Peter Pettigrew

"And you understood Wormtail... you knew he had felt some regret [...]"

- Harry Potter on Pettigrew's regret regarding his betrayal of his friends

Peter Pettigrew, O.M. (First Class), (c. 1960 — March 1998), also known by his nickname "Wormtail", was a wizard and son of Mr and Mrs Pettigrew. He began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1971 and was sorted into Gryffindor after The Sorting Hat pondered over which house he belonged in for over five minutes (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 defected to 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 the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor, in a moment of rare mercy, he hesitated to strangle Harry. When Harry reminded him of his life debt, the silver hand Lord Voldemort had given Pettigrew interpreted his hesitation as weakness and/or disloyalty, and strangled him to death.

Early life
Peter Pettigrew was born around 1960. His mother was a witch.

Hogwarts years
"Hero-worshipped Black and Potter. Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him... Stupid boy... Foolish boy [...]"

- Minerva McGonagall regarding Pettigrew



Pettigrew began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1971.

During his Sorting ceremony, the Sorting Hat wavered between placing him in Slytherin or Gryffindor House. After a deliberation of more than five minutes (making Pettigrew a Hatstall), the Hat decided to Sort him into the latter.

He soon became friends with Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and fellow Gryffindors he idolised for their popularity and talent. Pettigrew took part in James and Sirius's bullying of Severus Snape, a Slytherin boy in the same year as the Marauders, though it is unlikely he would have dared to bully Snape without his friends protecting him.

He, James and Sirius soon discovered Remus 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.

Order of the Phoenix membership and betrayal
"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort, didn't you?" "I didn't mean to! The Dark Lord... You've no idea of the weapons he possesses."

- Remus Lupin and Pettigrew, in the Shrieking Shack



After graduating from Hogwarts, Pettigrew and his friends joined the Order of the Phoenix and fought against Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War. However, at some point, Pettigrew began working as a spy for Voldemort, having come to the belief that nothing could be gained from opposing him. Despite being considered a low-ranking soldier for his cowardice and general lack of usefulness, Pettigrew was given the Dark Mark and accepted into the ranks of the Death Eaters. After a prophecy was made regarding Harry Potter and the Dark Lord, James and Lily Potter took their son and went into hiding. In an attempt at misdirection, they were convinced to select Pettigrew as their Secret-Keeper by Sirius Black. On Hallowe'en night 1981, Pettigrew betrayed his friends, and Voldemort murdered James and Lily, but was unable to do the same to their son when his Killing Curse rebounded, destroying his physical form. Upon arriving at the wreckage of the Potters' house, Pettigrew deduced what had happened, took Voldemort's wand, which was left among the rubble, fearing the Ministry would discover his treason through inspecting it, and hid it in an undisclosed location.



Apart from James and Lily, Sirius Black was the only person who knew that Pettigrew had been their Secret-Keeper. When he realised what Pettigrew had done, as his hiding place was empty with no signs of a struggle, he tracked him down hoping to avenge his friends. When he closed in on him, Pettigrew screamed that Sirius had betrayed the Potters for everyone to hear, and before Black could draw his wand, Pettigrew swiftly pulled out his from his back and then killed twelve Muggles by blowing up the street with a Blasting Curse, which created a crater large enough that the sewer pipes were showing. He then faked his own death by cutting off a finger and leaving it behind as he transformed into a rat and fled. Sirius was arrested for being a Death Eater, killing Pettigrew and the Muggles, and betraying the Potters, and was imprisoned in Azkaban without a trial. The surviving Muggles who witnessed the event had their memories erased and were given an excuse by the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee that a gas-leak occurred. Pettigrew was unjustly awarded the Order of Merlin for his confrontation with Sirius, which, along with the finger that they recovered, were "posthumously" given to his mother. Even the other remaining Marauder, Remus, believed that Sirius betrayed them and killed Pettigrew. As the time passed, due to misconceptions, many believed that Black drew his wand and killed Pettigrew before the other had a chance of even drawing.

Scabbers


Pettigrew went into hiding as Scabbers the rat, hoping to avoid Lord Voldemort's other supporters. As Voldemort had met his downfall on Peter's information, the Death Eaters suspected him of being a traitor. Looking for a wizarding family to take him in, he came into the possession of Percy Weasley and, later, Percy's brother Ron.

It was clear Scabbers was an extraordinary rat; he was unusually old for a rat of his species, which had a life expectancy of three years, yet the Weasley family owned him for twelve. The reason he chose to be adopted by a wizard family was that he could keep track of the news in the wizarding world and could rejoin his master should he return to power. Positioned as he was, he could also bring Harry Potter as a welcome-back gift, so no Death Eater would dare claim him a traitor, but he never took action during his time as Ron's pet, because Voldemort was not strong enough to protect him. Despite once biting Gregory Goyle on the knuckle when he attempted to steal Harry and Ron's food, Ron generally thought that Scabbers was useless, since all Scabbers did was 'eat and sleep.' However, Ron did show his affections for Scabbers as he became quite upset when he thought Scabbers had been eaten by Hermione Granger's cat, Crookshanks.

