Chapter 4- Peter Pettigrew
Peter Pettigrew was born in the dark, moldy corner of a small brick house infested with rats. He had two parents who lived with him, but no siblings. His family was fairly poor, so he was greatly malnourished. Peter didn't go to school at all; in fact, the first interaction he ever had with children his own age was when he was 11 and went to Hogwarts.
Peter was sorted into Gryffindor and quickly made friends with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. The four of them were best friends and had a great time together. Peter soon discovered that Remus was a werewolf since he had been bitten by one at a young age. Innocently, Peter thought that being an Animagi would be the coolest thing he could learn to do, and become the envy of his friends. Not surprisingly, James and Sirius had the exact same thoughts. When they were in their 4th year at Hogwarts, Peter, James, and Sirius could transform into animals- James a stag, Sirius a dog, and Peter a rat, after the rats that lived in his former home. The four boys had a wonderful time each full moon goofing off in the "Shrieking Shack" under the Whomping Willow.
It was many years after Peter had graduated from Hogwarts. He did not correspond much with his old friends, afraid that they would shun him for what he now did. While his friends went out and got jobs, Peter had turned to the easiest place for an outcast- the Death Eaters. The gang was desperate for followers and outsiders usually jumped at an opportunity to be part of something. Peter did just that. Open to ideas and easy to manipulate, Peter quickly became one of Voldemort's vital spies. For the longest time, he tried desperately to hide this information from anyone, including his closest friends.
Many years after losing contact with his friends, Peter heard news that James Potter had married and had a baby son. He quickly passed this information on to Voldemort, who sent Peter on his most important mission ever. Peter was ordered to kill the Potters, very close friends of Dumbledore, and escape unnoticed. First, Peter needed to find out who the Potter's Secret Keeper was. He made a lucky guess the first time, suspecting Sirius Black. Peter convinced Sirius to let him become the Secret Keeper because he seemed like less of a threat. With that taken care of, Peter began planning his murder. He had the advantage of being an Anamagi and took that into mind when preparing his attack. However, Peter chickened out at the last moment which angered Voldemort. Voldemort then decided to initiate the Potters' death himself.
Peter's "death" was in every Muggle and wizard newspaper the next day. "Man Kills Entire Street of People" read the Muggle headlines. "Voldemort's Servant Kills Muggles and Wizard; Wizard's Finger Only Remaining Body Part" announced the wizard newspapers. Only Peter himself knew the truth. He had killed the Muggles, chopped off his own finger, and turned into a rat. Peter was extremely frightened of the punishment the Dark Lord would inflict when he got his hands on his traitor body. He never stopped to think, in those precious moments before killing the Muggles, that Voldemort could still find him…one day.