TBAY: Crouch Redux (tiny bit of SHIP)

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 58795

Note: This post is primarily an unconscionably late response to Elkins' nine-part study of Bartemius Crouch Sr., posted last December (##47927, 47929-34, 47962, and 47966), and Eileen's responses thereto (## 47976, 47979, 47997, 48024, 48100, 49332, 49869, 51788, and 54507) as well as Eileen's Percy as Tragic Hero (#45402) and Elkins' reply to Eileen's Solzhenitsyn's Russia Meets the Wizarding World (#52254). All of the dialogue in this post (except my own) is taken from those posts. My apologies to all for the tardiness, but I decided to wait until Eileen had completed her responses, and then had trouble finding the time to finish the last bit, not to mention thinking that too much time had passed and some of my points had been raised by others in the meantime, but the revival of the subject a week or two ago provided fresh impetus.  

Because it's so long, here's an executive summary of what it covers:  (i) Crouch's hamartia; (ii) his political behavior, in particular how he rationalized his actions at the DE trials, whether there was evidence to support their guilt, and whether he needed to appeal to the public for support to rise to the MoM position; (iii) his role and motives in rescuing Barty Jr.; (iv) whether Crouch secretly or subconsciously desired Voldemort to rise again; and (v) his redemption scene.  I also sneak on board the Crouch-Winky SHIP.

*********

Debbie passed through the front doors of the Canon Museum. Quickly scanning a map she had picked up at the information desk, Debbie slipped down a side corridor. Her steps echoed her steps as she walked briskly to the entrance to a small side gallery. The gold-letters above the doorway read "Bartemius Crouch Memorial Gallery." It was a very small gallery. On the far wall hung just two paintings: To the left, "The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons" by Jacques-Louis David, and to the right, "Saturn Devouring His Son" by Goya. On the left side stood something closely resembling a cathedral side altar. Coming closer, Debbie noticed that except for two lit candles, all the votive cups were filled with CRABCUSTARD. On the wall above the altar hung a portrait of an elderly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The parting in his short gray hair was almost unnaturally straight, and his narrow toothbrush mustache looked as though he trimmed it using a slide rule. There was a similar altar on the opposite side, with a battered hobby horse laid on top. An inscription on this altar read "Sic Semper Tyrannis."

"Elkins? Eileen?" Debbie called. Two pops were heard, and they appeared before her. "I beg your pardon. I didn't want to disturb you, but I'm finally ready to talk about your Crouch novennas."

"Why, you're positively Entish," remarked Eileen.

"I guess I am, a bit. I was prepared to let it alone, but people started talking about Crouch again, so here I am. Let's just say I have my own affective fallacy and wish to lay it humbly before you." 

Elkins' eyes brightened. "I'm very interested in other peoples' affective fallacies," she said enthusiastically.

"I hardly know where to start," Debbie confessed. "How about Crouch's hamartia?"

Eileen recited, "The belief that people should do as he disposed him, that he did not have the responsibility to treat them as people first and foremost. This shows up in all his actions, down to his final dismissal of Winky. . . . Barty Crouch Sr. did not let love (any of the four loves) dictate his relationships with others. He used people and therein lies his downfall." 

"That just doesn't make sense to me." 

"You don't think he used people?" asked Eileen incredulously.

"No, I certainly can't argue that, but I don't think that *is* his flaw. I think love - or the desire for a return of his love - dictated *everything*. I think his flaw is that he lacks any sense of his own self. His use of others is merely an extension of his willingness to be used by others. He has self-worth only to the extent that it's reflected in the approval of others, so he bends to their will. As you said, Elkins, 'Crouch views other people as mirrors to himself; he looks to his reflection in their eyes to know what he truly is.' Look at what Crouch was like when we first met him. Just like that portrait over there." Eileen looked up, startled, then turned her eyes to the portrait above the crab custard cups. "Remember? 'Mr. Crouch had complied with the rule about Muggle dressing so thoroughly that he could have passed for a bank manager.' . Crouch was so fanatical about rules that he cared about whether his *ancestors* broke the law. "

Debbie scrutinized Crouch's portrait for a moment. "Slavish adherence to rules is a refuge for the weak. It's the easy choice, employed by those who lack confidence in their own judgment. It's one thing for Percy, who is still in his teens, to use the rules as a crutch, and quite another for Crouch, who is a head of department and a member of an old, highly distinguished wizarding family. See, for all his power and position, Crouch has never truly grown up."

