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saintsenara · 3 months

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I’ve curious about something you said… you mention that you believe 💯 that Barty Crouch Jr was a full on DE/Blood purist Before being sent to Azkaban but to me the trial scene made me think otherwise- could you elaborate on why you think he was faking and is a true DE?

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

barty crouch jr. is - obviously - a fascinating character. but this doesn't override the fact that his primary purpose in goblet of fire is to be a narrative device: the plot twist of the century at the denouement of the book, when "professor moody" is revealed as an imposter; and a man everyone assumed to be dead is revealed to be alive; and a man many people [including harry and, it's implied, dumbledore] suspected - on the basis of his performance at his trial - might simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, rather than a fanatical death eater, is revealed to be... a fanatical death eater, who has been working for a full year to facilitate voldemort's resurrection.

like in a murder mystery, the narrative purpose of crouch jr.'s unmasking at the end of the book is to reveal that several things the text presents as clues before harry [the reader surrogate] has all the information are actually red herrings once he does.

the first of these is that, like philosopher's stone, goblet of fire goes out of its way to suggest that the faithful death eater at hogwarts is snape - which it does magnificently:

A grim smile twisted his lopsided mouth. “Oh if there’s one thing I hate,” he muttered, more to himself than to Harry, and his magical eye was fixed on the left-hand corner of the map, “it’s a Death Eater who walked free...” Harry stared at him. Could Moody possibly mean what Harry thought he meant?

harry - and, therefore, the reader - is, of course, immediately primed to interpret this as the real moody suggesting that snape is still suspected of being a loyal death eater. what we learn later, of course, is that crouch-as-moody is actually accusing snape of being disloyal:

“I told you, Harry... I told you. If there’s one thing I hate more than any other, it’s a Death Eater who walked free. They turned their backs on my master when he needed them most.”

and the second is that goblet of fire treats barty crouch sr. not as a villain - per se - but as one of the long line of civil servants who appear in the series whose commitment to doing everything by the book - being precise, bureaucratic, inflexible, and so on - only ends up making them extraordinarily cruel. crouch is the precursor to how percy will behave in order of the phoenix, and he also has numerous things in common with how dolores umbridge [an unambiguous villain] and rufus scrimgeour [an antagonist, but not a villain] are written.

the text suggests on multiple occasions prior to its denouement that crouch's rigidity made him incapable of mercy [a virtue the series really values].

but, in addition to this, it suggests that crouch's cardinal sin isn't that he didn't show mercy to the genuinely guilty... but that he didn't show mercy to the innocent.

how do we know this? because he's the man who's responsible for the miscarriage of justice which defines the series:

Sirius’s face darkened. He suddenly looked as menacing as he had the night when Harry first met him, the night when Harry still believed Sirius to be a murderer. “Oh I know Crouch all right,” he said quietly. “He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban - without a trial.”

sirius also tells us that crouch was power-hungry and corrupt:

"Crouch’s principles might’ve been good in the beginning - I wouldn’t know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort’s supporters. The Aurors were given new powers - powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn’t the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side."

and he also gives the reader a nibble at the other half of this red herring, when he suggests that barty crouch jr. might have been nothing more than a victim of his father's ruthlessness, just like winky - the innocent house elf whose cruel treatment at crouch sr.'s hands not only infuriates hermione, but is also given by sirius as proof of crouch's near-villainy:

“Was his son a Death Eater?” said Harry. “No idea,” said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. “I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I’ve found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I’d bet my life were Death Eaters - but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf.”

when harry ends up in the pensieve a couple of chapters later, then, he and the reader are primed to view barty crouch jr.'s hysterics on the stand as authentic, to be horrified that crouch sr. could send his son to azkaban with such brutal ease, and to highly suspect that his conviction - like sirius' - was illegitimate.

but - of course - the twist at the end of the book is that harry [and sirius] is completely wrong about this.

barty crouch sr.'s decision to send his own son to azkaban was the right one. and the thing that ruined him was not making a ruthless decision, but making a merciful one.

because, as barty crouch jr. tells us, his father breaking him out of azkaban, around a year after sending him there, meant nothing to him... other than the chance to return to voldemort:

these are not the words of someone who was anything other than a sincere death eater when he and the lestranges attacked frank and alice longbottom.

and they are, therefore, the words of someone whose performance of horrified innocence - just in the wrong place at the wrong time - at his trial is one hundred percent fake.

#asks answered #asenora meta #barty crouch jr

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hollowed-theory-hall · 6 months

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Justice for Barty Crouch Jr: Part 2/2

(Part 1)

So, what was Barty's plan? Why did he care about Harry? And what about what he said under Veratiserum?

What I'm going to do is go through the final scenes in the GoF relevant to Barty's characterization and then write down all the conclusions together. For more of the evidence that led me to this point, see Part 1.

After The Third Task

Barty (as Moody) takes Harry away to his office the moment he returns with the cup. And there are quite a few interesting things to note in this scene...

“In here, Harry . . . in here, and sit down. . . . You’ll be all right now . . . drink this. . . .” Harry heard a key scrape in a lock and felt a cup being pushed into his hands. “Drink it . . . you’ll feel better . . . come on, now, Harry, I need to know exactly what happened. . . .” Moody helped tip the stuff down Harry’s throat; he coughed, a peppery taste burning his throat. Moody’s office came into sharper focus, and so did Moody himself. . . . He looked as white as Fudge had looked, and both eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Harry’s face. “Voldemort’s back, Harry? You’re sure he’s back? How did he do it?” “He took stuff from his father’s grave, and from Wormtail, and me,” said Harry. His head felt clearer; his scar wasn’t hurting so badly; he could now see Moody’s face distinctly, even though the office was dark. He could still hear screaming and shouting from the distant Quidditch field. “What did the Dark Lord take from you?” said Moody. “Blood,” said Harry, raising his arm. His sleeve was ripped where Wormtail’s dagger had torn it. Moody let out his breath in a long, low hiss. “And the Death Eaters? They returned?” “Yes,” said Harry. “Loads of them . . .” “How did he treat them?” Moody asked quietly. “Did he forgive them?” But Harry had suddenly remembered. He should have told Dumbledore, he should have said it straightaway — “There’s a Death Eater at Hogwarts! There’s a Death Eater here — they put my name in the Goblet of Fire, they made sure I got through to the end —” Harry tried to get up, but Moody pushed him back down. “I know who the Death Eater is,” he said quietly.

(Goblet of Fire, pages 673-674)

Now, this scene is after Voldemort came back. Barty is about to tell Harry he's the death Eater who put his name in the goblet. I already covered how he didn't actually act like Moody throughout the book, and I don't expect him to start now once the charade is over. So, in this scene, we have Barty at his most honest. Just him and Harry.

and what is the first thing he does?

Give Harry a Pepperup Potion.

The peppery, burning taste Harry describes along with the calming effect after he drank it fit the description of the Peperup Potion. It's a healing and warming potion meant for the common cold, but would generally make the drinker feel better. What's interesting here, is that the first thing Barty does is give Harry a healing potion, why? he's about to reveal himself; all he needs is for Harry to tell him if Voldemort is back or not, he doesn't need Harry calm for that, not really. He still goes out of his way to help Harry, even once he really doesn't have to.

