#and he's still a bit clumsy when transforming to and back from his animagus

[praxieserver]

nice canines doggy. where'd you get them?

super awesome super cool lore in the tags

[brigid-faye]

Honey If I'm Not/If You're Gonna - Lost scene

for @imsiriuslyreading 😘 (happy early birthday, love) and @remakaz (because irl beta sessions are the best)

for more of this particular universe: Honey If I'm Not/If You're Gonna on Ao3

-

It's dawn on November 22nd and Padfoot is watching Moony tremble and whine and shift back to his human self for the first time in more than ten years. The snowy woods are lit by a weak sun. Apart from Moony's distress, it is very quiet.

Stay, says the human in the back of Padfoot's head. Moony, told you to stay like this until it's safe, he said stay, he said stay...

Sirius knows that Remus wanted him to stay in his animagus form until he and all of the other werewolves he runs with in this makeshift pack in northern New York are fully human again. Remus had believed that everything would be fine or he never would have agreed to Sirius accompanying him, but he'd still been nervous and Sirius wanted to respect the boundaries he established.

Padfoot is having trouble with that. Padfoot doesn't see a half-transformed werewolf, he sees Moony in pain - and, almost worse for his canine self, he hears him, too - the whining, the labored breath, stressed heart beats. It's nothing like the violence of this change when they were teenagers, but Moony is groaning and stumbling over clumsy clawed paws. Padfoot knows his human self has a wand and words and could do a better job of helping.

Stay, he said stay, he said stay...

The moment Padfoot sees hands instead of claws, he's Sirius again, reaching himself forward, catching Remus as he collapses sideways off of hands and knees.

"Moons?"

Remus isn't really conscious. Sirius' right arm is under his head and shoulders, holding him close. Remus told him that he's fairly impervious to the cold in the hours before and after a moon, and if Sirius lifted his head, he would see plenty of werewolves doing completely fine without clothes right now, but he pulls his own cloak around both of them, anyway.

Sirius presses his lips together and swallows, eyes on Remus' still face. His breathing is improved but still sounds a little ragged. Sirius does what he wanted to three months ago and brushes Remus' curls off his forehead. He blinks and swallows forcibly again.

This... this is a lot.

He'd known it would be. He thought he was prepared. They've done so much, these last few months, they've covered so much ground. Sirius has talked about the worst days of his life. His heart's been wrenched by tender honesties. He thought the intensity of their first night together was undoing him (it did, a bit).

But this. Remus is trusting him at his most vulnerable. Remus is letting him in on a part of himself he hated and feared, once. Sirius did so badly by him, then. He doesn't fear doing wrong like that again, but those hard memories are very close right now.

Remus shifts and blinks and pulls Sirius back to the present.

"Hey," Sirius says, unable to keep relief out of his voice. "Remus, how... Do you feel okay? Can I-"

Remus blinks and laughs a little, uneasy. He shakes his head, looks down and away.

"Remus?"

Remus meets his gaze. He smiles. There are tears welling in his eyes. When Sirius frowns in concern, Remus laughs again, shaking his head and wiping at his eyes.

"I'm fine," Remus says. His voice is hoarse. "I just, fuck, I'm fine, I-the moons have been really fine for a really long time but…”

“But it was pretty bad for a while, wasn’t it?”

Remus nods. He’s exhausted and hurting and overwrought, and Sirius isn’t surprised when his face crumples and the tears spill, but it still knocks the air out of his chest. He gathers the other man close, presses his face into his hair.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly, heart in his mouth. Remus' hand closes around a fistful of his sweater, pulling him closer. "We're alright," he says instead. Remus lets out a sort of hum of agreement. "You're alright, love."

Sirius holds him until he's recovered his breath and regained the strength to stand. On his feet and wrapped in Sirius' cloak, Remus still leans on him heavily. They make their way toward the lodge - where beds and hot drinks await - walking slowly, arms around each other's shoulders.

"You're out of shape, Pads," Remus mutters sleepily.

Sirius, whose legs are indeed shaking, lets out a bark of laughter. A raven above them caws in irritation.