Elkins nodded. "As I see it, the Crouch family subplot focuses on developmental issues that are absolutely central to adolescence, as well as to GoF as a whole. The Unforgivable Curses are all about identity loss, really, aren't they? Ali pointed out that the UCs all deny others the right of self-determination." 

"But it all fits, though, doesn't it. If Crouch himself saw slavish adherence to the rules as the *right* way, would he even understand the concept of losing one's right of self-determination? That's what happens to the rule-bound. They can't, or won't, think for themselves. It's most telling in Crouch's political behavior - he does what the mob wants - just as Pilate released Barabbas instead of Jesus., Crouch gave them Sirius Black and his son."

Elkins broke in, "But those sorts of measures [that Crouch took, like authorizing the use of the Unforgivables on suspects,] are utterly ineffective against terrorist or insurrectionist threats. You don't really think that the politicians *themselves* believe that when they say it, do you? They don't. They know full well that those measures are ineffective. . . . Their function is to cement the political power of those who control their use."

"Not necessarily," replied Debbie. "When terrorists strike, they create an atmosphere of fear. And the first thing the public demands is retribution. They want the perpetrators found at all costs. They're quite willing to sacrifice a few fundamental freedoms for that to happen. It happened after 9/11, and it happened during the sniper attacks. Didn't you admit that 'people love politicians like Crouch in times of war because when people are frightened, they are willing to accept an unusually high degree of tyranny."

Elkins nodded. "In fact, if only they become frightened enough, then they actually embrace it. They *want* to submit themselves to a strong authoritarian figure."

"Indeed. But isn't it also true that when these crises arise, the politicians in office typically permit such measures not to demonstrate their power but to reassure a frightened public. Dumbledore says as much with regard to the Longbottom affair. 'Those attacks caused a wave of fury such as I have never known. The Ministry was under great pressure to catch those who had done it.' At such times those in power become desperate to demonstrate that something is being done - and the way they do this is to accede to the demands of the populace and institute authoritarian measures. Perhaps the question to ask is whether Crouch stepped in because he *was* a ruthless authoritarian, or whether he deprived suspects of their civil liberties because he believed the public wanted him to do so."

"We are told," Elkins said meaningfully, "That they made Crouch *popular*."

"Maybe they did. But did he really need their support? It seems to me that rising in the Ministry has as much to do with one's pedigree and connections as it does with public acclaim. That's the implication of Dumbledore's statement at the end of GoF that Fudge has always placed too much reliance on so-called purity of blood. The Crouches, of course, have those qualification in spades. Sirius describes him as "a great wizard" and "powerfully magical" and he is from an old pureblood family. He has a house-elf. 

"But I haven't seen any evidence that Crouch would need to stand for election to the MoM position. He was "tipped" for the job. In other words, the leadership had selected him as heir apparent. (1) Sirius says Crouch rose quickly through the Ministry. I think he rose quickly through the Ministry because of who he was - a powerfully magical wizard from an old family - and not because of what he did. He wouldn't even have had the authority to issue those edicts until he became head of DMLE.

"I submit that Crouch Sr., by virtue of his background and magical ability, was right in the career path to be "tipped" for MoM before Voldemort ever appeared on the scene. He rose quickly through the Ministry not because he positioned himself as a hardliner but because he had the credentials that the Ministry is far too fond of. Yes, Crouch wanted to satisfy the public's need for reassurance. But this was done to prevent vigilante justice from taking over, or a coup against the Ministry."

Eileen glanced around nervously. "Good thing Cindy isn't here, or she'd be yelling 'bloody coup' right now and waving her FEATHERBOAS."

"What about the trials?" Elkins demanded. "The trials show that Crouch was indeed in the habit of sacrificing people to his political ambitions, and the Pensieve Four, guilty though they may have been, were indeed among the people so sacrificed, just like Sirius Black was."

