Barty Crouch Jr. painfully swallowed the second mouthful of potion, and searing pain exploded in his throat once more.
As agony that seemed to tear his soul apart engulfed him, his surroundings became dark and cold, and his mother's figure appeared.
He remembered clearly. This was Azkaban. His parents had come to see him.
His mother was skeletal, her eye sockets sunken deep. Curled up in a corner, there was little life left in her tear-filled eyes.
His mother held a glass vial in her hand. At the same time, an almost identical vial appeared in his own.
His mother's voice was barely a whisper. "Barty, drink it..."
His mother was clearly the one suffering more, yet he felt pain all over his body, especially in his chest. It hurt so badly he nearly fainted.
"Barty... drink it... Drink it, and you can leave this place." His mother comforted him gently, as though she were telling him a bedtime story.
Just as his mother had never refused any of his requests, he had never refused any of hers.
He drank the potion in the glass vial and became exactly like his mother at that moment. It was Polyjuice Potion.
His father, Barty Crouch Sr., appeared, his face grim and expressionless, like a statue devoid of feeling.
Barty Crouch Sr. draped a cloak over him and hoisted him onto his back.
This was the first time...
Perhaps it was the first time his father had ever carried him like this. That back was rigid and cold, without the slightest warmth.
Barty Crouch Sr. was still the same as ever. He had never cared about him, completely disregarding his already frail condition. Even the road beneath their feet seemed especially rough.
He was jolted about the entire way. While sailing across the