Magic? || Years 1-5

Mr. Crouch's Son: Year 4

"What?!" Hermione, Ron, and Amisty exclaimed in unison.

"You're kidding!" Harry protested.

"No, I'm not. Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?" Sirius replied.

They shook their heads, eyes wide.

"He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic. He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical -- and power-hungry," Glancing over at them, he added quickly, "Oh never a Voldemort supporter. No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side... well, you wouldn't understand... you're too young..."

"That's what my dad said at the World Cup. Try us, why don't you?" Ron replied, a bite in his voice.

"All right, I'll tell you..." Sirius grinned, clearly picking up on it. "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing... the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere... panic... confusion... that's how it used to be."

Amisty shivered, wrapping her arms around her.

"Well, times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. 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 a 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. He had his supporters, mind you -- plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job," He gave a wry smile.

"But then something rather unfortunate happened. 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."

"Crouch's son was caught?" Hermione exclaimed, her hand to her mouth.

"Yep. Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while... gotten to know his own son."

"Was his son a Death Eater?" Harry asked.

"No idea. 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 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."

Hermione looked shell-shocked, her voice barely more than a whisper, "Did Crouch try and get his son off?"

"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione!" He exclaimed, laughing harshly. "Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again -- doesn't that tell you what he's like? 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."