"But the evidence against Sirius was quite strong, and the Council *did* hear it. Dumbledore himself gave evidence that Sirius was the Secret Keeper. Sirius was at Godric's Hollow the night the Potters died. Sirius was (from all the public knew) caught redhanded, Pettigrew's finger was available as evidence, and a street full of Muggle eyewitnesses (whose memories were conveniently modified afterwards) swore that Sirius killed Pettigrew. Crouch Sr.may have bowed to public sentiment to put Sirius away permanently without trial (or at least any trial he recalled), but he must have convinced himself that no harm was done because Sirius was obviously guilty. 

"Let's move on to Karkaroff."

"Yes," said Elkins. "Karkaroff's crimes are very similar to those which will apparently drive Crouch to righteous fury when confronted with the Longbottoms' assailants: serving the Dark Lord, torturing wizards. . . . We don't see any of that righteous fury at Karkaroff's hearing, though. Crouch cuts a deal with Karkaroff and allows him to walk free, even though by doing so he offends at least one of his Aurors, who believes that he is being too lenient. . . . Crouch has authorized the use of the Unforgivables. Yet he does not resort to the Cruciatus Curse to wrest Karkaroff's information from him. He chooses the carrot, not the stick.. Why? . . . Because nobody is watching him, that's why. Karkaroff's hearing is a closed hearing."

"So what? It's a plea bargain, a standard prosecutorial tactic. And it's not a secret, either, or at least not after Karkaroff is released. This deal seems to be common knowledge. Moody condemned what Crouch was doing, but the cop out on the street always resents it when the prosecutor doesn't throw the book at a suspect that the cop risked his life to catch. But that doesn't make Crouch's treatment of Karkaroff evil. Would you rather have had him use Cruciatus to get the information when Karkaroff so kindly *offered* to rat on his colleagues?" 

Elkins and Eileen both blanched. "I thought not. Besides, Cruciatus may have been useful to coerce a confession in order to convict Karkaroff, but Crouch needed testimony from Karkaroff to convict anyone he named, and that's much better when it's obtained willingly. Scum though Karkaroff may be, the deal Crouch did with him doesn't bother me at all. Contrast this to the DEs who walked free by claiming Imperius."

"Lucius Malfoy," Elkins said. "Crabbe, Nott, Goyle, McNair -"

"Avery," Eileen gently reminds her.

"And the Lestranges," added Debbie. "According to Sirius, they talked their way out of Azkaban, too. He doesn't mention Imperius, though. Really, we don't *know* if anyone claimed Imperio other than Lucius and Avery. 

"So let's focus on Lucius. He seems to be very able to get what he wants, through a few threats and careful disposition of his funds. A place for his son on the Quidditch team. A seat in the top box. Dumbledore's suspension as headmaster. How much do you think it cost Lucius to buy the jury at his trial? And perhaps the juries of his sycophants and protectors as well? I don't think Crouch was very happy about it. It expect that it contributed to his, uh, overexuberance at the trial of the Pensieve Four. Have you ever thought that Barty Jr. sought them out *after* listening to his dad ranting at home about how the guilty DE's sleazed their way out of Azkaban?

"Now, Bagman's trial. We know that Crouch despises Bagman - Winky tells us in ch. 21 that Crouch told her bad things about Bagman. We know Crouch miscalculated badly in prosecuting Bagman at all. I believe he took the risk, though, because Bagman had something Crouch resented - Bagman's charisma. Poor Barty Crouch, though, couldn't make himself charismatic if his life depended on it."

"I disagree," whispered Eileen, clutching a cup of crab custard. "I've mentioned my first emotional response to Crouch Sr. on the list many times. Sympathy. And of course, that response to his . . charisma."

"Well, perhaps he has a certain kind of charisma, which only the privileged few can recognize. The Percys of this world, yes?

"Anyway, Bagman's trial was a huge turning point for Crouch. Crouch clearly thought Bagman was guilty, but he also relished the idea of putting a popular public figure in Azkaban. He gambled that the desire of the public for retribution against the DEs would trump Bagman's popularity, and he lost. What happened at Bagman's trial, however, set the stage for Barty Jr.'s trial, in which he was determined to do what the public wanted, and do it very thoroughly."

Debbie ambled over to the votive stand. She picked up one of the crabcustard votives and sniffed it, all the while staring intently at Crouch Sr.'s portrait. "Did I ever mention the one thing that really sickens me about the Pensieve Four trial? It was those 'I have no son!' histrionics". 

