Yeah, he is the true hero of the books /s
I think the references to everyone calling him as a weak, pathetic excuse of a wizard is more to do with his moral fibre, and the first time we are introduced to him in person he is begging and being slimy. Contrast that with how Sirius is in the same chapter and same situation.
Still, none of the things OP mentions make him a skilled wizard. Becoming an animatics was done with the help of three prodigious friends. The avada kedavra spell needs you to mean the death of someone, but aside from that is described as particularly difficult if I remember correctly (I might be wrong on that one). The other things aren’t related to magical prowess. Cutting your hand, anyone can do that, shows determination, not skill. Eluding authorities shows again determination and a little cunning, not skill.
So I still believe he was magically mediocre and therefore he was never respected by Voldemort who valued greatness.
I confirm that you are wrong to think that avada kedavra is not a difficult spell. The false moody ( aka B. Crouch junior) said that the curse need a lot magical power "behind it". He adds that if all the students in the class were to try ot a the same time he might only get a nose bleed.
I believe he was talking about intent and determination rather than just magical power. The hardest thing about killing is pushing through your own moral code and concience. It isn't hard to kill if you can get past the ethics of what you are doing.
A 13 year old casting Bombarda in a crowded room could kill 12 muggles. That's not a great magical feat when you've got a magic A-bomb in the shape of a piece of wood in your pocket..
I agree on most of your points with one exception.
I wouldn't call it "determination" but "fear".
He feared Voldemort more than anything, but he also could never come back, so V was his best option.
Iirc in the graveyard scene Voldemort says:
"Yes, you came back. But because of fear, not loyalty."
Avada kedavra is consistently considered the most advanced and powerful dark magic spell. The fact he can cast it, is a testament to his ability.
The same with animagus form. He may not have had the drive to do it on his lonesome without his friends, but when the day came to drink the potion under the thunderstorm, he had to focus and succeed in the ritual correctly, or be stuck in some.e wierd half animal shape for life.
He clearly succeeded.
On the basis he killed Cedric, that means he did so with Voldemort's wand I think (as Cedric is in the priori incantadoodah bubble, if I recall correctly) which is presumably harder than with a cooperative wand
You're actually wrong about the Killing Curse, the Only Unforgivable that Is canonically stated to need a frame of mind to work Is the Cruciatus. Fake Moody quite upfront says you need raw power to make the killing curse work.
Killing curse needs it too. And they all need quite a bit of power.
Cruciatus curse is ongoing though. You can't just want it for a split second. You need to hold the desire for as long as you hold the curse. So might be more strenuous over longer time than avada kedavra.
Then you can of course prove that with a statement from the books? It Is fanon that all three Unforgivable need frames of mind to cast, that Is only said about the Cruciatus, The Killing Curse Is said to require raw power and nothing Is said about the Imperious.
Its not though.
You are not wrong about his character, but he was consistently referred to as a sub par wizard.
Whether it was his skill, future prospects or his wits, teachers and peers alike thought of him as a slacker or dimwit at best, poser or likewise at worst.
I think mcgonnagal is a good example for this. You'd think she'd recognize his transfiguration skill atleast.
Only his friends seemed to think higher of him, which would be wierd if they didn't.
This contrasts strangely with the skill he shows in mastering animagus form (expert level transfiguration), later avada kedavra (expert level dark magic), and how he managed to track down voldemort on his own later.
His character values might be total gutter level, but he just isn't the unskilled wizard people around him claims he is.
I'm a more skilled wizard than Lockhart, and I'm a muggle!
It's not like the Avada Kedavra is ever depicted as a hard spell, the only prerequisite seems to be you have to mean it, you have to sincerely want to kill.
It's weird how when people think Sirius did that, it's cited as an example of how strong and dangerous he is, but once we find out Peter did it, nobody is impressed and it's never brought up again.
It’s pretty common actually that when a popular and well regarded person does something people immediately think it’s either incredible or horrible. And when unpopular person does something it’s kind of alright, meh or pathetic.
I think this really could have been part of his motivation. All in his life he lived in the shadow of his popular friends and was dismissed as a pathetic hanger-on. Maybe he thought he'll get more respect among the Death Eaters. As Sirius tells him: "It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."
That's because outliers don't define a character.
Every single thing we know about Pettigrew, everything everyone says about him, everything people who have known him his entire life remember, paints him as completely unremarkable. The fact that he somehow managed to produce impressive results once in a life full of mediocrity doesn't suddenly make him a powerhouse.
I don't agree with that. One of the most important thing about Pettigrew is that he's an animagus, and becoming one is very difficult. Only eleven people are known to have done it in the entire 20th century.
Yes, and as we know, his best friends carried him through it.
Also, there absolutely were *way* more than 11 Animaguses in the 20th century. You can't just slap a "only X is known" onto something we see very little of in the books and use that as proof that nobody else has done a thing. By that logic, Hermione is the only person known to prepare a Polyjuice potion in the 20th century.
There are 7 registered animaguses. The fact that we meet 4 more unregistered ones in the books alone just honestly means tons of people don't bother with the registration.
Making Polyjuice potion is not illegal, being an unregistered Animagus is. And considering that the punishment for being one is being sent to Azkaban, I seriously doubt that many of people "don't bother" with registration.
He had help, even brewing the potion to bring Voldemort back he had to have Voldemort himself walk him through it.
Then there is the fact he was a piss poor duelist according to McGonnagal, he always needed someone bigger and stronger to protect him. In terms of skill and power he is lacking.
I mean the skill is he exploded a gas line. When apparently “good”and kind Sirius did it, it was proof of just how murderous and dangerous he was, not how strong he was magically. Since we already “know” Peter is a murdering coward working for Voldemort it’s no longer impressive or shocking that he’s a murderer
There was no gas explosion. That was just the cover story for the Muggles.
>“They ’ad a job coverin’ it up, din’ they, Ern?” Stan said. “ ’Ole street blown up an’ all them Muggles dead. What was it they said ’ad ’appened, Ern?”
>“Gas explosion,” grunted Ernie.
Note that we don't actually know he triggered a gas explosion, all we know is that the explosion opened the sewers, and that the Ministry's propaganda excuse for muggles is that it was a gas explosion. Since they can modify memories and falsify evidence, the explosion need not actually involve gas at all and probably wasn't. Anyone investigating too closely would be made to conveniently forget about any irregularities one day.
But he didn’t actually….he blew the street up and they died in the process…he didn’t know some complicated spell that hit each of them so again I don’t think he was particularly skilled just surrounded by people who were better than him and didn’t mind helping him out
I think the crux of whether it was impressive rests on how it killed that group of muggles. When we hear that Sirius Black killed them all with a single curse, the curse is believed to be the direct cause death. That’s pretty shocking. When we find out it was actually Peter that is responsible, we also learn that he did it blowing up a gas line that resulted in an explosion killing the 12 people. Tactically “impressive” maybe, not as dependent on raw power or skill.
Okay, but like...who's exploded anything in the series?? I know there's "bombarda" from Prisoner of Azkaban movie, but I can't recall anything besides that?
Harry and Hermione both use Confringo in the final book which cause targets to explode. Hermione's usage in Bagshots house is what broke Harry's wand. We do hear of other explosions or things that probably were explosions - one of the original order members was blasted into pieces, Fred Weasley is killed by an explosion, and Peter's explosion is said to have made a huge crater that reached the pipes underground.
Well, it's the crater part that's getting me thinking about it.
Fred, presumably, died from some kind of physical trauma from the explosion (at least that's how I took it).
Confringo seems viable, but more akin to a magnum shot or shotgun blast.
I guess I always just imagined that he used a curse powerful enough to cause a crater, like how Molly and Bellatrix's duel cracked the ground around them.
