If In The Beginning

Chapter Seven: Wormtail

Snape and Malfoy were almost fifteen minutes late. The day after they´d spoken to him in the library, Peter had received a note from them, telling him to wait at the end of the second-story corridor by the statue of Helga Hufflepuff so that they could go down to the dungeon together. Peter was beginning to think that the whole thing was some sort of hoax.

He looked down the hallway and realized that the door to Dumbledore´s office was standing wide open. Cautious but curious, he walked down the hall and peeked in.

Dumbledore was not there. The only occupants were a large red and orange bird, sitting on a perch, and the Sorting Hat.

Peter remembered his first encounter with the Sorting Hat on the first day of his first year. After Krishna Patil had been placed in Ravenclaw, it had been Peter´s turn. "Hmm," the hat had said. "Might have to do this one by default. Not enough ambition for Slytherin, I see...sorry, lad, but I don´t think Ravenclaw is right for you either. How about Hufflepuff? Maybe. Let´s see...what is it you want out of life?"

"Friends," Peter had whispered.

"Friends, is it? Well, I know where you´ll find those...Gryffindor!"

The Great Hall had applauded and Peter had passed the hat to James, who joined him at the Gryffindor table a minute later.

Now the hat turned to Peter and said, "I´ve got a feeling you need to unload your mind a bit. Try me on, boy."

Hesitantly, Peter picked up the hat and placed it on his head.

"Ohhh...got a thing for young Mr. Lupin, have you?" said the Sorting Hat.

"I have not!"

"That´s not what your mind says...you really oughtn´t be so hard on him and your other friends, Peter."

"They´re not my friends anymore," whispered Peter.

"They´re the reason I put you in Gryffindor..."

Peter snatched off the hat and threw it on the desk.

From out in the hallway came whisperes. "Pettigrew! Where are you?"

"Coming!" called Peter.

~~*~~

The way to the dungeon was dark, lit only by the occasional torch. Malfoy led the way, followed by Peter and Snape.

"What type of meeting is this, exactly?" asked Peter, still half suspecting a trick.

"A meeting of people who follow someone more powerful than any of us can ever imagine," said Snape.

More powerful than anyone could imagine... "Not...not You-Know-Who?" asked Peter, frightened.

Malfoy and Snape stopped, turned, and pushed Peter against the wall. "He´s got a bad reputation, Voldemort has," said Malfoy, his face inches away from Peter´s. "But it´s all rubbish. Tell me, Pettigrew, have you ever known someone who was different than what everyone else thought?"

The other three Marauders flashed into Peter´s mind. He gulped and nodded.

"Well," said Snape, " Voldemort´s like that. Dumbledore and his followers have made him out to be a villain, a monster, a power-crazed evil fiend. But he´s smart, Pettigrew, smarter and more powerful than all the rest of us combined. There is only power. Power, and those too weak to seek it."

Peter nodded, intimidated but interested. "I´ve got a power," he said. "You might think it´s a lie, but it´s not."

"Tell us," said Snape, taking his hand off Peter´s shoulder and allowing him to move.

"I´ll show you," Peter said. He stepped away from the wall and transformed.

Malfoy grinned. "Our master is going to love you, Pettigrew," he said. Peter transformed back, and the three of them continued into the dungeon.

The room was packed with people. Most of the ones there were Slytherins, but Peter spotted two Hufflepuff fifth-years and a cluster of Ravenclaws. He was the only Gryffindor.

"We have a new follower," Malfoy announced.

The entire room stopped what they were doing, turned, and looked at Peter. "Swear him in, Lucius," said Beelzebub Malfoy.

At those words, the people in the room melted back towards the walls and cleared a circle in the middle.

"Follow me, Pettigrew," said Lucius Malfoy. He walked into the middle of the rrom. Peter followed.

Malfoy pointed his wand towards the ceiling. "Lumos Circumference!"

A circular beam of light shone on the two of them. It was so bright that Peter could not see anyone but he and Malfoy. "Kneel," Malfoy said. Peter obeyed.

"Peter Pettigrew," said Malfoy. "Do you vow to always keep the secrecy of the Dark Lord?"

"Yes," whispered Peter solemnly.

"Do you swear to protect you fellow Death Eaters even above yourself and to be willing to die for them?"

"Yes." He was shaking.

"Do you renounce all former alliances with enemies of the Dark Lord?"

Peter was silent. Renounce James, Remus, and Sirius? No one had actually referred to them as "enemies of the Dark Lord", but he knew that they were against Voldemort. He caught himself. Why should he be hesitant? After all, they had lied to him. They´d let him think they were normal when - he didn´t want to think about it.

"Yes," he said.

"Will you accept Voldemort as your master and serve him above all others?"

"I - I will."

Malfoy muttered something, and a large iron, orange with heat, appeared in his hand.

"Roll up your left sleeve, Pettigrew," he said.

Peter obeyed. Malfoy turned his arm so that the pale underside was exposed and pressed the iron into his flesh. Peter bit the insides of his mouth, trying not to scream.

When Malfoy took the iron away, Peter looked at his arm. Branded on it was a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. Malfoy retreated from the circle and Peter was alone in the harsh light. He collapsed, weak with pain.

He lay there on the cold stone floor, limp and drained. And then, from outside of the luminous circle, he heard the chanting. They were all saying his name over and over again.

He sat up, happiness washing over him. He had new friends now. The Sorting Hat had been wrong. This was where he belonged.