Eileen looked as though she were contemplating crying. "Yes. I don't want him to have done that! He couldn't have done that!"

"I should have thought that the kangaroo court itself would have bothered you more than the denunciation," said Elkins. "Sending people off to effective death sentences without much at all in the way of evidence." 

"But there was evidence. Based on what Dumbledore says, the case against the Pensieve Four was built around the Longbottoms' testimony. Dumbledore tells us that the Longbottoms' testimony wasn't *reliable* but I think his statement doesn't really make sense. How could the Longbottoms even give testimony if they are so insane they don't recognize their son? How can they possibly identify suspects? Either there's a huge flint there or something is missing in that story.

"That's where my old Memory Charm theories come in handy. You know, the ones where I proposed that it was Memory Charms rather than the Cruciatus Curse that drove Mr. and Mrs. Longottom insane? (2) One of the tenets of this theory is that the Ministry (read:  Fudge) either had the evidence it needed and Memory Charmed the Longbottoms to cover their own misdeeds or broke a Memory Charm that had been placed on them to get the information they needed. As a result, the Longbottoms ended up insane, but Crouch had all the evidence he needed to convince him that his son was guilty. See, I have absolutely no problem with Crouch prosecuting his son if the evidence warranted it. It was his duty and any attempt to let him off would have reeked of nepotism. But for him, it wasn't enough to convict his son. He needed to deny him publicly as well. And that's what cost him his political star in the end."

There was a short silence, broken by Elkins. "I read the Pensieve mob as out to get Crouch." 

"The wizarding world couldn't have felt very good about itself," said Eileen slowly. . . "They had to regret supporting some pretty horrible things. So, naturally, they would have turned their anger on Crouch. They wanted him gone. Because he reminded them of themselves. He was their faulty mirror."

"True," mused Debbie. "But I don't think they realized that until *after* the Pensieve Four's trial. They were right with him at the trial. They only figured this out later, as they reflected on Crouch's actions, and that's when they turned on Crouch and decided that he just didn't love Barty Jr."

"I think they loved the denunciation," Elkins replied. "They ate that up - just as Crouch knew they would. Because I am convinced, you know, that he was playing to the crowd a bit with that." 

"But," Debbie countered, "isn't it pathetic that someone of Crouch's stature would find such actions necessary? Because he didn't need public support to keep his position. He needed them for his own self-esteem. He pandered to them so excessively so as to throw away a job opportunity that was his for the taking. Crouch didn't crave power. He had power. What he craved was love and approval. It explains everything - why he authorized the Unforgivables, why he acceded to public demands to convict the pensieve four, why he rescued his son. But every accession to the wishes of others sank him deeper into the hypocrisy that would ultimately destroy him, because from the moment he rescued his son, everything else became secondary to protecting his secret. Crouch sacrificed everyone who cared for him to protect his son and his secret."

"He had a choice," spat Elkins. "What would *Brutus* have done?" Elkins looks long and hard at the image of Brutus on the wall, then continued. "He could have made it humane. Far more humane than death in Azkaban, that's for sure."

"Elkins! No! The Livian way is not the right way!" Elkins looked away from the painting at Debbie, who said quietly, "He had a third choice. A choice that would have released him from the tangled web of hypocrisy he wove for himself." 

Debbie looked hard at Elkins. "He could have turned himself and his son into the authorities. That's what he *should* have done. That choice would have been even harder than killing his son.  Filicide would at least have had side benefits for old Barty. It would conveniently have destroyed the evidence of his own crime. On the other hand, I don't think he could bring himself to do such a thing."

"Yes!" cried Eileen. "I've never believed Barty Jr. that his father didn't love him."

A choking noise was heard from Elkins' corner. "Crouch is not about *love*. Crouch is about domination. . . . primarily Crouch is all about the denial of volition. And that's not compatible with love."

Debbie interrupted, "Wait a minute!  Who rescued Crouch Jr. from Azkaban?" 

"I don't think that saving his son from Azkaban was only Crouch's wife's error. I think that it was also his own," Elkins admitted. 

