What house of Hogwarts was Barty Crouch Jr. in?

Question

Did Barty Crouch Jr. attend Hogwarts? In which house was he sorted?

What's the breakdown of Hogwart's Professor in Houses? lists him as a Slytherin, but gives no evidence. Do you have any evidence?

During the events of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Barty shows signs of all house traits. He is brave enough to execute a cunning plan to snatch Harry from just under Professor Dumbledore's nose, risking that he could be discovered as an impostor any time. He is power-hungry, as in his forced confession, he believes his act would make him the most trusted servant of the Dark Lord, closer to him than any Death Eater. He is hard-working, studying all the details of the habits of Mad-Eye Moody and keeping up the act all year, while also making sure he secretly follows Harry's preparations for the tasks. He is clever, being able to design such a plan, and especially being able to magically convince the Goblet to choose Harry.

I'm asking this question partly because of Was Wormtail the only Dark wizard sorted to Gryffindor?

Answer 1

Unknown.

As far as I know, there is no canon statement telling us which house he was in.

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There's speculation that his Death Eater tendencies/general no-gooder-ness made him a Slytherin, but even the notoriously dubious HP Wiki couches this as speculation:

Barty appeared to have been highly cunning and diabolically intelligent (he was most likely in Slytherin while at Hogwarts).

I find that a ~little dubious. Given how upright Crouch Sr. is, I think he might be a little surprised if his son was sorted into Slytherin, and pay a little more attention to him. Just a thought.

If you trust Crouch Sr.’s testimony (he was raving at this point), then Crouch Jr. was an academic superstar:

“Yes, my son has recently gained twelve O.W.L.s, most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed.”

— Goblet of Fire, chapter 28 (The Madness of Mr. Crouch)

That might hint at a Ravenclaw sorting. (By contrast, Hermione only achieved ten O.W.L.s.)

Answer 2

It's never stated outright. My guess (emphasis on guess) is that he was in Slytherin.

My fallback for this guess is Hagrid's famous quote from Philosopher's Stone:

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

That turns out to be a oversimplification. Quirrell and Wormtail are both followers of Voldemort, and they were in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively. But at the time of Hagrid's quote, both men were believed to be good guys. So it's plausible that when Hagrid says this, he's telling what he believes to be the truth, given his limited frame of knowledge.

Hagrid would have presumably known about Barty Crouch Jr.'s Death Easter status, given that it was a major scandal that sunk the career of the heir apparent to the Minister of Magic. The fact that he didn't clarify his statement therefore indicates to me that Crouch was likely in Slytherin, or at least that Hagrid thought he was.

But in general, Crouch just seems like the Slytherin type. There are many reasons people supported Lord Voldemort, such as cowardice, a desire for protection, a sense of inevitability, or just getting the chance to hurt people without consequences. But Crouch is a true believer in Voldemort's cause, being one of the few who doesn't abandon him after his apparent death. He tortures the Longbottoms into insanity for information on Voldemort. He murders his own father. The man's a Voldemort fanatic.

And both of us had the pleasure...the very great pleasure...of killing our fathers! ... I will be honoured beyond all other Death Eaters. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter... Closer than a son..."

I think that if Crouch had been a Hufflepuff or something like that, it would have been so unusual as to have warranted mention in the books or by JKR. In the absence of such evidence, I think it's fair to say he probably was a Slytherin. But the books simply never say.

Answer 3

I think Barty Crouch Sr. was in Gryffindor/Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff but that his son was in Slytherin. And that is why he hated his son in first place.

You can be a high-achiever and not in Ravenclaw (Hermione is an example). And he clearly is not motivated by knowledge. The only thing that goes with a Ravenclaw Crouch Jr. is that he is very sensitive and emotional, but as he is no artist or whatever, this does not fit with any Ravenclaw picture. The fact that he made in to 12 OWL's is more likely to be part of himself trying to prove to his father that he is a great wizard.

He cannot be a Gryffindor because he is not motivated by adventure or bravery.

He is loyal to Voldemort, which could make him a Hufflepuff. However, I think a Hufflepuff would rather be loyal to his house, to his parents, to the school, to his friends to Dumbledore. If Crouch Jr had met Voldemort at school and been raised by him, it could have been possible. However, here, he betrays everything to follow the Dark Lord.

Because it is not his loyalty which motivates him in the first place. He is not a faithful servant for serving's sake, he is faithful to Voldemort because he believes they are the same.

Which makes me believe that, like Voldemort, Crouch's inner motivation through life is to gain power, to show is power, and to prove he is able and this is what creates a Slytherin. He saw himself in Voldemort for this very reason : At the core of himself, in psychanalytic analysis, stand the will to prove his abilities to his father, to outpass him (in terms of vision of one's own masculinity, this might be a passionnate debate).

So Barty Crouch Junior is a Slytherin. In fact, his father has made him a Slytherin by not paying attention to him. I must admitt it took me a while to understand that (as a Ravenclaw and a fan of the character, I would prefer seing him in my house) but if you think logical about him, it's the only house that suits him.

Answer 4

I guess Hufflepuff. Voldemort describes him as "my most faithful servant", Which is saying something, considering that Bella is a death eater too. So his defining characteristics is loyalty, he lives to serve his master and scorns all those who abandoned Voldemort.

Rawenclaw is an option too, but less likely. He isnt really the "knowledge for knowledge's sake" person. Slytherin... even less likely. Harry talked about Barty jr. with a few people, someone would surely have mentioned "well, he was in Slytherin, so no wonder he went bad..." Gryffindor? Sure, he's brave and reckless enough, but as Gryffindor and Slytherin play the cat-mouse game for ages i think it's not that easy for a Gryffindor to become a death eater. His friends would be Gryffs and he'd be conditioned to dislike Slytherins from day one and compete with them.

Answer 5

On the Pottermore page for Barty Crouch Jr his screen colour is green, and it directly relates to the house the character was in. Safe to say it’s Slytherin.

Answer 6

I’d say Hufflepuff because his whole thing was loyalty. His father was a Slytherin, and we know that they look down on hufflepuffs. His father would have been disappointed in him for that reason, and Barty may have wanted to mix with Slytherins to try and please his father. He, however, probably got caught up in the wrong group of people (death eaters), and got into serving Voldemort. He thought that would please his father, but his father even denied he had a son. This drove Barty to look for a ‘new father’ elsewhere (Voldemort), a father who would respect and appreciate him for who he was.