TBAY: Barty Jr., Consummate Screw-Up (Ha!)

[Melody <Malady579@hotmail.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52267

(to continue with the abrupt break...)

Sneaky bounded her way up the back stairs late Friday night.  She
reached the door she was wanting and knocked quite loudly for her
little fist.

"Come in," a voice inside called as the door swung open.

Sneaky took a step across the doorframe and said, "Miss Melody, Sneaky
was restocking our poptarts and found that this had fallen between the
cracks of the counter."

Melody crawled out of bed, walked over to the house elf, and took the
rather thick envelope Sneaky was extending to her.  "Thank you," she
said quietly looking at the envelope suspiciously.  One the front was
written the words 'Melody: care of HPfGU.'

Sneaky turned and left back down the stairs, so Melody absentmindedly
waved her hand to shut the door and crawled back into bed.  Breaking
the seal and sliding out the four-page letter, Melody read the title.
'Barty Jr., Consummate Screw-Up.'

She gasped and fumbled through the pages to read the signature.

'Elkins.'

"She wouldn't," Melody said, as her eyes got big.  She read with
trembling hands the rest of Elkins' blasphemy, "Not using family
connection.  Has to be rescued by Voldie.  Barely accomplishes his
tasks assigned to him by a cunning plan that is not *his*!  Not
Competent!!"

A tear slid down her cheek.

Melody crept back out of her bed and pushed her door open.  Dragging
her blanket behind her, Melody, sniffing and wiping tears, shuffled
down the stairs to the living room.  It was dark, but a light from the
study streamed under the door.  Pushing it open, Melody saw Grey Wolf
sitting in his chair at the desk with one leg over the sidearm.  He
was deep in the plot of a yellow covered book.

<sniff> "Grey?" Melody asked meekly.

Grey Wolf looked up and blinked quizzically.  "Mel, what is wrong?"

Biting her bottom lip, Melody held up the letter.  "It's from
Elkins...she...she..."

Grey Wolf sighed with a slight grin, placed his bookmark accordingly,
and rested it on the desk.  "Come here, Mel."

Melody crossed the room and crawled up into his chair.  Even if she
was not so tiny, that chair is *huge*.

"Here, let me read it," he said gently.  Melody gave it to him and
rested her head against his shoulder as he read it.

"Hmmm," Grey Wolf finally commented.

"Hmmm?" Melody answered back.  "Can you not see how *wrong* she is?
How she *says* she likes Junior but then turns on him and calls him
a...a..."

"Screw-up," Grey Wolf said flatly.  "Mel, you are misunderstanding her
intentions."

"No I'm *not*," Melody pouted.

"Mel, what did you expect?  This is Elkins we are talking about.  And
she *does* like Junior but for these reasons.  She is not discrediting
yours," Grey Wolf pointed out.

"I *know*.  But, he is not as big of a screw-up as she says," Melody
said wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Grey Wolf reached into his pocket and drew out his handkerchief.  She
took it graciously.  Opening the letter again, Grey Wolf advised,
"Lets go over this again."

"Elkins wrote," he began.


>Well, he is clever (and I do realize that that's a big part of why
>you like him so much, Melody)

"See, she says he is 'clever'," Grey Wolf smiled attempting to cheer
Melody up.

"Yes, but she continued," Melody said frowning.


>but I also see him as rather striking
>for the extent to which he screws things up (which is a large part of
>why *I* like him so much). He's not really much of a criminal genius
>at all, if you ask me. He doesn't really get a whole lot of things
>right. I mean, let's take a look at his nasty, brutish and short
>life, shall we?

"Well, she is entitled to her opinion.  She is just saying this is her
reasons for liking him," he said fairly.

"Like him.  Like him for what?" Melody spat.  "For letting his
passions blind him from all these other ways he could succeed."

"Um...Mel.  She does not say that," Grey Wolf said flipping through
the pages.

"Oh yes she did," Melody said wiping her last tear and regaining her
composure.

"Here, let me explain," Melody said taking the letter back in her hands.