Debbie nodded. "I'd go a step further. Raise the yellow flag if you will, but I'm not convinced that the whole rescue wasn't Crouch Sr.'s idea and he talked his reluctant, cancer-ridden wife into it. True, Crouch Sr. left his son with the impression that it was Mrs. Crouch's idea. He had to. How can you tell your son that you sent your wife unwillingly to Azkaban? But is it true? See, I think the trial and the rescue were all part of a single big plan. It was an act of love on Crouch's part.  And it went completely unrequited."

"I think that in the end, Crouch saved his son because he wanted to," Elkins said grimly.

Eileen nodded. "I like that interpretation very much, you know, but you did say that Mrs. Crouch was trying to manipulate her husband's emotions in the pensieve scene."

Debbie nodded, too, but then frowned. "But what if she's weeping for herself? What if she had *already* agreed to take his place in Azkaban? Those tears are equally consistent with those of a woman watching her own death sentence, trying to reconcile herself to her fate, and, of course, making sure her husband was fully aware of it." Debbie shrugs her shoulders. "It's not inconsistent with the text, is it?"

"Barty Jr. seems to have thought his father was unfaithful to his mother, by leaving her to be buried in Azkaban. Or even to die there," mused Eileen. 

"Right," said Elkins. "Winky seems to occupy the role of his wife. . . . Or his mistress. It actually was my instinctive reading, you know."

"That's because you're BENT, Elkins," Eileen whispers loudly.

"I don't think so. She acts like she's in love with him," says Elkins quietly. "Even Ron notices that, and Ron is a fourteen-year-old boy. . . He says it without a trace of sniggering or contempt or irony or hyperbole."

"'Hmmmph! . . I thought it was a poor choice of wording on Rowling's part."

"I disagree, Eileen, Debbie chimed in. "I think Rowling *wants* us to read that line as Elkins does."

"How do you know this?"

"It all goes back to the mandrakes."

"The mandrakes?" echoed Eileen. "What do they have to do with Winky?"

"The life cycle of the mandrakes, which Rowling seems to have presented as a little joke in CoS, IMO served notice to adult readers to pay attention to this sort of language and authorized us to credit Elkins' interpretation of the Crouch-Winky relationship. There's nothing subtle about that line - She's hitting us over the head with a brickbat so we'll wake up to the fact that something is going on there. Sorry, Eileen, but Rowling wrote these books for herself, and I can't reject Elkins' reading simply because many readers find it repulsive. *I* happen to like it."

"See, Eileen?" said Elkins. "It *is* there!" She turned to Debbie. "Did you spot all those other sexual undertones, too? Like Voldemort in the graveyard?" 

Debbie suddenly became very interested in Eileen's crab custard cups.  "Erm . . . back to the subject!"


Elkins began again, very softly, "Do you want to know why I think that Crouch Sr. was so terribly invested in keeping his son alive? Do you? Do you really?" she continued, beginning to spit out her words. "I think that it was because obedience was a virtue that Mr. Crouch . . . wanted to teach him before he died."

Debbie shook her head gently. "But why? You yourself agree that at a minimum Crouch was talked into the rescue of his son so easily - something so incredibly risky to his career - do you really think he did all of this just to teach him a lesson?"

"I instinctively read it as an attempt at indoctrination," Elkins said flatly. "Imperius. Invisibility Cloak, yet kept in public view. Presumed dead. Permitted to speak to no one. Watched night and day. Denied sunlight. Denied solitude. Given rewards for good behavior, rewards which went by the degrading name of 'treats.'"

"But that's Barty Jr.'s own derisive term for it! You remarked yourself on his word choice in speaking of his father's acts, how he called his father a smuggler and his mother a savior? I agree with Eileen. Is it not better to be at home, where one can look out the window, see the sun, converse with other sentient beings? How is this worse than being tormented by the Dementors in a dark Azkaban cell? He gave his son every comfort that he could while still protecting the secret. Remember when Harry went to Hogsmeade with Hermione in GoF wearing his Invisibility Cloak?  Hermione even remarked about how people were looking at her because she appeared to be talking to herself. Can you imagine how odd it might have looked to see Winky following him around the neighborhood. She would have looked *quite* suspicious. That's why at the QWC, everything was very carefully arranged so that Winky would never be seen wandering around with Barty Jr. in tow. The rescue of Barty Jr. gives old, stiff, hypocritical Barty Crouch Sr. just a tad of humanity. And under the circumstance, the Imperius Curse does not seem excessive. He *was* a convict, you know. And prison is *supposed* to reform!"

