Barty Crouch Snr.

[mrcrouch]

abbotting​:

There is little Hannah can do to stop herself from gaping like an idiot at the man in front of her, trying to work out exactly how she was supposed to deal with a situation like this. Small children, she could deal with. The lunch rush, she could deal with. Customers who had had a little too much to drink, she could deal with. There wasn’t much in this job that she hadn’t become pretty equipped to deal with.

This, on the other hand, was something else entirely.

Did this man even know where he was? 

“You have…reports for the minister?” she asks slowly, moving further into the room. She wasn’t sure that the minister had even set foot into the Leaky in the last few years, let alone set up shop to take meetings here. “Sir…do you…do you know where you are right now?”

So help her, if he had a concussion.

At least, Hannah thinks, a cup of tea was something she could also deal with.

Barty raised an eyebrow at her. “I am in Waiting Room 1. The Offices of-” Barty hadn’t been a slytherin for nothing, and no-one came out of that house without a healthy dose of suspicion as well as confidence. He turned on the seat to look at the fireplace. Now that he was taking it all in...No Ministry signs anywhere. No notices about making personal Firecalls, or about the possibility of the Floo being monitored. “I can assure you I didn’t mispeak. I did say “Offices of the Minister for Magic.” “ He gathered the stack of parchment, lining the ends up and set it down next to him before rising. 

The windows...were a little too realistic. He peered out of one, and down below, could see an actual street, with people moving. A familiar street in fact.

 He stood frozen at the window for a moment, then slowly turned on the spot and took in the room again, including the abandoned breakfast. When he spoke again it was jerkily, mouth hardly moving. “There’s obviously something wrong with your Floo. Does Tom still run the place? I’ll have Weatherby send some Floo Technici-” No. He didn’t have that ability anymore. 

Crouch closed his mouth and swallowed, face pale. “An error has occurred. I did not intend to come here.” Like a true politician, he refused to admit that it was his error, but also did not continue to blame it on the Leaky Cauldron. And now he really did need a cup of tea.

[mrcrouch]

dcphns​:

mrcrouch​:

The Bench

“Sorry, no clue,” Daphne responded when the man next to her spoke up. She was on her break for the day, unfortunately alone as her usual lunch buddies all seemed to have prior engagements. One thing she missed the most about working with the Ministry secretaries was the gossip that flew between the different departments. Now that she’d worked her way up, and been put under a gag spell she’d essentially fallen out of the group. They hadn’t found her so beneficial when she couldn’t contribute much herself. And that was why she found herself equally as alone as the man next to her, forced to make small talk with the elderly. 

It really could be worse, she told herself, maybe he’d be interesting. Possibly beat sitting by herself. She’d be fine as long as he didn’t actually expect her to know anything about Fowler P. Now if he asked about Viktor Krum then she might actually be helpful. She’d read all of Rita’s articles during the tournament and was sure she could remember something if asked. 

Even better, engagements were something she was much more interested in, grateful when he changed the subject. “Really? Were they a big fan of spectacles?” she asked. She could think of maybe ten more places she’d rather be proposed to than the Ministry Atrium. “Doesn’t seem very romantic. I think I’d rather be proposed to in a rose garden or maybe a nice restaurant. Though it might be nice having everyone see your love and devotion…”

Barty gave a small understanding grunt. Well perhaps he could work it out when he had a few extra letters in the down columns. “third ‘W’ in famous joke shop?! Zonko’s doesn’t have any ‘W’s.” He turned to her again, “you seem a little fresher out of Hogwarts than I am, where do children get their pranks these days?”

He gave a small laugh, “ordinarily no. But I think the romance must have overtaken them. “ He set the paper down across his lap and turned towards her with an uncharacteristic lightness, “Doesn’t it? They had the proposal entered into official Ministry minutes.” He explained, as if this made the whole thing desperately clear and even more romantic, a small smile playing across his lips. “I’ve got a picture of the moment after Papa said yes.”

“Bartimeus Crouch, by the way, Head of the Depart- ahm...’Returned’. How do you do?” He offered his hand to shake, even if he had almost continued the usual spiel he’d used to use when introducing himself. 

[mrcrouch]

The Bench

Date: TBA Location: Ministry Atrium

@dcphns He’d first seen it on his release. Still there, still in the same position. There were a few more scuffs and scratches and what looked like a little light singing on one arm, but it was whole. 

After a fruitless attempt to set up his own filing system in his assigned living space he had made his way down to the atrium, past the large fountain. There was a copy of the day’s Prophet, but he’d read it already, and so he thumbed through it with a vague lack of interest, finding even the crossword had been half filled in. But it was something to do at least. His hands got itchy when he didn’t have a task to set at with gusto.

