Hey everyone,
Welcome to another instalment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, we’ll be looking into the early life of Barty Crouch Junior—with a particular
focus on how he became so terribly EVIL.
That is, what happened to him during his ch*ildhood and adolescence that may have contributed
to the incredibly dark wizard he turned out to be?
In looking further into his life, it seems that his capacity for doing terrible things
came from a combination of innate evilness and mental instability...here’s what I learned.
The second of his name, Barty was officially born Bartemius Crouch Junior sometime during
the year of 1962 to a Bartemius Crouch Senior and a frail, wispy-looking witch known only
as Mrs. Crouch.
Growing up, Barty Junior was described as a pale boy with straw-coloured hair and freckles.
The Crouches came from a long line of pureblooded witches and wizards, with Barty Senior holding
a prominent position in the British Ministry of Magic even back in the 1960s.
As it were, Mr. Crouch was extremely focused on hunting down dark wizards and held great
ambitions of one day becoming Minister for Magic—so much so that he rarely had time
for his son.
With this information, it’s easy to assume that Barty Senior spent much of his time at
the Ministry, and very little of it at home with his family.
So, with that in mind, Barty Junior was by no means ABU*SED by his father—at least
not physically.
But as a ch*ild, he likely felt quite neglected and it’s easy to see how a young boy may
have believed that a father, who appeared to value his career above his family, loved
his work more than his son.
Still, Barty Junior had his mother’s love, as it’s said that Mrs. Crouch loved the
boy more than anything else in the world—likely even Mr. Crouch himself.
At the age of 11, Barty Junior then attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It is speculated that, based on his age, he must have been there around the same time
as other wizards that we know of, such as Severus Snape, James Potter and the Marauders,
Upon his arrival at school, it is widely rumoured—but completely unconfirmed—that Barty Junior
was sorted into Ravenclaw House.
While this may come as a surprise to some of you, since the majority of wizards who
turned out to be as dark and evil as Barty Crouch Junior were Slytherin students, the
qualities of a Ravenclaw quite fit what we know of Barty.
For example, his approach to infiltrating Hogwarts to get to Harry on behalf of Voldemort—i.e.
his impersonation of Mad-Eye Moody and his manipulation of The Goblet of Fire—was incredibly
creative and clever—two cornerstone traits of Ravenclaw House.
In any case, it is said that Barty Junior took on the Dark Mark and became an official
Death Eater in his late teens, likely just after graduating from Hogwarts, which solidified
his path towards becoming the sadistic dark wizard we meet in The Goblet of Fire.
In fact, Barty Junior was one of the few Death Eaters who remained steadfastly loyal to Voldemort
after his fall in October of 1981.
And alongside his comrades, including Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, he was one of the
Death Eaters responsible for using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank and Alice Longbottom.
Together, they tortured the Longbottoms to the point of insanity in one of the most infamous
crimes of modern magic.
Due to the severity of the crime—that is, using an Unforgivable Curse to the point of
making their victims go insane—Barty Junior and the others were set to be made an example
of.
At the time of their capture, Barty Junior was only 19 years old but was sentenced to
the full extent of the law by the Council of Magical Law, over which his own father
presided.
And, so, despite Barty Senior leading the trial, Barty Junior was sentenced to life
imprisonment in the magical prison of Azkaban, condemned to live out the remainder of his
life amongst the soul-sucking Dementors.
It is said that Barty Senior, who was also the head of the Department of Magical Law
Enforcement at the time, wanted to make an example of his son due to both his own disappointments
in Barty Junior and political pressure from the Ministry, especially in consideration
of the fact that Barty Senior wanted to become Minister for Magic.
It is rumoured that Barty Senior was incredibly embarrassed by his son and the dark path he
had chosen to dedicate his life to.
And, so, thinking that Barty Junior’s actions might undermine his ability to become Minister,
some say that the trial was a public display of humiliation between father and son.