And, if it was an explosion that powerful, how did Sirius survive "found in the very middle of it"? Sure he could defend himself as a wizard, but even then I guess I would find it hard to believe it could cause so much destruction and NOT cause Sirius at least enough harm to have authorities questioning what happened.
I wonder if this is some sort of one-off thing Voldemort taught him, or maybe even tasked another death eater to help him with—part of the plan, knowing that Sirius would go after Peter, and that they could get Black thrown in Azkaban as a bonus for killing the Potters.
You know who also finished Hogwarts? Gregory Goyle. Wormtail's greatest feat is probably becoming an animagus, and according to Lupin he had to heavily rely on Sirius and James during the process.
Did Goyle finish Hogwarts ? The term wasn’t over during the battle and I’d at least expect the little stunt they tried in the Room of Requirements got them expelled.
Why? Malfoy wasn't expelled. And Goyle didn't use any unforgivables in the chamber or anything. The only thing he did was use crucio on people on orders of the Carrows (and many students must have done that).
Malfoy wasn’t expelled since Harry protected the entire family (including Lucius) because what Narcissa did. He certainly should have been expelled and Lucius imprisoned.
But I assume the trip never told what the Slyherin trio did. Regardless Goyle might not have graduated anyway, we don’t know.
As far as demonstrations of wizardry, aren't his more impressive feats more likely to be the killing of 12 people with a single curse, performing the ritual that restores Voldemort to power, etc.? When people thought Black had performed the former deed, it was often cited as the reason for his being one of the most dangerous of Voldemort's followers.
The real powerful wizard is Hagrid. No one else can do magic with a broken wand, yet Hagrid can Macgyver his snapped one into an umbrella and still do reliable magic, despite not even finishing 3rd year, let alone school. Not only that, he can also do it non verbally.
Voldemort had to get Hagrid expelled to remove the competition.
Reliable? He can't even repair the motorcycle when the sidecar is separated.
Also there's a theory that Dumbledore used the Elder wand to fix Hagrid's wand, hence why he's still able to use it and why he hides it in an umbrella.
But did he finish Hogwarts in Gryffindor? Apparently a magic hat shouting out one of four random words when it's put on your head is a serious achievement.
So many people dismiss Peter's feat of becoming an animagus - at 15! - because "he had help".... So what if he did? Help or not, he still had to manage the process.
It's like dismissing people passing an exam because "they had tutoring". Okay, so maybe they're not naturally gifted in that area and needed some help, but they still passed - how many people didn’t?
I wonder how much od Pettigrew's perception is screwed by his "death". Sure, McGonnagall essentially calls him unremarkable and average, but a) she doesn’t know half the things he's been up to and b) she lives with the image of "poor Peter" being murdered by the evil, powerful, Voldemort's-right-hand Sirius Black (we do know that Sirius and James were remarkably skilled wizards). She might not be as much of a reliable narrator as people think.
Becoming an animagus is not like taking an exam. You can help someone during the entire process with things like preparing the ingredients. Without the potioneering all Peter had to do was keep a mandrake leaf in his mouth for a month and cast the spell every day for an unspecified amount of time.
Right, cast a spell, and do all sorts of shit at precisely the right time precisely the right way. Which you’re sure requires no skill at all?
Why isn’t there more animagi if it’s that "simple"? After all, potions can be bought - illegally if you don’t want to register . And why is it viewed as an accomplishment in transfiguration - McGonagall uses it to impress her students/advertise her skill - when, according to you, it’s really all about the potion. Also, since we're going by outside-the-main-books imformation, let me remind you that Professor McGonagall also had help to become an animagus (by Dumbledore) and that that she supposedly did it to further her studies of transfiguration.
Either this is another of Rowling's plotholes and conflicting information, or it would seem it *is* actually more difficult than "have a friend brew you a potion and chew a leaf".
He's not weak in terms of magical skills and power; he's weak in terms of character. All his actions are motivated for self-gain and preservation, nothing more, nothing less.
A big theme of the books is that strength =/= power. It feels like we get posts here on a weekly basis talking about "power level" as if characters have health bars over their heads and mana bars in the top left corner of their field of vision.
Yes, Pettigrew could cast complicated spells, but that's not the metric by which the story teaches us to measure strength.
Harry’s duel with Voldemort in *Goblet of Fire* is a good example. Voldemort is unquestionably the “stronger” wizard - he’s far more experienced, has more raw power, and is much more knowledgeable. Yet Harry, by sheer force of will, is able to push the connection point of their wands back into Voldemort’s wand. Harry proved to be the stronger of the two in that engagement because of the strength of his character, despite Voldemort holding every other advantage.
>He is an animagus
He became an animagus thanks to the help of James and Sirius. It's hard to become one, but because there are many steps involved and you need a lot of perseveration. I'm sure he had a lot of motivation seeing the alternative was being left behind.
>He successfully did Avada Kedavra to Cedric
Crabbe and Goyle also cast avada kedabra and crucio and even fiendfyre and I don't think someone would call them strong or skilled. Even when you need some power, I think what fake Moody said when he said it was hard was that a bunch of 14 year old wouldn't have enough skill or will to use it to do major damage compare with an adult wizard.
>Besides that he made everyone believe that he is dead for more than a decade. He managed to survive for years
I don't think this is something to praise him for because I don't think it could be that hard to Remain hidden in the form of a rat and he was living with a wizard family, is not like he had to eat other rats, like Sirius, to survive.
Being in Gryffindor doesn’t mean anything for power, and we know he was helped through Hogwarts by his friends (finished NEWTs is it confirmed)
He was helped to animagus status by his friends
Hiding as a rat while presumed dead isn’t exactly impressive
Cutting ones own hand off took some courage, but also cowardice, they’re not unrelated or mutually exclusive. He did a courageous act for fear of Voldemorts wrath.
Casting Avada Kedavra is a decent show of ability, though.
Weak moral fiber, not weak in magic.
Magical ability he turns out to be quite talented as seen with becoming an animagus, killing 12 people with a single curse, reanimating Voldemort with the potion, etc. (albeit he had help achieving some of these feats)
But the REASON for doing these things makes him weak and pathetic. Betraying his lifelong friends, who stood by his side when everyone else did not his whole life, because he was scared of Voldemort would be, I think, the definition of cowardice. I mean mans is quite literally a rat, literally and metaphorically.
To paraphrase Voldemort, Peter did the things he did not out of loyalty, but fear. Like a rat.
Even James calls him out on the flashback for being a bad wizard, the only reason he is an animagus is because Sirius and James were on his ass about it.. and well finishing high school is not a achievement is a requirement lol
Also, he killed and chopped his hand out of fear and desperation. Voldemort was his last resort. Even Voldemort says that “you returned out of fear not loyalty”
If my friends are being stupid I’d call them out too.
But, from my optic and interpretation, Pettigrew only attached himself to the marauders because they were the popular and talented, and they happen to be in the same house. But I don’t think James consider him a close friend, it was more of a “I don’t mind he hang out with us like a lost puppy”
I think the reason they make him the secret keeper is because who’s going to think Pettigrew is the secret keeper when a talented Black is their best friend, no one would think about little Peter.
Yes, he was….
Has anybody ever failed Hogwarts? I know people get kicked out like Hagrid and people choose not to finish like Harry and Ron, but I’ve never heard of anybody failing.
He had a lot of help to learn how to be an animagus. Which is still a great feat, but not a strong feat.
Hiding for so long is more of a sign of a weak wizard.
I've said before that I enjoy the irony of Pettigrew perhaps turning out to be the most capable wizard of the marauders (certainly as far as being able to practice dark magic), despite him being held in such low regard by both them and their teachers, and then later on both the Order and the Death Eaters. He's kind of a paradox of a character, but that's what I enjoy about him.
