Bartemius Crouch Jr.

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Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Junior was a pure-blood wizard and the son of Bartemius Crouch Sr. and Mrs. Crouch. He was apparently a very talented young wizard, earning twelve O.W.L.s while attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He left school at the height of Lord Voldemort's first reign of power and became a Death Eater. In 1981, shortly after Voldemort's first defeat, Barty attacked Alice and Frank Longbottom with the Lestranges, using the Cruciatus Curse to drive the two Aurors into insanity. Barty and his comrades were sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for their crimes by Barty's own father. However, his mother plotted to switch places with him, and Barty spent years living under his father's Imperius Curse. He eventually broke free and again entered Voldemort's service, posing as Alastor Moody, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts during the 1994-1995 school year. In this role, Barty manipulated the Triwizard Tournament so that Harry Potter was chosen as a champion, and made the Triwizard Cup into a Portkey that transported Harry and Cedric Diggory to Voldemort. Shortly afterwards, his identity was exposed, and Barty was given the Dementor's Kiss.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early Life 1.2 Allegiance with Death Eaters 1.3 Imprisonment with his father 1.4 Quidditch World Cup 1.5 As Alastor Moody 1.6 Exposure 2 Physical appearance 3 Personality and Traits 4 Magical abilities and skills 5 Behind the scenes 6 Appearances 7 Notes and references 8 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Life

Barty was born in 1962 into the influential pure-blood Crouch family, which had strong connections to the Ministry of Magic. His father, intent on catching Dark wizards and becoming Minister for Magic, failed to pay any attention to his son. It is very possible that this had an influence on the younger Crouch's life choices.^[2] While attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Barty achieved twelve O.W.L.s^[3].

[edit] Allegiance with Death Eaters

After Lord Voldemort's first defeat in 1981, Barty fell in with Death Eaters. He was captured with Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange after they tortured the Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom with the Cruciatus Curse. He and the other Death Eaters were brought to trial before the Wizengamot, over which his father presided.

Barty was insistent on his innocence, claiming he had merely fallen in with the wrong crowd, and begged his father before the entire assembled Wizengamot and witnesses such as Rita Skeeter and Albus Dumbledore to clear him of any wrongdoing. Crouch Sr. at the time headed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and was under extreme pressure to bring anyone to justice over the terrorism caused by Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. He chose to make a public example of his son, and sentenced him to a term of life imprisonment in Azkaban at the age of nineteen.^[4]

One year later, Barty's mother's health had deteriorated drastically from the stress of her son's imprisonment, and she was near death. The family formed a plan to smuggle Barty out of Azkaban by swapping him for his mother. Using Polyjuice Potion, and undetected by the Dementors, Mrs. Crouch took the place of her son. She died just days later, and was buried outside the fortress under the guise of her son.^[2]

[edit] Imprisonment with his father

Barty's father was overcome with grief and guilt, and opted to control him via the Imperius Curse to keep the horrible ordeal a secret (also to prevent him from returning to Voldemort's service). He also forced Barty to hide under an Invisibility cloak at all times. Throughout his time in hiding, Barty was nursed back to health by Winky, the family house-elf.

Bertha Jorkins, a Ministry of Magic employee, discovered the truth accidentally when she came unannounced to the Crouch home. Crouch Sr. attempted to rectify this with a powerful Memory Charm, but because he was not properly trained, he caused Jorkins brain damage.

Years later, Peter Pettigrew, under orders from Lord Voldemort, extracted this information from her while looking for information on the Triwizard Tournament, which was to be held at Hogwarts. Voldemort murdered Jorkins, and the Ministry deemed her "missing" for months.^[2]

[edit] Quidditch World Cup

Barty was sent to the 1994 Quidditch World Cup under cover of the Invisibility Cloak along with Winky, where by chance he sat in a skybox alongside Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. During the Quidditch match, Barty broke free of the Imperius Curse his father had placed on him. Sickened by his father's actions, Barty decided to get revenge, and stole Harry's wand, which was in view. He then escaped Winky's watch over him, as she was so afraid of heights in the skybox that she covered her eyes for the entire Quidditch match.

After the World Cup was through, Barty added to the havoc and chaos being caused by a gaggle of Death Eaters by casting Morsmordre in the sky over the campsite grounds. Because he used Harry's wand to cast the spell, during the course of the investigation of the appearance of the Dark Mark, Harry was considered a suspect. However, the only individual punished that night was Winky, stemming from the rage Crouch Sr. felt over losing control of his son.

Shortly after, Pettigrew and Lord Voldemort, who needed a loyal follower to help him regain power, managed to free Barty from his father's imprisonment. They put Crouch Sr. under the Imperius Curse and forced him to keep working at the Ministry as he usually would.^[2]

[edit] As Alastor Moody

As part of his servitude as a Death Eater, Barty was charged with infiltrating Hogwarts Castle and bringing Harry to Lord Voldemort. Barty accomplished this by breaking into former Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody's home and kidnapping him. He created Polyjuice Potion from Moody's hair and concealed the Auror in his own magical trunk. He then proceeded to take over Moody's job at Hogwarts, teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. He was able to maintain his disguise for months undetected by consistantly sipping the potion from a hip flask.

