Son of the Minister
"But... he'll be at Hogwarts next week, you can't just go on a stupid business trip now!"
"I have to, it's my job, in case you've forgotten."
"He's YOUR son! How dare you??"
"...Yes, I know..."
"He's your son, our son, you're NEVER here!"
"I'm trying! Okay? I'm trying to be here, but you can't work, so I have to bring in the money. I earn the money! For our son AND for us!"
"...But that's not an excuse or apology for..."
The shouting of his parents seemed to grow louder. Barty covered his ears and sat on the stairs, afraid of the loud noises. His parents always argued when his father was home. Every word spoken seemed louder than the last. Like any normal eleven-year-old, he had received an invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It would be time in a week. He was tired of hearing his parents' talk. It was always the same, his mother getting upset that his father wasn't there, and his father not wanting to argue, but unable to refrain. The voices from the kitchen grew quieter until they fell silent, but only for a moment, until he heard someone crying. Then his father spoke again.
"Shhhh, I'm sorry... I... please just stop crying... we'll wake him up..."
The heartbreaking sniffles stopped for a moment, then resumed.
"H-How dare you Bartemius??? How could you..."
The woman spoke, her voice slightly hoarse and gradually breaking. The man tried to calm her.
"Please... calm down, sit down, you'll have an attack otherwise..."
Then there was only the sound of someone collapsing on the floor, then everything was quiet.
Barty still had his hands on his ears, so he didn't really notice what was happening anymore. He went into his room and locked himself in. Whatever had happened again, he didn't want to know. Such conversations were standard in their household. He fell onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. 'The son of the Minister of Magic is so lucky, he has everything he could wish for.' Yes, he has everything, but he wants none of it. All he wants is a normal family and a loving father who is there for him when he needs him. But of course, that's too much to ask for again.
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Saturday 01.09.1973
"Hufflepuff!" the voice of the Sorting Hat rang out. The blonde boy was a bit nervous, after all, he was up next. He looked around, four long tables for the respective houses. He thought about where he would like to be, Hufflepuff maybe not, that would be the last resort... Ravenclaw like his father? Absolutely not! Gryffindor? Barty never liked the color red, nor people who had to boast about their courage and what they can do. Maybe he should hope for Slytherin? That wouldn't please his father... would he care about him.. Anyway, he wanted Slytherin, green suited him better than red, yellow, or blue anyway. He patiently waited to be called.
"Bartemius Crouch Junior." Ugh, Barty hated it when someone called him by his full name. It sounded so much like... his father. Terrible. His face looked somewhat arrogant, even if he didn't do it on purpose. He took a few steps forward to the Sorting Hat and Professor McGonagall. She was an old woman with a stern face. It took a few seconds for the hat to speak.
"Ohh.. so we have a special guest here.. The Minister's son, what an honor. You are very very clever, I can see that, Ravenclaw might be fitting..."
As the Sorting Hat spoke, Barty had to strongly suppress the urge to slam the hat to the ground.
"Please Slytherin.. please Slytherin..." Barty murmured to himself, hoping to persuade the hat, it was so quiet that only the hat and maybe Professor McGonagall could hear it. The hat seemed to ignore his pleading and continued its speech.
"Ravenclaw would really suit you very well, certainly. You are also very brave, loyal, and ambitious, you have the urge to prove yourself, sometimes a bit too much.. What am I to do with you.. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff??"
Barty became somewhat annoyed and muttered in a stern tone. "Put me in Slytherin, you stupid hat, or my father will hear about how dim-witted this school is."
The hat made a offended noise and spoke. "Slytherin!"
Barty stood up, more or less confidently, and made his way to his table. He sat down next to a few other first years, which he immediately regretted-
"Oh my God, are you reeeeally the son of the Minister of Magic???"
"HIIII"
"My name is Katie, nice to meet you!"
"Let's be friends"
"Do you like Quidditch?"
"What's your father like?"
It's annoying. Barty wants to beat them all up, one by one, but he remained silent and friendly. A third-year student opened his mouth.
