One Unlikely Thing All Four Ex-Marauders Had in Common Till the End in Harry Potter

Summary:

• James, Sirius, and Remus all willingly gave their lives so Harry Potter could live.
• Peter Pettigrew hesitated when he was supposed to take Harry down and was killed for it.
• Pettigrew’s death cleared the way for Harry, so technically, the worst Marauder also sacrificed himself for The Boy Who Lived.

The Marauders used to be a close group of friends at Hogwarts, but, as the saying goes, one of them was not like the others. Peter Pettigrew ruined the lives of all his friends by betraying them, and we rightfully despise him for it. But what’s interesting is that in the end, some tiny bit of the Marauder woke up in him — and just like his three ex-friends, he sacrificed himself so that Harry Potter could live.

So until the end, those four people still had something in common, as unlikely as it is.

James, Sirius, and Remus Willingly Died for Harry

The sacrifice is much more obvious with the three other Marauders, so we’ll start with them. James Potter and his wife Lily both sacrificed themselves to save their baby son; while Lily died because she didn’t want to live in the world where she stepped aside, James was genuinely stalling Voldemort to win Harry more time.

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin died under similar circumstances: Harry’s godfather rushed to his defense during the Battle of the Ministry, and the local friendly werewolf fought for Harry in the Battle of Hogwarts where both he and his wife Tonks were killed. Both Sirius and Remus willingly risked their lives to help The Boy Who Lived.

Peter Helped Harry by Dying Because of Thinking to Help Him

The sentence above sounds weird, but that’s only because it is: unlike his three former friends, Peter Pettigrew didn’t exactly willingly sacrifice himself for Harry. Lord Voldemort killed him for even thinking about stepping aside and letting The Boy Who Lived escape, but still, as they say, it’s the thought that counts, right?

Pettigrew stalled for a moment when he was supposed to take the escaping Golden Trio down, and the magical hand Voldemort had gifted to him sensed his uncertainty.

The Dark Lord’s magic took it for disloyalty and killed Peter, thus opening the path for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Peter Pettigrew, though a terrible person, still hesitated at the final moment, and that saved Harry and his friends’ lives.

So in some way, Peter Pettigrew did sacrifice himself for Harry Potter, even though his situation was much more ambiguous than that of the other three Marauders.