Chapter 8: The Crouch Trials
After being brought to a Ministry interrogation room, Bartemius Crouch Junior was enervated but still restrained so he'd not escape. The first thing he noticed by looking at his surroundings was that he was at a cell with a woman in front of him. "Who are you?" He asked.
"I'm Amelia Bones, current Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." She answered with a formal tone.
"Really?" Barty asked in a way that reminded people of the Barty Crouch they saw at his trial years ago. "Then can you give me a fair trial? My own father wouldn't allow me one. I'm innocent!"
"Then what were you doing at the crime scene when the Lestranges attacked the Longbottoms?" Amelia asked.
"The Lestranges imperiused me." He pleaded.
"If I had a Knut for every accused Death Eater who used the Imperius Curse as an excuse…" Amelia Bones commented.
"You can bring me Veritaserum if you don't believe me." Barty replied. "And a pensieve."
"Mr. Crouch, if you weren't helping the Lestranges on your own volition, why would they bother dragging you along?" She asked.
"They said something about my presence either saving them from my father or rendering him unable to send more Death Eaters to Azkaban and make more traitors squeal on loyal ones for freedom but I'm afraid you'd need to give them Veritaserum to confirm." Barty explained.
"Don't worry, Mr. Crouch." She replied with a malicious smile. "They're already being brought to answer questions about another crime anyway."
"Good!" He exclaimed.
"Mr. Crouch, how did you escape Azkaban?"
"My mother's dying wish was to get me out." He explained. "To grant it, my father gave us polyjuice so mother and I would pass as each other. While she died in Azkaban and was buried in my place, I was kept at home under the Imperius Curse because my father, believing I was a Death Eater, was afraid I'd look for a way to restore You-Know-Who. Because the people who were the closest to my parents knew about my mother's ill health, nobody doubted his reports on her death."
Then she brought Veritaserum and a pensieve to check the veracity of Barty's statements. After being done with him, she went to the cell where Barty Senior was waiting for his chance to be interrogated.
"Amelia,"
"Madam Bones for you, Mr. Crouch!" She was sterner with Crouch Senior than with Crouch Junior.
"Is that a way to treat your predecessor?" Crouch protested.
"It is, since I'm cleaning said predecessor's mess." Madam Bones angrily answered. "What were you thinking when you've sent all those people to Azkaban without allowing them a trial to check which ones, if any, actually did anything to deserve being sent there?"
"There was no reason to consider the possibility of any of them being innocent, Am… Madam Bones." Crouch Senior pleaded.
"IT DOESN'T MATTER, YOU IDIOT!" She angrily yelled. "You should have allowed them a trial, no matter how sure you were of their guilt. Haven't you realized that when you learned Pettigrew had framed Sirius Black?"
"Look, I'm sorry about Black but restoring the Ministry's image and sending Death Eaters to Azkaban was more important and urgent than saving innocents from wrongful imprisonment." Crouch pleaded.
"Your own son fell victim of this policy!"
"He's not a victim!" Crouch shouted. "He's a real Death Eater who joined the Lestranges on their assault against the Longbottoms!"
"I've questioned him under Veritaserum, Crouch." Amelia stated. "He was really innocent."
"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!" Crouch shouted. "You're making it up to make me feel bad! I'd use this against Death Eaters if I believed they could have real feelings! If you're going to use this trick, then our conversation is over. I don't have anything else to say."
When Amelia Bones announced the intention of giving Barty Junior a trial, several people at the Wizengamot became shocked. "Amelia, don't you think we have lost too many Galleons by compensating innocents?" Fudge asked. "Do you really want to add Crouch Junior into the pot?"
"Technically, since he was his father's captive instead of an Azkaban inmate, any compensation he might be entitled to must come from Bartemius Crouch Senior's pockets." He explained. Suddenly all opposition to giving Crouch Junior a retrial vanished. "Bring the defendant in."
