Did Dumbledore know that Fake Moody = Crouch?
Rehan Shamim <rshamim@princeton.edu>
rshamim at princeton.edu
Sat Dec 21 08:18:08 UTC 2002
No: HPFGUIDX 48633
Hello everyone,
After lurking on this list for six (yes, six!) months, I have
finally decided that the time was right for me to make my first
post. Yessss!!!!
My question is whether Dumbledore knew immediately that Fake Moody
was actually Barty Crouch, Jr. after he stormed into the office and
stunned him. He recognizes that this man isn't really Alastor
Moody, as he tells Harry that the real Moody would have never taken
him out of Dumbledore's sight. However, he also seems to
immediately realize that this man is Crouch Jr. Soon after stunning
him, he gives the following instructions to Snape:
"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess,
and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the House-Elf called
Winky." (GoF, Chapter 35, "Veritaserum," Page 680 of original US
Edition)
I think it is pretty obvious that Dumbledore would not send for
Winky if the impostor was just some random DE. At the point that he
sent for Winky, he must have known that it was Crouch. This means
one of two things.
Choice A: Dumbledore knew the whole year that Crouch had infiltrated
Hogwarts, although he may not have known that he was disguised as
Moody. For example, he may have thought that he was posing as a
student or one of the people there specially for the Triwizard
Tournament (like Bagman or someone). Once he figured that the
impostor was going around as Moody, he captured him, already knowing
that it was really Crouch.
Choice B: Dumbledore did not know there was a spy at Hogwarts. He
may have been suspicious of some people, but not to the point where
he would do anything about it. After the Tournament, when Moody
takes Harry away, he realizes that Moody is the traitor. In the
five or ten minutes between his realization that Moody is the
traitor and his Stupefy!ing of Moody, Dumbledore makes a few
conclusions. First, he believes that this man isn't the real
Alastor Moody. Probably a safe assumption, as Dumbledore knows that
the real Moody would never directly disobey him in such an important
time. Second, he figures that the spy is none other than Barty
Crouch. How does he come up with this idea? Is he really that
sharp that he could accurately predict that the man lying at his
feet was a DE who had supposedly been dead for quite some time?
Now, I am pretty sure that Dumbledore wouldn't let an unrepentant DE
roam the castle, so in my opinion, Choice A is pretty much out. If
any of you would like to disagree, then please do so. The question,
then, that still remains is how exactly did Dumbledore come up with
the idea of it being Crouch so quickly? What could he have known
beforehand that would lead him to this assumption? Please, try to
answer this, as I am totally confuzzled!
Rehan (a guys' name, for any of you who are unsure :-) )
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