Barty Crouch Sr. is a character in the books of Joan Rowling about Harry Potter and the adaptation of these works. Barty Crouch is known for helping to arrange the escape of his son - the Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr. from Azkaban Prison, which influenced the whole subsequent plot of the story.
Character Biography
Bartemius, better known as Barty Crouch Sr., was born in 1930. He is a purebred wizard from the Casper family and Charis Crouch. All his life he worked in the Ministry of Magic: first he served as Head of the Department of Magical Legislation, then as Head of the Department of International Magic Cooperation, until his death in 1995. He was also chairman of the Wizengamot - the supreme court of wizards of Great Britain.
Externally, the character of Barty Crouch Sr. is described as a lean, fit man, elderly, with a perfect parting in gray short hair and a straight gray mustache, similar to a narrow brush. Dressed in a Muggle suit - spotlessly ironed trousers, vest, cloak and boots polished to a shine.
Crouch is indifferent to those around him - a vivid confirmation of this is that he could not remember the name of his best subordinate Percy Weasley, stubbornly calling him "Witherby." Bartemius was only interested in work and career advancement, for which he was ready for absolutely anything.
First appearance in the Harry Potter series
Barty Crouch Sr. first appears on the pages of the fourth Harry Potter adventure book (Goblet of Fire). It is only briefly referred to in the books of the Order of the Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince, and The Deathly Hallows. He is also a character in the adaptation of The Goblet of Fire, and is featured in two books about all Harry Potter films: World of Magic and The Birth of a Legend.
The trial of the son
Participating in the first Magic War with Voldemort, Barty Crouch Sr., during his service, actively hunted his supporters. In 1981, his son, Barty Crouch Jr., appeared in the dock. Officially, Bartemius abdicated his son and sentenced him to life imprisonment in Azkaban, after which, after only a year, Crouch Jr. died in prison. Soon, Crouch's wife also died, unable to bear the longing for her son. The following is an amateur illustration depicting Crouch Sr. with his wife and son.
How events really unfolded
Later it becomes known that during farewell in prison, Crouch's wife, of her own free will, changed her appearance with her son using a circulating potion. Thus, Barty Crouch Jr. escaped: he did not die in prison, but his mother. Mrs. Crouch's death in freedom turned out to be only a fiction, which Bartemius himself arranged. For a while he tries to control his son and keeps him under house arrest, but Barty Jr., who does not hide his previous devotion to the Dark Lord, manages to give a sign to the Death Eaters who rescue him.
Later, Crouch Jr. assumes the appearance of the Terrible Eye of Moody and begins to teach at Hogwarts, and Crouch Sr. is subject to the Imperius spell (allows you to control thoughts and actions of a person), imposed by one of Voldemort's minions.
Death
The death of Barty Crouch Sr. was tragic, because he died at the hands of his own son. After the Imperius spell, many who knew the active character of Crouch Sr. were surprised at how indifferent and sluggish he had become. Dumbledore is most worried, but he is afraid to draw premature conclusions.
In 1995, Crouch Sr. escapes from the servants of Voldemort who held him hostage. He is in a hurry to get to Hogwarts to tell the truth, but he moves very slowly, as he is deprived of a magic wand and is very weak due to the spell cast on him. Meeting Harry Potter, Crouch asks him to urgently bring Dumbledore, but Barty Jr. has time before. Killing his father, he turned his body into bone and buried it near Hogwarts.
It is possible to learn about these events only after the capture of Barty Crouch Jr., who admitted everything under the influence of the truth serum.
History of creation
By the time of writing of the fourth book, Joan Rowling needed a character personifying the problem of "fathers and children", as well as the problems of choice, permissiveness of crime and late repentance. All this was incorporated by Barty Crouch Sr.. He is so passionate about his work and career that he practically does not devote time to his family. Why did Crouch Jr become a fierce criminal? Is it because, among the Death Eaters, he found a family, and in the person of Voldemort, a loving and powerful father? After all, he could not be bad on his own, he simply did not have enough fatherly love. Out of hatred for the work of Barty Crouch Sr., who was to blame for the constant absence and indifference of his father, Barty Jr. chooses the other side.
Rowling wanted to show that it was this character, not his son, who became the culprit of all the terrible events surrounding the character, because his son was just the tool necessary for Bartemius to finally stop and think, remembering his family. However, it was already too late. Death at the hands of the son becomes a kind of atonement: the deaths of both parents were associated with the benefit of Barty Jr., but the fault that the young man grew up that way and switched to the side of evil lies solely on the shoulders of the father and mother.
Rowling herself had a difficult relationship with her father - just like Crouch, he worked constantly, devoting little time to his daughters and wife. Currently, Joan Rowling does not communicate with his father. “If at least one of the English fathers, who are very characteristic of complete immersion in work, reads a book and understands my message - I can say that Barty Crouch was not invented in vain,” the writer admitted in an interview after the release of the book “Goblet of Fire” . "I hope no parent dreams of raising such a son as Barty Jr. became."
Magic wand
The magic wand of Barty Crouch Sr. was very long (almost half a meter), its origin is unknown. The handle, which occupies one third of the total length, is made of light wood (possibly beech - this material is ideal for wise and adult wizards with extensive experience). Recesses resembling the handle of a screwdriver are noticeable in the handle, which is why the wand itself is similar to a screwdriver of enormous length. The stick itself is dark, probably made of English oak or black ebony.
Actor
Barty Crouch Sr. was embodied by the English actor Roger Lloyd-Pak. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the only film adaptation in which Crouch Sr. appears.
Roger Lloyd-Pak so successfully performed his role that in all alternative illustrations for Harry Potter, Barty Crouch has exclusively the appearance of this actor. In the photo below, Roger is out of image.
Lloyd-Pak spoke about his role in the adaptation of The Goblet of Fire only once, at the premiere of the film. He said that he was imbued with sincere pity for his hero, who became a hostage of his own vanity. "Everything that happened to Barty Crouch Sr. is the result of wrong goals and attitudes. But he was not to blame - that was the time and the environment within which he existed," the actor expressed his opinion at the premiere of the film in 2005.
In addition to his role in Harry Potter, Roger Lloyd-Pak is known for his roles in films such as Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Vanity Fair, Made in Dagenham, as well as in the TV series Borgia "and" Inspector George Gently. "
The actor died in January 2014, at the age of 69 from pancreatic cancer.