Introduction
| “ | Barty Crouch works for the Ministry of Magic, running the Department of International Magical Co-operation. He is a stiff, upright, elderly man, with short grey hair and a narrow toothbrush moustache. Crouch can speak over two hundred languages, including Mermish, Gobbledegook and Troll. | ” |
From the Story
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Discovered in chapter 7, Bagman and Crouch
| “ | Barty Crouch Apparates at the fireside next to the Weasleys' tents, looking for Ludo Bagman. There is a bite of impatience in his voice as he tells Ludo that the Bulgarians have insisted they add a further twelve seats to the Top Box for the match, and that he has been looking for Bagman everywhere. He looks surprised when Percy Weasley offers him a cup of tea, but accepts, thanking 'Weatherby' for the offer. Crouch uses the opportunity to ask tell Arthur about another work-related matter, regarding the embargo on flying carpets. Crouch tells the group that his grandfather had an Axminster carpet that could seat twelve people; he points out that this was before carpets were banned, seemingly keen to make it clear that his ancestors had abided strictly by the law. Crouch has been kept busy by the Quidditch World Cup, organising Portkeys for the match across five continents. He, like Percy, references an event that is taking place after the World Cup, but is surprised that Bagman mentioned it, having agreed not to make any announcements until all the details are finalised. Crouch Disapparates soon afterwards, after pushing his untouched tea towards Percy, accompanied by Ludo Bagman. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 9, The Dark Mark
| “ | Barty Crouch arrives at the wood just after Arthur Weasley. He is convinced that Harry, Ron or Hermione conjured the Dark Mark, as they have been discovered at the scene of the crime, and wants to know who the culprit is. He looks slightly mad, his eyes popping, as he trains his wand on Ron, certain that one of them is guilty. He refuses to believe the trio are innocent until Amos Diggory discovers his house-elf, Winky, unconscious in the bushes. Crouch does not move or speak as Winky is carried out to the assembled group; he stands transfixed, his eyes blazing white as he stares at the elf. He strides over to the area where she was found, and can be heard pushing the bushes aside, searching.
When Winky is woken, Crouch defends her, and is insulted by Amos's accusation that she is guilty. He asks Amos to release Winky back to his care, and assures him that she will be punished. He speaks slowly to her, no pity in his gaze, and says that her disobedience in leaving his tent when he told her to stay put means she will be presented with clothes, releasing her from his service. He tells Hermione that he has no use for a house-elf who disobeys him, and who has no regard for her master's orders and reputation. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 16, The Goblet of Fire
| “ | Barty Crouch arrives at Hogwarts on the same evening as the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. He sits at the staff table during dinner, next to Madame Maxime. Crouch is introduced to the students by Professor Dumbledore; he does not smile or wave when his name is announced. Crouch is one of the five judges of the Triwizard Tournament, alongside Ludo Bagman, Professor Dumbledore, Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 17, The Four Champions
| “ | Barty Crouch joins the group in the room off the Great Hall after Harry's name is produced by the Goblet of Fire. He tells those assembled that the rules state those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the competition, and that they must abide by the rules. Crouch explains the rules of the First Task to the four champions after the discussions have ceased. He declines Dumbledores offer to stay at Hogwarts for the night, saying that it is a very busy, very difficult time for the Ministry at the moment, and that he should return there. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 18, The Weighing of the Wands
| “ | Barty Crouch sits at the judges' table during the Wand Weighing ceremony | ” |
Discovered in chapter 20, The First Task
| “ | Barty Crouch attends the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. He awards Harry nine out of ten for his efforts against the Hungarian Horntail dragon. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 23, The Yule Ball
| “ | Crouch sends Percy Weasley to the Yule Ball as his representative. Percy says that Crouch isn't well at all, and that he hasn't been right since the World Cup. He suffered a huge personal shock when Winky misbehaved, and Percy thinks he has found a definite drop in his home comforts since she has been gone. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 24, Rita Skeeter's Scoop
| “ | Ludo Bagman tells Harry that the goblins in the Three Broomsticks pub are looking for Mr Crouch. According to Bagman, Crouch stopped coming to work a few weeks ago as he is ill. He sends instructions in to the office by owl. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 25, The Egg and the Eye
| “ | On the Marauder's Map, late on Thursday night, Harry sees a dot labelled Bartemius Crouch moving around alone in Professor Snape's office. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 27, Padfoot Returns
| “ | Sirius Black reveals that Barty Crouch was the one who gave the order for him to be sent to Azkaban without a trial. According to Sirius, Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and was tipped as the next Minister for Magic. He was both powerfully magical and power-hungry, and was very outspoken against the Dark side. He rose quickly though the Ministry during the time Voldemort was in power, and started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. He fought violence with violence, and authorised the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. He had his supporters but Sirius believed he was becoming as ruthless and cruel as many of those on the Dark side. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked likely that Crouch would become Minister for Magic, until his own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters.
Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to allow his son a trial, but according to Sirius it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated his son as he sent him straight to Azkaban. Crouch and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit to Azkaban one year later, soon before their son died. Crouch's reputation and popularity suffered after his son was convicted, and his family name was dishonoured. After his son died, people felt slightly more sympathetic towards Crouch, though their conclusion about why his son had gone astray was that Crouch never cared much for him. He was demoted to the Department of International Magical Co-operation within the Ministry of Magic. Sirius says that Crouch's present obsession with catching Dark wizards is because he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 28, The Madness of Mr Crouch
| “ | Winky the house-elf reveals that Mr Crouch trusted her with his most important secret, but doesn't reveal what that secret is.
Mr Crouch staggers out from behind an oak tree in the Forbidden Forest as Harry and Viktor Krum are walking back to the castle after finding out about the third task at the Quidditch pitch. He looks as though he has been travelling for days; the knees of his robes are ripped and bloody, his face is scratched and unshaven, and he is grey with exhaustion. He is behaving very strangely, muttering and gesticulating as though talking to someone that he alone can see. He turns to talk to a nearby tree, giving instructions to it about preparations for the Triwizard Tournament, appearing to believe it is Percy Weasley. When he notices the boys, Crouch reaches out and seizes a handful of Harry's robes, dragging him closer. His eyes roll and bulge in his head as he tells Harry he has done a terrible thing, and insists on speaking to Dumbledore. Crouch proceeds to talk to Harry as though he is Percy Weasley; he appears confused about the year, talking as though his wife is still alive, and his son is a student at Hogwarts. He begs Harry not to leave him alone by the woods, and mutters incoherent words about having escaped, and that it is his fault Bertha Jorkins is dead. When Harry returns to the edge of the Forbidden Forest with Professor Dumbledore, Mr Crouch has disappeared. Viktor Krum tells them that Crouch Stunned him when his back was turned. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 30, The Pensieve
| “ | As the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Department, Barty Crouch oversaw the trials of many suspected Death Eaters, including Ludo Bagman, Igor Karkaroff and his own son, Barty Crouch Junior. It is revealed in memories stored in Dumbledore's Pensieve that he made a deal with Igor Karkaroff: information about the identities of unknown Death Eaters for Karkaroff's freedom. Later, Crouch oversaw the trial of Ludo Bagman, and was the only person convinced of Bagman's guilt. He stared at Bagman with great dislike during the trial, and was angry when the Quidditch player was acquitted. He looked furious when one of the jury congratulated Bagman on his performance in a recent Quidditch match, and told Dumbledore that the day Bagman joined the Ministry would be a sad one.
Crouch oversaw the trial of four suspected Death Eaters after the end of the First Wizarding War, one of whom was his own son, Barty Crouch Junior. In the Pensieve memory, Harry sees Crouch read out the charges, ignoring the pleas of innocence shouted to him by his son. After the sentence is delivered, Crouch bellows that the boy is no son of his, and disowns his child. He allows the Dementors to take the four accused wizards to Azkaban. | ” |
Discovered in chapter 35, Veritaserum
| “ | Barty Crouch Junior reveals that his father was persuaded to save him from Azkaban by his dying wife, whom Mr Crouch loved dearly. Mr Crouch and his wife visited Azkaban and gave their son a draught of Polyjuice Potion, containing one of his mother's hairs. Crouch smuggled his son out of Azkaban disguised as his wife, in case any of the prisoners were watching through their doors, leaving his wife in the prison disguised as their son. He staged his wife's death after bringing his son home, and used a number of spells to subdue his son over the years, including the Imperius Curse.
When Bertha Jorkins overheard Winky talking to Barty Crouch Junior one day, Mr Crouch put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she discovered, which damaged her memory permanently. Mr Crouch was persuaded by Winky the house-elf to allow his son to attend the Quidditch World Cup. He led his son, concealed under an Invisibility Cloak, and Winky to the Top Box at the stadium, making it known that Winky was saving a seat for him, so that the empty seat would not appear suspicious. Mr Crouch opened the door to Lord Voldemort after the Quidditch World Cup. He was placed under the Imperius Curse by the Dark Lord, and was forced to go about his business as usual, acting as though nothing was wrong. After a while, he began to fight the Imperius Curse, which resulted in the decision to prevent him from leaving his house. Voldemort forced Mr Crouch to send letters to the Ministry instead, informing people that he was ill. Mr Crouch was guarded by Wormtail, and managed to escape. He intended to tell Dumbledore everything, and made his way to Hogwarts. He was killed by his son, disguised as Alastor Moody, before he could see Dumbledore. His body was carried into the Forbidden Forest and covered with an Invisibility Cloak whilst the search for him commenced. Barty Crouch Junior Transfigured the body of his father into a bone, and buried it in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin. | ” |
