Portkeys and Crouch Jr.'s Ulterior Motive

[erisedstraeh2002]

No: HPFGUIDX 55402

The Catlady wrote:

> I am one of many who believe that the Triwizard Cup was already a 
> Portkey, programmed to transport the first person who touched it to 
> the maze's edge next to the judges' viewing stand, and Croody
> merely added an additional 'stop' before that stop. Why do that 
> instead of turning, say, Harry's toothbrush into a Portkey and 
> capturing him much earlier in the year? My answer: because normally 
> one cannot Portkey at Hogwarts any more than one can Apparate at 
> Hogwarts, but Dumbledore created an exception for this particular 
> Portkey. Steve bboy_mn's answer: because Portkeys are so difficult 
> or tedious to make that it is tremendously easier to re-program one 
> that has already been made. 

Now me:

I don't agree that the Triwizard Cup was already a portkey that 
Crouch Jr. just added an extra stop to.  Under the veritaserum, 
Crouch Jr. said:  "I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze 
before dinner ... Turned it into a Portkey" (GoF, Ch. 35).  He 
doesn't say that he added an extra stop, he says that he *turned* the 
Cup into a Portkey, which suggests to me that the Cup didn't become a 
Portkey until Crouch Jr. turned it into one.  

I also can't recall any references in canon to a wizard not being 
able to use a Portkey on the Hogwarts grounds.  We're repeatedly told 
that one cannot apparate or disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, but 
I can't recall being told that one cannot use a Portkey on the 
Hogwarts grounds.  The fact that a Portkey did work on the Hogwarts 
grounds leads me to believe that Portkeys always work on the Hogwarts 
grounds - I don't see how Dumbledore could make an exception, since 
I've never heard of him making an exception to the 
disapparating/apparating rule (and it would have been a heck of a lot 
easier to let Sirius disapparate rather than sending Harry and 
Hermione to rescue him on Buckbeak through the time-turner).  I also 
don't see any evidence that Portkeys are difficult to make, 
especially in light of how many needed to be produced to transport 
huge numbers of wizards to the QWC.

I think the Cup was chosen as the portkey (versus a toothbrush or 
some other object) so Voldemort could control the timing of Harry's 
arrival at his rebirthing party.

So if Crouch Jr. didn't add an extra stop, you ask, why did the Cup 
return Harry to Hogwarts from the graveyard?  Ah ... glad you asked!  
Because I believe that Crouch Jr. wanted Harry to escape from the 
graveyard so that he could be the one to kill Harry.  As he tells 
Harry: "The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you, Potter, and he *so* 
wanted to ... Imagine how he will reward me, when he finds I have 
done it for him.  I gave you to him - the thing he needed above all 
to regenerate - and then I killed you for him.  I will be honoured 
beyond all other Death Eaters.  I will be his dearest, his closest 
supporter ... closer than a son ... " (GoF, Ch. 35).  

In my theory, Crouch Jr. also suspected (or knew) that Voldemort 
would subject Harry to the Imperius Curse in the graveyard, so he 
trained Harry to resist the Curse to facilitate his escape.  When 
Hermione complains about Crouch Jr. he's putting them all under the 
Imperius Curse, he responds: "If you'd rather learn the hard way - 
when someone's putting it on you so they can control you 
completely..." (GoF, Ch. 15).  IMO, this is meant for Harry - he's 
putting Harry under the Imperius Curse so that Voldemort will not be 
able to control him completely.  And Crouch Jr. assigns them extra 
reading on resisting the Imperius Curse just to make sure Harry's got 
it down.

Crouch Jr. knew (or suspected) that Voldie would try the Cruciatus 
and Avada Kedavra curses on Harry, so he showed them to Harry so he 
would be prepared.  Crouch Jr. says repeatedly that he's showing the 
Unforgiveable Curses to the students because "you've got to know."  
IMO, this is aimed at Harry - it's Harry that's "got to know."  

So, in my theory, in order to become Voldie's #1 DE, and to have 
Voldie become the father figure he was seeking, Crouch Jr. helped 
Harry prepare for the curses he would likely face in the graveyard, 
and programmed the Portkey to allow Harry to escape the graveyard and 
return to Hogwarts so that he could be the one to finish Harry off. 

~Phyllis