Peter Pettigrew

***“You have no idea what I’ve done. You have no idea what I’m capable of. You have no idea what I’ll do next.”***

- *Peter Pettigrew to James Potter.*

**Peter Pettigrew,** Esquire, Solicitor-At-Law, Order of Merlin (First Class), is a high-ranking Death Eater and Jim Potter's godfather.

## Biography

### Family Lineage

Peter is the last known descendant of House Kleinwuchs, which was presumed extinct when Peter's grandfather Gustav Kleinwuchs faked his death and moved to Britain as George Pettigrew alongside his son Martin. Gustav had been wanted by various Wizarding governments for war crimes committed in the Grindelwald War, but he was granted amnesty by the Unspeakables, who assigned Augustus Rookwood as the Pettigrew's handler. The Kleinwuchs family could trace it's ancestry back to Lucretia Belasco, daughter of Emeric the Evil, under whose careful guidance House Kleinwuchs grew from minor grew from minor Germanic nobility to one of the darkest and most prominent Houses in Europe.

Peter's mother Edwina Pettigrew was born Edwina Gamp, a member of the Ancient and Noble House of Gamp, which by the time of Peter's birth had lost it's Wizengamot Seat due to a restrictive charter which forbade half-bloods from inheriting. Edwina's parents passed away during her last year at Hogwarts and her other relatives wanted little to do with her, so Peter had no contact with this side of his family.

### Early Life

Peter Pettigrew was born in 1959 or 1960 to Martin Pettigrew and his wife Edwina Gamp, who lived together in the Wizarding settlement of Upper Appleby, which was directly connected to the Muggle settlement of Appleby. When Peter was three years old his father and grandfather died in quick succession in accidents engineered by his mother, leaving her free to raise Peter on her own. Edwina made Peter believe she was chronically ill and manipulated him to make sure he would not become like his father and grandfather.

In 1971 Peter started attending Hogwarts, where he was sorted in Gryffindor alongside Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter, Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans. Peter quickly realised that James Potter would bully anyone who did not shower him with constant admiration, and wormed his way into his good graces by becoming, in his own words, James's Minion and Chief Whipping Boy.

During his Second Year Peter first became acquainted with Augustus Rookwood, who taught Defence Against the Dark Arts at the time, who told him about his father Martin. This was the first time Peter had heard much of anything about his father, as his mother did not like to speak of him. Rookwood took Peter under his wing, promising to tell him more about his father if he became more attentive in class and raised his grades, which were sub-par at the time. Peter became more confident as a result of studying under Rookwood, beginning a mentor-student relationship that still held strong by the mid-1990s.

In their Third Year Peter, Sirius, and James became suspicious of Remus Lupin's monthly abscenses from the Gryffindor boys dorm, which he claimed was due to his mother falling ill. Lily Evans briefly theorised him to be a werewolf, but her wizard-raised yearmates quickly disabused her of that notion, as the idea of the bookish and kind Lupin being a werewolf was completely foreign to any wizard even slightly familiar with a werewolf's bloodlust. Despite this the boys were still suspicious of Remus, until he and Poppy Pomfrey came up with a story that he had been attacked by Fenrir Greyback as a child (which was true), but that he had not been infected with lycanthropy and only suffered from wolf-fear which manifested in the form of violent nightmares on the night of the full moon (which was a lie).

This lie kept up until February of 1974, when the three secretly followed Remus Lupin on one of his monthly visits to the infirmary under the Potter Cloak, which James had borrowed from his father. The three boys made their way into the Shrieking Shack, where they discovered Remus's lycanthropy, as well as the existence of Project Romulus, a project by the Department of Mysteries in collaboration with Albus Dumbledore and Damocles Belby to discover why Remus was immune to the psychological degradation commonly associated with werewolves. As Professor Dumbledore refused to have them Obliviated, Augustus Rookwood, who as one of the Unspeakables working on Project Romulus, instead suggested that they be allowed to participate in the project by becoming Animagi while placed under a voluntary Memory Lock.

By November of 1975 the boys had become full Animagi, with Peter discovering his form to be a Norwegian Brown Rat. Around the same time Sirius decided to invent nicknames for the four Marauders, dubbing Peter as Wormtail, a nickname he was annoyed by and quickly grew to hate. The four Marauders swore and Unbreakable Vow to never reveal that they were Animagi, though this vow was poorly worded and did not account for giving others clues to deduce the truth for themselves.

In the summer of 1976 the Marauders "went Muggle" for a month, at Sirius's suggestion. While the other three Marauders quickly grew out of it, Peter became a fan of the Rolling Stones, often listening to or humming one of their songs.

