You're Not Doing This for the First Time

"...Huh?"

Manus froze, stopping himself from getting up and keeping his posture as though he were still observing and recording the positions and orbits of celestial bodies.

But he still responded aloud.

"Find another dad... Does your mother know about this?"

Although what Barty Crouch Sr. had done was indeed rather unreasonable, considering that he was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Voldemort had already started all that Death Eaters business before Barty Jr. was born...

It was not entirely incomprehensible that the overwhelmed Barty Crouch Sr. had not felt such deep fatherly affection for Barty Jr.

Not that Manus wanted to excuse Barty Crouch Sr. to Barty Jr., but Barty Crouch Sr. really did not deserve this.

"No, this has nothing to do with my mother. Her marriage to my father has been quite good."

Barty Jr.'s voice inexplicably became much lighter. He wiped the tear tracks from his face.

"In fact, when I first received that letter from home, I nearly broke down. I fell into severe self-doubt and confusion. I even thought about climbing out the window instead of taking the stairs... Fortunately, I happened to receive a letter from Professor Slughorn then, and I ran into Grogan on the way to the dungeons. He talked me through it very well."

What did Grogan have to do with this?

"Grogan told me that he had once had similar troubles, but he had figured it out—we cannot demand that others give to us based solely on our own needs. Even if they are family, we have no right to force them to show us the love we want."

Hmm, there was nothing wrong with that, but Grogan had actually thought about something like this?

Manus had only helped Grogan work through his psychological issues