (in human form) |
Peter Pettigrew (born c. 1958) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of novels. In the film adaptations, he is played by Timothy Spall as an adult, and by Charles Hughes as a teenager.
Pettigrew is often referred to by his nickname "Wormtail".
Contents |
[edit] Biography
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter learns Pettigrew was a friend of his father (James Potter) who confronted Sirius Black after the latter betrayed his parents. Black supposedly murdered Pettigrew, leaving only a finger behind as physical evidence and slaughtering a dozen-odd innocent Muggles in the process. For this crime, Black was sent to the wizard prison, Azkaban.
At the end of that book, however, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin reveal that Pettigrew is an Animagus who takes the form of a rat ("Scabbers"). Nicknamed "Wormtail", he became the Secret-Keeper for James Potter and his wife Lily Evans when Harry was a baby, in hopes that Lord Voldemort would pursue Black instead. However, Pettigrew betrayed the Potters to Voldemort in order to gain the Dark Lord's favour. During the confrontation with Sirius on that fateful night, it was actually Pettigrew who blasted the muggles and then transformed himself to escape with the other rats down into the sewers. He left behind a severed finger, successfully faking his own death; as a result, Black was considered to have murdered Pettigrew, and to have been responsible for Pettigrew's other crimes. Since then, Pettigrew masqueraded as "Scabbers", Percy Weasley's pet rat, and was later given to Ron. It is unknown how Peter, as Scabbers, infiltrated the Weasley family. However, Pettigrew used his time there advantageously: remaining alert for news about Voldemort or Black. None of the Weasleys took particular notice that "Scabbers" outlived a common garden rat and had a missing toe from one of his forepaws.
Following Harry's and Ron's second year at Hogwarts, Scabbers was photographed with the Weasley family for the Daily Prophet when Arthur Weasley wins a trip to Egypt. This prompted Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban when he recognised Pettigrew in the photo.
Pettigrew fakes his death a second time to avoid Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, who has been helping Black. After his capture in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry prevents Sirius and Lupin from killing Pettigrew, but he escapes in his rat form and rejoins Voldemort. However, Peter now owes Harry a life debt. As Albus Dumbledore later explains to Harry, an ancient magic now binds the two, and, "A day may come when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life".
[edit] Role in Harry Potter
[edit] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Pettigrew helps Voldemort execute an elaborate scheme to capture Harry. When Harry and Cedric Diggory are unknowingly transported to a graveyard by a portkey, Pettigrew, carrying his master's small body, appears from the darkness. On Voldemort's orders, Peter kills Cedric with Avada Kedavra, the killing curse and ties Harry to an altar. He then performs a complicated spell to restore Voldemort's full body, sacrificing his own hand in the process and adding Harry's blood to the potion. In return for this act, the now restored Voldemort creates a silver hand that he attaches to Pettigrew's arm to replace the one he sacrificed. The new hand is much stronger than Pettigrew's old one.
[edit] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Pettigrew only appears in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in Severus Snape's memory. He is also seen in a portrait with the original Order of the Phoenix members.
[edit] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
He makes a brief appearance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. When Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange visit Snape at his home, it is revealed Pettigrew is currently hiding there on Voldemort's orders. He rouses Snape's suspicion, however, by listening at keyholes for an unknown purpose. J.K. Rowling has hinted that Pettigrew will make additional appearances in the final novel, and it is speculated that Pettigrew will repay his life debt to Harry.
[edit] House
Peter is one of the few evil wizards not from Slytherin House. Ostensibly, he has not yet shown any qualities normally associated with Gryffindor House, although he has a sly and self-serving bravery of a sort - for example, he dared to find and restore Lord Voldemort, he cut off his own finger and later his hand, and he willingly debases himself to manipulate others. It is unlikely the Sorting Hat missorted him, as Rowling has said the Sorting Hat never makes mistakes (although some students, such as Harry, have actively requested placement in a House against the advice of the hat). By the final novel, however, Pettigrew may exhibit more laudable Gryffindor qualities.
[edit] Personality
Pettigrew's former school chums described him as being an absolute opportunist. According to Sirius, he would do anything just to be connected to powerful people. Sirius also reports that he, James, and Remus never really cared much for Pettigrew, but because the mousey boy wanted so badly to be their friend—ostensibly so that he could be connected to the most popular students at the school, and presumably because being James' friend would mean he would not be bullied—they let him hang around with them. Throughout his life, Pettigrew was a sycophant: he would suck up to anyone who would give him power. It is for this reason that he betrays James and Lily to Lord Voldemort during the First War. He saw that the Ministry of Magic was losing the fight against the Dark Lord's armies and wanted to be on the winning side. Thus, when, by Sirius' suggestion, he became the Potters' secret-keeper, he immediately turned them over to Voldemort, expecting to be handsomely rewarded once his master had dispatched of them. However, his plan backfired when Voldemort was (presumed) killed after coming face-to-face with the Potters' infant son, Harry.
To save his own skin, Pettigrew framed Sirius and disguised himself as a common rat. Thus he lived for twelve years until Sirius discovered him in the events of Prisoner. When cornered by Sirius, Pettigrew began trying to appeal to the sympathy of every person in the room (humorous given that he had betrayed every one of them in some manner).
Pettigrew is thus, it could be argued, the modern equivalent of Judas Iscariot, the classic betrayer. Pettigrew's entire life is, arguably, one series of betrayals after another. How this will manifest itself in the final novel, however, remains to be seen.
[edit] Note on Dates
Originally, the Harry Potter Lexicon used statements from JK Rowling to suggest the birth years of Severus Snape, James Potter and Lily Evans as being approximately 1960, a date which they clung to for quite some time. However, as Rowling revealed further information regarding major characters, 1959 came to be used as the proposed by most fans and theorists (although some fans appear to maintain belief in the 1960 date).
With the release of the Black Family Tree by Rowling, however, combined with a statement from Sirius Black in the Goblet of Fire regarding Severus Snape being briefly at school with Bellatrix Black (whom the Tree stated as being born in 1951), it became clear that the latest possible birthdate for Severus Snape is 1958, and accordingly those in his year group must have been born in the school year of 1957/58.
[edit] Trivia
Recently, on Rowling's website, it was revealed that she once considered having Pettigrew posing as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Alastor Moody in the fourth book, but she chose Barty Crouch Junior instead.
In 'Redwall', the popular children's books by Brian Jacques, a rat named 'Old Wormtail' is mentioned in passing: this Wormtail has lost a paw (although in a cart accident rather than by deliberate sacrifice).