On 1 November of 1976, during the Marauders' Sixth Year, Sirius, in his grief over the deaths of Malcolm and Lena McKinnon, led Severus Snape into the Shrieking Shack during the full moon. Enraged by Sirius endangering Remus like this, Peter physically assaulted Sirius, knocking out two of his teeth and sending him to the infirmary. This incident, combined with James's quick forgiveness of Sirius, led to the utter and permanent collapse of the friendship between Peter and Sirius and would be the beginning of the Marauders slowly drifting apart, though James would not realise this until years later. Two weeks after the prank Peter and James got into a fight, where Peter denounced Sirius as a violent sadistic bully. After accusing James of preferential treatment towards Sirius, Peter agreed to forgive Sirius, but promised that he would never forget the incident..

### First Wizarding War

In January of 1980 Edwina developed a case of the mumblebumps, where in a state of delirium she revealed to Peter that she had been lying about her illness for Peter’s entire life and that his father had a Gringotts Vault she hid from him. He asked James to come along to Gringotts for support but James insisted on bringing Sirius, which Peter reluctantly agreed to, but while there Peter overheard James having a private conversation where Sirius, who at this point had been on the outs with Peter for over three years, referred to Peter as James's charity case, which James did not deny, which was followed up by James laughing at Sirius making a disparaging joke about Peter's weight. Once inside the vault Peter discovered a portrait of his grandfather, George Pettigrew, born Gustav Kleinwuchs, the Left Hand of Grindelwald. Peter discovered the truth about his heritage and family, and went home to confirm what he had heard by feeding his mother Veritaserum. Edwina confessed to murdering George and Martin to prevent her own murder at their hands, as well as her years-long manipulation of Peter, leading him to kill her by smothering her with a pillow.

His meeting with his grandfather's portrait inspired Peter to contact Augustus Rookwood, offering to spy on the Order of the Phoenix for him. For the first six months of their partnership Peter thought he was spying for the Unspeakables, until he walked in on a conversation between Rookwood and Miss Demeanor, which eventually led him to join the Death Eaters as **Mr. Norvegicus**. During his time as a Death Eater he earned the mutual respect of Ms. Direction and Mr. Toymaker, impressing the latter enough to gift him with several of his cursed toys. When James and Lily learned of a prophecy that their child might destroy Lord Voldemort, Peter convinced them to make him the Secret Keeper of their Fidelius over Sirius Black, claiming that noboby would ever suspect him. Sirius and the Potters agreed, and Peter immediately disclosed their location to Voldemort. Despite Peter arguing that the subject of the prophecy could be turned to serve at Voldemort's side, the Dark Lord decided that killing the child was the best course of action. Unbeknownst to Voldemort, Peter planned to take Jim Potter and mold him into a Dark Wizard himself, eventually using his power to overthrow and supplant Voldemort.

When Voldemort was destroyed in his attempt to kill Harry and Jim Potter Peter had to improvise, altering the Potters' memories to make them think they had named Sirius their Secret Keeper and using an Unspeakable potion he had received from Rookwood to hide his alterations from a Rememberall. Peter made sure Sirius could not reveal the truth during his arrest, but failed to convince James to kill him, as James argued that he was only licensed to kill marked Death Eaters. Peter also stole the Potter Heir Ring from the cottage, which he hid for over a decade for unknown reasons along with Lord Voldemort’s wand.

### Post-War

During the early 1980s Peter started studying for a Law Mastery, financed by James Potter. After completing his Mastery Peter became James's Lawyer and House Potter's Steward and Wizengamot Proxy. He was also made Jim Potter's godfather.

Peter met with Remus Lupin in early 1982 to inform him of Lily and James's decision to send Harry to live with Vernon and Petunia Dursley. While Remus was angered as he had hoped to become Harry's guardian himself, and when he had voiced this hope to James he had laughed at the suggestion. After hearing a fabricated story from Peter about how Sirius had convinced the Potters that Remus was at risk of going dark (in truth it was Peter who had tried to convince them of this), Remus told Peter he had been thinking about moving to continental Europe. Peter convinced Remus to move to the Himalayan city-state of Shamballa instead, and even offered to finance the move with his inheritance money.

Later that year, shortly after sending Harry away, James approached Peter to ask if there was some way to disinherit Harry, as he feared that Harry's potential squib-status would have allowed the pure-bloods on the Wizengamot to dismiss Lily as regent in the event of his premature death, but they quickly came to the conclusion that there was no way to go about this without revealing Harry's existence and location to the public, which might have endangered his life, and James decided to drop the matter.

