on reading the 4th book last night somthing sparked my brain in the first few pages, why on earth would Vodimort call peter pettigrew 'Wormtail'?? straight away i text my couisn (#1) and she said "probally because he can read minds..." but that doesnt make sence, just bacause you read in some ones head that 3 people when you where back in school called you 'wormtail' you wouldnt begin to use that...would you? i am totally confused by this am i looking to much into it or is there somthing behind it? i dont know if anyone has noticed this before i am sure you all have but it just doesnt seam right for a lord to call a man well a follower by his 'school boy' name...unless he knew him well, unless he knew him and the other's at school? i really hope some one can sort this out for me as i am totally confused, as i said i may just be looking to much into it...

luv malfoy cousin #2

yeah, you do have a point. why is VM calling peter wormtail, thats a nickname his friends gave him

well, i need to check into this, but its just a thought.
maybe VM saw frank coming up the stairs, so he called peter "wormtail" as to protect his real identity incase frank managed to get away before he was killed.
im not too sure if thats what you mean. but thats all i can think of

Humm, well I dunno. Maybe Peter perferd to be called Wormtail so ppl wouldnt know his true identity, I dunno. Maybe Voldy just likes to call Peter that to remind him of how much of a rat he is, you know keep his spirits down, ehh, I really dont know. I did notice it, but never thought much about it. Did Sirius and Remus call each other by thier nicknames in the 3rd and 5th book? I think they did, oh well.

I just thought it was crazy as you tend to only call a person or ppl by their nick-names if you actally like know them well, or your part of a group that uses that name, and we knew that the lord wasnt at school with the boys so why would he prefer to use that name, and as we know volimort dosent care about peter that much as he hurt him at the end of the book so why would he protect him by calling him wormtail...and if any one heard him say "wormtail" it would of gotern back to sirius as he was still alive then and he would of told ppl...so it just doesnt make sence to me...y would vodimort choose to call him by that name?????????

Maybe everyone calls him this way?
I don't think he wants to protect him because he called Lucius by his name.And I don't think he saw Frank because Nagini told him that he(Frank) was in the hall...Well as far as I can remember!

Yeah why would you do that?

Perhaps like someone said. It was reminding him of what terrible things he'd done. Perhaps even trying to make Peter sound like his friend.

Maybe it was just an oversight on Mrs. Rowlings part?

I'm really just guessing that Voldemort just liked the ring to "Wormtail", so he just started to call him that. Hmm, but you have to admit...Peter Pettigrew sounds bleh. (to me at least)

I don't see what good it does now. Lupin is in the OotP and he knows what Wormtail means.

I had a feeling that Voldy called him that to like reminded him how disgraceful he is...being a traitor to his friends...I mean, it's not something to be proud of if your animagus form is a rat!!!

And Peter sounds too ordinary...too dull...

I suppose Voldy could call him 'Peter' because of his name is dull and such but 'Wormtail' hit it right to the part of how unworthy he is...

i quote 'BigBlackDog' I don't see what good it does now. Lupin is in the OotP and he knows what Wormtail means....well if you think about it Lupin would never know anyways neither would any of the other Ootp ppl as we all know Volmort like to kill ppl but anyways it still doesnt make sence, i mean how in the first place would Volmort know that in his "school days" he was called wormtail??? thats all i wondered!! but i guess its dont really matter now anyways...so ye!

bye malfoy couisn #2

I guess that's the codename he gave Voldemort when he was ready to spy for the darklord.

well I think its just a nickname because all my friends and even my friends friends call me aussie because thats my nickname. Even my teachers do. It's just how it is.

I think one of three things.....Maybe while they were in school together Voldie somehow found out Peter was called Wormtail.....or maybe after Peter was working for Voldie he would go into his Rat transformation........or when it was in the papers that Sirius "killed" peter and all that was found was a toe. Maybe Voldie added it up for himself figured out that for peter to hid so long he would have to take a different form and then saw peter as a Rat.


Wait a sec....peter was the one who turned in James and Lily....so he was working for voldie when james was still alive....if voldie had anyway of seeing or looking in on what they were doing he may have heard james or one of the others call him wormtail....


I dont know maybe I am just nuts but those are a few different ideas...

I agree with Zyra.

Most death eaters joined because they thought that it was the greater good however Peter did it souly out of fear. And being called Wormtail probably reinforced that. And he bretrayed his best friends, correct me if I'm wrong, but i don;t think any of the other deatheaters did that.

Never trust a traitor, even one that you have created.

I heard that somewhere

maybe he just...told Voldemort thats what he would like to be called

Also Sirius's brother was a Death Eater so mabey he overheard Sirius and the other maruders calling Peter Wormtail, and then he told VM that name, not knowing that his name is Peter. Also wormtail sounds more evil.

um... maybe.

i personally dont think wormtail is very 'EVIL' lol. good point though.

i really dont think it has any significance anymore though, it was just a random thought.

M.C

yea I wondered that too, I just figured he called him wormtail coz thats what he asked him to call him. Does seem like a mistake though! coz when does LV listen to anyone or do what they ask him? Good topic though but it does seem quite a big mistake to make if it one.

