james potter was a decent artist (he doodled a lot and harry called it good)
sirius black loved crosswords
remus lupin apparently loved fires, he was often mentioned to stand near chimneys
peter pettigrew was a fucking marauder
the marauders managed to become animagi, create a magic map, prepare thousands of pranks, have a love life, be politically engaged AND stay on top of all of their classes?
HOW MUCH CAFFEINE DID THESE BOYS CONSUME
im sharing my thoughts in a new post, both to expand on it and allow people who wanted to read/share but werent comfortable with discourse to read/share
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peter didnt betray his friends just because he was in a bad mood !!!! his story is, to me, one of the most complex and interesting one in the saga
lets take a closer look at the shack scene in book three where his betrayal is revealed, shall we?
Remus : “For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends… Sirius… Peter… and, of course, James”
notice how peter’s name is the second to be named? same on the map. peter was often described as a tag along by adults, but he obviously wasnt. he was important in their friend group, far more than we believe.
Remus, talking about how difficult the animagus process was : “Peter needed all the help he could get.”
the process, according to remus, could have gone terribly wrong! and peter was struggling! he was obviously taking very big risks, but he did so for remus. that’s incredibly brave! no one could have blamed him if he stopped bc it was becoming very dangerous for him, but he didnt! he obviously cared so much for his friends!
sirius : “Voldemort would never dream they’d use a weak, talentless thing like you…”
once again, we can see it : peter was underestimated by everyone and probably wasnt very academically inclined
Hermione : “How come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?”
okay, so i know we shouldnt congratulate peter for not murdering someone, but hey its true : during 12 years, peter was behaving just fine! he bit the fingers of the bullies who made fun of harry, and that shows that he isnt just evil. its not much, but it actually proves that he cared at least a little bit about harry, or at least felt guilty enough to do it, and that’s something
Peter : “Sirius, Sirius, what could i have done? The Dark Lord… you have no idea… he has weapons you cant even imagine… I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James, I never meant for it to happen… You-Know-Who forced me…”
ALRIGHT LET’S ANALYSE THAT
alright so its obvious that peter was completely terrified, which is understandable. the “what could i have done” also makes me think that peter didnt think that he had a choice, and the “forced me” just emphasizes that. he felt completely powerless in front of voldemort, and it probably helped that he was always seen as weak : he just didnt consider that he could possibly said no. but its more complicated than that
its the “weapons you cant imagine” that catches my attention… the wizarding wars arent really a matter of weapons : you only have your magic skills. the only weapon mentionned is, i think, the prophecy. so i think it’s quite clear the weapons are just unusual bits of magic. you know what kind of magic voldemort excelled at ? mental manipulation. he was an amazing legilimens and when he was just a kid he managed to persuade two other kids to follow him in a very dangerous and scary place. i think it’s what happened to peter : he was mentally used and probably tortured by voldemort.
all of that is made worse by what sirius then says : “you’d been passing information to him for a year before”
okay so there is a well known manipulation technique that consists in asking for a small favor to build your way up to bigger ones – first asking to borrow 5 dollars then to just be given 20, to simplify it.
obviously this isnt the same, but i do believe than in a year, voldemort was able to use both psychology and magic mental manipulation to get peter under his complete control. imagine : it starts with voldemort asking when the next order mission is, then when peter refuses to tell him get the answer via legilimancy, to make him feel powerless. it builds up, the mental manipulation and constant mind abuse keeps going until he asks for the potters, and then all of that plus the legitimate fear of being killed just makes it easier to persuade peter to tell him
i think this whole mental abuse is also the reason why peter goes back to voldemort, and seems completely terrified of him even tho he’s a defenseless half life, being ready to give up his hand for him.
clarification : NO i am not trying to say peter is innocent, he did something terrible and kept doing terrible things afterwards, but his story is more complicated than “he was evil” or “he was scared”
i am the proud new owner of the url @peterwasamarauder ! i plan to use it to reblog posts, fanfics, fanarts and fan edits where peter pettigrew is as included as the other marauders ! i wont start running it right now bc rn i am quite busy irl but i will probably get there in a month or so
if anyone have a good avatar/banner, please message me !
so can we all agree that peter pettigrew was the king of self depreciating jokes?
I love four (4) boys
( doodled in class, excuse the low quality art and pic )
peter : i just never know what to say !
sirius : i usually say “fuck you”. fits every situation.
THE GUY WAS CORNERED BY THE BROTHER OF THE MAN WHO HE JUST KILLED ALONGSIDE WITH HIS WIFE AND HIS FIRST THOUGHT IS : “guess i’ll just wait until he tries to hex me, cut off my finger, change into my animagus form, go into hiding and let this man be framed instead of me”
like sure this makes him an asshole but ???????? so clever ????????? such instinct ???????? how ???????
i sure as hell woudnt have had the chill to come up with this plan, let alone do it, in such a situation and i bet neither would you
( this also made me realize … the guy cut limbs from his body twice in his life… wtf man get your shit together )
“fear makes people do terrible things”, remus said.
he remembered the tale of the boy who was so small and so lost and never saw anything like hogwarts and felt like he could never fit in
he remembered the tale of the boy who walked close to the walls because he didnt want the bullies to see him
he remembered the tale of the boy who couldnt believe that potter and black could even look at him because he was the opposite of them
he remembered the tale of the boy who took every sign of kindness as pity
he remembered the tale of the boy who smiled when he wanted to yell because surely if he told his friends he didnt like them mocking him they would leave him
he remembered the tale of the boy who had a kind soul and knew how to put the passion of his friends into concrete actions
he remembered the tale of the boy who was too quiet for his own good and that no one but his best friends really knew
he remembered the tale of the boy who everyone assumed was silly and useless and only had friends because they pityied him
he remembered the tale of the boy who never knew how to stand up for himself
he remembered the tale of the boy who adored his friends so much he thought they were perfect, so busy seeing their good sides he forgot to see his own
he remembered the tale of the boy who felt alone and yet was scared to ask for attention
he remembered the tale of the boy who got caught up in something bigger than him that he didnt even understand, because his friends asked him too
he remembered the tale of the boy who saw all of these friends shattering in pieces because of the war
he remembered the tale of the boy who was offered safety in a world of uncertitudes
he remembered the tale of the boy who was just so scared
he remembered the tale of the boy who just wanted to live
he remembered the tale of the boy that everyone forgot
he remembered the tale of peter pettigtrew
Peter : My mum told me I can do anything I set my mind to !
Sirius : My mum told me that I was a disgusting failure that she regretted ever having but I like your version better.
Fuck JKR 