The Crouches---father and son

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 37781

As far as Barty Crouch Sr. and Jr. at the trial we see in the Pensieve goes,
it occurs to me that JKR's love of red herrings might go farther even than
my learned colleagues here have suggested.  It is true that even though Jr.
was apparently a loyal Death Eater, he _might_ have been innocent of the
particular charge that sent him to Azkaban---IOW, he might honestly have
_been_ "in the wrong place, at the wrong time" when the Aurors came.  Or, he
could have been guilty (we'll never know now---THANK YOU, Fudge, for
bringing that stupid dementor to Hogwarts!  What are you going to follow
that with, pushing Hermione down a flight of stairs?).

Now, if he was actually guilty, his act was incredibly good.  BUT, it occurs
to me that acting is a talent that often runs in families.  What if even
while Barty Sr. was raving and ranting about "Take them to Azkaban and let
them rot there!" he was figuring out ways to spring his kid?  Either because
he thought the kid was honestly innocent (see above about "wrong place,
wrong time") or could be salvaged somehow?

Face it, learned colleagues, Crouch Sr. was in a dicey position himself at
that trial.  If he had shown any sympathy for his son or anybody else on
trial (Mr and Mrs. Lestrange?) he could have found himself up on charges
himself---I would not want to attract any such thing with the Wizard World
in what amounted to a lynching mood.  Distancing himself from his son the
Death Eater in the most public way he could was, if nothing else, a
necessity for his own and his wife's safety.  We know that people were
hauled off to Azkaban without so much as trials, at his command.  Wouldn't
some of these folks have people they'd left behind who'd _love_ to pay
Crouch Sr. out?

So-o-o, Crouch Sr. does his thing at the trial.  Not only does this ensure
his own safety (hey, the guy threw his own son into Azkaban, on---let's face
it, iffy evidence, at least according to Sirius) and not give his enemies a
handle to work with to get _him_ thrown in there himself, but when his
Cunning Plan to spring his son goes into action, even if the escape becomes
known, the Crouch home is the _last_ place they'd look, simply because
everybody _knows_ that Crouch Sr. would be the very first person to yell for
the Aurors if Crouch Jr. showed his face.  Hence, while the hunt goes on
everywhere the kid is _not,_ Crouch Jr. is safe in the last place they'd
ever look for him.

Comments?

---Eric, Ravenclaw-that-everybody-thinks-should-have-been-Slytherin