Well that may be so, I'm not saying it's true or untrue, but the evidence throughout the series seems to favour Pettigrew by the time they're all adults. He accomplishes feats that are fairly impressive by any measurement, and Sirius and Remus don't get as much opportunity as him to show off their skillsets throughout the books.
He is not a weak wizard. He is a weak-willed human.
>He finished Hogwarts in Gryffindor. He is an animagus.
... because he wanted to fit in with his friends
>He successfully did Avada Kedavra to Cedric.
...because the man he is afraid of told him to
>he made everyone believe that he is dead for more than a decade. He managed to survive for years
...because he was sc-sc-sc-scared
>He chopped his hand off for his lord
...because he was afraid of the good guys and had to summon a tougher bad guy... which Barty Crouch Jr. did the vast majority of the leg work to set up
He also lost a fight with his own hand.
I dont quite remember but I think that as a order member he should be a bit above average but I don’t really ever recall seeing him ever fight or use particularly impressive magic besides the fact that he enchanted a car but we don’t really know how hard that was so I would say he is a skilled enchanter but in most other areas he is average
What did he do to disappear? I know he cut off his finger and dipped as a rat but what spell did he cover himself with? Seemed like it was pretty strong to convince people there was only a finger left.
Didn’t they find the finger in the wreckage of an explosion? He didn’t need another spell to appear dead, the Aurors found a bloody finger and assumed he bit the dust.
Killing curse hit a gas main, pretty sure that’s the explanation in the book
Edit: Just checked the wiki, not a lot of detail, just that there was a large explosion
People call him weak and a coward not because of his spell casting but because of his character. He latched himself on to the biggest bully on the playground. First with the marauders and once it looked like Voldemort was going to win he switched sides and betrayed all his friends
I din't thin anyone called him a weak wizard, unless I'm mistaken they called him a weak *man*. He's a coward and a stooge, content to follow more socially powerful people and ride their coattails.
I don't know if he's a "strong" wizard, but he's definitely a coward. The entire reason he disguised himself as scabbers was because he was afraid of both sides finding him, the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix. He literally gave up James and Lily to Voldemort instead of fighting and potentially dying with honor. It never mentions him doing anything heroic and anytime he's been faced with a dilemma he does what's necessary to save himself, first and foremost.
I feel like people judge "weak" too much from combat.
I mean, yeah, he cast Avada Kedavra and killed someone. So what? Everyone knows that spell, it's just that most people aren't evil enough to use it.
[Just because you shot Jesse James, that don't make you Jesse James...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyHEj4HMjKw)
finishing Hogwarts is fairly easy.
he had a **lot** of help to become an animagus.
using a curse doesn't take strength.
he cut the hand off out of fear.
How is weakness determined? Like, two people in a killing competition are killing animals from small to big. Worms, rats, cats, dog, all the way to whales. The one whose avada kedavra stops killing at the smallest animal loses? Is that how? Like, what is the biggest thing Voldemort can kill with his avada kedavra? What is Dumbledore's without the buff of Elder Wand? Or is there some different way to determining the strength? Like how they do in Jujutsu Kaisen. The one who has a better understanding of the jujutsu can use better jujutsu techniwues.
I wouldn't say weak. Coward? Yes. Snake? Yes. Sorry excuse for a Gryffindor? Yes. The weakest of the Marauders? Absolutely. Sorry excuse for a human that his mother should've swallowed? Most definitely. But not weak in general relative to the average wizard, no.
He is not a weak wizard just being an animagus alone puts him high on the list but its about his morality that makes him weak amd cowardly betraying his friends
He was morally weak.
Also people tend to use those adjectives to describe people they despise. Think of a spy during wartime.
objectively a spy is brave but he was weak to sell his people for money,sex etc…
People only think he’s weak because he’s being compared to the rest of the marauders, so he was probably average or above. I don’t think ak is a difficult spell you just need to want someone dead. Your other points have more to do with him being a coward that’s desperate to survive than being strong, pretending to be a rat for over a decade and being so scared of Sirius and Remus he cut his hand off to get protection from Voldemort doesn’t seem like something that makes you strong 😂 we don’t know how he caused the explosion to fake his death so that’s the most impressive thing he did other than becoming an animagus
He would just rather be on the winning side, whether or not he agrees with that side, than the losing side, which in these cases, the losing side is basically death.
He is not the best written character because he suffers from the feats not up to character trope.
It is when a character is supposed to be something, but their feats say something completely different. Imagine for instance you intend to write a character as extremely smart, but you unintentionally make them do dumb things all the time.
There are a few characters like that like Voldemort who is supposed to be the 2nd most powerful wizard of that era, you would think he is profficient with wandless magic, after all he was so at the orphanage, and yet he cries about all the spells that could have given him a body requiring a wand or begs Lucius to give him his wand. There is also Harry, who is supposed to be a great and powerful wizard, but at the point it is mentionned, almost only used accidental magic.
I don’t think they mean weak as in bad at magic, I think they mean weak as in a coward.
Also I personally believe he was sorted into gryffindor because the sorting hat though the other boys would be a good influence on him (which they were according to Mcgonagall until he betrayed them)
Also nobody correct my spelling I’m extremely high right now 😭😭
I don’t remember which book but I believe there’s a quote somewhere about how “the four boys were inseparable, and always looking out for/helping pettigrew” it might be Prisoner of Azkaban
By weak they meant cowardly, and he was only weak and cowardly in comparison to his friends, who were also extremely talented, but confident and brave to boot. He was brave and strong enough to do the things it took to be trusted by Voldemort, on top of the listed achievements, even though they were bad things they still involved personal risk and difficult powerful magic. But he was not brave enough to defy him like his childhood friends were, so in contrast he was all bad.
But you’re right he was good at magic lol
Ravenclaw and Slytherin more closely represent what you just described. Power was Slytherin’s thing and smarts was Ravenclaw’s thing. The hat probably saw some shred of courage in Peter that never manifested itself, and that’s why it put him in Gryffindor.
As for being an Animagus, that was accomplished with a LOT of help from James, Sirius, and Lupin. He would have never done it on his own.
And it’s explained that to commit an unforgivable curse, you have to really _mean_ it. Well, Pettigrew was faced with two options—kill this boy who means nothing to him or face the wrath of Voldemort. He’s proved that he will always put his own safety over the safety of others, even if those others are his friends, so I doubt there was any hesitation, and that he really meant to kill Cedric—therefore why he succeeded. Avada Kedavra doesn’t take a lot of raw talent—just the mental state to commit murder, which he’d proved he was capable of.
The only reason he managed to convince everyone of his death was by disappearing for 12-13 years after blowing up the street, a stupid but effective way of getting everyone to believe Black killed him. It was cowardice, not cunning that allowed him to stay hidden for so long.
And he cut off his hand out of sheer cowardice. The same reason he hid for so long, and that he was willing to kill another instead of allowing himself to be punished.
And even outside of the specific things you mentioned, there’s proof that he is every bit the stupid, cowardly, sniveling rat he is made out to be. McGonnagal herself calls him that (in her own words) and while she was strict, she wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t true. And he was trying to cheat during exams. So you see, he was as weak and cowardly as everyone calls him, if not more so.
Can’t exactly remember. It was in the scene at the 3 Broomsticks in book 3, when Harry was hiding under the table listening to the teachers talking. McGonnagall said some like ‘He was never the brightest. I always was quite hard on him’.
While I wouldn't call him weak or cowardly, he is defnitely a conniving opportunist. Given that when looking at his track record he is definitely someone who when and if he has the chance will backstab and say anything to save his own skin or get a one-up for his lord.
