A Solution to why Pettigrew was in Gryffindor

[.:.Lily.:.]

We don't have much information on Wormtail, just that he's a leech. Maybe he wasn't always a power hungry rat? Maybe when arrived at school, the sorting hat merely saw the possibilities of bravery and great ambition with in him and thought his best place was Gryffindor. All we can do here is speculate. The Sorting hat can't be bribed, it's decision is it's own. Harry asked not to be put in Slytherin and there in proved that he did not belong there. He didn't manipulate the Hat, he just gave it more reason to put him in Gryffindor...

[GodrictheGriffon]

Peter was brave. He was brave enough not to rat on his friends and himself when they went to The Shrieking Shack with Remus.

[.:.Lily.:.]

I don't think that was really bravery, more a desire to not get into trouble..

But I agree, Peter is brave. He cut off his own hand, he double crossed the greatest wizard of all time and joined the DE which has got to be a terrifying feat with in itself....

[Athena Appleton]

what if peter pettigrew bribed the sorting hat so he would get put in gryffindor? (yeah, i know, stupid theory...)

Yeah, I don't think so...

If you think about it, the people of Gryffindor are only known to be brave, not good. Even though he did something wrong in his crimes and his decision to join Voldemort, in many ways, it was a brave act.

He's a lot of things, but he's not a coward. Ultimately, that's what got Lily and James. They thought they knew that everyone else knew he would be too big a coward to be entrusted with that kind of a secret.

I also think there was a point to having him in Gryffindor, but becoming a follower of Voldemort, and that point is bookended by what happened in HBP. The Sorting Hat is a powerful magical tool, but it is not foolproof, and any type of person can make good or bad decisions. Pettigrew was in Gryffindor because the Sorting Hat DID see the latent bravery in him (who would have thought Neville would be brave, until OotP???). He used the bravery he had in him in the wrong way.

The "bookend" I referred to was Slughorn. He was in Slytherin. He is not a really likeable character. There is absolutely a self-serving side to him that is hard to get past, but when it comes right down to it, he's one of the "good guys".

It just goes to show: even personality doesn't determine who we are. Our decisions do. Pettigrew belonged in Gryffindor. He just turned out to be a Gryffindor who made bad decisions.

[GodrictheGriffon]

But their daring nerve and Chivalry set Gryffindor apart. He must have been chivalrous in some ways? Was being his friends Secret Keeper chivalrous? I forgot, did he plans to betray the Potters before he became their Secret Keeper?

[Athena Appleton]

But their daring nerve and Chivalry set Gryffindor apart. He must have been chivalrous in some ways? Was being his friends Secret Keeper chivalrous? I forgot, did he plans to betray the Potters before he became their Secret Keeper?

I don't think it ever said if he planned to before. I personally don't think he did, but I don't remember exactly (currently trying to work my way through the books to get ready for #7).

Daring nerve he had. I mean, it takes some real "daring nerve" to blow up a street, frame your best friend, and in essence sign the death warrants of two other best friends and their one-year-old child.

I can't remember if it was Neville or Hermione, but the Sorting Hat took a long time to sort some students, which probably means that they were close to being sorted into a different house. Even with Harry, the only thing that really got him in Gryffindor, not Slytherin, was that he specifically asked not to be in Slytherin. The Sorting Hat's judgement is not infallible.

Just as ALL Slytherin students are not "bad", ALL Gryffindor students are not "good." You can't take a child of eleven years old and clearly define him as an adult based on qualities he may or may not have as a child.

I just don't see how it's a mystery as to "how did he get in Gryffindor???" He got in Gryffindor because at the time, the Sorting Hat felt that was the best place for him. Times change and people change, and somewhere along the way, he made different choices for whatever reasons.

[GodrictheGriffon]

It was Neville. I think he was alomost in Hufflepuff. Could the Sorting Hat have sawn deep inside of him to see what he did in the future? Is that what could have happened with Peter.

[Athena Appleton]

It was Neville. I think he was alomost in Hufflepuff. Could the Sorting Hat have sawn deep inside of him to see what he did in the future? Is that what could have happened with Peter.

I don't think so, I think it just saw in Neville a latent sense of bravery and took a chance and put him in Gryffindor. If Neville had never been part of the six who fight at the Ministry, or even had never joined the D.A., he would have been no less a Gryffindor.

I really don't think the Sorting Hat has that kind of power. Basically, I think it's able to be an excellent judge of character, but that's it. Even an excellent judge of character can be wrong sometime.

Dumbledore seems to have a clear understanding of how the Sorting Hat works, and he seemed to have a deep-seated mistrust of any future-telling magical items.

One of the main themes of the Harry Potter books has been the importance of decisions. It's not our habits or tendancies or what house your'e in or who your family is or what prophesies say about us, what defines us is the decisions we make.

[GodrictheGriffon]

Well, I think that I just realized why he wasn't in Slytherin at least. Because he wasn't that ambitious. Sure he was power a little exsiciveley power hungry. But not that much more than Percy.
Peter means rock. Could that have anything to do with something?

[teyannanecole]

It was Neville. I think he was alomost in Hufflepuff. Could the Sorting Hat have sawn deep inside of him to see what he did in the future? Is that what could have happened with Peter.

I don't think so, I think it just saw in Neville a latent sense of bravery and took a chance and put him in Gryffindor. If Neville had never been part of the six who fight at the Ministry, or even had never joined the D.A., he would have been no less a Gryffindor.

I really don't think the Sorting Hat has that kind of power. Basically, I think it's able to be an excellent judge of character, but that's it. Even an excellent judge of character can be wrong sometime.

Dumbledore seems to have a clear understanding of how the Sorting Hat works, and he seemed to have a deep-seated mistrust of any future-telling magical items.

One of the main themes of the Harry Potter books has been the importance of decisions. It's not our habits or tendancies or what house your'e in or who your family is or what prophesies say about us, what defines us is the decisions we make.

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more that our abilities." - Ablus Dumbledore (JKR, HPCS pg. 333 USA Version)

[Wanderful]

I think that the Sorting Hat out him in Gryffindor because it knew what he would do in later years.
I would call him pretty darn brave to even LOOK at Voldemort.