Bartemius Crouch Senior

"Look, nobody liked Crouch. I know this from my father. Loads of people wanted him dead. But he was a Ministry official."

- Ronald Weasley

Bartemius "Barty" Crouch, Sr.(1930s - 1995) was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement during the First War. He had a reputation for "fighting fire with fire"; exhibiting the same sort of ruthlessness against criminals as some Death Eaters did against their victims. As he and his son were the last of the pure-blood Crouch family, it is virtually certain that he was the son of Caspar Crouch, by wife Charis Black.

Early Life
Nothing is known about his childhood, but he was married to a "wispy-looking little witch", and they had a son, who was named after him. Crouch quickly rose through the ranks of the Ministry of Magic and became the judge on the Wizengamot whilst heading the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

The First Wizarding War
During the downfall of the Death Eaters in the First Wizarding War, he convicted several of them to life imprisonment in Azkaban, including Sirius Black, who was sent to Azkaban without trial. He authorised Aurors to use the Unforgivable Curses on their opponents if necessary. Crouch oversaw a trial where he had the Death Eater Igor Karkaroff set free in exchange for the names of several other Death Eaters, including Augustus Rookwood. He also oversaw the trial of Ludo Bagman, but much to Crouch's fury, the Wizengamot cleared Bagman of all charges. Although Crouch's tactics were cruel, most people believed that he was doing the right thing, as there would be no way to defeat Lord Voldemort otherwise. Many people predicted that Crouch would be the next Minister for Magic.

However, after Lord Voldemort's fall, Crouch got news that his own son had, in his youthful foolishness, helped drive two Aurors - Alice and Frank Longbottom - insane through use of the Cruciatus Curse, trying to learn where their master was in hiding. Crouch did not make any difference for the trial despite his son being among the convicts. Ignoring his son and wife's pleas, he sent all the Death Eaters to Azkaban. As a favour to his dying wife, Crouch smuggled their son out of Azkaban. His wife, in failing health, used Polyjuice Potion to pose as Barty Jr. in the prison cell until she died. Because of the public reaction after his "son" died, Crouch Sr. lost his popularity and chance to become Minister for Magic and was shunted sideways to the Department of International Magical Co-operation.

Crouch took his real son home, where for twelve years he was placed under house arrest via the Imperius Curse, hidden under an Invisibility cloak.

Quidditch World Cup
In 1994, a Ministry worker named Bertha Jorkins called at the Crouch home with Ministry paperwork. Crouch was out, but Bertha heard the family house-elf, Winky, talking to Barty Crouch Jr. She heard enough to guess that it was Crouch Jr. hiding under an Invisibility cloak.

Upon his arrival home, Crouch assessed the situation, and immediately cast an extremely powerful Memory Charm on her, which actually caused Bertha some brain damage.

A few days later, Winky convinced Crouch to take her and Barty to the Quidditch World Cup final, which was being held in England that year. Crouch remained in his tent while Winky took Barty, hidden under an Invisibility Cloak, up to a top box. She covered her eyes for the duration of the match because she was so afraid of heights. Barty, however, had awoken from the Imperius Curse and proceeded to steal Harry Potter's wand from his pocket, as Harry was sitting right in front of the invisible Barty. He later used Harry's wand to cast Morsmordre.

Crouch saw the effect the spell had - the Dark Mark was hovering overhead - and hurried to the place where it had just been cast. It was there that he found Harry, Ron and Hermione, as well as Winky in the bushes nearby with Harry's wand. Crouch also found his invisible son on the ground, unconscious. Crouch publicly dismissed Winky (ostensibly for disgracing him, but in reality for failing to supervise his son). After the witnesses to Winky's dismissal left, Crouch recast the Imperius Curse on Barty and returned home.

Meanwhile, Lord Voldemort had found and tortured Bertha Jorkins into telling him vital information about the present state of the Ministry, including the fact that Barty was alive and still loyal to the Dark Lord. Wormtail and Voldemort traveled to the Crouch home, placed the Imperius Curse on Crouch himself and removed Barty to a separate location.

The Triwizard Tournament and Death
Crouch was ordered to go to work and do all his usual jobs as if nothing had happened. This included becoming one of the judges in the Triwizard Tournament, which he, as the head of the Department of Magical Co-Operation had helped plan out. When Crouch, along with Ludo Bagman, came to Hogwarts, Crouch was unable to get as much applause as Bagman did, probably partly because he was not a very pleasant-looking man. While this was happening, Crouch's son was also in Hogwarts, impersonating Alastor Moody and plotting to help his master rise to power. Crouch showed no sign of surprise, exhaustion or any emotion at all when the name of Harry Potter came from the Goblet of Fire, as a part of Voldemort's plan. Presumably from orders given by Voldemort, Crouch insisted that any name came from the Goblet, the name in question would be a contestant in the tournament.

Crouch soon started to resist the Imperius Curse, just like his son had done during his time under Crouch's control. Voldemort, fearing that people would become suspicious, ordered him to stay home and write letters, saying he was sick.

Eventually Crouch escaped and fled towards Hogwarts to warn Dumbledore about Voldemort's plans. Exhausted and slightly mad from the effects of Voldemort's mind-controlling spells, he staggered through the Forbidden Forest onto the Hogwarts grounds, eventually coming across Harry and Viktor Krum. Crouch's resisting of Voldemort's spells caused him to contunuously talk to a nearby tree, thinking it was his assistant "Weatherby" and to think his wife and son were still alive and well. In a short sane state, Crouch asked to speak to Dumbledore. While Harry went to get him, Barty arrived and stunned Krum. Barty killed his father and transfigured the corpse into a bone, burying it in Rubeus Hagrid's garden.

Barty Crouch Jr. was later captured and subjected to the Dementor's Kiss. He admitted having murdered his father under the influence of Veritaserum.

Personality and traits
Crouch was a highly intelligent and powerful wizard, but he was also power-hungry and very strict. He took pride in obsessively following all rules to the letter, and held those with a lesser regard for the rules in contempt. Although Crouch despised the Dark Arts, his determination to exterminate the Death Eaters and his tendency to fight fire with fire rendered him almost as cruel as many of them. Crouch spoke over two hundred languages, including those of Merpeople, Goblins and Trolls. Many of these traits earned Crouch the admiration of his assistant "Weatherby".

Behind the scenes

 * In the film adaption of The Goblet of Fire, Crouch is portrayed as a somewhat more cheerful character and a generally more likable man. He congratulates Harry after the latter successfully completes the Second Task, but Barty, in the guise of Moody, interrupts their heartful conversation, asking whether Crouch was trying to get Harry into a summer internship at the Ministry. Instead of arriving in Hogwarts driven half-insane and subsequently disappearing, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid later find Crouch dead in the Forbidden Forest.
 * Also in the film, Dumbledore said that it destroyed Crouch to send his son to Azkaban. In the book, however, he was fully willing to do it and had no regrets about it. Also, the film version had no mention of Crouch's part in his son's escape from Azkaban.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Barty Crouch Sr. Barty Croupton