"Forgive me for leaving London without anticipating running a marathon through four feet of snow."

Remus laughs, clear and bright and happy, and, as it's always been, it's Sirius' favorite sound in the world.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars LIX (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: This is almost the same as in the book only I added some stuff about Mel’s parents ig lmao -Danny

Words: 2,181

Warnings: This is all drama.

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Chapter Eighteen: The Animagi.

"You're both mental." Ron said in disbelief.

"Ridiculous!" said Hermione.

"Peter Pettigrew's dead! He killed him twelve years ago!" Harry pointed at Black.

"I meant to, but little Peter got the better of me... not this time, though!"

Black threw himself over the bed to reach for Scabbers, hurting Ron in the process. Mel pushed him away yelling.

"Don't touch him!"

A small wave shot off of her then, strong enough to move Black to the other side of the raggedy mattress.

"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, reaching for his friend and sitting him up. Black was looking at her with curiosity. "WAIT! You can't do it just like that — they need to understand — we've got to explain —"

"We can explain afterwards!" Black snapped back, turning to face him.

"They've — got — a — right — to — know — everything! Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand! And Harry — you owe Harry and Mel the truth, Sirius!"

Black's eyes moved from the rat to her face, briefly meeting her gaze. There was something in the way he looked at her, something close to recognition.

"All right, then. Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for..."

"You're nutters, both of you," said Ron holding Scabbers tightly against his chest. "I've had enough of this. I'm off."

"Don't be stupid," Mel replied, turning to face him. "You can't move."

Ron ignored her, he tried to get up on his own, but Lupin raised his wand again, pointing it at Scabbers. Mel was quick to raise her wand at him.

"You said you weren't going to hurt us."

"I won't. You're going to hear me out," He said quietly. "Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen, Ron."

"HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!" Ron yelled in exasperation. He lost his balance and Harry caught him, helping him back on the bed.

"There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die," Harry said calmly. "A whole street full of them..."

"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" Black exclaimed, with the remnants of his old insanity showing up.

"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter. I believed it myself — until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's map never lies. Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry."

Mel wasn't looking at her friends, her wand still pointing at her uncle. She was starting to feel a bit drained after her boost of energy. She knew that if she had to, she wouldn't be able to hurt her uncle. She still saw him as her family, the only man that had made his part as some sort of fatherly figure. Yet, he was helping the one that had caused her to live without a father in the first place, and the deafening silence behind her let her know that the boys weren't believing even a bit of the man's story.

"But Professor Lupin... Scabbers can't be Pettigrew... it just can't be true, you know it can't..." Hermione started.

"Why can't it be true?" Lupin asked.

"Because... because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework — the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things... and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list —"

"Right again, Hermione!" Lupin said through a chuckle. "But the Ministry never knew that there used to be four unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts."

"If you're going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus," Black growled. "I've waited twelve years, I'm not going to wait much longer."

"All right, but you'll need to help me, Sirius," said Lupin, "I only know how it began..."

The bedroom door opened. Lupin got nearer and looked out into the landing.

"No one there..."

"This place is haunted!" said Ron.

"It's not," The man replied casually. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted... The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me."

Mel blinked in surprise, her hand slowly lowering on its own while her uncle continued his story. He'd mentioned it before, the Willow had been planted on the year he arrived at school, and it was right above the passageway that led to this place... a place to hide and avoid hurting others.

"My transformations in those days were — were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumor... Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it... But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, five great friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... and, of course, your parents — James, Matthew, and Emily."

She knew it by now, how close all of them were. Yet, she felt like it was all dream, that soon someone would wake her and say she was imagining things, that she and Harry had nothing in common and those secrets were all product of her imagination. She was tired of all the secrets. When Mel had asked him how'd he gotten his scars her uncle had said 'I was really clumsy as a child'. She had laughed at that, thinking all kinds of fun adventures involving him, now thinking of what really entailed those scars, her heart felt heavy.

"Now, my friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her. I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, worked out the truth... Your parents were quite clever, Mel. They could sense a lie from miles away, but the really impressive thing was that they didn't desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."

"My dad too?" asked Harry in amazement.

