Peter in the library

2008-03-08T03:01:24Z

Peter sat at the back of the library in a state of faint confusion, sighing deeply into the open book front of him. Studying for Transfiguration class was a damn sight easier when Remus was around to help. For the fourth time in as many minutes he attempted to read the opening passage of chapter 8, his mouth not-so-silently muttering along with the text.

"Hamster transfiguration is particularly difficult... due to the illogical nature of their lower in...testinal wall, which remains in stark contrast to the remarkable transfiguration properties of the common... or household mouse, who's internal positioning of the digestive system enables... a particularly explosive (that is not to say literally) transformation during the latter part of the spell ..."

Peter shook his head vigorously at the book, as though registering his bewilderment of it might cause the words on the page to suddenly start speaking in plain english for once.

He was not a stupid boy, though many would probably argue different, but he did sometimes suffer with the more sophisticated vocabulary displayed around him. Often when Remus went off on one of his Muggle literature-inspired poetic ramblings, it was all Peter could do to stay focused. Some of Sirius's jokes tended to go over his head a little, and occasionally James' tactical quidditch plays did nothing more than baffle him into nodding in dumb confusion at all the technical jargon. Peter was the kind of boy who liked to call a spade a spade: or in this case, a transfigured hamster a teacup.

His hand absentmindedly wandered into his pocket, where a paper pag full of sticky sugar sweets from last week's Honeydukes raid lay waiting. Peter's eyes slid over to Madam Pince's desk. She was bent over a large pile of book returns and didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything else. With well practised movements, he yawned and neatly deposited ten or eleven Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans into his open mouth. Chewing contentedly he focused his attention back to the open textbook.

"mmmf... for suckshesful transfiguration to.. nomm.. occur, oo must firsht prepare yoor subject by .....eerrgh, peanut butter.."

He screwed up his face in disgust as one of the beans spurted nutty goey juices all over his tongue. Peter hated peanut butter. It was cheap and plentiful in the muggle world, and over the years he had been subjected to many sandwiches filled with the rancid stuff by his mother. It didn't seem to matter how many times he protested and made a great show of spitting it out onto his plate, she never remembered. She had neither the time nor the money to prepare anything more nutritious, and instead meals in the Pettigrew household usually consisted of a cheap carbohydrate, and an even cheaper filling. Jam sandwiches. Chocolate Spread. Baked beans on toast if it was cold out. Probably why i'm so bloody short, Peter reflected darkly. Stealing another glance at Pince, he spat the clump of jelly beans out into his handkerchief and scraped manically at his tongue, making faint retching sounds as he did so. Stupid fucking every flavour beans.

A shocked giggle came from his left, and Peter jerked his head towards the sound. Two fourth year Hufflepuff girls were goggling at him from the next table with a look of mild revulsion on their faces. Oh god, what an idiot. Peter flushed and attempted to hide himself behind his stacked textbooks. This only served to make them giggle louder. Still flustered, he turned his full body away from the girls and blocked their gaze with his elbow. Idiot. Idiot idiot idiot.

Giggling girls were one of Peters biggest fears. They did it constantly, and you never really knew exactly what they were giggling at. Of course in situations such as these it was bloody obvious what they were giggling at, him, and rightly so for he was a messy disgusting pig.

Now he had to make the decision to either stay and be the butt of some ridiculous fourth year girly joke, or leave and be unprepared for tomorrows practical. Remus was on prefect duty later tonight, so there was no point expecting extra tuition back at the dorms. Asking Sirius for help was probably about as useful as asking a teapot for a hand with the washing-up. Peter sighed in desperation. Screwing his eyes together and looking the very picture of distress, he asked himself that old familiar question.

WWJD?

yr_of_the_rat @ 2008-03-05T17:33:00

2008-03-05T17:41:06Z

Basics:
Name: Petter Pettigrew
Nickname: Wormtail
Birthday: 6 April 1960
Age: 16
Bloodline: Half-blood
Wand: Chestnut and Dragon Heartstring, 9.25 inches, Brittle.
Occupation: Student
Animal: an ageing toad, rather unimaginatively called "Toadie".
Eye Color: grey
Hair: light brown, dull

Home Life:
Home: Clacton-on-sea, Essex (greater London)
Mother: Annie
Father: Malcom
Sibling: Several sisters of varying ages. Rarely talks, or indeed thinks about them.
Financial Standards: working class, low income
Parents' Occupation: Mother is a shop girl mainly working checkout tills, Father is a watchwizard at the Ministry. Closer to his father than his mother (who largely ignored him), but generally feels indifferent towards his family.