Exposure
In 1993, Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban after seeing a picture of Pettigrew's rat form in a Daily Prophet article about the Weasley family's trip to Egypt. Soon, Scabbers began to thin and bald. Ron thought at first this was due to the stress of the trip, and then fear of Hermione Granger's new cat Crookshanks, while Harry thought that Scabbers was finally reaching the end of his lifespan. In fact, he had been agitated by the news of Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban, afraid that he would find him and finally avenge the Potters. Eventually, Pettigrew faked his death yet again, by biting himself and leaving blood, leaving Ron to believe that Crookshanks had eaten the rat. This incident almost ruined Ron and Hermione's friendship until they amended it over helping Rubeus Hagrid appeal his defense of Buckbeak the hippogriff. Hermione latter discovered Pettigrew hiding in a milk jug in Hagrid's cabin.



That same year, Remus Lupin, who had been unaware of Pettigrew's duplicity and believed him to be dead, began teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. He began to suspect the truth when he saw Peter's name appear on the Marauder's Map, a charmed parchment created by him and his friends that came into Harry's possession through Fred and George Weasley. On 6 June, 1994, Scabbers was found hiding in Hagrid's hut. When Ron attempted to bring him back to the castle, Scabbers tried to escape, but was caught by Ron in the shadow of the Whomping Willow. There, Ron and Pettigrew were dragged to the Shrieking Shack by Sirius, followed immediately by Ron's friends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. After heated discussion and the arrival of Professors Lupin and Snape, Pettigrew was unmasked by Sirius and Remus. He initially attempted to redirect the blame to Sirius, but when the truth came out and all the evidence was against him, he appealed for mercy to each person in the Shack (other than Snape, who had been unconscious since before Pettigrew's exposure). Each of them was disgusted by his cowardice, and the fact that he would dare ask them for mercy after deceiving them in so many ways infuriated them even more.



Remus and Sirius planned to kill their old friend, but Harry intervened after Pettigrew claimed that Harry's father never would have killed him. This, along with Harry's own belief that his father would not want his best friends to become killers, led him to be merciful. Although Harry had intended to hand Pettigrew over to the Dementors and use him to clear Sirius's name at last, this created a life debt between Harry and Pettigrew.

The plan was upset, though, when the full moon rose, and, as Remus had forgotten to take his Wolfsbane Potion after discovering Pettigrew's name on the Marauder's Map, he transformed into an uncontrollable werewolf. Sirius was forced to take on his Animagus form, that of a dog, to protect Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and Peter took advantage of the chaos, cursing Ron with Remus's wand, transforming into his rat form, and fleeing.

The Servant rejoins his master
"Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go."

- Lord Voldemort to Peter Pettigrew before the Quidditch World Cup

After his escape from capture at Hogwarts, Pettigrew had no choice but to rejoin his master, or Sirius and Remus would surely kill him. He went to retrieve Voldemort's wand, then travelled to Albania where he learned from the rats there of a place in the forest where the creatures feared to travel. They said a dark shadow (Voldemort) took over the animals and killed them.

On his way to his master, Peter ran into Bertha Jorkins, a Ministry witch who was on holiday in Albania, while he had stopped at an inn for food. Although she recognised him, Pettigrew was able to lure her into the forest and overpower her, before handing her over to the Dark Lord. Under torture, Jorkins gave them information that helped Voldemort make plans for an attack on Harry Potter, including information on the Triwizard Tournament and the location of a faithful Death Eater. Pettigrew milked venom from Voldemort's snake, Nagini, to strengthen him and provide him with a rudimentary body. He carried Voldemort's weak, small body on the long journey back to Britain, where they took up temporary residence in the Riddle House outside of Little Hangleton. Voldemort called Peter by his Marauder name, "Wormtail." Over time, Pettigrew tried unsuccessfully to convince Voldemort to use a wizard other than Harry Potter to rebuild his body, but Voldemort saw this as an attempt at desertion and claimed that Pettigrew was regretting ever returning to him in the first place. Voldemort noted how Pettigrew always flinched when he set eyes upon him and shuddered when touching him, which further enforced his belief that Pettigrew would have escaped if given the opportunity. When Voldemort ordered Wormtail to turn his chair around so he could face Frank Bryce, Wormtail whimpered before doing so.

For his next assignment, Pettigrew was sent with Barty Crouch Jr., the faithful Death Eater Jorkins had mentioned, to capture former Auror, Alastor Moody, who was set to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. While Crouch became Moody's double and set off in his place to Hogwarts, Pettigrew was assigned to watch over the Imperiused Barty Crouch Sr. Pettigrew neglected his duty, with the result that Crouch escaped and nearly sabotaged the plan. However, he was intercepted by Crouch Jr. and Pettigrew was punished using the Cruciatus Curse.

Rebirth of Lord Voldemort
"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son. Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed, you will revive your master. Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe."

