Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing both Peter Pettigrew and Lord Voldemort. More specifically, however,
we’re going to be identifying why on earth Lord Voldemort continued to call Pettigrew
by his ‘Marauder’ nickname. Now- one thing is for certain-Voldemort and Wormtail certainly
don’t have a lot in common- but one thing they DO have in common is that they use an
alias that deviates from their birth name. Voldemort was born Tom Riddle, but chose the
name Voldemort to shed his muggle fathers name, and Wormtail was born Peter Pettigrew,
but was donned ‘Wormtail’ by his fellow Marauders. The difference, however, is that
Peter Pettigrew was really only known as ‘Wormtail’ by his inner circle- where Voldemort became
widely known under his new alias. So, again, why did Voldemort call Pettigrew by his nickname?
From the group of Marauders- comprised of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter & Peter
Pettigrew, Pettigrew was the defector. All 4 boys began attending Hogwarts in the year
1971, and each of them were sorted in to Gryffindor. This was the initial basis of their friendship-
a friendship that held strong for many years- but certainly not forever. The Marauders were
hellbent on breaking the rules at the school, and were notorious for their rule-breaking
and mischief making. The group existed for 7 years, from 1971-1978, and all members were
active participants in the first wizarding war. The boys formed such a strong bond that
they all had nicknames for each other- Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs. Though the 4
boys were friends, Wormtail was always a bit ‘different’ than the other Marauders-
less magically talented, a bit more snivelly, and just..A bit of an outsider. He had a weak
character, and this is exemplified in the actions that he took later in life... but
we’ll get to that in a second.
Of course, despite Wormtail’s weak character, he never did anything to raise too many alarm
bells, and so the 3 other marauders stuck by his side. They all eventually joined the
Order of the phoenix, and while Pettigrew proved trustworthy at first, this all changed
when he was made ‘secret keeper’ for the Potter family.
After being made secret keeper, Peter Pettigrew revealed his true colours, and in one infamous
act of cowardice and disloyalty, revealed the location of the Potter cottage to Voldemort..
It was at this moment that this snivelling, disloyal man had secured his placement as
a death eater - a loyal servant of the dark lord. You see, Peter had a tendency to cling
to those in power- which-in his school days were the Marauders- and later, was Voldemort.
After graduating from Hogwarts, he witnessed the rise of Voldemort first-hand, and, out
of fear and cowardice, decided that he would rather serve Voldemort than become another
one of his victims. Something unusual that I noticed, however, is that even after switching
sides, Voldemort, along with many of the death eaters, continued to call him by his marauder
name - Wormtail. I don’t think they called him by the name Wormtail unintentionally either,
they were making a statement.
I think that, among other reasons, Voldemort called Pettigrew Wormtail to remind him of
the people that he had betrayed. Wormtail already lacked strength of character, and
reminding him of his betrayal only kept him further in line- ensuring that he would never
have the mental strength to question his bidding. It was a demonstration of power and dominance-
and while the childhood nickname may have been ‘fun’ during his time at Hogwarts,
it wasn’t a name that fit a wizard in adulthood- it was humiliating. Broken apart, the words
‘Worm’ and ‘Tail’ don’t exactly command respect either - a constant reminder
of his animagus form- a rat. I think another component to Voldemort using the name Wormtail
was that it dehumanized Pettigrew- relegating him to his animal status. Whichever way you
look at it, the name ‘Wormtail’ certainly wasn’t used warmly- it was just a constant
reminder of the terrible person he had become.
And that’s it for this video! If you enjoyed the video please like it and subscribe to
the channel.
Until next time
What would you have done, Sirius?