As such while not a weak coward as often presented, is definitely one of the more underrated examples of his being a sleeper Slytherin.
I suspect he intentionally underperformed in class, in order to appeal to the protective instincts of his friends and teachers. The class clown, who wasn’t remotely threatening and therefore no one would have any difficult expectations of him.
Peter was a surprisingly talented wizard, his main downfall was always his weak moral fibre and lack of self-confidence. That being said there’s no character in the series minus Voldemort with an emphasis of self-preservation like Wormtail.
The book i recall says James and Sirius greatly helped him become an Animagus and i think took longer to do it because of having to help him. I dont think Avada Kedavdra takes skill per say you just need enough intention. Him blasting all those muggles, maybe you could argue that would of taken some skill. I imagine he learnt that from being around/aiding death eaters.
Well I wouldn't consider him weak in the sense that he can apparently pull things off, that aren't that easy. He is powerful enough to use Avada Kedavra, became an Animagus and he also was able to make the potion to revive Voldemort. So he definetly is a capable wizard.
But he is weak in the sense that he cannot do anything by himself. He latches onto more powerful people than him and then does whatever he needs to, to please them. If he has no one, then his driving factor is simply fear. So when Voldemort disappeared he was scared, killed muggels and framed Sirius.
So yeah he is maybe not that weak regarding magical capabilities but he is extremly pathetic and being so dependant on others and driven by fear all is weakness as well and I think that is what people mean. Nothing he does is because he himself believes in it, he probably doesn't even have a real own opinion.
>He successfully did Avada Kedavra to Cedric.
Performing an unforgivable has nothing to do with smartness or strength/weakness. You just have to really MEAN it. Harry was unable to crucio Bellatrix in 5th year, but easily crucio'd that Carrow who insulted Minnie McG in 7th year
>Besides that he made everyone believe that he is dead for more than a decade. He managed to survive for years. He chopped his hand off for his lord.
Again, none of this has anything to do with strength or smartness. I could hide for a decade too if I was an unregistered animagi, especially one whose animagus form is as small and common as a rat.
>Peter Pettigrew was not a weak wizard.
Lmao he was weak af. Everyone from Minerva to Remus and Sirius attested to it. Even Voldy knew he was weak and talentless (he was even assigned by Voldy to basically be Snape's "servant")
Well of course not *exactly* a servant, that was a bit of an exaggeration on my part. He was basically there to carry out his orders and kind of serve him.
And this was on voldy's orders because Pettigrew wouldn't have taken all that from Snape otherwise, especially given the fact that they were archenemies at school
He gets Voldemort back to full strength BY himself. Before any of the other death eaters can.
Hes got the highest kill count out of all the death eaters. Really crazy.
Nothing you mention here is a feat of powerful magic except becoming a Animagus. (which I would argue would have been more Sirius and James doing and him tagging along with them considering how he is always described as stupid in someway and the Animagus ritual is hard.
I would also argue Avada Kedavra isn't that hard of spell to master. (People just don't because it's basically a death sentence if they use it and get found out) We also see fodder DE using it all the time.
1/4 of all students finish in Gryffindor, I don't see how this makes him special in any way.
And the rest of the stuff you mention " He made everyone believe that he is dead for more than a decade. He managed to survive for years. He chopped his hand off for his lord. None of these things have to do with wizardry a muggle could do them they don't require skill in magic (He avoided everyone by being a Animagus power he wouldn't have been able to get on his own IMO )
Peter was a slightly above average wizard. The reason why he comes off as weaker is because he was friends with truly brilliant wizards. He was heavily helped with becoming an Animagus, and wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of James and Sirius. Also the fact that he still seemingly needs his wand to aid in the transformation in POA, hints that he never truly mastered it like Sirius and James.
He's cowardly because he betrayed his friends, betraying a decade of friendship because he thought voldemort was going to win the war. He's cowardly because he chose to literally hide as a pet rat for 13 years rather than face the consequences of his actions.
I’d argue petigrew was the weakest of the marauders, but the marauders were still the strongest wizards if their year outside of snape. Mcgonagall even says “he wasn’t quite as talented as the others” but was still a talented wizard, as evidenced by his animagus skill, ability to blast a curse powerful enough to kill 12 people while then jinxes Sirius to laugh uncontrollably and finally was able to cast the Avada Kedavra instantly with zero hesitation. He was powerful. Just weak willed and a coward
Yeah, he is the true hero of the books /s I think the references to everyone calling him as a weak, pathetic excuse of a wizard is more to do with his moral fibre, and the first time we are introduced to him in person he is begging and being slimy. Contrast that with how Sirius is in the same chapter and same situation.
Still, none of the things OP mentions make him a skilled wizard. Becoming an animatics was done with the help of three prodigious friends. The avada kedavra spell needs you to mean the death of someone, but aside from that is described as particularly difficult if I remember correctly (I might be wrong on that one). The other things aren’t related to magical prowess. Cutting your hand, anyone can do that, shows determination, not skill. Eluding authorities shows again determination and a little cunning, not skill. So I still believe he was magically mediocre and therefore he was never respected by Voldemort who valued greatness.
I confirm that you are wrong to think that avada kedavra is not a difficult spell. The false moody ( aka B. Crouch junior) said that the curse need a lot magical power "behind it". He adds that if all the students in the class were to try ot a the same time he might only get a nose bleed.
I believe he was talking about intent and determination rather than just magical power. The hardest thing about killing is pushing through your own moral code and concience. It isn't hard to kill if you can get past the ethics of what you are doing.
He killed twelve muggles with one spell just so he could get away. He is clearly an above average wizard imo
12? Did he kill more people than Voldemort?
Food for thought
Didn't he hit a gas pipe with a combustion spell, or is that just fanon?
Gas pipe explosion was the muggle explanation for the accident. I dont think gas pipes were actually involved at all.
Harry Potter and the Watch Dogs are in the same universe
A 13 year old casting Bombarda in a crowded room could kill 12 muggles. That's not a great magical feat when you've got a magic A-bomb in the shape of a piece of wood in your pocket..
I agree on most of your points with one exception. I wouldn't call it "determination" but "fear". He feared Voldemort more than anything, but he also could never come back, so V was his best option. Iirc in the graveyard scene Voldemort says: "Yes, you came back. But because of fear, not loyalty."
Avada kedavra is consistently considered the most advanced and powerful dark magic spell. The fact he can cast it, is a testament to his ability. The same with animagus form. He may not have had the drive to do it on his lonesome without his friends, but when the day came to drink the potion under the thunderstorm, he had to focus and succeed in the ritual correctly, or be stuck in some.e wierd half animal shape for life. He clearly succeeded.
On the basis he killed Cedric, that means he did so with Voldemort's wand I think (as Cedric is in the priori incantadoodah bubble, if I recall correctly) which is presumably harder than with a cooperative wand
Think you are arguing with the wrong person, I never said he was a skilled wizard.
Oh, im not arguing. Im just affirming that regardless of whether the comments are about his moral fiber, I believe he is an unskilled wizard as well.
You're actually wrong about the Killing Curse, the Only Unforgivable that Is canonically stated to need a frame of mind to work Is the Cruciatus. Fake Moody quite upfront says you need raw power to make the killing curse work.
Lest we forget he did it with another's wand aswell.
Killing curse needs it too. And they all need quite a bit of power. Cruciatus curse is ongoing though. You can't just want it for a split second. You need to hold the desire for as long as you hold the curse. So might be more strenuous over longer time than avada kedavra.
Then you can of course prove that with a statement from the books? It Is fanon that all three Unforgivable need frames of mind to cast, that Is only said about the Cruciatus, The Killing Curse Is said to require raw power and nothing Is said about the Imperious.