"Yes, indeed," said Lupin.  "Your mother didn't, Mel. Emily decided to stay out of it, she wasn't eager to turn into a bunny –She always joked about how she was sure that she'd turn into one of those fluffy white ones..." Lupin laughed quietly. "It took them the best part of three years but your fathers and Sirius were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong — one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James, Matt, and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."

"But how did that help you?" said Hermione.

"They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals," said Lupin. "A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's Invisibility Cloak. They transformed... Peter, or Matt, as the smallest of our group, could slip beneath the Willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them."

"Hurry up, Remus."

"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there... well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius and James transformed into such large animals, they were able to keep a werewolf in check. Matt's had sharp claws and a strong beak, he could hurt if he wanted to. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did... And that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs and Ruddy..."

"My dad," Mel frowned. "Why?"

Lupin smiled.

"The bird he turned into was covered in Scarlet feathers– we thought it was funny, back then many things seemed funny to us."

"What sort of animal — ?" Hermione cut Harry's question.

"That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?"

"A thought that still haunts me, and there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless — carried away with our own cleverness. Matt and I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course... he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and Matt had been almost a son to him, and he had no idea that we were breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led four fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed..."

Her father was an animagi and he felt just as guilty as her for betraying Dumbledore's trust, she thought that maybe all of the Dumbledores would always feel a burden to carry out their name proudly, even if they didn't have anything special.

"All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me... and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it... so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."

"Snape?" said Black, suddenly he was just as interested in the story as the rest of the kids. "What's Snape got to do with it?"

"He's here, Sirius. He's teaching here as well." He turned to the children. "Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me —"

Black scoffed.

"It served him right," He replied dryly. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to, hoping he could get us expelled..."

"Severus was very interested in where I went every month. We were in the same year, you know, and we — er — didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field... anyway, Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be — er — amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it — if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf — but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was..."

"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," said Harry. "because he thought you were in on the joke?"

"And that's why he treats us like rubbish?" Mel asked bitterly. "We just remind him too much of his old bullies?"

"That's right,"  A cold voice said behind Lupin.

Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Lupin.

Next Chapter —>

Taglist. 

@tiphareth2018​ @vampiregirl1797​ @siriuslysirius1107​ @celestialhayi​ @mikariell95​ @omiwashere​ @thesuitelifeofafangirl​ @reverse-hxlland​ @steve-thotgers​ @kylosleftbuttcheek​ @tomshollandz​

[definitelycanonharrypotter]

The War- Part One

October 26, 1981.

The Order sat around the cheap table at Godric’s Hollow. It wasn’t as if James and Lily couldn’t afford a better one. James had a fortune from his parents, and Lily hadn’t exactly grown up in poverty either.

Even if they were broke, Sirius would have loved nothing more than to purchase a hideous solid gold table or a horrendous one that would transform into a dragon if someone sitting around the table has told a white lie. He’d claim that they were doing him a favor, and that he needed a way to get back at the most noble and most ancient house of Black, and an amazing “fuck you” would be funding the purchase of a table to a disgraceful wizarding family and his muggle bride. Not to mention the Sirius would also faint from excitement at the chance to go do “muggle activities” with Remus.

The cheap table was practically destroyed at this point. James had an awful habit of carving his nails into the nearest surface when he was overwhelmed, leaving long, deep scratches, like those of a misbehaving cat. After all those years as Hogwarts, Sirius had also adopted this habit, after years of James screaming at him that he should not be slicing into his hand with his dull thumb nail whenever he was nervous. The table was stained with spills from various concoctions from years of use, leaving variegated splotches around the circle.

It had also appeared to develop some magic of it’s own, and stubbornly leaned away from Peter at all costs. Lily liked to joke that it could sense who was most likely to discolor it again, and was trying to run away from clumsy Peter and his proclivity for spilling things.

The room was tense and silent. With every meeting there were less and less of them, with members being killed or disappearing with every passing day. Dumbledore had specifically called them here today, for an unknown reason, but he wasn’t exactly the explanation type. The weather was a cliche, but fitting rainstorm. The lightning and rain pounded as Dumbledore rose from his chair to speak.