Schooling:
School: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
House: Gryffindor

Insight:
First Impression: Quiet , nervous boy, with little to say. Highly suspicious of others motives. When around the Marauders it's almost the opposite; he is very excitable and giggly with them, and trusts them enough to speak his mind freely (and often without thinking, much to the general amusement of the Marauders)
Goals/dreams: to be an Auror and fight the bad guys (like his friends). In reality it's unlikely he'll ever qualify high enough, but then again thats why it's called a dream...

Quirks/Habits:
- Twitches and fidgets a lot.
-Has a very hysterical, squeaky laugh.
-Despite not appearing to be terribly bright, he has a very Hufflepuff attitude to his schoolwork and spends an inordinate amount of time studying (particularly in relation to the other Marauders.).

Likes:
-pranks
-dungbombs
- Honeydukes - he has a serious sweettooth
-the secret midnight food-run to the kitchens
-watching (James play) Quidditch
-Muggle clothes (not due to any real fashion statement, he's just used to them)
-secrets
-spying on Slytherins
- butterbeer
-firewhiskey, though has no tolerance for it whatsoever.
-mischief in general
-restricted section of the library
-transfiguration (the subject, not the class)
-animals, particularly small mammal-type creatures
-CoMC, for the above reason

Dislikes:
-Slytherins
- Prof. Mcgonagall
-Transfiguration class, purely because he's scared of Mcgonagall.
- (James) losing at Quidditch
-Lily. Although it's more of a suspicion and distrust than anything else

Appearance:
Weight: ...a little bigger than he should be around the belly area.
Height: 5ft 7
Build: quite short for a boy, slightly dumpy.
Face and Complexion: pasty skin with pale grey eyes. His ears stick out a little more than he'd like. Not a good-looking boy, but certainly not bad-looking either.
Manners of Speech: Plain speaking, with Estuary vowels. Giggles an awful lot, especially around the Marauders.
Possessions on him always: wand, some form of sweet or candy

Health:
Eyesight: poor; could really use a pair of glasses.
Hearing: Perfect.
Left/Right/Ambi: Left
Disabilities: None
Physical Health: generally good.

Psychology:
IQ: perceived as below average, but he was clever enough to continue onto N.E.W.Ts, and he often surprises people with his 'extra-curricular' achievements. Emotionally intelligent, as well as having a natural curiosity for magic which leads him to discover some very bizarre spells in the library. People often understimate him because he's so useless under pressure, and usually does quite badly in class and exams.
Introvert/Extrovert: Introvert

Romance:
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual, but damned shy.
Turn Ons: gentle, feminine girls.
Turn Offs: bossy, headstrong, outspoken women (read: Lily Evans)

Favourite:
Book: Not the kind of boy to read for pleasure. He's particularly fond of the idea of the restricted section though, for the more complicated and deeper magic.
Animal: rodents
Color: burgundy
Drink: butterbeer (same as James)
Food: Marshmallows (same as James)

History:
Peter comes from a large family, mainly of women. He has several (nameless, rarely talked about) sisters. His Father went to Hogwarts and was a relative success story there, managing to gain a couple of NEWTS before graduation. His mother was a shop girl, quite unremarkable in most looks and intelligence, but hard working.
His childhood was distinctly uneventful. Being part of a large family meant that he would often go overlooked by his parents, and having no brothers, he had very few people to talk to. Occasionally forming friends with other children, Peter's prime concern would always be to please them in some way in order to gain their favour, and the attention he was often denied at home. Mostly it worked. Sometimes it didn’t, and he would find himself the butt of cruel jokes. Watching from the sidelines of their games, he learnt to read and analyse their social interactions and mimic them where necessary in order to fit in.

