Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 362: The Cold Barty Crouch
"Who could it be?" Harry asked nervously. "What could be the reason? Why would they target Barty Crouch?"

"I don't know." Sirius Black shook his head helplessly, then picked up a piece of bread and began to chew slowly.

Sirius Black seemed to be really hungry; all those chicken legs and hams he had eaten before hadn't filled his stomach.

“But I’m certain that Barty Crouch’s illness is definitely not normal.” Sirius Black finished his bread, wiped his mouth with his hand, and then looked at Harry—

“Barty Crouch is a very honest man. To be precise, he’s honest to an excessive degree,” Sirius continued.

"What?" Harry asked in surprise, "You know Barty Crouch?"

“Of course,” Sirius said. “At its peak, the number of adult wizards in the British wizarding world never exceeded 15,000, making it a very small group. Moreover, the Black and Crouch families, both of the so-called ‘pure-blood 28,’ often had dealings with each other. I remember when I was a child, Barty Crouch would often come to our old Black house with his father, Portor Crouch. At that time, he was just a newly graduated Ministry of Magic intern, but even then, he showed an extremely strong desire for power.”

“No wonder Percy idolizes him so much,” Ron said with a laugh. “It’s as if Batty Crouch is Percy’s real father.”

"Besides, he's the one who got me into Azkaban," Sirius added, his expression suddenly darkening and becoming quite frightening, just like the night Harry first met him, when Harry still believed Sirius was a murderous monster.

"Huh?" Harry seemed startled by Sirius Black's expression.

"What?" Even Ron found it hard to believe.

"Heh." Sirius chuckled coldly before continuing, "I've said it before, Barty Crouch is an extremely upright guy, almost to the point of being overly upright, but also incredibly power-hungry. These qualities aren't usually a problem, but in those times, in an era when the entire British wizarding world was under Voldemort's dark rule... well, never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway, you're too young."

“Tell us,” Ron raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with annoyance. “Just try it and see if we can understand.”

“Alright, I’ll give it a try…” A smile flickered across Sirius’s gaunt face. He walked to the other end of the cave, then turned back and said, “Now imagine, when Voldemort’s power was at its peak, you didn’t know who his supporters were and who weren’t, who served him and who didn’t. You knew he could control people so tightly that they would do terrible things against their will. You were afraid for yourself, for your family, and for your friends. Every week there was bad news, more deaths, more disappearances, more tortures… The Ministry of Magic was in chaos. They didn’t know what to do, and they had to do everything they could to keep it from the Muggles, while at the same time, the Muggles were dying. There was terror everywhere… tension… chaos… That’s what it was like back then.”

"Ah, it's always in times like these that good people show their best qualities and bad people reveal their worst nature. Crouch's principles were probably sound at first—"

"I'm not entirely sure. He rose quickly through the ranks and began taking very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors gained new powers. For example, they had the right to kill, not just arrest. I wasn't the only one handed over to Dementors without trial. Crouch used violence to combat violence; he allowed the use of unforgivable spells on suspects. To me, he became as ruthless and cold-blooded as many in the Dark Arts. You know, he also had his supporters—many thought he was right to do things this way, and many wizards were clamoring for him to become Minister for Magic. After Voldemort's disappearance, it seemed only a matter of time before Crouch became the head of the ministry. But then, something very unfortunate happened..."

Sirius gave a cold smile, seemingly showing no pity for the misfortune that had befallen the man who had personally sent him to Azkaban.

“Crouch’s biological son has been captured. He’s with a group of Death Eaters who escaped from Azkaban using smooth talk. It looks like they’re looking for Voldemort, hoping to bring him back to power,” Sirius Black said.

"So, Barty Crouch's son is a Death Eater?" Harry asked in surprise.

“I don’t know,” Sirius shook his head. “I was in Azkaban when he was imprisoned. I only found out about these things after I got out. I bet my life that the boy was with Death Eaters when he was arrested—but maybe he just shouldn’t have been there at that time.” “Did Crouch try to exonerate his son?” Ron asked, puzzled.

Sirius gave a strange laugh, very much like the bark of a dog.

"Crouch defended his son? He would throw anything that threatened his reputation aside. He had dedicated his entire life to becoming Minister for Magic. Crouch's paternal love was at best shown in putting his son on trial, which, according to various accounts, actually gave Crouch an excuse to show how much he hated the boy... and then he sent his son to Azkaban."

"He gave his son to the Dementors?" Harry asked quietly.

“That’s exactly it,” Sirius said, his face no longer showing any amusement. “I saw the Dementors bring him in, and I watched them through the bars of the cell door. He was no more than nineteen years old. They threw him into the cell next to mine. In the evening, he screamed for his mother. But a few days later, he was silent… They all eventually became silent… only occasionally letting out a scream in their sleep…”

For a moment, the depressed look in Sirius's eyes became particularly solemn, as if the shutters behind his eyes had suddenly closed.

Harry looked at Sirius Black with a pang of sympathy, understanding that Sirius was recalling the painful memories of being imprisoned in Azkaban.

Then there was a long silence.

"Oh, by the way, Professor Moody said Crouch is obsessed with catching dark wizards all the time," Harry added.

“Yes, I’ve heard it’s become one of his hobbies,” Sirius nodded and said. “My opinion is that he still thinks he can regain public support as long as he catches one more Death Eater, especially after what happened at the World Cup.”

“So, Harry,” Sirius said solemnly, “once Barty Crouch recovers, you can try to get in touch with him. There’s definitely a conspiracy behind your participation in the competition. I suspect that because of Barty Crouch’s obsessive desire to control the Death Eaters, he may have discovered something unusual, which could very well be related to why Harry participated.”

"But if that's the case, why don't they just finish the job and kill Barty Crouch?" Ron asked, puzzled. "If they can make him sick, I think it would be easier to just use a killing curse, right?"

“No, Ron, you’re oversimplifying things,” Sirius Black said, shaking his head. “Killing Barty Crouch will inevitably attract Dumbledore’s attention, and magic, especially dark magic, will leave traces.”

“And…” Sirius Black frowned, looking at Ron, “And the Death Curse isn’t something just anyone can use… Some people’s magical training might not even be enough to allow them to use the Death Curse even once… I suspect… the Mysterious Man sent one of our ‘old friends’… to carry out this mission…”

"You mean...?" Ron's face turned deathly pale instantly.

“Hmm.” Sirius nodded, then said, “I suspect Peter Pettigrew has returned to Hogwarts. After all, compared to his familiarity with Harry and Hogwarts, no Death Eater that the Man of Voldemort has under his command can compare to Peter Pettigrew.”

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(End of this chapter)