What Went Wrong?

"I have committed enough crimes to keep me in Azkaban for the rest of my life, and the outcome of another murder will not change. I have no reason to hide this from you," Crouch snapped.

Moody made a face but didn't argue.

Ivan, on the other hand, was well aware of Bertha Jorkins's whereabouts. After Crouch had wiped her memory with a Memory Charm, she ran into Voldemort in Romania, where her corpse was cold.

Naturally, Ivan kept this information to himself, as he could not explain where it came from.

Crouch went on about what had happened, and after dealing with Bertha Jorkins, everything was quiet again, with no one else to disturb him, allowing him to move on to more matters, such as the upcoming Triwizard Tournament and the Quidditch World Cup.

"For over a decade, my son Barty Junior has been on his best behavior and has not caused any trouble. Winky begged me to be lenient with Barty Junior, and since it was the day of the World Quidditch Tournament, I decided to show him around."

"He used to love Quidditch…" Crouch sighed wistfully.

"Hey, looks like this private prisoner is having a good time," Moody said sarcastically. "You've got the nerve to take Barty Junior to a place where so many people are gathered."

"I made a lot of preparations, booked a private room on the top floor for him, put an Invisibility Cloak on him to make sure he didn't get caught, arranged for Winky to keep an eye on him… only to have it all go wrong!" explained Crouch.

"What mistake? He got away?" Moody asked.

"Yes! He's gone. Disappeared at the Quidditch meeting!" Crouch looked horrified.

"Can you be specific with us, Mr. Crouch? And when did you hear about this?" Yvonne hurried on, thinking that this was where all the variables began.

"Little Barty must have broken free of my Imperius Curse and escaped during the riot at the back of the house." Crouch was visibly upset, as he blamed the incompetent house-elf for not looking after his son.

However, under Ivan's repeated questioning, he revealed more details.

As a high-ranking Ministry of Magic official, he immediately mobilized his men to capture the Dark Wizards who were causing trouble, and then led them to the location where the Dark Mark was raised, where he found Winky.

As soon as he saw Winky, Crouch knew that Barty Junior must have escaped, although he suspected that his son was nearby.

"So it was your son who cast the Dark Mark?" Moody said, angrily gripping his cane. "You know that and you're trying to blame it on Harry and Sirius!"

Crouch smiled wryly and did not argue, instead continuing, "When everyone had left, I went back there to try and get my son, but I searched every inch of the area and could not find Barty."

Yvonne's brow furrowed. In the original timeline, Crouch should have found Barty Junior and brought him home.

What went wrong now?

Yvonne tried to recall the events that had occurred to her, and it occurred to her that Barty Junior had been struck by a few wizards' magic by accident, and had been forced to remain where he was.

If this had not happened, Barty Junior would have had a good chance of escaping in the confusion, and he would have gone after Voldemort.

Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew did not need to raid Crouch House, which explains why Barty Crouch was not under Voldemort's Imperius Curse.

Understanding all of this, Ivan was not at all happy.

Knowing where to start isn't going to help. The point is how to solve these problems!

Where exactly is Barty Junior now? His name is nowhere to be found on the Marauder's Map, and how did he manage to alter the Goblet of Fire…

These questions gave Ivan a headache. He had previously thought that Barty Junior had disguised himself as his father, Crouch, to achieve all of this, but it seemed that Crouch himself was fine, which meant that his previous suspicions were all wrong!

"I spent the next few days searching for Barty Junior, but I couldn't find him anywhere, so I had to ask someone to help me find him in Britain," Crouch said wearily.

"Why not simply refuse to referee the Triwizard Tournament and spend more time trying to find your son?" Ivan asked curiously.

"No, you've got it wrong, Hulse, he'll only have good reason to shirk the job if he agrees to it!" Moody sneered. "Right, Barty?"

Crouch nodded shamefacedly. When he was not at the castle, he used the excuse that the Co-operation Department was busy to placate Bagman.

With this cover, no one would question his whereabouts for a while.

However, to Crouch's surprise, there was no news of Barty Junior for several months, and instead he received a handwritten note from Ivan and Moody.

"I have been debating for months whether or not to speak of these matters to Minister Fudge or Dumbledore…" Crouch's face was a mask of struggle, having spent countless days and nights torn between selfishness and morality.

With this in mind, Crouch slowly turned to Yvonne and said with feeling, "I have to thank you, Harls, for helping me choose."

"Well, that's easy for you to say, Barty! Would you have turned yourself in if we hadn't broken in and found out what was going on? Don't be ridiculous!" Moody's lips twitched, and he did not hesitate to expose Crouch's selfish intentions. "You'd just go on hoping to find your son, wouldn't you?"

"You know very well that if you let the cat out of the bag, you'll end up in Azkaban, where everyone will know exactly what kind of man you are as an ex-executive director … so you want to find your son and live the way you did before!" Moody's words were as sharp as knives.

"That's enough, Alastor!" Crouch was irritated by Moody's ying-ying. "I did do something wrong, but it's the Ministry's job to judge me, and don't forget, you're not an Auror anymore!"