- Pettigrew performing the ritual for Lord Voldemort's rebirth



Pettigrew played an important role in the rebirth of Lord Voldemort; when Harry Potter was delivered to the Little Hangleton graveyard per Voldemort's plot, Pettigrew killed Cedric Diggory on his orders and performed the ritual on Harry by slicing him with a large knife to restore Voldemort to a physical body, reluctantly sacrificing his hand. As a reward for his assistance, Voldemort replaced the hand with a silver one. It can be assumed that this event, along with Sirius Black's later death, made it apparent to the public that Pettigrew was alive and an active Death Eater.



After Pettigrew helped Voldemort return to to full power and attain a full body Pettigrew was sent to Severus Snape's house at Spinner's End to "assist" him, but Snape treated Pettigrew as a servant. Pettigrew was at the house when Narcissa Malfoy made the Unbreakable Vow with Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange, serving as Bonder. He did not, however, hear its contents as he had been ordered out of the room by Snape after he was caught eavesdropping at the door.

Skirmish at Malfoy Manor and death
"You're going to kill me? After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!"

- Harry, reminding Pettigrew of his life debt as Pettigrew attempts to strangle him



In the summer of 1997, Pettigrew was staying at Malfoy Manor, the headquarters of the Death Eaters, and acted as jailer for those imprisoned in the cellar there. During the Meeting at Malfoy Manor, he was ordered by Voldemort to check on their prisoner, Ollivander the wandmaker, in the cellar and keep him quiet. Ollivander had also been forced to make a new wand for Pettigrew.

Around Easter of 1998, at the height of the Second Wizarding War, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dean, and Griphook were brought to the Manor by a group of Snatchers led by Fenrir Greyback. Bellatrix Lestrange isolated Hermione for interrogation and torture as to how the trio obtained Godric Gryffindor's Sword, which she thought secure in her Gringotts vault. When they heard a noise from the cellar below, Pettigrew was sent to investigate.



The noise they had heard was the house-elf Dobby apparating away with some of the prisoners in the cellar. When he opened the door, he was tackled by Ron and Harry, who had freed themselves of their restraints. Ron managed to wrestle Pettigrew's wand from him. He began to strangle Harry, but Harry reminded him that he owed him a life debt. When Pettigrew hesitated, his brief moment of mercy caused his silver hand to turn on him, strangling and killing him, despite Harry and Ron's best efforts to restrain it.

Physical appearance


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.

The stress he endured also apparently caused him to appear middle-aged by his mid-thirties. 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. 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.

Personality and traits


Peter Pettigrew was characterised by weakness. Despite having been Sorted into Gryffindor, he did not possess true bravery, 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. It is also likely that Pettigrew requested the Sorting Hat to place him in Gryffindor, with his friends, just as Harry Potter would later request not to be placed in Slytherin. Indeed, he underwent a Hatstall when being sorted, being considered between Gryffindor and Slytherin by the hat, though the hat ultimate 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, whom he would not have been likely to cross without James and Sirius to back him up. Due to the huge difference in terms of talent, bravery, and popularity, Peter was more of a hanger-on than an actual equal.

Pettigrew defected from the Order of the Phoenix and betrayed his closest friends to Lord Voldemort when his life was threatened, showing selfishness and disloyalty at the core of his being. Even Voldemort viewed him with disdain; the only reason why he kept him alive was because he occasionally proved to be useful. When Voldemort fell, Peter neither attempted to find him nor tried to kill Harry under Albus Dumbledore's watchful eye, until he was sure Voldemort would be revived to protect him. When cornered by Sirius and Remus, Peter shamelessly begged for mercy, despite having used and betrayed them.

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter."

- Sirius Black to Pettigrew



Pettigrew was an opportunist, who allied with the side that seemed strongest and appeared to be winning — thus becoming "friends" with James and Sirius in school, and then leading him to become a Death Eater when the opportunity arose. He was loyal only to himself and acted in whatever his best interest was at the moment. He expected that he would be rewarded for leading Voldemort to Harry Potter, and later had the same expectations with Bertha Jorkins, assuming Voldemort would reward him for capturing a Ministry of Magic employee, despite not knowing the extent of her usefulness. He only returned to a broken down Voldemort simply because he had no other choice, as the other side was aiming to kill him, and would have gone to anywhere else if he had more options, seeing Voldemort at the time was too weakened to be the victorious side, along with the task of caring for his lord being tedious and unpleasant.

In spite of others claiming that Pettigrew was a "weak, talentless thing," he was at least cunning enough to escape Sirius after Voldemort's first defeat, frame his former friend for his crimes, and fake his own death while killing twelve people with a single curse, living for years in his Animagus form. He originally formulated his plan to return to the Dark Lord without being accused a traitor by his colleague Death Eaters: to turn Harry in as a welcome back present and be honoured above all others; though a well thought out plan and he waited patiently, it was upset when Pettigrew's form was exposed prematurely. He also managed to manipulate Bertha Jorkins to accompany him with ease, when he brought her to Lord Voldemort. When moments of desperation grasps onto Pettigrew, he was willing to amputate his own limbs to serve his purposes, such as his finger to fake his death, and his hand to revive Voldemort, the latter being promised with a worthy reward.

