Palette

The first thing that ever happened to Peter that made him stand out was on his very first day at Hogwarts. He turned out to be a Hatstall, a rare case of a wizard who took more than five minutes to be sorted into a house. During his first week Peter learned that it was not only an uncommon thing, but that he could also turn those terrifying minutes into a conversation piece, an ice-breaker which he actually used several times. And that was kind of it. All the uncommon, unusual, and unexpected things about Peter ended at that moment… or, at least, that was what he thought. The second thing that ever happened to Peter that made him stand out was his ability to make friends with both James Potter and Sirius Black. James Potter was a smart kid who always knew what he wanted and what he disliked. It was pretty easy to see that James was an only child, just like himself, and he was a born leader, just unlike himself. Sirius Black was a talented young wizard from “the Blacks”, the family whose magical ancestry was as noble as pure was their disdain for everyone else. The energy that seemed to concentrate in one place when these two boys were together, was an energy of a “Bombarda Maxima” spell, and it needed a balance, a voice of reason. James Potter and Sirius Black needed Peter Pettigrew not to get themselves killed during the first two months of their life at Hogwarts, or worse, not to get expelled. It was Peter who dissuaded his friends from trying to illegally brew the Polyjuice Potion. Sirius said that it would be neat to walk around the school as one of the teachers, James said that it would surely be even neater to walk to Hogsmead and try some firewhisky, and they were almost about to start nagging professor Slughorn to tell them the recipe when Peter diplomatically said that it was something more of a thing Severus Snape could be interested in. The idea was dropped immediately. It was Peter who suggested that a tournament against Slytherin in Gobstones would be a much more challenging idea than trying to sneak into the Forest. That idea was, at first, met with some scepticism from Sirius’s side but James Potter needed only two factors to set up his mind: “win” and “against Slytherin” in one sentence. It was Peter who agreed to sneak dung bombs in the common room, and it was Peter who gave his friends a perfect alibi — both James and Sirius were busy helping him with his Lumos charm and, therefore, had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the common room turned into a battle scene while dung bombs were flying around with the Wingardium Leviosa spell. And then Remus Lupin appeared. A typical bookworm who somehow managed to talk quietly and to still be heard and listened to. Sirius was the first to give into his charm during the Potions class when professor Slughorn paired them together. They managed to make the potion right from the very first time, and quicker than anybody except Lily Evans paired with Severus Snape. It was mostly Lupin’s patience and attention to the recipe that didn’t let their cauldron explode, unlike the cauldron James and Peter shared. James was next. He was going to become either an Auror, or a professional quidditch player, as he boldly announced to everyone who would listen, and therefore he was extra attentive during the DADA classes. When the topic of boggarts arised, seemingly out of nowhere as they were way too young to learn about them, Remus raised his hand and gave them all a small lecture about boggarts. After the class, James was dying to know more, and Lupin admitted that his father was an expert in non-human spirituous apparitions. The “non-human spirituous apparitions” captured the attention of James, and from that moment Peter knew they were doomed. Because when James Potter was interested in something, he wouldn’t stop. Remus Lupin very quickly became an integral part of their company. Peter didn’t want to feel bitter or like his place was taken after the round of magical chairs game but every time he watched the three of them laugh, he felt the fracture. He didn’t feel jealous, though. Not at first. The third thing that ever happened to Peter that made him stand out happened years after. He was asked to become a Secret Keeper.