Chapter 35 - Veritaserum, "Honored Beyond the Dreams of Wizards" |
 May 16 2009, 09:18 PM
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Ollivander's Apprentice Posts: 1,981 Joined: 7:39pm March 11, 2007 Location: wandering in the Forbidden Forest, listening for the Phoenix song     |
Chapter 35 Veritaserum "Honored Beyond the Dreams of Wizards"  chapter art by Mary Grandpre Finally, we have the twisted inner world of Barty Crouch Junior exposed in all its cunning deadliness…and the machinations which drove the entire novel are revealed. Harry finds himself face down inside the maze at Hogwarts, still clutching both the Tri-Wizard Cup and Cedric's dead body. As he lies inert upon the ground, Albus Dumbledore arrives. Harry grabs Albus' wrist and whispers the critical news: "He's back. He's back. Voldemort." (GOF, US edition, pg 671). Others arrive in the maze, and shock and horror reverberate as Cedric's gruesome fate becomes known. Mad-Eye Moody appears on the scene, and offers to take Harry away. Albus tries twice to stop him, but Mad-Eye carts Harry off in the ensuing confusion. Once safely inside Mad-Eye's office, Moody tips a restorative potion down Harry's throat so that he can better tell what transpired. Harry tells Mad-Eye that Voldemort is back, the Death Eaters were present at Lord Voldemort's regeneration, and that there is a Death Eater at Hogwarts. Moody reveals that he knows who the Death Eater is. Harry wildly suggests Karkaroff, but Moody laughs that idea off. Moody then informs Harry that it was he who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. Moody grabs his wand and points it at Harry threateningly. Moody is most concerned, however, with learning if Voldemort forgave the Death Eaters who went free, the "treacherous cowards who wouldn't even brave Azkaban for him" (GOF, pg 675). Moody shares that he told Harry the truth when he once said that there's one thing that he hates more than any other, it's a Death Eater who walked free. Horrified, Harry hears Moody refer to Voldemort as his master. And all is now revealed. Moody tells Harry that it was he who has been guiding him through every twist and turn of the TriWizard Tournament. It was he who told Hagrid to show Harry the dragons; he who suggested that Harrry use a broomstick in the first task; he who told Cedric to open the mermaid's egg underwater, knowing that decent Cedric would in turn tell Harry; he who told both Neville and Dobby about gillyweed so that Harry could perform the second task. Finally, it was he who turned the TriWizard Cup into a portkey, and stood guard to stun Fleur and curse Krum so that Harry would win. Moody whispers that Voldemort will reward him beyond the dreams of Death Eaters for giving him Harry, the one thing Voldemort needed above all to regenerate,. Moody raises his wand to kill Harry - the task which Voldemort failed to accomplish - and Albus bursts into the room with Snape and McGonagall. Albus stuns Mad-Eye, and Mad-Eye falls to the floor. Cold fury is in every line of Albus' face as he turns over Mad-Eye's unconscious body with his foot. Minerva tries to lead Harry away, but Albus insists that Harry needs to stay to understand everything that has transpired. Albus has Severus fetch both the strongest truth serum possible and Winky from the kitchens. Minerva is sent to find a large black dog at Hagrid's hut and to bring him to Albus' office. Dumbledore discovers that the real Mad-Eye Moody is imprisoned in a trunk with seven hidden compartments. Therefore, the "Mad-Eye Moody" lying stunned on the office floor is clearly a polyjuiced version. With minutes passing, "Mad-Eye" transforms back into…..Barty Crouch Jr. (BCJ) Albus enervates BCJ, and with a sip of the veritaserum, BCJ begins to answer Albus' searching questions. BCJ reveals that his mother saved him from Azkaban. Knowing she was dying, she persuaded her husband to smuggle her into Azkaban . BCJ then polyjuiced into his mother's form, and she into his. He left Azkaban as his mother, and she, in turn, died there as her son. Once at home, BCJ was controlled