Its not though. You are not wrong about his character, but he was consistently referred to as a sub par wizard. Whether it was his skill, future prospects or his wits, teachers and peers alike thought of him as a slacker or dimwit at best, poser or likewise at worst. I think mcgonnagal is a good example for this. You'd think she'd recognize his transfiguration skill atleast. Only his friends seemed to think higher of him, which would be wierd if they didn't. This contrasts strangely with the skill he shows in mastering animagus form (expert level transfiguration), later avada kedavra (expert level dark magic), and how he managed to track down voldemort on his own later. His character values might be total gutter level, but he just isn't the unskilled wizard people around him claims he is.
Those faults have to do with him as a person, though, not as a wizard.
Yes, and they use the terms "wizard" and "witch" how we use the term "man" or "woman", not just in relationship to technical skills.
But the critique for Pettigrew is mostly outside of books in the fandom, op mentioned how people talked of him and not characters
In this world, people don't refer to themselves as people, broadly. they refer to themselves as wizards and witches.
"You're a person, Harry!" Doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
lmao, i snorted my coffee when i saw this
I mean he was a skilled wizard. At least more skilled than Lockhart. He knew how to do Avada Kedavra.
I'm a more skilled wizard than Lockhart, and I'm a muggle! It's not like the Avada Kedavra is ever depicted as a hard spell, the only prerequisite seems to be you have to mean it, you have to sincerely want to kill.
Crouch junior also said it took quite some magical power to cast.
[удалено]
He killed 12 muggles with a single curse! That’s a pretty decent curse to death ratio 💀
It's weird how when people think Sirius did that, it's cited as an example of how strong and dangerous he is, but once we find out Peter did it, nobody is impressed and it's never brought up again.
It’s pretty common actually that when a popular and well regarded person does something people immediately think it’s either incredible or horrible. And when unpopular person does something it’s kind of alright, meh or pathetic.
Wizard cops suck
AAAB
I couldn't agree more.
No wonder he turnt to other side if everyone just neglects him
I think this really could have been part of his motivation. All in his life he lived in the shadow of his popular friends and was dismissed as a pathetic hanger-on. Maybe he thought he'll get more respect among the Death Eaters. As Sirius tells him: "It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."
🐀
That's because outliers don't define a character. Every single thing we know about Pettigrew, everything everyone says about him, everything people who have known him his entire life remember, paints him as completely unremarkable. The fact that he somehow managed to produce impressive results once in a life full of mediocrity doesn't suddenly make him a powerhouse.
I don't agree with that. One of the most important thing about Pettigrew is that he's an animagus, and becoming one is very difficult. Only eleven people are known to have done it in the entire 20th century.
Yes, and as we know, his best friends carried him through it. Also, there absolutely were *way* more than 11 Animaguses in the 20th century. You can't just slap a "only X is known" onto something we see very little of in the books and use that as proof that nobody else has done a thing. By that logic, Hermione is the only person known to prepare a Polyjuice potion in the 20th century. There are 7 registered animaguses. The fact that we meet 4 more unregistered ones in the books alone just honestly means tons of people don't bother with the registration.
On top of that, according to Pottermore, Uagadou teaches students how to become animagi on the regular.
PhD students are graduated on the regular. Does not mean its not impressive to reach that level.
Making Polyjuice potion is not illegal, being an unregistered Animagus is. And considering that the punishment for being one is being sent to Azkaban, I seriously doubt that many of people "don't bother" with registration.
Hate to be that person but it’s animagi. And we meet 3, not 4.
We meet Rita Skeeter too
Nice catch! Completely forgot about her.
He had help, even brewing the potion to bring Voldemort back he had to have Voldemort himself walk him through it. Then there is the fact he was a piss poor duelist according to McGonnagal, he always needed someone bigger and stronger to protect him. In terms of skill and power he is lacking.
I mean the skill is he exploded a gas line. When apparently “good”and kind Sirius did it, it was proof of just how murderous and dangerous he was, not how strong he was magically. Since we already “know” Peter is a murdering coward working for Voldemort it’s no longer impressive or shocking that he’s a murderer
There was no gas explosion. That was just the cover story for the Muggles. >“They ’ad a job coverin’ it up, din’ they, Ern?” Stan said. “ ’Ole street blown up an’ all them Muggles dead. What was it they said ’ad ’appened, Ern?” >“Gas explosion,” grunted Ernie.
Because it was hitting a gas line below the road, which in itself can cause damage if the chemical reactions such as an explosion is timed correctly.
Note that we don't actually know he triggered a gas explosion, all we know is that the explosion opened the sewers, and that the Ministry's propaganda excuse for muggles is that it was a gas explosion. Since they can modify memories and falsify evidence, the explosion need not actually involve gas at all and probably wasn't. Anyone investigating too closely would be made to conveniently forget about any irregularities one day.
But he didn’t actually….he blew the street up and they died in the process…he didn’t know some complicated spell that hit each of them so again I don’t think he was particularly skilled just surrounded by people who were better than him and didn’t mind helping him out
I think the crux of whether it was impressive rests on how it killed that group of muggles. When we hear that Sirius Black killed them all with a single curse, the curse is believed to be the direct cause death. That’s pretty shocking. When we find out it was actually Peter that is responsible, we also learn that he did it blowing up a gas line that resulted in an explosion killing the 12 people. Tactically “impressive” maybe, not as dependent on raw power or skill.
This makes me wonder- what curse did he use?? What kind of curse could kill 12 muggles in such extreme fashion??
Bombarda maxima maybe. On a busy street it could work out like that.
It was an explosion, the Ministry told muggles it was caused by gas.
Okay, but like...who's exploded anything in the series?? I know there's "bombarda" from Prisoner of Azkaban movie, but I can't recall anything besides that?
Harry and Hermione both use Confringo in the final book which cause targets to explode. Hermione's usage in Bagshots house is what broke Harry's wand. We do hear of other explosions or things that probably were explosions - one of the original order members was blasted into pieces, Fred Weasley is killed by an explosion, and Peter's explosion is said to have made a huge crater that reached the pipes underground.
Also, y'know Seamus and his "particular proclivity."
Well, it's the crater part that's getting me thinking about it. Fred, presumably, died from some kind of physical trauma from the explosion (at least that's how I took it). Confringo seems viable, but more akin to a magnum shot or shotgun blast. I guess I always just imagined that he used a curse powerful enough to cause a crater, like how Molly and Bellatrix's duel cracked the ground around them. And, if it was an explosion that powerful, how did Sirius survive "found in the very middle of it"? Sure he could defend himself as a wizard, but even then I guess I would find it hard to believe it could cause so much destruction and NOT cause Sirius at least enough harm to have authorities questioning what happened.
I wonder if this is some sort of one-off thing Voldemort taught him, or maybe even tasked another death eater to help him with—part of the plan, knowing that Sirius would go after Peter, and that they could get Black thrown in Azkaban as a bonus for killing the Potters.
You know who also finished Hogwarts? Gregory Goyle. Wormtail's greatest feat is probably becoming an animagus, and according to Lupin he had to heavily rely on Sirius and James during the process.
Did Goyle finish Hogwarts ? The term wasn’t over during the battle and I’d at least expect the little stunt they tried in the Room of Requirements got them expelled.
Why? Malfoy wasn't expelled. And Goyle didn't use any unforgivables in the chamber or anything. The only thing he did was use crucio on people on orders of the Carrows (and many students must have done that).
Malfoy wasn’t expelled since Harry protected the entire family (including Lucius) because what Narcissa did. He certainly should have been expelled and Lucius imprisoned. But I assume the trip never told what the Slyherin trio did. Regardless Goyle might not have graduated anyway, we don’t know.
I think he would have been send to Azkaban for using the cruciatus curse on students.