The second bolded part is Harry's description of Moody. He is pale and terrified. Why is he scared? Harry already told him Voldemort returned, isn't that what he wanted?

Well, I don't think so. I think that the fear he sees on Barty/Moody, that is a fear of Voldemort. He fears Voldemort's return just like Fudge (well, maybe not just like, but you get the gist). Barty proceeds to assert Voldemort is indeed back. And he's scared by Harry's answer that yes, he is.

He then asks about the Death Eaters, and some of it is still his envy, but part of it now, is fear. He knows another war is coming and he's scared. He doesn't actually want the death and torture. The only death he actually wanted was his own father's, not anyone else's. Not even Harry's.

I think Barty is similar to Regulus in that respect.

He joined the Death Eaters willingly, for his own personal reasons (spiting his father, rebelling against him, but also trying to get his father's attention), and then realized what he got into and had no way out. And even worse, he ended up in Azkaban for it, for Death Eater crimes, he personally didn't commit.

I mean, why would Barty hiss in sympathetic pain at seeing Harry's injury moments before he tells him he's a Death Eater? The only explanation is that it's real. That it isn't an act. That he does sympathize with Harry's pain and doesn't want this 14-year-old hurt.

Look at how he says he knows who the Death Eater is. It almost looks like regret and shame. Because it might very well be just that.

And what does he do then, after he tells Harry? You'd expect a loyal Death Eater to take him straight to Voldemort, maybe kill him himself. But that's not what Barty does. Barty starts monologing:

“You didn’t . . . it — it can’t be you. . . .” “Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did. Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt you or prevent you from winning the tournament? I did. Who nudged Hagrid into showing you the dragons? I did. Who helped you see the only way you could beat the dragon? I did.” Moody’s magical eye had now left the door. It was fixed upon Harry. His lopsided mouth leered more widely than ever.

(Goblet of Fire, page 676)

Barty explains to Harry everything that he did. Every part of the ploy he was so obvious about it's a wonder Dumbledore didn't call him out. But why? What's the point in telling Harry if he's about to die?

I wondered this and I noticed the sentence I bolded. His magical eye was looking at the door.

So what? he was watching to see if he had time to kill Harry. He couldn't kill him if he got caught.

The thing is, I think it's the opposite. I think Barty planned to get caught. I mean, why else would he spend so long monologing? He's buying time.

Moody’s wand was still pointing directly at Harry’s heart. Over his shoulder, foggy shapes were moving in the Foe-Glass on the wall.

...

The foggy shapes in the Foe-Glass were sharpening, had become more distinct. Harry could see the outlines of three people over Moody’s shoulder, moving closer and closer. But Moody wasn’t watching them. His magical eye was upon Harry.

(Goblet of Fire, pages 677-678)

Moody's eye is magical, if the Foe-Glass saw the professors coming, Barty saw them too when he looked at the door. And yes, he's pointing his wand at Harry, but he isn't actually doing anything. Just pointing it and buying time, like he's waiting for Dumbledore to arrive and stop him.

The same way he bought time this whole year. I think the reason the plan took the whole year to execute was mostly this. Barty had plenty of opportunities to get Harry to Voldemort, but he didn't. No, instead he helped him through all the tasks while doing a really bad job of acting like Moody. I think he took so long because he wanted to be caught. He hoped someone would catch him and stop Voldemort from returning — Dumbledore mostly.

After all, we see Barty is scared of Voldemort's return, not joyous.

Veratiserum

So, now we need to talk about the scene where he was questioned under Veratiserum. Veratiserum is a truth serum that forces the drinker to only speak the truth.

A note about the evidence received with the use of the Veratiserum: The potion can't be legally used for testimony since some wizards can resist it. It is considered: "unfair and unreliable to use at a trial". This is the same as lie detectors (like a polygraph test) being generally not admissible as evidence in court here in the real world.

As such, anything Barty says under the influence of Veratiserum comes with the caveat of it potentially being a lie. Considering he did learn to resist the Imperius Curse marginally and thought Harry to resist it as well, it is possible he can resist Veratiserum as well. We even see hints, that he potentially does resist it.

Crouch’s son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level. “Can you hear me?” Dumbledore asked quietly. The man’s eyelids flickered. “Yes,” he muttered.

(Goblet of Fire, page 683)

Here we have the description of how someone should look under the effects of Veratiserum. The drinker would have a blank face and expression, gaze not focused on anything. They are emotionless and hazy. Remember that description for later.

“And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?” said Dumbledore quietly. “Staged my mother’s death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master . . . of returning to his service.” “How did your father subdue you?” said Dumbledore. “The Imperius Curse,” Crouch said. “I was under my father’s control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior.”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 684-685)

This is Barty's explanation of how his father controlled him with the Imperius. But I want to point out one odd part here. The part I outlined is odd because Barty hesitates. there are three dots indicating a pause like he is considering his words, something that shouldn't be possible under Veratiserum. And notice what he talks about when it happens. He talks about Voldemort.

I am uncertain why he would choose to lie about that... I assume it's out of fear. Knowing the way Voldemort tracked down and killed Karkaroff when he turned traitor, I assume Barty knew his fate would be the same if he betrayed Voldemort. After a whole year of trying to get Dumbledore to notice he wasn't acting like his friend, Moody, and failing, I don't think he trusted Dumbledore's ability to protect him from Voldemort.

This is also why he didn't just openly tell Dumbledore what was going on. He was scared of a fate much worse than what the ministry would throw at him if he was found by Voldemort to be a traitor. But also, if he turned traitor, nothing would stop Voldemort from sending someone else to finish Barty's mission, someone who'd actually want to do it. By pretending to be loyal, Barty is ensuring he can buy Harry time. Time, Dumbledore isn't using.

“Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then . . . and then . . .” Crouch’s head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. “My master came for me. “He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant — perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door.” The smile spread wider over Crouch’s face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life. Winky’s petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak.

(Goblet of Fire, pages 687-688)

Again, before talking about Voldemort, he thinks of his words. He stutters and pauses his speech. He changes his expression, he's grinning. Veratiserum should keep the drinker's faces slack and emotionless. To me, this indicates something suspicious, not Barty's insanity.

Especially when considering his behavior throughout the books that indicates he's trying to sabotage Voldemort's resurrection.

“And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?” said Dumbledore. “He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first —” “You needed Alastor Moody,” said Dumbledore

(Goblet of Fire, page 688)

Again, his speech is odd for Veratiserum. He speaks with convection and emotion, repeating his statements, his language is more flowery and not short and truthful, all things I wouldn't expect from someone dosed with Veratiserum.

Also, risk everything? What did Barty have to risk? He was a prisoner under the Imperius Curse in his father's basement. He had nowhere worse he could go.

He was desperate to leave the hell that was his life for 12 years, he'll tell Voldemort anything he wanted to hear. And, well, it's not like he could say no to Voldemort, could he?

“For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father.”

...