>First off, he became a Death Eater. That's screwing up right there,
>I'd say, especially when you consider that he had all the practical
>advantages: wealthy and influential parents, good connections,
>academic talent, blandly inoffensive looks. Entering into compacts
>with Dark Wizards is always screwing up, if you ask me, but in
>Barty's case, you can't even explain it on pragmatic grounds: unlike
>the giants, for example, who may have had very good cause for
>supporting an insurrectionist agenda, Barty was well-positioned to
>benefit from the status quo.

"That screw-up is not by Junior, Grey.  It is by Senior," Melody said
bitterly.

"Mel, Junior *does* make his own choices," he pointed out.

"Yes, of course he can, but he did not have this happy, perfect
childhood life that Elkins seems to imply here, and then up and one
day said, 'screw all that, I want to be evil.'  No decision like that
is made in a vacuum.  Junior very clearly believes that his father
loved Mrs. Crouch way more than his son.  Something I think most
children do hope, but it is the venom in his statement that gets me.
He actually is bothered by it.  Bothered by it not because his father
*did* love his mother more.  But because his father showed his love
for her and did not him.  Barty wanted and needed his father to love
him.  And he did not.

Junior also notices that his father brushes off his 12 owls and high
academic talent.  Junior was striving to be like his father.  Striving
to reach his high status and earn his love.  Striving just for a kind
compliment.  But all Junior got was a brush off.  The slight comment
by his father saying his 12 owls are "most satisfactory." (GoF, Ch 28)
 Most satisfactory.  As if his father expected nothing less.  Expected
and demanded nothing less.  Oh no, Junior's brilliance was not enough
for his father.

And as for his father's good connections, Senior uses those to
manipulate and fight fire with fire.  Seems Junior was taught that a
belief in a cause is the most important thing.  Much more important
that the methods used to reach that cause.  And who is to say which
cause is better?  Often times, it is the actions used to bring the
cause into the forefront that causes people to judge whether or not
the cause is a good or bad thing," she said.

Grey Wolf raised an eyebrow.  "In a ranting mood I see."

"Yes," she said slyly smiling.  "So next part."


>Second, assuming that the Death Eaters didn't take minors or
>schoolboys, he probably accepted the Dark Mark only a matter of
>months before Voldemort went down. If that. (Myself, I always like
>to imagine that it was only a matter of days, but that's just because
>I'm seriously Bent.) Assuming that he left school in June of 1981
>(for the reasoning behind this timeline, see posts 39828, 47294), he
>would have become a Death Eater around four months before the event
>at Godric's Hollow at the *most.* I rather suspect that it was even
>less time than that, as I imagine that given whose son he was, he
>would have been very carefully vetted before being ushered into the
>inner circle. So we're looking at the most *appalling* timing here.
>Seriously Bad Timing.

Melody stopped reading and sat quietly.

Grey Wolf waited a moment then said, "Anything you want to add or say?"

"No, not really," she shrugged.  "Just that I always thought he joined
because his father gave him no choice.  Seems, all Junior wanted to do
what have someone that at least gave him the impression that he
mattered, that his intelligence mattered, that his very being
mattered.  Anyone in that condition, that could also be looking for a
way to get his father's attention, would join up," Melody defended.

"He still chose poorly, Mel," Grey Wolf commented.

"Yes, of course he did, which is why I was silent.  Elkins has me
there.  Barty *did* screw this up.  He did chose his cause poorly.
Let's continue."


>Nonetheless, he did avoid getting exposed as a Death Eater after
>Voldemort's fall. Lucky devil! So what did he do? Did he keep his
>head down and just try to get on with his life? No, no. Of course
>not! That would have been *sensible.*

"Sensible.  Sensible!  A SYPHOCANTS is sensible in situations like
this, and Junior is not a SYPHACANTS.  His father has taught Junior
that one should always dedicate yourself to what you believe in.
Never waver from it.  It should be your passion.  And I said it
before, Junior has passion in buckets.

Even though Junior hates his father for his unwavering seeking, he
still was taught that is what one does when they have a cause, a
belief, and faith to up hold.  Even though that view of Junior is not
the 'good,' it is still what he fights for."

"Who has more passion?  Junior or Black?" Grey Wolf asked leaning his
head against the back of the chair.

Melody thought a moment.  She rather liked that question.  "I want to
say Black because we see it more in his very words, but Junior is the
closest second I can think of.  Junior is more dedicated than Black in
my opinion.  But, you are distracting me, let's see, where was I?"