It’s not difficult to see how this outcome may have furthered Barty Junior’s feelings
of neglect and abandonment by his father—pushing him further into the arms of dark magic.
However, despite having been sentenced to life imprisonment by his father, Barty Junior
was excused of his crimes by his mother without question.
And, so, when Mrs. Crouch discovered that she was dying, she convinced her husband—who
loved her desperately—to help her break out their son from Azkaban in 1982.
With the aid of his mother, Barty Crouch Junior was the first wizard to escape Azkaban in
nearly 300 years.
Both Mrs. Crouch and Barty Junior took Polyjuice Potion to take on the appearance of one another.
This allowed Barty Junior to escape with his father—looking like his mother—and leave
Mrs. Crouch to die in Azkaban—looking like her son.
Now, I can’t be sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this sacrifice of his wife—whom
he loved so dearly—made Barty Senior hate his son even more than ever before.
Despite any ill-will towards his son, however, he had the Crouch family House Elf, Winky,
nurse Barty Junior back to health—likely in honour of Mrs. Crouch’s wishes—as Barty
Junior was rather mentally unwell after living among the Dementors while in Azkaban.
Whether due to his mental instability or the fact that he was a true believer in the Dark
Lord, Barty Junior maintained that he would one day escape the Crouch family estate, find
Voldemort, and help him once again rise to power.
For this reason, Barty Senior kept the younger Barty under his control by way of the Imperius
Curse.
On the rare event that Barty Senior would allow his son out in public, he kept him concealed
under an invisibility cloak.
And, so, Barty Junior's existence was kept secret, with the majority of the wizarding
world believing he had died in Azkaban—which, of course, had actually been his mother.
Barty’s existence was eventually uncovered accidentally by Bertha Jorkins, a Ministry
of Magic employee, who came by the Crouch family residence to get a signature from Barty
Senior.
Tragically for Bertha, it was she who unintentionally revealed Junior’s survival and whereabouts
to Voldemort, an interrogation which resulted in her murder by the Dark Lord.
After being kept under lock and key for over a decade, Barty Junior was basically insane
at this point.
And I think it’s safe to assume that his mental state was likely a culmination of his
father’s neglect while growing up, the fact that he was put on trial and sentenced to
life in prison by his own father, the time he spent in Azkaban under the depressing influence
of the Dementors, and his father’s mental imprisonment of him through the Imperius Curse.
Not to mention that his only companionship for more than 10 years would’ve been that
of Winky.
Well, and, of course, his father—who very likely hated him.
His mental state aside, I do think that Barty Crouch Junior still would’ve pursued being
a Death Eater, becoming a rather dark wizard in the end, even if he hadn’t gone through
all that.
Since, it’s clear that even before he went to Azkaban and withstood the effect of the
Imperius Curse for a decade, he was quite a sadistic person.
For example, his part in torturing the Longbottoms to the point of insanity showcases his inclinations
towards violence and innate evilness before he had truly suffered or undergone much psychological
damage.
In his final year of life, Barty Junior was located by Voldemort and freed.
And with his freedom, the Dark Lord tasked him with infiltrating Hogwarts and capturing
Harry Potter—an assignment Barty took on with pleasure.
As we know, Barty Junior then abducted former Auror Alastor Mad-Eye Moody and took on his
appearance through Polyjuice Potion.
He went on to impersonate Mad-Eye in his role as a Professor at Hogwarts for an entire school
year, teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, while also fixing the Triwizard Tournament
in an effort to bring Harry face-to-face with Voldemort.
Barty Junior’s life was over at the end of that same school year in 1995, but not
before murdering his father—an act which may have been almost unavoidable given their
history.
Barty Junior’s fate came at the receiving end of a Dementor's Kiss performed by a Dementor
that Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge had brought with him to Hogwarts.
And, with that, we’ve come to the end of another video!
What did you think?
Do you agree that Barty Crouch Junior was already pretty evil to begin with?
Or do you think his experiences played a larger role?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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the channel!
Until next time…remember
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."