Played by: David Tennant (and Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody) One of Voldemort's followers given the fullest backstory is Barty Crouch Jr who must surely also be one of the most conniving of all Harry Potter villains, able to play a very long game and a masterful deception to serve his master. Crouch is the son of tough-as-nails Ministry of Magic official Barty Crouch, er, Sr who fell into a 'bad crowd' (i.e. a gang of Death Eaters) and so turned to the dark side. He quickly became a loyal Death Eater, being part of the group that tortured Neville Longbottom's parents to the point of insanity, until he was sent to Azkaban by his own father. Years later he got his revenge when he escaped the wizards' prison and joined Voldemort at his side. He then posed as Professor Moody for an entire school year to keep watch over Harry Potter at Hogwarts. When in his own skin, Crouch is portrayed as just another madman devoted to his Dark Lord (in the film, David Tennant plays him with a delicious lip-smacking venom) but, if you think about it, Crouch is a highly intriguing villain. Largely due to the fact that he can convince not only the entirety of the Hogwarts school staff that he is the famous Moody but also act as an engaging, if rough-around-the-edges, teacher for the students. Maybe Dumbledore should have kept him on staff full-time? After all, who better to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts than a dark wizard?
