Why Peter Pettigrew Joined the Death Eaters - Harry Potter Theory

Hey everyone,

Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be discussing the marauders, the death eaters and Peter Pettigrew AKA Wormtail.

Now, we know Peter Pettigrew AKA wormtail as the defector of the marauders - a quartet of boys which consisted of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and James Potter. The Marauders were hellbent on breaking the rules at the school, and were notorious for their rule-breaking and mischief making. The group existed for 7 years, from 1971-1978, and all members were active participants in the first wizarding war. All 4 boys would also go on to join the order of the phoenix, which was a secret society founded by Dumbledore that opposed Lord Voldemort. Peter was an ally to the Order of the phoenix for some time, along with the other marauders, that is, until he was made ‘secret keeper’ for the Potter family.

A secret keeper is a witch or wizard designated to hide a secret, the secret is secured by the fidelius charm, which conceals the secret inside of the secret keepers soul. Sirius Black was the initial choice for secret keeper, but Sirius, thinking that Voldemort might target him, suggested that they choose Pettigrew instead. The following excerpt from Sirius addresses this:

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it... I thought it was the perfect plan... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."

After being made secret keeper, Peter Pettigrew revealed his true colours, and in one infamous act of cowardice and disloyalty, revealed the location of the Potter cottage to Voldemort. He had been in correspondence with the dark lord already, and this was his chance to strike - to show Voldemort that he was worthy. It was at this moment that this snivelling, disloyal man had secured his placement as a death eater - a servant of the dark lord. But for what? Why would Pettigrew leave the order, and his former schoolmates, to go and serve a darker purpose? Wasn’t he a Gryffindor?

The truth is that even though Pettigrew was a ‘member’ of the order of the phoenix, and a ‘member’ of the marauders- he was never truly accepted by either of these groups. He was always Pettigrew to them, and was frequently looked down upon. Pettigrew was quite weak and mentally impressionable, and Sirius, Remus and James were all strong characters.

I think that it’s entirely reasonable for me to say that Pettigrew’s ‘friends’ never truly respected him, and viewed him as a little bit beneath them, despite being the ‘good’ guys. After years and years of being dismissed and not taken seriously, Pettigrew simply hit a breaking point, a point at which he sought power independent from those that he knew. When he turned to Voldemort, Pettigrew saw an opportunity to become his own man. Voldemort probably saw that he was decent at magic, but also mentally weak, and he took advantage of that. James, Sirius and Lupin were ultimately "good" people but they were also arrogant jerks in their youth, and Pettigrew who was perpetually looked down upon by them eventually made a choice, as awful as it was, to betray the people that he previously surrounded himself with. Peter wanted power, and his own identity. In some ways, Peter’s tale could easily be an allegory for bullying and the bullied kid going down the wrong path.

Though Peter was in the order, and ‘one of the good guys’ , he was never really appreciated by them, and he picked up on it. When he saw Voldemort, he saw an opportunity to reinvent himself and surround himself with a new group of people, the death eaters. Becoming a death eater was totally foreign to him, but he knew that he didn’t like his present circumstances- and the prospect of joining a new group of very different, but powerful people, was inviting to Pettigrew, who liked to surround himself with people in these positions of power.

And it just so happens that when Pettigrew defected, Voldemort was the man- he was powerful, and his victory seemed imminent. Pettigrew, who was insecure and vulnerable, saw that he could be a part of something powerful and impressive, and made his choice.
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