The paper lowered with a rustle and he looked at the person who had sat down a space away from him, correcting a misspelling in one box with a pencil and pausing at the next clue. “You wouldn’t know which Quidditch team Fowler, P. plays for would you?” The problem with the big gap of time was in all the little day to day things he had missed out on. Exactly the sort of things people put into crosswords. 

“You know this is where my fathers were engaged.” He added, trying to keep conversation flowing.

[mrcrouch]

unspeakablecharm​:

The wix narrowed her eyes on him completely confounded. Amnesia was not a known side-effect experienced from returning beyond the abyss outside of trauma and Katie assumed Barty would not have been released and left to his own devices inside the Ministry if it he wasn’t at least a shred coherent. This entire exchange was increasingly alarming. Katie felt the panic close in on her when he batted at her wand. She didn’t intend to do anything. In fact it took all her strength in that moment not to unleash a wordless hex on him. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for preserving through the daunting task, knowing if she were Theo then this matter would already be resolved.

“ I don’t know what you’re playing at, but I don’t know a Monica,” Katie snapped, her hands idly tightening around the base of her wand. “ And I certainly don’t duplicate memos. ” She said with mild offense.

Theo’s voice rattled in her head. She shouldn’t let this go on any longer. What if he really was trying to infiltrate the Department of Mysteries? The pendulum of time stopped moving as Katie lost control, which rarely happened. The wix genuinely did not intend for anything bad to happen, but by the time she was aware of her actions a stream of red light was already flooding from the tip of her wand and colliding with Barty square in the chest. The internal booming of Stupefy echoed in her head and jolted her bones awake.

It was good to see someone who at least - That was a strange reaction. He leaned back with a slight frown. He couldn’t pretend that Arabella and he had always got on, but she had certainly never been this openly hostile. And she still wasn’t lowering the wand. 

He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut at her claim not to know her own wife. He knew some of the unspeakables thought he was forgetting things, but they had always been short term, inconsequential things like a conversation. And he definitely remembered that wedd-

The jet of red spell-light hit him in the centre of his neatly ironed shirt and he was flung backwards across the corridor, colliding with the opposite wall. Barty was blissfully unconscious however, so the dull thwack of his back slamming into the stonework didn’t even register in his ears. Nor did the way he was now slumped unresponsive against it, sock-garters on display where the force of the stunner and his slide down the wall had made the robes ride higher than his mirror-polished shoes. 

*******************************************************************************************

His head and chest hurt. Shoulder blades too. He tried to cast his mind back. He’d been...collecting records from the office? That sounded right. What for? Something to do with the Triwizard Tournament no doubt. 

“wha- Weatherby?”

[mrcrouch]

abbotting​:

Staring intently at her empty mug, Hannah wonders, not for the first time that morning, just how many coffees was too many coffees. Sure, she was already two mugs deep, but it was the morning shift and well…sometimes she needed as much caffeine as she could to stay conscious. 

Tilting her wrist upward to check the time, she decides that she had to give herself at least another 45 minutes before she could brew another mug. It was still a few hours until check-out, meaning she couldn’t even go busy herself with tidying the rooms, so Hannah settles for mindlessly wiping the benches instead, humming quietly under her breath.

Her almost-silent revelry is soon interrupted by a thundering set of footsteps and a voice shrill enough to raise the hairs on the back of her neck.

Dropping the rag to the countertop, Hannah moves to greet the frantic woman, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “Ma’am, can. I-” she starts before coming to a halt, the woman’s voice already squawking in her ears.

“There is a MAN in my ROOM!” she shouts and Hannah can feel the beginnings of a blush burning at her cheeks. She had not signed up to deal with any of that when she took this job after all. “And he is asking to see the Minister.”

The final sentence strikes Hannah dumb before she can being her protest, and she snaps her mouth shut, trying not to gape at the poor woman.

“He…what?” she stammers, blinking rapidly as she takes the woman’s room number. Taking the stairs slowly and someone reluctantly, Hannah meanders her way toward the room in question, fairly apprehensive about what she was going to find.

Her knock against the door is hesitate as she pushes it open, sticking her head inside. “Sorry sir, I’ve been asked to come check on you,” she says, determined to be outwardly calm, even if she was freaking out inwardly, “She said you wanted the…Minister?”

She was apparently correct after all: there was no such thing as too much coffee in the world for this.