by his father and the Imperius Curse, and was forced to wear an invisibility cloak day and night. Winky was his keeper, who eventually grew to pity him. She persuaded Barty Crouch Sr (BCS) to give his son rewards for good behavior. The audience also learns that Bertha Jorkins discovered BCJ's existence, and confronted BCS. However, BCS used a powerful Memory Charm on her, which damaged her memory permanently. Winky pushed BCS to allow his son to go the the Quidditch World Cup. Once in the upper box under the invisibility cloak, BCJ seized the wand in the back pocket of the person seated in front of him - who happened to be Harry Potter. Using it, BCJ cast the Dark Mark during the chaos of the Muggle torture scene after the game. The Ministry officials, trying to restore order, accidentally severed the connection between BCJ and Winky with a spell. BCJ was eventually recaptured by his father… but Voldemort came for BCJ at his father's home. (Bertha Jorkins had revealed his whereabouts during Voldemort's torture of her in Albania). Arriving at the Crouch family home, Voldemort placed BCS under the Imperius Curse. Voldemort asked if BCJ was ready to serve him. Voldemort needed assistance in placing a faithful servant at Hogwarts -- someone who would watch over Harry Potter, guide his steps during the Tournament, and who would turn the Cup into a portkey and deliver Harry to him. BCJ was only too delighted to comply. Wormtail assisted BCJ in this complex task. They prepared polyjuice potion, and then plotted and captured the real Mad-Eye. BCJ kept Mad-Eye alive to learn about his habits, his past, and as a source of renewing the polyjuice potion. BCS became less easy to handle. He began to resist the Imperius Curse, and, one day, escaped its effects enough to try to find Dumbledore and to tell him the truth about his son. BCJ told Voldemort of this attempt. Knowing his father must be stopped at all costs, he used Harry's Marauder's Map. BCJ found his father, and killed him. Turning his body into a bone, BCJ buriedhim in the forest. BCJ now tells Dumbledore that he has completed his plans by carrying the portkey into the maze before dinner that night. Voldemort's strategy is a success, thanks to BCJ's cleverness and daring. BCJ will be closer than a son to Voldemort. He believes he "will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards" (GOF, US edition, page 691). Questions and Discussion OK, Wandmakers, here's the first round of questions! More at mid-week! 1. Were you surprised that Mad-Eye Moody was really a polyjuiced version of a Death Eater on your first read? Were the clues more apparent this time around? What jumped out at you this read? 2. What forces or compulsions do you think drove BCJ to become a Death Eater? What about it appealed to him? How much of a role did Voldemort himself play in BCJ's life choices? 3. Parents and responsibility: Did BCS bear responsibility for his son's actions, either as a parent who raised a Death Eater, or as a parent who smuggled his son out of prison? How about BCJ's mother? Was she morally responsible for the events which occurred in the maze, and for Voldemort's regeneration? Or are people responsible for their own actions, regardless of their personal history? 4. Without Bertha as Voldemort's unwilling tool, much of GOF could not have taken place. She died for her knowledge at Voldemort's hands in Albania when Wormtail delivered her to his master. We learn in this chapter that Bertha Jorkins had her memory powerfully modified by BCS when she discovered BCJ at the Crouch family home. Did BCS bear responsibility for her weakened state when she encountered Voldemort in Albania? This post has been edited by fidelia: May 16 2009, 09:45 PM -------------------- *thanks, twiddlethosedials, for the siggy* |
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May 17 2009, 09:28 AM
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Transfiguration Today's Star Reporter  Posts: 2,011 Joined: 3:59pm May 15, 2008 Location: Sunny Phoenix, Arizona("It's a Dry Heat!") |
Great questions, fidelia!