“You killed your father,” Dumbledore said, in the same soft voice. “What did you do with the body?” “Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come. “Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father’s body. Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father’s body. He became a bone . . . I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid’s cabin.”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 690-691)

I have two main notes about this part. The first is about not hurting Harry because Voldemort needs him. That explanation is bullshit. Barty said he stunned Krum, nothing stopped him from stunning Harry, it wouldn't have actually harmed him. A single, not very powerful stunner would've been nothing. I wouldn't really consider it harmful. Barty just didn't stun Hary because he didn't want to.

The second is when he speaks about how he hid his father's body. The reason I bolded it, is because it shows Barty is reasonable (to a degree) and intelligent. He is magically talented enough and smart enough to come up with a great plan to get away with his father's murder. It shows that all the odd inconsistencies, his choice not to act like Moody, to help Harry when he doesn't have to, to not stun Harry with a stupid senseless excuse, monologing to give Dumbledore time to catch him — it was all deliberate.

He's too intelligent for it not to be deliberate. And here too, we see that pause again. Like he was considering whether to reveal where his father was buried or not. He decided to reveal it because they could dig up the bone and check his testimony, and he needed them to believe him. So he had to be mostly truthful, just cover up some of the minor details, like what he thought about Voldemort.

I believe, that when he chose to get caught, he knew he was likely to die. But a quick death is probably better than the treatment of a traitor Death Eater.

Conclusions

Barty Crouch Jr didn't torture the Longbottoms.

He joined the Death Eaters to spite his father. He realized he was not cut out for it, but it was too late, he was already marked.

He was then sent to Azkaban for a crime he did not commit. He was then broken out only for his father to keep him imprisoned. Both weighed on his psyche heavily.

In the Quidditch World Cup, Hermione theorizes the person who cast the Dark Mark tried to scare the attackers away — she was probably right and that was Barty's intention.

He didn't go searching for Voldemort, Voldemort came for him, not giving him a choice but to comply.

So he went to Hogwarts, but he went far beyond necessary to protect Harry and encourage him. Along with giving him advice that Harry continues living by even after learning Barty's true identity. Showing Barty did truly care for Harry, at least to some degree.

His plan, during the year, had two layers: The first was to ruin his father's reputation (the reputation his father cared about more than his son). The second is to drag Voldemort's mission for him as long as possible with the hope of alerting Dumbledore without alerting Voldemort. All this while helping Harry along the way as much as he could without revealing to Voldemort he is a traitor.

Barty was terrified of Voldemort's return and actively worked against it, if in a limited way.

When what he feared (Voldemort's return) did come to pass, he bought as much time as he could, at the cost of his own life, so Harry and he could get the word out.

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regheart · 3 months

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barty crouch jr, what a guy. resurrected voldemort. strawberry blond hair and freckles. absolute nerd. daddy issues so bad it freaked out voldemort. ugly crier. taught seven classes after eleven years not socializing with anyone besides his house elf. weird unexplored relationship with the lestranges. mommy issues too for good riddance. convinced dumbledore to let him use unforgivables on class. made a convoluted plot to humiliate his dad as a side job to kidnapping harry. relevant for only one book. god, i would love to read a fanfiction about him any day!

#the guy you have going around is an impostor #weird meta moment #barty crouch jr

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chocoramo-cow · 8 months

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Regulus Arcturus Black and Bartemius Crouch jr. joining a nazi wizard death cult to get back at their families (1978, colorized)

#barty crouch jr #barty crouch junior #barty crouch senior #death eaters #hp meta #harry potter #shit post #regulus black #regulus #black family #walburga black #kreacher #winky

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teaforthotxxx · 1 year

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Not me thinking of how hinny (harry x ginny) in the books would have gone if Jegulus and Marlily raised harry!!

Like Harry def told Mary and Lily first. Cause hes tryna attract a girl. WTF DO REGULUS AND JAMES know about getting a girl? Also, he wld def ask Mary how she got Lily cause Ginny looks like Lily. I think Marlene wld pull out Mary’s old diary and show Harry a page titled “PLANS TO GET RED”!! I think Mary wouldn’t be much help but Marlene definitely had a “HOW TO GET THE CUTE SLYTHERIN” and she would cancel the word slytherin and replace it with Chaser (Ginny).

I feel like he would only really involve his dads after he gets tgt with Ginny and realises he’s broken 1918827828 friendship codes by dating his best mate’s little sister (something James knows a thing or two abt). Obviously, James would pretend he’s above it all and say “just tell Ron. I mean at worst you get beat up. Padfoot chewed all of my red converses and ate my autographed quaffle. I’m sure Ron is wayyyyyy nicer.” Of course, Harry will tune that out the same way James tuned out Arthur’s same advice. Instead, he’ll look for the diabolical slytherin aka SLYTHERIN SKITTLES for help.

Big mistake: Barty and Dorcas are laughing so hard they fall down. Pandora who already knows how this is gonna end (cause she is a seer) is sighing. Evan is trying to help but can’t because AGAIN what does he know about girls? And also he’s engaged to an only child!! Regulus AKA Professor BLACK to the rest of the students is sighing and questioning how Harry not only managed to find but also date someone who is a mix of both himself and Lily (the two great loves of James’ life).

Unable to help, Regulus will probably refer him to Sirius (consult the enemy). Sirius is probably the last one to know about Hinny (naturally, Reg and Remus found out first cause they work at Hogwarts). He is definitely very salty about it (EVEN PETE knew before him). So, Sirius wouldn’t help his godson. He’d just say something about karma after Harry sasses him for the thirtieth that day.

Eventually, Harry gives up and comes clean to Ron. He braces himself but Ron just goes “oh ok. Sorry I already knew.” He was completely fine with it cause urm Ginny is her own person? And he respects her? So, Harry relaxes. He doesn’t have to sleep in the room of requirements for fear that Ron will send a rat to him. That is until he feels two identical hands on both sides of his shoulders. Fred and George Weasley are looking down at him with matching mischievous grins. “So you’re dating our little Ginny eh?”

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 1 year

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What if, in PoA, Buckbeak's trial had been on a non-full moon day, meaning Remus didn’t transform and Peter would have been brought to Dumbledore?

Well, the thing is, Dumbledore's in a bit of a bind with this one.

Dumbledore, Bones, and Crouch Sr were the ones with the authority who sent Sirius to prison with no trial/no investigation of any kind in which Sirius was asked any questions or given veritiserum.

Fudge at this period of time will jump on this chance to oust Bones but more importantly discredit Crouch Sr and utterly ruin any chance he has of reviving his political career (Fudge and Crouch Sr are bitter political rivals and within a few months Crouch Sr is reviving the Triwizard Tournament in a bid to put himself on the map again, the last thing Fudge wants).

Fudge doesn't care too much about Dumbledore, the pair aren't at odds yet and somewhat cooperate with each other despite Dumbledore not being thrilled about the dementors on campus, but he'd be a casualty that Fudge is easily willing to risk.

Now, if Dumbledore was the only one who knew, then he might do something to prevent the scandal/potential loss of any of his positions. Peter would have a little accident before he could be handed over to the authorities and "oh, how tragic, now we have no proof, well Sirius I guess you have to live in a basement somewhere", but the way things were headed the ministry would hear soon enough including those not in Dumbledore's pocket.

