A Solution to why Pettigrew was in Gryffindor

[FawkesthePhoenix]

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

[Simatra]

What would you bribe the Sorting hat with? A patch job?

[Scellanis]

I'm thinking its probably more along the lines of what Harry did, Peter probably latched on to James and/or Sirius or someone similiar during the train journey or waiting to be sorrted and so by the time he reached the hat he could have been thinking he wanted to go to Gryffindor so much the hat may have listened him....or he could have been scared of someone and been thinking not Slytherin like Harry did.

[Simatra]

Yes that's more like it. That could be very possible, but he dosn't really fit in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw either, does he?

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

Well I don't believe we've seen all of him, so hey... I think there's a reason he's in Gryffindor. So he's not in Ravenclaw for obvious reasons, he's not in Hufflepuff because he's better in Gryffindor, and he's not in Slytherin because? Probably the same reason as Harry as you said Scellanis.

So the real question is why Gryffindor over Hufflepuff?

And the answer has got to be something I think... more than following people he met on the train. In this case.

[Scellanis]

Well to some extent he is brave, its got to take guts to chop your own hand off even if you are doing it for a reward....

We know he isn't loyal, he sells his own friend but does he do it because he is weak or because he is ambitious...he could be a perfect slytherin like Harry but have chosen Gryffindor while young and then been corrupted because they didn't treat him very nicely or something whereas Harry has a reason to fight and stay in Gryffindor no matter what other people throw at him. Peter wouldn't have had such motivation and from what Snape remembers it doesn't look like Sirius and James were the nicest people in the world. I could see that Peter might well get left behind by them or teased and grow to resent them eventually.

The fact that he is a rat suggests he was a slytherin at heart before the end of school really given that rats are genrally treated as vermin and thought to be sneaky dirty nasty creatures I'm guessing JK used his form to show us what the person was like.

I would say he probably would fit in Ravenclaw, you automatically think hes the slimy weak guy hes been portrayed as but he does have an animagus form, people say he wouldn't have managed that without James and Sirius but do we know that for definate. He knew enough magic to best Sirius and frame him for his own murder and the betrayal of the Potters, and hes also most recently succeeded in getting into Hogwarts unnoticed and also into Gryffindor and right next to Harry, if Sirius hadn't have been able to escape then noone would have noticed at all and he could have done what he liked when the time was right, noone knows what he was planning. Hes also made Voldemort whole again, how much of that can we attribute to Peter, we have absolutely no idea, everyone thinks its all Voldemorts idea.

I think he is actually quite clever, just in small unnoticed ways because unlike the rest of the deatheaters he doesn't do big dangerous deads, he sits around in the background...maybe hes being doing things and noone knows what yet or maybe he just sat there for years and did nothing.

When you think about it, hes had access to hogwarts for years, hes also had access to anything Arthur said about the ministry for the same amount of time. Arthur is in Dumbledore's group, don't know how actuve that was before Voldemort returned do we but who is going to worry about a pet rat over hearing secret talk? This could have all happened by accident or it could all have been planned by Peter.

[Simatra]

So the real question is why Gryffindor over Hufflepuff?

that's because he's not loyal. Huffelpuffs are know for there humbleness and Loyalty.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

I think he is actually quite clever, just in small unnoticed ways because unlike the rest of the deatheaters he doesn't do big dangerous deads, he sits around in the background...maybe hes being doing things and noone knows what yet or maybe he just sat there for years and did nothing.

When you think about it, hes had access to hogwarts for years, hes also had access to anything Arthur said about the ministry for the same amount of time. Arthur is in Dumbledore's group, don't know how actuve that was before Voldemort returned do we but who is going to worry about a pet rat over hearing secret talk? This could have all happened by accident or it could all have been planned by Peter.

Makes you think... AND of course he was powerful enough to kill the 12 muggles when he faked his own death. He planned it all pretty perfectly really, didn't he?

that's because he's not loyal. Huffelpuffs are know for there humbleness and Loyalty.

Oh, right. Of course.

[Simatra]

Of course I'm right! Let's just wrap this up by assumeing I know everything! Just kidding!

I guess Pettigrew could have been in Slytherine. Hey I wonder how the other death eaters feel having a Gryffindor on their side. I can't imagine there are many.

[GodrictheGriffon]

Maybe Lupin kept him safe. He seemed to like him.

[Simatra]

*blink blink* What?
Say what you mean please,.....
*sigh*

[Run Away!!!]

Do you have any evidence from the book to support that Godric? Like any examples?

[GodrictheGriffon]

I mean. I think that Peter attached himself to Lupin. And Lupin was the nicest one of the group. He didn't really join in the making fun of Snape. Neither of them really fit in so they went to each-other. And maybe Peter just wanted to be in Gryffindor. Or his parents were.

[Simatra]

You do have a good point,...who are Peter's parents? Were they wizards, squib, or Muggles?

[Quicksilver]

The fact that he is a rat suggests he was a slytherin at heart before the end of school really given that rats are genrally treated as vermin and thought to be sneaky dirty nasty creatures I'm guessing JK used his form to show us what the person was like.

Eurgh. I always feel bad when people assume he should be in Slytherin just because he went evil...

Slytherin is not the dumping ground for evil wizards! The Sorting Hat doesn't put all the nasty kids in Slytherin for easier management. Zacharias was a piece of work, and he was a Hufflepuff!
and when you look at it, Peter doesn't fit ANY of the descriptions for a Slytherin anyway:
He's not motivated -- he never went looking for Voldie until he had to, he never started a new life, just became a rat
He's not ambitious -- he never wanted anything more than big friends to protect him
He doesn't really believe in pureblood nonsense -- he just joined the death eaters so he'd be on the 'winning' side.
He's not power-hungry -- he doesn't seem to mind being a patsy

The Slytherins of the day (Rookwood, Snape, the Lestranges) would have eaten him alive.

The Sorting Hat puts you where you'll do well: it was all set to put Harry in Slytherin, when he obviously wouldn't fit in with the stereotype...although he did have some of the qualities. I think that Peter would have done well in Gryffindor...except that he fell in with james and Sirius, who seemed to have misplaced their moral centers for their teenage years. And in later years they were in the Order, which put Peter in more danger.

Maybe the Sorting Hat looked at Peter, raw and waiting to be molded, and saw some loyalty (his loyalty may have been great...but not great enough to overshadow his love for his own life), some bravery (as Scellanis said, he chopped off his own hand! And risked detection by the Ministry, and all sorts of stuff), and some nerve (He, a Grffindor, joined the ranks of Voldemort-- just meeting him as got to take some guts) and thought to itself 'this boy, if unde rthe influence of the right people, could become a decent sort!' So put him in Gryffindor, where these qualities could grow.