>No, instead he started
>hanging with the crazed *fanatics.* Naturally. And then he got
>himself arrested. Invisibility Cloak Left Behind At Scene Of Crime?
>Wrong place at the wrong time? Actually innocent, and framed by one
>of his father's political enemies? Under the Imperius Curse (dig
>that theory, btw, Eric!)?
>
>Well, there's no way to know for sure. But no matter how you spin
>this, I'd say that it qualifies as a Bad Mistake.

"Anything you want to add there?" Grey Wolf asked again.

"No," Melody pouted.  "Except we don't know if it is *his* fault that
the night failed.  He may be brilliant, but it seems he was a
tag-along and still in training.  Can we really call him a screw-up
for getting caught?  If he was the look-out I could understand, but
maybe that job was Elkins' precious Avery."

Grey Wolf chuckled gently.

"Shall I continue then?" Melody smiled.  She was really beginning to
feel a lot better.


>He didn't have the requisite fanaticism to stand up to the
>dementors. The Woman Assumed To Be Lestrange wasn't on *her* death
>bed after a year of replaying her worst memories. I think that her
>fanaticism probably helped to sustain her, just as Sirius' knowledge
>of his own innocence did. So in Barty, we're looking at someone who
>*wanted* to be a fanatic, but who wasn't even really very *good* at
>it, when push came to shove. Sad, sad, sad.

"Oh, so he is a screw-up for not having the innate strength to fight
off dementors," Melody commented.  "He did not have the defenses the
Lestranges and Black had in will.  That is something he cannot help.
If it was Harry there, don't you think he would be at death's door in
a matter of days?  One could safely assume that assumption since the
dementors affect him greater because of his past.  Hmmm, what could be
so horrible in Junior's past that weakens him?  Did he see an innocent
wizard killed by one of his father's aurors?  Did the memory of a
father that cared more for his status than his son haunted him?  Or
maybe, the image of him walking in on his father and Winky destroyed
his psyche?  His weakness around dementors could possibly not be his
fault no more than it is Harry's."


>Once again, though, he has the luck of the devil. His parents rescue
>him from prison. Choice opportunity for him, yes? He could have
>started a new life, perhaps. Or, he could have feigned gratitude and
>compliance long enough to put his father off his guard, and then run
>off to try to bring back Voldemort. Either one of those two actions
>would at least have shown a bit of competence. But instead, what
>does he do? He actually lets his father *know* that he's all set to
>run off and find Voldemort -- and he gets himself Imperio'd for all
>his pains. Pathetic.

Grey Wolf, noticing the girl tensed up when she read that last bit,
said soothingly, "Now Mel.  This is Elkins.  I am sure she meant
'pathetic' as a compliment."

"Oh, she is a crafty little thing," Melody said scrunching her mouth.
 "And where does it say he *told* his father?  Where?  Grey, hand me
that copy of GoF, please."

He leaned over, retrieved the book, and handed it to the girl.  She
immediately flipped to Ch 35 -'Veritaserum.'  "Ah ha.  Here," she said
leaning back against him so he could read along with her.

*****
"The house elf nursed me back to health.  Then I had to be concealed.
 I had to be controlled.  My father had to use a number of spells to
subdue me.  When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of
finding my master...of returning to his service."

"How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore.

"The Imperius Curse," Crouch said.
*****

"So, Barty was put under the Imperius Curse *before* he regained his
zeal for all things Voldemort.  Crouch never knew Junior was so
driven.  Well, actually," she said rereading the passage.  "I could be
wrong.  See it kind of is vague there.  It says he was nursed back to
health and then under the curse, but does that necessarily correlate
to the recover of strength?  Back to health could mean out of danger
of dying, but one can still be weak.  Strong enough to wander around
and be seen and heard, but not strong enough to escape and find
Voldemort.

Hmmm, is the bad guy here Senior for being so paranoid that he put his
no-longer-at-death-door's son under Imperius in fear of him making
noise and things, or is Crouch protecting the world from his
driven-to-bring-back-the-Dark-Lord son?  I have a feeling I know who
would choose what answer there between Elkins and Eileen, but
anyway....the text is sort of vague.  Yes, *we* know Senior did a good
thing, but I am not too sure *he* knows that.  I think he was just
protecting and controlling his reputation.  Next part."