So, Dumbledore goes all in. He's appalled that he never thought to question whether or not Sirius was the true secret keeper and sees this as a deep personal failing. He will do everything in his power to right this wrong and convince Crouch Sr and Bones to apologize publicly as well.

Pettigrew's swiftly put on trial then sent to Azkaban before anyone can blink and much to do is made of Sirius's recuperating and reentering society. I imagine Dumbledore gives him a staff position at Hogwarts, noting this way he can catch up with Harry, and to keep him happy and from not having too much resentment.

As for Voldemort, honestly, nothing changes. He wasn't exactly hiding in Albania. If you went to Albania, you tended to find the guy. He's like the Ring, he wants to be found.

This means that Barty gets to nurse Voldemort back to health and Barty's able to put together the Triwizard Tournament sabotage Harry plan.

There are likely some minor differences as Barty's going to have to be at the ritual site to lose a hand in the cauldron, which means he's not confronted afterwards by Harry and likely lives.

Canon proceeds otherwise as usual.

#harry potter #harry potter meta #harry potter headcanon #barty crouch sr #barty crouch jr #albus dumbledore #meta #headcanon #opinion

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alpleo · 1 year

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Complete List of Marauder's Era Students

Tell me if I missed anyone! Under the cut because it is a very long list. I'm defining Marauder's Era as the seven years the Marauders were attending Hogwarts. Includes some fanon first names. Organised A-Z by surname. Some liberties taken with uncertain birth dates.

Betram Aubrey Duncan Ashe Avery II Andromeda Black Narcissa Black Regulus Black Sirius Black Edgar Bones Alecto Carrow Amycus Carrow Richard Carter Glenda Chittock Oscar Crabbe Dirk Cresswell Bartemius Crouch Jr. Caradoc Dearborn Dedalus Diggle Lily Evans Lucretia Fawley Benjy Fenwick Mundungus Fletcher Flilus Flitwick Florence Florence BF Florean Fortescue Cornelius Fudge Albert Gibbon Benjamin Goyle Olivia Green Gareth Greengrass Davey Gudgeon Daisy Hooklum Mafalda Hopkirk Jacob Marshall Johnson Hestia Jones Bertha Jorkins Bradley Jugson RJH King Steve Laughalot Rabastan Lestrange Rodolphus Lestrange Gilderoy Lockhart Frank Longbottom Alice Longbottom Pandora Lovegood Xenophilius Lovegood Remus Lupin Mary MacDonald Walden Macnair Lucius Malfoy Marlene Mckinnon Tarquin McTavish Dorcas Meadowes Alastar Moody Quinn Montague Mulciber II Peter Pettigrew Sturgis Podmore James Potter Quirinus Quirrell Patricia Rakepick Augustus Rookwood Evan Rosier Thorfinn Rowle Albert Runcorn Isaac Selwyn Kingsley Shacklebolt Gaspard Shingleton Severus Snape Timothy Snyde Lucinda Talkalot Tilden Toots Rupert Travers Sybill Trelawney Dolores Umbridge Emmeline Vance Emma Vanity Wilkes

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st-clements-steps · 7 months

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Yeah, yeah, there’s a character called Wolfboy Wolfish but also there’s a character called Honourable Son Crucifix

And his dad sacrifices him and then he kills his dad.

Also, there’s that time he introduces all the unforgivable curses, including Crucio from the Latin to torture or to crucify.

Oh and it’s a kids book.

And at the end, his soul gets sucked into non existence.

But it’s still a kids book.

#barty crouch jr #honourable son crucifix the younger #marauders #marauders meta #harry potter #harry potter meta #baby deatheaters #baby deatheaters meta #kinda maybe #I tagged jr but if we’re britpicking a wizard born in early 60s Britain then Junior can fuck off

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fandoomrants · 2 months

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There is this tiny detail most people often forget.

Barty being a Death Eater was a complete shock.

His father was telling people about his 12 O.W.Ls and was proud of him.

He wasn't this crazy punk, not in front of people. He was from a good family, and very smart. He was most likely an angel™️ in front of society, and everyone thought he was the perfect son.

And somehow this makes it all even more hilarious.

Imagine this perfectly well-behaved young man, very careful with his words, knowing all the high society etiquette of how to behave, dance, what fork to use when eating a fancy meal, etc.

And now feel free to add all the freaky hcs and punk-ness and stuff to this image but only behind closed doors and in front of people he is truly comfortable with.

(Imagine the shock from the contrast)

#hp meta #hp #marauders #marauders era #barty crouch jr #rosekiller #i think it's hilarious #i think it's something he and regulus had in common #the picture of innocence vs what they were actually like #the slytherin skittles

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foursaints · 9 months

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this is what barty crouch jr feels like. if anyone cares.

#SORRY THIS IS JUST FOR ME. HES SOOO LANCELOT IT MAKES ME SICK #what if the archetypical fairytale knight was also a fundamentally bad person. what if he was also? like? an edgy e-boy?#he was doing all that and in Vans too?#barty meta tag #character of all fucking time #barty crouch jr #mb #saints speaks 🐇

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saintsenara · 1 year

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You mentioned fanon turning barty crouch jr. into an uninteresting character. I don't know much about what the new fanon characterisation has really done with him, but I'm curious for your thoughts on why he's a canonically interesting character. I agree that he is, but it sounds like you might have some interesting thoughts on it that are already fleshed out.

thank you for the ask, @jamesunderwater, and i'm sorry for taking so long to drag myself around to answering this.

as you may have gathered if you’ve read my views on jegulus or wolfstar, the common fanon interpretation of marauders-era characters and i don’t really get on.

this is not a new development - me and goofy fanon sirius have been beefing for over a decade at this point, i fear - but our enmity has taken on a new form since [roughly] 2020, when the emergence of what we might call the modern marauders subfandom brought with it a whole series of expectations about characters, ships, personalities, and appearances in first war stories which - let me state my position immediately - have absolutely nothing to do with the characters as they are in canon.

i could talk about sirius or regulus or james or snape or lupin until the cows come home - as, i’m sure, could many of us - but i also dislike the expectations the marauders subfandom has around its supporting cast. these characters - who largely fall under the categories of women, slytherins, or both - have names that we might recognise from canon, but they are - to all intents and purposes - original characters.

to do some marauders fan defending, i do understand the rationale behind this. hogwarts is a school, and it needs to be filled with the sort of incidental characters that lightning-era writers can pull from the canon text [shoutout to ernie macmillan, the mvp]. if you’re writing about lily, then she needs friends - why not have them be alice, marlene, dorcas, emmeline, pandora etc.?