Elkins shook her head vigorously.  "Crouch's actions after the QWC make it very difficult for me to believe that his wife ever had to put all that much pressure on him to get him to agree to rescue their son. He seems far too invested in his son's life for me to believe that. He seems far too determined to keep him alive, and not only alive, but also free from physical restraint. . . . It's almost as if he secretly *wants* his son to escape, don't you think?"

Debbie nodded. "In a way, he did. He despised himself, and his son's escape would relieve him of the burden of keeping the secret. See, I think Crouch thought Barty Jr.'s escape would have exposed his own crime - without his having to take any affirmative steps. However, he didn't envision that Crouch Jr.'s escape would have come at Voldemort's hands and would be accompanied by a disguise that would prevent that revelation.

"But I can't believe that even at a subconscious level Crouch Sr. *wanted* Voldemort to rise again. All he needed to do for that to occur was to be careless with the Imperius Curse. But he successfully kept Barty Junior under the curse for twelve years.  On the other hand, as soon as he realized that his act of mercy had failed and would turn out to aid and abet Voldemort's return, look what he did. In a matter of months, Crouch Sr. was able to shake off the Imperius Curse sufficiently to *walk* to Scotland to confess to Dumbledore.  He tells Harry his sins - Bertha, his son - punctuated with the mantra - my fault . . . all my fault. That language is straight out of the confessional - mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. To do that while under Imperius - a curse that wipes away "every thought and worry" - was an extraordinary feat of will.  It says to me that he had principles all along, but that he somehow believed he wasn't subverting them. Because he has nothing to gain from this; it's political suicide, if not a ticket to Azkaban for himself, because he can't properly warn Dumbledore without fully confessing his sins. How ironic that only when it's most difficult, when his free will has been taken away by Imperio, only then does he shed his hypocricy and do the right thing."

Eileen nodded again. "Hypocrites don't usually like many aspects of themselves, egotists though they are. They set standards and fall short of them, but they still believe in the standards. And they try to convince themselves that they aren't falling short . . ."

"Exactly!" cries Debbie. "Crouch always wore a mask. He was a tormented hypocrite who despised himself. He knew it and he knew his son knew it. His life was a lie, yet he maintained the mask in public as long as he could. However, when he realized he had set in motion Voldemort's return to power, he began *very* quickly to attempt to shed the curse and the mask. Ultimately, I find Crouch Sr. to be almost as sympathetic as Eileen does, though I stop well short of declaring him to be dead sexy."

"Yes," cried Eileen, grabbing a cup of crab custard from the votive stand and offering it to Debbie. "A large number of people agree with my emotional reaction to Crouch Sr. Is it the fact that some people tend to see Crouch as not only offering the choice between what's easy and what's right, but also facing that choice?"

"But what clinches my sympathy is that redemption scene. Just once, he made the right choice, the hard choice. And he died for it, without ever truly delivering his warning." Debbie hesitantly accepted the cup Eileen offered and took a small taste. "Ah, sweet! But I don't think I'll be able to finish it - this kind of custard is a bit too rich for me." Shaking her head, Debbie handed the cup back to Eileen.

"Oh," said a crestfallen Eileen. I thought perhaps I'd found another customer. Cindy's ordered an entire carton, you know.  I guess we're finished, then?" Eileen turned back to her altar.

"Finished? I haven't even started yet! I didn't come here to talk about Crouch at all. This was just prelude. I really want to talk about Mr. Crouch's obedient son."

"Yellow flag! He only had one son!"

"No, not his biological son. I mean his enthusiastic, loyal protégé." 

Eileen's eyes lit up. "Percy?" One of my favorite subjects!" 

"But let's step outside for that," said Debbie. I think it's a bit dangerous to be discussing Percy in front of Mr. Crouch's shrine, don't you?"



Additional References:

(1) In # 27171, David suggested, in his typically delightful style, a highly plausible process of selecting the Minister of Magic involving an old wizard network and a smoke-filled room, which completely captures my vision of the process.

(2) My Memory Charm theories were first posted in #36889, and were summarized by Elkins in Part III of the Memory Charm Symposium, #38848.


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