>After a decade of slavery, he starts managing to resist the Imperius
>from time to time. He succeeds in keeping it a secret from Winky.
>So far, so good. So what does he do at the QWC? He kicks that
>Imperius, and he's outdoors, there's a crowd, there's already the
>distraction of the little DE parade going on...I mean, we're talking
>chance of a *lifetime* here. So how does he exploit it? Does he
>seize this opportunity to make his great escape? Take advantage of
>the situation to try to break free of Winky, and then flee into
>hiding?

"Now where is he to go?  Who is he to talk to?  He is supposed to be
*dead*," Melody said dropping her fist on the book making Grey's head
jump from its rest on the side of the chair back.  He did not mean to
be rude, but he was getting tired in the late night hours.

"The smart move," Melody continued, "is to stay in the house of his
well-informed, well-connected father and glean all the information he
can from there.  And what would he have gleaned?  That the DE's are no
more, *except* those that will not claim they ever were loyal in the
first place.  Here was Junior, loyal but enslaved, so he was jealous
of those DE's.  He was also angry.  They had their chance.  They have
their immunity, but they do not go and find Voldemort.  No.  They sit
at home and collect his baubles.  They are more interested in their
own life and not the good of the cause.  Next paragraph."


>Err...no. No, see, instead what he decides to do is to shoot the
>Dark Mark into the sky, thus alerting everyone to his precise
>location. Yes, so clever is our Barty that within *minutes* of
>casting his Morsmordre, he's been triangulated upon by a bunch of
>Ministry guys and stunned into unconsciousness. He only avoids going
>right back to prison because his father covers for him. And then he
>winds up right back where he started: under the Imperius Curse, and
>his father's prisoner. I mean, really now! This is hardly a
>criminal mastermind we're looking at, is it? He can't even cast a
>single spell without getting caught! He's perfectly hopeless!

"He was mad.  He was enraged.  He was inspired.  He...did not chose
the best thing there," Melody conceded.

Grey Wolf patted her hand.  "So he screw-up.  Was that so bad?"

"Yes," she said meekly.  "It was supposed to be bold.  Daring."

"But not clever," Grey Wolf pointed out.

"No," Melody said begrudgingly.  "Let's move on."


>He can't throw off the Imperius a second time. He needs to be
>rescued by Voldemort. And then we get to the Cunning Plan -- which
>isn't even *his.*

"I think she said that to show me who I really like is Riddle," Melody
sniffed.

"Why don't you?" Grey Wolf asked.

"Because the plan is not what I think is clever," Melody explained.
"It was Junior's performance that I so adore.  The plan is basic
really.  Big on imagination in the beginning, but it seems to be all
Voldie told Junior was to first polyjuice into Moody, get Harry into
the TriWiz, and then get him to the GG.  How he expected Junior to do
that was left up to Junior.  So Junior's plan *was* his."


>Okay. First, he and Wormtail botch their abduction of Moody badly
>enough that there's a commotion. They only get away with it by the
>skin of their teeth.

"They did get away because Junior anticipated Arthur's arrival," she
interjected.


>Then, his mission to ensure that Harry wins that Tournament is
>constantly on the brink of doom. Barty's skating on thin ice
>throughout the entire novel, really. He needs to resort to a
>rather desperate 'Plan B' to get Harry through the Second Task,
>and even then, he only succeeds through the dumbest of luck.
>Harry very nearly *sleeps* through the thing, for heaven's sake!

"Maybe so, but Junior succeed because he did *not* screw-up.  He
worked his mind in every direction to get what he needed.  Whether or
not he got there barely, he still got what he needed.  Frankly, much
is precarious in this plan.  Harry's performance in each task
is the number one wild card.  As are the judges.  Junior has no
control at all over them beyond what he did.  So what little he
*could* influence.  He *did* succeed," Melody said with a nod of approval.


>He nearly gives himself away with Bouncing Ferret. He nearly gets
>caught out by the Marauder's Map. He nearly gets caught killing
>his father. He plays his part a bit too well by teaching Harry to
>resist the Imperius Curse. In fact, Eileen has argued, and I think
>that I'm forced to agree, that his behavior as "Moody" is in some
>ways utterly *reckless.* He shows off, he seeks out old companions,
>he gives other people clues to his real motives. He is not careful.