However, despite his treacherous and cowardly nature, Pettigrew did feel some regret for betraying his friends, and he hesitated to kill Harry Potter when reminded of his life debt, in 1998. Though he quickly tried to undo the moment of weakness, his "tiny merciful impulse" resulted in his being strangled to death by his own silver hand. Pettigrew also suggested that Voldemort should find another enemy to use for his rebirth, though when Voldemort began to suspect that he cared about Harry, Pettigrew hastily claimed that Harry meant nothing to him. This suggested that he may have consciously felt some gratitude towards Harry for sparing his life. Pettigrew also realised and admitted that he was a coward saying that he'd never been brave like Sirius, Remus, and James. Though he valued his own life more than the lives of his friends, Pettigrew felt guilt for betraying Lily and James, but did not have the courage to admit his treachery until it was forced out of him, or to turn against Voldemort. He did feel rather under-appreciated when Voldemort claimed him to be an unintelligent and disloyal servant when comparing to Barty Crouch Jr. Without James, Sirius, and Remus protecting him, Peter found no courage to go against Snape, who would in turn bully him in return throughout their time as Death Eater colleagues.

During his time as Scabbers the rat, under the Weasley family's care, Pettigrew was lazy and unmotivated, as all he did was sleep and eat, and only on one occasion did he bit Goyle's knuckle on his owner's behalf. This could be because Pettigrew enjoyed being pampered and waited hand and foot, believing that as a pet rat he did not have to do much and can relax instead, at least until Sirius' escape from Azkaban prompted him into action.

Pettigrew was one of only two Death Eaters who rarely referred to Voldemort by name, the second being Barty Crouch Jr.

Magical abilities and skills
"It turned out that he was a better wizard than they knew."

- J.K. Rowling describes Pettigrew's skills

Despite Professor McGonagall claiming that Peter was less talented than his friends, and Voldemort had later denoted him as a poor wizard, he showed a surprising amount of magical capability when pushed. In fact, from what was known, Peter did not seem to be any less magically-skilled than the other three Marauders, and was actually quite adept in the Dark Arts (perhaps the most capable of the four in that aspect).
 * Animagus: With all the help he could get from his friends, Peter was able to become an Animagus at the early age of fifteen, assuming the shape of a rat. Being unregistered made it an advantage for him to abuse the ability: mainly to hide from the Ministry, the Order of the Phoenix, and Death Eaters after his falsified death.
 * Dark Arts: Peter had demonstrated numerous times that he was actually an adept in the Dark Arts. In 1981, he was able to cast a potent Blasting Curse that blew up a street and put a 40-foot crater in the ground with his wand behind his back, killing twelve Muggles simultaneously; the explosion was so powerful that all the sewers hundreds of feet deep were completely destroyed. Fourteen years later, he was able to effectively use the Killing Curse (one of the three Unforgivable Curses that requires a considerable level of magic) to execute Cedric Diggory - a feat made even more impressive that he used a wand he did not have allegiance with. Guided by Voldemort's instructions, Peter was also able to successfully brew potions classified as powerful Dark magic.
 * Duelling: According to Professor McGonagall, Peter had always been "hopeless at duelling" during his years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, he managed to deceptively overtake Sirius in initiatives during their confrontation by blowing up the entire street behind him before (the apparently more adept) Sirius could react properly, as well as make it look like Sirius was the criminal in the same move. Later, he overpowered Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry, and forced her to give up information to help Lord Voldemort be reborn. Along with Barty Crouch Jr., he was able to capture extremely powerful Auror Mad-Eye Moody and trap him in a magic trunk so that Barty could impersonate him.
 * Charms: Along with the other three Marauders, Peter helped design the very complex Marauder's Map. The map was extremely "smart" and could see through anything.
 * Potions: Peter produced 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 Jr. to disguise as Moody.
 * Transfiguration: Pettigrew could perform conjuration, an advanced type of Transfiguration. In 1996 he conjured ropes which bound Harry Potter to Tom Riddle Sr.'s grave.
 * Wand versatility: He was able to use the Killing Curse, as well as non-verbally conjure ropes, levitate objects, and light a fire, each spell cast to their full effects with his master's wand, despite not having won the wand's allegiance.
 * Non-verbal magic: Peter was able to perform magic non-verbally. During his escape, he non-verbally Stunned both Ron and Crookshanks before fleeing. In 1998, Peter locked and unlocked the cell door at Malfoy Manor without saying anything. As stated, he could light a fire around the Regeneration Potion's very large cauldron, levitate Harry Potter, and conjure ropes mentally. Nonverbal magic requires a strong will, which Peter shows as proven by his aptitude, despite his cowardly personality.
 * Detective skills and intelligence: Peter's deductive skills were considerably high, as he deduced his master's first defeat after seeing the destruction of the house and the sight of the fallen wand, and was able to find Lord Voldemort's hidden location, something other more talented Death Eaters who made the effort to do, had failed. He was also very cunning as he was able to deceive the entire wizarding world of his demise while pinning all of his crimes to another wizard, and fool a Ministry official on his way back to Voldemort. His intelligence was actually better than what his school performances show, as he would hide Voldemort's wand instead of leaving it behind for the Ministry to inspect, strategically plotting to wait for the right moment to turn Harry in to prevent Death Eaters from claiming him as a traitor, and even deduce where Voldemort's fragmented soul was hiding.
 * PettigrewSilverHand.jpg]]Silver hand: After Peter severed his right hand to restore Voldemort to his physical body, he was given a new silver, glove-like hand that possessed strength far superior to that of his former hand, being strong enough to crush a twig into powder. This hand was later shown to be impervious to the Revulsion Jinx, and possibly other spells. However, it was also designed to strangle its owner at any signs of treason or weakness, which is what led to Peter's demise.