Sometime around Jim's fourth birthday Peter acquired blackmail on Rita Skeeter, forcing the formerly anti-Potter journalist to constantly praise them in her coverage, as well as writing other articles that suited his agenda.

### Book 1 - Prince of Slytherin

Growing afraid that Harry is the Last Potter mentioned in the Potter Prophecy, James Potter visits Peter in his office to discuss the possibility of disinheriting Harry. Peter instead convinces James to make peace with Harry for now so he can get close to him and see what makes him tick.

### Book 2 - The Secret Enemy

On the morning of Harry and Jim's twelfth birthday Peter is first introduced to Harry Potter, who takes an instant dislike to him. During the party Peter privately meets with Jim and gifts him a copy of Occlumency: A Beginner's Guide, which, unbeknownst to Jim, was written by Augustus Rookwood. Peter places a cursed train created by Erasmus Wilkes between the official gifts, which cripples Rufus Scrimgeour and kills Elizabeth Podmore, George Wyndham, and Xander Majid, but fails to accomplish it's goal of killing Harry Potter.

While having lunch with Harry Lily Potter reveals that she never trusted Peter. After Jim's Occlumency book is discovered by Snape Peter convinces Jim to tell his parents and teachers he stole it from Borgin and Burkes. He also meets with Harry Potter, offering a lump sum payment of 2 million galleons and the deed to any one Potter estate other than Potter Manor in exchange for giving up his Heirship, which Harry refuses.

Peter is genuinely surprised when Jim is revealed as a Parselmouth, but he is also pleased by the revelation, as it might make it easier to turn Jim to his side. Despite his genuine fondness for James Peter briefly contemplates having him killed when his hatred of Parseltongue and all things Slytherin rises to unexpected heights. Harry later writes to Peter with ideas on how to spin Parseltongue in the media, though he doesn't tell Peter this is to set the stage for Harry to eventually reveal his Parseltongue several years down the line. After Harry and Jim return from the Chamber of Secrets, where Harry acquires the Marauders' Map, Peter is interviewed by the Daily Prophet, and he uses the oppurtunity to reveal how Jim saved the school with the aid of his Parseltongue.

Wishing to have Harry killed and capture Amy Wilkes, Peter travels to Lithuania to recruit Fenrir Greyback. After a short one-sided fight with Stavros Skorzeny Peter speaks with Greyback, convincing to return to British soil for the first time since 1981 for the chance to kill or infect Harry. After returning to Britain Peter finds that the recently divorced Narcissa Black is at his office. Narcissa is seeking his advice as she has discovered that Lucius invested most of his money into Muggle businesses and ventures, meaning the 75% she was meant to receive through their marriage contract is not nearly as high as she was expecting, but Peter tells her he cannot help her, as Lucius technically has not acted against their contract, and he can't be publicly seen to be defending a Death Eater sympathiser. Peter is enraged when Narcissa reveals that she sent her House-Elf Mogli to kill Harry Potter by derailing the Hogwarts Express, but Mogli never returned. After a brief row Narcissa gives Peter a passionated kiss, and they presumably sleep together.

### Book 3 - The Death Eater Menace

On the night before Jim and Harry's birthday Peter uses an illegal portkey to transport Fenrir's pack to Thurso, a town in northern Scotland that falls just outside the Ministry's extensive network of ley lines, wards, and detection spells, allowing the pack to enter Britain unnoticed. The werewolves kill several muggles, much to Peter's anger. Peter informs Greyback of a change of plans, as he has learned of Tiberius Nott's plan to marry Amy Wilkes, and wishes to gain possession of the contents of the Wilkes vault himself (though he plans to kill Amy and use heart to make a potion that will grant him access to the vault rather than marry her).

After the Azkaban breakout Peter attends the emergency meeting of the Wizengamot, representing House Potter. When Lord Samuel Macmillan and Lord Andrew Parkinson question whether foreign Metamorphmagi may have been involved, Peter receives a subtle signal from Jamesto switch the topic of conversation to the portkey used to slice through Azkaban's wards. After a proposal to reinstate the Death Eater Laws is shot down by the Wizengamot, Peter instead motion to invoke the Praetor Maximus Clause, allowing Minister Fudge emergency powers. Shortly after the session Fudge announces to the press that he will be sending a contingent of Dementors to Hogwarts to guard it against the escaped Death Eaters, forcing Peter to change his plans again, delaying "Operation Damsel" from September 1st to the first Hogsmeade weekend in October. Meanwhile, at Longbottom Manor, Sirius Black informs Harry, Regulus Black, and Augusta Longbottom of Peter's status as a Death Eater.

