Debunking the Pettigrew Plot Hole
The fact that Ron shared a bed with Peter Pettigrew for his first three years of school is weird. There’s no denying it. It’s weird for a lot of reasons, not least of which is that I wouldn’t share a bed with a rat even if it wasn’t concealing its true identity as the presumed-dead de facto murderer of my best friend’s parents. The Animagus thing, really, is just the icing on the cake as far as Book Three goes.
One thing that Ron sharing a bed with Pettigrew is not, however, is a plot hole. There’s a common talking point that’s always bandied about: Fred and George, and then Harry, had the Marauder’s Map for three years as Ron spent every night with Pettigrew, and we’re supposed to believe that none of them ever noticed? It sounds convincing at first glance, but the argument doesn’t hold water, and it’s high time it was debunked.
There’s no reason to use the map that way
Just think about how you use the Marauder’s Map. There are basically two ways: you check locations, or you check people. You check to make sure there’s no one standing by the statue of the one-eyed witch, or you check to make sure Filch and Snape are in their offices. Here’s what you don’t do: scan the map in every direction, taking in random people and noticing every single name.
Fred and George use the map for sneaking around the castle at night and going off-campus whenever they please. Neither use case merits checking on the occupants of the Gryffindor dormitories — where, of course, they’re probably standing themselves as they read the map before setting off.
There’s no need for Fred and George to ever track Ron’s whereabouts on the map; what do they care where Ron is when they’re sneaking off to Zonko’s? The “plot hole” argument, thus, rests on the idea that the twins would inevitably run across Pettigrew’s name in the course of their ordinary usage of the map. But again, the argument falls flat — for two reasons.
Tiny font, lots of names
The first is simple: volume. There are lots of people at Hogwarts, and the Marauder’s Map isn’t that big. The font is tiny, and there are hundreds of names. There’s no reason a user would notice any name that’s not directly involved in what they’re looking for.
This becomes obvious as Harry continues using the map. He sees his targets: Filch, Snape, Dumbledore, Umbridge, Malfoy, etc. But who doesn’t he notice? Anyone else! He never mentions noticing Susan Bones in the charms classroom or Anthony Goldstein in the entrance hall. To take note of those minutiae would be a waste of time, just as it would for Fred and George to keep a close eye on every single name they saw as they planned out their evening hijinks.
Who is this guy, anyway?
The second reason, though, is almost equally important: until Book Three, “Peter Pettigrew” is not a meaningful name. He isn’t mentioned in the first two books. Fred and George, for all we know, don’t learn about him until the same time the trio does, or much later. So during the period when Fred and George are utilizing the map, there’s no reason for Pettigrew’s name to jump off the page and stand out from all the others.
The name “Elvis Presley” would certainly stand out on the map — just as the name “Robert Wilson” wouldn’t. When Harry sees “Bartemius Crouch” skulking around the dungeons, that’s a name that stands out; everyone knows who Mr. Crouch is, and why it’s strange that his name has shown up. Peter Pettigrew, for most of the first three books, is the opposite. Maybe his name is widely known in the adult wizarding community, but for the people who use the Marauder’s Map, there’s no reason to believe his name means anything.
Of course, this doesn’t apply once they give Harry the map, but Harry doesn’t use the map that often. He goes to Hogsmeade a few times; Lupin confiscates the map; that’s that.
Put it all together, and the point is simple: Fred and George had no reason to notice Pettigrew sharing their brother’s bed (ew). They have the Marauder’s Map, and clearly, they could have detected Pettigrew if they’d looked for him — but the whole reason his 12-year ruse succeeded was that he convinced people not to look for him. And short of looking directly for somebody, ordinary use of the map isn’t going to entail noticing every one of the hundreds of names in the school. In the “plot hole” theory, we have an assertion that might seem unimpeachable the first time you hear it. But dig deep enough into the hole, and you’ll find that in fact, it’s no hole at all.