I'm going to start off with the first question for now: 1. Were you surprised that Mad-Eye Moody was really a polyjuiced version of a Death Eater on your first read? Were the clues more apparent this time around? What jumped out at you this read? Oh, yes, I was surprised! Shocked, actually, if you want to know the truth. I was with Harry in wanting to notify Dumbledore about Voldemort's spy being in Hogwarts, and I was sure that Moody would be right on it! ( If my memory serves me right, I thought the spy was Snape!--at last we were going to get the truth about him!)What a shock, then to find out that the Auror, the Dark Wizard Chaser, was about to kill Harry Potter! After that first read, of course, the clues were much clearer--Snape complaining about the ingredients missing from his office, which would have been needed for Polyjuice Potion; the way Moody always seemed to be around, trying to "help" Harry get through the trials were just a few of the clues that became apparent once I knew it wasn't the real Moody. I think what jumped out at me the most this time was the thought that the real Moody would not have dragged Harry off, after the return from the graveyard, especially when Dumbledore told him not to. The real Moody would never have disregarded an order or request from Dumbledore like that. (Incidentally, I think that's when it clicked for Dumbledore, too--he knew the real Moody too well not to suspect that act of taking Harry away.) This post has been edited by Fricka: May 17 2009, 11:21 AM -------------------- "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phoenix avatar courtesy of ofenjen; thanks to atschpe for help |
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May 17 2009, 11:36 AM
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Eeylops Owl Cage Cleaner  Posts: 213 Joined: 8:33pm January 11, 2009 Location: Wilmington, NC |
QUOTE(fidelia @ May 16 2009, 10:18 PM)  Questions and Discussion OK, Wandmakers, here's the first round of questions! More at mid-week! 1. Were you surprised that Mad-Eye Moody was really a polyjuiced version of a Death Eater on your first read? Were the clues more apparent this time around? What jumped out at you this read? 2. What forces or compulsions do you think drove BCJ to become a Death Eater? What about it appealed to him? How much of a role did Voldemort himself play in BCJ's life choices? 3. Parents and responsibility: Did BCS bear responsibility for his son's actions, either as a parent who raised a Death Eater, or as a parent who smuggled his son out of prison? How about BCJ's mother? Was she morally responsible for the events which occurred in the maze, and for Voldemort's regeneration? Or are people responsible for their own actions, regardless of their personal history? 4. Without Bertha as Voldemort's unwilling tool, much of GOF could not have taken place. She died for her knowledge at Voldemort's hands in Albania when Wormtail delivered her to his master. We learn in this chapter that Bertha Jorkins had her memory powerfully modified by BCS when she discovered BCJ at the Crouch family home. Did BCS bear responsibility for her weakened state when she encountered Voldemort in Albania? with my first read i was certainly surprised about mad eye, but in all my reads since then the clues have been very obvious. i have noticed as i have re-read the series that clues always come when JKR puts an elipsis (...) at the end of a sentence and trails off. this happens a lot with BCJ as mad eye talking a lot of BCJ's choices stem from his relationship with his father. he was never loved, never found satisfactory and voldemort could give him all of those things. plus, voldemort could give him recognition in an arena that his father despise - the perfect revenge against his father that he has such animosity for. -------------------- Read books - formulate independent thought.
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May 17 2009, 01:06 PM
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Cauldron Bottom Measurer Posts: 104 Joined: 10:18am July 9, 2007 Location: Dobby's grave |
QUOTE(fidelia @ May 16 2009, 10:18 PM) 3. Parents and responsibility: Did BCS bear responsibility for his son's actions, either as a parent who raised a Death Eater, or as a parent who smuggled his son out of prison? How about BCJ's mother? Was she morally responsible for the events which occurred in the maze, and for Voldemort's regeneration? Or are people responsible for their own actions, regardless of their personal history? I have talked a great deal around this question already. There is a family dynamic, and each family member plays a part. That certainly occurred in this situation. While both parents played a role generally in what their son became, it is ultimately the son's responsibility to choose. Neither parent would have chosen the course taken by BCJ, and their general responsibility as parents would be overwhelming IMO. I suspect, however, that Mrs. Crouch actually knew that BCJ was a DE and protected him, and she would bear responsibility for that. BCS perhaps should have know, but the fact remains that he didn't. Smuggling the son out of Azkaban, however, is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. They themselves committed highly illegal and damgerous acts, and they bore a direct responsibility for what occurred as a result, IMO. QUOTE(fidelia @ May 16 2009, 10:18 PM) 4. Without Bertha as Voldemort's unwilling tool, much of GOF could not have taken place. She died for her knowledge at Voldemort's hands in Albania when Wormtail delivered her to his master. We learn in this chapter that Bertha Jorkins had her memory powerfully modified by BCS when she discovered BCJ at the Crouch family home. Did BCS bear responsibility for her weakened state when she encountered Voldemort in Albania? [/color] I don't think BCS bore much responsibility for her state. The evidence is strong that Bertha's