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.

The Marauders
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.

When Lord Voldemort first started gaining power, Peter immediately defected from the Order of the Phoenix and joined the Death Eaters out of fear for his own life. 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.

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.

Severus Snape
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. For this reason, Snape possibly viewed Pettigrew with even more scorn than the other three because of his pitiful ineptitude. Or perhaps his intense dislike of Pettigrew was due to the former betraying Lily, the woman he loved, to Voldemort. It is possible that Snape regarded Pettigrew as being too negligible of a person to be worthy of hating, as he showed very little care for Pettigrew during their time in Spinner's End.

When the Dark Lord later assigned Pettigrew to work as his assistant, Snape took to treating him like a butler, forcing him to clean his house and serve food to his guests, while refusing to let him in on their meetings. Pettigrew 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. With the feeble protests Pettigrew made proved his ineptitude and cowardice, Snape took every opportunity to mock him for it, while showing his "assistant" no respect whatsoever.

Lily Evans
Peter first met Lily Evans during the Sorting ceremony at Hogwarts, during which they were both Sorted into Gryffindor house. Peter regularly took part in bullying her then-best friend Severus Snape, and as such, he did not make any better an impression on her than James or Sirius did. After Lily ended her friendship with Snape, she eventually married James Potter. She seemed to be much closer to James's circle of friends by that time, especially when they all joined the Order of the Phoenix. She even affectionately referred to Peter as "Wormy," from his nickname "Wormtail," and noted that he "seemed down" on the week before Harry Potter's first birthday, as she tells in a letter to Sirius Black. She would not have known that it was because he was enlisted in the Death Eaters and playing spy. Peter, out of fear of his own life, and what Sirius described as "finest moment of [his] miserable life", betrayed Lily's location to Voldemort without a moment of hesitation.

Harry Potter
"Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed! Your dad... your dad he would have spared me. He would have shown me mercy!"

- Peter trying to convince Harry to stop Sirius and Remus from killing him

Harry Potter initially believed Peter Pettigrew had been courageous for challenging the alleged traitor, Sirius Black, despite appearing so comparatively timid and weak; Harry even compared him to his own friend Neville Longbottom. As Scabbers, Harry felt that Hermione should at least feel responsible when Crookshanks allegedly ate him, when in truth Peter faked his death a second time. Though he was disgusted by Pettigrew's disloyalty and cowardice when he learned the truth, he could not stand to see his father's two best friends become murderers, and requested that they leave Pettigrew to face the Dementors instead. Pettigrew managed to escape, leaving Harry unable to prove his godfather, Sirius Black's innocence. However, because of Harry's intervention to save Pettigrew, the latter owed Harry a life debt. Harry, on the other hand, felt regretful for sparing Pettigrew's life and did not want such a bond.

Originally Peter spared no thought on betraying Harry and his family to Voldemort, and even prepared to turn Harry in the moment he catches wind of the Death Eaters regaining momentum as a welcome-back present. However, perhaps due to this debt, Pettigrew consciously felt gratitude towards the boy, as he suggested that Voldemort should use another wizard's blood for the rebirth ceremony, and hastily implying that Harry meant nothing to him when Voldemort raised the issue, an act that seems to be denial rather than honesty. Of course, Voldemort also saw this as an attempt for Wormtail to desert him once more, out of sheer regret of ever returning. A year later, Pettigrew met Harry again in the Little Hangleton graveyard, where Pettigrew bound Harry to Tom Riddle Sr.'s grave and then cut Harry's arm to use his blood in a potion that would restore Voldemort to his former glory. Throughout this meeting, Wormtail struck Harry for struggling, but did not make eye contact when returning Harry his wand, per Voldemort's orders. Pettigrew's life debt was finally repaid during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor, when his momentary hesitation to strangle Harry was interpreted as a sign of weakness by the silver hand he received from Voldemort, and it turned on him. Though both Harry and Ron Weasley attempted to stop it, Peter Pettigrew was strangled to death by his own hand.

Ron Weasley
"I let you sleep in my bed!"

- Ron showing his disgust for learning of the true identity of his rat.

