"Mad-Eye Moody" - Character Sketch

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 6103

No character  in JKR's narrative has so far made a more dramatic entrance
than Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.  I'm tempted to quote the entire passage, one
of JKR's finest set pieces: but I will instead urge the reader to take up
your wand, cry "Accio GoF" and open the volume to Chapter 12, when, with a
crash of thunder, the doors of the Great Hall fling open to admit this
magnificently mangled figure with the swiveling blue eye as clumps his way
to the Teacher's Table amidst the stunned silence of the students and
faculty alike.

Of course, any attempt to characterize Moody is severely compromised by the
fact that he is impersonated  by Barty Crouch Jr, throughout the bulk of
GoF.  Still, we can piece enough together both on the recollections of
others and the apparent skill of Crouch's impersonation to assemble a
reasonably accurate surmise of what the real "Mad-Eye" is like. Locked away
in his own trunk, and under the control of an Imperius Curse,  he is
continuously consulted by Crouch "to find out about his past, learn his
habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore." We can assume that Barty
Crouch made few moves without making sure he was acting in accord with the
real Moody.

We initially learn of Moody at the beginning of Chap. 11: Arthur Weasley is
dispatched by Amos Diggory to assist Moody escape a charge of Improper Use
of Magic. Moody, whose paranoia has increased with age, seems to have
created an unfortunate situation involving some exploding dustbins in which
the Muggles police became involved. Arthur's intervention gets Moody out of
trouble, but leads to an embarrassing Daily Prophet article from Rita
Skeeter. . Moody seems to be something of a living legend. His many
eccentricities - his intense paranoia which leads him "hex first and ask
questions later", his only drinking from a hip flask, etc. - only serve to
augment his mythical aura. Charlie Weasley says that Moody, now retired,
once worked at the Ministry as an Auror: a Dark wizard catcher.  "He was one
of the best..half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him."  Although
he made a lot of enemies in the families of people he prosecuted (e.g. the
Malfoys), such trusted figures as Arthur Weasley and Sirius Black speak of
him in terms of the utmost regard. He has agreed to come out of retirement
for one year to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts (the fourth teacher
in four books) as a special favor to Dumbledore.

We later get a glimpse of Moody in Chapter 30 (The Pensieve) during his
active Auror years. Moody - with two normal eyes  - is seated beside
Dumbledore during the post-Voldemort era "witch trials.".  As we sit through
the trial of Karkakoff, we learn through his sotto voce comments of his
merciless and militant  hostility against the Death Eaters, and his anger at
Crouch for plea-bargaining with Karkakoff. (we have earlier learned from
Sirius Black that Karkakoff was apprehended by Moody and served two years in
Azkaban). He brushes aside Dumbledore's expressed dislike of the Dementors,
implying that nothing could be bad enough for the likes of Karkakoff. We
learn that Moody lost a chunk of his nose when he attempted to bring in a
dark wizard named Rosier (the only time we learn the specifics of his
injuries.) When Dumbledore assures the jurors that Snape "is now no more a
Death Eater than I am," Moody looks deeply skeptical (and Snape still gives
him a wide berth ten years later). During the trial of superstar Ludo
Bagman, only Moody and Crouch seem impervious to the Quidditch star's charm.

When he enters the Great Hall, we see that Moody bears many scars from his
battles with Dark wizards.  He is horribly scarred, has a chunk of his nose
torn away, and clumps around on a carved wooden leg ending in a clawed foot.
Most intriguing is Moody's "mad-eye" which gives him extraordinary visual
powers: he can swivel it around 360 degrees to see in any direction, see
through solid objects, and even through Invisibility Cloaks.  His eye
"dances" in its socket when Moody is happy (as when Harry succeeds in the
first Triwizard task), or leaves only the white of his eye showing when he
looks off in another direction. When Moody later tells Harry that he has the
makings of a good Auror, Hary's immediate reaction is to first make sure
that not every Auror is as strikingly scarred.

 Moody's first appearance in the halls of Hogwarts is as memorable as his
initial entrance: When he sees Draco trying to fling a hex at Harry while
his back is turned, Moody transforms him into a ferret.  When the
ferret/Draco tries to flee, Moody sends it bouncing ever-higher in the air
("the best moment of my life," Ron calls it)  and fails to seem particularly
interested by Prof. McGonagall's  chastising reminder of the proper Hogwarts
disciplinary procedures. (Again, this action can be interpreted in terms of
the real Moody's dislike of foul play, as well as both Moody and Crouch's
dislike of the Malfoy family, albeit for different reasons).

As a teacher, Moody holds his classes riveted. Fred and George, who we may
assume have never been easily impressed by members of the Hogwarts faculty,
become instant fans:  "He knows, man.[he] knows what its like to be out
there doing it..Fighting the Dark Arts".   Moody combines the most salient
qualities of previous DADA professors Lockhart and Lupin.  He has Lockhart's
charisma and flamboyance (but none of his hotdogging), combined with Lupin's
skills, range of knowledge and even (seemingly) a touch of his sensitivity.
Whose heart is so hard that it failed to be touched by his mentoring of
Neville Longbottom? "It was the sort of thing Professor Lupin would have
done" thought Harry, and what higher praise can one bestow? (although we
later learn of Crouch's ulterior motives for doing so, we may also assume
that he first approached Neville acted this way  - and in front of witnesses
who would spread the news - to more closely approximate the real Moody).

