AN: This story was written for Week 3: History Appreciation in Camp Potter II. The prompt was, "Write about Barty Crouch Jr." Although he isn't the main character in this story, I think he played an interesting role. I loosely used the optional prompts, "future" and "adapt" as well.
The Black's and the Crouch's had never been very close, in blood or in friendship. However, as one of the most influential pureblood families in magical England, they had a duty to the other lesser families. They socialized with those they wished to succeed and snubbed those they didn't. Often times, the rest of high society followed in their footsteps. It was for this reason that they made nice with Bartemius Crouch and his little family, Orion explained to his two young sons as they fidgeted, waiting to be released from the latest lecture. After trying to explain to them that they must play nicely with Bartemius Jr. and behave befitting boys of their status for sometime, they were finally dismissed with a sigh.
Sirius had never really liked the little boy. He was a year younger than Regulus and two younger than him, and Sirius couldn't help but view him as nothing more than a baby. Even at four years old, Barty was a stick in the mud just like Reg. He never wanted to pull pranks or get up to any mischief, and he always told if he found out Sirius was planning on doing something. Sirius tried to hit the younger boy one too many times for his father's liking, resulting in the same lecture every time the Crouch's were to join them for supper.
The Crouch's arrived two hours before supper was due to start, much to Sirius's dismay. As far as he was concerned, the less time he had to spend pretending to be Barty's friend, the better. He tried to sneak off to his room when he heard the doorbell, but his mother caught him firmly by the neck and spun him around to greet the guests. He put on his best smile and forced a light tone. Deep inside, however, he wished he could kick his mother in the shins and barricade himself in his room.
"Now, you boys go and play nicely." Orion said, a kind smile on his face but a dark flash in his eyes his boys knew only too well. They gulped and hastily agreed. Barty, never the sharpest tool in the shed, noticed nothing.
Sirius led the way upstairs, where their bedrooms and playroom were. "Let's play in Reg's room." He suggested. He didn't want Barty near his toys; last time, he'd broken his favorite wooden train. Regulus agreed, and so they went into his room.
Regulus had dutifully decorated his room in deep greens and silvers. He knew very little of Hogwarts or of Slytherin house other than these colors, but his mother smiled and his father clapped him on the back when he had chosen them. Sirius, however, had decked out his own room in nearly every color besides those. It had earned him disapproval, but he though Reg's room dull. His was chaotic and messy and a clash of every color in the rainbow, which was much more him.
Sirius jumped up on the bed and lay on his stomach. He watched as Reg and Barty dug out his parent's old first year's robes out of his closet and donned them. "Let's play Hogwarts!" Barty suggested gleefully. He dug some more and found Regulus's collection of fake wands. Sirius and Regulus loved the fake wands. Orion easily fashioned them for the boys, if they had behaved themselves. Consequently, Regulus had a whole box while Sirius owned only two or three.
After careful consideration, Barty pulled out one made of blackwood, crooked with a knobby end. "I want to by Slytherin!" Sirius sighed and rolled over. He knew this version of the game well. They all knew the stories of the Founders, and many of their 'friends' delighted in pretending to be them. Sirius hated it. He always got stuck being Gryffindor, or worse, one of the girls. Secretly he was rather fond of being Gryffindor, the chivalrous and brave. He knew he wasn't supposed to, though, so he pretended he didn't. Somehow, though, he never got to be anyone better.
Sirius figured he'd pick the lesser of the three evils for himself. "I'll be Ravenclaw."
Reg pouted. "That's no fair. I don't want to be Gryffindor or Hufflepuff."
"You can be Slytherin's student." Barty said. "That means you have to do everything I say."
This wasn't pleasing either. "I'm older!" Regulus protested. Barty shrugged.
"That doesn't matter. Mother is older than Father, but Father is still the boss of her." He glanced over his shoulder before continuing on. "Father says that Mother's blood status is 'questionable'."
Sirius screwed up his face, thinking. "What does that mean?"
Barty shrugged. "I dunno. I heard them arguing about it and Father said I can't tell anyone."