After framing Sirius Black for the crimes of betraying James and Lily Potter and murdering twelve Muggles, Pettigrew went into hiding in his Animagus form, and disguised himself as a rat named Scabbers. He came into the possession of Percy Weasley, who eventually handed him down to his younger brother Ron. Thus, Petrigrew had been in the Weasley family for twelve years, which was in Sirius' perspective a "curiously long life for a common garden rat." Despite Ron's frequent complaints of Scabbers having been a rather boring, useless pet, he felt a strong sense of ownership and was at times very fond of him; especially when Scabbers bit Gregory Goyle's knuckle. However, Hermione's cat immediately recognised the rat for who he was and constantly attempted to catch him. When Scabbers faked his own death by leaving bloodstains on the sheets, Ron assumed that he was eaten by the cat. Ron and Hermione got into such a row over the incident that they almost ended their friendship. Ron later discovered him in Rubeus Hagrid's cabin and was overjoyed, though Scabbers continued to attempt to flee, struggling against Ron's efforts to pocket him and even biting him on the finger. When Sirius finally managed to corner the rat, Ron absolutely refused to believe what Sirius and Remus Lupin were telling him until he saw with his own eyes that Scabbers was the traitorous Peter Pettigrew. Ron took this as a personal insult and was too disgusted to respond to Pettigrew's pleas, and even savagely volunteered to act as an anchor alongside Lupin to prevent Pettigrew from escaping.

Four years later, when Pettigrew was being strangled by his own silver hand, Ron tried to save him with a Revulsion Jinx, and failed. When Pettigrew died, Ron was somewhat shocked, but was more preoccupied by the fact that Hermione was being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange.

Hermione Granger
"Sweet girl... Clever girl... You, you won't let them... Help me..."

- Peter begging Hermione to stop Remus and Sirius from killing him

Hermione Granger first met Pettigrew in disguise as Ron's pet rat named "Scabbers" in 1991. In 1993, she and Ron nearly ended their relationship, as Ron was convinced that Crookshanks, her cat, had eaten Scabbers. However, they all learned the truth later, when Peter Pettigrew was exposed by Sirius Black and Remus Lupin; "Scabbers" was, in fact, Peter Pettigrew, the wizard who betrayed James and Lily Potter to Lord Voldemort. Peter was afraid of Sirius and Remus, and knew that they wanted to kill him in order to avenge James and Lily. Pettigrew appealed in turn to Ron, Harry and Hermione, who were horrified and shocked by the entire discovery.

The last time Pettigrew saw Hermione was in 1998, during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor. Hermione was being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, while Pettigrew was sent to check on the prisoners downstairs. Pettigrew attempted to strangle Harry, but momentarily slackened his grip when Harry reminded him of his life debt, and was killed for it by the silver hand made for him by Voldemort. Hermione learned about his death after the battle.

Lord Voldemort
When Lord Voldemort first began gaining power during the First Wizarding War, Pettigrew switched sides and began secretly serving the Death Eaters. Though he gave valuable information, such as the whereabouts of Lily, James, and Harry Potter and was granted the Dark Mark that only the inner circle had, Voldemort still showed little respect for Pettigrew's cowardice and disloyalty.

When Voldemort met his first downfall, Pettigrew did not try to find his master, but instead hid in his Animagus form as Ronald Weasley's pet rat, "Scabbers". Pettigrew turned his back on Voldemort for being too much of a wreck to protect him, and did not attempt to murder Harry Potter due to that. When Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban and Pettigrew's duplicity was uncovered, he had no choice but to flee and seek Voldemort's protection from Black. Though he regretted this decision, and attempted several times to escape, while flinching and shuddering at any contact with Voldemort's rudimentary body, he ultimately engineered Voldemort's return to physical form, and Voldemort rewarded Pettigrew with a new silver hand for having sacrificed his own. Voldemort also forced Garrick Ollivander to create a new wand for Pettigrew, a favour which the once highly revered Lucius Malfoy did not even receive after his wand was destroyed.

Voldemort neither trusted nor respected Pettigrew. He knew that Pettigrew felt no true allegiance to him and kept him only because he was sometimes capable at providing useful information (often times without Pettigrew being the wiser). He also made it clear just how little he trusted Pettigrew, when he designed the silver hand he made to turn on the man for any attempts at treachery; it did just that when it strangled Pettigrew for hesitating to kill Harry Potter in 1998.

Death Eaters
The Death Eaters resented Pettigrew, because it was based on his information that Voldemort met his first downfall at Godric's Hollow. The ones who were imprisoned at Azkaban screamed in their sleep that Pettigrew was a traitor, and according to Sirius Black, if any of the Death Eaters who had evaded imprisonment had gotten wind that Pettigrew was still alive, they would have tried to kill him. It was for this reason, as much as his fear of retribution from the Order of the Phoenix when Black revealed that Pettigrew had been the Potters' Secret Keeper, that he disguised himself as "Scabbers" for twelve years after framing Black for his crimes. To prevent them from killing him when he would return to Voldemort, Pettigrew had originally planned to bring in Harry Potter to them as a welcome back present to his lord, in order to prevent anyone from saying that he betrayed Lord Voldemort.

When Pettigrew returned to the service of the Dark Lord, he was assigned to serve his colleagues, such as Severus Snape and the Malfoy family, as a lowly household servant. Both of them treated him with disdain, much as Voldemort himself did, and insultingly referred to him as "Wormtail." It can also be noted that while he was present at the Death Eaters' meeting at Malfoy Manor, he did not sit at the table amongst them, since Voldemort assigned him to deal with a prisoner in the dungeons. Pettigrew appeared to respect the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange and her sister Narcissa Malfoy, as he seemed very happy to see them at Snape's house in 1996, although he might simply have been attempting to flatter them or win their sympathy.