Barty Crouch Junior was then brought to the defendant's chair and was properly chained. "Bartemius Crouch Junior, due the irregularities in the trial where you've been convicted as a co-author of the assault on the Longbottoms in 1982 and of having cast the Cruciatus Curse on Frank and Alice Longbottom, you are now being retried." Amelia Bones announced. "What do you plead?"
"Not guilty, Madam Bones."
"Then let's the retrial begin." She said. "Bartemius Crouch Junior, were you at the Longbottom household while the Lestranges used the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom and his wife Alice Longbottom?"
"Yes."
"Did you use the Cruciatus Curse as well?"
"No."
"Have you used any Unforgivable at that night?"
"No."
"What were you doing at the crime scene?"
"The Lestranges imperiused me so my presence would make my father reluctant about prosecuting the case." Now everyone who believed several Death Eaters lied about the imperius to get away with their crimes were feeling outraged.
"Is there anything you'd like to offer as evidence to corroborate your claims of innocence, Mr. Crouch?"
"Yes. I'm willing to confirm everything while under the influence of Veritaserum." Crouch Junior answered. As the Wizengamot approved it, Junior managed to prove his innocence.
"Give him the antidote." Amelia Bones ordered and Junior was treated with three drops of antidote. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Crouch." She said. "Is there anything anyone present wants to say before we reach for a verdict?" As nobody made any sign they would, Amelia Bones then called for a vote. "All jurors who believe Bartemius Crouch Junior was under influence of the Imperius Curse while committing the crimes he's been charged with and therefore should be acquitted please rise." All of them vote for Junior's acquittal. "Is there anyone here who believes the defendant should be convicted?" Nobody said anything. "It's unanimous! Bartemius Crouch Junior, you're now declared innocent of all charges. Since your stay in Azkaban lasted less than one month, you're not entitled to any compensation from the Ministry. If you desire, you might seek compensation from your father's estate."
"I'll think about that, Madam Bones."
"That's all, Mr. Crouch. You're free to go." Junior then joined the spectator's stand, for he wanted to see what was about to happen. "Bring in the next defendant!" Amelia Bones announced. Crouch Senior was then shown the same treatment his son was initially offered. "Bartemius Crouch Senior, you've been brought to this court on charges of irresponsibly sending people to Azkaban without properly checking if any of them was guilty of any crime, breaking a criminal out of Azkaban and constantly using the Imperius Curse on your own son. What do you plead?"
"Not guilty."
"How do you explain your wand showing signs of the Imperius Curse being used on your son?"
"I had to use it to keep him from seeking and rejoining You-Know-Who."
"Mr. Crouch, your son stated under Veritaserum he never became a Death Eater on his own volition." She replied. "In fact, he's right there as just another spectator of this trial."
Horrified, Barty Senior looked around and saw his son watching his trial. Nobody around Barty Junior seemed to have any trouble about sitting next to him. "I'm sorry, son." Crouch Senior sobbed. "I'm so sorry!"
"Too late for this, father!" Junior replied, saying the word 'father' with disgust.
"And what about the other people sent to Azkaban without a fair trial or with no trial at all, Mr. Crouch?" Amelia Bones asked.
"Restoring the Ministry's reputation was more important than saving a few innocents from wrongful imprisonment."
"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH!" She said. "Is there anything else someone wants to say before we reach for a verdict?" As nobody said anything, they voted, giving Crouch Senior the opposite of what they gave his son. "Bartemius Crouch Senior, you've been found guilty of all charges, and it's my decision to send you to Azkaban's highest security wing for the rest of your life." Everyone cheered.
Please review. Probably most of you are surprised I made Crouch Junior innocent. I simply decided to consider the possibility of Crouch Junior only becoming a Death Eater when Wormtail rescued him and that anyone who knows the spell needed to cast any picture in the sky and knows what the Dark Mark looks like would know how to recreate it, Death Eater or not.