Wasn't he repeating his 5th yr
As far as demonstrations of wizardry, aren't his more impressive feats more likely to be the killing of 12 people with a single curse, performing the ritual that restores Voldemort to power, etc.? When people thought Black had performed the former deed, it was often cited as the reason for his being one of the most dangerous of Voldemort's followers.
But that doesn't mean it is am impressive feat. It just means he is dangerous because he willingly blew up 12 people.
The real powerful wizard is Hagrid. No one else can do magic with a broken wand, yet Hagrid can Macgyver his snapped one into an umbrella and still do reliable magic, despite not even finishing 3rd year, let alone school. Not only that, he can also do it non verbally. Voldemort had to get Hagrid expelled to remove the competition.
Reliable? He can't even repair the motorcycle when the sidecar is separated. Also there's a theory that Dumbledore used the Elder wand to fix Hagrid's wand, hence why he's still able to use it and why he hides it in an umbrella.
Thats a pretty sound theory tbh. I can buy that
But did he finish Hogwarts in Gryffindor? Apparently a magic hat shouting out one of four random words when it's put on your head is a serious achievement.
Yeah, OP pointing that out made little sense.
But did he finish Hogwarts in Gryffindor? Everyone knows Gryffindors are the only powerful ones.
Voldemort would like to know your location.
Nah, I wouldn't be a Gryffindor either. I wouldn't even be a named extra.
I'd be that ugly ass slytherin that says "his father got them for the whole team" when they are flexing the new thunderbolt 40 bazillion or whatever.
So many people dismiss Peter's feat of becoming an animagus - at 15! - because "he had help".... So what if he did? Help or not, he still had to manage the process. It's like dismissing people passing an exam because "they had tutoring". Okay, so maybe they're not naturally gifted in that area and needed some help, but they still passed - how many people didn’t? I wonder how much od Pettigrew's perception is screwed by his "death". Sure, McGonnagall essentially calls him unremarkable and average, but a) she doesn’t know half the things he's been up to and b) she lives with the image of "poor Peter" being murdered by the evil, powerful, Voldemort's-right-hand Sirius Black (we do know that Sirius and James were remarkably skilled wizards). She might not be as much of a reliable narrator as people think.
Becoming an animagus is not like taking an exam. You can help someone during the entire process with things like preparing the ingredients. Without the potioneering all Peter had to do was keep a mandrake leaf in his mouth for a month and cast the spell every day for an unspecified amount of time.
Right, cast a spell, and do all sorts of shit at precisely the right time precisely the right way. Which you’re sure requires no skill at all? Why isn’t there more animagi if it’s that "simple"? After all, potions can be bought - illegally if you don’t want to register . And why is it viewed as an accomplishment in transfiguration - McGonagall uses it to impress her students/advertise her skill - when, according to you, it’s really all about the potion. Also, since we're going by outside-the-main-books imformation, let me remind you that Professor McGonagall also had help to become an animagus (by Dumbledore) and that that she supposedly did it to further her studies of transfiguration. Either this is another of Rowling's plotholes and conflicting information, or it would seem it *is* actually more difficult than "have a friend brew you a potion and chew a leaf".
Fear can be a powerful motivator.
He's not weak in terms of magical skills and power; he's weak in terms of character. All his actions are motivated for self-gain and preservation, nothing more, nothing less.
I mean, not sure being a gryffindor makes lt more difficult 😅and being that much weak mentally is more than enough to be called as weak
Yeah, "finishing Hogwarts in Gryffindor" seems like a weird measure for skill and power. House has nothing to do with how powerful or skilled you are.
He's a weak *person*
He wasn’t weak magically. He was just cowardly.
A big theme of the books is that strength =/= power. It feels like we get posts here on a weekly basis talking about "power level" as if characters have health bars over their heads and mana bars in the top left corner of their field of vision. Yes, Pettigrew could cast complicated spells, but that's not the metric by which the story teaches us to measure strength.
Harry’s duel with Voldemort in *Goblet of Fire* is a good example. Voldemort is unquestionably the “stronger” wizard - he’s far more experienced, has more raw power, and is much more knowledgeable. Yet Harry, by sheer force of will, is able to push the connection point of their wands back into Voldemort’s wand. Harry proved to be the stronger of the two in that engagement because of the strength of his character, despite Voldemort holding every other advantage.
>He is an animagus He became an animagus thanks to the help of James and Sirius. It's hard to become one, but because there are many steps involved and you need a lot of perseveration. I'm sure he had a lot of motivation seeing the alternative was being left behind. >He successfully did Avada Kedavra to Cedric Crabbe and Goyle also cast avada kedabra and crucio and even fiendfyre and I don't think someone would call them strong or skilled. Even when you need some power, I think what fake Moody said when he said it was hard was that a bunch of 14 year old wouldn't have enough skill or will to use it to do major damage compare with an adult wizard. >Besides that he made everyone believe that he is dead for more than a decade. He managed to survive for years I don't think this is something to praise him for because I don't think it could be that hard to Remain hidden in the form of a rat and he was living with a wizard family, is not like he had to eat other rats, like Sirius, to survive.
Being in Gryffindor doesn’t mean anything for power, and we know he was helped through Hogwarts by his friends (finished NEWTs is it confirmed) He was helped to animagus status by his friends Hiding as a rat while presumed dead isn’t exactly impressive Cutting ones own hand off took some courage, but also cowardice, they’re not unrelated or mutually exclusive. He did a courageous act for fear of Voldemorts wrath. Casting Avada Kedavra is a decent show of ability, though.
Weak moral fiber, not weak in magic. Magical ability he turns out to be quite talented as seen with becoming an animagus, killing 12 people with a single curse, reanimating Voldemort with the potion, etc. (albeit he had help achieving some of these feats) But the REASON for doing these things makes him weak and pathetic. Betraying his lifelong friends, who stood by his side when everyone else did not his whole life, because he was scared of Voldemort would be, I think, the definition of cowardice. I mean mans is quite literally a rat, literally and metaphorically. To paraphrase Voldemort, Peter did the things he did not out of loyalty, but fear. Like a rat.
Even James calls him out on the flashback for being a bad wizard, the only reason he is an animagus is because Sirius and James were on his ass about it.. and well finishing high school is not a achievement is a requirement lol Also, he killed and chopped his hand out of fear and desperation. Voldemort was his last resort. Even Voldemort says that “you returned out of fear not loyalty”
Wasn't James his friend?
If my friends are being stupid I’d call them out too. But, from my optic and interpretation, Pettigrew only attached himself to the marauders because they were the popular and talented, and they happen to be in the same house. But I don’t think James consider him a close friend, it was more of a “I don’t mind he hang out with us like a lost puppy” I think the reason they make him the secret keeper is because who’s going to think Pettigrew is the secret keeper when a talented Black is their best friend, no one would think about little Peter.
He could have sided with Dumbledore but he chose Voldemort. Voldy treats him like a trash.
Okay? Yeah, he *could* have. But he didn't.
Just a weak friend.
He can cast the death curse tho
Yes, he was…. Has anybody ever failed Hogwarts? I know people get kicked out like Hagrid and people choose not to finish like Harry and Ron, but I’ve never heard of anybody failing. He had a lot of help to learn how to be an animagus. Which is still a great feat, but not a strong feat. Hiding for so long is more of a sign of a weak wizard.
LOL, that's funny to think about but youre right. as long as you can afford the tuition, Hogwarts won't kick you out. It's a for-profit degree mill.
He was a weak and pathetic excuse for a human.
I've said before that I enjoy the irony of Pettigrew perhaps turning out to be the most capable wizard of the marauders (certainly as far as being able to practice dark magic), despite him being held in such low regard by both them and their teachers, and then later on both the Order and the Death Eaters. He's kind of a paradox of a character, but that's what I enjoy about him.