Albus Dumbledore
Albus Dumbledore's relationship with Peter when the latter attended Hogwarts is unknown. They might have shared some degree of friendship, as Pettigrew joined Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix during the First Wizarding War. After Pettigrew's betrayal, Dumbledore believed, along with the rest of the Wizarding community, that Sirius Black had been the guilty party, and that Sirius had killed Peter, along with twelve Muggles, after being confronted about his crime.

However, he learned the truth in 1994, as well as the fact that Harry Potter had saved Pettigrew's life before he escaped capture; though Harry was distressed about being unable to prove Sirius's innocence, Dumbledore had the foresight to appreciate the significance of the Life debt Pettigrew now owed. Indeed, it was in remembering his life debt that Pettigrew hesitated to kill Harry during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor, in 1998, which resulted in Pettigrew being strangled to death by his own silver hand.

Minerva McGonagall
"He was a little lump of a boy, always trailing after Sirius Black."

- McGonagall remembers Pettigrew from his days at Hogwarts

Minerva McGonagall was Pettigrew's Transfiguration professor, as well as his Head of House. McGonagall thought that Pettigrew "hero-worshipped" James Potter and Sirius Black, that he was a "stupid" and "foolish" boy, and that she was somewhat harsh with him during their time together as student and teacher. However, McGonagall spoke sadly of Pettigrew's death, and for his "bravery" in standing up to Sirius Black, who was comparatively far stronger than him and believed to be a Dark Wizard, she seemed to regret how she had treated him decades ago. They were comrades in the Order of the Phoenix during the First Wizarding War, which further fuelled her sympathy towards him, as she was unaware that he had been a spy.

It is unknown how she reacted when she learned that Pettigrew was alive, and that it had been he, not Sirius Black, who betrayed James, Lily, and Harry Potter, though there's little doubt she would have been as outraged and disgusted by his cowardice and disloyalty as the rest of the Order.

Etymology

 * In the Bible, Peter is a 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." Also "grew" looks like the French word "gros," which means "fat." ("Pettigrew" pronounced in French sounds like "petit gros," in English: "small fat.") 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. Scab is also slang for a horrible person, which could reflect Peter Pettigrew's true nature.