"Why did you tell us then?" Reg inquired.
"You two are my friends which means you don't count as people I can't tell." Barty said matter-of-factly. Sirius and Regulus accepted this explanation. If you couldn't tell your friends your secrets, who could you tell? The young children had yet to understand these sorts of matters, so none of them thought twice about it.
Sirius slid off the bed. "I'll go get my robe and wand." He ran to his room and retrieved another set of robes, his father's from his third year. They were far too big for him, more so than even the first year robes. They were the smallest set they had left, though, so he rolled up the sleeves as well as he could and chose his favorite wand. It was made of a light colored oak and thick. a spot towards the end was smoothly grooved out so that his little hand would better fit around it. The oaken wand was perfectly straight and longer than any of the ones Regulus owned, the length being the reason why it was his favorite. After all, everyone knew that the longer the wand, the more powerful it was.
He ran back into the room to already find them in the thick of it. It seemed that Regulus had eventually settled on being Gryffindor. Having a Slytherin without having a Gryffindor was no fun because Slytherin had no one to duel.
"Only purebloods belong in our school!" Barty shouted. He separated the orange blocks from the green blocks in a large pile they had made on the floor. "Pretend these green blocks are my students and the orange ones are yours." He clarified for Regulus. Sirius picked up a few blue blocks and added them to the pile.
"Those are my students." He told them, and Barty nodded.
"Ravenclaw, do you think purebloods or Mudbloods should go to school?" Sirius thought for a moment. He couldn't remember who Rowena Ravenclaw had sided with.
After a moment, he said, "What do you think, Slytherin?" to buy himself some more thinking time.
"Only pureblood students should be allowed." Barty said. "Mudbloods are bad people who stole their magic, so they shouldn't come to school."
Regulus looked up from where he was on the floor, gathering his orange blocks as they were thrown out and throwing them back in the pile. "Really?" he asked, breaking character.
Barty nodded. "My father told me." he said. Sirius frowned.
"But how do you steal magic?" he asked. "I thought you had to be born magic." Barty shrugged.
"Father didn't say." he admitted. He looked back at Regulus and resumed the game, throwing blocks again. "Your bad students can't come here!"
With a bit of struggling, Reg managed to pull his wand out from underneath his robes. "My mudblood students are not bad! We will take over the school and send you out!"
"We should think about this smartly." Sirius said, jumping between them as Barty pulled out his wand. His mind was elsewhere, however. He was filled with curiosity about Mudbloods now. How did they steal their magic? Why was that bad? Didn't it mean that the wizards they got it from were weak and deserved what they got? If that was truly how it went, Sirius thought that Mudbloods were pretty brave, and they must be very strong too. He just couldn't understand why this would make them bad. "We have to decide who we teach in the school now together." He continued.
Barty stood, abandoning the block students. "Only purebloods!" he reasserted.
"Only brave people!" Reg shouted, standing too and pumping his wand arm in the air.
"I think only smart people." Sirius said, remembering the story now. "And Hufflepuff thinks only nice people." Reg and Barty began to duel, complete with fake blast sounds and throwing themselves backwards. Sirius didn't try to participate. He was still thinking.
"We should ask." he said. The younger boys didn't hear him, or ignored him. They continued their battle. "Guys, I said we should ask about the Mudbloods!" he shouted over them.
They let their wands fall to their sides and looked at him. "Ask what about them?" Reg asked.
"How they steal their magic." Sirius said. "Don't you want to know?"
The boys thought about this for a minute. What use could this knowledge be to them? They were children, however, and children often want to know useless facts. So they agreed, and all trooped downstairs to where their parents were talking.
They found them in the parlor, drinking tea. Orion and Walburga sat on the loveseat, facing Bartemius and his wife, who's name Sirius could not remember, sat opposite them on the couch. They were talking about something none of the boys understood, yet they knew better than to interrupt. That was, Barty and Regulus knew better. Sirius had no problem marching into the middle of the room and demanding attention.
