For twelve years, Sirius Black, an Azkaban prisoner, was accused of betraying his best friend, James Potter.
He was also accused of killing Peter Pettigrew and 12 Muggles, resulting in a life sentence at the Prison of Azkaban.
However, the third book revealed the innocence of Sirius Black. Like James believed, Black did not betray his best friends.
Instead, it was Peter Pettigrew (aka Wormtail), who was also the Potter’s Secret-Keeper!
Why did the Potters trust him with such a role in the first place?
Here’s what you need to know.
Why did Lily and James trust Wormtail?
Here are 2 reasons why the Potters trusted Wormtail:
- Sirius was too obvious of a choice
- Wormtail seemed too wimpy
Sirius was too obvious of a choice
Initially, the Potters wanted Sirius to be their Secret-Keeper. However, Sirius felt that Peter would be the more ambiguous choice, which could ultimately fool Lord Voldemort.
When the Potters requested Black to be their Secret – Keeper, Black refused.
However, why did he do so?
The Fidelius Charm had 2 main conditions:
- Only a living soul could hold the secret
- The Secret-Keeper could divulge the secret if they wished to
It was mainly because of the second condition that Sirius did not consider himself the ideal Secret-Keeper.
Since he was such a close friend to James Potter, Voldemort would think that he would be the most obvious choice to be the Secret-Keeper.
Additionally, he would most likely fail to resist Veritaserum (the potion of truth) or Legilimency, which Voldemort could have used to interrogate him.
It was interesting to note that Remus Lupin, another member of the Marauders, was not considered for the position of Secret-Keeper!
Wormtail seemed too wimpy
After Sirius evaluated all the possibilities, he suggested Peter Pettigrew to be the Secret-Keeper of the Fidelius Charm.
Sirius thought that Lord Voldemort would never notice an awkward boy, particularly one that flattered his ‘more powerful friends’.
Due to Peter’s cowardly nature, Sirius assumed that Peter:
- would not dare to operate against the closest of his friends
- would be too fearful to join Voldemort
However, he greatly underestimated Peter as he turned out to be a Death Eater!
Peter Pettigrew turned out to be everything Sirius never imagined he’d be.
After convincing the Potters to trust their lives with Peter, it was something that Sirius would come to regret for the rest of his life!
Conclusion
Lily and James mainly chose to trust Wormtail based on Sirius’ discretion, as he thought that Wormtail being the Secret-Keeper would surprise Voldemort.
Little did he know that Peter was actually capable of horrible things!
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