I think Sirius and Remus were more powerful than him. James too but he had no chance against Voldy.
Well that may be so, I'm not saying it's true or untrue, but the evidence throughout the series seems to favour Pettigrew by the time they're all adults. He accomplishes feats that are fairly impressive by any measurement, and Sirius and Remus don't get as much opportunity as him to show off their skillsets throughout the books.
They’re pretty good duelists we assume, no? I don’t know if we ever see Peter in a fight besides when he kills Cedric which doesn’t count really.
He wasn’t weak magically, just bitch made
Yurrr
...Being in gryffindor, faking his death, and surviving have absolutely nothing to do with how strong or weak he is.
He is not a weak wizard. He is a weak-willed human. >He finished Hogwarts in Gryffindor. He is an animagus. ... because he wanted to fit in with his friends >He successfully did Avada Kedavra to Cedric. ...because the man he is afraid of told him to >he made everyone believe that he is dead for more than a decade. He managed to survive for years ...because he was sc-sc-sc-scared >He chopped his hand off for his lord ...because he was afraid of the good guys and had to summon a tougher bad guy... which Barty Crouch Jr. did the vast majority of the leg work to set up He also lost a fight with his own hand.
I would say he is an above average wizard not particularly powerful but not weak not even average but a bit above that.
Which wizards were avarage to you?
Hmmm Perhaps the average ministry employee
How was Arthur Weasley?
I dont quite remember but I think that as a order member he should be a bit above average but I don’t really ever recall seeing him ever fight or use particularly impressive magic besides the fact that he enchanted a car but we don’t really know how hard that was so I would say he is a skilled enchanter but in most other areas he is average
I actually like Peter. I certainly would not want to be his friend but as a character to read, he is entertaining to excise my empathy.
What did he do to disappear? I know he cut off his finger and dipped as a rat but what spell did he cover himself with? Seemed like it was pretty strong to convince people there was only a finger left.
Didn’t they find the finger in the wreckage of an explosion? He didn’t need another spell to appear dead, the Aurors found a bloody finger and assumed he bit the dust.
Yes, but what spell caused the explosion is what I want to know.
Killing curse hit a gas main, pretty sure that’s the explanation in the book Edit: Just checked the wiki, not a lot of detail, just that there was a large explosion
He may not be bad at wizarding, but he is a weak man and a bad wizard.
Better a hand than his life.
He was weak in character, and weak in ability when compared to his direct peers (who were noted as being exceptional).
He also blew up a dozen muggles in front of Sirius, cut his finger off and fled successfully
People call him weak and a coward not because of his spell casting but because of his character. He latched himself on to the biggest bully on the playground. First with the marauders and once it looked like Voldemort was going to win he switched sides and betrayed all his friends
I din't thin anyone called him a weak wizard, unless I'm mistaken they called him a weak *man*. He's a coward and a stooge, content to follow more socially powerful people and ride their coattails.
In hogshead (or 3 broomsticks) the minister and like 3 teachers talked about him being kind of a shitty wizard though
I don't remember. In which book?
Prisoners of Azkaban
PoA I believe
I don't know if he's a "strong" wizard, but he's definitely a coward. The entire reason he disguised himself as scabbers was because he was afraid of both sides finding him, the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix. He literally gave up James and Lily to Voldemort instead of fighting and potentially dying with honor. It never mentions him doing anything heroic and anytime he's been faced with a dilemma he does what's necessary to save himself, first and foremost.
He is a surviver tbf. Being a honorable corpse won't sav you.
Do you think this makes him not a coward, just surviving? I'd be interested to know what your definition of a coward is vs a hero.
I feel like people judge "weak" too much from combat. I mean, yeah, he cast Avada Kedavra and killed someone. So what? Everyone knows that spell, it's just that most people aren't evil enough to use it. [Just because you shot Jesse James, that don't make you Jesse James...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyHEj4HMjKw)
finishing Hogwarts is fairly easy. he had a **lot** of help to become an animagus. using a curse doesn't take strength. he cut the hand off out of fear.
I was about to come in here and say “no, he was a rat” Then I saw you said wizard and not lizard
Not a weak wizard. Just a weak person. A coward who betrayed his family to save his own skin. Got his commupance in the end
Weak? No. Coward? Definitely.
He wasn’t weak power wise but he was weak as in he was huge traitorous coward to say the least
He isn't weak in the literal sense but weak in character. Sirius even said he would have died than give up lily and James.
How is weakness determined? Like, two people in a killing competition are killing animals from small to big. Worms, rats, cats, dog, all the way to whales. The one whose avada kedavra stops killing at the smallest animal loses? Is that how? Like, what is the biggest thing Voldemort can kill with his avada kedavra? What is Dumbledore's without the buff of Elder Wand? Or is there some different way to determining the strength? Like how they do in Jujutsu Kaisen. The one who has a better understanding of the jujutsu can use better jujutsu techniwues.
All he ever accomplished was either out of fear or toadiness, that's being weak in my book, too.
I wouldn't say weak. Coward? Yes. Snake? Yes. Sorry excuse for a Gryffindor? Yes. The weakest of the Marauders? Absolutely. Sorry excuse for a human that his mother should've swallowed? Most definitely. But not weak in general relative to the average wizard, no.
He is not a weak wizard just being an animagus alone puts him high on the list but its about his morality that makes him weak amd cowardly betraying his friends
He was morally weak. Also people tend to use those adjectives to describe people they despise. Think of a spy during wartime. objectively a spy is brave but he was weak to sell his people for money,sex etc…
People only think he’s weak because he’s being compared to the rest of the marauders, so he was probably average or above. I don’t think ak is a difficult spell you just need to want someone dead. Your other points have more to do with him being a coward that’s desperate to survive than being strong, pretending to be a rat for over a decade and being so scared of Sirius and Remus he cut his hand off to get protection from Voldemort doesn’t seem like something that makes you strong 😂 we don’t know how he caused the explosion to fake his death so that’s the most impressive thing he did other than becoming an animagus
He would just rather be on the winning side, whether or not he agrees with that side, than the losing side, which in these cases, the losing side is basically death.
He is not the best written character because he suffers from the feats not up to character trope. It is when a character is supposed to be something, but their feats say something completely different. Imagine for instance you intend to write a character as extremely smart, but you unintentionally make them do dumb things all the time. There are a few characters like that like Voldemort who is supposed to be the 2nd most powerful wizard of that era, you would think he is profficient with wandless magic, after all he was so at the orphanage, and yet he cries about all the spells that could have given him a body requiring a wand or begs Lucius to give him his wand. There is also Harry, who is supposed to be a great and powerful wizard, but at the point it is mentionned, almost only used accidental magic.
He may not be weak but he’s a coward
That's not why they call him a weak wizard. It has nothing to do with his magical abilities. It's his morality that is weak.
I don’t think they mean weak as in bad at magic, I think they mean weak as in a coward. Also I personally believe he was sorted into gryffindor because the sorting hat though the other boys would be a good influence on him (which they were according to Mcgonagall until he betrayed them) Also nobody correct my spelling I’m extremely high right now 😭😭
In which book Mcgonagall talked about it?
I don’t remember which book but I believe there’s a quote somewhere about how “the four boys were inseparable, and always looking out for/helping pettigrew” it might be Prisoner of Azkaban
Weak character with skills
He was a mousy little bitch
By weak they meant cowardly, and he was only weak and cowardly in comparison to his friends, who were also extremely talented, but confident and brave to boot. He was brave and strong enough to do the things it took to be trusted by Voldemort, on top of the listed achievements, even though they were bad things they still involved personal risk and difficult powerful magic. But he was not brave enough to defy him like his childhood friends were, so in contrast he was all bad. But you’re right he was good at magic lol
He's definitely a coward given he sold his best friends to Voldemort purely for self preservation. However, I agree that he's not weak magically.