Behind the scenes

 * Peter Pettigrew is portrayed by British actor Timothy Spall in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows: Part 1. He is portrayed by Charles Hughes as a teenager in the fifth film. He appears also in the first three films, as Scabbers the rat, portrayed by Dex. Since he appears also in the eighth film (in a flashback from the third film), he is one of the fourteen to appear in every film adaptation.
 * Pettigrew has no lines in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and appears for less than ten seconds.
 * In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Pettigrew is the only Death Eater present at Malfoy Manor when Harry, Ron and Hermione are captured to not witness Griphook's torture or Dobby's rescue.
 * In the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pettigrew is not killed by his hand. He is stunned (or possibly killed) by Dobby in the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and is not mentioned in Part 2 aside from the flashbacks from the earlier films. His absence suggests that either Dobby's attack killed him or Voldemort did so upon arrival at Malfoy Manor, or at the beginning of Part 2 after the Gringotts scene. This is apparently because the manner of his death was deemed to be too disturbing for a PG-13 rated film.
 * In the films, Peter is shown to be left-handed.
 * In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin said that Wormtail "needed all the help that he could get" while describing how he, Sirius, and James became Animagi. However, he was able to perform the Avada Kedavra curse in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which the fake Moody said takes a powerful bit of magic. In addition, the curse he used to kill the Muggles (which Sirius was framed for) caused an explosion that "made a crater so deep that it cracked the sewer below." It is possible that Pettigrew's magical aptitude improved as he aged, since the latter two examples were done when Pettigrew was an adult. It is more likely, however, that because of his cowardice he triggered powerful magic out of sheer desperation.
 * In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry notices that Peter is missing an index finger, while in the film adaptation he is missing a ring finger. Despite this, he still cuts off his right hand in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
 * His film portrayal makes him appear much older than his canonical age of thirty-three or thirty-four years. It is possible that living as a rat took a toll on his health and made him appear older than he really was (which is arguably the case in the book as well since he is described as balding in the novels, unusual for thirty-three/thirty four). However, he looks the same in the picture of the original order. Of course, it is not uncommon for characters to look older in the films (Snape, Sirius)
 * Wormtail is comparable to Gríma Wormtongue from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings; Wormtail's nickname is similar to Wormtongue's surname, and both are referred to most often by these names by others. Both are also notable as groveling, cowardly servants to harsh, cruel and unforgiving masters who treat them with disdain and abhorrence. Indeed, Wormtail served Lord Voldemort in much the same way Wormtongue served Saruman the White. Also, the deaths of both are changed/partially omitted in the film. Wormtongue was killed by Hobbits at the end of the book Return of the King, while he is killed by Legolas at the beginning of the film in a scene only shown in the extended edition.
 * Henry's attitude toward Pettigrew is comparable to Bilbo Baggins' response to Gollum. Each protagonist spared the life of an antagonist who seemed to have deserved death. And, in both cases, a wizard affirmed the choice, noting that the pity that was shown would have some effect on the way the story would unfold.
 * In the Redwall books, there is a very minor character that is named Wormtail as well. This Wormtail is a rat and is reported in the book to have lost a finger, the same as Peter Pettigrew.
 * It was predicted by many fans that Pettigrew would kill Remus Lupin with his silver hand, as Remus is a werewolf. However, J. K. Rowling subsequently mentioned in an interview that, contrary to what is seen in films, in her view werewolves are not affected by silver. However the Marauder that does die by the silver hand is not Moony, but Wormtail himself.
 * Many fans predicted that Wormtail would have some part to play in the destruction of Voldemort (because of his life debt), such as telling Harry how to destroy the Horcrux inside him without dying himself. This turned out to be wrong.
 * In Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbledore tells Harry that "there may well come a time when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life." This is confirmed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, where he strangles himself instead of Harry.
 * Wormtail appears in all seven Harry Potter books, although his appearance in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is in the Pensieve rather than in person, and he only appears in his Animagus form in the first two books.
 * Wormtail is the only known Death Eater from Hogwarts that was not from Slytherin House (Igor Karkaroff is believed to have attended Durmstrang Institute).
 * The most fitting House for Peter Pettigrew may have been Slytherin, seeing as he was driven only by self-preservation (his "cunning" and "loyalty" being learned only through fear of death). There are many kinds of Slytherins, one of them being those who do everything only for themselves. While Pettigrew would seem to be one of this ilk, he may have been best suited in Hufflepuff House, as those who do not fit in any House (which is to say those who show too many or too few traits of the other Houses, Pettigrew being the latter) are meant to be sorted there. The Sorting Hat seemingly Housed Pettigrew in Gryffindor due to his adoration of James and Sirius and perhaps potential of being stalwart, but he would have been more accepted in Hufflepuff, and thus far less likely to have gone down the road he did.
 * As a contemporary of Lily Evans, Peter was also taught Potions by Horace Slughorn.
 * J. K. Rowling has said that no Death Eater except Severus Snape could conjure a Patronus. However, she also said that members of the Order of the Phoenix used their Patronuses to communicate. It is unknown if Peter could cast the spell. Given Pettigrew's extreme cowardice and lacklustre aptitude for magic, it is highly unlikely that he could master it. Although it should be noted that he managed to conjure a very effective killing curse that killed Cedric, so while not probable, it is not an impossible theory.
 * In an earlier draft of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Peter taught Defence Against the Dark Arts and possibly impersonated Alastor Moody instead of Barty Crouch Jr. This could mean Wormtail would be the one to suffer the Dementor's Kiss, although this would be less likely since it seems that the Dementor's Kiss is reserved for escaped Azkaban prisoners - which Peter was not.
 * Timothy Spall has also been in two other films with Severus Snape actor Alan Rickman that are not from the Harry Potter series. They both were in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Alice in Wonderland. Both films also featured Bellatrix Lestrange actress Helena Bonham Carter (who also acted alongside Spall in The King's Speech), while the former featured Younger Gellert Grindelwald actor Jamie Campbell Bower and the latter featured Dolores Umbridge and Olympe Maxime actresses Imelda Staunton and Frances de la Tour.
 * In the third novel, Pettigrew has been referred to by his name, "Peter" and "Pettigrew" by characters and the narration. However, subsequent novels, until the final novel refer him almost exclusively as "Wormtail", the only Marauder to have been called in such fashion; J.K. Rowling has yet to explain her reasons behind this.
 * A plush version of Scabbers is available at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
 * In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sirius Black was revealed to be eating rats for nourishment during the 1994-1995 school year while in hiding. Sirius was also feeding Buckbeak rats during his stay at 12 Grimmauld Place. Whether this had anything to do with Sirius's contempt for Pettigrew or was just a coincidence is unknown.
 * In a bonus level on LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Peter is shown to willingly give directions to the Potters' residence, whereas in the books and the film he is told as to give directions out of cowardice.
 * 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 mother was a daughter of a first cousin of Sirius Black.
 * Despite his weak character, Pettigrew does seem to have a high pain tolerance, as he cut off his finger in order to fake his death, and years later severed his entire hand for the rebirth of Voldemort.
 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there is a Transfiguration class in which the students transform animals into water goblets. Ron tries to turn Scabbers into a goblet, however, as his wand is broken, Scabbers turns into a goblet with fur and a tail.

Author's comments
J. K. Rowling has explained Pettigrew's switch of allegiance by saying that he "out of cowardice will stand in the shadow of the strongest person." She also said that James Potter and Sirius Black allowed Pettigrew to be their friend "in a slightly patronising way" and that he ended up being a better wizard and better at hiding secrets than they ever knew.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
 * Harry Potter for Kinect
 * Harry Potter LEGO Sets
 * Harry Potter Trading Card Game

Notes and references
Peter Pettigrew Peter Pettigrow Peter Pettigrew Питер Петтигрю Peter Piskuilan Peter Pippeling