“Thank you all for being here today and for not dying yet.”

At the very least this sentence was bizarre, and alarming, but Remus couldn’t help but find it darkly hilarious. He glanced up, hoping to meet Sirius’s eyes, but his boyfriend was infatuated with restraining the Potter’s horrendous cat on his lap.

“You have all made your respective journey’s here today, because I have told you to do so. And for doing so, you all deserve a reward.”

Lily half expected Dumbledore to throw lemon drops or some other candy at her. Harry cooed excitedly as Dumbledore’s reflective silver robes swung about as he gesticulated wildly.

“The war will be over soon. Voldemort will be vanquished and we may all return to our respective affairs.”

Peter gasped, as if the world was going to end, and he needed to absorb all of the oxygen left. Sirius stood up rapidly and pulled Remus into his chest, reaching up to kiss him, forgetting about the cat, who hit the floor with a concerning thump. James began to sob and LIly put a comforting arm around him, but let out a few hidden tears onto the top of her baby’s head.

“But how, sir? Isn’t you know who the most powerful wizard of all time? Dark wizard-I mean. You are obviously more powerful, sir” Peter chattered nervously, resembling the pudgy boy from first year.

“Funny you ask that Peter. The thing is, my dear boy, is that we had all knew Voldemort- please refer to him by his name next time, Peter, was not alone. It would be impossible for him to be working alone. He simply knew too much. It would not be possible, but you know that, don’t you Peter? You know he couldn’t be working alone.”

James shot a confused glance at Remus who looked even more confused than he did.

“Did you find out who Voldemort’s spy is” questioned Sirius quietly. He didn’t want to look at Remus, he had his suspicions, and every night prayed he was wrong, but was so worried that he was in love with a dark traitor. It would be so fitting. Of course a Black would fall in love with someone evil. Someone who was like him. Bad. Rotten. Black.

“Well no Mr. Black. But by the end of the afternoon, hopefully they will be off to Azkaban. Now, I must apologize for doing such a thing, but it was for your own protection, all of you. I do wish to offer my most sincere apologies, for not thinking of this type of solution a bit sooner, but I was never talented at brewing potions, and this is not the type of thing I could leave up to anyone else, because even those with the best intentions can become a tad misguided. And I do apologize, but I believe I know who the spy is, but at risk of preserving relations if I am wrong, everyone in this room has now consumed an appropriate amount of Veritaserum, yes you too Moody, please finish your tea and we can get on our way.”

“But Sir!” Lily chattered “How do we know that no one has taken the antidote, or is resisting the Veritaserum by closing their throat. It isn’t exactly reliable you know, there are hundreds of stories of guilty wizards who were proclaimed innocent because they just didn’t drink the potion”

Sirius had another thought, a darker one, that he hadn’t intending on sharing, but the Veritaserum had apparently worked quickly with him “We don’t know if Veritaserum is effective upon werewolves. It is assumed that dark creatures could resist any sort of thing, so it may not be reliable if the spy is a werewolf”

Remus whipped his head around, hurt, and also under the influence of truth serum, “Are you fucking kidding me Sirius. How do I know that you’re not just returning to true Black instinct and going back to what you have inside. It wouldn’t surprise me. I knew you were dark from the moment you used me as a weapon, and dark people don’t change.” Remus clasped his hands around his mouth in an desperate attempt to keep the words in.

Dumbledore seemed unphased by their fight, and turned back to Peter with an angry stoicism.

“Peter, are you the servant of Voldemort? Are you the traitor to the Order?” Dumbledore asked calmly, as if he was asking a group of four third year boys if they had really charmed the Great Hall’s floor to become ice.

Peter squirmed, desperately trying to keep his mouth closed. The room fell silent as Peter twitched furiously, as if he was seizing. A moment of clarity reached him, and in seconds Pettigrew had turned into his rodent form, and was desperately fleeing to the door.

Everyone was frozen as they realized what was happening.