state was never overly strong to begin with, and there is good reason to believe that Voldemort could have ripped her mind open at its best. I want to talk about something else. (How unusual!). IMO, after hearing of Voldemort's and BCJ's interference in the Triwizard Tournament, Harry felt very strongly that he should not have been there to begin with and that the results were tainted. While I strongly agree he should not have been a champion, the issue of the validity of the results is much more debatable, and interesting. Particularly in the third task, BCJ was directly involved in trying to fix the result. He was responsible for Fleur's removal from the competition. He attempted to have Cedric taken out. He had Viktor Imperiused, so we can safely assume Viktor would not have won had Harry not Stupefied him. So, BCJ directly interfered in the tourney results, and, had he succeeded, would have almost handed Harry the Cup on a silver platter. Two related things, however. First, he did not succeed. This shows that the effort to interfere, and the ability to interfere successfully, are not the same. While BCJ tried to hand the victory to Harry, the Imperiused Viktor failed to stop Cedric. Cedric, in fact, would have won had he not been so magnanimous. Therefore, while Voldemort and BCJ tried to fix the tournament for Harry, their efforts were insufficient to accomplish their aim. Second is the flip side of that coin. BCJ may have given Harry the idea to Summon his wand, the way to solve the egg, and the gillyweed, without which he wouldn't have succeeded. Giving him ideas, however, is not the same as giving him the result. Give me a wand, and I still get toasted by the dragon. All the other champions were in the lake, but no one else tried to insure that all the innocents were rescued. In short, Voldemort and BCJ could help Harry, but ultimately the results were produced on the field of battle by Harry's actions. Another point should be considered, as well. As Moody/BCJ said, cheating is a big part of the Triwizard Tournament tradition. None of the other champions walked into the first task unaware that they would be facing a dragon, or without a strategy, or into the second task without a plan to stay under the water. They all had extra-curricular help, and frankly it was built into the process that they would. So what's my answer? I think that the tournament results were compromised, specifically by the Imperiusing of Viktor Krum, resulting in Fleur and him being effectively removed from the final competition. However, I also doubt whether either the nature or degree of interference was unique in Triwizrd history. Ultimately, therefore, it's my opinion that Harry was the rightful Triwizard champion, and he earned it. I do understand, Harry being Harry, that he would not necessarily feel that he was the rightful champion. He was left with a lot to deal with at the end of GoF, and IMO that was part of it. -------------------- That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.
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May 17 2009, 07:39 PM
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Transfiguration Today's Star Reporter Posts: 2,011 Joined: 3:59pm May 15, 2008 Location: Sunny Phoenix, Arizona("It's a Dry Heat!") |
Good discussion, lulal and nicole_millard!
I've had some additional thoughts about Bertha Jorkins and Crouch Sr., so here goes: 4. Without Bertha as Voldemort's unwilling tool, much of GOF could not have taken place. She died for her knowledge at Voldemort's hands in Albania when Wormtail delivered her to his master. We learn in this chapter that Bertha Jorkins had her memory powerfully modified by BCS when she discovered BCJ at the Crouch family home. Did BCS bear responsibility for her weakened state when she encountered Voldemort in Albania? This is kind of a toughie; there are three people who bear responsibility for what happened to Bertha. First of all, if Bertha herself hadn't been such a snoop, she wouldn't have gone sneaking around Barty Crouch's home. I can't quite remember what the reason was for her being at Couch's home in the first place, but let's say she went there supposedly on business. Once she found Crouch was not there, she should have left. Apparently, though, she took advantage of Winky to discover that Crouch Jr. was there. Well, of course once Bertha had discovered that, Crouch Sr. had to silence her--either by killing her or using a memory charm, for not only was she nosy, she was a gossip and a tease. No telling what she would have tried to do with the knowledge--blackmail Crouch, maybe, for favors at the ministry? Whatever the scenario, Crouch Sr. could not afford to let the truth come out. As lulal has pointed out, what he and his wife did in tricking the guards and taking their son out of Azkaban was a travesty of justice, and furthermore, it put the wizarding world at risk. Crouch being the powerful wizard he was, put a powerful memory charm on Bertha. Now, of course, she would not remember that Crouch Jr. was being hidden at his father's house. What I wonder about is after that, WHY Bertha ended up in Albania of all places. Sure she was supposed to have been visiting a cousin, but if that's all she was there for, she could have had her visit and left. But no, Bertha then somehow went to some low-life tavern(if my memory serves me correctly) and there she recognized Peter Pettigrew. Now, I think we can see here that this woman must have some kind of radar that draws her to danger. If this were a murder mystery, she would be the figure that is a good candidate for murder. Anyway, she does not have the sense to pretend that she doesn't recognize Peter, so he manages to overpower her and take her to Voldemort. Now we need to look at what Crouch Sr's memory charm meant. Since his charm was so strong, by the time Voldemort got through with looking through her memory, she was broken down. There would be no sense in simply putting an imperious spell on her, as she had become so damaged that anyone around her would have an idea that some kind of Dark Magic had been placed on her, and Voldemort couldn't afford for that to happen. So he killed her. Anyway, in ranking the responsibility for what happened to Bertha, I place Voldemort first, as he chose to kill her; Bertha for not having survival instincts and for being so snoopy which led to her receiving the memory charms, and Crouch Sr. for putting the memory charms on her. Furthermore, there's irony here that of the three people involved here, Crouch and Jorkins don't exactly make the Ministry side look very good, do they? -------------------- "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phoenix avatar courtesy of ofenjen; thanks to atschpe for help |
