Even fairly casual Harry Potter fans feel that they’ve got a handle on the traits of the four houses. Clever? Off to Ravenclaw you go. Brave? It’s Gryffindor for you. Just generally kind of nice? Hufflepuff is where you belong. And if you show any signs of evil – Slytherin is your home. But there’s a particularly weaselly character in the Harry Potter books and movies who came from none other than Gryffindor.
All discerning Harry Potter fans know that Prisoner of Azkaban is the best book and movie in the series. In the third installment, we’re introduced to the best Harry Potter characters – the Marauders. They are Remus Lupin AKA Moony (a werewolf), Peter Pettigrew AKA Wormtail (a rat), Sirius Black AKA Padfoot (a dog), and Harry’s father James AKA Prongs (a stag). They were four very close friends while at Hogwarts – and were all in Gryffindor.
For years, everyone believes that it’s Sirius who betrayed Harry’s parents’ location to Voldemort – who then murdered them. But it’s revealed in the best of the fantasy movies that it was Peter, who has been in hiding ever since, living as Ron’s pet rat Scabbers.
When Harry first gets to Hogwarts, he is completely new to the world of witches and wizards, so everything has to have the houses explained to him, along with everything else. One of the first things his new best friend Ron Weasley tells him is; “There’s not a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin.” The irony is that at that very moment, Ron is unwittingly harboring an extremely evil wizard – Peter Pettigrew, a Gryffindor.
After Sirius and Remus reveal that Scabbers is Wormtail, Peter returns to his Dark Lord, and serves as Voldemort‘s second-in-command. Peter even kills Cedric Diggory, in one of the most upsetting scenes from the films, but he ultimately couldn’t kill Harry when he had the chance.
Check out our guide to the best Harry Potter villains and the best Harry Potter spells. We’re eagerly anticipating House of the Dragon season 2 and Wednesday season 2.