Barty Crouch, Jr?/oddments of theoretical whims

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 154668

Jen D.

> I always felt there was something fishy about the demise 
> of BC Jr. 
[...]
> And then, we do the old polyjuice potion thingy yet 
> again, and viola! We have a perfect mole in the MOM! 
> Of course it falls apart in so many ways it's not even 
> worth considering but that period of time when it's 
> just Fudge, BC Jr. and a dementor continues to give 
> me pause.And as well, I do not like the way the 
> dialogue is so inconclusive as to who is doing the 
> talking upon Harry's return from the graveyard. 
> being Fudge and begins to be Moody/Crouch.

houyhnhnm:

I agree about the confusion over who is speaking.  
Fudge said that Harry needed to go to the hospital 
wing.  Then there are three unattributed offers to 
take him. Finally someone picks him up and it is the 
man this and the man that--three times "the man", 
finally identified as "Moody".  I think it was probably 
Fudge speaking the first time and Crouch!Moody the other 
three times.  Maybe the point is only to show Harry's 
disoriented state and the general panic and confusion 
that reigned.  It does seem strange though.

There is definitely something fishy.  However, your idea, 
appealing though it is, requires Fudge, Crouch, Jr., and 
the dementor to have been alone together, and it doesn't 
appear to me that they were.  

What's bothers me is Snape's use of the plural pronoun.  
Dumbledore told McGonagall to stand guard over Barty, Jr.  
He told Snape to send Madam Pomfrey down to Moody's office 
then to go into the grounds to find Fudge.  Snape said, 
"When *we* told Mr. Fudge...."  And McGonagall follows up, 
"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore ... I told him
you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the 
castle, but--"  Then she added that the *moment* the 
dementor entered the room it swooped down on Crouch.

It sounds as if McGonagall abandoned her post and 
accompanied Snape out into the grounds.  And, if not, 
who are "we"?