Scabbers
From UnknowableWiki
| Creature profile | |
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| Scabbers | |
| Species | rat Animagus (Peter Pettigrew) |
| Owner | Percy, then Ron |
| Death | March 1998 |
| Appearance | grey, fat, missing one toe on his front paw |
| Origin | England |
| First appearance in canon | The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters (PS) |
Scabbers was the name given to Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form by the Weasleys, with whom he lived for twelve years. After Scabbers' true identity was revealed, Pettigrew fled and rejoined his old master Lord Voldemort (PA19).
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Characteristics
Scabbers was a fat, grey, lazy rat. He had a tattered left ear and was missing one toe on his front paw (PA4). Scabbers spent most of his time sleeping. He was either staying in the boys' dormitory or in Ron's pocket. He liked to chew on Ron's sheets (which were later turned into Quidditch banners, PA7, PA11) and was fond of Fudge Flies (PA13).
Scabbers' appearance deteriorated when he heard of Sirius Black's escape. His whiskers drooped, he lost weight and fur and became increasingly nervous (PA4, PA11).
Although Ron constantly complained about Scabbers being useless and old, he was very fond of him (PA13, GF5).
Pettigrew's life as Scabbers
After the end of the First War, Peter Pettigrew was believed dead by the whole wizarding world. Pettigrew knew that many former Death Eaters blamed him for the Dark Lord's fall and therefore did not dare to reveal that he was still alive. He decided to stay in his Animagus form and seek out a wizard family who would adopt him. So he became Percy Weasley's pet and was named Scabbers (PA19). When Percy became a prefect and got the owl Hermes as a reward in 1991, Scabbers was passed on to Ron (PS6).
Ron presented Scabbers to Harry on their first ride to Hogwarts. He complained about his uselessness and tried to make him more interesting by turning him yellow with a (useless) spell Fred had taught him. When Draco Malfoy, along with Crabbe and Goyle, taunted and provoked them, Scabbers bit Goyle's finger, causing the boy to leave the future Gryffindors alone. He fell asleep again immediately after his attack (PS6). Fred later said that that was the rat's "finest hour" (PA12).
In the summer of 1993, Scabbers accompanied the Weasleys on their journey to Egypt. He sat on Ron's shoulder in the photograph the Daily Prophet published (PA1). Sirius Black recognised him on this picture and escaped from Azkaban to protect his godson from the disguised traitor (PA3, PA19).
Worried about his rat's apparent loss of health, Ron took Scabbers to the Magical Menagerie when he was back in England. The shop assistant remarked that Scabbers had already exceeded the life span of an ordinary rat by far and recommended a Rat Tonic. At this moment, Crookshanks tried to attack Scabbers. It seems that the part Kneazle saw through the Animagus' disguise from the start. The rat fled from the shop, followed by Ron and Harry, who caught him under a wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies after ten minutes. Ron was immediately concerned for Scabbers when he learned that Hermione had bought Crookshanks (PA4).
Arguments between Ron and Hermione about Scabbers and Crookshanks occured repeatedly from now on (PA5, PA8, PA11). Crookshanks tried to attack Scabbers whenever he was in reach (he even tried to sneak into the boy's dormitory, PA9) and Ron claimed that there was something funny about the way the cat pursued his rat (PA8, PA11). During one particularly spectacular attack in the Gryffindor common room, Crookshanks started slashing the bag Scabbers was hiding in until Ron whirled the bag around in an attempt to throw the cat off. Scabbers flew out of the top and Crookshanks set after him; he chased him through half the common room. Finally, Hermione caught Crookshanks and Ron pulled Scabbers from under a chest of drawers by his tail. The rat was in a state of shock for at least a day; he was shaking and hiding at the bottom of Ron's bed (PA8).
By Christmas, Scabbers was mostly hiding in Ron's pockets and only sticked out his head when a particularly enticing smell wafted through the halls. He was very thin and had lost patches of fur (PA11).
On February 3, 1994, Scabbers staged his own death. He fled from the dormitory after leaving his own blood on Ron's sheets. When Ron found ginger cat hairs on the floor he accused Crookshanks of having killed the rat (PA12). Hermione defended him and she and Ron had their worst fight yet; they did not speak to each other for weeks. Ron was devastated about the loss of his pet. Scabbers had escaped just in time; only two days later Sirius broke into the dormitory (PA13).
Hermione found Scabbers in Hagrid's milk jug on the evening of Buckbeak's execution. He was squeaking frantically and trying to escape when Ron picked him up and stuffed him into his pocket. The Trio had to stop on their way back to the castle because Scabbers would not stay put. While Ron was fighting with the rat, they could hear the thud of an axe from Hagrid's hut (PA16). Crookshanks discovered the children and Scabbers and followed them. Scabbers managed to escape from Ron's grip and scurried away through the grass, followed by the cat and Ron. Ron was able to catch the rat and stuff him back into his pocket before Sirius in his Animagus form attacked him and carried him into the Shrieking Shack.
Harry and Hermione followed Ron into the Shack and overpowered Sirius, but before Harry could kill him, Remus Lupin, who had seen Peter Pettigrew's name on the Marauder's Map, burst in. He asked to see Scabbers. Ron hesitatingly pulled him out of his pockets and held him close to himself. To the Trio's great disbelief, Remus and Sirius revealed that Scabbers was the illegal Animagus Pettigrew (PA17).
Sirius lunged at Scabbers, who was squealing and scratching Ron's already bleeding hands. Lupin held him back and argued that they had to explain everything to the Trio before they could kill Pettigrew. Ron declared that Lupin and Black were mad and tried to leave, but Remus held him back and told him to keep a good hold on Peter. Ron yelled that his rat was named Scabbers and tried to put him back into his pocket. He nearly fell over because the rat fought so hard. With a short interruption by Severus Snape, who was quickly knocked out by the Trio, Lupin explained that his friends had become Animagi for him and that Peter, not Sirius, had betrayed the Potters (PA18, PA19). Again, he demanded Scabbers from Ron, assuring the boy that they would do no harm to Scabbers if he was really just a rat.
Hesitantly, Ron handed the panicked rat over. Lupin held him in his outstretched hand. He and Sirius performed the spell that forced Peter to reveal himself together. There was a blue-white flash of light and Scabbers froze in mid-air, tiwtching. Then he began to transform into the small figure of Peter Pettigrew. "Scabbers", his cover indentity for a dozen years, was destroyed once and for all.
Pettigrew managed to escape and rejoin his old master the same night (PA19).