I can just imagine the scene when Wormtail is fawning at Voldemort's feet saying how useful he could be because he can change himself into a rat and spy on people without being noticed ... and telling Voldemort that this is why he is proud of being called Wormtail.

I'm with everyone that's been saying that's saying that Voldemort calls Peter Wormtail to sort of throw his betrayal of his friends back into his face. It'd be a constant reminder of what Peter did in the past to his former friends and would act almost as an emotional anchor to keep him by Voldemort's side (as it would remind him that he has no one to go to for help in leaving Voldemort's service) and to emotionally sort of blackmail him into continuously feeling guilty over the past and into staying by Voldemort's side, especially during the time that Voldemort was reliant upon Peter (in "Goblet of Fire" pre-getting his body back). Voldemort assured Peter's loyalty by reminding him of the evil that he had done in the past and that he knew his true identity and could out him to the wizarding community at any point in time if he decided to.

Hmm...I never thought about that until now...

I have a theory that Voldemort learned of Pettigrew's nickname right around the time he murdered the Potters and tried to murder Harry.

- We have been told that it was Pettigrew that was their secret keeper, so Voldemort would have confronted Pettigrew and probably tortured or threatened him in order to get the Potters whereabouts.

- It is also likely that in Voldemort's search for the Potters and their secret-keeper, he would want to know as much as he could about the Potter's closest friends and/or family, those most likely to know where they were.

- I believe it was Snape who initially told Voldemort about the prophecy, so perhaps he also informed him more of James and his closest friends. An alias or in this case a well used nickname would be excellent information to have in trying to track down people. Snape also knew better than anyone else about their "animal talents" because he was one of the first to learn their secret, if i remember correctly.

- It was not widely known that the Marauders could transfigure themselves into animals, I think up until the PoA. Thats why I kind of thought Snape.


Those are just some thoughts, but if Voldemort learned and used the nickname when trying to scare Pettigrew into betraying his friends, using it now would be a healthy reminder of not only what Pettigrew did, but also that two of his three best childhood friends are dead because they stood against Voldemort.

I agree with BellatrixBlack, by the way mate..I had a good laugh at your name..everyone knows that that never could have happened..Bellatrix Black..hah!.Good one buddy!

Anyway I even think Voldemort calls him Wormtail because he thinks it may remind Peter of how lowly he is in the eyes of the Dark Lord...yeah Peter WAS responsible for Voldemort regaining power and all but according to Voldee no one is EVER smarter or powerful than him.

And besides can you picture Voldemort say ' Pettigrew, you have betrayed me!'...he may even think that 'Pettigrew' sounds too goodie- two shoes...and I don't remember at this point but wasn't Peter in Gryfinndor?..so it must be some kind of thing where Voldemort really doesn't want to call Peter anything more than something like Wormtail because he was associated with James, Lily, Remus and Sirius..and because he was in Gryfinndor!

He must have come to know somehow..after all the Darl Lord knows EVERYTHING!!

Well friend,i think it is simply a nick name to Petter gave by his friends.So please don't confused.But i realise that may be Voldemort know some secret meaning of this word(wormtail),so he called him WOrmtail.

i think since peter was such good friends with james and siruis and they made him the secret keeper and called him worm tail that LV didnt forget that that name is what handed him The potters

voldemort knows a lot more than what he let's on. perhaps he knew about his nickname from before or perhaps peter mentioned it to him once before. wormtail is a sneaky name and maybe since peter did all that stuff voldemort reminded him of it. or maybe since voldemort likes to inflcit pain or past memories he was making him feel bad about his past but then again why would he since peter handed over the potter's on silver platter. something tells me LV knows more about peter and the other deatheaters. perhaps he's looked back or something into the past, who knows. but voldemort is yet a powerful wizard and knows a lot about many things. he has connections also.

Duh, it soooooo ovius !!!!!!

[/color]

voldie is Harry potters dad!!!!

but he use sneak attak



[color="#990000"] duh,

ovius

Hello marshmallow_voldemorty_horntail! Welcome to the forums!

I'm sending you a pm shortly, you'll see that you have '1 Owl waiting' at the top right corner of the page. Hope to hear from you soon!

On this topic. Hmm, I think that the nickname came with Wormtail to the DE's. His friends called him that, so maybe others heard it, and copied them. It's such a delightfully insulting name that I don't blame Voldemort for preferring it above 'Pettigrew'.

wormtail probably told voldemort his nickname so that the ministry would have no clue wat at-large death eaters talking to him if he was under an invisibillity cloak so it wouldn't be weird if luicus malfoy were walking down a street talking to someone who is supposed to be dead

voldemort is probably the greatest wizard after dumbledore,even if hes evil.couldnt he have found out that he was called wormtail somehow? its probably that he was called wormtail because he betrayed lil and james and thats wen voldie left his human form rite.maybe voldie invented another name for him like ...i dunno.

No Peter got the name wormtail in school we no this because of snapes momeory and the mauorders map. i think Voldemort just heard about it or peter simply introduced himself as Wormtail.