[well, because dumbledore isn’t running a child army. it makes no sense for the entire order of the phoenix to be in the same school year - and the idea that alice is probably around ten years older than lily, that pandora is around the same age as narcissa malfoy and isn’t a pureblood, and that marlene, dorcas, and emmeline are hard-nosed ministry bitches in their fifties who can have mad-eye moody quaking with just a look is something which can be prised from my cold, dead hands.]

and if you’re writing about the epic highs and lows of high-school football going to school during a sectarian conflict, then you need some antagonists. which is to say, you need some slytherins.

the issue i have is that the three key slytherins who seem to have been elevated to principal cast in the marauders pantheon - regulus black, barty crouch jr., and evan rosier - get what can only be called the smol bean treatment. that is, that three teenagers who all canonically join a terror organisation are turned into soft and tiny babies who thought lord voldemort was just feeling silly when he said, "my aim is the eradication of the muggleborn population through violent means."

and even fics which do acknowledge that the three willingly become terrorists often go out of their way to provide justifications for this which don’t contextualise their decision [something which is important - you can’t write about snape becoming a death eater without acknowledging the way that poverty, loneliness, and a sense of hopelessness make someone an easy target of radicalisation] but which minimise it. sometimes, their violence is turned into romantic vengeance - i’ve seen a fair amount of suggestions that barty goes to torture the longbottoms because frank was the auror who killed evan. sometimes, authors imply - or even outright state - that there’s no need to see these boys as aspiring villains: voldemort is right; the class system is good and should be maintained; and purebloods [usually james, sirius, regulus, barty, evan and maybe a token woman or two] should stick together while the half-breeds and the mudbloods go hang.

this - like all aristocracy wank in this fandom - annoys me enough with regulus and evan. but it’s particularly grating when it comes to barty crouch jr. because - unlike evan, who is literally just a name in the text, and regulus, who isn’t much more - he actually has a canon personality.

and it’s fascinating. indeed, i would even go so far as to say that barty crouch jr. is the greatest villain in the harry potter series.

[my apologies to lord voldemort.]

after all, even though he’s been imprisoned under the imperius curse for over a decade, barty is still so lucid and powerful that he is able to:

produce magic capable of tricking the goblet of fire, which is treated by all the adult characters involved as unprecedented.

pull off a year-long impersonation of a man whom dumbledore evidently knows extremely well without being clocked until his mission has been successful, even though his opportunities to observe the real moody can have been virtually non-existent. he is in character within seconds of his ambush on moody’s home - after the intruder-alert dustbins are set off - and is able to persuade ministry personnel who can be presumed to have met moody personally [including both amos diggory and arthur weasley, who appear to know him not only personally, but well] that he is the real deal. he maintains his performance even under close scrutiny from the teaching colleagues he has to interact with daily at hogwarts, despite the fact that he presumably can’t get a great deal out of the real moody, since he’s having to be kept deliberately weak and docile under the imperius curse.

manipulate multiple people into become accessories to his crimes, without ever being suspected of doing so. with the hindsight of knowing who he is, the first defence against the dark arts lesson in goblet of fire, in which "moody" deliberately distresses neville by using the cruciatus curse directly in front of him, before swooping in to be the person to cheer him up so that he can plant information which will help harry win the triwizard tournament and deliver him to voldemort, is chilling. he just gets unlucky that harry has the biggest martyr complex in human history.

commit murder on hogwarts’ grounds without ever being suspected of wrongdoing.

execute lord voldemort’s plan to kidnap harry and use him in his resurrection ritual flawlessly. the plan itself may be convoluted - but dark lords are allowed to have a flair for the dramatic, as a treat - but, crucially, it works, and barty succeeds in every respect.

but, i concede, we’re talking about the adult barty here. perhaps he was once a sweetheart who went unfortunately off the rails after his father sent him to prison and then - in effect - drugged him for years. that wouldn’t be a ridiculous suggestion.

except for the fact that - canonically - the teen barty was just as clever, sly, manipulative, and - above all - ardent in his support for voldemort as his adult self.

at his trial in the early 1980s, young barty gives the performance of a lifetime. he screams, he shakes, he looks terrified of the dementors, he is pale and weak and harmless-looking, he begs his mother to help him, he pleads with his father for mercy, he maintains his innocence as he's dragged off to his cell. he gives off the impression of simply having been in the wrong place at the wrong time so well that harry is almost certain that his conviction is illegitimate. so too, it is implied, is dumbledore.

indeed, barty plays the part of the wrongfully imprisoned so well that - as canon tells us - he not only influences public opinion to be broadly in favour of his probable innocence [or, at least, his diminished culpability - sirius suggests that the widespread view was that he was probably there, but that he only ended up involved in what was clearly bellatrix’s idea because of his father’s failure to relate to him properly], but also changes public opinion against the government’s anti-death-eater strategy entirely.

following his imprisonment, his father - a man who never met an extrajudicial punishment he didn’t like, and whose ruthless approach to dealing with the death eaters in the first war [such as his use of internment for suspected terrorists and his order to aurors to shoot to kill] was, we are told, enormously popular with the wizarding public - is forced to resign in disgrace from his role as head of the department of magical law enforcement. crouch sr. is quietly shuffled off into a boring bureaucratic position, his ambitions to be minister in tatters, and his only way forward to free his son from the prison cell where he is languishing for the crime he very literally did.

[as an aside, i do think that we are supposed to read bellatrix as the ringleader of the torture of the longbottoms. but, all too often, that gets reduced to her doing everything while rodolphus, rabastan, and barty just stand there gormlessly. they were clearly performing the curses too!]

now, barty’s unusual cunning can - of course - be explained by narrative reasons. the text needs to conceal that he’s the villain [since, as with philosopher’s stone, it wants to imply that the dark lord’s faithful servant at hogwarts is snape] until the very end - and this naturally requires dumbledore to not think too hard about whether his good judy alastor is behaving even more strangely than usual.

the text also needs to suggest that he's innocent in order to properly stick the landing on the narrative role of his father - barty crouch sr. as with dolores umbridge in order of the phoenix, crouch sr. exists to show harry [and the reader] that the rot in the wizarding world was not caused by - and will not stop with the defeat of - voldemort. his ruthlessness and inflexibility, his lack of respect for due process, his astonishingly cruel treatment of winky [brutal beyond even the standard way in which wizards abuse their enslaved elves] all serve to teach harry that the anti-voldemort cause can become just as easily corrupted as the disillusioned young men in voldemort’s orbit. the suggestion that crouch sent his own son to azkaban without good reason, simply because he would not deviate from his beliefs, is an important lesson to harry about what "justice" actually means.

but, despite this, barty is also able to pull off his deception because he’s spectacularly talented. it’s not all just narrative.

and his talents are caused by characteristics which aren’t good or bad in and of themselves. he’s clearly very intelligent [he got twelve owls, the series’ benchmark for genius]. he’s hyper-observant, creative, adaptable, good under pressure, and possessed of nerves of steel. he shares these traits with other villains in the series - voldemort above all - but he also shares them with plenty of the heroes. harry, for one.

which is to say that all of his personality traits could be put to non-criminal uses. but - as with harry, who is capable of being quite sinister when he wants to be [for example, when he manipulates slughorn into giving up the horcrux memory] - they would give a non-criminal barty an edge. and this doesn’t seem to be present in his standard fanon persona - as sweet and goofy as all marauders-era men - to any great extent.

finally, there is another aspect of barty’s character which is absent from his fanon version - that he clearly has some sort of childhood trauma, but that this does not excuse any of what he does.

even though crouch sr. is right to send him to azkaban, he was clearly also a cold and distant father, who had absolutely no idea how to relate to his son.

