Here comes the anorak

I read last weekend a write-up about geeks having a field day this holiday season with the onslaught of blockbuster films based on books. Just because I read JRR Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and JK Rowling, can I be called a geek? I’m no nerd (supreme nerd, that is).

Okay, I have voiced-out some of the things I wish they should have shown in Goblet of Fire, but I’m not screaming sacrilege for what the filmmakers have done. And I don’t spit out page numbers of books to refer to some scenes. I don’t belong to that group of people who would look so surprised that somebody doesn’t read these books either.



I am the type who would be willing to share information and explain things that non-book readers would find beguiling in the film versions. Here’s one in GoF:

Bartemius “Barty” Crouch, Sr (the one who has the moustache of Hitler and has a seemingly small voice for a man) is not the Minister of Magic; he’s the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. In the days of Voldemort’s rise to power, Crouch Sr. is famous for tracking down dark wizards (as you may have seen in the courtroom scene). He captured and imprisoned wizards in Azkaban without a trial – even his very own son Barty Crouch, Jr (who was reported to have taken part in the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom). From then on, he fell from grace. When his wife felt that she was dying, she convinced him that she would take the Polyjuice Potion to take the form of their son and die inside the prison. And so, everyone in the wizarding world believed that Barty Crouch, Jr. had died inside the walls of Azkaban. Crouch Sr. kept his son inside their home under the Imperius Curse and care of Winky, their house-elf. Thinking that he still can control his son, he even allowed him to watch the Quidditch World Cup under an invisibility cloak (yes, you’ll soon learn that not only Harry owns that type of cloak) with Winky; and amidst the fanfare of the game, he took Harry’s wand.

When the Death Eaters caused mayhem after the games, it was Barty Crouch, Jr. who conjured the Dark Mark in the sky (as shown in the film) but it was unbeknownst to anyone except Winky. From then on, Barty Sr. lost his son, but told no one; Barty Jr. then met-up with his Dark Lord and helped in the plan of kidnapping Harry Potter: he impersonated Mad-Eye Moody, who was to become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts during Harry’s fourth year, and manipulated the Triwizard tournament by putting in Harry’s name in the cup and did his best to help him. He turned the Triwizard cup into a portkey to carry the winner (Harry) to Voldemort.

Crouch Jr. killed his own father in the Forbidden Forest. When his true identity was revealed and told the whole tale under the Veritaserum (truth serum), Cornelius Fudge (Minister of Magic) arrived and sent a Dementor to administer the Dementor's Kiss to Barty Crouch, Jr., leaving him worse than dead.