Later that month, Harry begins using the Marauders' Map to meet with the artificial personalities kept inside them, allowing him to meet a fifteen-year-old Peter, who quickly figures out that Harry was sorted into Slytherin and not Gryffindor, and also that Harry was not happy to see him. He shows Harry his memories of meeting his favorite teacher, Augustus Rookwood, much to Harry's horror.

Peter visits James at the Auror Office in early September to have him sign several documents ostensibly related to the Jim Potter Charitable Fund and ask seemingly innocuous questions about the Azkaban investigation, as Peter plans to find the escapees himself to free Bellatrix Lestrange and Augustus Rookwood, and, more importantly, kill Sirius.

In preparation for his kidnapping of Amy Wilkes Pete travels to the Boar's Tusk in Knockturn Alley, using polyjuice potion and old hairs to transform into Sirius Black, introducing himself as "the Dark Lord's Right Hand" and recruiting many of Knockturn Alley's petty criminals for his planned attack on Hogsmeade.

## Physical Appearence

Peter as a teenager was a plump boy with an unfortunate mullet. Peter had been even more overweight at twelve, and upon seeing a memory of him at that age Harry was reminded of Dudley Dursley, though Peter was far more timid than Dudley.

His animagus form from when he was at Hogwarts is described as a rat with a thick patch of hair on the back of his head that resembled it.

Adult Peter is described as dignified man roughly James's age who had lost a good bit of weight but his elegant professional robes still fit well, although still rather stout, peter was down to only one chin. His hair was much better styled than the scraggly mullet he'd worn during their school days. He was by no means a handsome man, but the years had been relatively kind, and his wealth and success made up for his physical appearance, many people were still put off by that burning, rat-like gleam that his eyes always held.

## Personality & Traits

He is intelligent, and a quick thinker, showcased by his slapdash framing of Sirius Black as a Death Eater that fooled all of Wizarding Britain for over 12 years, although this is hampered by his tendency for overcomplicated schemes, evidenced by his attempt to slowly kill Severus Snape in an engineered potions accident built on his own advice when a Blasting Curse to the head would have been sufficient. He is utterly ruthless and willing to sacrifice anyone to pursue his goals, showing no remorse over attempting to kill Harry Black and Amaryllis Wilkes. He utterly loathes Sirius Black and James Potter over their callous treatment of him during their school days and their general arrogance that persisted years afterwards, decades in James’ case. And he’s displayed incredible observational prowess from a young age, showcased by his 15 year old self deducing Harry’s house almost immediately.

## Relationships

He utterly lacks compassion with others people to the point where there are only three people he’s displayed any semblance of fondness for and 2 of them are rife with manipulative and callous betrayals on Peter’s end. The only person exempt from this is Augustus Rookwood, Peter’s mentor who helped him develop his self confidence and sponsored Peter’s induction into the Death Eaters. Peter in turn went to great lengths to ensure his rescue from the Azkabal and the Ministry, risking his own hide in the process. He is genuinely fond of Jim Potter, his godson but shows no remorse endangering him in his plans and fully intends to sacrifice to further his goals if there’s no better option. Finally there’s Remus Lupin, the person Peter perceives to be his only genuine school friend, he set him up with enough money to relocate to somewhere more accepting of Remus’ Lycanthropy and was truly enraged by the idea of Snape withholding the Wolfsbane Potion out of resentment over The Prank, but his turning James and Sirius against him during the war and forcing Remus to transform and kill Harry and James shows that when push comes to shove, Peter will exploit Remus for his own ends every time with no hesitation.

## Magical Abilities & Skills

Peter is a sub-par duelist, as evidenced by him losing to Harry Potter, a 13 year old boy, in March 1994. His true talents lie in the field of animagery, which he’s utterly revolutionized. He is a Rat Animagus and can ultilise Wild Animagery to achieve several feats previously thought impossible for an Animagus. He can partially transform himself to have unnaturally sharp claws, control and communicate with rats in a manner similar to an Parslemouth, and most impressively, he learned to harness the symbolism of rats as plague bearers to infect humans and werewolves with a synthetic strain of the Bubonic Plague. He inherited the ability to influence and control the behaviour of werewolves from his ancestor Emeric Belasco, The Father of Werewolves.