Moody later says, "It's my job to think as Dark Wizards do." In Harry's
first class with him, Moody tells his class that while Lupin gave them all
an excellent training against various supernatural creatures last year,  he
is going to show them what wizards do to one another.  He warns his students
that fourth-years are usually not permitted to study material as difficult
as he is about to present (a great hook!) - and then, in an unforgettable
lecture demonstrates to them the three unforgivable curses: The Imperius,
the Cruciatus, ,and the Avada Kedrava.  He reminds his students that only
"constant never-ceasing vigilance" can protect them against the curses. His
classes are often "difficult and demanding," and remind us of Iris Murdoch's
observation that all good teachers have a bit of a sadistic streak.
(Perhaps it's more than  just a bit with Moody). He subjects each of his
students to the Imperius Curse, forcing them to do humiliating things. Only
Harry is able to fight it off. . A lesson in Chap. 28) of hex-deflection is
so rigorous that many students left the class nursing small injuries. Harry
leaves with a bad case of twitchy ears.

Harry seems to have found another ally among the faculty, and Moody soon
wins his complete trust. Harry expects to be lectured by Moody when he
overhears him informing Cedric of the nature of first task .  He is
surprised when Moody tells him that it was "the decent thing to do." He
offers Harry aid in the first task, but in a positive supportive way,  not
the sort of sleazy underhanded assistance that Ludo Bagman seemed to offer.
Moody always seems to be looking out for Harry. He is the first to offer the
idea that Harry's name was slipped into theGoblet by some one trying to kill
him. In Chap. 25, he shields the invisible  Harry from Filch and Snape when
he is trapped in the stairway.  Harry trusts him so much that he entrusts
the Marauder's Map to his care.

After Harry, exhausted and disoriented, returns from his battle with
Voldemort, he is, before he knows it, carried off by Moody, who interrogates
him insistently about Voldy's return.  It is then that Moody reveals that he
is a servant of "the Dark Lord" who set up Harry as a means of restoring
Voldy to corporeal form. At first, of course we think it is the real Moody
who is insanely exulting - Only after Dumbledore, terrible as an army with
banners, bursts into the room to stop Mad-Eye, do we learn the truth: that
Moody has been impersonated since the beginning of the year by Barty Crouch
Jr.  Dumbledore shows Harry the real Moody, gaunt and starved, without his
wooden leg or magic eye, locked away as a prisoner inside his own trunk,
controlled by the Imperius curse.  When Harry finally rests in Madame
Pomfrey's infirmary after his ordeal, he catches sight of the real Moody
lying in a bed across the room. The last we see of Mad-Eye is in the final
chapter, sitting at the staff table, in an extremely nervous condition,
jumping whenever he is spoken to.  Ironically, Harry never exchanges words
with the real Moody.

(1) Did you suspect that Moody was the true culprit? I sure didn't. What
clues does JKR provide that reveal Moody's true identity and purpose?

(2) When Moody tells his class that he is going to subject them to the
Imperius Curse, Hermione objects that it is illegal.  Moody responds that
Dumbledore wants them to learn it.  Would Dumbledore have actually
authorized this, or this is simply Crouch's sadism at work?

(3) Crouch may have impersonated Moody skillfully, but perhaps all he had to
do was lean a little. Does the impersonation of Moody by Crouch imply some
sort of "moral equivalency" argument: that both the pro- and anti-Voldemort
forces were operating on the same moral level?  - This was an argument often
advanced during the Cold War  (only on our Western side of the Cold War, of
course), that there was no fundamental difference between American and
Soviets. Would this moral equivalency argument also work in the case of
Fascism and anti-Fascism?

(4) Will Moody be back next year?  It seems that JKR's strategy to date is
to give us a new Dark Arts prof each year. But technically the real Mad-Eye
could return in Book Five as a new DADA professor, since he didn't really
teach last year.

(5) How did Moody acquire his magic eye?

(6) Dumbledore says that Barty gave himself away when he took Harry away
from his presence.  Why was this the give-away?

    - CMC

I AM MOODY

(to the tune of I Am Woman)


I am Moody, hear an Auror
Declare total all-out war
Against each Dark Art practitioner devout
I will transport Voldemort
O'er the brink of Thermidor
And those Death-Eating scum I'll ferret out!

Oh yes I am mad
I suspect every ashcan
But I'll not be had
By any evil wizard's plan
Gonna send that trash straight back to Azkaban!
I am mad!
I am intransigent!
I am Moody!

I use Constant Vigilance when I teach Dark Arts Defense
Nothing out there can escape my view
My eye swivels three-six-oh
Catching sight of every foe
I see straight through you as I look askew

Oh I'm insane
I get quite delirious
When I sustain
Another Curse Imperius
And hexes even more deleterious!
I am mad!
I am intransigent!
I am..

(he reaches for his hip flask, but finds it is empty. He abruptly changes
back to Barty Crouch Jr.)

 ...leaving!

(Exit, pursued by Dementors)