[as another aside, this emotional negligence is bad enough without it needing to be written as having been accompanied by extreme physical and/or sexual abuse. there seems to be a real tendency in fanfiction - not only in marauders-era stuff, although the exaggeration of orion and walburga black into despotic villains is one example of this - to make childhood misery "worse", in order to justify a character’s later actions.]

voldemort demonstrably uses barty’s terrible relationship with crouch sr. [and his absolutely flagrant daddy kink] to groom him into taking the dark mark [not least because there’s otherwise no explanation for why he cheerfully informs him that he too is named after his dad], which he may very well end up taking when he’s still at school. my reading is that he’s recruited to inform on his father - since voldemort would undoubtedly wish to keep the head of the department of magical law enforcement under constant surveillance - and that this is why the dark lord pays him the attention he is so obviously lacking.

but, as with snape and regulus and draco malfoy and all the other young death eaters, barty also colludes in his own radicalisation. voldemort is a master at ensnaring recruits, sure, but he’s also a busy man. he only bothers to make the effort because the clever, creative, cunning, manipulative young man - who wishes to avenge himself on the father who never paid him attention [sound familiar?] - he finds before him is very much determined to become a spectacular part of his terrorist organisation. and stories which feature him owe it to him to give him that dark complexity of character

show the series’ best villain some respect.

#asks answered #asenora meta #barty crouch jr

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midnightstargazer · 11 months

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One thing I like about the idea of Regulus & Barty as friends is that their arcs are basically the exact opposite of each other.

They both come from old, upper-class pure-blood families, but ones that are, in many ways, very different. The Crouches stand for Ministry corruption and hypocrisy, with Barty Sr. breaking the law and using the Dark Arts in secret but making a big show of being law-abiding and respectable. Meanwhile, you just have to walk into Grimmauld Place to get an idea of what sort of people live there.

Their reasons for joining the Death Eaters, at least in my headcanon, are opposites as well. I see Regulus as trying to prove himself as a worthy heir and make his family proud. (I will die on the hill of Arcturus being horrified, but that's not really relevant to Reg's motives). Barty, on the other hand, I think was motivated largely by rebellion against his father. Almost like sort of a dark mirror to Sirius.

There's a window of time during their Hogwarts years where it's easy to imagine them being very similar. They both have family issues, although not of the same sort. Personality-wise, I think they would both be rule followers and serious students. Barty almost certainly was - he earned twelve O.W.L.s, and his father talks about being proud of him in that scene where he's lost touch with reality and thinks his son is still a Hogwarts student. For Regulus, it's more headcanon, but I think it works well in terms of contrasting him with Sirius (troublemaker, clever but not studious) and fits with his established personality as the "much better son" according to their parents.

I like to imagine Regulus recruiting Barty into the Death Eaters. Barty clearly must have been put in touch with them via his peers at school, because it definitely wasn't through his family. Regulus is close to him in age (about a year older) and definitely has the right connections. Also, neither of them are named as members of Snape's gang, which makes it seem even more likely to me that they would have been friends with each other, because otherwise who exactly was influencing Barty in that direction? And it's kind of poetic to think that the guy who eventually turned on Voldemort and tried to destroy a Horcrux was the one who recruited the guy whose actions made it possible for Voldemort to return.

Which brings me to what I was saying before about opposite trajectories. Regulus was born into a family that wholeheartedly embraced everything the Death Eaters stood for, but his last action was to try to ensure Voldemort's eventual defeat. Barty was born into a family that staunchly opposed the Dark Arts and the Death Eaters, but he turned out to be one of Voldemort's most loyal followers.

I like that contrast between where they started out and where they ended up. I like the part in the middle where their paths might have intersected. If Regulus survives - because let's face it, I write a lot of fanfic where he survives - I like the idea of them continuing to go in opposite directions but still having that aspect of "we used to be friends."

#Regulus Black #Barty Crouch Jr.#meta #marauders era

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hollowed-theory-hall · 6 months

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Justice for Barty Crouch Jr: Part 1/2

(Part 2)

This is a bit of a weird theory, and I'll confess, some of the evidence is not all that conclusive. But I didn't see anyone mention anything about this anywhere else...

When I reread the books recently, I noticed I really liked Mad-Eye Moody in Goblet of Fire. Moody in the fourth book is actually one of my favorite characters, he makes the top 10. But then I reached Order of the Phoenix and realized (again) that I hate Moody's guts.

The only conclusion I could draw was that I really liked Barty Crouch Jr. because, Moody in book 4, wasn't really Moody. So, I went back to Goblet of Fire to try and find out who Barty is, how his behavior as Moody, differed from the real deal in the later books, and why I liked him when I didn't like the real Moody.

And let's just say, I came to some interesting conclusions...

This post ended up being pretty long, so I've divided it up into two. But my thesis is:

Barty was a Death eater, but he didn't torture the Longbottoms.

He didn't want Harry to be hurt during the Tornoment and actually cared about him.

And I can prove it!

Reasons for Doubt

When reviewing all the scenes of Barty Jr, it was made clear pretty quickly that Barty wasn't really trying to fool anyone. Actually, he seemed to be actively sabotaging himself.

“Maybe someone’s hoping Potter is going to die for it,” said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl. An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, “Moody, old man ... what a thing to say!” “We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn’t discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime,” said Karkaroff loudly. “Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons.”

(Goblet of Fire, page 279)

From the very beginning, Barty is outright telling everyone what happened. And exactly how:

“Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!” said Moody. “It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament. ... I’m guessing they submitted Potter’s name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category. ...” “You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody,” said Karkaroff coldly, “and a very ingenious theory it is — though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you’ll understand if we don’t take you entirely seriously. ...”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 279-280)

He goes as far as to explain how he got Harry into the tournament. To the point even Karkaroff thinks it's strange Moody would bother putting so much thought into it. And he's right, it is super strange.

Barty shouldn't be explaining that to the people he is supposedly trying to deceive. It's so incredibly revealing and counterproductive. And it's not that Barty is stupid, he shows he is both intelligent and competent to a degree it's clear that if he really wanted to not be discovered he wouldn't be (he transfigured his father's corpse to a bone and buried it in the forest when he didn't wish to be found out, clearly, he can get away with murder when he wants to). So why all of this? Why try so hard to tell them exactly what's going on? Why is he showing his hand?

It won't be out of character for Moody to not mention all of it. He could not go into as much detail easily. But, he chooses to go into detail about the very method he used to get Harry chosen for the tournament. Like he's trying to get himself caught.

“So . . . whoever conjured the Dark Mark . . .” said Hermione slowly, “were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?” “Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione,” said Mr. Weasley. “But I’ll tell you this . . . it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I’d be very surprised if the person who did it hadn’t been a Death Eater once, even if they’re not now. . . .

(Goblet of Fire, page 143)

This is an earlier note from Hermione, and I agree with her 100%. The goal of Barty when casting the Dark Mark isn't clear. We know he is a marked Death Eater, but so are Regulus and Snape. We know not all Death Eaters agreed with everything they did, and some of them had regrets. And it's kind of interesting this idea that Barty cast the Dark Mark to scare the attackers off was planted this early in the book.

