Crouch Jr.'s Early Death Eating Career (WAS:Re: Snape and the Potters)

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 47294

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Wanda Sherratt" <wsherratt3338 at r...> wrote:
> I hadn't thought of that - are we really sure that Crouch actually 
> IS a DE?  I mean, just going by the timeline, if he was 18 when he 
> was tried, how old would he have been when V. fell?  Sixteen?  
> That's just very young, it seems to me, to be admitted to such an 
> elite group.  The DE always seemed to me to be like Hitler's inner 
> circle - his oldest friends, whose loyalty had been proven - the 
> sort of people who'd have been in the Bunker at the end.  A boy 
> still at school would have difficulty doing anything that would get 
> him noticed.  That doesn't mean he couldn't have been on V.'s side, 
> and working for him - just like the Nazis, I assume there must have 
> been different levels of access to V., and people would probably 
> be "promoted" to DE after they'd proven themselves.  (Makes me 
> wonder, too, what Snape did to join the elite, since he wasn't much 
> older than Crouch.)

Barty Crouch Jr., according to Sirius couldn't have been "more than
nineteen" at the time of his trial, which, as has been pointed out on
the list, suggests Sirius knew Crouch's year at Hogwarts but not his
exact birthday. Angelina and Cedric turn seventeen early in their
sixth year, while Harry will only turn seventeen in August before his
seventh year. This means that we know how long Crouch was out of
school before the Longbottom incident: a year at the most, since
Crouch would have been 18- in his seventh year, as far as Sirius knows. 

Voldemort fell October 31, 1981. How long after that did the
Longbottom incident take place? Long enough for people to begin to
feel safe, for the trials hinted at in "Padfoot Returns" and the
Pensieve scene to take place. Sometime in 1982, I would think. If
that's correct, Crouch would have left Hogwarts in June of 1981. 
As to whether he was a Death Eater, the evidence I see there is that
there seems to be a place for him in the circle at the end of GoF. He
is quite young to be admitted to the elite group, but I actually find
that very understandable, since I doubt he was admitted for his own
capabilities. He was admitted because he was Crouch's son, and a
useful weapon in reserve on many levels. I don't think he did much of
anything, or was asked to do anything. I can see him now whining, "But
can't I actually take part in some sneak attack or something?" One of
the funniest lines in GoF (funny because it's so awful) is "You
planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume
the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong," because
I really doubt Barty was sneaking out of Hogwarts nights and leading a
life of violence, or that he had much opportunity for that life of
violence when at home either. I think he got the Dark Mark and that
was about it. 

Snape, Avery, Wilkes, Rosier, and the Lestranges were also appallingly
young, and I too, would like to know how they got into the inner circle. 

Eileen, who is feeling rather sad about Crouch Jr. ever since she
realized writing "Cindy Crouch and the Pensieve Four," that Barty was
her age when he was taken away to Azkaban