The reception witch clearly needed retraining, he thought, toe tapping lightly. But he supposed in the space of seven years some change to office behaviour and culture was inevitable. His fathers had never understood the change to pinstripe robes when that had been the fashion. And he didn’t mind that he had been left alone. He had begun to notice that when around other people he sometimes stumbled over his words and that was hardly becoming. 

It didn’t take long for a young witch to poke her head around the door. It was nice to see that someone had been sent to check on him and confirm. “Yes. I have some reports that I have compiled which I think he will greatly appreciate.” He tapped the stack of parchment on his lap confidently. 

“I would not say no to a cup of tea if the minister is going to be a while.” Barty reminded, as if she had asked him if she could fetch him anything. He was, after all, an unplanned visitor; he couldn’t expect them to have drinks prepared yet. 

[mrcrouch]

🐫 01

Barty saw the Nobby Leach scandal occurring. He had no concrete proof and only a small chance of stopping it from ending as it did. But with Nobby out of the way, his trajectory upwards was smoother. He 'suggested' to fellow workers that they put more effort into investigating other 'more serious and pressing' issues. 

The rest is History.

[cokeworthprince]

unspeakablecharm​:

Both brows rose high across her face. He couldn’t possibly be serious—could he? Katie’s eyes darted contemplatively between the strange man and the object pointed sharply at her. It was not a wand—that she was certain of. Though his face was still engulfed in shadows, his name stuck out to her like a sore thumb. He was one of the Returned—one of the rare few she didn’t have the pleasure of welcoming back in a state of raw vulnerability. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth still with half a mind to hex him. He was infringing upon her work as far as she was concerned. “ Lumos, ” Katie flicked her wrist after his failed attempt and instantly a stream of light trickled from her wand. “ If you don’t want to be carted off to Azkaban for trying to infiltrate the Department of Mysteries then you do actually.” She snapped. “ Now what are you after, Crouch? Wasn’t someone supposed to banish you to your own sector of the Ministry? ” She inquired, further raising her wand at him.

She knew him somehow. Not unusual, he’d made quite a name for himself among Wixen with criminal and Dark intentions. His suspicious stare deepened then suddenly bloomed into understanding, even recognition. His entire posture relaxed. Everything made sense. It explained the access she had, explained her grumpy teasing of him.

“Arabella. “ She didn’t look to have aged a day, even if she’d always had a fairly young face. Barty gave a small chuckle and pocketted his wand, batting hers lightly. “No need for that. I suppose you’re surprised to see me.” He raised his now empty hands in mock innocence. “Don’t worry, I don’t have a last minute memo for you to duplicate and send around.” 

“How are things with Monica?” He always made a point to learn the names of his more senior colleagues and their significant others, and indeed he’d even attended Arabella and Monica’s wedding. Partially because it would look good in the Prophet for him, but also because she was a good worker and if he ever wanted to claw his way out of the DIMC he’d need contacts and allies.

[themostincorrecthouseofblack]

Sirius: Who’s the prosecution?

Crouch: I am, of course.

Sirius: You’re the judge and the prosecutor? That’s a conflict of interests!

Crouch: I object to that as speculative. And I also sustain my own objection.

[mrcrouch]

🐫 + 007

Barty is afraid of quintapeds. And more embarassingly, aeroplanes. To the point that he doesn’t know if a Boggart might take the latter’s form.

[mrcrouch]

🐫 2

Barty used to send unnecessary and at times racy memos to his wife when they were both working at the ministry, even though it was a waste of taxpayers money. He had some of her replies in his desk when he died.

[mrcrouch]

🐫🐫🐫 001

Part of him enjoyed the control and obedience he was able to instil in his son with the Imperius. It felt like finally having the diligent son he had always longed for.

[mrcrouch]

🐫 🐫🐫 004

All though he’s straight, he had a brief attraction to a young wily Auror who was as dedicated to destroying Dark wixen as he was. The fleeting crush lasted only a month or so before Rufus Scrimgeour’s charms were overtaken by those of Crouch’s wife

[mrcrouch]

🐫 003

Crouch secretly wishes to visit the Azkaban burial grounds, both to see his wife’s grave, and more surprisingly, his son’s. While he disowned the boy, he still remembers the young child he saw snapshots of between work shifts. He hated and loved his son, which was why he reacted so strongly. All the hopes he’d had, all the dreams of his son one day finding a partner and having their own children....And then to have all that taken away by a foolish impetuous decision to side with Dark Wixen.

[priorireverte]

It’s HUMP DAY!

Half way through the week and time for a little fun, guys. Reblogging the meme means you are both accepting asks from it and sending out asks to other. 🐫

Let’s reveal some things that are hidden this week! Send the 🐫 + a number to have the receiving character reveal something.

