Vincent Crabbe

"It's that Mudblood! AVADA KEDAVRA!"

- Vincent Crabbe attempts to kill Hermione Granger.

Vincent Crabbe (c.1980 - 2 May,1998) was a pure-blood wizard, son of Crabbe Sr. (who was a Death Eater), and later a Dark Wizard. Vincent Crabbe was also a student at Hogwarts and a member of Slytherin House. Crabbe, along with Gregory Goyle, were rarely seen without their ringleader Draco Malfoy. While Dolores Umbridge was Headmistress, he joined the Inquisitorial Squad. In his last year at Hogwarts, he became a Dark Wizard, as he learned to cast powerful dark curses, such as the Killing and the Cruciatus Curse. He accidentally killed himself using Fiendfyre on 2 May 1998, during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Early life
Vincent Crabbe was born into the pure-blood Crabbe family. His father, Mr. Crabbe, was a Death Eater. This likely influenced his son's prejudice against muggle-borns and other non pure-bloods.

First year
At the start of his first year, Crabbe was sorted into Slytherin House, along with his friends Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle, both of whom were also sons of Death Eaters. Harry Potter noticed that Crabbe and Goyle seemed to act as bodyguards for Malfoy. When Draco challenged Harry to a duel, he selected Crabbe as his Second, although the challenge was merely a ruse to get Harry in trouble for being out of bed after hours.

Second year
During the second opening of the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger tricked him and Goyle into eating cakes containing a sleeping draught — by leaving the cakes on a banister, even though Crabbe and Goyle had already eaten much more than their fill (which explains his obesity). Ron and Harry used hairs from Crabbe and Goyle to impersonate them with a Polyjuice Potion and spy on Malfoy.

Fifth year
In their fifth year, Crabbe and Goyle each became Beaters for the Slytherin Quidditch team. During the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match, Crabbe sent a Bludger at Harry, angry because he caught the Snitch before Draco (the Seeker then) did. Harry fought alongside George Weasley and got a lifelong ban of Quidditch from Dolores Umbridge (although their bans were lifted once Umbridge was removed from Hogwarts). Crabbe was happy about this.

After Harry causes the arrest of Crabbe's father, Mr. Crabbe and Lucius Malfoy, Malfoy's father, they attempted to ambush him on the Hogwarts Express, but were jinxed so thoroughly by members of the D.A. that they were transfigured into large slugs. A similar event occurred at the end of the previous year, when Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George all used different hexes on them on the train.

Sixth year
During the 1996–1997 school year, Malfoy had him and Goyle turn into girls via Polyjuice Potion to be able to guard the Room of Requirement while Malfoy was repairing the Vanishing Cabinet inside. Whenever someone walked by, Crabbe or Goyle would drop an object, making a loud noise that would alert Malfoy not to come out. Crabbe was displeased by being made to do this, especially since Malfoy refused to tell him what he was doing inside. Once, Crabbe started to argue with Malfoy about this.

At the end of the school year, he and Goyle were left feeling lonely, after their leader and friend Draco Malfoy left the school just before the end of the term.

Seventh year
"We’re supposed to practice the Cruciatus Curse on people who’ve earned detentions… I refused to do it. Some people are into it, though; Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they’ve ever been top in anything, I expect."

- Neville Longbottom

During Crabbe's seventh year at Hogwarts, two new professors were appointed; Amycus and Alecto Carrow. Amycus was the Dark Arts professor, while Alecto was the Muggle Studies professor. They both liked to punish students, torturing them; they also ordered the other students to torture the punished ones with the Cruciatus Curse; it is noted that Crabbe and Goyle were among the few ones who loved it. It was also the very first time they got top grades in something.

Battle of Hogwarts and death
During the Battle of Hogwarts, Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy stayed at Hogwarts and they ambushed Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Room of Requirement. It turned out that Crabbe had become a competent Dark wizard, thanks to the coaching of the Death Eater Amycus Carrow, seeing as he was capable of performing Avada Kedavra, which was claimed by Barty Crouch Jr. (while posing as Alastor Moody) to require a "powerful bit of magic behind it."

Initially, Harry mocked Crabbe and the others, thinking they were merely here to make a fool of themselves in an attempt to capture Harry himself. However, when Crabbe aimed to kill, Harry was infuriated greatly. For the first time, Crabbe defied Draco, stating "you an' yer dad are finished," implying a great deal of knowledge regarding the Malfoy family's falling out of favour with Voldemort. In the end, Crabbe conjured Fiendfyre to kill the trio, but as he failed to learn how to stop it, it apparently killed him and destroyed the entire Room of Requirement before he could escape. His death is not seen by any of the students who escaped, but it is presumed that it killed him, as no one saw him exit the room. Ironically, his use of Fiendfyre also destroyed Ravenclaw's diadem, one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, due to the sheer destructive power of the spell, prompting Ron to reflect that such an action might have made him feel sorry for Crabbe's death if he hadn't been trying to kill them when he used it.

