monophobia • harry potter³ [UNEDITED]

𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐯. the truth, padfoot

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       IT WAS SHOCKING INFORMATION, TO SAY THE LEAST. But they had asked to know about it, they simply had to. They couldn't be the children that everyone else wanted them to be, that Mr. Weasley had treated them as. Hermione, Ron, and especially Nyx and Harry had been through too much and were far too attached to Voldemort for them to be left in the dark about anything revolving around him.

"He wasn't the only one," said Sirius bitterly. "Most go mad in there, plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when death was coming because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Minister member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the forest; I watched them do it."

Nyx felt sick to her stomach. 

Sirius threw aside the bread he had just lifted to his mouth and instead picked up a flask of pumpkin juice and drained it. 

"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made," he continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic ... next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family named dishonoured, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation." 

There was a long silence. Nyx seemed to understand why Crouch lashed out at her at the World Cup, perhaps a small part of him thought he could reclaim some glory if he caught Voldemort's daughter conjuring the Dark Mark. Also even though she hated how he treated her, it also made sense why he had been so harsh toward Winky. 

"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards," Harry told Sirius.

"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him," said Sirius nodding. "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater." 

"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione. 

"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius.

"Yes, it does!" said Ron excitedly, but Sirius shook his head.

"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."