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May 17 2009, 08:15 PM
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Ollivander's Apprentice Posts: 1,981 Joined: 7:39pm March 11, 2007 Location: wandering in the Forbidden Forest, listening for the Phoenix song |
QUOTE(Fricka @ May 17 2009, 08:39 PM) 4. Without Bertha as Voldemort's unwilling tool, much of GOF could not have taken place. She died for her knowledge at Voldemort's hands in Albania when Wormtail delivered her to his master. We learn in this chapter that Bertha Jorkins had her memory powerfully modified by BCS when she discovered BCJ at the Crouch family home. Did BCS bear responsibility for her weakened state when she encountered Voldemort in Albania? [/b]Anyway, in ranking the responsibility for what happened to Bertha, I place Voldemort first, as he chose to kill her; Bertha for not having survival instincts and for being so snoopy which led to her receiving the memory charms, and Crouch Sr. for putting the memory charms on her. Furthermore, there's irony here that of the three people involved here, Crouch and Jorkins don't exactly make the Ministry side look very good, do they? Personally, I tend to reverse the order a bit concerning your take on who bears responsibility for Bertha's demise, Fricka! We all know a "Bertha" - an annoying person, a gossip, a bit of a troublemaker. Maybe our "Bertha" has made our lives more difficult than they had to be. And so we tend to cross the street (or the hallway) when we see her. But none of us "take her out"! And that's the difference between the normal world, and that of Voldemort, Barty Crouch Sr, Barty Crouch Jr, and Wormtail. Bertha does hold some personal responsibility for her actions, I agree. She was a born snoop and trouble maker, and we see those traits in her since her student days at Hogwarts. Bertha never learned any life lessons from the repercussions from her snooping - and so, as she aged, the consequences of her actions simply got worse and worse. As a Ministry official, she got herself in serious hot water by taking on Barty Crouch Senior. I mean, one doesn't make accusations that a senior official smuggled his Death Eater son out of prison, and has him held hostage in the family home, without some kind of backup!  She should have alerted the authorities to her discovery. But no, Bertha appears to have lacked common sense. Additionally, she lo-o-oved the opportunity to confront the people she spied upon - with disastrous results. Bertha paid the piper pretty heavily after her encounter with Barty Crouch Sr; she was never the same afterwards.And so by the time she's in Albania, she's already damaged from her encounter with Barty Sr. She's easy game for Peter Pettigrew. She let herself be convinced by him to go for a fateful nighttime stroll - and was overpowered, and taken to Voldemort. It stands to reason that a weakened Bertha, damaged already from a powerful memory charm, presented no challenge to Voldemort. She was a gold mine of information for him - from Barty Crouch Jr's escape from Azkaban to the TriWizard Tournament, and so on. And so I think that Barty Crouch Sr does bear some responsibility for casting such a powerful charm upon a more-or-less innocent person. His spell led to Bertha's easy capitulation. Voldemort certainly made terrible use of Bertha, and murdered her in cold blood. And yes, his actions are heinous. But....who brought Bertha as a gift to Voldemort? Who set the whole train in action? Wormtail. He's the one I hold ultimately responsible for Bertha's fate. But Wormtail, now, there's another story....and another thread, alas. And so I won't go too much into Wormtail except to see this about he and Bertha: Left alone, Bertha would have been an addled witch, but a live witch. Once she crossed paths with Wormtail, however, she was a dead woman walking. This post has been edited by fidelia: May 18 2009, 05:40 AM -------------------- *thanks, twiddlethosedials, for the siggy* |
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May 18 2009, 01:08 AM
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The nicer member of the A-team  Posts: 5,437 Joined: 5:33pm March 30, 2007 Location: Pushing the sweets trolley on the Hogwarts Express  |
Man, it's been too long since I was in here. I've been sick
 but me and my family are all on deck again, so I can at least join in for these last few chapters.I remember the first time I read this book being completely shocked that Mad Eye was a disguised Death Eater. But I was able to swallow that much more happily than the thought that one of the people Dumbledore trusted so implicitly had betrayed him. That was my first thought when I read for the first time: total and complete sadness that such a person in such a role had betrayed Dumbledore. So, when he was revealed to be imprisoned and a DE I was almost relieved. The other thing was that I should have worked it out  since JKR has always dragged the rug out from under my expectations. I kicked myself for not noticing the clues that had been laid down for me, but had great fun next time round noticing them all.