“What — what are you doing?” said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret’s progress through the air. “Teaching,” said Moody. “Teach — Moody, is that a student?” shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms. “Yep,” said Moody.

(Goblet of Fire, page 206)

I wanted to add this scene just because of the "yep" as his response to McGonagall, but this entire conversation, actually is noteworthy. Why? Well, the mannerism.

Moody whom we meet in book 5 and onwards doesn't speak or act like this. The mannerisms and speech patterns we see in this conversation are 100% Barty Crouch Jr. And this isn't the only scene in which his own mannerisms peek through because he isn't putting much effort into his act.

Here are some examples of how Moody talks in book 5, for comparison:

“Well, congratulations,” said Moody, still glaring at Ron with his normal eye, “authority figures always attract trouble, but I suppose Dumbledore thinks you can withstand most major jinxes or he wouldn’t have appointed you. . . .”

(Order of the Pheonix, page 169)

“Yeah, well,” said Moody, “there’s something funny about the Potter kid, we all know that.” “Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning,” whispered Mrs. Weasley. “ ’Course he’s worried,” growled Moody. “The boy’s seeing things from inside You-Know-Who’s snake. . . . Obviously, Potter doesn’t realize what that means, but if You-Know-Who’s possessing him —”

(Order of the Pheonix, page 491)

He's more gruff, more blunt, more paranoid. He isn't as gentle with Harry and Ron as Barty was (I'll showcase some of these moments later). And he shows full faith in Dumbledore's decisions. Something, Barty doesn't do even when pretending to be Moody.

Some Background

I want to talk about Barty's trial and Azkaban sentence for a bit, along with his relationship with his father as it explains a lot about him as a character...

and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was shivering, his straw-colored hair all over his face, his freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her seat, whimpering into her handkerchief. Crouch stood up. He looked down upon the four in front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face. “You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law,” he said clearly, “so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous —” “Father,” said the boy with the straw-colored hair. “Father . . . please . . .” “— that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court,” said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son’s voice. “We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror — Frank Longbottom — and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named —” “Father, I didn’t!” shrieked the boy in chains below. “I didn’t, I swear it, Father, don’t send me back to the dementors —”

(Goblet of Fire, page 594)

Does this look like a hardened Death Eater who was happy to torture the Longbottoms and proud to serve his lord?

No, this is a terrified nineteen-year-old kid who was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.

Barty continues and calls:

“Mother!” screamed the boy below, and the wispy little witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward and forward. “Mother, stop him, Mother, I didn’t do it, it wasn’t me!”

...

“No! Mother, no! I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it, I didn’t know! Don’t send me there, don’t let him!”

(Goblet of Fire, page 595)

Barty calls this as Bellatrix and the Lestranges are completely calm, taking credit for torturing the Longbottoms. Shouting at Crouch Sr, that Voldemort would return. Barty isn't doing that, he isn't the fanatic Death Eaters, he's a scared boy:

But the boy was trying to fight off the dementors, even though Harry could see their cold, draining power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle. “I’m your son!” he screamed up at Crouch. “I’m your son!” “You are no son of mine!” bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. “I have no son!” The wispy witch beside him gave a great gasp and slumped in her seat. She had fainted. Crouch appeared not to have noticed. “Take them away!” Crouch roared at the dementors, spit flying from his mouth. “Take them away, and may they rot there!” “Father! Father, I wasn’t involved! No! No! Father, please!”

(Goblet of Fire, page 596)

Barty keeps swearing he wasn't involved and that he didn't do it. that it wasn't him. Compared to how calm the three Lestranges are — it's clear something's up.

I think Barty is telling the truth here. I think he really didn't torture the Longbottoms.

Barty was still acting as a scared boy, just like in his trial, even in front of only dementors and Death Eaters, when there was no need to act. He is described by Sirius when he arrived in Azkaban:

I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can’t have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though . . . they all went quiet in the end . . . except when they shrieked in their sleep. . . .

(Goblet of Fire, page 528)

Barty was young and scared and kept to the same behavior even with no audience to convince — which means it wasn't a lie. It wasn't an act. He really didn't do it.

Sirius talks a little bit about Braty's childhood, his relationship with Crouch Sr and the events leading up to his trial:

“Crouch’s own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who’d managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power.”

...

“Nasty little shock for old Barty, I’d imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn’t he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while . . . gotten to know his own son.” He began to wolf down large pieces of bread. “Was his son a Death Eater?” said Harry. “No idea,” said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. “I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I’ve found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I’d bet my life were Death Eaters — but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf.”

...

“...Crouch’s fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn’t much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy . . . then he sent him straight to Azkaban.”

(Goblet of Fire, page 528)

Barty, at the time of his trial and sentence, wasn't even for sure a Death Eater. He wasn't actually caught doing anything, he was caught with Death Eaters who escaped an Azkaban sentence, which means Death Eaters other than the Lestranges. This means he wasn't even caught on the scene of the Longbottoms torture, but somewhere else and unrelated. It proves even more that Barty was innocent regarding the torture of Frank and Alice.

We know he was a Death Eater because he could cast the Dark Mark. But, I think he wasn't involved in torturing the Longbottoms or anyone, for that matter. I don't think he had it in him before Azkaban and years of torment by his father.

The other thing of note is Crouch's treatment of his son. He was an absent father, caring more for his ministry position than his family. And we see later in GoF that Barty despises his father. I think he disliked him even before being kept under the imperious curse for years. I think that's what pushed Barty to become a Death Eater, it was something to spite his father. To create a distance between them.

His murder of his father during GoF is probably the only murder he wanted a part of. Actually, his father is the only person we know he killed. He didn't get the chance to kill the real Moody, and he never killed anyone else.

Once the boy [Barty Jr] had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him

(Goblet of Fire, page 529)

More from Sirius that strengthens my former point. Barty joined the Death Eaters, in large to go against his father.

This vendetta against his father is the main reason I believe Barty chooses this plan to aid Voldemort. Well, there are some other reasons, but using the tournament is a good way for him to mess with his father's reputation. That same reputation that was more important to him than his own son.

As a Teacher and Mentor

A lot of fans like to say Remus Lupin was the best DADA teacher Harry had, I'd actually argue it was Moody (aka Barty). I'm saying that because Barty-as-Moody was the one who taught Harry many of the techniques and approaches he keeps going back to in the books.

The constant vigilance that saves him multiple times is from Barty, not the real Moody.

His resistance to the imperious curse.

When Harry quotes Moody in his head under certain situations for the advice he was given, it's not advice from the real Moody but from Barty:

He raised the cup to his lips and then, just as suddenly, lowered it. One of the horrible painted kittens behind Umbridge had great round blue eyes just like Mad-Eye Moody’s magical one, and it had just occurred to Harry what Mad-Eye would say if he ever heard that Harry had drunk anything offered by a known enemy

(Order of the Phoenix, page 630)

This above quote is based on Barty's advice in GoF, not the real Moody.

