#barty thesis

tw: mention of eating disorder

it was passed down to him from his mother. the first symptoms appeared when he was in his second year

no one knows exactly what it is, but it manifests itself with very high fevers and physical weakness. sometimes barty is forced to stay in bed for days. in his third year, he couldn't move for months, and almost had to retake all his classes

it makes him pale, constantly tired, cold and weak

someone (evan) spread the rumor that his illness is contagious, so barty was always bullied during his years at hogwarts

he's always in the hospital wing, so madame pomfrey is an important presence in his life. she's the comfort and support that his sick mother cannot give him, nor his distant father

it's the fear of losing both his wife and his son that has led barty crouch sr to coldly distance himself from barty. barty is aware of that, and that's why his relationship with his father is so complicated. he pities him, but at the same time, he despises him

the disease has physical symptoms, which is why doctors long believed barty and his mother's bodies were the cause of it. when they're sick, they can't even use magic. barty is smart and knows he could become a great wizard if only he weren't ill, which is why he hates his body. he hates undressing and suffers from bulimia, which leads him to gorge himself with the hope of "strengthening himself to be the best," and then throw it all up out of shame

it's not his body that's the problem, and it's evan who plants the seed of suspicion in barty. they experiment with polyjuice potion, and evan doesn't feel sick when he's in barty's body. the problem is actually his magic, which is too strong for barty's body to handle, and ends up consuming all his energy

the crouch family owns a holiday home on the beach where barty and his mother can spend the summer getting some fresh air. barty loves that place, but he doesn't like spending so much time with his mother: she's always miserable and tired. she feels guilty for forcing her child to the same fate as her, and barty can't stand that feeling

barty can see what the disease will do to him on his mother, but he refuses to believe that he will actually go through the same things she's experiencing

his parents force him to visit saint mungo's doctors whenever he can, but those healers don't really know what they're doing. instead of getting to the root of his illness, they pump barty full of painkillers to make him believe he's recovering. it's madame pomfrey who tells him the truth one day, and that's why barty trusts her much more than those seemingly highly trained doctors

and somehow, he's looking the best he's ever looked.