Peter. Their Peter. Sweet innocent Peter. The boy who had been through it all with them. Who had given up so much and was always a constant. He had never stopped to complain, and never asked for anything in return. The boy who sat with Sirius the first nights of Hogwarts when he had knew his life would be destroyed for being in Gryffindor, when he couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to cry in front of new people. Peter had brought him a snack and listened as he cried, just so he wasn’t alone. He was there through the pranks and the secrets and the drama. He was there every time James asked out Lily, and was there every time he got shot down, and pretended it didn’t hurt. He was the first person who Remus and Sirius came out to, each on separate occasions and was supportive and helpful and didn’t make them feel ashamed of any such thing. He was there every single morning after the full moon, and every night after he became an animagus. He would compile the notes taken by James, Sirius, and himself into something usable, and take them to Remus, and sit with him until he felt like a person again. He was kind and dependable and an amazing friend.

Dumbledore didn’t look surprised. He calmly lifted his wand and snatched Peter, bringing him back to human form. He cast thick ties around his arms and legs, attaching him to the chair and seizing his wand.

“I have yet to hear an answer, Pettigrew.” Dumbledore said quietly.

An evil grin crept across Peter’s face, so menacing and confident it was hard to believe that Peter had produced it.

“Yes I am. I am the servant to the noble Lord Voldemort. He has given me power, and he will control all. Kill me, send me away, it’s too late. You cannot stop such a wizard.” Peter grinned manically.

The entire order was stunned. No one moved, no one knew what to do.

James heaved himself onto Sirius who stood pale with rage. All joy had left his eyes, as he stared at the man who had destroyed so much. Remus was stunned. Out of everyone he would have never suspected Peter, it was hard to believe that Peter was even capable of it, and it surprised Remus that Voldemort had a use for him.

Dumbledore cast a patronus and in seconds a fleet of aurors had arrived. Wordlessly they took Pettigrew away, who was now manically laughing. Everyone else had assumed a seat. Some people were crying, but most were silently staring at nothing in particular, unsure of what to do. What now? What’s left? How do you move on?

Remus wordlessly sat next to Sirius. He grabbed his hand and gently rubbed his thumb against his palm, reassuring and apologizing and trying to fix everything. Sirius gave him a gentle smile. There were a lack of formal apologies during the war. There was too much to say, and so much pain. Some things were easier left unsaid.

After an unknown amount of time, it may have been five minutes, but there was an equal chance that is was three hours, Lily asked, “Albus, what do we do? Voldemort is still out there. We aren’t safe. He no longer has a spy, but what do we do? Is Harry safe? We can’t know how much Voldemort knows?”

James pulled her into his chest as she collapsed into tears. In moments they were both sobbing, the exhaustion and pain of the war finally hitting them. The goddamned war had taken almost everything they, and all the others in the room had. It was too much. Too much. Too much.

“You are all safe for now. The war is not over, but will soon be. Get some rest. Live to fight another day. There won’t be too many more days. Goodness will be restored.” Dumbledore said with a twinge of sadness to his voice. “The hard part is over. Take comfort in your safety. Take refuge in your life. You existed another day, and that is a win in and of itself. We will win, even if we do it one day at a time.”

BLESS YOUR HEART FOR READING. YOU ARE ASTOUNDING AND I LOVE YOU. I AM SO UNBELIEVABLY SORRY FOR UMMMM NOT WRITING AT ALL, BUT WE BE BACK Y’ALL

[ambiidexter]

On Peter’s magical abilities

This isn’t really a headcanon, mostly canon facts with a bit of my conclusions, but it’s essential for my portrayal, so I’ll put this one into the headcanon category. Here comes a long-ass essay on Peter Pettigrew’s magical and intellectual abilities, accompanied by every single objection I’ve ever witnessed during the years of being in Harry Potter fandom.

There is a lot of misconceptions about Peter Pettigrew that very few people are willing to dispel, because he’s just such a hated character, right?

The two Big Ones TM are: Peter’s reasons for betrayal (that will be covered in my next “essay”) and Peter’s magical skills. He is widely considered to be one of the weakest wizards in the whole Harry Potter series, if not THE weakest one. I hereby proclaim it bullshit. More under the cut.

