C!M and Imperius

[Bex]

No: HPFGUIDX 113963

I wrote:
> ...and we know C!M is a VERY powerful wizard

Bookworm asked:
> What makes you say this?  About the only things we know about 
> Crounch Junior is that he was sent to Azkaban for being part of 
> the group that tortured the Longbottoms and he was under the 
> Imperius Curse for 12 years.

Yb's turn at bat:
Well, we actually know a little bit about him. He can perform all 
the Unforgivable Curses. This isn't much of a comment on his talent, 
as his motives, but they (esp. AK) take a powerful bit of magic 
(plus intent) to cast these and make them work. C!M even says so 
regarding AK.

He clears the obstacles in the maze for a good ways in. Since space 
matters in magic, it would take at least average talent to do that 
through the hedges.

He kept Moody alive for nine months in a trunk, under the Imperius 
curse, (he admitted this, GoF, AmVer, p. 689).

He transfigured his father's body into a bone. If tranfiguration 
class is any indication, that is a tough feat, tranfiguring an 
animate (sort-of) vertebrate.

He made LOTS of Polyjuice Potion. It can't be simply throw things 
into the pot; it probably requires some talent, at least in the 
Potionmaking field. Granted, three second years made it too, but one 
of them was Hermione, who we all know is an above average witch.

Last but not least and most damning of all:
We know from Transfiguration Class that transfiguring is difficult. 
And, it gets harder as the complexity of the target increases. So 
tranfiguring a human would probably be the most difficult 
transfiguration of all. But C!M does it to Draco /instantly/. Just a 
loud "BANG" and he's a ferret. McGonagall transfigures him back, 
with a loud "snap." If we take the sound as a quiet sound (like when 
transforming from Animagus to human, or disapparating) implies it 
wasn't hard for the wizard to do it (transfiguring the target or 
whatever), then this implies that the quieter the sound, the more 
powerful the wizard. Thus, C!M is nearly as powerful as McGonagall, 
but not nearly as old. Wow...

We also know (from somewhere in canon) that Azkaban saps away at a 
wizard's powers. (I think there is canon support somewhere for this, 
and I'm sure it's in PoA. I just can't find it. Could someone do 
that for me?) If that's true, and Crouch Jr. was put under 
submission curses/spells pretty much immediately after being sprung 
from Azkaban, then he had very little time to recover his powers, 
just the time between being "rescued" from his father by Voldy and 
Rat-man and going to Moody's.

One could argue that the PP means you take on the person's magical 
capabilities, but I think that's a little cheap. I don't think the 
potion could give you their magical talents anymore than it can give 
you their personality. If it did, then anyone could transform into 
DD and have powers of his magnitude... yikes... scary thoughts.

> And as you pointed out, it took him years to throw off the curse.  

Yes, but that is not necessarily an indication of "magical power," 
but more of personality or will or character. We don't know who else 
fought the IC, aside from Harry, Crouch Jr, and Crouch Sr. 

> Dumbledore says it would take a powerful wizard to confuse the 
> Goblet.  I just wonder how much of Real!Moody's powers he had 
> access to, and how much help he might have had from Bagman or 
> someone else.  (See my post 113598 for thoughts on Bagman.)

Again, adopting Moody's magical powers with the potion seems sort of 
cheap. And I doubt Bagman had the chance to touch the cup while the 
names were being placed in it. I'm betting C!M was the only wizard 
around who intended to mess with it.

~YB