## Behind the Scenes

* According to The Sinister Man, the role of Peter Pettigrew is portrayed by Rafe Spall, the son of Timothy Spall, who played him in the Harry Potter movies.

## Canon Divergence

In Canon, Peter is a weak, cowardly idiot who betrayed his friends to Voldemort to save his own skin. In Prisoner of Azkaban he is described as a fat, short, rat-like man.

In Prince of Slytherin he is an intelligent but rash lawyer. He didn't betray his friends to Voldemort to save himself. Instead, he betrayed Lily, James, and the Order of the Phoenix to advance his own life and because he hated James Potter and Sirius Black.

In Canon Peter has no known relatives outside of his mother, but in POS his mother being a Gamp connects him to Hesper Black, mother of Arcturus Black, making him a distant cousin of several members of House Black, including Sirius, Regulus, Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa, as well as their children.

## References

Book 1 - HP&PoS - Ch. 33 - The End of the Beginning (Pt 1),

"Peter Pettigrew, Esq., Solicitor-At-Law, Order of Merlin (First Class), and Steward and Proxy for the House of Potter.".
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 123 - The Hunting of Sirius Black (Pt 2),

Peter reveals his true ancestry.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 120 - What's Past is Prologue (Pt 2),

Peter visits the Pettigrew Vault, discovers his grandfather's true identity, and kills his mother.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 79 - Meet Regulus Black,

Dolohov, Rosier, and Regulus raid Upper Appleby.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 95 - Back to School (Pt 2),

Map-Peter shows Harry a memory of Rookwood.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 120 - What's Past is Prologue (Pt 2),

Sirius coins the Marauders' nicknames.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 57 - The Boggart (Pt 2),

Lockhart gives a lecture on werevolves.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 119 - What's Past is Prologue (Pt 1),

The Marauders discover Project Romulus.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 120 - What's Past is Prologue (Pt 2),

Bane encounters the Marauders.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 86 - Prelude (Jim) (Pt 2),

Brother Chandra reveals his true identity as Remus Lupin.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 62 - Meet Peter Pettigrew,

Jim's Occlumency book is discovered.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 113 - The Blackest Day (Pt 2),

Harry locks Sirius and Snape in a room until they sort out their differences.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 98 - Feasts, Electives & Student Organizations (Pt 2),

Peter visits James and thinks back on the Prank.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 134 - The Kings of Rats,

An imprisoned Peter taunts James.
Book 1 - HP&PoS - Ch. 32 - The Death Eater Snape,

James's true memories are recovered.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 62 - Meet Peter Pettigrew,

Peter recalls his last meeting with Voldemort.
Book 1 - HP&PoS - Ch. 2 - Halloween 1981,

Peter hides his involvement in the attack on the Potter Cottage.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 43 - The Birthday Party (Pt 2),

Erasmus Wilkes' trains are unleashed at the Birthday Partuy.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 91 - Reactions & Overreactions (Pt 2),

The Wizengamot discusses the Azkaban Breakout.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 44 - On the Importance of Emotion,

Harry analyzes Rita Skeeter's report on the Train Attack.
Book 1 - HP&PoS - Ch. 34 - The End of the Beginning (Pt 2),

James visits Peter to discuss Harry.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 41 - Countdown to a Birthday,

Harry meets Peter Pettigrew.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 42 - The Birthday Party (Pt 1),

Peter gifts Jim a copy of Occlumency: A Beginner's Guide.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 55 - Pranks & Other Diversions (Pt 2),

Harry and Snape have lunch with Lily.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 64 - The Duelling Club,

Jim is revealed as a Parselmouth.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 82 - Goodbyes,

Peter visits Lithuania to recruit Fenrir Greyback.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 70 - Investigations into Dark Matters,

Harry writes to Peter Pettigrew.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 77 - The Chamber of Secrets,

Harry and Jim confront the Diary Horcrux in the Chamber of Secrets.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 81 - The Power of Friendship,

Peter is interviewed by the Daily Prophet.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 82 - Goodbyes,

Narcissa visits Peter's office.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 89 - Azkaban,

Fenrir's pack arrives in Thurso.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 90 - Reactions & Overreactions (Pt 1),

Harry goes to his first Wizengamot Session.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 92 - Reactions & Overreactions (Pt 3),

Minister Fudge is given emergency powers by the Wizengamot.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 92 - Reactions & Overreactions (Pt 3),

Sirius wakes up.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 94 - Back to School (Pt 1),

Harry enters the Marauders' Map.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 99 - Feasts, Electives & Student Organizations (Conclusion),

Peter and Greyback visit the Boar's Tusk.