1)  First thing’s first, Peter was one of the three youngest Animagi ever. At the age of 15 he pulled off a feat that not many adult wizards were able to do. Along with the registered Animagi and Rita Skeeter, there were 11 known Animagi in the 20th century total.

“But he needed help from James and Sirius, and was the last one to become an Animagus.”

McGonagall needed tutoring from Dumbledore to become an Animagus. Not from 15-year-old students, she got help from the most powerful wizard alive. Anyone here has enough balls to call McGonagall a weak witch? Yeah, didn’t think so.

Next, Peter being the last one. Before you embark on a serious enterprise, you study the materials and plan the steps. It was common knowledge that the process of becoming an Animagus was extremely dangerous. It could result in agony, it could result in irreversible mutilation or even death. If there is one thing that everyone remembers about Peter, it’s how easily scared he was.  Knowing all this, he ought to have lagged and postponed it as much as possible, until enough peer pressure had built up to finally make him go for it. Furthermore, the standard time for performing the tasks necessary for the first transformation is one month. No matter how talented or skilled you are, it’s one month of carrying a mandrake leaf in your mouth and repeating the incantation at every dawn and dusk. As soon as that term comes to an end, you have to wait for the first electric storm. Electric storms aren’t known for being exactly punctual. They depend on a million things. Taking into account that Peter did all that shit not at the same time with James and Sirius, he could’ve waited for his electric storm for ages, after James and Sirius had already completed the ritual.

“But in the flashback he couldn’t list the traits of a werewolf despite having spent a lot of time next to one, and he tried to crib his friends’ test answers. How talentless does one have to be for that?”

To be quite frank, I really hate when Peter gets compared to Neville, but remember Neville? It was very clear that Neville had anxiety. He’d forget things, lose his rememberall, make a fool of himself in front of the teachers and was overall clumsy. Then, in a critical situation, he showed himself as a talented wizard, and the fandom welcomed that change. Neville overcame his anxiety once he grew up and learned to deal with his inner demons, and voila, turned out he actually had talent in him, it just hadn’t surfaced before! Yes, the reason for Neville’s anxiety gets named and the reason for Peter’s doesn’t (which is food for thought in another headcanon), but does it really matter if they clearly had the same problem, and that’s what serves as the main reason for comparison of these characters? Anxious people tend to do much better once they are out of school, and here we move on to the next topic.

2) Peter was a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

“But the Marauders always had him in tow, so of course they made him join.”

The Order of the Phoenix was a near-military organization, its members fought in a war. It wasn’t a “participation award” kind of club. They couldn’t afford accepting inept wizards to make them feel better. They needed members who knew how to put up a fight, skilled, powerful members. Dumbledore was the head of the organization for fuck’s sake, and he was a better judge of people’s abilities than, say, Sirius.

3) When confronted by Black in the street, Peter neutralized Sirius faster than Sirius could neutralize him, framed Sirius for treason and mass murder, faked his own death and escaped. He came up with all of this in mere seconds, under immense pressure. This plan was so good it had worked for 13 years.

With his wand behind his back, Peter wrecked a square and turned 12 people into mince with a single spell, Confringo. Now, this is a dueling spell, normally used in dueling competitions. Not real life fights where wizards might aim to kill each other. There are several mentions of using Confringo in life-or-death battles, and the most known are: Harry destroying the flying motorcycle's side-car during the Battle of the Seven Potters and Hermione Granger trying to kill Nagini. A side-car is not a big deal, and Nagini lived on to the final chapters of the book. Evidence suggests that Confringo doesn’t normally have effects as devastating as when it was used by Peter. One spell, 12 victims and huge collateral damage.

“But he just said the incantation and pointed a wand, that’s easy.”

If that’s easy, why does most of the plot of Harry Potter books revolve around young wizards sweating away for seven years to learn to control and apply their powers when casting spells? Why aren’t they simply given lists of spells to memorize and graduate in a year? Why do inexperienced wizards end up accidentally killing themselves with the destructive magic they fail to control? See Crabbe burning himself to death with Fiendfyre. Why are other wizards in the story considered to be powerful for just shouting spells and pointing wands?