Barty made Harry think of becoming an auror. He was the one who convinced him he could become one:

“You ever thought of a career as an Auror, Potter?” “No,” said Harry, taken aback. “You want to consider it,” said Moody, nodding and looking at Harry thoughtfully. “Yes, indeed . . . and incidentally . . . I’m guessing you weren’t just taking that egg for a walk tonight?” “Er — no,” said Harry, grinning. “I’ve been working out the clue.” Moody winked at him, his magical eye going haywire again. “Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas, Potter. . . . See you in the morning. . . .”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 477-478)

Barty did more for Harry's self-esteem than any other teacher.

“Now, that’s more like it!” growled Moody’s voice, and suddenly, Harry felt the empty, echoing feeling in his head disappear. He remembered exactly what was happening, and the pain in his knees seemed to double. “Look at that, you lot ... Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We’ll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention — watch his eyes, that’s where you see it — very good, Potter, very good indeed! They’ll have trouble controlling you!”

(Goblet of Fire, page 232)

In the above scene, Barty is delighted by Harry's resistance of the imperious. He is so proud and fond. I already mentioned and will continue showing how Barty did very little acting when he pretended to be Moody, as such, I don't think he's pretending here either. I think he actually is delighted.

And, I mean, think about it, why would a servant loyal to Voldemort teach Harry Potter how to resist the imperius? Why would he keep practicing with him throughout the year to make sure he was good at it? Why make sure Harry knows people would want to control him and he should make it hard for them?

The only conclusion I can come to is that he is trying to help Harry from a limited position. Why and How will be discussed later.

Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse. “Neville?” Hermione said gently. “Neville, what — ?” But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward them. All four of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard. “It’s all right, sonny,” he said to Neville. “Why don’t you come up to my office? Come on . . . we can have a cup of tea. ...” Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry. “You all right, are you, Potter?” “Yes,” said Harry, almost defiantly. Moody’s blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry. Then he said, “You’ve got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you’ve got to know. No point pretending ... well ... come on, Longbottom, I’ve got some books that might interest you.”

(Goblet of Fire, page 219)

And he wasn't only the best DADA teacher for Harry, he was the best teacher for Neville too. He actually helped the son of the Longbottoms he was sent to Azkaban for torturing.

Just, he is the only adult attempting to build up Neville's confidence in himself and his abilities. He encourages Neville's love of Herbology and doesn't ridicule him like most other adults in Neville's life.

Also in the above quote, he clearly wants to tell Harry more. "but you’ve got to know", he says. He is trying to prepare Harry for what's to come. Why would he do that if he wants him dead?

As a Defender of Harry

To continue off Barty actually steps up to defend Harry a lot throughout the book. Even at times, he won't necessarily have to. I mean, the real Moody was never this protective of Harry. Sure, he kept him safe, but he didn't really care for Harry's feelings and self-esteem. Barty did.

“Yeah, that’s Harry Potter,” said a growling voice from behind them. Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster. The color drained from Karkaroff’s face as Harry watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him

(Goblet of Fire, page 258)

He's scaring Karkaroff and the Durmstrang students away from Harry. The moment before this quote had the Durmstrang students and Karkaroff noticing Harry for the first time as they were leaving the Great Hall on the day they arrived at Hogwarts. They all freeze and stare at Harry, knowing his story and probably about to ask him questions, it's not like Karkaroff would've done anything in the Great Hall. But Moody (Barty) steps in to fend off Harry's discomfort! Hes not even in actual physical danger! Just discomfort!

Harry hesitated. He’d been afraid of this — but he hadn’t told Cedric, and he certainly wasn’t going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules. “It’s all right,” said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. “Cheating’s a traditional part of the Tri-wizard Tournament and always has been.” “I didn’t cheat,” said Harry sharply. “It was — a sort of accident that I found out.” Moody grinned. “I wasn’t accusing you, laddie. I’ve been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won’t be. They’ll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They’d like to prove he’s only human.”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 343-344)

Moody is glad Harry knows about the dragons, and that could be explained by wanting him to win so he could get to the graveyard (that plan had so many problems in it that I'll get to later) but that isn't the only thing he reveals here. He calls out Dumbledore and his attitude. He shows his dislike towards Dumbledore and his moral flexibility regarding cheating - two things the real Moody will never say. And he would definitely not phrase them like this. This whole conversation — that's all Barty.

Barty, who is actually encouraging Harry and belittling Dumbledore.

That sentence about proving Dumbledore's human, I think Barty shares that feeling. He agrees with the other headmasters on that. Even if he hates Karkaroff's guts.

Because he actually does hate all the Death Eaters that got away genuinely, but not for the same reasons as, let's say, Bellatrix. Bellatrix dislikes them for their lack of loyalty to their lord; Barty hates them out of envy.

Barty was sent to Azkaban for his mark even if he never tortured or killed anyone. And these other Death Eaters, ones he might know killed or tortured, got out scott-free. He was fought alongside them and still sent to the dementors instead of being let go. And he is bitter.

Also, important to remember, that a year in Azkaban and then twelve years under the Imperius curse didn't leave him unscathed. He is not mentally or emotionally well or anything close to it when we meet him in the books.

“Well, I’m not going to tell you,” said Moody gruffly. “I don’t show favoritism, me. I’m just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is — play to your strengths.” “I haven’t got any,” said Harry, before he could stop himself. “Excuse me,” growled Moody, “you’ve got strengths if I say you’ve got them. Think now. What are you best at?”

(Goblet of Fire, page 344)

I love this scene. Like, this is the first ever time an adult with authority, a teacher, tells Harry how great he is. I talked about the fact Harry is clever and magically powerful but has really low self-esteem. And Barty actually argues with him. Bart (as Moody) makes him believe he could become something. That he has things he is good at.

One of this book's antagonists is the first person to tell Harry he has strengths. That's just all levels of messed up.

It shows Barty Crouch Jr actually does more for Harry's emotional well-being than any other professor he had. More than McGonagall, more than Lupin. Actually, the only adult who tries to help Harry with more care than Barty, is Sirius Black, Harry's godfather. It's just insane that Barty, a Death Eater, actually understood Harry and went out of his way to help with his insecurities and make him comfortable more than Molly Weasley did.

Now, let's talk about the Farret Incident because it's interesting too. both regarding his defense of Harry and his hatred of the Death Eaters that got away.

“I don’t think so!” roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again — it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more. “I don’t like people who attack when their opponent’s back’s turned,” growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. “Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do. ...”

(Goblet of Fire, page 205)

Barty steps in to defend Harry because he does it a lot. It's why I placed this moment in this section. One would expect someone who wants Harry to die to not mind if he was cursed a bit, it's not like Draco was about to kill him, but no, he defends him even when no one sees him there.

But specifically in this incident, I want to mention how personal he gets about this. Barty's disdain towards the Death Eaters that escaped Azkaban is very real and very dangerous to Draco. He's furious they didn't need to spend a year in hell on earth only to then be enslaved by a curse for 12 years by their father who kept them like a dirty secret in the basement.

As I mentioned above, I don't think Barty is mentally sound, but I think he genuinely cares about Harry and didn't torture the Longbottoms.

In the next post, I go through the final scene of Barty in the book, and explain the whole plan Barty had.

Part 2 >>

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