Barty used his time at Hogwarts to gain the trust of children and associated of Order of the Phoenix members. During his first lesson for a group of fourth-year students, he demonstrated all three Unforgivable Curses on a spider.^[5] Barty entered Harry Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire to ensure Harry's placement for Lord Voldemort's gain. Barty then helped Harry on the three Tasks, either by placing information nearby (like when he gave a book with crucial information on how to pass the Second Task to Neville Longbottom, hoping that Harry would ask Neville for help), or directly (like when he suggested Harry to take a broomstick to the First Task). During the events surrounding the Tournament, Crouch Sr. escaped from his home and Apparated near Hogwarts, where he wandered in his confusion in search of Dumbledore. He came upon Harry Potter and Viktor Krum, who raised the alarm that Crouch was in trouble. Barty arrived at the scene before anyone else, stunned Viktor Krum, and killed his father. He transfigured his father's body into a bone and buried it in the Forbidden Forest.

Before the third and final task of the Tournament, Barty volunteered to place the Triwizard Cup in a maze through which the contestants were to navigate. He took advantage of this opportunity to turn the Triwizard Cup into a Portkey which transported Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory to a graveyard when they grasped it together. It was at this time that Peter Pettigrew performed the horrible ritual to restore Lord Voldemort's physical body, using Harry Potter's blood, Pettigrew's own hand, and Tom Riddle Sr.'s bone from the grave.^[2]

[edit] Exposure

When Harry escaped the graveyard and returned to Hogwarts, Barty ushered him away from the panicking crowd to interrogate him about Voldemort's return. Barty wanted to kill Harry then, but Dumbledore and several other Hogwarts professors descended on the scene and stopped him. Under the influence of Severus Snape's Veritaserum, Barty confessed everything.^[6]

However, before he could testify before the Wizengamot, Barty suffered a fate worse than death, receiving the Dementor's Kiss on the orders of Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge.^[7]

[edit] Physical appearance

In his youth, Barty was described as being a pale young man with straw-coloured hair and freckles^[4]. In his early thirties, he still had pale, slightly freckled skin and a "mop of fair hair"^[6].

[edit] Personality and Traits

Barty appears to have been highly intelligent, albeit in a rather diabolical way. He achieved twelve O.W.L.s while in Hogwarts, successfully impersonated Alastor Moody for eight months even around accomplished Legilimens Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, taught Defence Against the Dark Arts in this role, and managed to manipulate the Triwizard Tournament to maneuver Harry Potter to win it^[2]. Thus, Barty was skilled at manipulating and mimicking others. He was also highly ruthless and fanatically devoted to Lord Voldemort, whom he seems to have regarded as a father figure. Barty also seems to be sadistic as well, given his participation in the extensive torture of the Longbottoms and his eagerness to hear that other Death Eaters had been punished for their lack of loyalty to Voldemort^[6].

Part of Barty's behaviour may have stemmed from the fact that his father neglected him during his childhood, and later forced him to spend years under the Imperius Curse and in relative isolation, possibly affecting his mental stability.

[edit] Magical abilities and skills

Barty was a very talented Dark wizard, who was an academically strong student in his youth and became accomplished in the Dark Arts.

The Unforgivable Curses: He was able to perform all 3 Unforgivable Curses successfully and from a young age, considering that he used the Cruciatus Curse to devastating effect when he was only nineteen. While masquerading as professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, he demonstrated all three Unforgivable Curses on a spider^[5].

Wand mastery: Barty was able to use wands other than his own, including Harry Potter's and Alastor Moody's, even performing difficult spells such as the Unforgivable Curses with them.

Resistance to the Imperius Curse: Around 1981, Barty was placed under the Imperius Curse by his father. After years, he managed to break free from the curse at certain times.

Occlumens: He was skilled in Occlumency as well. Had he not been weakened and groggy from having been attacked in 1995, he would have been able to use Occlumency to protect himself from the effects of Veritaserum.^[8]

[edit] Behind the scenes

• Barty Crouch Jr. was played by actor David Tennant in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. David Walliams was offered the role but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with the third season of Little Britain.
• Barty's role in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire differs slightly from the book. In the film, he is sentenced for the same crime as the book based on Igor Karkaroff's testimony. Once caught, there is no doubt of his guilt or insanity. He does not attempt to deny his guilt, nor does he beg his father to acquit him, instead he sarcastically greets his father in a show of defiance. He has already been released from his father's control by the beginning of the story and appears in Harry's vision of Voldemort and Wormtail in Little Hangleton. After the Quidditch World Cup, Harry actually sees Barty create the Dark Mark, but does not know who he is. Barty approaches Harry, but flees when his father and the Aurors arrive. When he is unmasked, he does not reveal how he escaped, and there is no mention of him getting the Dementor's Kiss.
• It seems odd that Barty, when disguised as Alastor Moody, asks Harry if Voldemort punished the "cowards who wouldn't even brave Azkaban for him", and those who denied that they'd ever even worked for him^[6], when he himself did those two things^[4].
• During his lesson on the Unforgivable Curses, Barty takes note of Neville Longbottom’s name, looking at it on the register and at Neville intensely. He demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse – the same curse he and the Lestranges used to torture Neville's parents into insanity – on a spider directly in front of Neville, only stopping when Hermione Granger screamed at him to, noticing how much it upset Neville. Afterwards, however, Barty took Neville aside for tea and gave him a Herbology book.^[5]
• In the film version, Barty Crouch Jr. has the habit of licking his lips when threatened, in a snake-like way, to which he occasionally shows while under the disguise of Alastor Moody. This action led to him giving himself away to his father following the second task of the Triwizard Tournament.

[edit] Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game) (Voice only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Overanalysing the Text: The Crouch Novenna - A Nine Part Essay on the Crouch family

Preceded by: Remus Lupin Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts (impersonating Alastor Moody) 1994—1995 Succeeded by: Dolores Umbridge Preceded by: Harry Potter Owner of the Marauder's Map 1995 Succeeded by: Harry Potter