Physical description
Crabbe is large and very fat, with a thick neck, has gorilla-like arms, a flat nose, and wears a pudding bowl-style haircut. He is very mean and very stupid, which makes him little more than a "follower" of Malfoy. However, in spite of his overweight, fat physique, he is an avid runner, as shown when he, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Malfoy and Goyle were running away from the Fiendfyre. Crabbe is told to have outstripped the rest of them, even Harry, who is very quick.

Personality and traits
Crabbe is entirely lacking in introspection or inquisitiveness, and is very greedy, eating at the feasts for longer than anyone and leaving with large loads of cakes to still be eaten. He could be described as enormously fat and pig-like, like Dudley Dursley, but even more thuggish and stupid. Despite his large frame, Crabbe has a surprisingly soft voice. Crabbe seems unable to make up his own mind or to see things his own way; he is generally told what to do. Nonetheless he is depicted as slightly more intelligent than Goyle and in 1996 he seems to quarrel with Malfoy for the first time, for a reward. His and Goyle's personalities are sometimes questioned by some readers, as Slytherins are typically described as "cunning", though the fact they were sorted into Slytherin may have to do with having a desire for power and their belief in blood purity, which are often considered another Slytherin trait. His belief is so strong, in fact, that he attempted to murder Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley for being a muggle-born and blood traitor, respectively. It is also possible that they do not fit into the other houses as well as they fit into Slytherin.

Near the presumed end of his life, Crabbe proved to be a deadly dark wizard, being able to use powerful curses. He also seemed to change for the worst, as he defied Draco and was not above torturing and killing fellow students. This differentiates him from Draco, who came to realise that he delved deeper into the Dark Arts than he wanted, while Crabbe was clearly enjoying the power and sadistic cruelty. However, he also became reckless, and neglected the potency of his Dark Arts, releasing cursed flames to incinerate his opponents that he couldn't control, which led to his demise.

Magical abilities and skills

 * Quidditch: Crabbe played Beater for the Slytherin Quidditch Team. He was chosen for his size and strength rather than skill, and has poor sportsmanship, as he sent a Bludger at Harry for catching the Snitch.
 * Dark Arts: By 1998, Crabbe was skilled with Dark spells, such as the Cruciatus and the Killing Curses, and Fiendfyre conjuration. However, when he released the latter, it killed him due to him neglecting its potency.

Behind the scenes

 * Vincent Crabbe was portrayed in film adaptations of the Harry Potter series by British actor, Jamie Waylett.
 * He is portrayed as a more of a comedic character in the films, the shorter and fatter of Malfoy's bodyguards. The more comedic punishments for the Slytherins' wrongdoing seem to go to him. In the fourth film, when Malfoy is turned into a ferret by Bartemius Crouch Jr., masquerading as Mad-Eye Moody, the ferret is thrown into Crabbe's trousers, clawing away at his legs. Jamie Waylett who plays Crabbe had to wear two pairs of trousers so that the ferret did not cause any injury. Indeed, in the film adaptation of the third novel, Harry is confusing and messing with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle while under his invisibility cloak, under the pretence of being a vicious ghost, he pulls down Crabbe's trousers and kicks him on his backside when Crabbe tries and fails to pull them back up. Malfoy runs away screaming, and he pushes Crabbe down again, who is struggling to get to his feet and pull up his trousers. He eventually gets up and has to crawl away from the scene, trousers forgotten, and his underpants and legs showing. In the original novel, Harry had thrown mud at the threesome and thrown a tree branch at Crabbe. This scene was relived somewhat in the fifth film, albeit that it was Fred and George Weasley who caused the mayhem. The fireworks set off by the Weasley twins target the Slytherin threesome. One particularly rambunctious firework goes after Goyle, who pushes it away. It chases after Crabbe, who is running, yelling, away. The firework is ultimately too fast, and it shoves his backside, reminiscent of the kicking scene.
 * He is also the first one to be attacked by the Imperiused and Engorged spider in Barty Crouch Jr.'s Defence Against the Dark Arts class, although Malfoy was the fourth and last victim.
 * According to the site SnitchSeeker.com, Josh Herdman (Gregory Goyle) announced that Crabbe will not appear in the Deathly Hallows film adaptation, and it will be his character (Goyle) who dies instead. This is because on 7 April 2009 Crabbe's actor (Jamie Waylett) and another man were arrested for cannabis possession and later tried and sentenced.
 * Crabbe is one of the few Slytherin students who becomes a Dark Wizard without being a member of any organisation, the other being Lord Voldemort (who wasn't a Death Eater) and Salazar Slytherin.
 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, during the Quidditch match, we see the Slytherin beaters, but we can't see their faces or their last names on the back of their robes. It is impossible to tell if one of the beaters was Crabbe, but we can safely assume that it was.

Etymology

 * Vincent means "conqueror" or "victor."
 * His last name is probably a variation of crab, a small, round crustacean with two large claws in front, or informal English for a grumpy person.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Vincent.jpg
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * 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 Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Notes and references
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