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I was wondering about Voldemort's assumption that Crouch Jr. would indeed agree to play the rather significant role that Voldemort had allocated to him in his Big Plan. Having pointed out that Voldemort first returns to England, then travels to the Crouch residence, then Imperio's Crouch Sr., and only then asks young Barty if he is willing to serve, I wondered:
(It does make you wonder, though, doesn't it, what Voldemort would have done if Crouch had said "no?" I mean, was there a Plan B?)
Cindy replied:
Plan B? Well, let's see. Crouch Jr. might say something like, "You know, I've been couped up under this cloak a long time and I was thinking of maybe taking some time off, if that's all right with you, Voldemort."
Mmm, nah. Not unless Crouch Jr. was hoping to do a dance with the Cruciatus Curse, figuring it might help clear his mind or something.
Heh. Well, I admit that it wasn't too likely a possibility.
But still, if you think about it, Voldemort's plan really does count on Crouch Jr. for quite a lot, doesn't it? It doesn't just rely on him professing his loyalty. I mean, given the circumstances, of course Crouch Jr's answer to "will you serve me once more?" was going to be: "Yes, master, delighted to, just tell me what you want me to do."
But the plan doesn't just rely on Crouch's lip service. It relies on him being loyal enough to undertake a difficult and dangerous mission without scarpering the instant that Voldemort isn't watching him. It relies on him being competent enough to rig the Tournament. And it relies on him being a clever enough actor to pull off that Moody masquerade for an entire year.
It also relies on him not having been reduced to a state of weak-willed drooling idiocy from having first nearly died in Azkaban, and then having spent over ten years under the Imperius Curse.
I mean, that was really quite a lot to gamble on, don't you think? When all that Voldemort really knew about Crouch's current status was that he was being held prisoner in his father's house, and that he still professed loyalty to the cause? Voldemort travels all the way back to England on the basis of this information?
Geez. It's almost enough to make me want to run out and buy myself one of those magic dishwashers. They may not run on my favorite thematic engines, and they do rather clash with all of my genre expectations, and George really doesn't care for them very much. But hey. At least they don't leave spots all over the crystal.
I also found myself wondering about Crouch Jr's growing ability to throw off the Imperius Curse for short periods of time in the months leading up to the QWC. I suggested that this might be related in some way to Voldemort's return to England, that perhaps Voldemort's newly embodied state and physical proximity might in some metaphysical way have strengthened the will of those servants bound to him by the Dark Mark.
Cindy wrote:
But how about an alternative theory? A theory that explains all of the pesky, FLINT-y problems with the Imperius Curse? How about if the Imperius Curse is only as strong as the wizard casting it?
I'm sure that the Imperius Curse is only as strong as the wizard casting it. After all, the Cruciatus Curse certainly seems to be. Compare Cedric's reaction to being hit by Krum's Cruciatus, for example, to Harry's reaction to Voldemort's Cruciatus in the graveyard. Krum's does not seem to be all that powerful. It certainly doesn't look as if it was a pleasant experience for poor Cedric, mind, but it doesn't incapacitate him to nearly the same degree as Voldemort's Cruciatus does Harry, or Wormtail, or even the unfortunate Mr. Avery.
How about if the Imperius Curse is a classic struggle of wills, a clash of power between the controller and victim.
Again, I think that this certainly is the case. And there is also evidence to suggest that ones ability to resist increases the more incentive one has to do so. Crouch Sr's ability to resist the Curse seems to have grown stronger and stronger as the date of the planned attack on Harry Potter drew near. I had always assumed, at any rate, that the growing urgency of the need to warn Dumbledore was what had strengthened his will to resist.
I had also assumed that Crouch Jr's ability to fight it off at the QWC was in part due to all of the things going on there that just Pissed Him OFF. Lucius Malfoy in the Top Box, being buttered up by Fudge about his donations to St. Mungos, of all things. That conversation between Harry and Winky, about freedom, of all things. And of course, that tantalizing wand, right in front of his very face.
After all, Mulciber specialized in the Imperius Curse. If all Imperius Curses are the same, why have someone specialize in it?
I don't think that they are all the same. I agree with you that the stronger the caster, the stronger the spell. I also agree with Marina that the stronger the will, the stronger the spell (or the chance of resisting it). In other words, to be very very good at Imperius, you want to have two things: a strong will, and a good deal of expertise. To resist it, you want to have one (or both) of two things: a strong will, or a freakish inborn talent for it.
As far as Crouch Jr. goes, he didn't really get stronger during all those years under the cloak, under this theory. Crouch Sr. was getting weaker, that's what was going on.
Youth will be served, eh?
This reminds me very much of a question that somebody (Judy, perhaps?) brought up quite some time ago. Just what did old Crouch think was going to happen to his son once he passed away, anyway? Children do, after all, generally manage to outlive their parents.
Crouch Sr. was getting more and more discouraged by his failure to win become Minister of Magic, becoming bitter from being shunted aside and forced to work with the likes of Ludo Bagman. And Crouch Sr. was just plain growing older. All of that made young Crouch relatively stronger compared with his father, I think, not stronger overall.
Mmmmm. Possibly. Possibly. Although Crouch still had it in him to throw off his own Imperius there at the end, didn't he? And it still seems a remarkable coincidence to me that Crouch Jr's new-found resistance would seem to coincide so very neatly to Voldemort's return to an embodied state.
Cindy (who thinks Pip and her MAGIC DISHWASHER will not like the idea that Cruciatus makes a wizard stronger)
Well, no, Cindy. She won't. That, you see, is because Pip—with or without her MAGIC DISHWASHER in tow—is not utterly deranged.
I, however, am. I am therefore willing to entertain the notion, but only because it has entertained me. Tit for tat, you know. Turnabout is fair play.
<pause, while Elkins entertains the notion>
Ah-hah! I see it now! That's why Pettigrew let Crouch Sr. escape! He knew, you see, that the day was fast approaching when he would need to deal with all of those other Death Eaters, right? So he wanted to be sure that this time around, he'd really be able to compete.
And that's why he was so distressed when Voldemort threatened to feed him to the snake, see. 'Cause that wasn't what he was after at all. He wanted a good long bout of Cruciatus, that's what he wanted. And hey, he got it eventually, right?
And it also occurs to me that this might put a brand new spin on Charis Julia's "Fourth Man With Crucio Competition," which suggests that the DEs all compete to try to get their master to punish them because it's just so macho. It's not a matter of macho. It's not a matter of macho at all. It's a matter of pure and simple self-interest, is what it is. They all know, you see, that What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger, and so they're just trying to get the advantage whenever they indulge themselves in Stupid Minion Errors.
<short pause>
Okay. There. I've entertained it. It's still an utterly ludicrous notion, but I have at least been willing to entertain it.
—Elkins
Posted to HPfGU by Elkins on June 27, 2002 3:17 PM
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