Talk:Pettigrew family

Wizarding family?
I disagree with the logic used to support the conclusion that the Pettigrews were a wizarding family. First off, the fact that Mrs. Pettigrew was given her son's "posthumous" Order of Merlin doesn't prove she was a witch, because Muggles are allowed into the wizarding world to a limited extent if they are married to a witch or wizard or have a magical child. Moaning Myrtle's parents came to Hogwarts after her death, Hermione's parents accompanied her to Diagon Alley, and, when Dean Thomas had to go into hiding, Potterwatch urged its listeners to contact his mother and stepfather if they knew his location.

Second, I'm not sure that Peter becoming a Death Eater absolutely proves he wasn't Muggle-born, because when JKR was asked whether Snape was pure-blood in 2004, she stated (emphasis mine):


 * "Snape’s ancestry is hinted at. He was a Death Eater, so clearly he is no Muggle born, because Muggle borns are not allowed to be Death Eaters, except in rare circumstances."

Furthermore, when asked what James and Lily had done to "thrice defy" Voldemort, JKR stated:


 * "Also, James and Lily turned him down, that was established in "Philosopher's Stone". He wanted them, and they wouldn't come over, so that's one strike against them before they were even out of their teens."

This means that Voldemort tried to recruit James and Lily. Since Voldemort wanted Lily, a known Muggle-born, to become a Death Eater, it implies that he was willing to overlook a person's Muggle-born status if he deemed them useful enough.

I've always found Peter's motivations for betraying James and Lily rather vague. But, if he was Muggle-born, that would make perfect sense to me: he would have gone to Voldemort hoping to buy protection from Muggle-born persecution by giving up the location of the people at the top of Voldemort's most wanted list. Once the Potters were gone, however, Peter would have known that his immunity had expired, and thus he was the first Death Eater to return to Voldemort's side. He would have had to prove himself twice as loyal as other Death Eaters for Voldemort to continue overlooking his blood status.

Of course, this is only speculation, and Peter could very well be pure-blood or half-blood. But I think that statements by JKR leave room for the possibility that he was Muggle-born. &#x2605; S t a r s t u f f (Owl me!) 16:33, 17 May 2009 (UTC)