I agree i believe that Peter perfered to be called Wormatail because it's a faluse name...
Like Lord Voldermort.... I think he wanted to be like his master....
Plus Wormtail sounds much more dark than Peter.

hey people,
i think that it was just another mistake by jkr or maybe (as someone stated)he called him to make him realise his mistake.(im totally confused)

That’s a really good question. Maybe Snape called him by that and Voldemort just followed suit? I don’t know, personally, I think that Wormtail sounds like a stronger name than Peter Pettigrew maybe that’s why Voldy calls him that.

voldemort had already worked with pettigre after book three he might have told him

When a group like Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs is so dominant on the school culture scene as were these four, it is not unusual for all the students to know them almost exclusively by these names. Snape was one of those fellow students. He was also nearly killed by a prank regarding the Whomping Willow, that these four played on him. Therefore the name Wormtail would have been one of four keenly burned into his memory. I don't think it unusual that in the time that Snape served VM before the killing of the Potters, that Snape would have routinely referred to the other servant, Wormtail, by that name. Perhaps that is also the only name that VM called Pettigrew. Also the treachery that Wormtail did to James and Lily would be too good of a knife in his side for VM to not twist it every chance he got. VM doesn't like to have friends, he has servants.

I couldn't have said it better, robbie1955!

I think maybe because wormtail wants to find the fact that he's peter pettigrew ... i mean, everyone thinks he's dead. Wouldn't you find it a little strange to see someone dead walking down the street?

So maybe he's just going by the name "Wormtail" now, to hide his identity? Like Voldemort did? Hmmm ...

remember that sirius said in book 5 i think that wormtail told voldy about him being an animagus well i guess since wormtail told voldy everything about them being animagus he might have also mentioned their nicknames that my guess

Well, if everyone thought that Peter was dead, he wouldn't go around and not be afraid to be mentioned by his real name, Peter Pettigrew. Maybe somehow, LV saw him and heard all of his friends calling him Wormtail so he decided to too I guess. The weird thing is, I'm pretty sure that LV doesn't have any nicknames for any of his other death eaters so I think that it's the idea of everyone thinking that Wormtail is dead because none of the other death eaters are pretending to be dead.

I was sort of wondering that aswell but if you think of it, Peter betrayed his firends and everything and he joined LV so he probably just told him or something... nothing super complicated..

~.:Hogwarts.Bound:.~

Ya know. . .i always wondered about that too. It seems that Wormtail is never called Peter. Even when we have the flashback of Snape's Worst Memory. . .he is known as Wormtail, and James, Lupin, and Sirius are known by their real names. I never fully understood why we always call Peter by Wormtail, even by Harry/Hermione/Ron, who know him by his full name and wouldn't care if he was caught by the Ministry.

There are a few possible reasons for this.
1. Voldemort is a very accomplished Legimens. He could have read Peter's mind and found it out. He may have also read James', Sirius's, or Lupin's mind to find this out.

2. Snape may have told him.

I think that Peter may have told Voldemort about the marauder's nicknames just like he told Voldemort about James and Lily. So then Voldemort would know that Peter's animagus is a rat and calling him Wormtail would be suitable for him. But then again, the idea about hiding his real name, Peter Pettigrew, from the Ministry would be another good guess.



*Sirius*

I think that Voldemort called Pettegrew, Wormtail, because everyone thinks that he is dead so this would be way to keep him a secret. I also think that this is also used to hide his identity from the other death eaters because, Barty Crouch Jr, said that they didn't know all of the peoples names, so using Wormtail, as Pettegrews' name hides his identity, to those who didn't know his nickname.

yea, I agree with time turner...voldy probably calls him wormtail in order to hide the fact that pettigrew is still alive...

Wow. You guys are good at figuring things out! I would never have given it a second thought. But i would have to agree with time turner as well. That's a brilliant theory!

I agree with this last theory, although I have a different take as well.

Could it be that Moony, Padfoot, or Prongs was indeed a Death Eater?

Not that I believe this necessarily, I'm too obsessed with the original trio to believe it! However, it could also be that friends (or enemies!) who were at school with them at the time also knew his nickname, regardless of whether or not they knew its significance. Perhaps Snape started calling him Wormtail? We see that in HbP Snape calls him Wormtail when Cissy and Bella come to see him. It could be that he picked it up from Voldy or that Voldy picked it up from him.

But I do believe it is truly to save his identity from the wizarding world.

It is very possible that Snape learned it from Voldemort or Voldemort learned it from Snape. I tend to believe the first.

Peter came to Voldemort when he was transformed as a rat. Voldemort knew about Peter's ability. I also believe Peter stewed a lot on his decision to return to Voldemort. He probably spent much time thinking of the old days with the Marauders, especially when he wanted to leave Voldemort. As an superb legilimens, Voldemort would have been able to interpret Peter's strolls down memory lane and forced him to speak of them. Peter probably told Voldemort it was a nickname.

I don't think Peter likes being called Wormtail anymore. I think it reminds him of his betrayal. Voldemort and others would soon realize that and would have called him Wormtail simply to torment him.