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May 18 2009, 09:53 AM
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Eeylops Owl Cage Cleaner Posts: 213 Joined: 8:33pm January 11, 2009 Location: Wilmington, NC |
QUOTE(fidelia @ May 17 2009, 09:15 PM) And so I think that Barty Crouch Sr does bear some responsibility for casting such a powerful charm upon a more-or-less innocent person. His spell led to Bertha's easy capitulation. i think you bring up an interesting point about Crouch. We have talked about this before in this forum, about the morality of memory charms..and i have talked about how i do not agee with them. we did discuss that bad can come from them, but here is a perfect example! the dangers of what can happen, and how it can effect inncent lives (like cedric for instance) is both amazing and heartbreaking. -------------------- Read books - formulate independent thought.
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May 18 2009, 10:33 AM
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Transfiguration Today's Star Reporter Posts: 2,011 Joined: 3:59pm May 15, 2008 Location: Sunny Phoenix, Arizona("It's a Dry Heat!") |
Sorry that you've been sick, HarrysHorntail, and glad to hear you are better now! I agree that I could not bear to think of Dumbledore's having been betrayed so colossally, so in a way, when we found that Moody was actually BCJ, it was a relief.(Though still sobering to think how successful he had been in getting into Hogwarts and in putting Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire!)
Now I want to discuss a couple of points that fidelia and nicole_millard have raised, concerning Crouch Sr. as regards Bertha Jorkins. fidelia, I probably would have included Wormtail in my inclusion, but I did not see that option raised in the question, so I centered more on Crouch Sr, Voldemort, and Bertha herself. I agree that Peter/Wormtail deserves blame for what happened to Bertha, as he overpowered her and took her to Voldemort. He surely knew that he wasn't taking her to a nice cup of tea when he did that! It occurs to me here that Wormtail is a lot more dangerous than we generally give him credit for. He didn't just betray James and Lily, although that was bad enough, and could perhaps been seen as the actions of someone who had been so frightened that he didn't realize the seriousness of what he did. However, the way that he set up Sirius, and killed Cedric, in my mind makes him much more culpable for his actions. Chaging gears a bit, I think that nicole makes a good point that Bertha was more vulnerable in her meeting with Wormtail because of the memory charm that Crouch Sr. put on her. I admit I don't quite understand exactly how the memory charms work. They clearly aren't as strong as the Imperius Curse, for example, and my impression is that they would be used more in the way to keep a witch or wizard from remembering one particular thing, so that he or she would seem normal in every other way. Apparently, though, the charm that Crouch Sr. put on Bertha was exceptionally strong, so perhaps he modified more in her memory cells than just the fact that Junior was not in Azkaban but hiding at home. Surely being in the MOM, Bertha would have heard reports that Voldemort was rumored to be in Albania, and if she had been thinking straight, she surely would not have gone there willingly. However, there's part of me that thinks that Bertha could have gone there even if she had been warned, as she seems to have had little common sense, and we can't lay the blame for that at Crouch's door. Don't get me wrong, I'm not excusing Barty for what he did, but I do think that Bertha has a lot to answer for in placing herself in harm's way. -------------------- "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phoenix avatar courtesy of ofenjen; thanks to atschpe for help |
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May 18 2009, 10:52 AM
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Cauldron Bottom Measurer Posts: 104 Joined: 10:18am July 9, 2007 Location: Dobby's grave |
Good points, fricka, fidelia, and nicole_millard about BCS and Bertha. My initial thoughts were whether Bertha was damaged by Voldemort because she was weakened. I hadn't thought at all about the fact that Bertha may have been destroyed by the strength of BCS's memory charm and what Voldemort had to do to get through it.
I am also interested in fricka's point in her first post that BCS had to silence Bertha when she found out about BCJ. I feel a rant coming on about BCS and Cornelius Fudge, two fallen Ministry men, and how their roads to perdition were both paved with denial. Maybe later. -------------------- That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.
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