- Severus Snape: "To me, Potter, you are nothing but a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him. So I give you fair warning, Potter, pint-sized celebrity or not — if I catch you breaking into my office one more time —"
- Harry Potter: "I haven't been anywhere near your office!"
- Severus Snape: "Don't lie to me. Boomslang skin. Gillyweed. Both come from my private stores, and I know who stole them."
- — Severus Snape confronts Harry Potter about the break-in[src]
The break-in of Severus Snape's office in 1995 was a break-in staged by Bartemius Crouch Junior so he could steal the ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion he had been using to disguise himself as Alastor Moody.
History
Background
Barty Crouch Junior was a Death Eater, one of four Death Eaters responsible for the torture of Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom, who was imprisoned in Azkaban. He later escaped when Barty Crouch Senior and Mrs Crouch switched her for her son using Polyjuice Potion. He was kept under the Imperius Curse by Crouch Senior for years, until he was found by Bertha Jorkins and later freed by Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew.[2]
Crouch Junior joined Voldemort again, and they used a Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts to try and get and kill Harry Potter. He and Peter Pettigrew attacked Alastor Moody and he was imprisoned so he could be impersonated by Crouch Junior using Polyjuice Potion. He posed as Moody at Hogwarts to successfully enter Harry Potter into the Triwizard Tournament and done what he could to help Harry succeed.[2]
However, Crouch Junior had to keep taking Polyjuice Potion and whenever he ran short on Polyjuice Potion supplies, he had to steal supplies out of Severus Snape's office. When Snape caught him one time, Crouch as Moody claimed to be searching it.[3]
The break-in
In January 1995, Crouch Junior run out of Polyjuice Potion supplies a day before the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament. He decided to raiding Snape's stores for what he needed for a new batch of Polyjuice Potion. However, Harry Potter had gone out that night to work out what clue was in the Golden egg that held the clue to the Second Task. He took a Cloak of Invisibility and the Marauder's Map to avoid getting caught for breaking curfew.[3]
Harry was heading back to bed and he checked the map, which showed a "Barty Crouch" in Severus Snape's office. He mistook Crouch Junior for Crouch Senior, who was supposed to be ill. Harry's suspected something was wrong, so he headed toward Snape's office under his Cloak to find out what Crouch was up to. Unfortunately, Harry's leg got caught in a trick step on a staircase between the ground-floor and second-floor corridor, causing him to drop the egg. It opened up at the bottom of the stairs and began to make a very loud screaming noise. The noise attracted the attention of Crouch Junior, Severus Snape, and the Hogwarts Caretaker Argus Filch.[3]
Crouch Junior could see Harry under the Invisibility Cloak, but Snape suspected Harry was around. However, Crouch Junior found a way to get rid of Snape and Filch before they could find Harry. He got the details off Harry of what had happened, and that Harry knew a "Barty Crouch" was in the cupboard. Crouch Junior (still acting like Alastor Moody) told Harry that Crouch Senior was obsessed with catching Dark Wizards, making Harry think Barty Crouch Senior wanted to get Snape. Crouch Junior confiscated the Marauder's Map, gave Harry back the egg and sent him back to bed.[3]
Aftermath
Harry soon filled his friends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and his godfather Sirius Black in on what happened, leading to Sirius to tell the story of the Crouches's history.[4] Dobby later stole an item out of Snape's office to help Harry in the Second Task, causing Snape to think Harry had been stealing supplies.[5]
Crouch Junior later used the Marauder's Map he had obtained to find and attack Barty Crouch Senior and Viktor Krum later that year.[6]
Appearances
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 24 (Rita Skeeter's Scoop) - "There was a Hogsmeade visit halfway through January. [...] He, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together on Saturday and set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates." This was stated before the break-in. It is later stated in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 26 (The Second Task) after the events of the break-in are stated: "Harry had been recounting his adventures of the previous night in whispered installments for the last half hour." This took place on a Friday in the second half of January (see here). This means that the break-in happened in the second half of January. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 25 (The Egg and the Eye), it is stated: "On Thursday night, Harry sneaked up to bed, put on the cloak, crept back downstairs, and, just as he had done on the night when Hagrid had shown him the dragons, waited for the portrait hole to open." in 1995, there are two Thursdays in the second half of January, the 19th, and the 26th.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 35 (Veritaserum)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 25 (The Egg and the Eye)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 26 (The Second Task)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 27 (Padfoot Returns)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 28 (The Madness of Mr Crouch)