Character History – (I’ve never written a background like this before, so I hope you don’t mind. It’s in 1^st person, future persona – Peter’s looking back on his life from a present bookworld standpoint)

~ Introduction ~

The road to how I became who I am today is not one that can be told easily. I did not become what I am overnight. Many things shaped the path of my life. I don’t intend to make excuses, but it begins even before I entered Hogwarts school of Wizardy. If you’re willing to listen to my story, then have a seat and pay attention.

~ Son of the Pettigrews ~

My family was an old Wizarding family. My mother had come from a high class background than my name indicates. She married down for love over anything else. I don’t know if I understand that, but I wouldn’t be here if she didn’t, so I’m hardly going to complain. We had enough to survive off of, but for the most part, we lacked the privileges that we would have had if my mother’s family hadn’t shunned her for marrying against their will. I honestly did love my mother, but that is hardly an issue.

My father, Palmer Pettigrew, had come from a family where magic was their strongest asset. Much more than wealth and far more than fame. They didn’t need fame or wealth, because the majority of their family had strong enough magic that they didn’t need it to stand out. They stood out just because of their strength. That was part of the reason he hated me. I was never strong. Never good enough to hold the name of Pettigrew. Even before I entered school, the symptoms of my magic was unimpressive and far between. They were there, at least, but what little would show was nowhere near enough. He blamed this on my mother.

Her family while rich and well-known as such, had produced a few Squibs in the past. Suddenly ‘love’ wasn’t enough anymore. He would have rather had someone who would produce a better heir for him. He would never have a better one though, because when I was seven, he was killed in an accident at his job. I can’t bring myself to miss him, but it made life for my mother very difficult. She’d never had to support herself, much less me, before. She didn’t really know the first thing about managing a business. But she eventually did get things together.

The stress of her newfound responsibility wore on her and she occasionally started to repeat some of the things my father used to say before he died. How I was never going to make anything of myself. I blamed my father for putting the ideas in her head.

~ The Letter ~

When my letter arrived at home from Hogwarts, I admit I was a bit surprised. It’d been pounded into my head for seven years of my short life that I was a disappointment in the magic department, and I honestly didn’t expect to do anything, much less go to a good school. I almost didn’t want to attend. It would be a lot of hard work, and if I didn’t have the talent, then why should I have to bother? I could do just fine at my home, helping my mother with her Herb Gardens. But, of course, as soon as my mother saw the letter she insisted upon it. “It’s what your father would want. We both attended.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that I still loved her, I would have refused, just on the grounds that she had to bring what he felt into the matter.

~ The Wand ~

The week before September 1^st classes, I made my first trip to Diagon alley with my mother. She sold a lot of private possessions in order to get enough Galleons for my supplies. She didn’t want her son to attend his first day of school in scruffy used robes and with a beat up wand. Though, she did mention that I could have my father’s wand, but I refused to touch the thing.

When we arrived into the wand store, my mother spoke with the man who owned it and then suddenly I was being measured and wands were being placed in my hand.

Ash, unicorn hair, 7 inches.

Nothing happened.

Rowan, phoenix feather, 12 ¼ inches.

Nothing. I was starting to get annoyed.

Oak, unicorn hair, 11 ½ inches.

Again, nothing. I actually was annoyed at this point. Why couldn’t I just have the first one? I’d rather just have it over with and get out of this place.

Five more wands, five more ‘nothings’. Until finally, he handed me a reddish colored wand with a distinct scent to the wood; pine, heartstring of a Welsh Green Dragon, 9 ½ inches. There was an almost immediate reaction. I had no idea what it meant, but apparently I had found my wand.

~ 3^rd Year ~

With Sirius and James looking up ways for them to become an Animagus, I lost my two major helpers when it came to studies. Because of this I sought “outside help”. Namely one Lily Evans. She was nice enough, but I always figured she would be the type to tell on us and everything, and the last we needed was to lose more points when we didn’t get caught, so I didn’t really converse with her much except to get help on homework and other things of the like. She helped keep me from losing Gryffindor too many points in classes, though I didn’t make a large improvement in his grades. That wasn’t what I was after, anyway. I just wanted to be allowed to stay in school, and certain test scores are required at the end of the year.

~ 5^th Year ~

On their 5^th year, Sirius and James finally figured out how to manage the transformations. They immediately began to tutor me in it so that I would be able to change as well. They informed me to think of an animal, preferably small (they’d already decided on theirs and they needed someone who could reach the knot in the tree easily) and I settled on a rat. I always had liked rats, thinking they were generally given a bad name. They weren’t all that bad, and they seemed to strive when other creatures would have died long before.

I was the last one to achieve my transformation. Luckily nothing had gone wrong, and we all retained out original appearance (and clothes) when we changed back. The first night we spent with Remus down in the Shack, I admit I was scared stiff. I had never been around a werewolf in his form before, but, as a rat, somehow I managed to stand by ground, for the most part. Though I do recall occasionally crawling behind James’ hoofs.

Our presence seemed to have helped Remus, and after the third full moon, I was starting to get a lot more comfortable around him in his other form. It was almost the same as when we were all human, just we weren’t. In some ways, the animal forms were better. We all seemed to be more aware of our surroundings and it was rather nice to be able to slip inside tiny little places that James and Sirius and Remus could never have managed to get into.

Not long after, we started the first of our forays into the grounds and Hogsmeade in our forms. The others could keep Remus under control when someone was unfortunate enough to get within his range of scent. (Though I certainly hid in a small crevice when those things happened.)

In that year, we began to call ourselves by our nicknames. Mine came from the fact that my long pink tail in my animal form looked to the others like a worm, hence, the creation of Wormtail. The formation of the Marauders and the creation of the map (mainly by Sirius and James) began soon after. I did manage to find some passages for the map myself, using my ability to slip through small holes as a rat.

This was also the year when Lily began to enter into our circle. She’d remained my on and off tutor throughout these years, but it wasn’t until this year that we discovered that she had somewhat of a mischievous streak. I admit; I rather liked Lily. She was certainly the only girl in the school who gave me the time of day (well, besides girls occasionally approaching me to pass ‘notes’ to the others – a practice that infuriated me to no end). I know it was nothing more to her than helping someone out who needed it, though for some reason I appreciated her efforts.