"Whoa, guys, calm down, he's nothing special." A boy with black, greasy-looking hair and the biggest nose Barty had ever seen. Barty wanted to laugh, but refrained. Another third-year spoke, a boy with light blonde hair.
"Oh, don't be an idiot, Severus. You're nothing special either, so shut your mouth!" Barty looked up, he seemed interested in this boy. "Careful, Rosier, you're already on thin ice." The boy, Severus, snapped at him. Barty had fun listening to them argue. This argument was more amusing than when his parents argued, definitely.
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Thursday 04.10.1973
He had been at Hogwarts for a month now. It was more pleasant than he thought, but in his opinion, all the first years this year were dumb. Barty was the only one who always knew everything. The demands were not even remotely high. He tried his best in class, as much as he could, even though it earned him strange looks from his classmates.
His favorite subject so far was Transfiguration, he found it extraordinarily fascinating how one can transform oneself or other things into something else. Sometimes he just thought about what he could do with it, he could theoretically transform into another person... But that was easier with Polyjuice Potion, though it was said to taste awful.
"Mr. Crouch, stop staring out the window, I know you know the lesson topic, but you should still pay attention," Professor McGonagall warned him. Barty looked at the teacher and nodded slightly.
"Well then.. would you be so kind as to turn your feather into a stone?" she asked him, but added. "That shouldn't be too difficult for you." Barty took his wand and cast the spell, turning the feather into a stone. The woman nodded and continued. "Very good Mr. Crouch." She turned to the rest of the class. "See? It's really not that difficult. If some of you would just try a little harder, the performances would be much better. Anyone who's already slacking off this year can just pack their bags and leave, because they won't get far here."
Barty only listened marginally, now several students were called up one after the other to also transform their feathers. "Miss Bones, you're next." the teacher said, followed by a girl named Katie, who had been hitting on Barty since day one. To be honest, she wasn't his type at all, but he was only eleven, so he didn't have to decide yet who he wanted to be in a relationship with..
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Saturday 03.11.1973
It was lunchtime when singing broke out at the Gryffindor table. Apparently, some student had a birthday, Barty didn't care at all. However, it was getting a bit annoying, as they also sang at breakfast, he feared it would happen again at dinner.
He covered his ears a bit, those Gryffindors couldn't hit a single note, well... some might hit a few notes, but not all. He didn't even notice someone sitting next to him. He took his hands off his ears and looked up. It was the same boy with the light blonde hair he had seen on the first day. Barty watched him.
"These Gryffindors are awful, aren't they?" the boy asked, he seemed to be around thirteen years old.
Barty nodded as he took a bite of his bread and chewed it calmly.
"They're in my year, they sing all the time, you're lucky you don't have classes with them." he told Barty, he also took a bite of his bread. His gaze wandered over to a girl, with light blonde hair and the same light blue eyes as the boy next to him. The resemblance was striking.
"Hey, Pandi, what are you doing again?" the boy with the light blonde hair asked. The girl replied, her voice was very delicate and quiet.
"I'm making a flower chain, I picked some flowers outside, look-" she showed him the flower chain. Barty watched the two, curious.
"Very nice, you can give Mom one of those when we're home."
"I will, do you want one too?" The boy blushed a little, Barty grinned and looked at his plate.
"Uh... yeah sounds good, I'd like one." the boy replied politely. The girl was happy and continued working on her chain.
"What's there to grin about?" the boy asked, noticing Barty's amused expression.
"Oh, nothing, I'm sure a 'flower chain' would suit you perfectly!" Barty grinned as he watched the boy blush even more.
"Oh, shut up" the boy replied, but also laughed a little. Barty laughed a bit, it was quiet for a moment, until the boy spoke to him again.
"I'm Evan, by the way, Evan Rosier. That over there is my little sister Pandora." he explained to him. Barty couldn't help but laugh a bit about how well his name matched his face.
"I'm Barty-"
"I know."
"How?"
"Are you kidding? You're practically famous here, it doesn't happen every year that the son of the Minister of Magic comes to Hogwarts."