“But McGonagall said Peter was hopeless at dueling, and wasn’t in the rest of Marauders’ league talent-wise. And Sirius called Peter a talentless pathetic thing.”

First, see (1). Second, a character’s bias does not equal narrative truth. Rowling’s books are essentially detective stories that follow the laws of the genre. McGonagall’s and Rosmerta’s words (that fat little boy who worshipped James and Sirius) were supposed to lead us away from any assumptions about Peter other than him being a harmless, logical victim of Black’s crime. So that in the end we get shocked. The Ministry sent DEMENTORS and Hit Wizard Squads (equivalent of muggle S.W.A.T.)  after Sirius. All of this because they thought that Sirius had done what Pettigrew had actually done. We get this picture of Sirius as a terrifying dark wizard, but as soon as the culprit turns out to be Peter, he’s suddenly weak? But the killer seemed so nice and people told stories about him saving puppies! But Peter seemed so weak and people told stories about him being academically unsuccessful!

The Prisoner of Azkaban, chapter 10:

Fudge: “Nobody but trained Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I — I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming.”

Now replace “Black” with “Pettigrew”.

3)  Peter is able to cast Avada Kedavra (with a wand that wasn’t his own, which makes it harder to perform magic AND he didn’t even win the wand’s allegiance).

What does it prove, other than Peter being a filthy murderer once again?

The Goblet of Fire , chapter 14:

Crouch Jr as Alastor Moody:“Avada Kedavra’s a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it — you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I’d get so much as a nosebleed.”

Crouch was insane, his words aren’t reliable.

Despite being a crazy Death Eater, Crouch Jr shares the title of the most effective DADA professor in Harry Potter history, along with Remus Lupin. I also doubt his mental issues prevented him from adequately estimating the features of Avada Kedavra.

4) Peter overpowered a Ministry employee Bertha Jorkins, helped Crouch overpower Moody who was known as the greatest auror of his time, and brewed the very first Polyjuice potion for Crouch.

“Voldemort calls Peter stupid and inept all the time and praises Crouch. Crouch must’ve overpowered Moody alone, and Peter was just a bonus.”

Voldemort is notoriously sadistic. He enjoys causing pain in all forms, mental and physical. He relishes people’s pain. He is also one of the best Legilimens users out there. Having such a rich history with Peter, Voldemort knows his every weak spot, every single one. Not only does he use Cruciatus on Peter liberally, he prods the old wounds, namely inferiority complex. And still, even Voldemort can’t refrain from admitting that Peter tends to have “moments of brilliance”. Peter was the one who found Voldemort when everyone else (the allegedly way more powerful and intelligent Death Eaters) had failed. Peter was the one who conjured a rudimentary body for Voldemort, and brought him back fully with the use of ancient magic even Voldemort doubted would work.

“Big deal, throwing a bone, a drop of blood, and a hand into a potion.”

Big deal, being good at potions? Ask the people who had Snape for teacher. Once again, Voldemort himself deemed the task to be complicated.  Anyone here wants to question Voldemort’s competence in magic? Magic is about inherent ability first and foremost, not the set of steps to complete. Otherwise there would be no such things as muggles and squibs.

“Peter just followed Voldemort’s instructions for that potion.”

And all wizards in the story followed instructions of their teachers at some point. Are they all weak? Peter (or anybody, really) clearly had no reason to be interested in THAT potion until he found Voldemort in his incorporeal state, so why would he learn how to make it beforehand? Harry had Snape’s textbook to help him excel at potions in his sixth year, but does that nullify his power overall? Also, everyone forgets that Peter DID graduate Hogwarts. That requires passing N.E.W.T. levels.

5) Other things: Peter took part in creating the incredibly intricate Marauder’s map. He can cast non-verbal spells (N.E.W.T.-level advanced Transfiguration spell Incarcerous on Harry, stunning Ron and Crookshanks (with another wizard’s wand), levitation of Harry), which are also considered advanced magic that requires outstanding abilities.

Peter Pettigrew is a lot of things, but a weak wizard he isn’t.