At many award ceremonies, winners had to take the stage to give speeches of thanks. Most would say things like, "Thank you for my family's support. Without them, I could never have achieved what I have today."
It sounded clichéd, but sadly, not everyone had their family's support. At the very least, Damocles Belby would never thank his brother.
Pomona munched on an apple as she basked in the summer morning sunlight, carrying a picnic basket toward the Quidditch Pitch. There was even a little mist that morning, shrouding everything in a peaceful, soft glow. The interns had risen early and were bustling about the camp.
By legal standards, some of them were already seventeen and adults. It was no longer appropriate to keep calling them "children."
She took another bite of her apple and thought of Barty Crouch Jr. Even after becoming an adult, Pomona had never seen him do anything unexpected. Perhaps the most unexpected thing was Karkaroff naming him in court as a participant in the torture of the Longbottoms.
He had no grudge against them and even knew them through Barty Crouch, given that the Auror Office was subordinate to the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Why had he done it? Just to see the shocked look on his father's face?
Pomona could imagine that Barty Crouch had been too busy with work, leaving the education of his child mostly to Mrs. Crouch. Many wizarding families were like that, including the Weasley and Malfoy families, yet their children had not turned out like Barty Crouch Jr., so obedient on the surface.
Perhaps it was precisely because everything had been taken for granted. As the son of the future Minister for Magic, he was expected to excel in every respect. No one noticed how