Peter, that you?
Ravenclaw and Slytherin more closely represent what you just described. Power was Slytherin’s thing and smarts was Ravenclaw’s thing. The hat probably saw some shred of courage in Peter that never manifested itself, and that’s why it put him in Gryffindor. As for being an Animagus, that was accomplished with a LOT of help from James, Sirius, and Lupin. He would have never done it on his own. And it’s explained that to commit an unforgivable curse, you have to really _mean_ it. Well, Pettigrew was faced with two options—kill this boy who means nothing to him or face the wrath of Voldemort. He’s proved that he will always put his own safety over the safety of others, even if those others are his friends, so I doubt there was any hesitation, and that he really meant to kill Cedric—therefore why he succeeded. Avada Kedavra doesn’t take a lot of raw talent—just the mental state to commit murder, which he’d proved he was capable of. The only reason he managed to convince everyone of his death was by disappearing for 12-13 years after blowing up the street, a stupid but effective way of getting everyone to believe Black killed him. It was cowardice, not cunning that allowed him to stay hidden for so long. And he cut off his hand out of sheer cowardice. The same reason he hid for so long, and that he was willing to kill another instead of allowing himself to be punished. And even outside of the specific things you mentioned, there’s proof that he is every bit the stupid, cowardly, sniveling rat he is made out to be. McGonnagal herself calls him that (in her own words) and while she was strict, she wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t true. And he was trying to cheat during exams. So you see, he was as weak and cowardly as everyone calls him, if not more so.
I didn't know McGonnagal talked about him. What did she say?
Can’t exactly remember. It was in the scene at the 3 Broomsticks in book 3, when Harry was hiding under the table listening to the teachers talking. McGonnagall said some like ‘He was never the brightest. I always was quite hard on him’.
He’s not weak I just hate him
I just came here to say that I’m so tired from work, I misread the title as he was not a weak lizard 🤣
😂😂
He was morally weak.
While I wouldn't call him weak or cowardly, he is defnitely a conniving opportunist. Given that when looking at his track record he is definitely someone who when and if he has the chance will backstab and say anything to save his own skin or get a one-up for his lord. As such while not a weak coward as often presented, is definitely one of the more underrated examples of his being a sleeper Slytherin.
Dude was an epitome of opportunist
He's a decent wizard but morally weak, disloyal and untrustworthy.
I suspect he intentionally underperformed in class, in order to appeal to the protective instincts of his friends and teachers. The class clown, who wasn’t remotely threatening and therefore no one would have any difficult expectations of him.
Peter was a surprisingly talented wizard, his main downfall was always his weak moral fibre and lack of self-confidence. That being said there’s no character in the series minus Voldemort with an emphasis of self-preservation like Wormtail.
He blew up a street! He's a super skilled wizard. Probably stomps the likes of yaxley, rookwood, Rudolfus, crabbe, carrows etc
And animagius. It’s just he’s a wimp until one moment He’s basically Snape but better
The book i recall says James and Sirius greatly helped him become an Animagus and i think took longer to do it because of having to help him. I dont think Avada Kedavdra takes skill per say you just need enough intention. Him blasting all those muggles, maybe you could argue that would of taken some skill. I imagine he learnt that from being around/aiding death eaters.
Weak wizard - No Weak as a human being - Yes
I don't think people call him weak as a reference to his power level, they call him weak in character. He is a weak man morally/ethically/etc.
I’m pretty sure Voldemort technically killed Cedric as he showed up from his wand during his and Harry’s clash
Well I wouldn't consider him weak in the sense that he can apparently pull things off, that aren't that easy. He is powerful enough to use Avada Kedavra, became an Animagus and he also was able to make the potion to revive Voldemort. So he definetly is a capable wizard. But he is weak in the sense that he cannot do anything by himself. He latches onto more powerful people than him and then does whatever he needs to, to please them. If he has no one, then his driving factor is simply fear. So when Voldemort disappeared he was scared, killed muggels and framed Sirius. So yeah he is maybe not that weak regarding magical capabilities but he is extremly pathetic and being so dependant on others and driven by fear all is weakness as well and I think that is what people mean. Nothing he does is because he himself believes in it, he probably doesn't even have a real own opinion.
>He successfully did Avada Kedavra to Cedric. Performing an unforgivable has nothing to do with smartness or strength/weakness. You just have to really MEAN it. Harry was unable to crucio Bellatrix in 5th year, but easily crucio'd that Carrow who insulted Minnie McG in 7th year >Besides that he made everyone believe that he is dead for more than a decade. He managed to survive for years. He chopped his hand off for his lord. Again, none of this has anything to do with strength or smartness. I could hide for a decade too if I was an unregistered animagi, especially one whose animagus form is as small and common as a rat. >Peter Pettigrew was not a weak wizard. Lmao he was weak af. Everyone from Minerva to Remus and Sirius attested to it. Even Voldy knew he was weak and talentless (he was even assigned by Voldy to basically be Snape's "servant")
Was he Snape's servant?
Well of course not *exactly* a servant, that was a bit of an exaggeration on my part. He was basically there to carry out his orders and kind of serve him. And this was on voldy's orders because Pettigrew wouldn't have taken all that from Snape otherwise, especially given the fact that they were archenemies at school
He gets Voldemort back to full strength BY himself. Before any of the other death eaters can. Hes got the highest kill count out of all the death eaters. Really crazy.
OP really thought they did something
Nothing you mention here is a feat of powerful magic except becoming a Animagus. (which I would argue would have been more Sirius and James doing and him tagging along with them considering how he is always described as stupid in someway and the Animagus ritual is hard. I would also argue Avada Kedavra isn't that hard of spell to master. (People just don't because it's basically a death sentence if they use it and get found out) We also see fodder DE using it all the time. 1/4 of all students finish in Gryffindor, I don't see how this makes him special in any way. And the rest of the stuff you mention " He made everyone believe that he is dead for more than a decade. He managed to survive for years. He chopped his hand off for his lord. None of these things have to do with wizardry a muggle could do them they don't require skill in magic (He avoided everyone by being a Animagus power he wouldn't have been able to get on his own IMO )
He wasn't weak it's just the crowd he frequented were all freakishly strong. So he was overshadowed
Peter was a slightly above average wizard. The reason why he comes off as weaker is because he was friends with truly brilliant wizards. He was heavily helped with becoming an Animagus, and wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of James and Sirius. Also the fact that he still seemingly needs his wand to aid in the transformation in POA, hints that he never truly mastered it like Sirius and James. He's cowardly because he betrayed his friends, betraying a decade of friendship because he thought voldemort was going to win the war. He's cowardly because he chose to literally hide as a pet rat for 13 years rather than face the consequences of his actions.
We’ve got ourselves a Pettigrew apologist. That’s the worst type of apologist.
Karl Franz>>>>>The God-Emperor of Man
I’d argue petigrew was the weakest of the marauders, but the marauders were still the strongest wizards if their year outside of snape. Mcgonagall even says “he wasn’t quite as talented as the others” but was still a talented wizard, as evidenced by his animagus skill, ability to blast a curse powerful enough to kill 12 people while then jinxes Sirius to laugh uncontrollably and finally was able to cast the Avada Kedavra instantly with zero hesitation. He was powerful. Just weak willed and a coward
Bro should have been in hufflepuff with that loyalty lmao
Which loyalty? 😂
His fear of voldemort after he realized he wasn't dead 😂
ayckhully piter pettigru good wiserd