"Oh, but Elkins, he did not *have* to be careful.  *NO ONE* suspected
a thing.  *All* of what you just said did happen and yet everyone that
went in Moody's office that night was shocked to find Moody turn into
Junior.  Even with all that blatant mind manipulation and play, he
fooled *everyone*.  I must say, that is not screwing up.  That is
checkmark that box red as brilliant and successful.  He knew what he
was doing, and enjoying every minute of it.  He knew the line to toy
with and danced on it with skill.  The only thing that "almost" blew
his cover was the map, and he worked that situation rather well, don't
you think?" Melody asked a quietly amused Grey Wolf.

"Are you almost done?" he asked yawning.

"Why am I boring you?" she asked furrowing her brow.

"Oh no, just my leg is falling asleep," he said shifting his weight.

"Oh sorry," she said rising up a bit to let him get comfortable.
"Better?"

"Yes, continue," he said sighing deep back into the chair.


>And that Third Task was also an awfully close shave, wasn't it? In
>spite of all of his efforts, in spite of taking Fleur out of the
>running, in spite of that breathtakingly *vicious* "Imperio Krum
>Into Crucio'ing Cedric" ploy, Cedric *still* comes thiiiiiiiis close
>to taking the trophy. And wouldn't *that* just have pleased
>Voldemort no end!

"Comments, canon, any side words?" Grey Wolf asked.

"No," Melody said.  "If that had happened, he would have screwed-up.
But it didn't."


>And finally, there's the End Game. Ah, the End Game. He breaks his
>masquerade by dragging Harry out of Dumbledore's sight. Then he
>takes Harry...where? Why, to his *office,* of course! The very
>first place that Dumbledore is likely to go looking for him. He is
>so consumed with explaining how terribly cunning he's been that he
>not only fails to look into his Foe Glass; he also somehow fails to
>notice that his would-be victim keeps *stealing* glances at said Foe
>Glass. He can't even manage to kill a helpless, traumatized, unarmed
>fourteeen-year-old boy. Not even after drugging him first! Instead,
>he degenerates into bwah-hah-hah Villain Mania and then gets himself,
>in rapid succession, stunned, spurned, exposed, veritaserum'd,
>interrogated, bound, and Dementor Kissed.

"Ah," Melody said  leaning back against Grey again.  "This is where I
just *knew* Elkins would get me.  See even when I said that bit to her
before, my mind was on this event.  This *is* his big screw-up.  He
let himself be placed into a situation where he could tell all.  Bad
move there Junior.   But until then, he had done so well.  He was so
clever and brilliant and playful.  But the unexpected bad guy *always*
must go.  Hey, when did Coney jump up here."

Melody reached over and scratched the bunny's head.

"Are we actually to her final paragraph now?" Grey Wolf said glancing
over the letter.

"Yep," Melody said.


>Yes, he is clever, in his way. He has a quick wit and an agile mind,
>and he's just killer with all of those sly double-edged comments.
>He's also one heck of an actor. But at the same time, I can't really
>say that I view him as all that *competent.* In fact, he strikes me
>as rather notably self-sabotaging. It seems to me that whenever he's
>in danger of actually getting away with something, he finds some way
>to shoot himself in the foot. To me, he comes across very strongly
>as someone who on some deep and fundamental level really doesn't
>*want* to succeed.

"For a man that does not want to succeed, it sure was generous of him
to volunteer to dedicate a year of his life to bring Harry Potter to
Voldemort when he asked and how he asked.  Sure is wonderful he
managed to do that even though he has this problem with not ever
succeeding in his quests.

He seems more to me to be someone that lets the passion of the moment
cloud his better reason.  Once the goal at hand is reached, he does
not have an exit plan.  He reaches the goal be it the dark mark pride,
the Longbottom torture, or Harry to the GG, but he is lost in how to
escape from there.  He keeps getting caught because he fights full
heart and strength but forgets that he could survive it.  He is one
who bends his mind completely to the goal like an Olympian, and then
after, must fall down to reality and see that there is life outside
achievement," Melody said.

"So your conclusion then?" Grey asked.

"He is no screw-up.  He is a seeker," she sighed.


Melody