i like your idea there on peter. i believe that he had the potantial of a griffindor ,but somthing changed along the way.

I understand your idea, and do believe it. Maybe he did have the characteristics of a true Gryffindor, but maybe over time as he followed James and Sirius and Reamus around, he found that hanging with the rough crowd probably saved his butt a couple of times, maybe all the time. Soon the habit wore off on him, and as being completely selfish it come around to back fire on his friends. Whoever will be able to watch for poor old Peter he will turn to. (But what he didn’t know until he made the mistake is that Voldemort shows as much love to his followers as he does to his victims.)

i think Peter was put in Gryffindor because, like you said he might have shown potential to becoming a brave man. People cahnge, but he didn’t.

Severus Sanpe is def the one who breaks the most expectations. I have always known Malfoy was a git, and t’s not like he turned brave or anything, he was Slytherin till the end.

Snape is the obvious choice and even Dumbledore hinted he might have been in the wrong House.

Peter however, could be described as loyal (in some ways).
He was loyal to Voldermort. I admit that his loyalty was through fear though!!

Lilyevans22 – “(But what he didn’t know until he made the mistake is that Voldemort shows as much love to his followers as he does to his victims.)”

I think you are exatly right, he doesn’t seem to be all a very intelligent man and Gryffindors don’t have to be loyal – that’s a Hufflepuff’s job – so perhaps it wasn’t so much cowardice as being fickle and then being torn between two groups?

Perhaps the sorting hat was in the same predicament with Snape as with Harry – Slytherin or Gryffindor – but Snape asked for Slytherin?

Yeah, I agree with NonMagicFolk abotu Snape. It said in book seven that Snape wanted to be in Slytherin, that he even asked, no told, Lily Evans that she should be. You know when they met before going to Hogwarts and Lily didn’t know that she was a witch until Snape saw her and told her what she was.

I think Peter was sorted into Gryffindor because, as has been said before, he had some potential to be a true Gryffindor, kinda like the timid Neville in the beginning. But, although he was cowardly to give in to the big bully Voldemort, I still find it very ballsy of him to run around screaming lies that one of his best friends, Sirius, had killed another friend. So, I think it was cowardly of him snitch on his friends, but at the same time, “brave” that he completely TURNED on them.

I think Snape and Malfoy break expectations in regards to their house sorting. Snape seemed a little dark and destined for Slytherin, and behaved that way for the most part, except for his love for Lily. She was the only exception to his nastiness. But the fact that he had a change of heart was completely unexpected.

And as for Draco Malfoy, I thought he was a nasty one, too, and his excitement about becoming a Death Eater seemed was expected. But then his innocence showed at the end of the 6th book. AND learning that the core of his wand is made of unicorn hair took me by surprise, because unicorns are believed to be gentle and pure, as opposed to his father and aunt, whose wand cores are made of dragon heartstring.

Well, If you ask me, I agree with you. Peter is not loyal, not kind, and he is very selfish and cowardly. He’ll do anything to keep himself alive. Even if that means selling out his friends to a heartless murderer. But when I found out he was in Gryffindor, I was rather shocked. Maybe he was different as a kid. But I definitely think he’s changed alot!

I do agree with alot of what everyone is saying but also maybe the sorting hat knew at the end he would stand against Lord vold. and help Harry and the others. He did help them in the basement of the Malfoys mansion. just a thought Mahalo

In the beginning of the Sorcerer’s (Philosophers) Stone, Ron said that not a wizard went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin, Pettigrew went bad… he went worse then bad!!!

i think that peter might have wanted to be i gryffindor so much he asked the hat like harry because gryffindor was probably the most powerful house at the time so as we all no peter likes to be with things of great power

i really think peter didn’t really have the characteristics to belong in any House, but at the time of the Sorting, he had just enough bravery to get into Gryffindor. Maybe he was brave enough to put on the hat (and like Harry, thought the hat wouldn’t Sort him, so he was afraid to put it on).

i believe he was put into gryffindor, because of the people he was associated with. They did good things, amazing things to bring down voldemort, but he didnt end up living up to that. He has become a low death eater who hasnt done a bit of good.

I think there is a certain kind of bravery in him. Gryffindors are inherently bold and daring and brave, but those characteristics aren’t necessarily always positive or used in a positive fashion. There exist traits that are typically thought of as negative associated with Slytherins: ambitious, cunning, an “us versus them” mentality, strong group cohesion. But arguably, are these not all Gryffindor traits as well, but merely under less positive names? Ambitiousness and willingness to do whatever’s necessary to meet a goal, no matter how difficult or frightening, is similar to daring and nerve; cunning IMO is neutral but I concede it doesn’t have a Gryffindor equal; Gryffindors posses just as much “us versus them” as Slytherins do, but they seem to be excused from it by virtue of being “the good house.” Strong group cohesion. Slytherins look after their own, it seems. Which at varying points manifests as house and family bias as well as political bias, but also manifests itself as loyalty to a cause – some to Voldemort, others, like Snape and Andromeda Tonks, as loyalty to the Light. Is the type of bias all Slytherins show at one point or another not loyalty under a different name, and presented in a bad light?

Back to Peter, Peter Death Eater. Just as Slytherins may use their negatively presented but otherwise ambiguous traits for good or bad, can not a Gryffindor trait be used for good or bad? I would argue that for a pathological coward like Pettigrew, betraying Lily and James had to be in incredibly brave thing to do. Not brave in a good way, but it was something he did despite possible consequences, despite fear, and despite difficulty, I think.

In “Philosopher’s Stone,” Ollivander tells Harry that Voldemort was great, in a terrible way. Greatness is not usually associated with terrible things, but terrible things can classify under greatness. Isn’t it arguable that though what Peter did was unthinkably immoral and disgusting, it was in a way a terrible kind of bravery?

Wasn’t it daring of Peter to switch sides, even if he switched to the wrong side? Even if he didn’t particularly love or care about James, Lily, Sirius and Remus, he was still with them for a very long time in his adolescene. How many of you reading this, have ever had to break off a relationship with a family member, former friend, lover, or whatever, who you didn’t particularly like? It’s still not easy, no matter if the love is there or not. Imagine breaking off a relationship with the knowledge that it would result in others’ deaths, and consider is that kind of act not daring? It’s horrible, unimaginable for most, but it is daring. Especially when you consider that if Sirius hadn’t showed up at the exact right moment to be framed (which Peter couldn’t have known ahead of time, and had to plan on not occurring; it was mere twisted luck that it did), there’s a very good chance that Peter would have been identified as the betrayer and would have faced the wrath of the entire Order.

I feel that Peter was a Gryffindor. Gryffindor and evil are not mutually exclusive concepts, just as Slytherin and goodness aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. There will always be a certain number of Gryffindors who go bad. Just because he has Gryffindor traits, doesn’t mean he uses them for good or chooses to use them all the time.