"Father, I have a question." he said loudly, cutting Orion across. His father gave him a stern look.
"Sirius, I am in the middle of talking." he told his son. "You must wait your turn." Sirius sighed dramatically, but fell silent and allowed his father to finish. The minute he reached the end of his sentence, Sirius pipped back up again.
"Can I ask my question now?" His mother, father, and Barty's father looked on with disapproval, but Mrs. Crouch hid her smile with her hand. This was enough to boost Sirius's confidence that he did not back down again.
Orion sighed. "What is it, son?" His voice was frustrated, but Sirius paid no mind. Permission now granted, the other boys approached as well.
"How do Mudbloods steal their magic?" he asked. The adults froze, and Bartemius sent an angry look at his boy, who quailed under the look. Sirius looked expectantly from adult to adult.
When no one immediately attempted to answer him, Walburga cleared her throat. "Well, boy-"
"Walburga, let me handle this." Bartemius said, and she fell obediently silent. He turned to Sirius. "Where did you hear of this, boy?"
Sirius pointed at Barty. "Barty told me."
"It's true!" Barty defended himself. "They do steal magic, don't they, Father? They're evil and take things from us and that's why they need to be eracatided."
"Eradicated." Mrs. Crouch corrected him.
Bartemius sighed and looked towards the Black's, something Sirius couldn't identify in his eyes. Orion gestured for him to continue. "Nobody knows how they do it. That's why they've been able to for so long without being stopped."
Sirius thought about that. "But," he said hesitantly, wondering if he should voice his earlier thoughts. "But if they were able to get magic from a wizard, doesn't that mean the wizard was weak?" he asked. "And that the Muggle who became a Mudblood was strong? Why should a weak person get to have magic and a strong person doesn't?"
"That's stupid." Regulus said, piping up for the first time. "Muggles aren't strong."
"What do you know! You're only five!" Sirius admonished his brother.
"Children!" Orion shouted. "Listen to Mr. Crouch and stop arguing." They fell silent and looked to Bartemius expectantly.
Bartemius paused for a moment, thinking. "You're right, Regulus. Muggles aren't strong."
"Then how do they steal magic?" Sirius demanded. He was getting frustrated now. None of the adults seemed to have the answer he was looking for.
Bartemius shook his head. "Sometimes, people who are weak are able to do things to people who are strong." he told them. "Until we figure out how they do it, we can't stop them."
Sirius bit his lip, unsatisfied. "I think Mudbloods must be strong, because they can do things we can't."
Orion and Walburga both made angry sounds, but this did nothing but strengthen this sentiment. "Boy, you shouldn't talk like that." Walburga reprimanded him. Bartemius was more lenient, however.
"Many people will not agree with you." he told him, but there was no anger in his voice. "A muggle's place is under a wizard. You know that, don't you?"
Sirius didn't know that. He'd been told, of course, many times. He didn't understand how one person could be so much worse than another or why the Muggles were bad. They were the same as wizards, except without magic. What was so special about magic that people without it were evil? However, he nodded along with the other boys because he knew that was what he was supposed to do. "Then if you think Mudbloods are strong, you must be stronger." Bartemius sat back now, looking very pleased with himself. Sirius looked to his parents for confirmation that this was okay, and when they said nothing he assumed it was. He turned back to Bartemius and nodded, though he hadn't quite accepted the idea. Of course he wanted to be strong, but why stronger than Mudbloods? If he didn't believe the rest of it, which he decided that he didn't, Sirius saw no reason that he must believe this part.
"Can we get back to the game now?" Barty asked, fidgeting impatiently. Sirius nodded and trotted after the two younger boys without another word. He was annoyed with the adults for not really answering his question. He was sure by the way they looked at each other that they must know but wouldn't tell him. He supposed that this was another thing that was 'not fit for children', thought he couldn't think why. The more he thought about it, the more it angered him.
Looking back on it when he was older, Sirius wouldn't remember the details. He would, however, remember the disappointment and the lies. He would realize that this was, perhaps, when things started to go all wrong for him.