On his first day of Hogwarts, Peter set to assessing his new housemates for possible Ins. Whilst all the other boys were timid and uncomfortable in their new surroundings, Sirius Black seemed to exude a confidence - no, an arrogance - that immediately established him as the top dog in the Gryffindor common room. The other noticeable boy was Potter, who seemed the only one capable of answering back to Black with an equal degree of confidence. Peter deliberated for several days over whether to form allegiances with Potter or with Black, until rather miraculously the two boys hit it off, and Peter was spared the decision of choosing one from another.
Throughout his years at Hogwarts, Peter grows close to the three boys in his dorm. He admires their courage and their devotion to each other, and is seduced by the infamy and glamour of being part of their group. His appreciation of them quickly develops into more than just a desire for protection, though. Peter begins to understand the importance of having a surrogate family. For the first time he is recognised as a worthwhile friend, and even though he is aware that the other boys don’t view him with quite the same love and admiration that he does them, he is immensely grateful anyway.

Personality:

Apparent
Peter is a nervous, fidgety boy. His actions in both mind and body are jerky, anxious...to observe him you might think he was on a bit of a caffeine buzz. Easily amused, his laughter is infectious; a screechy, wheezy sound that can set others off by the sheer absurdity of it. He is funny, though not often intentionally, and always eager to be in on a prank. The word "no" isn't really in his vocabulary, and he can be goaded into almost anything by the other boys, meaning he's often sent to do dirty work. He's also the least likely to complain about having to do it. He sees it as his role, and having a role means that he is needed, wanted.

Not terribly bright or quick on the uptake, Peter is considered a bit of a bane in the life of the Teachers, often claiming to understand something when asked and then immediately mucking it up when putting it into practice. He does however spend a considerable amount of time on his work, far more than some of the other Marauders. His speech is quite plain, particularly in contrast to his witty, well read friends, and he speaks with typical estuary vowels. In later years, the occasional Hufflepuff girl would be known to view these mannerisms as proof of a hardworking, salt-of-the-earth personality, and together with his status as a school celebrity (of sorts), take a liking to him. This never happens nearly often enough for Peter to ever grow used to it, and the unwanted attention together with his general social inadequacy causes him even further worry and agitation, (probably much to the amusement of Sirius).
He can be particularly quiet and suspicious around strangers, which is in direct contrast to how he is with the Marauders. He trusts them.

Underlying
Peter's job is to make others feel better about themselves, and he understands that, even plays up to it. He feels genuine love and affection for his friends, but his main concern was always that of protection, and he knows that if he can just appeal to that arrogant, vain side of the gryffindor boys, Sirius and James will provide him with enough protection to survive school. Slytherins think twice about picking on him when they're around. He knows that he is not a strong enough personality to compete with the other Marauders, so instead he opts to play cheerleader to their escapades (much safer). He's never quite in on the joke, but he's willing to take a lot of abuse and neglect before he'll admit to feeling hurt about it.

Peter loves secrets, whether important or not, because he above all others knows what hidden knowledge can do; it gives him power. As the smallest Animagus, it's Peter who gets sent off on errands, to plant dung bombs or spy on Lily for James. Peter does much of the eavesdropping on the Slytherins, and he relishes the attention he receives when he gets back to the Marauder's dorm. For a moment, he is the one with the control, not Sirius or James. He collects and stores secrets as if they were ammo; that’s how he makes himself so indispensable within the group.
Peter is an observer. He will assess the group dynamic and figure out where to place himself within it. He knows that Remus is the most sympathetic, can be called open in a crisis, and is probably the safest marauder to confide in when he needs to. Equally he realizes that Sirius, in all his unpredictable, whirlwind and messy glory, is the least so. Amidst all the teasing and the not entirely flattering marauder nickname that Sirius gave him, Peter is never 100% sure that Sirius actually likes him. He fears Sirius a little because of it.
Above all else, Peter is weak, but not unkind or overtly selfish. To describe his personality is extremely difficult, because he simply never developed one. Peter adapts. Just like his animagus form, he will make the best for himself out of a given situation. His primary care is to carry on existing, through any means.

Where his head is at::

Now in his 6th year, Peter is slowly beginning to have doubts about his protectors ability. There is something happening outside of Hogwarts, something very big, and he has his doubts that three schoolboys are going to be enough to protect him from it. He tries to put it out of his mind and continue with the marauder consensus that good will always prevail, but in his mind there are conflicts forming. He is reluctant to leave his (only) friends until it looks to be imperative that he does so, and despite his gut reaction to flee (like a rat would), he wants to try and show some of the courage and bravery that he so admires in his friends Besides, he's has seen first hand what James and Sirius are capable of doing to those they dislike, and he doesn’t much fancy going against them.

Peter Pettigrew

Peter in the library

yr_of_the_rat @ 2008-03-05T17:33:00