001 | A heavy, emotional secret

002 | A lighter, slightly embarrassing secret

003 | A secret wish or desire

004 | A secret crush

005 | A childhood mischief their parents don’t know about

006 | A talent hidden from others

007 | A fear they have that they don’t tell anyone about

008 | A keepsake item that they don’t talk about

009 | An activity they secretly want to do with your character

010 | An excerpt from a journal/diary/sketchbook/etc they don’t normally share

[mrcrouch]

unspeakablecharm​:

Access Denied¦¦Katie&Crouch

Katie told herself this was a bad idea. It wasn’t necessary. Surely the very specific record she feverishly sought would remain securely sealed in the Ministry’s Record Chamber until tomorrow.

But tomorrow was a day too far away.

Fast forward nearly two hours later and the feeling of regret multiplied. The clerks all fled home for the evening leaving one very exasperated Unspeakable to her own devices. So many records to skim and so little time to do so. A map ( which is what she was truly sought ) would have been helpful—or perhaps a time turner, but that wasn’t exactly plausible.

Unanswered memos from the day buzzed passed her head along with the clamoring of unsettled thoughts. Katie wrote off the soundtrack as just the day’s end jitters. It wasn’t exactly a new sensation for her, but she remained unbothered. An occasional glance over her shoulder reconfirmed what the previous one had; she was still alone.

Until she wasn’t.

Thanks to the carefully set charm, she saw as a body pressed itself up against the milk colored glass. Katie immediately flew up from her previously crouched position behind a tall row of U-shaped cabinets. “ What the fuck? ” She snapped, flicking her wand so the metal cabinets clanked shut with a tight turn key. She stormed over to the door and threw it open with one stroke, wand firmly brandished at the wix on the opposite side. “ Who the bloody hell are you? How dare you infringe upon confidential Ministry business! You have two seconds to explain yourself! ” 

The intruder was moving and there was a clank and something was said. Crouch dropped his hand to his wand, forgetting that the thin wooden stick in his pocket was in fact a pencil, and muttering a charm to alert the security wizard of his location.

He gripped the ‘wand’ tighter as the shadow through the frosted glass advanced quickly on his position. He leapt back as they came out, wand held high, directing his own at her, speaking at almost the same time. “HA! Caught in the very act!” Something in her words got through to him and the tip of the pencil lowered slightly as he squinted at her face, which was dimly familiar in the poor lighting. “I am Bartemius Crouch, Head of- I am a Ministry official, I don’t have to justify my presence to you! Now what were you doing in the archives? Those are confident..ial.” She’d said that, hadn’t she? He attempted to cast a light charm. No luck. Crouch shook his ‘wand’. “Lumos. Lumos, damn you.”

[mrcrouch]

Access Denied¦¦Katie&Crouch

@unspeakablecharm​

Date: TBD Location: The corridor outside the Ministry Records Office

This was insupportable! He knew the door opened with a touch from authorised personell, and he was so far beyond clearance for this poxy little room that it should have sprung open the first time he’d laid a finger on it. Or later when he’d kicked it.

Instead it was firmly shut and Barty was putting all 60 plus years of his strength into trying to wrench the door open, both hands wrapped around the handle and shaking it in the frame. 

A flash of movement from within the Records Office caught his attention and he quickly pressed himself closer to the door, peering through the frosted glass, body tucked in against the door frame and out of view. Intruder or intruders! In the Records Office! A serious offence. Well they thought they could escape did they? He was going to be lying in wait for them. He hadn’t been Co-ordinator for the Witch-Watchers and seconded to the Auror Investigation Office for nothing. Oh no, he knew law-breaking when he saw it.

Now if only he could get through the door.

[mrcrouch]

What advice would you give to the ARC?

Advice? I should be seconded to them. 

But with the understanding that my comments are given unofficially, and not vetted by the Minister or the ARC, let me give you a comment suitable for publishing.

Picture this, if you will;

Individual cots, sinks and toilets, dividers that prevent other inmates invading each other’s privacy or colluding, but do not conceal from the Aurors and Unspeakables. Meals can be eaten in a communal space but there should be strict supervision.

A Well maintained registry with some form of scrying or tracking charm on all Returned. Regular check-ins are a wise idea. Those deemed safe to release should be carefully placed with law-abiding families. 

Additionally, there will need to be some investigation into whether squib-related or Muggle-focused laws apply to the Returned, and what adaptations may need to be drafted into law to apply existing rules and regulations.