The Guardian have compiled a list of the ten Best Fake Deaths in literature. Peter Pettigrew, the real life form of Ron's rat Scabbers, has made it on there.
Quote:
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by JK Rowling
In the third part of the Potter roman-fleuve, Peter Pettigrew pretends that Sirius Black has killed him, cutting off one of his own fingers to make it seem that the rest of him has been blasted to atoms. For 12 years he adopts the guise of Ron Weasley's pet rat, Scabbers. But the severed digit gives him away.
Source:
HPANA